Annual Report for 1914 of the Zoologist. 285 



Corn and Grass Crops. 

 There was little of interest in this section. Frit-fly and 

 tulip-root were reported in oats, and there were some complaints 

 of gout-fly in barley. The usual underground pests — wireworm, 

 leather-jacket, and chafer grubs — were occasionally enquired 

 about, as were also various insects injurious to stored grain. 



Farm and Garden Crops. 



Manj' enquiries were received with regard to root-crop 

 pests, including wireworm, millipedes, leather-jacket, root- 

 maggots, gall-weevil, and surface caterpillar. There was an 

 unusual amount of diamond-back moth attack, that pest 

 appearing in localities where it was not familiar. There were 

 some cases of mangold-fly, but the occurrence of celery-fly was 

 very erratic. It appeared on quite young plants, just set out, 

 early in the summer, but later on, at the usual season, the celery 

 plants were generally almost free from attack. This was in 

 marked contrast to the previous year, when the disease was 

 very severe and wide spread. 



Among garden crops slugs, various species of aphis, and 

 onion and carrot flies were enquired about. Pea-thrips was the 

 subject of few^ complaints, but the pea crop failed in many 

 localities on account of the drought. 



A new pest occurred in a nursery-garden in the form of a 

 weevil, which proved to be Exomias pellucidus. It made its 

 appearance in extraordinary numbers, and attacked all kinds of 

 plants. This sudden attack has probably no special significance. 

 It is not a case of the introduction of an injurious insect from 

 another country, but of the occasional prodigious increase of an 

 insect which is always with us, but ordinarily in such small 

 numbers as to do no harm. Entomologists recognise it as a 

 weevil more than usually subject to fluctuations in its appear- 

 ance, but I find no instance in which it has been recorded as 

 injurious. It must have found the weather conditions extremely 

 favourable to its increase, and it will probably be a long time 

 before it again appears in anything like equal numbers. 



Animal Parasites. 



There have been a few enquiries with regard to warble-fly, 

 and to worms parasitic in sheep and fowls. Many questions 

 have also been answered concerning the various parasites to 

 which troops are particularly subject when on a campaign — 

 — such as lice, ticks, harvest-bugs, and fleas — and I have been 

 consulted in the drawing up of leaflets indicating the best 

 preventive and curative measures. 



Some applications have had reference to house-flies and the 

 best way of reducing thejr numbers. In this connection it has 

 been very interesting to note the great increase in the number 



