Two series of all-night hourly catches of Mansonia (Mansonioides) uniformis (Theo.) on the verandah of a house and at an outdoor open site with man as bait and a third series at the same outdoor site with calf as bait were carried out during 1960–62 on an open mixed rubber and coconut estate overlooking a swamp, in Aggona, a village three miles south-east of Colombo. The physiological age of the mosquitos captured was determined by a count of the follicular relies in the ovarioles.

The mosquitos were active only at night; the biting cycle on human bait showed two peaks in both situations—a well-defined early peak and an irregular late peak on the verandah and a minor early peak and a larger lat peak at the outdoor site. In the verandah series the two oldest age-groups, 2-parous and 3-parous females, showed more activity during the second peak, while in the outdoor series the oldest age-groups were most active during the early peak, a result suggesting a difference in behaviour on the part of the older females compared with the overall population in both situations. M. uniformis was strongly attracted to cattle bait; much activity was recorded at this bait site during the first four hours of the night.

Age-composition of the populations in all three series was found to be similar irrespective of the site and bait used. The results were more or less constant from month to month in spite of weather changes. Daily mortality of M. uniformis taken at the two baits was similar and showed consistency from month to month.

A large proportion (73.4%) of females returned to feed directly from oviposition.

Seven strains Musca domestica L., including one susceptible strain, were tested with a wide range of organophosphates and carbamates. The results of these tests gave a broader picture of the patterns of cross resistance in strains that had been studied by previous workers and in addition showed two new types of resistance machanism, one possibly and oxidation mechanism, and the other possibly a modified AliE giving low levels of resistance to organophosphates and carbamates. This work also demonstrated the existence of at least three resistance machanisms for carbamates, two probably oxidative and the others minor machanisms associated with modified AliE.

All of the pupae, totalling over 3,750, produced by 320 laboratory-bred females of Glossina austeni Newst. allowed to feed from rabbits’ ears, were weighed soon after deposition. Pupal weights were relatively low initially but increased during the first 30 days of the females’ productive life, were high during the next 100 days or so and thereafter declined to less than the initial level.

Locusts and other Orthoptera have been reared free from Gregarine parasites in culture jars made from jam jars. Food can be added easily without the escape of insects. A special feature of the jars is the removable base in which faeces accumulate and from which they can be taken at intervals without exposing the insects to the infective stages of Gregarine parasites.

It has been found that the size of adults of the parasites Mutilla glossinae Turner and Thyridanthrax abruptus (Lw.) reared from puparia of Glossina differ with the size of the host, the puparia of the larger tsetse species, G. pallidipes Aust., producing larger parasite than the puparia of the smaller species, G. morsitans Westw. A significant relationship has been found between size of puparium (measured by puparial width) of G. morsitans and size of the parasite (measured by thoracic area and dry weight) for males of T. abruptus and males and females of M. glossinae, and it is suggested that this relationship may extend also to other species of Thyridanthrax and Mutilla that parasitise Glossina. Evidence, both from other workers and this laboratory, indicates that it is the different quantities of food supply in the hosts that affects the size of the adult parasite.

A photographic apparatus is described for obtaining a record of oviposition and larval eclosion at intervals through the night. By the use of electronic flash a negative silhouette image is produced and the method used does not appear to disturb the moths during oviposition. A second apparatus incorporating a moving pen is also described for studying and recording the times of emergence of moths from their pupae.

The host range and aspects of the biology of Hispine beetles recorded from plants in the genus Lantana is reviewed. The host specificity of Octotoma scabripennis Guér. and Uroplata girardi Pic was studied in Hawaii where these insects had been imported and established for biological control of the important weed L. camara. New techniques were employed in which feeding and oviposition behaviour was studied in field and simulated-field experiments embracing a wide range of plants interplanted amongst an abundance of the Hispines' normal host. Eesults indicated that both species are restricted almost entirely to L. camara, and subsequently these insects have been imported into and established in Australia. Both insects are particularly well suited to use as biological control agents and should be extremely useful in many countries where L. camara is a weed.

The damage caused by the larvae of four Melolonthine and one Ruteline scarab species to four grasses and Trifolium repens grown in pots was examined for interactions between species with and without manure added to the soil. Only slight interactions between scarab species and plant species were detected in the damage to pastures, and these were caused by a differential insect response to Trifolium. Most scarabs damaged Trifolium as much as they damaged the grasses, but Anoplognathus sp. appeared to avoid Trifolium in the absence of manure. Sericesthis geminata Boisd. caused more damage to Trifolium than S. vigilans (Sharp) or Rhopaca magnicornis Blkb.

