302 JAS. J. SIMPSON 
ENTOMOLOGICAL 
are numerous records made by several medical officers and other officials in the 
Protectorate. The present work deals exclusively with the blood-sucking insects 
and other arthropods which are, or may be, implicated in the transmission of 
disease in West Africa, and is therefore an extension of my previous report 
on the same subject in relation to the Gambia.* 
Prior to the formation of the Entomological Research Committee, through 
whom this work is being conducted, very few specimens of insects and only a few 
isolated records reached Kngland from the various Tropical African Colonies : 
but since that time numerous officials, and not the least in Northern Nigeria, 
have made systematic surveys of the districts in which they are stationed, 
and our knowledge of the distribution of the various species, their habits, and 
habitats is now gradually increasing. Only by this means can it ever be hoped 
to formulate any definite schemes for the abatement of the various diseases 
which may be transmitted by these insects. 
The thanks of the Committee are due to those who have aided in this work, 
but it is unnecessary to enter into the various details here, as the collections have 
been identified and lists sent (along with named specimens where desired) to the 
individual collectors, and receipt has been acknowledged from time to time in the 
various issues of this Bulletin. In case it may not be universally known, I 
might take this opportunity of pointing out to any officials or others, who may 
be interested in this work, but who have no means of identifying the insects 
collected, that any collections sent to the Entomological Research Committee 
will be identified and recorded, and, if requested, named specimens will be 
returned to the collector, along with any available information which may 
be desired. It is hoped, therefore, that many will take this opportunity of 
familiarisng themselves with the various noxious insects in the Protectorate, 
and at the same time help to extend our knowledge of their life-histories and 
distribution. 
An account of the more simple methods of collecting and preserving insects 
for transmission to England was added as an appendix to my Gambian report, 
and separate copies of this may be obtained from the Scientific Secretary of the 
Committee by anyone desirous of aiding in this investigation. 
The duration of my stay in the Protectorate, namely, five and a half months, 
precluded the possibility of my attempting to traverse anything but a limited 
portion, and for this reason I confined my attention to the River Niger, some of 
its tributaries, and the railway systems, as in those regions one would expect to 
find Glossina palpalis most universally distributed. At the request of Dr. 8. W. 
Thompstone, C.M.G., the Principal Medical Officer, I also made a fairly 
exhaustive inspection of the Kateri district (p. 330), the River Garara (p. 335), and 
the Province of Bassa (p. 339), in all of which sleeping sickness was reported to 
occur. Consequently, this report deals mainly with the south-west portion of the 
Protectorate, or, in other words, the Niger basin, and is concerned very little 
with the Benue or Chad systems. For this reason it must be pointed out that 
* Bull. Unt. Res. I, pt. 2, pp. 187-226. 
