G8 IhiUclin de hi Sociclé Eiilonìologiijiie d'iùjijplc. 



An Acarine Parasite of the Pink Boilworm 



Pediciiloidcs vcntricosiis. 



lìY F. C-. Wll.I.COCKS. 



As there may be some preseiil al this meeling 

 who have not heard of the Pink l^ollworm the new 

 host of the piLnhiceous Acarine, Pediculoides venlri- 

 cosus, it may l)e as well perhaps for me to conimence 

 l)y giving you a very brief account ol" the former. 



The Pink Bolhvorm is the larva of a small 

 Tincid moth, Gelechia gossypiella Saund., and was 

 lirst found in Egypt in 1910 l)y Mr. Andres and 

 myself in bolls received from Ahnisourah on the one 

 side of the Delta and from Damanhour on the other. 

 Mr. Andres recorded his observations in the Bulletin 

 of the Soc, for October 1911. In 1911 nothing was 

 seen or heard of the Pink Bolhvorm, in 1912 however 

 it increased enormously and developed into a serious 

 pest. The importance to Egypt of this increase was 

 pointed out in a circular wiillen by Mr. Andres and 

 published and distributed by the Khedivial Agricul- 

 tural Society in Oclobar of 1911. Since my relurn to 

 Egypt in November last after a period of illness 

 I have with the aid of Mr. Andres and my Laboratory 

 assistant been engaged in an extensive in\esligalion 

 into the biology of this new pest. So far we have 

 only had lime to touch the fringe of this (jueslion, 

 but at the same lime valuable information has 

 alreadv accumulated. 



