In India the economic rôle played by insects of the order Thysanoptera, popularly known as “ thrips,” has not become so conspicuous as in some other parts of the world. The different kinds of thrips affecting specific crops such as wheat, oats, tobacco, fruits, onions, cacao and hot-house plants, in Europe, America, the West Indies and many tropical areas, are insects of established notoriety, and some of them cause severe and extensive damage to valuable crops from time to time ; but so far no species of Thysanoptera has as yet gained such prominence in India. Neither Lefroy in his book on “ Indian Insect Pests ” (1904), nor Fletcher in his publication on “ South Indian Insects ” (1914), has recorded any insect of this group as a definite pest among the numerous forms listed as injurious. In his other and more voluminous text-book, “ Indian Insect Life ” (1909), however, Lefroy, in the course of a brief chapter devoted to Thysanoptera, just refers to the three Indian species which were the only ones recorded till then, viz. : Idolothrips halidayi and Phloeothrips anacardii, described by Newman in 1856, and Panchaetothrips indicus, described by Bagnall in 1912 ; and only one of these, the last, had any economic importance, having been noted on turmeric in Madras.

Apanteles pistrinariae, sp. n.

♀. Black ; scape, mouthparts (or at least palpi), tegulae, costal veins, legs and abdomen entirely (except as follows), red testaceous ; hind tarsi, extreme apex of hind tibiae, extreme base of hind coxae, occasionally very slightly darkened ; 1st and 2nd tergites, and ovipositor sheaths, black ; 3rd tergite dark red, at least darker than ventrites and apical tergites ; flagellum brown ; stigma, metacarp, and most other veins, brown or light reddish brown.

Ischnotrachelus theobromae, sp. n.

♀. Derm black, covered with dense pale green scaling, varying to dull coppery ; the head and legs normally coppery.

Head with the frons convex, raised much above the level of the eyes, and with a very shallow transverse impression on the vertex ; the eyes much less prominent than usual, as in I. viridipennis, Fst. Rostrum longer than broad, parallel-sided, and set with short stout erect setae ; the dorsum without distinct carinae, its lateral margins not angulated but rounded off, with a fine median stria in the basal half and a low carina at the apex ; the scrobes strongly curved downwards in the basal half and there adjoining the lower margin of the eye. Antennae with the scape somewhat compressed, strongly dilated from the middle to the apex, and with its dorsal edge markedly sinuate ; the funicle short and thick, widening distally, joint 1 longer than 2+3, 2−7 all transverse. Prothorax slightly longer than broad, gently rounded laterally, widest beyond the middle, and without any apical constriction ; the apex a little narrower than the base and dorsally with a dense fringe of recumbent scale-like setae, the postocular vibrissae obsolete ; the dorsum comparatively smooth, the sculpture being hidden by the scaling, with a mere trace of an abbreviated median stria near the base ; the setae very short and recumbent behind, becoming slightly longer and suberect anteriorly. Scutellum minute or obsolete. Elytra rather narrow, oblong-ovate, with a shallow transverse impression at the base so that the margin is slightly raised ; the striae and punctures almost entirely obliterated by the dense scaling ; the intervals each with a row of small subrecumbent setae ; the scales (like those on the prothorax) irregularly rounded and each with a shallow central puncture. Legs with a sharp tooth on all the femora ; the anterior pairs of tibiae strongly denticulate, the hind pair with much smaller teeth.

At the request of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology I have had pleasure in studying the forms described below. In the alcoholic material examined some adult forms were accompanied by larvae ; I am thus afforded another opportunity of publishing further notes on the anatomy of Chrysomelid larvae. The drawings are by Mr. A. J. E. Terzi.

Among the injurious insects with which the entomologist attempting to utilise the methods of biological control has to deal, there are many which live in such a way that a considerable proportion of their population is practically inaccessible to parasites and predators, even during the stages when they are attractive to their enemies. Insects of this type are not infrequently transported in their animal or vegetable food materials into other territories, escape attention during the process of inspection, and develop in their new homes into devastating pests. The Mediterranean Fruit Fly, the Codling Moth, and the European Corn Borer are familiar examples of this class of pest.

Ipobracon peronatus, Cam.

Iphiaulax peronatus, Cameron, Biol. Cent.-Amer., Hym., i, 1887, p. 337.

Trinidad : 3 ♀♀, 25.xi.1928, 5.xii.l928, 21.ii.1929 (J. G. Myers).

Host. Dr. Myers considers this parasite to be associated with the Cerambycid beetle, Stirastoma depressum, L., infesting cacao logs.

These specimens agree absolutely with the type (which is in the British Museum) with the possible exception that they appear to have the 2nd cubital cell relatively somewhat longer ; this difference, however, is so minute that it is a character upon which I am not prepared to describe a new species.

Ipobracon peronatus is easily separable from the two other recorded Braconine parasites of Stirastoma, as follows : From Cyanopterus depressi, Vier., by the thorax and legs, the colour of which in this latter species is black throughout ; and from Cyanopterus steirastomae, Vier., by the nature of the 2nd tergite, which from Viereck's description would appear to be fine and smooth.

The Sudan dura (millet) bug, Agonoscelis versicolor, F., a member of the family Pentatomidae, Hemiptera Heteroptera (Rhynchota), is an important pest of millet. Its depredations vary from year to year, depending chiefly upon the rainy season, but every few years it causes serious losses of millet (Sorghum vulġare and Sorghum sp.), which is the main food crop of the Northern Sudan.

