UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE 
ENTOMOLOGY RESEARCH BRANCH 
BELTSVILLE, MARYLAND 
Plant IiKiiistzy Station 
February IS, 1955 
io* b* P* Xnipltng, Qiief, ^antwoloQf It«®<iarch Braneto 
Frcua* P* ¥# Cktm, Head, Insect Identification and Parasite 
Introduction Section 
Subjects Steithstmian-Bredin Expedition to the Beliian Congo 
Reference J.jt laade to Lem&rd C«naiclia®l*s letter of February 
9 to you, in irtiich a request is laad© for Er# Muard ¥• Bgksa‘ of 
this Section to participate in the ^dthsonian-Bredla ©xpeditim 
to the B^gi^ Cc«igo. Ibis ®:^ 0 dltion offers an raaisual (^portimity 
to gain valuable scientific inforrarsticm of a ba.»ic nature, imd 
it is strongly rec^aended tlrat Ur* Bate* be mithoiised to Join 
th© e:^©ditioij under the conditions outline* Following is an 
iraii cation of som of the ways in uMch the increase knowledge of 
African arthropods result!^ from these explorations will enabOLs 
us more effieicntly to meet our obligations to the American public. 
¥lde dissemination of arthropod pests throu^ oowaert^ has in 
many instances obscured evidence as to their native h<»e# ¥lthout 
such knowledge, a sear<4i for natural enmies of pests is less 
likely to succeed, ami will alsiost certainly b« Mtore t ime-consuiaing 
and ejQJensive. Similarly, tire search for insect enajsies of weds 
must guided by knowledge of native floras and faunas, TMs 
Action plsurs within the year to send an er^lorer to Afj^icu to 
seardh for parasites and predators of ispertant cotton pests, 
and a preliminaxy reoMu'taisisance by Dr, Baker will materially 
aid us in planning laor© eset^ded op^atim, fhe increasing 
Importance of Acarina as plant pests is evidence of the need for 
increased lojowledfe of their distribution and hc^t relationships, 
and is essential to the solution of current problcsjs and as a guid© 
to regulatory policies desired to prevent introduction of new pests. 
Continued reciuests frtwi our military establishment for inlozmatlon 
regarding medically important arthropods in all parts of the world 
makes it Impossible for this Section to restrict its interests to 
domestic faunas, The importance of prior knowledge of artliropcKi 
faunas may b® well illustrated by a brief review of the hemorriragic 
fever investigations in Korea, At th® time our troops first 
