PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 909 



fortunately the habits of the various indigenous fishes have not Seen 

 studied in this connection, and without ascertaining the suitability or 

 otherwise of the various fishes for this work, they haye been indiscrimi- 

 nately used for this purpose ; very large sums of money have thus been 

 wasted. If the whole problem were scientifically tackled and the most 

 useful species in this connection discovered, the gain would be immense. 

 This is, truly, considered to be work for pure science, though the fact is 

 quite ignored that the work of applied science has very often failed 

 owing to lack of information on the various points from the pure 

 scientific side. For example, in connection with this problem the habits 

 of the more hardy type of small surface- feeding fishes, the structure of 

 their mouth, the quality and quantity of the food of these fishes under 

 natural conditions, besides the question of their acclimatisation to new 

 surroundings should be thoroughly inquired into, before they are used 

 for destroying mosquito larvfe. 



2. Harmjul insects. Some of the insects have been shown to be of 

 immense use to fish, but others are ec[ually injurious. The large aquatic 

 beetles (Coleoptera), some of the beetle larvae, the bugs {Hemiplera) and 

 some dragon-fly larvse consume large quantities of the plankton, which 

 as has been stated ab-eady forms the greater part of the food of some 

 fish, and thus these insects stand out as very strong competitors with the 

 fishes. They are injurious in another way also, in that they destroy large 

 numbers of otherwise healthy fry of various fishes by gnawing and eating 

 away their opercula, thus hindering the processes of respiration. They 

 may exert some other influences also but then our information about 

 all these is so very meagre. The Fisheries Department is trying its 

 best towards the solution of all these problems and would be very grateful 

 for any help that it may receive at the hands of entomologists and others. 



62.— NOTE ON A MUSCIPHAGOUS WASP (BEMBEX LUNATA). 



By T. V. Eamakrishna Ayyar, B.A., F.E.S., F.Z.S., Ag. Government 

 Entomologist, Madras. 



(Plate 141.) 



It is well known that species of the Bembecine wasp genus Bembex 

 are in the habit of collecting flies and storing them in their nests. There 

 are also interesting accounts of these by observers like Peckham in 

 America and Fabre in Europe. But, being the first time I noted an 

 Indian species {Bembex lunata) doing this, I have brought this to your 

 notice just to know whether any others have seen this in this or any other 

 species of Bembex. 



