A. (Coelodiazesis) plumbeus, Hal.

The life-history of this species has recently been fully described by Christophers (Ind. Jl. Med. Res., iii, Jan. 1916, p. 489) from larvae obtained in tree-holes in the neighbourhood of Simla. It is somewhat surprising that a species of Anopheles should have such a wide range, especially since tree-breeding mosquitos are usually more local in their distribution than other kinds. I believe, however, that Christophers was perfectly correct in his conclusion that A. barianensis, James, is the same species as A. plumbeus, Hal.

In the following descriptions I have dealt mainly with part of a small but valuable collection of Coccid Chalcids, sent by Mr. W. H. Patterson from Aburi, Gold Coast. The excellent condition in which the insects were received may be due to some extent to the fact they were bred specimens, but it also owes something, I think, to the method of packing employed. Into each tube (1¾in. × ½ in. ) a little melted naphthalene had been run with a piece of moderately thick paper on the top ; above this again the Chalcids were loosely enclosed in screws, or (in the case of minute Eulophids and Aphelinines) in small triangles of tissue paper, and the tube coated and sealed with paraffin wax.

Grenada is the southernmost of the string of Islands composing the Lesser Antilles, if we except Trinidad and Tobago, some ninety odd miles further south, which lie close to the South American mainland of Venezuela. Geologically the Island is volcanic; basalts, lavas, cinder beds, gravel beds, agglomerates, various earths or clays forming the soil and subsoil of valleys, slopes, ridges, cones and craters, from sea-level to some 3,000 feet of elevation.

Some two years ago Mr. E. V. Hines, of Winton, Queensland, sent me some fly-maggots which were attacking the sheep on his station. On breeding them out it was seen that they were referable to two different genera—Pycnosoma and Sarcophaga.

Specimens were later submitted to Mr. E. E. Austen, of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.), who informed me that they were Pycnosoma rufifacies (Macq.) and a Sarcophaga which was probably a new species.

I take this opportunity of extending my cordial thanks to Mr. Austen for his kindly assistance.

The object of this short communication is to state the result of an enquiry into the solubility of the incrustation of the mussel scale-insect which is destructive to the bark of various cultivated trees, particularly of the apple tree. The control of this pest by means of insecticides to a large extent depends upon getting access to the insect by dissolving the scale with which it covers itself soon after it settles down on the bark for the rest of its life. Whatever may be the development of the insect, unless the scale can be dissolved, at least at its point of contact with the bark, no great result can be expected from the application of insecticides.

On the 19th June 1916, I visited for a few hours Marienburg Estate, Surinam, as froghoppers had been previously reported as occurring in sufficient numbers to cause injury.

The wet season was just commencing, the first heavy rains of the season having fallen the previous day and it rained heavily during part of my visit.

The froghopper (Tomaspis tristis, F.) was found commonly on two parts of the Estate which Mr. Sheddon, the Manager, pointed out as being most heavily infested last year. It was not in sufficient numbers to be doing any damage at present, but as the wet season is only beginning it will probably increase rapidly during the next few months.

Anopheles albotaeniatus was described by Theobald from specimens taken in Perak, Federated Malay States (Mon. Cul. iii, p. 88, 1903). It has also been recorded from the Malay Peninsula by Leicester (Stud. Iust. Med. Res., iii, pt. 3, p. 34, 1908) and Strickland (Bull. Ent. Res. iv, p. 140, 1914), from British North Borneo by Roper (Bull. Ent. Res. v, p. 147, 1915) and from Sumatra by Schüffner and Swellengrebel (Geneesk. Tijd. Ned. Ind. liv, p. 160, 1914) and Stanton (Ind. Jour. Med. Res. iii, p. 252, 1915). It is an uncommon species in the Malayan region and has not so far been met with outside it.

Of all the measures designed to effect a reduction in the number of mosquitos “ oiling,” or the application of kerosene in one form or another to collections of water in the neighbourhood, is I suppose the favourite. The popularity of this measure is no doubt an indication of its general efficiency, and as it is a remedy that can and should be employed by the individual as well as by the Sanitary Authorities, it has become familiar to every dweller in the tropics. This familiarity has, I believe, led to an exaggerated confidence in its efficacy.

The larva of Stegomyia fasciata passes through four distinct phases after it emerges from the egg and before it pupates. Under circumstances favourable to growth these phases are passed through very rapidly and the whole larval stage may occupy less than a week. In one experiment ten larvae which had hatched from their eggs on 1st April between 12 noon and 2 p.m. were isolated singly in small glass tubes containing a three-days-old broth medium. All these larvae cast their first pelts on the second day (2nd April), their second pelts on the third day, and their third pelts on the fourth day. The fourth and last larval pelt was not cast simultaneously by all the larvae, perhaps because by this time the nutrient value of the medium in the different tubes had begun to vary to an appreciable degree. Two larvae cast the fourth pelt on the seventh day, one on the eighth day, three on the ninth, one on the tenth, and one on the thirteenth day, and two died in this phase. One pupa died, but all the others hatched on the second day after pupation. In this experiment therefore the larval stage lasted on the average nine days, the shortest time being under seven days, and the longest thirteen days.