Ever since the commencement of hostilities between the Chinese and Japanese in the [Shanghai area nearly a year ago it has been very diMeult to get good fresh fish here. The Feason for this, of course, is that the native sherman who Used Woosting at the mouth of the Whangpoo River as a base have been able to operate on account of the war situa tion, and only a limited number of fishing junks have been able to ascend the Whangpoo to discharge their catches made in the Yang-\sze Estuary and neighbouring sea in Shanghai self. The regular supplies of sea fish caught off the Chekiang coast and shipped by steam-for to the Shanghai market from Ningpo have also been seriously interfered with and what has happened to the big fish market and cold storage plant established a couple of years ago in the Yangtszepoo area by the former City Government of Greater Shanghai no one seems to know. My thoughts have been turned upon the subject of Shanghai's fish supply the rst place by the fact that T am gelting very tired of only bacon and eggs, kidneys and what not for breakfast and long for " bit fresh fish, and in the second place by" the receipt of an excellent little book by Professor IG. A. C. Herkiots and S. ¥. Lin of Hongkong [University entitled "Common Marine Food: Ashes of Hongkong" illustrated with—pletures: fof these finny products of the ocean that makes fono's epicurean mouth water. How one would Jenjoy a good cod steak or a fried dory-snapper. for breakfast! This useful publication dos-cribes in English and Chinese some Atty species of food-fish obtainable in Hongkong, giving an illustration of each species and its scientific, popular English and Chinese names. as well as series of European and Chinese recipes for cooking fish. This is the kind of book needed Shanghai, where, I have noticed, foreign housekeepers and " restauranteurs, expecially British and American, seem to have no iden of the many delectable kinds of fish to be purchased in the local markets in normal. times, fand serve one with.but a" few well known kinds, such "as wang-yn, white-bait (so called) Mandarin Ash, samh and Ningpo sole, {ill one gets to loathe' the very sight and smell of them. They do not seem to realize that. excellent flounder and mackerel are to be had, as well as pomfret, sea bass, various Kinds of sea-bream, grey mullet, skate and many less well known marine food-fishes, in the Shanghai market, and, except for "the Mandarin sh, they appear to be ignorant of the existence of the many good fresh-water species available here, Unfortunately Protessors Herklots' and Lin's book is hardly sultfable for use in Shanghai because the majority fof the fish dealt with are not to be had here, even in normal times, and also because the Chinese names given for such food-fishes as can be secured in our Shanghai markets are those used in Hongkong and would not be understood here either by one's cook or the fish mongers. As an example of this the name wang-yn, or yellow fish, may be taken, In Shanghai this applies to what Herklots and Lin call the yellow croaker (Pseudamclecna jerecea Richardson), whereas in the book it is applied to the gizzard-shad (Nematalosa nasus, Bloch), a member of the herring family. This is the the case with practically every species given, jin the book which is common to both Hongkong and Shanghai. Here, then, is a chance for one of our local ichthyologists to earn immortal fame and the undying gratitude of every Shanghai housewife by compiling and publishing a book for this region on the same Hines as that issued by our Hongkong nuturalists. Think of the number of husbands who would proceed to business in the morning blessing their wives or their cooks because of the delicious ichthyological breakfast they had just enjoyed! a. DE c. 5.
