INSECT PESTS OP DATES IN MESOPOTAMIA. 303 



Postscrift. 

 As this paper goes to press I have had an opportunity of examining the MS. 

 of a " Note on Dates and Date Palms in Iraq " by Mr. V. H. W. Dowson, which 

 will shortly be published by the Directorate of Agriculture, Mesopotamia. I have 

 also seen the " Administration Report of Agricultural Directorate for the Year 1919" 

 (Baghdad Govt. Press, 1920), which contains the report of C. E. Wimshurst, 

 Entomologist. From these sources I gather that a " minute larva has been found 

 in the inflorescence of a date palm immediately after its exit from the spa the " ; 

 this is presumably the newly hatched larva of the unknown Gelechiid. Spraying 

 with cold water at intervals of a few days is reported to be a valuable means of 

 controlling the red spider {Oligonychus). Silvanus surinamensis, L., and Laemo- 

 jphloeus sp. (Coleoptera, Cucujidae) are added to our list of pests of stored dates. 



,7i:{) u2 



