The inheritance of carbamate resistence in the Fc strain of Musca domestica L. was investigated by the method described by Nguy & Busvine (1960) and more than one gene, most probably two genes, were found to be responsiple for carbamate resistence. A further experiment showed organophosphate and carbamate inheritance to be linked. As it was already known that the genes for organophosphate resistence were on the third and fifth chromosome, the third and fifth chromosomal resistence factors were separated by use of marker genes. Both factors gave low to moderate levels of resistence to organophosphates and carbamates. The third chromosomal factor appeared to be associated with increased oxidative activity and the fifth chromosomal factor with a modified aliesterase mechanism. The effect of the two genes was cumulative.

In 1968–70 adults of Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) and Scapanes australis grossepunctatus Sternb. were counted and removed weekly from two one-acre plots in separate plantings of 3–5-year-old coconuts in the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain. For O. rhinoceros the immigration rate (average 3 adults/acre (60 palms) 4 weeks) showed no annual cycle or overall trend with time but was reduced by rain; the beetles occurred singly on the palms, but certain palms were more frequently attacked than would be expected by chance; the sex ratio (♂/♀) averaged 0·91, five out of nine females being mated and one having mature eggs. For S. a. grossepunctatus the immigration rate (average 4 adults / acre 4 weeks) decreased with time but was not affected by rain; females were usually accompanied by males, the female being deeper in the feeding hole, and 92% were mated, 15% with mature eggs; the high ♂/♀ sex ratio (3·69), differing from that in reared material, is attributed to females spending much time searching for ovi-position sites.

1. The Hemipterous fauna of the tobacco plant in Rhodesia during the growing season is confined to a Coreid, Aleurodid, Jassid and a Capsid.

2. A description of the adult and various instars of the Capsid, Engytatus volucer, Kirk., is given.

3. The habits of the insect on tobacco are discussed.

4. Attempted transmission of tobacco mosaic by Hemiptera found on tobacco plants failed.

5. Further experiments with the macerated contents of the thorax of E. volucer have proved it to cause a rolling and puckering of the leafsurface, which is termed “crinkle.”

6. Crinkle is caused by the poisonous nature of the saliva which spreads rapidly through the interior of the leaf. The salivary action does not affect localised centres to any appreciable extent so as to cause a “shot-hole” effect, as observed with other Capsids. The feeding sites are only noticeable when the leaf is held up to the light; rapid translocation currents cause its action to be spread over larger areas.

7. The injury is aggravated in weakened plants grown under adverse conditions, such as the striking of a hard pan in the sub-soil or a stone, or water deficiency.

8. Control can be effectively carried out by thorough cultivation of the soil, and the choosing of suitable sub-soils for root development. Early planting in December is recommended, or even earlier if rains are suitable, so that the plants will be well established before the height of infestation in April.

Knowledge on the reproductive biology of target insect pest is essential for the effective implementation of pheromone-based pest management tactics. In mealybugs, the second largest family of scale insects, the existence of female multiple mating was recently suggested. In this study, we aimed at testing how general is this behavior in mealybugs, by investigating polygyny and polyandry in two cosmopolitan pest mealybugs, Planococcus citri and Pseudococcus calceolariae. Males of these species were able to mate an average of 11.9 and 13.3 females, respectively, during their lifespan. The number of fertilized females per male decreased with male age/mating history for both mealybugs. We found no differences in female fecundity and fertility, when fertilized by males with different mating history. When we used male age as a proxy of mating history, we observed a significant negative effect on female fecundity. The females of both species remained receptive after first copula and eventually mated multiple times. The percentage of remated females of P. citri decreased linearly with time since first copula, with some maintaining receptivity up to 24 h. Males showed no preference between virgin and mated females, in static-air olfactometer tests. We found no benefit of female multiple mating in relation to fecundity. In biparental mealybugs, the mating system of males is possibly scramble competition polygyny; and that of females is possibly polyandry, with female receptivity restricted to a relatively short period. We discuss the practical implications of the results for pest management.

