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EDITED BY

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INDEX.

INDEX TO VOLUME 65

Aberrations of British Macrolepidoptera.
E. A. Cockayne, 33, 81, 161, 241.

Acentropus niveus, swarming of. A: C.
R. Redgrave, 327.

Acherontia atropos at Birmingham. C.

Timms, 217; Salisbury. Cys ak:
Pitman, 256: Suffolk. F. H. Lyon,
325: Weston-super-Mare. Oe Ss vid:
Blathwayt, 217.

Agapanthia villosoviridescens, Note on.

Begs. Jerry,” 92.

Agrotids, former incidence of. P. B. M.
Allan, 180.
Agrotis segetum, stridulation of. J. JM.

Darlow, 20.

Altitude, Insects and. M. Burr, 119.

Amathes alpicola, emergence of. C.
COM at IN An "Odds. weak...
SA REYES, Qi.

Amathes c-nigrum, incidence of, 147.

Amathes depuncta, on Rearing. D. A.
iB Ma@enicol, 275.

Ammogrotis lucernea, day-flying habit
OP AneaGes.. Abt J. iio. GQmpDeUl,
S8.

Ancylolomia tentaculella at Dungeness.
A. M. Morley, 148.

Anthocharis cardamines, incidence of.
T. D. Fearnehough, 16; dwarf race of.
P. W. Holloway, 215: in Scotland. G.

We Harper. 216:

Apatele alni in Derbyshire. J. H. John-
SOjDs elide

Apatura iris, parthenogenesis of. file

Symes, 17: second brood of, 54.
Arctia caja, aberrations of. S. Gordon

Smith, 2: £E. S.A. Baynes, 66; large

specimen of. S. Wakely, 20.

Arctia villica, aberrations of. lihg. (03
Muggs. V7 pairing. C. M. Rk. Pit

man, 258: variation in, C. M. R. Pit-
man, 258.
Argentina, An Entomologist in. AK. J.

Hayward, 249, 310, 350.
Argynnis cydippe in Denmark, 115.

Argynnis euphrosyne, new ab. of. J.
Lobb, 56.
Auction Sales of the “Nineties, 285, 315.

Birds and Butterflies. FE. Barton White,

5d: C. M. R. Pitman, 362.

Biston betularia ab. carbonaria, in-
cidence of. J. H. Johnson, 362.
Blocks v. Boards. S. H. Wershaitw, 22.

British Lepidoptera Collecting. CC. G.
M. de Worms, 343.

‘Burnt’ Grasshoppers. J/. Burr,

Cabinets, interior treatment of.
Holloway, 144.

Callophrys rubi, new foodplant of. H.
M. Darlow, 19.

Calophasia lunula in Essex. JT. C. [Mug-
Cinsea22: IM Keni ES are, 6323:
R. I’. Bretherton,. 323: in Sussex. C.
Go Vie: WIOTTLS, 32a,

294.
(Bie ie

iii

Castle Russell Collection, the. Sha hse
Williams, 97.
Catoeala electa,
Cockayne, 16.

record of. PTA.

Catocala fraxini, capture of. C. G. i. de
Worms, 328.

Catocala nupta in Derbyshire. lions HT.
JONNSON, 9325.

Catocala spp. in Kent. C. sGaiis de
Worms, 328.

Celerio livornica at Salisbury. C. WV. R.
Pitman, 215: in Somerset. C. S. H.
Blathwayt, 297.

Cerambycidae, collecting. I’. A. Hun-
ter, 60.

Cetonia aurata, early appearance of. I.
Symes, 185: in Bournemouth. (ile
Symes, 333.

Cnaraxes jasius in Turkey. WM. Burr,
280.

Cheshire, microlepidoptera in. il ING
Michaelis, 74.

Chiasmia. cltathrata, abt) of. CH Crau-
furd, 220.

Chilodes maritima in Yorks. Se mle

Jackson, 297.
Chrysopa melicharii, Note on. P. A. IT.

Muschamp, 8.

Chlaria otregiata in Wales. II. King,
293.

Ciorhia ocellaris, Notes on. II. C. J1ug-
gins, 347.

Clearwings, Notes on, 49.

Cleora jubata in Somerset. F. J. Stone,

294.
Clostera anachorela
Johnson, 291.
Coenonympha_ tullia
Cockayne, 322.
Coleophora sylvaticella in Devon. Se:
S. Brown, 145.

Coleoptera of a Suburban Garden.
A. Allen, 225.

Colias calida, time of appearance of. T.
H. Ford, 218. 3

Colias croceus, Note on breeding. R. F.
Parsons, 293.

Collecting Agents.

Collecting in the
Allan, 205.

Colocasia coryli, Notes on, 209; in Berk-
shire. H. Symes, 260; in Surrey. R.
E. Parsons, 259.

Colouration of Insects, experiments on.
M. Burr, 55, 149.

Crambus contaminellus, Surrey locality
of. S. Wakely, 19.

Criocephalus ferus in Is. of Wight. S.
Wakely, 365.

in Kent. G. F.

ineduncs.: 2. A.

is
_

FAVS? Perry oi.
’Nineties. P. B. M.

Culicoides in Bedfordshire. B. R. Lawr-
ence, 60.
Cumberland, collecting in, 11, 12; H.

caesia in, 16.

iv

Current Literature, 63, 95, 127, 159, 191,
238. 269, 302, 334, 367.

Cycnia mendica, breeding. L.J. Evans, 4.

Danaus plexippus in Somerset. P. EF.
Smart, 322.

Daphnis nerii in Birmingham. JE

: Booth, 321; in Dorset. H. King, 296:

ROCCE Awe ene YOLKS: G2B.
Hyde, 363; D. Wade. 368.

Dasypolia templi in Herts. SE esl bie
Howarth, 325.

Deilephila elpenor, distribution of. 7.
H. Johnson, 361.

Derbyshire, macrolepidoptera of. J. H.

Johnson, 69, 107, 185, 174; collecting
in. J. H. Johnson, 179.

Devon garden, In a. E£. Barton White,
282; collecting in: HH. B.D. ‘Ketile-
well, 381.

Dicycla oo at Woking. CAGE de
Worms, 364.

Dromius insignis under bark. A. A.
AWNCT pA g a

Dysstroma truncata ssp. concinnata. E-
A. Cockayne, 273.
Earwigs and Larvae. fF. Harrison, 24.
East Coast Floods and Lepidoptera. C.
G. M. de Worms, 341.
Eggs. diurnal synchrony in
A. L. Goodson, 330.

Enargia paleacea in Derbyshire. J. H
Johnson, 325.

Epischnia vankesiella in Pembroke.
EP BUGKCtL 215.

Epping Forest. Beetles in. F. A. Hunter.
333.

Erannis defoliaria, spring emergence of
BB. M. Allan, 123,
Erebia aethiops in Worcs.

148.
Erebia
359.

Essex, the year 1952 in.

hatching.

N.

A. R. Ward,

ligea, Yiennial appearance of,

Atma) CIpick:

37: Notes from. A. J. Dewick, 143,
329.

Eublemma parva in Devon. H. B. D.
Kettlewell, 292; in Gloucs. R. P.
Demuth. 217: in London. TANG
Edwards, 292: in Surrey. R. F.
Bretherton, 217; W. E. Minnion, 256:
in Wilts. R. A. Jackson, Bye

Evlia formosana in Dorset. F. M. B.
Carr, 87.

Euphyia tiuctuata in Sussex. Mi: W..

Harper, 326: if continuously brooded.
C. G. M. de Worms, 326.

Eupithecia arceuthata in Herts. S. MW.
JACKSON, 328.

Eupithecia insigniata, incidence of. R.
B. Sisson, 15.

Eupithecia millefoliaia in Sussex. C. G.
M. de Worms, 328.
Eupithecia plumbeolata in Dorset. fH.

King, 292.

Eupithecia satyrata in Dorset. I. King,
293.

Evpithecia tantillaria in Derbyshire.
T. H. Ford, 88.

Eupithecia wvalerianata in Dorset. HH.
King, 293.

Evplagia quadripunctaria, Notes on.
J. L. Atkinson, 309.

Eustrotia uwncula in Yorks. S. M. Jack-

son, 297, 32d.
Fifty Years Ago, 32, 63. 94, 127, 159, 190,
238, 268, 301. 333, 366.

Floods and Lepidoptera. C. G. M. de
Worms, 341.
Formica rufa attacking spider. 4H.

Symes, 181.

Galloway. Ants in.
297.

Gastropacha quercifolia, second brood
Of, HoeSymes. 53:

Gloucestershire. Neuroptera in. A. F.
Peacey, 184: Eublemma parva in. R.
P. Demuth, 217; Oria musculosa in.
C. Renfrew, 291: Oxyptilus pilosellae
WD ie ee SON DO) TP RUS Ime Ty mn
R. P. Demuth, 363.

Gonimabrasia tyrrhea, pupation hahits
Ol. (He BED set ivetwetiy ander

Conodontis bidentata ab. bowateri. £.
A. Cockayne, 222, 295.

Hadena caesia in Cumberland. E. A.
Cockayne. 16.

Hadena conspersa, early appearance of
i. Es Campbpelis A853:

Hampshire collecting
Richards, 57.

Haworth and his Prodromus.
Allan, 82, 112.

C. A. Collingwood,

notes. Ab VY.

ep. DT

Heliophobus anceps, attempt to rear.
J. H. Johnson, 326.

Teliothis seutosa in Norfolk. ee 3G:
Todd, 324. :

Temerodromia wnilineata on. B. R.

Laurence, 299.

Hercyna phrygialis, Note on, 13.

Herse convolvuli in Herts. Tee GS
Howarth, 326.

Hertfordshire, Notes from.
furd, 90, 223.

Hormones and Hybrid Lepidoptera. VY.
B. Wigglesworth, 244.

Hover-flies. the. L. Parmenter, 122, 154,

C2 3Crau-

185, 234.
Humble-hees. spring movement of on
coast. J. F. Burton, 20.

TTydraecia, some spp. of. R. F. Brether-
ton, 130.

HTyloicus pinastri at Bournemouth. WH.

Symes, 218: at Cambridge. W. H.
Storey, 217.
Typhantia cunea, Note on. 212.
Imaginal Development, rapid. Elite

Lyon, 259.
Inverness-shire,
Harper, 45.

Collecting in. Ga WwW.

INDEX. Vv

Ireland, A Holiday in. J. N. Marcon,
105.

Tsolated Fauna, A. M. Burr, 337.

Johns, Mr. E. F. of Winchester, 17, 84,
88.

Went, Collecting in. S. Wakely, 42;
Notes from. G. V. Bull, 143.

Kentish marshes. butterflies of the. D.
F. Owen, 278: V. cardwi and N. io in.
i. F. Burton, 19.

Labelling specimens. IW. Bowater, 89.

Lampides boeticus in France. V. M.
Muspratt, 99: breeding in captivity.
Gy A’ Clarke, A04.

Laothoe populi, aberrant larva of. J. TL.
Campbell, 292.

Lancashire, microlepidoptera in.
Michaelis, 74.

Laphygma exigua in the Is. of Canna.

TWN.

J. L. Campbell, 183; at Weston-super-

Mare. CS. Hs Blathwayt,, 296:
stridulation of. H. M. Darlow, 20.
Lasiocampa quercus eating seeds of ivy.
R. M. Mere, 16; black larvae of in
Yorks. F. Hewson, 1; sexual selection
im. J. 7. Johnson, 258.

Lepidoptera Collecting Notes: N. L.
Birkett, 6: F. M. B. Carr, 39, 288, 348:
G. F. Johnson, 10: D. G. Sevastopulo,
134; C. GW. .adeé Worms, 343.

Lepidoptera in Tit nest-boxes. DP
Owen, 18.

Leucania favicolor in Hampshire. B. C
Barton, 362.

Leucania lithargyria ah. nigrescens. A.

Ase BOS. A'l.

Leucania pudorina, larvae of. Ge (Ee
Hyde, 20.

Lewucania straminea in Yorks. See

Jackson, 297.

Leucania unipuncta at light. EF. S. A.
Baynes, 258.

Leucania vitellina in Hants.
ton, 329.

Limenitis camilla and Parasites. A. E.
Collier, 145; G. E. Hyde, 24, 362:
second brood of. J. F. Burton, 297.

Lincolnshire, collecting in. P. C. Haw-
ker, 299: C. lullia in. E. A. Cockayne,
322.

Baten Bar:

Lithophane semibrunnea in Bourne-
mouth. H. Symes, 52.

Lithosia quadra, a late. A. C. R. Rea-
grave, 325.

Longicorn Beetles. collecting. Tk A.
Hunter, 60.

Lophopteryx cucullina at
W. H. Storey, 324.
[ycia hirtaria in Folkestone. A. M.

Morley, 21.
M.V. Lamp: W. E£. Minnion, 34; and
Bats. F. H. Lees, 180: in Uganda. D.
G. Sevastopulo, 180, 223.
Macroglossum stellatarum in 1952. C.
Mellows, 53: early appearance ot.
F, H. Lees, 142,

Cambridge.

Marked Butterflies. liberating. C. WM. fl.
Pitman, 221.

“Maskels’. A. IW. Boyd. 368.

Meconema_ thalassinum, drumming of.
POW. Carrie: 93:

Mecostethus —grossus, record of. iD

Fincher, 365.

Memories of the Years. K. J. Hayward,
202.

Metoecus paradoxus, Dionomics of. C.
A. Collingwood, 300.

Microlepidoptera, Notes on. dH. C. Hug-
GUS «1A4~ HOMSS IAG. 1AS7, GH QS) 255)
287, 320. 360.

Mompha_ nodicolella,
Wakely, 6.

Moth-trap in October.
339.

Neuroptera in Gloucs.
184: at Symond’s Yat.
263.

New Forest in the ’Nineties, 148.

Nola albula, larva of. H. Symes, 247:
at Chattenden. H. C. Huggins, 308.

Nonagria dissoluta, migration of. A.
L. Goodson, 291: R. M. Mere, 364.

Notes on Microlepidoptera. He GG.
Huggins, 14, 50, 85, 116, 137, 176, 213,
Dae VEST

Nyssia zonaria, new foodplant of. IV.
kh. Minnion, 146.

Obituary : K. G. Blair, 128: P. P. Graves,
272: P. P. Milman, 94.

Odontosia carmelita, early appearance
OF, WHE SYIMMEst BiSt COUGAR) He
Worms, 182: Notes on. HP ALB 1D,
Kettlewell 87: W. J. Finnigan, 144:
oviposition of. IW. A. C. Carter, 53.

Opisthograptis luteolata, early appear-
ance of. €:'M. R. Pitman, 363.

Oria miusculosa in Gloucs. C. Renfrew,
291; in Surrey. J. L. Messenger, 362.

Ornithomyia fringillana on Redwine.
Di VOWeEN. ate ON RODE ee Ce
nventer, “93> on Wintethroat. (ye oR.
Burton, 59.

Orthoptera, the British, D. K. McE.
Kevan, 121: in the Midlands. Ie,
Fincher, 151.

Orthosia advena in Hants. B. C.
ton, 329.

Oxryptilus pilosellae in Gloucs. Ne de
Stone, 294.

Panaxia doneiniula,
Symes, 67, 201.

Panolis flammea, emergence of. F. IT.
Lyon, 218.

Notes. on. S.
R. F. Bretherton,

A. F. Peacey,
A. F. Peacey,

Bar-

breeding. lil.

‘Papered® Insects. D. G.: Sevastopuio,
197.

Papilio machaon in Kent. J. L. Athin-
SON, 296.

Pararge aegeria at flowers. Des” fh
Owen, 18: habits of. Viscount Boling-
broke, 290, 291: HM. A. Buckler, 219:
S.-H. Kershaw, 219; D. F. Qwen, 129.

vi

Parsley blossom, Flies at. H. W. An-
drews, 58.

Phaonia luetabilis bred. B. R. Laur-
ence, 267.

Pheosia tremula at Deal. C. WM. Gum-

mer, 25; third brood of. I. J. Stone,
216

Philosamia, hybrid race of. W. J. B.
Crotch, 281.

Photographing living
Minnion, 147.

Phragmatobia fuliginosa

insects. We VE.

attracted by

scent of P. dominula. Seis Ker-
shaw, 219: in Uganda. D. G. Sevdas-
topulo, 85, 175.

Pieris napi, colour of pupae. W.

Morris, 362.

Pieris rapae at Sea. D. I. Owen, 180.

Pinning and Setting Flies. EF. C. M.
(dAssis-Fonseca, 264.
Platyptilia rhododactyla in Middlesex.

W. E£. Minnion, 52.

Plusia festucae, hibernation of, 199, 260,
294, 330: Remarks on. B. J. Lemphe,
QH5.

Plusia gamma, abundance in Hants. A.

C. R. Redgrave, 327: Subspecies of.
KE. A. Cockayne, 193: Variation in.

4A. M. Morley, 24.
Plusia ni in Gloucs. R. P. Demuth, 362.
Poecilopsis lapponaria in Inverness-
shire. G. W. Harper, 216.
Polychrisia moneta, foodplants of. 1H.
C. Huggins, 56.
Polyommatus icarus
Dyson, 2.

Mee COCCOn aie (Ge

Portland, A Night at. A. C. R. Rea-
grave, 331.

Practical Hints, 51, 86, 117, 140.

Preserving Larvae, Hint on. Bis Als

Cockayne, 331.
Processionary Moth, cycle of, 367.
Procus, some spp. of. R. FF. Brether-
ton, 130.
Protection of British Insects,
Protocalliphora azwrea from
Nests. D. I’. Owen, 31, 267.
Pseudoips vbicolorana in Somerset.
Thorpe, 296.
Psyche opacella
Johnson, 217.
Pterostoma palpina, abnormal larva of.
Her. Dartow: 19:
Purbeck, Notes from. JL.
261, 329.
Retoresting with Conifers, 85: A. M. R.
Heron, 25.
Renfrewshire, Lepidoptera
Maclaurin, 182.
Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell
tion. #. A. Cockayne, 97, 303.

Saturniidae, pupation habits of African.
D. G. Sevastopulo, 220.

Savoie, Haute, butterflies in. F.
Stammers, 91.

Seasonal Change.

AOE 2210
Birds’

J. oB.
in Derbyshire. J. II.
Tatchell,

142.

in. ALM.

Collec-

MG:

P. H. Holloway, 46.

INDEX.

Selenia bilunaria, dark forms of. J. 0.
T. Howard, 145.

Shoreham (Sussex) area,
WV. E. Minnion, 298.

Simuliid Flies as vectors of Onchocer-
ciasis. E. A. Cockayne, 121.

Spatalistis bifasciata, Note on. H. C.
Huggins, 132.

Sphinx ligustri in Norfolk. A. A. Allen,
418: in Northamptonshire. H. A.
Buckler, 364; P. J. Gent, 181.

Squirrel attempting to catch Tf.
nuba. D. F. Owen, 18.

Starlings and Larvae, 213.

Sterrha seriata ab. atra. EF. A. Cockayne,

collecting in.

pro-

Strangalia aurulenta, search for. R. S.
Ferry, 26; in Devon. D. Hare and
P. Jeffery, 301; Notes on. Hie Ge

Huggins, 149.
Stridulation of Z. exigua and A. sege-

tum. H. M. Darlow, 20.
Strymonidia w-album at Dover. C. M.
Gummer, 3. .
Swallow-tail. a Hybrid. C. A. Clarie

and J. P. Knidsen, 76. 118.
Sympetrum flaveolum at Sandown. S.
Wakely, 365.

Syrphidae, The. L. Parmenter, 122, 154,

185, 234.

Tachinidae, records of bred. FL. Par-
menter, 28.

Tethea ocularis, melanism in. ZH. C.

Huggins, 277; S. H. Kershaw, 363.
Thalera fimbrialis in England. UH. B.
D. Kettlewell, 305: in Kent. ts SMe
Chalmers-Hunt, 294: Larva of. E. A.
Cockayne, 307: Pupa of. C. N. Hav-
kins, 307.
Thera juniperata
Howard, 54.
Tilgate Forest, rarities in. WW. Reid, 229.
Trichodes alvearius in England. C. A.
Collingwood, 301.
Trichoptera at Symond’s Yat. A. F.
Peacey, 263.
Trypetidae, Notes on. W. Niblett, 231.
Uganda, m.v. lamp in. D. G. Sevasto-
pulo, 180; P. fuliginosa in. D. G.
Sevastopulo, 85, 175, 257.
Vanessa antiopa, immigration of.
Cockayne, 240, 262; L. H. Newman,
261: in Bucks. E. A. Cockayne, 331.
Vanessa atalanta, hibernation of. S. H.
Kershaw, 220.

Vanessa cardui in Merioneth.
Scudder, 256: in N.W.
Burton, 19: Migration
M. Muspratt, 169.

Vanessa urticae, immigration of. C. S.
H. Blathwayt, 295.

Vapourer Group Adaptations. HH. B. D.
Kettlewell, 195.

Varietal Names, some Forgotten. &. A.
Cockayne, 65. ;

MM SULreye we OO! Ee.

Ee. A.

G. .G.. E.
Kent. J. F.
in 1952. yy.

al
Deal.

zonaria
aie cat

Volucella
Wakely,
meer, 59: in Herts.
365: in Middlesex.
332: in N.W. Kent.

West Country Tour.

TAR:
J. F. Burton, 3
Old Moth-Hunter.

H.

Camberwell.
Cae:

BOE. 7. byentey:.
Allan,

neds
Whither M.V.2? WW. Je. Minnion,; 34.

Alam ot. oR: AL. GA,

392, 336

INDEX.

S.

Gumi-

|

{

Winchester, Butterflies at
Witherslack, collecting at
110.

Nylomiges conspicillaris on dock. LR.

Sisson, 52.

vu

112.

5 IPS
J

LT Peels.

B.

Year’s Field Work, A. F. Al. B. Carr, 39.

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.

Atlan, Po B. M256, °82, 112, 143, 149, 181,

205, 364, 367.

Ler WAS tS ed 22. 127,
368.
Andrews. H. W., 58, 335.

Atkinson, J. L., 296, 309.
PALEOUE IpasG@seoe), od02.
Baynes, E.

Best, A. Ase 14
sinkett, N. Le. 6, 245.

185,

Sema .60) 258, 272.

74909)

Bliatbwayt. ©. 5) H., 145, 217, 296, 297.

Bolingbroke, Viscount, 291.

BOONE ds, o2d-
Bowater, W., 90.
30Vvd, A. W.. 363.

sretherton, R. F., 130, 217, 324, 339.

BROW Suc Onunss 4145.
suckler, H. A., 219, 364.
SUL... GG. V:; 144.

3urr, M., 55, 119, 149, 183, 224, 280, 337

Burton, J. F., 19, 20, 31, 60, 271, 297.

Byerley. B. L. J., 365.

Campbell, J. L.. 88, 183. 292.
Carr, F. M. B., 39, 88, 288, 348.

Carter, W: A: C.,.54.

Chalmers-Hunt, J. M., 294.

Clarke, C. A:, 76, 104, 118.

Cockayne, E. A., 16, 33, 54, 6, 81, 97, 121,
dt. 191, 192, 193, 222, 240, 241, 270, 271,

273, 295, 307, 322, 328, 331.

Collier, A. E.,/ 146.

Collingwood, C. A., 298, 300, 301.
Craufurd, C., 54, 88, 91, 220, 223.

Crotch. W. de; B:-, 281.
Curie 2: NW... 93.
Darlow, H. M., 19. 20.
Demuth, R. P.. 217, 362.
Mewick. Al J... 3/7, 143, 330.

DN SOM. Re Ce. 2h, 25.
Edelsten. H. M., 330.
Edwards, T. G.. 292.
Evans, L. J., 4.
Fearnehough, T. D., 16, 143.
ReMmy. Ro OSs, 26, 58. 92:
Fincher, F., 151, 365.

Finnigan, W. J., 144.

Fonseca, E. C. M. d’Assis-, 264.

Ford, T. H., 88, 249.
Gent, PB. 5., 181.
Goodson, A. L., 291, 331.
Gummer, C. M., 25. 59.
Hare, D:, 301.

are, i. J.. 323.

336,

305. 331, 365.
Kevan. D. IS. McE.. 121.
King. H.. 293, 296.
Knudsen, J. P., 76.
Laurenee, B: R., 60,267,
PeeyelINS Te de SK
ees) Reed o St):
Lempke, B. J., 245.
Thobb) Je bo:
Lyon, F. H., 218, 259, 325.
Maclaurin. A. M., 182.
Macnicol, D. A. B., 275.
Manly. G. B., 142.
Marcon, J. N., 105.
Mellows, C., 53.
Mere, R.-M., 16, 118, 364.
Messenger, J. L., 362.
Michaclis, H. N., 74, 120.

299.

Zygaenids, Yellow in Hants. P. H. Hol-
lowday. 257, 296.

Harper (Gl We, 455 Wale 216:

Harper. M. W., 326.

Harrison, E., 25.

Hawker, P. C., 299.

Hawkins, C. N., 128, 307.

Hayward, K. J., 202, 249. 310. 350.

Hedges, A., 16.

Heron, A. M. R., 26:

Hewson, F., 1.

‘Holloway, P. H., 46. 145. 216, 257, 297.

Howard, J. O., Tay 44.145.

Howarth. T. G., 326:

Huce@ims;, A. Ge: 1%, A7%;.150% 1Sak ¢ 14165) 1382:
137, 149, 176, 213, 255, 257, 277, 287, 308,
320. 323. 347, 360.

Hunter FF. A:. .60. 333:

Eby de. sGa Ee Cte e362.

Jackson, R. A., 322.

Jackson, S. M., 297, 325, 329.

Jeffery, P., 301.

Johnson, G. F., 10, 292.

Johnson, J. H., 67, 88, 107, 185, 144, 174,
TSO} 217252595 325320) 361. 362:

Kershaw, S. H., 22, 219, 220, 363.

Kettlewell, H. B. D., 87, 119, 195, 263, 292,

Minnion, W.E., 34, 52, 146, 447, 256, 298,

302.
Morley, A. M., 21, 24, 148.
Morris, W., 362.
Muschamp. P. A. H., 28.
Muspratt, V. M., 99, 169.
Newman, L. H.. 262.
Niblett; M., 231:

‘Old Moth-Hunter’, 148, 199, 355.
Owens F.. 18 38-1320 56, Ge 95. 129° 160;

ASO 192, 259, 261, 20) Vii, V2, Vrs,

vill

Smalt,

INDEX.

Parmenter, L., 29, 64, 93, 122, 154, 185,
234.

Parsons, R. E., 260, 294

Peacey, A. F., 184, 263.

Pitman Co VE Re, Qs 219NR22 eh a 258:
: 363.

Postans, A. T., 295.

Redgrave, A. C. R., 142, 325, 327, 3380, 332.

Rerd, W., 222.

Renfrew, C., 291.

Richards, A. W., 57.

TRmMenyS IN. Des dP Red

Russell, S. G. Castle, 89.

Scudder, G. G. FE., 256.

Sinith, S. Gordon, 2.

Stammers, F. M. -G., 92.
Stone, F. J., 24, 294.
Storey. W. H., 218, 325.

Symes. H., 18,
22233, OMT. nol) ats
Tatchell, L. H.,
Thorpe, J. E., 296.
Shinning. (C5 Bsr!
Todd, R: G.. 324.
Waddington, L. G. I.,
Wade, D.. 363.
Wakely.
Ward, A. R., 148.
White, E. Barton,

261.

59, 282.

AS eae G., 85, 134, 175, 180, 197, Wigglesworth, V. B., 245.
' ee 2 ° Williams, H. B., 97.
Sisson, R. B., 15, 52. Worms. Baron de, 182, 183,
IP 1B ape 341, 343, 364.
PLATES.

New

New

Aberrations of Arctia caja L., Laoth
euphrosyne t.. ae Bee

Hybrid Swallowtail Butterflies

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

Aberrations of ‘Acher ontia “atropos ie

L., Minucia lunaris Schiff
Aberrations of British Geometridae
Aberrations of British Geometridae

The Larva of Amathes depuncta Linn.

Aberrations of Arclia caja Linn.
Aberrations of Arclia caja Linn.

0e populi Ta Argynnis

Deilephila porcellis

S., 6, 20, 31, 42, 36d.

1425264, 322, 329)

323, 326,

face page

52, 53, 67, 182, 185, 201, 218,

328,

LE 61.43

The Entomologist’s Record and Journal of Variation

SPECIAL INDEX
VOL. 65, 1953

: PAGE
COLEOPTERA

aeneus (Meligethes) .............:cc0e--seeeee 230
MCMS (SA CHATS) ose ssennSvcaawas'sd dean drones 228
ES) AE PICTOGOS) «assists sc. <s0S sacesveens 301
amtaeing, (ACTOUPICHIS)) «..2....<c2iedssee% 228
EET Sa (CUM TIS) pete ths yocteon. ccheeed eaeesicn 60, 333
aromaria (AGrObriChis)) ¢jcecesieeee tee 228
ANTAL A (CCTOMIA)) ccs seseecrabes i.e .cde-ee 185, 333
aurulenta (Strangalia) ......... 26, 149, 301
BATS ACHE WSO MITIA)Y pastes s.35..sbedadeseedos Q7
bicolor (Rhonolophera) - .................000 315
bifasciatum (Rhagium) ............... 62, 333
MACUL ATUSIACEISEEL))” «. fusjcb i. tees Soe 229
Hovinay (ACwOLViCHIS)) —casccdecuketisies decweses'- 228
brevipennis (Acrotrichis) .................. 228
brevis HCACEOERUCTIS)\yi:tivecs tae... S256s..50565 228
DLW GHC (COREA): sc 00-5 eet aes eats. seks 315
Main near | (Seed) | slo cenadachaxwadd.y...zaae's 44
GxGaverinus CHISter): <i.iesacswiis...ieeeses 229
caraboides (Melandrya) ...........d....... 333
carcharias (Saperda) ...5.hesiss.6....08005 62
cerambyciformis (Pachytodes) ......... Q7
ee i OCC) re eee Bene eer 333
championi (Acrotrichis) .................... 228
chrysomeloides (Catops) ................ 226
COTIATIUS ((PTVOMUS) is hee icceek ks tee eee 37
cribratum (Trinophylum) ................. 360
erinorica (Phy toecia)ieh..0).0.0.0. 61
cylindricum (Sinodendron) ............... 333
duodecimstriatus (Hister) ................. 229
pinlcamarae (aria). .o.cenciewes... in: 229
evanescens (Ptenidium) ..................... Q27
excirauim |Buy) eyes tera 8.8, Sos es ee 227
fascicularis (Acrotrichis) ................. 227
ferrugineum (Ostoma) ...................0.. 358
ferus (Criocephalus) .:.................. 62, 365
flavimanus (Meligethes) .................... 229
Havipes (Meligethes) | eco... 230
foveolata (Oligellay ese. sees 227
Praselaia | (Anomanra tle erasiews. 12g 95
fuliginosus (Catops) ...........0...0....0000. 226
PUMA tS (Catopsyii indies t.. AR Gos 226
MaSeTS (PHOS) We MPA)... AU SO 315
gabrieli® (Tetropium) ii... ..fesecceses: 62
glaber (Brachypterus) ....................0 229
PMA A (INOLOMCCEA) so s.< os seuegecdiceaes esa ce 283
grandicollis (Acrotrichis) ................. 7
hispidulus (Pogonocherws) ................ 61
hispidus (Pogonocherus) ................... 61
humator (Necrophorus) .................... 225
maperator’ (PHANCUS)™ 2 s0oic.cebeccaceaeeseans 312
IMSiemas” (DLrOMIWS)\ eke ees scan coe 124

PAGE
intermedia (Acrotrichis) .................:. 298
interruptus (Necrophorus) ................ 225
KUNZE ACE TH TOR TT) Nee. ease eee. ese eee 227
lata. (ACROtEIGHIS)PH IIe SB Oe Te. Baan 228
longicornis (Acrotrichis) ................... 228
maculata (Strangalia) ................. 27, Gi
Marcinalis, (Dytiseus)i se 238 283
melanura (Strangalia) ................ 61, 333
merdarius. (Mister): St shs.. Beak 229
meridianus (Stenocorus) ................... 60
minor--«(Molorchus).< 6.0 ESS 60
minutissimum (Millidium) ............... 227
minutus -(Clambus)) 14... ee 226
montandonii (Acrotrichis) ................ 228
mordax<A(RNASUIMN) 2.6. ccs...tin 60, 62, 333
moschata (Aroniiais 4.2650 %.......-- Zin G2
mysticus (Anaclyptus).-................ 60, 333
Habavor GYRNNS) «spreccaee sua woesec nee 283
Nebulosa,® (MeSOSa we VP sae ccce ss es 62
nebulosus (Leiopus) ..................... Pals (eal
miger. (ychus)) 2eteahaws)...iestenis 227
mera d(Strangalia rs 2... tise. .0oee 61
nigrescens (Meligethes) .................... 230
NIP TICORDIS. (ACTAEES) Wee Me ooo ccccondcecconees 228
NISTiVventris: |(DrOMMUS) ) 26 .ds0ceteek se eee 122
DIGUlyis {Saprinys)) oan ee eee 228
Nitidumy (PteniGium)) ws eet Q27
notatus: (DRGATIUS) eee eS Ae 122
paradoxus: (Metoecus) ....................... 300
parallelopipedus (Dorcus) ............0... 333
Pawel (Syrihisayy te ees. eee 226
piceus: (Hryidrophilusl 22.2 42, 44
picipes® (Mehszethesy tr). i ee ee 230
polonicus (Criocephalus) ................... 365
populi (Chrysomela) .......................... 333
populnea (Saperda) ...0....2)....seccc..0200- 61
pracusta -(Tetrops) “ous owe ele Bare 61
pubescens ‘(Clambus) 2 4. eee. 926
pulicarius (Brachypterolus) ............. 229
purpurascens (Hister) .............00........ 229
pus: (Pteniadium) 2 eee 227
quadrifasciata (Strangalia) .............. 62
quadrisignatus (Dromius) ................ 122
quattuordecimstriata (Carcinops) . 228
FOstratus "(CVCULUS) Mee ee a 27
ruficornis (Grammoptera) ...... 60, 62, 333
TUnpeS ePNIOTOLRVA)) ec eee 333
rugosus (Thanatophilus) ................... 226
sanguineus (Euplectus) ..................... 227
Schaum ‘(iat herayiyeee ue ee 226
scutellata(Kepturay 61, 333
semistriatus’ (Saprimus)?)) 0.2 0/50... 998
ReFICans? (ACPOCEICNIS) coos. /cohieeceee. 228

Z SPECIAL INDEX
PAGE PAGE
SOrehMhiey, (AUETO EDUC eases eens eae 61, 62 cinctellus (Episyrphus, Syrphus) ..... 58
SISNATUIS UID Le CHWS) gk. cee ee se 227 COLMA a (ACTA) ee x). uc3. ee ee 232
SHUI UUSam CONST NUS). eee ao 2e ee ae 58 COLO. (BLY DEA) Pee a) ee oc era, Se 233
sinuatus (Thanatophilus) .................. 225 comata, (Carcellia et... ...2.- ee ee 29
Spenceim@(Piitolumy? . Fae AeA .. 22 Q27 concinnata (Compsilura) .................. 30
Stiri ah uN CASCMNUIN eee ese aot ee 62 conhimis, (Aplomyia} ‘a2, .205.. 3 29
striatus (Onthophilus) ..............0....... 228 conica, (A yGrophoria) 5..).c4s-2 eee 268
suberosus: (Erox)) .30.5:.-08e eee 350, |) conyuncta (Fephritis) ...2..2.:..000.2.- 232
subvillosus (Ptomaphagus) ............... 220) | cormicina | (Oxihellia)) 2 59
sulcatus, (ACiHIIS) ie... 2.2.30 ee eee ee 283 cornuta W(Ceriocera) - ee 232, 233
tabacicolor (Alosterna) ................ 60, 62 Convamnagy(MUSCA) .. c5)8s- ee ee ee 59
tarsatus (Scydmaenus) .................-. Q27 cuspidata, (Urophora) (2... 231
thoracica (Acrotrichis) .............0........ 228 damnosum: <(Srmmlivon) peg 120
titan (Nephanes):-.cusecisckth.. cise ee 227 depuncta’ “(Eiclimg)) 3.3202... eee 59
enicOlor” “(Hister) : 2... feeterdt $88 .. Ses 228 discreta (Pegohylemyia) ................... 59
urticae (Brachypterus) ................0.... 229 dissecta (Nupedia, Nudaria) ............. 59
ustulata (Grammoptera) ................... 62 elongatula.(Paroxyaia)" sd 232
wacea- (Onthophacus) pe1ne24!. aie is: 333 equestris (Merodon) ..... 126, 155, 156, 158
variegata (Grammoptera) ................. 62 erythrocephala (Calliphora) ............. 59
VECKENSIS (DTOmTUS)\ eee eee ee se eee 121 falcata, (Trypeta)\ete 0... Sea 231
vestitus (Brachypterolus) ................. 229 fenestralis (Anisopus). .....0....0)..222) 268
villosoviridescens (Agapanthia) 60, 92 fera (Larvaevora, Echinomyia) ........ 59 .
VTUOS USI a CATH OUS) nies ene et ee eee 333 fiavipennis (Oxyma) i 2-5 (ieee eee 231
viridescens (Meligethes) .................... 230 floralis. -(Nemorilia) 2)... a 30
RVATSOME \(Cat@OpS) iii: deeiie: oe Mesa, on saceeee 226. |. “orea +(Myathropa)y Aoi... ee 58
wollastoni (Parabathyscia) ............... 226 forillega (Delia). ..SU MES... eae 59
formosa: (Chicromyia))2) oe eee 44
| “rauenfeldi “(My opites)? 4... 2eeast 233
COLLEMBOLA | fringillina (Ornithomya) ...... 31, 59, 93
ENUGHIOILCOLARSSEY: | coon ions cago ce cashes tes one 338 | frontalis (Actia)....., 4202 eee 99
| fugax (Pegohylemyia) |...............2.. 59
DERMAPTERA | "famosa (Decosia) elxii), Sieve 268
auricularia (Forficula) .............0..8. 151 | Sentilis (Melinda) oe 09
SRPEAATOT eae (E21 001) ARR 2 xk sR 15i | Sigas (Atylotus) oe 29
filvipes (Docosia)\ 2). 2a eee 268
flauca..(Phebellia). .. 2 ae 30
DIPTERA enava..(Carcellia)i (27 2ae4) see 29
BREST IVE IAPLC)”. « .2... casa dapoeteth ss < amaeek voltadt 59 | iheraciei...(Philopiylia)) eee 231
AP NITSMUONESIA) 2. -itreeenteulormacetae »szeeaete ds 59 | hirtella (Chrysogaster) ...............00.... 156
AMD UCOMIS(INGATA)) <5. sssctace costae se cateoee 30 hortorum. (Morelliajaqi2is2). eee 59
ST PCS: (ATYIOLUS) | ooo. capcordet-emeaetatqeee 29 hyoscyami (Tephritis) ....................... 232
albostriata (Syrphella, Syrphus) ..... 59 impuncta,..(Helinayeiet i. arene 268
alternata (ZonOSeEMA) .............ccceceeeees 232 jacéana, (Urophora) |). 2).8) eee 234
Ainbaraeinay (Melinda)l wu eece-ceee ese eee 59 lneta .(Erontina),... 2... 4 30
aphidiphora (Phaenobremia) ........... 64 laetabilis.. (Phaoniajihigs) 4 ).. anatase 267
EA tex \(SarCOPNagay s,s -cssccees--ccse seh eeoes 59 larvarum . (Exorista) miei). wees 30
SAMALIMATIIS: (MUSCA) in Sa acsienc-nconce tess ake eee 59 latipalpis (Nupedia) .....................00000. 59
azurea (Protocalliphora) ............ 31, 267 lineatus (Cerotelionjo 22)... eae 268
balteatus (Episyrphus) ................s0000 58 | linogrisea (Hydrophoria) .................. 268
Hardanae: (Tephritis), cox 0.c05.-.acecreeet 232 loewi ,.(Calliphora) G@igeiet |. soe Q71
besignata (Meigenia)............:...0.ss.c00ss 59 jlongicauda. (Terellia)fi22:23). ee 232
blondeli (Myxexoristops) .................. 30 loricata (Chaetorellia) .............00..0.... 233
DIGI (MY ODILES) ~ pocce5s eases seb scaaone he See 231 luniger (Metasyrphus) ...................... 59
brassicae (BPridischia) ««.....:.css.caceauc eu 59 Intea. (Lonchoptera) sto) 20).. -aag@ene 268
brevicornis (Orthoneura) .................. 58 macquarti (Azelia) ..22.362) see 59
InvOmMA (SRA Ay c-4 csecsasecet sncdeee oecadsbice 29 macrocephala (Rhingia) .............0...... 58
DPOWMMUS (SELADA)) 1c. 4 ccmade-cotats- concn wases 29 maculata (Graphomyia) ................... 59
COCSA TEA IGICIIT AS Bee ccc cond cweaen ee 59 | maculosa (Limnophora) .................... 59
caesarion (Orthellia, Cryptolucilia) . 59 marginata (Sphenella) ...................... 231
CaAmipesecis: (ENING) sco. eek sc awoncincse 58 melicharii (Chrysops)......5-..0te5eeeee 28
APU (ROD UOEAD oc sonst oscscce teens 231 | mellinum (Melanostoma)................. 58
Gavia: (EGUMCTIA) psc npsas eee. 2c deevorecns 59 | .microceras (CePriOcera), .-..<iqc..-ssetstcee 931
SHIGpPterUus (CULICOTEES) oo gece cceintoan hp 60 mUiaria. - OCY DROSIA) tsccsce oe oe eee 233
BULA CGTECT LN RD Yo Lie 8 Re ae aL ort a cr aes 59 miseila. .(ParOXyNa)s jc.cceret eee 231
pillieen cee (VA=T or 0 WEY Pee eee en ee eee 31 mutabilis (Metzenia)),..i6.0.08)...bee 59

SPECIAL
PAGE |
ela) ASSUMIAAMIATERIR). © 22 520520002 2- ste c0e see adencne 121 |
PETE METER C)). sae... 20d 2a ocueew ean te ssenseeas 30 |
nigripes (Rhamphomyia) .................. 268 |
Me nnpes, (AMCIAIPA) 2. sn nnesnendse-rnesrened: 30
DHSOLCTUS) (CUMICOLGES)), ..cx2...504-- 0% +00090- 60
onotrophes (Chaetostomella) ..... 932, 233 |
ETE ETERA CORY TA) Nacrarnie aie seins <0 te parennen 231
TET (1D eee eee 59 |
MerINCENS A VOUIGEIIA) ¢ o. 2 a: nncanas-wern--2- 125 |
permundus (Phagocarpus) ...............- an
PACMAG TARDULCTA,) 6 ag cnnno oc gis once de sen epese 58
PUURETTTUS VACUA) 5.20.<<0cesine doseqnacesaear= 29
2 CIETY SSC" F 2) a ee reer 58
Mianiasiis (PAVOKY NA) pre, 2.555-3++-se0%8s8s 232
pinvidis (Anthony ta), }c.c2-..2.32..c3heree 59
podagrica (Ascia, Neoascia) ............. 58
Bolita KNECTOENTYSA) \ jc...<5....660 00) dete ereee 4h
proxima (Chilomyia, Chilosia) ......... 58 |
pseudochiopterus (Culicoides) .......... 60
pudica (Linnaemya, Micropalpus) 59 |
pumilionis. (Chlorops) ...............0i:605 59 |
PUT ERATIMO (SEPSIS) S263. .5hs-.-52...-02.00eeeecees 59 |
pupillata (Hoplochaeta) ...............0...- 233
pyrastri (Scaeva, Catabomba) .......... 58 |
quadrifasciata (Urophora) ................ 933 |
Pee lieriian, (0 80) Ke\\ Sn ees eee eee 59 |
radieuma (VAricChaeta)s diacAe...ashses-6- 59 |
regularis (Straba) ..... Tithe tie 80 8)! %. 29 «|
ribesii (Syrphidis, Syrphus) ............. 59 |
rorida (Cnemacantha, Sapromyza) ... 59 |
Eitan POMGMI ls = ........1ieai.c.iiue. 59 |
Mikaim (Gawbinena) lanedssits...deiecsseeeee 156
MCA, (REV DCEA) ...0scecceevcesssenncrsces- 232
scalare (Melanostoma) ................. 44, 58
scolopacea (Leptis, Rhagio) ............... 268
SEOUMCMISE (CATIECOMGES) i s.dsectarescstue en a-nt ene 60
Serie (SDUACEODNOTIA)) ..........s501-<0ass 58
SCMPeLATIS (PRAGA). _...c...sc0rerpnencasencee 267
sepulchralis (Eristalis) ...................0. 155
SSTSLCS i) UC 2 i er 59
Serrainlae (LETCLIVA)). 9 occ acces sone sna nessi 232
setipennis (Digonochaeta) ................. 30
= Teell | Beale a 0) er 268
solstitialis (Chrysogaster) ................ 58
SOG Ue FEN STING ers ac ca: cagsiscos se ccnoeecosinnc casas 233
sorbillans (Podotachina) ................0:- 30
SPECIOSA. (CAliprODOla): (.......ccescarsssescsene 158
Spoliata. (WrOpNOTad), ooo csccc cesses scscses.es 232
Ee eee EUG ch) cs cc aguaccstncasare? teancace ¢<s 268
SM Ni VAINCA) oo. cic cnavcsceacecaivecnsees 232 |

stercorarium (Scopeuma, Scatophaga) 59

SiFTHETOUIS 01 8 Raye (SN Tal a ee 59
strigatus (Paragopsis, Eumerus) ...... 58
Sy VOSS OT EOD. RR Os ees eee 122, 154, 185, 234
tenax (Eristalis, Tubifera) ............... 58
teretirostris (Sarcophaga) ................. 59
tigrina (Caricea, Coenosia) ............... 59
hetanevia GiIMNOPNOLPA) ©. ..cncceten soonest 59
morcnodactyla (Dela). oo... ecentecoeep 59
tuberculatus (Eumerus) .................... 126
passniasinis (Try peta)” i... 20i.1...ccec-e-2e 232
REualeNSiS i(CaliipHOra) \..iccscc.-0iececeosees Q71
variegata (Phaonia) ................... 267, 268
variegata (Winthemia) ...................... 30
VEGUEMSIS) (TP Y POUR), lig cece saan sen cenewsenes 232

~~

INDEX
PAGE
vernalis. (Chilomyia) ............2..:.:..2+0:. 58
vespertina (Tephritis) .........0..-.-:-sesees 233
Tomitoriay (Cath para). .. sai. casia<- ene 59
VAM EReUIEES ey (EARN RIC) pe Sec nance aan ac sa 30
wiedemanni (Gonioglossum) ............. 232
WHAM O UH aVeN Tien (4 Ucar OYE LES) Me Mteeadonacessock peBeoscdc 232
ZOC, (SPUOSTA OWA)! sae cee. omer 231
zonaria (Volucella) \....-.--- 31, 59, 332, 365
HEMIPTERA
(OGIROOT ONG SO, | Seccocecc ose sactderebospoameacasndeDe 338
reticulatum (Aethalion) .................... 353
HYMENOPTERA
AVEMUS” (LASTS) <2... siete cote tee teneeeerennes 297
acervorum (Leptothorax) ..............0. 297
fusca’ (POLMICA) sec Ak bese eereens ceee eee 297
SGU GL Se OPS SS TLS) esc socdoneacabontGadsccicrec 297
lacvinodis (Myrmicajr ee. iE 297
lobicornis (Myrmica) ................. 297, 298
ATT (WEASIUNS)) ee seeeseeow ee tesee sce eonci as 297, 298
PULSUMNOGUS * (MPV PIUNIC A) ee sce ee ceek este eee 297
SeLIOURLGGL (IM VRINLGA)) cnc een secs x de-secsecceese 297
scabrinodis (Myrnticay rt... 297
SUICIHOGIS «CMY TUNA erect reese es 297
TEtraAMIOPIUNY SP. ce-casdessccsecnceee sss 338, 339
LEPIDOPTERA
abbreviata (Eupithecia) ............. 410, 167
abietella (Dioryctria)’ .i.0.-.c.:0-0c8.-. 50, 255
Mojecta (Ay “ODIONEa)ipeksct as-cast ee 346
absinthiata (Eupithecia) ...............:.:. 137
absinthii (Cucullia), .2:2.0-.%- 70, 110, 349
acerisn (Apatelie)\® steseagne ias.veetereeseeee es 41
adippe (Argynnis) ................. 65, 115, 148
adonis (TE bellareus) pss esses. eee. 287
AGUStAn! (EAU TCHMS) Ban ate es. esate eter 346
adustata (Ligdia) .............:.: 111, 174, 349
aadvena (OMOpima) ease. fhe 11, 329
advena) (P. (cynthia ssp wisa..c2n.t nae 281
advenaria (Cepphis) ....0........c..c.ceeeee es 289
aegeria (Pararge) ... 9, 18, 55, 94, 129,
219, 284, 290, 291
aegon (Lycaena) (Plebejus) .......... 9, 290
aescularia (Anisopteryx) ‘(Alsophila)
7, 90, 110, 118, 136, 142, 143, 144
aestiva (S. tetralunaria form) .......... 57
aethiopissa (C. clathrata ab.) ........... 220
acthiops)(Erebia): iinet 28 46, 148
alfinis: (Cosma) :-.....:.2ewiahee 2h 190
affinitata (Perizoma)) pis.c2.).2d. ilies: 165
agestis (ATricia) .........0.... 46, 112, 113, 279
aglaia (Argynnis) ..... 65, 73, 107, 148,
261, 286, 298, 316, 357
UU AAO SCRA A) cae os cclapwncisocintecvues ececs 99
*albapicata (B. betularia ab. nov.)
168, 244
albescens (A. caja ab.) ........... CFS. cones 66
*albescens (C. debiliata ab. nov.) ..... 168
*albescens (E. extensaria ab. nov.)
162, 167
*albescens (O. dilutata ab. nov.) ...... 243
albicillata (Mesoleuca) ....... 162, 164, 350

/ F
4A SPECIAL INDEX

PAGE
(Helicphobus)

32, 346
SVilorwoles (Gio wm Wee ISMN OY). ebeatntocaseoasooosase 99
*albida (L. populi ab. nov.) ...... 38 Gv

albicolon (Mamestra)

J MOTO IE USIAICLETIEN) 9 Sescososnwonocedoavanesse 41
albipuncta (Leucania) ............ 37, 38, 329
*albisignata (A. caja ab. nov.) ........ DE
alboguttata (C. clathrata ab.) .... 98, 220
*albomedia (P. albulata ab. nov.) 162, 164

PAGE
aula senmorsre, ((SIMOIR EEN) Basdsneboseanecoucscocus: 330
*albovittata (P. rubiginata ab. nov.)
161, 162
albula (Nola) ..... 42, 43, 247, 249, 290,
298, 308, 309
albulata (Perizoma) ............. 46, 162, 164
alchymista (Catephia), 24...4:.--..0vs-ts0c-<s 347
alcinoe (Bunea) ................c.cs00-0+ 119, 120
alee (NOMA TIA) asc. ees nose eco 359
Alliant. UR Up ltMeCia))iieesere tee ae -pee eee. 191
alni (Apatele) (Acronycta) ... 8, 111,
211, 217, 222, 255, 290, 346
alniaria (Ennomos) (Deuteronomos)
95, 174
alpestrana (Hemimene) .....................- 86
alpicola (Amathes) ...... Sn dds ena ore
269, 270
alpinana .(Hemimene).2-2:....<....2.c0sc000s 321
alpinellus (Crambus) ........................- 286
PUDLIDI (MTOM dees ae AO eco sinzecd sete. 349
-alternata (Epirrhoe) ........... 137, 162, 164
ALVeUSs: (Hesperia) 2G ae 159
amandus (Polyommatus) .................. 320
amathusia (Nudarelia) .................... 220
amipimiwar | (Caragdrina)! hee 2. ...c.eeiseees 44
anachoreta (Clostera) ...........ccccscseceee 290f
anceps (Heliophobus) .......... 223, 325, 326
anceps (Notodonta) ...................... 40, 289
anderidae (Lithocolletis) ................... 716
andreniformis (Sesia) (Aegeria) ........ 347
androgyna (A. cardamines ab.) ........ 65
angustalis (Synaphe) ........................ 44
aneustella \(Alispa) Lei coe 255
angustifasciata (D. truncata ab.) 273, 275
antiopa (Vanessa) ... 240, 261, 262, 285, 331
antiqua (Orgyia) ............0.... 18, 107, 195
apicolusc(Vestra) (hee ate Ah. tenet 313
apiciaria® (BE) -repandaria)”.:....0........... 350
apitormns “(Sesia)! See Q77
apollo (Parnassius) ..............00...cceee eee 91
aprilina (Griposia) ... 46, 83, 289, 341, 350
aquata,(HOTISIMG)\\<s22 2.2 os hocdeee ces 99
arceuthata (Eupithecia) ............... 41, 328
archippus (D. plexippus) ssp. ............ 322
ATeNnaria s(ALGIS) 0k. See eee 286
areola (Xylocampa) ..... 7, 86, 98, 110,
118, 141, 142, 143, 182, 233, 343

argiolus (Celastrina) (Cyaniris) ... 92,
142, 284, 334

argus (Plebejus) ..... 92, 112, 192, 290,
318, 355
arion (Maculinea) ............... 114, 120, 287
arsenoides (A. cardamines ab.) ......... 65
artaxerxes (A. aegestis race) ...... 46, 414
arundinata (N. dissoluta ab.) ........... 291

PAGE

assimilis (A. exulis) . 46, 98

asterias (Papilio) ... 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 118
AStERTS (GMC UMMA) ieee ee eee 41, 349
atalanta (Vanessa) ... 37, 38, 39, 47, 55.

Die 2a oOle Mad. Se e20s eee soo
athalia (Melitaea) ................2...5. 113, 114
atomanria. “(Mimaturgea)) > ois eee 175
*atra (P. strigillaria ab. nov.) ......... 943
alias (SsiSeriata cabs) as. eae eae eee 327
acrata;: (Odezialy se eet Biot aen 46, 136
atropos (Acherontia) ... 38, 81, 217, 256.

285, 32A
audouinana (Spatalistis) (Chrosis) ... 132
aurago (Liliaceae hs eee 341
aurantia, (He lepida ab) (2 aa 98
aurantia (Z. filipendulae ab.) ........... 257
*aurantiaca (D. citrata ab. nov.) ..... 161
aurantiaria (Erannis) ............ 46, 47, 144
aurea, (CG: bifida aist)...40. 20 Dea eee: 66

aureomarginata (A. grossulariata ab.) 99
aurinia (Euphydryas) (Melitaea)
11, 40, 72. 74, 106, 233, 290, 344.

australis (Aporophyla) ................0..... 332
australis (Caicaida). 200 eee 191, 218
autumnatay (Oporinia) -..2e eee 46, 344
avellanella (Semioscopis) .................. 50
aversata, (Sterrhay is a0.) 1k ee ee 136
badiata (Earophila) ...... 137, 143, 144, 179
badiella (Depressaria) .)....../.../.....0.2 44
baia’ (Amathes)... oo ge aay sae 109
Hard (Papilio)... (Sa ee 80
bankesiella (Dioryctria) (Epischnia)
137, 215
*barretti (H; turcata ab. move) ee 165
barrettii (Hadena) ...................... 327, 330
basaltinella (Mniophaga) ................. Ah
*hasilutescens (L. populi ab. nov.) ... 34
basinigra (P. dominula ab.) ............. 68
Datavus (L2 Gispar, SSP). oc 192
Dats (TN yatita ere te eee 41, 190
belisarian (IN: oO ays... se eee 57
beltiana (Cnephasiay <.. 2 eee 346
bellargus (Lysandra) ... 25, 40, 89, 112,
192, 223, 287, 290, 345, 349, 357

bembeciformis (Sphecia) g

berberata (Coenotephria) .................. 163
betuilae {(Bhycita) gee. eee 43
Detwlae(TMECIA) cessed, os... cae ee 74
betularia (Biston) ... 42, 43, 162, 168,
174, 241, 244, 278, 346, 362
*bicolor (E. bistortata ab. nov.) ...... 244
bicolorana (Pseudoips) ... 39, 50, 289,
296, 345
bicolorata (Plemyria) .................. 43, 98
bicoloria (Leucodonta) ......... 87, 139, 319
DiCOlOGUl (PROCHS). -.25. 3.2: 4.ck eee 132
bicroris. “(Haden a): 3... a eee 109
bicuspis (Harpyia) (Cerura) 94, 229, 345
bidentata (Gonodontis) ...... 159, 174,
222, 295, 345
bifasciana (Argyroploce) .................. 44
bifasciana (Spatalistis) ...... 132, 133, 134
bifasciata, (Perizoma) a ae 12
OPO ACORBY A) sa ees, uy eee ee 66
*bijuncta (A. caja ab. TOV) asses e orcas 3

SPECIAL INDEX

‘pilineata (Euphyia)
bilunaria (Selenia) ...

8, 98, 111, 142,

145, 174. 345
bimacula (P. dominula ab.) ... 67, 68.
69, 201. 202, 219
bumaculiata (Bapta) ................ 8, 111. 3464
binaevella (Homoeosoma) ................. 43
mma. (Drepatia) ........-...--./...-..-.. PS
hipariia ye: famma ab.) 0)..0. 0... 98
Ipeniciaria (Ortholitha) ................:.. 298
LepEMerericee CPA NIWTA)? “2208.3. 2. ie 44
bistortata (Ectropis) ...... 48. 118, 143,
159, 175, 179, 214, 284, 299, 344
*bivirgata (H. ruberata ab. nov.) 162, 166
STR Cie ras 205
LMG ELCREUZOINA) —sossc.-.s+<areesdsereae 12
[PUIG TIAET EO OSU TTe ) ener 127
boeticus (Lampides) ...... 99, 100, 101,
102, 103, 104
boisduvalella (Epischnia) ................. 955
bombycina (Hadena) 11, 109, 182,
344, 345
bpowateri (G. bidentata ab.) ............. 295
aves 0) Keres (1 2A LTICG TG) re ee 9, 12, 46
branderiana (Argyroploce) .............. 132
brassicae (Mamestra) .................. 109, 213
brassicae (Pieris) ... 72. 73, 90, 145, 192,
284, 302, 322, 324
brumata (Operophtera) ......... 18, 90, 137
brunnea (Diarsia) ......:......:. 82, 109, 181
brunnearia (Selidosema) ............ 99, 242
Drannheatal (itama) | pissieki lel... h6ce: 12
*pbrunneipennis (E. bistortata ab.
RORV 5) ES Soha act ysiten nwo ce dae eReC OS voce 241
bewyantw (A. villien ab.) 02415...243...22 17
bucephala (Phalera) .............. 43, 63, 107
GTI e i 3 TS) 0S 2 9 eae ee er 212
bitimeris. (Seeding) .......0aileetietss 34, 128
TCE PI VGAEUS) ooncrcces cs necactoetsecoece ss 21
caenosa (Laelia) ........... 286, 287, 318, 319
*caerulata (C. siterata ab. nov.) ...... 161
caeruleocephala (Episema) ......... 47, 341
GACSToe (UELAGEIIA)! cocsscckescccacccsccsesccseseste 16
caja (Arctia) (Chelonia) ... 2, 20, 33,
34, 66, 99, 108, 262, 286, 298, 316, 318, 319
CFG yu OG LINES) pe 191, 218
caliomvosa’ (Acosmetia) io. .c0)..20.008..- 289
callunae (L. quercus form) ...... il, Be
258, 259, 285
c-album (Polygonia) ... 47, 55, 65, 73,
261, 284, 334
cambrica, (Venusia}. ...........-.-.- 12, 46, 290
GOIMCLING. (Ts CAPUGINA)) ono ccc: jade seas 19
camilla (Limenitis) ... 24. 57, 73, 92,
145, 146, 261, 297, 299, 346, 361, 362
POM IEOE ON AV EAC) 08. 28 cc uch Saedestels oo a0 aes 359
canningi (Philosamia) .................2.... 282
capucina (Lophopteryx) ....... 19, 107, 182
carbonaria (B. betularia ab.) ... 168, 362
carbonaria (Isturgia) ...........0..0.0...005 344
cardamines (Anthocharis) (Euchloe)
16, 48, 65, 72, 73, 84, 88, 90, 92, 111,
144, 190, 215, 216, 286, 299, 318, 344

ny
ST

PAGE
cardui (Vanessa) ... 19, 37, 38, 39, 53, 57,
72, 73, 90, 92, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173,

174, 192, 256, 261, 286, 329, 330, 366
ecarlinella (Metzneria) . ........--......:-.-00 321
carmelita (Odontosia) ... 8, 11, 45, 53,

5 ST, adds bade lA 1825) 188. 218,
I46, 344, 345
Can tigtd dS: KOGHE ALA), fees. F. ay. «. ceccece 193
carpinata (Nothopteryx) ...:....... 110, 344
carpophago., (Hw jNepida), ..29%....c-. es. 45
castanea (Amathes) .........-... 109, 345, 350
castigatar (Mapitheeha yy oes..canc-cp ices 293
castrensis (Malacosoma) .................. 342
celerio (Chaerocampa) ..............:00..00 269
centarius argentinus (Morpho) ......... 310
centaureata (Eupithecia) .................. 137
ceratoneae (Euzophera) ............... 50, 41
cerinus (Z. filipendulae ab.) ...... 257, 296
cespitis (Tholera) <.:.-#stcspesseec: 41, 109
chamomillae a(Cwewllia) iy tccenae. 2% 02- 143
chaonia (D. ruficornis) .............. 333, 334
characterea (Apamea) ...............cceeee 346
charlotta, (ATELY NMS). ee oietest--. 2208-24 114
chenopodiata (Ortholitha) ................ 136
Ghi., (Am titype) ac. ocae ee neeten «<5 0c - sess e fies 110
chilorosatay (Lithima)........)secnnats ces 175
ohristyl.. (OPOPINIA)s cc493 x t-eond- tee: 344
aheryseis (Colias)*' .: eta tecetensqortts.. cht Q45
chrysitis (Plusia),.:..<2:..<%. 46, 136, 179, 261
chryson, (Plusia); pat nsccses 283. ase 00s ade 289
chrysoneuclellus (Crambus) ............. 43
chrysoprasaria (H. immaculata) ...... 349
chrysorrhoea (Euproctis) ............ 43, 350
Gicairicehus: (CHILO) sete eee eee See 15
emetaria (Cleora) ¢e252! 11, 45, 344
cinerea (APTOS) pccsscoc8ce8-. REE - ssdvee 98, 345
cinerescens (C. elpenor ab.) .............. 66
Gipris,s (Phoebis)) ....:2% tee atest }.c tae 251
circellaris (Agrochola) .............. 110, 117
Giirana (ENCOSIMNA) ecis4eee << eeet pases 4h
citrata (DY SStPOWIa) jvsenexeceeevt25..02 137, 1641
clathrata (Chiasmia) ........... 98, 220, 286
claudia hortensia (Euptoieta) .......... 252
elavaria. (Larentia) e-e-seceeerAt hse 40
clavipalpis (Caradrina), es 2«22%...2.:2 91
Chavis, (ASMoOtiS)¢ ns ga etecs cb ecdeeettee tees 43, 284
cleopatra (GonepteryX) ...0...22.......0-00e 203
clorana. | (Earias)) «uss .ieests.. e-2-<--% 43, 364
GhytiedGA! iia) any.) aes. ers techs. es 366
c-nigrum (Amathes) ... 82, 91, 98, 147, 285

*coarctata (E. trubidata ab. nov.)
162, 164
coenobita., (PANth Ca) rrrcatccd ene. eke Ie 320
coerulata (Hydriomena) ............ 345, 346
ComMmatay (Thera) wee). sees es cas bus te 41
comes: (Triphaema): 2ec055--324:.0dee 8) 882
Comitata, (Pelunsa). | tessa. oe doseess? 137
comma (Hesperia) ......... 112, 114, 349, 357
comma (Leucania) 22.2.2 Heisei e- heer 38
complana (Lithosia) ...............c.cs....00 342
compia (Hadema). 22... steees2ibts. ah 278

concinnata (D. truncata ssp.) ... 273,
274, Zi5
concolor (Arenostola) ..............:s.e. eee 346
confiuens (A. villica ab.) ..... piel tae bP ALY,

6 SPECIAL INDEX

PAGE
conforms (Gas tunciiera) ieee 319
*confusa (E. alternata ab. nov.) 162, 164
confusalis (Celama) (Nola) ......... 41, 345
comigera, (Meucania) ress: s.r ee 109
-conopiformis (Synanthedon) ............ 49
consignata (BE. insignata) ................. 15
consonaria (Ectropis) .................. 39, 193
conspersa (Hadena) ............ 183, 284, 346
conspicillaris (Xylomiges) ................ 52
*constricta (H. ruberata ab. nov.)
166, 262
contaminana (Peronea) ...................0. 288
contaminellus (Crambus) ............ 15, 19
contigua (Hadena) ................. 11, 40, 290
conversaria (A. repandata ab.) ......... 346
convolvuli (Herse) (Sphinx) ... 37, 38,

; 269, 284, 326, 329. 349, 364
COPACimHAS {(PSOGES) eee eee Q4Q
cordiserar(AnMarta)e S25. cee nose eee eee 344
coridon (Lysandra) ... 25, 35, 112, 261,

298, 299, 355, 357
coronata (Chloroclystis) ........ 12, 48, 182
corylata (Electrophaes) ...... ql SB 7/5 BV

coryli (Colocasia) 12, 441, 111, 209,

210, 211, 259, 260, 284, 349
cossus (Cossus) ................- 42, 44, 207, 346
costaestrigalis (Schrankia) ......... 44, 350
COStANIS A(ELyDSOPVE1A) s.. Perse ce. eee 341
*costijuncta (C. derivata ab. nov.) ... 163
*costijuncta (X. fluctuata ab. nov.) .. 162
*costimacula (O. designata ab. nov.)
162, 163
*costimaculata (L. ocellata ab. nov.) 161
craccae: (Eysephila). 224. 318
crassalis (Bomolocha) ......................- 346
erassicornis: (R2 lutosa: ab.) 2 /26.2..207° 98
crataegata (O. luteolata) .................. 363
Cra dera(ADORIA) 22 veiics kee 92, 302
crataegi (Trichiura) ...... 12, 117, 289, 345
crepuseularia. (Bctropis) 6.0006 2...02. 179
cretacella (Homoeosoma) .................. 255
crinanensis (Hydraecia) ...... 46, 130,
flat. 17)
eristana (Peronea)):.. 20th: 286, 287
Cristea: (Trachonistis)! i /20.... (ae 50
croceago (Jodia) ............ 182, 343, 344, 348
croceus (Colias) ... 19, 37, 38, 39, 44, 57,
73, 91, 114, 250, 261, 284, 286, 293,
298, 329
cruda (Orthosia) ... 110, 118, 141, 142, ”
143, 223, 343
cubicularia (S. seriata ab.) ............... 327
cuculina (Lophopteryx) ..... 319, 324,
325. 346
cucullatas (Huphyia)«<6.:..:2050002.2..408 9
cnoultatetlas (Nola) o....6.0 020922 43
culiciformis (Aegeria) (Synanthedon)

11, 49, 343
caltraria--(Dprepana):... 00 {ey BA 349
Cimican(Hyphantria) is. fdk 212
cursoria (BuK0a): 2200... 08S, 125643
cydippe (Argynmnis) ................. 9, 73, 115
cyllarus (Glaucopsyche) .................... 92
cYymonA(O-semiargus) oe eee. 2 4114
cynthia (Philosamia) ()..20.00.06...0808 281

PAGE
cytherea (Nudaurelia) ........cc...-scsee00 119
Gahan (DiaTrSia) kee. .c---cheee aoe eee ee 13, 46
Gaplidiceg(POntia) —...5-..2-.2..n-eos08 114, 285
debiliata (Chloroclystis) ............ 163, 344
decentella (Stigmella) ..........:.02...---. 76
*decolor (D. porcellus ab. nov.) ...... 81

*defasciata (X. munitata ab. nov.)
162, 164

defoliaria (Erannis) ... 46, 47, 88, 118,
143, 144, 174

*degenerata (P. coracina ab. nov.) .
delamerensis (E. crepuscularia ab.)
*deleta (C. berberata ab. nov.) .. 163,
*demarginata (E. tristata ab. nov.)

: 162, 164
demarniana «(EMGGSmMa)iie...c:cee- eee alga
GENTNA (HEM aAMA) eeses oe ee eee 11
deplana A Bilemia ess. eos se cceee 39, 41, 350
depuncta (Amathes) ... 13, 46, 98, 181,

: Piha PANGS Thi)
GES (Ea OS Vale) tees eee eee 41, 190
deErasana (A> WHewlana) te... See 134
deridens (Chamadra)! iis... ....-seneeee
Gerivalism (Paracolam) <........0 eee 40, 44
derivata (Caenotephria) (Anticlea)
162, 344
designata (Ochyria) (Xanthorhoe) ....
162, 163
déevai"(RUrema) = ie ae: ee 352
dictaea (P- tremula, ee eee 25
dictynna (Melitaea) .............0c eee 113
didyma (Arcynnis)? 2 eee 92
didymata (Calostygia) ............0.00000.. 136
diffinis, (Gelechia)@ 2.3) 2S eee 4h
Giltitas) (Asphalia) ie ...ees eee 44
*diluta, (M)-tiliae@b:snov:) 22.2282 33
dilutata (Oporinia) ......... 47, 98, 243, 341
dilutella (Pempelia) .........................6- 43
dione (NUdaurelia) a eee ees 220
dipoltetla\ (Phatonia) — 2252) 256
dispar (Lycaena) ... 114, 119, 192, 285,
286, 287, 317, 318
dissoluta (Nonagria) ............ 44, 291, 364
ditrapezium (Amathes) ..........0.0.0.0.0.. Qs,
*divisa (L. ocellata ab. nov.) ............ 161
dodonaea (Drymonia) ... 9, 51, 99, 111,
330, 349
dodoneata (Eupithecia) ............... 40, 345
dolabrania. (Plaeodis) ips 16
dominula (Panaxia) (Callimorpha)
41, 67, 68, 69, 98, 201, 202, 219, 220,
287, 344
dorilis: (Heodes)” -:22..02.5..>. =e eee 92
doubledayaria (B. betularia ab.) ...... 175
dracei (Bracharoa eso oe 196, 263
dromedarius (Notodonta) ...... AA:
83, 107, 285, 290
Gubi tata (rin nosa) pea eee eee QLA
eblanaria (S. bilunaria ab.) ............. 98
eblis: ‘(Imbrasia) A222))2 2 nae ae 220
eccentrica (M. trigrammica ab.) ...... 98

*edentata (L. suffumata ab. nov.) 162, 163
*edna (A. euphrosyne ab. nov.) 34, 56, 99
edusa (C. croceus)
*effusa (C. rectangulata ab. nov.) 162, 168

SPECIAL

PAGE
*effusa (E. unangulata ab. nov.) 162, 163

*effusa (P. affinitata ab. nov.) ......... 164
202 (Gi SSs3) i or es a eee 65
ween (OFiiCGel Fe a a reese 16
Slimeaaria: (CLOCAUMS), ...¢2 <0 fc. .2 80 acs deacbte Lid
elpenor (Deilephila) (Chaerocampa)
(Pergesa) ... 9, 43; 47, 63, 66, 70, 72,
182, 245, 284 290, 346, 361
elymi (Tapinostola) (Arinostola)
3 PAN etl. D
emarcinata -(Sterrha)2..3.0.025.5...4ed< 40
SMa (SCOPULA) os tssrssces-is.8).. cee 4h
epiphron (Erebia) ........................ 12, 46
PYRPDIS. (TOSS) 65.5...) 5. teh. au... ke sae 352
eson (Chaerocampa) ................c...6.008 269
ethalion (Charaxes) ...............:0. 301, 302
euphorbiae (Celerio) ..................c.c200s Q45
euphrosyne (Argynnis) (Clossiana)
34, 45, 56, 73, 91, 92, 99, 111, 148, 220,
331, 343
evarete hilaris (Junonia) ........... 252, 253
exclamationis (Agrotis) ...... 109, 223, 346

exigua (Laphygma) ... 20, 37, 38, 44,

96, 183, 218, 296
expallidana (Eucosma) ..................... 44
exquisita (C. rhomboidaria ab.) ...... 193
EXSICCata | (EhaAtWOPEVMCUS) ..........<.<..-- 98
extensaria (Eupithecia) ...... 162, 167, 343
CULCEMUG AP CGNCOLOLT) ........ces0saecns- see 346
exulis (Apamea) ............... 12, 13, 46, 98
Pave ll 3311) i 51, 136
Haale MUNGSCMANT con. -s.tca.c.csessescsanvsscuacee 345
RCM Ae (MATTEO) 5 Gaiut. a ye2ccecsesces oorcesane’ 142
fagi (Stauropus) ... 9, 41, 178, 222, 223,

, 290, 329, 346
fagicolaria (E. satyrata form) ......... 293
falcataria (Prepana) 2:../20iese). 108
fhascelima (DaSyichinaye e262 20ik kee 358
fasclanian (liana) eas)... 284, 26
fasciata (L. phlaeas ab.) ...........0..0.... 284
fascinellus (Crambus) ....................008. 15
fasciumeulay (Procus) .................- igyA ABR
favescens (C. (A.) caja ab.) 20.02.0000... 66
favicolor (Leucania) .................. 346, 362
ferrugalis (Phlyctaenia) ............. 37, 38
ferrugana (Peronea) ..................seeeeee 288
fervida (Phragmatobia) ............ 175, 176
festiva (Diarsia) (Noctua) ............ 98, 345
festucae (Plusia) ... 179, 199, 200, 201,

245, 246, 260, 261, 294, 295, 330
filipendulae (Zygaena) ....... 257, 286, 296
np mion (he tmbriata) 29.95822.).. 205. 12
fimbrialis (Thalera) ..... 294, 305, 306,
307, 364
fimbriata (Lampra) .......... ISAS HAW iO
mae (TEA) yh. c.. 0 keios sek dewnctenes 98, 182
fissipuncta (A. ypsilon) ..................... 12
fISSiEATVaM (IPCLONEA) «5.2. .../sdseseet. cess 288
nammea\: (Panolis) ):2286.0..4:.. 7, 218, 343
avail... sriseolay ab.) 622.2065 5.05,.88 4A
flava (Z. filipendulae ab.) .......... 257, 296
flavacoe (Gortyna)) . 208k. 13, 136, 288
flavescens (C. icteritia ab.) ........ 135, 325
*flavescens (H. tityus ab. nov.) ........ 81
flavicincta (Antitype) .................. 91, 322

INDEX i

fiavicornis (Achlya) (Apocheima) ... 7

?

S25 ale DOP LOE LS Wy WA S43) 44
flaviventris (Aegeria) ...............6c00.0. 49
flexullas (haspeyria) 22 te teat. ess. ae 44
fluctuata (Xanthorhoe) .......... 55, 99, 136
fluctuosa (Tethea) ..... 9, 222, 290, 345, 346
fomtis (Be pe GRASSOUTS) pices .paeese cote ces aence 346
forficellus (Schoenobius) ............. 43, 213
formicaeformis (Aegeria) .................. 63
LORMOS Aw (TORY CURIA) See eee cena 43
fOEMOSATAy (HAUT) era gseasesees ices sos 87, 88
fieenaliah (bs ore bl Weise OL) sens Gana endsae 278
fraxinata (Eupithecia) ........... one A ees
fraxini (Catocala)), ve.cess-- 34, 41, 285, 328
AICHSIn (Ss DOD UL aos) Meerccoeseseesecestences 66
fuligana, (Polychrosis)> (20 0o52c2....-.- ccna: 44
fuliginaria (Parascotia) (Boletobia) 347
fuliginosa (Phragmatobia) ... 40, 85,

108, 175, 219,

FULVATO. (ES; DAlGIRCA) onc <.ccacceewcacur ese 325
fulvata (Cidaria) (Lygris) ..... 43, 98, 137
(LTO (Ss CERWIN e -acereaes oe scnee conan 290
TATU EN ITIEY (OES HONEY) Qedereneedeescaaeeseseooseee Q14
fumatellia, “(GeleChiayy escescscsccocccsccsceect 75
funebrana (Laspeyresia) ...........4...... 361

furcata (Hydriomena) ... 137, 162, 165,

fiecirera (Graptolmvna) |. toe o.2cacasenaes 319
furcula (Cerura) (Harpyia) ......... 12, 350
hiIeUNCulay CL rOCWS) ee eee 132, 298
*“Tsaia (Al Caja ab: NOV )o) - cecmr cee 3,4
fuscaria’ (PY macwlaria. abs) o..c.. scene 98
*fuscata (A. ochrearia ab. nov.) ...... 242
fusconebulosa (Hepialus) ................. 290
galathea (Melanargia) ... 74, 87, 98,
261, 299, 346, 357
Saltatas (HE PEEENOG) ln acess eseereees 298, 348
eV lity n (GENESEO) es oth on natobencondecue 27, 28, 245

gamma. (Plusia) ... 7, 24, 37, 38, 46, 63,
98, 136, 193, 194, 216, 298, 327, 329,

331, 332, 340
gammina (P. gamma ssp.) ............... 193
geminipuncta (Nonagria) ................. 298
geniculella (Lithocolletis) ................. 7
genistae (Bs. w-latinum) oe... 223
geoffrella (Oecophora) ..................:608 75
germarana (Pammene) .................... 133
geryon (Procris) 2.220..28 etl. 40, 290
gigantellus (Schoenobius) ........... 43, 213
gilvago (Cirrhia) ... 10, 13, 82, 110, 143,
182, 223, 290, 345, 350
wilvaria (ASDItATES m coerce seen ee nec 242
gilvicomana (Phalonia) (Eupoecilia)
214, 215, 317
SUV OTIC Amy (OSlERTO) ie ssccesc seca: osc een soesee se Q45
glareosa (Amathes) ................ccceceeeeee 182
glauca. (H. bombycina) ............... 11, 344
Sha catay. CIR) 4 Bosh MA Th eee cee 108
glaucinalis (Pyralis) (Hypsopygia)
74, 341
globulariae (Procris) ................... 40, 290
gnoma (Pheosia) ................... 41, 344, 345
gonodactyla (Platyptilia) ................. 116
gonostigma (O. TPeCeMS) ............0--s2c0ee 195
*gsoodsoni (E. icteritia ab. nov.) 162, 167
*goodsoni (H. furcata ab. nov.) ...... 165

8 SPECIAL INDEX

PAGE
gothica (Orthosia) ... 109, 110, 118, 141,
142, 143, 144, 179, 223, 343, 345
gotlandica (C. teidensis) ................... 415
gracilis (Orthosia) ... 10, 109, 110, 143,
: 182, 223, 290, 345, 350
gramimis, (Ceraptery x) z.ces---- oes se eee 109
grammica:(C. (B.) striata) -......3...2.... 319
eoravesi (Al Calas als WOVs) cece. cane see 66
orseata, (ErbnoSteseyims..--..scsce-c-e-nee- cee Q43
griseola (Eilema) ........:....-..... 41, 43, 298
grisescens (H. ruberata ab.) ............ 166
grossulariata (Abraxas) ... 99, 174, 286, 299
eutWterl =(Celeri@) eee cee soeee eee seen Q45

*outtata (E. pulchellata ab. nov.)
_ 167, 244
haggarti (C. rhomboidaria ab.) ....... 99
halterata (Lobophora) . .................-...+ 289
TEPSKSTISSI ES) semi (BABU 14] YS) Sgeanoastocnsdadssasseaeeseces 289
hastiana (Peronea) ..................: 286, 288
haworthii (Celaema))) oee-cceasesceee areca 46
helice (C. croceus aD.) ..... 37, 91, 114, 284
hellanichus (Papilio) ................---.e0¢- 251
helvola (Anchoscelis) ................... 46, 341
hemicleodoxa (A. adippe ab.) ............ 65
heracliana (Depressaria) ................... 44
REBOTAG A (Ac mpLASiNa) sesh eee eee: 12, 38
hernmnone) (SAY TNS) | ous. csreshnsesedags scones 203
METOPE (COMMAS) Prem eictsc ek cues cote ee eae Mice weetce 114
heparata (Eupisteria) ....................... 127
hepatica (A. characterea) ................ 346
hesperidis (A. cardamines ab.) 215, 216
hexadactyla (Orneodes) ............. 285, 341
hippophaes (Celerio) ........................5 245
hippothoe (Heodes) ....................ccceeeee 92
hirtaria (Biston) (Lycia) ... 24, 86, 95,
99, 141, 143, 228, 344
hispida (Leucochlaena) .....:............... 332
hispidaria (Apocheima) ...... 118, 142, 343
hospita (P. plantaginis ab.) ...... 288, 289
mua Ce pias) epee eee eee sete 175
hyacinthus (Polyommatus) ............... 114
hyale (Colias) .... 39, 114, 218, 261, 284, 329
hybridelian(Phalonia) esse eee 44
hylaeiformis (Bembecia) ................... 49
hyperantus (Aphantopus) (Epine-
phele) ...... 74, 98, 107, 148, 279, 284, 299
hyperboria (A. alpicola) ............ 258, 269
icarus (Polyommatus) ....-. 215 155, 7
92, 106, 112, 114, 19, 279, 284, 318, 345
ichnusa (A. urticae ab:)) 2)24...428. 284
icterata (Eupithecia) ......... 187, 162, 167
icteritia (Cirrhia) ... 41, 99, 117, 135,
325, 341
MS CATIGID) oo 025. eee ee 113, 114
indigata (Eupithecia) ................0...2.. 289
TeBNeSE (Man Urtina, 2b.) Levees eee 272
Mins (Amaiurayc6).... (8)! aa ai heaeetey 366
immaculata (Hemistola) ................... 44
immaculata (X. fluctuata ab.) ......... 99
impar (C. muralis ssp.) ............... 98, 317
imipura. (Lewcania)) ts0 icf). 109
incerta (Orthosia) ... 45, 109, 110, 118,
141, 142, 143, 144, 179, 223, 343
inconspicuella (Solenobia) ................ 5

PAGE
infestay (Apamea)! Bere ec. vec cetenee 98, 99
IMOTMAt an (SUCTTINVA)M on eet tre pecan eee 57
insigsniata (Hupithecia) -<.......0..2/..1.... 15
iImtensa- (OM hunoOSawalbs) tes eee eee 98
interjecta (Triphaena) .................c.... 41
intermedia (A. adippe ab.) ................ 65
intermedia (P. c-album ab.) ............. 65
intermedia-fumosa (S. bilunaria ab.) 99
interrogationis (Plusia) ... 12, 46, 136, 348
TM CataL | (Up NeCIa)) eee eee eee 328
inturbata (Eupithecia) .............. 141, 249
inversa (L. ae ai) EAU eee 243
o (Nymphalis) ... 18, 19, 39, 55, 56, 57,

72, 73, 88, 1, 92, 141, 142, 143, 144,

182, 220, 261, 286, 299
iota ees ERS OSE ee neste eect Renee 4h
ipsilon (Agrotis) ............ 109, 143, 216, 340
iris (Apatura) ... 17, 18, 40, 48, 54, 89,

139, 268, 289, 366
Neres arise (AME DIA) eees...... 8c eee 346
irriguata (Eupithecia)- ............... 289, 344
isodactyla, (Platyptiltay ....0.2. ee 116
jacobaeae (Callimorpha) ............ 108, 192
jasius (Charaxes) ............... 204, 280, 281
VAGLOD MAC yey (AMAT) eens. eee 251
eUMette (Can (AN) Gay sas) eres eee 66
jubata , (Alcis) (Cleora), ...;....:20..-5. ssa 294
jumiperata: (hera): secs ee eee 54
jurtina (Maniola) ... 72, 73, 74. 91, 107,
272, 279, 318
juvernica (L. sinapis ab.) .................. 99
kinbyi , (Oiketicus)\ s55-cc.ese ee ee
l-album (Leucania) ........ 41, 331, 332, 356
lacertinaria (Drepana) ...................... 111
lactea (A. infesta sabi) $4.) eee 98
lactearia.\(SOd1S) 4... esse ee eee 307
lancealis (Perinephela) ............... 57, 360
lapidea (Lithophane) ........................ 128
lappella (Metzneria) .....................2005- 321
lapponaria (Poecilopsis) ... 7, 45,- 99,
141, 216, 316, 318
lariciata (Eupithecia) ........ 159, 162, 168
lathonials(Arsymnis)) Sessa ee ee 114
latifasciata (O. dilutata ab.) ............ 98
latruneula:(Erocus) ieee eee Bs
lavaterae (P. malvae ab.) LETS: EY, 114
lecerfig (Castnita) ene ne: Las Be ee 312
lesatellaw(Chesias) ie ..c. eRe eat 350
lepida (Hadena)) ..20..2:: 45, 98, 346, 350
leplastriana (Laspeyresia) ................ 138
leporina (Apatele) ..........0......0. 346, 349
lesbiaw(Coliasyae. ...2..: cater e)..! 250, 313
leuca (E. extensaria ab.) .................. 167
leucographa (Gypsitea) ... 8, 110, 182,
343, 344
leucophaearia (Erannis) ... 7, 45, 47,

90, 117,174

leucostigma (Celaena) O;112 ss.
levana, (Araschnia)? 22. 2 eee. oe
libatrix (Scoliopteryx) ... 83, 118, 190,
lichenaria (Cleorodes) (Cleora) 41, 284,
lichenea (Eumichtis) 98, 284,
liséa,.. (Erebiae fe eee aes
lignata (Orthonoma)

Been eee eeee

eee eee wee eee en ewer eens

46
127
341
346
332

SPECIAL INDEX

PAGE
Pemeane BIASLODASIS) | 2.205 :0<c005 20-600 + nodes 76
ligula, (Conistra) .........:.. G1, 135, 143, 350
ligustri (Craniophora) ............... 111, 349
ligustri (Sphinx) ... 9, 38, 43, 48, 118,

181 , 284, 285, 364
linariata. (Eupithecia) ........ 137, 162, 167
fneasia. MCosymbia) \.:i)isnbe)).08 346
himeataee men dica) aby eikeee 5, 6
lineata-livornica (Celerio) ......... 170, 245
MAMA (STOMA) pt .5.0%.05..-. Sees. SIS 308
limeola:s (Thymelicus) (aici8 Ao... 2nee 279
imerana (Peromea)) | 27sissieeks eked. g
literosa (Procus) ............ 41, 132, 182, 298
lithargyrellus (Crambus) .................. 15
lithargyria (Leucania) ...... 17, 20, 21, 109
bithoxydes: — (AMAINCA) © <c........ccc00ccseeces 135
itonams hemeamnia) | 0..7.0.56e0i0..82: 341
littorella, (Metzneria) | ......1...........0080% 321
litura (Anchoscelis) ......... 46, 91, 181, 341
liturata (Semiothisa) ............. 43, 159, 241
livornica (Celerio) ... 215, 222, 245, 284, 297
lophuna:, (Paramelisa) .stnthc..l2 180
lorquiniana (Peronea) ................0.0.06- 288
lota (Agrochola) ... 46, 91, 117, 181, 341, 350
lubricipeda (S. lutea) ............ 98, 108, 223
lucellus (Ypsolophus) ..................6..... 44
lucens (Hydraecia) ......... 46, 130, 131, 132
lucernea (Ammogrotis) .......... 16, 88, 348
lucidella (Aristotelia) ..........0..00..0... 4h
lucina (Hamearis) (Nemeobius) ... 40,
Op Add, 112
Lurcip ama: i (Ele Rta) nse Eee. 135
luctuata (Acontia) (Euphyia) .... 44,

320, don
lueneburgensis (C. (A.) caja ab.) ....... 66
limamia, (S@lOMIA)) .sdcccsas.sscsceseesseenes 8, 45
LUMATIS. CMAMUCTA) oo nci.-..-.0sce00 40, 44, 81
lunosa (Omphaloscelis) .......... 38, 98, 332
lunula (Calophasia) ............ 322, 323, 324
MAUPAMATUS, CECDIALIS)) o. dpciccesecemepesteieoenaee 175
UTTen@ Ea Siler 298
MENA UG TEIT AN: ccd dan <ceteewnpisdena <a’ 41, 117
Jnl ee SS) cr S'0 00) 8, 108
luteolata (Opisthograptis) ... 47, 174,

341, 363
luteomarginata (L. quadra ab.) ....... 98
lnbescens i(C.(A.) caja ab.) ............35 66
lutescens (E. quadripunctaria ab.) .. 310
lutosa (Rhizedra) ............ 41, 98, 341, 350
lutulenta (Aporophyla) 40, 41, 46,
82, 181
lychnidis (Agrochola) 38, 91, 110, 340
Mi MNTIMGIS (CU CUAIIA), oss ceieedeaescoseeeances “AL
lysippoides (Riodina) . ............00....000.. 254
machaon (Papilio) ... 76, 77, 78, 79,
80, 118, 190, 203, 207, 238, 296, 317
macilenta (Agrochola) ... 46, 110, 340, 350
macularia (Pseudopanthera) ............ 98
Mmraeulatar (Vemilia) yo hee ecceieslix 287
maculipennis (Plutella) ..........00..0..... a
moa: (Gy nanisay:s.\... feockocs tid. .wcbeeee 119
majuscula (P. porphyrea ab.) ........... AA
malvae (Pyrgus) ...... 91; 92, 112, 114,
299, 345

)

PAGE

marginaria (Erannis) ...... 7, 90, 110,
417, 141, 142, 143, 144, 174, 179

*marginenotata (H. ruberata_ ab.

