i)3S PHOCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



has been j^aid to them of late by the Zoological Survey and, of course, 

 very special attention has been paid to one group, the mosquitos, by 

 numerous workers. 



In any locality, therefore, the collector will find ample material 

 for observation and collection, and he will find further that close observa- 

 tion will as a rule develop a trained eyesight which will reveal innumer- 

 able insects which would never be noticed at all by the untrained eye. 



In any case, it will be found that it pays better to work thoroughly 

 one good, if circumscribed, locality rather than to spend time in moving 

 on to s'ome other, perhaps less favourable, place. " If you know a 

 better place, go to it — and stop there " is not a bad entomological motto. 

 It is bad policy to try to combine coUectmg with a walking tour. It 

 is best to survey a locality briefly, note down one or two likely places 

 for the particular insects required, and to work this or these thoroughly. 

 The following remarks deal with special localities or methods of collecting. 



Insect Pests usually obtrude themselves upon notice and, where 

 an insect is in sufficient numbers to constitute itself a pest, little difficulty 

 usually occurs in obtaining specimens. In the case of crops, the crop 

 affected should be examined and also any adjacent likely food-plants. 

 Insect pests of sann-hemp for example, are Ukely to be found also on 

 wild species of Crotalaria, and pests of sugarcane and cereals on wild 

 grasses. It is often important to know what are the alternative food- 

 plants, either cultivated or wild, of pests because this loiowledge may 

 be of considerable importance in devising control measures. This 

 paper deals with collecting insects generally and not with control of 

 pests and therefore it seems unnecessary to say much about insect pests 

 here, beyond pointing out that every item of information regarding 

 the occurrence, fife-history, and so on, of insect pests is of importance 

 in devising control-measures. Accurate records of the occurrence 

 of all pests are very desirable, as it is possible that the accumulation of 

 records of this sort will eventually throw a good deal of light on the 

 reasons for the occurrence of such outbreaks and will perhaps enable 

 us to forecaste them and take preventive measures in due time. On 

 all occasions, therefore, when insects are found present in destructive 

 numbers, the collector will assist the progress of economic entomology 

 considerably by taking some specimens and forwarding them to an 

 entomological centre with any information about the outbreak, instead 

 of merely passing them over as common things of no mterest to any- 

 body. 



Biiglit, sinttiy. ojicn jjlaces such as open glades near or in wooded 

 areas, gardens, and, generally speaking, any places containing flowering 

 plants, sunshine, and shelter from wind, will be found good locaUties 



