﻿158 JAS. J. SIMPSON — ENTOMOLOGICAL 



carriers' feet. I examined a long stretch of the river at Egoa, but saw no biting 

 flies of any sort, At this town the dogs were simply swarming with Ctenocephalus 

 canis. 



Capt. L. E. H. Humfrey, who has made extensive collections of insects 

 from Southern Nigeria, was stationed at Bada<*ri for a short time, and from the 

 " Yewa River" he sent the following species of blood-sucking flies : — Glossina 

 palpalis, Glossina caliginecc, Tabanus fasciatiis, T. secedens, T. socialis, T. taeniola, 

 T. thoracinus, Chrysops dimidiata* and Mansonioides uniformis. 



(2) Meko. 



The southern part of this district is for the most part undulating, has a laterite 

 soil, and is covered with open forest of a deciduous type, having an undergrowth 

 of tall grasses and bush, with occasional belts of denser forest, the latter 

 generally associated with the small streams. There are a number of small rivers 

 running south, the chief of which are the Yewa and the Idi, which unite a little 

 to the south of Egoa. 



The town of Meko stands on the eastern edge of a large plateau 645 feet 

 above sea level, with an estimated area of five square miles. To the west the 

 descent is very precipitous to the small village of Idofa, nestling in the valley of 

 the Oyo River, a tributary of the Yewa. The main road to Meko is from Aro 

 a station in Egbaland on the Lagos Railway, 60 miles from the terminus at Iddo. 

 Only 13^ miles of this road are in the Meko district. 



No blood-sucking flies were seen at Meko during my visit, nor have any been 

 recorded from the plateau itself. A number of species, however, occur at various 

 places on the Aro-Meko road, but these will be referred to later. On the dogs, 

 however, the following parasites were found : — Haemaphy sails leaclii, Rhipirephalus 

 sanguineus and Ctenocephalus canis, while on the fowls were numerous Echidno- 

 phaga gallinacea. 



North of the town of Meko there is a small belt of oil-palms. " Further 

 north, palms all but disappear, and the scenery becomes extremely monotonous— 

 everywhere tall grass and trees of such a kind that the general aspect is like that 

 of a thickly planted English orchard with its grass ready for haysel. Cropping 

 up here and there are huge slabs of bare grey gneissic granite, and also hills of 

 the same, partly clothed with trees and herbage ; these are seen best near Oku- 

 oshiju's farm and at Owuye (French, and 12 miles north of Meko). Numerous 

 small streams run in all directions except north ; the largest is the Okpara, about 

 250 feet wide, between Jabata and Wasimi." 



(3) Shaki. 



This district is very imperfectly known, but the general configuration of the 

 country is said to be similar to that described above for the northern part of the 

 Meko district. The River Ogun rises in this district near the Northern Nigeria 

 frontier. 



* It is very doubtful whether C. sllacea, Aust,, is really distinct from this species, and it is 

 highly probable that when a larger number of specimens are obtained it will prove to be no 

 more than a mere colour variety. 



