Anjeerodiplosis peshawarensis Mani is a serious pest in North India of the fruit of the country fig (Ficus carica), which is its only known host. The midges are abundant, hovering under the host tree in the mornings and at dusk, and breed throughout the year, except in the summer from April until the July rains. In this period newly formed fruits are not infested, but in other months scarcely 30 per cent, of the fruits remain free from attack.

Eggs are laid in fruits when they one week old, succulent, and of the size of a pea. The eggs are minute, hyaline, unsculptured, oval and pedicellate and occur in bundles of 16. Incubation takes three days in September and March and five days in December and January. In laboratory tests, average viability in January was found to be about 83 per cent.

The entire larval period is passed inside the figs, each of which may contain 200–300 larvae. There are four larval instars, which differ in size according to Dyar's law and in morphology. The first-instar larva is devoid of cuticular outgrowths and does not show spiracles; the second and third instars have nine pairs of spiracles and possess characteristic spines, warts and tubercles; the fourth instar develops the sternal spatula. The entire larval period lasts three weeks from the middle of August to October and four weeks in January and February. From the middle of April until the July rains, fourth-instar larvae remain inside the figs. When the larval period is three weeks, the first and second instars together and the third and fourth instars separately last about a week.

Full-grown fourth-instar larvae bore out of the fruit and drop to the ground, where they jump for some time with the aid of their sternal spatula. They finally pupate in the soil without forming a cocoon but become covered in a protective case composed of soil particles that adhere to the larval skin. Early fourth-instar larvae, which do not have a sternal spatula, if taken from the fruits, may also successfully pupate, and the pupal period is normal. This period is 10–15 days between July and November and 25–26 days in January and February. It is shortest (10 days) in the rainy season, when both temperature and humidity are high.

The pupa is obtect, creamy white and bears poorly developed cephalic horns and bristles, well developed thoracic horns and many spines and cuticular outgrowths. Mortality in the pupal stage is between 15 and 30 per cent.

Emergence of the adults invariably occurs in the early hours of the day. Two or three days before emergence, the protective case becomes detached piecemeal. Males emerge before females. The ratio of males to females on the day of emergence is 1:2 between March and December and 2:3 in January and February. Copulation starts soon after emergence and lasts from 60 to 90 seconds.

There is considerable overlapping of generations. On the basis of the time required for completion of the life-cycle in different months, it is calculated that seven generations are completed in a year.

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.

This Anopheline was first found in Syria in the larval stage on 30th August 1941. Up to the time of writing, 11th October 1941, adults and larvae have been taken on several occasions. Isolated larvae have been bred to the adult stage, and larval and pupal pelts preserved. Through the courtesy of Professor S. Adler and Dr. O. Theodor, of the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, I was able to consult the literature regarding the distribution of this species and to confirm its identification. The discovery of Anopheles marten in Syria is a new record.

♂. Pale greyish stramineous. Antennae clothed with short hairs, and with indefinite brownish rings. Face smooth. Fastigium of vertex cylindrical, sulcate above, with the apex rounded, and slightly inflated, viewed in profile almost truncate. Pronotum callosely rugulose; its discovery feebly saddle-shaped, with the median carina scarcely perceptible near the hind margin, which is roundly truncate; the two transverse sulci deep, the anterior one feebly bisinuate, the posterior one broadly arched; anterior margin rounded; lateral lobes sloping, somewhat longer than broad, with the anterior angle obtuse, the posterior one very obtuse and rounded, and the hind margin strongly sinuate, with a deep humeral sinus. Elytra nearly twice as long as the abdomen, with the veinlets whitish green. Prosternum armed with two not long, pointed, somewhat divergent spines. Mesosternal lobes small, rounded; metasternal lobes forming together an equilateral triangle with the angles broadly rounded. Front and middle femora armed with 0–3 small black spinules on the inner lower margin (hind legs missing in the type). Cerci (fig. 1, C) round, feebly incurved, with the apex attenuate, distinctly incurved, pointed. Subgenital plate (fig. 1, A, B) very long and narrow, slightly recurved; the lower surface almost flat, with an incomplete median ridge and two more distinct sublateral ridges running throughout the plate to the bases of the styli; the latter short, cylindrical; hind margin of the plate acutely and deeply excised between the styli.