TI OIVE) ENS eR ake bua 166
marginepunctata (Scopula) ...... 298, 332
manritimiay (CHWOMES) we s..0 4: anne e- 41, 297
marsyas. (TRheCla)s sencccunn tea 251
martialis (Pyrausta) ...........0.0.0 Ji. 341
massey! (ih. 2eSON: AD), cud. «. cccmesocest 9
Matura <(Chalpophila) > 72s. Be. 181
maura (Mormo) (Mania) ............ 135, 228
mediodeleta (A. caja aD.) .................. 99
medionigra (P. dominula ab.) ... 67,

68, 69, 202
MICOUSA, {HGCA poss ssemaleneee cert actigean eter cace 92
megacephala (Apatele) ............... 91, 135
megera (Pararge) ... 55, 72, 74, 91, 92,
190, 279
*melaleuca (E. silaceata ab. nov.) ... 164
methineata, (oyiIS). ssscec sees 44, 137
mendica (Cycnia) ...... 4, 108, 111, 212, 350
menippe (Wamaws). cecse-c-cc ses: cesses conor 259
menyanthidis (Apatele) ... 11, 111, 1385,
290, 348
merularia (E. leucophaearia ab.) .... 47
mesomella (Cybosia) ................. 111, 308
meticulosa (Phlogophora) ... 135, 143,
332, 340
metzneriella (Metzneria) .............0..... 321
Tie, CRMUCNVOMTER A ice pees cadens 136
miata (Chloroclysta)) p j5..02-0ees-- 1411, 144
micacea (Hydraecia) .................. 136, 341
millefoliata (Eupithecia) ........... 305, 328
miniata (Miltochrista) ................ 41, 284
mimimeay (Petia mipayy pce. eyecsee ate e ce 135
minimus (Cupido) 40. 92, 98, 112,
192, 355
miniosa (Orthosia) ...... 8 fd; 52. “110;
143, 289, 343, 344
minuscula (P. gamma ssp.) ...... 194, 195
minorata (Perizoma) ............cccccc8- 12
mirabilise (A: caja: ab.) -lavereyutt) at 67
*mirabilis (H. furcata ab. nov.) 162. 165
miranda (H. pyritoides ab.) .............. 98
misippus (Hypolimnas) .................... 203
*moesta (L. populi ab. nov.) ............. 34
monacha (Lymantria) ................. 39, 289
moneta (Polychrisia) ... 136, 148, 181,
192, 256, 257
*monochromica (S. ocellata ab. nov.) 34
monoglypha (Apamea) ......... 12, 91, 135
montanata (Xanthorhoe) .......... 136, 162
monster y(ASGray ce ee A 254, 313
mrorrisii, (Arenostola) 0.2.5.0 ....c0..000-.0 44
mucronellus (Donacaula) .................. 213
multistrigaria (Larentia) (Calosty-

gia) wo... 7, 8, 45, 137, 141, 142, 163, 179
munda (Orthosia) ... 8, 109, 110, 223,

289, 343
mundana (Nudaria) .................... 12, 108
munitata (Xanthorhoe) ........ 12, 161, 162
muralis (Cryphia) ........ 41, 43, 98, 99, 317
miuricata, —(Sterrhayy: ices: 55)... 348
musculosa (OVria) ......:........... 41, 291, 362

10 SPECIAT INDEX

PAGE
mussehliana (Phalonia) .................... 177
HUAI HOS: (18 Se “COLT AVESS Depots sheer tee sn ee 212
MEV CVTS Cranes) ess eee eee 286
myrtiliata (Gnoplias) 4 02...0-....... Pde ale:
Lay rent CATIA) Sccce eons: 109, 357
NANO (HAGA): 253... 26ers ete. 11, 284
napi (Pieris) ... 45. 55. 72, 73, 90, 92, 98.
239. 362
nebulella (Homoeosoma) .................-- 255
mebulosa~ (Polia) 1 seea32tclssreet isn 346
neglecta (As Castamea).o:.. 3h...) 350
neglectana (Eucosma) ............c.0..ece000- 177
nerii (Chaerocampa) (Daphnis) ......
269, 296, 3214. 363
MEUUETCAg) (INOMAE TIA) nope ara goes eee ae
neuropterella (Metzneria) ................. 321

neustria (f{Malacosoma) 42, 43, 212
DLP lusia)-.. 21. 98, 149". 179) 3381 350)

362, 364
mictitans iH 2OCulea)) sp ceceee see 130
nigerrima (C. rhomboidaria ab.) ..... 193

nigra (Aporophyla) ... 13, 46, 182, 332,

341, 350
*nigra (E. abbreviata ab. nov.) ...... 167
nigra (E. consonaria ab.) ................ 193
*nigra (E. satyrata ab. nov.) ............ 167
MED KG IGeMkba BD.) lcs tice. 222
Pe eas AAC TAAL AI) occ cccttnnca cede 65
menicans.(C: clathrate abe)... 2.2 220
TSM CAMS (UNO) oes. hee aeceecer eee 46, 284

*nigricosta {(B. betularia ab. nov.) ... 241
nigrina (L. camilla ab.)
nigrocaria (A. urticae ab.)
*nigrocastanea (H. ruberata ab. nov.) 166

nigrociliata (C. mendica ab.) ............ 5
nigrofasciaria (C. derivata ab.) 262, 344
*nigrofasciata (C. derivata ab. nov.)
163, 262
*nigromarginaria (A. caja ab. nov.) 3
*nigrovenosa (A. caja ab. nov.) ...... 3
MmOve (ATE yninIs) .) Le Tot).. ote 115
Mmsciia. (hucosmay’ Lae Ree. Pe Ale 117
niveus (Acentropus) ......... 42, 43, 196, 327

noctuella (Nomophila) ...... eg Gite, palin

329, 331, 340, 341

nocturnata (C. clathrata ab.) ............ 220
nodicoleiia. 7 (Mompiva) (nee) na 6
notata’ (Semiothisa) ................... 345, 346
MOU AMI EEEDMOS)s 2...285...ceclebcceedesoon ee. 290
nubeculosa .(Brachionycha) (Petasia)

2p AO S32 45. Ad
TIP ANTS (AMANITA) sie is cccedack Ss cece. a7 eB
*mubilata (A. caja ab. NOV.) <..2..... 4, 90
nubilata (C. multistrigaria ab.) ...... 163

nupta (Catocala) ... 16, 91, 99, 277, 325, 328

nymphaealis (Hydrocampa) ............ 285
obeliseatare(Theray es 6. cases 341
qhesalrs. (Eiypena) ......... 80a. 95
*obliterata (A. caja ab. nov.) ............ 3
oblonga 7(Apamea).. .. Aap ne Boss 346
obscural (Apamea) ‘2m F228: 223
*obscura (C. multistrigaria ab. nov.) 163
obscura (P. cynthia ssp.) ......... 281, 282

*obsolescens (N. zonaria ab. nov.) ... 241

PAGE
obsoleta (Leucania) ................:.. 346, 350
obstipata (Nycterosea) ..... 87, 38, 41, 329
occidua (E. extensaria ssp.) ...... 162, 167
VECUMTIZ (CWTKONS)). scodssAosonesusunenne 12, 45, 46
ocellaris (Cirrhia) (Hellinia) 347, 348
ocellata (Lyncometra) ..................0.+ 161
ocellata (Smerinthus) ............ 34, 43, 284
ocellatis; WUNASCIIS) \ ere eter ete eer 315
ocelleus (Crambus) (Euchromius) ... 286
OChTALAy a (SterThal eee 41, 193, 342
ochrearia (Aspitates) ................. 242, 279
ochroleuca ‘Eremobia) ............... 43, 298

9, 41, 42, 43, 99,
277, 278, 346,
46, 130, 131, 132,

ocularis (Tethea) ...

oculea (Hydraecia) ...

136,
oleracea (Diataraxia) ................ 109,
olivacea W(Ps (chil abs) ie eee eee eee
olivaceo-fasciata (L. quercus ab.) ....
ononaria (Aplasta) ................ 41, 44,
OOM (CDICY Chal) See ee... toa eee
opacellay (Bsyche)> 25ers 52e ee
ophiogramma (Apamea) ............. 12);
Opimaya(Orbhosia) te _s...:. 2
OPE (MEthiGa)) se 25 ee CAE... mAh: 11, 48,
orana (Adoxophyes) .................. 360,
orbicularia (Cosymbia) .................0.
orcus (C. rhomboidaria ab.) ............
oressigena (C. concinnata) 273, 274,

ornitopus (Graptolitha) ... 47, 51, 142,
143, 181. 343,

eee eee ee |

otitae (Coleophora)

oOtresiata, (Cidaria) 2... 22
oxyacanthae (Allophyes) (Megan-
GYOINENEN yao sadoSaedeeode 46, 91, 110, 181,
palaemon (Carterocephalus) ... 11, 17,
45, 89, 92, 114, 115,

pateaceal (Bargains eee ay
palealis (Loxostege) ...................c...ee
pallens: (Ikeucanial)' tee... eee
pPaAliidan(Aeurticae tals) tee
pallida (H. peltigera ab.) ..........0......
pallidar (P:rc-album: aby ee
pallida (S. populi ab.) ..........0..0.000....
(OR UIC ED AKVATAECHEN Zee penperoepasansoscesncccoce
palpina (Pterostoma) ...... 19, 41, 43,
111, 346,

palhudata(Carsta)--e t ee eaecee eee
paludellus (Crambus) ................0...0..
paludis (Hydraecia) ....... 46, 130. 131,
palustris (Hy@rilla) ...0..........01...ceses-
pamphilus (Coenonympha) ... 72, 74,
92,

paniscus (C. palaemon) ............. 114,
papilionaria (Hipparchus) (Geome-
trae eee re ee 43, 44, 140, 182,

... 73, 107, 148, 203,
261, 284,

*paradoxa (L. suffumata ab. nov.) ...

*paradoxa (L. testata ab. nov.)
parthenias (Brephos) (Archiedris)

7 feet! BY,

216, 217, 256,

292,

paphia (Argynnis)

parva (Eublemma)

363

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGB
pastinum (Lygephila) ................ 308, 330
*paucimaculata (A. caja ab. nov.) .. 2
pauperana (Eucosma) ........................ 116
pavonia (Saturnia) ... 8, 51, 98, 108,
345, 348
pedaria (Phigalia) ...... Te 45s 885, Adis.
141, 143, 174, 241
peltigera ‘Heliothis) ...... 44, 218, 298,
329, 331, 350
pennaria (Colotois) .............. 46, 144, 174
penthinana (Argyroploce) ......... 320, 321
penziana (Sciaphila) (C. bellana) .... 366
peraurantia (C. icteritia ab.) .......... 99
perfuscata (D. truncata ab.) ............ QT4
TOS eee( (CHEN 01 0112) WORN enaey PR eReeRSe eer 99, 135
persicariae (Melanchra) ................... 109
BErrnebuSs, (PAPIUO) . ...0.2.220....c:-c0seoneee Q54
DeLASUTS (HOR ACCTA) 5 4500. sc. cchigctssnes canis 13
phaedusa (Lobobunaea).................... 220
phalaris-sora, (CaStNia)..;..22 03 s.ccq6.0 0006 251
pesca’ (SYMLOWMIIS)) . 5.2 cc5..cs00...0cns-ssviees 316
phlaeas (Lycaena) ...... 72, 87, 99, 112,
142, 182, 279, 284, 317
phoenicis (E. ceratoneae ab.) ...... 50, 51
phragmitidis (Arenostola) 10, 41, 44
DITA FeMAIS (CHO) L. ....c.0.0.2.-scceeecese 43
phaniasma (Aiseajaiab.) (ii.wies...o: 67
punioxenus (C tullia aD.) .........:...0< 114
phrygialis (Titanio) (Hercyna) ... 13, 14
Pigeaia, (an sustamata Ab.) ..........0.--- 345
pilosellae (Maniola) ........00..0..0... 113, 114
Pilosellaer(OKYPTUUS) .25...ccc.cscesersvcons 294
pinastri (Hyloicus) ... 57. 217, 218, 222,
286, 318
PIMA UPC MOLOLMIMIS): sce... ceoec poe cee 320
UM ESTIS (BALA PICT). «oo cc. cesccceset see 43
piniarius(a) (Bupalus) ............ 56, 98, 99
TOSI (SSS 0S) A Ae 109
pityocampa (Thaumetopoea) ............ 367
DUDES eG TS) 137
plantaginis (Parasemia) ...... 40, 108,
286, 288, 308, 334
DEG MOCMPOMICUPA) .....ca.dsccsencentsecese 109
SCT Sw Eine Cr er 322
plumbeolata (Eupithecia) .......... 292, 293
Bhimieera, (PHIOPHOTA) co. 5.006. oce%2.0cees 223
Podalirins (Papilio) ......2%....s<5-... 114, 190
pomelhas (Cramibuwsy oo... x...cessesss0eest sc 15
politana (Hemimene) ...................0..0.. 44
CCUNAG ey [Wale Gl) sr rr 251
polychloros (Nymphalis) ............. 23, 7B
polycommata (Nothopteryx) ... 8, 110, 344
polydactyla (O. hexadactyla) .......... 285
polygonalis (Uresiphita). ......:............ 15
pomonella (Laspeyresia) ................... 360
DOM arIs] (TNO) 7... ccc ocasceccevnseceecs 109
DOpUIAata (TEYVELIS)) scsccsct. 9, 187, 243, 348
BODIE (OFLMOSIA) 6.59 oeetgrccacnceraeSasces: 213
populi (Laothoe) (Smerinthus) ... 12,
33, 34, 43, 65, 72, 284, 292
Dopuly (Limeni tis) (checctodaiii..cletan 366
populi (Poecilocampa) .... 46, 47. 107, 289
porcellus (Deilephila) (Pergesa) ... 9,
40, 81, 111, 245, 346

PAGE
porphyrea (Lycophotia)) 2..:)...-4.12 114
porphyrea (Peridroma) ............... 41, 340
POSstiGamnah (Evelina)! Sree eT) aes 85
DOSTVLAMAW A ROr TTA) Sees cet esocnhane eee 116
potatoria (Philudoria) ..... 18, 43, 284, 285
potentillana’(Peronea). 2)... 25:...255 44
praecox (Actebia) ............ 10, 13, 284, 285
prasina (Anaplectoides) ... 13, 38, 46,
82, 111, 181, 182, 290
prasinana (Bena) (Pseudoips) 18, 50, 345
proboscidalis (Hypema) .............. 136, 340
procellata (Melanthia) ...................... 43
processionaria (Thaumetopoea) ........ 367
prodromaria (B. strataria) ............... 180
progemmaria (E. marginaria) ......... 179
promissa (Catocala) .......... 39, 41, 99, 328
pronuba (Triphaena) ... 12, 18, 91, 109,
332, 340
pronubana \(Cacoecial) ovis... 74, 256
protears (Dryohbotodes) . ..).c5..e.5..-sssessnece 46
*prouti (H. furcata ab. nov.) ... 162, 166
pruinata (Pseudoterpna) .................. 38
prunaria (Angeronia) ....... 42, 43, 99, 346
roibboule iSinexaasYorauyeliey)” J saneaaeenerseesessonnace 114
pryerella (E. ceratoneae ab.) (Trach-
OTUSTAS)! J25., SMe eee ees 50, 51, 286
DSit AATEC) Reece aa 18, 135
puGibunda | (Dasychiinay) ee scsee eee 111
DUGICa (EI ReDIA) on .creee eee ee 20
pudorina (hewcamia)) 22)2-.2 eee 20, 21
pulchellata (Eupithecia) ..... 167, 244, 346
pulehrmea(Plusiay pees. s 46, 111, 329
pulveraria (Anagoga) .................. ATE AAG
*pulverata (A. atropos ab. nov.) ....... 81
pumilata (Gymmnoscelis) .................... 143
DUNCtAlISM(SLemMia) eco. kere een 214
*punctata (E. linariata ab. nov.) .... 167
punctinalis (Boarmiayie yy ses...0e. 39
punctissima (H: cunea) ......022.....0..:. 212
punctulata (Aethalura) ..........0000..0.... 110
pupillaria (Cosymbia) ...........00.0.000... 128
*pura (T: dubitata ab® nowy ..2)../2°) Q44
purpurana (Argyroploce) .................. be
purpuralis (Rhodaria) .....................: Q87
purpureobrunnea (T. firmata ab.) ... 98
pusaria \(Caberay’ elano Ot se 174, 286
pustulata (Comibaena) ...................... 9
PUta eCNSrotis)* oe ec nei, 82, 147
pubrisy ((Ascy lial) oe Seca see Bethe out ae 182
pygarga (Jaspidia) .......... 41, 43, 290, 345
pygmaeola (Eilema) .................... 41, 341
pygmina (Arenostola) ....................... 136
Dyrahiatam(cyeETIS) - a hete Wea. cera see 43
PY Lalima) (COSMiia)) a eFs..fe bese: assess 44, 350
pyramidea (Amphipyra) .............. 18, 1
pyLINAa, (Zewzera)t eee he 42, 44, 208
pyritoides (Habrosyne) ..................... 98
pythonissata (D. citrata ssp.) ......... 164
Quiadran (hi enostay ere se eee 39, 98, 325
*quadricothurnata (A. caja ab. nov.)
Dee Ot)
quadripunctaria (Euplagia) ...... 309,

310, 331, 357

PAGE

quercifolia (Gastropacha) ...... 43, 48,
53. 86, 349,

quercus (Lasiocampa) ... 1, 16. 18, 83,

107, 258, 259, 285, 347
quereus (Thecla) 112, 284, 289, 299, 345
*radiata (A. -atropos ab: NOV.) ...:...... 81
*radiata (M. lunaris ab: nov.) ......... 81
radiata (S. bilunmaria ab.) ............... 98
ramburialis (Diasemia) ..................... 287
rapae (Pieris) ... 55, 72. 73, 90, 142, 180,
284, 344
rebeli (C. rhomboidaria ab.) ............. 193
TECENUS, |. (OLGA Meee oe ence ee esaceeee 195
rectangulata (Chloroclysta) 43, 162, 168
*rectangulata (M. albicillata ab.
PLOWS) p cattet es sec hee coe eae ee Rss 162, 164
repandalis (Epicorsia) (Pyrausta) 15
repandaria (Epione) .................. 341, 350
repandata (Alcis) (Cleora) ... 175, 193,
284, 346
Trenculata (Sustromia) scan eee 320
neticulata, (Ha ANGEDS),. eitec-eecs--- 223, 326
*reticulata (X. montanata ab. nov.) 162
Eenelia (Wihilttieta)) eee ee eeeeee 176, 177
retwsar, (ZemMODUA)! vcs iceseacae oteees estecces 40
revayana (Sarrothripus) ....... 41, 43, 350
*reversa (P. cynthia ab. nov.) .......... 289
rhamni (Gonepteryx) ... 47. 73, 92, 99,
141, 142, 299
rhododactyla (Platyptilia) (Eucne-
TMU OP MOTATS) See tes encence geseeelss soe 52
rhomboidaria (Cleora) ......... 19, 193, 341
ricina (P. cynthis ssp.) ..............0000... 281
ridens (Polyploca) ............... 117. 210, 344
miojana, “(Kerniocolias)) yes ke dee 315
TMpae.(ASrotis) \.....0.02.. eee eee 341
robinsoni (S. trifolii ab.) .......0..000.... 98
roboraria (Boarmia)) ieee... 39
roeselia (Amalithea) ..........0..0...0.0... 251
masacea .(C. (A:) Cala: albjaw. a4 eatin 66
roseotincta (S. populi ab.) ......... 65, 66
rotunda (PR. nap aby) 22 kee. eee 98
ruberata (Hydriomena) ... 11, 162. 166, 262
Vibe CDVALSTA) ee. le epee rg ye. ed ani QR4
mb ((Macrothylacia) %:...2-2.02e ee 108
rubi (Thecla) (Callophrys) ... 8, 19, 45,
72, 92, 112, 284, 344
rubidata (Euphyia) ...:.:........ 44, 162, 163
rubiginata (Plemyria) ............... 161, 162
rubiginea (Dasycampa) .................... 341
*rubra (M.tiliae ab. nov!) /./..20. 80) 33
rubra. (S: bilunaria ab!) (25720)... 208. 98
rubricollis (Atolmis) ............ 41, 182, 349
rubricosa (Cerastis) (Pachnobia) ... 41,
110, 141, 142, 143, 223, 3438, 344
*rubrociliata (A. caja ab. nov.) ....... Q
rubrotibiella (Acrobasis) ................... 50
rutatava(Chesias): 1205529... Se 12, 344
rutescens,(D. truncata aD.) ogc .ei0.csnc: Q74
rutescens (S. populi ab.) <..............0.<.. 66
ruficornis (Drymonia) (Chaonia) ... 8,
11, 39, 40, 110, 117, 146, 228, 344
LHe. (Apatele) iis iAn es BOE 0 Lamas 135
inicio (Gi A} caja ay.) iis. covets secs 66

SPECIAL INDEX

PAGE

rupicapraria (Theria) ... 7, 88, 90, 148,
143, 144, 174
EM pUCOlals (2 nalomie) gees sees eee 85
russata (Dp truncata abi) it.e2a: tee 274
SALOVOUUICOMRY » (Vln yi k@uaNvel))\ eh.essebeese one aenaneoe Th
sacraria (Rhodometra) ............... 15, 195
Saeittata Ul CEUZOMNa): 2 osscensck saeeees ssceeere 317
salicalis (Colobochy!a) ............... 44, 98
salicis (Leweoma) |............0.0 43, 87, 191
Sime lise (Cramibws)) See ees eee eee sees 15
sambucaria (Ourapteryx) ................. 182
SAMO. (Maer STani eee eee eee 308, 346
saponariae (H. anceps) ............... 1B BvD
satyrata. (Eupithecia) .......... 162, 167, 293
Sena (GEYSTENCHAGINNGIN™ Ksavededeemomnendesossds toe 331
*schizomacula (A. caja ab. nov.) .... 2
schmidtii (L. phlaeas ab.) .................. 99
schoenicolella (Glyphipteryx) .......... 145
ScimpleOlama (BGI) ea. coo eeree en ate 75
SCOLICAE (OREMON UMA ee. eee 270
*scripta (L. griseata ab. nov.) .......... 243
SGINMOSae (ENCUTLOUGIES) masta tee oo eee eee 324
SEGAMIS = (CAPA Cal : eet esss- cass. 5. o dean 98, 135
sesetum, (A GrOtis) aoe On wanes 20

selene (Argynnis) (Clossiana) ...... 45,
74, 148, 182, 290, 299, 345

semele (Satyrus) (Eumenis) ... 12, 25,
74, 99, 279

semiargus (Cyaniris) ..... 92, 114, 285,
297, 316, 317

semibrunnea (Lithophane) . 38, 41,
52, 341. 350
semicostella (Sophronia) ................... 75

*semifasciata (P. strigillaria ab.
NOVs)) > 5.cy RE eS eae eee 243
semifumosa (P. bicolorata ab.) ........ 98
semi-ocellata (N. 10: WaT.) .c::....25...:5.. 57

*semivirgata (B. betularia ab. nov.)
162, 1468

*semivirgata (S. brunnearia ab.
TOW ibe see ereinu tae c are ee mcccins Osean eee Q42
*semivirgata (S. liturata ab. nov.) .. 241
senex (Comacla) .................... 12, 41, 44
senmaen, (PNGEDIS) Toco cess cace ooo ceeeeees 251
*septata (A. caja ab. nov.) ........... 2, 262
Serena. (ERA Gena)! sete eee 109, 346
SEUELGE AMT San (RCHViUL aD) eee ee cee cee 290. 340
Seriatay ma (Sterrivay steele eee 327
sexstrigata (Amathes) ....................... AA
sibylla (Limenitis) ..................... 148, 366
silaceata (Ecliptopera) ... 41, 137, 164, 182
SIMS (HU POCUS) eee scence 12, 13. 107
simplana (Eucosma) .................:..00008- 177
simulans (Rhyacia) ~........0..4..:.....5..- 332

sinapis (Leptidia) (Leucophasia) ... 92,
99, 190, 355
siterata (Chloroclysta) .................... 161
smarardaria ~(buchloris)......-- 343
socia (Lithophane) ........ 41, 142, 343, 350
sodaliana (Phtheocroa) ..................... 134
solidaginis (Lithomoia) ........ 13, 110, 175
sordens (Apamea) ............cc.ceeeeee 91, 135
spadicearia (Xanthorhoe) ................. 136
spartiella \(AMAYSIA) \.......::..00.s000.sntene 44

SPECIAL

PAG

spartifoliella (Leucoptera) ............... AA
sphinx (Brachionycha) 38, 47, 91,

284, 289

Spissicella) (Phiyicitial) (REAP... .ecseceecesee en 43

spissicornis (Coleophora). ......:.........- 44

SMlGWMatd a (OPBYVLA), oi... s.ccnecececases 195, 196

SEpomsa. (Catocala) ............ 39, 41, 289. 328
stabilis (Orthosia) ....... 109, 110, 118,

4141, 142, 143, 144, 182, 223, 343, 344

SIUM CISSIe (BOL RCSA) oo) ccceoscashacnasiae <0 245

SETGISICACOUSUNS) | cvoveectacqscenaccac sca ones os 137
stellatarum (Macroglossum) ... 37, 52,

53, 91, 142, 182, 284, 286, 329, 331
straminea (Leucania) ..... 41, 44, 297, 364
strataria (Biston) 95, 110, 118, 142,

143, 180, 289, 343
HAAN MRO OSCMMCCL) oc ccciscsccsacrscccasinenncnes a 319 |
striata (Cupido minimus ab.) .......... 98
SISUOMMMUS MEMOS): | tte: sstcscscntteteseacs 131, 135
Simieiiiaria (PeErcomia)* cc /.:...693% 243, 290
Sere w( NOMA): ..deaseree Ash sass 8k. 39, 289 |
AStyeia (A. Cajaiwalo!| MOVE) ).. 03-05: 33, 34 ©
StraSaa EVA) resins ic Be:. gost tee: iNet 1}
subaquilea (Borkhausenia) .............. 15 |
*submarginalis (P. pedaria ab. nov.) 241 |
subfulvata (E. icterata ab.) .............. 167 |
Subbastata, (RULE) li ssi600..césdeadeuwesees. 290 |
subrosea (Caenophila) ... 285, 286, 287,
317, 319 |
Slits, (Zen@nial)! Bete aa AA!
succenturiata (Eupithecia) ............... 43
suffumata (Lampropteryx) ... 98, 111,
162, 163, 344, 345, 350
Ssuimuisa (A. otlvaria ab. NOV.) .......0.- 242
*suffusa (B. betularia ab. nov.) 162,
168, 244
Susan abs) rst. eto ee.sckeseek. 110
superba (G, bilunaria ab.) ............:... 9g |
*supercincta (H. furcata ab. nov.) ... 165
Suppeletia, (Gelechia) .........0es-.c.c.e+s 44
suspecta (Parastichtis) ................ 12, 110
Silva CAWPAKAS)) Look sccccccucoasceecane 174, 175
sylvaticella (Coleophora) .................. 145
sylvestris (Thymelicus) ............ 112, 299
syngrapha (L. coridon ab.) ............... 203
SPI CAQICINA) 5.22-.<50..0se0veeene en acee 140
RASES A CBS) So scccccdecccwseecnas 91, 92, 112
Laminaria CMUpPItUNeCIa) ...5..22.c.c.¢-0<ee0 88
teidensis (Coleophora) ....................... 115
[iETOMVE RACE TUES oe (1 BZ 0112) ee 111
templi (Dasypolia)- ....:.5....:..: 46, 285, 325
tenebrata (Pamemeria) ........2....0..0-s0+ 136
tentaculella (Ancylolomia) ... 15, 48,
44, 148 |
Hema, CHAPIN CIAY co.cc... ees erecande- 117
LermOImMedlare (RCMINGA) 2065 isdn cee secs s 4h |
HERMAta ((SCOPULA)! .osccesc. sok eevecaes 290, 348 |
BesiS Um (ELOLISIIG) joe s2 et lea Seka el ae ag 349 |
tesseradactyla (Platyptilia) ......0..0.... 138 |
testacea. (LUPerima) ........:.cdsc0eceees a, 33544
HeEStel Ma VORPTS) 5 ee oy Nee ea ee M3 |
tetralunaria (Selenia) ..... 45, 57, 146,
159, 344, 345
pialassima (HM adenay” lah... se.semeess 40, 345

INDEX |:

PAGE
thoas-brasiliensis (Papilio) ......:........ 251
thyelinnia (OTeyida)ia.: (eee aa) eee 196
thyone (E. semele ssp.) ..............0.0.... 99
ETA. CVMATINAS) pc ncesc sae eae 33
wneta o(Bolia)) 2. eee 45, 46, 290, 346
tithonus (Maniola) ... 55, 74, 113, 114,

297, 284
bubyaS WEfenvamis)) cc 81, 117
tortricella: (TLortricodes) i... 22609 14
tragopoginis (Amphipyra) ... 82, 135,
181, 330, 341
transversa {Eupsilia) 48, 110, 118,
143, 181, 344
trapezalis (Marasmia) ..........:.........0:. 223
trapezina (Cosmia),....2.2iais)... 136, 190
trauniana (Pammene)i0...220722: 86

tremula (Pheosia) ... 12, 241, 25, 43, 48,

107, 350
irepida (IN. ancepsolee...4). Be 40, 289
triangulum (Amathes) ...................... 9
tridens. (Apatele). ..aemon. 2iedie 349
EFifolii \(Scotogrammia)ieyies2)...g4ii iio. 98
trifolii (Zygaena) (Anthrocera) ... 175,
257, 366
frigrammica,. (Meristisn 74)2)..400is 98
*trilineata (E. satyrata ab. nov.) 162, 167
trimacula (D. dodonaea) ...... 51, 330, 349
tripartita (Abrostola) c2.250......0.08 44, 345
triplasia (Abrostola) ..............c.000.0.004. 12
tristata (Epirrhoe) ...... 14; 12, 137, 162,
164, 348
(GACT SRM TT) 6: i 9 ee em On 325
*trivirgata (P. siterata ab. NOV.) ...... 161
truncata (Dysstroma) ... 273, 274, 275, 345
tullia (Coenonympha) 87, 106, 114,
290, 322, 348
tumidana (Acrobasis) ......00000000...-.05 50
mimigebtay (AiGrODASIS) =< 2.25,.c.66<c.cceccctece. 43
typhae (Nonagria) .......... 13, 82, 136, 288
LyYpROm (C. tullitay tela eek he 114
ty pica (PRaigenay aes ee, oe 109
tyrrhea, (Gonimabrasiay’ ).i-.-..05.5:. 118
UIMNDEaA WV ria eke ele 9, 285
wmbrantca, (Cuculita) 4)... 110, 348
unangulata (Euphyia) ........ 162, 163, 346
Unanimis- (Apamed) v.)le 2:5. 11, 346
uncula. (Eustrotia) 2....2....... 12, 297, 325
*unilineata (H. ruberata ab. nov.) .. 166
unionalis (Margaronia) ............... 15, 287
unipuncta (Leucania) 22.5.2... 96, 258
uroceriformis (Dipsosphecia) ............ 49
PSU UA Ss Wb Ga ect eee ee on PP iN)
urticae (Aglais) ... 39, 47, 55, 57, 72, 78,
91, 92. 98, 141, 142, 143, 144, 220, Q84,
295. 299, 319. 349, 362
WETIEAS “(SpilLos@ma) 2855. oe a c,. 43, 45
vaccinii (Conistra) ... 18, 110, 118, 135,
141, 142, 148, 341
valentini (M. galathea ab.) ............... 98
valesina (A. paphia ab.) ...... 73, 148,
149, 203
valerianata’ (Eupithecia) ....2.<.:......... 293
Varta. (E) crepuscularia ab:). .....;)..0..: 179
Vode Ana, (PErOmGa)) ui eco ae 288

variegata {Nephele)

CeCe iii ini irri

14 SPECIAL INDEX

PAGE
velutinaria (Argyrotaenia) ............... 270
venata (Ochlodes) ....... 72, 73, 92, 112, 299
venustula (Hapalotis) ............ 9, 222, 345
VELrsicolom -(PrOGWS)) vee: kee 131
versicolora (Endromis) ............... 10, 344
vetulata (Philereme) ..................c..0.5. 141
villica (Arctia) ... 9, 17, 39, 66, 181, 219,
258, 284, 285, 289
viminalis (Bombycia) .................. 43, 289
vinula (Cerura) ... 12, 83, 94, 107, 285, 292
virens (Calamia) (Lucerea) ... 98, 320, 360
violacea (S. populi ab.) ............... 65, 66
ViECatawiA: ALrOPOS alas) ce.cesnass- 2s -csaene 81
*virgata (E. lariciata ab. nov.) 162, 168
virgata (Mesotype) ............... 44, 298, 346
virgaureae (Coleophora) ................... Wis)
Virfaunreace (GYCGACIa), Ae erro se eeese ae 114
virgaureata (Eupithecia) .................. 57
ViTgUlarnia (Ss Sericata)ys..).-- 327
Varig ama, (Orns) eee eee ee eee eee eee 18
vitalbata (Horisme) ...................... 9, 345
vitellina (Leucania) ...........: 95, 329, 350
*vittata (A. gilvaria ab. nov.) .......... 242
WI Aha (UP TINCT A. cecsess sn cesssoeeseeee 137
w-album (Strymonidia) ......... 25, 38, 299
walker (22 cynthia ‘spp:) 2.24202. 281
Wallanriag (ILamayeeahee es eee 74
wilkinsoni (Thaumetopoea) .............. 367
Wwelatinumn, (Eiaid emia) epee tease. tere 223
Wrishti rx Careola, abel). 2ke..Rie sk 98
xanthographa (Amathes) ... 12. 20, 21,
71, 109, 285
xerampelina (Atethmia) ............... 91, 350
Vpsilonn (Apamea) eee). 8s: 12. 44
ZEMDE (METIO COMMAS) Mes Fs 2) ke 315
ZOMEOMSAIPADIUNTO)! 8 o.. oescsceskesecn cece enetense 380
ziczac (Notodonta) ...... 11, 48, 83, 285,
292, 345, 349

PAGE
zollikoferi .(Apameda). «......0-:.-:.-.c-c2ee0e- 347
Zonarian. (NNSSIA) Ady tA ae. 146, 241

ODONATA
Bemeay a (CORMUMA) eae ies cc -. 3 cocesosass geese 272
boltonii (Cordulegaster) .................... 272
MATL! MOS VAM SLUM) peeee nee eee 72
depressa. (Libellula). ............:.....2..c00<- RID
flaveolum (Sympetrum) ............. 272, 365
fonscolombii (Sympetrum) ............... 272
isosceles, (AGSMMa)) eae ec: «- sn- cages cases 359
nayas, (Masyithromima)) i... cess eee Q72
nymphula (Ceriagrion) ..................... 272
pratense. (Brachytron) ...................... 272
pulchellum (Coenagrion) .................. 272
quadrimaculata (Libellula) .............. Dei fee
ORTHOPTERA

aegyptium (Anacridium) .................. 4154
Hicolors.(Choxrthippus) 2622.1. eee 153
bosphoricus (Poecilimomn) ................. 338
brachyptera (Metrioptera) ................ 4152
caerulescens (Oedipoda) ................... 225
decipiens (Loboptera) .............cc......< 338
domesticus (Gryllulus) ...................... 152
griseoaptera (Pholidoptera) .............. 151
grossus (Mecostethus) ......... 191, 1527-365
maculatus (Myrmeleotettix) ............. 153
miripennis (Glyphoclonus) ............... 224
orientalis (Blatta) eee). 151
parallelus (Chorthippus) ................:. 153
paranensis (Schistocerca) ................. 354
roeselil (Roeseliama), ...ci2:....2.)- ee 4178
sylvestris (Nemobius) ........................ 152
thalassinum (Meconema) ............ 93, 151
currita. (ACTIGA) 2. aa sheers Ban 225
viridulus (Om@Gestals), eee). -25e eee 152

EDITED BY
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THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECUR Ei
AND |
JOURNAL OF VARIATION FEB 2 195.

VOL. 65 15ta JANUARY | 1SsB¥ERSHT

‘Black’ Larvae of Lasiocampa quercus L.

in Yorkshire
By Frank Hewson, F.R.E.S.

Members of the Bradford Naturalists’ Society were extremely in-
terested in Dr. E. A. Cockayne’s article upon Lasitocampa quercus L.
(Ent. Rec., 64, 306-9) for the f. callunae is often abundant on the nearby
Rombalds Moor. Our first record of a dark larva occurred on 9th July
1900, when Mr. B. Illingworth reported that he had found a black
larva on the moor. No further mention of this one occurs.

In early August 1944 a junior member, George Flett, brought me
twenty-four larvae which he had found on the moor, asking if I would
look after them whilst he was on holiday. Two of these were a very
dark brown, almost black, and they spun up on 7th and 19th August.
One died, but the other produced a male olivaceo-fasciata on 18th June
1945.

In 1946 a newly-elected junior member, J. T. Willans, told me that
in 1944 he had found a number of larvae of this species on the moor and
that one of these was very dark brown, almost black, but unfortunately
he failed to rear it.

On 7th September 1946 I collected a number of larvae from heather
at St. Ives, Bingley, and noted that some were darker in colour than
normal, though not so dark as those previously mentioned. On 11th
June 1947 I found in my puparium a female which was intermediate in
colour between that of the male and female, and a burst cocoon spun
by one of these dark larvae. On 16th June a female olivaceo-fasciata
emerged. (See The Naturalist, 1948, p. 37.) The two above-mentioned
olivaceo-fasciata are in the Cartwright Memorial Hall Museum, Lister
Park, Bradford.

On 24th June 1950 Mr. J. Briggs found a black larva amongst others
on the moor (and informed me that one shown to him three days pre-
viously, by a boy, had been taken a mile away from his). Mr. Briggs
very carefully kept the one separate and found that the cocoon was
dark, pointing out that probably this is because of the dark hairs which
were woven in. Much to his disappointment in 1951 a normal male
callunae emerged.

In 1950 Mr. C. R. Haxby also collected about fifty normally-coloured
larvae in various instars, but later discovered that two of them were
then “‘black’’. (In my experience they are never really black, but a
dark nigger brown.) Eventually he had five of these but could not dis-
cover at which moult they assumed the darker colouration, because of
the mixture of stadia. Four of the imagines which emerged in 1951
were darker than normal, and one of a batch of cocoons which he sent
to a correspondent at York produced a female olivaceo-fasciata. The

2 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

latter was exhibited at the Y.N.U. Entomological Section meeting at
Leeds on 29th March 1952.

From the above reports two further queries emerge, have others
noted a larval moult from the normal colour to the dark, and is the silk
_of the dark cocoons darker than normal, or are they so solely because
of the darker hairs woven in?

The only other published record known to me upon ‘“‘black’’ larvae
in Yorkshire appears in The Naturalist for 1926. Page 21 reports that
at the Annual Meeting of the Entomological Section of the Y.N.U. on
17th October 1925 Mr. B. Morley exhibited calluwnae, long series of
peculiar dark-grey females, the males also darker, bred from black
larvae, from Penistone Moors, whilst on page 55 the Annual Report for
1925 states that ‘‘Black larvae of Bombyzx var. callunae from Penistone
Moors produced males slightly darker than ordinary, and females of a
dark smoky brown without a trace of the yellow colour’’.

New Aberrations of Arctia caja L.
By S. Gorpon Smirx, F.L.S., F.R.E.S.
PLATES I AND II.

Ab. paucimacula ab. nov. (Fig. 1).
Forewings. Ground colour warm buff, markings dark brown and
except for the discocellular stigma mark, mainly peripheral.
Hindwings. Ground colour yellowish buff heavily dusted with pinkish
orange, markings black normal. Thorax dark brown with pinkish
orange collar, abdomen a mixture of pinkish orange and yellowish buff.
Type 2: Chester, bred 1952.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.

Arctia caja ab. paucimacula, 9. Type.
Arctia caja ab. rubrociliata, Q. Type.
Arctia caja ab. septa, g. Type.

Arctia caja ab. schizomacula, 2. Type.
Arctia caja ab. quadricothurnata, Q. Type.
Arctia caja ab. albisignata, g. Type.

Le]

od

fo 9
Ga CRO CONES oi

Ab. rubrociliata ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

Forewings. Ground colour pale cream, markings blackish brown.
The scales of the forewing fringes are reddish-orange with the exception
of a few which are blackish brown.

Type 2: Chester, bred second generation 1951.

Ab. septata ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

Forewings. The outermost component of the triple costal mark is
separated from the other two components by a band of white ground
colour.

Type o: Chester, bred 1952.

Ab. schizomacula ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

Forewings. The boot-shaped mark on the costa of the subterminal
band is divided into two marks and the cottage loaf-shaped mark on the
inner margin of the same band is also similarly divided.

Type 9°: Chester, bred 1952.

=
y)

PLAT!

PLATE IT.

).

NOAEG

a ce ar ge,

NEW ABERRATIONS OF ARCTIA CAJA L. 3

At. quadricothurnata ab. nov. (Wig. 5).

Forewings. The triple costal mark is divided into three sections
which are approximately boot-shaped, the subterminal mark on the costa
is also boot-shaped.

Type ¢: Chester, bred second generation 1951.

Ab. albisignata ab. nov. (Fig. 6).

Forewings. The three components of the triple costal mark are com-
pletely fused, forming a solid brown mark on the costa; near the centre
of this is a white mark shaped like a comma which does not touch the
‘costa.

Type d: bred from a Formby wild larva 1921.
All the above have been bred by myself and are in my collection.

PLATE IT.
Ab. bijuncta ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

Forewings. The innermost component of the triple costal mark is
joined just beyond the middle to the median component in addition to
the normal connection.

Hindwings. The base, most of the costal and the inner and outer
marginal areas are reddish-orange; the normal markings are black joined
together by a black suffusion.

Type 2: Chester, bred second generation 1951.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II.

Fig. 1. Arctia caja ab. bijuncta, Q. Type.

Fig. 2. Arctia caja ab. nigromarginaria, g. Type.
Fig. 3. Arctia caja ab. obliterata, 9. Type.

Fig. 4. Arctia caja ab. nigrovenosa, g. Type.

Fig. 5. Arctia caja ab. quadricothurnata, g. Type.
Fig. 6. Arctia caja ab. fusata, g. Type.

Ab. nigromarginaria ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

Forewings. The costa, outer and inner margins are blackish-brown,
this colour extending in various widths, narrow along part of the costa
but broad along the outer margin where the sub-terminal and terminal
bands are united.

Hindwings. The outer row of spots is joined to a black outer border.
Fringes greyish-brown.

Type ¢: Chester, bred 1952.

Ab. obliterata ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

Forewings. Ground colour cream, markings normal.

Hindwings. Ground colour reddish-orange, there is a heavy black
suffusion from near the base which obliterates the discoidal and costal
spots and extends about half-way across the wings, reaching the first two
spots of the outer margin but not touching the two near the anal angle.

Type 9: Chester, bred 1952.

Ab. nigrovenosa ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

The veins of the forewings are black or blackish.
Type ¢: Chester, bred 1952.

4 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/1/1953

Ab. nubilata ab nov. (Fig. 5).

Forewings. A smoky suffusion extends asymmetrically across the
wings and darkens the white ground colour and lightens the blackish-
brown markings where it covers them.

Hindwings. The spots of the outer row are indistinct owing to a
blackish suffusion.
Type ¢d: Chester, bred second generation 1951.

Ab. fusata ab. nov. (Fig. 6).

Forewings. The innermost and median portions of the triple costal
mark are fused, the quadrate mark on the inner margin is represented |
by a small almost round black spot.

Type d: Chester, bred third generation 1952.

All the above have been bred by myself and are in my collection.

Notes on Breeding Cycnia mendica Clerck
By L. J. Evans.

I was beating for larvae at West Malvern in May 1949 when a 9
Cycnia mendica. Cl. fell into the beating tray. Being in need of a series
of this insect I decided to keep the moth for eggs. On closer examina-
tion I noticed the markings were slightly larger than usual. These were
nine in number compared with the seven of other specimens I had seen,
including those illustrated on plate 75 of South’s Moths, Vol. I.

Obligingly she began laying before I arrived home, and by the next
day had laid over one hundred eggs. These hatched ten days later and
the larvae were fed on dead-nettle (Lamium album).

Seventy reached the last instar, and all had spun cocoons by 26th
July 1949. Only forty pupae were perfectly formed. I kept these in a
shed in the garden, and was surprised to find a newly emerged @ in the
cage on 12th November 1949. Six weeks later a ¢ emerged followed by
another © a week afterwards. No more emerged until late April (1950)
when between the 30th of that month and the 11th May full emergence
took place. 8 dd, 12 2Q.

There was nothing really striking about the F1 generation, although
all 92 but one showed a marked tendency towards larger and more
numerous spots, and two ¢o had fawn thoraxes instead of the usual
sooty brown. Two 92 2 were the form ab. lineata. Several pairings were
attempted, in two of which the same ¢ (C) was used successfully. (This
was necessitated by a shortage of dd when required). I made seven
pairings, six of which occurred after midnight, the other pair mated
during the day. All 9° Q laid eggs which began to hatch on the 21st
May 1950, 21 days after they were laid. Four broods were kept. The
larvae were fed as before on dead-nettle which was readily accepted,
and on 29th June 1950 the first one pupated, nearly four weeks earlier
than the previous generation. This led me to think that JT might
expect emergence the same year, but this was not so, for the first F2
moth appeared in the cages on 15th May 1951, and the rest during the
following three weeks. Four moths emerged from Brood AB/50, thirty-
three from CJ/50, and thirty-three from CD/50. The fourth brood
(about 10 pupae) failed. The third moth to emerge had a creamy-white
ground colour; the forewings had a slightly smoky appearance near the

NOTES ON BREEDING CYCNIA MENDICA CLERCK. 5

apex, and there were six spots. The costa and fringe were black. The
hindwings had eight black spots, and only traces of black on the fringe.
This insect compares favourably with the illustration of ab. nigrociliata,
Fig. 7, Plate VIII, in Vol. 63 (page 262), of The Entomologist’s Record.

It was four days before a ¢ of the same brood emerged, this being
the usual dark brown colour, with eight black spots on each of the fore-
wings, and six nearly obscure spots on the hindwings. The two were
immediately placed in the same box. A week after placing them together
about a half-dozen eggs were seen on the sides of the box, but these
proved to be infertile. I tried changing the ¢ without success. Hoping
to keep the strain going, further attempts at pairing others of the
same and different broods were tried. In all I kept sixteen pairs. Four
of the °° laid eggs, but only one batch was fertile. These were from
the only pair seen in copula.

Oviposition continued over a period of two weeks, in which time 138
egos were laid. Forty-three larvae hatched, sixty-six died in the egg,
and twenty-eight eggs remained unchanged, presumably infertile. The
larvae grew very slowly, and there were frequent losses. When half-
grown, and about two dozen in number, I took them with me on my
summer holiday, further deaths occurred during this time. Finally the
remainder, about ten, were found to be dead when I arrived home. This
must have been due to their confined quarters, and the stifling heat on
the long return journey.

From observations made during the rearing of this strain, I suggest
it was not a favourable one for inbreeding. Delayed emergence (this
could have been caused by the prolonged wet winter of 1950-51). High
percentage deformity in F2 moths. (Deformity nil in Fl, 13% in F2).
Refusal of F2 gd to pair. Females were capable of attracting dd as
was proved when I found a ? wild (or escape) ¢ in the garden flying
round the muslin covered cage containing an F2 d and 9.

The variation in the strain was probably multifactorial, and as there
was no clear-cut segregation, I divided the broods by comparing the
number and size of the spots with those of the P1 female.

No. of moths with No. of moths with more
markings similar or heavier markings
to PL. &. than Pl @.
BN ealieicwan 8 aa oi, 0
Fl 29 6 8
(including 2 ab. lineata)
F2 cane WHI Lay MIQIHNOR VENI io VTA GehGRC? Hoa
(including 1 ab. lineata)
Eran oO, erm aem Ors mrt ec OL SIU eee COM TIS. Wr ee
CD (including 1 ab. nigrociliata)
and 3 ab. lineata)
F2 3d 14 3
(including 1 Fawn Col.) (including 1 ab. lineata)
Brood | 2° 13 3

er."

)

From the numbers given in the above table, it would appear that the
factor controlling the size and number of spots is carried by the female.

6 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

Description of Parents of Broods CD and CJ.

6C—8 spots on forewings

5 spots on hindwings | Shots size as spots on Pl @.

9 D—8 spots on forewings
7 spots on hindwings \ Larger than spots on Pl 9.

Traces of black on fringes.

°J—6 spots on forewings : ‘
6 spots on hindwings | Slightly smaller than spots on Pl @.

Traces of black on fringes.

In his ‘‘Aberrations of British Arctiidae’, Ent. Record, Vol. 63,
p. 262, Dr. Cockayne does not mention the ¢ of ab. lineata. I bred two
33 of this form in the F2 generation. If this is the first record of it,
IT shall be more than pleased with my little experiment.

73 Warren Hill Road, Birmingham, 23.

Further Notes on Mompha nodicolella Fuchs

By S. WAKELy.

Since my last notes on Mompha nodicolella (Entom. Record, 1951, 63,
274-5) this species has been found locally common in two districts in
Surrey, so another chapter of its life history can be written.

Larval galls were first found on 18th May 1952, at Ockham Common
on Epilobium angustifolium. I was collecting in this district with Mr.
L. T. Ford on this date and he spotted a gall as we were passing plants
of Rosebay. This was at least six weeks earlier than expected, and on
searching the plants we found the galls were comparatively common.
Moths emerged from these larvae during the first fortnight in June.

On 2nd June I was at Mickleham Down (Headley Lane slope) and
found the galled stems of the Rosebay even more common than at Ockham.
A number of these showed exit holes made by the larvae when full fed
and seeking pupation quarters elsewhere, but plenty of tenanted galls
were obtainable. Two galls on the same stem were not uncommon, and
occasionally a stem with as many as three galls was found. It seems
probable that where more than one gall to a stem was found, different
moths were responsible, as one gall was usually tenanted and the other
empty. The larva completes its growth in a single gall.

Corrugated paper seems to suit the larvae admirably for pupation
purposes, and it was noticed that the white spun silk cocoon is of a sticky
nature and inclined to adhere to one’s fingers if removed from the paper.

From the dates given one must conclude that the species is continu-
ous brooded from mid-May to the end of August, as tenanted galls have
been found from 18th May right up to the 2nd September.

Lepidoptera Collecting Notes, 1952
By Nevizze L. Brrxetrt, M.B.

The year under review has provided a great mixture of weather.
In general the spring was early, and fairly good conditions prevailed
until the middle of July after which the climate can only be considered
as bad. That conditions in the early part of the year were remarkable
was demonstrated by the great migratory influx of early March. In

LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTING NOTES, 1952. 7

the Kendal District this was noted mainly with respect to those two
common migrant micros, Plutella maculipennis and Nomophila noctu-
ella. A no-longer-active entomologist reported having seen a Plusia
gamma at this time and I received the observation with considerable
scepticism until, having heard of the strange events in the south, the
occurrence became quite plausible.

My m.v. trap has been operated in my garden on suitable nights and
during the year I have added over thirty species to my total for the
trap. My total taken in the centre of Kendal is now over 260 species.

By the end of March many of the commoner species were in evidence
—Phigalia pedaria, Anisopteryr aescularia, Erannis margimaria, E.
leucophaearia, Theria rupicapraria and Larentia multistrigaria had
all been noted in or about Kendal.

‘After the warmth of the early part of March the cold weather which
set in about the middle of the month felt like the return of winter and
it was difficult to believe that such species as Plusia ni and other rather
exotic creatures had been about in the land. In my diary under 13th
March I note: ‘‘Kasterly air stream, cloudy and cold. Trap operated
for over an hour and there wasn’t even a midge in evidence’. And I
might note that Trichoceridae and Chironomidae are plentiful in my
garden. This cold weather persisted for the next few weeks and was
to be with us at the end of the month when I went to Scotland.

On the 16th in sunshine on the local mosses Brephos parthenias was
flying plentifully, but on the birch trunks there was no sign of Achlya
flavicornis. The latter species usually is to be found commonly on the
first really sunny day of spring sitting on the birch trees where it is
visible from a distance of at least twenty yards. I did take a specimen
of flavicornis in my trap on 21st March and the same night the first
Xylocampa areola occurred.

Up in Aviemore Mr. Philip Harwood had been keeping an eye open
for the appearance of Brachionycha nubeculosa and on 3rd April I re-
ceived word from him that he had found a specimen. I contacted Mr.
Reid and in company with John Thorpe of Kendal we went north on
the 4th. En route we stopped at Struan and found that the railway
posts were abundantly occupied by fresh Poecilopsis lapponaria and
goodly series were obtained. A single Panolis flammea was also found
newly emerged.

We spent four enjoyable days at Aviemore and though conditions
were far from good we managed in that time to take about ten B.
nubeculosa between us. Only one of these was obtained at the m.v. light
which we operated on our first night only. The nights were frosty and
insects were not flying at night. Fertile female moths were obtained
and these produced batches of eggs from which in due course many
larvae hatched. The larvae resulting fed up well on birch, and accept-
able alternative foodplants noted were apple and sallow. These alter-
natives were temporary expedients only and no attempt was made to
rear the species on either of these. The larvae having got almost full-
fed, and hopes being high, proceeded to perish miserably from some
plague unknown. The first sign of the malign influence was that the
tail end of a larva became a dirty pale green and had a slightly shrivelled
appearance. This colouring and the shrivelling spread headwards so
that in a couple of days a fine upstanding and handsome caterpillar was

8 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

transformed to a flabby, insipid deflated corpse! I lost over fifty larvae
in this way without being able to determine the reason for their demise.
As they looked shrivelled I tried spraying the foodplant with water and
on first doing this I noted that the larvae seemed grateful and were
actually to be seen drinking. But it was to no purpose and all perished.
' The pundits of course recommend sleeving for this species, but it is
difficult to see exactly why there should be such a great difference and
equally difficult to explain why all the deaths occurred only in the final
instar. Other insects at Aviemore included an abundance of the very
attractive Highland form of flavicornis, multistrigaria and sundry
Orthosias.

Back to Kendal for the Easter week-end I joined a party of members
of the Raven Entomological Society for their Good Friday trip to the
Witherslack Woods. Some eighteen species were recorded at both sallow
and light. Gypsitea leucographa proved plentiful on the sallows, and
numerous specimens of the more common and widespread Orthosias were
noted. An early Selenia bilunaria was obtained and a single Nothop-
teryx polycommata was found on an ash trunk. The latter species was
to become plentiful in the next week. Another species commoner than
usual this spring was Orthosia miniosa which was plentiful in the woods
and also came to my m.v. trap in Kendal itself. On the 13th April at
Witherslack a single Chaonia ruficornis was taken early in the evening.
This species seems to fly quite early and on the night in question was
about the first moth to come to my lights.

Another early emergence was noted on the 18th when a fine fresh
specimen of Spilosoma lutea was taken in the Winster valley—the earli-
est date I have in the records is 12th May 1937. I was close by a stream
in Winster when an Orthosia munda fell into it and I was interested
to see it fluttering on its back and making good progress in the water
until it came to a suitable foothold, climbed out and flew away none the
worse. The same night in my trap I had over 250 specimens and over
20 species—remarkably good for the early date.

A single specimen of Odontosia carmelita in my trap on 19th April
was a welcome record (vide Entom., txxxv, p. 190).

During the early part of May I had little time for field work and
observations are few. By the middle of the month both Saturnia pavonia
and Thecla rubi were well out on the local moorlands. On 16th May I
visited Brigsteer Wood in S. Westmorland and found Bapta bimaculata
to be very much more common than I have ever seen it before. I also
got a specimen of Peronea literana—a most attractive green Tortrix
which has not been seen in the area for many years. The same night
at Kendal the trap gave over 40 species including a nice dark form of
Apatele alni, two Selenia lumaria and a single Drepana binaria. The
last seems to be a well established species in the district and comes
regularly though singly to light in Kendal. What spare time I had at
the end of May was spent in fruitless search for habitats suitable for
Amathes alpicola. Though areas where the foodplant was plentiful were
found there was no sign of either larvae or pupae of this desirable insect.
My search was prompted by the finding in the Lake District by Mr. F.
T. Vallins of a specimen of the moth two years earlier. I was not look-
ing in the same area as he had worked but was hoping to find the species
in another area well away from his locality.

LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTING NOTES, 1952. ]

The first fortnight of June | was on holiday and for the first part
of it | revisited Tenby in Pembrokeshire where I had been so successful
the year before. ‘This visit coincided with a spell of poor weather so
that very little collecting was done. The second week of June I was in
the Dorking area and here conditions were much more propitious and
I took some interesting insects. Using a sheet illuminated by a 125
Watt m.v. lamp I noted over 70 species on 9th June which included
Sphinx ligustri, Deilephila elpenor, D. porcellus, Drymonia dodonaea,
Tethea ocularis, Horisme vitalbata and Euphyia cucullata. On the 11th
[ jommed Dr. de Worms at Tilgate and in spite of cool clear conditions
we took a number of Tethea fluctuosa and also two worn Hapalotis
venustula. It was the first time I have visited that locality and I was
duly interested in the possibilities it presents. On 12th June a visit
to Box Hill and to Ranmore was disappointing. At the former locality
in spite of fine sunny conditions I saw hardly a butterfly and the only
moths were a few common Crambids. At Ranmore conditions were also
good but insects scarce. I was pleased to take a few Pararge aegeria
but saw no other butterflies. The sheet gave a host of insects on the
night of the 13th which included Stauropus fagi, Arctia villica and
Comibaena pustulata. This part of my holiday gave me a number of
species which were new to me and which I was requiring. To the col-
lector used to the south most of the species will of course be common-
place.

I returned to Kendal on 16th June and the weather for the next
fortnight was very bad, but the end of the month saw ideal conditions
for collecting at light. On the night of 29th-30th June I took over 50
species in my trap and this was the ‘best ever’. However, this record
was not to stand for long because on the night of Ist-2nd July over 70
species were taken and the total number of moths in the trap must have
been nearly two thousand. Nothing very unusual was taken and the
best insect was Pyrrhia wmbra which is scarce in the Kendal district
though said to be frequent at Grange-over-Sands.

Collecting at Hutton Roof on the carboniferous limestone of S. West-
morland with the Rev. J. Vine Hall we were surprised to take a fine
fresh Plusia bractea on 5th July. This species in the next week or two
became quite common both there and also at Kendal. On 7th July I
visited the local moorlands and took a nice series of Lygris populata.
About one specimen in ten was almost unicolorous smoky brown with
ill defined markings. In contrast the type specimens were a finely
marked lot especially in the males.

During July another fruitless search was undertaken, this time
visiting old haunts of the f. masseyi of Lycaena aegon. The moss-lands
of S. Westmorland are drying up considerably as a result of extensive
drainage operations in the surrounding fields so that these wonderful
habitats are changing rapidly and not for the better so far as concerns
the field naturalist. While no sign of this butterfly was noted I like to
think that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. On the mar-
gins of the mosses Argynnis cydippe was very plentiful.

August provided some shocking weather and it seemed as if the season
was over. Towards the end of the month Mr. Reid came to stay and
we visited a fen area of North Lancashire in search of Celaena leuco-
stigma which we found much less commonly than it had been the pre-

10 ENTOMOLOGIST § RECORD, VOL. 69. 15/1/1953

vious year. We also took a single Arenostolu phragmitidis which has
not previously been taken nearer than Warrington to the best of my
knowledge. This species must be studied next year to determine its
status. On the same night, 23rd August, a specimen of Actebia praecox
was taken in my trap. There is a record of a specimen of this being
- taken in Kendal in 1899 and there are a few records for the Grange
area, but the nearest known locality is on Walney Island some forty
miles away.

I visited the Lleyn for the second part of my holiday in September.
Il was again rather unlucky with the weather, there being a very bright
moon the first week and the second week produced a cold and persistent
northerly air stream. Insects were few indeed and I only noted about
forty species during the whole fortnight.

Back in Kendal the latter part of the month gave a good number
ot Cirrhia gilvago in my trap so that it appears as if the species is much
commoner in the district than has hitherto been suspected. More
specimens were taken this year than comprise all the previous records.

Collecting came to an end at the end of September though a few
of the commoner autumn species were noted either at house lights or
in the car lights. The trap was scarcely operated because of the poor
conditions. On the whole the season has not been a good one and did
not live up to its early promise.

Kendal, 6th Nov. 1952.

Some Northern Lepidoptera in 1952
By Major-General G. F. Jonson, C.B.

The following is an account of Lepidoptera collected in North Cum-
berland and various parts of Scotland during week-ends and short
holidays in 19052.

The season may be said to have started when a number of pupae
of Endromis versicolora L. collected as larvae at Aviemore in 1950
began to emerge, after lying over two winters, towards the end of
January. They had been brought indoors early in the month. Some
pupae containing the red form of Orthosia gracilis Schf., taken as
larvae on bog myrtle in Appin the previous summer, began to emerge
at the end of February.

The first trip to Aviemore, on 29th-3lst March, produced, in very
cold weather, five Brachionycha nubeculosa Esp. at rest on birch
trunks. Of these two were crippled females. One promptly died but
the other, confined in a small breeding-cage with perforated zinc sides
and supplied with birch twigs and a pad of cottonwool soaked with
sugar solution, produced some 350 eggs between Ist and 8th April. A
few eggs were deposited on twigs but most of them on the outside of
the perforated zinc, the ovipositor being pushed through the perfora-
tions. They began to hatch on 30th April. The larvae were kept
through the first instar in glass tumblers closed by old quarter-plate
glass camera plates. Some were reared up to the pupating stage in
these tumblers with no difficulty, care being taken to avoid overcrowd-
ing and fresh food being given daily. In the last instar not more than
two or three larvae were allowed in any one glass. It was found that
on oceasional oak leaf was appreciated as a variation from birch. After

SOME NORTHERN LEPIDOPTERA IN 1952. il

the first instar the bulk of the larvae were sleeved out on growing
birch. All larvae went down to pupate in large flowerpots filled with
a mixture of peat and sand by 5th July. ‘There appeared to be no
casualties from disease though some escaped or were killed from
mechanical causes, -tmecluding drowning in the first instar in condensa-
tion on the inside of their glass tumblers. There were, however, about
40% casualties after the larvae had gone down in their flowerpots.
The cause was not apparent, larvae either failing to pupate or drying
-up and becoming mouldy. Possibly the trouble was due to the earlier
larvae being disturbed by subsequent arrivals before pupating or be-
fore pupae had hardened. Some 25 larvae were allowed to go down
in each pot, which may have been too many. Sixty healthy pupae have
been stored in tins for the winter, and one flowerpot in which 25 larvae
have gone down has been left undisturbed.

In North Cumberland a moth-trap with m.v. lamp was worked for
twenty-two nights between 9th April and 11th May. The most in-
teresting moths included one Odontosia carmelita Esp. on lst May, one
Orthosia miniosa Schf. on 18th April (possibly a new county record),
one O. opima Hiib. (advena Schf.) on 14th April, and ten Drymonia
ruficornis Hufn., including 2 females, between 13th April and 11th May.

The appearance of OV. carmelita at the trap led to a search of the
nearest birchwood, about a mile away. This produced six carmelita
including three females at rest on the birch trunks. The only previous
county records seein to have been from the Lake District.

On 30th April near the same locality over 30 cocoons of Aegeriu
culiciformis L. were cut out of birch stumps (felled in the winter of
1950/51) where the larvae had been located the previous August. Many
of the cocoons were parasitized, but besides ichneumon flies some 12
moths emerged between 23rd May and 9th June. A web of Huphy-
dryas aurinia Rott. larvae was found near this same locality (four
miles from Brampton, Cumberland) on 15th April.

A trip to the Fort William district on 17th-18th May produced ten
freshly-emerged Hydriomena ruberata Fr., one Cleora cinctaria Schf.,
one Notodonta ziczac L., one Anagoga pulveraria L. and many Apatele
menyanthidis View. from posts on the Fort William-Spean Bridge road.
Returning by Struan on 18th May one fresh Tethea or Schf. and one
C. cinctaria were found on railway posts.

On 19th and 20th May five Hadena bombycina Hufn. Giiaed Hiib.)
and a few Epirrhoe tristata L. were taken at rest on a moorland fence
near the Edinburgh-Lanark road. On 23rd May one Carterocephalus
palaemon Pall. and a few H. ruberata were taken in the Fort Wil-
liam district.

The Whitsun week-end, 30th May-2nd June, at Aviemore with
Baron de Worms was not very productive owing to bad weather and a
good deal of rain. Larvae of Thera cognata Thun. were common on
juniper; a few H. bombycina (glauca), Hadena contigua and Hada
nana Hufn. (dentina Esp.) were found on posts; but a visit to the
high ground west of Aviemore only produced four pupae of Amathes
alpicola Zett., two each.

On 14th June sugar on a fence in marshy ground at the head of
Loch Tay at Killin produced three Apamea unanimis Hiib. (not a com-

12 ENTOMOLOGIST’§ RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953
mou moth in Scotland). The night was cold or no doubt more would
have been obtained. The following day on the lower slopes of Ben
Lawers at about 2,000 feet near the Killin-Glen Lyon road Hrebia epi-
phron Kn. was flying, a very early date; H. tristata was abundant in
the same locality.

The week-end of 4th-6th July was again spent at Aviemore. Hurois
occulta L. was numerous at sugar on 4th July on the golf course fence.
The two following nights were poor, but melancholy thistles in flower
on the banks of the Spey and east of Aviemore station produced two
Plusia bractea Scht. and one 9 Gnophos myrtillatu Thun., early dates
for both species. On 6th July, a hot day, Plusia interrogations L.
was flying in some numbers on Granish moor and a series was easily
secured during the afternoon.

The m.v. trap in North Cumberland was worked for eleven nights
in July. The night of 25th July was remarkable, producing 1824
moths of 88 species (excluding micros). This represented about one-
third of the year’s total catch of individuals in this trap. 1037 of the
moths were T'riphaena pronuba L.! The more interesting species,
with numbers, caught during the month were as follows:—l1l P.
bractea, 19 Lampra fimbriata Schreb. (fimbria L.), 3 Celaena leuco-
stigma Hiib., 1 Nudaria mundana L., 2 Apamea ophiogramma Esp.,
1 Anaplectoides prasina Schf. (herbida Hiib.), 1 Comacla senex Hiib.,
64 Euproctis similis Fues., 5 Pheosia tremula Cl., 8 Abrostola triplasia
L., 1 Eustrotia uncula Cl., 1 Perizoma bifaciata Haw., 3 Venusia cam-
brica Curt., 9 Chloroclystis coronata Hiib., 2 Orthonama lignata Hib.,
2 Carsia paludata Thun. A. ophiogramma on 26th and 30th July and
C. senex on 26th July are new county records.

On 13th July sugar on some old willows on the banks of the River
Irthing near Brampton produced many Apamea ypsilon Schf. (fissi-
puncta Haw.).

On 20th July a daytime visit to Rannoch only produced one worn
Itama brunneata Thun. from the Black Wood and one Perizoma mino-
rata Tr. from beside the Kinloch Rannoch-Aberfeldy road.

The night of lst August was spent at Dalwhinnie. Sugar was use-
less, a mile of fence across the moors producing some three moths of
common species (Apamea monoglypha Hufn. and Amathes xantho-
grapha Schf.) and no signs of Apamea exulis Lef. (asstmilis Dbld.). A
Crookes glass m.v. lamp in the hotel bedroom produced two of the
dark Scottish form of T'richiura crataegi L. and a few worn Xanthorhoe
munitata Hiib. but little else of interest. Next day two P. minorata
and one Perizoma blandiata Scht. were obtained at rest on posts on
a heath bordering the Spey at Aviemore. The same night, though it
was cool and unfavourable, on the Findhorn sandhills two fresh Huxoa
cursoria Hufn. were found on heather and three G. myrtillata came
to a petrol lamp. On 3rd August, though it was too wet to beat,
23 small larvae of Harpyia furcula Cl. were found on small sallows in
a hollow in the Culbin Sands. Many larvae of Cerura vinula L., N.
ziczac, Lauvthoe populi L. and Colocasia coryli Iu. were also noticed.
Sugar that night on the edge of the Sands only produced a few Para-
stichtis suspecta Hiib. On 4th August, a better day, a number of the
fine local form of Satyrus semele 1. were taken on the Culbin Sands
and, curiously late, one Chesias rufuta Fab. in good condition. That

FIELD NOTES. LS

night in a wood near Forres six Amathes depuncta L., freshly emerged,
came to sugar at dusk. Later one Actebia praecor L., four HE. cur-
soria and three G. myrtillata were taken on the Findhorn sandhills on
heather.

A further visit to Forres and Aviemore was paid the next week-
end, 8th-10th August. On 8th August twelve A. depuncta came to
sugar in the same wood at Forres. That night the Findhorn sandhills
produced one A. praecor and one black Triphaena comes Hib. on
heather with two G. myrtillata at light. On 9th August sugar along
the inner edge of an area of old birch trees on the northern edge of the
Culbin Sands produced two fresh Enargia paleacea Esp. and one Diar-
sia dahliit Hiib. Heavy rain put a stop to operations by 11 p.m. On
10th August sugar was tried on the Golf Course fence at Aviemore and
six E. paleacea, one Lithomoia solidaginis Hiib., some D. dahlia and
other common insects appeared. Another collector obtained one A.
exulis from the same fence.

The m.v. trap in North Cumberland was worked for eleven nights
in August and nine in September. The more interesting captures in-
eluded 11 ZL. fimbriata, 3 Gortyna flavago Schf., 4 Cirrhia gilvago Schf.,
4 (. leucostiqma, 3 Aporophyla nigra Haw., 2 Hydraecia petasitis
Dbld., 3 FH. similis, and 1 Nonagria typhae Thun.

It was an early season with many favourable nights in July, par-
ticularly for light. Sugar was not generally very productive and the
numbers of moths on heather on the Findhorn sandhills were disappoint-
ing. September was a very poor month with low night temperatures
and persistent northerly winds.

Field Notes

We hear a good deal every year about the doings of lepidopterists
among the macrolepidoptera of the Scottish Highlands but very little,
if anything, of their doings among the ‘micros’. Has anybody during
this last fifty years made a search for the Pyralid Titanio phrygialis
Hiib. which was reported to have been taken by Charles Turner in
Scotland some time during last century? It was in 1892 that the
following Note appeared in The Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, (28:
264) :—

Hercyna phrygialis Hb. probably a British Insect —While on a visit
last autumn to the Rev. A. Matthews of Gumley I saw in his collection a
moth of which he related this history. Many years ago, as Turner was
returning from one of his collecting tours in Scotland, and called at
Gumley with his captures on his way up to London, Mr. Matthews
picked this specimen out as a Pyralid new to him. On taking the
specimen to the Natural History Museum, Mr. Warren at once pro-
nounced it to be a common Alpine species—Hercyna phrygialis Hb. I
may add that, at the first glance, it bears a superficial resemblance to
Psodos coracina, and it might possibly be passed over as that species.
As to its origin, while there is nothing unlikely in the capture of this
species among the Scotch mountains, Turner was always considered
trustworthy in his statements as to habitat, and apparently he neither
knew nor put any particular value on this specimen, so that I consider

14 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

the probabilities to be in favour of the supposition that it was taken in
Scotland.—Puiip B. Mason, Burton-on-Trent. September 12th, 1892.

To this the Editors of the E.M.M. appended this Note:—‘‘ We
commend the above to the notice of Scotch Lepidopterists. We think
no one ever doubted the honesty of Turner; the possible chance of error
is that he may have received the insect from an intermediate source.
Although abundant in the Alps, it occurs also on the mountains of
Scandinavia... .”’

Charles Tianee was a professional collector and a first ae field
naturalist who added a dozen new species to the British list. At his
death in 1868 Frederick Smith wrote an obituary of him in which he
said: ‘‘Of collectors Turner was perhaps in every way the one whose
loss will be most felt by entomologists. . . . No one I have known could
so perseveringly, and usually so successfully, carry out investigations
aided simply by a few hints and suggestions. He had a most accurate
eye; the form of an insect once submitted to him as a species of rarity,
and therefore worth his searching for, seemed to be indelibly impressed
upon his memory’’. (Entomologist, 4: 107).

Lhomme (Cat. des Lép. de France et de Belgique, No. 2088) says that
T. phrygialis is a mountain species in France and gives a long list of
localities. He remarks of the larva that it is polyphagous and is easily
found under stones, occurring in August and September, but he gives
no description of it, and Spuler states that it is unknown. Through the
kindness of Mons. S. Le Marchand of Paris, however, who in response
to our request has visited the Musée Nationale d’ Histoire Naturelle for
the purpose, we have received the following description made from
inflated skins in the Chrétien Collection : —

“‘Larva of a pale dirty flesh pink with five darker and redder
longitudinal lines; one dorsal, two sub-dorsal and two supraspiracular ;
head chestnut brown, lightly marbled with darker brown, prothoracic
plate reddish-testaceous; dots variegated brownish black, each emitting
a long black hair, tapering to a fine point; legs concolorous, the thoracic
pairs being ringed blackish at the joints.”

It might be worth the while of some of our field workers in the
Highlands to investigate. Turner’s specimen may have been the last
survivor of an indigenous race which has died out through amelioration
of climate; on the other hand T. phrygialis may still linger in unworked
snow-line localities in Scotland. The moth is on the wing from May
to July.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hucers, F.R.E.S.

Tortricodes tortricella Hiib. (hyemana Hiib.). If hot sunny weather
occurs at the end of January or beginning of February this moth may
be found in most woodlands. The male flies in the sunshine pretty
freely at midday; the female can be beaten out, when she usually
flutters slowly to the ground, but is easy enough to take. T. tortricella
prefers young oaks or oak scrub and seems partial to those which retain
the old dead leaves till the spring. It has a very long emergence period,
as is to be expected in so early an insect. I have taken it perfect from
January till the end of March.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 15

The capture of Ancylolomia tentaculella Hiib. at Dymchurch by
Canon Edwards and Mr. Wakely draws attention to what a revolution
in our knowledge of Microlepidoptera the m.v. lamp is likely to cause.
We may expect other new species. Many, the majority indeed, of the
Crambids have curiously secretive habits, a very short flight time, and
no desire to visit sugar. Who would ever expect to take fascinellus,
contaminellus or salinellus by day or, except for twenty minutes at dusk,
at any time without a light? Yet these are all common enough in their
special localities and I have no doubt those species of which there are
only one or two recorded examples would have been taken much more
freely had the m.v. lamp been possible.

Chilo cicatricellus Hiib., regarded as a fraud or doubtful by most
collectors, has been confirmed by Mr. Chalmers-Hunt. I do not think
Harding’s captures of poliellus and lithargyrellus a hundred years ago
have ever been doubted, but I am convinced these moths have occurred
more frequently and been overlooked. After all, when a lot of Crambi
are buzzing around in the evening the odds are against the rare one
being spotted, but if he is fool enough to drop on a sheet or enter a
trap his chance of escape is pretty small.

On the subject of immigrants, it seems curious to me how in some
cases these seem to come in cycles. To take an example, the lovely
Margaronia unionalis, to my mind the most beautiful of all our Pyralids.
When Barrett wrote his account of it at some time in the last few years
of the nineteenth century (I am referring to the date of writing, not
publication) the undoubted British examples could be checked off on the
finger-ends. For the next forty years it was almost equally rare. Yet
now it seems to be taken comparatively freely. I am aware, of course,
that a number of these captures have occurred at the m.v. lamp, but
the moth has also been taken at Buddleia flowers, on fences, at ordinary
lights in houses (my friend Dennis Smith looked up in his bath and saw
one sitting on the bathroom wall!) and in several ways that were equally
available in 1900.

On the other hand repandalis and polygonalis seem to have dropped
out altogether. Seventy or eighty years ago they would have been
classed with wnionalis. Farn had a polygonalis of whose genuineness
he was certain, and the moth swarms in the Mediterranean, but it does
not appear to have been particularly adventurous lately. One would
have expected it to come over with sacraria.

Notes and Observations

INCIDENCE OF EUPITHECIA INSIGNIATA HUB. (cONSIGNATA BoRK.).—Has
this species become more common of recent years? According to
Hutchinson’s List of the Lepidoptera of Herefordshire published by
the Woolhope Field Club many years ago EH. insigniata was taken at
Grantsfield circa 1866 but was not taken apparently between then and
1889, when the last revised summary was issued. I took four specimens
here at Moccas this last year (1952).—R. BrenNetT Stsson, Moccas Rec-
tory, Hereford. 14.xi.52.

[I took it in Montgomeryshire in 1942, and since it has been recorded
from many counties (see Barrett, 9: 35) it is probably widespread and

16 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vow. 65. 15/1/1953

not uncommon but is rarely taken because its bionomics are obscure.—

P.B.M.A.]

INCIDENCE OF ANTHOCARIS CARDAMINES Ly. tn 1952.—In a year remark-
ably poor for butterflies in my district the Orange-tip was unusually
common. It was noted in many places well removed from its usual
haunts, and in early June eggs were found on plants of Lady’s Smock
(Cardamine pratensis) growing on the moors at 1,000 feet above sea-
level—T. D. FrarnenoucH, 13 Salisbury Road, Dronfield, Derbyshire.

HADENA CAESIA SCHIFFERMULLER IN CUMBERLAND.—There are four
specimens of H. caesia Schiff. labelled ‘‘Cumberland, 1899, S. Walwyn’’
in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Dr. Matheson, Keeper cf
Zoology, tells me they are in the collection formed by Henry Wyndham
Vivian of Port Talbot, and presented to the old Cardiff City Museum
in 1902. Probably S. Walwyn is H. W. Shepheard-Walwyn, who was
collecting at that date, and there seems to be no reason to reject the
record, but I have never heard of any other English specimens. TI hope
collectors in that region will try to confirm it. Since caesia is now
known to occur in Canna and Rhum in the Inner Hebrides, it would not
be surprising to find it on the English coast opposite the Isle of Man.—
Ep.

A Dovstrut Recorp of CaTocaLA ELECTA BoRKHAUSEN.—In the Field,
1952, 4th October, p. 548, Mr. A. H. Gomme (misspelt Gommer) reported
the capture of a scarce red underwing, Catocala electa Borkh. at Long
Crendon, near Aylesbury, Bucks. As he admitted he had a very limited
knowledge of Lepidoptera, I wrote and asked him to let me see the
moth and make sure his identification was correct. He said that he had
put the moth into a box hefore going to Italy and on his return the
box could not be found. It is probable that the moth was Catocala
nupta Linn. and this record of electa should be disregarded unless it is
confirmed.—Ep.

Day-Ftying Hasir or AMMOGROTIS LUCERNEA LINNAEUS.—During July
1951 one day collecting on the south coast of the Isle of Man I noticed
several moths in fast zigzag flight along the cliff at abont 3.30 B.S.T.
I endeavoured to catch one but missed each time as it passed. This
year [ tried again and they were flying as before, now and then hovering
at a certain spot as if there might be a female present, and then con-
tinuing their flight. The position was rather precipitous, but I man-
aged at last to net one as it flew past, and it proved to be Ammogrotis
lucernea Linn.—AtFrEep Hepces, Ballavale, Santon, Isle of Man.

LARVAE OF LAsIocAMPA QuEeRCcUS L. Hatine Sreps or Ivy.—T have
some larvae of Lasiocampa quercus Tu. from eggs laid early last August.
Thev have been kept in a living-room and fed on ivy, and are all in
their final skin, some being almost ready to spin up. To my surprise
T have noticed them feeding on the hard seeds of the ivy flower, con-
suming the whole seed. In fact, the seed seemed to be preferred to the
leaf, but this may have been due to the larva’s habit of climbing to the
top of the ivy stems, where of course the seeds are. Has this liking
for the seed been noticed before?—R. M. Mere, Mill House, Chidding-
fold, Surrey. 23.xi.52.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 17

LEUCANIA LYTHARGYRIA E\SPER AB. NIGRESCENS AB. Nov.—Forewing—
deep red-brown overlaid with smoky colour, darker and duller at the
base and marginal area, external to the row of black dots, discoidal spot
white, fringe with inner half pale and outer half dark brown. Hind-
wing—blackish brown. Head, thorax, and abdomen blackish brown.
Under side—forewing uniform blackish brown with no silvery shimmer ;
hindwing blackish brown with two pale streaks running from the base,
but not quite reaching the margin, the first through the cell, the second
between nervures 1 and 2; discoidal spot pale, lying partly in front of
first streak.

Type 2°: At light. Weybridge, Surrey, vii.1951, A. A. Best.

—A. A. Brest, 131 Woodham Lane, New Haw, Weybridge, Surrey.

ABERRATIONS OF ARCTIA VILLICA LiInn.—With reference to Dr.
Cockayne’s interesting paper on this subject in the Record, 64: 301-5,
my own small experience may be of interest. In 1901 as a schoolboy
I began to rear villica and kept on doing so until 1908, the whole of my
larvae being taken wild from the Gravesend district and nearly all from
one road just outside the town. The first moth to emerge, on 5th June
1901, was a magnificent female ursula, and from that day to this I have
never seen another ursula alive. In view of the fact that apart from
Dr. Kettlewell’s there are only three female wrsula at Tring—this was
indeed ‘beginners’s luck’, especially as I only bred one other villica that
year.

In 1903 I bred about ten ab. confluens. In those days I kept only
one row of an insect the size of villica, so I gave away or exchanged all
of these but three. These three are all males, so I fancy the rest were
too, as had one been a female I should almost certainly have kept it. As
a boy, not having heard of Romanoff, I called this ab. ‘‘The Old Man’s
Face Variety’? and if the confluent spots of the termen are looked at
with that name in view it will be seen they present some resemblance
to the countenance of an aged bearded chawhbacon as represented on the
music hall stage. The aberration in which the two upper apical spots
alone are confluent I called the ‘‘Fox-Head’’.

All my three remaining confluens are asymmetrical, one having the
right side as in Fig. 5 ‘‘Trans. ad ab. bruyanti ¢’’ in Dr. Cockayne’s
plate, the left being confluens. I only saw confluens in 1903; in all J
suppose I bred about 300 villica from this locality.—H. C. Hueeins, 65
Eastwood Boulevard, Westcliff-on-Sea. 15.xi.52.

A Tatu Story.—Recent numbers of the Record have contained several
references to Mr. E. F. Johns of Winchester, in connection with the
capture in former days of Carterocephalus palaemon Pall. in Hampshire.
I met Mr. Johns only once, and that was thirty years ago, but I shall
never forget him, for he told me the tallest entomological story that has
yet reached my ears. I had gone to see Mr. Johns on business, and
after a while the conversation turned to entomology. Mr. Johns told
me that he did much of his collecting in Crab Wood, a few miles from
Winchester, and that he had permission from the owner, Sir George
Cooper, to go there whenever he wished. In those days I had never taken
Apatura iris L. and was particularly anxious to do so. I asked him if it
occurred in Crab Wood, and he said that he had once taken a larva
there at sugar and that from this he had bred a female iris which, with-

18 . ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/1/1958

out pairing, had laid a batch of fertile eggs. I do not remember whether
he mentioned the species of tree on which the larva was found. It
would be. quite possible to sugar an ancient sallow trunk, and iris
larvae are often found on very old trees. Moreover, I have on several
occasions watched an iris larva absorb a drop of rain-water on a sallow
leaf, after the manner of Philudoria potatoria L. This particular larva
was apparently not a teetotaller. One has heard of eggs laid by
Lasiocampa quercus L. and allied species occasionally proving fertile
without mating having occurred; but I have never yet found anybody
willing to believe this reported instance of parthenogenesis in Apatura
wis. I make no comment except to say that Mr. Johns was perfectly
serious about the whole matter and that as he was a stranger to me
it seemed rather unlikely that he was pulling: my leg.—H. Symus, 52
Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 27.x.52.

PaRARGE AEGERIA L. at FLowERS.—This species is only rarely seen
at flowers and, in most cases, feeding does not take place. However, on
23rd August 1952 in Darenth Wood, Kent, A. J. Showler and I ob-
served a male feeding from a flower of golden rod (Solidago virgaurea).
On 16th May 1952 one was seen at a flower of a hawthorn bush (Cratae-
gus monogyna) at Wytham, Berkshire, but did not feed. In the
autumn of 1952 at Wytham small numbers of aegeria were seen at ripe
bhackberries (Rubus sp.), but it is not known to what extent they fed
from the juice of this fruit. Further unpublished records would be
gratefully received and acknowledged by the writer.—D. F. Owen,
Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Oxford. 22.x1.52.

LEPIDOPTERA IN Tit Nest Boxrs 1n Fesruary.—During February
1952 an examination of about two hundred nest boxes placed on tree
trunks in a piece of mixed deciduous woodland at Wytham, Berkshire,
revealed the following lepidoptera. One Nymphalis 10, hibernating,
three cocoons of Dasychira pudibunda, one pupa of Bena prasinana,
egg-mass and cocoon of one Orgyia antigua, four pupae in cocoons of
Caradrinidae sp. (possibly Apatele psi) and considerable numbers of
empty pupae of Tortrix viridana. Moths found dead included Hupsilia
transversa (3), Conistra vaccinii (1), Amphipyra pyramidea (A),
Operophtera brumata (1) and a number unidentified. In addition,
several live hornets Vespa crabro were found in the boxes, a situation
in which they often nest in the early summer. The above records sug-
gest that in addition to creating artificial holes for nesting titmice
(Parus) we have provided crevices similar to the normal hibernating
and pupating sites of certain insects.—D. F. Owrn, Edward Grey In-
stitute of Field Ornithology, Oxford. 22.x1.52.

