Diparopsis watersi (Roths.) is a serious pest of the cotton crop in the Gash Delta of the eastern Sudan. The climate and method of cotton cultivation are described briefly and a general account of the incidence of D. watersi during the season is given. Earlier work in the Sudan on this bollworm was mainly centred in the Northern Province and there is little information on the history of its occurrence in the Gash Delta. The aspects of its biology considered here include its egg-laying and larval habits, and duration of the pupal stage.

The majority of eggs were laid on the younger and more accessible plant growth. The period of wandering in search of food after eclosion from the egg was of short duration with normal egg placement, the emerging larvae had little difficulty in finding suitable food, and mortality from failure to do so was low on healthy plants. Depth of pupation did not vary greatly with soil type; the majority of pupae were found within one inch of the soil surface, and none at a depth greater than three inches. Only when the soil was a heavy clay that had baked hard following the rains, did the emerging moths have difficulty in passing through it and ascending to the surface.

The proportion of larvae forming diapause pupae increased amongst field-collected larvae as the season advanced, and in successive generations bred in an insectary from the non-diapause fractions of the preceding generations, but at no time was there a complete cessation in the production of non-diapause pupae and infestations persisted as long as there was actively growing cotton. This persistent activity in the Gash Delta is contrasted with the restriction of D. watersi to a six months' season in Nigeria. The emergence of moths from diapause pupae was not completed during the season following that of pupation, but extended for at least two further seasons; approximately 35 per cent, of the total diapause pupal population was still alive and present in the soil after the first season's emergence. In any one season the emergence was bimodal, the two peaks of emergence, which were of similar magnitude, occurring in September-October and mid-November to mid-January. When diapause pupae were kept in the laboratory and thus exposed to less extreme temperatures than in the field, the emergence was distinctly unimodal, with maximum emergence during September. The bimodal emergence observed in the field is considered to be a result of external environmental factors that inhibit pupal development at certain times of year, and emergence data from diapause pupae exposed to different climatic conditions suggest that high soil temperatures are such a factor. The pattern of moth emergence from diapause pupae in the Gash Delta is compared with that found in Nigeria and Nyasaland.

Natural mortality of D. watersi is discussed, and certain larval parasites, notably an un-named species of Apanteles of the ultor Reinh. group, and Bracon brevicornis Wesm., are considered to be of importance.

The study of the biology of D. watersi has emphasised the difficulties in controlling this bollworm, and stressed the importance of attempting to destroy it in the diapause state, preferably during the “ dead ” season. It is considered that mechanical cultivation, of the soil may provide a means to that end.

The object of the work described in this paper was to compare adults of Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) and O. mercator (Fauv.) by morphological and biometric methods with a view to determining the status of the latter as either a variety of O. surinamensis or as a separate species.

There are some marked and constant differences between the two insects in the structure of the male genitalia. These are listed.

The analysis of the biometric results shows a clear-cut difference between the two insects in the ratio of eye length to temple length. All the other ratios considered overlap, although the means may be widely different. Some of these ratios are illustrated by histograms.

A cross-breeding experiment gave no offspring from the mixed pairs.

It is concluded that O. mercator is a good species which can be recognised morphologically.

Experiments were carried out in the laboratory with individually marked females of Glossina palpalis (R.-D.); various aspects of their mating behaviour, when placed with virgin 7-day-old males, were studied.

Using virgins, females 1–3 days old mated for an average period of about two hours, females 4–9 days old for about 75 minutes, and 10-day-old females for somewhat less than one hour.

Using virgins, mating was found to be relatively infrequent in 1-day-old females, maximal in females 2 and 3 days old and thereafter decreased as the age of the females increased.

Females up to 10 days of age were found to be willing to mate on a number of occasions; re-mating was more frequent among the younger flies. The number of older females of G. palpalis which are prepared to re-mate is very small.

Previously mated females of G. palpalis were shown to be less willing to mate than virgin females of the same age. It seems that this is due to a decrease in desire for mating by the females rather than a loss of attractiveness to males.

The implication of these laboratory findings, in relation to fly behaviour in the field, is discussed. It is suggested that a considerable proportion of young females of G. palpalis is prepared to re-mate in nature, on a number of occasions, but that the desire for mating is extinguished much sooner in life in mated females than it is in virgin females.

