74 REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 



REPORT OF THE IMPERIAL PATHOLOGICAL 



ENTOMOLOGIST. 



(F. M. Howlett, B.A., F.E.S.) 



I. Administration. 



I was in charge of the section for the year, save for the 

 period July, August, and September 1914, when I was 

 absent on privilege leave and Hill recess. Mr. P. G. Patel 

 was absent on privilege leave for 29 days and Mr. H. N. 

 Sharma for one month and 20 days. 



II. Educational. 



No educational work was done. Mrs. Kilby and Mr. 

 Awati worked in the laboratory for some time, the former 

 at the reflexes of Cimex (Clinocoris), and the latter at the 

 taxonomies of Muscidae. 



III. Research. 



There have been three main lines of enquiry : — 



(1) A thorough investigation of the flies and other 

 insects which breed in decaying or septic animal 

 matter, including those that infest wounds and 

 sores in domestic animals and man. Veteri- 

 nary officers are being circularized for speci- 

 mens of maggots, and the Pusa species have 

 been under close observation for the last nine 

 months. I have endeavoured to combine with 

 the life-history observations an enquiry into the 

 " chemotactic " reactions of the insects and of 

 the parasites which evidently share them, but 

 the chemical problems involved are such as re- 

 quire the assistance of a skilled biological 

 chemist, who is unfortunately not available. 

 The practical importance of an enquiry into 

 these reactions is considerable, as a knowledge 



