PllOCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 473 



National Mills at Alexandria had imported a number of bales of Indian 

 cotton, which were found on examination at the Customs to be badly 

 ginned. They were allowed to go forward only on the condition that 

 they should be kept in a moth-proof store, and that the cotton should 

 be re-ginned in the presence of a delegate from the Ministry of Agri- 

 ■culture. During the re-ginning several " double " seeds containing 

 living Pink Bollworms were found. 



From Egypt the Pink Bollworm is known to have spread to other 

 ■countries, to which Egyptian seed had been sent. The outbreak in 

 "Tokar (Sudan) is probably due to the traffic in Egyptian seed, which 

 prior to 1913 was not restricted in any way by the Sudan Government. 

 The discovery that the Pink Bollworm occurred in the Sudan was made 

 in the Laboratory of the Entomological Section in Cairo, when examining ^ 

 some seed sent from the Sudan to the Ministry for experimental purposes. 



Brazil received the Pink Bollworm also from Egypt. The Brazilian 

 Government imported seed in 1913 and 1914 for distribution, without 

 •consulting the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture. This seed cannot 

 be traced in our Customs returns, and may have been exported first 

 to England and transhipped from there. The result appears to have 

 been a very violent outbreak. 



Mexico is another of Egypt's unfortunate customers. We can trace 

 from the Customs returns that a consignment of 115 ardebs* went to 

 Monterey, Mexico, in 1911; it has spread across the United States borders 

 into Texas, where the United States Government is now taking active 

 measures to prevent the spread of the pest. 



We have unpublished records of this pest from Mesopotamia and 

 from Palestine. 



Thus the present known distribution includes (1) in Asia : Palestine, 

 Mesopotamia, India, Ceylon, Burma, Straits Settlements, China, Japan, 

 the Philippine Islands. 



(2) in Africa : Egypt (not yet in Algiers or further West), Sudan, 

 (German) East Africa, Zanzibar, Southern Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Lagos. 

 (It apparently does not occur in Central nor in South Africa.) 



(3) in America : Brazil, Mexico, United States, and Hawaii. There 

 is little doubt that it will spread in time to wherever cotton is grown, 

 unless cotton-growing countries which are still free take most stringent 

 precautions against the introduction of cotton seed, seed-cotton and 

 badly ginned cotton. This last commodity is frequently used as packing 

 material for leather goods manufactured in the East, and might get 

 overlooked by Customs Officials. 



* One Ardeb=-121-5 Kg. or 270 lbs. wt. 