The addition of manure to soil reduced to negligible proportions the damage to all pasture species except Phalaris tuberos, which suffered significantly greater reduction of foliage than other plants in the presence of manure. The highly significant alleviation of damage by manure occured with all scarab species except S. vigilans, which did not cause damage even in the absence of manure.

In this short-term experiment survival and pupation were not influenced significantly by plant species or manure.

In the course of entomological investigations in Malaya between 1965 and 1967, it was found that Calyptra eustrigata (Hmps.) (Noctuidae) frequently pierces the skin of mammals to feed on blood, and in this respect differs from those Noctuids that marely imbibe blood from an open wound. Other species of Calyptra are known as fruit-piercing moths, and C. minuticornis (Gn.) which was taken in Cambodia on one occasion at the eye of a buffalo, is also one of the eye-frequenting moths, which imbibe lachrymal secretions of Ungulata, Proboscidea and occasionally of man. C. eustrigata has been observed imbibing blood after piercing the skin of buffalo, Sambar deer, Malayan tapir and nilgai antelope. Caged adults in the laboratory were observed piercing the skin of human fingers offered to them; and imbibition of blood continued for up to and hour. The proboscis, which ends in a sclerotised and strongly barbed point, can penetrate about six millimetres below the surface. The two halves of the proboscis work like two paralled saws moving alternately. While feeding is in progress, droplets of saliva exude at the base of the probiscis and run down the outside. Often some blood is regurgitated, then reabsorbed. The puncture causes itching, which can last for up to an hour, and local hardening of the tissue, which can persist for five weeks. By reason of its mode of feeding, C. eustrigata would appear to be a potential vector of disease, as the saliva and regurgitated fluids might transmit pathogenic agents.

The biology of three West African ambrosia beetles, Trachyostus aterrimus (Schauf.), T. ghanaensis Schedi and T. schaufussi schaufussi (Strohm.) is described on the basis of studies made in China and Nigeria, and notes are given on the six other species and subspecies of Trachyostus that have been taken in West Africa.

All species of Trachyostus are confined to forest areas in West Africa. some of the species extend into montane and swamp forest, but the genus is most abundant in lowland rain forest. It is suggested that susceptibility to desiccation of the young larvae and of the ambrosia fungus is the principal factor in limiting Trachyostus species to forest areas. Two species, T. ghanaensis and T. interstitialis Schedl, are confined to the forests between Sierra Leone and Ghana, but the remaining species are found throughout the lowland forest of west Africa.

Host selection by species of Trachyostus depends mainly on the taxonomic status of the host, the condition of the tree, and the time of year. The genus as a whole is considered very selective. T. ghanaesis attacks living trees of only one host species, selecting individual trees and favouring the most vigorous. All other species of Trachyostus normally attack felled trees of a wide range of host species, but show preferences for those of a small number of plant genera. Attack on living trees by species other than T, ghanaensis occurs in the dry season. It is suggested that T. ghanaensis is sensitive to subtle changes in tree condition, while the remaining species require a more drastic change before attacking such trees.

The process of nest initiation and establishment is described for ome species. Species of Trachyostus differ from other tropical Platypodids in that the length of time elapsing between nest initiation and the emergence of the first young adults is exceptionally long. This is thought to be mainly due to the ambrosia fungus requiring a long time to establish itself on the gallery walls of the nest.

All species of Trachyostus are active in daylight hours. Emergence of young adults from the nest occurs only in daylight and is dependent on a drying atmosphere. Falling light intensities probably contribute towards ending emergence in the late afternoon. The thresholds of humidity and illumination for emergence of T. schaufussi schaufussi appear to be higher than those of T. aterrimus.

Nests of T. aterrrimus and T. schaufussi schaufussi remain functional for about nine months, but those of T. ghanaensis can still be active after four years. The protracted nest duration of T. ghanaensis is apparently a consequence of the habit of this species of attacking living host trees in which the rate of development seems to be slowed down. Only a small proportion of the nests initiated by species of Trachyostus are successful. In T, ghanaensis this high failure rate is attributable to failure of the ambbrosia fungus, but in the other species insect nest-associates and predators are apparently the main causes.

