Entomological contributions in memory of Byron A. Alexander

Abstract

posed largely of Caesalpiniaceae (AfzeUa afrkana, Erythrophkum simi'tvlens) and Mimosaceae (Parkin Inglobosa), with an occasional baobab or rhum palm. The streams draining Mt. Assirik soon encounter a layer of very hard, resistant rock (all rock around here, as well as dust, soil, or anything else to do with the earth, is called laterite), which forces them to cut steep, narrow gorges separated by broad stretches of flat land locally known as plateaux. The con-trast between the vegetation of the gorges and that of the plateaux is one of the most abrupt and striking I have ever seen. At this time of the year, the plateaux are almost completely barren, with only scattered stands of a shrubby tree called Comhretum (its fruits are like 4-winged saltbush) and occasional patches of grass which were missed by the fires. On the other hand, the gorges support a dense, luxurious, jungle-like vegetation called gallery forest, for they are the only places where there is a permanent source of surface water. The gallery forest is characterized by an abundance of vines, creepers, and strangling figs, as well as tall, stately trees with enormous buttressed trunks. At least during the dry season, it is also riddled with game trails linking the few precious remaining pools of water.So the chimps are living in an area with a wide variety of habitat types: woodland, forest, grassland, bamboo. Nevertheless, one can't help feeling that it is marginal habitat, although that is nothing more than a subjective impression which is undoubtedly influenced bv one's personal reaction to the country. It's damned hot herelast month the mean daily maximum temperature was 104 "Fand there are some annoying insects around, like sweat bees, tsetse flies, and vicious stinging bees. Consequently, one has to wear protective clothing: heavy duty long-sleeved shirts & trousers, a hat of some kind, canvas boots with gaiters. None of us is able to stay out in the field all day without being thoroughly devastated (or "knackered" as my English companions say) by the experience, so we tend to take a prolonged mid-day siesta.(4 June 1977) ... [Tambacoundal is crowded, filthy, ugly, reeking, hot, foreign, strange, threatening. Perhaps it is because I grew up on the border or something, but poverty, squalor, and overpopulation hold no exotic charm for me. Nor does the ravaged countryside surrounding the "misty villages". Mist indeed! It's dust. AUGOCHLORINE BeE GeNUS MeGALOPTILLA 15 of antenna brown. Face dark brown with dull metallic green reflections; closely punctate, punctures minute and separated by width of puncture or less, integument between smooth (Fig. 11). Vertex, gena and postgena dark brown; vertex and gena punctured as face, postgena imbricate and impunctate. Prothorax yellow-orange, surface imbricate. Mesoscutum black with scattered minute punctures, integument smooth. Tegula light brown, weakly imbricate. Scutellum yellow-orange; sculptured as mesoscutum except punctures more dense. Metanotum brown and dull. Pleura largely yellow-orange with surfa...