The progress of applied Entomology is mainly visible in the discovery of practical means for the destruction of insects injurious to cultivated plants, and in the minute determination of the various stages of the growth and development of such insects. More recently the parasites of insect pests, both of vegetable and animal origin, have also largely attracted attention. But physiological research, so far as injurious insects are concerned, has almost entirely been overlooked and neglected; although this line of enquiry affords obvious opportunities for arriving at tbe very essence of the whole matter, and should indeed be made one of the main starting points in the study of insect pests.

The following paper contains descriptions of eleven new species belonging to seven genera, besides notes on some other species. The types of all the new forms are in the British Museum (Natural History). As indicating the countries in which the new species have been obtained, the appended list may be of service.

Glossina fusca and G. palpalis are prevalent throughout the Western Province of Ashanti, the latter being much the most common species. They both occur in dense jungle, but the type of bush most favourable for them appears to be the scrub and smaller forest which occurs in the dividing line of country between the dense jungle and typical “orchard” grass bush. Scrub of a height of three or four feet upwards appears to be sufficient to harbour these insects.

Little is needed by way of introduction, beyond the statement that this paper is really a continuation of a previous one (“The African Species of Culex and allied Genera,” Bull. Ent. Res., Oct. 1911, pp. 241–268). In the present paper a complete synopsis is given of all the African species, with the exception of some of those already tabulated and of the genus Anopheles and its sub-divisions. Through the kindness of Prof. R. Newstead, the author has now been able to examine the types in the collection of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, so that the number of undetermined species has been considerably reduced, and all have now been accounted for except those given as doubtful in the paper referred to.

These notes are intended as a summary of the early investigations into the habits of Glossina morsitans carried out in connection with the Luangwa Sleeping Sickness Commission. The part of the valley that has been examined is that lying between 12° S. and 13° 50' S., but it has been practicable to make only one journey to the eastern side of the river. This journey was undertaken in September and consisted of an examination of the Rukususi and Rukusi Rivers from the Luangwa almost to the Nyasaland boundaries. Hence these remarks apply mainly to the district immediately surrounding Nawalia, the headquarters of the Commission. The observations have been made during the period from August 1911 to the beginning of March 1912.

In pursuing my studies of the genital armature of the tsetse-flies, I have been fortunate in securing some valuable and interesting material from various parts of the African continent which has enabled me to offer a further contribution on the specific characters of the recently discovered Glossina austeni, Newst., from British East Africa; to present a detailed account of the armature of the apparently rare G. fuscipleuris, Aust., and to clear up some doubtful points in regard to the structural details of the male genital armature in G. longipennis, Corti. Later I hope to be able to offer some further remarks on G. palpalis, R.D., especially in regard to the colour and structural variations existing in this species. Meanwhile I may here state, for the guidance of the student, that G. fuscipes, Newst., which was described by me as a distinct species, must sink as a well-marked race of G. palpalis.

The Colony of Southern Nigeria was traversed by the writer in 1910, and the following short report is founded on observations made during the first seven months of that year. As will be seen later on, various officers, chiefly medical, stationed in the Colony, afforded material help in the investigation, and the results of their work are also incorporated here; the collections of injurious insects made by them have been duly acknowledged in previous issues of this Bulletin, and also, as far as possible, throughout this report.

When I assumed duty in the Nile Province of the Uganda Protectorate, it was known to me that Dr. Shircore had taken a tsetse-fly near Nimule, which he considered to be nearly allied to, but distinct from, G. palpalis. I had been asked to take an early opportunity of examining the haunt of these insects and capturing further specimens. On several occasions I therefore repaired to the site of Dr. Shircore's find, and along some two miles of the bank succeeded in taking a large number of Glossina. These did not appear to differ in any noticeable degree from those one had seen on Lake Victoria, or on the smaller rivers of this Province, and as Dr. Shircore had reported that he had frequently seen the fly in question with the larger palpalis, especially near Nimule, I came to the conclusion that I had been very unfortunate in not taking a single specimen.

In Northern Nigeria the dry season begins in October, and ends in March. During this period practically no rain falls, and the highest temperatures of the year are recorded during the day, whilst the lowest annual temperatures occur during the night at this season. A short tornado season occurs at the beginning and end of the dry weather. In the case of Zungeru, where my experiments were carried out, the following is the meteorological return for the year 1910:—

The compilation of the following key has been a matter of no little difficulty, mainly owing to the close connection of the species in some of the groups, which sometimes makes it almost impossible to assign specific limits. The difficulty has in some cases been increased through the paucity of material, which prevents any adequate conception of the range of variability being obtained. This is particularly the case with some of the species coming from the Mediterranean region, which are very closely allied, and of which, as a rule, the British Museum possesses very few specimens. Names have only been sunk here as synonyms in those cases where there appeared to be no reasonable doubt, either after a comparison of the types, or of the descriptions, when these were sufficiently detailed. Eventually, therefore, it may be found that some forms which are here given specific rank will have to be regarded at most as varieties. Since so many figures of Anopheline wings, etc., have already appeared, it is not deemed necessary to add to their number. Some new records have been included, but on the other hand some old ones, which appeared to be questionable, have been omitted. As with the writer's previous papers, this key is merely intended to supplement the detailed descriptions which will be found in other works.

