Some six years ago, it was correctly pointed out by Brèthes (Bull. Soc. Ent. de France, 1914, p. 59) that the generic designation Diatomineura, Round. (Archiv. Zool. Anat. Fisiol. iii, p. 84, 1864), is a synonym of Osca, Walk., (Ins. Saund., Diptera, Part i, p. 10, 1850—nec Walk., 1864, nec Sta;l, 1871). The first species mentioned by both Walker and Rondani is Pangonia depressa, Macq. (=Erephopsis lata (Tabanus latus), Guér.), and this species is designated by Brè as the genotype. Erephopsis lata, Guér., of Kertész’s Catalogus Dipterorum (iii, p. 165, 1908), must therefore be known henceforth as Osca lata, Guér., and the South African Tabanus barbatus, L. (Pangonia barbata, Auct.), and Pangonia fulvifascia, Walk., must be transferred to the genus Osca.

The following species and varieties have been found in the Malay Archipelago*:—

Myzomyia: ludlowi, rossii, vaga (indefinita), flava, minima, minima var. aconita.

Neomyzomyia: leucosphyra.. punctulata var. tesselata.

Cellia: kochi.

Myzorhynchus: sinensis, sinensis var. vanus and var. separatus, barbiiostris, barbirostris var. pallidus, albotaeniatus, mauritianus, umbrosus, gigas

Nyssorhynchus: fuliginosus, maculatus, schiifEneri, karwari, jamesi, annulipes var. moluccensis.

Stethomyia: aitkenii, aitkenii var. insulae-florum and var. papuae.

Colour piceous black ; the head with dark brown scaling above, except for a line of pale scales bordering the eye, and with pale buff scales beneath ; scaling of the prothorax brown or grey brown on the disk, an ill-defined dark brown stripe at the side, and grey or buff beneath ; scaling on the elytra grey or brown, with a very ill-defined darker stripe between striae 2 and 5, usually vanishing at a short distance from the base, but often traceable to behind the middle in the form of spots.

Head and thorax dark; abdomen pale, apparently pale green, with dark lateral spots. Antennae, cauda and cornicles dark. Legs with mid and hind femora dark, front pair paler; apices of tibiae and the tarsi dark. Antennae shorter than body, rather thick; basal segment larger and paler than second; third much longer than fourth and about as long as the sixth, with 18–20 small round pale sensoria over its whole length; fourth segment very slightly longer than fifth, with 5–8 sensoria; fifth with 4–7 sensoria of unequal size, exclusive of the usual subapical one; sixth with the rather thick basal area less than one-third the length of flagellum, in some however almost half its length; all the segments from the third imbricated. Eyes large. Proboscis reaching to the third coxae. A large palebladder-like papilla on each side of pronotum and five pairs of pale rounded papillae on sides of abdomen. Cornicles about as long and as thick as third antennal segment, cylindrical, markedly imbricated, not reaching to the level of the cauda. Cauda bluntly pointed, about half the length of the cornicles, spinose; with numerous fine hairs, curved apically. Anal plate spinose, with fine pale hairs. Tibiae with numerous fine, pale, short hairs. Wings with normal venation; veins and stigma brown, the veins very faintly and narrowly clouded on each side. Length, 2–2.2 mm.

On 12th September 1919, while watching at a pool near Kotakota, Lake Nyasa, the emergence of mosquitos from their pupae, which in the case of this particular species takes place mostly between 4.30 p.m. and dusk (about 6.30 at that time of year), the writer saw at rest on some scum on the surface of the water, an Anthomyiid fly of the genus Lispa, which after a few minutes made a sudden rush at a mosquito just emerging from its pupa-case. The mosquito with its wings still unexpanded and part of its legs and the hinder segments of its abdomen still within the pupa-case was absolutely at its mercy. The fly grappling it from behind with its front legs proceeded to thrust its proboscis into the thorax. The fly was by no means timid, and it was possible to lean over and approach one’s head to watch the proceedings so closely that it was even possible to determine by its antennae the sex of the unlucky mosquito ; it was a male. The fly was captured before it had finished its meal, lest it should suddenly fly up and escape.

The following paper contains an account of the campaign which has been in progress against Phytalus smithi during the past 8 1½2 years. The history of the pest in Mauritius and the measures which have been adopted for its control are of interest both from an entomological and from an administrative point of view.