Pyrethrum spray-sheet collections in a small village in Northern Nigeria showed that there was no significant difference in the numbers of Anopheles gambiae Giles and A. funestus Giles caught at different times in the early morning. In this village, huts at the edge nearest to the only breeding site attracted considerably more adults than those further away from the edge, and some huts were consistently more attractive to mosquitos than others. There was a positive correlation between the numbers of A. gambiae and A. funestus in the huts. Although significant differences were found between numbers of mosquitos caught in the huts occupied by different numbers of people, no simple relationship could be discovered between the combined densities of the two species and the number of hut occupants. It is concluded that there is need for further investigations into the factors influencing densities of the Anophelines in village huts.

The cultivation of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in Ukraine is of great importance, especially in the eastern part, which suffers much from drought. In this area the sunflower constitutes the largest single crop, even exceeding maize, owing to its greater capability for withstanding drought.

There are few countries in which agriculture is more important and the enemies of the crops less known than Mesopotamia. The following notes on a serious pest of the fig-tree in various parts of the Baghdad vilayet were put together on the River Diyala, north-east of Baghdad, at the end of July 1918. The Liparid moth which is so injurious has been determined by Sir G. F. Hampson as Ocnerogyia amanda, Staud. The larve devoured all the fig leaves completely. with the exception of one or two of the large vascular bundles. The fruit shrivelled and dropped before it was ripe.

The pink bollworm of cotton in recent years has become so extensively distributed and is of such general, world-wide importance that its exceptional status in Haiti may prove to be of more than local interest.

Haiti is the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which is the second largest of the West Indies, lying between Cuba and Jamaica on the west and Porto Rico on the east. The Dominican Republic occupies the remainder of the island, and is sharply contrasted with its smaller but more populous neighbour in the language, racial origins, habits and customs of its people. Cotton is not extensively grown in the Dominican Republic ; in Haiti, however, it is second only in importance to coffee. The extensive plains of the Cul-de-Sac and the Artibonite seem to be especially well adapted in soil, elevation, and climate to its growth, and here it forms the main money crop of the region.

Stored product insects show high adaption to hypoxia and hypercapnia, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Herein, a comparative transcriptome on 4th adzuki bean weevil (Callosobruchus chinensis) instar larvae was studied to clarify the response mechanisms to hypoxia (HA) and hypoxia/hypercapnia (HHA) using NextSeq500 RNA-Seq. Transcript profiling showed a significant difference in HA or HHA exposure both quantitatively and qualitatively. Compared with control, 631 and 253 genes were significantly changed in HHA and HA, respectively. Comparing HHA with HA, 1135 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. The addition of hypercapnia made a complex alteration on the hypoxia response of bean weevil transcriptome, carbohydrate, energy, lipid and amino acid metabolism were the most highly enriched pathways for genes significantly changed. In addition, some biological processes that were not significantly enriched but important were also discussed, such as immune system and signal transduction. Most of the DEGs related to metabolism both in HHA and HA were up-regulated, while the DEGs related to the immune system, stress response or signal transduction were significantly down-regulated or suppressed. This research reveals a comparatively full-scale result in adzuki bean weevil hypoxia and hypoxia/hypercapnia tolerance mechanism at transcription level, which might provide new insights into the genomic research of this species.

The influence of protein in the adult diet on first cycle gonotrophic development was examined in newly colonized screwworm flies, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), reared on an artificial larval diet and bred in subsequent generations from females stimulated to oviposit only after all individuals in a colony were expected to have matured their eggs. This latter criterion was established with the goal of reducing selection for early ovarian maturity and increased autogeny. Under these conditions, supplementing the diet with raw meat during the first week after adult emergence hastened egg maturation by two to four days or more, increased the percentage of seven- to ten-day-old females that was gravid by 45%, and boosted the number of eggs per gravid female by c. 30%. The serous discharge from screwworm-infested sheep wounds, a casein–salt mixture, or casein in potassium hydroxide was as effective as raw meat. Addition of B vitamins to the casein–salt mixture was without further effect. The measures taken to reduce selection for altered gonotrophic development were not critically evaluated here, but they appeared successful in that age and protein affected ovarian maturation rates similarly in F2 and F27. Fecundity measured as eggs matured per gravid female differed between generations, but appeared correlated with size differences that were unrelated to colonization duration.

