48
the difficulties of taking successful photographs of insects while under canvas, but Mr. Marshall explained that the Entomologists purposed rather to take photographs As it proved impracticable to enter of typical fly-infested or tick-infested country.
into all the details of outfit, it was resolved that a sum of £50 be granted to both Mr. Neave and Mr. Simpson for the purchase of equipment in place of the £30 originally approved, on the understanding that the articles provided with this sum should be the property of the Committee.
2. In the matter of strictly scientific equipment, the Sub-Committee decided to It was resolved that Mr. Neave and eliminate the microscope and its accessories. Mr. Simpson be authorised to expend a sum not exceeding £15 on scientific equip-
ment.
3. Mr. Marshall brought forward for consideration the question of the outfit Mr. Neave pro to be supplied to collectors in the Colonies and Protectorates. posed to take out 30 sets and Mr. Simpson 20 sets, but some organisation would be needed for distributing them. The cost of each set was estimated at fifty-five to sixty shillings. Mr. Read suggested that Mr. Marshall should inform the Colonial Office by letter as to the date on which the outfits might be expected in the Colonies, and undertook to inform the Governors concerned and to see that arrangements He thought that the Committee were made for storing the material until required.
It was should not have to bear the expense of these sets of collecting outfit. resolved that Mr. Marshall be authorised to expend a sum not exceeding £150 on material for collecting outfit, and that on issue to collectors in the Colonial service the cost should be refunded by the Government of the Colony or Protectorate in question.
4. An application by the Scientific Secretary for a typewriter was considered, and it was resolved that Mr. Marshall be authorised to obtain a typewriter for his own use through the Stationery Office.
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No. 41.
40
Enclosure 1 in No. 41.
British Museum (Natural History),
Cromwell Road, London, S.W., November 11, 1909. With reference to the suggestion (the printed copy of which is returned here with) from Mr. H. I. Perkins, Surveyor-General of British Honduras, that the South American sand-wasp known as Monedula signata might be introduced into Central Africa for the purpose of preying upon and checking the increase of Glossina palpalis, I am informed by Mr. R. E. Turner, an authority upon the hymenoptera, that, although the genus Monedula is confined to the New World, the closely allied genus Bember (which belongs to the same family (Bembecidae) and the species of which have habits similar to those of the species of Monedula), is repre- sented in tropical Africa by several species. It has been known for some time that the species of Monedula prey upon Tabanidae in order to provision their nests, and, since they are larger insects than those belonging to the genus Bembex, it is quite possible that they are more efficient fly-destroyers. It is necessary to point out, however, that specimens of Monedula, even if successfully introduced into a G. palpalis area, might refuse to prey upon tsetse flies and continue to hunt for tabanidæ; and secondly that these wasps are found in open, sandy regions, where G. palpalis is unlikely to occur in any numbers. Still, it might be possible to estab- lish Monedula signata, or some other species of the same genus, on sandy tracts of, say, the shores of Lake Victoria, and the wasps, if they increased and multiplied, might do a certain amount of good by preying upon Glossing which strayed from aujacent cover. The practicability and utility of the suggestion could only be deter- mined by experiment.
Should an attempt he made to ship a consignment of Monedula from, let us say. Brazil to the Congo, it might be possible to send larvæ and pupæ (in undisturbed nests which have been dug up entire) as well as perfect insects; the latter would have to be despatched in cages such as those used for tsetse flies and mosquitoes, kept during the voyage at a moderate temperature, and supplied with a diet of sugar and water. I may add, however, that Mr. Turner doubts very much whether it would be possible to keep either the perfect insects or larvæ alive under artificial conditions; he thinks that the best chance of success, if there be any, would be afforded by the pupæ or eggs.
E. E. AUSTEN.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
חון וּח
Reference :-
C.O. 885
20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
SIR,
1.
SLEEPING SICKNESS BUREAU to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received 13 November, 1909.)
Sleeping Sickness Bureau, The Royal Society,
Burlington House, London W., November 12th, 1909. With reference to Mr. Perkins's Memorandum,* “A Suggestion for the Extermination of Sleeping Sickness in Africa," I have the honour to say that I forwarded it to Mr. E. E. Austen, Consulting Entomologist to the Bureau, and received from him the interesting note which is appended.
2. I forward also an extract from Bulletin No. 10 of this Bureau in which an account is given of an African wasp with similar habits.
3. Seeing that any attempt to destroy Glossina palpalis should be made if it has but a chance of success, I think that an endeavour should be made to act on Mr. Perkins's proposal. Lieutenant Fraser, R.A.M.C., has recently found large numbers of the pupe of Glossina palpalis in sand on the shore of the Victoria Nyanza; over 800 were brought to him by his "fly-boys" in a day. There is therefore a chance that if Monedula were introduced, it might attack the flies which come to drop their larvæ on the sand. Mr. Austen suggests that nests and perfect insects might be shipped from Brazil. This would shorten the distance, an advantage if there was someone in that country who would dig up the nests and make the necessary arrange- ments. Perhaps Mr. Perkins himself would undertake this in British Honduras or uake some suggestion. It should not be difficult to send pupæ and eggs; it would be necessary to keep them at a suitable temperature and to consign them to someone with a practical knowledge of their needs. If they were expected in England, arrangements could be made in advance for their reception and despatch to Africa.
I have, &c.,
ARTHUR G. BAGSHAWE,
• Enclosure in No 36.
Director.
No. 10.1
Enclosure 2 in No. 41.
SLEEPING SICKNESS BUREAU.
BULLETIN..
[Oct. 9th.] Page 386.
BIONOMICS OF TSETSE FLIES.
[1909.
Sur un Hymenoptère fouisseur du genre Oxybelus, chasseur de glossines au Soudan
français.
F. PICARD.
6 Août
pp. 360-362.) (Comptes Rendus de la Société de Biologie. 1909.
The specimen was sent by Bouffard from Bamako with the note:-"This species of wasp destroys a certain number of tsetses. It violently attacks the Glossina and kills it.
I have not been able to determine whether it eats it." Picard says the insect is a fossorial wasp, Oayhelus, twenty African species of which are known, He thinks it is a new some from the Cape, others from Egypt and Abyssinia. species belonging to the section Notoglossa, and near O. pinnatus de Saussure. These wasps live on the nectar of flowers and do not kill or eat the insects which they hunt. They paralyse them by puncturing their nerve centres, and bury them in their nests, where they serve as food for the larvae. All the known species hunt Muscido. Picard thinks it probable that this species attacks many Diptera and not only Glossina. He suggests examination of the burrows which are to be found in sandy soil near the hunting ground, to determine what insects are seized. Laveran has recorded that Notoglossa rufipes attacks Stomorys in French West Africa.
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