May, '08] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 227 



21. 



No. 1441 seq. Diacantha spp. (Coleopt.) 

 There are a number of noxious Phytophaga which might be 

 mentioned. Those named in the title of this note feed on 

 Curcurbitaceae and especially destroy melons and cucumbers. 

 Other allied beetles : Monolepta ludrica Wse., Melinotoma spp., 

 etc., also Curculionidae, larvse of Elateridae (Tetralobus 

 mechowi Qued., et a/.), etc., are also common garden pests. 

 My noxious Hemiptera and Lepidoptera have not yet been re- 

 ported on. 



22. 



No. 1156. Simnlium damnosiim Theob. (Dipt.) 

 This tiny fly is possibly one of the most successful destroy- 

 ers of patience and provokers of profanity in the Colony. Na- 

 tives near wet plains sometimes are compelled to move their 

 kraals on account of it, and I have had to break camp to es- 

 cape a swarm. It crawls down one's neck and up one's sleeves 

 and bites viciously, leaving a tiny red wheal which itches furi- 

 ously and does not disappear for some time. 



23- 

 No. 179. Apis nigritaniin Lep. (Hymenopt.) 



The common Angolan honey bee. The species, described 

 from the Congo, is by some regarded as only a variety of 

 A. odansoni Latr., and some authors regard both these forms 

 as varieties of the common European honey bee. I have it 

 on the authority of Professor Cockerell, however, that our 

 Angolan nigritarum is not to be identified with the European 

 species. The insect is of considerable economic importance, 

 as the natives eat the honey ; and beeswax is one of the chief 

 exports of the colony. The hives are made of hollowed out 

 pieces of log (sometimes of bark) and are hung or lodged in 

 trees. Particular trees are considered to be good "bee trees" 

 and are always provided with hives. When full, the bees are 

 simply smoked out of the hives and allowed to go off to find 

 another home. No attempt is made to keep them, or to attract 

 new swarms. It may be said in passing that the Apidae of 