Owing to the deposition of resin, the females assume two shapes, one somewhat circular in which the mouth-parts are situated ventrally about the middle of the body, and the other pyriform, in which the mouth-parts are situated at the extreme anterior end. In the former type of females the mouth-parts are posteriorly directed and in the latter anteriorly. The rostrum lies outside the body cavity between the anterior pair of oral lobes. The rostralis opens into the pharynx which lies in the tentorium. The oesophagus is elongated and passes into the colo-rectum to be succeeded by the convoluted ventriculus. The ventriculus on leaving the colo-rectum leads into the intestine, which is marked into the mid and hind intestine by the junction of the ampulla of the Malpighian tubes. The intestine after forming a loop round the greater part of the colo-rectum re-enters it close to the point of its commencement from it and continues closely attached to the outer side of the ventriculus from its distal to its proximal end; after this it comes out of the colo-rectum and runs alongside it to open into it near the anterior third of its length. The convolutions inside the colo-rectum are comprised of the ventriculus and the part of the hind intestine running outer to it. The “colon caecum” is absent. The colo-rectum opens at the anus situated at the posterior end of the insect and is divided into colon and rectum by the opening of the intestine into it.

The salivary glands consist of two branches of ovoid and spherical bodies. The common duct of the salivary gland of each side runs close to the ventral ganglion and joins the opposite duct to form the terminal duct near its anterior end, which then opens into the pharynx.

The nervous system consists of a bilobed cerebral ganglion which lies anteriorly to the mouth-parts in females in which the tentorium is directed posteriorly, and either laterally or ventrally to it in females in which the tentorium is directed anteriorly and lies at the extreme anterior end. The cerebral ganglion is joined by a pair of connectives to the ventral ganglion, which lies dorsal to the tentorium in females in which it is directed posteriorly, and posterior to the tentorium in which it is directed anteriorly and lies at the extreme anterior end. The ventral ganglion is followed by the nerve chord, which varies in length in either type of female. The main nerves arising from the central nervous system are described.

Anagyrus mangicolasp. n., an encyrtid parasitoid of Rastrococcus species on mango in India, is described and compared with related species. The parasitoid has been the subject of laboratory studies and may be introduced into West Africa to supplement the activities of previously introduced natural enemies of the mango mealybug (R. invadens Williams).

Infestations of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and numbers of beneficial insects in two cottons, Gossypium hirsutum, were compared at Maricopa, Arizona, and Brawley, California, during the 1986–1988 seasons. Plots (0.8 ha) of WC-12NL (nectariless, okraleaf, and early maturing) had significantly lower boll infestations than DPL-61 (nectaried, normal leaf, and later maturing) for each location and year. The three year average (range) PBW/100 bolls for WC-12NL and DPL-61 at Maricopa were 6.8 (5.7–10.7) compared to 11.2 (6.8–15.7), respectively. At Brawley the averages were 18.9 (9.3–27.6) compared to 39.2 (15.5–52.5), respectively. With the exception of 1986 at Maricopa, the percentage of bolls with eggs was significantly greater for DPL-61 (average 8.1, range 3.4–16.0) than for WC-12NL (average 4.2, range 1.1–12.1) for each location and year. Both cottons averaged about four eggs per oviposited boll; not significantly different. The numbers of Lygus spp. and three beneficial species of insects were not different in the two cottons. Collops vittatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Melyridae) was collected in significantly greater numbers in WC-12NL (1.0 per 50 sweeps compared to 0.9 for DPL-61), while Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Ménéville) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) was collected in greater numbers in DPL-61 (0.6 per 50 sweeps compared to 0.3 for WC-12NL). WC-12NL is the culmination of a 20-year breeding programme for resistance to P. gossypiella and has characteristics attractive for cotton production in areas where a shorter growing season is desirable.

A gelechiid moth whose larvae attack the flower buds and young leaves of sapodilla (Achras zapota), known also as chicle gum, chiko or naseberry, in northern India and Pakistan is described and named Anarsia achrasella sp.n. Wing pattern, labial palpal and genitalic features of both sexes of the adult are figured, and the species is differentiated from the closely related Afrotropical A. pinnata Meyr.

