290 p. A. BUXTON. 



most catholic tastes, devouring almost all forms of stored produce. Tlie larva is 

 described by Durrant as dull pinkish-brown, head and plates darker, brownish 

 spots darker, length 1 in. This species has been recorded from Fao, at the head of 

 the Persian Gulf, in Arabia, also from Algeria and Persia (Hampson). As an 

 imported species it has reached England, and has been reported from Canterbury 

 by Hampson ; in the British Museum there is a specimen bred from the larva 

 described by Durrant ; this larva was found by Miss B. Reed in dates in London. 

 The species was common at Amara on the R. Tigris, males and females coming 

 to Hght from April to June. It seems probable that Mesopotamia is one of the native 

 countries of this insect. There is no record of it as a serious pest, but this may 

 only be due to our ignorance of the moths whose larvae attack stored fruits. 



Family GeLECHIIDAE. 



Genus and species unknown (text %. 1). 



This was by far the most serious pest of the date palms in Mesopotamia in 1918, 

 and it was on account of its ravages that I was ordered to report on the failure of 

 the date crop during that season. Unfortunately I received this order after the 

 larvae had left the dates to pupate, and it is only owing to a fortunate chance 

 that I was able to obtain a few larvae which had been preserved in whisky by one 

 of the officers of the Department of Agriculture. These specimens enable me 

 to say that the pest is a Tineid of the family Gelechiidae, if the tables given by 

 Fracker for determining Lepidopterous larvae are correct. I have found his paper 

 most useful, and I believe it to be accurate, but I think we must accept it with a 

 certain amount of "reservation, at any rate where the Microlepidoptera are concerned, 

 because Fracker has been forced to base his conclusions on the examination of a 

 comparatively small number of identified species of larvae. Text fig. 1 shows the 

 chaetotaxy of this larva, and with the aid of it future investigators should be able 

 to determine whether any pest with which they are deahng is identical with the one 

 of which I am speaking. The explanation of the nomenclature of the setae will 

 also be found in Fracker's paper. Apart from chaetotaxy the larva may be 

 described as follows. The adfrontals reach the vertical triangle, and the frontals 

 about haK way up to the vertical triangle. The superior angle of the frontals is 

 not prolonged into a fine point. The arrangement of the ocelli is that characteristic 

 of the Gelechiidae and not the Oecophoridae, a point which cannot be described 

 without reference to a figure (cf. Fracker, PI. viii, figs. 80, 81). The body is 

 sMghtly flattened, and is widest at the third and fourth abdominal segments ; the 

 setae in general are short and inconspicuous, as is usual in internal feeders. The 

 prothoracic shield is weakly chitinised and is not darker than the rest of the body ; 

 the legs are short. The abdominal prolegs are also short, and the crochets on 

 them are uniordinal, and arranged in a complete series : the crochets of the anal 

 prolegs (text fig. 1,D) are arranged in a continuous transverse row. The prothoracic 

 spiracle is oval, the abdominal ones circular, that on the 8th segment the largest. 

 I was informed that the larvae when alive were pink, without any markings. 



This pest has apparently not been recorded before, and is so far as we know 

 confined to Mesopotamia. Its biology is very little knoAvn, but its ravages were 

 first detected by other observers in June. The haH-ripe dates turned brown and 



