SO^IE PHASES OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY IN 



SOUTH AFRICA. 



By Eric S. Cogan, M.A., Ph.D. 



In his presidential address before the American Association 

 of Economic Entomologists, Dr. C. G. Hewitt stated that '' the 

 activities of injurious insects, which furnish the problems of 

 applied entomology, are more pronounced in countries where, 

 for various reasons, the stability of the physical and biological 

 environment is changed. This affords a reply to a question, 

 (jften asked, namely, why entomologists are faced with more 

 problems in newer countries, such as our own, than in older 

 countries." On this quotation I would ask you to dwell for 

 a few minutes and consider its applicability to South 'Africa. 

 We are economically a young countr}^ which is rapidly asserting 

 itself in the agricultural world; our resources along agricultural 

 lines are being consistently tapped, and we are well on the road 

 to becoming second to none in respect to fruit culture and the 

 production of grain and other crops. Our system of agriculture, 

 unlike that of the older European countries, calls for extensive 

 rather than intensive methods, and our problems in applied en- 

 tomology are such as require attention from various sources. 

 Our insect problems are diverse and numerous, and call for 

 initiative, adaptabilit}' and perseverance on the part of the en- 

 tomologist. The agricultural as well as, perhaps, the social 

 development of the country is based to some extent on his 

 activities. I do not aim to present all the many phases of applied 

 entomology, but I wish to draw your attention to what appear 

 to me to be important factors in the work. 



The entomologist of to-day is not the old-time " naturalist,'' 

 whose business it was to find the insect, study its life-history, 

 and discover the vulnerable point in that life-history with a 

 view to controlling the pest. Nor is he the systematist, whose 

 sole aim was to collect insects and classif}^ them. Applied 

 entomology brings him into close relationship with the life of 

 the people, with their interests and their habits. As Professor 

 Herrick has well said, " we are fortunate in being associated 

 with a phase of scientific work that is in accord with the modern 

 trend of ideas and with the demands of the age. That is, we 

 are engaged in a practical, economic and applied phase of the 

 science." 



South Africa offers a wonderful field in applied entomology, 

 a field that is fraught with vast possibilities. We have made a 

 good beginning, and bid fair to accomplish more in the future. 

 We have a limited number of workers in a large field over a 

 great stretch of country with varying geographical conditions, 

 so that it would seem desirable that the training of the entomo- 

 logist he l)road and fundamental, not only along the lines of 

 his particular science, but along those of the closelv related 