Seasonal trends and the parasitoid complex of Chinese wax scale (Ceroplastes sinensis) was studied from July 2010 to February 2013. Six commercial citrus groves located in northeastern Spain were sampled fortnightly. Chinese wax scale completed a single annual generation. Egg oviposition started in May and continued until mid-July. Egg hatching began in mid-June, and in the first quarter of August, the maximum percentage of hatched eggs was reached. In the same groves, the parasitoid species of C. sinensis were determined together with their seasonal trends, relative abundance and occurrence on C. sinensis. Four hymenoptera were found parasitizing C. sinensis, mainly on third instars and females: Coccophagus ceroplastae (Aphelinidae), Metaphycus helvolus (Encyrtidae), Scutellista caerulea (Pteromalidae) and Aprostocetus ceroplastae (Eulophidae). The most abundant species was A. ceroplastae, corresponding to 54% of the parasitoids emerged. Coccophagus ceroplastae and M. helvolus represented 19%, whereas S. caerulea comprised 8% of the total. This study is the first published record of C. ceroplastae in Spain and the first record of M. helvolus on C. sinensis in Spain. Concerning the economical thresholds normally used, sampling plans developed for the management of C. sinensis in citrus groves should target population densities of around 12–20% of invaded twigs, equivalent to 0.2–0.5 females per twig. The sample size necessary to achieve the desired integrated pest management precision is 90–160 twigs per grove for the enumerative plan and about 160–245 twigs per grove for the binomial plan.

The spatial distribution of blowflies of the genus Lucilia within fields in south west England was examined in 1999 and 2000. Blowflies are economically important agents of sheep myiasis in the UK and understanding local aggregation is an essential step in the development of appropriate sampling and fly control regimes. Fifty, 20 × 20 cm, non-odour-baited, sticky traps were used to catch flies, at randomized, 10 × 10 m grid co-ordinates in fields of permanent pasture. Clear aggregations were evident in all Lucilia distributions. All values of the σ2:mean ratio were greater than 1. The catches were shown to be highly aggregated using Morisita’s index of aggregation. Generalized linear modelling of binary presence/absence catch data was used to relate aggregation to microclimate and habitat. Deletion testing was used to identify significant terms in the models. In general, Lucilia blowflies were predominantly caught around the edges, in warmer and more humid areas of the field. The relationship between microhabitat and the distribution of Lucilia collected in 1999 was used as predictive model to explain the catches made in two fields in 2000. This gave a highly significant fit in one field (P = 0.001) and a relationship which approached significance in the second (P = 0.08). However, these regressions suggest that the relationships between abundance and microhabitat are complex and that ‘hot spots’ of blowfly catches were not necessarily found in the most extreme microclimate conditions. Nevertheless, microhabitat features do give a relatively good guide to presence or absence of Lucilia in the trap catches, thereby providing important information about the most appropriate location of traps to maximize and standardize sampling and control regimes.

Metaphycus baruensis sp. n., an encyrtid parasitoid of Coccus spp. on coffee in Kenya, is described and compared with related species. The parasitoid is to be introduced into Papua New Guinea in an attempt to control green scales which are serious pests of coffee there.

Langata Forest is a small, detached forest, 11 square miles in area, of the African plateau type, lying 5 miles west of Nairobi at an altitude of 6,000 ft. The forest is mostly secondary and although of evergreen character, much foliage is lost during the long dry seasons. The indigenous trees include olives (Olea chrysophylla), crotons (Croton megalocarpon), muhugu (Brachylaena hutchinsonii) and cape chestnut (Calodendron capense).

The toxicity of DDT as a contact spray under laboratory conditions has been tested on a number of insect species. The particulars of the species used are set out below.

The toxicity of the DDT spray was compared in every instance with nicotine. A rotenone or derris suspension was included in the tests on Myzus cerasi, Phaedon cochleariae, Pieris brassicae, Pteronus ribesii and Phymatocera aterrima, and a pyrethrin spray in the tests on Pieris brassicae, Pteronus ribesii and Phymatocera aterrima.