Grey SquirrReL ATTEMPTING To CatcH TRIPHAENA PRONUBA L.—On
26th June 1952 at Wytham, Berkshire, I observed a Grey Squirrel
(Sciwrus carolinensis) chase and attempt to catch a Yellow Underwing
moth (Triphaena pronuba). The attack lasted some seconds, the moth
fluttering about on the ground, before eventually making its escape.
The squirrel was shot immediately afterwards, but the stomach con-
tained vegetable matter only. This might indicate that the mammal
was not at the time making any special search for moths. Although a
record such as this is of little importance since it contains only one

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 19

isolated observation, it is of interest since predation by vertebrates on
large adult lepidoptera seems to be rarely seen, though it must occur
regularly.—D. F. Owen, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology,
Oxford. 22.xi.52.

ABNORMAL LARVA OF PTEROSTOMA PALPINA CrLERCK.—In mid-June
1951 TI collected a number of eggs of P. palpina from aspen on Dartford
Heath. All produced normal larvae except one which hatched on 23rd
June. This larva was of normal colour except for the presence of a
bright red tubercle in the same position as that in Lophopteryx capucina
L. (camelina Ll.) which on examination with a lens proved to consist of
two tubercles in tandem, not side by side as in L. capucina. They were
definitely part of the cuticle and not red mites, pollen grains, etc. Un-
fortunately they vanished with the first moult, and the larva then
became perfectly normal, ultimately producing a normal P. palpina.—
H:! M. Dartow. 27.xi.52.

CaLLopHrRys ruBI L., A New Foopprant.—In the spring of 1951 I
observed this species commonly on both sides of the Darent valley be-
tween Lullingstone and Shoreham in Kent. It was on the wing in pro-
fusion in localities from which the more usual foodplants were absent.
On the 8th July in a field below ‘The Birches’ I followed several very
worn females fluttering low over the chalk vegetation and frequently
settling amongst the grasses, but was unable to discover what attracted
them. On the 22nd July IT found a possible solution to the mystery in a
similar field below ‘The Polhill Arms’, where I found a full grown larva
inside a flower head of Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Hieracium pilosella, which
it had hollowed out. It continued to feed on this pabulum for three
days before pupating. I can find no other record of this species feeding
on Compositae.—H. M. Dartow. 27.xi.52.

VANESSA CARDUI L. AND NYMPHALIS Io lL. IN THE NortH-West Kent
MarsHets.—In view of the interest shown in the unusually early immi-
gration of V. carduwi, the following account of the status of the species
this year on the Thames marshes between Dartford and Greenhithe
may be worth recording.

At Dartford Marshes on 25th May I watched two females oviposit-
ing on thistles growing along the river-wall. In the same place on 8th
June several cardui were to be seen, including three or four very fresh
examples. Several more were present elsewhere on the fresh marsh.
By the end of the month they were much tore common and on 29th
June great numbers were swarming along the river-walls and on the
fresh marshes. Most of them were very worn. On my next visit, 17th
August, I noted only a few worn specimens, also two Colias croceus
Foure.

On the afternoon of 19th April I was much impressed by the ex-
ceptional numbers of WN. io flying about the Dartford and Stone
Marshes, over 100 being seen in the course of a six-mile walk.—J. F.
Burton, 43 Eversley Road, London, S.E.7. 16.xi.52.

CRAMBUS CONTAMINELLUS Hz.: Aa Surrey Locarity.—On 25th July
1952 IT took a specimen of Crambus contaminellus Hb. near St. Martha’s
Church, Chilworth. As far as I know this is a new locality for this

20 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 65. 15/1/1953

very local species. It was flushed while walking across a grassy stretch
on the ascent to the Church. It was very lucky I marked the exact
spot where it settled, and it had to be extracted with difficulty from
the base of the grass stalks and made no effort to fly again. This species
-is difficult to disturb during daylight, but flies freely at dusk.—S.
Waxkery, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, §.H.5. 5.xi.52._

STRIDULATION IN [LAPHYGMA ExIGUA HUs. AND A@ROTIS sEGETUM
Scur.—Whilst collecting at light in Sardinia in September 1949 T took
a specimen of DT. exigua which on circling the lamp gave vent to two
loud cracking clicks. The sound was similar to the preliminary clicks
produced by the Arctiid Huprepia pudica Esp. when about to com-
mence its well-known stridulation. I have heard bats produce simi-
lar, though quieter, clicks, but in this instance neither bats nor pudica
were present, the light being on board ship a mile off the beach.

In June 1951 I took a female A. segetum flying low over a bed of
thrift at Bexleyheath. Just before it was netted it produced a low
purring not unlike that of a large beetle. The noise continued for
three or four seconds whilst the insect was in flight, and I do not think
that it was produced by the vibration of the moth’s wings against the
flower heads.—H. M. Dartow. 27.xi.52.

ArotTtia cCAJA I..: AN OvrsizE SprctmeEN.—From a larva of A. caja
found at Kennington, South London, a very large female was bred on
13th June 1952. It has a wing expanse of 80 mm., which is about 5
mm. more than its normal range. The specimen is a slight var., with
the white markings on the forewings broader than usual, and anterior
hlack spots on hindwings tending to form a bar.—S. WaxkeEty, 26 Finsen
Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5. 5.xi.52.

A Sprinc Movement or HumBie Bers on THE Kent/ Sussex Coast.
—On 13th April 1952 T found a westerly movement of Humble Bees in
progress along the coast between Dungeness and Camber. Two species
were participating, Bombus lapidarius L. and B. lucorum L., particu-
larly the former. Between 1300 hours and 1500 hours ¢.mM.tT. I saw
some 50 or 60 flying due west. They flew singly and with a strong,
purposeful flight, never pausing, hetween 5 and 25 feet above ground-
level. Two ornithologists also remarked on the movement independ-
ently. Jt was a very fine and sunny day with a cloudless sky and prac-
tically no wind, what little wind there was being from the east. The
next day, which was also very fine, but with a fresh easterly breeze, I
found no evidence of the continuation of the movement.—J. F. Bur-
Ton, 43 Eversley Road, London, S.E.7. 16.x1.52.

_ He LARvar or LEUCANIA PUDORINA Hisn.—During early spring 1951,
when searching for night-feeding larvae near Doncaster, I found three
individuals of the ‘wainscot type’ amongst a much larger number cf
Amathes xanthographa larvae. All three were feeding on Dactylis
glomerata, and in captivity they seemed to prefer this to other species
of grass. Subsequent examination of these larvae revealed a strong
likeness to those of Leucania lithargyria, although I had none of the
latter to compare, but their ground colour seemed paler and less inclined

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 20

to be tinted with pink. The larvae all pupated successfully, and early
in July three examples of Leucania pudorina emerged. As I had not
previously reared this moth I was encouraged to make a further search
for larvae in the spring of 1952. The weather was not very favourable
for night larvae hunting on the three occasions when I made the attempt,
but a number of the desired species were taken. Incidentally, the
larvae of Amathes xanthographa were in very reduced numbers com-
pared with the previous year, and the same remark applies to other
common species. Examples of the Leucania pudorina larvae were sent
to Messrs. H. E. Hammond and G. Haggett, and the latter mentioned
that he had not previously been able to separate this species from
Leucania lithargyria in the larval stage. Both species have three
whitish, dark-edged lines down the back, and each also has a double
row of blackish lines which are distinctly heavier towards the rear.
South mentions Phragmites as being the tood-plant of Leucania pudo-
rina, but the larvae probably feed on several grasses that grow in damp
localities. Several of those found in 1952 were on grasses other than
D. glomerata.—Gerorce HE. Hype, F.R.E.S., 20 Woodhouse Road, Don-
easter, Yorks. 28.xi.52.

THirnD Broop or PHEOSIA TREMULA CLERCK.—In August last I took
a female Pheosia tremula Cl. at light and she obligingly laid a few eggs
in the chip box. These duly hatched and the larvae fed up rapidly on
sallow, but the rate of mortality was high and only two of the larvae
reached their final instar. They pupated on 20th October and to my
surprise two female moths emerged last Sunday, 16th November. They
are both of a much greyer appearance than usual and considerably
smaller. One has a wing span of 45 mm. and the other 43 mm.—F. J.
STONE, 79 Reedley Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol. 21.xi.52.

LycIA HIRTARIA CLERCK IN Foukestone.—During last April some
twenty males of this species were taken in Folkestone, Kent. I have
no previous record of its occurrence in this district; it does not appear
in Messrs Embry and Youden’s Dover-Deal list; and the first mentioned
in Dr. Scott’s Ashford hst was taken in 1950. The Folkestone speci-
mens are not like those I have from London. They are more heavily
marked and their ground colour is greyer. One is tempted to suppose
that they have worked their way here not from North Kent but from
somewhere in Sussex.—A. M. Morziry, 9 Radnor Park West, Folke-
stone. 26,x1.52.

Potyom™Matus 1caRus Rort. as. cancA.—The ‘ Common Blue’ was >
once again very scarce in 1952. I could find only a few females of the
spring brood and not one with any sign of variation. I therefore ob-
tained eggs from a normal female and bred a small batch through.
Imagine my surprise when the last imago to emerge turned out to be
a very advanced obsolete male form. Except for two or three tiny
spots the underside is devoid of markings and almost the form caeca.
IT obtained a pairing from earlier emergences and have larvae of this
F2 generation now hibernating. It will be interesting if any fur-
ther obsolete forms appear in this or subsequent generations.—R. C.
Dyson, 112 Hollingbury Park Avenue, Brighton, 6. 27.x1.52.

22 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 69. 15/1/1953

Buiocks versus Boarps.—lI was so pleased to see your article in the
Record as | have always been a firm supporter of the block setting
method and lisle thread as opposed to the long boards. The enclosed
sketch may interest you as | think it gets rid of the one possible objec-
tion to the block method, 1.¢. travelling with insects set on them. I have
- set in this case in a moving car and have travelled from Aldershot to
Cornwall by way of Northumberland without any damage to the insects,
provided that all the tails of the insects are hanging downwards when
the setting-case is closed and stood on its hinged side.

To get any particular insect out before the rest are dry, drop the
hinged side; press the bottom setting-block in the required row towards
the open drop-side until the bottom setting-block is free. My slats
slide easily enough for this. In turn remove the blocks by sliding them
down to the bottom of the row until you reach the insect you want.
Remove it and replace the empty block and the full ones. Press the
outer slat (next to the drop-side) away from the hinged drop-side, raise
the drop-side, and close the case.

EXPLANATION OF DIAGRAM.

Fig. 1. End view of Travelling Setting Case. On the right some of the setting
blocks have been removed to show the slats. d.f.=hinged drop flap
with v.=perforated zinc ventilator. sl.=slat, g.sl.=cam-shaped groove
into which the slat fits.

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. Inside views of inner and outer walls of the case showing
the slat fitting into a plain slot and into a slot with a cam-shaped
groove respectively.

Fig. 4. Side view of Setting Case, with both drop-flaps, d.f., down. In the
upper half of the case a slat is shown moved up to the top of its groove
to enable the normal setting blocks, n.b., adjacent to it to be slid down
and free of the slat for removal. One of the tongued blocks, t.b., and
several of the normal blocks in another row have been removed to show
the slats.

In the lower half of the case the row of tongued blocks is shown,
with the grooved drop-flap which will lock them into position when the
flap is closed.

Fig. 5. End view of the drop-flap, showing the groove, gr., which engages with
the tongue of the tongued blocks, and the flange, fl., by which the
other half of the case locks the drop-flap when closed.

Fig. 6. View of a normal setting block, showing the slots cut in each side, s.,
and the cork, c.

Fig. 7. View of a tongued setting block. The tongue, t., fits into the groove,
ST Oikiees:

Fig. 8. Oblique view of one slat, showing the rounded ends. The slat is 4 of an
inch thick.

This travelling case was made for long setting-boards. I converted
it for use with blocks kept in position by slats fitting into grooves in the
sides of the blocks. One end of the slat fits into a slot; the other slides
down a cam-shaped groove into its slot. When the hinged drop-side is
raised the blocks are firmly fixed, and closing the case keeps the drop-
sides from opening. Always insert the blocks so that the insects are
upright when the drop-side is to your left.—Cotonet S. H. KersHaw,
Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks. 5.vili.52.

Biocks vERSus Boarps.—There is a point, and it is an important
one, in connection with ‘‘pulling’’ the wool off the block which should
be mentioned. In order to effect this it is essential] that all the edges
of the block be sandpapered, with fine sandpaper, until they are not

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 23

M17 diy

oes ae

only perfectly smooth but slightly rounded. The wool then slides off
quite easily. I think this process of sliding the wool off is also helped
by the very slight camber which [| give to my blocks when making them
(see Plate IX of Vol. 64).—O. M. H.

24 ENTOMOLOGIST $ RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

LarvVAE OF LIMENITIS CAMILLA L. AFFECTED BY Parasites.—On the 18th
April 1952 I coilected about 16 young larvae of Limenitis camilla in a
Huntingdonshire weod. The majority were on low-growing honeysuckle,
and were not more than a foot above the ground. In spite of the mild
weather at the time, and the advanced state of the honeysuckle leaves,
about half of these larvae were still in their hibernating quarters. The
rest varied slightly in size, but none had reached the third moult. My
main purpose in taking the larvae was to obtain photographs of their
various stages, and for a time all seemed well. They displayed no sign
of ill health until after the fourth moult, when their behaviour became
more lethargic and their feeding spasmodic. The first one to mature
pupated successfully, but another unfortunately lost its grip and fell
when making the change. ‘This one subsequently produced a male imago
with the L.H. forewing slightly crippled, and its more fortunate relation
produced a perfect male. The remaining eight larvae which [| had
retained were all affected by parasites of the Apanteles family, and
these spun the usual oval cocoons on leaving their victims. Six of the
larvae were sent to Mr. H. E. Hammond, who informed me later that
all were ‘stung’. I had not attempted to rear Limenitis camilla for a
number of years, but some time ago when I had about sixty larvae from
the New Forest the majority produced butterflies, and none was affected
by parasites. From this scanty evidence it is impossible to draw con-
clusions about the proportion of Limenitis camilla larvae which normally
escape destruction from insect foes, but I would be interested to have
_ the opinions of other collectors.—GrorcEe E. Hype, F.R.E.S., 20 Wood-

house Road, Doncaster, Yorks. 28.x1.52.

VARIATION IN PLuUsIA GAMMA Linn.—This species varies little in pat-
tern but, in this part of the world at any rate, a good deal in colour.
I have often noticed that whereas in the late spring and early summer
one rarely sees any but the typical grey form (my few foreign speci-
mens are of this form), in late August and early September a reddish
or brownish form predominates and in some years seems to be the only
form. This year I kept records of some 200 specimens taken in Folke-
stone, Kent. Of those taken in May and June 92% were typical, in
July 50%, in August 35%, and in September 27%. It looks as if this
difference in colour is an effect of the English climate, possibly because
the pupal stage lasts longer here than in warmer places. If that is
so, the colour might be some indication of whether a particular speci-
men was an immigrant or a local product.—A. M. Moruzy, 9 Radnor
Park West, Folkestone. 26.x1.52.

EarRwies AND LarvaE.—I have a brood of Amathes ditrapeziwm
Schf. now in hibernation. About the time they were going down I
looked into the cage one night to see if everything was all right before
going to bed. Shining the light on them I saw an earwig sitting on
one of the leaves of dock. Slowly and carefully I opened the cage, but
he was too quick for me. I dared not disturb the foodplant too much,
as some of the larvae had entered into hibernation a few days before. I
also knew that if I left the intruder in the cage some at least of my
larvae were doomed. Then I had a happy thought: I remembered how
earwigs had swarmed at my sugar during the previous season; so I
thought I would find out if this specimen also had a liking for sugar.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. OE

Carefully I put two spots of sugar inside the cage, one on each side.
Believe me, he was there within fifteen minutes. . . . Yes, he is now
among the ‘dear departed’, but not mourned by me!—E. Harrison,
53 Borrowdale Road, Lancaster. 25.xi.52.

PHEOSIA TREMULA CLERCK (DICTAEA LINN.) at Deat.—At Deal on 22nd
July 1952 at 11.40 p.m. a male Pheosia tremula came into my bedroom,
attracted by the light. I had not taken this species before; but I see
there have been records for Deal.—C. M. Gummer, 14 Manor Road,
Deal, Kent. 26.xi.52.

STRYMONIDIA W-ALBUM KwnocH at Dover.—In a very uneventful
season I had the pleasure of seeing what was to me a new species of
butterfly in a wood near Dover where I have collected for the last seven
years. On 26th July 1952 I saw a fresh specimen of Strymonidia
w-album Kn. at rest on a bramble bush. I failed to capture it and saw
no other specimens.—C. M. Gummer, 14 Manor Road, Deal. 26.x1.52.

Firry Years Acgo.—I have read the two articles by Mr. S. G. Castle
Russell (Ent. Rec., 64: 138 and 243) with mixed feelings. They make
me feel I was born too late, particularly as the last few seasons have
been so poor with most butterflies scarce. I am sure it will take many
years for the common species to build up to the prodigious numbers of
former years. With the expansion of large and small towns, increased
cultivation of marginal land for agriculture and forestry, I begin to
doubt if I shall ever witness a revival of our butterflies, even if we get
suitable weather for a number of years. Two other factors cause me
great concern, the rapid spread of bracken in the forests and heaths.
and hawthorn scrub on the downs. Both these plants quickly choke
the growth of the flora and must to a considerable extent reduce the
ahility of insects to breed. I remember an extensive bank near here
that was a lepidopterist’s paradise in the ’twenties; Lysandra coridon,
I. bellargus, all the common Browns and Humenis semele could be seen
in the utmost profusion. TI have never seen the latter species in any-
thing like such numbers since; almost every scabious and other bloom
on the flowery hillside would have a EH. semele settled on it; but now—
hardly a butterfly; much of the hillside is covered with scrub, the ad-
jacent road is used as a car park for picnic parties, and another fine
locality is lost for ever. I think that once a good spot is continually
walked over by human feet the insect population quickly deteriorates.
This is a sad state of affairs and I feel in my own mind that the Vic-
torian lepidopterists were indeed fortunate to have lived in a land of
plenty.—R. C. Dyson, 112 Hollingbury Park Avenue, Brighton 6.
27 .x1.52.

REFORESTING wiTH ConrFERS.—Our native deciduous trees are being
quickly reduced in number, and where planting is done it is almost
exclusively with conifers planted in close proximity for a quick return of
soft wood. The need for hardwood in the more distant future is not
considered, and yet this is supposed to be an age of planning. What
for? A pine wood has a certain beauty, but it cannot compare with
the individual fir or the native deciduous trees.

We depend to a large extent on our visitors from i Jaa to keep
our dollar balance, One of the attractions to them is our countryside,

26 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vow. 65. 15/1/1953

which is fast being ruined by cutting of native trees to plant conifers,
or do open-cast coal mining, or to produce water power. Large areas
of Scotland are being swamped by hydro-electric schemes thus obliterat-
ing large oak and birch forests around the lochs. These should be re-
placed by native trees and not only firs. In 10-20 years or less these
‘ schemes will probably be obsolete on account of atom power.

One of the results of this so-called ‘‘advance’’ is that we are quickly
losing a large amount of our native flora and fauna. Surely it is time
someone took a stand and gave some advice on the matter. Who is
there to do this? The Entomological Society and other nature and
countryside lovers could band together and try to move the Powers
that Be.

I do not wish to suggest that some mature native trees should not
be removed. This is inevitable and necessary but it should be done
partly with a view to letting others have a chance and where necessary
for other schemes. Some should be planted, e.g. round the raised shores
of the lochs, above mentioned, but not so thick that the lochs would be
screened from the roads. Another suggestion would be to plant a fairly
deep border of mixed deciduous trees around all conifer plantations,
and also on either side of the rides in order to greatly decrease the
danger of forest fires where only conifers are planted.—A. M. R. Heron,
M.B., Ch.B,, 108 George-a-Green Road, Lupset, Wakefield. 27.xi.52.

COVE OPT PRA

In Search of Strangalia aurulenta Fabricius
By R. S. Farry.

I first saw this beautiful Longicorn in the collection of the late
H. St. J. Donisthorpe who told me that he had dug his specimens out
of birch stumps at Heathfield near Bovey Tracey in Devon. Mr.
Donisthorpe very kindly prepared for me a sketch showing me the
exact site. Apparently Canadian lumbermen had felled the trees dur-
ing the 1914-18 war.

A further reference to S. awrulenta and Bovey Tracey is made by
Dr. Perkins of Newton Abbot who recorded in The Entomologist’s
Monthly Magazine of December 1926 that by hard search he had taken
it at Bovey in July and August. Dr. Perkins wrote that the beetle
was only active between the hours of noon and 4 p.m. when it may be
taken on the wing and that it resembles a Burnet moth in flight. ‘It
settles very low down on the trunks or surface-roots of trees.’’ Al-
though umbels were in fine condition Dr. Perkins records finding none
on the flowers. ;

Mr. Kaufman writing on the Distribution of British Longicorn
Coleoptera states that S. aurulenta is an uncommon species which is
known to be constantly on the move each season and unlike some Longi-
corns it does not appear to lay its-eggs in the trees from which it
emerges. He adds that it is to be found in June to August and shows
a preference for decaying oak logs.

Primed with this valuable information my wife and I made Honi-
ton our headquarters in July 1948. The trout of the river Otter were

COLEOPTERA. 27

our main object, but on sunny days we proposed to seek out aurulenta,
subject to our reserves of petrol holding out. We spent in all three
days of our fortnight in our search and on each occasion weather con-
ditions were perfect.

Our first expedition covered the Bovey Tracey area. We found
Donisthorpe’s locality to be quite close to the station, so we parked
our car and paid a courtesy call on the stationmaster, making the re-
quest to inspect a quantity of felled trees stored in the siding. The
stationmaster became immediately interested in our quest when we
showed him coloured sketches of aurulenta, but neither he nor his staff
was able to recognize it.

Digressine from aurulenta, I well remember my excitement when
showing a sketch of Aromia moschata L. to a Hertfordshire waterman.
He told me that he had seen an identical beetle within the last five
minutes! One can assume that his observation was correct as within
the next hour we saw twenty Aromia.

Leaving Bovey Tracey station we made a careful search of Heath-
field both before and after lunch, but of interest found only Chrysolina
banksi Fab. and a single Scarlet Tiger-moth. Prior to leaving the
area we noticed we were under the observation of an armed policeman
who warned us of an escaped convict from Princetown ...

Following our failure I immediately wrote to Mr. Kaufman, who
restored our confidence by telling us that Stoke Woods just north of
Exeter was a known locality for Strangalia and that alternatively we
would be certain to find it in Cann Woods in the Bickleigh Valley near
Plymouth.

As Exeter is only sixteen miles from Honiton, we visited Stoke
Woods on the 5th July and were very pleased to meet our first Devon
Longicorns when we took a series of Strangalia maculata Poda prior to
entering the wood. The wood proved to be entirely of beech with few
tracks and after an hour’s walking we realised we were entirely lost.
A further hour was spent in breaking through to daylight and open
fields. We found one beetle of interest, namely Cychrus rostratus L.,
which T dug out of a rotten log. We were also able to get within a
few feet of a buzzard. While walking home on the verge of the wood
my wife found a single specimen of Pachytodes cerambyciformis
Schrank on an umbel.

The next few days were spent on the banks of the Otter where we
took long} series of four species of Donacia and caught a few trout at
the evening rise.

We finally decided that we would risk the petrol problem, and at
noon on the 9th July we arrived at the forester’s cottage at Plym-
bridge. The forester was unable to recognise aurulenta but kindly
lent us an axe to battle for this species.

The day was just perfect and there were some beautiful rides bor-
dered by bramble in blossom and a profusion of wild flowers. The first
and only capture of Longicornia was a Leiopus nebulosus L. which I
took off the trunk of a fallen oak. This wood consisted principally of
oak and birch and fir plantations. The stakes surrounding the planta-
tions were absolutely rotten and fell apart when touched, but no fur-
ther heetles were found.

28 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vow. 65. 15/1/1953

Tt think our failure both in Stoke Woods and Cann Woods might
have been due to the fact that we found only one fallen tree. and all
decayed trees had been cleared. However, a more experienced coleop-
terist might have met with more success with the axe. Nevertheless
_we did not see a single Longicorn in Cann Woods in flight or among
the flowers.

When returning the axe the forester’s son told us his father had
mentioned our visit and that he had seen an aurulenta in flight but
had failed to capture it. Whether he was right or wrong we cannot
say, but he certainly has not returned the box we left him to post us
any captures!

DIPTERA
A Note on Chrysops melicharit Mikan

By P. A. H. MuscHamp.

In his excellent work on the Tabanidae Surcouf tells us that this
gadfly is unknown to him and he doubts whether it has been found in
the region covered by his monograph. He gives as probable habitat the
Tyrol, the chalkstone Alps of Bavaria and Illyria. I sent flies of both
sexes to the British Museum, and Mr. Oldroyd, the Tabanidae specialist,
writes to me that the melicharii in the B.M. collection bears the label
C. rufipes Mg.

T captured far more than I could trouble to pin in the first ten days
of June 1952 at the little lake of Muzzano, a few miles from Lugano.
On the first of June I was sweeping the rushes for small dragonflies
when I most unexpectedly netted a Chrysops unknown to me. Two days
later I revisited the lake and captured nine of this interesting fly, all
males. On the 5th there were probably thousands, for I took as many
as a score in a single stroke of my net and had a good hundred in my
net after sweeping the reeds for a dozen yards along the bank. Then
and on the following days the males were more abundant and on several
counts averaged about 85 males to 50 females.

On the 12th of June I swept some 200 yards of reeds and did not
capture a single gadfly. Their short season was over. Evidently the
Tabanidae disappear immediately after the first August storm in Swit-
zerland and the Savoy, but on this occasion no such reason can be given
for their vanishing so completely, because the weather was perfect from
a collector’s point of view.

A less aggressive fly is unimaginable. They never moved from the
reeds to which they clung; not a single one did I catch on the wing and,
when I plunged my bare arm into my net containing a large number
of them, several score crawled on my skin but not a single bite did I
receive. Many a nasty bite have I had from members of the Chrysops
tribe both in Europe and America, so that this absence of what one con-
siders the normal appetite puts Chr. melicharti in a class by itself.

There is very little variation in the colour scheme, occasionally the
triangles on the tergites are quite evident, and in one fly the black
shading of one wing is wanting. If any collector requires a pair of these
amiable gadflies I shall be glad to send them.

SOME RECORDS OF BRED TACHINIDAE. 29

Another interesting gadfly that | took on the hotel dining-room
window was a female Atylotus gigas Herbst (albipes F.) so completely
covered, head, thorax and first segments of the tergites, with fox-
coloured fur that the calli are hidden and it might just as well be a
Tabanus or a Sziladynus as an Atylotus. In my own and in many Swiss
collections that I have examined I have seen nothing like this. Evi-
dently a freshly hatched virgin.

Near Lurengo, facing the Campolungo, two months later I found
a certain number of Straba bromia with no trace of a purple (or grey)
bar on their eyes, both males and females. Rather smaller than S.
regularis Jaen. they are not easy to differentiate; however I sent a
couple to the B.M. and Mr. Oldroyd returned them with the label T.
bromius. Bromius, like one or two other gadflies, does not appear to
have acquired a fixed type. 35 Upperton Road, Leicester.

[ We welcome the return of Mr. Muschamp to our pages. He is one
of the original subscribers to the Record and was a friend of our Founder,
whom he accompanied on many expeditions in search of Continental
Lepidoptera.—ED. |

Some Records of Bred Tachinidae

By L. PARMENTER.

From time to time odd specimens of bred Tachinidae have been
handed or sent to me. As the hosts of only two-thirds of these flies were
known to Audcent (1942) and as many of his records were based on a
single breeding it was thought worth while to gather together the data
available on the specimens I have seen. Several hosts mentioned were
previously unrecorded (marked *) so it is hoped that this short paper
may interest breeders generally. They can be sure that the flies they
breed are at present of more scientific interest than the long series of
the lepidoptera which have, in many cases, been bred so many times
before. My thanks are therefore due to Mrs. M. Timson, Miss R., Davis,
Messrs. M. J. Bennett, N. Birkett, H. J. Burkill, J. F. Burton, B. L. J.
Byerley, J. Collins, F. J. Coulson, P. W. E. Currie, T. H. Ford, K. M.
Guichard, E. Milne-Redhead, M: Niblett, D. F. Owen, R. G. Shaw,
A. H. Sperring, M. F. Taylor, J. Fincham Turner and S. Wakely and
especially to Mr. E. C. M. d’A.-Fonseca for his help in the determina-
tion of several of the specimens.

Actia frontalis Macq. 92 bred June 1947 from Hucosma pfugiana Fab.
in the stem of marsh thistle Cirsium palustre (L.) Scop. Book-
ham Common, Surrey (L.P.).

*Actia pillipennis Fln. < bred July 1933 from larva, red form, of
Orthosia gracilis Schiff. on bog myrtle Myrica gale L. (F.J.C.).

Aplomyia confinis Fln. 2 bred May 1948 from a larva of Strymon
w-album Knoch from Chattenden Wood, Kent (D.F.O.).

Carcellia comata Rond. @ bred 1940 from larva of Arctia caja L.
(N.B.); 1 ¢ 3 2@ bred from a larva of the same species 4th July
1949 from Wembley, Midsex. (M.T.); three from a larva of Phrag-
matobia fuliginosa L. 3rd April 1952 from Ulley, S. Yorks.
(EE).

Carcellia gnava Mg. ¢ bred August 1919 from a larva of Malacosoma
neustria L. (F.J.C.).

30 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

Compsilura. concinnata Mg. @ bred August 1933 from larva of Aglais
urticae L. from Fetcham, Surrey (H.J.B.); 2 from pupa of Pieris
brassicae L. collected 26th January 1949 and another collected in
February of the same year emerged Ist May and 19th May re-
spectively, from Petts Wood, Kent (J.F.B.); @ from a larva of
Euproctis similis Fuess. found 17th July, pupated 20th July, and
the fly emerged 3rd August 1951, from Batchworth Heath, Herts.
(B.L.J.B.); 2 from a pupa of Apatele aceris L. from Blackheath,
Kent, found 22nd August, emerged 7th September 1951 (M.F.T.).
*Digonochaeta setipennis Fall. 2 2 2 bred 21st May from a larva found
17th May 1951 of Pyrausta nubilais Hb. from Stanford le Hope,
Essex (R.G.S.).

Exorista larvarum L. 2 99 bred with 4 Phryze vulgaris Fln., see
below, 30th June 1950, from a pupa of Philudoria potatoria L.
from Bratton Fleming, Devon (B.L.J.B.).

*Hzorista spec. indet. 9, bred 6th July 1951 from a larva of Strymon
prunt L. from Monk’s Wood, Hunts. (S.W.).

Frontina laeta Mg. 14 bred 20th June to 7th July 1951 from a larva
of Smerinthus ocellatus L. found September 1950 at Ham gravel
pits, Kingston, Surrey (E.M.-R.) (see Ent. mon. Mag., 87: 306);
seven emerged 8th June to 3rd July 1952 from a pupa of a larva
found August 1951 of the same species of moth, from Sutton,
Surrey (J.F.T.).

*Myzxexoristops blondeli R.D.. Four bred May 1947 from a larva of the
sawfly Eriocampa ovata L. from the New Forest, Hants.
(PAV.E- ©).

*Neara albicollis Mg. 2 bred 2nd July 1950 from a larva of Eucosiia
fulvana Stephens feeding on greater knapweed, Centaurea scabi-
osa L., from Riddlesdown, Surrey (M.N.).

Nemorilla floralis Fln. Bred June 1937 from a larva of Nymphalis io
L. from Horsey, Norfolk (K.M.G.); ¢ bred July 1933 from a larva
of Notarcha ruralis Scop. from South Hants. (A.H.S.).

*Phebellia glauca Mg. @ bred 25th July 1948 from a larva of the saw-
fly Diprion pint L., found 21st September 1947 at Walton Heath,
Surrey (P.W.E.C.).

Phryxe nemea Mg. CG bred June 1933 from a larva of Abraxas grossu-
lariata L. from South Hants. (A.H.S.).

Phryze vulgaris Flin. 3 22 bred 12th July 1937 from a larva of Philu-
doria potatoria L. found June 1937 at Horsey, Norfolk (L.P.);
2 bred 4th July 1951 from a larva of Aglais urticae L. found 17th
June at Totnes, Devon (M.J.B.); 1 ¢ 3 2Q bred 30th June 1950
from a pupa of Philudoria potatoria L. from Bratton Fleming,
Devon (B.L.J.B.).

Podotachina sorbillans Wied. Bred from a pupa of Saturnia pavoniu
L. March 1946 from Aberystwyth, Cardigan (J.C.); 2 ¢é¢ 1 9
bred 19th May 1951 from a pupa of S. pavonia from Ash Vale,
Surrey (J.F.B.); 62 bred May 1952 from a pupa of S. pavonia
from Leiston, Suffolk (R.D.).

Thelaira nigripes F. 9 bred May 1933 from Arctia villica L. from
South Hants. (A.H.S.).

Winthemia variegata Mg. CG bred 18th May 1951 from a larva of
Sphing ligustri L. from Boxhill, Surrey (S.W.).

SOME RECORDS OF BRED TACHINIDAE. 31

*Zenillia ciligera R.D. C bred 5th August 1951 from a larva of Hadena
bicruris Hufn. from the Lea Valley, Essex (R.G.S.).
To those wishing to place on record the breeding of Tachinidae may
I suggest that it is useful to note numbers and sex of bred specimens,
the number of larvae collected, how many were parasitised, whether the
flies emerged from the larva, pupa or imago as well as the usual data
of-locality and dates of collection and emergence.

REFERENCE.
Audcent, H. 1942. A Preliminary List of the Hosts of some British
Tachinidae (Dipt.) Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent., 8: 1-42.

VOLUCELLA ZONARIA Popa at CAMBERWELL.—On 25th August 1952 I
netted a fine specimen of this handsome fly at Denmark Hill, London.
The locality was visited again on 30th August, when two more were
taken. Another on lst September was the last seen. They were all
taken at rest on the purple flower spikes of Buddleia growing on a
bombed site, and seemed very sluggish. As usual with autumn-caught
specimens they were all females.—S, WakeELy, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin
Park, London, 8.E.5. 5.x1.52.

VOLUCELLA ZONARIA Popa In N.W. Kent.—At Dartford Marshés on
17th August 1952 I saw a female V. zonaria flying around elderberries.
—J. F. Burton, 43 Eversley Road, London, S.E.7. 16.xi.52.

ORNITHOMYA FRINGILLA CurT. oN Repwine.—A Redwing, Turdus
musicus, collected during the night of 21st-22nd October 1952 at the
lantern of the Kentish Knock Lightship (51° 39’ N., 01° 40’ E.) was
found to be carrying a single Hippoboscid, Ornithomya fringillina.
This bird was one of many thousands of immigrant thrushes which came
to light that night during overcast conditions, and may have originated
from Scandinavia or areas to the south. Edwards, Oldroyd and Smart
(British Bloodsucking Flies, 1939) do not record fringillina from the
Redwing and since the bird would, in favourable conditions, have
reached S.E. England it is reasonable to consider that this is a new
host record for the British Isles. J am indebted to Mr L. Parmenter
for the identification of the fly and for drawing my attention to the pub-
lished literature.—D. F. Owen, Edward Grey Institute of Field Orni-
thology, Oxford. 1.x1i.52.

RECORDS OF PROTOCALLIPHORA AZUREA FALL, FROM Brirp’s NEstTs IN
BerRKsSHIRE.—In June 1952 examination of about twenty nests of tits
in artificial boxes placed on tree trunks ati Wytham, Berkshire, re-
vealed many dipterous pupae. These were mainly found among moss,
ete., in the bottom of the nests, each nest containing about a dozen
pupae. The flies hatched out later in the month and were kindly de-
termined by Mr. L. Parmenter as Protocalliphora azurea Fall., a
species whose larvae seem to attach themselves to nestling birds and
suck the blood, sometimes causing the death of the host. Audcent
(1942, Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent., 8: 1-42) records the following hosts for
this species: Redstart, Blackcap, Great Tit, Coal Tit, White Wagtail,
Meadow Pipit, Swallow, House Martin. Sand Martin, House Sparrow.
Chaffinch, Yellow Bunting, Rook and Skylark. Those obtained at
Wytham were from the nests of Great Tits (Parus major), Coal Tits (P.

32 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1/1953

ater) and Blue Tits (2. cueruleus), the latter being additional to Aud-
cent’s list. in every nest except one there was no indication that the
fly had caused damage to the nestling tits, which weighed as much as
those whose nests were free trom pupae. However, one brood of nine
Great Tits died at the age of twelve days and the nest was later found
to contain more azurea pupae than usual (about 70), thus providing
strong circumstantial evidence that mortality was caused by the larvae
of this fly —D. EF’. Owmn, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology,
Oxford. 1.x11.52.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record ot 1908.)

BEETLES AND ANTS.—On Apri 2Ist I introduced a specimen of this
ladybird (Coccinella distincta), which I had taken in a nest of Formica
rufa at Pamber Forest, into my observation-nest. The ants were unable
to seize it, its defence being to retract the legs and duck down, when the
ant’s jaws slip off its shiny elytra. . . . When an ant was forced to take
hold ot the beetle’s leg, it let go at once. Another ant held on for some
little time, dragging the beetle about. The ladybird remained motion-
less with all the other legs retracted, and the yellow exudation which
is excreted by the Coccinellidae was very apparent. The ant then let
go and appeared to be very upset, walking round in circles, and was
very languid for a long time afterwards. The beetle walked away un-
hurt.—H. DoNiIsTHORPE.

REARING PETASIA NUBECULOSA.—I have now a nice number of pupae
of Petasia nubeculosa that I have reared from ova deposited by a ¢&
received last April from Rannoch. This appears to be one of the easiest
larvae possible to rear on a birch diet, with a little oak given occasion-
ally, provided that, in their later stages, the larvae are well syringed
each morning with a fine-nozzled syringe. This practice holds good also
for all the Prominents, and effectually does away with all cannibalism.
—Joun F. MusHam.

HyDRILLA PALUSTRIS IN LincoLNsHIRE.—On June 21st last, Mr.
Arnold and myself paid a two days’ visit to the Lincolnshire coast sand-
hills, with the intention of securing a few specimens of Mamestra albi-
colon, and other early local species. ...The bag for the two evenings
(searching the lyme-grass with a hght and sugaring on the land side of
the hills) consisted of 14 Tapinostola elymi imagines in perfect condi-
tion, most of them at rest on the grass-stems with wings closely folded.
These we did not expect as it is a much earlier date for their appear-
ance than that given in books; Practical Hints states that the pupae
are to be found in mid-July and the imagines in later July and early
August. One solitary moth beside these we captured at the light... .
Hydrilla palustris, 6, but a very worn specimen .. . . It is an unusual
occurrence for Hydrilla palustris to be taken on coast sandhills, and in
Lincolnshire. What is its foodplant, and is it confined elsewhere to
fenny districts? There is plenty of fenland between the sandhills and
the Woods. ...—JoHn F. MusHam..

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EXCHANGES AND WANTS

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Exchanges.—I should like to get in touch with collectors in Great Britain who
would exchange Lepidoptera from all parts of the British Isles (butterflies
and moths, except micros) for species from Alsace, the Midi of France, and
Switzerland. Correspondence in English, French, or German. —Bernard
Meier, Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France.

Wanted.—Living females of common species, especially satyrids and fritillaries,
from most parts of the country. Will exchange live or dead stock.—J. fie
D. Fraser, 52a Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, London, S.W.!.

Wanted.—Pupae of Irish or Scottish.O. bidentata, and ova of wild parents of
English C. elinguaria. Liberal exchange of English or tropical Lepidoptera.
—W. Bowater, 41 Calthorpe Road, cata ake Birmingham, 15.

pr acnLly required during the next few months for research purposes, pupae of
Biston betularia Linn. (melanic or otherwise). Would be most grateful if
entomologists would inform me of approximate percentages of the two
melanic aberrations—carbonaria and insularia and the>typical, occurring in
any locality—Dr. H. B. D. Kettlewell, Department of Zoology, University

_ Museum, Ozford. ;

Wanted.—Butterflies of Europe, America, India and Africa in exchange for
Butterflies of Malta.—G. G. Lanfranco, ? New Str., Sliema, Malta, G.Cc.

Wanted.—We are in urgent need of copies of our issue of January 1951. -If any
of our readers have spare copies for disposal we shall be glad to buy them
back at the Nae ike price —F. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road, St. Albans,
Herts.

7 eS eee ee

~~

* Greai January Auction Sale

of British and Continental Lepidoptera

to be held at

Messrs DEBENHAM, STORR & Co., Ltd.
26 King Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2

on WEDNESDAY, 21st January 1953 at 12 noon

(Viewing all day Tuesday, 20th January, and morning of Sale.)

Consisting of the E. 8S. A. Baynes Collection, contained in One 40-drawer
mahogany cabinet containing British and Continental butterflies, in good series,
One 40-drawer walnut and deal cabinet containing British Bombyces and Noc-
tuae, and other smaller cabinets, including butterflies from New Zealand, Aus-
tralia and South Africa. ALSO: a selection of outstanding VARIETIES OF

“BRITISH BUTTERFLIES, and other properties, including Two 20-drawer cabi-

-nets, one containing a magnificent collection of A, prunaria forms.

e

Sale arranged and catalogued by L. Hugh Newman, F.R.E.S., F-R.H.S., The
Butterfly Farm, Bexley, Kent (Telephone: Bexleyheath 286).

-ENTOMOLOGIST’S GAZETTE

A QUARTERLY JOURNAL DEVOTED ENTIRELY TO BRITISH
ENTOMOLOGY.

ENTOMOLOGIST’S GAZETTE is well illustrated by plates and text figures;
it is published as a quarterly in order to avoid serialising important
papers.

It publishes articles dealing with all Orders of British Insects and with
other subjects of interest to the entomologist.

A FREE SAMPLE COPY
will willingly be sent you on receipt of a postcard addressed to the
publisher :—E. W. CLASSEY, F.R.E.S., A.B.A., 91 Bedfont Lane, Feltham,
Middlesex, England.

THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD
AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
(Founded by J. W. TUTT on 15th April 1890).

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.
Assistant Editor: P. B. M. ALLAN, M.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.E.S.
| Treasurer: A. C. R. REDGRAVE.

Publicity and Advertisements: F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road,
St. Albans, Herts.

The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:

Lepidoptera: S. N. A. JACOBS, F.R.E.S., Dr. H. B. WILLIAMS, Q.C.,

LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., F.R.E.S. ;

Coleoptera: A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc.; Diptera: E. C. M. d’ASSIS-

FONSECA, F-.R.E.S. Business: P. SIVITER SMITH, F.R.E.S.

CONTENTS

‘BLACK’ LARVAE OF LASIOCAMPA QUERCUS L. IN YORKSHIRE. Frank

Hewson Rie TeehRiet UR Dire a8 Lae Oe, Se | LAs NY ees gk ae 4
NEW ABERRATIONS OF ARCTIA CAJAL. S. Gordon Smith ... Q
NOTES ON BREEDING CYCNIA MENDICA CLERCK. L. J. Evans... Bes 22 ek
FURTHER NOTES ON MOMPHA NODICOLELLA FUCHS. S. Wakely 6
LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTING NOTES, 1952. Neville L. Birkett ... 6
SOME NORTHERN LEPIDOPTERA IN 1952. G. F. Johnson ... er Ast 10
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 4H. C. Huggins ... is be ss as 14
IN SEARCH OF STRANGALIA AURULENTA FABRICIUS. R&R. S. Ferry _... 26
A NOTE ON CHRYSOPS MELICHARII MIKAN. P. A. H. Muschamp ... eee 28
SOME RECORDS OF BRED TACHINIDAE. L. Parmenter ... ae te eg; 29

ALSO

FIELD NOTES, NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

TO-QGUR CONTRIBUTORS

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at No. 4 WINDHILL, BISHOP’S STORTFORD, HERTS. 7

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Printed by T. Buncle & Co. Ltd., Arbroath:

L. 65 No. 2 FEBRUARY 1953
NCEE CE CEN CO) EEN Ey CON EEN MEEVEE GENS

THE
ENTOMOLOGIST’S
RECORD

ll AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
s EDITED BY
S E. A. COCKAYNE

M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.

MUS. COMP. ZE0L.
LISRARY

(AR 17 1953

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LARGER BRITISH MOTHS
By R. L. E. FORD, F.R.E.S., F.Z.S. 5s. net.

Describes the Super-families Sphinges and Bombyces, comprising 104 species, to
which have been added nine of the largest representatives of other families, all
. illustrated in colour, together with 86 half-tones of eggs, larvae and pupae.

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especially those who have been waiting for a book of this kind to enable them to
take up the Pyrales. Mr. Beirne has put at our disposal the essence of what is
so far known of the British Pyraloidea.”—Entomologist’s Gazette.

COLLECTING AND BREEDING
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

By BRIAN WORTHINGTON-STUART, F.R.E.S. 10s. 6d. net.

“ Recommended highly to the young amateur, who will find his small outlay
amply repaid.”—Entomologist’s Record.

From Any Bookseller.

WARNE, 1-4 Bedford Court, London, W.C.2
eer ee eee ———————————
If you collect CORIDON, BELLARGUS, ICARUS, ARGUS, MINIMUS, AGESTIS
er PHLAKEAS, you can be interested for life in their British aberrations by

obtaining

‘THE CORIDON MONOGRAPH AND ADDENDA
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AR 17 1953

A berrati f |British
errations o a, Hae:

die aud bd Bol

[The aberration of Arctia caja Linn. is in the collection of R. P.
Demuth. All the other aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-
Kettlewell collection in the British Museum. ]

Arctia caja Linnaeus ab. stygia ab. nov. (Fig. 1.)

The forewing is chocolate brown; on each forewing symmetrically
placed close to the costa there are two small buff spots, the larger is
oval and lies about midway between the base and the level of the disco-
cellular nervure; the smaller is round and is equidistant from the
base and the larger spot. Between the discocellular nervure and the
margin there is a broad ill-defined pale band starting near the costa
and ending near the inner margin; it is semitransparent and many
scales are missing owing to the worn condition of the insect, but those
present are very pale brown owing to deficiency of pigment or trans-
parent and colourless owing to absence of pigment. The basal part of
the hindwing is red, but the border between the middle of the outer
row of spots and the margin is pale brown, the scales being incom-
pletely pigmented with blackish brown piginent; the basal part of the
costa is whitish and the outer part pale brown; a broad strip along
the inner margin is whitish, the scales being very deficient in pigment.
The spots are dull black without the usual blue black lustre. The
fringe is smoky black. The thorax is dark brown and the abdomen
bright red, a brighter red than that of the hindwing, with the usual
black deeaal marks.

‘Type gd: Hardwicke, Glos., 1952, taken in light trap by R. P.
Demuth.

Mimas tiliae Linnaeus ab. diluta ab. nov.

The whole of the wings, both ground colour and markings, the head,
thorax, and abdomen are very much paler than usual. The name can
be applied whatever the colour or marking of the specimen may be.

Type ¢: N. Kent.

Allotype 2: Kent, bred v.1918 by R. H. Rattray (H. B. Williams
coll.) Cockayne coll.

Paratypes 2 6,2 9: 2 3, N. Kent, bred vi.1947 by L. Hi. Newman.
Cockayne coll.; 1 9°, Hatley, bred vi.1912 by L. W. Newman (Bright
coll.) Rothschild coll.; 1 ¢, Herts., bred 1914 (Willoughby Ellis coll.)
Cockayne coll.

Mimas tiliae Linnaeus ab. rubra ab. nov.
The ground colour of the basal two-thirds of the forewing and the
anterior two-thirds of the margin of the hindwing is vivid carmine pink.
Type 9: Fordwich, Kent (S. Webb, Crabtree coll.) Rothschild coll.

Laothoé populi Linnaeus ab. albida ab. nov. (Fig. 2.)

All parts of the moth, the head including the antennae, the thorax
including the legs, the wings, and abdomen are cream coloured; the
wings are devoid of markings, but the nervures are visible, being very
slightly darker.

34 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

Type @: Bexley, bred vi.1911 by L. W. Newman. (Bright coll.)
Rothschild coll.

Laothoé popult Linnaeus ab. basilutescens ab. nov,
The patch at the base of the hindwing is whitish ochreous instead
. of rust coloured.

Type 2°: Hornsey, N. London, bred by J. A. Clark. (Vauncey Har-
pur Crewe coll.) Rothschild coll. asi

Laothoé populi Linnaeus ab. moesta ab. nov. (Fig. 3.)

The ground colour of the forewing is dark grey brown with the
markings just visible; the nervures are pale; the thorax and abdomen
are dark grey brown,

Type 2: Bradford, 1920. (Willoughby Ellis coll.) Cockayne coll.

Smerinthus ocellata Linnaeus ab. monochromica ab. nov.

The forewing is grey with no trace of the usual pink colour; the
hindwing also is pure grey without trace of pink. —

Type 2: Worcester, bred 1867 by A. Edmonds. (S. Webb coll.
Crabtree coll.) Rothschild coll.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IT.

Fig.1. Arctia caja ab. stygia. ¢. Type.

Fig. 2. Laothoé populi ab. albida. 9. Type.

Fig. 3. Laothoé populi ab. moesta. Q. Type.

Fig. 4. Argynnis euphrosyne ab. edna. ¢. Type. Upper side. (See p. 56).
Fig. 5. Argynnis euphrosyne ab. edna. ¢. Type. Under side. (See p. 56).

Whither M.V. >?

By W. E. MInnIon.

Since Mr. Robinson introduced us to the use of mercury vapour
lamps as a means of collecting much has been written and much more
spoken on the merits or demerits of this method of obtaining moths.
The bulk of the comment has been hostile and in pessimistic vein. We
have been told that many species, already apparently scarce, would be
wiped out, that others would be reduced to a most precarious state,
and so on and so forth. Even Mr. Robinson has been moved to write

in defensive tone as if fearful that his disclosure had started an
avalanche.

Surely this attitude is all wrong. Let us remember that few of us
are in a position to scour the countryside with generators and high-
power lamps and that of these few only an unscrupulous minority is
likely to make concentrated onslaughts on such species as Catocala
frazint, Sedina buettneri, etc. Such collectors would be a menace
to the species without m.v., but it is open to argument whether their
attacks are as potent a factor in bringing about the extinction of an
insect as those resulting from Man’s interference with its habitat. A
good entomologist who uses a portable outfit to secure rarities has only
to exercise reasonable moderation and there will be little danger of
his activities having a permanently adverse effect on the species.

Apart from the possibility of mass attacks on local insects the
emphasis has been mainly on the disastrous effect of the wholesale

VOL. 65. PATH. Tt:

WHITHER M.V.? 35

staughter of moths in a trap. This will be referred to later, but
another aspect of the problem may well arise from the use of a trap
every night in the same place, say in the collector’s garden. There
seems to be a possible danger of upsetting the natural balance by con-
centrating a large number of insects in a small area where they would
soon be discovered by birds, bats, etc., which would dispose of vast
quantities of imagines and also larvae which might result from such a
congregation. The entomologist, no doubt, would claim that he killed
nothing unnecessarily and released every unwanted moth on the day
following capture! Operation on alternate nights to allow natural dis-
persal in the intervening period might obviate this possibility of un-
intentional destruction.

Far from exterminating our native moths it seems possible that the
advent of m.v. may well go a long way towards conserving them by
altering the attitude of entomologists to their hobby. Collecting,
purely as collecting, depends upon the quarry being sufficiently rare
or difficult to obtain to make it desirable or valuable, and while I am
quite sure that nothing short of drastic legislation would stop moth
collecting the advent of m.v. may well shift the emphasis away from
mere accumulation, which, let’s face it, is horribly prevalent today.
Interests may well turn towards the study of micros. or other Orders
of insects; problems of distribution, frequency of occurrence, time of
flizht, effects of weather, etc. will surely receive more attention, to the
general advancement of our knowledge. Varieties will become more
readily available as bases of research in genetics and in the endeavour to
discover the frequency with which they occur and the causes of and
the conditions most favourable to their occurrence. There is still a lot
of work to be done on life-histories and opportunities for this are
greatly increased by the use of m.v. Is it too much to hope that the
rising generation of moth-hunters, guided by such books as Dr. Ford’s
volume on butterflies and with the supply of material provided by m.v.,
will develop a more enquiring turn of mind and use their energies in
useful research rather than in filling their cabinets?

Will m.v. have any effect on the auction-room collector? As former
rarities become commonplace will prices drop so much as to make sales
unprofitable? We must remember that many local species are still just
as inaccessible to most of us and also that m.v. has no effect on butter-
flies. The demand for varieties of these shows little sign of abating and
people still fill drawer after drawer of, say, Lysandra coridon without
ever bothering to learn the first thing about the factors which give rise
to the various forms. Many moths vary almost as much and possibly
vast series of varieties of such moths may become fashionable. It is
to be hoped that the opportunities for more interesting studies now
presented will prevent such a development.

There has already been a marked increase in the interest in local
lists which is a direct result of m.v. It is in this sphere particularly
that the majority of m.v. users who are dependent upon access to mains
supply of power and are therefore limited to one or two sites for opera-
tion can gather valuable information which will build up our know-
ledge of distribution and numbers as well as provide a perpetual source
of interest to the worker who for economic or other reasons cannot Visit

36 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

Aviemore, Ham Street or such favoured localities as and when he deems
such a visit to be profitable.

The use of m.v. has already shown up our lack of knowledge of many
species thought to be rare and demonstrated that their rarity only
results from our failure to discover how and when to find them, and
I think it has established that far more migrants reach this country
than was previously realised. It may well show that some ‘ migrants’
are in fact ‘ residents.’

I believe that we lepidopterists owe a tremendous debt to Mr.
Robinson for his initiation of the second major revolution in moth
hunting. There is little ground for pessimism as to its effects on the
future. After all, cabinets are expensive and only hold a limited num-
ber of specimens, and modern homes only hold a limited number of
cabinets, and once the space allotted to each species is filled we shall
cease to take that species in its typical form. Our moths will doubt-
less survive this transitional period and the way will then be clear for
the development of a new outlook on the whole subject.

Reverting to the problem of wholesale slaughter of moths in traps,
there can be no justification for mass killing apart from its use in
organised scientific research which is dependent upon the bodies being
available. The use of an anaesthetic in a trap, adjusted to quieten
but not kill, is undesirable as, however careful one may be, an over-
dose can easily be administered and that which seems to have little
effect on some species may well have lethal effects on others. Fur-
ther, moths do not always fully recover from the effects of the vapour
and I have had females which seemed quite lively but which failed to
lay or if they laid the larvae failed to emerge. | doubt if these females,
taken in a trap, had not paired. If a trap must be left unattended
for long periods surely the use of egg-trays or some similar material
to provide maximum resting surface for the insects is preferable to the
use of the mildest anaesthetic. If possible it is better to remain up
at night with the trap, examine it frequently, observe the times of
flight of the different species, watch for those which go to rest in the
herbage without ever reaching the light, and generally to enjoy a few
hours’ fieldwork made easy.

It has often been suggested that to avoid high mortality a trap
should not be used but that a sheet under the lamp should be substi-
tuted. Frankly I don’t think this idea works. A large number of
moths gets trodden on just off, under, and even on the sheet which
would have escaped if a trap had been used under periodic observa-
tion and without an anaesthetic.

A final point. At m.v. one gets any number of flies, beetles, bugs,
etc., as well as moths, but we hear very little of the use of m.v. in
connection with other Orders of insects. We have read of hostile
hornets, though our local ones, even if of terrifying aspect, are quite
well behaved; but little in the way of records of these other insects has
been published. We have read of sparrows and other birds raiding
traps in early morning, and bats soon learn to ‘ come to light’; in fact
m.v. has opened up all sorts of interesting possibilities. Let’s make
the most of them!

THE YEAR 1952 IN EAST ESSEX. on

The Year 1952 in East Essex.

By A. J. DEwIcx.

Continuing the Note begun in the May issue of this magazine last
year (Hnt. Rec., 64: 152) no further Vanessa cardwui L. was noticed until
30th April, and. thereafter it became common. Plusia gamma UL. first
appeared in the trap on 4th May but did not become of everyday occur-
rence until June. V. atalanta L. was first seen on 6th May, but only
two more were noticed during the month.

Completely fresh specimens of V. cardut appeared early in June.
Unless they were fresh immigrants they must have been the offspring
of a few specimens which arrived in March or April and escaped notice.

An arrival of migrants seems to have occurred about 12th June when
three Macroglossum steliatarum L. were seen, with 19 V. atalanta next
day. That night many P. gamma came to the light, the count next day
being 1,314, easily the year’s largest; three Nomophila noctuella Schiff.
and three Anania nubilalis Hiib. accompanied them. Most of the V.
atalanta and P. gamm1 must have passed on as both had become uncom-
mon again by the 19th.

Two fresh males of Colias croceus Fourc. were seen flying up and
down the sea-wall near lucerne fields on 6th July; five M. stellatarwm
were also noticed.

Before midnight on 13th July a very pleasant surprise was the sight
of a lovely female Celerio galii Schiff. resting quietly in the light-trap.
Subsequently rather more than forty eggs were laid; but only twenty
seemed to be fertile. From these, 17 pupae were obtained; all seem to
be lying over till 1953.

On 16th July a male Herse convolvult Ih. was in the trap, but no
more of this species appeared for a month. At this time little was to
be seen of migrants by day, though seven smallish larvae of M. stella-
tarum were noted on the 29th while searching Galiwm, and light pro-
duced a ¢ Nicterosea obstipata Fab. on 26th July and single Leucania
albipuncta Schiff. on August Ist, 2nd and 7th. The 13th August marked
the start of the best period of the season, a dozen (’. croceus being seen,
one an ab. helice.

Next morning a male Laphygma exigua Hiib. was found in the trap,
while 37 P. gamma and 6 N. noctuella were higher figures than for some
weeks past. A trip to Thanet the same day showed C. croceus to be
present in small numbers in most lucerne fields visited, at least 30 being
noted. As the sky became overcast early in the afternoon a move was
made to Sandwich where V. cardui was abundant, at least 80 being
counted on a mile of foreshore, nearly all in beautiful ee and
many feeding at the flowers of sea-holly.

Back in Essex the trap produced a © A. convolvuli on the 16th and
a 9 L. albipuncta on the 19th, and on the 22nd three albinuncta and
two more exiqua as well as 373 gamma. On the 23rd two ab. helice were
noted out of 20 ©. croceus seen and next day three dozen croceus and
sixteen cardui, the latter being the highest day count since mid-June.

The night of 25th-26th August was a good one for the light-trap,
with another ¢ convolvuli, five albipuncta, a couple of Phlyctaenia fer-
rugalis Hiib., 273 gamma and sixteen noctuella. Next night was also

38 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

good: a pair each of albipuncta and exigua, three convolvult, 205 gamma
and a male Acherontia atropos L. The last was seen arriving, its curious
undulating flight being very noticeable.

Another ¢ convolvuli turned up on the 29th and on the 3lst, which
‘proved to be the last day of summer, a pair of convolvuli, a female
exigua, five ferrugalis and 382 gamma. The most shocking weather
ensued, the gamma dropping to 48 on Ist September and down to zero
by the 4th, and for the rest of the season moths never turned up in
quantity. Surprisingly, a female convolvuli came to the trap on the
6th and a male on the 7th when practically all activity had been stopped
by the cold wind. During the rest of the month the odd atalanta or
crocéus was to be seen whenever the sun shone sufficiently.

On 20th September, a really lovely day all of a sudden, a walk cf
several miles along the sea-wall between the Blackwater and Crouch
estuaries revealed four cardui, twelve atalanta and five croceus. But
the improved weather was short-lived, though two more cardui and ten
atalanta were seen on the 23rd.

It was noticeable from about the beginning cof September that most
of the atalanta in sustained flight were moving southward, though with-
out the urgency of those seen coming north in spring and early summer.
Also for the first time during the year carduz was scarcer than atalanta.
Cardui finally lasted until 3rd October, croceus to the 8th, and atalanta
to the 18th, though two nights later one was found sitting on the roof
of the light-trap at 8.30 p.m. The period 20th-28th October was com-
paratively good for light with 54 gamma, a pair of obstipata, and four
ferrugalis on the 22nd.

In general Lepidoptera have perhaps been scarcer than usual. 307
species of macrolepidoptera were recorded in the lght-trap compared
with 326 in 1951. Two beautiful specimens of Anaplectoides prasina
Schiff. (herbida Hiib.), which has not been recorded before, turned up
on 14th June. One promptly laid a large number of eggs, but all were
infertile. Several Sphinx ligustri L. appeared in the trap from 24th
May, the previous earliest date since the start of my records in 1946
being 2nd June. After a gap (unfortunately the exact dates were not
noted) the species became common again, probably about mid-June at
which time several two-years-old pupae hatched. If the same thing
occurred elsewhere it would support the idea that ligustri is reinforced
from the Continent from time to time.

The autumn moths did not seem very plentiful, though this was prob-
ably due to the weather. Of the ‘Sailows’, Omphaloscelis lunosa Haw.
and Agrochola lychnidis Schiff. were the commonest. A few specimens
of Inthophane semibrunnea Haw. were noted from 15th October and
Brachionycha sphinx Hufn. first seen on the 23rd was, if anything,
commoner than usual. As South suggests it is unusual it may be worth
recording that two fresh Pseudoterpna pruinata Hufn. occurred in late
August, the first on the 29th. Another second emergence was Leucania
comma lL. on 6th November.

Specimens of Nymphalis polychloros L. are still to be seen in the area,
both before and after hibernation, but are less common than they were
several years ago. Strymonidia w-album Kn. is widespread in the dis-
trict, but has not been very abundant recently. Some totals of migrant
and resident butterflies for comparison with 1951 are :—

A YEAR’S FIELD WORK. 39

cardut atalanta croceus haale urticae 10
1951 10 80 10 36 278 106
1952 A89 192 138 —— 425 167

Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex.

9 °
A Year’s Field Work.
By F. M. B. Carr.

It is supposed to be the way of old fogies to exalt the ‘‘ good old
days ’’ and to decry the present. Having collected moths and butter-
flies on and off since the closing years of the 19th century and become
an old fogy myself I am slowly and reluctantly coming to the conclu-
sion that things are not and never will be what they were. My old
diaries, contrasted with my diaries for 1945 to 1952, tell the sad tale.
The number of species and individuals that so often were encountered
during a day’s field work fifty years ago is seldom if ever, in my ex-
perience, equalled now. Indeed during 1952, and the previous season
too, I had several days that might be called ‘‘ one species days’ and
but rarely a day of good general collecting. Yet in the period covered
by my early diaries, when I was rejoicing in days of variety and
plenty, [ remember how often I was told by the greybeards what a bad
season it was.

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and sage, and heard great argument—
Yet as they parted all in this agreed:

‘‘The passing season is the worst we’ve spent.”’

Presumably their old diaries were also eloquent of a yet more
glorious age. What, J wonder, would they have had to say to such a
season as 1952? Moral: don’t be an old fogy. Invest in a m.v. trap
... So far I have been unable to cast off my old fogyism sufficiently
to do so.—But to come down to the horrid season just past.

The first quarter of the year was only noteworthy for the early
arrival of Vanessa cardwi, already reported in these pages. Early in
April larvae of Arctia villica, many of them fullfed, were locally plen-
tiful in Bournemouth. They were a remarkably healthy lot, a much
smaller proportion than usual being ‘‘ stung.’’ Towards the end of
the month Ectropis consonaria began to appear in the Dorset locality
in which I had found it two years ago. It was generally and remark-
ably plentiful in the New Forest too.

In May Dr. H. King and I beat the larvae of Hilema deplana locally
but freely from spruce in the New Forest. We did not, however,
master the secret of rearing them successfully. There was much canni-
balism, the criminals being more than once caught in the act. We did
our best to keep the algae on which they feed fresh and green, but
their deeds of darkness continued, and very few reached the pupal
stage. The moths that emerged were undersized. Other larvae beaten
in the New Forest during May were Lymantria monacha (very scarce),
Nola strigula (one by Mr. Symes), Pseudoips bicolorana (a few), Cato-
cala sponsa and C. promissa (one), Lithosia quadra (one) and Boarmiu
roboraria (fullfed). Dr. King and I were not very successful in seve-
ral night excursions to the Forest to see what his two Tilley lamps and
a sheet would beguile. The best we could do were Drymonia ruficornis

40) ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

(one), Notodonta EDS (trepida) (four) and several Boarmia puwnc-
tinalis.

At this point I should explain that this was my first season at Mude-
ford. about 84 miles east of my last abode at Sandbanks. I was natur-
ally anxious to find out the possibilities of this now much built over
‘locality. I soon found that mallow abounded and therefore hoped to
renew my acquaintance with Larentia clavaria. After searching seve:
ral plants in vain I found more than 20 larvae of varying sizes on two
adjacent plants and the surrounding herbage.

About the same time Hupithecia dodoneata was coming to light. As
I knew that Dr. King was interested I reported the glad news to him,
and on 19th May he came over to do some ‘ dusking.’ We found the
species flying in some numbers at the flowers of the holm oaks that
abound here. A week later Dr. King, Mr. Symes and I hastened into
Wiltshire to look for larvae of Apatura iris. On arrival my com-
panions made a bee-line for the right sallow bush, on one side of which
Mr. Symes found an iris waiting for him, whilst on the other side Dr.
King found another asking to be taken. It is so easy! But in the
meanwhile I was visiting all the wrong bushes. J searched in vain.
I beat fruitlessly till the sweat poured from me and my arm ached.
No iris, no nothing! At long last a tiny miserable scrubby-looking
noctuid larva fell into my beating-tray, and in my wrath I was for
throwing it to the winds. But better counsels prevailed. I beat no
more, but I took the little beast home, and in due time a fine Zenobia
retusa emerged. But I haven’t forgiven him. He ought to have been
a Purple Emperor.

Mr. Symes and I had a very pleasant day at Hod Hill on 4th June,
where we found Euphydryas aurinia still plentiful. But alas! Lysandra
bellargus has sadly fallen off in numbers during the past three years
and shows no sign of recovering. Other species noted included Hame-
aris lucina (nearly over), Cupido minimus, Deilephila porcellus, Para-
semia plantaginis and Procris geryon.

It is always something of a thrill to make the acquaintance of a
species new to one, and on 10th June Captain R. A. Jackson kindly
invited Mr. Symes and me to visit the Wiltshire haunts of Procris glo-
bulariae, which we did under his guidance. The moth was in fair num-
bers, and flying with it were a few P. geryon. A couple of larvae of
Aporophyla lutulenta were taken at the same time.

During this month I was pleased to find a spot in the New Forest
for Hadena contigua. I took half a dozen from a row of posts. One
moth obliged with eggs, and I now have pupae of the species. The
same posts produced a few H. thalassina. _ Larvae of Drymonia rufi-
cornis were fairly frequently beaten in the New Forest during June,
also a few small Notodonta anceps.

Early in July Mr. Symes and T went to East Kent for a week to ‘ay
for larvae of Minucia lunaris. We found them very scarce. Seven
hours’ very hard work in very hot weather only yielded me half a
dozen larvae, and Mr. Symes had a similar experience. Collecting
generally was poor. Paracolax derivalis was probably the moth most
frequently seen, though by no means abundant. I only saw two Sterrha
emarginata.

A YEAR’S FIELD WORK. 4l

At Sandwich Sterrha ochrata was common, but there was no sign of
Aplusta ononaria. Here Mr. Symes flushed a solitary Hilema pyg-
maeola, A very poor day at Dungeness was only noteworthy for a few
larvae of Hadena albimacula from Silene nutans. Panazxia dominula
was plentiful but ordinary in its ancient haunt at Kingsdown. We
did no night work, and on the whole had a most disappointing week.

Two expeditions with Mr. Symes into the Salisbury area tor Oria
musculosa were badly timed. At the end of July we were too early
and three weeks later too late, each visit producing but one moth.

There was little cause for enthusiasm during August. An evening’s
sugaring in the New Forest with Dr. King produced Catocala sponsa
and CU. promissa. Mr. Symes and JI took larvae of Cucullia tychnitis
sparingly in Dorset, and of C. asteris in fair numbers in Wiltshire.

In September and October Dr. King and I beat larvae of Atolmis
rubricollis. They were fairly common, but like those of E. deplana not
easy to manage, though a few pupae resulted.

Karly in September Mr. Symes and I paid a second visit to East
Kent hoping for a female Catocala fraxin. The evenings were most
unpropitious, with clear skies and a nasty cold wind. Not a sign of
_C. fraxini, the best species at treacle being Aporophyla lutulenta (one)
and a sprinkling of Asphalia diluta. In the daytime a few Colias
croceus were seen, and nearly fullfed larvae of Clostera pigra were
fairly common.

My best collecting of the season was aiter dark on my own premises
at Mudeford. Here I treacled in the garden throughout August and
until 9th November, when the weather became impossible. Cold nor-
therly winds persisted and good nights were few, but I persevered and
at least learnt something of Mudeford’s possibilities. Seventy species
were attracted, of which the most interesting were: Thyatira batis,
one Peridroma porphyrea ab. majuscula (of which Tutt says: ‘‘ This
black form is very uncommon in Britain, and I do not remember hav-
ing seen a specimen of this form’’), Amathes sexstrigata, Triphaena
interjecta (one), Lampra fimbriata (one), Hadena suasa (eggs obtained,
and many pupae resulted), Tholera cespitis (one), Procus literosa,
Aporophyla lutulenta (two), A. nigra (not uncommon), Nonagria dis-
soluta (one), Arenostola phragmitidis (two), Rhizedra lutosa (one), Leu-
cania straminea, DL. l-album (one), Caradrina ambigua (common), some
large well-marked forms of Cirrhia icteritia, Citria lutea (several) and
single specimens of Inthophane socia, L. semibrunnea and Schrankia
costaestrigalis.

To light, an ordinary 100-watt bulb in my sitting-room window on
the first floor, overlooking the garden and Christchurch harbour, about
200 species came during the year. The more interesting of these, in
addition to the above, were: S. fagi, P. gnoma, N. dromedarius, P.
palpina, H. derasa, T. ocularis, C. confusalis, S. revayana, some large
and very brightly coloured forms of the second brood of P. fuliginosa,
C. senex, M. miniata, E. griseola aud ab. flava, C. coryli, A. aceris,
C. muralis, A. ripae, OC. maritima, C. rubricosa, Z. subtusa, J. pygarga,
E. silaceata, E. rubidata, N. obstipata, E. arceuthata and C. lichenaria.

AQ ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

Collecting in South Kent

By S. WAKELY.

The following notes on a fortnight’s holiday on the southern Kent
coast, will, I hope, be of interest. Canon T. G. Edwards made the
necessary arrangements and we stayed at a very pleasant house on the
outskirts of Dymchurch within a few minutes walk of the sea, arriving
there on the 28th June. It was a new locality for both of us, and a
happy choice, in every way.

The weather was perfect, and conditions seemed ideal for trying out
the Canon’s special electric light bulb, so a flex was run out into the
garden and the bulb suspended a few feet over a white sheet. We used
the light almost every evening during our stay and from about 11 p.m.
insects of various orders came in a steady stream, and our captures
included many rare and unexpected visitors. The wall of the house
being of grey concrete, this often attracted more insects than the sheet,
and the spectacle of scores of insects settled on this wall from ground
level to the eaves will never be forgotten. Of course, most of the insects
were common species, but even these, in many instances, were in such
fresh condition and covered such a range of variation that one was
tempted to box them. Malacosoma neustria L., for instance, varied
from pale straw to dark chocolate brown, and Biston betularia L. was
represented by the peppered, dark, and intermediate forms.

Some nights were certainly more productive than others, but every
night produced some species we had not seen previously. I suppose the
appearance of Tethea. ocularis L. was one of the first thrills, especially
when two very dark ones were taken. Our total bag of this species was
15, all of which were taken the first week. Being on the Romney
Marshes, naturally marsh insects were well represented. Species com-
mon on some nights were often rare or absent on others. Small caddis
flies simply swarmed at times, and Acentropus niveus Ol. was abundant
at the sheet on more than one night. I was particularly interested to
see the fully-winged female form for the first time, together with the
smaller males. An odd capture was a tattered specimen of the banded
form of Angerona prunaria L., which would surely have been more at
home at Ham Street than on the Romney Marshes.

A number of insects attracted by the light found their way indoors
and settled on lampshades, walls, and ceilings. An examination of the
rooms in the morning often revealed species of interest and the first
Nola albula Hb. was found in this way by Canon Edwards a few days
after our arrival. Several others were subsequently taken at light,,
and later we found a spot where it was flying at dusk, enabling us to
net others and bring our total of this species up to 15. Kent records
of albula are not nearly so numerous as from Hampshire, and this was
certainly one of our best captures.

Both Zeuzera pyrina L. and Cossus cossus L. put in an appearance,
the former usually being found on the house wall as far as possible from
the light. A specimen of cossus was seen walking in laborious fashion
over the grass towards the sheet.

A pair of the large water beetle Hydrophilus piceus L. were found
one night on the sheet, and two others came on other nights. One of
these, however, flew off again after a time. Another interesting visitor

COLLECTING IN SOUTH KENT. 43

was the large bug Reduvius personatus L., which was boxed off the house
wall. .

On 5th July we had the pleasure of taking a species new to the
British List. This was Ancylolomia tentaculella Hb. It reminded me
of a large and exaggerated Crambus chrysonuchellus Scop. and had a
wing expanse of about 30mm. (See Entom. Record, 1952, 64, 273-4.)

I have had no experience of light traps, but from noting the behaviour
of moths during this fortnight it seems to me that quite a lot of the
specimens seen would not have entered a trap, even although attracted
to the vicinity, as they often settled on objects some yards from the light.

A curious fact was the number of ‘‘singletons’’ that appeared—
Pheosia tremula Clerck, Leucoma salicis L., Earias chorana L., Eremo-
bia ochroleuca Esp., Hipparchus papilionaria L., etc., to mention just
a few. One would expect to see others of such species during a fort-
night, instead of just single specimens. I was also surprised at the
very few Tineids that were attracted, although the Pyralids and Tor-
trices came freely. As a rule the light was switched off about 1 a.m.,
although on one occasion it was kept on till 2 a.m., with newly-arrived
species being noted even up to that time. Some individuals noted one
night were observed again the following night, but this was the excep-
tion rather than the rule as far as my observation went.

Hawkmoths appeared most nights; but never in numbers. One
Deilephila elpenor L. used to alight on its back and stay still for an hour
or more in this position. Drinkers and Lappets were not infrequent,
and used to give us hefty knocks when boxing insects of interest under

the light.

The following is a far from complete list of species taken at lig
and will give an idea of the numbers seen :—

Laothoe populi L.
Smerinthus ocellata L.
Sphinx ligustri L.
Deilephila elpenor L.
Pheosia tremula Clerck (1)
Pterostoma palpina L. (2)
Phalera bucephala IL.
Tethea ocularis L. (15)
Euproctis .chrysorrhoea Hb.
(common)
Leucoma salicis L. (1)
Malacosoma neustria L.
Philudoria potatoria L.
Gastropacha quercifolia L.
Nola cucullatella L. (8).
Nola albula Hb.
Earias clorana L. (1)
Sarrothripus revayana Scop. (1)
Spilosoma urticae Esp. (4)
Eilema griseola. Hb. (2)
Cryphia muralis Forst. (8)
Agrotis clavis Hufn.
Bombycia viminalis F. (1)
Eremobia ochroleuca Esp. (1)

Lygris pyraliata Schiff. (1)
Cidaria fulvata Forst. (1)
Plemyria bicolorata Hufn. (2)
Melanthia procellata F. (1)
Eupithecia succenturiata L. (1)
Eupithecia fraximata Crewe (2)
Chloroclystis coronata Hb. (4)
Chloroclystis rectangulata L.
Angerona prunaria L. (1)
Semiothisa liturata Clerck (1)
Biston betularia L.
Schoenobius gigantellus Schiff.
Schoenobius forficellus Thunb.
Acentropus niveus Ol.

Anania nubilalis Hb. (2)
Loxostege palealis Schiff. (1)
Pempelia dilutella Hb. (1)
Dioryctria formosa Haw. (8)
Phycita betulae Goeze (1)
Phycita spissicella F. (1)
Homoeosoma binaevella Hb. (1)
Euzophera pinguis Haw. (1)
Acrobasis tumidella Zinck. (6).
Chilo phragmitellus Hb.

i4 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

Apamea ypsilon. Borkh. (6) Ancylolomia tentaculella Hb. (1)
Arenostola phragmitidis Hb. (8) Zeuzera pyrina L. (4)

Leucania straminea Treits. (2) Cossus cossus L. (2)

Laphygma exigua Hb. (2) Phalonia hybridella. Hb. (4)

_ Cosmia pyralina View. (6) Peronea potentillana Cooke (6)
Heliothis peltigera Schiff (2) Polychrosis fuligana Schiff. (1)
Acontia luctuosa Esp. (1) Argyroploce purpurana Haw. (1)
Jaspidia pygarga Hufn. (1) Argyroploce bifasciana Haw. (1)
Plusia iota L. (1) Eucosma citrana Hb. (1)
Abrostola tripartita Hufn. (5) Eucosma expallidana Haw. (2)
Laspeyria flexula Schiff (8) Aristotelia lucidella Steph. (1)

Hipparchus papilionaria L. (1) Gelechia suppeliella Wals. (1)
Hemistola immaculata Thunb. (1) Coleophora spissicornis aioe (1)
Lygris mellinata F. (1)

Other orders noted at light were:—Coleoptera—Hydrophilus piceus
L. (4) and Serica brunnea L. (1). Diptera—Microchrysa polita L.
(common), Chloromyia formosa Scop., and Melanostoma scalare F. It
is regrettable we were unable to identify and record all the species seen.

Species taken at Dymchurch otherwise than at light were Comacla

senex Hb., Scopula emutaria Hb., and Witlesia pallida Schiff. S.
emutaria was locally common and ova obtained with no trouble. The
larvae fed on knotgrass and chickweed. A nice series of moths emerged
during September, but about half the larvae decided to hibernate. Two
Depressaria larvae feeding on flowers of the local. plant Ginanthe silai-

fola produced the common heracliana Deg., much to my disappoint-
ment.

Visits to Ham Street Woods produced larvae of Minucia lunaris
Schiff. (2) and Colobochyla salicalis Schiff. (2), as well as a fine series of
Paracolax derivalis Hb. M. lunaris larvae were scarce whereas the pre-
vious year they had been quite common according to reports. The local
Ypsolophus lucellus F. was often disturbed from the young oak growths,
but I was able to net only one of these. One specimen of Aplasta
ononaria Fuessl. was taken at Folkestone Warren on the 30th June; and
a nice series of Arenostola morrisii Dale taken on the 5th July at its
Folkestone locality at dusk. The latter species is still locally common
in a busy thoroughfare in the town. I¢ flies freely from early dusk
onwards and what with the curiosity of passers-by and the necessity of
dodging motor-cars, collecting this species is a never-to-be-forgotten
experience.

Several visits were paid to Dungeness and district, where we took
the following species : —

Mesotype virgata Roth.; Synaphe angustalis Schiff. (very common);
Hemimene politana Hb. (a single specimen without the yellow median
dorsal blotch), Mniophaga basaltinella Zell., Gelechia diffinis Haw.; G.
suppeliella Wals. (very common among sorrel, but had to be smoked out
with help of bee-smoker); Anarsia spartiella Schrank, Depressaria badi-
ella Hb., and Leucoptera spartifoliella Hb. (all three smoked out of low
growths of broom); Ethmia terminella Fletcher and EH. bipunctella F.
(at rest on fence posts); and Coleophora otitae Zell. (larvae cases in
plenty on Silene nutans). It was pleasing to see both Ethmia terminella
and E. bipunctella still persisting in this district. The seedheads of

i |

INVERNESS-SHIRE IN 1952. 45

Silene nutans showed signs of being eaten, but larvae found proved to be
only the common Hadena lepida Esp. (carpophaga Borkh.).

Ova were obtained of Spilosoma urticae Esp. and Eupithecia fraxin-
ata Crewe and the resulting larvae reared to the pupal stage with no
difficulty on our return.

Inverness-shire in 1952
By Commander G. W. Harper, R.N.

My first full year of residence in the Highlands has been full of
interest to me and the following notes are a few of the salient features.

January ushered in the year with the worst gale, 100 m.p.h. in
places, I have ever known ashore; damage to woods and forests was
considerable. This was followed by six weeks of snow in deep drifts
and hard continuous frost. Thaw came at last on the 15th February,
and before the snow had left the lower ground the first Phigalia pedaria
Fab. appeared at a lighted window, followed by Hrannis leucophaearia
Schf. on the 23rd.

The first week of March saw the first plovers, oyster-catchers and
curlews arrive, presaging an early season, which duly materialized and
encouraged me to start my home-made m.yv. light-trap in my garden,
which contains plenty of birch and sallow. This resulted in Achlya
flavicornis L. and Orthosia incerta Hufn. on the 12th March; Colo-
stygia multistrigaria Haw. appeared the next day, closely followed by
all the common hibernating moths and other ‘ Quakers.’ We were
spared the English blizzard at the end of the month, though some snow
and light frost reduced lepidopterous activity until early April.

On 3rd April the birch woods yielded the first Brachionycha nube-
culosa Esp., and Brephos parthenias L. was flying in the sunshine.
Larvae of Polia tincta Brahm and Eurois occulta L. at this date were
common on bog-myrtle after dark, but were still small. At Struan
on 5th April Poecilopsis lapponaria Bdv. was common on fences, where
Cleora cinctaria Schf. appeared on rocky hillsides on the 29th, but had
probably been out a few days. On 21st April the first Odontosia car-
melita. Esp. appeared in my light-trap—a great thrill and a very early
date, although the main emergence did not occur until 5th May, when
the males came to my portable m.v. lamp in a certain wood in large
numbers. This excellent modern invention is an invaluable addition
to one’s equipment and enables one to sample the insects of different
habitats at will.

May was a sunny and warm month; butterflies appeared in con-
siderable numbers, especially Callophrys rubi L. and Pieris napi L. on
Ist May, Argynnis euphrosyne L. on 15th, A. selene Schf. and Cartero-
cephalus palaemon Pall. well out on the 23rd, the males being a little
worn. All the usual spring moths too were in good evidence, nearly
all appearing several days earlier than I expected. A very pleasing
discovery was Selenia lunaria Schf., an insect that I had never seen
alive before; it was not, however, at all common as was its close rela-
tive S. tetralunaria Hufn., which swarmed to the m.v. light.

A very cold spell, with snow and frost, ended the month and lasted
well into June. Scottish moths must be well adapted to the climate,
however, for all species continued to appear early, such as Perizome

46 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

albulata Schf. and Venusia cambrica Curt. on 15th June, Aricia agestis
Schf. race artaxerxes Fab. on the 20th, Odezia atrata L. on 21st; and
many Agrotids, such as Polia tincta Brahm, Anaplectoides prasina
Schf. and Eurois occulta L. were welcome visitors to sugar and light
_ before the end of the month.

July was a cool and cloudy month, but one sunny day, the 4th,
showed Erebia epiphron Knoch to be fully out but rather scarce on its
breeding ground in the hills. #. aethiops Esp. appeared very early, -
both sexes flying together on 17th July. Plusia pulchrina Haw., P.
chrysitis L., and P. bractea Schf. were abundant at flowers and m.v.
hght, but P. gamma lL. and P. interrogationis L. were scarcer than
usual, while the most interesting, because unexpected, absentee was
Apamea exulis Lef. race assimilis Dbld. In 1951 I had obtained a
number of this last species without the use of m.v. light; this year
neither light nor sugar was of any avail. Autumn comes early in the
Highlands, especially in an early season such as this, and the first
Celaena haworthiu Curt. on 24th July, closely followed on the 29th
by Diarsia dahlii Hub. and Euxoa mgricans L., was a clear indication
of this.

August was a rather wet cold month, and autumn advanced apace.
Amathes depuncta L.. appeared on the 2nd and was common through-
out the month, while the genus Hydraecia spp. started on the Sth, all
four species, oculea L., pakudis Tutt, lucens Freyer and crinanensis Bur-
rows having been very kindly determined for me by Mr. W. H. T.
Tams of the British Museum as occurring among my local captures.
The beautiful Scottish form of Celaena leucostigma Hub. also appeared
but not commonly. Aporophyla lutulenta Schf. was taken on 9th
August, followed by A. nigra Haw. on the 16th, this species soon be-
coming exceedingly common, while other common species were Ancho-
scelis helvola L. on 25th and A. litura L.. on the 30th.

September was colder but drier than August; by the 12th Dryobo-
todes protea Schf. and Griposia aprilina L.. were common amongst the
oaks, and the autumnal Geometers were abundant by the middle of
the month, while Agrochola lota Cl., A. macilenta Hub., Dasypolia
templi Thun. and Allophyes oxyacanthae L. all appeared in the last
week to herald the end of the season. This was truly reached by the
emergence of large numbers of Poecilocampa populi L. accompanied
by Colotois pennaria L., Erannis defoliaria Cl., HE. aurantiaria Hub.
and Oporinia autumnata Bork. by 15th October.

Thus ended a most interesting season.

Neadaich, Newtonmore.

Seasonal Change
By Paut H. Hottoway, F.R.E.S.

A visit to the woods in winter is often productive, the presence of
Erannis defoliaria and E. aurantiaria sometimes being detected by the
extrusion of a wing-tip from under the leaf of a low-growing plant.
According to my observations the best month for both species is Janu-
ary, contrary to most text-book records. Walking through the woods
on a mild January evening with a mantle-lamp invariably attracts

SEASONAL CHANGE, 47

scores of gd defoliaria, while a close scrutiny by day of lichen-covered
oaks will normally reveal a few 22. From October to the end of the
year they appear frequently, here in Hampshire, but never in great
numbers. EE. aurantiaria is, of course, much more uncertain in ap-
pearance. It seems surprising that comparatively little interest exists
in defoliaria, for surely no other Geometer is more variable and at a
time when so few species are in the adult stage we can give it full at-
tention. I remember, a few years ago, walking through the long ride
in Park Hills on a January morning. Numerous wings of defoliaria
were scattered along my path, the bodies obviously having been con-
sumed by entomophagous birds, probably robins and titmice.

In the deeper crevices of the bark of conifers Graptolitha ornitopus
hibernates; Erannis leucophaearia is common enough with an occa-
sional black ab. merularia.

But apart from the specimens we find it is so pleasant to ruminate
on the past season, to recapture the vision of butterfiies in green glades,
to look across the waste land on the border sloping to the valley, a
brown slope of dried stalks of willow-herb where in the full bloom of
summer we searched for larvae of Deilephila elpenor in the heat of late
afternoon. And we found them, not in that vast magenta sea, but on
a few isolated plants at the far end of the valley, shaded by scattered
trees. From late summer onwards we witnessed the gradual macro-
cosmic change from the deep serenity of sweetly-clad woodland to the
bleak and storm-scarred winter scene. The high winds and heavy rain
of late September suggested rapid devastation, yet brighter days fol-
lowed.

