26 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '08 



Notes on some Angolan Insects of Economic or 

 Pathologic Importance. 



BY F. CREIGHTON WELLMAN, Benguella, West Africa. 



From my collecting notes on over a thousand species se- 

 cured in Portuguese West Africa during the past two or three 

 years, I have selected extracts concerning some that are useful 

 or inimical to man, hoping that my observations may prove 

 interesting and possibly in some degree novel. I have confined 

 the list to a few of the more striking species. Several of 

 the insects have been reported by me on previous occasions, 

 and references are given to some of these publications. It is 

 highly probable that part of the observations have been re- 

 corded before by others, as it is of course impossible to con- 

 sult either books or periodicals while in West Africa. The 

 numbers preceding the names of the insects indicate the order 

 in which they stand in my collecting record. 



i. 



No. 124. Diplognatha silicea McL. (Coleopt.) 



This handsome Cetonid, known locally as the "thatch beetle," 

 is a great pest in a country where grass thatch is the common 

 roofing material. D. silicea is a large beetle, perfectly black 

 all over, with a beautiful jewel-like polish, as its name implies. 

 It breeds in dry or clamp grass, and almost every evening dur- 

 ing the wet season the 9 9 may be seen and heard tmzzing 

 clumsily about the eaves or top of a house. The grubs eat 

 the thatch so that water penetrates and the roof rots in conse- 

 quence. In one station their ravages were particularly annoy- 

 ing a few years ago, the roofs being ruined in a short time. 

 In many places, however, the damage done is inconsiderable. 



2. 



No. 539. Glossina palpalis wellmani Aust. (Dipt.) 

 This subspecies is the southern representative of Gl. palpalis 

 Rob.-Desv. the carrier of African sleeping sickness. The dis- 

 tribution of palpalis in Angola affords an excellent example of 

 the effect of climate on insect life. In the hot northern dis- 

 tricts of the colony (Congo, Ambriz, etc.) Gl. palpalis palpalis 