An improved technique is described for the preparation of permanent mounts of small Arthropoda and Nematoda, using a phenol-balsam mounting medium; a method is also described for clearing live, or freshly killed, specimens in strong chloral hydrate solution. The essential feature of the mounting method is the transfer of the specimen to a slide, in a drop of phenol, to which dry, powdered balsam is added and allowed to dissolve in situ. The mount is then dried and later covered in the usual fashion.

The Tobacco Cricket, Brachytrupes membranaceus (Dru.), is a pest of young plants of tobacco, maize and other field and garden crops in Southern Rhodesia. During the period of investigations, 1949–52, it was found to be widely distributed in the Territory, the heaviest attacks occurring in areas of light sandy soil of granitic origin. All stages are nocturnal and each individual excavates and inhabits a permanent burrow in the soil, that of an adult averaging 50 to 80 cm. in depth. The burrow has an enlarged chamber in which the cricket lives and stores food.

There is one generation a year. Oviposition takes place in February and March, the average number of eggs per female, as shown by dissection, was 216. Incubation takes about 30 days and development of the young nymphs is at first rapid. From June to October, the period of dry and often scarce food, development is retarded but increases rapidly during the third and fourth (the last) nymphal stages in November. From November to May, when young and succulent food abounds, development is rapid. The adults start appearing early in December.

The eggs are laid in the burrows and the young nymphs on hatching crawl away from the parent burrow, in all directions, in search of suitable places in which to start digging. The mandibles are used to excavate the soil which is thrown outwards by the forelegs, and the mounds formed by the time the adult stage is reached may attain a height of as much as 30 cm. When an adult is evicted from its burrow, as soon as it finds a suitable place to dig, it will disappear within the space of a minute.

The burrows may be found in virgin land or in cultivated land, or along the borders of cultivated fields. The food consists of succulent or dry vegetable matter, according to the time of year, and is carried to and stored in chambers in the burrows. In the virgin veld it consists mainly of lush grasses, seedlings and root suckers of trees such as Brachystegia and Isoberlinia in the rainy season and of dried material of a similar nature during tha dry months. In cultivated land, tobacco, maize, field beans, garden vegetables, seedlings and young transplants are cut and stored.

Although the food is compacted in chambers in the burrows it has not been found in a mouldy or fermenting condition. It is thought that it is conditioned before storage, the more succulent material being allowed to wilt before being taken into the burrow and the dry material when softened by dew.

During investigations on the phytophagous mite fauna of Mauritius, of which up to the present five species only had been recorded, 21 species were collected, of which ten species belong to the TETRANYCHIDAE. In addition, nine species, of which the majority are believed to be predacious, were observed.

An annotated list of the species, together with their food-plants, their geographical distribution and the countries from which they might have been introduced into Mauritius, is given.

Of the species of economic importance the following are worthy of mention: — In the TETRANYCHIDAE: Eutetranychus banksi (McG.) on Citrus, Oligonychus biharensis (Hirst) and Oligonychus mangiferus (Rahm. & Sapra) on various fruit trees, including avocado, mango and litchi, Oligonychus sp. (pratensis (Banks) group) on sugar-cane, Tetranychus marianae McG. and Tetranychus sp. (ludeni Zacher group) on many vegetable crops, including bean, egg-plant, tomato, etc. In the ERIOPHYIDAE: Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashm.) and Tegonotus sp., which are potential enemies of Citrus and tomato, respectively. In the TENUIPALPIDAE: Brevipalpus phoenicis (Geijskes) has a very wide range of food-plants and its future importance in the cultivation of tea and Citrus are mentioned, whilst Raoiella indica Hirst is an important pest of coconut plantations. In the TARSONEMIDAE: Hemitarsonemus latus (Banks) ranks as an important pest of a large number of economic plants including bean, tea and water-cress.

Only two predatory mites of great economic importance are recorded, viz.:— Typhlodromus caudatus (Berl.) and T. ovalis Evans. The bionomics of the former species are fully described and its relation to Raoiella indica on coconut is discussed. The life-cycle of T. caudatus from egg to adult varies from 4–8 days, in summer to 13–18 days in winter.

Results are given of a survey of the predatory insects associated with the phytophagous mites. The most important predators on Tetranychus spp. are the Coccinellid, Stethorus vinsoni Kapur, and the Cecidomyiid, Feltiella sp. near tetranychi Rübs. The daily mite consumption of these predators is given. Other predators of secondary importance are Oligota pallidicornis Cam. and Scolothrips sp. near indicus Priesn.