Exitianus curvipenis (representing a new sixth species-group) from rice-field grasses in Nigeria, and E. upenis (okahandia-group) from open grassland in Abyssinia are described as new.

Incubation of eggs of the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria migratorioides (Reiche & Fairmaire), was examined in the Orange Free State (OFS) highveld of South Africa where the locust is a recurring pest of cereal crops. A minimum incubation time of 16±SE 0.97 d was recorded in summer and this progressively increased through autumn as temperatures declined. Eggs laid in autumn overwintered for 140±2.63 d until spring, when rising temperatures initiated hatching. Controlled laboratory studies established that the threshold for egg development was in the region of 15.6°C and that eggs required 5268 degree-hours to complete their development. Analysis of hourly soil temperature records, measured at egg pod depth in the field, showed that temperatures first dropped below this critical temperature threshold during mid-April, after which eggs became quiescent and overwintered until spring. There was no evidence of diapause in the field and overwintering eggs exhibited a wide range of embryonic development. Quiescence during winter on the OFS highveld was therefore a simple temperature-induced response. This is the first record of prolonged overwintering in the egg stage of the migratory locust in Africa.

The puparia of some Cyclorrhaphous Diptera resemble and are found among those of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.). Those of Plesiocyptera sp., Argyrophylax aureiventris (Villen.) (Tachinidae) and? Physocephala (Conopidae), are described and illustrated, as are the larval cephalopharyngeal skeletons recovered from the puparia.

All the leaf-feeding sawflies on Larix in Britain belong to the Nematine Tenthredinidae. Up till a few years ago, the most notorious recorded in this country was Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig), though local attack of P. wesmaeli (Tischbein) and P. laricis (Hartig) have also occured. These are also the chief Tenthredinid enemies of larch on the European continent, where the genus Anoplonyx has apparently never occured in sufficiently large numbers to cause economic damage. In Britain, where larch is not a native tree, the sawflies attacking its leaves are all restricted to it and so must have been introduced into the country.

The species commonly known in the West Indies as the pepper flower-bud moth has been shown not to be Gnorimoschema gudmannella (Wlsm.), as hitherto supposed, but an undescribed species, for which the name Gnorimoschema capsica is proposed. The species is described and differentiated from G. gudmannella and other species in the Grnorimoschemini.

A new method of determining the duration of the aquatic stages of Anophelines in nature is described. Repeated daily dippings of a stretch of stream were made, and the numbers of pupae and of larvae of each instar were recorded. The duration of the aquatic stages was then determined by analysis of the sequences of peaks in these numbers.

The duration of larval life of A. minimus, when living in a stream at an average daily range of water temperature between 26·5°C. and 30·6°C, was seven days.

The full life cycle of A. minimus, under monsoon conditions in Assam, probably occupied 14 days—egg 2 days, larva 7 days, pupa 2 days, adult to first egg-laying 3 days.

Recent developments of physiology have emphasised the importance of membranes, and in entomology, studies on the permeability of membranes would offer the necessary basis for investigations on the physiological action of insecticides, particularly those applied externally, as well as on the many aspects of insect physiology.

In a recent number of this Bulletin, Lloyd and Johnson (1) attempted to describe and illustrate all the known types of flagellate infections encountered in Glossina. Since this account was written a flagellate, which it is believed has not previously been described, has been encountered in three individuals of G. morsitans at Sherifuri, Northern Nigeria. In the first two cases the worker at the microscope was new to the infections of tsetse and did not notice anything peculiar about the parasite in the proboscides that were being examined. The appearance of the parasites in the stained film caused one slide to be retained with a note, but it was at that time regarded as an aberrant T. vivax infection. In the second instance T. vivax was present, and the unusual forms accompanying it were remarked upon, but unfortunately the slide was not retained. In the third instance it was noticed in the fresh preparation that none of the parasites were fixed to the labrum, as are the vast majority of those in T. vivax infections, nor were they clumped as in this species and in T. congolense. Each individual was free-swimming and many were escaping from the labial cavity, the power of translatory movement being great. The hypo-pharynx was not invaded. The remainder of the fly was then examined and the mid gut was found to be heavily infected, while the salivary glands were negative.

