BITING AND NOXIOUS INSECTS OTHER THAN MOSQUITOES 



39 



mention mnst suffice. Ticks sent from Berber proved to be IIiinkniniKi 

 jaundice of dogs occurs, and is probably due indirectly tu L'/iijiiiyji/i,i/ii.'< 



(rijiijifiHiii Malignant 

 KdiKiitineus. 



I have examined female ticks taken, gorged wi 



Fig. 18.— Pikoplasmata i.n Mluml) of Cattle, x 137iS dia 



from cattle with trypanosomiasis, 

 but I have never found try- 

 panosomes in these ticks. The 

 parasites were, however, far fruin 

 numerous in the cattle blood. In 

 Idood from mites taken from 

 infected rats I have found try- 

 panosomes alive 26 hours after 

 the insects were removed from 

 their host. The recent work of 

 Skinner* has drawn attention 

 to the possible association of 

 //i/iiluiinim <i'(ji/ptlinii and plague. 

 He has indicated that there is a 

 good deal in common between the 

 distribution of this tick and that 

 of endemic plague (Brit. Med. 

 Jour.,26/8/05, 16/9/05, 14/10/05) . 

 Whether or not his surmises 

 prove to be correct, it is 

 important to note here that both 



//. wgyptinm and rats are very numerous in and about Khartoum. 



Chicken meat in Khartoum is often very tough and unsavoury. I believe this to be due 



in some measure to the unfortunate birds being drained of their juices by the loathsome Argas 



ticks which cling to them in dozens. Some remedy might be found by oil-dressing the fowls. 



or by the erection of tick-proof houses in the market. The pests, however, are not greatly in 



evidence, and funds are re(juired for more important matters. 



Insects and Vegetable Parasites Injurious to Plants 



Aphid.« 



Once more one has to record the ravages of Aphis sor<iltl, the " Asal " fly of the Arabs. 

 It caused great destruction amongst the dura crop on the Rahad, and has been busy up the 

 Blue Nile and elsewhere. A small quantity of standing dura became infected in the Gordon 

 College garden in October, 1905. The crop was promptly cut down and the plants burned. 

 This prevented any spread of the disease. Au application for £E50 was made to enable 

 experiments to be carried out with lady-bird beetles. It was intended to introduce 

 Leis coiifofijiis from Tasmania and Hljijioilamia ronvergens from California. The expenditure 

 was not sanctioned, and perhaps it was just as well, for if such experiments are to meet with 

 success and be carried to a conclusion they must be conducted with great care, and would 

 require the services of an Economic Entomologist. I think I cannot do better than quote 

 some interesting notes by Mr. Lounsbury, Government Entomologist at Cape Town, on a 

 subject which is peculiarly his own. He saysf : — 



" Lady-birds, syrphus flies, aphis lions, and wasp parasites of one kind or another, prey 



* Brit. Med. Jour., 26/8/05, 16/9/05, 14/10/05, -2/12/05. 



t Report of Goverument Entomologist, Cape of Good Hope, 1900, p. 27. 



The Asal Fly 