The bionomics of T. marianae on tomato and of Raoiella indica on coconut were studied. Duration of the life-cycle of the former species varies from 4–9 days in summer to 15–22 days in winter. Twenty four to 30 generations of this species are estimated to occur in a year. Raoiella has a development period of 18–26 days from egg to adult in summer and of 30–36 days in winter.

A biological study of the predatory insects, Stethorus vinsoni and Feltiella, sp., is given. Their beneficial effect is discussed. These two predators do not exert a control in time to check the build-up of the mite population. Their abundance is directly proportional to the incidence of the mite and the peak is generally only attained when the depredations of the latter have reached a disastrous level.

The various possible factors which have contributed to the sudden increase in the mite population on tomato during the last 6–8 years are discussed. Amongst the important factors are the following: —

(a) Absence of cyclonic disturbances with their heavy rains and violent gales which generally upset considerably the development of the mite population and reduce it to a minimum each year.

(b) Dressing of tomato and other vegetable crops with nitro-phosphatic fertilisers which were not applied until 10 years ago and which, it is thought, may have favoured an increase in the mite population.

(c) The abundance of natural reservoirs of wild food-plants that harbour Tetranychus spp. from which the subsequent spread results in the building up of mite colonies in cultivated areas.

(d) The ineffectiveness of Stethorus vinsoni as a predator on infested tomato plants.

A study of adult populations of Wheat Bulb Ply, Leptohylemyia coarctata (Fall.), has been carried out in the field by routine sweeping at Rothamsted. It has been observed that the males emerge slightly before the females and that the emergence period may cover at least three weeks in late June and early July. Although the number of males may exceed the number of females at first, the females predominate later in the season due to the shorter life span of the males.

The numbers of flies on the wheat have been found to fluctuate appreciably throughout the day. During the first week of the emergence period the number of flies taken increased steadily throughout the day. After the date of population peak, however, the maximum numbers occurred in the crop in the very early morning and the late evening, which suggested a daily flight dispersion followed by a general or localised return of the flies to the crop. Further study of the data showed that the daily temperature rhythm was only partly responsible for this daily flight dispersion, and that there appeared to be an active return flight to the crop in the evening. Generally the males were more active than the females and did not settle so deeply in the crop.

The temperature threshold for flight was observed to be 12 to 13°C. Winds up to 8 m.p.h. did not appear to affect flight activity, but higher winds, e.g., 15 m.p.h., markedly reduced flight, the flies remaining deep in the crop near ground level. Gale-force winds, however, were observed to produce a permanent depletion in the number of flies infesting Broadbalk field, indicating that the population was probably localised.

Although portions of the populations dispersed fairly rapidly from the emergence sites, recaptures of radioactive flies labelled with 32P indicated that the extent of the dispersions was not very great. The females dispersed more than the males, and were influenced to some extent by the occurrence of wheat in flower. Frequently the flies were found to have congregated on the lee edge of the crop, but other preferred regions have been observed which could not be attributed to the influence of the wind.

During the summer of 1956, a quantitative study of a field population of Wheat Bulb Fly, Leptohylemyia coarctata (Fall.), was carried out at Rothamsted.

The work consisted principally of a study of the development and decline of a population of adult flies. This was supplemented by observations on the populations of the immature stages.

Emergence was investigated by the use of a cage of fine terylene netting, 24 ft. long, 12 ft. wide, and 6 ft. high. This was erected in an infested wheat field shortly before flies were expected to appear, and was searched twice daily, at 10 a.m. and shortly before sunset.

A total of 293 male flies was caught during the 26 days from 24th June to 19th July. Of these, 186 appeared between 1st and 6th July. The highest day's catch was 40 flies on 6th July, by which date (inclusive) about 84 per cent, of the final total had emerged.

A total of 258 female flies was caught during the 35 days from 21st June to 25th July. Of these, about half emerged between 6th and 10th July. The highest day's catch was 37 flies on 8th, by which date (inclusive) 66 per cent, of the final total had emerged.

