165 



5 Cockayne (A. H.). The Meadow-Foxtail Midge. — Jl. Agric, Wellington, 

 N.Z., xiii, no. 6, 20th December 1916, pp. 459-466, 5 figs. 



Oligotropus alopecuri is becoming a serious pest of foxtail grass, 

 wbicli during the last decade has been increasingly grown in New 

 Zealand. In Europe this insect is held in check by natural enemies, 

 but in the Manawatu district no parasitised material has been found, 

 and the extraordinary development of the insect in the past three 

 years indicates that practical measures will be necessary for its control. 

 The eggs are laid in clusters, generally on the outer surface of the 

 flowering-glumes and near their base. The larvae on hatching out 

 crawl to the top of the glumes, which they descend on the inside, 

 feeding on the young stamens and sucking the juices from the soft 

 kernel. The larvae pupate where normally the kernel i.s developed 

 and the first flies emerge about the beginning of September. In New 

 Zealand there are several broods, which probably overlap. Various 

 tentative control measures, such as October mowing, and stocking 

 with cattle, have been tried without much success. Control by 

 natural enemies offers the most hopeful field for investigation, and 

 is being studied. The damage caused by 0. alopecuri is confined 

 entirely to crops intended for seed, the presence of the insect being 

 of no importance for grazing or haymaking purposes. 



Waterston (J.). Notes on Coccid-infesting Chalcidoidea — II. — Bull. 

 Enfom. Research, London, vii, no. 3, January 1917, pp. 231-257, 

 9 figs. 



The following new species from the Gold Coast and Southern 

 Nigeria are described : Aneristus croconotus from Lecanium sp. on 

 orange ; Coccidoxenus coclops from Ceroplastes vuilleli, March. ; 

 Coccidoxenus obscuratus from Lecanium somereni, Newst. ; Chiloneurus 

 afer from Pidvinaria jacksoni, Newst. ; Chiloneurus cyanonotus from 

 Lecanium sp. on Tephrosia^ vogilii, Cerapterocerus (Eusemion) patter- 

 soni from Vinsonia personata, Newst. ; and Eunotus truncatipennis 

 from Lecanium ? somereni, Newst., on kola. 



Some notes on the methods adopted for the preparation of Chalcids 

 for descriptive purposes are also given in this article. 



Maulik (S.). Solubility of the Scale of Lepidosaphes ulrni, Linn. — 

 Bull. Entom. Research, London, vii, no. 3, January 1917, 

 pp. 267-269. 

 The control of Lepidosaphes ulnii by means of insecticides depends 

 to a large extent upon obtaining access to the insect by dissolving 

 the scale with which it covers itself soon after it settles down on the 

 bark ; unless this can be dissolved, at least at its point of contact 

 with the bark, no great result can be expected. The effects of a number 

 of reagents were tested, the scales being kept in them for nearly a 

 year. It was found that the scale is not dissolved by concentrated 

 sulphuric acid or by sodium carbonate, even if heated ; it is 

 hygroscopic, losing 8 to 9 per cent, in weight when heated in a water 

 bath ; it contains about 4'5 per cent, of nitrogen and it dissolves 

 in a normal solution of caustic soda or potash. Although soluble in 

 caustic soda in a test-tube, it resists the action of this fluid to a great 

 extent when used as a spray. When tested on scale-insects in test- 

 tubes, it was found that of the three washes in general use against 