On 5th October the gentle warmth of the morning mingled with a
touch of the exhilaration of winter. - High cirrus formations hung
beneath a sky of softest blue, and the butterflies took delight in this
day borrowed from summer. Over the fading asters in the garden
Aglais urticae searched unceasingly; Vanessa atalanta and Polygona
c-album visited the orchard and Gonepteryx rhamnit seemed content
with golden-rod. A few Oporinia dilutata made their first appearance
in the woods. ;

By the end of the month the border of the woods had become a
panorama of multi-coloured luxuriance beneath the erratic horizon of
tree-tops. Daily the Hymenoptera and Diptera covered the ivy
bloom; the moths were there on each mild night in profusion, Opistho-
graptis luteolata being a new-comer this year. It seems strange that
the Noctuidae so quickly yield to the intoxicating influence of the
bloom, while I have yet to see an inebriated Geometer !

Until the recent innovation of street lamps in my village the
brightest lights in the square were in the ‘‘ Keep Left ”’ signs.
Throughout each winter they provided a source of useful collecting
on mild nights, my obscure movements arousing some curiosity among
rustic onlookers. Episema caeruleocephala, Brachionycha sphinx and
Poecilocampa populi were followed by all the early Selidosemidae. The
appearance of a 9 E. defoliaria on one of these signs caused a. certain
amount of conjecture. Did she walk there from the trunk of an ad-
jagent oak, and was the brilliance or the presence of So the attrac-
tion? And if she was repelled or dazzled by the light was she rendered

48 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

incapable of escape, the outer darkness being impenetrable? (As an
afterthought, has anyone actually seen a ¢ and wingless 9 flying in
cop., which could account for her presence?)

Many grey dawns will yet unfold until spring meets winter, the
. depressing odour of vegetable decay still hangs, yet the wild, exciting
notes of the song thrush already ring clear and strong again on mild,
drizzly mornings. Throughout the dark months there is interesting
field work to be done when suitable weather prevails (and especially
for the Coleopterist), and with the arrival of spring how satisfying it
is to look back upon the success of an active entomological winter.

Current Notes

A pleasant note comes to us from Captain K. J. Haywarp in Argen-
tina. ‘‘ My congratulations on the Record,’’? he writes, ‘‘which goes
from strength to strength. It brings back for a moment happy memories
of English woods and lanes. The not at all infrequent, or shall I say
far too frequent, turning up of new species, sometimes several in the
course of a short trip, has never (after my first) given me the same
thrill as the first tortoiseshell in spring or the orange-tips that heralded
the beginning of another season. I got the same kick out of seeing
them again in the first spring days of 1949 after an absence from Eng-
land of 25 years.’’ Truly the entomologist has joys which are unknown
to other men.

The past year seems to have been notable for second broods of several
species which normally are single-brooded. Our pages during 1952 con-
tained notices of this phenomenon in Anthocharis cardamines L. (p. 288),
Tethea or Schf. (p. 288), Sphinz ligustri L. (p. 324), Apatura iris L.
(p. 347) and Gastropacha quercifolia L. (p. 347). To this list the late
Dr. K. G. Blair has added, in the current issue of Ent. mon. Mag.
(January 1953, p. 16) Notodonta ziczac L., and third broods of Pheosia
tremula Cl. and Ectropis bistortata Goze. But the year cannot compare
with that annus mirabilis 1893 so far as second broods are concerned.

Under the heading Field Notes in our issue of last October (p. 285)
our contributor remarked ‘‘What a paradox it is that the petrol engine
should have so restricted our fields of activity. In the days when one
rode about the country on horseback or bicycle more original field work
of the right kind was done than has ever been done since.’’ Is it too
much to hope that some of our younger readers who are not wedded
to a cabinet will mount a bicycle on their holidays this summer and
explore some of the 2,500 square miles of central and south-central Wales
which have never yet been trodden by the foot of entomologist? There
are Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera—all
the Orders of the Class Insecta, to be had in that rich (entomologically)
limestone region. Except for the macrolepidoptera the county of Mont-
gomerv (800 sq. miles) is almost entirely unworked, and its wooded valleys
are rich in micros—and Coleoptera and Diptera. Criorrhina ranunculi
Pz. is one of ‘good things’ we have taken there.

We do wish we had more orthopterists among our contributors. The
British species of the Order Orthoptera are not particularly numerous
and it is something of a reproach to us entomologists that so many parts

FIELD NOTES. 49

of the British islands are still terra incognita so far as Orthoptera are
concerned. Dr. Burr’s admirable handbook British Grasshoppers and
their Allies is within reach of the most modest purses, and the distribu-
tion maps in that volume show at a glance the counties in which field
work still remains to be done. The sub-title of the book is A Stimulus
to their Study. The stimulus is still needed: it is ridiculous to suggest
that there are no Orthoptera at all in the counties of Denbigh, Mont-
gomery, Radnor and Carmarthen, not to mention Shropshire; yet vir-
tually none has been recorded therefrom.

Field Notes

During the coming season will those lepidopterists who live in dis-
tricts where wild raspberry is common bear in mind the possibility that
the Clearwing Bembecia hylaciformis Laspeyres may be a British species?
It is widespread in France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Norway,
ranging right up to the Arctic Circle and might well inhabit our island.
It is a handsome species, about the same size as Synanthedon culicifor-
mis, the abdomen black with three rather broad yellow rings.

The larva feeds in the roots of Rubus idaeus and does well on garden
raspberry—the cultivated kind is said to yield larger imagines. The
life cycle is one-year, and in June the larva makes its way into a dead
stem of the previous year’s growth, where it pupates. The dead stems
are easily broken off, so that the pupae are not difficult to find. The
imago flies by day (not, Dr. Hoffmeyer says, by night as most of the
books assert) and is on the wing from July to the end of August.

It is unlikely that Synanthedon conopiformis Esper, a Western
European clearwing that ranges from Brittany to Belgium, would have
escaped notice had it been a British species. But since nowadays so
many species of Lepidoptera are extending their range on the Continent
it might be as well to bear this insect in mind. The larva lives in the
trunks of ancient cankered ocaks—even in dead trees—forming galleries
in the cankerous excrescences. Lhomme records that it has also been
found in the stems of mistletoe, close to the base of the plant. The life
cycle is a two-year one.

Another Breton clearwing is Dipsosphaecia uroceriformis. Treitschke,
which feeds in the woody stems of gorse and might also be looked for
in our south-western seaboard counties. Most of the clearwings fly so
rapidly, and resemble Diptera and Hymenoptera so strongly, that they
often escape notice, and it would be rash to assume no further additions
from this Family will be made to the British list. Indeed it is matter
for surprise that only one species—Aegeria flaviventris Std.—should
have been added to the list of our fauna for more than a century.

Has anybody tried sugaring for the Clearwings? Most of the species
seem to emerge about 8 o’clock in the morning, which is rather early
to go sugaring, and only a few have been noticed feeding at flowers. But
several observers in several countries have mentioned the flowers of wild
thyme as being attractive to these moths; so perhaps a few dabs of honey
laced with essence of wild thyme on foliage in known or suspected haunts
might prove profitable. Verbum sap.

50 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hueeins.

Solenobia inconspicuella Stainton. The cases of this moth may be
‘collected on lichen-covered tree-trunks, fences, etc., at the beginning
of March. I have found it somewhat local but it is usually fairly common
where it occurs. As in early years the moth emerges at the end of March
or beginning of April the cases should be taken at the very beginning
of the month or in late February if possible.

Senuoscopus avellanella Hiib. is on the wing at the beginning of
March. It may be found by searching birch trunks, but as it is very
strongly attracted to light probably few people to-day will adopt the
more laborious method. It seems to be universally distributed but to
prefer old woods that have not been much replanted.

Acrobasis tumidana Schiff. When writing my notes for November
I was unaware that Barrett’s rubrotibiella had been referred to
Trachonistis cristella Hiib., as I now see in Dr. Beirne’s book. When '
I saw this moth at South Kensington in 1936 I did not examine it
closely, I merely noticed it when working on the abietella group and
did not wish to trouble anyone to remove the glass so that I could seru-
tinise the raised scaling, the important point with these insects. Ap-
parently its origin has been suspected, but Barrett was himself of a
sceptical disposition and not very likely to be deceived and if a moth
has to land from the Continent a salt marsh seems as good as any-
where else. A few years ago I took Pseudoips bicolorana Fuess. (prasi-
nana L.) at sugar on a post in a saltmarsh half a mile from the nearest
oak; it must have been blown there when newly emerged as it was quite
perfect.

Euzophera ceratoniae Zell. is one of my headaches. My sole
acquaintance with it alive was on 8th July 1933 when I found a very
large perfect female sitting on the window of my flat in the London
Road, Westcliff-on-Sea. I presumed it had come in with dates or other
dried fruit as a larva, but I see Ford (Gwide to the Smaller British
Lepidoptera) says it can only live on green dates, etc. Unless there-
fore the caterpillar had spun in the corner of a date box before im-
portation and been undetected when I opened it the origin of this
moth seems a bit mysterious. On the other hand my late friend B. A.
Bower, who was for many years a dried fruit merchant in London, told
me that ceratoniae only appeared in his warehouse in one year, when
it came in quantity with an infected parcel of almonds and he regarded
it as a non-hardy dried fruit eater. One would expect, if the larva
is a stowaway at date-packing centres, that a few would have arrived
at Bower’s every year and not several hundred once only.

What is the difference between pryerella Vaughan and phoenicis
Durrant? When Mr. Jacobs showed me his specimens of phoenicis I
at once referred them to pryerella, of which I saw a specimen years
ago, I believe in the late Dr. Horley’s collection, and of which there

PRACTICAL HINTS. 51

is a figure in Leech. [I supposed, however, that although there was,
so far as I could see, little or no superficial difference there must be
some structural one. Now, however, that phoenicis is definitely re-
ferred to ceratoniae the name seems to Me a synonym of pryerella.

Practical Hints

Those who have now brought cocoons of Saturnia pavonia into a
warm room should be careful to prevent the temperature falling below
50° F. if there is a sudden severe frost. A fall in temperature when
being forced slows down vitality and thus weakens the moths, so that
they are unable to force their way through the ‘ neck ’ of the cocoon,
or if they do so they are unable to expand all their wings fully. The
temperature should not exceed 55° F. for the first fortnight after the
cocoons have been brought indoors. At the end of that time the pupae
will start to ‘rattle,’ which continues usually for only two or three
days. As soon as they have become silent again the temperature should
be raised to 60° F., and the moths will start to emerge in about a
week.

During this month inspect the butts of sallow saplings which have
been cut by ‘ hedgers and ditchers’ for poles and are still lying on the
ground. Quite often the burrows of Sphecia bembeciformis will be
seen. Sometimes there are three or even four burrows in a 3-inch pole,
each large enough to admit the tip of a ring finger. If these poles are
left lying and inspected again in a few days’ time it will be seen that
the larvae within them have stopped up the mouths of the burrows with
chewed wood. The larvae usually pupate at the beginning of June.

Should strong March winds have dried the ground in open wooded
country before the next issue of this magazine appears lose no oppor-
tunity to employ the moss-pick at the roots of old oaks. The winds
will have stuffed the crannies right under the trunks with oak leaves
and if these are gently pulled out and examined one is almost sure
to find the boat-shaped cocoons of Bena fagana Fab. on the underside
of dead leaves. Further careful raking of the surface soil in these
crannies will most likely (for it is a widespread moth and not at all
uncommon) produce the soft, black, oval, silk cocoon, camouflaged with
crumbs of earth, of Drymonia dodonaea (trimacula). These cocoons are
very easily overlooked—and very easily damaged. If you have never
found one before, squeeze the suspected object very gently, when you
will Gf your luck is in) feel the pupa inside.

When digging and grubbing at the roots of old oaks during the
first week of March, if it is an ‘ early ’ year always scrutinise the
eastern half-circle of the trunk, from ground to a foot up. Often one
finds in this way nice specimens of the Orthosia genus which have just
emerged from the pupa.

If you have stored pupae of Achlya flavicornis (and other early
species) in tins in a cellar lose no time at all in removing them thence
into a pupa-cage. In confinement, even when kept in a low tempera-

52 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

ture throughout the winter, A. flavicornis sometimes emerges in mid-
February. The Orthosia genus also emerge unduly early in some
years, particularly O. miniosa.

Those who want to breed Graptolitha ornitopus should keep an eye
‘on oak trunks from now onwards. Female moths collected from trunks
in early March will usually lay their eggs freely if put into a laying-
cage and fed. The larvae are not cannibals, but they are tetchy, re-
senting disturbance whether by lepidopterist or their own kith and kin.
Tf too many are kept in the same cage they fight vigorously among
themselves and when nearing full growth often bear honourable scars.

Notes and Observations

PLATYPTILIA RHODODACTYLA ScHIFF. IN Mippiesex.—In Professor
Bryan P. Beirne’s book British Pyralid and Plume Moths (1952, p. 165)
Platyptilia (Eucnemidophorus) rhododactyla Schiff. is stated to have
‘formerly occurred in a number of places in Kent, Surrey, Middlesex

. . where it has since become extinct.’’ It is of interest therefore
to record the occurrence of this moth in a garden near Ruislip on 18th
July 1952 where it was resting beneath a light—W. E. Mrnnton, 40
Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middlesex. 23.xi1.52.

LITHOPHANE SEMIBRUNNEA Haw. IN BourNnEMovuTH.—On 7th Novem-
ber 1952 I was surprised to find a Lithophane semibrunnea just inside
the window of a small shed in my garden. A few specimens of this moth
have been taken recently at sugar by the Rev. F. M. B. Carr and Dr. H.
King in the eastern, western and northern outskirts of this large built-
up area, but I hardly expected to come across one in the centre of
Bournemouth. Ash is almost non-existent in the district, and I am
inclined to think that the larvae may have fed on Privet, which is
extremely abundant. —H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth.
15.3 >: UY

XYLOMIGES CONSPICILLARIS L. oN Docx.—I was very interested to
learn that with the coming of the m.v. trap X. conspicillaris has been
found to be, apparently, a ‘commoner’. I do not possess one of these
traps so cannot say what the situation is in this neighbourhood. At my
last vicarage (Hentland, Ross-on-Wye) I had a small uncultivated field.
This had a fine crop of docks in it, and on 13th May 1949 I took an
ovipositing female which had laid 100 eggs. The following year I again
took ovipositing females—one on 12th May and another on the 14th.
In addition I found two further batches of eggs. In all instances these
eggs were on the flower-stems of the dock at about 3 ft. 6 in. from the
ground The interesting point is that a circle of perhaps 6 yards radius
would have covered all the finds of 1949-1950. Incidentally, when freshly
laid the eggs can be seen yards away on the red-brown stems. At no
other point in the field (approximately 120 x 25 yards) did I find any
eggs.—R. Bennett Stsson, Moccas Rectory, Hereford. 9.xii.52. ;

MACROGLOSSUM STELLATARUM L. In 1952.—M. stellatarum was fairly
‘common on the red valerian on Brading Down, Is. of Wight, in early

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, 53

June 1952. I saw half a dozen specimens at once. I also noted four
specimens in the Bishop’s Stortford College rock gardens in July and
August, but have not the exact dates. I saw several on 26th and 27th
August flying at 10,000 feet on the southern slope of the Gorner Grat
tacing Monte Rosa and on the lower slopes of the Matterhorn this year
(1952). A few were flying high on the Mettelhorn a day or two later.
It was a fine sunny week and the insect was obviously on the move. In
the Isle of Wight the stellatarum were in the company of a considerable
number of Vanessa cardui L., and the same insect was flying with it in
Switzerland at a high altitude.—CuHarites Meritows, Helmdon, Maze
Green Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 21.x1i.52.

SEcoND Broop oF GASTROPACHA QUERCIFOLIA L.—I was much in-
terested in Mr. F. W. Byers’ account (Ent. Rec., 64: 347) of his obtain-
ing four specimens of a second brood of this species. In 1933, a very hot
summer, Mr. W. L. Rudland of Reading obtained a second brood of G.
quercifolia, which he reared from the egg. On 7th October he gave me
six pupae of this brood, two of which I gave to the late Claude Rippon.
All these pupae produced moths. Mine (one gd, three 9 9) emerged on
llth and 13th October. As Mr. Byers says, they are very much smaller
than normal specimens. The females are not quite as large as an aver-
age male, and the male is correspondingly smaller. Rippon had never
come across this second brood before, and when I mentioned the subject ©
to the late L. W. Newman he said he had never heard of its occurrence.

Since then I have made several attempts to obtain the second brood,
but without success. I have more than once bred early moths which
laid eggs in June, five or six weeks earlier than those from which Mr.
Byers reared his brood; but the larvae have never fed up at all rapidly.
I have sometimes thought that this was due to the fact that the Augusts
and Septembers when I was keeping these larvae have always been cold
and wet, but that was the case this year too.—H. Symes, 52 Lowther
Road, Bournemouth. 15.xii.52.

OVIPOSITION OF ODONTOSIA CARMELITA EsPpeER.—On 6th May 1945 I was
beating birch in some woods on the outskirts of Beaconsfield, Bucks.,
and found a single egg lying loose amongst the debris at the bottom
of the tray. It was the usual Notodont shape, and reference to ‘South’
suggested that it was O. carmelita. I was sceptical and wrote it down
as N. dromedarius. It was not until six weeks later that I was sure,
from the appearance of the larva, that it was indeed O. carmelita.

The larva pupated on 2nd July and about three weeks later I was
posted to the Far East. A female emerged on 20th May 1946 but was
hopelessly crippled. It was brought out to me when my wife joined me
at Rangoon in October and it was quite unrecognizable. Sadly I con-
signed it to the dust-bin. Although the wings had failed to develop the
moth laid a number of eggs in the cage—infertile of course.

This egg came from a low bushy birch well inside a thickly overgrown
part of the woods. Looking back, it seems to have been a most unlikely
place in which to find larvae and I cannot imagine what made me go
there. Since then I have been forced to give up the collecting of moths
so have not tried for carmelita again. During the past year or two
this part of the woods has been cleared for building. Fortunately the
woods cover a wide area and there is every chance that the species will

54 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 65. 15/11/1953

survive.—Major W. A. C. Carrer, R.A., Briarfields, Sandels Way,
Beaconsfield, Bucks. 22.xii.52.

EMERGENCE OF AMATHES ALPICOLA ZeTt.—When reading of the cap-
ture of larvae or pupae or imagines of A. alpicola (hyperborea) I notice
‘it is always stated that the perfect insect is obtained in the years of even
numbers, e.g. 1950, 1952, etc. I should like to hear whether any corre-
spondents of the Record have knowledge of, or have taken, the imago
in the years of odd numbers. My knowledge of the insect is almost nil,
but I imagine that a certain percentage emerges in the odd years, say
between 5% and 15%. The life cycle according to all accounts is a two-
year one, nevertheless I presume that the life cycle is not so constant
that no larvae feed up irregularly or lie over in pupa for another year
and so cause an emergence in an odd year.—C. Craururp, Denny, Cal-
loway Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 6.xii.52.

[South, Moths of the British Isles, vol. I, p. 215, says the first British
specimen was caught in 1939. J. W. Douglas, the captor (Entomologist,
1840-41, 1, 105) says he took it in August 1838. I do not think there is
an authentic record of a pupa or moth in an odd year.—Ep. |

Srconp Broop or APATURA IRIS Linn.—In the Hntomologist of 1894
(vol. 27, p. 61) C. H. Watson records rearing a single second brood
specimen of A. iris in 1893. ‘‘Whilst searching for the larvae in the New
Forest during the week ending August 9th’’, he wrote, ‘‘I found four
specimens of A. iris. They were all in the second stage, and of course
quite a month in advance of the usual time.’’ These larvae were sleeved
on sallow at Streatham, London, S.W., and only one was reared, having
been brought indoors on 7th October. It pupated on 17th October, and
on 6th November the pupa was brought into the ‘‘the warmer atmos-
phere of the kitchen’’. A female imago, crippled, emerged on 9th
November.—Ep.

THERA JUNIPERATA L. IN SurrRey.—AIl through this autumn the
weather has been such that few moths have been bold enough to fly.
The evening of lst November, however, was as mild as could be wished,
and Mr. Geoffrey Cole undertook to show me the spot where, two nights
before, he had taken Thera juniperata in somewhat arctic conditions.
We parked the car in a lane near Abinger, slithered almost ankle-deep
through half-liquid mud along a cart track, and eventually came out
on the open downland, part of the ridge which runs along to Ranmore
Common. There were plenty of juniper bushes, and I boxed the first
specimen of juniperata at 5.15 p.m. No more were seen for twenty
minutes or so, and they clearly do not normally come up so early (sunset
was at 4.34). From about six o’clock they were fairly common, some-
times three or four on a small bush, but rarely on a large one, and
several had barely dried their wings. In spite of the warmth the males
were very loth to make even short flights, and the females clung so
tightly to their foothold that it was sometimes quite hard to pry them
loose. Juniper is plentiful in many places along these downs, but
juniperata seems to be local. From all reports it does not like Box Hill
now any more than it did 75 years ago; I have a manuscript record book
compiled by Charles Fenn in which he notes: ‘1887, Oct. 27, Box Hill,
searce’’.—J. O. T. Howarp, 11 Grafton Street, London, W.1. 5.xii.52.,

ee ee ee oe ee

it i a

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, 55

EXPERIMENTS ON THE COLOURATION oF INsEcTS.—Dr. Saadet Ergene
is industriously continuing her experiments on the colours of insects,
several of which were described briefly in Ent. Rec., 64, 353. In two
short papers in the Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Physiologie, Bd., 34,
pp. 159-165 (1952), she shows that the diversity of colouration in Oedi-
poda is not genetic. Experimenting with 74 larvae, representing four
types of colouration, all adapted their colouration to the background
after moulting.

In experiments with the larvae of Acrida turrita by blinding them
by painting their eyes with opaque lacquer, she came to the conclusion
that the integument is capable of direct reaction to the colouration of
the environment, independently of the eyes, in the case of red, orange,
yellow and violet specimens. With yellow larvae on green ground, the
yellow colour was retained after moulting, so that it appears that in this
case the eyes play the important part. Green larvae with lacquered
eyes placed on green background, after a corresponding period, turned
yellow, and so it appears that the eyes play the important part in the
case of green larvae.—M. B. 23.xi.52.

-Brrps AND ButtEerFiies.—Notes on birds pursuing Lepidoptera have
appeared from time to time and possibly the following may be of some
interest. This last summer I have been able to watch closely and for
considerable periods the habits of the Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa
grisola lL. A brood of two only was reared in a nest against a stone
wall, hidden by a climbing rose. The fledgling is so unlike both parents
in colour and markings that I was amazed how soon the young bird
acquired the adult plumage. It was seldom that I knew for certain
whether I was watching parent or offspring. I mention this as I had
wanted to note if the conduct of the young fledgling was the same as
that of the experienced parent in so far as recognition of warning
colouration and markings is concerned. This problem presented itself
when a Nymphalis io pitched well in the open on a mown grass lawn
with its wings fully extended in the sun. One can imagine few things
more conspicuous. Within a few seconds a Flycatcher flew from a low
branch and though I heard the click of the béak as the bird snapped at
the insect, it failed to pick it up. The insect did not fly, but closed its
wings over its back, remaining motionless. Meanwhile the bird rose
to make an aerial loop and descended on the insect a second time, flying
off with it out of my sight. I was unable subsequently to find any trace
of it on the ground. I have not seen io attacked thus before. Was this
the act of a young inexperienced bird? -Ealand in his remarks on warn-
ing colours states: —‘‘The young predator soon learns by experience to
avoid such bedecked individuals.’? Does instinct require to be rein-
forced by experience before being of use to the individual? Not many
days later I saw an Aglais urticae with unmistakable beak marks on a
hindwing. Instances of other Lepidoptera being taken on the wing this
year by the Flycatcher in this garden were Pieris rapae (or P. napi),
Pararge aegeria, Maniola tithonus and a Geometer which looked like
Xanthorhoe fluctuata. Attempted but missed was Pararge megera, and
those obviously ignored were Vanessa atalanta, Polygonia c-album and
Polyommatus icarus. The birds have since migrated.—E. Barton
Wuire, St. Merryn, Braunton, N. Devon. 30.x.52.

56 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

[Mr. D. F. Owen, who is an authority on this subject, writes :—

Dr. Barton White’s observations are of considerable value in
view ot the comparatively few records of vertebrates attacking the
larger adult Lepidoptera. It is, however, unlikely that the upperside
of a Nymphalis 10 presents warning coloration of sufficient magnitude
_ to prevent a bird from eating it. The fact that when the butterfly was
attacked it attempted concealment by closing its wings and displaying
the dark underside bears this out. The hesitation during the attack
was almost certainly due to the difficulty experienced by such a small
bird as the Spotted Flycatcher in dealing with a butterfly as large as
this. If the bird was a juvenile, as is suggested, its inexperience would
hinder it in efforts to obtain food, especially when the prey is rather
larger than usual. Mr. D. W. Snow of the Edward Grey Institute of
Field Ornithology has been working on the breeding biology of this bird,
and he informs me that this year he saw an io caught on the wing by
a Spotted Flycatcher. In Sweden Bupulus piniarius L. seems to form
an important item of food for this bird.’’—Ep.

New ABERRATION OF ARGYNNIS EUPHROSYNE L. (Pl. III, Figs. 4, 5).—
Argynnis euphroysne Linnaeus ab. edna ab. nov.

Upperside—forewing—eground colour black; along the termen from
the apex to the inher margin are five tawny orange wedges, each with
an oval black mark in the middle terminating in a point internally;
near the apex between the costa and the most anterior of these are
two smaller tawny orange marks; near the distal end of the cell is a
large oval tawny orange spot with a black central dot; from the distal
end of the cell a narrow tawny orange streak runs outwards almost
reaching the second tawny wedge.

Hindwing—the whole wing is black with the exception of a row of
six iterneural tawny orange streaks, the last between nervures 2 and
3; from 2 to the anal angle and beyond it along the inner margin is a
tawny orange area extending as far towards the base as the tawny
orange streaks; on both fore and hindwing a narrow black border sepa-
rates the tawny orange marks from the fringe. ye

Underside—forewing—the base, costa, inner margin, and the broad
marginal area are straw yellow; the rest of the wing, the central part,
is black with tawny orange nervures. Hindwing—the ground colour
is straw yellow; from a point slightly less than two-thirds of the dis-
tance from base to margin the first seven interneural spaces are silver, ~
but between nervures 4 and 5 the silver extends into the cell; the
silver in each space is outlined narrowly with black; in the cell is a
small oval black mark; the nervures are black.

Type ¢: Parkhurst Forest, Isle of Wight, 19.v.1952, taken by John
Lobb.—J. Loss, Fernbank, Yarborough Road, Wroxall, I. of W.

In the Foreword to his ‘“‘Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of the Bristol
District”? published in the Proc. Bristol Nat. Soc., 1877-78 CN oS. 2p te
151) A. E. Hudd wrote: ‘‘ Mr. H. Jenner Fust, Junior, of Hill, kindly
sent me... a list of 425 species of Lepidoptera taken near Weston-
super-Mare by the late Mr. G. R. Crotch, during his residence at Up-
hill.’ Can any of our readers inform me if this list is still in existence ?

—P. B. M. Attan, 4 Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.

COLLECTING NOTES. | ay

Collecting Notes

Notes From NortH-EAst HAmMpsuHIRE, 1952.—The season was, on the
whole, disappointing, all methods of collecting producing results below
average. Odontosia carmelita L. was commoner, however, in April than I
have known it previously, and Limenitis camilla L. is once more on the
mcrease. Ayloicus pinastri L. has maintained its position as our com-
monest ‘hawk’, whilst Perinephela lancealis Schiff. and Eupithecia vir-
gaureata J.. were newcomers to my m.v. lamp. Vanessa cardui L. was
much in evidence in June and I bred over 900 imagines from wild larvae
and ova from wild parents. A number emerged in the ‘‘greasy and
semi-transparent condition’? mentioned by South in connection with
Nymphalis io L., and on 29th July a fine inornata appeared which has
since passed into the collection of S. G. Castle Russell. Late broods
were unusually prominent; Selenia tetralunaria Hufn. f. aestiva was
common and on 29th August I found a brood of over 600 N. 10 at Farn-
borough—the fourth example of the second brood of this butterfly I have
encountered since 1949 in this area. Though many perished in the cold
weather which followed in September 300 were reared including several
semi-ocellata and three belisaria, two of which are exceptionally extreme.
Larvae of Vanessa atalanta L., V. cardui and Aglais urticae lu. were to
’ be found until the end of the first week of October, all—like my pupae
of N. 1o—having survived several degrees of frost. Imagines from pupae
brought indoors are still emerging in my house (3rd Dec.). Quite a few
of the A. urticae have the central area of the underside forewing a rich
russet brown in place of the usual yellow. I was away in Sweden from
30th July to 28th August, missing the immigration of Colias croceus
Foure., but met with members of a native brood on 22nd September and
subsequent days, the previous nights having had as much as five degrees
of frost. One female, after laying two infertile eggs in my greenhouse,
became torpid. apparently attempting to hibernate. She lived 33 days
without food, when sudden warmth stimulated activity, after which she
died.—A. W. Ricwarps, Nether Edge, Hawley, Camberley, Surrey.
B e-ai tayog

Cottecting Acents.—A farmer friend of mine seeing one of our local
boys turning over ‘‘cow pats’’? asked him what he was doing. When the
boy answered that he was collecting beetles the farmer asked if he knew
me and was greatly amused when the boy said he was my local collecting
agent. This same boy, having once failed in his interview examination
at the local Grammar School, presented himself for a second time. On
being asked his hobby he promptly replied ‘‘collecting Coleoptera’’.
Needless to say he is now a pupil at that school.

Many boys in our village have acted as my collecting ‘agents’. Some
are now married with families but continue to bring me specimens.
Throughout each week-end in spring, summer and autumn, jam-jars
containing earwigs, cockroaches, bugs and other insects are brought me.
Each bearer receives his meed of praise, irrespective of value, and thus
enthusiasm continues. This year a © Prionas coriarius was brought to
me. In addition a Leopard moth and a Small Elephant hawk-moth. In
previous seasons the more select species have included a Death’s-head

58 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

hawkmoth, a Goat-moth, an Oak Beauty and the coleopteron Agrilus
sinuatus, which was a new record for Hertfordshire. .

Talking of collecting agents I have invariably, when on holidays,
tried to interest the gamekeepers, water bailiffs and foresters in their
local insects and carry a small show-case together with coloured sketches
of the more spectacular local Coleoptera. The sketches I distribute,
together with a token for baccy as an impetus for sending me specimens.
The resulting financial account, however, reflects only debits when com-
pared with my own locals.—R. S. Ferry, Fulling Mill House, Welwyn,
Herts.

DIPTERA

Flies at Parsley Blossom
By H. W. AnpreEws, F.R.E.S.

This summer (1952) a patch of parsley in the garden of my cottage
at Highcliffe (Hants.) grew right up and flowered. I noticed vaguely
a number of flies at the blossoms but did not pay much attention until
the latter part of August, when I saw one (Orthoneura brevicornis Lw.)
that I wanted. This caused me to look more closely at the parsley and,
being struck by the variety of species attracted, I started to make a
list of them which I continued till the end of September, by which time
all the flowering umbels of the parsley had run to seed and no more
insects were attracted.

In all I noted 62 species of Diptera, as listed below, and in all prob-
ability, had I started my list when the flowers first appeared and also
if the weather for a good part of September had been more favourable,
this total might well have been exceeded. _

Certainly a number of the recorded species were single examples
only, but even allowing for this the parsley blossom was far more attrac-
tive to Diptera than any other plant in the garden. Adjacent to the
parsley plants there was a small patch of marjoram, then some lavender,
and then a Buddleia. The Buddleia of course, attracted all the butterflies
there were and also many bumble bees, but only comparatively few honey
bees, and hardly any wasps or flies; the lavender attracted bumble bees
only ; the marjoram, bumble bees and honey bees but nothing much else.
In contrast to the foregoing I do not recollect ever seeing a bumble bee
or honey bee at the parsley blossom, and only once a white butterfly.
On the other hand wasps were quite frequent, not molesting the flies in
any way, but merely flying in and around the parsley plants and sipping
briefly at the flowering umbels.

The nomenclature used follows Kloet & Hincks, 1945, A Check List of
British Insects, synonyms being added in brackets where thought desir-
able.

Syrphidae: Paragopsis (Humerus) strigatus Fall., Myathropa florea
L., Tubifera (Eristalis) tenax I., T. pertinax Scop., Syritta pipiens L.,
Rhingia macrocephala Harr. (campestris Mg.), Neoascia (Ascia) poda-
grica Fab., Chilomyia (Chilosia) proxima Zett., C: vernalis Fall., Ortho-
neura brevicornis Lw., Chrysogaster solstitialis Fall., Melanostoma mel-
linum L., M. scalare Fab., Sphaerophoria scripta L., Episyrphus (Syr-
phus) cinctellus Zett., E. balteatus Deg., Scaeva (Catabomba) pyrastri

FLIES AT PARSLEY BLOSSOM. 5Y

L., Metasyrphus (Syrphus) luniger Mg., Syrphella (Syrphus) albostriata
Fall. , Syrphidis (Syrphus) ribesiu L.

Fateoaidac (Sapromyzidae): Cnemacantha (Sapromyza) rorida Fall.

Sepsidae: Sepsis punctum Fab.

Chloropidae: Chlorops pumilionis Bjerk.

Cordyluridae: Scopewma (Scatophaga) stergorarium L.

Larvaevoridae (Tachinidae): Hpicampocera succincta Mg., Meigenia
mutabilis Fall., M. bisignata Mg., Varichaeta radicum Fab., Linnaemya
(Micropalpus) eidicd Rond., Larvaevora (Echinomyia) erat L.

Calliphoridae: Sarcophaga teretirostris Pand., S. aratrix Pand.,
Calliphora erythrocephala Mg., C. vomitoria L., Onesia agilis Mg.,
Melinda gentilis R.D. (anthracina Mg.), Lucilia caesar L., L. sericata
Me., Pollema carinata Wain., P. rudis Fab.

Muscidae (incl. Anthomyidae): Musca autumnalis Deg. (corvina
Fab.), Orthellia (Cryptolucilia) caesarion Mg., O. cornicina Fab., Gra-
phomyia maculata Scop., Morellia hortorum Fall., Azelia macquarti
Staeg., Zimnophora triangula Fall., L. maculosa Mg., Helina depuncta
Fall., Hylemyia strenua R.D. (strigosa Fab.), Pegohylemyia discreta
Mg., P. fugax Mg., Delia cilicrura. Rond. (florilega Zett.), D. tricho-
dactyla Rond., Erioischia brassicae Bché., Nupedia (Nudaria) dissecta
Mg., N. latipalpis Lw., Egle aestiva Mg., E. radicum L., E. parva R.D.,
Anthomyia pluvialis L., Caricea (Coenosia) tigrina Fab.

[ have to thank Mr. E. ©. M. d’Assis-Fonseca for his kind help in
the correct identification of many of the above species and correlating
the old and modern nomenclature.

VOLUCELLA ZONARIA Popa aT Dra IN 1952.—When TJ first found a
specimen of this large brightly-coloured fly in a wood near here (in 1945,
I believe) it was identified as a rather scarce immigrant. Since then
I have seen it nearly every year, either in my garden or at ivy blossom
in the autumn, but never later than September. My son has also found
the species at Ramsgate from time to time, including this year (1952).

As migrant Diptera generally have been very scarce in 1952 the fol-
lowing records of my own may be of interest :—4th August, a male taken
in my garden at Buddleia; 11th August, one V. zonaria seen in my
garden; 12th August, one female seen in the garden; 16th September,
one female seen at ivy blossom.

My only previous record of a male V. zonaria was on 15th July last
year (1951). I have never seen the males at ivy blossom.—C. M. GumMMER,
14 Manor Road, Deal, Kent. 5.xi1.52.

ORNITHOMYA FRINGILLINA CurT. oN WHITETHROAT.—While ringing a
Common Whitethroat (Sylvia. communis Lath.), caught in the Heligo-
land trap at the Dungeness Bird Observatory, Kent, on 2nd September
1952, I found a specimen of Ornithomya fringillina Curt. (Diptera,
Hippoboscidae) in its plumage. Later, Mr. J. N. Hollyer sent me an-
other specimen which he took from a juvenile Common Whitethroat at
the same locality on 7th September 1952.

Incidentaliy, Dipterists may be interested to know that excellent
facilities for the examination of birds for Hippoboscids and other para-
sites are now available at the new Dungeness Bird Observatory. It is
the policy of the Observatory Committee to encourage entomologists to
use the Observatory as a base for insect migration studies and local sur-

60 - ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Von. 65. 15/ IT /1953

veys. At present, accommodation of a simple kind exists for five to six
people in the Watch House, situated between the Heligoland trap and
the Lighthouse, but ornithologists will naturally have priority for this
during the migration seasons. Further details may be had by writing
_to Mr. H. A. R. Cawkell, 6 Canute Road, Hastings, Sussex.—J. F.
Burton, 43 Eversley Road, London, S.E.7. 12.1.1953.

CULICOIDES IN BEDFORDSHIRE.—Downes and Kettle (1952, Proc. R.
ent. Soc. Lond., 21: 61-78) have recently separated four species belonging
to the obsoletus-group of this genus. Dr. G. O. Evans gave me some
Diptera collected from pine litter at Woburn (Beds.) in 1950 and a small
number of Culicoides adults occurred in the August and September
samples. From the mounted genitalia the males appear to be 5 pseudo-
chiopterus Downes & Kettle, 1 chiopterus Mg. and 1 scoticus Downes &
Kettle.—B. R. Laurence, 4 Princes Garth, London, S.E.23.

COLEOPTERA

Collecting Notes on Cerambycid Coleoptera, 1952
By F. A. Hunter.

Throughout May and the former half of June collecting was done
at various localities in the Cambridge district. As might have been
expected for the time of year, the hawthorn blossom was by far the most
productive source of Cerambycids.

Beating hawthorn at Madingley Wood produced Grammoptera rufi-
cornis F. in abundance. This species was exceedingly common, being
taken, apart from hawthorn, from Viburnum lantana, Viburnum opulus,
Acer campestre, Quercus spp., Rubus fruticosus, wild roses, elder blos-
som, and Heracleum and other Umbellifer flowers. Also at Madingley
Anaclyptus mysticus lL. was common. Whilst collecting with me my
friend D. C. Twinn beat from a single hawthorn tree at the end of a
hedge two specimens of the rare ab. alhofasciatus Degeer. This I be-
lieve to be a new county record for Cambridgeshire. Clytus arietis L.
was also taken sparinglv. A single specimen of Molorchus minor Li. was
beaten from Populus alba.

In Borley Wood, which lies on the east side of Cambridge but which
has a similar flora to Madingley Wood, no specimen of Anaclyntus mys-
ticus was seen. From hawthorn blossom a single snecimen of Molorchus
minor was again taken. along with Rhagiwm mordax Degeer and many
Grammoptera ruficornis. TT an oak log T found several Cerambycid
larvae feeding just under the bark; these T took to be Rhagium mordaz.
Alosterna tabacicolor Degeer occurred occasionally and I took several
specimens, mostly singly, from buttercup flowers.

In a small wood near Pampisford a large colony of Eupatorium was
discovered. On thorough examination with a sweeping-net this plant
vielded a long series of Agapanthia villosoviridescens Degeer. On one
occasion when this locality was visited the Agapanthia were seen to be
flying freely even during a very heavy shower of rain. Near Pampisford
also several specimens of Stenocorus meridianus L. were taken from elder
and meadowsweet. All these were, however, the colour form of black
and orange, which I believe is the typical form. A great deal of sweep-
ing of the roadside vegetation was done in the Madingley area with the

a
COLLECTING NOTES ON CERAMBYCID COLEOPTERA, 1952. 61

hope of taking Phytoecia cylindrica L., but altogether less than a dozen
specimens were taken by two of us in several days’ collecting. Tetrops
praeustu L. occurred over a widespread area, but never in plenty in any
one place. It was recorded from the Gog-Magog Hills, Borley Wood,
and Madingley Wood.

The time between 11th and 30th June was spent collecting in the
New Forest area. On visiting Matley Bog, which is at present under-
going vigorous treatment by the foresters, a series of Leptura scutellata
F. was dug out of a beech log. This beetle was also found in beech
and birch logs in other parts of the Forest. It occurred in Queen
Bower, on the Balmer Lawn, and specimens were taken flying in Pignal
Enclosure and at Whitley Ridge. On the whole this beetle seems to be
fairly widespread in the New Forest area, and in this last year (1952),
which has been favourable to it, it appears to have been quite common.

Whilst beating among oak trees for Leiopus nebulosus L. in Wilver-
ley Walk it was noticed that the neighbouring sweet chestnut trees were
infested with Cerambycid larvae. On a thorough examination of the
dead lower boughs of these trees several adult Leiopus nebulosus were
discovered. This beetle has not to my knowledge been recorded from this
pabulum in the past. At any rate Kaufmann (Notes on the Distribution
of the British Longicorn Coleoptera) does not mention it. In Queen
Bower examination of other sweet chestnut trees produced only remains
of Strangalia maculata Poda. This species too has not been recorded by
Kaufmann as feeding in sweet chestnut.

Beating the old apple trees in Ramnor Enclosure produced several
specimens of Pogonocherus hispidus lL. but only a single example of P.
hispidulus Pill. & Mitt. Further specimens of P. hispidus were taken
from holly trees in Holland’s Wood. This was done by beating bundles
of bracken which were previously put in suitable places in the trees.
Tetrops praeustu also occurred on the old apple trees in Ramnor En-
closure and several Leiopus nebulosus were taken from the holly trees
in Holland’s Wood. The only other Lamiinid of which adult specimens
were taken in the Forest was Saperda populnea L., one specimen only
of which was taken on the grass whilst we were pitching our tent on the
Balmer Lawn. The white sides of the tent in fact proved to be a most
effective beetle trap; during the evenings large numbers of Staphylini-
dae and other small beetles settled on them. On one occasion a speci-
men of Leiopus nebulosus was discovered on the tent wall. -

Strangalia maculata was abundant in many localities where there
were plenty of rose and bramble flowers. On examination, however, a
large proportion of these proved to be of the type form—S. maculatu
maculata. The other varieties were ab. disconotata Pic., ab. separata
Kauf., ab. seminotata Kauf., and some other forms which I have yet to
determine. Strangalia nigra L., which is a rather more local species
than the last, was common on the bramble flowers in Pignal Enclosure
and in the more sheltered parts at the edge of the Balmer Lawn. Stran-
galia melanura L., which was abundant last year, was much less com-
mon, although towards the end of my stay it began to appear in in-
creasing numbers. It too was taken most often from the bramble
flowers.

Leptura sexguttata F. was taken sparingly in a ride in the Whitley
Ridge area. This ride too has recently suffered from the energetic

62 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/IT/1953

attentions of the foresters who have removed most of the brambles on
which this species was taken last year; however, the Conopodium, re-
lieved of the competition of the brambles, had become very much in
evidence amongst the ground-flora. On these low flowers were many
specimens of Alosterna tabacicolor and Grammoptera ruficornis. <A
single specimen of Grammoptera variegata Germar was also taken from
the Conopodium in this ride. It may be of some interest to note that
Leptura sexguttata was taken from the following plants: buttercup
flower, dogwood flower, bracken fronds, willowherb shoot, and wild rose
flowers. .

Among the Tetropiinae Tetropium gabrieli Weise was found under
the bark of a cut larch log in Wilverley Enclosure—adults, pupae, and
larvae were all found. At Setley Common—an area that was burnt out
by a fire in 1949—Criocephalus ferus Muls. was dug out from the very
hard Scots pine stumps. The exit holes showed that a very large num-
ber of specimens must have been there, but the weather was hot and the
stumps hard, so that only a short series was taken. Again adults,
pupae and larvae were all found. Asemum striatum L., although found
commonly last year, could not be discovered again this time.

Three specimens of Rhagium mordax were taken singly from rose
flowers on Pignal Hill. Only one adult specimen of Rhagium bifasciatum
F. was taken. Almost every pine log examined, however, contained the
nearly fully grown larvae. Some of these were taken in pill-boxes and
have since developed into adults.

In the upper branches of a fallen oak tree I found some very fresh
exit holes and on further examination found a Cerambycid larva which
may possibly have been that of Meésosa nebulosa F. This unfortunately
died before the adult could be bred out.

In Queen Bower I took a specimen of Grammoptera ustulata Schal.
whilst beating a dead hawthorn tree. Further beating both of the same
tree and of a nearby dogwood tree produced no further specimens.

On visiting Cheshire at the beginning of July I paid a visit to a
heath where. I knew Strangalia quadrifasciata L. to occur. A thorough
examination of all the dead birch stumps in the area I usually visit,
however, produced only two very immature larvae. All the stumps had
already been ‘examined’ by some other entomologist!

In Cambridge in late July and early August I examined many of the
willow trees which line the lower Cam in search of Aromia moschata L.
On the hot sultry evenings many specimens of this glorious insect were
to be found in the gnarled tops of the pollarded trees. I managed to
obtain a good series of both green and coppery forms. Several pairs
were taken in cop.

At Waterbeach, down the Cam from Cambridge, I discovered some
larvae of Saperda carcharias Li. in the trunks (just under the bark) and
smaller branches of a row of pollarded poplar trees. The leaves of these
trees had been eaten in the way typical of the adult of this species, but
even though an exhaustive search was carried out no adults came to
light. The larvae of this species can readily be recognised by the very
large size of the wood chips which they extrude from their burrows.
Egg incisions were also present at the bases of the branches.

In late August I paid a visit to a farm in Shropshire and on visiting
the Brown Clee Hill I discovered a very large population of Rhagiwm

FIFTY YEARS AGO, 63

bifasciatum, from which I obtained a good series of adults and a num-
ber of pupae.

Looking back on the 1952 season one feels that coleopterists have no
cause for dismal complaint that the New Forest is not what it used to
be. Lepidopterists probably have good reason for pessimism, but so
long as trees grow, Longicorn beetles will also be found.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903.)

How to FInd AEGERIA FORMICAEFORMIS.—I have been investigating
the life-history of Aegeria formiciformis, and, so far as I can discover,
the larva does not here feed in osier stems as is stated in many books,
but in decaying stems of Salix caprea, more especially in those stems of
which one side only has just commenced to decay. I have counted up-
wards of fifty empty pupa-skins sticking out of the holes in such a stem,
whilst, on one occasion, I obtained fifteen pupae by removing a piece of
bark from a sallow growing by the side of a stream. Possibly the reason
why so many lepidopterists fail to find this species in the northern
counties is that they search osier beds instead of the sallows growing by
river-beds, where it appears to be very common in many places.—JOHN
R. JoHnson, Gateshead.

FoopPLANT OF DEILEPHILA ELPENOR.—Mr. Goss stated that in August
1898 and 1899 he collected numbers of larvae of Humorpha elpenor feed-
ing on Impatiens fulva, a North American species of balsam, which has
naturalised itself on the Weybridge Canal and on some parts of the
Thames. When the balsam was exhausted he supplied the larvae with
the usual foodplant of the species, Epilobiwm hirsutum, because it was
easily obtainable close at hand. He also offered the larvae Fuchsia,
Galium mollugo and G. aparine. The larvae refused to eat any of these
plants, and nearly three dozen died of starvation before a fresh supply
of the balsam could be obtained from Byfleet or Weybridge. Professor
Poulton expressed his opinion that unusual foodplants must be begun
from the egg, and, as an example, stated the case of Phalera bucephala,
which, after being given willow, refused to touch elm, there being with
this, as with other species, evidently some sort of gastric association
between the larva and its foodplant.

Piusta GAMMA L. on Ham.—At Southampton, on 22nd September,
P. gamma, with other moths, was swarming at the electric street lamps,
and at shop windows, Lipton’s hams seeming to be a great attraction,
the moths running all over them.—C. W. CoLtHRup.

Current Literature

THE Lonpon Naruratist For 1951. Published by the London Natural
History Society. Price 7s 6d.

This edition is of special interest to entomologists as it contains more
papers on insects than usual. Throughout, the emphasis is on ecological
studies and in view of this a certain amount of preliminary listing of the
lesser known groups has been necessary in order to form a basis for future
work. The long term ecological survey of Bookham Common continues

64 ENTOMOLOGIS®’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

and papers on the Coleoptera—Geodephaga by A. M. Easton, the Hemip-
tera—Heteroptera by D. Leston and a supplement to L. Parmenter’s
paper on the Diptera by M. Niblett, are published in this issue. L.
Parmenter has commenced his series of contributions on the Diptera of
the London area with an account of the Conopidae. In this he outlines
our present knowledge on the subject and includes details of the ecology
of each species (so far as is known) including times of flight, host records,
and flowers visited. Records of Plant Galls in Surrey, 1951, is the title
of another paper by M. Niblett and short papers on the sawflies and lepi-
doptera of the City Bombed Sites indicate that there are numerous gaps
in these studies which entomologists could well attempt to bridge.

DIO

ENTOMOLOGISCHE BERICHTEN, XIV, No. 23h! JAN. 1953.

This Dutch journal has an illustrated paper on Phaenobremia aphidi-
phora Riibs. (Dipt., Cecidomyiidae). The species was first described by
Riibsamen in 1891. The larvae were found feeding on aphids on Herac-
leum sphondylium L. in Germany. On 21st August 1951, larvae were
found feeding on the aphid Aphis frangulae Kltb. on leaves of Cucumis
sativus L. in Holland and the adults emerged in September up to 17th
October. A brief summary is given in English and in the references to
literature is one to H. F. Barnes, 1929. Gall Midges as enemies of
Aphids, Bull. ent. Res., 20: 433-442.

One of the two papers in English is by J. B. M. van Dinther. It
describes and illustrates three types of trap, based on the cone in cylinder
type, used in breeding Muscidae. With the details of construction are
given comments on the use of the traps in the field and suggestions as to
their application to other problems of rearing various species of flies
that pupate in the ground, and of their use in experiments with baits
and attractions. There is a short useful list of references but this omits
the fine work of Alvah Petersen, 1947: A manual of entomological equip-
ment and methods; Ann Arbor, Michigan.

| ia 2

BroLogicaL Sratnrne Metuops. By George T. Gurr. 5th Edition.
(54 x 84).. Four photomicrographs in colour, pp. i-vii + 87. Price 5s.
(Post 5s 6d). Published by G. T. Gurr Ltd., 136 New Kings Road, Lon-
don, S.W.6.

Three pages of general information on staining procedure are fol-
lowed by 52 pages of detailed staining schedules, mostly of an advanced
nature, covering a wide range of purposes.

A short section on embedding materials and mounting media (some
of them new arrivals upon the histological scene) is followed by an
Appendix of conversion tables, refractive indices and stain solubilities.
There is also a Formulary of twenty pages and a general index. The
book does not, however, contain a specific stain for chitin, though it
has tests for various tissues, cell-contents, fats, sugars, and so on.

It is a well-arranged little book primarily intended for the technician,
but entomologists who are interested in the microscopical examination
of insect histology and histo-chemistry will find much of value in its
pages.

LB He Ae

» SOUTH AMERICAN INSECTS

A NEW FIELD—LEPIDOPTERA FROM THE ARGENTINE.

OVA, LARVAE AND PUPAE OF SATURNIDS, HAWKMOTHS AND MORPHO
BUTTERFLIES.

PAYABLE IN GREAT BRITAIN.
Apply to Senor F. H. WALZ

Reconquista 453, Buenos Aires, Argentina

“INSECTENBOERSE AND ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT”

Appears twice a month and for the last 65 years has been distributed among

collectors in all parts of the world. It is a most effective advertising medium

for the purchase, sale and exchange of insects and all other specimens and
objects related to natural history.

Subscription rate £1 9s 6d per annum, including postage. Specimen number
free of charge.

Editor: Internationaler Entomologischer Verein, Frankfurt a/M.

Please apply to the publisher:

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STUTTGART-W, SCHLOSS-STR.80

EXCHANGES AND WANTS

Exchanges.—I should like to get in touch with collectors in Great Britain who
would exchange Lepidoptera from all parts of the British Isles (butterflies
and moths, except micros) for species from Alsace, the Midi of France, and
Switzerland. Correspondence in English, French, or German.—8ernard
Meier, Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France.

Wanted.—Living females of common species, especially satyrids and fritillaries,
from most parts of the country. Will exchange live or dead stock.—J. F.
D. Fraser, 52a Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, London, S.W.4/.

Wanted.—Pupae of Irish or Scottish O. bidentata, and ova of wild parents of
English C. elinguaria. Liberal exchange of English or tropical Lepidoptera.
—W. Bowater, 44 Calthorpe Road, Hdgbaston, Birmingham, 15.

Urgently required during the next few months for research purposes, pupae of
Biston betularia Linn. (melanic or otherwise). Would be most grateful if
entomologists would inform me of approximate percentages of the two
melanic aberrations—carbonaria and insularia and the typical, occurring in
any locality—Dr. H. B. D. Kettlewell, Department of Zoology, University

Museum, Oxford.

Wanited.—Butterflies of Europe, America, India and ‘Africa in exchange for
Butterflies of Malta.—G. G. Lanfranco, 3 New Str., Sliema, Malta, G.C.

Wanied.—We are in urgent need of copies of our issue of January 1951. If any
of our readers have spare copies for disposal we shall be glad to buy them
back at the published price —F. W. Byers, 59. Gurney Court Road, St. Albans,

Herts.

a

THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD
AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
(Founded by J. W. TUTT on 15th April 1890).

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.

Assistant Editor: P. B. M. ALLAN, M.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.E.S.

Treasurer: A. C. R. REDGRAVE.
Publicity and Advertisements: F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road,

St. Albans, Herts.
The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:
Lepidoptera: S. N. A. JACOBS, F.R.E.S., Dr. H. B. WILLIAMS, Q.C.,
LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., F.R.E.S. ;
Coleoptera: A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc.; Diptera: E. C. M. d’ASSIS-
FONSECA, F.R.E.S. Business: P. SIVITER SMITH, F.R.ES.
este Se a SE
CONTENTS

ABBERATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. E. A. Cockayne ...
WHITHER M.V.? W. E. Minnton ...
THE YEAR 1952 IN EAST ESSEX. A. J. Dewick
A YEAR’S FIELD WORK. F. M. B. Carr ...
COLLECTING IN SOUTH KENT. S. Wakely .
INVERNESS-SHIRE IN 1% G. W. Harper ...
SEASONAL CHANGE. P. H. Holloway ... ois
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. dH. C. Huggins ... -
FLIES AT PARSLEY BLOSSOM. dH. W. Andrews ... a Ge op
COLLECTING NOTES ON CERAMBYCID COLEOPTERA. F. A. Hunter ...

eg2s88 83 ele

ALSO

CURRENT NOTES, FIELD NOTES, PRACTICAL HINTS, NOTES AND
OBSERVATIONS, COLLECTING NOTES, ETC.

TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS

All material for the magazine should be sent to the Assistant Editor
at No. 4 WINDHILL, BISHOP’S STORTFORD, HERTS.

EXCHANGES and ADVERTISEMENTS to F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney
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/

oy 1 1 1958 65

i

Some Forgottg MPH ca Names
By E. A. |

In the volume titled Church eat edited by C. W. Campbell-
Hyslop, printed and published by L. Wilding at Shrewsbury in 1900,
there is a catalogue of the Macrolepidoptera found in the neighbourhood
of Church Stretton, Shropshire, by F. B. Newnham. This catalogue
contains some names of aberrations which did not appear in the
Zoological Record and are unknown to most entomologists. I think it
may serve a useful purpose to publish them again in this JouRNAL, Some
are synonyms, but a few are valid. I give Newnham’s diagnosis ver-
batim, but omit some of his comments, and leave his nomenclature un-
altered. My own remarks are in brackets.

Anthocharis cardamines Lin.

P. 122. ab. arsenoides mihi. This form, where the 9 has partial
orange tips to fore-wings was captured by myself in the field immediately
opposite the railway station here, on 16th June, 1887. [a gynandro-
morph |.

P. 122. ab. androgyna mihi. I was fortunate to net, on the 23rd
May, 1888, a splendid ab. of this species in which the right wings are
those of the 2 while the left ones offer the colouration of the ¢. [a
halved gynandromorph].

Vanessa c-album Lin.

P. 125. ab. intermedia mihi. Of a very light fulvous, spots very
small and few in number. I caught a few specimens of this ab. in the
summer of 1893. It makes a splendid link between c-album and Vanessu
egea Cram. from southern Europe. [This is the colour of ab. pullidu
Tutt, but if the small size and number of the spots are taken into
account, it is not-a synonym].

Argynnis aglaia Lin.

P. 126. ab. nigrans mihi. Fore wings black, shot with dark green,
a few fulvous spots on disc; spots near hind margin very faint. Hind
wings almost as in type. This splendid ab. was taken by myself on 21st
July, 1897, near the ‘‘World’s End’’.

Argynnis adippe Lin.

P. 126. ab. hemicleodoxa mihi. Marginal silver spots on the under
side of hind wings wanting, these being of a brownish-yellow colour.
Found with the type occasionally. [Synonym of ab. intermedia Tutt
1896].

SPHINGIDAE.
Smerinthus populi Lin.

P. 129. ab. pallida mihi .Of a whitish grey colour, much paler than
the type. I have reared this form from a larva fed on aspen, Pupulus
tremula. [This name has priority over ab. pallida Tutt, 1902, but pro-
bably refers to the same form. ]

P. 129. ab. violacea mihi. A violet blush over all the wings; ob-
tained now and then with the type. [Tutt referring to a ¢ gives a
description of ab. roseotincta Reuter, which agrees with Newnham’s
violacea, but Reuter’s original description refers to a 2 and states that

66 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ 1IT/19538

the median and marginal areas are ferruginous and the abdomen and
rest of the wings rosy. Ab. roseotincta Reuter, 1893, is one of the pink
and rufous female forms, which are perhaps sex-linked recessives. It
is a synonym of ab. rufescens Fuchs, 1889, which was erroneously re-
named ab. fuchsi by Bartel in 1900. A somewhat different form was de-
scribed but not named by Selys in 1857. Bartel named this rufescens
in 1900 and attributed it to Selys with the date 1857, and having made
this mistake considered that rufescens Fuchs was preoccupied. Actually
rufescens (Selys in litt.) Bartel 1900 is preoccupied by rufescens Fuchs
1889. Ab. violacea Newnham occurs in both sexes, though more males
than females are caught, and the name is valid].

Chaerocampa elpenor Lin.
P. 130. ab. cinerescens mihi. Forewings clouded with grey, so as
to absorb in part, the other colours. Reared by myself here in 1891.

ARCTIIDAE.
Chelonia caja Lin.

P. 133. ab. flavescens mihi. Hind wings, abdomen, and collar yel-
low, of almost the same shade as villica. [A synonym of ab. lutescens
Cockerell, 1887].

P. 133. ab. rosacea mihi. White markings of anterior wing beauti-
fully suffused with a rosy blush. I have reared both sexes of this
charming ab. from larvae found here. [rosacea has priority over ab.
rumicis de Hennin, 1910, and ab. jewnetz Oberthtr, 1911].

P. 133. ab. albescens mihi. I bred a ¢ of this species last year, in
which the white greatly preponderates over the darker colour of fore
wings. [The description is not precise; there are several named aber-
rations of this kind and it is probably a synonym of one of them, such
as ab. lueneburgensis Mackleidt and Steinwarth, 1884 or 1885].

NOTODONTIDAE.
Cerura bifida Hubn.
P. 138. ab. aurea mihi. On the 27th June 1894, I bred this ab., in
which the median band on anterior wings is very strongly tinged. with
orange; this is a beautiful form of the insect.

A Remarkable Aberration of Arctia caja L.
By E. S. A. Baynes, 0.B.E., F.R.E.S.

I received recently from Mrs. R. Graves of Valentia Island, Co.
Kerry, a specimen of Arctia caja L. which she bred from a wild larva
found on the island in the spring of 1952. With the exception of a
few dark scales in the cilia at the apex of the forewings there are no
dark markings at all on any of the wings. Superficially the forewings
appear to be plain cream and the hindwings plain orange-red. Un-
fortunately the moth is crippled, rather badly so on the left side. Mrs.
Graves has generously given the specimen to the British Museum.
Arctia caja Linn.’ab. gravesi ab. nov.

Head and thorax normal. Collar bright red. Abdomen orange-red
without the usual transverse dark marks. Forewings cream with the
positions of the usual brown markings very faintly visible as a slightly
darker shade of cream. Cilia cream with a few dark scales at the apex

BREEDING VARIETIES OF PANAXIA DOMINULA LINN. 67

of each wing. Hindwings orange-red with the positions of the usual
blue-black markings faintly visible as a paler shade in the orange-red.
Cilia cream.

Type: ¢, Valentia Island, Co. Kerry; bred 1952 by Mrs. R. Graves.
Coll. British Museum, Tring.

-[This aberration differs from ab. phantasma Niepelt (Insektenborse,
1905. 22: 120; Lepidoptera Niepeltiana 1914. 5. Pl. 2, fig. 16)
which has the forewing cream coloured with no trace of markings, the
hindwing red with the middle spot of the outer row yellowish, the
thorax reddish-yellow, and the abdomen red with no black markings.

It differs from ab. mirabilis Cockayne (Proc. S. Lond. Ent, and
N.H. Soc., 1947-1948. 164; Barrett, Pl. 71, fig. 1b) which has the fore-
wing very dark cream with the markings faintly indicated in brownish
or greyish cream, hindwing red with yellow spots, thorax dark brown,
and abdomen red with black markings reduced in size.—Ep. }

Some Experiences in Breeding Varieties of

Panaxia dominula Linn
By H. Symes.

It was in 1939 that my interest was first aroused by the late Claude
Rippon in the varieties medionigra and the much rarer and more
striking bimacula that occur in the colony of Panazia dominula L. near
Abingdon. Rippon had lived for many years within two miles of this
locality and had worked it very thoroughly without noticing these
varieties. JI had taken a number of type specimens here as far back
as 1928, and on looking through my series I found one ab. medionigra
that I had caught in 1935. Among about 70 P. dominula taken by
Rippon in two days in July 1939 there were three ab. bimacula and a
much larger number of ab. medionigra.

I happened to be working within a comparatively easy distance of
Abingdon in 1941 and was able to collect 64 larvae in May. Among the
moths bred from these were four medionigra. Two of these paired on
Ist July, and as I had been told that among the offspring of such a
pairing about 25% were likely to be ab. bimacula I awaited results with
the keenest anticipation. 130 larvae survived the winter, and in April
1942 I divided them into two batches of approximately 60. Unfor-
tunately those in batch A were kept too damp when about to pupate,
and only 19 pupae resulted; but batch B produced 48 pupae. From the
total of sixty-seven, 45 moths emerged (including 8 cripples), of which
15 were type dominula, 22 ab. medionigra, and 8 ab. bimacula. Moths
found dead in the pupa-case included three bimacula. These bred
bimacula were much larger than a wild one that I had taken in perfect
condition in this habitat on 23rd July 1941. It was a lovely sight as
it sat on a tall reed in the sunshine. J was unable to obtain a pairing
among these bred specimens, and thus ended my first attempt at breed-
ing varieties of P. dominula. It was not until 1948 that I was able to
start another.

There was no petrol allowance for private motoring, so on 5th May
I left Bournemouth by the 7.30 a.m. train for Oxford, where I just
managed to catch an Abingdon bus which gave me nearly four hours
in which to hunt P. dominula. The usual foodplant for dominula larvae

63 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 69. 15/111/ 1953

in previous years had been comfrey; but the place was so terribly over-
grown with tall reeds that most of these plants had been choked out of
existence, and it was a long time before I saw a single larva. Then I
found them in large numbers on sallow bushes and during the afternoon
I collected 105 larvae. In the absence of low-growing plants they had
‘been forced to take to sallow and, to a lesser extent, to bramble. The
return journey was very tedious and it was nearly 11 p.m. before I
reached Bournemouth.

One of the larvae and two pupae proved to have been stung, but 92
pupated and 84 moths emerged, 76 being type dominula and 8 ab.
medionigra, of which 7 were males. I failed to obtain the desired pair-
ing between two medionigra but had four pairings between medionigra
god and type 2°. One batch of eggs did not hatch.

On 19th February 1949, during a mild spell, I brought one batch of
larvae indoors and began to feed them on Prunus cerasifera. As I
did not wish all the larvae to feed up before the normal time I left the
others outdoors for another month. This was a mistake, as they were
nearly all dead by 18th March. The first lot fed up rapidly and one
had completed its growth as early as 3rd April. Several medionigru
emerged between Ist and 4th June, and two pairings took place. A large
number of eggs was laid and these hatched on 17th June, but owing to
an accident which even now it is paintul to recollect all the young
larvae were lost. However, a third pair had been caged together and
the female laid a small batch of about a dozen eggs. I had no evidence
that pairing had taken place, was surprised that so few eggs were laid,
end doubted their fertility. But the eggs hatched, the larvae nearly
all survived the winter, and of six moths which emerged between Ist
and 5th June 1950 three were ab. bimacula, two ab. medionigra, and
only one type dominula.

Meanwhile I had started my third attempt at breeding these varie-
ties. On 23rd May 1950 I collected 29 larvae near Abingdon on bramble,
sallow and comfrey. Among the moths that emerged at the end of June
there was only one medionigra, a male, but two or three odd forms
appeared: (A) one male was without the basal tan spot on both fore-
wings, (B) two females had this spot missing on one forewing, and (C)
another had both basal tan spots much reduced in size. Pairings were
obtained between medionigra ¢ and a B @ (Brood 1) and between A ¢
and C @ (Brood 2).

In 1951, 17 moths of Brood 1 emerged and 18 of Brood 2. Of the
former, 9 were type dominula and 8 ab. medionigra; of the latter, 17
were type and 1 medionigra. It was disappointing that none of the
moths inherited the peculiarities of A and B, which I had hoped might
lead eventually to the breeding of ab. basinigra. Four pairings were
obtained between medionigra of Brood 1, and about 300 larvae went
into hibernation. There was a remarkable discrepancy between these
four broods in the percentage of larvae which survived the winter. The
whole of Brood 1 perished, while 16% of Brood 2 survived, 10% of
Brood 3, and 74% of Brood 4. I gave some larvae before hibernation
to two friends, of whom one lost all his, and the other bred only, two
moths, one type and the other ab. ie data

By the end of April 1952 sixty larvae had completed their growth,
and all but three pupated. The first moth appeared on Ist June, and

MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH-EAST DERBYSHIRE: A RECORD FOR 1952. 69

to my great satisfaction it was ab. bimacula. This proved a happy
omen, for out of 54 moths that emerged between Ist and 14th June no
fewer than 23 were ab. bimacula: 27 were ab. medionigra, and only 4
were type dominula. I had been led to expect that a pairing between
two medionigra would produce a ratio of 50% medionigra, 25% type,
and 25% bimacula. In the case of medionigra this expectation was
realised, but the percentage of type dominula was only 7.22 and that
of bimacula as high as 42.59. A comparison between these figures and
the results obtained in 1942 makes interesting reading. Jn 1942 the
expectation for medionigra was again correct (49%), but there were
331% type dominula and 172% bimacula.

I do not know wether one would be justified in inferring from these
figures that the tendency for Abingdon stock to produce ab. bimacula is
considerably greater now than it was ten years ago.

I had failed in 1942 to obtain a pairing between any of my bred
specimens; but this year one pairing took place between two bimacula
and another between medionigra ¢ and bimacula 2. Eggs were laid
in both cases, but unfortunately in the latter they proved infertile:
a very vigorous brood of larvae resulted from the former and 164 went
into hibernation.

Since writing this article my attention has been drawn to a state-
ment in the comprehensive survey of P. dominula by Dr. Kettlewell,
published in the Proceedings of the South London Entomological Soctety
for 1942-48, Part I. On page 5 Dr. Kettlewell says, with regard to
‘stung larvae’, that he has never met ichneumon fly infection. This
assertion lends, I think, additional interest to the undoubted fact that
one (and probably three) of the 105 larvae collected by me at Abingdon
on 5th May 1948 proved to have been stung: the parasite grubs left the
larva when it was nearly full-grown. I wish now that I had kept them
and seen what they would have produced, but at the time [I did not
attach any particular importance to them. Parasites also came out of
two pupae, and I think it is much more likely that the larvae had
already been stung when I collected them than that a parasitic fly made
its way into my breeding-cage and stung two out of a large number of
pupae. As far as I remember, the parasites that came out of the pupae
looked very much the same as those that had infected the larva, and in
each case four or five came out of their host. Parasitic infection of the
larva would certainly seem to be extremely rare, as these are the only
cases I have met in rearing some 250 wild larvae on various occasions.

Macrolepidoptera in North East Derbyshire :
A Record for 1952

By J. H. JouwNson.

The area under consideration is rapidly undergoing transformation
in the same way as many other areas in England. The builders and
industrialists are spreading over agricultural land with houses and fac-
tories, while the farmers are cutting into the remaining wild places,
ploughing up old pastures and moorland and destroying woodland. The
insect life must, of necessity, be profoundly modified, not, as in the
ordinary course of natural development from century to century, but
from year to year. In the case of opencast coal-mining, hundreds of

70 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 60. 15 /I11T/ 1953

acres of topsoil have been stripped off with the inevitable destruction of
billions of insects which existed on them. No doubt that when the
ground is replaced the insects will return, but will the same species re-
colonize, or will new species take advantage of the changed conditions?
This and many other allied questions can only be answered by making
- accurate observations, measurements and records. I am not aware of
any standard method of measuring insect populations, so I have deter-
mined to record every specimen of the macrolepidoptera which I have
taken or observed definitely in 1952 so that I, or other workers, may be
able to make comparisons in other years or other places. Entomologists
have collected in this area in the last century, and in the early part of
this one, but there are no records of what they did to be found. That
was the chief reason for my attempt to make a start in 1952, before the
countryside has completely changed. j

I do not pretend that I have made a complete list of species in this
area, that is a task beyond any one man of limited leisure, but I believe
it is a ‘‘fair sample’’ of what any experienced collector might make in
an average season’s work with light, ‘‘sugar,’’ beating, and searching.
‘‘Sugar’’ has been used fairly regularly and a light trap, 60-watt. box-
type, has been operated from dusk to dawn during July and August in
one spot overlooking wasteland, pasture, parkland, allotments and dis-
used pit tips. Street lamps have been worked during the winter
months, while walls have been carefully searched throughout the sum-
mer. Beating and searching for larvae have been carried on regularly
since some species are seen only in that stage.

The area covered stretches from Darley Dale in the west to Scarcliffe
in the east, a distance of about fourteen miles. The underlying rock
formations are, from west to east, carboniferous limestone, millstone
grit, coal measures and magnesian limestone, and the altitude varies
from 1000 feet to 300 feet above sea level. At the present time there are
several large areas of mixed deciduous woodland with large areas of
bracken and birch scrub which are now in process of conversion to
arable land. There are several large parks with very old oaks and
beeches, unfortunately surrounded by large areas of arable and open-
cast land. There is also a large area of calluna moorland, which owes
its existence wholly to the red grouse and the Englishman’s love of sport,
since it can be made to grow certain hardy types of cereal. The most
productive areas at present—I am speaking of insects—are the old
heaps of colliery waste thrown out by coalminers during the last 150
years. The more ancient ones are now completely wooded over, the
recent ones support hawkweed, thistle, ragwort, wormwood and willow-
herb, which plants have great attraction for a variety of moths. At
present agriculture seems to be the greatest threat to the abundance of
lepidoptera; no farmer can bear to see a wild flower of any species, the
plough carves the ground up to the very base of fence and hedge, and
every roadside and hedgeside is scythed as soon as the herbage is long
enough to cut. On the other hand industry, like towns and cities, seems
to foster its own little fauna, for example, Deilephila elpenor L. and
Cucullia absinthu L. are as common on pit tips as anywhere.

The types of vegetation are of great importance to the insect popula-
tion and so are the varying meteorological conditions. Throughout 1952
the weather was recorded regularly three times daily at a spot in the

MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH-EAST DERBYSHIRE: A RECORD FOR 1952. 71

centre of the area observed, at a height of 382 feet above sea level.
There is a considerable variation of temperature and probably of rain-
fall over the whole of North East Derbyshire, but I will give an analysis
of some of the climatic data recorded so that once again comparisons can
_ be made of the same phenomena in different years and places.

TEMPERATURE °F.

Maximum Minimum Average at Rainfall Prevailing

9.0 p.m. Wind.
January 51 17 36.3 3.09 ins. N.W.
February 61 22 38 vail: N.W.
March 63 24 42 222 S.W.
April fi 29 49 1.96 S. and W.
May 81 4] 55.6 2.81 S.W.
June 85 41 59.4 3.00 N.W.
July 86 46 62.8 ag bs N.W.
August 76 44 61.4 2.32 N.W.
September 68 36 51.2 2.48 N.W.
October 58 31 46.5 4.36 S.E.
November 53 AE 38 2.08 N.W.
December 49 23 37.15 2.54 N.W. and S.W.

Total Rainfall ... 28.42 ins.

It is possible that the weather of 1951 will have had some effect on
the insects of 1952 but I cannot give those records, nor can J give records
of sunshine hours. Dr. B. P. Beirne has, in several places, stressed the
necessity for correlating weather conditions and insect appearance. It
would be of great assistance to observers if he, or some other responsible
entomologist, would specify exactly which aspects of the weather should
be recorded, so that some standard measure could be formulated. It may
be that weekly averages would be more useful than monthly ones. This
was the opinion of Major Gunton in his stimulating book ‘‘Nature
Study above and below the Surface’’ (1938). Perhaps he is right. I
will leave the decision to others. In his ‘‘Entomologist’s Companion’’ as
long ago as 1854, H. T. Stainton emphasised that every nook and cranny
must be ransacked by some observing entomologist so that the harvest
might soon be gathered in. His ‘‘Manual’’ gives the distribution of
most species with accuracy, but he gives no yardstick whereby we can
measure the abundance of any insect and this seems to be one of the
great needs of the moment. The difficulty, of course, lies in the different
degrees of attraction exercised by the various lures of the entomologist.
For example, I obtained at light 250 Luperina testacea Schiff. but only
2 at sugar, while I obtained 25 Amathes xanthographa Schiff. at light
but 340 at sugar. At the moment we can give only comparative popula-
tion figures.

In the following list, the number in parentheses after the name is
the number of moths of that species taken in 1952 by all methods. The
dates are first and last appearances. In the case of extreme abundance,
where it was thought impossible to count, I have put ‘‘myriads’’. I have
given only the date of first appearance in the butterflies in some cases as
they were too abundant to count every day.

“I
bo

ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOn. 65, 15 / TIT / 1953

RHOPALOCERA.

Pararge megera lu. May 24. Abundant.

Maniola jurtina L. June 27. Abundant.

Coenonympha pamphilus L. May 24. Abundant.

Vanessa atalanta L. (17). July 5. October 14. These were taken at
thistles. 24 larvae were found at Alton on August 21 and all produced
perfect imagines. a

Vanessa cardui L. (26). May 10. August 14. Mainly taken on
thistle beds near Clay Cross Co. Iron Foundry. No larvae found.

Aglais urticae L. April 14. Extremely abundant. It was possible
to count 100 any afternoon in August.

Nymphalis io L. (8). April 14. August 21. The shortage of
imagines is hard to understand in view of the extreme abundance of lar-
vae in the area in 1951, when a colony consisting of an estimated 2,000
individuals was found in the neighbouring Clay Hole, and another of
2,000 was discovered at Ogston about 3 miles away.

Polymmatus icarus Rott. (18). June 27. September 1. Usually
found in waste places.

Lycaena phlaeas L. (27). June 10. September 1. It is difficult to
undersand why this species is so uncommon when the foodplant
1s so abundant on every pit tip.

Callophrys rubi L. May 4. This species 1s locally abundant in May
and June on Darley and Beeley Moors, and in 1952 it was possible to
take 20 in 30 minutes on any sunny afternoon in those months.

Pieris brassicae LL. May 12. I should say that this and the follow-
ing species were as abundant as always.

Pieris rapae LL. May 12.

Pieris napi L. July 28.

Anthocharis cardamines J.. (5). April 25. May 4. Larvae found
on Sisymbrium officinale in clearings in Tupton Woods.

Ochlodes venata Br. and Grey. June 15. Too abundant to count
everywhere.

Tt is obvious from the above short list that this area is not well
favoured by butterflies. Perhaps it is too cold and damp.

_ HereRocera.
Laothoe populi lL. (7). May 26. July 19. On May 26 two pairs
were found in cop. in Heath School gardens. One female produced

129 eggs from which 42 imagines were bred in August. It is the first
time that I ever saw this species complete the cycle in one season.
Larvae were scarce, only 2 were found altogether.

Dewlephila elpenor L. (1). July 9. This specimen came to a lighted
window. By searching low-lying wasteland 72 larvae were found on
Rosebay Willowherb (Ent. Rec., 64, 350). No larvae were found in
woods or on the moors; this species seems to prefer built-up areas.

(To be continued)

Butterflies at Winchester in 1951 and 1952

[The Winchester College Natural History Society has compiled a
useful List of the Lepidoptera taken and observed in the neighbourhood

BUTTERFLIES AT WINCHESTER IN 1951 AND 1952. 73

of the College in 1951 and 1952. We have pleasure in printing the part
relating to the Rhopalocera.—Ep. |

The summer of 1952 was notable for an unusually warm, dry spell
during June and July. This hastened the emergence of many species,
some of which were on the wing a fortnight earlier than in 1951. Con-
spicuous among these was Maniola jurtina (Meadow Brown), which was
common by the 24th June but already becoming scarce by the beginning
of August. In 1951 it was still to be seen in early September, having
started to emerge during the first week of July.

Varying weather conditions may have been at least partly respons-
ible for the remarkable fluctuation in the numbers of certain species
of butterflies in Hills Valley. The Marsh Fritillary (Huphydryus
aurinia) was not recorded there prior to 1949. By 1951 it was swarming
and it was still common, but in reduced numbers in 1952. All the
‘Skippers’ showed a marked increase in numbers in 1952, particularly
Ochlodes venata (Large Skipper), which was not seen at all in 1951.

Pieris brassicae (Large White): Not so common in 1952 as in 1951.

Pieris rapae (Small White): Not so common in 1952 as in 1951.

Pieris napi (Green-veined White): The commonest ‘White’ in both years,
especially in Crab Wood.

Anthocharis cardamines (Orange-tip): Later and less common in 1952
than in 1951. River area. .

Colias croceus (Clouded Yellow): Not very common in 1951; only one
seen (5th July) in 1952.

Gonepteryx rhammn (Brimstone): Fairly common the whole year. March
and July 10th-Oct. 15th.

Inmenitis camilla. (White Admiral): Fairly common in 1951; much more
common in 1952 (especially 3rd-10th July). Crab Wood, Fisher’s
Pond. One ab. nigrina seen sitting on a bramble in sunshine
5th July 1952. It was much less shy than others.

Polygonia c-album (Comma): Only a few seen both years (mostly first
brood).

Aglais urticae (Small Tortoiseshell): Very common both years from May
to October. St. Catherine’s Hill.

Nymphalis polychloros (Large Tortoiseshell): One probably seen sunning
itself, 24th July 1952, in Kingsgate Street.

Nymophalis 10 (Peacock): Exceedingly common both years in July. St.
Catherine’s Hill, Crab Wood.

Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady): Rare both years; distributed evenly
over the summer.

Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiyval): Rare both years, June to October.
Mostly in Hills Valley.

Argynnis paphia (Silver-washed Fritillary): Common both years dur-
ing the whole of July in Crab Wood; mostly males. Two ab.
walesina were seen in Crab Wood in 1952.

Argynnis aglaia (Dark Green Fritillary): Fairly common throughout
July. Woolbury Ring.

Argynnis cydippe (High Brown Fritillary): None in 1951 and one late
in July 1952. Farley Mount.

Argynnis euphrosyne (Pearl-bordered Fritillary): Extremely common
in May and June 1951 in Crab Wood. Rare in 1952.

74 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/111/ 1953

Argynnis selene (Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary): Common but later
than the previous species in 1951. Rather less in 1952. None
recorded prior to 1949. Crab Wood.

Euphydryas aurinia (Marsh Fritillary): Extremely common May-June
1951 in Hills Valley. Upwards of seventy emerging on evening
of 26th May. Very few and much earlier in 1952; batch of twenty
seen emerging 10th May in one locality. —

Melanargia galathea (Marbled White): Very common in both years,
June-July. Hills Valley.

Kumenis semele (Grayling): Common in both years, July-August. Wool-
bury Ring and Farley Mount.

Pararge aegeria (Speckled Wood): Common in all woods from May to
August both years.

Pararge megera (Wall Brown): Commoner in 1952 than 1951. July
and August at Farley Mount.

Mamola jurtina (Meadow Brown): In 1951 exceedingly common from
July to early September. In 1952 first observed 10th June.
Abundant from 24th June but scarce by mid-August. Hills
Valley.

Maniola tithonus (Gatekeeper): Not very common in 1951. Much more
plentiful in 1952 during July and early August. Crab Wood,
Farley Mount, Woolbury Ring.

Aphantopus hyperantus (Ringlet): In 1951 common June and July.
Rarer in 1952 and only found in July. Crab Wood and River area.

Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath): Exceedingly common from May
onwards. A few flying in October in both years. Hills Valley.

Thecla betulae (Brown Hairstreak): One possibly seen on 22nd and 23rd
July 1952 in Crab Wood.

(To be continued)

Microlepidoptera in Cheshire and South
Lancashire in 1952
By H. N. MicwHaktis.

In spite of poor weather in the spring and summer of 1952 a few
species new to the county records were found and some useful confirma-
tions of old existing records were received.

Pyralis glaucinalis L. This species is considered scarce with us.
Several were observed at Lymm, Cheshire, in July by E. Liddle.

Phalonia sabulicola Wals. Not previously recorded for Cheshire,
two specimens were taken on Wirral by C. M. Jones, one near a patch
of Inula dysenterica at Hoylake on 9.vii.52, the other at Birkenhead
on 30.vil.52. The published food-plants are Hrigeron acris and E.
canadensis. So far I have not been able to ascertain if these plants grow
on Wirral. Mr J. D. Bradley of the British Museum has kindly identi-
fied the specimens.

Cacoecia pronubana Hb. A specimen was taken at light in 1936 by
C. M. Jones. I can find no record of this species from the north of
England. As no other specimens have been observed, it may have been
imported on growing plants from the south of England.

MICROLEPIDOPTERA IN CHESHIRE AND SOUTH LANCASHIRE IN 1952. 75

Bactra scirpicolana Pierce and Metcalfe. Larvae were plentiful in
the lower parts of the stems of Scirpus maritimus on the Dee salt-marshes
in early June. Retarded growth and yellowish tips of the grass usually
indicate the presence of larvae. The larvae is found in the stem mainly
at ground level or even below ground and pupates in a strong white
silk cocoon in its feeding place.

Gelechia fumatella Doug. Not recorded for Lancashire, two speci-
mens were ‘‘smoked’’ from overhanging banks on the sandhills at Fresh-
field on 18.viii.52. Apparently the food-plant is unknown. The last
record for Cheshire was from Wallasey by C. S. Gregson prior to 1885.
Mr. Bradley has kindly identified the specimens.

Sophronia semicostella Schiff. The last Lancashire record I can
find, is ‘‘Manchester District’? in Stainton’s Manual. Two specimens
were taken flying over grass (mainly Dactylis glomerata) at sunset on
3.v11.52. near the River Mersey at Didsbury.

Oecophora geoffrella L. Always considered an uncommon species in
Cheshire, a specimen was taken in early June by W. D. Hincks at Bur-
ton. This species has also been observed on Wirral by B. B. Snell.

Borkhausenia subaquilea Staint. The imagines are fairly common in
May and June on the moors between Disley and Macclesfield in Cheshire.
They are most easily seen on walls though a few have been found resting
on stones and tree stumps on the moorland. The early stages and food
are not given in Ford’s Guide and are presumably unknown. An un-
successful search was made for the pupa-case when a moth was found
drying its wings at 1600 hours on 25.v.52. Immediately below the moth
was a small pocket of dry and decaying bilberry leaves and vegetable
refuse at the foot of the wall. An old bird’s nest taken nearby pro-
duced only Monopis rusticella Hueb. Other British species of Bork-
hausenia feed on decayed or dried vegetable matter, dead wood and
bark, and wool, skins, frass, etc.

Coleophora virgaureae Staint. This species, which has been over-
looked in the past, is described in the revised Ellis List as ‘‘very local,
not recorded since 1890’’. Recently it has been found in several parts
of Cheshire. A large number of larvae were found at Delamere in early
October 1951 feeding on the seeds of Solidago virgaurea. These were
placed with the cut food in a large box covered with a sheet of glass
and kept outside throughout the winter. In early November the larvae
hibernated in their cases on the dried food-plant and the sides of the
box. On 23.iv.52 the larvae in their cases commenced to move about
the box and part of the dead food-plant was transferred to an airy cage
exposed to the morning sun. These larvae wandered about the cage for
several weeks without noticeably feeding. In early June they began to
settle down for pupation and no movement was observed after 16th
June. A large number of moths emerged from mid-August to mid-
September. The remaining larvae were left in the original box in which
they had wintered, and were screened from the sun. A large number
were still wandering over the food and sides of the box on 28th June and
movement ceased in early July. Only a few moths emerged from this
box and a large number of cases examined later were found to contain
dead larvae. In May a dozen cases were brought indoors in a glass
tube. The larvae were active until mid-June and then remained still.
An examination of these cases showed that none of the larvae had been
able to pupate. It would appear that some sunshine is necessary to

76 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/111/ 1953

enable the larvae to settle down and pupate, otherwise they will wan-
der until exhausted. The larvae were not observed to feed after hiberna-
tion in any of the three cases.

Stigmella (Nepticula) decentella H.S. This insect was recorded for
Cheshire by A. W. Boyd who found it resting on Sycamore trunks at
-Frandley on 9.vi.47. Two specimens were taken at Caldy, Wirral, in
early June 1952. Later in the month cocoons which are presumed to
be this species were found on Sycamore trunks at Marple in Cheshire and
at Heaton Mersey and Didsbury in Lancashire. Unfortunately these
cocoons were either empty or produced parasites. It is possible that
this moth is more widespread than we realise and may have been over-
looked. We have as precedent for this conjecture two species which were
considered scarce a few years ago, namely Lithocolletis geniculella Rag.
and IL. anderidae Fletcher. The former is’ found in most places in
Cheshire where Sycamore grows and the latter is common as a larva in
leaves of dwarf birch on most of our local heaths and mosses.

Blastobasis lignea Wals. This species was previously recorded only
from the Grange and Witherslack districts where it was first taken by
the late A. BE. Wright in 1918. In August 1952 C. M. Jones took a few
specimens at Hoylake, Cheshire, which is fifty miles south of the former
locality. I am again indebted to Mr. Bradley for confirming my identi-
fication.

A Hybrid Swallowtail

aN ACCOUNT OF THE ‘‘cross”’ Papilio asterias 9 (NortH AMERICAN BLACK

SwaLLowtTaIL) X Papilio machaon S$ (THE SwaLLowTAIL, oF HuROPEAN—

MALtTA-sTocK) AND A NOTE ON THE ‘‘machaon COMPLEX’’ OF THE NoRTH
AMERICAN CONTINENT.