Population decrease was investigated by the method of marking and recapture. The newly emerged flies caught in the cage were marked with Artist's oil colours and released in the cage. The colour of the mark was changed daily so that the age of marked flies could be ascertained. A search was made for marked flies every three days and their numbers, marks and sex were recorded. From the recapture figures, estimates of the numbers of flies surviving at different times after marking were obtained. Mortality during the first day was very high, but after this numbers decreased at a steady rate. This initial high mortality was believed to be due to marking. The length of life of marked flies which survived this immediate effect was, however, not impaired, therefore the rate of population decrease was estimated from the recapture figures alone, that is, without reference to the numbers originally marked. The half-life of male and female populations was estimated as 7·3 and 11·1 days, respectively.

Application of the estimated rate of population decrease to the observed emergence figures enabled a general picture of the size and structure of the population to be obtained. The predominance of males over females during the early part of the season and the later predominance of females over males were explained.

Observations on the populations of the various stages showed that the mortality between pupation and maturation of adults was high, and that the egg populations inside the cage during the autumn of 1956 was only about 1/7th of that of the previous year. This reduction was not observed outside the cage and may have been due to the survival rate and fecundity of the flies being affected by the experiment. Further work will be necessary before this can be elucidated.

The efiect of the previous crop on the subsequent infestation of winter wheat by the Wheat Bulb Fly, Leptohylemyia coarctata (Fall.), mainly on the clay-loam of Rothamsted Experimental Farm has been investigated for the years 1954 to 1956. By far the highest larval populations followed fallows, the next highest potatoes, which are a low, open cover crop, whilst much lower populations followed the tall crops of beans and wheat, and very small infestations followed the grass mat covers. This confirms the results of previous workers under different agricultural conditions.

Previous applications of dung and straw influenced the infestation following fallow in dry summers but not in a wet year. The effects of other manurial treatments were inconclusive.

An experiment designed to determine the effect of the crop density on oviposition was inconclusive due to the failure to establish an infestation.

Wheat was shown to influence the flight path and to interfere with local egg-laying behaviour, producing a horizontal effect of up to twice its own height.

Apart from the foregoing factors, at Rothamsted, where the wheat fields are well separated, the differences in the level of infestation that were observed could be explained by close proximity or otherwise to a centre of heavy fly infestation.

Reasons are put forward for suggesting that the effect of the previous crop on oviposition may be interpreted in terms of the opportunity existing for contact with the soil rather than as a preference on the part of the fly.

The significance of Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newst. to the livestock economy of Northern Nigeria is mentioned. Differences in the ecology of the fly have been noted in the Guinea and Sudan savannah zones, respectively. In the former, its distribution is relatively widespread and diffuse, whereas in the latter it is restricted to linear strips associated with river flood plains. The area dealt with in the present work lies in the Sudan zone. The relationship of the fly to its vegetational environment is described, there being a marked concentration of almost the whole tsetse population in evergreen forest islands of relatively limited extent in the second half of the dry season. The source of food is mainly warthog, which were numerous in the area.

A focus of the fly, covering an area of seven square miles, in which the dryseason concentration sites, mainly forest islands, amounted to approximately 200 acres, was selected for an experiment. It was isolated from the main focus by a natural barrier five miles wide.

Possible eradication measures in this focus are mentioned and reasons given for adopting the application of a residual insecticide.

DDT, in the form of a 50 per cent, wettable powder as a 5 per cent, suspension of actual DDT in water, was applied, during the second half of the dry season, at an estimated rate of 20 lb. per acre to the evergreen forest islands, which had previously had paths slashed around and through them. Pneumatic knapsack sprayers were used. A preliminary trial showed that, for up to six weeks after application of the insecticide, examples of G. morsitans from unsprayed forest, placed in contact with sprayed leaves and bark, died in three hours, controls remaining alive for 24 hours. It is suggested that this good persistence may be attributable to the fact that the treated surfaces were in the shade, and that the application was made during the rainless season and at a time when the vegetation was dormant. There was a rapid decline in the population of G. morsitans after spraying. The flies persisted longest (5 weeks) in a site associated with Mitragyna inermis. One application only was given to one part of the focus and in many others one application would probably have sufficed, the second being given in most instances to control G. tachinoides Westw., which was also present, and only in two instances for the eradication of G. morsitans that persisted after the first application. One of these was the site associated with Mitragyna inermis, mentioned above. The last specimen of G. morsitans was caught five weeks after the first application, and none has been caught in the sprayed area for up to 18 months after spraying. The cost of the insecticide and labour to apply it amounted to £700 for an area of seven square miles of focus in which the dryseason concentration sites to which insecticide was applied amounted to approximately 200 acres. The final result regarding G. tachinoides was indefinite for reasons which are mentioned.

