28 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. | [Jan., 708 
bite which is so severe that the natives compare it with that 
of a poisonous snake. I am elsewhere * publishing in full my 
notes on this interesting insect. 
4. 
No. 500. Bostrychopsis cephalotes Ol. (Coleopt.) 
This species (known to the blacks as “Osekoseko”) is, to- 
gether with its allies, of vast economic significance. It is a 
wood borer which destroys most native “soft” woods, riddling 
them completely so that a timber will in time break of its own 
weight. There is an almost unlimited amount of timber in 
Angola that is of no value whatever because of this pest. Myri- 
ads of fine trees (Berlinia paniculata, Brachystegia tamarin- 
doides, etc.) cannot be used on this account. There are for- 
tunately a good many “hard” trees (Pterocarpus erinaceus, 
Burkea africana, Balsamea mulelame, etc.—also Ebenacez) 
which the borer does not touch. But these as a rule are more 
difficult to work than the “soft” kinds. I once made some ex- 
periments with this bettle. I found that boards, if sawed im- 
mediately after the tree is felled and then dipped in a long 
trough containing a weak solution of sulphate of copper, escape 
riddling. Another method is to soak them in a stream of 
water until they smell sour. Of course, the trouble in such 
procedures is that the boards warp badly for lack of proper 
seasoning. 
5. 
No. 525. Heptaphlebomyia simplex Theob. (Dipt.) 
I have chosen this mosquito not only because it is a common 
and vicious blood-sucker, but also because my observations on 
it have a bearing on the vexed and unsettled systematic prob- 
lems presented by the Culicide, the which are now engaging 
the active attention of different zoologists. H. simplex, which 
in its general facies suggests Culex fatigans Wied., was known 
previous to the writer’s collections only from @ specimens, 
which differ from all other known mosquitoes by having a 
distinct seventh scaled wing vein, upon which character Mr. 
Theobald has founded a new genus and a new sub-family. 
* Deutsche Entom. Zeitschrift. 
