Two trials were undertaken in North Queensland dairy pastures to test cultural and chemical control of the funnel ant Aphaenogaster pythia Forel. Funnel antinfested pasture was ploughed, cultivated and replanted with several grass species and the legume Glycine javanica. Grazing with dairy cattle was controlled to maintain a dense sward. In untreated pasture where grazing was continuous, funnel ant mound building remained consistently high over the three-year period, but where grazing was regulated mound building was significantly reduced after three months and was negligible after three years. There was a significant inverse relationship between sward density and A. pythia mound numbers.

Albedo (the inner, white part of the rind) of the grapefruit (Citrus parodisi) and the flowers of the garden hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) were analysed for the presence of chemo-stimulants for the leaf-cutting ants Atta cephalotes (L.) and Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich). Two distinct types of chemical substances in grapefruit albedo (unabsorbed sapids from a cation-exchange resin I.R. 120, and the total lipid fraction) were significant arrestants for Atta cephalotes, whilst five types of chemical substances (absorbate on the cation-exchange resin I.R. 120, unabsorbed sapids from the same resin, the total lipid fraction, absorbate on a polyamide resin, and neohesperidosides) arrested Acromyrmex octospinosus. For both ant species, the unabsorbed sapids from the polyamide resin appeared to be the most attractive of the relatively refined fractions. A preliminary analysis showed a similar situation for hibiscus flowers.

Both ant species preferred young to older grapefruit leaves. There appears to be a chemical basis for this, and in the case of A. octospinosus there was evidence of the existence of repellents in the older leaves and in grapefruit flavedo (the outer, yellow part of the rind).

Substantial heterogeneity in preferences was detected in a given nest from day to day, between different nests of the same species, and between the two species. It is suggested that this is attributable to social phenomena evolved by the ants.

Investigations into some possible attractants of Glossina morsitans Westw. and G. pallidipes Aust. have been described. In small cages (8x8x11 in.) under laboratory conditions, flies with painted eyes survived longer than those that were untreated, whilst removing the antennae decreased longevity. Olfactory stimuli were probably more important than vision in orientating a fly towards a static guinea-pig used as a host in a moulded mesh insert into the cage. Field observations indicated that tsetse flies were orientated towards an ox at a distance mainly by vision and few flies found oxen concealed by screens. Olfaction may be used at relatively short distances to find hidden host animals, and G. pallidipes may respond to smell more readily than G. morsitans.

Tests in the laboratory and small field cages (6 ft3) indicated that tsetse were not attracted to any particular colour (red, yellow, blue) or shade (white, grey, black). However, in the field more flies were caught off a dark ox than a white ox. In the laboratory > 80% of male G. pallidipes responded to black light within four hours while with G. morsitans a similar proportion was attracted only after six hours. Responses by both species decreased with blue, red and white light and were least with yellow. In small field cages attraction to black light was reduced and only 20–38·6% of either species were caught by a “flap trap” in 6–13½-h test periods. Tests with either blue or red lights in these field cages trapped less than 9% of the released tsetse flies in similar periods. Field trials with black light indicated that this attractant was ineffective as a sampling technique since very few of a natural population were trapped.

Two species of Lepidoptera reared from galls caused by a Thysanopteran, Vuilletia houardi (Vuillet), on the shrub Guiera senegalensis (Combretaceae) in Northern Nigeria are described as new. One is named Eublemma guiera sp. n. and belongs in the subfamily Eustrotiinae of the Noctuidae, and the other Anarsia guiera sp. n. and belongs in the Gelechiidae. The adults and male and female genitalia of both species are illustrated.

In this experimental analysis of the teratology of Tribolium, we studied the effect of crowding and handling on a disorder associated with pupal eclosion. Handling increased the incidence of the abnormality which occurred infrequently in controls: the crowding level tested by us had no effect. T. confusum Duv., strain b-I produced more abnormal beetles than T. castaneum (Hbst.), strain c-IV-a. Handling older pupae increased the disorder to a greater extent than in young and non-pupae.

The handling procedure was quite vigorous and the threshold level required to produce the effect is not known. The phenomenon might be important in population ecology but the pathway through which handling produces it is unknown.

A chemical sex attractant for the male grass grub beetle (Costelytra zealandica (White)) has been shown to be present in a commercially available adhesive preparation.