The rainfall of the Blue Nile valley diminishes towards the north, and the number of mosquitos tends to do the same, but the natural state of affairs has been somewhat altered by irrigation works in the shape of the Sennar reservoir and the watering of cotton, sorghum and sunt trees (Acacia arabica, Willdenow), and will be further altered when the proposed dam at Roseires is constructed.

The latter dam will form a large reservoir in the Kiri-Roseires area where conditions are likely to differ from those of the Sennar reservoir. Anopheles funestus Giles and many other species occurred in the stretch downstream between Roseires and Abu Hugar in which riverside basins, overgrown with sunt trees, were flooded when the river was high.

Farther downstream, between Karkoj and Sennar, breeding conditions were affected by the Sennar dam, water at full storage level reaching different heights in the basins according to their distance from Sennar. Near Sennar the dualpurpose dam had a particular effect on the aquatic vegetation and the mosquitos.

A. gambiae Giles bred among Najas pectinata (Parl.) Magnus which, however, only occupied a small area in the reservoir, A. rufipes (Gough) bred in small numbers in various places, and A. pharoensis Theo. in a large area of creeping grass growing on silt under conditions which caused it to form a raft that rose and fell with the water. Adults of A. pharoensis, which was by far the commonest Anopheline, rested near houses by day at certain times of the year. Control of the grass was difficult and liable, to favour more dangerous species of mosquitos. Differences between the Sennar and Jebel Auliya reservoirs are discussed.

In the riverain area between Abu Geili and Soba, A. gambiae bred in residual pools in the river-bed in the dry season and in flooded sunt basins in the rains. Control of larvae was very difficult in these basins and much reliance was placed on residual sprays against adults in houses.

Breeding conditions in the Gezira irrigated area are described with particular reference to the type of clay soil. There were many larvae of A. gambiae in field channels at the end of the rains when irrigation began, and in March when the summer started. The latter increase was not reflected by any increase in the number of adults, probably owing to the reduction in length of life of the latter in the very hot dry weather. A. rufipes was sometimes found in houses. Control measures are briefly described.

Some mosquitos of Khartoum and a few other areas within the Blue Nile valley are briefly considered.

The effect of temperature on the growth rate and survival of the immature stages of Aëdes aegypti (L.) was studied by rearing them at each of a series of constant temperatures from 14–38°C. in water to which adequate food (bakers' yeast) was added. Larvae were hatched, by immersing eggs in water, in four successive groups with an interval of six hours between each, and six hours after the last group hatched, and every 24 hours thereafter, those surviving in each group were recorded and transferred to fresh water and food, the exuviae remaining being recorded. The average time at which any given stage was reached was taken as the mid-point of the 6-hr. period within which the number of individuals that had completed the previous stage reached 50 per cent, of the total that finally did so.

The curve relating temperature and time of development from newly hatched larva to adult is hyperbolic, except at the extremes. The later the instar, the lower is the temperature at which growth is most rapid. The threshold of development was between 9° and 10°C., the developmental zero 13.3°C., and the average thermal constant (between 16° and 32°C.) 2,741 degree-hours. The highest and lowest temperatures permitting development from newly hatched larva to adult were 36° and 14°C., respectively. The average durations of the four successive larval stages and the pupal stage, expressed as percentages of the time taken for newly hatched larvae to reach the adult stage, were 14.6, 13.9, 17.5, 33.3 and 20.6, respectively.

The relation between fumigation techniques, mortality and sorption of fumigant was investigated by two factorial experiments in which adults of Calandra granaria (L.) and C. oryzae (L.) were exposed to hydrogen cyanide at concentrations of 12, 26 or 44 mg. per litre and pressures of 2, 27, 52 and 76 cm. mercury for 30, 60 or 90 min., or at given concentration-time products (36, 72 or 108 mg. hr. per litre), in each of which the time component was 1, 4 or 12 hr., and pressures of 2, 37 and 76 cm. mercury. The methods of fumigation and estimation of sorption and mortality were those used in earlier investigations and the results are shown in a series of graphs.

