﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  FOFETIl 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  MEETING 
  167 
  

  

  fauna 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  Palaearctic 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  south 
  Mediterranean 
  type. 
  

   A 
  general 
  collection 
  of 
  insect 
  was 
  made 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  time 
  permitted, 
  and 
  is 
  of 
  

   course 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  exhaustive 
  and 
  the 
  non-availability 
  of 
  literature 
  in 
  

   general 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  Mesopotamia 
  fauna 
  in 
  particular 
  placed 
  me 
  in 
  the 
  

   position 
  of 
  a 
  man 
  groping 
  in 
  the 
  dark. 
  

  

  Insect-pests 
  of 
  Mesopotamia. 
  It 
  may 
  perhaps 
  be 
  readily 
  conceded 
  

   that 
  a 
  single 
  year 
  cannot 
  be 
  considered 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  period 
  long 
  enough 
  to 
  

   make 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  pests 
  of 
  any 
  province. 
  The 
  

   task 
  was 
  especially 
  difficult 
  in 
  a 
  country 
  which 
  was 
  at 
  best 
  just 
  beginning 
  

   to 
  get 
  settled 
  and 
  was 
  before 
  long 
  unfortunately 
  in 
  the 
  throes 
  of 
  an 
  

   internal 
  rebellion. 
  As 
  falls 
  to 
  the 
  share 
  of 
  pioneer 
  workers, 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  

   scarcity 
  of 
  apparatus 
  in 
  the 
  earlier 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  period, 
  and 
  throughout, 
  

   a 
  lack 
  of 
  of 
  help 
  in 
  routine 
  work. 
  I 
  trust 
  the 
  above 
  adverse 
  circum- 
  

   stances 
  may 
  be 
  held 
  to 
  be 
  sufficient 
  excuse 
  for 
  the 
  imperfect 
  nature 
  of 
  

   many 
  of 
  my 
  observations. 
  

  

  A 
  certain 
  amount 
  of 
  entomological 
  work 
  of 
  economic 
  interest 
  was 
  

   found 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  done 
  previous 
  to 
  my 
  arrival 
  in 
  Mesopotamia. 
  Mr. 
  

   (then 
  Captain) 
  P. 
  A. 
  Buxton 
  of 
  the 
  R.A.M.C, 
  had 
  been 
  deputed 
  to 
  

   report 
  on 
  a 
  disease 
  of 
  the 
  Date 
  Palm 
  causing 
  a 
  good 
  percentage 
  of 
  young 
  

   fruits 
  to 
  dry 
  up 
  and 
  drop 
  off. 
  His 
  observations 
  were 
  published 
  as 
  a 
  

   Bulletin 
  of 
  the 
  Agricultural 
  Department, 
  Mesopotamia, 
  in 
  1919. 
  These 
  

   have 
  reappeared 
  in 
  a 
  modified 
  form 
  in 
  a 
  recent 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  Bulletin 
  

   of 
  Entomological 
  Research. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  pests 
  on 
  Date, 
  he 
  has 
  

   also 
  worked 
  on 
  a 
  Lymantriad 
  pest 
  on 
  Figs 
  and 
  certain 
  other 
  injurious 
  

   insects 
  on 
  crops. 
  Major 
  C. 
  R. 
  Winshurst, 
  who 
  was 
  Government 
  Entomo- 
  

   logist 
  at 
  Baghdad 
  till 
  May 
  1920, 
  had 
  made 
  various 
  observations 
  which 
  

   have 
  been 
  incorporated 
  in 
  the 
  Annual 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  Agricultural 
  Depart- 
  

   ment 
  for 
  the 
  year 
  1919-1920. 
  I 
  am 
  indebted 
  to 
  these 
  two 
  authors 
  for 
  

   information 
  regarding 
  several 
  of 
  the 
  pests. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  is 
  a 
  list 
  of 
  pests 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  various 
  crops 
  either 
  

   collected 
  by 
  me 
  personally 
  or 
  reported 
  officially 
  from 
  the 
  various 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  It 
  is 
  greatly 
  to 
  be 
  regretted 
  that, 
  as 
  many 
  of 
  

   the 
  insects 
  belong 
  to 
  a 
  type 
  of 
  fauna 
  different 
  from 
  the 
  Indian, 
  the 
  

   major 
  number 
  cannot 
  be 
  identified 
  with 
  any 
  certainty 
  even 
  with 
  the 
  help 
  

   of 
  the 
  large 
  collections 
  at 
  Pusa, 
  

  

  1. 
  Date. 
  The 
  most 
  serious 
  pest 
  of 
  the 
  Date 
  Palm 
  in 
  Mesopotamia 
  

   is 
  the 
  " 
  Hashaf 
  " 
  Moth 
  ; 
  young 
  fruits 
  are 
  bored 
  into 
  by 
  a 
  small 
  caterpillar, 
  

   whereby 
  they 
  turn 
  red, 
  dry 
  up 
  and 
  drop 
  down 
  ultimately. 
  The 
  loss 
  

   according 
  to 
  Buxton 
  may 
  be 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  50 
  per 
  cent. 
  Buxton 
  refers 
  to 
  

   his 
  pest 
  as 
  a 
  Gelechiad, 
  but 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  rear 
  the 
  moth. 
  Specimens 
  of 
  

  

  M 
  2 
  

  

  