230 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, 'o8 



powdered grub, chiefly the watery extract of the bulb of Hae- 

 manthus toxicaria. In former times various species of Stroph- 

 antluis, especially 5". lanosus were also used. 



31- 



No. 870. PJicidolc punctulata Mayr. (Hymenopt.) 



These tiny ants 'are a troublesome pest. They are into every- 

 thing. A dish of food, unless placed.-on a table the legs of 

 which are set in tins of water, is almost immediately scent- 

 ed and explored by them ; and in the dry season even a glass 

 of water in a few minutes has a lot of them floating in it. 

 Housewives are driven to despair and native cooks endure 

 hard words and blows on account of punctulata the local name 

 of which is "Olunjinji." Other ants in a less degree are guilty 

 of the same proclivities. The ants of Angola seem to be close- 

 ly allied to those of South Africa, and as yet only one new form 

 has turned up in my collection. 



32. 

 No. 133. Epicauta sp. (Coleopt.) 



A plant-feeder and, like several of the preceeding, unde- 

 sirable to have in the garden. This beetle is destructive to the 

 flowers of potatoes and to bean plants. I should say before 

 dismissing it, that this Meloid, if dried and powdered, will pro- 

 duce blisters just as do Lytta vesicatoria L., Zonabris cichoreii 

 L., Z. pustulata Thunb. and. the other species used medicinally 

 in different countries. I am elsewhere* writing of the remark- 

 able mimetic relations of Angolan Epicauta with other insects. 



A study like the present must always remain incomplete. 

 I hope, however, to add to the preceding observations other 

 notes on the most interesting or important insects (from an 

 agricultural or pathological standpoint) that come to my notice 

 during my proposed collecting tours in West Africa. In con- 

 clusion I wish to thank several correspondents for determina- 

 tions of specimens, among whom I must mention Professor 

 Cockerell, of the University of Colorado, Dr. Forel of Yvorne, 

 Switzerland, and especially my friend Dr. W. Horn of Berlin, 

 the President of the German Entomological Society. 



*Vicle Deutsch. Entomol. Zeits. 



