FOREWORD. 3 



white men, that increased attention should be paid to the insect fauna 

 whether it be inimical or helpful to man ; and since the inimical insects 

 play the larger part in the problem, it is suggested that a beginning 

 should be made with them. 



"The work falls naturally under tw^o heads : {a) work in the Colonies, 

 on the spot, (b) work that can be done in England. 



(rt) With regard to the work in the Colonies : w^e could hardly 

 have too many collectors, but^ as a beginning, a start might 

 be made by two trained naturalists. Their duties would be 

 threefold : — 



(i) To form collections of all sorts of insects and ticks, but_, at any 

 rate at first, especially of those which come in direct relation 

 to man, to domesticated cattle, and to cultivated crops. 



(ii) To observe and note as completely as possible the life-histories, 

 habits and habitats of the insects or ticks collected. 



(iii) To interest the resident officials in entomology ; to induce them 

 also to collect, and to teach them how to " set ■" or preserve the 

 insects and ticks for transportation to England. 



" Of these duties the second is by far the most important, it can only 

 be done on the spot, and it alone points the way along which remedial 

 measures — if such be required — must be followed. 



" The Entomological Collection at Lagos and other centres should be 

 developed. As each insect is determined, a named specimen should 

 be sent to this Collection, and should the number of specimens allow, to 

 -each of the Schools of Tropical Medicine in Great Britain. 



" The Government of each Colony should supply, within reasonable 

 limits, its officials with the necessary apparatus for making the entomo- 

 logical collections. 



(h) The collectors in the Coloiiies cannot be expected to determine 

 accurately the specific names of the specimens they collect. They 

 have neither the necessary books of reference at their disposal 

 nor the types or cotypes of the great museums at hand. It is 

 in this respect that the cooperation of workers in England is 

 urgently needed ; and since the number of species of insects is 

 so prodigious, it will be necessary to have recourse to several 

 specialists, each of whom might be asked to deal with one Order, 

 or better, with one family, or, it may be, with a single genus. 

 Even if the collectors ignore — because, according to our present 

 knowledge, they exert but little influence on human affairs — such 

 orders as the Lepidoptera, the Neuroptera, etc., w^e are still left 

 with such a mass of un worked material that it would be beyond 

 the powers of any group of workers in England to sort out and 



b2 