Although the cicadas were a bit late in making their appearance this year, they have since made up for it by their unusually great numbers and the terrific din they are making, night and day, in our Shanghai gardens. AS far as my observations yo, this is the most prolific year for these insects since 1928. The ground in my garden on Lucerne Road in the Western District is literally riddled with holes under the trees made by nymphs of the three commonest forms of cicada found in this area, while dozens of their empty shells adorn the trunks of trees and the branches and foliage of both trees and shrubs. For several nights in succession I have been able to observe the marvel of the emerging of the imagoes-or per-
[fect insects from the nymphs, As a result of the three weeks' excessive heat we have passed through since the cicadas first began to appear the ground is as hard as a rock, and one can-fuct help wondering how the nymphs are able {to bore their way through it to the surface. The fact that in most cases they are covered with wet mud when they emerge from the ground indicates that they must have, come up from some depth, that is to say, at least from the subsoil water level. Just how far down this is this time of year I am not aware, but believe it is somewhere in the neighbourhood fof three to four feet. The more one thinks lof it the more one marvels at the life cycle of the leads. 'The eggs are laid in grooves or fiotes excavated in the bark of trees by the females at considerable heights above the /ground. The larvae, minute almost mieroscople fereatures when they hatch out, fall—or perhaps they crawl down the' tree ' trunks—to the ground, into which they burrow to live a sub: terranean life, feeding upon the juices in the roots of trees and other plants. There they spend a number of years. just how many has not been ascertained in the case of our Chinese species. They steadily increase in size, passing from the larval stage, which is very grub-like, into that of the nymph, in which incipient wings may be observed and the general shape Jot the adult insect is assumed. Just how long, they exist in this form is not known, but tually there comes the urge to leave the ground, and they begin burrowing their way to the surface, Jemerging always after dark on some. summer evening. They make for the nearest tree oF bush, up which they climb to some point of vantage. This may be on the trunk, on a branch or right out at the end of a limb, often jon the outermost Jeaf, Here they fasten thelt claws firmly into the tissues and await their [Anal metamorphosis into the perfect insect, as described in detail in my note of July 4," In jan hour or so this has been successfully' aecomplished, The imagoes hang suspended by their foremost pair of legs throughout the hours of Jdarkness, safe from predatory birds and other enemies, except for prowling red-banded snakes and centipedes, which I have more than fence caught in the act of devouring newly emerged cicadas. By daybreak their wings and fouter skins have hardened and they are ready to fly to the safety of the foliage of the trees, which they.do without delay. 'Thereafter, for few hectic weeks, they appear to enjoy life to the full, the males' spending their time singing noisily, it would seem for the delectation of [the females, and both males and females feeding copiously on the sap of the trees, which they extract by sucking it through their hollow needle-like proboscis inserted through the dead bark to the living tissues within, Mating takes place and the eggs are laid. 'Then, as summer wanes, the cicadas begin to die off, and, by the end of autumn, all have passed away, But they have left behind them the generations of cicadas deep in the soil, there to live their mole-like lives for an as' yet unknown period of years ere they too emerge, and, for a few weeks, enjoy a life above ground, making provision' for still further generations before they jin turn pass into oblivion. Ido not know whether or not my observations to the effect that it was exactly ten years ago, in 1928, that the cicadas were og abundant in this area as they are this year has any signifeance as in-Jdicating a ten-year underground period for our [Chinese species, but it is worth while at least place the fact on record that the present year, 1938, is one of a superabundance of these insects, both the large black form and the medium-sized green form—A, DEC.
'Once more my attention has been drawn to jan insect pest' which is prevalent in. the Shanghai area, 1 refer to what are popularly known as leather-jackets, which are the larvae of the well-known daddy long-legs or crane-fly fof the genus Tipula, These grubs are found, sometimes in considerable numbers, in lawns, where they do much damage by feeding on the roots of the grass. There appears, however, to be some confusion amongst local horticultu fas to just what is and what is not a leathorjacket. Several times I have received ¢complaints that lawns are being destroyed by Jeather-jackets, with requests for information to how to get rid of the pests; but when have asked for specimens of "the insects [suspected of doing the damage, 1 have always received bottles oF tins containing specimens of mole-cricket of the genus Grylotalpa, which are insects of a totally different order irom that of the leather-jackets. Now mole-crickets Jare known to be mainly devourers of other insects, and only occasionally do they make shift on a vegetable diet, probably when an insect diet is not available, It is inconceivable, therefore, that the mole-crickets occurring in such numbers on certain lawns in Shangh fre damaging the latter by feeding on the grass roots. It is. true that they may tear up the turf to a certain extent as they burrow about in the roots and thereby scorn be causing damage to the lawns, but it is almost certain that they are searching for the grubs of other insects which are actually doing serious damage to the grass by feeding upon its roots. [And of these it is also probable that the worst offenders are actually the leather: Tarvae of the daddy long-legs, wh the mole-crickets are after. This belief is Supported bythe foci that. in one batch Specimens sent me a being the incests destroy ing a certain lawn in Shanghai there were Both mole-crickets and leather-jackets, 1 happen know that those responsible for the proper condition of the Lawn in question had caused the native gardeners to destroy large numbers the mole-crickets found in it, and I am Wondering whether by so doing they had not Jdone more harm than good, For the way it fappearsto me is that the reason why there Were so many mole-crickets in the lawn was that there were also a large number of leath Jjuckets, which were doing more serious damage to the grass by devouring its roots. The mole-Jerickets, are larger than the leather-jackets, land a good deal more active, wore being blain for what was really the work of the leat! jackets, upon were waging a war of extermination—a.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.