THE PRESENT POSITION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 435 



In this department of knowledge, considerable progress has been made 

 and there is more known on this point than on any other. But even 

 here the economic entomologist will get little real help. 



In the Fauna of India series, there are volumes on Moths, Bees, 

 Wasps, Ants and Ruby Wasps, and Rhyncfiota (chiefly Pentalonu'dce). 



Volumes in preparation are Butterflies, Longicorn Coleoptera, and 

 further Rhynchota. 



Other books deal mainly with Lepidoptera. Miscellaneous papers in 

 the proceedings of learned societies deal with haphazard collections of 

 other groups, but there is little of a thorough nature. In the journal of 

 this Society, thirteen authors write on Butterflies, three on Moths, three 

 on Formicidoz, four on other Hymenoplera, one on Rhynchota, two on 

 Culicidce and one on a single family of Coleoptera. 



We may sum up by saying that the butterflies are known well, the 

 moths moderately, other groups little or not at all. 



This is distinctly unfortunate ; of all groups none are of go little 

 importance in agriculture as the butterflies ; the economically important 

 moths Noctuidos, Pyralidce, Tlneidce, are not as well known as other 

 family of moths ; the Coleoptera, small Hemiptera, Diptera are almost 

 unknown. How does this affect economic work ? It means that the 

 difficulty of identifying economically important species is much increased. 

 We cannot rely on entomologists in India, on collections in India, or on 

 the literature of Indian insects in order to identify our pests. It is a 

 small difficulty and brings with it the additional fact that until the 

 systematic work is widened, we shall be wholly in the dark as to any 

 generalisations on the facts of geographical distribution in India. 



The present tendency in India to w T ork solely on the butterflies or the 

 larger moths is distinctly to be regretted ; if systematic work is the aim 

 of entomologists, that whole branch would progress were the work fairly 

 divided. Of the twenty-five writers on entomology in this journal, 

 thirteen were concerned with butterflies and three with moths ; of the 

 rest, only five are entomologists working in India. So long as this 

 continues, a medi?eval darkness will reign supreme over all but the 

 Lepidoptera, and economic entomologists must rely, as now, on the 

 British Museum officials or on Continental entomologists. 



B. — Life History and Habits. 

 The first essential in economic work is to be familiar with the life 

 history and habits of the injurious insects ; it is the entomological basis 