For both species, sorption of hydrogen cyanide increased as the total pressure was reduced, about three times as much being sorbed, in the first experiment, at a pressure of 2 cm. as at atmospheric pressure, the increase in sorptive capacity being greater in the case of C. oryzae than in that of C. granaria. In the second experiment, sorption by both species, for a given concentration-time product, was greater at a high concentration applied for a short period (1 hr.) than at a lower concentration applied for a long period (12 hr.); in the former conditions, C. granaria consistently sorbed more fumigant than did C. oryzae, in the latter, the reverse was the case, and in intermediate conditions (4 hr. exposure), the amounts sorbed by the two species did not differ materially. This result was inconsistent with that of the first experiment, in which C. oryzae sorbed more than did C. granaria during short exposures (30.90 min.).

These effects on sorptive capacity of differing conditions of fumigation could account for most of the reported departures from the rule that the biological effects of fumigation can be described by the product of the mean concentration of fumigant applied and the period of exposure. Comparison between mortality and sorption at pressures of 27–76 cm. in the first experiment showed, however, that while these were broadly associated, the increased mortality at higher concentrations was greater than would be expected from the associated increase in sorption, and this discrepancy was significantly larger for C. oryzae than for C. granaria.

With a view to providing information useful in practical control, the relative susceptibility to pyrethrins, and to pyrethrins plus piperonyl butoxide, of a series of stored product insects has been determined. Adult moths and beetles of 31 species were investigated, together with the larvae of 16 of these, and that of one other.

The insects were treated with 1.3 per cent, pyrethrins, and 0.3 per cent, pyrethrins plus 3.0 per cent, piperonyl butoxide, in a heavy, highly refined mineral oil (Shell Risella 17). Both formulations were applied in two ways: insects were exposed on sprayed filter papers or were directly sprayed. Insects were also treated with the oil alone by both techniques. While confined on films, and after being sprayed, the insects were kept at 25°C. and 70 per cent. R.H.

Large differences in susceptibility were encountered. The adult moths and Bruchids were susceptible, the adult Ptinids rather resistant, but otherwise susceptibility showed little correlation with systematic classification. The larva of a given species was usually more resistant than the adult. Among the adults of the different species, susceptibility to pyrethrum appeared to be correlated with high activity of the normal insect.

On the whole, 1.3 per cent, pyrethrins and 0.3 per cent, pyrethrins plus 3.0 per cent, piperonyl butoxide were of about equal toxicity.

Much confusion has arisen in the past with regard to the correct application of the names of certain Pyralid rice borers; I hope the following notes and illustrations will clarify the position.

An experiment was designed to ascertain the maximum yield of adults of the Cigarette Beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (F.) that could be reared from a given quantity of foodstuff. Equal numbers of eggs of this species were added to batches of tubes containing different weights of wheatfeed, and the resulting adults were removed, counted and weighed.

The weights of wheatfeed had been chosen so that in some of the batches of tubes it would not be completely exploited. When emergence of adults was complete, further numbers of eggs, which were calculated to produce approximately the number of larvae necessary to complete the process in each batch of tubes, were then added, and the resulting adults again removed, counted and weighed.

The maximum biomass (wet weight) of adults of L. serricorne which could be reared from egg to adult per gramme of wheatfeed at 25°C. and 70 per cent. relative humidity was found to be 0.214 g. (108 to 129 specimens, all more or less undersized, and many with a retarded rate of development, compared with insects given ample food). In addition to the 21 per cent, of the food converted into adult insects, another 27 per cent. by weight of the original foodstuff was lost, presumably as water and carbon dioxide, leaving just over 50 per cent. undigested residue, most of which was faecal matter that would have passed through the insects at least once.

The yield of insects per g. loss of weight of the foodstuff was 0.46 g. (wet weights), which is very close to the corresponding figures calculated from the results of Fraenkel & Blewett for Dermestes maculatus Deg., Tribolium confusum Duv. and Ephestia Kuehniella Zell. on various foods, but three times as great as the corresponding figure calculated from Richards' results for Calandra granaria (L.) in wheat.

There was evidence suggesting that a truly maximal yield (slightly greater than in these experiments) might be attained by adding an optimal number of eggs to the food at the start, instead of adding a second population to an incompletely exploited food supply.