In making a critical examination of the palpi of the various species of phlebotomus described in this paper, I have found that the third* segment of the palpi in all of them is provided with a compound group of minute and curiously modified spines. In P. minutus (fig. 1c) they are somewhat squamiform and the pedicel is, so far as I can ascertain, extremely short; in P. papatasii (fig. 1d) they are distinctly spathuliform, with the pedicel long and strongly curved. In P. squamipleuris (fig. 1i) the spines are similar to those found in P. papatasii, but they appear to be more gradually dilated distally and have relatively shorter pedicels. These organs are common to both sexes and are probably sensory in function; but they are so easily deciduous that they can rarely be seen, though the position occupied by them is generally indicated by a compound group of circular cicatrices clearly showing the point of attachment of the spines with the integument.

The following notes are presented in the simple form in which they were jotted down at the time, as it seems to me that this will be the best way to give a clear idea of what was observed.

Enquiries are frequently made through the Entomological Research Committee with reference to TINEINA bred from cotton, and as the notes on Gelechia gossypiella, Sndrs., published by Lord Walsingham in Fauna Hawaiiensis [1. 731–4 (1907)] are not generally accessible, I have been requested to revise these notes and reprint them with additional information on gossypiella and two species of Pyroderces. It is quite clear that the Gelechia does immense damage to the cotton, attacking the seeds in the boll, but what damage (if any) is actually occasioned by Pyroderces simplex, Wlsm. (= gossypiella, Wlsm.), and rileyi, Wlsm., is not manifest; it would seem that these species are associated with cotton already injured by damp or other insects rather than themselves being the cause of injury. Further information will doubtless be supplied now that the names are available.

Bole is a small town situated just north of the 9th parallel N. lat. and about 15 miles from the Black Volta, which forms the western boundary of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast.

Most of the species of Leiognathus are parasitic on small mammals (bats, rodents, etc.), others occur on birds and a few also on reptiles. A number of the species of this genus have been described under the name Liponyssus, butpersonally I do not think that Liponyssus setosus, Kolenati (the type and first described species of the genus Liponyssus) falls into the same natural genus as the species described by recent authors under that generic name or under the name Leiognathus. On the other hand, Kolenati's genera Ischoronyssus, Macronyssus, Lepronyssus, Steatonyssus and Pimelonyssus certainly seem to me to be congeneric with Leiognathus, Cn., and ultimately one of these names will have to replace Canestrini's.

The following article has been written from notes of observations and experiments extending over nearly three years—April 1909 to December 1911. Its main object is an attempt to demonstrate that a true conception of the production of Auopheline mosquitos in a definite country or district can only be formed by a large amount of continual work throughout the seasons of the year. At the present time very numerous observations are still to be made before much generalising should be allowed concerning the breeding-grounds and bionomics of these insects.

Four specimens—one male and three females—mounted in Canada Balsam were sent from Rio Javary, South America. In this condition nothing can said about their colour, and very little about the nature of their hairy covering, except that all parts of the body are apparently hairy, as usual, and that the hairs that are left on the abdomen are very long and almost recumbent.

When, early in the present year, Dr. A. Ingram sent in to the Entomological Research Committee his collection of larvae and bred adults of culicinae from Bole, Northern Territories, Gold Coast, the writer decided to describe these as soon as possible, and the opportunity seemed favourable to include a thorough revision of the known larvae of the African culicinae. The results of this work are given in the following tables. The difficulties of classification might have been considerable, but for the valuable pioneer work of Messrs. Dyar and Knab* in America, and the present author is glad to express his indebtedness to these writers, and would like to add his testimony, if any were needed, to the soundness of their general classification. The paper by Wesché† in this journal is also very important, as it is the only one devoted to a study of the larvae of African culicidae. Figures of most of the species not illustrated here will be found in it.

Among various insects collected on behalf of the Entomological Research Committee by Dr. R. W. Gray in Southern Nigeria, a large number of minute Collembola, all belonging to the same species, and taken at Benin City on June 9th, 1910, have been sent to me for identification. So little is known of Tropical African Collembola, that no surprise could be felt when the insect proved to belong to an undescribed species. Dr. Gray gives no information as to the kind of locality in which this springtail was found, or whether it was in any way injurious. In Europe, however, in recent years, students of economic zoology have come, more and more, to recognise that many species of Collembola feed on living plant tissues1 as well as on the decaying vegetable and animal refuse which forms the usual food of their order. It seems fitting therefore that an account of the insect should be published in this Bulletin, if only to call the attention of entomologists working in Tropical Africa to the scientific interest, and probable economic importance of springtails.

The silkworms which are found in the largest quantities in Uganda belong to the genus Anaphe (family EUPTEROTIDAE), of which we have three species, Anaphe infracta, Wlsm., A. venata, Butl., and A. moloneyi, Druce. The other species of silkworms which have so far been observed in the Protectorate are Mimopacha gerstaeckeri, Dew., and Hypsoides milleti, de Juan, but these are comparatively rare. This paper deals only with Anaphe infracta.