This bug is widely distributed in Africa, but so far as the writer is aware, it is only in the Sudan that it occurs as a serious pest of grain, or, indeed, as a serious pest at all. In view of this, and the little work that has been done upon it, it was felt advisable, when a severe outbreak took place in 1927, not only to concentrate upon the control but also to effect as complete a study as possible of the bionomics and essential morphology of the bug.

Upon completion of the work it was found better to publish the results as two separate papers : (1) A Sudan Government Entomological Bulletin, giving an account of the bug as a pest in the Sudan, the control measures carried out, the bionomics and parasites ; and (2) a paper for publication in a scientific journal giving the results of the morphological studies, and their relation and application to the bionomics of the insect. The present paper is the result of the latter study.

The most favourable areas for the cultivation of grape-vines in Ukraine are the sands of the lower reaches of the Dnieper in the district of Kherson, the shore of the Black Sea, the Kherson-Odessa districts, and along the Sea of Asov, chiefly in the district of Mariupol. Moreover, as is well known, vines do not suffer from Phylloxera when grown on pure sand. For these reasons, numerous State Departments, and also many private individuals, have spent a great deal of money in utilising this enormous extent of shifting sands for growing grapes.

The unexpected appearance of the larvae of various Scarabaeid beetles, especially Polyphylla fullo, L. (fig. 1), has been a great obstacle to the successful exploitation of these barren spaces. The larvae in the soil generally average about 10–12 to the square metre, and they often completely destroy the newly planted vines in one summer. Many enterprising persons have thus been ruined in their endeavours to form vineyards on the sands. It was stated officially in pre-war times that these pioneers had spent over £2,000,000 sterling without any result.

The map of South America shows Peru as a rather long, narrow country, broadening at the north, and presumably tropical in climate judging by its position just south of the Equator, but with high mountains close to the coast. But it does not show the cold ocean current coming from the south—the Humboldt Current—or ar least we are not accustomed to noticing such presumably minor features, even though in the case of Peru, this is equal in importance with the mountains in determining the climate of the country and every factor that the climate may affect.

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.

The material on which the following notes are based was submitted to me for study by the Imperial Bureau of Entomology. It is necessary to describe two new genera and three new species. The material contains two larvae, on which remarks have also been made.

The drawings were made by Mr. D. E. Kimmins.

Eulimneria stellenboschensis, Cam.

Limnerium stellenboschense, Cameron, Trans. S. Afr. Phil. Soc., xv, 1904, p. 200.

♀♂. Black ; mandibles (except at apices), palpi, the four anterior coxae (except basally), trochanters and trochantins of the four anterior legs, the hind trochantins, tibial spurs of the four posterior legs, tegulae, costal veins at base, white or nearly so ; basal three-fourths of the hind tibiae (except for a darkish area above in basal fourth), very pale reddish testaceous, approaching white ; the bases of the four anterior coxae, the femora and the tibiae and tarsi of the four anterior legs, the hind tarsal joints basally, pale red tetaceous ; hind femora (except at apex above, which is blackish), 1st tergite above at extreme apex, 2nd tergite in apical fourth and to some extent laterally, 3rd tergite in the greater part (except discally at base), succeeding tergites at least at apex, red or red testaceous ; hind trochanters red, darkened above ; flagellum varying from white to red testaceous below, and from red testaceous to black above ; wings slightly infumated ; stigma and wing veins dark brown (except possibly towards the base of the wing), the stigma with a testaceous cloud basally.

Imms & Chatterjee in their classical study of the lac insect say : “ In the newly hatched larvae the sexes are indistinguishable by any external characters and it is not until after metamorphosis has set in that the separation into sexes becomes evident. We have examined a large number of the newly hatched larvae of Tachardia lacca and other Coccids and have been unable at this stage to find any external manifestation of the sexes.” There is not a word separating the first from the second sentence of the above statement, yet Negi, in his recent contribution on the lac insect, who also quotes Imms' & Chatterjee's first sentence, erroneously credits the second part of their statement to me. Further, in my paper on lac insects there is a photographic reproduction (Pl. ix, fig. 26) of two larvae of different sexes which are only four days old. Again, figs. 17 and 18, on Plate vi, are male and female larvae, which have been only 24 hours on the tree and are for all purposes identical with crawling larvae.

Ever since forest entomologists began to inquire into the interrelation between the action of the forester and the prevalence of noxious insects, the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis) has been quoted as a classical example of what unfortunate results large clean cuttings and planting on and in the vicinity of the cut-over areas may produce. This is due to the fact that the females oviposit under the bark of the stumps, where the larvae make their long tunnels far down into the roots of the trees and that large clean cuttings offer them greatly increased facilities of ovipositing in suitable places. At the same time the great number of young pine—or spruce-plants—offer the emerging weevils plenty of tender and nourishing food. The same thing happens if in the vicinity of a successful plantation an area is cut over ; the only difference being that in this case the young plants are attacked in the spring following the cutting by weevils attracted by the smell of the stumps but not yet sexually mature until they have fed on the young plants, whereas in the former case the injury appears 2–3 years after the cutting, when the beetles of the next generation appear.