Female tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans Westw.) were more active in an experimental chamber in the laboratory: (a) at high than at low temperatures, (b) in high than in low humidities, and except at high temperatures, (c) when hungry than when replete. Flies were also more active in the chamber when a small area of black surface (1·6%) was present than when a larger black surface (12·8% or 50%) was available. Both black and white surfaces were provided in all experiments, and over the temperature range 25–40°C flies settled on black more frequently than would be expected by chance. This preference for a black resting surface was most marked when the flies were most active: (a) above 35°C in all experiments, (b) at high humidities with teneral flies, and (c) when the flies had not fed. Flies settling on black usually rested longer than those settling on a white surface.

The life-history of Pseudorhyssa sternata Merrill was investigated under natural and artificial conditions.

When P. sternata and Rhyssa persuasoria (L.) females were present on Siricidinfested logs, P. sternata observed the primary parasite making drill shafts, and after the primary withdrew its ovipositor and moved away, P. sternata located the shaft and inserted its ovipositor to gain access to the host. P. sternata was able to locate R. persuasoria drill shafts aged 1–38 days.

P. sternata females were stimulated to oviposition behaviour when presented with paper drilled by R. persuasoria, and this response was enhanced by the presence of wet Siricid frass, or the symbiotic fungus of Siricids. Ovipositor probing was also made through artificial holes into frass. Bioassay of R. persuasoria vaginal and venom glands resulted in considerable probing into filter paper impregnated with vaginal gland extract.

It was concluded that P. sternata females probably locate Siricid-infested trees by responding to a generalised stimulus that is potent in larval frass, and which possibly derives from the symbiotic fungus. The cleptoparasite probably finds the drill-shaft by responding to a secretion of the vaginal gland of the primary parasite.

Experiments were carried out on the flight pattern of unfed female mosquitoes in an area of the Gambia adjacent to mangrove swamps. The mosquitoes were trapped in flight by the use of ramp-traps as they approached natural or simulated baits. The traps were arranged in series in four avenues of cleared bush, radiating out at right angles to each other. The baits were installed either at the centre of the cross formed by the avenue or at the outer end of one avenue. Trapping was carried out at six ranges simultaneously, extending from 5–80 yd (4·5–73 m) distance from the bait. The baits were either two small calves or carbon dioxide emitted from a cylinder at a rate equivalent to the expiration rate of the animals. A series of catches with no bait was also made.

Phlebotomine sandflies were collected simultaneously at ground level, 25 ft and 40 ft in an area of medium bush in British Honduras (Belize).

Flies were captured on human bait, with rat-baited oil-traps and with miniature light-traps, and some resting individuals were collected at each level. One species of Brumptomyia França and 18 of Lutzomyia França & Parrot were obtained. Brief notes on some of these species are given.

Miniature light-traps provided the widest range of species, were the most satisfactory means for collecting Brumptomyia, L. steatopyga (Fairchild & Hertig) and L. carpenteri (Fairchild & Hertig), and yielded new information on the flight activities of L. deleoni (Fairchild & Hertig) and L. panamensis (Shannon).

Most species collected were found to be predominantly arboreal in habit, L. permira (Fairchild & Hertig) and Lutzomyia sp. P being almost exclusively so. Some species (L. panamensis, possibly L. geniculata (Mangabeira) and L. bispinosa (Fairchild & Hertig)) live amongst the foliage but descend to the forest floor to seek blood-meals. A few species (L. steatopyga, L. deleoni and L. olmeca (Vargas & Díaz Nájera)) are active mainly near the ground, though the occasional specimen may be carried much higher.

L. olmeca is the principal vector of rodent leishmaniasis in British Honduras. In the present study, no evidence was obtained to incriminate any other species of Phlebotomine as an insect host for Leishmania mexicana, and the mode of transmission of the parasite to man remains obscure.

Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) breeds in the rotting stumps of oil palms and rubber trees, and is a potentially devastating pest of young oil palm replants, the unopened leaves of which are attacked by the adults. In view of the planters' belief that the pest is controlled by heavy ground vegetation, the effects of cover (natural, legume or grass) and bare ground on beetle populations in rotting logs and incidence of beetle attack on young palms were compared in a series of four experiments.

An experiment was carried out in 1967 to assess the effects and economics of aerial applications of pyrethrum as an aerosol spray against a high density tsetse population consisting mainly of Glossina pallidipes Aust. in northern Tanzania. Complete eradication was attempted, and six applications of a 0·4% w/v solution of natural pyrethrins, synergised with 2% piperony1 butoxide in power kerosene, were applied at three-week intervals over three square miles. Application was from a Cessna 182E fitted with one Micronair rotary atomiser. Populations of G. pallidipes, assessed from fly-path catches, were reduced 95% after three applications. The final three applications had little effect and it was considered that unfavourable meteorological conditions and full leaf cover were the main factors responsible. It is suggested that, in view of the high initial kill of the fly and the possibility of using pyrethrum economically against tsetse for human settlement schemes, further work should be carried out with this insecticide.