By C..A. CuarKke, M.A., M.D., F-R-C.P., F.R.E.S., and
J. P. Knupsen, M.Sc., B.Sc.

On 12th September 1952 one of us (C.A.C.) had the good fortune to
receive from the other (J.P.K.) eight pupae of P. asterias bred in
Georgia. On arrival in England the pupae were incubated at 70° F.
and two female butterflies soon emerged, the first on 14th September
and the second on 30th September. The remaining six pupae appear
to be over-wintering in the chrysalis state and the insects have so far
shown no sign of emerging (2nd January 1953).

On 5th October 1952 the second female was successfully hand-mated
(1) (C.A.C.) with a male P. machaon of Malta stock which had emerged
the previous day. The mating appeared to be in every way normal,
the butterflies remaining together for about an hour. On 8th October
the female started to lay on fennel growing in an unheated greenhouse
and during the next seven days she laid over a hundred eggs, almost
the entire stock being fertile. About eighty of the eggs were kept in
Cheshire (C.A.C.), eighteen were sent back to North America (J.P.K.)
and fifteen were sent to Dr. P. M. Sheppard of the Zoological Depart-
ment, University of Oxford. Each of us bred the early stages at a
temperature of about 70° F. In the Cheshire portion the eggs started
to hatch in five days (13th October), the first larvae pupated fifteen days
later (28th October), and the hybrid butterflies started to emerge on

A HYBRID SWALLOWTAIL. Le

10th November, the complete cycle from egg to perfect insect taking
only thirty-three days.

From the Cheshire brood (C.A.C.) fifty-six pupae were bred from
eighty-six larvae: thirty larvae, mostly from the second half of the
brood, died of typical virus disease. The American fraction (J.P.K.)
produced thirteen pupae from fifteen eggs, and Dr. Sheppard fourteen
pupae from sixteen eggs, two failing to hatch. When the hybrids
emerged there was at first a marked male preponderance but later the
sex ratio became more evenly balanced. By 2nd January 1953, thirty-
six males and twenty-one females had emerged but the final record will
not be available until later as some of the pupae have been taken from
the incubator and will not emerge until the spring.

Description of the Hybrid.
(a) Early stages.

It is well recognized that the eggs, larvae and pupae, of asterias and
machaon are very similar. The chief difference noticed from breeding
both butterflies (J.P.K.) is that in the last two instars the bright orange
spots in machaon are yellow or yellow-orange in asterias. In the hybrid
the spots were orange and the larvae appeared to be identical at every
stage with machaon (C.A.C., J.P.K. and P.M.S.). The smell and taste
(P.M.S.) of the secretion from osmateria were also observed to be the
same as in machaon.

The Cheshire and Oxford batches of larvae were fed entirely on
fennel and the North American on wild carrot: both foodplants are
common to both parent species. The hybrid pupae showed the brown
and green variation characteristic of the parent forms.

(b) Hybrid butterflies.

The striking feature of the hybrid butterflies was the marked re-
semblance both in the male and the female to P. asterias: in particular,
the bodies were identical. We had expected in the F1 generation to
obtain a form intermediate between asterias and machaon and we were
much surprised to find that at first glance there did not appear to be
any resemblance to machaon at all (see Plates). Because of this it
was suggested that the butterflies might not be hybrids, but simply an
example of sporadic parthenogenesis—the foreign spermatozoa acting
as a non-specific stimulus to cell division in the female.

However, more detailed examination of the insects in North America
(J.P.K.) where they were compared with a large number of type forms
showed that machaon influences were quite definitely present and that
the butterflies were in fact true hybrids. The differences are most
marked on the undersides (Plates V, VI and VIII) and the important
machaon features are in the anal angle spot (see diagram and Plate
TX), and in the partially yellow legs.

Details of Differences between the Male Hybrid and the Type Male
asterias.
(A) Upper surface (Plates V and VII).

The resemblance to asterias is nearly perfect except (a) the red spot
in the anal angle of the hindwing of asterias is small and always has a
black central pupil, while in the hybrid the red spot is larger and has
the black below the red and elongated to a dash.

78 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15 / T11/ 1953

(b) The median band of yellow spots which crosses the central area
of both wings is closer to the margin in the hybrid.

(13) Under surface. (See Plates V and VIII, also diagram. The num-
bers in the text correspond with those on the diagram).

(1) There is again a real difference in the size and shape of the anal
angle spot. In asterias it is small and has a black central pupil. In
the hybrid it is larger and the black pupil has dropped down to the
bottom of the spot and become a dash instead of a dot. There is a slight

underside, Dirawn— undoracde (6 machaon-
from O series of nine D4 2 aslenas.) Dracun—
Specimens prom the. from aA Aeres of
Soult.- easlan. Uncked [owe Speecmens.
olates.

colour difference as well, the spot being redder in asterias. In the
hybrid the colour matches machaon—and indeed the form of the spot is
typical of machaon.

(2) The yellow markings between the wing veins at the very margin
of the wings are more prominent in the hybrids. There they form a
very narrow yellow border interrupted only by the tips of the veins
and in this they resemble machaon. In asterias the yellow markings
cover only about half the space between the wing veins.

(3) In the hybrids the sub-marginal row of spots on the forewing is
much enlarged, the spots being almost confluent dashes separated only

A HYBRID SWALLOWTAIL. 79

by the wing veins. Moreover, on the forewing the spots in the hybrid
are yellow with only the slightest trace of orange in the bottom spot or
two. In asterias the corresponding spots are round and well separated
and an orange tone appears in the lower two or three spots. On the
hindwings the sub-marginal row of spots is also enlarged in the hybrid
and there is a colour difference as well. In asterias the four spots above
the tail are orange with at most a thin yellow border top and bottom.
In the hybrids these spots are yellow with at most a narrow orange dash
in the centre of the top one or two spots; in this they veer towards
machaon.

(4) A hazy yellow spot appears at the apex of the forewing in the
hybrids which is present in machaon but not in asterias. In the hybrid
the spot below this hazy one is tear-shaped while in asterias the corre-
sponding mark is more like a comma.

(5) The median yellow band is shifted toward the outer margins of.
the wings in the hybrid and is much yellower than it is in asterias. The
effect of this is to make the blue region between the median and submar-
ginal spots much more narrow in the hybrids. Further, in the hybrid
there is much more blue in this area as a rule than in asterias (this is
shown in the diagram, where the black speckles represent blue scales).

Details of Differences between the Female Hybrid and the Type Female
asterias.
(A) Upper surface (Plates IV, VII).

No difference was detected, except in the character of the anal spot
which is similar to that in the male hybrid.

(B) Under surface (Plates VI, VIII).
The differences here are the same as those in the male hybrid, the
undersides of both male and female being identical.

Genetics.

No attempt is being made here to speculate on the genetics governing
the above differences. The next step would seem to be to try to obtain
the reciprocal ‘‘cross’’ P. asterias 6 x P. machaon @ and also to find out
if the original hybrid can readily be obtained again.*

Fertility.

No difficulty was experienced in hand-mating the hybrids among
themselves nor with type machaon and type asterias males or females
(see Plate X). Dr. Sheppard obtained eighty eggs from an inter-hybrid
mating but these collapsed and were all infertile. From all the other
matings (C.A.C. and J.P.K.) no eggs have resulted, although section
of bodies after death showed that eggs were present.

Discussion.

There exists in the North American continent a large group of
machaon-like butterflies of which Papilio machaon is regarded as the
type. Holland (4) considers that the group originated in the New
World and that P. machaon spread westward into Asia and Europe.

At the present time P. machaon is found as a rare butterfly in the
far north of the North American continent—in Alaska, the Hudson Bay

*Both these have since been done.

80 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1IT/ 1953

area and the north side of Lake Superior, where it occurs as two arctic
subspecies.

The common Swallowtail of North America is P. asterias. This in-
sect occurs from Manitoba, Canada, in the north, to Arizona, in the
south, keeping east of the Rockies in its entire range, except in the
extreme south.

The two butterflies have, therefore, some common ground in the far
north but whether there is much intermingling is doubtful since P.
machaon is there such a scarce insect.

West of the Rockies P. asterias is replaced mainly by two forms,
P. bairdii in the Pacific north-west and P. zelicaon in the south-west.
These and other smaller groups appear: to be intermediate in wing pat-
tern between asterias and machaon and it is possible to trace a series
between the two butterflies using these intermediates to bridge the gap.

As far as wing pattern is concerned P. asterias and P. machaon
appear to be at opposite ends of a geographical cline. The fact that we
have been able to cross them makes it likely that further hybrids can
be obtained between the intermediates themselves and between them
and the extreme forms. Some of these might be fertile and in any case
further information would probably be obtained as to the relationship
of the forms found in Nature. In this connection we think our hybrid
shows many resemblances to P. bairdii. The probable infertility of our
hybrid also supports the view that P. machaon and P. asterias are two
distinct species.

SuMMARY.
(1) The hybrid P. asterias 9x P. machaon ¢ obtained in captivity
is described.
(2) The ‘‘machaon complex’’ of the North American continent ‘+s
briefly discussed and lines of further work indicated.

FOooTtNoTE.

Since writing the paper Dr. E. A. Cockayne has pointed out that
this is not the first occasion on which the hybrid has been obtained: Jn
1908 Mr. Cecil Floersheim (2 and 3) achieved a ‘‘natural’’ mating in
his butterfly house between a P. asterius 9 and a P. machaon 3. The
larvae from the ‘‘cross’’ throve, but unfortunately most of the pupae
died due to overheating. The three butterflies which did emerge were
all males and he noted the marked resemblance to asterias, concluding
that asterias was a Mendelian dominant to machaon. No detailed
description of the hybrids was given.

Mr. Floersheim also had the idea of mating zelicaon with machaon
but failed as the times of the emergence of the butterflies from the
pupae which he had did not coincide. He was also never able to repeat
the original experiment nor to obtain the reciprocal ‘‘cross’’, @ P
machaon x3 P. asterias.

REFERENCES.

Clarke, C. A., (1952). Ent. Rec and Journ. of Var., 64. p. 98

Floersheim (Cecil, (1919' Ent. Rec. and Journ. of Var., 22, p. 200

Floersheim, Cecil. (1915). Entomologist, 48, pp. 225, 253 and 275

Holland W. J.. (1931) The Butterfly Book. Doubleday, Doran & Co., New
York. p. 313 et seq.

B02 8D Pe

VOL. Go. BEATE.

(The alar expanse of the ¢ P. machaon is 3.0in. and of the © P. asterids 3.75 in.)

PLATE OV.

(The alar expanse of the ¢ P. asterias is 2.75 in.)

Prather

Fa

PLATE VII.

5 HO) Ses “Than ,))

in

Is ranges from. 3.0

1(

hybr

(The alar expanse of the eo cida®

PLATE VIII.

PLATE IX.

Above: P. machaon. The pupil of the anal spot is dropped right to the bottom
of the spot.
Middle: P. asterias. The pupil of the anal spot in the type. As can be seen, it
is nearly in the centre of the spot.
Below: Hybrid. Showing the striking intermediate position of the pupil, but
resembling machaon more than asterias.
(The magnification is X10)

PLATE X.

Q hybrids mating with ¢ machaon.

PLATE

De

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. 81

Aberrations of British Macrolepidoptera
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P. ,
PLATE XI.

[The following aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell
collection in the British Museum. |

Acherontia atropos Linnaeus ab. radiata ab. nov.

On the forewing there is a complete blackish fascia, which lies in-
ternal to the whitish fascia seen clearly in ab. virgata Tutt. This
blackish fascia is bordered on its outer side by a whitish fascia tinge
with rufous externally and then there is an indistinct dark fascia;
from the discoidal spot two broad pale rays tinged with rufous run to
the dark fascia, and the interneural spaces between 1 and 2, 2 and 3,
and 3 and 4, are paler than usual giving a rayed effect; the transverse
lines at the base are more distinct than usual. The black bands on the
hindwing are paler than normal. The death’s head on the thorax is
unusually white.

Type 2: From the collection of W. Simmonds of York about 1870.
(Willoughby Ellis coll.) Cockayne coll.

Acherontia atropos Linnaeus ab. pulverata ab. nov.

The forewing is dark. The hindwing is powdered with black scales
except on the costa, at the base, and on the inner margin.

Type ¢: Wells, Norfolk, 10.x.1950, bred by R. G. Todd.

Allotype 2: Eastbourne, 1902, Karp. Rothschild coll.

Paratype 2: Loc. incog. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Deilephila porcellus Jinnaeus ab. decolor ab. nov.

On the forewing the costa and fringe are deep pink; the other parts
of the wing, which are usually deep pink, are whitish with a slight pink
tint; the parts usually greenish yellow are very pale, whitish with a
faint tint of greenish yellow; the base and median area are greyish. On
the hindwing the base and costal area are dark as in the normal form;
the median area is whitish with a yellowish tint, and the border is
greyish white with a faint pink tint. The fringe is deep pink. The
thorax and abdomen are of the usual deep pink colour.

Type do: Sandwich, bred 1880, W. H. Tugwell. Rothschild coll.
Hemaris tityus Linnaeus ab. flavescens ab. nov.

On both the fore and hindwing all the parts which are normally dark
are orange brown. The hair on the first two abdominal somites is
browner than usual, and the black hairs on the middle somites are brown.

Type 2: New Forest, 13.v.1895, G. H. Conquest. (Bright coll.)
Rothschild coll.

Minucia lunaris Schiff. ab. radiata ab. nov.

The forewing is normal except that from the subterminal line to the
row of black dots near the margin there is a pale line along each of the
nervures (seven in all); the hindwing is normal.

Type @: Ham Street, Kent, 7.vi.1949. Bred by E. A. Cockayne
from a pupa handed over by Dr. H. B. D. Kettlewell probably from
na wild larva.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.

Fig. 1. Acherontia atropos ab. radiata O° Type.
Fig. 2. Deilephila porcellus ab. decolor ¢ Type.
Fig. 3. Minucia lunaris ab. radiata Q Type.

82 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 65. 15/ TIT / 1953

Haworth and his Prodromus. |

By P. B. M. Anan.

When Stainton referred to ‘‘the revolution that has been caused in
our cabinets by rare Noctuae being taken in abundance at sugar’’ he
understated the case. It was not only ‘‘in our cabinets’ that the revolu-
tion occurred: it swept through the entire province of lepidopterology.
It revealed the range and distribution of most of the Agrotidae through-
out our island and so, gradually, throughout the world; it enabled field
workers to obtain the eggs and rear the hitherto undiscovered larvae of
many species and so to study and describe the unknown stages; it pro-
vided the taxonomist with additional and plentiful material for the
study of insect evolution and variation; it furnished the ecologist with
data, the zoogeographer with information essential to his work, the
biologist with matter for his investigation of life-histories. It was in-
deed a revolution.

One has only to read the descriptions of Noctuae given by all our
entomological writers prior to 1800 to realise the immediate result of
this method of catching moths. Species hitherto regarded as of the first
rarity, or of which only one or two specimens were known to exist in
collections, were found to be quite common. When Haworth wrote his
second book (1803), Amathes c-nigrum L., that lovely pest of the autumn
sugarer, was ‘‘rare’’; of Diarsia brunnea Schf. he knew of only two speci-
mens; of Agrotis puta Hiib. he writes ‘‘I have just seen a female speci-
men of this, which was taken yesterday in St. James’s Park: am now
acquainted with it in at least five cabinets’’ (elsewhere he tells us that
he has examined not less than 70 collections) ‘‘ and possess 1t myself’’.
Cirrhia gilvago Schf. was ‘‘very rare indeed’’ and so were Anaplectoides
prasina Schf. and Amphipyra tragopoginis Clerck. Aporophyla lutu-
lenta Schf. was known to Haworth by a single specimen ‘‘ taken once by
my great friend D. Jones, time and place not known.”’

It is, of course, difficult to find the larvae of many species which feed
on low-growing plants—and this generalization includes most of the
Agrotidae—and although the rearing of larvae was practised from the
early days of Entomology I do not recall any mention of searching food-
plants at night. Haworth records the larvae of nearly all the species
which feed on deciduous trees and shrubs, quoting the descriptions of
Villers, Fabricius, Linné and other masters, because, says he in his Pre-
face to the Lepidoptera Britannica, ‘‘my own notes on those two points”’
(larva and pupa) ‘‘were not so full as I could wish, and chiefly made be-
fore I had conceived an idea of submitting them to the inspection of
the public’. But it is remarkable that with the exceptions of the
Cuculliinae and the genus Orthosia, and one or two of the stem-feeders
such as Nonagria typhae Thun., he knew the foodplants of only those

Agrotidae which feed on trees and shrubs, that is to say of those species.

which remain on the foodplant during the day.

Reading the Lepidoptera Britannica one, therefore, gains the impres-
sion that Haworth was not greatly interested in the earlier stages of the
Lepidoptera. But this impression, I feel sure, is a false one. His lack
of attention to the early stages was largely due to the fact that he was
equally interested in botany and birds: indeed, he himself records this
in his Preface. So that although he had ‘‘diligently examined many

np A me

HAWORTH AND HIS PRODROMUS. 83

parts of England personally’’ his expeditions were all made with a view
to obtaining plants and noting birds no less than catching and observing
Lepidoptera. It was this consideration which restricted his field work,
not any deficiency of his powers of research and observation. He seems
to have aimed at covering as much ground as possible on each expedi-
tion—in one summer alone, he tells us, he travelled ‘‘not fewer than a
thousand miles’’. Thus to search diligently for larvae was beyond the
compass of his time.

So one is not surprised to read in his magnum opus that the larvae
of Lasiocampa quercus L. and Notodonta dromedarius L. feed on oak,
that Cerura vinula L. is to be found only on white willow and Scoltop-
teryx libatriz LL. on poplar. Had he searched aspen and birch assid-
uously he would hardly have recorded that Notodonta ziczac L. and N.
dromedarius were of very infrequent occurrence nor that the larva of the
last-named is to be found only in September. He does not seem to have
practised pupa-digging, for although he tells us that the pupa of
Griposia aprilina lL. is usually to be had ‘“‘by digging about the roots
of oak an inch deep ’’ he makes no mention of the pupae of the other
species which one invariably comes across when collecting aprilina in
this way.

Yet such were his enthusiasm and diligence that had he devoted
the whole of his time to the Lepidoptera he would have ranked far
higher on the roll of English lepidopterists than he does to-day. Para-
doxically it was his avid thirst for knowledge which hindered the
progress of his learning. He ranks with Newman rather than with
Tutt, though he was a greater man than Newman; for his was the
keener, analytical, brain. Tutt was too dynamic to be classed with
anyone: yet in the sphere of taxonomy, when one considers the limited
material at his disposal, the almost primitive state of the entomological
knowledge of his day, Haworth was no lesser man. Be it always
remembered that Haworth worked alone, Tutt in keen competition
with many.

There was a world of difference between the two men. Haworth
sought to increase scientific knowledge by gathering and recording his
fellow-workers’ unprinted observations no less than his own and thereby
to provide a working tool for his brother lepidopterists; to make avail-
able to English workers the knowledge promulgated by the great Con-
tinental authorities; to import order and system into the study of
Lepidoptera in this country. Tutt set out to sweep away inherited
notions, to teach his fellow lepidopterists and show them the road along
which they must travel. If he pointed that road assiduously, and, it
must be added, vehemently, it was because he knew it to be the only
road to salvation and that all those who failed to tread it were doomed
to remain in the outer darkness. Being a schoolmaster he was accus-
tomed to teach and he had little patience with lesser men who had the
temerity to differ from him. The antithesis between the two men could
not have been more total. Haworth, a clubman, fond of entertaining
and of being entertained, therefore delighting in the society of loved
and loving friends; Tutt, ceaselessly working, counting all hours wasted
which were not devoted to work, a spiritual solitary, as indeed all
geniuses are; for there is no doubt at all about the genius which illu-
mined him. Both men achieved great things; both had great influence

84 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1IT/ 1953

on the entomologists of their generations; and both are beacons in the
progress of our science.

These thoughts have been evoked by the appearance of a new edition
of Haworth’s first book which has recently been produced by Mr. Eric
W. Crassty. It is a slender quarto titled Prodromus Lepidopterorum
Britannicorum. A Concise Catalogue of British Lepidopterous Insects
with the Times and Places of Appearance in the Winged State. By a
Fellow of the Innnaean Society. The original edition was printed in
1802 at the little market town of Holt in Norfolk, where Haworth had
a small estate.

Very wisely Mr. Classey has produced his edition by the photo-litho
process, each page of the original having been photographed and then
reproduced the exact size. Thus the new edition is a perfect facsimile
of the original and at a glance can be distinguished from it only by the
paper upon which it is printed. (The original is printed on a ‘laid’
paper, the wire-marks being horizontal, watermarked ‘I. Furness & Co.
1801’ ; the new edition is on a thin super-calendered wove). AI] entomo-
logists who collect. the English classic books on their subject or are
interested in them, and all professional lbrarians, will therefore be
grateful for this new edition, since their chance of acquiring a copy
of the original is extremely remote. How many copies were produced
in that little printing-house at Holt just a hundred and fifty years ago
is unknown; but seeing that Haworth mentions elsewhere that the
cabinets of his friends and acquaintances amounted to only 70 it is un-
likely that the edition exceeded two hundred copies. And like all books
which are ‘working tools’ most of these copies were ‘thumbed to pieces’
and have long since found their way into the dust-bin.

Next month, with the Editor’s permission, I hope to say something
about the contents of this most interesting volume.

(To be continued).

Current Notes

On another page we print a note about EK. F. Johns and his Winton
House preparatory school at Winchester, where the boys seem to have
been taught Entomology. The Bible tells us that ‘‘There is no new
thing under the sun,’’ but we have never before heard of a school where
the services of an expert were enlisted to teach the pupils how to set
Lepidoptera. The note also refers to a remarkable aberration of Antho-
charis cardamines LL. Does any reader of this magazine by chance
possess this specimen? The ‘‘pin-holes’’ in the wings, to which Mr.
Castle Russell refers, should be sufficient to identify it.

In our January number we printed a Note (page 25) by Dr. A. M.
R. Heron on the destruction of British scenery by the continual mass-
planting of conifers. A book we have recently read contains the follow-
ing: it concerns the activities of the Forestry Commissioners in one
part (only) of Wales. ‘‘The Corsican pine (Pinus nigra var. calabrica)
is... . fairly popular in economic forestry . . . . Here the pines are
mixed with noble firs (Abies nobilis) and the two redwoods (Sequoia
gigantea and S. sempervirens). Strong natural regeneration of the
pines and firs can be seen in the vicinity. The American lodgepole pine

a eD

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA, 85

Yi. tr Vi ae Pea ere ape o's A cai keris ey wake Gur
(Pinus contorta) has already been planted . . . . and is to be used more
extensively in future. . . . The hemlock spruces (7Tsuga spp.) ... will
be seen along the valley, where they have been used for marginal effect.
Cypresses and thuyas .. . . recall the cemetery rather than the forest
to the ordinary observer, but both groups give good timber. Thuja
gigantea has been used on a plantation scale... . and Lawson’s

cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniuna) is also to be seen. . . .”’

‘Cemetery’ trees: to mark the graveyard of our hopes for British
scenery?

Our correspondent D. G. SEvAstopuLo writes:—‘‘ When.I was in
Kngland last year I got a female P. fuliginosa. I brought larvae from
her to Uganda in mid-September and have just had the fourth gene
ration emerge. J was interested to see if the warmth here would pro
duce any tendency towards the Southern European form with the
redder hindwings, but so far each generation has been like its pre-
decessor. What very tough larvae they are, far tougher than any of
the local Spilosoma species. I feed them on a tree groundsel, cuttings
of which I brought back from the Kenya Highlands, and never have a
casualty, whilst the locals seem very subject to intestinal complaints.
I shall let you have an account of the experiment when I have got to
the sixth generation, say about the end of April.’’ We await our cor-
respondent’s paper with interest.

As we go to press we learn that the famous Castle Russell collection
of aberrations of British butterflies has been acquired for the Roths-
child-Cockayne-Kettlewell Collection at Tring. An announcement
about this will appear in our next issue.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C» Hucems, (RES.

Phaloma rupicola Curt. The larva of this rather pretty Tortrix
may be found in the fallen broken stems of Hupatorium cannabinum in
March and early April before the rising new growth tends to cover
them. The pieces should be kept out of doors exposed to the weather
till the middle of June and the moth will then be bred easily. It can
also be beaten out from the clumps of Kupatorium in July but is rather
sluggish and difficult to dislodge without damage. LP. rupicola is very
common in the big clumps of Hupaturium that grow at the base of the
cliffs at Kingsdown, Deal, just below the golf course.

Evetria posticana Zett. In early April side shoots of Pinus sylvestris
should be scrutinised in young plantations with trees of, say, ten or
twelve feet high for small central buds showing no sign of growth. If
these are picked off they will often be found to contain a small black
pupa which will produce in May Hvetria posticana. The pupae require
no care and may be dropped, of course inside the bud if possible, into a
glass-lidded metal box, where the moths will emerge without difficulty
in due time. The larva pupates head downwards, so the shining black
top appears when the bud is broken off; too frequently, however, the
cocoon of a parasite is found. FH. posticana, formerly esteemed a local

86 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL, 65. 15/11/1953

and northern insect, is probably to be found to-day wherever there are
young plantations of Scots fir.

Pammene trauniana Schiff. The little pink larva of this local Tortrix
is to be found under the bark of maples in late March and early April.
Although the moth has been taken in several places, by Purdey near
Barham and also near Folkestone, by Elisha at Box Hill, by Machin and
Mr. L. T. Ford at Bexley, and by the late Sir John Fryer at Chatteris,
I believe the larva has so far been found only at Bexley and Chatteris,
possibly because elsewhere it was not sought at the right time of the
year. The larva is difficult to find but rather easy to rear; the bark
should be stored out of doors with good drainage till the beginning of
May, by which time pupation will have taken place and it can be trans-
ferred to the breeding-cage.

Hemimene alpestrana H.-S. The small white larva of this species
may be found in roots of Achillea ptarmica (sneezewort) at the end of
March. 4H. alpestrana is not at present known in Epping Forest, the
locality in which it was originally discovered in this country; just be-
fore his death the discoverer, the late A. Thurnall, wrote to me that the
place had been drained and the plant killed; but it is found at any rate
near Limpsfield, near Southampton, and at Yarmouth, I. of W., and
could probably be rediscovered at Epping.

As the plant is rather difficult to spot in the spring it is as well to
mark it down in the previous summer or autumn. The roots should be
potted up and the moths will emerge in late June. They are
dificult to get in any quantity as larvae, and beasts to catch in the
adult state, for they appear to move only in the brilliant sun and even
then cannot be beaten out in any way as they drop at the slightest
alarm. My late friend, William Fassnidge, and I got a good series each
near Southampton on a sunny day by watching them run up a stem and
then putting the net below and tapping them smartly into it.

Practical Hints

The Xylocampa areola 9 Q which one finds at rest on farm gates
and gate-posts and fences, and occasionally on tree-trunks (where they
are painfully conspicuous) during April often lay eggs at dusk on the
day of capture. The larvae are not difficult to rear—provided one has
- access to plenty of honeysuckle. Snowberry is not, in our experience,
a satisfactory substitute, though the larvae can sometimes be kept alive
on it for a day or two in an emergency. These slender brown larvae
remain on the stems of the honeysuckle by day.

Those who put a 2 Lycia hirtaria into an assembling-cage should
not give up hope too soon if the moth fails to attract a mate. On 14th
April 1940 we found a female of this species who ‘called’ vigorously
that night and every succeeding night; but it was not until the morning
of 23rd April that a male was found outside her cage. He was put into
the cage and at 9.40 p.m. (S.T.) the moths paired.

When rearing Gastropacha quercifolia for the first time do not be
alarmed if the larvae awaken from hibernation before any leaves are
on the foodplants. They feed at first on the unopened leaf-buds, and

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 87

as they eat the inside of the bud and usually leave the bracts intact,
the novice is apt to be deceived and imagine that his larvae still have
plenty of food to eat. The moral of this is to give fresh sprigs of black-
thorn or hawthorn every day.

Eggs of all species which overwinter in this stage should be looked
at daily now and so should all hibernating larvae. It is unwise to bring
eggs indoors with a view to ‘forcing’ them, but many hibernating larvae
such as the Burnet moths, Leuwcoma salicis, etc., can be brought into
the house in April, if the weather is mild, as soon as they wake up (not
before). Remember that if diapause is broken it cannot be renewed ;
see therefore that the temperature remains constant in the room in
which you keep these larvae.

As soon as the weather becomes mild and the first signs of spring
appear take your torch every evening and search the edges of fields,
hedgerows, and suchlike places where larvae are gathered together. If
you work industriously you will have all your cages full before the next
issue of this magazine appears. There are ten larvae to be had now
for every one available in May. The larvae of all the ‘Brown’ butterflies
which feed on grasses (including CC’. tullia) are to be had, and so are
M. galathea and L. phlaeas.

Notes and Observations

A Note on OpoNTOSIA CARMELITA Esper.—Mr. H. Symes’ article on
the larval habits of this species (Wnt. Rec., 64: 337) reminds me of the
following unrecorded observation. In 1947 my wife and [ visited
Southern Ireland in late June and early July with the object of beating
the larva of Leucodonta bicoloria Schiff. at the late Colonel Donovan’s
two localities, which we had been given fairly accurately, to the south
of Lake Killarney and outside Kenmare. A great deal of effort was
expended, but we were entirely unsuccessful with that species. Both
small and large birches were beaten, and both high and low. I did,
however, obtain one larva of O. carmelita in the beating-tray. I beat
it from the lowest and only accessible bough of a large birch on the
south side of the lake and about half way along its length. On examin-
ing the bough I found that my stick had fallen exactly on the unmis-
takable scar of a past beating—obviously some years old. I hastened
to examine other trees which [ had beaten and in nearly every case
JI found beating scars. In view of the fact that Donovan recorded only
two carmelita from Ireland and that he beat, I think I am right in
saying, more than a dozen larvae of bicoloria (from memory I think 22),
it would appear that this latter species must fluctuate in numbers from
year to year. The carmelita pupated in due course and was alive a year
and a half later but failed to hatch.—Dr. H. B. D. Ketriewett, c/o
Post Office, Fish Hoek, Cape Town. 16.1.53.

EULIA FORMOSANA GEYER IN DorseT.—On 4th July 1950 whilst work-
ing light in my room at Sandbanks, Dorset, I noticed a very striking-
looking ‘micro’ sitting on the wall of the room, and as it was unfamiliar
to me I boxed and set it. JI waded through ‘Meyrick’ in an attempt
to discover the moth’s identity, but no description came anywhere near

88 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

it. Last July I asked Mr. R. Prichard of Bebington, Cheshire, if he
knew what the moth was. He did not. I gave it to him and in Novem-
ber he wrote to say that he had exhibited it at the annual exhibition
of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society and that Mr. W.
H. T. Tams, who was present, immediately recognised it as Eulia for-
mosana Geyer. Mr. Tams had previously identified a specimen of the
insect taken by Mr. R. W. Parfitt in Surrey in 1945, as described in
Entomologist, Ixxx (1947), p. 225, where a photograph of Mr. Parfitt’s
specimen is reproduced. Further specimens were taken by Mr. Parfitt
in the same locality in 1946, and in Entomologist, |xxxil, p. 278, it is
recorded from north-east Hampshire, where Mr. A. W. Richards took
six at light.—F. M. B. Carr, Martin’s Close, Mudeford, Christchurch.

Day-FLyInc Hasir or A. LUCERNEA.—I was interested to read Mr.
Alfred Hedges’ note (page 16). On the 15th August last I noticed a
number of large moths in fast flight over the cliffs on the north side
of Canna near Compass Hill. One was netted and proved to be A.
lucernea. The day was fine and warm.—J. L. Campsexy, Isle of Canna,
Scotland.

EUPITHECIA TANTILLARIA Botsp. IN DERBYSHIRE.—On 17th May 1952,
in Derbyshire, I took a small ‘pug’ which, after setting, was put aside
and temporarily overlooked. On examining this a few weeks ago I was
convinced that it was a specimen of Eupithecia tantillaria Boisd. and
submitted it to Mr. W. H. T. Tams of the British Museum, who kindly
confirmed its identity.—T. H. Forp, 275 Derbyshire Lane, Sheffield, 8.
28.1.53.

Earty Morus.—I found one Phigalia pedaria Fab. and four Theria
rupicapraria Schf. at an electric light on 28th January this year, at
least three weeks earlier than last year.—J. H. JoHnson, 53 Knighton
Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 9.11.53.

Earty Motrus.—On 10th January I noticed an Hrannis defoliaria Cl.
on a fence in this town and on 24th a Theria rupicapraria Schf. Nym-
phalis io L. is passing the winter in my diningroom; it was flying round
the electric light on Ist January.—C.LirForD CrauFuRD, Denny, Gallo-
way Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 12.11.53.

Me. EH. F. Jouns oF WINCHESTER.—Referring to Mr. Symes’ Note in
the January issue of the Record (65: 17), when I was living at Crawley,
from 1934 to 1936, I visited Mr. Johns several times at the large prepara-
tory school which he ran and which was very well known. He also came
occasionally to my house.

‘Quite a number of the boys in his school were interested in
Entomology and, of course, they were encouraged by Mr. Johns and by a
young master who, however, from what I remember, did not take an
interest in collecting himself. I was asked to give the boys lessons in
setting the insects, which they badly needed. I well remember one par-
ticular occasion when I went to give a lesson. One of the boys had just
set a marvellous aberration of a 2 Anthocharis cardamines and as a
result of his efforts the forewings were full of pin-holes. I reset the
insect, but, of course, the pin-holes had to remain. The undersides of

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 89

all four wings were very heavily streaked with wide stripes of orange;
it was the most extreme form of this aberration that I have ever seen.
I do not know what became of it but most probably it went into Mr.
Johns’ collection. This collection was a very small one in a small
cabinet and I cannot remember anything very impressive in the way of
aberrations except a specimen of Lysandra bellargus of which the under-
sides of the hindwings were heavily spotted.

When Mr. Johns retired, which he did a few years later, I think he
removed to Devonshire, but I had no further contact with him. He
most certainly never made any claim to catching Carterocephalus
palaemon nor do I remember him telling me about the Apatura iris
episode.—S. G. Castite Russety, 5 Bridge Road, Cranleigh, Surrey.
25.1.53.

[Mrs. V. M. Johns has very kindly sent us a booklet by her late
husband, Mr. E. F. Johns. It is called Let the Twig Follow its Bent
and was printed at Winchester, but undated. Mr. Johns was a son of
the Rey. C. A. Johns, author of Flowers of the Field and other botanical
works, who founded Winton House School in 1863. This attractive little
book, which gives an interesting account of the school and its activities,
tells us that its founder ‘‘aroused keen interest in all sorts of subjects
to which boys as a rule give slight attention. The chief of them was
the collection of butterflies. Winton House boys were known all over
the neighbourhood by the net which they always carried wherever they
went.’’— Ep. |

LABELLING SPECIMENS.—The Old Moth-Hunter’s article ‘‘On Keeping
a Diary’’ in the December issue prompts me to call attention to the
labels on the specimens of some diarists, which bear nothing but a
number, and although it is simple for the owner to find the necessary
details by referring to the number in his diary, the specimen cannot be
sent in exchange or as a gift until a data label is made out; and if the
cabinets and contents eventually appear for sale, especially if by auction,
the value of the collection is greatly diminished; for, of course, a rarity
is almost valueless without a label with the usual data—locality, date,

and name of captor. There was a case in point at a sale in London on
21..1.1953.

Then surely a label should be affixed with data side up, so that
usually the details can be read without lifting the glass and the speci-
men; yet many collectors put the labels data side down, and upside
down, so that even when the specimen is removed and inverted it has
to be twisted round to allow deciphering. And surely the label should
bear locality, date, and name of captor in that order.

The earliest collectors did not use data labels; but we hear of one
collection sold in 1786 in which the specimens in one Lot are described
as ‘‘all labelled’; so we can raise our hats to this pioneer—the Duchess
of Portland.

As printed labels with name of captor and year are now so very
cheap, neat, and legible they should be acquired each year; and with
a map pen the locality, day and month can be added. Or if a big bag
is made at one locality it is well worth while having labels printed
complete, e.g., Aviemore, 6-17.vi.53. W. Smith. And this applies to
breeding experiments or to m.v. lamp captures.

90 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/11/1953

As to the paper on which labels are printed, why are some so thick?
The British Museum uses paper of such thickness that I feel sure it
must be difficult to penetrate it with a thin pin.

As to identity labels, one very successful collector who has ned skill
and perseverance for twenty-five years is so adverse to the recent changes
in nomenclature that he has none at all in his cabinets. Perhaps this
is a unique case; but some contemporaries may sympathise when they
experience the strain of having to forget an old name which they have
used for twenty years and learn a new one.

Years ago England had an unenviable notoriety in the world with
regard to setting, preferring the ‘English Method’ with convex surface
to the ‘Continental’ (which might have been extended to ‘Rest of the
World’) with flat surface. Eventually we capitulated, and now there
is uniformity.

So please let us have uniformity in labels, and the method of their
application.—W. Bowarer, 41 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birming-
ham.

Erratum.—In the Explanation of Plate II (page 3), Fig. 5 should
read ‘‘ab. nubilata’’, not ab. quadricothurnata.

Collecting Notes

Nores rrom East Herts. anp West Essex 1n 1952.—So far as the
macrolepidoptera are concerned the past year has been only slightly
better than 1951. These notes are taken from my diary and concern
a district included in a circle having a radius any six miles from the
centre of Bishop’s Stortford.

The spring began with a great scarcity of moths. In the May issue
of the Record for 1951 (63: 82) figures were given for the insects
observed on a certain fence within a short distance of my house. The
numbers of Erannis leucophaearia Schf. were 15, 97, 117, 36, 21, 17 and
5 for the first three months of the years 1945 to 1951 (seven years): This
year (1952) there were no leucophaearia at all. There were 3 Hrannis
marginaria Fab., 2 Alsophila aescularia Schf., 1 Operophtera brumata
L., and 1 Theria rupicapraria Schf., a total of 7 moths compared with
the 178 of 1947. It was therefore anticipated that 1952 would be as poor
a year as 1951 and I have not been far mistaken.

So far as butterflies were concerned, spring reports of the immigra-
tion of Vanessa cardui Li. and other species promised well. My friend
Mr. Allan saw a cardui in his garden on 12th March and I noticed one at
candytuft in my garden on 10th April; but the numbers throughout the
year were not much in advance of those usually seen. The blizzard we
experienced in the last week-end of March must have been fatal to a
large number of the immigrants. By careful searching, however, larvae
of V. cardui could be found throughout the summer.

A fair number of hibernated butterflies was on the wing in April.
The first Pieris rapae L. was seen on the 13th and Anthocharis cardamines
L. on the 26th. Pieris brassicae L. was out on the 27th but was not in
any great number during the year and was scarce in the autumn. Pieris
napi L. and Celastrina argiolus L. were flying on 10th May; the first

COLLECTING NOTES. 91

Pararge mégera L. was seen on 13th May and this insect was somewhat
commoner than last year. Argynnis euphrosyne, of which we have a
small colony within a mile of the town, was not seen until 17th May.
Erynnis tages L. and Pyrgus malvae L. were flying on the same day.
Maniola jurtina L. first appeared on 16th June. Vanessa atalanta L.,
V.io L. and Aglais urticae L. were less common in the autumn than
usual. Between 21st August and 5th October Colias croceus Foure. was
flying im the local lucerne fields. These insects were nearly all males of
which more than forty were seen, but there were only 3 type females and
2 f. helice.

Sugar was used on a good number of nights but nothing unusual
appeared and the number of insects was no better than last year.
Amphipyra pyramidea L. was very common (it usually is, here) but
Triphaena pronuba L. and Apamea monoglypha Hufn. were in very
small numbers. Catocala nupta L. was not seen until 10th August and
it was commoner than last year. The latest one seen was on Ist October.

A m.vy. lamp and trap was used in the garden for a few nights in
June and again in August, September and October. The garden is
rather enclosed by trees, so insects did not appear in any‘ numbers.
Among others Amuathes triangulum Schf., Apatele megacephala Scht.,
Caradrina clavipalpis Scop. and Apamea sordens Hufn. appeared in
June. In August Atethmia xerampelina Esp. was the only insect of
note. In September Agrochola lychnidis Schf. and Anchoscelis litura L.
were very common, together with a few Conistra ligula Esp., Antitype
flavicincta Schf. and Lampra fimbriata Schreb. The other common
species were JT. pronuba L. and Amathes c-nigrum L. In October a
few Agrochola lota Cl., Allophyes oxyacanthae L., Brachionycha sphinz
Hufn. and a late C. clavipalpis were in the trap. A fine Dytiscus mar-
ginalis L. was also caught.

Throughout the year only four Macroglossum stellatarum UL. visited
the Valerian in my garden whereas in some past years as many as twenty
could be seen flying at the same time. Upon the whole the year has been
slightly better than 1951 but not much.—C. Cravururp, Denny, Galloway
Road, Bishop’s Stortford. xii.1952.

ButTerFLies IN Haute Savore.—During the last two weeks of May
1952, my wife and I stayed at the village of Hermance on the southern
shore of Lake Geneva. As we had our car we were able to explore the
nearby country, making a number of day trips into the foothills of the
Alps.

Our wants were peaceful and pleasant surroundings within easy reach
and these were supplied by the group of hills in Haute Savoie known
as Les Voirons. Accordingly it was there that we went on most days
to eat our picnic luncheons. Views were good if not spectacular and the
air was decidedly invigorating in comparison with that of the lakeside.
We ascended to no great heights and hence failed to find Parnassius
apollo LL. and those true alpine flowers Gentiana acaulis and Gentiana
' verna. Butterflies were not present in great numbers but increased dur-
ing our stay and reached their maximum on the last visit when, after
passing through Bons and the Col de Saxel, we spent an hour or two
above the village of St. Cerques. Here amongst marshy ground butter-
flies were in fair numbers. .

92 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/IIT/ 1953

Between the 21st and the 31st of May I caught the following butter-
flies amongst these hills:—Aporia crataegi L., Pieris napi L., Buchloé
cardamines Li., Gonepteryx rhamni L., Leptidea sinapis L., Argynnis
euphrosyne L., Melitaea athalia Rott., Euphydryas aurinia Rott. , Aglais
urticae L., Nymphalis io L., Vanessa cardw l., Pararge megera J..,
Hrebia medusa F., Coenonympha pamphilus \.., Hamearis lucina L..,
Heodes hippothoé L., H. dorilis Hutn., Callophrys rubi L., Polyommatus
warus Rott., Cyaniris semiargus Rott., Cupido minimus Fuessl.,
Glaucopsyche cyllarus Rott., Pyrgus malvae I., Erynnis tages I..,
Ochlodes venata Br. & Grey., and Carterocephalus palaemon Pall.

Only two distant excursions were made. On the 26th of May we
visited the Lake of Annecy and enjoyed an excellent meal at a hotel in
Talloires. On the return journey we stopped on the Col de Bluffy which
hes close to the east side of the lake. Here I took Melitaea didyma O.
and Plebejus argus L.

On the 28th of May we travelled via Taninges and Samoéns to Sixt ~
and the Cirque du Fer a Cheval. Butterfly species were similar to those
taken in Les Voirons but in addition I saw but failed to net what
_ appeared to be Inmenitis camilla L.—F. M. G. Stamoers, M.B., Fifield
House, Manor Road, St. Albans. 30.xii.52.

COME OPT ERA

A Note on Agapanthia villosoviridescens

Degeer
By R. S. Ferry.

Dr. Joy records the above species as very rare. For some time my
wife and I had considered an expedition to Monk’s Wood, Huntingdon-
shire, where this interesting Longicorn has apparently been taken on
many occasions and in some numbers. Reference to its capture is made
by Mr. Ray Palmer in The Natural History of the Hitchin Region. Mr.
Palmer writes that he first took it on a thistle flower at Oughton Head
Common in July 1924 and that since that date he has taken several
other specimens in the same locality.

Oughton Head lies some two miles north of Hitchin and thus is
only eight miles from our home at Welwyn. Our first visit there should
have been too late in the season, but much to our delight my wife took
a specimen of villosoviridescens on a thistle stem on the 5th September
1946.

At a subsequent visit to Oughton on Ist July 1950 we took fifteen
specimens on thistle stalks and on Heraclewm sphondylium. A further
visit in that year, on the 29th July, produced one specimen after a long
search. In the following year I visited the locality on the 15th July;
the day was one of great heat and brilliant sunshine, and although I
searched among the roots of the plants I was successful in obtaining
only one.

Our visit to Oughton this year (1952) took place on 29th June and
after an hour’s intensive search in its old haunts we were faced with
failure. However, my wife left me to my thistles and inspected a dense
patch of Heracleum sphondyliuwm near the bank of the River Hiz. Her —
action met with immediate success and in the next half-hour we could —

DIPTERA. 93

have taken a further twenty specimens. The time was approximately
3.30 p.m., and J think that they were just beginning to come up to the
daylight from the thick herbage below. A number were seen in flight.

There is little doubt that this beetle tends to disappear to shelter
during hot sunshine and, therefore, if one feels one has found an ap-
propriate station it is necessary to search deeply among the roots should
the day be a hot one.

LEP Tee Al

ORNITHOMYIA FRINGILLINA CurRT. ON A ROBIN IN KeEntT.—Although this
species has been found on robins before in this country, the fly, according
to Dr. J. Smart, 1939, in Edwards, Oldroyd and Smart, British Blood-
sucking Flies, ‘‘appears to be rare in the British Isles.’”? Mr J. F. Bur-
ton recently sent me two specimens caught by Mr. G. Manser on a robin
at Beckenham, Kent, on 18th August, 1952.

Other References:—Asu, J., 1950. Records of Ornithomyia spp.
(Dipt., Hippoboscidae) from Berkshire and Co. Durham in 1949. Ent.
mon. Mag. 86: 86-7. 1952, Records of Hippoboscidae (Dipt.) from
Berkshire and Co. Durham in 1950, with notes on their bionomics. Ent.
mon. Mag. 88: 25-30. Cricuton, M. I., and Camppett, W. D., 1949,
Some records of Ornithomyia fringillina Curtis (Dipt., Hippoboscidae),
with notes on its reproduction. Ent. mon. Mag. 85: 143-5. O’Manony,
E., 1950, Ectoparasites from Fair Isle. 2. Hnt. mon. Mag. 86: 71.
Owen, D. F., 1953, Ornithomyia fringilla Curt. on Redwing. Fnt.
Record, 65: 31.—L. Parmenter, 94 Fairlands Avenue, Thornton Heath,
Surrey. £74.53.

L* ow 1
Eraatum.—Page 31, line 22, for ORNITHOMYA FRINGILLA Curt. read
ORNITHOMYA FRINGILLINA Curt. ;

ORTHOPTERA

The *Drumming’ of Meconema thalassinum

Fabr.
By P. W. E. Curriz.

According to Burr (British Grasshoppers and their Allies, 1986, p.
120) ‘‘Fabre has shown that during copulation, at night, the male drums
the apex of the abdomen on the branch on which it is sitting, and so
produces a faint drumming sound, which he compares to that of a wood-
pecker.’’ Some observations which I made on a captive pair in 1951
satisfied me, however, that the sound is not produced by contact between
the tip of the abdomen and the substrate. I quote from my notes:—

“30th Aug. Surprised the male in the act of drumming. The male
was on a Slender green sallow twig, facing upwards, wings and elytra
closely appressed and raised perpendicular to the long axis of the body.
The abdomen appeared slightly elongated, turgid, transparent; it was
held slightly S shaped .. . so as to bring the cerci below the level of
the abdomen. The main axis was parallel to and well distant from the
twig. On the drumming there was an extremely rapid vibration of the
tip of the abdomen, so as to produce a hazy appearance. If anything

94 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1IT/1953

touched the twig it can only have been the cerci or, possibly, the last
sternite—and at that very lightly.

“Sth Sept. . . . the male was on the tale of the sides of the breed-
ing cage. The abdomen was clearly raised at an angle of 10 degrees or
more above the parallel with the talc, and the vibration was of very
slight range. On two occasions I held the tip of my index finger lightly
against the tale opposite the tip of the abdomen. Although I perceived
a light vibration (very slight) there was definitely no impact—indeed
the abdomen was barely, though very rapidly vibrated. It did not move
more than a few degrees below its normal angle.

“7th Sept. The male was upside down on the roof of the cage, the
abdomen hanging down well below the horizontal. Under a good light
I could see clearly that the abdomen was only vibrated. There was
definitely no contact with the surface. The whole body was held well
clear of the surface on the long legs.”’

On each occasion when I have seen the drumming, the wings and
elytra have been held well up, almost if not quite perpendicular to the
surface, but I have been unable to detect any significant movement of

these organs. The sound produced, though faint, is clearly audible to ©

me at a distance of 12 feet. It is of short duration, not more than half
a second, and is often repeated a number of times at intervals of 2-3
seconds. It does not appear to vary in pitch or character according to
the material on which the insect is standing. My specimen, which I
kept in my bedroom, drummed most frequently on warm still nights.
Fortunately it would continue drumming after a strong light was turned
on, and all my observations were made in this way. The female ap-
peared to pay very little attention to the drumming, nor is her presence
necessary aS a stimulus, as I have had isolated males which drummed
freely. The sound does bear a distinct resemblance in character to the
drumming of a woodpecker.

This species can easily be kept in captivity, and will feed readily on
the leaves of oak, rose and birch. I have once (27th Aug. 1950) found
it in the field, at Bookham Common, Surrey, feeding on larvae of Pristi-
phora testacea (Jurine), a sawfly whose larvae feed in colonies on birch.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903).

CERURA BICUSPIS AT CromER.—On September 10th, 1902, I took, in
the neighbourhood of Cromer, a nearly full-fed larva of C. bicuspis on
alder. I searched well for others but was not rewarded with a further
find. For want of better accommodation the larva was kept in a tin
box, and supplied with fresh alder leaves, upon which it fed well for
nearly a week. On September 17th it ceased to feed, shrank a good deal
in size, and spun up during the night on a piece of dried wood. Prior
to pupation, it did not change to any extent in coloration, as would
have been the case with a larva of C. vinula. I returned to London on

September 20th, having, as luck would have it, to travel in a railway —

carriage which oscillated violently throughout the journey; I am, con-
sequently, somewhat apprehensive as to the effect which this shaking
up may have had upon the larva during its pupation.—A. RUSSELL.

ie ee

CURRENT LITERATURE. 95

A Migration oF Beettes.—Towards the end of July, 1897, this chafer
(Anomara frischu F.) was fairly abundant locally for a week or ten days
on the dunes above the submerged forest at Meols, and my wife and I
visited the spot with the object of solving the mystery of their observed
movements. The beetles commenced to appear from the sand and roots
of starr-grass about ten a.m., reaching the culminating point of
abundance each day between twelve and one o’clock. But the perplex-
ing circumstance was that, within a short time from its appearance,
each insect rose in the air and deliberately set off in a W.N.W. direc-
tion, over the dunes and out to sea. All the insects followed the same
general direction, and chafers that were observed to fly towards an
opposite quarter might have almost been counted on one’s fingers.
Whence (sic) went these would-be mariners, and for what purpose, since
food was presumably abundant around them?—KE. J. B. Sopp.

Current Literature

BeHAviouk, 4, has an interesting paper, at pp. 222-232, on ‘‘Some
Experiments on the Camouflage of ‘Stick’ Caterpillars’? by L. de
Ruiter. In order to test the survival value of the resemblance of cer-
tain Geometrid larvae to sticks, experiments were carried out with
Ennomos almaria, Biston strataria and B. hirtaria and captive Jays
and Chaffinches. Before being placed in the cage the larvae were
killed, as movement in an unusual environment would mean instant
detection. It was found that as the birds were used to the inedibility
of sticks, which had been placed in the cage previously, they did not
peck the larvae. Once a bird had found one stick caterpillar by accident
they pecked at sticks until discouraged by not finding further cater-
pillars. The solitary habits of stick caterpillars thus have survival value
should this situation arise in the wild, for if a caterpillar was discovered
it would probably be the only victim. However, it was found that cater-
pillars were confused only with sticks of their own food-plant and some
birds were able to distinguish them even from these. This suggests
that natural selection has not yet produced the maximum possible pro-
tection for these larvae.

Beh OF

Obituary

Puiure P. Mitman died at his home in Paignton, Devon, on 23rd
September, 1952. His father and grandfather also were natives of that
place, though his mother came from Maidstone in Kent. He was born
at Paignton on 3rd November 1878, and was, therefore, approaching his
74th year. His father, Edwin John Milman (1853-1940), was interested
in Lepidoptera, conchology and horticulture, and all three tastes were
inherited by the son.

Although Milman had a sound knowledge of the British Lepidoptera,
was an indefatigable field worker in his younger days, and discovered
several species hitherto unsuspected to occur in Devon, he did not con-
tribute a great deal to the magazines, his Notes in the Entomologist
between 1907 and 1947—twenty-five in all—mostly recording immigrant
species seen at Paignton. The only paper he wrote was in 1946:
“Hypena obesalis Treits. in Britain’? (Entomologist, 79: 212). But as

96 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1IT/ 1953

a correspondent on matters entomological he was at his happiest, and
there can have been few writers whose letters gave their recipients more

pleasure.

Our contributor, Mr. Frank H. Lees, who knew him well in es later
years, writes: ‘‘I met him first in June 1939, and we became good
friends at once. Some people, I know, found him (shall we say?)

‘difficult’; I fear they did not realise that unhappy experiences, aggra-
vated by his unpopular political views, were bound to hurt a deeply
sensitive nature and induce not only independence of outlook but a
tendency to dwell too much on the grievances of suffering humanity both
in general and in particular. All that, however, did not affect his
sincerity as a friend or integrity as a citizen, and he held everyone’s
respect as a scientific worker of clear understanding of the problems of
horticulture, conchology and entomology. He was wonderfully in-
formed on all matters pertaining to the Lepidoptera both local and
general, and, ever kindly and generous at heart, was happy to impart
his knowledge to others. His health and circumstances had restricted
his activities for many years, but his interest never flagged. His en-
thusiasm over my own small successes with my moth-trap was as whole- |
hearted as if they had been his own. I shall sadly miss his help and
friendship.’’

Another friend, Mr. G. P. Sutton, pays the following tribute: ‘‘My
memory of him goes back to Sugarloaf Hill. A cheery hail, ‘‘Any luck ?”’
led to conversation and a real friendship. But for that chance meeting
my scanty knowledge of the South Devon insects would have been much
more limited. To those he loved, generosity was his middle name, and
to me he gave full measure. That first season he handed over to me his
favourite sugaring posts, and as the years went by these yielded loreyt,
unipuncta, vitellina, exigua, etc. He was a simple soul, but not always
easy to agree with. A deep-rooted sympathy for the under-dog led him
to the support of extreme ideologies which made the avoidance of politi-
cal discussion desirable. There was never a kindlier man. From time
to time [ learned a little of his personal history. He spent his early
adult years schoolmastering, but that was abandoned for a personal
reason. After a time he was with the Paignton Urban District Council
and then, in the latter years, he grew flowers and fruit for the Paignton
shops. He was very jealous of the Paignton amenities, and, regretting
as he did the development of the town and the increasing hordes of
visitors, it is somewhat surprising that he was ready to welcome visiting
lepidopterists so warmly. But that was in keeping with his kindly
nature.”’

Mr. Frank Lees adds the following personal touch: ‘In his prime
his must have been a tall, strong, active figure; ageing, as I knew him,
thin, a rather loose-cheeked face, clean shaven, with a clear complexion;
rather challenging blue eyes; thinning white hair; with a gentle manner
and voice. But I should imagine he could be very resentful tov ards the
officious, the mean, and the arrogant.’’

Milman will not easily be forgotten by his many friends and pen-
friends. P.B.M.A.

We also regret to record the death of Norman Humpert Joy,
M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., who died at Chichester on 20th January at the age :
of 78. At one time he was Medical Officer at Bradfield College, Berks.,
and was well known as a coleopterist.

ae ‘ {

ee SPRING AND SUMMER CORONATION YEAR LIST OF LIVESTOCK, ETC.,
By OBTAINABLE FROM

oe. OF. CHITTY

’ NATURALIST AND BREEDER OF LEPIDOPTERA

_-~-—s MEREWORTH, PARK WOOD ROAD, THE RIDGE, HASTINGS, SUSSEX.
x | . TELEPHONE: BALDSLOW 439.

Natural History Subjects supplied to: Schools, Colleges, Universities, Laboratories,
Collectors, etc., all over the World.

Bae.) | TERMS OF BUSINESS
Be less than iwelva Eggs or six Larvae ‘supplied at a time, but Pupag sold singly.

Sash with order if possible, please.

Packing and postage extra: Eggs 3d per species, Larvae 6d for each. species. Pupae 5d for 3;
if order exceeds 3, add 24d for each additional 3. Any postage in excess will be refunded.
[fo avoid disappointment, orders should be placed as soon as possible.

Most species on this list can be supplied as set insects, a good selection of which are always
_ in stock. Enquiries invited.

‘Enquiries invited for varieties of P. ae etc. "Many other species of British and Foreign
- moths and butterflies will come to hand during season.

Price tet Eggs Larvae Pupae Eggs Larvae Pupae
utterfites. per doz. per doz. each. Moths. per doz. per doz. each.
Swallow-tail 6s 6d 98 0d = Elephant Hawk 388 0d - 486d 10d
Large White is 0d 380d 4a 5-Spot Burnet 1s 0d 838 6d 4d
: small White o ME S180. 3d Green Silverlines 2s. 0d 4s 0d 6d
sreen-veined White is6d 2s 6d 3d =: Cinnabar . 9d = is 0d _
is 6d §63s 6d — Wood Tiger 3s 0d = 8s: Gs id
i — ‘8s 0d 5d Garden Tiger 94 ll — —
j earl-bordered -. Searlet Tiger - 25 6d ~~ 4s Od 7d
f 2s 6a 863s Od 6d Ruby Tiger 3s 0d - -
it. 48 00 <3 eras Buff Ermine | 9d = %s_ Od 3d
W hite Admiral 5s 0d — ee White Ermine «i 9d t. 8s 0d 3d
3mall Tortoiseshell — 2s 0d 3d Ghost, Moth 2s 0d -- —
— . 3s0od 4d Common Swift ‘2s 0d — —
2s 6d 4s 6d 6d. Black Arches 3s 0d 48 6d 8d
3s 6d «= 4s 6d 6d Scarce Vapourer 4s 0d — —
3s Od 5s 0d Id Vapourer - is 0d 28 0d 3d
eckled Wood ' 1s0d 380d 5d Oak Eggar v.
al GAS is 0d 380d 5d Callunae 236d 5s6d 1s 0d
irbled White © 2s 6d — —. . Drinker 1s 6d pet ipl ee
adow Brown 1s 0d — — Lappet — ; 3s 0d = 5s 6 8d
is 6d | was — Kentish Glory 4s 6d 7s 6d —
is 0d — = Emperor Moth 2s 6d — —
is 0d — — Puss Moth 2, 0d 48 0d —
nD Hairstreak 230d 4s 6d 6d Poplar Kitten - 480d 5s 0d =
is 0d — — |» Buif-tup is 0d 2s 6d. --
nmon Bi is 0d = 3s 6d 6d § Pebble Prominent 2 6d 4s 0d 6d
xrizzled Skipper 380d 480d ae Coxcomb Prominent 2s6d 4s 6d 7d
gy Skipper he S60 88 6d 5d Swallow Prominent 2s 6d 5s 6d 8d

1s 6d. 480d | (6a Iron Prominent @s 6d 45s 0d 7d
Dot 2s 6d 4s 6d _

he Green-brindled
6s 6d 9s 6d 3s 0d Crescent 2s 0d 4s 0d 6d
23 6d 5s 6d 1s 0d Angleshades 4s Od. 25 0d 3d
2s 6d 4s 0d 10d Small Angleshades pga 1s) 0d. 3d
230d 4s 0d 8d Broom Moth is 0d 2s 0d [ia
_ 26d 48 0d 10d Red Underwing aes 330d = — —_

sea and blown larvae; prices of these and many ethan preparations, including
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_ Your enquiries invited for all natural history needs.

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HOTEL ACCOMMODATION

BALMER LAWN HOTEL, BROCKENHURST. (BrocxennuRsST 3116),

Situated in the lovely New Forest, offers an Entomologist’s paradise,

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In the heart of some of the finest Sugaring and Beating, such rarities as

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Brochure and special terms gladly sent on request.

EXCHANGES AND WANTS

Exchanges.—I should like to get in touch with collectors in Great Britain who
would exchange Lepidoptera from all parts of the British Isles (butterflies
and moths, except micros) for species from Alsace, the Midi of France, and

Switzerland. Correspondence in English, French, or German.—Bernara ey AM

Meier, Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France.

Wanted.—Living females of common species, especially satyrids and fritillaries,

from most parts of the country. Will exchange live or dead stock. rae et
D. Fraser, 52a Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, London, S. Wi. Bey:

Wanted. —Pupae of Irish or Scottish 0. bidentata, and ova of wild parents of
English C. elinguaria. Liberal exchange of English or tropical Pepi noniens:
—W. Bowater, 41 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, ray gel a (55 ee

Urgently required during the next few months‘for research purposes, pupae ot
Biston betularia Linn. (melanic or otherwise). Would be most: grateful if

entomologists would inform me of approximate percentages of ‘the two An i

melanic aberrations—carbonaria and insularia and the typical, occurring in
any locality —Dr. H. B. D. Ketilewell, Department of Zoology, University
Museum. Oxford. Me ara ae Cet Rae Ae anes

! .
~

‘Wanted. —Butterflies of Europe, America, India and Africa in exchange for ss
Butterflies of Malta.—G. G. Lanfranco, 3 New Str., Sai Malta, GC. 3

\ f Se

cy a
Perak ay a

a ANTON JELINEK
3900 W. Diversey Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

WISHES TO BUY TROPICAL AND EXOTIC BUTTERFLIES

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THE ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD
AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
(Founded by J. W. TUTT on 15th April 1890).

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S. _
Assistant Editor : P. B. M. ALLAN, M.B.E., M.A., F.8.A., F.R.E.S.
Treasurer: A. C. R. REDGRAVE.

Publicity and Advertisements: F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road,
St. Albans, Herts.

The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:

Lepidoptera: 8. N. A. JACOBS, F.R.2.S., Dr. H. B. WILLIAMS, Q.C.,

LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., FRES.:

Coleoptera: A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc.; Diptera: E. C. M. d’ASSIS-

FONSECA, F.R.E.S. Business: P. SIVITER SMITH, F.R.E.S.

CONTENTS
SOME FORGOTTEN VARIETAL NAMES E. A. Cockayne es : aay sie
A REMARKABLE ABERRATION OF ARCTIA CAJA. E. S. A. Brace 66
SOME EXPERIENCES IN BREEDING VARIETIES OF PANAXIA DOM-

INULA. H. Symes aie 67
MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE: A RECORD FOR

1952. J. H. Johnson ee Ms ne, ae 69
BUTTERFLIES AT WINCHESTER IN 1951 AND 1952 ae as 72
MICROLEPIDOPTERA IN CHESHIRE AND SOUTH LANCASHIRE IN 1952.

H. N. Michaelis Wee rs ee ae oe Ko a 74
A HYBRID SWALLOWTAIL. C. A. Clarke and J. P. Knudsen ... a CUR st |
ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. E. A. Cockayne ay sitive <F |
HAWORTH AND HIS PRODROMUS. I. P. B. M. Allan ... see ae Sag ee
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 4d. C. Huggins ... ay ae Pre 5
A NOTE ON AGAPANTHIA VILLOSOVIRIDESCENS. 28. S. res car aoe oe
THE DRUMMING OF MECONEMA THALASSINUM. P. W. E. Currie ae ee

ALSO CURRENT NOTES, PRACTICAL HINTS, NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS,
COLLECTING NOTES, CURRENT LITERATURE, ETc.

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97

By H. B. Wrt1aMms, Q.C., LL.D., F.R.E.S.

Readers of The Entomologist’s Record will be interested to learn that
the very complete and celebrated collection of British Rhopalocera
formed by Mr. S. G. Castle Russell has been acquired and presented to
the Nation by our Editor, Dr. Cockayne, and is now housed at Tring as
part of the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection.

It is possible that the full extent of Dr. Cockayne’s gifts to the
National collections is even yet not fully appreciated. His own collec-
tion, which is the foundation of the joint collection, contained the most
complete series of British Heterocera ever accumulated and also some not
inconsiderable series of Rhopalocera of substantial scientific importance.
The addition of the Castle Russell collection will result in the joint col-
lection containing a very representative series of most of the known forms
of British Rhopalocera, so that the butterflies will approach the standard
of the moths.

This is undoubtedly the finest addition to the joint collection yet
made, and all British entomologists should be grateful to Dr. Cockayne
for making such a collection available for study.

I had intended to refer to some of the more notable insects in the
Castle Russell collection, but these are so numerous that they should
form the subject of a later note. For the moment it is sufficient to say
that very few of the major forms of our British butterflies are unrepre-
sented and that there are many which few entomologists have ever seen.
The collection is particularly strong in aberrations of Argynnids and
Lycaenids and is further distinguished by the magnificent condition of
the insects it contains.

All British entomologists are indebted to Dr. Cockayne for his very
generous gift, and I am sure that he will-be very happy if they show
their appreciation by studying it in its new home.

The Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell Collection

By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

After many years’ work the British Museum now possesses a collection
of British Macrolepidoptera which, as a collection of the Lepidoptera of
any single country, is unequalled. In no other collection can:one see the
names of subspecies and aberrations with their synonyms and references
to the original descriptions on the labels. There is also a note on the
genetics, when they are known, with references to the chief work or
works in which they are described.

All the moths included in South’s Moths of the British Isles have
been arranged in Hill’s ten-drawer units. The order and nomenclature
of the Sphingidae, Bombyces (sensu lato) and Agrotidae (Noctuidae)
adhere closely to those used by W. H. T. Tams and will be adopted in the
new edition of South’s work and have been published already in Larval
Foodplants by P. B. M. Allan. The nomenclature and arrangement of
the Geometridae, with a few exceptions approved of by L. B. Prout, is
that used in Seitz Macrolepidoptera of the World, vol. 4.

The Rhopalocera are being arranged by A. L. Goodson. Gifts and
purchases are continually being incorporated and names of newly de-

98 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TV /1953

scribed subspecies and aberrations are being added from time to time,
but the chief work has been accomplished and the collection is ready for
inspection. Visitors are we:come and [I shall be happy to arrange for
anyone to see it during the hours when the Museum is open if I get an
application by letter.

Since the list of donations was published in the Hntomologist, 1950,
83, 19 a large number of additional gifts have been received, of which
the following are some of the most important : — a

Mr. A. L. Goodson has handed over his collection containing numerous
aberrations of butterflies and moths.

Miss Monica Gibson, Aphantopus hyperantus Linn., the under side
figured Proc. South Lond. Ent. and N.H. Soc. 1949-50, Pl. 2, fig. A;
Mr. Michael Trapaud, 2 gynandromorph Saturnia pavonia Linn.; Mr.
A. Valentine, Melanargia galathea Linn, ab. valentinta Williams (para-
type); Mr. E. W. Classey, Xylocampa areola Esp. ab. wrighti Tams
(type and paratype); Mr. P. Siviter Smith, the types of Humichtis
lichenea Hbn. described in Ent. Rec. 1942.54.96; Major H. C. Gunton,
Meristis trigrammica Hufn. ab. eccentrica Ckyne.; Mr. R. P. Demuth,
32 Apamea exulis Lefebvre ssp. assumilis Doubleday, melanic forms from
Dalwhinnie; Mr. A. Smith, Hubrosyne pyritoides Hufn. ab. miranda
Ckyne. ;

Mr. E. S. A. Baynes, Selenia bilunaria Esp. ab. eblanaria Baynes
(type, allotype and 10 paratypes), Cidaria fulvata Forst. ab. with very
narrow median band, gynandromorph Bupalus piniaria Linn., gynan-
dromorph Apamea secalis Linn. figured Ent. Rec. 1940, 52, Pl. 5,
somatic mosaic Diarsia festiva Hbn., Cupido minimus Fues. ab. striata
Tutt, Spilosoma lubricipeda Linn. with dark margin and fringes; Mr.
Austin Richardson, 5 Cryphia mwuralis Forst. ssp. wmpar Warren,
Gloucester, 2 Melanargia galathea Linn. under side ab., 12 Calamia
virens Linn.; Mr. A. V. Hedges, 2 Thera firmata Hbn. ab. purpureo-
brunnea Ckyne. (type and paratype), 16 Colobochyla salicalis Schiff., 1
Lampropteryx suffumata Schiff. ab. paradoxa Ckyne., Plemyria bicolor-
ata Hufn. ab. semifumosa Ckyne. (2 paratypes).

S. Gordon Smith, 33 Selenia bilunaria Esp., including 2 ab. radiata
Boyes, ab. superba, rubra, and other forms named by him, 2 Amathes
depuncta Linn., 2 grey forms, N. Wales; Messrs. H. S. and P. Robinson,
Tathorhyncus exsiccata Led., Amathes c-nigrum Linn. albino, Plusia
gamma Linn. ab. bipartita Orst., Plusia ni Hbn., Iithosia quadra Linn.
ab. luteomarginata Lamb., Apamea infesta Ochs. ab. lactea Ckyne.,
Scotogramma trifolii Hufn. ab. robinsonit Ckyne., type, Hadena lepida
Esp. ab. aurantia Ckyne., type; Mr. T. G. Howarth, Agrotis cinerea
Schiff., figured Barrett, Omphaloscelis lunosa Haw. ab. intensa Turner,
Rhizedra lutosa Hbn. ab. crassicornis Haw.; Mr. S. Galpin, Callimorpha
dominula Linn. 2 ab. Rippon B.

Mr. J. P. Robson, 12 Oporinia dilutata Schiff. ab. latifasciata Prout;
Mr. C. H. Hards, Charadra deridens Guen. in light trap at Plumstead,
an American species; Mr. R. M. Craske, Psewdopanthera macularia
Linn. ab. fuscaria Stdgr., Chiasmia clathrata Linn. ab. alboguttata
Fettig, and a light ab.; Mr. Nigel Easton, Pieris napi Linn. ab.
rotunda Easton, 2 paratypes; Mr. Frank Lees, larvae from which a
series of 13 Plusia ni Hbn. was bred; Mr. G. Haggett, Agrotis cinerea
Schiff. figured Barrett.

LAMPIDES BOETICUS LINN. IN SOUTH WEST FRANCE, 99

Dr. H. B. Williams, Aglais urticae Linn. ab. pallida Mosley, figured
Mosley’s Illustrations, Pl. 5, fig. 1, Leptidea sinapis Linn. ssp. juvernica
Williams, type, allotype, 2 paratypes, Humenis semele Linn. ssp. thyone
Thompson, type, Cleora rhomboidaria Schiff. ab. haggarti Williams,
type, allotype, Arctza caja Linn. ab. mediodeleta Ckyne., type, 4 Abraxas
grossulariata Linn. ab. aureomarginata Ckyne., 15 hybrid Lycia hirtaria
Clerck g x Poecilopsis lapponaria 2°, 347 Angerona prunaria Linn. in-
cluding 12 types and many paratypes, aberrations of Bupalus piniaria
Linn. and 2 gynandromorphs, aberrations of Cryphia muralis Forst. in-
cluding ab. albida Colthrup, type and allotype, Cryphia perla Schiff.
ab. alba Colthrup, type and allotype, 4 gynandromorph Gonepteryz
rhamni Linn.

Mr. Cyril Mackworth-Praed, 3 Tethea ocularis Linn., melanic; Mr.
John Lobb, Argynnis euphrosyne Linn. ab. edna Lobb, type;Messrs. L.
H. 8S. Chevallier and L. Christie, Lampides boeticus Linn. ¢ and 9;
Baron de Worms, Drymoma dodonaea Schiff. ab. nov.; Mr. Sydney Tur-
ner, Cirrhia icteritia Hufn. ab. perawrantia Turner, type, Xanthorrhoe
fluctuata Linn. ab. immaculata Tutt, Horisme aquata Hbn., Selidosemu
brunnearia Vill. ab. intermedia-fumosa Turner, type, Lycaena phlaeas
Linn. ab. schmidti Gerh., Catocala promissa Schiff. red replaced by
white on hind wings, Apamea infesta Ochs., albino; Mrs. Graves, Arctia
caja Linn. with no dark markings on fore or hind wings.

Other gifts have been received from Messrs. C. Q. Parsons, H. C.
Huggins, A. J. Wightman, J. T. May, G. Youden, C. Down, S. B. Hodg-
son, Oliver Howard, P. Freeman, C. M. R. Pitman, A. M. Morley, and
W. Bowater.

I have bought at sales or by private treaty a large number of aber-
rations including a beautiful albino Catocala nupta Linn. and several
types, the B. W. Adkin collection of Lasiocampidae, and some of the
late F. W. Sharman’s aberrations of Arctia caja Linn.

Recently I have acquired the famous Castle Russell collection of
aberrations of British butterfiies, which will raise the level of the butter-
flies in the Museum to that reached already by the moths. As a special
favour Mr. 8. G. Castle Russell has generously allowed me to take over
the collection in his lifetime and it is now available tor examination at
Tring.

Lampides boeticus Linn. in South West

E france
By Vera MoteswortH Muspratt, F.R.E.S.

I was very interested in Mr. L. H. S. Chevallier’s article on Lampides
boeticus L. in Ent. Rec., 64, 274, as in 1950 I bred some myself here et
St. Jean-de-Luz though entirely on garden peas. I was so certain they
were going to be difficult to rear and that I should fail in the attempt
that I took no regular notes. Though they all I think resulted in butter-
flies it was more good luck than good management and I missed an
opportunity which has not yet occurred again to find out lots of things!

In 1950 the first boeticus I saw, a male, was on the 29th of May,
flying round some full grown peas which were just showing long flat
pods in my garden. I did not see numbers on my usual rounds (of about

100 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TV /1953

1i miles) in June, but either there were more in the region than my
records show or else all the eggs laid flourished better than usual, as in
July there were hundreds of the butterflies in extremely fresh condition
all over the place.

On the 17th of June my cook told me there were numbers of ‘‘worms”’
‘ in the peas she had just shelled. The ‘‘worms’’ proved to be caterpillars,
and I saw that they were probably those of boeticus.

I collected some pods in the garden on which were minute holes Get
like round stains) where the caterpillars had entered them, which I
proved by opening some of the pods; so, taking five or six of the un-
opened pods I put them in a cage. J realised that in most of the pods
growing on the plant there would probably be sufficient peas to last
until the caterpillar was fully fed, but that the pods in the cage would
soon dry up. So after three days I opened the pods, to find the cater-
pillar or caterpillars (I found two in one pod and three in another) look-
ing very healthy but the peas a bit dry. I cut off one end of the old
pods in which were the caterpillars and cut one end of a fresh pod,
inserting the old one in the new, hoping the larvae would leave the
drier peas and find the fresh ones. It worked beautifully, as when I
began the same operation three days later I found that all the larvae
had removed themselves to the new pods and were eating the fresh peas.
This went on till the end of June, though the last time I changed the
pods it seemed to me that two or three caterpillars were missing, but
as I had not counted them I could not be certain. On the last day of
June I found all the pods empty, with one sad looking caterpillar out-
side one of them, and no trace anywhere of the others: they had all
escaped! Needless to say the cage did not shut properly. I told no
one, as between the bottom of the door of the room and the floor there
were possibilities! Like Mr. Chevallier I hunted, but I found nothing;
so I just hoped. .

On the 9th of July three boeticus were out, fluttering up and down
the mosquito netting at the windows. The imagines kept appearing
until the 16th. Eight emerged in all, which was about the right num-
ber, according to what I could remember. The caterpillars had been all
sizes though none very small and I do not think there was any ecanni-
balism.

The unhappy caterpillar left by its companions sitting outside a pea-
pod was in the evening surrounded by little silken cocoons, like Apan-
teles glomeratus but I think smaller, and pure white instead of yellow.
I sent the whole lot to Mr. C. B. Williams of Rothamstead, who passed
them on to the British Museum where they are believed to be a new
species of A panteles.

In my garden I have some Everlasting Pea and in 1950 it never
produced one pod, but all the flowers were eaten by wild boeticus larvae.
I tried to rear three of them, but the flowers gave out, so I put my
captives back on the plant to fare as best they could, as the green peas
were then dried up and no use. The caterpillars attacked the buds
before these opened and my Everlasting Pea was a sorry sight as the
petals were mostly totally eaten or in rags hanging here and there.

The caterpillars played some havoc with my green peas in 1950; in
every 4 lbs. of peas there was a big handful of ‘‘wormy’’ pods, and
asking a couple of gardeners about a mile from my house if they too

LAMPIDES BOETICUS LINN. IN SOUTH WEST FRANCE. 101

had ‘‘worms’”’ in their peas they both answered ‘‘far too many!’’ I
have never heard that boeticus has been a real plague on garden peas,
but I remember one incident in 1917 when I was nursing at Nevers
(Niévre) where it is possible that boeticus might have been the culprit.
At lunch one day we were offered green peas that were so full of cater-
pillars that there seemed to be as many larvae as peas. We all looked
at them and refused, till the dish got to the last nurse who, after gazing
at it for a minute, said ‘‘Well, they are all pea’’ and took a good help-
ing! I heard afterwards that the doctors had been given a similar
dish, so there was a row! The cook as an excuse said that all the peas
at that time were ‘‘wormy’’.

My caterpillars never seemed to stir from their pods till they were
going to pupate. I presume that once in a pod they remain there, if
there are sufficient peas, till they are fully fed, if not they come out and
find another pod in wh‘ch to continue feeding, or else they may eat the
green pea flowers, as J once found two large ones eating these. From
what I saw of the pods left in the garden after they had quitted them
T think they eat out a hole, as they do to get in, but the hole was natur-
ally bigger. In the case of the captive larvae they probably found space
ta slip between the old pods and the new, as there was no exit hole on
these pods.

I have caught and set some numbers of boeticus to try and find out
if the size differs according to the brood. It is well known how unusually
variable they are in size, both male and female, but I think (this is very
tentative) that the first lot of females to arrive here in May-June are
on the whole on the large size. I have not yet found a small female at
this season. The October lot are on the small size, males and females
more uniform in size, the July brood showing much bigger differences,
so that Mr. Chevallier’s female who was so small is in accordance with
the extremely variable size of the summer brood, though she seemed
unusually small.

Monsieur |’Abbé Vigneau who lives not far from Bordeaux noticed
the general smaller size of the auitumn brood in 1951, which was a big
one there that year, and kindly sent me this observation which conforms
to mine. However, I feel that I must get more specimens spread over
more years before I am able to put forward these differences in size
as a usual occurrence.

I was able to study boeticus in 1950 better than I had- ever done
before as there were, first, hundreds in this region, and secondly it was
the first time I had stayed here in July since 1925, as in other years I
had always been climbing in that month in the Pyrenees. My knowledge
of boeticus behaviour in this region before 1950 was only this: that this
species turned up at the end of May-June; that in August I found odd
specimens here and there; and I knew that in October they were here
again; but I had never caught any really fresh specimens at any time.
T doubt if I should have been certain enough to write about boeticus
behaviour here in July if the multitude in 1950 had not existed.

When the boeticus arrive here in May-June they lay; the butterflies
of this brood come out in July, and about the same time a second wave
of immigrants turns up. This was particularly marked in 1950: the
local brood had emerged and were flying in numbers, then a few days
later there seemed to be double the number, so many in fact that I could

102 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/IV /1953

stand at the edge of a lucerne field in flower and catch as many as I liked
with ease. I boxed them to see their condition, which proved important
as 50% were very fresh and 50% worn. This occurred again in 1951
and 1952 but in such few numbers that I doubt whether I should have
realised that there was a second wave of immigrants: I should have put
_down the old specimens to the remains of the first immigration.

Monsieur de Lesse of the Paris Museum kindly let me know that in
July 1950 he had seen hundreds all going north on the high passes of
the central Pyrenees east of Luchon, Hte. Garonne. I have noticed for
many years that in July in the central Pyrenees boeticus is very often
at high altitudes, 1,600 m. to 2,000 m. and sometimes over. Once at
2,600 m., in a very arid part of the Pyrenees above Luchon near a half
frozen lake surrounded by snow with only a few patches on which were
flowers just out, I came across about 50 boeticus busy at the flowers.
I had rather wondered at the time why they had come so high to find so
little food. Until 1950 I had always thought that these butterflies had
come wp from the valleys after the flowers and had not then any idea
that there might be a July migration over the mountains. Now I think
this second wave occurs every year.

Neither the brood born here nor the July immigrants seem to lay
here. J think the local brood goes north and lays when it arrives at its
destination, though I have seen the fresh females mate indifferently
with fresh or ragged males. In my opinion the female Mr. Chevallier
caught on the 6th of July at Ranmore Common was probably a descen-
dant of a first brood born somewhere in France. The second immigrant
wave seems to remain here, anyhow partly, as until the middle of August
one sees boeticus getting fewer and fewer and more and more worn,
‘then there are no more or a very occasional one till October. If either
the first brood or the second immigrant wave laid here, about the 15th
o; July, one should see their descendants at latest at the end of August,
but this is not the case: they are conspicuous by their absence.

After puzzling for some time I began to wonder if a migration from
the north did not reach us in October! I got two observations which I
thought after the second one were fairly conclusive in this direction.
Twice a kind friend took me to the Landes, about 45 km. north of St.
Jean-de-Luz, on the 8th of October in 1950 and 1951, and there I saw
the insect in some numbers. A few days later boeticus was in our region;
none were very fresh but none that I caught was in a bad condition.
Before these numbers were seen in the Landes I had seen none for some
weeks round St. Jean-de-Luz.

My supposition of this annual southern migration seems now, to me,
confirmed. I was camping in the Pouey Aspé valley above Gavarnie,
Htes. Pyrenees, at about 1,900 m., at the end of September and begin-
ning of October and I saw them migrating: in the Pouey Aspé valley
and over the Port, 2,252 m. at the head of this valley; on top of the Pic
entre les Ports, 2,480 m., north of the Port; and I found one on a glacier
at about 2,700 m. below the Bréche de Roland on the French side. This
solitary specimen, a male, was too cold to fly properly, but I boxed it
and took it down with me; it flew off in my garden two days later,
apparently quite recovered.

In the Pouey Aspé valley on the 26th and 29th of September I had
seen boeticus going south, or rather W.S.W. as that was the trend of

LAMPIDES BOETICUS LINN. IN SOUTH WEST FRANCE. 103

the valley. To go due south they would have come up against the north-
western buttresses of the Cirque where there are mountains of over
3,000 m.; the north-western slopes of these were already covered with
snow that had fallen before I errived and where it would probably re-
main till June. This cold region must have repelled them, so they re-
mained in the sunny part of the valley taking the nearest direction
south they could go with security.

The 30th was grey and cold with an icy wind, raining in the evening
and turning to snow that night. Next morning there was about four
inches of snow on the ground; a bottle of water inside a tent was half
frozen, and ice had formed on each side of the torrent in spite of the
fast moving water. The snow remained on the ground all that day and
night, melting on the 2nd (October), so that on the 3rd no snow was
left in the bottom of the valley. It was a beautiful warm sunny day on
the 3rd but in spite of this cold spell boeticus was on the wing again
ir the valley, not many but they were there, and I saw one at 1.30 p.m.
crossing the Port, 2,252 m., which was still covered in snow.

I think the little fellow I picked up on the Breche glacier could not
have got up there before the 3rd as it was not fine enough on the 2nd
for butterflies to appear even in the valley and he would have been
buried in snow if he had got up there before the 30th September. Even
a sunny day in October is a short one, so that it is more likely that he
was caught on the glacier as the sun went down on the 3rd. On the
4th when I rescued him at about 2.30 p.m. the brilliant sun had in
spite of the snow revived him sufficiently so as to be able to flutter
weakly I do not know how many nights it would take to kill a butter-
fly lying in snow at 2,700 m., perhaps only one! So perhaps on the 4th
he had almost got to his goal, the Bréche de Roland, when his strength
gave out and he landed on the glacier, to get slowly colder and colder
till I picked him up. However, after our snowy spell with icy wind it
does show how resistant these frail-looking butterflies are and J think
that in May-June when the days are longer and hotter boeticus is cap-
able of flying over the whole Pyrenean range and probably does this
regularly every year to populate the French valleys and plains on the
northern side. To be certain of this many observations and observers
would be necessary as the range is long and boeticus is not usually com-
mon in the spring.

I wondered about one question when I was camping, and that was
the total lack of food for the butterflies at that time of the year and at
that height. For as well as cold spells that must at times prevent them
from continuing their journey for a few days they have to climb at
least 2,000 m. in the central Pyrenees and down again on the southern
side without being able to feed. Cow pats had no attraction whatsoever
for them in the valley. I should think the last place where they would
find sufficient food in the Gavarnie valley would be on the enclosed plain
round Argelés, roughly about 35 km. from Gavarnie; after that a little
clover would be still in flower with some dandelions, these getting scarcer
as they climbed, till only a few dandelions would be found round Gavarnie
and hardly any in the valley, with a few (I saw three or four) thistle
flowers. It seems a long way to go with no food, cold not to say very
cold nights, and few enough sunny hours in the day for them to be able
to continue their journey. Round the tents I never saw a butterfly be-

104 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/IV /1953

fore 9.30 a.m. The sun reached the tents at 8.20, and it was only at
10 o’clock on a sunny morning that they really began to appear. At
three in the afternoon they nearly all seemed to have found their night
quarters.

In the real south of France, 1.e. the Mediterranean region, boeticus
is able to maintain itself all the year round, though they must certainly
be reinforced by immigrants in the spring. In the Oriental Pyrenees,
the valleys of which are very sheltered, it is possible that when they
migrate north in the spring (which should be earlier than those to arrive
here) they may fan out, not all going north, which would bring some
westwards; but I wonder if they really do so, if they come sufficiently
westwards to get to the plains north of the central Pyrenees, and when
once on those plains would they go south to populate the northern val-
leys? It would be against their northern urge! That is why I think
boeticus in the northern Pyrenean valleys from the Ariége to the ocean
come over the Pyrenees and not round them.

Is boeticus capable of maintaining itself all the year round in the
northern plains or valleys of the Pyrenees? Some of the lower valleys
are very protected and sunny; but I wonder if it is consecutively warm
enough for them in any stage of their existence to get through the winter
there; in some warm winters maybe! That they are unable to do so
here at St. Jean-de-Luz seems to me certain, but there is something
about this climate that prevents some species of Lepidoptera which are
indigenous a good bit further north in France from being so here. So
far I have been unable to find any reason for this fact other than the
excessive rainfall and extreme dampness of the climate.

The Successful Winter Breeding of Lampides

boeticus Linn. in Captivity in England
By C. A. Crarse, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.

On October 29th 1952, Mr. Valletta of Malta kindly sent me by air
mail two living females of L. boeticus which he had caught in his garden
a few days earlier. One of the butterflies was dead on arrival in this
country on November Ist, but the other had survived and was placed
in a glass-fronted muslin-covered wooden cage, 16” x16”~16”. With
her were put, in water, branches of flowering gorse, some autumn lupins
and some fresh lupin pods. The cage was kept in a greenhouse heated
so that the temperature did not fall below 55° F. and in the cold periods
of November and December it was approximately at this level for most
of the time. The butterfly started to lay on November 5th and on this
and the succeeding few days she deposited about thirty eggs either on
the gorse buds or on the lupin pods.

