PRACTICAL HINTS. 43 



J^RACTICAL HINTS. 



I used to paint my drawers with a mixture of oxide of zinc and 

 milk, which acted very well. The former should be obtained without 

 lumps, and in a line powder. Grease does not penetrate this paint to 

 any extent worth mentioning, the only objection being that the paper 

 is more difficult to remove if re-papering is subsequently done. I 

 think, however, that re-papering is much l;he better plan. 



If I find mites in a drawer, I put a bit of sponge on the head of a 

 pin with a few drops of chloroform, and let it remain some hours, 

 then put naphtha.line in the cells, and sometimes sprinkle it on the 

 paper. I find that the smell will really kill mites in a few hours. 



I should strongly advise Mr. Studd to experiment on a few dupli- 

 cates with corrosive sublimate before soaking the insects in his 

 collection. If there is any appreciable (|uantity, it will corrode the 

 pins and produce a white efflorescence on the wings after a little 

 while. I use it with a small paintbrush (one in a (|uill, not a metal 

 tube) for removing mould, dissolved in spirits of wine, but so weak 

 that Avhen a little is evaporated on a piece of glass the white crystals 

 are almost invisible. But I would not soak moths in it, nor in any- 

 thing, unnecessarily. — N. M. Eichakdsox, B.A., F.E.S., Monte Video, 

 near Weymouth. April, 1896. 



Field work for May and early June. 



By .J. W. TUTT., F.E.S. 



1. — Towards the end of May, search the trunks of aspen in the 

 evening for paired imagines of Lohophora hcdterata (ln'.captcrata). 



2. — " Cannock Chase. — (Tastroparha ilicifolia, May 17th, in repose, 

 clinging to a dead sprig of heather, apparently but lately emerged from 

 the pupa. From its great resemblance to a withered leaf it would not 

 probably have caught my eye, had I not luckily knelt down within a 

 few inches of it to pin a small Tortrix." — W. S. Atkinson. — Zddhxji^t, 

 p. 3396 (1852). 



3. — When rhododendrons are in bloom they should be worked 

 systematically at dusk, for t'hncyocaiupa pnrvellus. 



4. — During the early part of -June and August the large brown 

 blotches on the leaves of Hemdeiun splioiKhjliwn contain the mining larva3 

 of Chauliorhui cliaeroplnillellm. After a week they feed externally 

 (usually gregariously) but, on the underside of a leaf. 



5. — The first week in June is the time for ScsUi sjiJir/ii/onii is, which 

 assembles freely. It occurs in considerable abundance in Tilgate 

 Forest, Basingstoke, and was so abundant in a Welsh locality last 

 year — Dolau Cothy, Carmarthenshire — that the larva? destroyed almost 

 all the alders grooving there. 



6. — -Early in -June, srarcfi the sallows and willows for spun-up 

 chambers containing the green larva of Clcocrris viwinalis. As soon as 

 these disappear, examine the folded leaves towards the end of the 

 twigs for larvte of TetJiea retiisa. 



7. — The larva of Dcpycumria canhwlla mines the leaves of Cnivu-s 

 lanrcdlatHs, and other thistles, in June, moving freely from plant to 

 plant. 



8. — During the first week in June, beat elms for the larv;c of 



