for the years 1917-20. xix 



otlier beetles, the Orthoptera, etc., are probably at least as interesting. 

 We have to thank Mr. C. Boden Kloss for a small but valuable general 

 collection from Anam, a country of which the insects are very imper- 

 fectly known. In separate orders the largest additions have probably 

 been in the Diptera and the Rhynchota as work has been done in the 

 Indian Museum on their taxonomy. An important donation is that of 

 the late Mr. B. Das' collection of Aphides presented through the kind 

 offices of Dr. Baini Prashad. 



With our present staff in the entomological section it is not possible 

 to do much more than to keep the existing collections in good order, 

 and great difficulty has been experienced since the war in obtaining 

 entomological pins of a composition that will resist the climate. Pins of 

 the kind have to be uniform throughout and to contain at any rate a 

 large proportion of nickel. I would be very grateful to any reader of 

 this report who would suggest a source whence such pins can now be 

 obtained. 



Arachnida. — Ir. Gravely, with the assistance of the Eev. Dr. 

 Sutherland of Kalimpong and of Mrs. Annie i rake of Serampore has 

 added greatly to the collection of spiders, while his preliminary investi- 

 gation of the taxonomy of the Indian species has enabled many 

 old specimens to be incorporated. A small collection of scorpions, 

 solifugae, etc., mainly desert forms, was made by Dr. Kemp and myself 

 in Seistan, from which we already possessed some interesting scorpions 

 and solifugae collected by Sir Henry MacMahon and other ofl&cers of 

 the Seistan Arbitration Commission. Perhaps the most interesting 

 comprehensive collection of Arachnida obtained in the last three years 

 was, however, that made by Dr. Gravely at various times on Barkuda 

 Island in the Chilka Lake. The arachnid fauna of this island includes 

 many burrowing spiders, some of which construct elaborate trapdoors 

 to their burrows. The study of these, on which Dr. Gravely is now 

 engaged in Madras, should throw much light on the ecology of the 

 order. 



Crustacea. — The cessation of zoological work on the ' Investigator ' 

 has affected the additions to our collection in this gioujj at least as 

 greatly as those in any other. Dr. Kemp's work on the decapods 

 has, however, permitted the permanent incorporation of very large 

 numbers of specimens, including numerous types. Many of these 

 are from his own collections, made in the Andaman Islands, in the Gulf 

 of Manaar, on the coast of Portuguese India, etc. Others are from 

 the collection made by Major Sewell on the coast of the Eed Sea 

 and the Gulf of Suez, others again from that obtained on my Far 

 Eastern tour in 1915-16, and many of course from the old ' Investiga- 

 tor ' collection. The most important collections of Crustacea brought 

 afresh to the Museum in the last three years are probably those from 

 the various lakes and other bodies of water investigated by officers of 

 the department. Many valuable specimens from the Andamans were, 

 however, presented by Mr. R. MuUins of the Marine Department in 

 those islands. Exchanges have naturally been few, but we may now 

 hope that our old system will shortly be renewed. 



Other Invertebrates. — There is very little to be said about addi- 

 tions to the collections so far as other invertebrates are concerned 



