Monolarval infestations proved H. sacchari to be parthenogenetic. This parthenogenesis is of the mitotic type and there are 27 chromosomes, indicating that the species is triploid (Netscher, 1969), Males are rare, only being found in any number in old-established pot cultures. They are apparently not functional, a great number of them (20%) having deficient copulatory apparatus. The larvae hatch easily in plain water. At Bacita, Nigeria, Jerath (1968) observed that H. sacchari was more abundant in sandy soils than in clay soils, and that cysts were more numer- ous in the soil during the dry season.