NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 23 



November (I forget the exact date) I took, in an old sand 

 martin's nest on the side of Shotover Hill, near Oxford, a 

 single specimen of the curious and very rare little Leplinus 

 teslaceus, a remarkable locality, I believe, for the insect. 

 Both of these specimens Professor Westwood kindly assisted 

 me to identify. I took also single specimens of Rliayium 

 hifaacialum (dead, and much injured) and Ochinn ItedercB, at 

 Bishopstone, near Hereford ; Cillenuni laterale, under a 

 stone, at Aber, and Cryplolithus riparius on the top of 

 Moel Union, in North Wales. I found a number of the 

 larvae, imagos, and one pupa, of Melaiwtiis castatiipes, in a 

 decaying fir tree, at Bishopstone, in September. — Hknry N. 

 Ridley; 46, Holywell, Oxford, December 13, 1877. 



Mould on Insects. — In Greene's invaluable 'Insect 

 Hunter's Companion,' on the subject of mould, I find the 

 following: — "Every insect ought to be touched with a weak 

 solution of bichloride of mercury in alcohol. ... I believe 

 insects never get mouldy when this is done." But supposing 

 insects, as mine, have not been touched, and have got mouldy, 

 will this cure them? If not, what will.? I should be very 

 much obliged for any rnformalion which would help me to 

 get rid of "this, the worst enemy the collector has to deal 

 with." — G. R. Dawson ; Pounds worth, Driffield, December 

 3, 1877. 



[The best preventative known against mould on cabinet 

 specimens of insects is glacial carbolic acid. This may be 

 obtained in small bottles from any chen)ist. The readiest 

 way of applying it is to place the bottle, having first removed 

 the stopper, in a cup of hot water, which thaws the frozen 

 acid. Then have a little piece of cotton-wool, about the size 

 of a pea, ])laced on the head of a small pin : this must be 

 soaked in the warm fluid acid. As soon as exposed to the 

 air, in ordinary temperature, the acid on the wool hardens, 

 and then the pin may be stuck in the cabinet drawer: two of 

 these pieces of cotton-wool, so soaked, in each drawer, will 

 deter any further spread of the microscopic fungus, called 

 mould. AH specimens already attacked with this fungus may 

 be cleaned with the preparation of alcohol above mentioned. 

 But the greatest preventative of all is to keep the cabinet or 

 store-boxes in a dry room. We may also note that, in answer 

 to an enquiry, Mr. G. R. Crotch gave the following method 

 in the third volume of the 'Entomologist,' p. 72: — "The best 

 way of removing moidd Irom the wings is to dry the insect 

 thoroughly before the fire, and brush it off with a camel's- 



