303 



MjoBERG (E.). Results of Dr. E. Mjoberg's Swedish Scientific 



Expeditions to Australia, 1910-1913 : 19. Isoptera. — Ark. ZooL, 



Stockholm, xii. no. 15, 1920, 128 pp., 6 plates, 64 figs. [Received 



25th April 1921.] 



Most of the termites dealt with come from the dry desert-like 



country in the Kimberley district of North-west Australia and from 



the rain-forests of Queensland. No less than 51 species belonging to 



12 genera were collected in Australia; of these 36 species and 1 genus 



proved to be new. 



Parfentjev (I.). Les Insectes nuisibles aux Plantes M^dicinales 

 en Crimee. — Bull. Sac. Path. Exot., Paris, xiv, no. 3, 9th March 

 1921, pp. 164-167, 5 figs. 



A good deal of interest was aroused in medicinal plants in Russia 

 during the War on account of the difficulty of importing drugs, and 

 they were largely cultivated both by the Government and by private 

 enterprise. 



The insect pests injurious to these plants were studied in the 

 Crimea during 1919 and 1920. Ricinus communis [castor-oil plant] 

 bears well and is wexy little attacked, but Atropa heUadonna is 

 severely injured, particularly b}^ the flea-beetles, Epitrix atropae, 

 Foudr., and E. puhescens, Koch, which riddle the leaves. 

 These beetles oviposit during the summer in the ground, the 

 eggs being laid singly. The larvae hatch in from seven to 

 eight da}'s and remain in the soil, where they pupate, adults 

 emerging after six or seven days. Psylliodes hyoscyami, L., is 

 occasionally found on belladonna, but more frequenth^ on 

 Hyoscyamiis niger, L. The leaves and flowers of belladonna are also 

 attacked b^^ the caterpillars of Baraihra {Mamestra) brassicae, L., 

 and of Helioihis peliigera, Schiff. Papaver somniferum (poppy) is 

 attacked b}^ the Curculionid, Ceuthorrhynchus macida-alba, Hbst., 

 the adults of which puncture the young fruits, the larvae living within 

 the capsules. Podagrica malvae, IlHg., occurs abundantly on Althaea 

 officinalis and .4. rosea (marshmallows), eating holes in the leaves and 

 flowers ; the latter species is also attacked by the weevils, Baris nitens, 

 F., Apion longirosire, 01., and A. validuin, Germ. The adults of 

 Apion spp. appear in the middle of September. Oxythyrea fiinesta, 

 Poda, devours the reproductive organs of Althaea officinalis. The 

 flowers of Focniculum officinale (fennel) are attacked by various 

 Hj'menoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera. The bug, Graphosoma lineatiim, 

 L., sucks the juices of fennel fruits. 



Melissa officinalis (common balm) is cultivated in the Crimea 

 both for its medicinal properties and also for use in apiculture, when 

 it is used as a bait to attract swarms. Chr3-somelid beetles, including 

 Cassida viridis, L., and Crypiocephalus ocellatus, Drap., perforate 

 the leaves. Wild medicinal plants also suffei" from insect attacks, 

 the belladonna found in the forests being attacked by Epitrix spp., 

 and the flowers of Adonis vernalis, which is widespread in the Crimea, 

 by Amphicoina vulpes, F. 



Fisher (H. C). Report of the Health Department of the Panama 

 Canal for the Calendar Year 1919.— J/o//;// Hope, C.Z., 1920, 

 134 pp., 20 plates. [Received 21st April 1921.] 

 The most important Citrus pest in the Panama Canal zone is 



Aleiirocanthns zcogliimi, Ashb}' (citrus whitefl}-), and it is gradually 



