﻿RESEARCH IN BRITISH WEST AFRICA. 159 



(4) Oyo. 



The district of Oyo is very similar to Meko. The general type of: country is 

 undulating grass-land, sparsely timbered with gnarled and stunted trees. In the 

 north and west there are high rocky hills, generally rising precipitously to a 

 height of 200-300 feet, while scattered about are small patches of forest. 



Game is fairly abundant in this northern region, in fact it is probably the best 

 preserve in Southern Nigeria. The smaller antelope are found throughout the 

 whole of these districts ; elephant are fairly plentiful, while there are also a few 

 lion, and leopard. Roan antelope, hartebeeste, waterbuck, kob and yellow- 

 backed duiker are also to be found, while monkeys of various sorts are every- 

 where abundant. Nothing is known of the insect fauna of the country north of 

 the Aro-Meko Road and west of the railway. 



Again starting from the south we have now to consider Egbaland and Ibadan, 

 two provinces within the basin of the Ogun River. 



(5) Egbaland. 



The southern portion of this independent kingdom ruled over by the Alake, 

 whose residence is at Abeokuta, consists largely of forest, with immense tracts of 

 open country, well watered and extensively cultivated. To the east are a few 

 ranges of hills which separate the Ogun river system from that of the Ogbara, 

 etc., a region abounding in thick forests. The north-eastern portion is open 

 country, low, well watered and largely cultivated. 



The Lagos Railway runs through a considerable part of this territory within a 

 short distance of the capital, Abeokuta, which has a population of over 60,000. 

 The town of Aro and the greater part of the Aro-Meko road is also in Egbaland, 

 and here the following blood-sucking flies have been found : — 



(In addition to those collected by the writer the records made by Drs. G. Gray 

 and J. Copland, both of whom were stationed at different times at Aro, and who 

 made large collections while travelling to and from Meko, have been added.) 



At Aro : — Mansonioides imiformis, Myzomyia costalis and Tahanus taeniola. 

 Both species of mosquito were very troublesome during the writer's sojourn in 

 February. 



At Olarunda market (one of the usual camping places on the Aro-Meko 

 Road) : — Hippocentrum versicolor. 



At Edi-Emi (the other camping ground on this road) : — Glossina longipalpis, 

 Tahanus subangustus, Hippocentrum versicolor and Subpangonia gravoti. 



At several other places on this road Glossina longipalpis has been found, while 

 Haematopota tenuicrus has also been recorded. 



From the dogs at Aro Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Boophilus decoloratus and 

 Ctenocephalus cards have been taken, while on the sheep at Abeokuta, in addition 

 to Boophilus decoloratus, I also found a new species of blood-sucking lice 

 (Anoplura) recently described by Kellogg and Paine* under the name of 

 Linognathus africanus, 



* Bull. Ent. Res. II, pt. 2, p. 146, 



