4 Second Report on Economic Zoology. 



Numerous correspondents have written for information concerning 

 these pests ; some of their letters and the reports sent to them are 

 here reproduced. 



One personal visit has been made privately to Higham Hall, 

 the seat of Lady Henry Somerset, on the borders of Epping Forest, 

 and others by Mr. Lowe, who has been employed by her ladyship tu 

 superintend the treatment of the pools, tanks, etc., in which the 

 mosquitoes were found to be Ijreeding. 



As a rule. Anopheles maculipennis and A. hifurcatus are in great 

 abundance in the valley of the Stour, in Kent, but this year they 

 have been comparatively scarce ; Culex ^:)^2'^e7ls and Theohaldia 

 animlata, on the other hand, have been present in great numbers, and 

 have bred much more rapidly than usual. Although the latter 

 species has been the cause of much annoyance elsewhere (vide letters 

 re mosquitoes at Weston-super-Mare), it has not been found to bite 

 in the Stour Valley, neither is any annoyance caused by Culeo: 

 pipiens in that region. 



Undoubtedly the most vicious biters have been Tlieobcddia 

 anmdata, Culex nemorosus, Culex diversus, Ctdex morsitans, and 

 Grahhamia dorsalis. 



In woodland districts of East Kent, Culcr. cantans, Meigen, bites 

 very ravenously at dusk, especially on the ankles. 



I. Mosquito annoyance at Woodford and Epping 



Forest. 



Towards the end of May, Lady Henry Somerset wrote from 

 Higham Hall, Woodford Green, Essex, asking how to deal with the 

 enormous increase of mosquitoes in that neighbourhood. 



In a subsequent communication she stated that : — 



" The cold weather seems to have driven them in, and I have not 

 seen a single one to-day, but if I possibly can I will endeavom- to 

 procure one or two. They are large and extremely poisonous — so much 

 so, that almost everybody who is stung here have their limbs swollen, and 

 it is exceedingly painful and disfiguring. At the bottom of the meadow, 

 probably a quarter of a mile away, there is a large lake. Of course they 

 may breed there ; I do not know." 



On the following day a large mosquito was sent, which proved to 

 be Culex diversus, Theobald. 



On the 12th of June I paid a private visit to Higham Hall and 

 the surrounding area, including part of Epping Forest, which sur- 

 rounds part of the estate, and in consequence sent the following 

 report to Lady Henry Somerset : — 