The “cyanide bottle” is never a very attractive part of the entomologist’s equipment. When made up in the old way, i.e., plaster of Paris poured over lumps of solid potassium cyanide and the plaster then allowed to set, the contrivance has an attractive appearance, but is an abomination to use, especially if small insects are being dealt with. The large amount of water utilised in making up the plaster of Paris can never be dried out properly, and the potassium cyanide being deliquescent to some extent the presence of moisture is unavoidable. Moreover the cyanide soon decomposes and turns brown, imparting its colour to the plaster and forming an ugly-looking mass on which small insects, are not contrasted and may be easily overlooked and lost.

In the summer of 1918, there was every prospect of an unusually good crop of dates in Mesopotamia, until the month of June, when a large number of the half-grown dates suddenly became “hashaf” — an Arabic word signifying that they dried up and fell from the trees. This was a very serious matter, not only because the date is the principal resource of the country, but also because any and every disaster was at that time attributed by a section of the population to the British administration. At the end of July I was lent to the Directorate of Agriculture to carry out an investigation upon the failure of the date crop. I found that the principal pest, the larva of a Gelechiid moth, had finished its work, and had wandered away from the palms to pupate ; and though I was unable to solve the problem of its life-history, I had the good fortune to discover a good deal that was new about the insect pests of the date palm. At the time I published a report (1918), to which I only refer now in order to say that it was produced on the spot and without access to any books ; it contains certain inaccuracies, and anything of value which I may have discovered will be found in the present paper. During the course of my investigations I visited all the important date-growing areas of Mesopotamia, that is to say, Baghdad and its neighbourhood, the Diyala River from Ba’qubah to the Persian Frontier at Baba Pillawi, Mendali and Balad Ruz, Basra and the country round it, Mohammerah and Fao, the Lower Euphrates from Nasiriyeh to Suq-ash-Shuyukh, Qurnah and Amara. At the time of my visit the fruit was nearly ripe, so that it was not difficult to learn the distinctions between the different varieties of date palms, a point of great importance in view of the fact that they are liable to the various pests in varying degrees. I strongly recommend future investigators to familiarize themselves throughly with these varieties, and also with the very considerable number of Arabic words which are used specially for the date palm and its cultivation. This is no small task, as will be realized when I mention that in Mesopotamia about 70 words are employed by the peasants for various parts of the date palm ; the vocabulary relating to cultivation and methods of employment is just as extensive.

In respect of insect and, incidentally, fungous diseases of plants, Mauritius is remarkable in two respects; the first being the very small numberthat are indigenous to the island, and the second the very large numbers that have been introduced. The desire to introduce exotic plants of a useful or ornamental nature is very widely spread in this Colony, and very extended plant introductions have taken place. Until comparatively recently no restrictions existed on such importations, and as a result insect and fungous pests in large numbers have become established to the great and permanent detriment of the major and minor agricultural industries of the Colony. For example, the cane-sugar industry was threatened with ruin in 1842 as the result of the introduction of the borer, Proceras saccchariphaga, Bojer, from Ceylon; at a somewhat later date greatdamage was done by the insect known locally as the “Pou a Roche Blanche” (Pulvinaria gasteralpha, Icery); and again quite recently the introduction of Phytalus smithi has proved a serious menace to the industry and has resulted in the loss of large sums of money.

In the course of my work on the froghopper (Tomaspis saccharina, Dist.) damaging sugar-cane in Trinidad, it was found that the adult insects could be caught in very large numbers at the time of their broods by drawing large nets over the cane plants in the late evening and early morning. A number of different types of net were designedand experimented with, and the one described below has proved the most satisfactory up to the present.

The following notes may be regarded chiefly as materials towards the study of the geographical distribution of this group of the bloodsucking midges, which are of so much interest from a medical standpoint. For the opportunity of examining the very large series of specimens (570) herein recorded, I have to thank Dr. Guy A.K. Marshall, Director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology, who sent the collections made by Drs. A. Ingram and J.W. Scott Macfie, in the Gold Coast ; and also that formed by Capt. J. Waterston, R.A.M.C., in Macedonia. I tender my thanks also to Capt. P.A. Buxton, R.A.M.C., for the collections made by him at Amara, Mesopotama ; to Capt. H.W. Leatham, R.A.M.C., for examples from Basra ; and to Major J.A. Sinton, V.C., I.M.S., for the specimens which he collected in N.E. Persia, under exceptionally difficult circumstances, and also for the long series taken by him in the N.W. Frontier Province of India.

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.