The habits and life-history of T. ghanacnsis can only be compared with those of one other Platypodid, Dendroplatypus impar (Schedl), a Malaysian species. Both species attack only living trees, and show a high degree of host selection. The intensity of attack on the host tree by these species is very low, and the life-cycle of each seems to take a long time for completion.

Third-instar larvae of Rhopaea morbillosa Blkb. (Melolonthinae) were maintained at fixed depths between wire-mesh screens in earthenware pots during a 12-week factorial experiment designed to study the relationship between depths of feeding and damage to roots and foliage yield of Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens under two soil-moisture treatments (10% and 20%), with and without fertilisers.

Depth of feeding had a highly significant effect on relative root damage and foliage yield, and at all depths (18, 14, 12, 1, 2, and 4 in.) significantly greater root damage occurred under conditions more favourable for pasture growth.

Ryegrass was deeper rooted and suffered more damage than clover. The degree of non-linearity of root distribution with depth affected damage to roots at all depths so that species in mixed swards should suffer damage in proportion to their deep-rootedness.

It is clear that depth of feeding can confound experimental studies of damage by scarab larvae, and in the field it will influence the damage caused to pastures.

The Cercopidae are divided into two subfamilies, Cercopinae and Tomaspidinae, which differ from the concepts to which these names have hitherto been applied, and now include Old World and New World genera, respectively. The former Aphrophorid subfamily Neaeninae is reconstituted as a tripe of Cercopidae, and the tripe Funkhouseriini is suppressed under Tomaspidini. The genera of Tomaspidinae are keyed. and eight, Iphirhina, Aracamunia, Ocoaxo, catrimania, Urubaxia, Tunaima, Tapaiuna and Zuata, together with two subgenera, Zulia (Notozulia) and Mahanarva (Ipiranga), are described as new. One hundred and thirty-six specific names are recombined. Eight names are suppressed in synonymy, and notes are given on the genera in which these changes are made.

Intensive surveys for breeding places of anopheline mosquitos have been carried out in Israel since 1948, and have proved to be very effective for following the dynamic changes in anopheline populations. An account is given is given of the situation with regard to the breeding of anopheline mosquitos in Israel between 1963 and 1965, in the final stage of the malaria eradication project. During this period only nine of the 14 species of Anopheles recorded in Israel were found, and of these A. sergentii (Theo.) and A. superpictus Grassi were the most abundant.

About 85 per cent. of the breeding places were found in the northern part of the country. Fifty-four per cent. of the breeding places in the whole country were man-made. Seventeen per cent. of the 1330 samples of larvae determined contained larvae of more than one species. The distribution of different species in various biotopes and the seasonal variation in the number of breeding places of malaria-transmitting anophelines are also described.

A. sacharovi Favr., the most important malaria vector in the past, has not been found in Israel since 1960. The observations on A. sergentii suggest that an exophilic strain of this species has been selected in Israel. A. coustani Lav., hitherto a rare species, has been found breeding more frequently in recent years.

The information collected during 1963–1965 is discussed for each species.

Plagiohammus spinipennis (Thorns.), a native of areas of Central and South America where rainfall exceeds 50 in. per annum, has been imported into Hawaii and Australia for the control of Lantana camara. The larvae girdle a stem of the host-plant and then tunnel extensively in the xylem tissues. In Hawaii multiple infestation of stems over 0-5 in. in thickness was found to be usual. Most attacks were within 25 in. of the ground and stems were killed or so severely weakened that they readily broke off, reducing tall plants to mutilated stumps eventually bearing small regrowth shoots. The life-cycle normally lasts one year.

An annual rainfall of at least 50 in. appears to be necessary for the development of large populations, and the amount that falls before and during the oviposition period influences larval survival. It is concluded that the insect should be very useful as a biological control agent for L. camara.

Observations on biological variablity of pupae of G. morsitans Westw. collected in the field, and effect on eclosion of the adult fly due to temperature, light and gamma-radiation are reported.

The homogeneity of eclosion from wild pupae varied during the year owing to variations in pupal viability. Emergence was lower in the warmer months September to December than in the cooler ones, May to August, and in one season low eclosion rates were connected with a high proportion of runts, although another analysis revealed no correlation.