The inheritance of white eye in Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) was investigated by means of a series of back-crosses repeated through ten generations. Since an approximate 1:1 ratio of white-eyed: red-eyed flies was observed throughout, it is concluded that white eye is due to a single recessive gene (w). Earlier work establishing that w is on an autosome is discussed.

A test for the existence of a linkage group containing genes for white eye and dieldrin-susceptibility was then made. The exposure of back-cross progeny to discriminating levels of insecticide, and the pattern of mortality observed with scalar concentrations of dieldrin, indicated that genes for white eye (w) and dieldrin-susceptibility (rdi) are on different chromosomes.

The following mosquitos should be added to the list given in my earlier paper on this subject (Bull. Ent. Res. 28, 1937, pp. 405—407).

1. Anopheles elutus, Edwards.

The larvae are found in the same habitats as those of A. maculipennis, but seem to show a greater preference for waters near the sea-shore. A. elutus appears to be considerably rarer in Corfu than A. maculipennis, but sufficient data are not yet to hand to settle this question.

2. Anopheles plumbeus, Stephens.

Not common. I have obtained the larvae from the rot-holes of oak, elm and white poplar, but never so far from those of olive-trees. They favour deep holes containing plenty of rotting material.

3. Aëdes (Ochlerotatus) caspius, Pallas.

The larvae are sometimes present in fresh, but more frequently in slightly brackish waters. They are often gregarious with the larvae of O. detritus, Hal., but are much less abundant than the latter.

4. Aëdes (Ochlerotatus) pulchritarsis, Rondani.

The larvae live in rot-holes of oak, elm and white poplar, and are sometimes met with in considerable numbers in the same hole. They prefer holes in which the collected water has become thick and very dark amber in colour owing to the presence of decaying wood debris.

5. Orthopodomyia pulchripalpis, Rondani.

The larvae are found in the same habitats as those of O. pulchritarsis and are often gregarious with the latter. They are less plentiful, on the whole, than O. pulchritarsis and prefer somewhat clearer water.

Note.—In my paper referred to above I mentioned that Finlaya echinus, Edw., is commoner in Corfu than F. geniculatus, Oliv. This statement is due to an error of determination arising from the fact that in many of the Corfu larvae of F. geniculatus the bristles of the abdominal tufts are somewhat more developed than those described in some text-books.

Male.—General coloration fuscous, with the vertex of the head, pectus, underside of abdomen, anal region, legs and base of antennal shaft mouse-grey. Fore-wings, above, covered with mouse-grey scales, amongst which are scattered irregular patches of fuscous-black scales, these predominating but forming no definite pattern; beneath, covered more uniformly with fuscous-black scales, except in the region between the first anal vein and the inner margin, which is covered with narrow elongate oval mouse-grey scales. Hind-wings above and beneath covered with fuscous scales, the inner margin furnished with long fuscous hairs. Cilia of both wings fuscous-black.

Contarinia coffeae sp.n. is described from specimens reared from Coffea arabica in Uganda, and brief notes are given on symptoms, biology, crop loss and distribution. The larvae develop inside young coffee berries. Blister-like external swellings appear on infested berries and they later rot. The pest is known only from arabica coffee in parts of Western Uganda but may be spreading and could appear in other East and Central African countries.

There are in the Sudan three species of migratory locusts : Anacridium moestum melanorhodon, Walk., or the tree locust, Locusta migratoria, L., and Schistocerca gregaria, Forsk., sometimes termed the desert locust. Of these the last-named is the plague locust of the country—the other two species being relatively unimportant—and is the species referred to as the “ locust ” throughout this paper.

From 1899 till 1917 swarms of locusts occurred annually, but then followed a period of ten years during which the Sudan suffered no damage from this pest. In 1927 and again in the succeeding year the locust reappeared as a plague, and there is little doubt but that it is to be expected year by year over an extended period and until the cycle either naturally terminates or is artificially brought to an end. The swarms of fliers appear from May onwards and oviposit in July and August when and where in the arid regions sufficient rain has fallen, the resulting generation of adults emigrating in October. A certain amount of breeding takes place during the winter on the Red Sea littoral, where winter rains occur, but this district is relatively small and easily dealt with ; the main problem is how to prevent breeding during the summer rainy season throughout the vast areas of the central and northern Sudan.