1916] Entomology in the British Empire 29 



moths by bait traps constituted the best control measures. In 

 the bait traps eighty per cent, of the moths were unfertihzed 

 females. Serious damage to the rice crop is caused by the 

 rice grasshopper {Ilieroglyphus furcifer). For the control of 

 this insect coarse bags are used, the bags being kept opgn by 

 two bamboos as they are drawn through the rice which of 

 course is grown in water; two beaters go before the bag and 

 drive the grasshoppers towards or with it. Cotton is attacked 

 by two boll-worms and a Gelechia; the boll-worm is a serious 

 bar to the growth in India of any but the short stapled cottons 

 which mature rapidly and offer little scope for boll- worm 

 injury. In the control of the boll- worm in the Punjab, success 

 appears to have attended the use of parasites. 



The immense loss of life due to insect-borne diseases, espe- 

 cially to malaria in India is well known and the importance of 

 the work carried out by Mr. Howlett in conjunction with the 

 Imperial Medical and Veterinary Departments needs no 

 emphasizing. Entomologists and medical men in India have had 

 no small share in the advancement of our knowledge of medical 

 entomology from the time when Ross carried out his crucial 

 investigations up to the present time and the standard and 

 scope of the work in India is steadily increasing year by year 

 through the labors of men such as Dr. W. S. Patton, F. W. 

 Cragg and others. 



The condition of India in regard to that problem, which is 

 of such vital concern to more temperate regions and regions in 

 which agricultural development is taking place, such as the 

 United States and Canada, namely, the introduction and estab- 

 lishment of foreign insect pests is peculiar and full of interest 

 from a biological standpoint. The fact that India has not 

 taken in years past any special steps to prevent the introduction 

 of insect pests may appear strange to the minds of many 

 accustomed to the necessity of such measures. The omission is 

 not due to a failure to appreciate the importance of foreign 

 pests, but to a distinct failure on the part of foreign pests to 

 become acclimatised to Indian conditions. India appears to be 

 protected far more effectively, and at considerably less cost, 

 against foreign insect pests by her climate and topographical 

 features. It is an isolated country bounded on the north by a 

 vast non-agricultural territory from which it is separated by a 