Gamma-radiation redused eclosin by killing all pupae treated during their first ten days after larviposition. MOrtality of male pupae was increased by irradiation between the 15th and 13th day of pupal life, while eclosion was apparently normal with treatments given between the 16th and 29th day. Weight losses indicated that five- to ten-day-old pupae possibly did not die before the 30th day after larviposition while younger pupae containing fourth-instar larvae at the time of treatment were killed either immediately or by the 15th day.

Diurnal emergence from wild pupae in the laboratory showed a peak during the afternoon (1400–1730 hr.) which was not affected by light or gamma-radiation. In the field, eclosion occurred primarily between 15° and 27°C. and was apparently inhibited by higher and lower temperatures. Relative humidity did not appear to be involved in the timing of emergence.

The content of proline, alanine and glutamate in the thorax of tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans Westw.) caught by two different sampling techniques is compared. Flies caught on a stationary bait animal have significantly less proline and significantly more alanine and glutamate than flies caught on a fly-round. The difference suggests that flies of the bait sample have been more active than flies of the fly-round sample during the period immediately preceding capture.

Recognition in 1963 in central Queensland of the Ridgelands strain of Boophilus microplus (Can.), resistant in varying degrees in laboratory tests to all acaricides commercially available in Queensland, Australia, led to spraying trials on cattle with these acaricides to assess their effect on the resistant strain. Dosage mortality tests on larvae exposed in acaricide-impregnated filter papers, indicated the following levels of resistance, carbary 13×, carbophenothion 17×, coumaphos 1.6×, diazinon 19×, dioxathion 7.2× and ethion 2.7×.

Stalled cattle infested with either susceptible Yeerongpilly or resistant Ridgelands ticks were sprayed with the recommended concentration of commercially formulated acaricide. Efficiency of treatment was determined by comparing the number of ticks falling from sprayed and unsprayed cattle. Coumaphos (0.025%) and ethion (0.075%) produced efficient control of the resistant strain, but carbophenothion (0.086%), diazinon (0.05%) and dioxathion (0.075%) allowed considerable numbers of the resistant strain of ticks to survive. Carbaryl (0.3%) as a melt-type formulation gave inconsistent results and possible reasons are discussed. Poor control of the resistant strain was largely due to failure to kill the nymph stage.

There was general correspondence between the resisdence level determined in laboratory tests and the degree of control achieved in spraying trials. However, the reletively small difference between resistence levels of 2–3× (coumaphos and ethion) and 7× (dioxathion) was critical in the practical control of resistant ticks on cattle.

The following chemicals gave excellent control of the Ridgelands strain in spraying trials on stalled cattle: bromophos (0.15%), bromophos ethyl (0.1%), chlorfenvinphos (0.06%), chlorxylam (0.5%), Ciodrin (0.1%) Dursban (0.025%), fenchlorphos (0.2%), GS13002 (0.05%), Imidan (0.075%), methidathion (0.05%) and SD8448 (0.025%). Malathion (0.5%), prothidathion (0.075%), macarbam (0.075%) and RD12308 (0.2%) controlled the Yeerongpilly but not the Ridgelands strain. Arsenic (0.2%) produced about equal mortality in both strains, but was clearly a less efficient acaricide than organophosphorus chemicals.

In an investigation of the fauna of plum at East Mailing Research Station in 1966, over 70 species of the commoner arthropods were listed.

Different species of mite were found to prefer different parts of the tree, different parts of the leaf, and leaves of different ages on a shoot. Aculus fockeui (Nal. & Trt.) (Eriophyidae) was found to spread up the shoots during the early summer and to attain a density of over 100 per sq. cm. of leaf surface. Panonychus ulmi (Koch) was found to be commoner to the east of the tree, and leaf damage that it caused graded in severity across the plot. The species composition of populations of the Phytoseiid mites could differ markedly between trees in the same plot.

A study of the population trends of the commoner species based on numbers per shoot revealed that the populations of aphids and their predators developed two peaks during the season. There was a relatively high incidence of Entomophthora infection on the aphids, and overwintering fungal spores were produced when the aphids died in crevices on the bark, but only short-lived cornidia when they died on the leaves. The population density of member species of the fauna varied considerably, the smallest phytophagous mites reaching levels of 200 per shoot, predacious mites 10.0 per shoot and predatory bugs such as Blepharidopterus angulatus (Fall.) only about 0.01 per shoot.