The young larvae began to hatch out on November 11th and several of
them were seen to burrow at once into the food-plant, both gorse buds
and lupin pods being equally acceptable. The lupins withered after
about ten days and thereafter gorse was the sole food-plant; this was
readily available on a nearby common and some of it is always in flower
throughout the year. Nothing more was seen of the caterpillars for a
month and I am, therefore, unable to give any information about
cannibalism in the early stages. On December 12th, 1952, to my great
pleasure, I suddenly saw four larvae three-quarters grown feeding on

A HOLIDAY IN WESTERN IRELAND 105

the gorse buds. I had been careful not to throw away any dead food-
plant and had introduced fresh gorse buds periodically.

During the next few days I found eight larvae, some being of the
green and some of the brown variety. These were segregated in glass-
topped tins (two to a tin) so that I could observe them more closely and
the first of them pupated on December 27th. I surmised that other
caterpillars had been left behind in the cage and I was not surprised
to find that on the mild morning of 11th January, 1953, two fine males
had emerged and were resting on the outside of the cage. Butterflies
from the segregated pupae followed within the next few days, and I
had in all ten imagines from the original eggs.

The life cycle described is longer than that given by Frohawk for the
summer broods, but whether under natural conditions the winter broods
take longer to develop is not known to the writer.

The success of breeding the butterfly in the winter in this country
would seem to depend entirely on two points : —

(1) the fact that gorse flowers are obtainable throughout the winter,
and

(2) the availability of a moderate degree of artificial heat. It
seems likely that enough warmth could be obtained by simply
keeping the larvae indoors in a warm room.

A Holiday in Western Ireland

By J. N. Marcon.

I had long wanted to go to Ireland to hunt for the beautiful form
of Polyommatus icarus Rott. to be found there. Having obtained much
information as to the localities of this insect from as many kind friends
as I could, my wife and I duly arrived at Belmullet, Co. Mayo, towards
the end of June, after a calm night’s crossing to Dun Laoghaire (Kings-
town) in a comfortable ship and motoring 180 miles over fairly tolerable
roads. The scenery for the last thirty miles or so is very fine, but the
town itself, within a mile or so of a 3,000 miles expanse of water stretch-
ing to America, did not belie its description as ‘the windiest corner in
Ireland’.

I was told to make for the sandhills about two and a half miles away,
so next morning we motored within easy walking distance, and going
down somebody’s private drive to their house (trespassing seems of little
01 no account in Ireland), the spot I was making for was easily accessible
over one or two fields.

It was plain that the description of the locality and its approach
were accurate. On reaching the sandhills it was not long before a few
‘blues’ were to be seen, but they were not so easy to capture in the wind.
Seeing and capturing are two different things, especially when the wind
drives any insect that rises more than a few feet far out of reach of net
and even out of sight. In the circumstances I was quite pleased to net a
couple of males in a reasonably short time; but the females, less distinc-
tive, were harder to locate. After an hour and a half I returned to the
car quite satisfied with ten insects. Back to the hotel for lunch and then
another hunt, this time exploring other sandhills not far from the
original spot. Here there were fewer butterflies. A lot of ground was
covered before I got back to the old place, by which time the afternoon

106 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 60. 15/1V /1953

was wearing on. Then came a joytul surprise. On the leeward side of
the larger sand dunes were to be seen several P. icarus together at. rest
on the more favoured dunes. In a short time | had filled all my boxes,
and with two rufa-puncta males and 1 transformis female the first day’s
experience with Irish icarus was a satisfying one.

Next day we made off to Achill Island. There are only three kinds—
of roads in Ireland; moderate, bad, and excruciating. Main roads are,
by English standards, passable, secondary roads are bad, 20 m.p.h. be-_
ing the maximum advisable speed, and everything else is excruciating ;
on one occasion we were shot up to the roof over a bad patch when we.
were doing only 8 m.p.h.

The scenery was mostly flat ground with hills in the aiseaNee: some-
times far away, sometimes quite close. Not many likely places fae but-
terflies were seen on the whole trip of about 175 miles, and those we
did stop at produced nothing. Achill itself is a glorious island of
mountain and lake, divided from the mainland by a bridge, and ideal
picnic spots were quite frequent.

{It was a lovely excursion ; but no butterflies were seen.

Returned for high tea—and what meals they give you in Ireland!
You have to be careful not to contract what they call the ‘English dis-
ease’ which is a disease someway below your neck, which comes from
eating larger amounts than we are accustomed to over here. After tea
the old spot was visited once again for two and a half hours until 9.45
p.m. Again on favoured dunes there were many at rest, 135 males and
37 females being counted.

Next day, the only wet day of the trip, we made off to the Sligo area.
We were fortunate in having quite tolerable weather—for Ireland; not
much sunshine, but only one day’s rain in three weeks; though hemi
always there was a wind blowing as only the neeterly wind coming
across the Atlantic ocean can blow!

We were fortunate in finding a boarding house at the edge of. the
Golf Course at Rosses’ Point which could put us up. The scenery here
is very fine, water on three sides with impressive mountains in the dis-
tance, some of which have an unusual rock formation in which 200 feet
or so of their sides are precipitous. We made various trips to the
beautiful lochs around. I was always hoping that I might see C. tullia
or a worn M. aurinia, but no sign of either was anywhere to be found.
In the evenings I concentrated on the Golf Course and the slopes
around; here there were always a moderate number of P. warus to be
found ad examined.

One evening I walked down the road opposite the Rib house ;
there were some grasses on both sides; a few yards down was one “ce
icarus perched; should I go across and look at it or not? Oh well, I
suppose so. Immediately I picked up its antennae and its wings flashed
open I knew it was a gynandromorph; it was the only one I saw.

A week later we had to move on and went to a ‘resort’ about 10
miles away, which on a previous visit had looked promising. A ‘resort’
in Eire is one street leading to the sea, with a row of houses at intervals
on either side. This was one of the best places we struck for icarus.
At the far end one late afternoon I saw masses of them with their wings
open, as it was unusually calm and sunny. | thought I saw a gynan-
dromorph but it flipped up and though I tricd to follow it I was un-

MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE. 107

successful; perhaps it was an illusion. Contrary to my usual practice
I did. not: ee the number, but there appeared to be hundreds. Re-
turning two evenings later, I was surprised to see only a few insects,
why I do not know.

We then motored down to the coast of Co. Galway, through magni-
ficent scenery of mountain and water, to spend our last eight days at
Clifden. We made various trips and prospected’ the country round
Galway itself, but icarus was almost non-existent and butterflies were
few, with the exception of a lovely wood at Lock Bailynahinch, where
fhere were some A. paphia, a few A. aglaia and a lot of A. hyperantus
and M. jurtina. A. aglaia, by the way, was very common on the sand-
hills by the sea; I counted four sleeping on the grass stems one evening.

My impressions of the country are of a delightfully friendly people,
a. rather dull interior, a most glorious coastline, masses of lochs, beau-
tiful hills near or far of a lovely pastel shade, endless stacks of peat,
and the ubiquitous donkey as the main means of transport.

Macrolepidoptera in North East Derbyshire :
A Record for 1952

By J. H. Jounson.
(Continued from page 72.)

Cerura vinula L. (1). June 25. This specimen was found on a sallow
bush-at Heath. It laid 100 infertile eggs. Only one larva was found in
spite of careful searching throughout the summer. It is usually plentiful
even on the moors.

Pheosia tremula Cl. (1). July 20. The only imago taken in this
district for many years; larvae are occasionally taken on black poplar.

Notodonta dromedarius L. 6 larvae beaten from birch in Hardwick
Wood in one hour on August 28.

Lophopteryx capucina L. (5). June 19. July 18. Larvae were found
on birch bushes on Beeley Moor, Tupton Wood, and at Heath.

_Phalera bucephala L. (4). June 10. None was attracted to light,
but 4 bred females placed in the garden were found in cop with 4 feral
males the following morning. Larvae were far less numerous than
usual, only one small colony was found.

| Achlya flavicornis L. (10). March 9. April 6.

Orgyia antiqua L. (1). August 21. This solitary 6 was found at
rest on a birch bush on Darley Moors. In February a cocoon was found
in Brittan Wood and in September a batch of eggs was found attached
to heather on Beeley Moors.

Euproctis similis Fues. (12). July 31. August 5. The distribution
of this species is interesting. At Heath an occasional larva was found
on hawthorn hedges, at Palterton and Langwith every yard of hawthora
hedge contained at least one larva, and in some places there were so
many larvae that they were defoliating their foodplants. At Hepthorne
Lane, despite abundance of hawthorn, not one larva could be found, nor
did Tupton Wood reveal one either. There was none on Beeley Moors,
probably -because of lack of hawthorn.

Poecilocampa populi LL. (1). November 13. Taken at street lamp.

Lasiocampa quercus L. No imagines were seen, even the 3 pupae
which IT obtained from caterpillars found on Beeley Moors in 1951 were

108 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1V /1953

“‘stung’’ and produced fine large Ophion ichneumon flies. This year 56
larvae were found without difficulty feeding on bilberry and Calluna
vulgaris. On May 24 14 larvae 2” long were found resting on stone walls
above the food plant. The first cocoons were made on July 8.

Macrothylacia rubi L. On May 25 a bred virgin female was taken
on to Beeley Moors, but. failed to attract a single male between 1.0 p.m.
and 8.0 p.m. I tried with another female on June 1, but without success.
This was a surprise when the extreme abundance of the larvae in 1951
was recollected (Hnt. Rec., 64: 22). I searched in the same place on the
same date this season and found only 6 larvae in an hour. On October 18
I searched the moors from 10.0 a.m. to 5.0 p.m. and found only 14
larvae; it was a sunny warm day, exactly the type on which rubi likes
tc bask in the open on the grass. Even at this late date, these larvae
were by no means fully fed, and I noticed that 6 of them were still feed-
ing on cranberry leaves in their hibernaculum in the garden at mid-
day on December 20.

Saturnia pavoma L. (65). May 4. May 20. Imagines were abun-
dant on Darley Moors. 52 males were assembled to a bred female in
13 hours on May 17 (Ent. Rec., 64: 351). Larvae were not so common
this year. I searched the heather on Darley Moor for 13 hours on.
July 26 and found only 3, and one of these was ‘‘stung’’. Of 33 pupae
bred from collected larvae last year, 8 have not yet produced moths
or parasites, although they are still obviously alive. )

Drepana falcataria L. 6 larvae beaten from birch bushes in Hard-
wick Wood on August 26.

Ciliz glaucata Scop. (9). May 17. August 9. All taken in garden
hight trap.

Nudaria mundana L. (1). July 29. This was found at sugar at
Stubbin Court.

Spilosoma lubricipeda L. (8). May 17. June 28. All taken in gar-
den light trap. One larva feeding on rhubarb August 23. 2 found
feeding on knotgrass September 6.

Spilosoma lutea Hufn. (11). June 2. June 30. All taken in garden
light trap. 12 larvae found on coltsfoot leaves in August.

Cycnia mendica Cl. (1). July 3.

Phragmatobia. fuliginosa Li. (1). May 17. 6 nearly black larvae
found on Calluna vulgaris on Darley Moors in September, 2 on willow-
herb at Hepthorne Lane.

Parasemia plantaginis L. 2 larvae found on grass on Darley Moor
on May 4. This species is uncommon here.

Arctia caia L. (3). July 7. July 22. By carefully searching road-
side herbage in the Spring I found 48 larvae feeding usually on dock
or nettle. The undersides of the wings of one bred imago were almost
completely white. I obtained eggs from it and subsequently in October
a few imagines. I was surprised to find that the undersides of their
wings were nearly completely dark brown. Larvae from one of these
moths are still feeding on dock on December 31.

Callimorpha jacobaeae L. (6). April 18. June 28. The first speci-
men was unusually early. It was taken at a street lamp close to Tupton
Woods about 11.0 p.m., April 18. A few larvae were found feeding on
most pieces of waste land from Darley to Langwith.

MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE. 109

Agrotis exclamationis L. (4). June 19. August 1.

Agrotis ipsilon Hutn. (4). October 24 All at ivy bloom near Stub
bin Court, Ashover.

Diarsia brunnea Schf. (2). July 18.

Ochropleura plecta I. (1). June 29.

Amathes castanea Esp. (2). August 21. Found at rest on pine
trunks in Beeley Plantation.

Amathes baia Schf. (5). August 5. August 12.

Amathes xanthographa Schf. (865). June 2. August 30. When-
ever and wherever sugaring was tried, this species was sure to appear
sooner or later, exhibiting great variation in coloration. In Spring
the larvae could be found on most mild evenings feeding on grass every-
where.

Triphaena pronuba L. (170). June ll. August 29. Usually at sugar,
3 in light trap. Extremely variable, many reddish forms, a few shiny
‘“‘mousey’’ forms.

Phalaena typica L. A score of larvae were taken feeding on dock
leaves in the Spring, but no imagines were seen at light or sugar.

Anarta myrtilli L. (Myriads). May 17. July 5. Everywhere on the
moors this species was abundant among the heather.

Mamestra brassicae L. (8). June ll. August 7.

Melanchra persicariae L. (38). July 1. July 16. The larvae seem
to be fond of elder, 6 were found on this plant in September.

Diatarazia oleracea L. (9). June 4. July 20. Larvae abundant on
weeds in cornfields.

Ceramica pisi L. (4). June 6. July 20. Taken at sugar, light and
resting on trees. The larvae were abundant on weeds in cornfields, a
few were found on heather on Beeley Moors and a dozen were found
feeding on wormwood.

Hadena bombycina Hufn. (5). May 24. At rest on walls, Beeley
Moors, usually near to bilberry bushes.

Hadena serena Schf. (8). May 24. June9. Taken at flowers, light,
resting on walls. No larvae found.

Hadena bicruris Hufn. Larvae in white campion seed pods.

Orthosia gothica L. (7). April 15. May 4. Taken at street lamps.

A fine red var. was found on heather, Beeley Moors.

Orthosia stabilis Schf. (4). April 15. April 25.

Orthosia incerta Hufn. (7). April 18. April 25.

Orthosia munda Schf. (1). April 25.

Orthosia gracilis Schf. (2). April 11.

Tholera popularis Fab. (5). August 30. All in garden light trap
on one night.

Tholera cespitis Schf. (11). August 30. September 1.

Cerapteryx graminis L. (13). July 21. August 11. Usually more
abundant than this, at light and flowers.

Leucania pallens lL. (Myriads). July 6. July 28. A few appeared
at sugar and a few at light, but a few minutes’ examination of willow-
herb flowers with a lamp after dark revealed hundreds of this and the
next species.

Leucanta impura Hb. (Myriads). July 6. July 28.

Leucania lithargyria Esp. (1). July 24.

Leucania conigera Schf. (1). July 25.

“110 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1V /1953

- Cucullia absinthii li. (1). July 10. This imago was taken at flowers.
The larvae were extremely abundant, 75 were found in an hour’s search
on September 20 on wasteland near Hepthorne Lane.

Cucullia umbratica L. (1). July 9. At rest on tree.

Inthomoia solidaginis Hb. (6). August 21. Found at rest on birch
. trunks and walls on Beeley Moors in 2 hours’ searching.

Allophyes oxyacanthae LL. (2). September 24. October 15.

Parastichtis suspecta Hb. (1). September 3.

Antitype chi L. (68). August 7. August 29. This appeared earlier
than usual. Of this 68, 2 were var. suffusa, and 30 were var. olivacea.
Two were found at sugar at Hepthorne Lane, the rest were found : at
rest on walls.

Eupsilia transversa Hufn. (5). October 24. All at ivy blossom near
Stubbin Court, Ashover. .

Agrochola macilenta Hb. (3). October 26.

Agrochola circellaris Hufn. (85). October 23. All at ivy blossom.

Agrochola lychnidis Schf. (7). September 19. October 24:

(To be continued.)

Collecting in the Witherslack ww estmorland)
Area in 1952

By M. J. LeecuH.

- The article by Dr. Birkett on Lepidoptera collecting in 1952 in the
January number of The Entomologist’s Record calls to mind some of
my own experiences in this area which other readers may find of interest.

Our first visit of 1952 to Witherslack was on llth April. Having
arrived we set out to choose a site for operating the mercury vapour
lamp; this done we motored on to Grange for our evening meal. From
here we contacted Dr. Birkett who later joined us at the scene of opera-
tions. Prior to switching on the m.v. lamp the sallows were worked,
from which specimens of Gypsitea leucographa were obtained; a female
of this species laid a considerable quantity of eggs and from these a-fair
number of pupae resulted. Other species taken off sallow included
Orthosia cruda, O. munda, O. gothica, O. incerta, O. stabilis, O. gracilis.
Cerastis rubricosa and Conistra vacciniit. Later in the evening at the
m.v. and paraffin pressure lamps we took Orthosia miniosa, Nothop-
teryx carpinata, Alsophila aescularia, Erannis marginaria, Biston
strataria, Xylocampa areola and melanic specimens of Eupithecia abbre-
viata. One specimen of Nothopteryx polycommata was seen at rest on
an ash sapling but it fell to the ground and was lost in the undergrowth.

Another visit was paid to the same area on 18th April, the object
this time being N. polycommata which we anticipated would be well
out by this time. With Mr. S. Coxey and Dr. K. C. Greenwood there-
fore I set off for what proved to be a very interesting and successful
night’s work. We each took a short series of polycommata, which were
plentiful. Almost all the specimens taken were at rest either on ash
saplings or else on privet bushes. After boxing these insects we repaired
to the m.v. lamp at which we took seventeen Drymonia ruficornis, all
males, together with the Orthosias mentioned above. A single specimen
of Aethalura punctulata also put in an appearance, a somewhat early

MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE. 111

date. An unusual feature of the Selenia bilunaria observed, which sug-
gests a possible retardence of emergence, was apparent in that some
of the insects were only the size of the summer brood.

The next entry in my diary for this delightful spot is for 8th May.
When we arrived the sky was very dark owing to heavy clouds; it looked
certain that rain would stop play. As luck would have it, however, the
rain held off except for a few heavy drops, and because of this, almost
ideal conditions prevailed. The moths, which were quite numerous in
species, did not quite come up to expectations; although we were for-
tunate enough to take three Odontosia carmelita. The method of
approach of this species to the m.v. lamp is worth mentioning: all three
flew in very low, clearing the surrounding vegetation by inches, and
alighted on the edges of the sheet, from which they proceeded to half
fly and half stumble towards the trap in the centre of the sheet. Need-
less to say they were boxed before they could gain admittance. Besides
carmelita we took Pterstoma palpina, Colocasia coryli, Anagoga pulver-
aria, Lampropteryz suffumata, and Chloroclysta miata.

Ten days later we packed our gear and set off in the morning for
the Silverdale area.- Argynnis euphrosyne, Nemeobius lucina, and
Anthocharis cardamines were well out. Beating the vegetation for
Geometers proved productive; Electrophaes corylata, A. pulveraria,
Bapta temerata and B. bimaculata were quite common. In the evening
we went on the Witherslack; a temporary breakdown of the m.v. lamp
meant that only car headlights and pressure lamps could be used.
Nevertheless some interesting moths came to the lights, including
Dasychira pudibunda, Drepana lacertinaria, Cycnia mendica, B. bima-
culata and Iigdia adustata.

A flying visit was paid on 21st May, this time complete with the
m.v. equipment. The same species as already mentioned were observed
with the addition of a male Acronicta alnt, which my friend Mr. Coxey
boxed just before we switched out the lamp. We had to be at work the
following morning so ceased operations at 12.30 a.m. B.S.T., just when
the moths appeared to be showing an interest in the light.

A long week-end followed, 31st May-2nd June, which saw us again
in the Witherslack area; again I was in the company of Dr. Greenwood.
Weather conditions were not by any means ideal, rain was much in
evidence and the thermometer was several degrees lower than on our
previous visit. In spite of this the common butterflies were flying quite
freely. The moths taken at night included A. alni, Apatele menyan-
thidis, Craniophora ligustri, Cybosia mesomella, Deilephila porcellus,
Drymonia dodonaea, Hadena suasa, Anaplectoides prasina, Plusia
pulchrina, Lycophotia porphyrea (an early date), Plagodis dolabraria
and many others. From our joint records we found that we had taken
or observed eighty-two species of Lepidoptera.

Our last visit of the season was made to Witherslack on 5th and 6th
September. Results were a complete reversal of those obtained on our
first trip. In thirty-six hours we saw no more than eight moths. As will
be remembered the weather was exceptionally cold for the time of year,
clear skies at night with a bright moon. I suppose, on consideration,
that we should have done better to have stayed indoors by the fireside,
discussing our plans for the remainder of the season.

112 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TV /1953

Butterflies at Winchester in 1951 and 1952

(Continued from page 74)

Thecla quercus (Purple Hairstreak) : ‘Clouds’ of well over a hundred
seen on oak trees in late July 1952, Crab peCee: No records for
1951.

Callophrys rubi (Green Hairstreak): Very common in Hills Valley and
near Crab Wood, May-June 1951. Not so common and much
earlier in 1952.

Lycaena phlaeas (Small Copper): Much more common in 1952 than in
1951; May till October in Hills Valley.

Plebejus argus (Silver-studded Blue): Several in late June 1952 at
Beaulieu; a few in late July at Farley Mount, also at Woolbury
Ring, including one exceptionally large female.

Aricia agestis (Brown Argus): Common both years in Hills Valley, May-
June. Second brood rarer; July-August.

Polyommatus icarus (Common Bluey’ Scarce all the year in 1951 and
first brood not common in 1952. Second bieod much more com-
mon in 1952. Hills Valley.

Lysandra bellargus (Adonis Blue): Fairly common as first brood in both
years. Second broods rarer. Hills Valley.

Lysandra coridon (Chalkhill Blue): Common both years. From begin-
ning of June 1951, but not till late July 1952 in Hills Valley. A
week later at Woolbury Ring, 1952. Several dwarfs.

Cupido minimus (Small Blue): The commonest of all the ‘Blues’ in
Hills Valley, May-July 1951. Very few in 1952.

Hamearis lucina (Duke of Burgundy): Fewer and later in 1952 than
in 1951. June. Crab Wood.

Pyrgus malvae (Grizzled Skipper): Fairly common May-June in Hills
Valley. Far commoner in 1952 than in 1951.

Erynnis tages (Dingy Skipper): Common May-June in Hills Valley.
More in 1952 than in 1951.

Thymelicus sylvestris (Small Skipper): Very common all July in Hills
Valley and Chilecomb. More in 1952 than in 1951.

Ochlodes venata (Large Skipper): None recorded in Hills Valley in
1951. Very common there in June 1952.

Hesperia comma (Silver-spotted Skipper): Fairly common July-August
1952 at Farley Mount and Woolbury Ring.

Haworth and his Prodromus. II

By P. B. M. Awan.

Describing the Lepidoptera Britannica, H. A. Hagen in his biblio-
graphy of entomological works quotes Lowndes (and gives a wrong page ~
reference: it should be vol.,2, page 1015) for the assertion that at most
only 100 copies of that book are known. Lowndes’ actual words are:
‘*A very valuable work, seldom found complete, in which state it is prob-
able that not more than from fifty to one hundred copies exist.’? ‘Known —
to exist’ would perhaps have been more accurate; for it is unlikely that
less than 200 copies were printed. Although the collections known to, or
rather inspected by, Haworth amounted only to 70 he would naturally
hope that his book—a work of reference—would be read and used by suc-

HAWORTH AND HIS PRODROMUS. MII. 113

ceeding generations. But the Lepidoptera Britannica is such a poorly
produced book, a dumpy octavo badly printed on a cheap paper which
to-day is invariably ‘foxed’, that many a copy must have been thrown
by booksellers into their tuppenny box. Indeed, such-like repositories
and ‘junk’ shops in the smaller provincial towns are the most likely
places in which to find. a copy to-day.

But the Prodromus, without any doubt at all, is now an exceedingly |
rare book. A little slim quarto of 28 leaves, often cut down to 7 x 5} in.,
the text’ apart from the preliminary pages being for the most part in
Latin and on a subject which appeals to very few book-buyers indeed, it
is hardly a work which a secondhand bookseller in a back street would
think worthy of putting on his shelves. Even to-day it is a book that
many persons would consign to the dust-bin or waste-paper pile. Like
the famous Elzevier Le Pastissier Francois it was intended to be a work-
ing tool and was treated as such by those who bought it, being thrown
away when no longer required. The chance of finding a copy outside a
collection of entomological books of course will always exist; but the odds
against such a trouwvaille must now be almost astronomical.

The Prodromus has never received the notice which it deserves by
students of British lepidopterology. A reason for this neglect is per-
haps that it contains a large number of specific names which are un-
known to us in England nowadays. Consequently, it may be that those
who have looked at it cursorily have jumped to the conclusion that the
book includes a good many of those Continental species which Plasted,
Humphreys, Latham, Seaman and other contemporary dealers were im-
porting freely and foisting upon their customers as genuine British in-
sects recently caught in Britain. Therefore, the book is worthless from
the historical point of view. :

This is not the case. No man was ever more zealous in the cause of
British Entomology. In his Preface Haworth tells us that he has “‘long
meditated a new arrangement, and complete account of the Lepidoptera
Britannica, and long endeavoured to establish a standard, permanent
and complete collection of them’’ (his italics.) It was only the British
species in which Haworth was interested—and he if anyone knew all
about the foreign importations. Every species which he had (in his own
words) ‘‘ not yet absolutely seen alive’ is marked with an asterisk and
when a species undistinguished by an asterisk bears the name of a purely
Continental insect we may be quite sure that the nomenclature is at
fault. This is not to say that Haworth’s identifications were wrong:
in his Preface he tells us that he has used the names given by Linnaeus,
Fabricius, Villers, Hiibner, Panzer, Lewin, Donovan and Curtis. So it
is not matter for surprise if his book contains no mention of Melitaea
athalia (a much more widespread species in Haworth’s time than it is
to-day) but that he himself had taken M. dictynna,* that Maniola
tithonus likewise is an absentee but that M. pitosellae takes its place,
that Aricia idas does duty for A. agestis, and soon. Miss Jermyn, who
based her book on the works of Haworth and Stephens, and was assisted
by the great William Kirby, gave as localities for ‘‘M. dictynna’’ two
well known haunts of M. athalia, in one of which this butterfly still

*In the original edition this is misspelt ‘diclynna’. A former owner of the copy
. from which this reprint has been made had cleverly converted the 1 into a t
with his pen. Other misprints in the original are p. 1 cardamine, p. 3
maegera, p. 5 pinestri,

114 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1V /1953

occurs. It is, in fact, Lewin’s name for athalia. M. pilosellae Miss
Jermyn definitely identifies with M. tithonus: it is the Fabrician name
for that species; A. idas she calls the ‘Brown Argus’: it is the idas of
Lewin and Ochsenheimer. Baral |

The butterflies marked with an asterisk are:—P. podalirius, P.
-daplidice, C. hyale, OC. hero, A. charlotta, A. lathonia, L. virgaureae,
S. pruni, M. arion, A. artaxerxes, (. cymon Gomiargusy: H. comma, and
C. palaemon (pani isis) With the exception of P. podalirius every one
of these is, or is known to have been, a British insect or a well known
- immigrant.

P. podalirius, Haworth tells us, is ‘‘admitted upon the assurance of
two of his Entomological friends, that they once beheld alive and at
large’? this species. Probably the specimens seen were ‘escapes’.
C. hero was most likely the ab. philorenus Esper of (. tullia: Westwood
notes that it is the philorenus of Esper and not the hero of Linnaeus.
A. charlotta is the we!l known aberration of A. aglaia. Lycaena vir-
gaureae L. was either just extinct or dwindling to extinction in Eng-
land when Haworth wrote. He possessed English specimens and so did
Dru Drury, who did not regard it as rare in England, who told a friend
~ categorically that it was English, and said that he could obtain it for him
if required. Drury’s English specimens of this butter4y were examined
and their identity confirmed by J. C. Fabricius in 1767. Fabricius was
not aware that such an insect as dispar existed; any question of confus-
ing these two species can therefore be ruled out. Perhaps I may inter-
polate here that this insect is the subject of a chapter 1 in a forthcoring
book.

The only other butterflies in the Prodromus which call for comment
are Polyommatus hyacinthus Lewin—perhaps a not uncommon aberra-
tion of the female P. icarus Rott.—indeed Westwood gives it as a
synonym of icarus and adds ‘‘Haworth (variety)’’; and a ‘skipper’ named
lavaterae, probably an aberration of Pyrgus malvae since Miss Jermyn
calls it the ‘Scarce Grizzled Skipper’. | Westwood in fact gives the
lavaterae of Fabricius, Haworth and Jermyn as a synonym of P.
malvae. Haworth had caught both these species himself.

So far, then, from containing Continental. species the Prodromus is
essentially an English list: the 68 butterflies which it contains are those
included—with the solitary exception of LZ. virgaureae—in our modern
text-books.

‘The footnotes to some of the rarer species are ett octane Colias
croceus f. helice is called ‘‘Edusa alba’’ and this Haworth described as
‘“‘A new and most remarkable variety, lately discovered by me in my
garden’’. C. typhon (tullia) was ‘‘A new species in Britain, just recently
captured by my very good friend P. W. Watson in Yorkshire’’. Of
Argynnis charlotta he writes ‘‘A new and very beautiful species recently
discovered in Bedfordshire by my friend C. Abbott, M.A.’’ JL. dispar
has the well known note: ‘‘Hippothoe, Lewin and Donovan, not Lin-
naeus. A very beautiful species quite recently discovered in England by
me and my very good friends W. Skrimshire and F. Skrimshire, M.D.,
and formerly in Wales by Hudson most famous of botanists’. A.
artaxerzes is described as exceedingly rare and found in Scotland by
Fenwick Skrimshire. The cymon of Lewin, our Mazarine Blue
(semiargus), also is accounted ‘‘a very rare species, just recently taken in

_CURZENT NOTES. . . lls

Norfolk by my,.good.friend J. Burrell, M.A., and also in Yorkshire .by
my good friend P..-W. Watson?’. - Dr.. AbUase is also made responsible
for C. paniscus (palaemon)—-‘‘a species new to Britain lately discovered
in Bedfordshire’’.

So much for the butterflies in the Prodromus. The moths are no
less interesting ;but- perhaps I have said enough to indicate the im-
portance of this book to all students of British lepidopterology. It
should be added that the price of Mr. Classey’s reprint is 15s.

Current Notes

Physiologists have shown that everyone has a blind spot and the
~ nomenclators are no exception. In collaboration with Messrs. N: D.
Riley and Roger Verity, Mr.’ Francis Hemming has written a paper
on Argynnis cydippe and adippe Linn. in that obscure and very expen-
sive publication, the Bulletin of Zoological “Nomenclature. In this
Mr. Hemming says that Argynnis cydippe is not found in Denmark and
gives as his authority’ Dr. Tuxen. |

“Surely such a remarkable gap in its range required confirmation
‘and there are several well known Danish entomologists who could have
~ been approached. Dr. Skat Hoffmeyer tells us that cydippe occurs not
infrequently in suitable places all over Denmark, while niobe is found
on coastal 'sand dunes. The matter is of some importance because on
the strength of its supposed absence in Denmark Mr. Hemming says
' that cydippe Briinnich and Miiller is ‘‘certainly not the high brown’’
and their citation ‘‘must have been due to an error of identification ;
~ it was althost certainly a form of niobe’’

- There is, however, no doubt’ that these old Danish entomologists
knew their own country better than Dr. Tuxen, and their cydippe is
cydippe and not niobe. Tf our distinguished nomenclators had referred
~ to the best and -most modern work on the Rhopalocera of Denmark,
“De Danske Storsommerfugle by Hoffmeyer and Knudsen (1938), they
‘would have found a list of seven localities on the mainland where
*- eydippe occurs. It also flies on the islands of Zealand, Moen and Born-
holm.

The Irish Naturalist for January (XI, No. 1) contains at page 16
a list of some Microlepidoptera taken in the Glengarriff area of West
Cork in June 1952 by Mr. J. D. Bradley. The list contains 47 species,
of which one, Glyphipteryx schoenicolella Stn., is new to Ireland, and
one, Coleophora teidensis Wals. (=gotlandica Benander) has been re-
corded only once previously from Ireland and from nowhere else in the
Pritish Isles. : C. teidensis, of which two specimens were taken, is now
known from Teneriffe (three specimens, including the type), Belgium
(one specimen), Gotland (one specimen) and from West and South-West
Ireland. The larval foodplant has yet to be discovered.

- Some of our readers may have wondered why Ornithomya, the
generic name of O. fringillina (Dipt.) was spelt in two ways in the
Note and Erratum respectively on page 93 of our March issue. The
reason is that both are used. The authority for them is Latreille, who
spelt the name in both ways. Kloet and Hincks’ Check Ist, which

116 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TV /1953

gives them both, allots precedence to Ornithomya, which was used by
Latreille in 1802 whilst Ornithomyia dates from 1805.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By ec. Perea F.R.E.S.

Platyptilia gonodactyla Schiff. The larva of the first brood of this
moth may be found inside the flower-heads of colt’s-foot towards the
end of April, clearing out the pith. The flower-heads should be col-
lected when the seeds are fully formed and the head surrounded by the
fluffy seed-wings, like that of a dandelion. They should be cut about
two inches below the head as the larva works. about the upper part of
the stem at times, and the moth may easily be reared by emptying the
heads into a breeding-cage. P. gonodactyla varies very greatly and
is seldom captured in quantity or really good condition, whereas a bag
of colt’s-foot heads from any rough ground is sure to produce a fair
number; I have never collected a bag-full in vain.

Platyptilia isodactyla Zell. The full-grown caterpillar of this plume
may be found in the large rosette leaves of Senecio aquatica at the
end of April, living on the underside and slightly puckering the leaves
by a few threads. It is easy to rear and not uncommon where found
at all, whereas the sluggish moth is seldom seen. It is found in many
of the Broadland districts and other marshes in East Anglia. I found
it near Lowestoft and the late Sir John Fryer near Southwold. It is
probably found in many localities from which it is not recorded at
present as the larva has seldom been looked for and the moth only
flies for a short time at dusk, though it may occasionally be disturbed
in the daytime.

Tortrix postvittana Wall. The larva of this rather pretty intro-
duced species may be found spinning in the young shoots of Huonymus
japonica in garden hedges in its own localities (Newquay, etc.) in late
April. So far it has not turned out the pest it was feared it might
prove when first discovered, and it seems possible it cannot stand the
English winter except in the far west. At the same time it is advisable
to keep all larvae in boxes from which they cannot possibly escape and
to kill every moth bred to prevent its possible introduction elsewhere.
When Fryer sent me a supply of caterpillars in 1940 he did so on these
express conditions.

Eucosma pauperana Dup. When is this insect again to be captured
in England? A hundred years ago it was taken on warm days about
April 15th-25th in lanes near Darenth, and fifty years ago under the
same conditions near Boxhill. It was beaten from wild rose bushes on
warm afternoons and was apparently not uncommon, as Bower, who
discovered the Boxhill locality, told me he had often seen a dozen in
one day. It seems to have disappeared from Darenth by 1880 and from
Boxhill considerably Jater. The late A. Thurnall told me he had never
had any difficulty in taking it at Boxhill before 1914 but in 1924 he
went there to get me a set and saw none. He subsequently drew me a
map of the place but I also totally failed to find it, and as Mr. L. T.
Ford was equally unsuccessful I presume it is no longer there. In the
early ’thirties it was taken near Cambridge and the late W. S. Gilles

PRACTICAL HINTS. h7

and myself two years later visited the place on an ideal day but saw
none. I should not despair of finding it anywhere on the chalk on the
right day at the right time of the year.

Eucosma nisella Clerck. As my series of (itria lutea Stroem. was
over forty years old and consisted of caught damaged specimens I col-
lected about a pint of male sallow catkins in mid-April 1952 on Danbury
Common and: put them on well-drained earth in a large flowerpot.
They were mostly fallen catkins from under the bushes, and from them
T bred 22 C. lutea, 9 C. icteritia, and a number of Eupithecia tenuwiata.
I also bred, rather to my surprise, one Agrochola lota and one A. circel-
laris; but the commonest insect was Hucosma nisella, of which there
were about 40, in endless variety and of great beauty. The larvae of
all these required no care: I simply chucked the catkins into the pot
and left them under a muslin cover in the garden.

Practical Hints

In an ‘early’ year Hemaris tityus may be expected at the end of
April. We have caught a worn specimen on the 29th. The places in
which to look for it are damp spots (whether on high ground or low)
carpeted with devil’s-bit scabious and lousewort—though this plant is
not in bloom usually until well on in May. The moth is very easily
seen at a distance of twenty or thirty yards, and a good plan is to move
quietly well ahead of the direction in which it seems to be feeding, then
stand stock still and wait. In this way we have had them come right
up to our feet. Strike downwards with the net, then raise the bottom
of the bag with your hand, and the moth will fly up into it. We have
also taken this species flying at Scilla nonseripta (bluebell).

When feeding on birch—and we have found it more often on birch
than on any other plant—the handsome larva of Trichiura crataegi
has a curious habit of sudden activity. Usually they are found resting
motionless on the twigs of birch bushes, invariably on the sunny side;
but sometimes half a dozen fairly close together will suddenly start to
crawl about very actively. This movement of course at once catches
the lepidopterist’s eye. For many successive years we collected these
larvae from birch, and our diaries do not record a single one being
ichneumoned. But perhaps this is merely fortuitous. We have found
second instar larvae on 23rd April.

Polyploca ridens is now emerging and so are Drymonia ruficornis
and Odontosia carmelitu. P. ridens rests by day on an oak trunk, and
as it. often selects a background of green alga it is exceedingly difficult
to find. Still, it ought not to escape the eye of the practised field
worker. D. ruficornis we have found only once in the imaginal stage:
it is even more difficult than ridens; probably it usually rests fairly
high up on the bole. All who want to take QO. carmelita should read
Mr. Symes’ paper on this species in our issue of last December (Ent.
Rec., 64: 337) and lose no time in searching the trunks of birch trees.
Probably none of these three moths is really ‘local’ and can be expected
in any wooded and open wooded district within their distributional]
range.

118 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/IV /1953

Notes. and Observations .
THe Earty Season.—Is not 1953 showing signs: “of oer ae a remark-
able season? On 21st February the m.v. lamp in my garden here; lit
for the first time in” 1953, attracted sixteen ‘different species of macro-
lepidoptera. Theria rupicapraria ‘Hiibn , ‘Erannis maryinaria’ Borkh.,
EL leucophuearia Schiff., Phigalia’ pédaria Fab., Apocheima jepomet
Fab., Conistra vaccinii L., Eupsilia: transversa. Hutfn:,° Scoliopteryx
Libnaeris L. and Alsophila descilabia Schiff were all more or’less expected.
But E. defoliuria Cl. in good condition was certainly late, and’ Achlyu
- flavicornis L., Orthosiu gothica L., O. cruda Schiff., O. pia ‘View:,
O. incerta Hafie and Ectropis bistortata Goeze- ee astonishingly
early. The following night there appeared additionally © “Xylocampa
areola Esp. and Biston strataria Hufn. All this is encouraging ‘after
the disappointments of last autumn with its early and continued cold
weather.—R. M. Mrre, — House, Gidd mech Surrey. 24.11.53.

SpHINX LicusTRI L. “Banos IN Monee Nelo 1952.—According
to South (The Moths of the British Isles, 2nd ed., 1: 34) and Allan (A
Moth-Hunter’s Gossip, 1937, 2nd ed.: 19-20). the Privet Hawk is rare
in all but the southern part of England; the latter author, indeed,
classes it among our non-resident hawk-moths and suggests that it is
less common than often supposed, breeding regularly only in sheltered
localities along the south coast. It may therefore be worth mentioning
that at the beginning of last September I received through the post a
live and healthy pupa of the species, which had just been found—pre-
sumably in digging——in a garden at Wells-on-Sea, N.W. Norfolk, where
[ had been staying the week before. (Ident-fication was easy, from: the
size and the short external proboscis-sheath.) This of. course proves
breeding on the spot, though the parent moth could have been a casual
immigrant or a chance introduction from local shipping; one wonders
whether collectors in that part of the country have met with S. ligustri
during the past season. Incidentally, the pupa was sent almost loose in
a tin and must. have been mercilessly bumped’ and shaken in the course
of its journey; it is now beiiig cared for by a lepidopt terist friend, and
whether it will survive the effects of its ordéal’ and come duly to full
moth-hood remains to be seen.—A. A. ALLEN, The ‘Tiled House, 63 Black-
heath Park, London, eS. Wo, | 21: 1.53. ; il (ae

A Hysrip Ot: —TIn the paper on ee hybrid P. asterias @ x
P. machaon ¢ (Ent. Rec., March 1953) mention was made of the recipro-
cal cross, P. BERD OE Q x P. asterias 3. This'‘has now been obtained
and both male and female butterflies essentially resemble the original
‘cross, being like asterias but showing certain machaon characteristics.
It is hoped to publish a more detailed account of the butterflies in a
later issue.—-C. A. CLARKE, High Close. Thorsway, Caldy, Cheshire.

THE Pupation Hasits oF Conan inicee TYRRHEA Cram. (LEP. SATUR-
NIIDAE):—In the middle ‘of November 1950 we found the larvae of this
species swarming in countless thousands on common Karoo thornbush
Acacia karoo which abounds along the dried up streams throughout the
Karoo semi-desert in South Africa. In ‘confinement: they fed up well
on other species of Acacia and in due course burrowed into the ‘sand

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 119

to the depth of about four inches. Some three months later I went’
through this sand and was somewhat disappointed to find scores of what
appeared to be dead and ‘‘mummified’’? larvae which I was on the
point of throwing out when I noticed a perfectly formed pupa through
a piece of torn larval skin. This species. does in fact change into the
pupal state within the skin which entir ely covers the pupa. Subsequent
examination of my ‘“ throw-outs’’ proved that the majority were in
fact hving and they hatched successfully the following year. I wrote to
Mr. J. Sneyd. Taylor of Fort beaufort who made the following observa-
tions :—‘‘The pupating habit you mention does not seem to have been
recorded as a feature in itself, but it appears to be general i in the Satur-
nids which pupate in the one 1 found it in both Bunea alcinoe Stoll
and Gynanisa maia Klug, as well, while it occurs. in Nudaurelia cytherea
Fabr. and doubtless other species also. The pupae survive for as long
as ten months in this condition. It is certainly worth writing up and
it is strange that no local entomologist has ever thought of it.’’ This
habit is without doubt another method of protection against excessive
dehydration in the drought which normally would extend over the
greater part of the pupal period. The skin is thick and leathery and
forms quite a substantial covering.—Dr. H. B. D. Ketriewe tt, c/o Post
Office, Fish Hoek, South Africa. 26.xi1.52.

INsEcTS aND ALTITUDE.—Often enough there are interesting records
of captures of Lepidoptera in the correspondence column of The Field,
but the daily press is hardly the place where one would look for serious
factual records of scientific interest. Under the heading “ Flying
High ”’ there is a note in the Londoner’s Diary in The Daily Telegraph
of 6th November that is well worth reproducing. ‘ Peterborough ’
writes as follows :—

‘““My recent story of a housefly which appeared to suffer no incon-
venience when taking off inside an unpressurised plane at 10,000 ft.
has brought me a great number of rival claims. One correspondent
saw a fly in full possession of its faculties at 18,000 ft., though its fly-
ing controls became erratic at 20,000 ft. Another fly became torpid
at 30,000 ft., but recovered when the plane descended to 25,000.
These records are dwarfed, however, by a correspondent who used to
test instruments at very low pressures during the war. . He noticed
flies emerge apparently unharmed after being for several minutes in a
vessel whose atmospheric pressure was ten millibars. This is equiva-
lent to a height of at least 20 miles or 105,600 ft. Wasps, adds mg in-
formant, died under such conditions.’’-—M. B. 23.xi. 52.

COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION oF Britis InsEcts.—At a recent
meeting this Committee was glad to learn that Mr. Ellis, of the Castle
Museum, Norwich, was taking over responsibility ee Surlingham
Broad, which, Taeecla through his own generosity, had been acquired
by the Nosfolk Naturalists’ Trust. It was here that an attempt was
made in 1949 to establish a colony of Lycauena dispar owing to doubts
having arisen about the survival of the Wood Walton colony, because
of the increasing dryness of the Fen. Flooding, after the larvae have
emerged from hibernation, proved a handicap, however, and it is doubt-
ful if the insect could survive there. A search is being made for a more

.

120 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1V /1953

promising area. At the same meeting the Committee had’ before it an
account of a very thoroughly organised attempt to rear Maculinea:arion
in captivity. Unfortunately the first attempt was not successful, but
it is hoped that the experience caning may lead to better results at cee
next attempt.

At the same meeting reports. sete conditions in: various sean:
lands of special interest to entomologists were considered. : -Some of
these, as in fact often is the case, proved to be erroneous. The situa+
tion at Ham Street Woods, Blean Woods, Leigh Woods, and the Black
Wood at Rannoch is reviewed constantly, and reports checked with the
Forestry Commission, whose officers everywhere are, in the experience-of
the Committee, always most willing to co-operate, in so far as.this does
not bring them into conflict with the Commission’s policy. | There is
good reason to hope that this co-operation may -become even closer
before long, and it is undoubtedly more fruitful than hostile. criticism
of the Commission’s activities. i

At the public enquiry into the War Dapeadeee claim to the use
of a large part of Braunton Burrows, the views of the Committee were
represented, in the hope that the interests of entomologists:in this area
could be safeguarded. It is believed that as a result of the joint pro-
tests made by numerous interests, a large part of the southern area of
the Burrows will be excluded from the operations of the War Depart-
ment, who will also take all practicable measures to BEbeese the sulle
in the area of their operations. i

These few examples of the recent activities of the Committee are
referred to in this brief note to illustrate the various kinds of questions
that come before it. It is always ready to help where it can, von infor-
mation received’’.—N. D. Ritzy. tae

THE LEPIDOPTERA OF CHESHIRE AND NortH WALES zy am. "preparing
a list of the Tortricina found in the counties of Cheshire, Flint, Denbigh,
Caernarvon, Merioneth, Montgomery, Anglesey and Tieduor. This will
be published in the Paeeedeeas of the Chester Society of Natural
Science, Literature and Art. I should be grateful if readers who have
collected in these counties would send their lists to me, at the address
given below. Mr. S. Gordon Smith has asked me to say that he would
much appreciate lists of the macrolepidoptera found in the same
counties, sent to him at Estyn, Boughton, Chester.—H. N. Micwaetis,
10 Didsbury Park, Didsbury, Manchester, 20. 10.11.53.

Simutip Fires as Vectors oF ONcHocERCcIASIS.—On the 2nd April
1952 at a meeting of the Royal Entomological Society of London Dr. D.
S. Bertram made an important communication on Onchocerciasis (Proc.
R. ent. Soc. Lond. (C.):17: 12). This disease is caused by a parasitic
filarial worm which in the adult stage frequently enters the eyeball of
man and causes blindness, and in some parts of Nigeria the incidence
of this is high. The ae microfilariae congregate in the peripheral
blood vessels and infect the biting black-fly Simulium damnosum. After
a stage of development in the fly they are transmitted by its bite to
other human beings. The larvae and pupae of the Simulium live at
tached: to rocks, stones, and other fixed objects in swift streams and
rivers, and in consequence fishermen are particularly liable to contract
the disease and the more elderly are especially likely to become blind.

COLEOPTERA. 121

Simulium damnosum occurs in a broad belt of territory which runs
eastwards from the West of Africa and includes the Niger and part of
the Nile and their tributaries.

In the hilly region of Kenya near Lake Victoria, however, the vector
is Simulium neavi, a species discovered in 1911 and proved to convey the
disease in 1940. In spite of intensive search competent entomologists
working between 1940 and 1950 failed to find a single larva or pupa,
and it became apparent that the life history must differ from that of
S. damnosum; but it was not until March 1952 that Mr. J. P.
MacMahon solved the mystery. He made the surprising discovery that
both the larvae and pupae of S. neavi are not attached to stationary
objects but to a common freshwater crab.—Ep.

Ture British OrTHOPTERA.—I was most gratified to note, in the
February issue (Ent. Rec., 65: 48-49), the plea for more orthopterists
in this country and I would fully endorse the necessity for work on this
group. One would have thought the fact that the Orthoptera and their
allies are so meagre in British species might have led more entomologists
to take an interest in them, but it appears to be the contrary—there
are so few that it seems to be not worth while bothering about this Order.
I have even heard it said that there is little or nothing more to be learnt
about British Orthopteroids! This is so far from the truth as to be
almost heresy, for there are very numerous ecological problems to be
solved, life-histories to be investigated, and perhaps even new species
to be discovered.

As far as our knowledge of the distribution of these insects is con-
cerned we are still abysmally ignorant about Ireland* and some parts of
Scotland, and central Wales especially, although the position is not now
quite so bad as Dr. Burr’s book would suggest. But Radnor and Mont-
gomery are still without records. Shropshire, of those counties singled
out for mention, is now better known than it was; but there is much
to be learnt about this and many other English vice-counties, to say
nothing of those of other counties of the British Isles. May I, however,
draw readers’ attention to the recent summary of the distribution of
British Orthopteroids printed in Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent., 11, pt. 8?

Might I add that I shall be most happy to assist any correspondent
in any way I can to further our knowledge of these Orders, and may
I conclude with a plea that students of other Orders should not despise
the Orthopteroids as unworthy of attention and should help by taking
an interest. in these few most interesting British insects, if only in re-
cording their distribution or passing on information?—D. K. Mck.
Kevan, University of Nottingham, School of Agriculture, Sutton Bon-
ington, Loughborough, Leics.

*The Irish Naturalist for January 1953 (XI, 25) records three specimens of Mecos-
_ tethus grossus (L.), 2 gd and a Q, in two localities in County Cork in
August and September 1952.—ED.

CORE ORLERA

DrRomius INsIGNis Lucas (CARABIDAE) UNDER BARK: AN UNUSUAL
Hasitat.—This uncommon species, better known to most of us as D.
vectensis Rye, is not reckoned among the subcortical members of the
genus, the normal biotope being terrestrial—it occurs mostly at roots

122 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TV /1953

of herbage, under rubbish, in cracks of banks, etc., near the coast or
tidal rivers, like its commoner congener D. notatus Steph. (=nigriven-
tris Thoms.). It was surprising therefore to find an example under
bark on a large log of ash—one of many logs piled up in a timber-dump
in Ham Street Woods, E. Kent—in autumn, 1950. It is probable, of
.course, that the beetle was a stray; one would hardly expect it to breed
in these woods, and the timber might have come from some distance.
Owing to the situation the insect was at first mistaken for the truly
subcortical D. 4-signatus De}. (a rarity which IT have so far met with
only once—in Windsor Great Park, Berks.). D. insignis is more par-
ticularly a Kentish species, and it may be added that when Dr. A. M.
Massee and I were collecting on the shingle-flats near Dungeness (the
southernmost point of the county) in June last, Dr. Massee captured
a pair of it in breaking open old dead stumps of broom. I had pre-
viously taken a few spec’mens in the Isle of Grain (Thames Estuary
district).—A. A. Auten, The Tiled House, 63 Blackheath Park, London,
Sebo. 12 noo,

DEP TERA
The Hover-flies (Syrphidae)

By L. Parmenter, F.R.E.S.

The bright yellow and black bands of so many species and their habit
of visiting flowers, together with their characteristic hovering, make
this family of flies one of the best known. Gardeners have additional
cause to know them for the larvae of the genera Merodon and Eumerus
attack our bulbs. But the maiority of the garden frequenters are more
welcome, for their grubs feed on green-flies. With entomologists, the
family ranks high because of the variety, of form and coloration, of
larval types and of habits. The colour patterns are of particular in-
terest in view of the apparent mimicry of bees and wasps.

The Hover-flies are a large family, distributed throughout the world.
Many of the species found in the British Isles also live in North America.
Some are known also in Japan and Fristalis tenax L. has gradually
extended its range and is now resident in all the continents, where it
first colonised the immediate vicinity of the ports.

The genera Criorrhina, Eristalis, Helophilus, Merodon, Milesia and
Volucella have been found in amber.

In March, a few flies of the genus Chilosia and Melangyna quadri-
maculata Verr. appear and are followed by the successive emergences
of some 250 species and named varieties in this country, with a gradual
lessening of numbers and of species until October. By then, possibly
only an odd Eristalis tenax L. remains, perhaps tempted into the open
by warm sunshine. From November to February, one may occasionally
see a Syrphid for in mild winters, at any rate, a few overwinter. Those
seen about in February are generally darker in colour than the normal
and in the case of Syrphwus auricollis Mg. the variety has been given a
name—nigritibia by Rondani.

Of the Syrphidae found in Britain, Linnaeus knew 27 species in 1758.
The family has been studied by many systematists and biologists since
then, both in this country and abroad. In the British Isles, the puh-

DIPTERA. ‘THE HOVER-FLIES (SYRPHIDAE). 123

lication by G. H. Verrall in 1901 of his first volume on British Flies, and
by choosing the Syrphidae as one of the first three families to be mono-
graphed, emphasized their attraction. Jt is from 1901 that general
interest in the family has grown. At first, possibly by Verrall’s own
restriction of life history notes, attention was concentrated on distribu-
tion. But gradually more and more interest has been taken in the early
stages aided by the careful work of the American writers Metcalf and
Heiss, who dealt with several of the species that are also found in our
land.

_ The average newcomer to entomology is not a fluent linguist and to
be tempted from the well trodden paths of the lepidopterist requires his
literature to be in English, to enable him to recognise and put a name
to all his captures. He needs some encouragement to study by the pro-
vision of notes on the life histories of the insects. Lundbeck’s volume
on the family in his Diptera Danica series, written in English, is still
available at a modest price. Now that Verrall’s volume is out of print
and so expensive when available second-hand, Lundbeck’s work is the
best means of getting to know the Hover-flies. Moreover his shortened
but adequate descriptions and above all the details of habits and habi-
tats, render his book all the more attractive. However, it by no means
covers all the species known from Britain. Verrall’s 1901 list has been
increased by the studies of his nephew, Mr. J. E. Collin, our leading
British dipterist, but the published descriptions of his additions and
those of others are scattered in various journals, etc. Also the family
has had the attention of the nomenclature specialist, and the late E. R.
Goffe, by his acceptance of certain Meigen names of 1800 and of certain
generic conceptions of Matsuma and Shannon, led to the revised list
of the Syrphidae published in Kloet and Hinck’s Check List of British
Insects in 1945. These names have been widely used but it is believed
that in the Syrphidae part of the Royal Entomological Society’s Hand-
books, Mr. R. L. Coe will be reverting to Verrall and Collin’s usage of
names. As Mr. Coe’s keys will become the accepted basis for identifica-
tion, I have therefore used Verrall’s names in this paper.

The systematics of the family still need further study. Mr. Coe has
already advocated some ‘lumping’ of species. Many flies have already
been found to be localised so that they may well be further species to
be discovered in Britain. Messrs. Collin and Coe have given us fine
examples of the type of work required. As to life histories of the early
stages, Mr. Coe’s studies of Rhingia and Callicera set a very high stan-
dard and a lead for other students, whilst a perusal of Hennig’s third
volume will show the small number of species of whose early stages even
a little is known.

RECOGNITION.

The beautiful coloured and black and white drawings by Mr. C. O.
Hammond in Colyer and Hammond’s Flies of the British Isles will en-
able all to quickly recognise the members of the family. The presence
of a false vein lying between the 3rd and 4th longitudinal wing-veins
is confined to this family and once recognised, is infallible.

There are often few bristles on the legs and body. In fact, generally,
bristles are absent. The frontal sac that is used by the majority of the
Cyclorrhapha (the sub-order in which the Syrphidae are placed) when
emerging from the pupa, is absent. Another character is the unsym-

124 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1TV /1953

metrical gen‘talia of the males. In the majority of the genera, but
sometimes differing within the genus, the compound eyes of the males
meet and in the females are separated by the frontal stripe. They are
strong flyers, nearly all hover and visit flower blossoms.

IDENTIFICATION.

At the time of writing the most comprehensive work in English
dealing with the identification of the Hover-flies of Britain is British
Flies, VIII, by G. H. Verrall, 1901; Diptera Danica, V, by W. Lund-
beck, 1916, deals with a large number of British species. Both are
illustrated. Since 1901 there have been a number of papers dealing
with additional species. These have been listed up to 1949 by H. W.
Andrews in supplements to this JourNnat—British Dipterological Liter-
ature, Parts I-IV, 1931, 1935, 1948, 1949 (Obtainable from our Trea-
surer). Shortly to appear will be Mr. R. L. Coe’s keys to the Syrphidae
in the Handbooks of British Insects, to be published by the Royal En-
tomological Society.

Both Verrall’s and Lundbeck’s volumes are available to members of
several entomological societies and can also be borrowed through local
municipal libraries from the Central Library for Students. It is hoped
that Mr. Coe’s keys will be available at a price suitable to all students.

The foregoing works deal with adult insects. The descriptions of
immature stages are not numerous and are very scattered, generally
in foreign literature, often difficult of access in this country. There
is a great need for a comprehensive work dealing with this aspect. More
studies, however, are needed before anything like an adequate account
can be given.

As for illustrations, there are 19 species depicted in colour with 18
more in black and white and two types of larvae figured in Colyer and
Hammond’s Flies of the British Isles. These are undoubtedly the best
yet published. Excellent illustrations of eggs, larvae and pupae are
found in the papers of R. L. Coe, E. M. Heiss, W. E. H. Hodson, C. L.
Metcalf, and E. I. Scott.

DISTRIBUTION.

Audcent found 177 species in his Bristol area whilst on a wooded
Surrey common (Bookham) I have found 101 species. So it will be seen
that the family is generally distributed. Hover-flies are strong flyers
and in summer visit the centre of towns. In London, the bombed and
flattened area of Cripplegate is visited by several species, some staying
to breed. Florist shops and fruit barrows of busy streets such as Oxford
Street, at times have species of EHristalis and Syrphus. Once in
Grosvenor Square, near the Roosevelt Memorial, a Myiatropa florea
alighted on my hand in the sunshine and stayed awhile.

Our garden flower-beds attract various species who wander up and
down, sipping nectar or collecting and eating pollen, and pass on.
Chrysotoxum, Eristalis, Helophilus, Melanostoma, Merodon, Platy-
chirus, Syritta and Syrphus are among the genera sending regular
visitors. Some leave their eggs, but of these more anon. /

Along the hedgerows, with the wayside flowers and lush grass edging
the damp ditches, other genera as well as the garden visitors are at-
tracted. If the hedgerow includes trees in its composition or edges a
copse or wood, the shade or partial shade-loving species such as certain

DIPTERA. THE HOVER-FLIES (SYRPHIDAE). 125

species of Syrphus and Volucella are found. Some Hover-flies breed in
rotting wood and therefore require old trees in the habitat. Others
breed in liquid mud and stagnant water and need to live about marshes,
lakes and sluggish streams. Sand dunes are visited but no species
seems capable of breeding there.

Sewage farm fields, rot holes in trees, sap exudations on trees, cer-
tain plants and the nests of various insects are the chosen breeding
habitats of particular species. The flies will therefore be found in the
vicinity for oviposition and on emergence. For feeding, the flies may
wander quite a distance, and most of the Hover-flies are found visiting
flower blossoms. For courtship and mating there are often other re-
quirements. At times, coupling is attempted by males with females as
the latter are feeding on the flowers. In other species the males will
hover in shafts of sunlight in woodland rides and will drop on passing
females. Thus Rhingia will wander far for feeding but the females are
bound to return to cattle pastures for oviposition.

DISTRIBUTION—LARVAE.

The habits of the larvae of Hover-flies are varied. A large majority
feed on aphides and are therefore found on the plants attacked by green-
flies. These genera include Baccha, Catabomba, Didea, Paragus,
Pipiza, Sphaerophoria and Syrphus. Another group of genera have
larvae living in rotting wood such as Brachypalpus, Chrysotorum, Mal-
lota, Myiolepta, Pocota and Xylota. In stagnant water or mud are
larvae of Chrysogaster, Eristalis, Helophilus, Neoascia, Orthonewra and
Sericomyia and in rotting vegetation—Syritta. Chilosia larvae have
been recorded living in fungi and in the roots of thistles. In bulbs of
Daffodils and others, most of us have bred, generally without desire,
species of Merodon and Eumerus. The sap flowing from trees is the
home of the larvae of Brachyopa and Chrysochlamys. The larvae of
Volucella are found in wasps’ nests whilst Microdon inhabits ants’ nests.
The larvae of some genera are still unknown, for example, Leucozona,
Ischyrosyrphus, and Melangyna.

Eaocs.

All the eggs that I have seen and those described in the literature are
white, elongate oval, with the micropilar end blunter than the opposite
one. The sheil is sculptured, each genus and probably each species
having a characteristic pattern formed by microscopic elevations with
narrow channels in between.

OVIPOSITION.

This varies according to the genus and the larval habitat. In the
species with aphidophagous larvae, the eggs are generally laid singly
among or on the aphides but sometimes on the leaves or stem of the
plants that are usually attacked. Whether the eggs of aphides are
_ present in these latter cases or whether there is any other attraction
I have no knowledge. Nixon has recorded that Volucella pellucens L.,
which in no way resembles a wasp and is much larger, entered nests of
Vespula vulgaris L. and Vespula germanica F. No notice was taken
of the fly by the wasp in either case. In one instance 58 eggs were laid
in twos and threes. I have seen several adult Microdon eggeri Mik
enter an ants’ nest without being attacked.

126 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 69. 15/1V /1953

In Rhingia, eggs have been found in large clusters on grasses oveér-
hanging cow-pats. Coe has recorded a female laying 108 eggs on three
leaves, 86, 16 and 6 on each. In Melanostoma and Platychirus the eggs
are said to be laid in batches of four or five and in Syritta and Tropidia
in masses of a hundred or more. FHristalis lays eggs in groups of 50 or so.

With Merodon equestris F., the large bulb fly, the female backs down
the hole left by the rotted leaves and stem and lays a single egg on the
bulb, but up to five have been found, each laid on different dates,
probably by different females. Humerus tuberculatus Rond., the lesser
bulb fly, lays the eggs in small batches on the bulb, on dead vegetation
attached to the bulb, and at times, on the ground and on vegetation
about the bulb. As many as 200 larvae have attacked a single bulb so
it will be seen that the smaller species of Hwmerus are more prolific than
the large Merodon.

The females of Melanostoma mellinum L. have been seen to oviposit
under the lower leaves of herbaceous plants close to damp ground.
Sphaerophoria and various species of Syrphus, likewise lay their eggs on
the underside of leaves. This shelters them from dessication by the
sun and places them amongst the aphides also sheltering and feeding
on the underside. Syrphus balteatus Deg. I have watched laying her
eggs under the lower leaves of cabbages but in Catabomba I have ob-
served the eggs, at times, laid among the aphides on the stem of the
chosen plant. This suggests that the aphides are more attractive than
shelter from the sun.

Probably the females of most species of Hover-flies carry some 100-
950 eggs. Gravid females that I have carried home alive in small
collecting tubes have laid eggs in batches in the tube. I have counted
over 120 from Eristalis, Volucella and more than one species of Syrphus.
In one case of Syrphus nitidicollis Mg. laid 346 eggs. Where females
have been dissected, up to 200 eggs have been found. More data is
needed and could be fairly easily acquired and published.

(To be continued.)

Current Literature

Tue Generic NaMES oF THE BEETLE FaMiLy STAPHYLINIDAE; WITH AN
Essay on Genorypy. By Richard E. Blackwelder: 83 X 6 ins.,
iv + 481 pp. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1952. Price
$1.50. (Bulletin 200 of the United States National Museum.)

In the author’s words (p. 3) ‘the sole purpose of this work is to
present in uniform manner the facts of establishment and subsequent
use of all names applied to genera and subgenera of Staphylinidae’.
The principles and methods of genotypy and its elaborate ramifications
are fully discussed in an introductory essay, with an explanation of the
scheme adopted for the list. The latter is alphabetical and comprises
even the numberless mostly unintentional misspellings found in the
literature. Under each entry are clearly set out all the appropriate
facts which for valid names include original reference, genotype history,
synonymy, homonymy, variants, and any remarks that the case may
call for. Then follow an appendix of the doubtfully Staphylinid genera,
a schematic list to show at a glance the changes involved, a list of the
new names proposed, and a full bibliography.

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 127

What C. E. Tottenham has done for the British Staphylinidae,
Blackwelder has done for the whole family. Experts tend to disagree
in their special fields, but here the d‘fierence is much more in viewpoints —
and methods than in actual results, and Tottenham’s contribution is
both commended and criticized. The author has sought to minimize
the subjective element by interpreting whatever is ambiguous or un-
clear in the Rules in an objectively mechanical way. This demands an
uncompromising, even heroic, attitude to the muddles caused by chang-
ing well-established names in the interests of eventual stability (con-
cerning which, however, some of us feel a little dubious). I+ is strange
to find Cryptusa M. & R. listed as a synonym (cf. Steel, 1948, Ent. mon.
Mag., 84: 179, 180); but in general, errors seem very few and every
effort has been made to ensure accuracy, completeness, and clarity.
Mr. Blackwelder is to be congratulated on the fulfilment of an immense
task, and his work will be invaluable to all specialists in this unwieldy,
difficult, and nomenclaturally confused family of Coleoptera.—A. A. A.

ENTOMOLOGISCHE BericHTEN No. 332 (1 February 1953) contains
(pp. 216-219) an account by B. J. Lempke, with map, of the spread of
Araschnia levana L. in the Netherlands. This butterfly began to colon-
ise Holland about 1920, at first in small numbers, then more freely, the
insect ranging chiefly northwards and westwards. In 1945 populations
and distribution increased considerably. At present the insect appears
to be stabilized and is maintaining itself in all its habitats, though, of
course, numbers vary according to the season. As a rule there are 3
generations and Lempke suggests that it is the summer generation
chiefly, or perhaps exclusively, which increases the species’ range. Our
readers may remember that this butterfiy was successfully introduced
into the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, some years ago, the colony un-
fortunately being deateoned by a ipieetiataed collector.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903.)

THe TIME oF APPEARANCE OF ASTHENA BLOMERI.—I am much obliged
for Mr. Bower’s answer to my query as to the time of emergence of
Eupisteria heparata in the southern counties, and for his list of dates.

. It is most constant in its appearance here towards the end of May
and by mid-June is over. Asthena blomeri also seems to appear much
later in the midlands than here. I have seen it in plenty at Sledmere,
on June 7th, but never later than the first week or two in July. Whilst
visiting Mr. Woodforde at Market Drayton, I saw some, apparently
fresh, on July 28th, and I believe Mr. Woodforde said that the species
was not really over, so that evidently these two species emerge much
earlier in this part of the country than in some others.—S. Warxker,
York.

Date oF APPEARANCE OF TAPINOSTOLA ELYMI.—I can corroborate Mr.
Musham’s observations as to the emergence of T. elymi on the Lincoln-
shire coast about the middle of June, as, on the only occasion on which
I have come across the species—at Mablethorpe, on June 19th, 1896—
I found it so abundant that I took fifty specimens during that one night.

128 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TV /1953

They were mostly quite fresh, but a few of them must, from their con-
dition, have been out a week or ten days.—G. H. Raynor.

Sbiuary

KENNETH GLOYNE Buatr, D.Sc., F.R.E.S., who died on 11th Desk
ber last, was the eldest son of ‘aie late W. N. Blair, for many years
engineer to the St. Pancras Borough Council. Dr. Blair was born at
Nottingham on 22nd December 1882 and so was within a few days of
his 70th birthday. Educated at Highgate and at Birkbeck College,
London, he entered the Civil Service in 1901 or 1902, serving for a few
years in the offices of the Paymaster General and of the Supreme Court
but transferred in 1910 to the British Museum (Natural History) as an
Assistant. At the Museum his main duty was to look after a large part
of the enormous Coleopterous collections from all parts of the world
consisting of some 75,000 to 80,000 species. Notwithstanding the mag-
nitude of his task he acquired a good knowledge of the vast collections
and was always ready with help and advice for any serious enquirer.
From time to time he published a number of notes and revisionary
papers in various periodicals at home and abroad. Dr. Blair was a
man of wide interests in geology, bird life, plants, insects of all orders,
and in spite of his preoccupation with the Coleoptera he found time to
publish many notes and papers on other Orders and subjects. On the
outbreak of the 1914-18 war he enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders,
served with his regiment in France and was discharged as no longer fit
for service in 1917. His experiences during this period so undermined
his health that he never fully recovered although he persevered with his
work at the Museum and continued to publish faunistic reports, papers
and notes, bringing his total of these to some 200.

Blair became a Fellow of the (now Royal) Entomological Society of
London in 1904 and was its President in. 1940-1. He was elected a
Special Life Fellow in 1944. In 1911 he joined the ‘‘South London’’,
becoming its President in 1920-1 and again in 1931. In 1950 he was
made an Honorary Member and served for many years on its Publication
Committee. In 1923 he was appointed to the Editorial Board of The
Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine and was a valued member of that
body up to the time of his death.

In 1932 he became a Deputy Keeper in the Dishercim ons of mani
at the Museum and in 1933 took his degree of Doctor of Science at the
University of London. Failing health vompelled his retirement in 1943
and soon afterwards he moved to Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. In
spite of the handicap of ill health he retained his wide interests right up
to the end and during the last few years of his life was able to add a few
new records to the Island list and several species new to Britain, not-
ably ‘‘Blair’s Wainscot’? (Sedina biittnert Her.), ‘‘Blair’s Mocha’
(Cosymbia pupillaria Hiib.) and the ‘Stone Pinion’? (Lithophane
lapidea Hib.).

Blair was a man of great modesty and kindliness, of charming per-
sonality and undaunted cheerfulness. He will be greatly missed by his
many friends. In 1919 he married Lois Celia Lambert and to her and
to their two daughters our deepest sympathy is extended. .
Ci Nades

ee Pepoerre Ty

NATURALIST ANG BREEDER OF LEPIDOPTERA

MEREWORTH, PARK WOOD ROAD, THE RIDGE, HASTINGS, SUSSEX.
TELEPHONE: BALDSLOW 439.

Additional Items to List appearing in March issue. Terms of Business as already stated.

Eggs Larvae Pupae Eggs Larvae Pupae
Moths. _per doz. per doz. each. Moths. per doz. per doz. each.
Swallow-tail 2s 6d —_ — Miller - 4s 0d 6s 6d —-
Willow Beauty 2s 0d _ —_ Wormwood Shark 4s 0d 6s 0d —
Large Thorn 0 2S oD: cx AS: OF 7d
Dusky Thorn 2s 6d 5s 0d 7a FOREIGN SPECIES. AMERICAN.
Canary ‘Shouldered T. Polyphemus . 4s 6d 6s 6d _—
Thorn , 2s 0d 4s 6d 6d S. Cecropia 4s 6d 7s 6d —
Early Thorn is 6d 3s 6d 5d P. Cynthia 2s 0d 5s 6d _
Purple Thorn 3s 0d 4s 6d 6d C. Promethea 3s 6d — —
Large Emerald 3s 0d = a A. io 3s 6d — _—
Blood Vein is 6d oo —
Magpie is 0d 2s 0d 4a INDIAN.
Common Marbled 9d 2s 0d 3d A. Selene 4s 0d _ os
Lobster 5s 0d 10s 0d 3s 6d C. Trifenestrata 2s 6d 5s 0d 1s 6d
Flame 1s 6d 3s 0d — L. Katinka 3s 6d 7s 6d 2s 3d
Grey Arches is 6d 3s 0d _ A. Pernyi > 88 0d 7s 0d _—
Nut Tree Tussock 2s 0d 4s 0d 6d A. Roilley 8s 6d 7s 0d fe
Pebble Hook Tip 1s 6d 3s 0d 5 P. Cynthia 2s 0d 5S 6d 41s 9d
Oak Hook Tip 2s 6d 3s 6d 6d Common Silkworm Sea mite
Chinese Character is 6d 2s 6d 4a L. Dispar. Gipsy
Light’ Emerald 1s 6d La = Moth 4s 0d = 8 Gd 5d
Scalloped . Hazel 2s 0d 8s 6d — Stick Insects is 0d 4s 0d —
Waved Umber 25 0d 8s 0d — T. Rumina. Spanish
Lunar Marbled Butterfly ; — ast 25 0d
Brown 8s 0d 6s 0d 8d
Pale Tussock 2s Od 4s 0d — Fennel Seedlings, 7s 6d per dozen.

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129

aegeria L. in

The Habitat
S d

oe

By D. F. Owen.

Most text books on British butterflies state that Pararge aegeria
is a woodland butterfly, where it mainly frequents shady rides and
thickets. During recent years there have been numerous references to
the extension of range of this species and in some of these the authors
have commented that the butterfly is no longer confined to shady places.
The present note is largely to stimulate others to record information
on the habitats of this species and at the same time I have brought to-
gether some of the data already available.

During the past sixty or seventy years aegeria has undergone a
series of remarkable variations in range, having in many areas been
common, scarce (or absent) and common again. Early in the present
century there was a general contraction from the east and north and
the species became isolated in the west of Scotland. This was later
followed by an expansion of range back into the original areas, but
there is some evidence that the northward movement has not yet got
under way. The history of this range variation has not been published
in full, but hag been briefly discussed by Ford (Butterflies, 1945) and
his account has been followed by papers on the history of the species
in Scotland (Downes, J. Animal EHcol., 17: 131-138) and in Kent (Chal-
mers-Hunt and Owen, Hntom., 85: 145-154).

I had previously thought that the expansion of range of this species
could in some way be correlated with the apparently recent adaptation
to habitats other than those described in the text books. However,
this hypothesis must now be modified in view of recent information
about the habitats of the butterfly in the west country. Thompson
(Ent. Rec., 64: 161-166) has found a race of aegeria in the mountains
of North Wales. Here it inhabits the bare slopes well away from trees
and bushes, and also is morphologically separable from the lowland
form. Moreover it is single brooded, whereas normally the butterfly
has two, often three, broods in a year. There is also considerable evi-
dence that in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and possibly other counties
in the west, aegeria is not confined to woods, but flies abundantly in
other habitats. For instance at Morte Point in North Devon the
butterfly occurs on a rocky peninsula which is covered with heather
and dry grass with some bracken and bramble on the sheltered side.
There are no woods for several miles. In parts of Somerset and Hamp-
shire it has been seen commonly in gardens and open places well away
from woodland and there are also records from open chalk-down and
heath. Some correspondents inform me that the butterfly has been mn
these types of habitat for many years and that there has been no re-
cent spread into such areas. Although most records of aegeria in open
country are from the western part of its range, there have recently
been some reports of an apparent spread into new habitats which might
be connected with the expansion of range. This might be expijained
by the greater number of butterflies now present in the recently
colonized areas in the east which would also increase their chance of
being seen in habitats other than woodland. My own observations in

130 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V/1953

Berkshire suggest that some butterflies tend to move into open country
during dry spells and late in the season. This is well known among
many other species of lepidoptera.

This species does not normally visit flowers so it is unlikely that
butterflies move into new areas for this reason as perhaps do other
species. Turner (J. Soc. Brit. Ent., 3: 210-211) has, however, given
many records of aegeria at flowers, but it was not always certain
whether the butterflies actually fed from them.

In conclusion I would like to express my thanks to those who have
already contributed information on the habitats of this butterfly, and
in doing so would like to ask for further information, particularly
regarding the present northward limits of the species in England and
its status and habitats in the west of Scotland.

Records of Some Species of Hydraecia

and Procus
By R. F. BretrHerton, C.B., M.A.

I have recently been checking the identification of a number of
specimens in my collection of the Hydraecia and Procus groups, making
dissections and microscope examinations where this seemed necessary.
There are no startling discoveries, but as confirmed records of these
species are few and we still know little about their distribution and
relative abundance, it may be well to set out the results.

Hydraecia oculea L. (nictitans Bork.).

N.W. Berks: Appleton, eight 6.vi1.384; Tubney, four 30.vii.39 and
7.1x.41; Cumnor Hill, one 10.ix.31.

Dorset: West Lulworth, Povington and West Holme Heaths, four
1s {22 yaaie39.

Surrey: Ottershaw, 4/13.viii.46, three.

Westmorland: Witherslack, five, various years 17/28.viii; Kent Bank,
two, 1.1.36, 7.1x.40.

Lancashire: Grange-over-Sands, six, various years 13.vili/12.1x. St.
Anne’s-on-Sea, one 15.vi11.08.

H. crinanensis Burr.

Cumberland: Carlisle District, two, 20.vi11.21, vii1.20 (E. “B. Ford).

’ Westmorland: Caldron Snout, one 7.1x.35 (caught flying in mid-day
sun). Shap, two vi1i.34 (J. L. Messenger).

H. paludis Tutt.
Kent: Sheppey, vii.05, one.
Lancashire: St. Anne’s-on-Sea, one vil.14; Southport, one vii.12.

H. lucens Freyer.

No certain examples; but some years ago Dr. E. B. Ford, after
superficial examination of the genitalia, identified as this species two
caught at Tubney (N.W. Berks.) on 6.vili.31. On dissection, I found
that the genitalia of one had become damaged beyond recognition.
Those of the other are not H. oculea; but neither do they agree closely
with those of H. lucens, nor yet with those of H. paludis, which are very

RECORDS OF SOME SPECIES OF HYDRAECIA AND PROCUS ior

like it. The moths are notably larger and have a duller and more
uniform ground colour than any of my many H. oculea from the same
area. |

As regards H. oculea, in nearly all my examples the reniform stigma
(the ‘‘ear’’? mark) is white; but in one from Kent Bank and one from
Witherslack it is pale yellow. I have heard it said that H. oculea never
has a yellow reniform ; but this seems to be incorrect. Of my H. crinan-
ensis the three recorded above all have the reniform golden, but in two
others, which are without data, it is white. Of the H. paludis, in the
one from Sheppey it is pale yellow and in the two from Lancashire it
is white. In the doubtful H. lucens it is white. In wing expanse all my
H. crinanensis are rather large, considerably exceeding the average of
H. oculea and equalling that of H. paludis.

Procus strigilis Clerck.

Isle of Wight: Brook, two 20.vi.31.

Surrey: Ottershaw, twelve (earliest, 24.v.52, latest 25.vi.50). Byfleet,
one 21.vi.47.

N.W. Berks.: Tubney, one 11.vi.44.

Oxon.: Hell Coppice, two, 12.vi.33.

Cambs.: Wicken Fen, three, 17.vi.45.

Inverness: Aviemore, two very large and coal black, 1.vii.47.

P. versicolor Bork.
Surrey: Ottershaw, four, 9 and 18.vi.47, 10.vi.52.

P. latruncula Schiff.

Surrey: Oxshott, one 1.v11.33; Ottershaw, ten (earliest 31.v.52, latest
25.v1.50).

N.W. Berks.: Bagley Wood, one 4.vi.35; Cothill, two 26.vi.30, 14.vi.43;
Cumnor, one 12.vi.41.

Oxon.: Hell Coppice, three 12.vi.83; Waterperry, one 23.v.43.

Cambs.: Wicken Fen, three 17.vi.45.

Middlesex: Ruislip, one 2.v11.27.

Since these specimens were a random selection (except perhaps as
regards condition), the small numbers of P. verszcolor indicate that it
probably is much rarer and more local than the other two species. In
time of appearance there seems to be an almost complete overlap: all
three were taken in good condition at Ottershaw on the nights of 18th
June 1947 and 10th June 1952. But on the run of dates, P. strigilis
seems to appear first, P. latruncula a few days later, and P. versicolor
last, though the numbers are too small to warrant certainty about this.
Superficially, there is great variation in all three species. P. latruncula
is, on the average, markedly smaller than the others, and has a very
high proportion of unicolorous black or very dark specimens: indeed
only two out of two dozen of mine have any appreciable white on the
forewings. The very strongly marbled forms seem to occur only in P.
strigilis, which has, however, also up to one-third of black or very dark
examples. Two of my P. versicolor are wholly dark, and in the other
two the white markings are only moderately developed: but all four
have a curious reddish sheen, which is not exactly reproduced in any
examples of the other species.

132 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15] V /1953

The remaining three species of the genus Procus present little diffi-
culty in identification, and their distribution is pretty well recorded
already. It is, however, perhaps worth noticing that all six species
occur in my garden at Ottershaw: P. fasciuncula Haw., usually likes
wetter places, and is rather rare here, in late June and July. P. furun-
cula Schiff. (bicoloria Vill.) is abundant and infinitely variable in late
July and August. P. literosa Haw., which is mainly a coastal species,
was noticed in my light-trap for the first time between 23rd July and
llth August 1952 (seven specimens): it has also been taken in small
numbers at New Haw and Walton-on-Thames.

[Mr. Austin Richardson’s records of Hydraecia species were printed
in this journal in 1951 (Ent. Rec., 63: 304), five of them being new
county records. H. paludis is widespread but uncommon in inland
localities. Mr. Richardson found it at Nailsworth, Gloucestershire,
while Dr. K. C. Greenwood notes (Hnt. Rec., 63: 279) that in 1951 A.
paludis ‘‘was much more plentiful than last year at Southport, and a
varied series of the fine local form was secured’’. More recently (Ent.
Itec., 65: 46) Commander G. W. Harper has reported H. oculea, H.
paludis, H. lucens and H. crinanensis at Newtonmore, Inverness-shire.—

Ep. |

A Note on Spatalistis bifasciana Hib.

By H. C. Hueerns, F.R.E.S.

Mr. Allan recently sent me the following Note by J. B. Hodgkinson
from the Entomologist, 28: 55, and asked me to comment upon it :—

“Chrosis bifasciana = audouinana.—This pretty species seems to be
of rare occurrence of late years, at any rate I could only muster three
specimens in thirty years, until Burney’s sale in January last, when I
purchased about thirty-eight specimens, part in the collection and others
in duplicate boxes. All of them had evidently been taken at the be-
ginning of the ‘gilt pin’ era, some thirty years ago; the pins were tar-
nished, and most of the specimens were a little greasy and ‘verdigrised’
about the head and body. Does any one know what the larva feeds on?
Stainton says ‘‘amongst oaks’’.—J. B. Hopexrnson, Ashton-on-Ribble.
December 1894. [This species 1s said to be not uncommon at Chattenden
in Kent.—Ep. ]’’

Almost everything connected with this unusual Tortrix seems to pre-
sent a certain amount of difficulty. Even its name is apt to cause con-
fusion, as in conversation unless the generic name be used Spatalistis
bifasciana Hiib. (1787) = audouinana Duponchel (1834) is apt to be
muddled with Argyroploce bifasciana Haw. and so I usually refer to it
when discussing it with friends as ‘‘audouinana’’. Its position in the
Tortrices has also been a matter of controversy, but to-day, principally
- because of the raised scaling on the fore-wings, it is usually located in the
Peroneinae.

The habits of the perfect insect are somewhat obscure. I have, how-
ever, 10 all netted nearly forty specimens, most of which have been in
poor condition, and a few words concerning these may be of interest.

J never saw it, at Chattenden, but the first specimen I noticed, in
June 1923, was captured at Jate dusk in the now destroyed Wardwell
Wood near Sittingbourne. I was netting Argyroploce branderiana
Linn., which was flying wildly and rather high over a mixed growth of

; A NOTE ON SPATALISTIS BIFASCIANA HUB. 133,

aspen and oaks, and on catching one at a height of about ten feet found
I had also taken a bifasciana. I have since taken several in the evening
flying naturally and they have always been at least nine feet from the
ground, usually round young oaks, and Mr. J. W. Corder also took one
at a similar height when collecting with me. One cause, therefore, of
the comparative rarity of the moth in collections would appear to be
its high flight in not too good a light when scores of common little dark
insects like conwayana are on the wing.

I have, however, beaten far more at mid-day or in the early after-
noon. S. bifasciana likes to sun itself, normally at a good height from
the ground, on a broad leaf, usually in my experience that of an oak,
and on being dislodged dies rather sharply towards the ground. The
late William Fassnidge and myself netted a fair number in this way in a
wood near Southampton and also in one of the rides near Stubby Copse
in the New Forest. In those days my eyesight was exceedingly good and
I could usually identify it on the wing as it glinted with yellow, the only
insect [ occasionally confused with it being Pammene germerana Hiib.,
also a small dark moth with yellow spangles.

With one exception [ have never seen bifasciana beaten from any
tree but oak; Fassnidge netted one when with me from Rhamnus fran-
gula.

The food-plant so far as I know is still a matter of doubt. There are
a number of references to it in various books, but I have never seen any
definite account of its being reared, or its feeding habits. Barrett, vol.
x, p, 200, says the food-plant appears to be oak and that on one occasion
it was reared from a gall of Cynips lignicola gathered from oak bushes.
This, however, is not conclusive, and I am bound to say that although
I have collected what must amount to several buckets of oak-galls in my
time bifasciana has not appeared.

Meyrick says: ‘‘Larva in berries of Rhamnus catharticus and Cornus
(perhaps also of holly)’ and Lhomme (Cat. des Lép. de France et de
Belgique, Il, No. 2388) says that in France the food-plants are Vaccin-
wm myrtillus, V. uliginosum, Rhamnus catharticus and Cornus mas.
My friend Mr. L. T. Ford in his Guide to the Smaller Lepidoptera, p. 57,
No. 326, gives ‘‘Larva in berries of Rhamnus catharticus, Cornus, per-
haps also holly and privet’’ but in answer to my enquiry he informed
me that he had never bred it and knew no account of its being bred but
that he had beaten 14 from privet in a wood where there was no
Rhamnus and only a little Cornus nowhere near the privet, hence the
addition in his book.

As, therefore, so far as can be judged, all these suggestions of Cor-
nus, Rhamnus, etc., are pure guesswork, oak appears to be the best
bet. I have never heard of the moth’s being taken anywhere where oak
did not occur or far from oak. I have never seen it where Vaccinium
of any kind or R. catharticus grew and several of my specimens were
taken where none of the alternative plants grew either. With the one
exception of a single insect beaten from Rhamnus frangula the whole
of the fairly numerous captures I have seen have been beaten from or
fiying over oaks.

Fassnidge used to think it fed on Rhamnus, but this was chiefly be-
cause he believed in Meyrick and it became almost an obsession with
him. When he took the one insect I have mentioned from a frangula

134 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/V /1953

bush he was quite triumphant although we beat five others from oak
the same afternoon and the Rhamnus bush was between two oaks. More-
over, Meyrick gives catharticus not frangula.

Near Gravesend I netted one in a wood of oak, birch, and sallow, yet
-a mile away there was a remarkable copse, formed almost entirely of
Rhamnus catharticus, Huonymus, Cornus sanguinea and privet, where
I never saw a trace of bifasciana, though Rhamnus feeders like derasana
and sodaliana abounded.

The conclusions I have come to are that bifasciana probably feeds on
~ oak, that there has been a good deal of guesswork in the current accounts
of its life-history, and that it is time someone gave a circumstantial ac-
count of breeding it. The late W. G. Sheldon always hoped to do so,
but when we last discussed the moth about 1930 he had never succeeded
in taking one.

The moth is pretty generally distributed on heavy clay in the southern
counties. JI have seen it at Sittingbourne, Barham, Blean, Gravesend,
and Ham Street in Kent, near Southampton, and in several parts of the
New Forest, so that to a young man with good eyes the problem should
not be insoluble.

