179 



CURRENT NOTES. 

 Steg-omyia fasciata in North-East Africa. 



As a result of the publication of the late Sir Rubert Boyce's article (Bull. Ent. 

 Res. I., p. 233) on the significance of this mosquito in West Africa, Dr. Andrew 

 Balfour, Director of the Wellcome Research Laboratories, Khartoum, has written 

 drawing attention to the fact that the species occurs in various localities in the 

 Sudan. At one time it was fairly numerous in Khartoum itself, but such relentless 

 war has been waged against it during the past seven years that it is now rarely 

 found. Dr. Balfour adds that " there is some evidence to show that S. fasciata 

 may transmit the virus of horse-sickness in the Sudan ; while recent French work 

 tends to confirm the supposition that it may also act as a vector in dengue fevei\ 

 Indeed it would seem that there is a close connection between this mosquito and 

 certain of the ultra-visible viruses producing disease in man and animals." 



Mr. R. E. Drake-Bi-ockman has also written from British Somaliland to say 

 that S. fasciata is very abundant in all the coast towns of that country, except 

 from April to September, when hardly any raosqultos are to be found owing to 

 the terrific heat and the strong hot winds. He had not met with the species 

 anywhere up-country, and considers it to be essentially a town mosquito, breeding 

 in the water-vessels in and about every Arab and Indian house ; no larvae, how- 

 ever, could be found in any of the wells. Attempts have been made to control the 

 breeding of the insects, but it has been found difficult to induce the native popu- 

 lation to take the proper precautions. Numerous specimens, bred from larvte, 

 have been sent home by Mr. Drake-Brockman, which show some interesting- 

 variations, the thorax being sometimes quite pale brown, while the dorsum of the 

 abdomen is often so much suifused with whitish scales as to obliterate the con- 

 spicuous white banding. A single specimen with a similar whitish abdomen has 

 been taken by Mr. J. J. Simpson, at Lokoja, Northern Nigeria. 



Cimex rotundatus in the Ang-lo-Egyptian Sudan. 



Dr. Andrew Balfour writes as follows concerning this bed-bug : — '" Hitherto 

 Cimex rotundatus, the species of bed-bug which Patton has associated with kala- 

 azar has only been found in the Red Sea Province of the Sudan where it was 

 believed to have been introduced from Arabia by Yemenese. Recently, however, 

 the late Lado Enclave has been taken over from the Belgians and now forms 

 part of the Mongalla Province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. From one of its 

 stations, Loka by name, El-Kaimakam Percival Bey kindly brought me 

 specimens of bed-bugs collected in the native huts, where he informs me there 

 are large quantities of them. On examining his specimens I found them to be 

 Cimex rotundatus and not C. lecLularius, which, so far as is known, is the only 

 species found in Khartoum and in the kala-azar districts of Sennar, Kassala and 

 Kordofan. 



" As Captain Arcliibald is at present in the Lado District on Sleeping Sick- 

 ness work, I have wired him to be on the look out for cases of kala-azar, while as 

 Mr. Kin^, our Entomologist, is also in that region we are likely to obtain full 



