114 THE entomologist's RECORD, 



Then fill the bottle rather more than three parts full, and close u]) 

 the mouth. It is now ready for use, and for relaxing purposes is 

 not to be excelled. A jar prepared in this way will last a couple of 

 years, and even then is of use as a store place for insects which do 

 not require immediate carding. 



The bottle should not be kept on a ground floor, as it may be 

 damp; nor on a top shelf in a room, as the laurel "sweats" from 

 the heat. Beetles should be placed in small pieces of muslin, and 

 tied with cotton ; the parcel can then be lifted out when required for 

 use. I need hardly point out that the mouth of the bottle should be 

 closed as quickly as possible after using, as it is by exposure to the 

 atmosphere that its strength evaporates. The laurel in a small collect- 

 ing Ijottle can be renewed as occasion requires, but with care this 

 need not be done very often. — G. A. Lewcock, 73, Oxford Road, 

 Islington, N. 



Recent Work on the Insect-Fauna of Middlesex. — How true 

 it is that those things which are nearest to us go most unheeded ! For 

 the last three years (1887-1889) I have been tabulating the current 

 records of Middlesex insects, so far as the literature at my command 

 has enabled me to do so, and I have been astonished to find that 

 practically nothing is being done in the county nearest to the metropolis 

 — although, as I know from my own experiences, this is from no 

 real scarcity of interesting matter for study. I will give under the 

 headings of the orders, a brief summary of the work done, so far as I 

 know of it, and this will speak for itself. I shall be glad to be informed 

 of any omissions from the list. I have included insects reported from 

 London : — 



CoLEOPTERA. — Cambits ai/rafus, as formerly, falls a prey to Mr. 

 Bi'lups, in the Borough Market {E?!tom., 1879, ^S^ ; 1887, 1S7 ; 1889, 

 16S). C. moiiilis is reported by Mr. Grant {E?itoui., 1888, 92) from 

 Harrow. Zabriis gibbiis is rather doubtfully recorded from Harlington, 

 by Miss Ormerod in her Kept. Iiij. his. for 1888, p. 44. Lebia crux- 

 minor occurred at Lea Bridge, as we may infer from a note by Mr. 

 G. V. Hudson, in the exchange column of Entom., October, 1888. 

 Bythiniis validus is recorded from Hampstead (W. W. Fowler, Ent. 

 Mo. Mag., 1887, 51). For records of five of the larger water-beetles 

 see Nat. World., 1887, 116 ; Entom., 1887, 162 ; and Eniom., 1890, 20. 

 Leistrophiis species are noted by Mr. Milton in Efifom., 1888, 323. 

 Locmophlaus piisillus is found in London (C. G. Hall, Ent. Mo. Mag., 

 1S89, 262). Blaps inortisaga turned up in the Borough Market {Proc. 

 South Loud. Ent. and N. H. Soc. for 1887, 57). Anobium paniceuni is 

 recorded from N.E. London (J. A. Clark, Efitoni., 1889, 140). 

 Xestobiuni tessellatum is from Sunbury {Entofn., 18S7, 114). Sco/ytus 

 dt'structor is noticed in the London parks {St. J^anies^ Budget, June 23, 

 1888, p. 14). Onthoptiagus vacca is recorded from near Stamford HiU 

 (F. Milton, Entoni., 1888, 323). Callidiuni violaceum, from Wormwood 

 Scrubs, is noted on Mr. T. H. Hall's authority, in Entoni., 1889. 

 Cerambyx moschatus, from the Brent, is recorded in Att. Rcpt. Ealing 

 iMicr. and A at. Hist. Society, for 1887-8. Malacliius oeneus is recorded 

 from Sunbury by Mr. Lewcock {Proc. South Lond. Ent. and N. h. S. 

 for 1887, 68.) Mr. Lewcock also records four species of Donacia from 