Collecting Lepidoptera Abroad
By D. G. Srvastoputo, F.R.E.S.

‘To English collectors visiting Continental localities, where the volume
of captures is far in excess of what is normally taken in England, a
description of the equipment used by a collector in the Tropics may
prove helpful.

The usual English technique of pill-boxes is not suitable as, apart
from the usually larger size of the insects encountered, it is impossible
to accommodate the catch on a good day in this manner.

My equipment is simple and, to my mind, practical. Two killing-
bottles that will fit into the side pockets of shorts or trousers (I use
screw-topped pound size jam jars), two or more cigarette tins of the
‘flat fifty’ type containing transparent envelopes of the kind used by
' stamp-collectors, and a pair of forceps are what I carry in my pockets.
In addition I carry a satchel, a B.O.A.C. overnight zip-bag is very
suitable, containing tins for larvae, a large tin to contain food-plants
not available near home, a spare net bag, scissors, a magnifying glass
in a special box, and a tightly corked bottle containing nicotine poison
with a needle inserted eye-end outwards inside the cork.

Small insects are killed in the killing-bottles, care being taken to
reverse the wings of any individuals that die ‘inside out’ as soon as they
are motionless. Larger insects, or slow dying ones like the species of
Acraea and Zygaenids, are killed by a prick with the nicotined needle.
the small drop contained in the eye usually being sufficient to ensure
immediate death. These nicotine-killed insects are placed at once in
the transparent envelopes in the cigarette tins. The insects killed in
the killing-bottles are left therein for twenty minutes or so before being
transferred to the envelopes. I find the easiest way of doing this is to
use each bottle for about fifteen minutes in turn.

It is surprising what a large volume of captures can be brought home
in first class condition by this method.

MACROLEPIDOPTERA IN NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE 135

What is done with the captures once they are safely home must be
left to the individual collector. I personally would paper everything in
order to avoid the necessity of carrying bulky luggage to accommodate
setting-boards and store-boxes, not to mention the risk of damaging
pinned insects during travelling; but then papering has never been
popular with English collectors. Kampala, 7.11.53.

Macrolepidoptera in North East Derbyshire:
A Record for 1952

By J. H. JoHNSon.
(Continued from page 110)

Cirrhia icteritia Hufn. (5). August 12th. August 30th. At
sugar and light. 2 were var. flavescens.

Conistra vaccinu L. (18). April 7th. October 26th. Taken at
light, sugar and ivy blossom.

Conistra ligula Esp. (7). October 26th. All at ivy bloom.

Cryphia perla Schf. (44). June 16th. August 5th. This species
was far more abundant than usual. 25 were taken in the garden light
trap, the others were found at rest on walls. One larva was seen on
March 9th feeding on green algae growing on a brick wall. Damp
seasons favour the growth of this plant, so there may be some correlation
between wet years and the abundance of (. perla. None found on
moors.

Apatele megacephala Schf. One larva on black poplar at Ashover.

Apatele psi L. (3). June 25th. July 7th. Several larvae on haw-
thorn, buckthorn, and birch.

Aputele menyanthidis View. (6). May 25th. These were found on
walls on Beeley Moors.

Apatele rumicis L. (5). May 17th. August 31st. 10 larvae were
found in September at rest on the undersides of thistle leaves in Hep-
thorne Lane.

Amphipyra tragopoginis Cl. (12). August 7th. October 5th.

Mormo maura L. (2). August 5th. Taken at sugar near: Stubbin
Pond. This species is confined to a stretch of wooded country between
moors and industrial area. Not more than 5 are taken any year.

Apamea lithoxylea Schf. (1) August 7th. The scarcity of this
species is hardy credible. In 1935 it was as abundant as pronuba. Has
the destruction of pastures affected it so soon?

Apamea monoglypha Hufn. (116). July 7th. August 18th. Still
as common as ever at sugar, and still as variable; sooty varieties are
common.

Apamea sordens Hufn. (1). July 13th.

Apamea secalis L. (138). July 20th. August 3lst. Abundant at
sugar, rare at light, extremely variable.

Procus strigilis Cl. (4). August 7th.

Procus fasciuncula Haw. (17). July 27th. August 14th.

Iuperina testacea Schf. (249). August 2nd. September 24th. All
taken at light trap in garden, very slight variation except in size.

Euplexia lucipara L. (1). June 25th. Usually very common.

Phlogophora meticulosa L. (1). October 12th. This species is never

136 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. _ 15/V/1953

common, usually one or more specimens are found at rest on walls or
trees. One larva was found on rose in April. Larvae were obtained
from eggs deposited by the female taken on October 12th; they refused to
eat anything but chickweed.

Petilampa minima Haw. (4). July 17th. August 7th. .

Hydraecia oculea L. (7). August 8th. September 4th. Usually
abundant on Darley Moors, but none seen this year. All these speci-
mens were taken at sugar in Tupton Woods.

Hydraecia micacea Esp. (11).. August 18th. September 3rd. Lar-
vae feeding on potato haulms.

Gortyna flavago Schf. (1). October 17th. Taken at a street lamp
near Clay Cross Station. One larva was taken in a mugwort stem.

Cosmia trapezina L. (2). August 8th. August 29th. Taken at
sugar. Usually far more abundant in Tupton Woods in other years.

Arenostola pygmina Haw. (5). August 12th. October 4th. These
were taken on Beeley and Darley Moors in flight during the day.

Nonagria typhae Haw. Larvae found in stems of Typha latifolia
growing, at Old Tupton.

Panemeria tenebrata Scop. (12). May 24th. Found among food-
plant at Alton and on No. 4 Tip, near Hepthorne Lane. ;

Bena fagana Fab. Larvae beaten from birch in Hardwick Wood.

Euclidimera mi Cl. (5). May 18th. May 24th. Found on old pit
tips.

Polychrisia moneta Fab. (1). July 22nd. Taken in the garden lay-
ing eggs on monkshood.

Plusia chrysitis LL. (11): July Ist. August Ist.

Plusia gamma i. (4). May 24th. August 14th.

Plusia interrogations L. (2). August 21st. August 23rd. This
species occurs on Beeley and Darley Moors usually in abundance.

Hypena proboscidalis L. (36). July 9th. August 12th. Abundant
in every nettle bed in July. ;

Alsophila aescularia Schf. (15). March 9th. April 18th. Common
at street lamps near Tupton Woods.

Odezia atrata L. (6). June 12th. These were found in a rough
pasture near Heath School. Many of the localities where this species
was formerly abundant have been ploughed up, consequently the food-
plant has disappeared.

Sterrha aversata L. (10). July 8th. August 7th. These were
taken in the garden hght trap. Two of them had the forewings with a
thick dark brown band.

Xanthorhoe spadicearia Schf. (6). May 16th. May 19th.

Xanthorhoe montanata Schf. (3). May 23rd. May 31st. Usually
this species is very common in all the woods in the district, where it is
found in May resting on the herbage. This year it was uncommon.

Xanthorhoe fluctuata L. (36). April 25th. September 7th. This
moth seems especially addicted to industrial areas. The larvae seem to
thrive best on sooty wallflowers.

Ortholitha chenopodiata L. (myriads). July 6th. August 17th.

Colostygia didymata L. (35). August 10th. August 30th. This
moth is found on one part of Darley Moors in some numbers. It is easily
seen resting on the stone walls, but is not easily captured; as soon as
one gets close to it, up into the air it darts.

NOLES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. La

Colostygia multistrigata Haw. (7). April 10th. April 25th. Taken
at street lamps near Tupton Woods.

Earophila badiata Schf. (11). April 7th. April 25th. This species
is found wherever there are rose bushes.

Euphyia bilineata L. (26). July 4th. August 29th. This is an-
other ‘‘industrial’’ species. Light seems to have little attraction for
the imagines, but they are easily found resting on foliage.

Electrophaes corylata Thun. 8 larvae beaten from birch bushes in
Hardwick Wood.

Pelurga comtata L. (3). August 21st.

Ecliptopera silaceata Schf. (1). August 5th. J am surprised that
this species is not more abundant since its foodplant is so plentiful in
the area.. This is the first imago I have ever taken.

Lygris populata L. (73). August 21st. August 3lst. Very com-
mon on Beeley Moors, but occasionally appears in Hardwick Wood.

Lygris mellinata Fab. (1). August Ist. Usually abundant.

Cidaria fulvata Forst. (12). July 14th. July 27th. A few were
beaten out of rose bushes in Tupton Wood and also in Langwith Wood.

Dysstroma citrata L. (1). August 8th.

Hydriomena furcuta Thun. (75). August 18th. August 26th.
Large dark green forms were plentiful on Beeley Moors.

Anaitis plagiata L. (1). August 8th. St. John’s-wort is uncom-
mon, so this species is not expected to flourish here.

Epirrhoe tristata (L.). (25). June 15th. Found at rest on walls on
Darley Moors. Another easily disturbed species.

Epirrhoe alternata Mill. (2). August 3rd. August 8th. Galiwm
spp. are uncommon in the area.

Eupithecia linariata Schf. (6). July Ist. July 25th. Larvae
abundant on Yellow Toadflax.

Eupithecia centaureata Schf. (1). July 10th.

Eupithecia absinthiata Cl. (3). July 4th. The bright yellow larvae
were quite common on wormwood in September. While searching for C.
absinthu, I found 25 of this species.

Eupithecia vulgata Haw. (4). May 17th. August 4th.

Eupithecia icterata Vill. (4). July 22nd. August 13th.

Operophtera brumata L. (155). November 3rd. December 23rd.
By searching tree trunks in Tupton Park after dark I was able to find
dozens of pairs in cop., but they were by no means as numerous as they
were last year.

(To be continued)

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hueerns, F.R.E.S.

Dioryctria bankesiella Richardson. The larva of this very local moth
may be found in its chosen localities on the limestone cliffs of Dorset
at the end of May, feeding on Inula crithmoides. Its galleries, which
are silken and external, are easy enough to find and may be spun on
any portion of the plant from flower-shoot to base. In my experience
this moth only occurs in the more or less precipitous places; where its
food-plant grows on the flat it is absent, as Agdistis staticis Mill. is on
the low-growing Statice in the same district. It is as well to breed this

138 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V /1953

insect as although it may be netted easily enough at dusk in July by
a little judicious cliff-climbing, and it usually seems to be in good con-
dition, caught specimens are usually males. In 1936 of a score caught
only two were females, which, however, made up 50% of those bred by
me in 1937.

Platyptilia tesseradactyla Linn. The first fortnight in June is as
good a time as any to look for tesseradactyla in the north-west and west
of Ireland. I should not despair of finding it anywhere in those parts
where its food-plant, Antennaria dioica, grows, as not only is it found
all over the Burren but it is also on sand eskers and metmorphic rock
in Tyrone and Donegal.

P. tesseradactyla does not like moving in wet or very windy weather
and at the time of the year it flies it 1s usually one or the other, or both,
in its chosen localities. J stayed for a week at Ballyvaughan some forty
years ago and had one decent half-hour for collecting, during which I
caught one tesseradactyla on the Blackhead Road, whilst my friend,
J. W. Corder, who stayed there for a month a few years before, had one
fine day and captured a nice short series then, seeing no others the
whole time. Luckily the moth is fairly common where it occurs and
sticks pretty tightly to the food-plant, so it is easy enough to get with
the bee-smoker.

In 1988 I stayed with the late Thomas Greer at Dungannon and
visited several localities for the plume. The whole week it blew in-
cessantly and usually rained, and for two days we got nothing. The
third day I unpacked the bee-smoker and we visited a place with several
good patches of Antennaria. Greer had rather a pitying look in his
eye when I began to puff the smoke, but soon changed it when I fetched
up about 30 in an hour, bringing home 2 dozen perfect ones. The only
trouble with the smoker is to avoid burning the hands when using it
and a net at the same time; it is best to get a friend to work it who can
concentrate on what he is doing, and if he is careless and gets blistered
the net-man can observe a philosophic calm and express sympathy.

Laspeyresia leplastriana Curt. The larva of this Tortrix may be
found commonly in stems of wild cabbage on the Kent and Sussex cliffs
in late May. Its presence is easily detected by frass at the axils of the
leaves or base of young shoots. All that is necessary to rear it is to take
the stems home and heel them into the ground till the end of June when
they can be put into a breeding-cage, as the larva pupates in its burrow.
The moth is common where it occurs at all. JI have bred a dozen or more
from one stem. It may also be netted flying in the sun over the cabbages
in July.

Current N otes

We hear that the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club ‘‘hopes to
acquire sufficient information about the insects of the county’’ (Glouces-
tershire) ‘‘to be able to produce reasonably representative lists of the
local fauna. At present we can feel satisfied only over the lists of Macro-
and Micro-lepidoptera’’. Anybody who can ‘‘feel satisfied’? over pub-
lished county lists of Lepidoptera must be very easily pleased, for we
have yet to meet with a county lst which is even remotely accurate.

CURRENT NOTES. 139

The latest of these compilations, recently sent to us for review, con-
tains so many mistakes cf almost every conceivable description that we
thought it kinder to ignore it in these pages. The names or initials
(sometimes both) of persons were mis-spelt 44 times; mis-spellings of
generic and specific names numbered 50; five references were inaccurate;
and the total number of mistakes which we noted amounted to 259 (or
309 if the wrong initials of the recorders are counted). Several species
which could not conceivably occur in the county were included, followed
by such comments as ‘‘I can find no record of this insect’’, ‘‘No reliable
record’’, ‘‘No known record for the county’’ (three species), and so on.

Judging by the county lists already published the aim of their com-
pilers has been to include as many species as possible. Therefore if
Miss Smith-Smith ‘‘thought she saw a Purple Emperor in her garden’’
in some town north of Lincolnshire ‘‘because it was exactly like the pic-
ture of a Purple Emperor in Coleman’s British Butterflies’’, down it
goes as a county ‘record’ of Apatura iris L. The county list for Hamp-
shire includes a ‘record’ of Leucodonta bicoloria Schiff. ‘‘Hayling,
larvae found on maple and 2 imagines bred’’. Suchlike extravagances
abound in these county lists. We have even seen an inland county list
which contains several maritime species recorded by a lad of a some-
what eccentric nature (known to us personally) who sent his preposter-
ous list of ‘‘personal captures’’ to the editor as a ‘‘joke’’. What is the
use of these inaccurate l'sts? How can a list of fauna which contains
doubts and errors and fabulous species be of any value whatever to a
science ?

It would seem to be impossible for a committee to produce an ac-
curate list of county Lepidoptera. The reason for this is plain. The
lists are produced by societies and the members are asked to submit
their lists of captures to one of the members who has been appointed
editor. The members range from schoolboys and young school-teachers
to experienced lepidopterists. The editor knows that he will give grave
offence if he refuses to include certain insects which some of his fellow-
members aver that they have seen ‘‘without any doubt’’ or of which
they produce for inspection specimens with erroneous data labels or per-
haps without any labels at all. Perhaps the editor refers the matter
to the President, who is not a lepidopterist and being a kindly man says
“Tt doesn’t really matter, does it? Put it in. It’s not worth while
offending Blank—he’s a good fellow and we don’t want to lose him’’.

So the only ‘‘county’’ lst which the zoologist can use for scientific
work is the list compiled by an individual whose work is known to be
invariably accurate, therefore reliable. The county lists compiled by
societies—of which we have just mentioned a recent example—are
pleasant and interesting reading (provided they do not contain too
many misprints) and perhaps they add a certain kudos to the society;
but to the man of science they are useful only as indicating the range
and distribution of the more common species—information which he
can usually obtain from back numbers of the magazines. The ‘standard’
text-books on the British Lepidoptera contain only too many examples
of the way in which these ‘‘county’’ lists have misled.

140 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V /1953

Apropos of our Note on the embellishing (!) of the English country-
side with exotic conifers, printed at pages 84-85 of our March issue,
we quote the following from a letter recently receivcd. ‘‘What do you
think of this?—Forty acres of the best part of Wyre Forest have been
.fenced for use as a testing ground for guided missile projectors—and
this on the spot where Endromis versicolora still holds out and roe deer
still survive. I will not comment, as it would be improper to express
my feelings in writing.’?’ We have called the attention of the Com-
mittee for the Protection of British Insects to this outrage.

Practical Hunts

Cabinet specimens of Geometra papilionaria L. do not retain their
original greenness for very long, so one is obliged to renew one’s series
every decade, if not sooner. Now is the time to collect the larvae for
this purpose. It is a common and widely distributed insect, occurring
throughout the British Isles wherever there is birch in plenty, as far
north at least as Lat. 57° N. We have found the larva on hazel and
alder as well as on birch, and Allan (Larval Foodplants) gives beech
and broom as additional foodplants. The pictures of the larva in the
usual textbooks are not altogether satisfactory, as regards colour at all
events. The green in Buckler’s picture is too pale; in Barrett’s the
green is more or less the right tint, but somehow it is not very convinc-
ing. South’s figure is not coloured and the larva is too stumpy.

Searching for this larva is pleasant work. Usually, in fact almost
always, it rests by day near the extremity of a twig, on the southern
half-circle of a bush, and usually at a height convenient for the lepodop-
terist. But when full-grown it ascends higher and we have seen it near
the top of a birch bush nine feet high. Quite often it holds the stalk of
a catkin with its claspers and, hanging head downwards, thus simulates
a double catkin. So whenever you see a double catkin suspect one-half
of it. The larva holds on tightly, so you must take a pair of folding
pocket scissors. with you when you go papilionaria hunting.

Few moths are so anxious to lay eggs in captivity as a female G.
papilionaria. We have had them lay in a match-box and in a glass jam-
pot. Eggs so laid are invariably fertile; but rearing the species from
egg to moth is another matter altogether; for the larvae gnaw the bark
of their twigs during the winter, therefore they must be kept on a
growing branch. In other words you can rear them quite easily if
sleeved on a birch bush but not at all in a larva cage. In the spring we
often find them by looking, not for the larvae, which are so extremely
like the shapeless opening buds of birch leaves that one sometimes
squashes them unawares, but for the little white rings on twigs where
they have nibbled the bark. Provide moss and dead leaves for cocoon-
ing.

If you live in a town where many gardens are bounded by tall privet
hedges 1t may be worth your while, before the end of this month, to
prospect these hedges with a torch by night. The larvae of Apeira
syringaria have a habit when not feeding of lowering themselves from a
leaf by a silken thread and rotating gently at the end of this thread,
just like a spider. Why they do this nobody knows. It may be an aid
to digestion. Or it may be merely joie de vivre.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 141

Now is the time to collect the larva of Philereme vetulata. It feeds
only on Rhamnus catharticus, and spinning leaves on a shoot together is
not difficult to find. When full grown it seems to move inwards towards
the middle of the bush; but spun-together leaves will usually indicate its
presence. This moth occurs in the Fens as well as on the chalk in the
southern half of England, also sporadically as far north as Westmorland.
Probably to be found in most districts where Rhamnus catharticus grows
freely.

Don’t forget to beat the flowers on the lowest spreading boughs of
big maple trees during the last ten days of May for larvae of Eupitheciu
inturbata. After the first one or two have fallen into the beating-tray
examine them closely and then see how many you can find by searching.
They resemble the blossoms in colour to the nth degree. They eat only
the blossom, are easy to rear, and pupate in dry peat.

Notes and Observations

Earty BcTrerrLies.—I was surprised to see two specimens of Aglais
urticae L. on coltsfoot flowers on 7th March about noon near Heath
School. I saw another specimen resting on grass on 16th March.
Although it was undamaged it was apparently too weak to fly. The
sun was shining and it was fairly warm, and the butterfly was enjoying
the warmth. Minimum temperature during the night was about 25° F.
Perhaps the low temperature had something to do with the insect’s
weakness. I took the butterfly indoors and released it later when it had
recovered the use of its wings.—J. H. Jonnson, 53 Knighton Street,
Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 17.111.53.

Earty Scorrish Morus.—Very mild weather all this year so far has
resulted in the following very early emergence records. Phigalia
peduria Fab. on 15th January; Colostygia multistrigaria Haw. on 26th
February; Achlya flavicorms L. and Orthosia incerta Hufn. on 28th
February; O. gothica L. on 1st March; Lycia hirtaria Cl. on 10th
March; Brachionycha nubeculosa Esp. on 12th March; Cerastis rubri-
cosa Schiff. on 14th March; Poecilopsis lapponaria Bdv. on 14th March,
and 9 9 are appearing on the day of writing. These dates are, I think,
at least three weeks earlier than usual.—G. W. Harper, Neadaich,
Newtonmore, Inverness-shire. 17.111.53. ;

SrriNG LEPIDOPTERA IN HAMPSHIRE.—Pressure of work has prevented
me from doing much field work so far this year, although I have been
working a m.v. lamp in my garden. The first specimen seen this year
was Conistra vaccintt L. which appeared at a bedroom light on 19th
February. On 25th of the same month I saw Aglais urficae L. in the
garden and in the evening a specimen of Hrannis marginaria Fab. flut-
tered at a lighted window. Gonepteryx rhamni L. was seen for the first
time on 27th February. Orthosia gothica L. and O. stabilis Schf. came
to the m.v. lamp on 7th March and Xylocampa areola Esp. was out by
25th March. Archiearis parthenias J. was seen in the birch woods in
some numbers on 15th March when the weather was warm and sunny,
two days later the first Nymphalis io lL. was seen. The first Orthosia
cruda Schf. was not noted until 22nd March.

142 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/V /1953

On Good Friday evening a specimen of Diurnea fagella Fabr. came
to a room light and the following day I made my first full scale excur-
sion when J took the m.v. lamp to the pine wood on the outskirts of the
New Forest where last year at an earlier date I had taken Plusia ni Hb.
This year the only species noted were the common Orthosias already
.referred to plus O. mcerta Hufn. and a singleton of Colostygia multi-
strigaria Haw. in rather rubbed condition.—A. C. R. Reperave, Harts-
down, Glenfield Ave., Bitterne, Southampton. 9.iv.53.

Scarcity oF Spring Motus.—This has been a cold spring, and with
the exception of one or two days, field work has not been very produc-
tive. About a month ago I went to try and find Apocheima hispidaria
for a friend. We called at two of my old haunts which have not been
cut about or otherwise spoilt, but only one specimen was found, a fat @.
The usual spring moths are few and far between, one A. flavicornis being
the only other insect taken.—G. B. Manty, 72 Tenbury Road, Birming-
ham, 14. 6.iv.53.

EarLy ButtTERFLIFS TN THE ISLE oF Purseck.—F rom the beginning of
February until now in the sheltered parts of the Island away from the
sea many Vanessa atalanta, Aglats urticae, and Nymphalits io have been
on the wing, and on two or three very warm days in March they were
observed near the sea. The first Gonepteryx rhanvni appeared in Coombe
Woods on 27th February. Early in April Celustrina argiolus was noticed
on the outskirts of a copse, Zycaena phlueas on the railway embank-
ment, and flying at Swanage near the sea on 2nd April a Pieris rapae.—
LEONARD TAaTCHELL, Swanage. 13.iv.53.

A Notre From SourH Drvon.—My light trap was in operation for
only a few nights in mid-March (11th to 19th), when it gathered in
visitors to the sallow catkins in a nearby hedge. They were chiefly
Orthosia stabilis, with a sprinkling of O. gothica, O. cruda, and Xylo-
campa areola, a few hibernators—Ivthophane socia, Graptolitha orni-
topus, Conistra vaccinii—and single specimens only of O. incerta and
Cerastis rubricosa. The Geometers were represented by the ‘regulars’,
Alsophila aescularia, EHrannis marginaria, Selenia bilunaria, Biston
strataria, and a single Colostigia multistrigaria. Since then the nights
have been very cold persistently and it has not been worth while going
out or operating the trap.—i*rank H Lees, The Gables, Maidencomhe,
Torquay. 14.iv.53.

Harty APPEARANCE OF MACROGLOSSUM STELLATARUM L.—A specimen
of M. stellatarum flew into the porch of my house at Maidencombe at
9.30 a.m. on 30th March. The weather was stormy, temperature 49° F.,
wind westerly. On 4th April another specimen was seen flying over
‘pheasant’s eye’ Narcissus: it was not the same specimen seen on 30th
March, being much smaller and browner in colour. It is not possible to
say whether these insects had wintered here or were immigrants; but
since there has been no sign yet of other migrants the former supposi-
tion seems the more likely.—F rank H. Lens, The Gables, Maidencombe,
Torquay. 14.iv.538.

SaLttowine in 1953.—Once again sallowing has been extremely poor
in my district. March was remarkable for a long period of drought with

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 143

many sunny days but cold nights. Night after night mist or fog formed
in the valleys and often reached high up the hillsides. The sunny days,
however, brought out the sallow catkins, and the scattered trees and
bushes in a neighbour’ ng wood gave a wonderful display. A number vf
evening visits were made to the best groups of sallows, but in vain were
the trees and bushes shaken over a raincoat or sheets of paper. One
moth per tree was about the average attendance. Not for many years
have I had a really good night at sallowing. In this part of the country
the coincidence of the full bloom of the sallow, a goodly emergence of
moths, and a warm moist evening, is a rare event.—T. D. FEARNEHOUGH,
13 Salisbury Road, Dronfield, Derbyshire. 12.1v.55.

Notres From East Essex.—Conditions during the past three weeks
seem to have been rather unpropitious for light, it being either windy,
or clear and coid. Owing to absence no observations were made between
12th February and 23rd March. One V. urticae and four V. io were
seen on 25th March, io remaining the commoner of the two until about
7th April; since 10th April many more V. urticae have appeared and
are now in a considerable majority. Of the spring moths O. gothica has
been by far the commonest. Species so far recorded with first dates are
as follows: —A. ipsilon 2.4, C. rubricosa 2.4, O. gothica 25.3, O. miniosa
8.4, O. cruda 24.3, O. stabilis 27.3, O. incerta 26.3, O. gracilis 12.4, C.
chamomillae 13.4, G. ornitopus 5.4, X. areola 4.4, E. transversa 18.1,
C. vaccinii 18.1, C. ligula 18.1, P. meticulosa 8.4, A. aescularia 29.1, A.
badiata 1.4, H. rupicapraria 13.1, H. defoliaria 23.1, H. marginaria 3.4,
P. pedaria 23.1, L. hirtaria 3.4, S. bilunaria 12.4, A. strataria 24.3.—
A. J. Dewick, Curry Farm, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex. 14.iv.53.

Earty Spring LEPIDOPTERA AT WESTON-SUPER-MARrE.—The following
are the first dates on which some of the usual common early spring Lepi-
doptera have been noticed by me at Weston-super-Mare up to the 8th
March:—Theria rupricapraria Schiff. 2nd January; Phigalia pedaria
Fab. 10th January; Alsophila aescularia Schiff. 20th February; Hrannis
marginaria Fab. 21st February; Orthosia stabilis Schiff. 21st February;
O. gothica L. 7th March; Gymnoscelis pumilata Hiib., Xylocampa areola
Esp. 7th March; Earophila badiata 8th March. It may also be worth
while mentioning that a female Ectropis bistortata Goze emerged in a
breeding-cage in an unheated outhouse on 18th January. The pupa was
dug by me from the base of an oak during the previous month.—C. S. H.
BiatHwayt, 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare. 9.11.53.

Spring EMERGENCE OF HERANNIS DEFOLIARIA CLERCK.—A fresh speci-
men of this species came to light in my house on 16th March last. Bar-
rett’s only record of a March emergence is for 1895, but my diaries re-
cord specimens on 2nd March 1938, 16th March 1941, 21st March 1936,
2nd April 1939 and 3rd April 1937. It would appear therefore that
early spring emergences of this species are not uncommon.—P. B. M.
AutAN, 4 Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 17.111.53.

A Note From SovurH-West Kent.—The autumn scarcity of insects
has continued throughout the winter hereabouts, and nights without
exception have been cold. I have hardly ever been off my own premises
and have been content with an ordinary electric light in my first floor

144 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ V /1953

room facing north. My “‘strictly local’? house and garden list has now
reached 356 species, so expectations of good forms of common insects are
perhaps justified but have not occurred.

My first Erannis defoliaria was on 10th November, but I wale saw
2 more after that. Of E. aurantiaria and Colotois pennaria, the latter
-usually common here, I only saw one and two respectively. Theria
rupicapraria came first on 24th January, HE. marginaria and Alsophila
aescularia on 16th February, Earophila badiata on 12th March, Orthosia
stabilis 6th March, O. gothica and O. incerta on 19th March. A hiber-
nated Chloroclysta miata came, the first time to me, on 2nd April.

There was an unusual botanical appearance on Boxing Day when I
found in my garden a single sallow catkin open and showing yellow
stamina.

Nymphalis io and Aglais urticae were first seen about the 6th of this
month and Anthocharis cardamines was seen by a friend early this week.
I am writing on 11th April.—G. V. Burr, Sandhurst, Kent. 11.iv.53.

ODONTOSIA CARMELITA EspER.—The observations on the above species
by H. Symes in the December Record, (64: 337) make interesting read-
ing. I have looked up my own few notes on the subject.

During the late war I knew of one larva that had been beaten at
Ashtead in Surrey, but this turned out to be parasitised. In the same
area on the Ist July 1944 I was fortunate in finding three larvae; two
were practically full fed and were taken from one of the lower branches
of a large birch at some six to eight feet from the ground. The third
was a smal] unhealthy looking individual taken rather low down and
died without making further growth.

The identical locality provided me with another larva on the 21st
June 1946 and in this instance it was found some twelve feet up at the
top of a weedy sapling which I was able to examine by bending it down
within reach.—W. J. Finnigan, 87 Wickham Avenue, Cheam, Surrey.
12.1v<53.

THE INTERIOR TREATMENT OF CABINETS.—The appearance of a good
collection of insects is often impoverished by stained and discoloured
paper and superfluous pin-holes in cabinet drawers, and periodically
every collecting entomologist is faced with the tedious task of repaper-
ing. The following system has passed the experimental stage and proved
most satisfactory :—

Prepare even quantities, measured by capacity, of oxide of zine and
ordinary milk, thoroughly mixing until a thin paste is formed. After
scrupulous cleaning of drawers apply with a very soft brush (a large
sized artist’s brush is ideal) on top of the original paper. The drawers
should be left open for twenty-four hours in a warm atmosphere, after
which the camphor can be renewed if necessary, wads of liquid carbolic
acid installed to prevent the formation of mould, and specimens re-
placed. Wads should be of cotton-wool tied tightly with cotton round
the head of a pin and, after immersion in the liquid, not allowed to
touch the surface of the drawer.

The result of this method of ‘‘painting’’ is the whitest background
it is possible to achieve, all blemishes deleted and no trace of pin-holes
whatever. Commencing with an empty 40-drawer cabinet the complete
application can be carried out in under two hours as against many long,

~

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 145

monotonous hours of papering. The quantity of zinc oxide required for
a cabinet of this size is approximately 8 ozs., costing about half-a-crown.

This treatment is also excellent for setting-boards, whether papered
or otherwise; in fact, I much prefer smooth unpapered boards whitened
in this manner.

One word of warning. The mixture must be used the same day as
prepared for milk quickly becomes sour and if a stale preparation is
employed the stench upon removal of lids is unbearable! When appli-
eation and drying can be effected within the prescribed time, however,
the result is quite odourless, harmless to specimens and pleasing in the
extreme.

Finally, the wads of carbolic acid should be omitted from drawers
containing the ‘‘Emeralds’’, to prevent discoloration.—Pavut H. Hot-
Loway, Eastleigh, Hants. 4.iv.53.

COLEOPHORA SYLVATICELLA Woop In NortH Devon.—On June 16th,
1951, I was in Clovelly, North Devon, and I found this Coleophora in
plenty flying over plants of Zuzula sylvatica in the afternoon sunshine.
The plants were growing in masses in the oak woods on the cliff-sides
above the village.—S. C. S. Brown, 454 Christchurch Road, Boscombe,
Bournemouth. 14.iv.53.

Ts SELENIA BILUNARIA Esper GETTING DARKER ?—At one of the ‘South
London’ meetings last year Dr. G. V. Bull remarked on the tendency
towards melanism which had shown itself in Selenia bilunaria in his
neighbourhood (Sandhurst, Kent). I do not think this was commented
on by other members, but the same thing seems to be going on around
Dorking, Surrey. In the Spring of 1951 a worn female laid me a few
eggs before she died, and I was able to raise a third generation, some
of which emerged in the late summer and the remainder in the Spring
of 1952. This brood contained a number of very dusky individuals;
male undersides varied to a dark chocolate colour, and females were
nearly as dark. Two or three more dark specimens were taken in 1952,
and two came to my lamp on 8th April this year. I have not worked
this district long enough to know whether dark forms are on the in-
crease, and it would be interesting to know if other collectors have
noticed any significant change.—J. O. T. Howarp, Wycherley, Deep-
dene Wood, Dorking. 12.iv.53.

LARVAE OF LIMENITIS CAMILLA L. AFFECTED BY PARASITES.—With re-
gard to Mr. Hyde’s note in the January issue (Ent. Rec., 65: 24), dur-
ing the past eighteen years I have frequently collected and reared the
larvae of ZL. camilla in Sussex and Northamptonshire and have invari-
ably lost a proportion through parasitism by a Braconid hymenopteron
of gregarious habits. The proportion lost has become progressively
greater since the summer of 1947, when L. camilla developed a partial
second brood. The parasitised larvae died, usually, in their last instar
when a cluster of small silken cocoons, similar to those which are found
on dead larvae of Pieris brassicae L. (Apanteles glomeratus J.) ap-
peared. Unfortunately it is now necessary to record a much more
alarming parasite. !

During the second half of April 1952 I collected about 50 larvae of
I. camilla in Alice Holt and the Chiddingfold Woods. Most of these

146 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V /1953

had just entered the green stage. On 3rd May I found several of these
larvae in a dying condition. Removing the dead bodies on 4th May
I noticed what appeared to be a grain of wheat hanging below each
larva by a silken thread about 3 inches long. This proved to be a cocoon
containing a larva, and subsequently the pupa, of a solitary parasite
‘which had killed its host. I sent specimens of these cocoons, and the
flies which emerged from them, to Mr. W. H. T. Tams, who very kindly
identified them for me as Braconids of the genus Meteorus. The species
could not be decided, although it closely resembles one of a gregarious
type. The British Museum collection does not appear to contain a
similar insect of solitary habit and Mr. Tams was informed by Mr.
Nixon of the Commonwealth Institute of Entomology that he would not
expect a species to change from a gregarious to a solitary habit.

It is possible that [. camilla is now faced with a new predator which
may affect its future status disastrously. From observations made this
winter J have found a striking decrease everywhere in the number of
hibernacula seen, in many cases finding none at all where in 1951 con-
siderable numbers could be taken. Among those which J collected two-
thirds were killed by this solitary parasite, while there were no losses
from the former type of gregarious species. I should be interested to
hear whether this particular type of infestation has been observed else-
where.—A. E. Cotter, Lynher, Cranleigh, Surrey. 4.iii.53.

A New Foopriant or NYSSIA ZONARIA ScHIFF.—Things are beginning
to liven up now but moths seem to be a little later than last year. I
have had some Selenia tetralunaria Hufn. and Drymonia ruficornis
Hufn. emerge at home, but have not met any in the wild so far. I have
also had a few Nyssia zonaria, the third successive brood from a few ova
given to me a year or so ago. These fed up very well each year on a
cultivated form of Dyer’s Greenweed, which I don’t remember being
given as a foodplant in any book. Mine were introduced to it by
accident, an escaped larva being found on the plant in the garden and
much larger than those on sallow in my cage. All grew much faster after
the change of food.—W. E. Mrnnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner.
13.iv.53.

[This species is widely polyphagous, but Mr. Minnion’s note is valu-
able as emphasising the beneficial effect, which a change of diet so often
has on polyphagous larvae.—P.B.M.A.]

On PHoTOGRAPHING Livinc INsEcts.—There is a considerable num-
ber of entomologists who take photographs of insects in all stages but
one is usually aware of them only when their finished pictures are ex-
hibited or published. There is no particular technical difficulty in the
production of an insect photograph without elaborate apparatus, but
a real problem exists in arranging the subject satisfactorily. For a
successful picture the insect should be in its natural surroundings and
in a natural attitude, two requirements which are often difficult to meet.

In the field, comparatively few insects can be readily photographed
just as they are. Moths at rest on tree trunks or walls and other insects
which rest in exposed positions by day can usually be dealt with fairly
easily, but by far the greater number are either inaccessible, very
mobile, at rest on vegetation which is continually moving in the wind,
or in such positions that the lighting makes a good picture an impossi-

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 147

bility. Some of these problems can be solved on the spot by patience
and ingenuity, but it seems inevitable that in very many instances it is
necessary to take the insect home and deal with it under artificial con-
ditions. The problem then is to provide surroundings that look natural,
arrange suitable lighting, and then persuade the model to pose in the
attitude and position required and remain still long enough to be photo-
graphed. Many flatly decline to co-operate, others become restive under
artificial light and the warmth which often accompanies it, while the
particularly irritating types delay all movement until the precise
moment one makes the exposure.

Pictures have been published in which these difficulties have been
overcome by the subjects being ‘‘etherised’”’ or ‘‘temperature controlled’’,
but the results of such methods are seldom convincing and the use of
dead specimens, however carefully arranged, does not usually produce
natural pictures.

In spite of the difficulties, which appear formidable to the beginner,
many lovely pictures of insects are produced. Have the successful photo-
graphers any special dodges or devices to make their ‘‘sitters’’ behave ?
Tf so, would they please spare a few minutes to put into print any
‘‘tricks of the trade’’ learned by experience or experiment in order to
help beginners to produce more and better pictures ?

In this connection one might mention that gently blowing on a cater-
pillar will sometimes prevent it walking away at the crucial moment
and that a m.yv. light is a good substitute for photoflood lamps and
gives quite good tone rendering in monochrome pictures.—W. EK. Min-
nion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner. 13.iv.53.

INCIDENCE OF AMATHES c-NIGRUM Linn. YEARS Acgo.—In his interest-
ing Note about Haworth in the March issue (Ent. Rec., 65: 82) Mr.
Allan refers to Amathes c-nigrum as ‘‘that lovely pest of the autumn
sugarer’’ and attributes its rarity in the 18th and early 19th Century
collections to the fact that in those days nobody searched the larval
food-plants of the Agrotidae at night. But is it not equally probable
that Amathes c-nigrum was actually a rare species in England in those
days? Even without the use of sugar surely a species so abundant as
c-nigrum is to-day would at least have been rated ‘‘frequent’’ in the
18th century had its incidence then been the same as itis now. Writing
in the Entomologist of 1894 (27: 26) Claude Morley said: ‘‘In my diary
I find the following note under September 7th: ‘Noctua c-nigrum is
now going off. It has been a perfect pest, often four or five, sometimes
more, round the light at a time. .. . They settle anywhere on the lamp,
near the lamp, and on the ground, windows, or masonry.’ .. . ‘Noctua
c-nigrum has by no means been confined to electric light, having been
taken at street-lamps, sugar, ivy, honeydew, among low plants, and,
indeed, by every conceivable method by which and in which moths are
scr! | od

Haworth and his contemporaries undoubtedly used light as a method
of collecting moths, and it seems—to me at all events—impossible that
Haworth could have described c-nigrum as ‘‘rare’’ if this word had not
actually denoted the known incidence of the species in England at that
time. Furthermore, in the same Note Morley remarks, ‘‘The prevalence
of Agrotis puta this year is very remarkable. . . . I have taken it both
at electric light and ivy in September.’’ Yet, Mr. Allan tells us,

148 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/V /1953

Haworth accounted this species to be of such great rarity that he knew
of its ex_stence in only five cabinets.

I suggest that these and many another Agrotid were actually rare
in England 150 years ago. They are all what I call ‘‘garden moths’’,
that is to say they flourish only in the vicinity of human habitations.
‘It is the enormous increase of the human population of this island,
accompanied by the equally vast increase in the area of land converted
into gardens and market gardens, that accounts for the increase in the
incidence of these species. Would Polychrisia moneta Fab. be such a
common moth in England to-day if flower gardens were unfashionable
and nobody grew Delphiniums?—AN Otp Mors-Honter.

ANCYLOLOMIA TENTACULELLA Hts.: A BELATED REcorp.—On 26th July
1935 at Dungeness I caught a Crambid which was flying about at dusk.
It was unknown to me, as indeed were many other Crambids, and I kept
it in the hope that one day somebody would tell me what it was. Not
long ago I was moving some specimens when this particular one struck
me as somehow familiar. It was in fact very like the insect described
and illustrated by Canon Edwards and Mr. Wakely in their article in
the Record last October. Dr. de Worms was good enough to take it to
the British Museum, where it was identified by Mr. Martin as A. tenta-
culella. Thus luck sometimes favours the ignorant.—A. M. Mortry,
9 Radnor Park West, Folkestone. 24.111.58.

EREBIA AETHIOPS Esp. IN WORCESTERSHIRE.—On 27th July 1947 in
Wyre Forest I netted what I thought were six Maniola jurtina L., but
later found that an Erebia aethiops was included, a male in good con-
dition. Presumably the larva or pupa had been carried in farm or
garden produce from the North to this area, which is about 80 miles
from the Lancashire locality, as it is even less likely that some local
entomologist had been breeding the species and this was an escape.
I showed the specimen to my friend Colonel Bowater, and we visited the
spot in July 1950 and 1951, but saw no further specimen.—A. R. Warp,
196 Pretoria Road, Bordesley Green, Birmingham, 9.

THE NEw Forest IN THE ’NINEtTIFS.—In the January number of ths
magazine, p. 25, Mr. R. C. Dyson writes: ‘‘. .. The Victorian lepidop-
terists were indeed fortunate to have lived in a land of plenty’. But
the Victorians knew lean years also and, for aught we know, conditions
in the New Forest a hundred years ago may have been as depressing—
to the lepidopterist—as they are to-day. However, there is no doubt
that the ’nineties were years of plenty and recently I came across the
following description of a day’s collecting in June 1893 in the Roe en-
closures (about 3 miles N.E. of Ringwood) :—

‘“‘T followed the bed of one of the streams in search of water to drink,
and for the first time was disappointed in not finding sufficient to quench
my thirst, not a pool being left; but I was well repaid by the sight I
witnessed ; the said bed of the stream for more than a mile was literally
crowded with butterflies, the bulk being composed of Argynnis adippe,
A. paphia var. valesina, and Iimenitis sibylla, also Argynnis aglaia, A.
selene, and A. ewphrosyne, Epinephile hyperanthes and others in lesser
numbers; they were mostly busy probing the sand and gravel in search
of water; some were quietly resting with folded wings, others seeking

Ee

SOME NOTES ON STRANCALIA AURULEN'TA FAB. 149

the shady nooks underneath the banks, but withal with a constant
flutter of wings and restlessness . . . . Although I netted several good
variet.es in other parts of the Forest, I did not see anything but var.
valesina worth taking upon this day and of which I took twenty-six
specimens’.—J. H. Fow ier in Hntomologist, April 1894, vol. 27, p.
142).—P. B. M. A.

EXPERIMENTS ON CoLorATIonN.—Dr. Saadet Ergene is cont:nu-ng her
experiments upon the coloration of grasshoppers. Her latest results
show statistically that larvae of the very variable Oedipoda are capable
of selecting a background to which their coloration is adapted. This is
clearly an important factor in addition to their power of adapting their
coloration. Their chief enemies appear to be birds. The species which
she employed for her experiments was Geronticus eremita, which caught
and devoured a far greater number of those whose colsration was not
adapted. Her figures are given in Rev. Fac. Sci. Univ. Istanbul, B.,
xvilil, Fasc. 1., 1953.—Matcorm Burr.

COLEOP LE RA

Some Notes on Strangalia aurulenta Fab.
By H. C. Hueers, F.R.E.S.

I recently recorded (Entomologist, 86: 40) the capture of five speci-
mens of this handsome Longicorn at Glengarriff, Co. Cork. This note
was sent in before I read Mr. R. S. Ferry’s account (Hnt. Rec., 65: 26)
of his unsuccessful hunt for the insect in Devon, and as my experiences
do not in some respects tally with the information he collected before
beginning his search a fuller account may be of interest to him and
others.

In July 1950 I noticed a Strangalia crawling on
a big oak stump at the side of the Kenmare road
just outside Glengarriff. This stump was perfectly
sound except that a little of the bark was rotten;
it had evidently belonged to a tree that had been
blown down, and the stump had been sawn off
about three feet from the ground. I do not know
its exact age, but when I returned: after some
years to Glengarriff for a holiday in 1948 it was
then in the same position as in 1950. ©

As the Strangalia was not familiar to me I put
it in a box and noticed that the stump was riddled
with holes nearly as large as a lead pencil going into the solid wood of
the sawn top, which was some three feet across. A few days later I saw
another of the same Strangalia on a ragwort flower some twenty yards
from the stump.

life size

On returning home | mislaid the beetle and saw no more of it until
after nearly a year it turned up when J was moving to this address.
It was then in rather poor shape, with antennae and tarsi damaged,
and I did not bother any further about it as I do not collect Coleoptera
although if I see a rare insect I usually pick it up to give to a friend
or museum.

150 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ V /1953

I did not visit Glengarriff in 1951 but when I returned in late June
1952 the stump was still there, except that it had been pushed to the
opposite side of the road and was nearly as sound as ever. .

On 30th June I decided to walk up the valley of the Oowenacahina
_river to Barley Lake and as this is a seven mile climb over bog and rock
my wife agreed to walk up the road to meet me on my return instead
of accompanying me. As I came home I found her sitting on the stump
and she remarked, ‘‘Oh, I’ve sat on and squashed such a lovely beetle’’.
I looked at the remains, which were of a very large female of my un-
known Strangalia and decided it looked unusual, so for the next few
days we examined the stump casually as we walked past, and succeeded
in taking two males and three females. On my return they were iden-
tified by Mr. E. B. Britton as aurulenta and on being told that there
were no British specimens in the general collection at South Kensington
I presented all five to the Museum.

In Mr. Ferry’s paper he says that Mr. Kaufman states that auru-
lenta does not lay its eggs in the log from which it emerges. This is not
always the case. When IJ saw the first specimen in 1950 there were
burrows a year old in the stump and in 1952 the 1951 burrows were un-
mistakable, so that aurulenta had emerged from this stump in 1949,
1950, 1951, and 1952.

Again Mr. Ferry constantly refers to rotting wood, and this stump,
from standing on dry rock, except in one or two places is still as sound
as a bell. Moreover the burrows go straight down into the solid wood
from the sawn surface and seem rather to avoid the bark.

Unlike Dr. Perkins I also saw the beetle on flowers; as I have already
stated, in 1950 I saw one on ragwort and on 14th July 1952 in a meadow
on the Castletown road, about two miles from the stump, I saw two big
females flying round and settling on the flowers of Lythrum salicaria,
on which they appeared to be feeding as they were there for at least
an hour from 11 a.m. (G.m.t.) flying actively from stem to stem in
blazing sunshine. I did not attempt to take them as I already had five
specimens, but I was waiting to pick up specimens of Lycaena
phlaeas L. ss. hibernica Goodson, which were occasionally coming
to the same clumps of flower-spikes, so saw them for some time. Lycaena
phlaeas is decidedly rare at Glengarriff and this was a particularly fine
brood, one female being indeed the largest I have ever taken anywhere,
so whilst waiting I had a good opportunity of watching the beetles,
which were very active in the sunshine, running up a spike and flying
to the next. They evidently came from a row of small oaks with trunks
about eight inches in diameter that grew some ten yards off.

I do not think that aurulenta is as scarce as it is usually considered
as apart from my own recent capture Mr. Allan tells me there is a Berk-
hamsted record and Mr. H. M. Edelsten told me at the ‘‘Verrall’’ that
some years back one was sent to him under suspicion that it was a
Colorado beetle, but I forgot to ask whence it came.

[The reference to which Mr. Huggins refers is in Entomologist 21,
9213:—‘‘Strangalia aurulenta F.—I ‘found several specimens of this
handsome beetle beside a small beech-plantation south-west of Great
Berkhamstead, on 21st and 22nd July. They seem to affect the flowers
of Scabiosa arvensis, ete.—JoHN T. Carrineton. July 1888.’’—KEp. |

SOME NOTES ON ORTHOPTERA AND DERMAPTERA. 151

tao Tr A

Some Notes on Orthoptera and Dermaptera
in the West Midlands

By F. Fincuer, F.R.E.S.

These two Orders have been sadly neglected in this area, in fact Burr
(1936) was unable to give any records for Worcestershire or Shropshire.
Since then some have been published—Elton (1947), Fincher (1950),
isevan (1952)—but the area is still much in need of further investigation.
All these notes relate to personal observations. Nomenclature is ac-
cording to Hincks (1949).

Labia minor (L.) One specimen taken in early evening at Randan
Wood, Bromsgrove, Worcs. on 21st July 1951.

Forficula auricularia L. Abundant in north Worcs. It has been
found hiding in cracks of trees broken off by wind at twenty-five feet
above ground. Though mainly nocturnal the female has occasionally
been seen basking in the autumn sunshine.

Blatta orientalis L. Noted in Bromsgrove, Wores. on several occa-
sions.

Meconema thalassinum (Degeer). Not uncommon at Randan Wood,
Bromsgrove, and has also been seen at Shrawley Wood, near Stourport,
Worcs., and Long Compton, Warks. It seems to be attracted by water
and quite frequently specimens have been found drowned, or nearly so,
in a water tub or a small pool. Nearly all of these were males. Fre-
quently noted on lighted windows at night, usually single, which sug-
gests that numbers are not great or that individuals do not move far.
One was found in a spider’s web one afternoon still alive and apparently
quite unhurt when released, though it was probably there all morning
as the species is only normally active at night. Chiefly found on oak,
but has also been seen on lime, plum, dog-rose, and once amongst rushes
(Juncus effusus). The imago has been found between 26th July and 20th
October. A well developed nymph was seen once as early as 9th May.
The usual gait is a walk or run and when disturbed it generally drops
off the foliage.

Pholidoptera griseoaptera (Degeer). This species has been found
chiefly alongside hedges in the district west and south-west of Broms-
grove, over an area of several square miles. The most popular sites are
in the thick vegetation at the bottom of a hedge where field and road
are at different levels, with a sloping bank facing the sun. The best
known site is almost entirely on the north side of a main road running
from west to east. It has been found in similar places just west of the
Severn, between Stourport and Holt Heath in Worcs. and at Moreton
Bagot in Warks. It is generally in colonies, often separated by a mile or
so from the next. The area occupied varies considerably from year to
year in extent, but this is usually shown by an expansion or contraction
in the outer parts. Though chiefly active in the evening it is fond of
basking in the sun, and a large colony is hardly ever silent at the height
of the season. Perhaps about noon is the quietest time. During August
1940 when passing one colony at various times it was heard on almost
every occasion, whether by night or day, though a note for 28th August

152 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 60. 15/ V /19538
]

states ‘Sheard at 9.20 a.m. but not at 4.50 a.m. when it was very cold.’’
On several other days it was heard at that early hour.

In 1949 I caught a female and released her in rough vegetation by my
house. Next year several males were heard stridulating throughout the
usual period and they did not wander far. They gave frequent oppor-
‘tunities for observation and it was noted that walking or running was
the usual gait. When running the speed was quite fast and the insect
looked more like a small mammal as it sped over the rough grass. Jump-
ing seemed to be only resorted to when very closely pressed. The stridu-
lation, though not loud, is fairly easily picked up and a colony is readily
located by this means; but finding an individual is a very different
matter. Extreme dates for imago, 19th July to 21st October.

Metrioptera brachyptera (L.). Plentiful in Whixall Moss, Salop, and
the adjoining Fenn’s Moss, Flint (detached part) in 1950 and 1951.
Chiefly in the damper parts of the moss where Erica tetralix is common.
Elton (1947) notes this species at Whixall and also Mecostethus grossus
(vay

[Nemobius sylvestris (Fab.). An immature cricket taken on 13th
April 1948 at Shrawley Wood, Worcs. The specimen has been submitted
to Dr. Uvarov and Mr. W. D. Hincks for examination. Both these
authorities, while agreeing it 1s most probably this species, will not
commit themselves to a definite decision as the critical tibial spines
are absent, possibly owing to immaturity. As no further specimen has
yet been secured it cannot be fully admitted to the list. ]

-Gryllulus domesticus (L.). Frequent in bakehouses, farms and rubbish
tips at many places in north Worcs. In warm seasons it may some-
times be heard in hedges, usually not far from buildings, but disappears
trom these sites with the first frosty autumn nights.

Tetrix vittata (Zett.). Frequent in open parts of Randan Wood,
Bromsgrove, in just such spots as Lucas (1920) describes, ‘‘A warm mar-
gin of a wood, where the soil is only partly covered with vegetation.”’
Here it is regular and has been seen in every month except December
and January, though the usual period of activity is from late March
to mid October, depending on the weather. Burr (1936) refers to mem-
bers of this genus being found on mild winter days, and so some atten-
tion has been given to this point. In 1947 a few were noted up to 12th
November and a later search found one in thick cover of dead brush-
wood and leaves on 23rd November. There were many bright sunny
days that winter but no more were seen until lst March. In 1945 one
was seen on 2nd February. On several occasions it has been seen feed-
ing on small mosses. This agrees with Verdcourt (1947) on the food of
this species. It has also been found in grassland at Purshull Green,
Worcs., and on a dry weedy field at Bickenhill, Warks.

Omocestus viridulus (L.). Common in north Worcs. between Broms-
grove and Kidderminster. When this group was first studied in 1937
this species seemed to show a slight but definite preference for damp
grassland, but since then it appears to have become more common and
may now be found in some dry areas. An interesting point is that in
a small woodland clearing in front of my house, previously occupied
commonly by C. bicolor and a few C. parallelus, the present species has
now replaced C. bicolor, though in other places the two frequently occur
together. C. parallelus still exists in small numbers as before. The only

SOME NOTES ON ORTHOPTERA AND DERMAPTERA. 153

change in vegetation is that I have eradicated bracken, formerly very
abundant, and there is now a better growth of grasses and other low-
growing plants.

On 31st July 1947 a variety was found at Randan Wood, a female
very similar to one described by Lucas (1920): a purple stripe down the
centre of the pronotum, a purplish flush along the whole of sides of
abdomen, and upper sides of hind femora. The anal region of the elytra
and the rest of the pronotum were green. A nymph seen at Hartlebury
Common, Worcs., was entirely a rich reddish-plum colour, save for the
underparts. Also found at Whixall Moss, Salop, in a very damp grass
area, on Cleeve Hill, Glos., and at several places in north Warks. Ex-
treme dates for imago, 6th June to 5th October.

Chorthippus bicolor (Charp.). Very common in Bromsgrove district
and other parts of north Worcs., chiefly in dry uncultivated places and
roadsides. Also noted at Hopwas, Cannock Chase and Rowley Hills in
Staffs., at Wyre Forest and Whixall Moss in Salop, and several places
in Warks. On several occasions this species has been seen to adopt a
slightly different method of feeding from that described by Lucas. It
bit right through a blade of grass and, turning the piece right round,
nibbled away at the bitten edge, holding it with the anterior pair of
legs.

Another incident was rather amusing. Two males were serenading
a female, the latter quietly feeding. A second female approached and
one male transferred his attenions to her. He went up rather close to
her but was pushed away by a hind leg. Then he came round nearer
her head, whereupon she brought her hind leg smartly upward and over,
giving him a sharp tap on the head with her knee. After this he re-
tired. Lucas remarks that this species does not seem to like woods, but
at least in this district it has been found in woodland clearings. Ex-
treme dates for imago, 2nd July to 28th October.

Chorthippus parallelus (Zett.). Very common in north Worcs., with
a preference for grazing land. Two specimens have been seen with red
colouring: a male with the hind !egs almost completely red and a female
with brick-red dorsal surface, the remainder of the body being bright
green. On one occasion five males were seen stridulating together on
one dock leaf, apparently with no female in sight. It can swim well if
by chance it gets into water. Also seen at. Whixall Moss, Salop, and
Spernall, Warks. Extreme dates for imago, 27th June to 28th October.

Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Thunberg). In Wores. this species has
only been found on light sandy ground at Hartlebury Common and
similar ground nearby. There it is mainly found where there is a thin
growth of heather and grass but also on a very boggy site at Hartlebury.
It also occurs commonly on grassy slopes on the Longmynd in Salop, on
Whixall Moss, Salop, and the adjoining Fenn’s Moss in Flint. This
latter district is an extensive tract of boggy ground on thick peat with
vegetation of boggy or heathy types according to the wetness of the soil.

On 23rd September 1947 two were seen on a patch of burnt heath
near Kidderminster. The soil was still covered with a layer of fine black
ash but new growth of heather and gorse was shooting up from the old
roots, so the fire could not have been recent. Both specimens blended
perfectly with this background. This was not due to contamination
with the ashy ground as appeared probable at first. A closer examina-

154 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 65. 15/V /1953

tion showed that though the female was all black it really was her
proper colour. The male was not so completely black as the tip of his
abdomen was reddish, and there was a white spot on each elytron and
a white edge to the rear half of the pronotum. The female repeatedly
inserted the end of her abdomen into the loose soil, so presumably she
was ovipositing. :

Burtt (1951) comments on this correlation of colour with burnt. sur-
roundings in African acridids and gives further references. Lucas (1920)
also mentions dark or almost black specimens on burnt ground. At
South Haven Peninsula, Dorset, Diver and Diver (1933) found wet
situations almost completely avoided. Parts of the bogs at Hartlebury
and Whixall where it occurs are very wet with patches of standing
water. Extreme dates for imago, 2nd July to 23rd September.

Anacridium aegyptium (L.). One found in Birmingham in Decem-
ber 1951 near the wholesale market, and subsequently brought to me,
was most probably a casual importation with produce.

REFERENCES.

Burr, M. 1936. British Grasshoppers and their Allies. London.

Burtt, E. 1954. The ability of adult grasshoppers to change colour on burnt
ground. Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 26: 45-48.

Diver, C., and Diver, P. 1933. Contributions towards a survey of the plants
and animals of South Haven Peninsula, Studland Heath, Dorset:
Ill. Orthoptera. J. anim. Ecol., 2: ‘36-69.

Elton, C. 1947. Some Orthoptera from Shropshire and Pembrokeshire. Ent.
mon. Mag., $3: 42.

Fincher, F. 1950. Trans. Worcs. Nat. Club, 10: 165-166.

Hincks, W. D. 1949. Dermaptera and Orthoptera. Handb. Ident. Brit. Ins.

R.. ent. Soc. Lond., 7 (5): 1-20.

Kevan, D. K. McE. 1952. A Summary of the Recorded Distribution of British
Orthopteroids. Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent., 11: 165-180.

Lucas, W. J. 1920. A Monograph of the British Orthoptera. London.

Verdcourt, B. 1947. A Note on the Food of Acrydium Geoff. (Orthoptera). Ent.
mon. Mag., 83: 190.

DIPTERA
The Hover-flies (Syrphidae)

By L. Parmenter, F.R.E.S.
(Continued from page 126).

LARVAE.

In a family of insects with such a variety of life histories as the
Syrphidae have, it is to be expected that adaptation has produced a
number of types of larvae. These, however, are not quite so obvious
as the habits would lead one to expect. They fall roughly into three
groups:—(a) the aphidophagous and phytophagous species, (b) the
saprophagous and coprophagous species and (c) Microdon.

The APHIDOPHAGOUS type is a sub-cylindrical larva with 12 segments,
the anterior portion being attenuated and retractile. They are generally
semi-transparent with the internal digestive organs, etc., observable.
The larva is blind but has mouth hooks which are struck into the victim.
The segments generally carry rough bands, often with spines which
assist it as 1t creeps along with a slight looping action. A pair of
spiracles is situated anteriorly. There are posterior spiracles on a
chitinous plate which are so shaped as to be characteristic of each species.

I

THE HOVER FLIES. 155

The larvae are often greyish in colour but in some species they are
brightly coloured by reason of tiny globules under the outer skin.

The sapRoPpHAGOUsS type has a larvae with the ‘rat-tail’. It is cylin-
drical with a bluntly rounded head and at the other end has a long
drawn-out tube that is partly retractile and forms the breathing tube,
bearing at the end the spiracles and a whorl of setae. It is astonishing
how far these tails can extend when tested in a jar of water by raising
the surface by the addition of more fluid. Those with much shorter
tails inhabit rotten wood, the longer extensile-tailed species living in
muddy, foul water or liquid mud. The body segments have paired pro-
legs, absent in the aphidophagous type. At the anal end, before the
base of the ‘tail’, there is, in some species, a group of thin bladder-like
processes whose function is problematical. The anterior spiracles are
present but do not project very much.

In Microdon, the larva is like a slug, quite different from all other
Syrphid larvae. In fact, originally, the larva was first described as a
mollusc. They have no indication of segments but retain the paired
posterior spiracular plates. The larvae live in the nests of various
species of ants feeding on the pellets ejected by their hosts.

The rat-tailed maggots of Fristalis and Helophilus breathe through
the extended tail-tubes as they creep over the floor of the pond or ditch.
As the time for pupation approaches they climb out of the water. A
larva of Eristalis sepulchralis L. found caught in the ice covering a pond
was enclosed in a small collecting tube partly filled with water. The
larva climbed out of the water, pupated on the cork at the top and
eventually the fly emerged !

The larva of Merodon equestris F. on emergence from the egg makes
its way to the base of the bulb. By entering here, the grub reaches the
centre without going through the many layers of skin. The first fort-
night is spent at the base of the bulb and then, as the larva increases
in size, it feeds upwards, sometimes leaving the bulb and attacking a
nearby sound bulb. The time taken during the larval period may be
as long as 300 days, almost the whole of its life.

The larvae of Catabomba (=Scaeva) hatch in 4-6 days. The grub
creeps, lifting its anterior portion of its body, feeling with the tip.
When an aphid is found the mouth hooks are inserted and the contents
are sucked out. The body of the aphid will be seen to be emptied. It
will be raised, brought forward towards the fly-grub and when but an
empty shell, be cast off, often behind the larva. Regurgitation takes
place and the fluid appears to flood the aphid’s shell before being sucked
in again and as Tilden has suggested, probably assists in digesting the
contents of the green-fly’s body. The larvae of various species of
Syrphus act similarly. Rearing these larvae will show how ravenous
they can be. I have seen over 20 aphides dealt with by one grub in a
day, but Tilden has recorded 73 sucked by one grub in 24 hours! To
see one tackle seven green flies in a row, empty them and toss the shells
away, as if over its shoulder, is to see one of the most efficient weapons
against an aphid infestation at work. Their influence in dealing with
these pests of the garden and field must be very considerable.

They will tackle other insects and in the wild I have seen them suck-
ing lepidopterous larvae and have had ute suck portions of freshly
killed flies in captivity.

156 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/V /1953

Callacera rufa Schum. lives as a larva for two years or more. Syrphus
ribesu L. and vitripennis Mg., Platychirus, Doros. conopseus F. and
Baccha have been found hibernating as larvae, pupating in the early
spring. The larvae of Pocota and Myiatropa live in the wet wood mould
of hollows in beech and elm trees. Prof. Varley has found the larvae
of Chrysogaster hirtella Lw. under water fastened to the stems of the
grass Glyceria through which they breathed. kas

PUPAE.

These are found in the soil, in rotten wood, rotten vegetation, on
growing plants, in nests of Hymenoptera but not in water. The water-
frequenting larvae crawl out for pupation. The larva shrinks, the skin
hardens and becomes the outer covering of the pupa. The spiracles are
extruded and appear to be placed on plates in various ways so that
each species seems to have a characteristic pattern. In Syrphus, the
larva often contracts to form an object somewhat like a tear-drop. The
pupae are brown in colour, varying in tint as between species and as to
age. Both Syrphus luniger Mg. and corollae F. have been found hiber-
nating as pupae.

ADULTS.

These have been well described by Verrall and Lundbeck, and odd
species by later authors. One need but call attention to the mouth
parts which are not adapted for piercing plant or flesh and are used for
sucking nectar or crushing and digesting pollen. The colour patterns in
several species differ between the sexes and in various species, particu-
larly in Platychirus, the males have hairs and bristles ornamenting the
legs.

VARIATION.

The study of variation in Diptera has not been widespread. Droso-
phila melanogaster Mg. has been subjected to a study probably more
intensive than even the Lepidoptera. In the Syrphidae, a few species
have had some attention and various forms have been described and
named. In Criorrhina and Volucella, each genus has a species which
occurs in two colour forms. In Volucella bombylans L. they pair both
in mixed and like forms with no intergrading. In Merodon equestris F.,
there are at least five named forms but I have seen a number that
appear to be ‘in-betweens’. The widespread Eristalis tenax L. varies in
shade but the tints intergrade. In one or two species of Syrphus there
are dark forms of apparently over-wintering individuals whilst in the
genera Catabomba and Melanostoma there are melanic forms.

Mimicry.

Many hymenopterists have taken Syrphidae by mistake, by reason
of their superficial resemblance to Hymenoptera. Imms, 1947, has a
coloured plate depicting a number of insects resembling bees or wasps
and has selected twelve Syrphidae out of 23 of all orders. Mallota
cimbiciformis Fln. and Eristalis tenax L. greatly resemble the honey
bee, and Criorrhina, Arctophila mussitans F., Merodon equestris F.,
Pocota apiformis Schrank and Volucella bombylans L. are like various
species of Bombus. Doros conopseus F. is probably overlooked by dip-
terists because of its resemblance to a wasp. The superficial pattern

THE HOVER FLIES. Loe

is generally aided by the habits. In Chrysotoxum, the yellow and black
pattern, with the thin antennae stretched well in front makes the insect
look like a wasp. Its activity and its ‘buzz’ which varies in pitch ac-
cording to its speed of flight, often makes the insect appear to be an
angry wasp. This mimicry by the Hover-flies of Hymenoptera is re-
garded as Miillerian. In Carrick’s feeding experiments, 17 Hover-flies
of five species were offered to a nesting pair of Wrens and a pair of
Sedge Warblers. Only five Hover-flies, a Rhingia campestris Mg. and
four out of sixteen of aposematic types were taken.

VISION.

Casual observations made in the field suggest that most species of
this family are attracted to flowers and choose yellow-coloured forms in
preference to others, with white flowers as next in favour. Scientific
observations of Dr. Ilse have shown in the case of Eristalis tenax L. a
definite preference for yellow flowers and proved that it was able to
separate yellow from other colours. The field of study both for field-
workers and experimental biologists is considerable, and all attracted
to this aspect should also read Prof. Wigglesworth’s chapter on vision
in his Principles of Insect Physiology.

ScENT.

Some Syrphid larvae are said to be nocturnal, ali are blind, so that
recognition of their food may well be by scent. In the adults, being
diurnal flyers, vision may play a very important part in their recogni-
tion of food, etc. Nevertheless, the presence of sensory pits in the an-
tennae, which have been associated with scent, suggests that this sense
of smell may aid the sense of vision.

HEARING.

Whether a fly can appreciate the sounds made by the hovering Syr-
phid is problematical and I have never seen any behaviour to suggest
that the sounds are heard by them. But there is no doubt as to the
human reaction to this hum. Several have commented on the ‘‘singing’’
of Sericomyia and of other species. Some suggestions as to how the
humming notes are caused has been made. Imms appeared to favour
the idea that the note is caused by vibration of the membrane situated
just inside the thoracic spiracles. However, he required more proof
and research.

CouRTSHIP AND MATING.

Mating generally takes place in the air. The most conspicuous
hovering in Syrphidae is done by the males of many genera. Along
hedgerows, margins of woodland, in forest rides, and with some species
in open fields, males of Chilosia, Hristalis, Syrphus and Volucella, etc.,
will hover, humming or buzzing, awaiting the passage of females. The
approach of another fly of similar build and particularly of the same
genus appears to cause a reaction in the hovering male. His note
changes and he darts towards the newcomer. If the latter alights on a
flowerhead or a leaf and is a female of the same species, the male will
drop lower, hovering just overhead. As the female rises he will attempt
to couple with her.

158 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V /1953

Much of the speed of action depends on the amount of sunshine and
warmth. On the very hot sunny days, watching a flowering hawthorn,
one sees numbers of Hristalis arbustorum L. females feeding, and with
them some males. Most of the males will be darting here and there
searching around the sunny side of the tree, hovering every now and
then over a female. If she does not rise for a while he wil! dart on but
if she flies off rapidly he may follow her and hover again over her on
her alighting. This chase and hover pattern of behaviour may last
several minutes before a coupling is attempted in the air.

Whereas in the Dolichopodidae, the males wave the ornamented legs
and wings, I have never seen similar action being taken by the males
of Pyrophaena and Platychirus whose fore legs are also ornamented.

Successful copulation lasts many minutes and in many cases has
continued for hours.

Pray AND Fiicut Hapstrs.

Hovering males generally operate at a fair height above the ground
varying with the species. The normal height of flying also varies be-
tween species. Merodon equestris F. keeps low over the ground. The
males will patrol and hover low over the short-turfed paths in woodland
and heathland. In the woods, Brachypulpus bimaculatus Macq. will
keep to a foot or so of the ground level and the flies alight to rest on
the lower portion of the trunks of the old trees of their habitat. Mr. C.
O. Hammond tells me that the beautiful Caliprobola speciosa Rossi also
keeps low and when collecting he has had the males flying around his
ankles. Humerus tuberculatus Rond. will also keep low over the ground
and when working along a hedgebank will keep very close to its surface.
Chrysotoxum males will work up and down sunny hedgebanks but will
also fly to various umbellifers and other flowers. Criorrhina, Eristalis
and most species of Syrphus will rise to the topmost flowers on trees.

From the pen of Mr. A. A. Allen we have had a delightfully written
note on his observations of a Syrphus tricinctus Fln. When approach-
ing a flowerhead it swerved to dart at a nearby flesh-fly, Sarcophaga sp.
The Hover-fly butted the other far larger fly with its head, knocking it
to the ground. This aggressive behaviour is akin to attacks made by
an Eristalis tenax L. on a wasp, Vespula sp., and at passing insects by
a Chrysotoxum verralli Collin seen by Mr. B. R. Laurence. The latter
has drawn attention to the flying at moving objects which Hover-flies
indulge in, a habit, however, not entirely confined to this family. It
appears to be characteristic of flies that are most active in sunshine.

Possibly related habits are those I once noted whilst watching a few
Syritta pipiens L. about a pile of rotting garden refuse. A male
patrolled at about a foot from the ground around the heap, often
alighting on nearby sticks, etc. Whenever another male approached,
the original flew towards him, shadowed him, following or retreating as
necessary, even flying backwards! As soon as the newcomer alighted,
the original darted in and invariably the newcomer flew off. No atten-
iton was paid to flies of other species visiting the heap.

Rather similar behaviour was noted about a rambler rose draped
over a trellis fence. A ‘‘territory’’ patroller driving off an intruder.

With the approach of a female to the garden heap, the male shadowed
her. But the behaviour became more suggestive of ‘‘display’’ for the

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 159

male swung himself in an arc from side to side rather like the display
made by courting Dioctria (Asilidae) males. This would certainly per-
mit him to flash his silvery face and the silvered pubescent patches on
his thorax and abdomen, should she have been looking. Whether these
are normal behaviour habits remains to be proved. There is some fas-
cinating watching to be done and all who can identify some of these flies
should note their habits and place on record their results.

(To be continued.)

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903.)

SELENIA TETRALUNARIA Brep FROM Forres.—I have to-day (May lst)
bred a rather light-coloured 2 of Selenia tetralunaria, from a larva
taken in the Altyre Woods, near Forres, on August 29th last. The larva
in question was beaten from larch, in company with such ordinary larch-
feeders as Macuria lituruta, Eupithecia lariciata, Gonodontis bidentata
and Ectropis (Tephrosia) bistortata, but it is just possible that it had
wandered or been blown from some neighbouring birch. Unfortunately
it did not occur to me at the time to try whether it would thrive on
larch; I think it has never been recorded from this, though well-known
to be tolerably polyphagous on deciduous trees. What is the distribu-
tion of this species in Scotland? I believe in Dr. F. Buchanan White’s
time the only Scottish record was for Rannoch, and Mr. Barrett sug-
gests... . that even this requires confirmation.—Lovuis B. Provt.

Ture Norrotk Hesperia ALvEus.—Mr J. Edwards... . has examined
the genitalia of one of the Hesperia alveus, reported some time since
as having been captured in Norfolk many years previous to their having
been recorded, and finds it to be really this species. He thinks that the
butterfly is to be regarded as a survival of the ancient fauna of Central
Norfolk and that there is no need to attempt to account for its occur-
rence by immigration or accidental introduction along with plants. This
leaves us only two other views, viz., that the captor mixed unwittingly
his Continental and British captures, or that it is a native of Cawston.
If it be a native of Cawston why was the species not earlier detected, and
why has the species not been since found there? Like several other
common butterflies there-is no reason whatever why this species should
not occur in Britain, the only fact that we know at present about the
matter is that it does not appear to do so.—J. W. Tort.

[Later research showed that Mr. Tutt’s first alternative was the
case.—Ep. |

Current Literature

THE ORIGIN AND History OF THE BritisH Fauna. By B. P. Beirne.
Published by Methuen & Co. Ltd. London, at 18/-. With 60
maps in the text.

In the introductory chapter of this book Professor Beirne writes:
‘“‘The conclusions arrived at on the origins and histories of animals as
inhabitants of the British Isles are those that appear the most probable
when all known aspects of the biology, distribution and taxonomy of the

160 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V /1953

animals and all available information on the past climatic, vegetational
and geographical changes in the British Isles are taken into account.
These conclusions are, however, often a matter of personal opinion and
are consequently controversial.’’ If the reader bears this statement in
mind as he reads through this book he will not only appreciate the
“numerous difficulties encountered in the interpretation of the available
data, but will be able to think of alternative explanations to those-put
forward.

The present fauna of the British Isles has been derived entirely from
the Continent. There are few endemic species and these are largely
confined to little known groups such as the Diptera. Of the total animal
population it is estimated that about 2 per cent. were introduced by
man and 35 per cent. could have been transported by aerial currents,
but most of these are thought to have arrived overland. In all about 95
per cent. came mainly overland and 45 per cent. did so entirely. The
reconstructions of the histories of animals as inhabitants of the British
Isles are based on four types of evidence: palaeontological, historical,
ecological, taxonomic and zoogeographical, especially the last three. In
a great many species the evidence is incomplete and it is difficult to draw
conclusions. Throughout this book Professor Beirne has put most em-
phasis on insects, particularly the Lepidoptera, in which he is specially
interested.

The book would have been improved by the inclusion of the modern
definitions of species and subspecies and other terms. Many readers
will be confused to read on page 34 ‘‘sometimes the ranges of two sub-
species of the one species meet, then interbreeding takes places unless
the two are isolated ecologically or biologically’’. The significance of
recent range variations of many insects (particularly butterflies) is in-
adequately considered and there are many other controversial points
which the reader must decide about himself. A surprisingly large num-
ber of careless mistakes also occur, particularly with reference to birds
and mammals.

However, entomologists will find much of interest in what is a com-
paratively new field in zoological research, and this book is indeed a
considerable step forward into a virtually unexplored field.

Ds, BiG).

CorRECTION :—Hnt. Record, 1952, 64: 158. Pl. 6, fig. 3. The beauti-
ful aberration cited by Bright and Leeds as ab. extrema is really an
example of ab. tarasina Cabeau, Rev. Mens. Namur., 1920, 20: 19. The
author does not mention the hind wings and it must be assumed that
he did not consider their pattern of any importance to the diagnosis.
In this specimen the pattern of the hind wings makes it ab. postradiata
Bright & Leeds.

Erratum:—Hnt Record, 1952, 64: 364. In the review of Dr. Ket-
— tlewell’s paper on radioactivity the equation should be—
radioactive larvae released x total imagines caught

radioactive imagines caught

Both the multiplication and division signs are omitted.

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, 161

; 4 2 e e
3 1953 - Aberrations of British Geometridae
‘ By E. A. COCKAYNE, D.M., F.R.C.P.
PLATE XII.

The Ellenins aberrations with one exception are in the Rothschild-
Cockayne-Kettlewell collection in the British Museum.

Lyncometra ocellata Linnaeus ab. divisa ab. nov.

The median band of the fore wing is divided into two parts, a costal
and an inner marginal one.

Type ¢: Caterham, Surrey, ix. 1892. Rothschild coll.

Lyncometra ocellata Linnaeus ab. costimacula ab. nov.
Only the costal part of the median band of the fore wing remains.
Type ¢: Loc. incog. (Farn and Pether coll.) Cockayne coll.

Plemyria rubiginata Schiffermiiller ab. albovittata ab. nov. (Fig. 8.)
That part of the fore wing which lies external to the median area is
smoky grey, but the part between the basal and median areas is pure
white. The hind wing is very pale grey with a dark border.
Type ¢: Arran, 1893. R. Adkin coll.

Chloroclysta siterata Hufnagel ab. caerulata ab. nov.

The usual olive green of the ground colour and markings is replaced
by blue green.

9: Scarborough, Yorks., bred xi.1902 by H. W. Head. (W. F.
Urwick coll. Vauncey Harpur Crewe coll.) Rothschild coll.

Chloroclysta siterata Hufnagel ab. trivirgata ab. nov.

The normal siterata has blackish antemedian and postmedian lines
and parallel with each of them is a thin toothed 12. :, similarly in the
basal area there is a thin line parallel with the basal line; between each
pair of lines the ground colour is normal. In this aberration the space
between each of these three sets of parallel lines is filled with blackish
green forming three dark bands across the fore wing. On the hind
wing there is a dark band lItmited externally by the postmedian line.

Type @: New Forest, 1901. Cockayne coll.

Paratype 2: Loc. incog. x.1897. A. Ford. Cockayne coll.

Dysstroma. citrata Linnaeus ssp. pythonissata Milliere ab: aurantiaca
ab. nov.

All the markings of the forewing are clear orange on a pale orange
ground. The hind wing is a very pale orange with a somewhat darker
orange border and fringe. The thorax and abdomen are orange.

Type ¢: Haroldswick, Unst, Shetland. (Farn coll.) Cockayne coll.

XNanthorhoé munitata Hiibner ab. defasciata ab. nov. (Fig. 9.)

The median area of the fore wing is bounded by the dark antemedian
and postmedian lines, but there is no dark median band, the ground
colour of the median area being the same as that of the rest of the wing.

Type 6: Mickle Fell, 18.vii.1897, L. B. Prout. Cockayne coll.

Paratypes 4 d: 1 dg Aberdeen, 1908, A. Horne. Cockayne coll.: 1 ¢
Curtobur, 23.vii.1898. Cockayne coll.: 1 ¢ Hawick, 1907, W. Renton.
Bankes coll.: 1d 1886. (Sang coll.) Bankes coll.

162 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V 1/1953

Nanthorhoé fluctuata Linnaeus ab. fumata ab. nov.

The whole insect, head, thorax, abdomen, and both fore and hind wing
are a uniform dark smoky colour. On the fore wing the dark basal and
median markings are present, the subapical mark is indistinct, and the
usual wavy lines are obsolete.

Type ¢d: Bexley, bred 1911 by L. W. Newman. Rothschild coll.

Paratype ¢: Loc. incog. Stevens sale no. 15230. Cockayne coll.

This melanic form is very different from ab. neapolisata Milliere and
thule: Prout.

Xanthorhoé fluctuata Linnaeus ab. costijuncta ab. nov. (Fig. 11.)

On the fore wing the basal and median areas are united along the
costa by a dark stripe.

Type 2: Colchester, Essex, 1911. R. Adkin coll.

The type shows other unusual characters. On the fore wing the
median area is very dark and is broken between nervures 1 and 2, the

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII.

Fig. 1. Eupithecia linariata ab. punctata. ¢. Type.
Fig. 2. Eupithecia lariciata ab. virgata. ¢. Type.

Fig. 3. Eupithecia satyrata ab. trilineata. G- Type.
Fig. 4. Chloroclystis rectangulata ab. effusa. 9. Type.
Fig. 5. Eupithecia icterata ab. goodsoni. ¢. Type.
Fig. 6. Hupithecia extensaria ssp. occidua ab. albescens.
Fig. 7. Perizoma albulata ab. albomedia.

Fig. 8. Plemyria rubiginata ab. albovittata. ¢g. Type.
Fig. 9. Xanthorhoe munitata ab. defasciata.

Fig. 10. Epirrhoe alternata ab. confusa.

Fig. 11. Xanthorhoe fluctuata ab. costijuncta. ©” TRE:
Fig. 12. Lampropteryx suffumata ab. edentata. o- Type.
Fig. 13. Epirrhoe tristata ab. demarginata.

Fig. 14. Uchyria designata ab. costimacula. ©. Type.

+

Fig. 15. Xanthorhoe montanata ab. reticulata. Q. Type.
Fig. 16. Hydriomena furcata ab. prouti. G.-) Lype.

Fig. 17. Euphyia rubidata ab. coarctata. Q. Type.

Fig. 18. Mesoleuca albicillata ab. rectangulata. G- . LYBE:
Fig. 19. Hydriomena furcata ab. mirabilis. oO.) Pype:

Fig. 20. Euphyi unangulata ab. effusa. Of) ABBE:

Fig. 21. Hydriomena ruberata ab. bivirgata.

Fig. 22. Biston betularia ab. semivirgata. G& =. Type:

Fig. 23. Biston betularia ab. suffusa. Or Type:

a

basal area is also very dark. The subterminal line is very distinct, the
wavy lines are faint, and the ground colour nearly white. On the hind
wing the postmedian line is distinct and just external to it is a con-
spicuous broad pale band.

Xanthorhoé montanata Schiffermiiller ab. reticulata ab. nov. (Fig. 15.)

On the fore wing the median area is filled in with wavy lines; in the
space between the basal and antemedian lines is a band formed of wavy
lines giving the insect a reticulated appearance. Near the margin there
are three well marked parallel lines, the outermost dentated on its inner
aspect, and internal to these is a thin dark line along the termen.
On the hind wing near the margin there are two parallel wavy lines
and external to them is a dark band dentated on its inner aspect, and
there is also a thin dark marginal line.

Type 2: Wrotham, 28.vi.1932, J. Juby. Rothschild coll.

VOL. 65. PLATE XII.

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH GEOMETRIDAE. 163

Xanthorhoé spadicearia Schiffermiiller ab. coarctata ab. nov.
The median band on the fore wing is narrow.
Type 2: Braemar, Aberdeenshire, 1907, Bright. Rothschild coll.

Ochyria designata Hufnagel ab. costimacula ab. nov. (Fig. 14.)

The median band is reduced to a large dark mark on the costa.

Type @: Epping Forest, Essex, 1899, O. C. Goldthwait. (Bright
coll.) Rothschild coll.

Calostigia multistrigaria Haworth ab. obscura ab. nov.

The ground colour of both fore and hind wings is uniformly smoky
grey; the median band and the subterminal band are obscured, but
visible; the other markings are almost invisible.

Type: ¢: Gibside, Durham, 1906. (Dewar coll.) Cockayne coll.

Paratype ¢: Ballaugh, Isle of Man, 15.11.1905, Cassal. L. B. Prout
coll.

This is not so dark as ab. nubilata Tutt, nor has it the pale dots
internal and external to the median area and near the margin of the
fore wing, and near the margin of the hind wing.

Lampropteryx suffumata Schiffermiiller ab. edentata ab. nov. (Fig. 12.)

On the fore wing the postmedian line is much smoother in its curves
than usual, the large double toothed projection is much less prominent
and the teeth are absent, the indentation just above it is also absent or
nearly absent. The ground colour is dark and the white transverse
stripes bordering the basal and median areas are very conspicuous.

Type: do: North Wales, bred 2.v.1907. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Paratype ¢: North Wales, 25.iv.1907. (Bright. coll.) Rothschild coll.

Coenotephria berberata Schiffermiiller ab. deleta ab. nov.

The basal line is present, but the thin line internal to and parallel
with it is absent; the antemedian and postmedian lines are present, but
the lines in the median area parallel with them are absent; thus there are
three single lines instead of three pairs of lines.

Type 9: Suffolk, 1902. Cockayne coll.

Paratype? : Bury, Suffolk, bred 1903. (Gibbs coll.) Rothschild coll.

Coenotephria derivata Schiffermiiller ab. costijuncta ab. nov.

The antemedian line is united by a broad dark band along the costa
with the dark mark, which forms the upper part of the postmedian line.
Type ¢: Ashridge, Herts., bred 8.iv.1946 by E. A. Cockayne.

Coenotephria derivata Schiffermiiller ab. nigrofasciata ab. nov.

There is a broad dark band running longitudinally from the ante-
median to the postmedian line and occupying the anterior half of the
median area, from the costa to nervure 4, and there is another band in
the median area powdered with black scales running along the inner
margin.

Type 2: Cranleigh, Surrey, 1906, F. Pennington. Cockayne coll.

Euphyia unungulata Haworth ab. effusa ab. nov. (Fig. 20.)

On the fore wing the median band is unusually narrow; the parts
normally white are cream coloured; the subterminal line is very dark and
ill defined and on its inner side it encroaches on the light area outside

164 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VE) 1963

the median band and runs inwards along the nervures; the faint dark
transverse line just outside the median band is absent. The ground
colour of the hind wing is cream and the subterminal line is broad and ill
defined on its inner side.

Type 2°: Hants, bred 1906 by C. R. N. Burrows. Burrows coll.

Euphyia rubiduta Schiffermiiller ab. coarctata ab. nov. (Fig. 17.)

The median area is about half the normal width and is bounded
externally by a complete black line from the costa to the inner margin.
Type 2: Loc. incog. 1879. (Waring coll.) Rothschild coll.

Ecliptopera silaceata Schiffermiiller ab. melaleuca ab. nov.

The ground colour is pure white instead of cream colour and the
markings are intensely black.

Type ¢: Aston Hills, Bucks., 6.v.1945, A. L. Goodson. Cockayne
coll.

Mesoleuca albicillata Linnaeus ab. rectangulata ab. nov. (Fig. 18.)

The dark basal area is larger than normal and the dark subapical
mark on the costa is rectangular and much longer than usual so that the
white space between them is much reduced; the nervures from the post-
median row of dots as far inwards as the end of the subapical mark are
darkened forming a row of short lines; in other respects it is normal.

Type ¢: Folkestone, bred 1882 by Blackell. R. Adkin coll.

Epirrhoé tristata Linnaeus ab. demarginata ab. nov. (Fig. 13.)

The dark markings on the border of the fore wing are greatly re-
duced, only a faint trace of brown remaining and a little darkening
of the nervures; the dark markings on the border of the hind wing are
reduced but not to the same extent.

Type ¢: Rannoch, vi.1907, A. E. Gibbs. Rothschild coll.

Allotype @ : Rannoch, vi.1905, E. A. Cockayne. Cockayne coll.

Epirrhoé alternata Miiller ab. confusa ab. nov. (Fig. 10.)

The median band of the fore wing is narrow; the border is dark and
suffused internally, fading away gradually into the white ground colour
shortly before reaching the postmedian line; there are none of the nor-
mal reticulations and the dark line just external to and parallel with
the postmedian line is absent. On the hind wing the basal part is
dark as far out as the postmedian line and the marginal area is similar
to that of the fore wing. The aberration has a dark smoky suffused ap-
pearance.

Type d: York, E. G. Pether. Cockayne coll.

Paratypes 2 6d: 1 ¢ Loc. incog. Sale Stevens 1900. Christy coll.
1 ¢ Isle of Lewis, 1887, McArthur. Rothschild coll. The last belongs to
ssp. obscurata South.