A new species of scale insect from coconut trees in Trinidad is described and named Parlagena bennetti. The generic assignment is tentative. A key to the four known species of Parlagena is provided.

The effects of tetramethrin on the behaviour and mortality of Anopheles gambiae Giles entering verandah-trap huts have been studied with the assistance of gaschromatographic techniques.

Fifty-three to 39% of A. gambiae were deterred from entering a corrugated-iron-roof hut treated indoors with a nominal dosage of 2 gm/m2 tetramethrin active ingredient.

Overall mortalities were 53–71% in the first month of application, but fell two to three months after application to 22–46%.

The tetramethrin deposit had marked effects on the behaviour of A. gambiae entering treated huts. Feeding was greatly inhibited, 69–90% of the mosquitoes being unfed. Also, as the residual toxicity of the deposit declined, increasingly higher proportions (40–70%) of recently blood-fed A. gambiae left the huts due to the irritant action of the insecticide. The chemical basis of the irritant effect was indicated to the extent that survivors leaving the treated hut showed 9·5–14·0 ng tetramethrin/individual. The minimum lethal dose was indicated by 17·5–21·7 ng/individual picked up by mosquitoes showing delayed mortalities after leaving the treated huts. Mosquitoes that died indoors picked up amounts ranging from 27·0 to 42·3 ng/individual.

The effects of tetramethrin on A. gambiae were in general similar to those of DDT and pyrethrum, and differed only in degree.

A new Anopheles species of the subgenus Cellia Theobald is described from a female caught at ultraviolet light in northern Nigeria, and named A. deemingi. A description is also given of an atypical female adult of A. pretoriensis (Theobald).

New material available as a result of a visit to Madagascar to search for parasites of the coffee bugs Antestiopsis spp. enabled a re-examination of the taxonomy of the genus in that country. It is shown that the species, formerly placed in the genus Antestia, belong to the genus Antestiopsis. Descriptions of the known species, A. clymeneis (Kirk.) and A. amberensis (Cachan), and subspecies of A. clymeneis are given together with a description of a new subspecies from wild Rubiaceae. A comparison with an Indian species, A. cruciata (F.), and the A. orbitalis group from Africa shows that all are closely related. Notes on their biology and parasites of A. clymeneis are also included.

A new species of Cataenococcus Ferris, C. larai, is described from material obtained from banana fruits in Costa Rica. A key is provided to the five known N. American species of Cataenococcus.

A species of Trichogrammatid reared from the eggs of Entypotrachelus meyeri Kolbe (Col., Curculionidae) is described as new and is named Oligositoides semicinctium.

Survival and age-specific fecundity rates are given for samples of Glossina austeni Newst. fed on lop-eared rabbits or goats. From these, rm (the innate capacity for increase in numbers) is calculated as being 0·0173 for rabbit-fed and 0·0157 for goat-fed colonies of flies.

The outputs available for disposal from stationary colonies maintained on the two hosts are calculated and the predicted effect of killing the surviving breeding females at various ages is indicated. It is concluded that the weekly output of males, depending on the conditions, could be 20–30% of the number of breeding flies that have to be maintained and that for a given output the number of goat-fed flies that would have to be maintained would be 18–20% greater than the number of rabbit-fed flies. Such small differences in productivity would probably be outweighed by considerations of availability and ease of maintenance of host species in relation to local conditions and costs.

It is believed that the maximum output for colonies of G. austeni has been approached.

During 1966 a Rothamsted and a New Jersey light-trap were operated at two coastal sites in Dorset, southern England. They collected fifteen species of Culicoides but did not give an accurate estimate of the relative importance of the anthropophilic species in the areas as shown by human-bait catches. Although unfed females predominated, gravid individuals formed a substantial part of the catch. Few males were caught. The seasonal incidence of the commoner species at the two sites were compared. Fecundity, as estimated by dissection, was higher than previously recorded for Ceratopogonidae, reaching a mean of 153/female in C. maritimus Kieff. A few females of several species had well developed fat reserves indicating the possibility of autogeny, hibernation or a migratory phase.