936 PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



^lay not these descriptions be contained in the Departmental publi- 

 cations, Bulletins and Memoirs ? Will the Report of this Meeting be a 

 suitable place for the publication of these results ? 



It is very difficult to get our parasites identified and we are handi- 

 capped for want of these identifications. Our work could be carried much 

 further if we could get these insects identified quickly. We had a large 

 collection of parasites of cotton boll-worms but lost it all on its way to a 

 specialist, as it was sunk by enemy action. At present we have a large 

 collection of parasitic Hymenoptera and Diptera that we cannot get 

 identified. We sent a large collection to Dr. Howard in 1914 and we have 

 not heard any more of it since. One American Entomologist came to 

 India from Florida to get parasites of Aleurodids, but we in India know 

 practically nothing of these parasites. At present the identification of 

 Chalcidids is our chief trouble and, unless they can be identified, we 

 cannot proceed with our work. 



I quite agree with what Mr. Misra has said. One of our crying needs 

 is for good systematic workers on our parasitic Hymenoptera and Diptera 

 to let us know what the different species are, and, until we get this, we 

 cannot proceed with the control of crop-pests by means of parasites. 



70.— HINTS ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS. 



Bij T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, R.N., F.L.S., F.E.S., F.Z.S., Imperial 

 Enfomologist. 



Collecting. 

 Plates 146-161. 

 Localities. Insects of some sort are present in practically every 

 locahty within the Tropics, although it is obvious that some localities 

 support a richer insect-fauna than others. Particular insects of course 

 favour special locaUties but, for general collecting in India, the Hill 

 tracts, especially between the heights of about two and six thousand 

 feet, will be foimd to produce a more varied fauna than any area of 

 similar size in the Plains. This is due mainly to the fact that the flora of 

 these Hill tracts is much richer than that of the Plains. Many species 

 of insects are only found in the Hills and other species only occur in the 

 Plains^ but there is of course no definite Hill insect-fauna as wholly 

 distinct from that of the Plains, many species being equally abundant 

 in both sorts of locahty, nor are the insects found in one Hill tract 

 necessarily the same as those found in others. Briefly speaking, the 

 insect-fauna of the North- Western Himalayas has a decidedly Euro- 

 pean fades whilst that of the Eastern Himalayas is decidedly Oriental 

 with a shght tinge of the palasarctic element partly derived from the 



