I^7URIOUS INSECTS AND OTHER LOWER ANIMATES. - GENERAI^ITIES I717 



the first of these which destroys the shoots, flowers and leaves of fruit 

 trees, is the stinging nettle according to Glausounoff, so that well kept 

 gardens are free from it ; the reproduction in this, as in the allied species 

 of Otiorrhyncus , is parthenogenetic. A more detailed account of two 

 Coleoptera has been given, both of them being pests on mustard : Colaphus 

 hojti Men. and Lixus ascanii. ; the former has only one generation of larvae 

 in the summer and hibernates in the adult state ; the latter, it appears, 

 has two larval generations and it is the larvae which hibernate. The 

 following Coleoptera are now reported as being harmful : Podonta sp., on the 

 flowering ears of corn ; Lina popiili L., on poplars all along the River 

 Kouma; Otiorrhyncus ligtistici L., which is a serious pest on lucerne; Phyllo- 

 hius Pyri I,., on Ulmus ; Eudipnus micans F., also on Ulmus : Psalidium 

 maxillostim F., on mustard ; Cleomis ptincliventris Germ, and C. nigri- 

 vittis Pall. var. kindermanni Est., on mangolds ; Ceutorrhyncus macula-alba 

 Hrbst., which causes great damage " to poppies; Baridmm scolopaceum 

 Germ., on mangolds : Rhynchites giganteus Kryn. with other allied species 

 on fruit trees ; Blithopertha lineata Fbr., which injures the leaves of haricot 

 beans and is also found, with species of the genus Anisoplia, on the ears of 

 wheat. 



Among the Diptera large number of Contarinia tritici Kirby have been 

 seen, which have not done much harm. 



Important among the observations on the Hymen optera are the records 

 of damage done to maize shoots by ants, and Gi.ausounoff's researches 

 on the Tenthredinidae of cereals {Cephus pygmaeus L. and Trachelus ta- 

 bidus L.). These two species are evenly distributed throughout the region 

 and it is of practical as well as theoretical interest to discover what are the 

 diagnostic features of their larvae. A study of the external characters is 

 useless in this connection, but there are great differences in the form of the 

 silk-producing glands ; a detailed description of the morphology and ana- 

 tomy of these larvae will be published in a separate paper. The follow- 

 ing Hymenoptera pests are recorded for the first time in this region : Xylo- 

 copa violacea F., which has done a good deal of harm to the wooden construc- 

 tions in the villages ; Eiirytoma amygdali End., in the kernels of plums ; 

 Hoploxampa fulvicornis Klg., in plums ; Athalia spinarum F., on cabbages 

 and mustard. 



Besides the harm done by insects, very serious damage has been 

 caused by field mice (probabh- Microtiis sp.) which occur in great numbers 

 in the south of the Government, and in certain places have destroyed the 

 seedlings of cereals. The number of ground-squirrels {Spermophiliis sp.) 

 increases each 3-ear and the methods used for their destruction are inade- 

 quate owing to the lack of the necessary resources. 



1240 - Insect Pests of Agriculture in British East Africa. — deakin, r. h, in The Annah 



of Apfylicd Biolo%y, Vol. H, N" 4, pp. 241-244. Cambridge, 1916. 



During the year 1914 large bands of Schistocerca peregrina some in 

 the adult and some in the larval condition appeared throughout the Pro- 

 tectorate ; the damage done was not extensive, only a few plants of coffee 

 and of maize beimr attacked. 



