Scale of adult ♀ about 2 mm. long, moderately broadened behind, convex, usually curved, white, not glossy, but with ± conspicuous growth-lines; exuviae orange-brown to dark brown. The colour of the second exuviae is only slightly obscured by a faint secretionary covering.

The salient points in Pallas's brief description are as follows:—“Cinereus … Frons hirtella. Antennae triarticulatae; extremum trinode, basis vero pilis nigris subpennata. Palmi [? palpi] nulli: ensis nudus … basi pilosus. Pedes longissimi, grisei, posticis corporis fere tripla longitudine, praesertim tarsi, elongati. Alae lanceolatae, cinerascentes, venis hirsutis ad crassiorem marginem nigro maculatae … Comes prioris [C.caspius, = O.dorsalis, Mg.], rarior red ferocior.”

Very little is known about the African DELPHACIDAE, especially the tropical forms. For this reason it is worth recording the few species represented in a small collection made by Mr. J. C. Bridwell at Oloke-Meji, Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1914. All the specimens were swept from grasses and reeds. It isto be hoped that larger collections will soon be available and that those who work at them will examine and give figures or adequate descriptions of the genitalia, especially of the aedeagus. Owing to the wide distribution ofsome species and the great difference in colour of other species, and the paucity of good specific distinctions in the chroötic characters, it isalmost impossible to identify many species of the Delphacides group without making use of the phallic characters.

The following notes on the various insects injurious to the economic crops of the Zanzibar Protectorate are based on investigations made during the last few years.

The problems of how to obtain accurate records of the infestation of injurious insects has during recent years received considerable attention; and when we take into consideration that it is quite as impossible to study the course of an outbreak during its different stages as it is to compare two outbreaks occurring in different localities or at different times, without possessing methods of recording in an accurate way the degree of infestation and injury, it is evident that every effort must be made to solve this difficulty and devise means of obtaining accurate records in these respects.

The pupa is bilaterally symmetrical, that is, setae occur in similar situations on each side of the body, so that it will suffice to describe the arrangement on one side only. The setae on the two sides of the same pupa, however, often vary as regards their sub-divisions, and similar variations occur between different individuals; as an example, in Table I are shown some of the variations that were found in ten pupae taken at random. An examination of a larger number would have revealed a wider range. As a rule, a seta which is sometimes single, sometimes divided, is longer when single. For example, in one pupa the seta at the posterior angle of

the seventh segment was single on the right side, double on the left; the former measuring 266μ, and the latter only 159μ in length. This fact is not specifically mentioned in the descriptions which follow, but should be understood.

Through the courtesy of Dr. G. A. K. Marshall I have had the opportunity of examining specimens of a beetle belonging to the subfamily Hispinae of the Chrysomelidae, which is reported to be injurious to oil palms (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq.) in the Gold Coast. Concerning this insect Mr. W. H. Patterson, Government Entomologist in the Gold Coast, writers as follows:—“The beetle has suddenly become a pest, being reported as having destroyed all the expanded foliage of many thousands oil palms in one district. A similar epidemic occurred in 1909, but entirely disappeared during the following rainy season, since which time the beetle has been very rare”. From this it would appear that the extent of damage is considerable when the insect becomes numerous. Although Mr. Patterson does not indicate the nature of the damage there is no doubt that the larvae mine into the young shoots and the adults defoliate the young leaves. In a recent work (Hispinae and Cassidinae, Fauna of Brit. Ind., London 1919, pp. 10–18) I have reviewed all the Hispid pests of plants useful to man. Only two African Hispids have hitherto been noted as harmful, and these attack maize in East Africa.

Female. Dorsum nude and densely chitinised. Marsupium occupying practically the whole of the interior. Venter (sternites) remaining attached to the food-plant. Legs and antennae present. Cephalic margin with a strongly developed clypeus, lying prone over the mentum. Abdominal stigmata present.