20 



DoTEN (S. B.). Department of Entomology. — Ann. Reps. Board of 

 Control for Year ending 30th June 1915, Univ. Nevada Agric. Expt. 

 Sta., Reno, 1916, pp. 38-39, 1 fig. [Keceived 14th November 1918.] 



The possibility of the survival of the bed-bug [Cimex lecttdarius] 

 in bunk-houses throughout the winter, in spite of starvation and cold 

 weather, has been made the subject of a series of experiments by 

 Mr. Schweis. It was found that examples taken on 21st January 

 and placed in tubes in a box which was kept under shelter in the open 

 air till 10th April, and which were then placed in tubes in a tin box, 

 packed in cotton, and stored in a refrigerator at a constant tempera- 

 ture of 40°-50° [F.] emerged on 1st July, alive and vigorous. A number 

 of newly-hatched individuals survived after being kept in cold storage 

 for nearly three months without food, and eggs kept under the same 

 conditions hatched promptly when the temperature was raised. 

 Bunk-houses, therefore, should be fumigated before being used again, 

 either with potassium cyanide or with sulphur ; in the latter case, 

 two fumigations, a week apart in warm weather, are necessary to 

 effect a complete eradication. 



Pierce (W. D.). Medical Entomology a Vital Factor in the Prosecution 

 of the War.— Proc. Entom. Sac. Washington D.C., xx, no. 5, 

 May 1918, pp. 91-104. [Received 15th November 1918.] 



The importance of medical entomology is discussed in its various 

 phases, namely (1) the biological, comprising types of relationships 

 between the disease organism and its host, types of transmission, 

 insect life-histories and the connection between bacteria and insects ; 

 (2) the medical, dealing with the importance of insects as vectors of 

 diseases of man and animals ; and (3) the sanitary, showing that disease 

 prevention is often synonymous with insect destruction. The paper 

 concludes with the enumeration of some problems still be to worked out. 



Hosier (C. A.) & Snyder (T. E.). Notes on Gadflies in the Florida 

 Everglades. — Proc. Entom. Soc. Washington, D.C., xx, no. 6. June 

 1918, pp. 115-126. [Received 15th November 1918.] 



The flight at dawTi of the large gadfly {Tabanus americamis, Forst.) 

 at Paradise Key in the Lower Everglades in enormous numbers has 

 been observed for two years. In 1917 it was thought that both sexes 

 were in flight. This year's observations show that most of the swarming 

 flies are males. Owing to the height at which the adults fly, mating 

 has not been observed ; all low-flying adults captured have proved 

 to be males. In 1918 the swarm was first observed on 9th March 

 and ended on 10th May. 



Males of several species of Tabanus congi-egate in large numbers 

 during the day and feed on the blossoms of the saw palmetto {Serenoa 

 serrulata) where the bloom is shaded. T. lineola, F., was found 

 swarming at dusk on 10th May, and the night-flying T.flavus, Macq., 

 is common. Diachlorus ferrngatus, F., a few Tabanid larvae in the 

 water under saw grass, and a number of other Tabanids have been 

 collected at Paradise Key, including Tabanus atnerimmis*' Fovst., 

 T. turbidus, Wied., T. trijunctus, WLk., T. melanocerus, Wied., 

 T. atratus, F., T. quinquevittatus, Wied., T. pumilus, Macq., Chrysops 

 plaru/ens, Wied., and C. fiavidus, Wied. 



