THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 98 
enclosed larve are? They are abundant in the reeds here. 
—[Rev.] A. C. Hervey; Beaulieu, March 17, 1876. 
[The specimens of reeds sent contain each the larva of a 
parasite, which still requires further examination.— Edward 
Newman. 
Black Spots on Insect Cabinets—Can you tell me the 
cause of black spots arising in the drawers of a mahogany 
insect cabinet, lined as usual with cork? Some of my 
drawers are covered with the most unsightly black spots and 
blotches of all sizes. I find the cork beneath the paper 
where these marks occur of a blackish colour; but why it 
should be so I am ata loss to know. At first 1 thought that 
washing the paper in places with bichloride of mercury, or 
the accidental dropping of the oil of aniseed, thyme, and 
spirits of wine, with which I occasionally soak my insects, 
might have caused this discoloration; but places in some of 
the drawers where | know neither of these liquids have fallen, 
accidentally or otherwise, are just as bad. I find neither paint- 
ing them over with white paint, nor chalking them carefully, 
are of any use permanently, as the black substance, whatever 
it is, asserts its supremacy in the course of a short time, in 
most instances. Can you suggest a remedy? I have had 
the cabinet many years (probably ten); and it is only within 
the last year or two these disgusting disfigurements have 
appeared. They seem, too, to be increasing. The cabinet 
is mahogany throughout; there is no deal in it anywhere.— 
J. H. White; Hemingford Grey, St. Ives, Hunts, March 
8, 1876. 
[I have never observed anything of the kind, and can 
hardly give an opinion. Perhaps some of my correspondents 
have had similar experience, and will say what remedy was 
found effective —Edward Newman.} 
Mosquitoes in Ireland.—On the 26th of January I was 
bitten by an insect, exactly resembling a mosquito, in the 
evening by lamp-light, in the residence of a friend in the 
centre of the county Wexford. I was first attracted by the 
buzz, with which I have had unpleasant associations both in 
Australia and America. After allowing it to bite me on both 
hands, I killed it. The marks of the bites still remain. Have 
mosquitoes often been observed in Ireland ?—Alfred Webb; 
74, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, February 8, 1876. 
[Culex pipiens, the common gnat, is the only so-called 