Perizoma albulata Schiffermiiller ab. albomedia ab. nov. (Fig. 7.)

The median area is white and entirely without markings; the basal
and marginal markings are present.

Type ¢: Shetland, 1907, P. M. Bright. Rothschild coll.

Allotype 2: Same data.

Paratypes 2 92: Same data.

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH GEOMETRIDAF. 165

Perizoma affinitata Stephens ab. effusa ab. nov.

On the fore wing the marginal area has a suffused appearance and is
not sharply defined internally fading away into the white, which bor-
ders the postmedian line; the thin dark line which normally runs parallel
with and just external to the postmedian line is absent.

Type 2: S. Devon, 22.v.1911, J. W. Metcalfe. Cockayne coll.

Hydriomena furcata Thunberg. ab. geodsoni ab. nov.

_ The ground colour of the fore wing is dull pale brownish green; the
basal line is dark; there is a broad almost completely unicolorous blackish
brown median band reaching the discoidal spot, a subterminal band, and
a submarginal band, both of the same colour; the border is usually the
same colour as the ground.

Type ¢: Loe. incog. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Allotype 2: Loe. incog. Bankes coll.

Paratypes 1¢ 2 22: 1 ¢ Watergate, Emsworth, Hants., vi1.1897,
W. M. Christy: 1 @ Loc. incog. Burrows coll.; 1 @ Aston Hills,
12.vii.1944, A. L. Goodson. Cockayne coll.

The type is figured, Barrett, Pl. 368. Fig. 1 f.

Hydriomena furcata Thunberg ab. barretti ab. nov.

Similar to ab. goodsoni except that most of the anterior (costal) half
of the pale band external to the median band is clouded with dark
brownish green.

Type 6: Loc. incog. (H. B. Williams coll.) Cockayne coll.

Allotype @: Loc. incog. (Bond, S. Webb, Willoughby Ellis coll.)
Cockayne coll. Paratypes2 ¢d,1 92:1 Stone, vii.1885. (Farn. coll.)
R. Adkin coll.: 1 ¢ Loe. incog. Burrows coll.: 1 2 Kingsdown,
19. vii.1932, J. Juby. Rothschild coll. The allotype is figured, Barrett.
Piso. Big 1b:

Hydriomena furcata Thunberg ab. mirabilis ab. nov. (Fig. 19.)

The ground colour is whitish suffused with rufous in the distal areas;
the basal area has dark transverse lines, the more distal ones more or less
fused to form a band; the antemedian line has a V-shaped indentation
about a third of the way across the wing; the median area extending
from the antemedian line internally to the outer aspect of the sub-
terminal band, which is close to the anal angle, and from the inner
margin to nervure 3 is uniformly dull brownish grey; from the proximal
end of this an oblique band of the same colour runs to the costa. These
bands, and the median area together with the costa enclose an irregular
area of the ground colour in the proximal part of which lie six dark
spots speckled with whitish and at the distal end is a narrow doubly
angulated band first running towards the termen, then away from it,
and then towards it again, parallel with the inner aspect of the sub-
terminal band. The border of the termen is dark and in the narrow belt
of ground colour between it and the subterminal band are a number of
small dark spots. The pattern is unlike that of any other aberration of
this species.

Type 2: Meltham, Yorks., 3.1x.1903, W. Tunstall. Prout coll.

Hydriomena furcata Thunberg ab. supercincta ab. nov.
The ground colour of the fore wing is dull pale greenish white; the
basal area is dark and unusually broad; there is a very broad dark

166 . ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VI/ 1953

median band; the subterminal line is absent; outside the median area
there is a fecal band of pale ground colour, the terminal band is dark.
Type d: Meltham, Yorks., 3.ix.1903, W. Tunstall. Prout coll.

Hydriomena furcata Thunberg ab. prouti ab. nov. (Fig. 16.)

The ground colour of the fore wing is whitish faintly tinged with
greenish brown; there are three equidistant indistinct narrow transverse
bands pale wastiy brown in colour; at the extreme base is a thin black
transverse line; a thin black transverse line, slightly curved with the
concavity tomes the termen, runs from the subcostal nervure to the
median nervure and another thin black line runs obliquely from a point
near the costa to the subcostal nervure and then in a curve, with the
concavity towards the base, to the median nervure; the second faint
transverse band runs just internal to the one and the third transverse
band runs just external to the other; there is also an indistinct narrow
band of brownish green along the termen; the fringe is chequered. The
hind wing is dull greyish brown and is darker than the fore wing.

Type ¢: Meltham, 1896, Tunstall. Prout coll. B.M. 1939-643.

Hydriomena ruberata Freyer ab. bivirgata ab. nov. (Fig. 21.)

The fore wing is pale grey resembling ab. grisescens Huene except
that the space between the first and second bands, which are grey and
inconspicuous, is darkened and forms a conspicuous band, and the sub-
terminal line forms another conspicuous dark band; the apical mark is
also dark.

Type d: South Sutherland, 1892. (Salvage coll.) Christy coll.

Allotype 9: Borobol, Sutherland, 14.v.1899, W. M. Christy.

Paratype d: Same data.

Hydriomena ruberata Freyer ab. unilineata ab. nov.

The fore wing is almost unicolorous pale grey with a thin dark
oblique line near the base, a dark mark external to it on the inner
margin, and a small dark apical mark; the usual indistinct transverse
lines are absent or obsolescent.

Type 2: Wallasey, 1895. Cockayne coll.

Hydriomena ruberata Freyer ab. constricta ab. nov.

The pale band in the middle of the fore wing is very narrow.

Type ¢: Isle of Lewis, Hebrides, 1901. (McArthur coll.) Rothschild
coll.

Hydriomena ruberata Freyer ab. nigrocastanea ab. nov.

The ground colour of the fore wing is uniform dark red pa with
the usual markings present but inconspicuous.

Type 6: Middlesborough, bred ix.1907, by E. A. Cockayne.

Allotype ° : Middlesborough, bred 29.x1.1907, by E. A. Cockayne.

Paratypes 26.0 2 902: 1.6, 4.x.1907; 1 od, 8.x.1907- 1,0. 42x10
1 9, 29.x.1907, all bred by E. A. Cockayne from Middlesborough eggs
sent by J. W. Heslop Harrison.

Hydriomena ruberata Freyer ab. marginenotata ab. nov.

This is a grey form like ab. grisescens Huene, but with a row of con-
spicuous black marks along the termen.

Type ©: Warrington, 1898, H. Massey.

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH GEOMETRIDAE. 167

Eupithecia linariata Fabricius ab. punctata ab. nov. (Fig. 1.)
On the fore wing the basal line is reduced to a spot on the costa and
the median band is reduced to a central spot and a small mark on

the inner margin.
Type ¢: Brighton, bred vii.1919, T. S. R. Adkin coll.

Eupithecia pulchellata Stephens ab. guttata ab. nov.

On the fore wing the ordinary markings are very faint, the median
area is slightly paler than the rest of the wing, but the discoidal spot is
black and conspicuous. The hind wing is similar, but with a smaller dis-
coidal spot.

Type 2°: Lydd, Kent, 3.viii.1932, A. J. Bowes. Bowes coll.

Eupithecia satyrata Hiibner ab. trilineata ab. nov. (Fig. 3.)

The ground colour of the fore wing is unusually pale, but the ante-
median and postmedian lines are thick and strongly developed; the
median line is distinct, but less conspicuous. On the hind wing the
antemedian and postmedian lines are thick and nearly as dark as those
of the fore wing; the discoidal spot is distinct on both wings.

Type ¢: Abbot’s Wood, Sussex, 4.vi.1924, R. Adkin. R. Adkin coll.

Eupithecia satyrata Hiibner ab. nigra ab. nov.

The head, thorax, wings, and abdomen are nearly black with the
markings just visible.

Type ¢: Paisley district, 1902, A. M. Stewart. (Determined by L.
B. Prout) Prout coll.

Eupithecia icterata de Villers ab. goodsoni ab. nov. (Fig. 5.)

This is a modification of ab. subfulvata Haworth. The costa of the
fore wing is entirely dark, lacking the usual pale lines. Below the
median nervure and on each side of nervure 2 is a longitudinal band of
fuscous crossed transversely by pale lines; the wavy submarginal pale
line is indistinct and the pale marginal lunules are absent. The hind
wing is darker than normal and the usual markings are almost absent.

Type ¢: Tring, Herts., bred 14.vi.1945 by A. L. Goodson. Cockayne
coll.

Hupithecia extensaria Freyer ssp. occidua Prout ab. albescens ab. nov.
(Fig. 6).

The transverse bands are very pale and weakly marked or obsolescent.
It is an albinistic form.

Type ¢: Thornham, Norfolk, bred 25.v.1932 by E. A. Cockayne.

Allotype 9: Same data.

Paratypes 15, 3 992: 16, bred 9.v.1932; 1 2, bred 28.v.1932; 1 9
bred 5.v1.1932; 1 9, bred 19.v.1932 by E. A. Cockayne, all from Thorn-
ham. Mr. Prout did not think this form identical with ab. leuca
Dietze from the Illi and Ussuri districts.

Eupithecia abbreviata Stephens ab. nigra ab. nov.

Every part of the insect, head, thorax, wings, and abdomen are
black with the markings on the wings almost obliterated.

Type do: Tring, Herts., bred 7.iv.1945 by A. L. Goodson.

Allotype @: Brickhill, Bucks., bred 7.iv.1945 by A. L. Goodson.

168 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V1/1953

Paratypes 2 6¢,2 29: 1 6, Tring, 4.iv.1946, A. L. Goodson; 1 6,
Brickhill, Bucks., 7.iv.1945, A. L. Goodson; 1 @ Forest of Dean,
30.11.1938, A. Richardson; 1 9, Forest of Dean, 11.iv.1938, A. Richard-

son. Cockayne coll.

Eupithecia lariciata Freyer ab. virgata ab. nov. (Fig. 2.)

The median and postmedian lines are strongly developed, closer
together than usual, and united on the costa; the space between them is
largely filled with dark scales in the posterior part of the wing.

Type ¢: Perth, 9.v.1896. Christy coll.

Chloroclystis rectangulata Linnaeus ab. effusa ab. nov. (Fig. 4.)

The median area is narrow and darkened, clearly bounded by the
antemedian and postmedian lines with the discoidal spot situated in the
latter; the marginal area also is darkened, but all the narrow transverse
lines are absent and it has a suffused appearance. Just external to the
discoidal spot is a whitish mark ill defined externally.

Type @: N. Cornwall, 14.vii.1902, J. Greenwood. (Bright coll.)
Rothschild coll.

Chloroclystis debiliata Hiibner ab. albescens ab. nov.

Ground colour very pale, whitish with a slight tinge of green; all
the normal markings present, but scarcely discernible, very pale grey
with a slight sandy tinge. It is an albino.

Type: ¢. Ummera, Co. Cork. 1.vi.1926, larva, Donovan. Donovan
coll. B.M. 1952-93.

Biston betularia Linnaeus ab. albapicata ab. nov.

A black form hke ab. carbonaria Jordan, but with the apex of the
fore wing white lightly speckled with black like typical betularia and
an insignificant peppered patch on the termen between nervures 3 and
4. The costal part of the hind wing is speckled with white. There is a
white spot at the base of the forewing as in ab. carbonaria. The head
is white and the collar black with a white edge.

Type ©: ? Tilshief, 1925. Cockayne coll.

Biston betularia Linnaeus ab. semivirgata ab. nov. (Fig. 22.)

The first and second lines are united to form a large black mark on
the costa of the fore wing. The hind wing is normal.

Type ¢: Epping, 4.vi.1906, ex Lewis. Cockayne coll.

Allotype @: Bexley, bred vi.1903. B.M. 1937-45.

Paratypes 2 dd: 1 Epping, 4.vi.1906, ex Lewis. Cockayne coll.
1 Lewisham, 31.v.1892. R. Adkin coll.

Biston betularia Linnaeus ab. suffusa ab. nov. (Fig. 23.)

The fore wing has black speckles tending to become confluent
longitudinally especially in the space posterior to the median nervure.
The marginal area is white with a few scattered black seales; the
interneural black spots on the termen are well developed and the dis-
coidal spot is large. On the hind wing the discoidal spot is very large;
there is a broad ill-defined band running from the inner margin to a
point opposite the discoidal spot, at which point it is almost united
with two of the ill defined interneural spots on the margin. There are
black scales along the median nervure and nervures 1, 2 and 3 as far out

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON VANESSA CARDUI L. 169

as the transverse band, a few scattered black scales in the cell and many
more between the median nervure and nervure 2 and the inner margin.
The rest of the wing is almost white. The head is white, the anterior
part of the ‘thorax is black, and the posterior part is whitish, and the
abdomen is white with a thick black band across the middle of the
dorsum of somite 2, and black scales along the posterior border of the
terminal somites.
Type 2°: W. Bowater coll.

Some Observations on Vanessa cardui L. and
its Migrations in 1952

By Vera MoteswortH Muspratt, F.R.E.S.

Vanessa cardui L. arrives at St. Jean-de-Luz annually in May; my
earliest date before 1952 is the 6th, but they usually come more in the
middle and latter half of the month, and in June I generally see most.
The butterflies are few in number and the first ones in May are often
colourless, small and generally worn; as time goes on they have more
colour (pink) and seem larger; towards the end of June and sometimes
in July one sees a few large ones which are in a good condition; how-
ever, an absolutely fresh specimen is a rarity. These differences of
colour, size and freshness make me think that they must be migrants
that dribble north to us from different broods. In 1950-51-52 I was here
all July and was able to ascertain that cardui fades somewhat out of
the picture in that month. In July 1951 I saw seven in all, and on the
20th two seemingly in perfect condition. There is no doubt that this
corner of France is rarely favoured by cardui in numbers, and then
they seem only to pass through without laying, or laying only very
occasionally. I have never found any caterpillars, although there are
numerous artichoke fields where large broods could be reared.

In 1946 a fair quantity of cardui turned up here in June. The first
ones were seen on the 3rd; on the 7th, on a front of about 800 metres,
63 were seen by Mr. G. Adkin and myself. They were mainly feeding
on privet flowers and were all in a lamentable condition, torn, rubbed,
faded, and with two exceptions having hardly any colour at all in their
wings. They remained in numbers till the 27th; on that day Mr. Adkin
saw 30 on a 300 metre front; on the 28th he saw only two'in the same
area. A few were observed daily till the 3rd of July, then no more. I
had left for the Pyrenees on the 25th June but Mr Adkin carried on
with his observations. These migrants were in such a dreadful condi-
tion that I think they must have died off very quickly, but this sudden
disappearance makes one wonder.

On one other occasion I have seen cardui in numbers here, but it
was something like 25 years ago and I think it was in June. I remember
taking the dogs for a run on the cliffs about 7.30 one evening before
dinner. When I got up to the cliffs I came upon a very great number
of beautiful large brilliantly coloured cardui; they were all over a part
of the cliffs in a square of roughly 100 metres and seemed to be settling
for the night on the bushes. I had no net with me and decided to go
back next morning to pick and choose. Alas, there was no picking and
choosing; at nine the following morning not a cardui was left!

170 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V1/ 1953

I see extremely few curdui here in the autumn. During six years of
observation | have never seen any in September; 4 in 1947 on the 16th
and 17th October; 2 in 1951, one on the 16th of October and the other
(a great surprise) on the 28th of November. This butterfly was com-
pletely scaleless, and I was able to identify it only by the shape of the
wings.

I was camping from the 25th of September to the 6th of October 1952
in the Pouey Aspé valley above Gavarnie (Htes. Pyrenees), and on the
26th at about 1,900 m. altitude I saw two cardui, looking very fresh and
going leisurely up the valley; they rested continually but each time
they moved they went up. I lost them after they had gone about 500
metres towards the pass. I saw no others later.

This unsolved problem of the southern return journey of some lepi-
doptera that migrate north had puzzled me in 1946 with respect to
Celerio lineata livornica Esp., which like cardui seem to migrate un-
reasonably, as they too appear to make no return journey. In the
Revue Francaise de Lépidoptérologie, XII, p. 117, IL ventured to sug-
gest a possible reason for this behaviour: after the last glaciation the
climate became temperate as at present, then there came a much warmer
(Boreal) period than that which obtains to-day; during that warm
period livornica and cardui were perhaps forced to leave North Africa
because of a possible lack of food for them and their progeny, and the
lagt autumnal brood bred in the north returned regularly south. I
think it is certain that both cardui and livornica go north regularly
every year, but their northward limit, and the numbers in which they
come, depend on circumstances which so far have not been fully ascer-
tained. In the present era both these species seem incapable of con-
tinuing to breed successfully up north in sufficient time to return south ;
their present northward migrations are I think the continuation of
habits contracted during a warmer period. If these two species had
now to depend on this southern migration in the autumn, as they may
have had to do at one time, both would now be extinct.

There is another point of interest as concerns the present time:
where do the cardui come from that I see here in the autumn and which
Lieut.-Colonel N. Eliot sees at times in numbers in the same season at
Cavalaire (Var)? It is of course possible that Colonel Eliot’s cardui
are bred in the district of Cavalaire, but I wonder it some of these
butterflies have not come south. Perhaps in some regions of France they
do manage that autumnal brood which does come south. They could
very well produce this brood at St. Jean-de-Luz as our autumns are
magnificent and long; but they are not here to lay.

On the 15th of March 1952, a sunny morning with the thermometer
at 15° C. in the shade, I was very surprised to see a cardui in my garden.
It was small, colourless and somewhat torn; on the 22nd I saw another
one in the same condition.

Captain Dannreuther kindly informed me on the 23rd March about
the very unusual early invasion of this species in. the south of England.
He asked me if I knew of their appearance at that early period (end cf
February) in any region of France. I had then heard nothing, but
some months later I received a letter from M. Lévesque at Niort (Deux
Sévres) telling me that curdui had turned up in his region unusually
early, namely the end of February and early March: ‘‘They were in

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON VANESSA CARDUI L. 171

the same condition as those that arrive annually about the 15th of May,
i.e. in fairly good condition. These butterflies were less numerous in
March, but reappeared in numbers about the 6th of April in a very bad
condition. A new migration must have taken place at the beginning
of May as they became numerous again and were in their usual condi-
tion for that time of the year’’.

This early appearance of cardui in the west of France coincides with
their early arrival in England. Im a letter dated 5th July Captain
Dannreuther told me that the Director of Climatology at the Meteoro-
logical Office had said that at that period anticyclones over the west
Mediterranean produced wind conditions favourable for insects to be
carried from North Africa round Spain to the British Isles in about
three days. At St. Jean-de-Luz we had a quite cold period with no
breaks all January and February till the 2nd of March, so that cardui
was very unlikely to have come up from Spain or Africa over the western
Pyrenees to reach Deux Sévres at the end of February, and I therefore
suggest that these butterflies seen in the west of France may have been
part of the contingent that might have reached England carried by
the wind.

Though the night had been cold (3° C.) on the 2nd of March at St.
Jean-de-Luz, the day temperature rose to 20° C. in the shade, and
with the exception of a period from the 16th to the 21st which was either
overcast or wet, the month was warm with many sunny days. I saw
only 8 cardui in March; in April, 12; on the 8th Mr. G. Adkin saw four
and said that a couple seemed to be thinking of mating, which made me
hunt later in the artichoke fields for caterpillars, but without result.
On the 29th I was about 10 kms. S.S.E. of St. Jean-de-Luz and saw in
ten minutes 5 cardui flying over a depression at an altitude of 230 m.
between two hills. They were flying very fast and heading E.N.E., one
after the other. Though I remained up there some time after seeing
them no others passed.

June was hot, with a few quite hot days. On the 5th, with a shade
temperature of 32° C., I and my daughter at 2.30 p.m. counted 82
cardui along our road on a front of about 250 metres. They were busy
feeding on privet flowers in the hedges. All were in excellent condition
and brilliantly coloured, but none were large, just a medium size. They
had not been there at noon that day. I heard later that they had been
‘Call over the place’’ in the town that day. On the 6th, a fine day but
muggy, 24° C. in the shade, they had practically gone. I found only
four where we had seen the 82 on the previous day. After this invasion
on the 5th I saw 18 others in June, 3 in July and 2 in August, and those
two were the last I saw here in 1952.

M. de Puységur of Montpélier (Herault) sent me two interesting
letters about cardui in 1952 together with some specimens which he
had caught. He wrote that: ‘‘This species was not rare round Mont-
pélier at the end of March and beginning of April’’ and that the speci-
mens seen were fresh, seemingly bred in the area. On the 14th of April
in the afternoon there was an unbelievable number of carduz coming from
the E.N.E. and going W.S.W.; the greatest number was seen between
4.0 and 4.30 p.m. flying between St. Mathieu-de-Trévier and Prades-le-
Lez near Montpélier. In the few square yards in which M. de Puységur
observed them 90 specimens were passing in a minute and at times they

172 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 1 NESS

were uncountable. The butterflies were flying between 70 cm. and 1 m.
50 cm. above the ground; temperature 20° C. in the shade and there
was a faint breeze. Cars in that region were all bespattered with the
bodies of these butterflies with which they had come into contact. After
this enormous passage numerous very worn cardui remained in the
area. At the beginning of May they were again in great numbers,
small in size and very fresh (probably they had been bred in the area),
together with others that were larger and mostly in a poor condition.
The specimens which M. de Puységur sent me corroborated his remark
about their condition.

M. de Puységur also told me of another observation sent to him by
M. Thermes who said that on the 13th-14th April he saw uncountable
numbers of cardui in Pyrenées Orientales and that a gentleman who was
driving from Carcasonne (Aude) to Montpélier had had the windscreen
and bonnet of his car covered with their corpses when he arrived at
Montpélier.

The direction of flight on the 14th April near Montpélier seems a
curious one. Maybe the Cévennes had something to do with it, though
they are not close, but I believe they had a lot of snow that winter
and perhaps the cardui may have turned back on their tracks when they
got nearer these mountains, having sensed the cold. However, they
were flying north in the department of Ardeche, N.N.E. of the Herault,
as the following observation shows. Dr. H. Cleu of Aubenas, Ardéche,
writes: ‘‘Since about the 8th April I have seen an unusual number ot
cardui flying generally north. On the 26th, on the road from Lavil-
ledieu to Aubenas, I saw them flying for threequarters of an hour over
rocky scrubby land, one after the other at the rate of about one a
minute. The procession stopped as the sun went down.”’

Lt.-Col. N. Eliot of Cavalaire has very kindly sent me an account of
the way cardui behaves in his area. This is what he says: ‘ The pre-
sence or absence of V. cardui in my garden at Cavalaire, Var, was re-
corded from about mid-October to mid-June every year from 1936 to 1939
and for every whole year from September 1946 to October 1952, during
which period some reports were also obtained from the near vicinity.
During the nine springs involved there were only six migrations into
this region. Of course in the three blank years immigration may have
taken place elsewhere along the French Mediterranean coast. This
possibility is supported by evidence from 1946 onward which points to
cardui being present hereabouts every autumn, often in considerable num-
bers. No spring immigration was noted in 1938-47 and 50, but during
the winters commencing in 1988-48 and 50 cardui were seen from time
to time in practically every November, December and January, these
being succeeded by a few fresh looking individuals in April before any
sign of immigration had been noted. Thus it would seem that the low
ground along the French Mediterranean coast is about the northern
limit where the species can occasionally carry on from year to year.

“In April arfd May 1952 a migration of cardui was seen coming in
from the sea; they just appeared on the scene. On the first three
occasions they were flying wildly and erratically, although often settling
on the ground.

‘After each influx the butterflies soon dwindled in numbers to nearly
zero. They were mostly small and of a yellowish tinge, a few faded and

gh?)

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON VANESSA CARDUI L. 173

rather worn, but from the first there were among them individuals which
were tie larger and of a fresh rosy tint, the proportion of these
gradually increasing.

“After a sunny week when no cardui were seen, on the 11th April
some 8 or 9 were seen simultaneously on a small terrace. The sea was
calm and thin clouds were moving from the east. Only half that num-
ber were seen next day, which was overcast with large rollers from the
east. On the 17th only one was seen.

‘‘After a calm hazy day on the 21st there was a drizzle from the east
on the 22nd and a large influx appeared flying wildly and erratically.
Many were still present on the 24th, but four days later all were gone.

“There was another influx on Mayday when the butterflies were not-
ably numerous. The morning was sunny and calm, but during the
afternoon rain drifted in from the east. On the 3rd July only 4 were
counted.

“Finally, a fair number were seen flying fast to the north on May
the 18th, which was mainly overcast with easterly airs.’’

M. F. Dujardin of Nice (Alpes Maritimes) reports: ‘‘At the end of
April 1952 great quantities of cardut were seen in some artichoke fields
at St. Paul (A.M.) about 20 km. from Nice. From what the peasants
said they had seen some thousands flying about the middle of these
fields but could not say from which direction they had come. Apart
from having noticed these butterflies they paid little attention to them,
until later they found innumerable tiny caterpillars which were devour-
ing the plants growing in the middle of the fields, just when the arti-
chokes were almost ready to be cut. Every day more and more of the
leaves were eaten until there was nothing left except the artichoke
themselves, and even these were nibbled. I called up the Station Ex-
perimentale d’Antibes and M. Pussard came over at once. Thanks to
him great quantities of the caterpillars were killed, but some escaped
and butterflies emerged from these later. It was the middle of May
when the greatest number of caterpillars were seen, and such were
their numbers that they could be distinctly heard patie. 4

From M. Storace of Genoa, Liguria: ‘“‘Vanessa. cardui is still aerat
ing (10th June), coming in from the sea. I have unfortunately no time
for observations, but my brother tells me that on the 21st May there was
a big migration going north up the Arquata Scrivia valley (north of
Genoa). A friend of mine, M. Mussa, saw two big migrations coming
in from the sea at Genoa on the 28th of May and 7th of June. The first
migration took place at night: he saw the butterflies by the lights of the
eastern side of the port. The second one was in the same area but in
the afternoon; there was a rather strong wind blowing at the time from
the S.E. He had also noticed great numbers of cardui at Finale,
Liguria, between Savona and Alassio.’’

The observation that follows has no bearing on the European in-
vasion of 1952 but it is interesting as it shows that cardui did not only
go north from North Africa but went south as well.

M. Ph. Bruneau de Mire, Algeria, writes: ‘‘I have been travelling
in the Sahara in all directions for six years, going as far south as the
tropical region, and though I have seen cardui almost everywhere they
have been isolated specimens. This year, 1952, I was struck by the
great profusion of this species at the Poste de Djanet, Tassili, n’Ajjer.

174 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15 / V1I/1953

They were feeding on the flowers in the gardens of the Poste. I found
no caterpillars, though I saw traces of something that had eaten Huphor-
bia guujoniana; but would cardui larvae eat this plant? (I do not think
so.—V.M.M.). This quantity of cardui at Djanet gave me the impres-
sion of being a local swarm.’’

I wish to thank very much all the lepidopterists who have so kindly
sent me their observations and hope this small contribution will help
to map the movements of Vanessa cardwi in 1952.

Macrolepidoptera in North East Derbyshire :
A Record for 1952

By J. H. JoHnson.
(Continued from page 137)

Abrazas sylvata. (130). May 14th. July 6th. I searched par-
ticularly for this species this season and I discovered two new localities.
One of these rejoices under the name of Astwith Dumbles and is a large
well-established stretch of woodland near Heath. The other is in Lang-
with Wood and has almost been destroyed by lumberjacks.

Abrazas grossulariata L. (150). July 2nd. July 14th.

Ligdia adustata Schf. (1). June 3rd. This specimen was found
among spindle bushes in Langwith Wood.

Cabera pusaria L. (Myriads). May 27th. July 15th. Every birch
bush sheltered several imagines.

Deuteronomos alniaria L. (2). September 11th. September 16th.

Selenia bilunaria Esp. (11). April 10th. July 26th. There were
obviously two broods.

Gonodontis bidentata Cl. (3). May 18th. May 26th.

Colotois pennaria L. (1). October 26th. Found on street lamp near
Tupton Park. i

Crocallis elinguaria L. (26). July 22nd. July 30th. This is an ex-
ceptional number for one year. Usually only one is taken.

‘Opisthograptis luteolata L. (38). May 17th. June 27th.

Itama wauaria L. (7). July 4th. August 22nd.

Theria rupicapraria Schf. (30). February 18th. February 23rd.

Erannis leucophaearia Schf. (8). Feb. 22nd. March 2nd. These
were found after very careful search of oak trunks in Brittan Wood.
None was found anywhere else.

Erannis marginaria Fab. (10). February 28th. April 17th.

Erannis defoliaria Cl. “(4). November 14th.

Phigalia pedaria Fab. (18). February 23rd. March 17th. Not
one 2 was discovered. All the males were taken at street lamps, on
which they are fond of resting. Eight were melanic, the rest were
normal.

Biston betularia L. (2). July 4th. July 9th. Two females were
found at rest on the road near Heath School at 9.0 a.m. by boys. . One
of them produced 1,200 eggs, all fertile. They hatched on July 15th and
fed up happily on birch. When some of the larvae were released in
the garden they chose sycamore, horse chestnut, guelder rose, or michael-
mas daisy for their foodplants. They were extremely slow feeders and
many were still feeding on September 20th.

PHRAGMATOBIA FULIGINOSA L. REARED IN UGANDA. Les

All’ imagines taken in this district are var. dowbledayaria; a few
males taken in Hardwick Wood have white patches on their underwings.

Alcis repandata L. (5). July 2nd. July 25th.

Ectropis bistortata Goze. (2). May 29th. June 29th.

Ematurga atomaria L. (Myriads). May 17th. June 10th. Every
heather bush on Beeley and Darley Moors held several specimens.

Lithina chlorosata Scop. (Myriads). May 10th. June 4th. This
species is abundant in Hardwick Wood and on all moors.

Zygaena trifolii Esp. (Myriads). June 27th. July 29th. ». This
species has increased considerably in the last few years. There are now
colonies on every piece of waste land and pit-tip.

Hepialus humuli L. (9). June 11th. July 18th.

Hepialus lupulinus L. (17). May 18th. June 5th. This species is
usually abundant over the whole area, many imagines come to light and
are found near windows in the daytime.

There are many other species which have been found in other years,
but I have refrained from including these since my aim has been to record
the state of the macro-lepidoptera in an area well known to me in the
year 1952. It is axiomatic that an insect population is in a state of flux
from year to year, and if more residents in inaccessible spots which look
just right for ‘‘good things’’ could be persuaded to maintain regularly
either a light trap or a few ‘‘sugar posts’? under the supervision of some
enthusiastic entomologist, some valuable ecological data would no doubt
be collected; as H. T. Stainton optimistically stated in 1854, the harvest
will soon be gathered in.

Such a project as the above is probably no more than a pipe dream,
but one of my thrills this year was to find in the Journal of the N.E.
Derbyshire Field Club for 1907 that Samuel Hooke, entomologist, had
found Abraxas sylvata Scop. in Langwith Wood. I found the moth just
as he described. In the same way I found Lithomoia solidaginis Hb. at
rest on the trunks of the trees in Beeley Plantation exactly as the old
headmaster described them. He also described how the hillside near
Hardwick Wood was swarming with thousands of specimens of the Oil
Beetle. I am afraid that he was mistaken in his identification or some
catastrophe has wiped out the species. There were, however, scores of
Melolontha vulgaris flying among the birch bushes at dusk. It is pos-
sible that these notes may at some later date please another aurelian.

Phragmatobia fuliginosa L. Reared in Uganda

By D. G. Sevastoruro, F.R.E.S.

The finding of a ragged, but lively, female P. fuliginosa in a spider’s
web at Polzeath in North Cornwall during a short home leave in July
1952 gave the suggestion of seeing whether rearing several generations
in Uganda would tend to produce the southern European form fervida
Staud. In other words to determine whether the differences between
nomino-typical fuliginosa and fervida were of genetic origin or other-
wise.

F1 generation—Some forty ova were laid and the resulting larvae
fed up on a mixture of various Compositae until they were in their
last instar. At this stage, in the middle of September, they were flown
out to Uganda, and they, and their descendants, were fed on the leaves
of one of the large tree Groundsels (Senecio sp.), which came origin-

176 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VI/1953

ally from the Kenya Highlands. Roughly half the larvae spun up
shortly after arrival and, on 5.x.52, when the first imago emerged,
there were twenty-four cocoons and twenty larvae in diapause. These >
cocoons. produced 16 males, 7 females and one dried up larva. On
7.x.52 nine of the resting larvae were put in a domestic refrigerator for
-a week in the hope that their pupation might be speeded up. There
was no response, however, and all the larvae that went into diapause,
with the exception of two, died. Those that were damped went mouldy
and those that were kept dry shrivelled up. The last two pupae pro-
duced males on the 23 and 24.x.52, and may really have been delayed
members of the first batch. All the imagines were normal.

F2 generation—A brother to sister pairing was obtained between
two moths emerging in early October. One small batch of ova was
retained and all the others destroyed. The larvae were reared without
casualties and began to spin on &.xi.52, several still having an instar
to go. Emergences began on 20.xi.52 and the first batch had all
emerged by 27.xi.52, when ten larvae were still feeding. These latter
fed until early December and then went into diapause and died. Seven
pupae died and the imagines were evenly divided between the two
sexes. All, again, were normal.

F3 generation—A brother to sister pairing was again obtained and
larvae hatched on 28.xi.52. Spinning commenced on 19.xi1.52 and, by
28.xii.52, when the first imago emerged, there were 17 cocoons and
4 larvae still feeding, which spun up shortly afterwards. ' No larva of
this brood showed any signs of going into diapause. Sexes were about
equally divided and all were of the usual English form.

F4 generation—Two brother to sister pairings were obtained and
ova were laid on 31.xii1.52. Larvae fed up well and none showed any
signs of going into diapause. Emergences commenced on 3.11.53. All
imagines were normal and sexes about equally divided.

Two pairings were obtained between females of one of the F4 broods
and males of the other, but all the ova failed to hatch, bringing the
experiment to an end.

Four generations are hardly enough to draw solid conclusions but
it does not seem as if the increased red colour of the hind-wing of
fervida can be ascribed to temperature or to more rapid development.

It is probably worth recording that all four generations were reared |
under the strictest security and I can guarantee that no ova, larvae
or imagines were allowed to escape to found a colony in Kampala.

Kampala, 31.11.53.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hueerns, F.R.E.S.

Whittleia retiella Newm. From the end of May until the end of
June this quaint looking little Psychid is to be found on saltings, usually
on the drier parts where wiry grass grows. It flies only in the sunshine
and, until its appearance is familiar, is apt to be overlooked. The first
two I ever obtained, on Iwade saltings near Sittingbourne, Kent, were
both captured at lunch-time by my wife, one settling on a table-napkin
and one on her white frock. I have no doubt there were others about

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA LAT

but I saw no more; later, when I got used to its appearance, I could
usually net a dozen on a sunny afternoon. It may also be captured by
sweeping the grass, but being fragile is apt to be ruined in the process.

I think retiella is found on most saltings on the east and south coasts;
it is certainly to be found from Cliffe to Ebbsfleet in Kent and from
Harwich to Canvey in Essex. The first Essex specimen was taken by
the Rev. C. R. N. Burrows on the spot now occupied by the Southend-on-
Sea bandstand. We live in an age of progress...

Phalonia mussehliana Treits. The capture of this obscure Tortrix by
Mr. J. D. Bradley at Ballylickey near Bantry in June 1952 is the first I
can recall since I took one at Deal in 1922. Mr. Bradley’s capture con-
firms the western distribution of the moth, the Deal locality, unfortun-
ately now destroyed, being the only eastern one I know. The others re-
corded are in Devon, Wales, and Sligo, Ireland, where I have little
doubt it is widely distributed as it likes wet heavy fields with poor vege-
tation, such as abound in the west of that country. There is no reliable
account of its life-history and as it is normally double-brooded so that
larvae would not have to be carried over hibernation it is to be hoped
an energetic collector may fill the gap.

Eucosma simplana F.v. R. This very beautiful little Tortrix is to
be found in scrub aspen in the last two weeks of June. It is practically
impossible to take except where the aspen growth is from four to eight
feet high, when it may very occasionally be beaten out on a warm after-
noon but may much more easily be caught buzzing round the bushes at
early dusk, when its creamy-white colour distinguishes it from
neglectana, which usually accompanies it but looks dirty-white.

I know only one locality for simplana. I was told it in strict con-
fidence and visited it twice but always found the aspens in the wrong
stage and got none.

I then went to live some distance away and could not visit the place
at random, but one day I received a letter from a well-known collector,
now deceased, who was as fond of informing friends of his captures as he
was reticent of the localities where they were made.

The letter after certain captures at Folkestone stated ‘‘Also, not at
Folkestone, I yesterday took five simplana’’. This was enough for me;
I knew the wood was now at the right stage of growth, and the following
Sunday (24th June 1930) I arranged for a car to bring me home at late
dusk and captured 17 simplana, 3 by beating and 14 flying over the
aspens; I could have taken more had I wished. I did not tell my in-
formant (who was, of course, unaware that I knew the place) of my
luck; it would have been too like seething a kid in its mother’s milk.

I should, however, not despair of finding stmplana in any ancient
Kentish woodland at the right time of the year and in the conditions
given above, as its former distribution was much wider, Darenth, Stone,
etc.

Kucosma demarniana F. v. R. may be found in old woodland in Kent
in June (Blean, Ham Street and probably many others). It sits high
in the birch trees and may be beaten with a pole, or, if the trees be
young enough, dislodged by kicking the trunks. Towards dusk it flies
slowly round the birches, usually high, but if watched will often descend

178 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VI/ 1953

low enough to be captured. It seldom seems to frequent birches below
15 feet in height, but on the one occasion I found it so doing it was easy
to take as it is a slow flier.

Current Notes

The use of the m.y. lamp as an aid to collecting is becoming increas-
ingly, and deservedly, popular—as popular as the invention of sugaring
became a hundred and ten years ago and for the same reason. It is
devoutly to be hoped that it will not have an aftermath which would
deprive this country of its position in the world of lepidopterology. It
is no exaggeration to say that throughout the nineteenth century Eng-
land was first and foremost among the nations in this branch of
Entomology, and that position was held not by virtue of scouring foreign
countries for moths and butterflies hitherto undescribed but by our
lepidopterists working out the life-histories and variation of species and,
latterly, their genetics, which of course can only be done by breeding
them.

Will the widespread use of the m.v. lamp make the catching of
cabinet specimens so easy that collectors will not ‘‘bother’’ to search for
Lepidoptera in the field? Will some, or even many, say: ‘‘Why should
I waste a whole afternoon in searching tree-trunks for Stauropus fagi,
and perhaps find one or two, when I can take my m.v. lamp in the car
to that wood and catch twenty or more fagi in half an hour?’’ If this
viewpoint is adopted to any considerable extent it will be a bad thing
for the science of lepidopterology in this country. In a recent issue of
this magazine a valued and experienced contributor wrote of the ‘‘mere
accumulation’’ of cabinet specimens ‘‘which, let’s face it, is horribly
prevalent to-day.”’

It is a disquieting thought. Our contributor went on to ask “Is it
too much to hope that the rising generation of moth-hunters . . . will
develop a more enquiring turn of mind and use their energies in useful
research rather than in filling their cabinets?’’? We devoutly hope that
this speculation will be substantiated; for it is to ‘‘the rising generation
of moth-hunters’’, most of whom already use the m.v. lamp, that we older
field workers must hand on the torch. Perhaps this new method of
catching moths will not abase our pursuit any more than did the in-
vention of sugaring. But we cannot help wondering sometimes whether
most of our readers do not consider our ‘‘Practical Hints’ as so much
space wasted. An appeal for paragraphs under that heading made in
these pages last year did not bring a single reply. Is thisastraw... ?

One of our Tettigoniids, the bush cricket Roeseliana roeselit Hagen-
bach, has arrived in Canada. Writing in the February issue of The
Canadian Entomologist (85: 78) F. A. Urquhart and J. R. Beaudry
record seven specimens (all males) in the province of Quebec last July.
‘‘Tt was most likely introduced into Quebec by aircraft because the
specimens were taken near the airports of Montreal. In view of the
wide distribution of this species in Europe, where it occurs in consider-
able numbers, it is believed that it will become well established in Quebec
and will eventually extend its range over much of the Eastern United
States and Canada.” Of R. roeselii Burr (British Grasshoppers and

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 179

their Allies, 1936, p. 146) remarks: ‘‘with us this species appears to be
restricted to the East Coast, from Herne Bay to the Humber. [I have
never heard of any record far from the shore, and it is to be looked
for in damp grassy fields.”’

One of our old subscribers and a staunch supporter of the Record
has just sustained an unfortunate loss. He writes: ‘‘A month or so
ago a friend asked me if I could lend him one of my Plusia nt, to show
to someone for comparison with other Plusia. I may say that the said
P ni were bred from larvae kindly sent me by my good friend F. H. Lees
of Maidencombe. This I did, and on the return of the insect, while
replacing it in my collection, my ‘specs’ fell off my nose and alighted
among my Plusia. The result might have been worse, as the P. m did
not suffer, but my P. festucae suffered very badly indeed, as did the
P. chrysitis. The latter can be replaced from the valerian in the garden,
with luck, but not the festucae, a species which does not occur in my
district.”? If any brother lepidopterist should have eggs, larvae or pupae
of P. festucae to spare this coming season we should be glad to put him
in touch with our contributor.

Notes and Observations

A Sprine Niegut in DersysHire.—Although the conditions were not
as favourable for insects as I should have liked them to be on the even-
ing of April 8th, the thermometer registered only 45° F. at 7.30 p.m.
the relative humidity was 70%, and the barometer was fairly high, I
decided to try the Tilley Lamp in a part of Hardwick Wood which had
seemed particularly warm and pleasant in the morning sunshine. The
lamp was lit and the sheet set by 8.0 p.m., but no insects were attracted,
not even a gnat before 9.0 p.m. I decided to walk with the lamp to
another part of the same wood where moths can always be found, in
spite of its seeming drawbacks. I walked along the North Easterly edge
of a thirty year old larch plantation which contains a few beeches, oaks
and birches. I took 3 Orthosia gothica L., and 1 O. incerta Hufn., in
a few minutes. I then noticed that numbers of Calostigia multistrigaria
Haw. were sitting on the grass under the larches and several Frannis
progemmaria Hb. were resting on the branches. On the trunks of the
larches were sitting a varied selection of Kctropis bistortata Goze. I
boxed the first 10 and examined them carefully later. JI made slides of
the male genitalia and compared them with the drawing made by W. H.
T. Tams in The Journal of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society, Vol. 5,
p 19, and it is obvious that all the specimens I took are E. bistortata.
Of the ten, five resembled E. crepuscularia ab. delamerensis White, one
had forewings part pale, part melanic like crepuscularia ab. varia
Ckyne., one was very pale, and three were quite ordinary. Although
all were found on larch trunks, other trees are close by, so there is no
reason for believing that the larvae fed on larch.

None of these moths were attracted to the Tilley light.

On the way home I searched the street lamps. High up on one lamp
I noticed a small Geometer, I could not make up my mind what species,
so I decided to take a closer look. First of all I saw an Harophila
badiata Schf. on the post in the shadow, then an Hrannis marginaria
Fab. (progemmaria Hb.) and then my gaze stopped at the first ‘Oak

180 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VI/1953

Eeauty’ I have ever seen in this district. I have searched for it many
times, and now I am pleased to record Biston strataria Hufn. (prodrom-
aria Schf.). I completely forgot the small Geometer at the top of the
post which for some unknown reason has always been well favoured by
moths.

Last year, the owner of the nearby house asked me one night why
| was so fond of his lamp. When I told him it was a good place for
moths, he took it as an insult to the cleanliness of his garden. He cut
down his hedge, weeded his plot and thoroughly tidied the place up to
clear out the vermin. I was afraid he had succeeded, but I am pleased
to say that there are still twice as many moths at that lamp as at any
other along that road.—J. H. Jonnson, 53 Knighton Street, Hepthorne
Lane, Chesterfield. 12.iv.53.

PIFRIS RAPAE L. at Sea IN Aprit.—I have recently received a speci-
men of Pieris rapae which was caught on board the Kentish Knock
Lightship (51° 39’ 24” N., 01° 40’ 48” E.) on 15th April 1953. The but-
terfly appeared during a N.N.E. Force 4 wind and is likely to have
been an early immigrant from the Continent. The vessel is stationed
well out to sea in the Thames approaches, the nearest point of land
being the North Foreland, 22 miles away.—D. F. Owen, Edward Grey
Institute, Botanic Garden, Oxford.

THe M.V. Lamp In Ucanna.—The m.v. light seems to be repeating
its home performances here. I took over Baron de Worms’s lamp and
have been able to send both the British Museum and the Nairobi Coryn-
don Museum series of a Syntomid (Paramelisa lophura Auriv.) of which
neither had a specimen. It comes five or six every evening, so must be
quite common.—D. G. Srvastoputo, Kampala. 8.iv.53.

Bats at THE M.V. Lamp.—My moth trapping has degenerated into
a nightly feast for the bats—vultures assembling to a carcass in the
desert might be an appropriate simile so numerous and determined are
they in fulfilling their instincts. If one moth in ten gets into the trap
we are lucky, speaking both for moth and recorder. In weather con-
ditions that bring out more night-flying insects everywhere there
would be no need for my robber horde to concentrate on the one tem-
porarily productive spot in the neighbourhood.

One little long-eared bat hung himself up in my porch to digest his
supper, and not having a ‘killer’ nature I couldn’t carry out my blood-
thirsty threats against his tribe on such a confiding creature—a fellow
moth-hunter! M.v. light induces no disabilities in the bats’ nervous
system; they fly to and fro and in and out of the illuminated area as
fancy or the flying insects take them, and picking up grounded moths
with astonishing dexterity is an additional accomplishment I had not
hitherto given them credit for.—F rank H. Lees, The Gables, Maiden-
combe, Torquay, Devon. 8.v.53.

INCIDENCE oF CERTAIN AGROTIDS YEARS Aco.—TI have read with in-
terest ‘An Old Moth-Hunter’s’ note on the incidence of certain Agrotids
before the invention of sugaring (1842) and agree that the ‘garden
moths’ may have become more common as the human population in-
creased. But I fear this is an over-simplification. Cirrhia gilvago

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. Is

Schf., Anaplectoides prasina Schf., Amphipyra tragopoginis Cl., Aporo-
phyla lutulenta Schf. and Diarsia brunnea Schf. (to mention only those
referred to in my paper), which were also accounted great rarities in
Haworth’s time, could hardly be called ‘garden moths’ nor has there
been any considerable increase in the usual foodplants of any of them
these last two hundred years.

In the Zoologist of January 1846 Newman printed a paragraph
headed Capture of Rare Moths, near Lyndhurst in the New Forest sent
to him by a correspondent who stated ‘‘A friend of mine has taken the
following moths from sugar placed upon trunks of trees near Lyndhurst

. which IJ select from the list as worthy of being recorded on account
of their rarity.” The list included Thalpophila matura, Hydraecia
oculea, Anchoscelis litura, Eupsilia transversa, Agrochola lota, Allo-
phyes oxyacanthae and Graptolitha ornitopus. Does the ‘Old Moth-
Hunter’ suggest that all these species were actually rare in 1845? Again,
in 1849 J. B. Hodgkinson, sugaring at Carlisle, took one hundred and
twenty specimens of Amathes depuncta L. and remarked ‘‘this insect
was lately doubted as British, and four specimens only had been heard
of’? (Zoologist 2755). This is essentially a woodland species and there-
fore unaffected by the human population.

On ‘An Old Moth-Hunter’s’ analogy all these species should be rarer,
not commoner, to-day since such vast areas of waste lands (supporting
their foodplants) have been ‘reclaimed’ this last century and a half.
As for Polychrisia moneta, Delphinium is not its only foodplant and if
this had not been available the moth might have oviposited on something
else. A late Editor of this magazine once told me that he had found the
young larvae of P. moneta on wormwood in his garden at Stroud.—
P. B. M. Arian, 4 Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.

SPHINX LIGUSTRI J.. IN NoRTHAMPTONSHIRE.—To follow up Mr. A. A.
Allen’s note in the April issue (Hnt. Rec., 65: 118) I should like to
record my observations on this species in the above-mentioned Midland
county for 1951 and 1952. I took 38 and 4 moths respectively in my
m.v. light trap, which was used every night and all night in my garden
from early spring each year to late autumn. The dates are as follows :—
ieeviroto(t): SiviobeGy;9.v11.5) (1); 16.v1.52" (2); 22.v1.52 Cl) 27.71.52
(1). The numbers are of course small, but this may well be due to the
unsuitable locality for the light trap. The balanced time of appearance,
however, would suggest, to me at least, that S. ligustri is established
in this area.—P. J. Gent, 3 Irthlingborough Road, Wellingborough.
22.iv.53.

Formica rura L. arrackrne a Spiper.—While picking up a dozen
larvae of Arctia villica along a dry sunny bank on 11th March I saw a
seething mass of wood ants (Formica rufa L.). They were evidently
engaged in nefarious work of some kind, so J disturbed the centre of
their activity, rather expecting to find the remains of a villica larva.
Instead of this I disclosed what was left of a medium-sized spider.
There must have been literally hundreds of ants surging round it, and
there certainly could not have been ‘‘fair shares for all.’’ It was rather
surprising that such an active creature as a spider had not been able to
escape from the ants. These insects are no friends of the lepidopterist.
When beating for larvae in the New Forest, where they abound, one

182 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V1/1953

often receives a shower of them in the beating-tray, and perhaps a few
down one’s neck. They cannot sting, but indulge in what Dr. Imms
called ‘‘a form of chemical warfare’’ by discharging formic acid from
one end, while at the other they are equipped with sharp mandibles
(Insect Natural History, 1947, p. 288). Last October, when beating for
‘larvae of Atolmis rubricollis, 1 noticed that they were slow to attack
some brown Geometrid larvae in the tray, but when a half-grown larva
of Lophopteryxz capucina lL. appeared and I was about to replace it on
its tree, three or four ants immediately fell upon it before I could stop
them, and despatched it without delay. J suppose they were attracted
by the conspicuous bright green colour of the larva.—H. Symes, 52
Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 19.111.53.

Aw Unvsvar Patrinc.—While collecting in Dunsfold wood near Chid-
dingfold on 11th April 1953 I was surprised to find dislodged from the
sallows a male Orthosia stabilis paired with a female Xylocampa areola.
Both, however, did not survive long. It was incidentally a very good
night for the sallows. Among a host of common insects we took one
Jodia croceago and four Gypsitea leucographa, including three females.
QO. gracilis was quite numerous.—C. G. M. pe Worms, Three Oaks,
Shore’s Road, Woking. 28.iv.53.

LEPIDOPTERA IN RENFREWSHIRE: ADDITIONS TO THE List.—Since my
list of Renfrewshire Lepidoptera was printed in Ent. Rec., 63: 180,
I have added a few more species. These are as follows :—

D. elpenor. 2 larvae and 1 imago.
M. stellatarum. 1 imago.
A.putris. 3 imagines.

A. prasina. 1 imago.

H. bombycina. Uncommon.

P. literosa. 1 imago.

E. silaceata. 2 imagines.

T. firmata. Fairly common locally.
C. coronata. 1 imago.

Of the above, A. putris, A. prasina, E. silaceata, and C. coronata
were attracted with an ultra violet ray lamp. The use of this lamp also
showed up G. papilionaria and O. sambucaria as fairly common, and two
others, A. glareosa and A. nigra, appeared to be fairly plentiful. The
lamp was used over a white sheet and not as a trap.

So far as butterflies were concerned no new species turned up, but
A. selene appears to be spreading as it was found in quite a few new
localities during 1952. NN. io appeared to be holding its own and V.
atalunta was rather more plentiful, but L. phlaeas was not anywhere
like its usual numbers at the Michaelmas daisies in the autumn.—ALAN
M. Macravrin, Oldhall House, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire. 13.iv.53.

Earty APPEARANCE OF ODONTOSIA CARMELITA IN THE SoutH.—On the
night of 15th April 1953 I was surprised to find a fresh male of this
species in my mercury vapour trap here. It was the first specimen I
had taken in this locality, Horsell Common, and the earliest date I have
known for this species. My previous earliest record was five examples
in Swinley Forest on 25th April 1933. I took another male in the trap

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 183

on 26th April.—C. G. M. p—E Worms, Three Oaks, Shore’s Road, Woking.
28.1v.53.

ODONTOSIA CARMELITA IN THE NEW Forest.—While searching large
birches between Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst on 19th April 1953 I was
very gratified to find a female of this species with wings still limp a foot
trom the ground on the north side of the trunk. The time was 12.30 p.m.
B.S.T. Attempts to assemble with it both in this locality and on the
following night at Horsell failed to attract any males. The following
Sunday, 26th April, while searching in the same spot in the New Forest
I came across another female about 5 ft. up on a large birch. This one
laid freely.—C. G. M. pe Worms, Three Oaks, Shore’s Road, Woking.
28.iv.53.

Lonpon Morus.—I am getting together material to write up the
moths of the London Area as a sequel to the Butterflies of this region
which appeared in The London Naturalist for 1949. The boundary of
the area is a circle with a radius of 20 miles from St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Any special records of captures within this area would be most welcome,
especially those relating to Inner London or to the immediate vicinity
of the Metropolis.—C. G. M. pE Worms, Three Oaks, Shore’s Road,
Woking. 28.iv.538.

LAPHYGMA EXIGUA ON THE ISLE oF CANNA.—A specimen was taken
in my moth trap in July 1952; I am obliged to Mr. Tams for identifica-
tion.—J. L. Campsetz, Isle of Canna. 29.iv.53.

EHaRLY APPEARANCE OF D. CONSPERSA.—A specimen was taken in my
m.v. trap on the morning of 27th April 1953.—J. L. Campsett, Isle of
Canna. 29.iv.53.

Late Spring in EK. Evrorve.—Having had a miserable April we are
now having a cold, cloudy, damp May. After a few bright days we have
had to go back to fires. Wistaria only just in bloom. Everything 2-3
weeks late—Matcotm Burr, Insirah Sokagi 34, Bebek, Istanbul.
6.v.53.

KigotH ANNvAL CoNGRESS OF British ENntomMoLoegists.—At the in-
vitation of the Entomological Section of the Yorkshire Naturalists’
Union this Congress, organised by the Society for British Entomology,
will be held in Leeds, 10th-13th July 1953. Lectures, etc., will be held
in the University of Leeds and visitors from a distance will be accom-
modated at the Weetwood Hall of Residence at an inclusive charge of
£3 2s. 6d., from Friday dinner to Monday lunch.

On the Sunday a Field Meeting will be held at Askham Bog, York
(a famous fenland with a rich and varied fauna), and provision is made
for the ladies to look round the ancient city of York. On Monday morn-
ing a visit will be paid to the Orchid nurseries of Messrs Mansell &
Hatcher, Ltd., Rawdon.

Programmes of the Congress can be obtained from Mr. W. D.
Hincks, University Museum, Manchester, 13, or from Mr. S. C. S.
Brown, Hon. Secretary, Society for British Entomology, 454 Christ-
church Road, Bournemouth, Hants. These Congresses are open to all
persons, of either sex, who are interested in British entomology.

184 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VI/ 1958

NEUROPTERA.

Neuroptera in Gloucestershire
By A. F. Peacey, F.R.E.S.

The Order Neuroptera seems to have been sadly neglected by
entomologists in Gloucestershire. An extensive search of entomological
publications has, so far, revealed only four published records for the
county, all of which refer to the same species. Killington, in his mono-
graph of the British Neuroptera 1936-37, mentions only twelve species
as occurring in Glos. out of a total of 53 for the country as a whole.

My main interests are Trichoptera and Micro-lepidoptera, and whilst
collecting these I have also, since the spring of 1952, collected any
specimens of Neuroptera which have come my way. I would emphasise
the fact that all my captures were purely by chance. By the end of the
year I had taken no less than 22 species.

In the following list, the nomenclature follows that used by Killing-
ton in his monograph. All localities are indicated by the name of the
nearest town or village, no local names being used, since many of these
are incomprehensible to any but the local inhabitants.

CoNIOPTERYGIDAE
Conwentzia psociformis Curtis. Brimscombe, 29.viii.52; beaten from
holly.
OSMYLIDAE

Osmylus fulvicephalus Scopoli. Sapperton, 2.vi.52; Bisley, 5.vi.52; Bird-
lip, 29.vi.52.
SISYRIDAE
Sisyra fuscata Fabricius. Brimscombe, 21.v.52, 16.vi.52.

HEMEROBIIDAE
Micromus variegatus Fabricius. Sapperton, 7.vii.52, 28.vii.52; Brims-
combe, 6.1x.52.
Eumicromus -paganus Linnaeus. Brimscombe, 15.v.52.
Hemerobius humulinus Linnaeus. Brimscombe, 15.v.52, 21.vii.52;
16.viii.52; Cirencester, 2.viii.52; Sapperton, 20.v.52, 17.viii.52.

Hemerobius stigma Stephens. Brimscombe, 6.ix.52; Painswick,
18.ix.52; Birdlip, 21.xi.52.

Hemerobius atrifrons McLachlan. Sapperton, 17.viii.52; Painswick,
18.1x.52..

Hemerobius nitidulus Fabricius. Sapperton, 10.v.52, 14.vi11.52; Brims-
combe, 21.vii.52, 6.1x.52; Painswick, 18.1x.52.

Hemerobius micuns Olivier. |Brimscombe, 16.vi.52; Cirencester,
2.viii.52; Sapperton, 17.viu1.52.

Hemerobius lutescens Fabricius. Sapperton, 27.v11.52; Cirencester,
2.vili.52.

Hemerobius marginatus Stephens. Sapperton, 27.vi1.52, 19.viii.52;
Brimscombe, 28.viii.52.

Kimminsia betulina Strom. Sapperton 20.v.52, 17.viii.52, 20.1x.52;
Brimscombe, 16.vi.52.

Kimminsia subnebulosa Stephens. Bisley, 1.vii.52; Brimscombe,
16.vi.52, 21.vii.52; Sapperton, 28.vii.52, 17.viii.52; Painswick,
18.1x.52.

COLEOPTERA. 185

Wesmaelius concinnus Stephens. Bisley, 28.vi.52.
Wesmaelius quadrifasciatus Reuter. Bisley, 28.vi.52; Brimscombe,
21.vii.52; Cirencester, 2.vii1.52.

CHRYSOPIDAE

Chrysopa flava Scopoli. Cirencester, 2.viii.52; Brimscombe, 5.VilL.D2,
7.vii.52.

Chrysopa ciliata Wesmael. Brimscombe, 29.viii.52, at light.

Chrysopa flavifrons Brauer. Cheltenham, 5.viii.52.

Chrysopa albolineata Killington. Brimscombe, 21.vi1.52.

Chrysopa carnea Stephens. 28.v.52, 7.vui.52, 6.1x.52, 30.x1.52. These
dates are all for Brimscombe, but I have taken the species in many
places in the Cotswolds. It appears to be one of the commonest
and most widely distributed of the Chrysopids.

Chrysopa perla Linnaeus. Selsley, 28.v.52, very abundant flying in the
sunshine; Brimscombe, 16.vi.52.

COP Orr Be

Harty APPEARANCE OF CETONIA AURATA L. On 7th April I found a
Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata L.) on the public footpath near my house.
Is this not an exceptionally early date for this insect? It is not un-
common in Bournemouth and the New Forest, but I have never previously
seen one earlier than the end of May: usually in June and July, and
once as late as August, when it visited the flowers of a golden-rod in my
garden, which does not bloom until that month.—H. Symrs, 52 Lowther
Road, Bournemouth. 18.iv.53.

[C. aurata becomes an imago in or about August, but does not (or
only very rarely) emerge into the open before the following summer. I
once came upon a number in late May, flying to hawthorn bloom in the
New Forest; and have heard of its occasional appearance in September.
Records for April—especially early April like that of Mr. Symes—are,
as far as I know, very few. It seems possible that these odd ‘unseason-
able’ individuals may have been stirred into premature activity by some
mischance, such as the uprooting of trees or stumps causing exposure or
breakage of the pupal cell.—A. A. A. ]

DIPTERA
The Hover-flies (Syrphidae)

By L. Parmenter, F.R.E.S.
(Continued from page 159).

Foop anD FEEDING.

Almost all the species of Syrphidae in this country have been seen to
visit flowers.for nectar or pollen. Many also suck at honey-dew. In
Rhingia the proboscis is specially adapted, has a knife-like folding
action and is elongated. This enables the fly to suck nectar from flowers
having long tubes. In many species, such as those of the genus Eristalis,

186 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V1/1953

pollen is taken. The grains are crushed and pulped between the plates
of the labella. Digestive juices dissolve the pulp so that the fly can
suck up the fluid. ;

This flower visitation causes the flies to be dusted with pollen and
_ undoubtedly the part played by the Hover-flies in the pollination of our
plants is immense. They are far more active and numerous than bees
in summer and would appear to be of greater benefit to mankind than
the more popular bees.

As to the larvae, many feed in stagnant water and in sewage and
must be credited with a useful role in assisting in the sweetening cf
these foul waters. The bulk of Syrphid larvae are eaters of aphides.
They destroy an enormous quantity and a large variety of species:
Some attack the aphides in the ground, others in galls, and most, those
on herbs and trees. Students of aphides have stated their opinion to
be that the greatest destructors of aphides are Hover-fly grubs. Thus
both adult and larvae are beneficial.

The grubs of Merodon and Humerus are the only pests, attacking
the bulbs of our gardens. But the adults assist in pollination so that
they must not be condemned entirely.

Although various naturalists have given their attention to the flower
visiting habits of the adults, little study has been done on the prey
selected by the larvae. The control of green fly attacks might be left
to the Syrphidae if we only knew the best species to be encouraged. The
further study of the predatory habits of these blind grubs would merit
the attention of many observers.

ENEMIES.

Of parasites, Dr. O. W. Richards and Miss E. I. Scott bred a num-
ber of species and have recorded 9 species of Ichneumonidae: in Chal-
cidoidea, the Encrytid—Syrphophagus aeruginosus Dalm. and the
Pteromalid—Pachyneuron formosum Walker and three species of Proc-
totrupoidea. Two species of Ichneumonidae that had been oviposited
in the eggs of. Syrphidae were reared from the pupae. There is obviously
a great deal of further breeding of Syrphidae to be done to aid the
Hymenopterists in identifying the parasites of these flies and to ascer-
tain their host selection limits.

Of predators, despite the mimicry provided by the black and yellow
patterns of the flies, the list is numerous. Several birds have been re-
corded taking Syrphidae. Swallow nestlings have been found to be fed
with several species and when examining, by the kindness of Mr. D. F.
Owen, the food of nestling Swifts recently I found such species as Cata-
bomba pyrastri L., Syrphus corollae F., Melanostoma mellinum L., Syr-
phus balteatus Deg., Eristalis pertinax Scop., Platychirus clypeatus
Mg., Platychirus albimanus F., Syrphus vitripennis Mg., Syrphus
ribesti L., Sphaerophoria scripta L., Melanostoma scalare F., Sphaero-
phoria menthastri L., Eristalis nemorum L., Eumerus strigatus Fln.,
Pyrophaena granditarsa Forster and Chilosia sp., in some cases many
examples.

In the flies—the Asilidae take their toll. Melanostoma, Rhingia,
Syritta and Syrphus have provided victims for Machimus atricapillus
Flin. and Dioctria rufipes Deg. has taken Syritta pipiens L. The large
Volucella pellucens l., Fristalis tenax L. and Sericomyia borealis Fin.

DIPTERA. 187

have been captured by Asilus crabroniformis L. The dung flies—Scato-
phaga stercoraria L. and others have killed and sucked species of Platy-
chirus, Melanostoma and Syrphus. The Muscid—Coenosia tigrina F.
has captured a Platychirus fulviventris Macq. Among the Empididae,
Empis tessellata F. has collected Chilosia albitarsis Mg., Chilosia nebu-
losa Verr., Platychirus peltatus Mg., Rhingia campestris Mg. and Syr-
itta pipiens L. —

Among the wasps—Clytochrysus is known to prey especially on Syr-
phidae and Mellinus arvensis L. has captured a Syrphus.

As for the spiders there are several that have fed on Syrphidae.
Miseumena vatia Clerck (=calycina L.) catches them as they visit the
flowers on which it sits. A. H. Turner has seen Rhingia campestris Mg.
as a victim and Dr. Hobby has recorded this spider taking Leucozona
lucorum L., Platychirus peltatus Mg., Syrphus ribesu L., and Syrphus
vitripennis Mg. In Epping Forest, I found the rarely taken Cnemodon
latitarsis Egg. as a victim of Meta segmentata Clerck.

SLEEP.

There appears to have been little noted about the resting habits of
the family. Whereas in some families some species seem to seek the
underside of leaves to obtain shelter from the strongest sunshine, few
Syrphidae attempt to escape the sun’s rays. But as the sun goes in and
as the temperature drops, the Hover-flies become sluggish and creep
out of sight—down to the base of the herbaceous plants. In the sum-
mer, at sundown on warm evenings, I have found EHristalis arbustorum L.
resting as if asleep on the centres of composite flowers. It has been
suggested that the plant may give off some warmth in its growth and
the flowerhead may, therefore, be a warm bed.

As for hibernation, occasionally an Eristalis or Syrphus balteatus
Deg. is found indoors in winter and once a Syrphus balteatus Deg. was
found in an abandoned leather purse in a wood in the depth of winter.
But I think these are the exceptions to a rule that Hover-flies do not
hibernate as adults. However, there is an old record of 27 Hristalis
tenax L. that were once found together hibernating in a clay bank in
New Zealand.

ATTRACTION TO LicHT.

Audcent found Melanostoma mellinwm L. and Syrphus bifasciatus F.
(=Epistrophe eligans Harr.) in a collection of flies taken at a mercury
vapour lamp. When examining some thousands of flies from a light
trap collection made by Mr. T. Trought I found no Syrphidae. It is,
therefore, considered that only odd examples of these diurnal flies are
likely to visit lights.

A few Hover-flies have ventured indoors and have been stated to
alight on flowered wallpaper. LEristalis tenax L. has been found in-
doors more than once in the autumn and winter and Mr. A. A. Allen
found Volucella inanis L. indoors. In no ease is it thought that the at-
traction was light.

MIGRATION.
Dr. and Mrs. Lack have recorded Syrphus balteatus Deg. flying
steadily against the wind through a Pyrenean pass. Other species of
Syrphus and Catabomba pyrastri L. have been claimed as migrants to

188 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VI/ 1953

this country and Spitsbergen has had immigrants from the continent of
Europe. Certainly Volucella zonaria Poda would appear to have in-
vaded this country from Europe, colonising the South East corner of
England. The suggestion that Doros conopseus F. is also a migrant has
not found support.

Large numbers of Hover-flies appear at times along the East and
South East coasts, sometimes a mass floats in on the tide. In October
1949 and 1950, Dr. G. Bevan found thousands of Syrphidae moving
southwards at Spurn Head. Although wind blown flies would naturally
endeavour to keep from flying across a sea and try and keep along the
edge, taking shelter from sea walls, cliffs, etc., there is sufficient
evidence to justify an entomologist paying special attention to these
movements. The flies are strong flyers and do not appear in the kite
traps sampling the inhabitants of the air at several hundred feet. It
is, therefore, likely that all movements could be watched. Those
naturalists interested in the migration of birds and butterflies and
visitors of the bird observatories in particular might care to note the
habits of Hover-flies as well.

Economic IMPORTANCE.

This has been discussed under the heading of ‘‘Food and Feeding’’
and it perhaps only needs a sentence or two on contro! measures against
Merodon and Humerus. In private gardens, the use of soft worthiess
damaged bulbs as decoys in the vicinity of flowerbeds has been recom-
mended. These bulbs should be destroyed within a month as EHmerus
matures in about six weeks. Wholesale growers should consult Mr. Hod-
son’s studies and recommendations. There is still a need for experi-
mental work on the remedies advocated.

Although pollination is considered generally beneficial, visits of
Eristalis pertinax Scop., Eristalis arbustorum L. and Syritta pipiens L.
to cucumber flowers in greenhouses have caused these species to be
labelled as pests in such circumstances.

NOMENCLATURE.

The aim of the systematist to arrange all the described species into
an order showing the presumed evolutionary trend, and his need to
obey the rules of priority governing the usage of the names has caused
a considerable change in these names during the passage of years. In
1758 Linnaeus described 27 of the species found in Britain, but the first
of the present genera of Syrphidae to be- described was Volucella
(described as Conops by Poda in 1761) of Geoffroy, 1762, followed by
Rhingia, by Scopoli in 1763. Syrphus itself was not described by
Fabricius until 1775. The earlier genera were all described from
European material but by 1825 a North American genus had been added.
The world-wide distribution of the family has produced many students of
the taxonomy of the family and the interesting contributions of Matsuma
of Japan and Shannon of the U.S.A. led E. R. Goffe to his years of work
on a revision of the family’s systematics. The acceptance of some of a
number of the new proposals and non-acceptance by others, particularly
the 1800 names of Meigen, has caused a variety of names to appear in
the literature. It seems probable that the publication of Mr. Coe’s keys
to the British species will provide a list of names that will be used in
this country for many years.

DIPTERA. 189

This change of names is always deplored by entomologists concerned
with economic and biological studies. Probably the Syrphidae with
Muscidae and Tachinidae are the familes that have been subjected to
most disturbance and most concern the biologist and agricultural en-
tomologist. It must, however, be admitted that as further knowledge
is acquired the authors aim at correcting earlier mistakes and at obtain-
ing a proper appreciation of the status of each species. Only time will
prove whether stability of nomenclature will be achieved. Fortunately
Kloet and Hincks’ Check List provides the synonyms to enable the
varied names used in economic, systematic and distributional papers to
be recognised.

REARING.

Various species of all types of Hover-flies—aphid eaters, inhabitants
of rotten wood and of sewage, and even Volucella and Microdon in wasps’
and ants’ nests respectively—-have been successfully reared. I have
reared several species in small collecting tubes, both Hristalis and
Syrphus, etc., from the larval stage to adult. But where more natural
conditions are imitated success is far greater. It is hoped that no col-
lector of the Hover-flies will be content until he has bred various species.

STUDIES.

During breeding it is suggested that those with the facilities should
keep the various stages as specimens. Hennig has compiled a list of
the species so far studied and a perusal of his work will show the vast
field still open. Many have possibly bred Syrphidae without properly
studying the larval and pupal stages, expecting that the work had
already been done efficiently. It must also be remembered that a pub-
lished record may be based on a single breeding which may be quite
abnormal. Rearing in captivity may be different from the results in
nature. Confirmation of all results already published is worth while.
Any entomologist may stumble on an egg, larva or pupa, unknown in
one or more of its early stages. The results should be published with a
description of the technique used in rearing to assist others who may
wish to try the same method or another.

The literature on the Syrphidae has so many instances of differences
in the habits within the same species as to give rise to a number of
queries by later students. It is obvious that for any evolution to take
place there must be variation, tendencies to change from the normal
habit and the normal habitat. But the initial record of abnormality
challenges the credulity of readers. There are doubts of identity and
of care in observation, in rearing, etc. It must therefore be emphasized
that when apparent abnormality is found, it should be recorded as such
after careful checking for accuracy of observation and if possible corro-
boration of identification. But it is not only abnormalities that are to
be noted. The normal with its range of variation needs to be placed on
record. Although original work is always welcome, attention to pre-
vious work of others would ensure progress, confirming facts earlier
known and enabling emphasis to be placed on the new facts.

Some dipterists may be more interested in distribution. Besides
the county distribution studies, attention paid to habitat factors would
be more useful. The distribution of each stage in the lives of each
species needs to be known. These facts are worth acquiring, for besides

190 ; ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ V1/1953

their own interest there is the use that can be put to them by biologists
who wish to know where to obtain their material for their studies and
for comparison. Fluctuations in numbers may be great and Laurence
and others have drawn attention to the fluctuations in the common
species Rhingia campestris Mg.

The habits of the family are already known to be very varied but
by no means is all known. Individuals in each species vary one with
the other, and their study can be most fascinating and far more satis-
fying than a mere accumulation of dead specimens.

The encouragement in the illustration by line drawings, by colour
and photograph now growing in entomology should be extended by the
naturalists interested in this family. The colours and shapes of the
larvae and adults are worthy of record. A figure will convey more to
a beginner than lines of description. The cost of reproduction may be
prohibitive in many cases but surely a collection of studies might be
commenced by the premier societies and museums.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has published excellent
illustrations of some of the friends and enemies of man in this family.
These should be obtained by all new students of the family.

(To be continued.)

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903.)

WHERE TO GO FOR BuTTEeRFLIES.—On Thursday, April 9th, at 2.20
p.m., I left London without having seen a single living butterfly of the
year. On Saturday, the 1lth, at 11 a.m., I found myself under the
(scanty) shade of the olives, near Menaggio, watching Papilio podalirius
toying in mid-air, P. machaon skimming over the strips of meadow be-
tween the vineyards, Euchloe cardamines with its dash of colour, the
delicate Leptidea sinapis flying over the blossoms in the grass, and the
familiar Pararge megaera sunning itself with open wings on a hot
stone. After dull winter days this was a delightful experience. I re-
mained in Menaggio till April 20th, and, during those few days, noted
about thirty species of Rhopalocera. P. podalirius was very common
and especially attracted to the upper branches of the plum trees around
the town, then in blossom.—ALFRED SIcH.

Scarcity oF Insects at SuGaR mn 1902.—My experience last season
was that flowers were the more attractive bait, as I think the following
will show. In July last I sugared in Parkhurst Forest, Newport, Isle
of Wight, and was not at all satisfied with the few insects which were
on the sugar, nor with the way Thyatira batis and Gonophora derasa
kept flitting past my lantern, only occasionally settling, so I turned
my attention to the flowers of the bramble, and found 7. batis, G. derasa,
G. libatriz, H. oleracea, C. affinis, C. trapezina and many other moths
there in goodly numbers. On July 24th I sugared some posts at the
edge of the cliffs on the way to Beachy Head, with very poor result...
and concluded that the flowers up the face of the cliff were getting the
lion’s share of the visitors, as a number of moths flitted up towards the
lantern light and returned down the cliff as quickly as they came. J,
therefore, resolved to visit some privet bushes which I had noted on my

CURRENT LITERATURE. 191

way up, and which were in flower. As soon as I got to them my conjec-
ture was confirmed, as the buzzing wings was quite noticeable, and I
found that the bushes were alive with moths jostling one another, and
barely a flowerhead but had one or two moths.—C. W. CoLtTHrvr.

Levucoma saLicis Fryine at Dawn.—Having occasion one morning
last July to get.out of bed at dawn, to scatter some members of the
feline tribe from the vicinity of my bedroom window, I was agreeably
surprised to see a number of L. salicis flying about, which fully com-
pensated me for the interruption to my innocent slumbers.—C. W.
CoLTHRUP.

Current Literature

CATALOGUS DER NEDERLANDSE MACROLEPIDOPTERA. By B. J. Lempke.
Pars XI.

This, the final part of the Catalogue of Dutch Macrolepidoptera
published as a supplement to the Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 1952,
95: 197-319, has just been received. It deals with the rest of the Geo-
metrinae and as in the earlier Parts the subspecies and aberrations
found in the Netherlands are described with references to the original
descriptions, and a number of new subspecies and aberrations described
and named by the author are given. Since many of these occur in the
British Isles this catalogue is indispensable to any British lepidopterist
who is interested in variation. There is also an index to the whole of
the Catalogue. In this Part there is also a supplementary list of species
discovered in the Netherlands since the Catalogue was started, and a
short history of the Dutch fauna with a list of species which are or were
indigenous in that country but not in the British Isles.

A useful addition is a list of Schiffermiiller’s names for the Agrotidae
and Geometridae dealt with in Parts IV (1939) to X (1951) which are
nomina nuda, with the valid names which must replace them. For-
tunately most of the changes involve a mere change of authorship, but
in other cases there is no valid name available or a name known to
everyone would be replaced by one which has seldom or never been used.
Lempke recommends that these should be placed on the Official List
of Specific Names in Zoology. Opinions will differ about the desir-
ability of this, though most will agree that when there is no valid name
available this is the best course to adopt.

BK. Az C!

First SUPPLEMENT TO THE INDEXED CHECK-LIST oF THE BritTiIsH LEPI-
DOPTERA WITH THE ENGLISH NAMES OF THE 2313 Species (1947).
By I. R. P. Heslop, M.A., F.R.E.S. Published by E. W. Classey.
Price ls. 6d.

Since the original check-list was published to the end of 1951 38
species have been added. These are included and the typographical
errors are corrected. The new Colias is called australis Verity and it is
to be hoped that this will be altered to calida when the List is amended.
It has not been proved conclusively that the new British species of
Eupithecia is alliaria Staud. The bursa copulatrix of the only known
specimen, that from the Isle of Man, agrees with Petersen’s figure of

192 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/V1/ 1953

the bursa of alliaria, but is it certain that no other European species
has a similar bursa?

BH. A. C.

THe 397H-49TH PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE MANCHESTER
EntTomotocicaL Socrety, 1941-51. Published by the Society, April
19538. Price 10s. 6d.

This 44-page report brings the Society’s publications up to date and
comprises a number of short papers by members. These are mainly
about the insect fauna of the district, including the social wasps of the
Manchester area, the Plecoptera, Ephemeroptera and Odonata of N.E.
Lancashire, the Tipulidae (with special reference to the Oldham dis-
trict), and the Microlepidoptera of the Wilmslow Mosses. There is also
a paper on the insects associated with Typha latifolia and 65 species of
beetles are listed which have been obtained from this plant in winter
by stripping the sheaving leaves from the stems. In another paper four
dipterous and four hymenopterous parasites of the moth, Deilephila
elpenor, are described and a key is provided for their identification.

DL Rio:

The 5th Annual Report of the Huntingdonshire Fauna and Flora
Society contains the first part of the ‘‘Lepidoptera of Huntingdonshire’’
by J. E. H. Blackie. This deals only with the Lycaenidae. The old
records of Lysandra bellargus, Cupido minimus and Plebejus argus are
considered doubtful, as suitable habitats are not to be found within the
county. Polyommatus icarus is thought to have decreased recently as
a result of ploughing. The introduced Lycaéna dispar batavus survives
at Wood Walton and all five of the British hairstreaks seem established
in good numbers. As there is no ‘‘Lepidoptera of Huntingdonshire’’
this paper is a welcome start to the county list.

AD ig ests C

In The Naturalist, No. 845, April-June 1953, there is a paper by
K. G. Spencer entitled ‘‘Abnormal abundance of the larvae of the Antler
moth in the E. Lancs.-W. Yorks. Region, 1947 and 1948, and the effect
upon the bird life of the area’’. Plagues of larvae were found on the
moors in these two summers and were discovered and eaten by black-
headed gulls, lesser black-backed gulls, rooks, jackdaws and starlings.
It is noted that the main plague in 1947 followed a hard winter as did
a previous plague in the area.

D. FQ:

In the Irish Naturalists’ Journal, Vol. 11, April 1953, there is a sum-
mary of the records of migrant insects in Ireland in 1952 by E. S. A.
Baynes. Pieris brassicae was seen going north-east at the Great Saltee
in the first half of August and as elsewhere Vanessa cardui was very
early in its appearance and very abundant in Ireland. A swarm of
Callimorpha jacobaeae which appeared at the Inishowen Lighthouse,
Co. Donegal, was thought to be of migrants. In a short note the same
author records the second occurrence of Polychrisia moneta for Ireland
(the first record was in 1939). A moth and an empty cocoon were found
and the author concludes that the species is now probably established in
Ireland. There is also a short paper by R. F. Haynes on collecting
lepidoptera at Connemara and N. Mayo in June 1952.

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3116), situated in the lovely NEW FOREST, offers an Entomologist’s
paradise, as the insect life of the Forest has fully recovered its normal
attraction. In the heart of some of the finest Sugaring and Beating,
such rarities as pictaria, turca, sponsa, orion, etc., may be found close
to the Hotel. Brochure and special terms gladly sent on request.
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Wanted.—Pupae of Irish or Scottish O. bidentaia, and ova of wild parents of
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Wanted.—Butterflies of Europe, America, India and Africa in exchange for
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193

Lectotypes of one Subspecies and Twe |

Aberrations of British Geometridae

| pug
By E. A. Cocxayyr, D.M., F.R.C.P. |
}

an

Sterrha ochrata Scopoli ssp. cantiata Prout. au ERD
I have selected a specimen labelled ‘Deal, bb yaie i908. i Bi Prolite sity :

as the lectotype.

Ectropis consonaria Hiibner ab. nigra Bankes.

I have selected a male labelled ‘‘Kent, bred 1904. E. Goodwin’” as
the lectotype. I wrote to the curator of the Maidstone Museum and
was informed that the type is not in the Goodwin coll. No type was
marked in the Bankes coll.

Cleora rhomboidaria Schiffermiiller ab. nigra Adkin.

The melanic form of this species first found in England at Norwich
and later in N. Kent is usually referred to as ab. rebeli Aigner-Abafi.
_ Aigner’s original description in Hungarian (Rovart. Lap., 1905, 12:
152) and published by him again in German (Ent. Z., 1906, 19: 209)
says that rebeli is rust-black with a zigzag white subterminal line. In
all the British specimens I have seen the subterminal line is absent or
consists of a series of pale yellow interneural loops, but as a rule the
basal and median areas are bordered by more definite pale yellow lines,
and in the most distinctly marked yellow may invade the median area
itself.

Aigner’s description agrees with one of the melanic forms of C. repan-
data and I think he was describing a parallel form of rhomboidaria,
genetically distinct from the British, French, and Austrian melanic
forms. This was named ab. nigra Adkin (Proc. S. Lond. ent. Nat. Hist.
Soc., 1908-1909, 85, published in 1909). Nigerrima Moreau (Bull. Soc.
ent. Fr., 1916, 188, Pl. i) is a synonym. Lenek (Nachrblatt Oesterr. u.
Schweiz. ent., 1951, 3: 122) has subdivided nigra, calling the completely
black form orcus and the one most variegated with yellow exquisita,
but the melanism in all is determined by the same main gene. Rebeli
has been used by British entomologists for many years and both H. B.
Williams and E. B. Ford writing on the genetics do so. In Seitz a
specimen of nigra is figured as rebelz and the description is not Aigner’s
but is based on a nigra. Adkin did not mark his type and I am making
a female labelled ‘‘Dartford, 12.viii.1908’’ the lectotype of ab. nigra.
There are only two specimens in his collection which by their labels
could be those Adkin had before him when he gave the name. He bred
large numbers later and published the results of his breeding experi-
ments (Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1915, cxxii), which proved that the form
is dominant and that the heterozygote and the homozygote are indis-
guishable.

A Subspecies of Plusia gamma Linnaeus
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

In 1899 1 spent the 27th August at Sheerness, where I found ten
larvae of Plusia gamma L. on Atriplex, which was growing luxuriantly
along the shore. All had a black stripe on each side of the head, and

194 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/VITI/1953

black legs. They were heavily pigmented, some nearly black, with
distinct longitudinal stripes, and though they appeared to be nearly
full grown they were very small. They spun cocoons between 30th
August and 2nd September, and the moths emerged between 14th and
21st September. The moths were very small, pale, and silvery, with
none of the rich purplish or brown colour of normal gamma. I in-
tended to blow one of the blackest, but was too late and had to blow the
most backward, which happened to be the lightest. According to my
diary five moths were bred from nine larvae, but there is no mention
of the fate of the other four. A long time after J examined the geni-
talia, which agreed with those of gamma.

Many years later I found a note by G. T. Porritt (Ent. mon. Mag.,
1892, 28: 255) entitled ‘‘Notes on a probably hitherto undescribed form
of the larva of Plusia gamma’’. He says that in the middle of July
Mr. Charles Whitehead of Maidstone sent three larvae, saying they
were abundant on clover, nettles, thistle, etc., and three days later,
18th July, he sent five more. Though still quite small they began to
spin up and produced pupae little more than a third the size of gamma.
From his larvae Porritt bred only one moth, but Whitehead sent him
three more, and all were less than half the size of gamma caught a
fortnight before on the Lancashire coast, and they were uniformly paler
and more silvery and were without the purple tint of the Lancashire
specimens and of all the others in his cabinet. More than half his larvae
died without spinning and Whitehead says that many of his cocoons
were imperfect and came to nothing. He ends his note with a long and
careful description of the larvae, which were about an inch long, very
dark olive green, in one specimen nearly black, with green longitudinal
stripes. The head and legs (he makes a slip and says prolegs) intensely
black and shining, the tubercles black and distinct each emitting a
short stiff grey hair, and the prolegs having on the outsides a large
cup-shaped black mark.

J. C. Miller (Ent. mon. Mag., 1892, 28: 287) says that on 6th-14th
July 1892 his son found young larvae of gamma on Matricaria. These
when grown up were like Porritt’s in appearance, and were very small,
and they produced three very diminutive pale silvery moths from 16th
August onwards. The other larvae though well fed died. Méiller’s
larvae were found at Beckenham, Kent.

The uniformly small size of these larvae found on different food-
plants, and at different places and times, cannot have been caused by
shortage of food, unsuitable food, or very dry food. Those I found
were eating the fleshy leaves of Atriplex, which was growing in great
abundance and was very juicy. Their dark colour cannot have been
a response to the prevailing colour of the foodplants, which were very
varied. C. B. Williams has shown that overcrowding makes the green
of Plusia gamma darker, but my larvae were thinly spread over a long
stretch of Atriplex, and it showed no signs that it had been eaten by
a large number of earlier larvae. Thus there is no obvious reason for
the abnormally dark coloration or the abnormally small size of these
larvae. There is, however, evidence that they were unusually delicate.

A very large number of very small gamma, producing pale silvery
moths, was recorded one year in Belgium, and the form was named ab.
minuscula by Lambillion (Cat. Lép. Belge., 1904, p. 144).

VAPOURER GROUP ADAPTATIONS. 195

It is well known that in some years large immigrations of gamma
take place in Kent consisting of moths all of which are small, pale, and
worn. I witnessed one myself in the Warren at Folkestone in July
1946. The explanation often given is that they came from an area
where the foodplants were unusually dry and lacking in nutritive value
or that the number of larvae had been so great that they had been
starved. This explanation is inadequate in the case of the British and
Belgian larvae and it appears probable that their small size is genetic
and not environmental and that they belong to a subspecies, the larva
of which tends to be unusually dark and the moth small, pale, and
silvery. Can this be ssp. gamma Staudinger (Cat., edition 2, 1901, p.
238)? Staudinger describes it as ‘‘duplo minor; al. ant. magis signatis’’,
half the usual size with very strongly marked forewings, and says
Syria and Pontus are its homes. The description agrees quite well and
one would expect a subspecies from the eastern Mediterranean to land
in Kent. Ab. minuscula Lambillion is later than ssp. gammina and is
inappropriate, because the form is a subspecies not an aberration. I
should like to know more about gammina and what sort of larvae and
moths are bred from the small immigrants.

Vapourer Group Adaptations and the apterous
state, with reference to a South African species

in which the young larvae eat the living parent
By H. B. D. Kettitewett, M.A., M.B.

In The Entomologist’s Record for December last (1), under the head-
ing ‘ Fifty years ago ’, the interesting observations of Dr. T. A. Chap-
man on the ‘ Pairing of the ‘ Vapourer ’ moths’ are quoted from the
1902 issue. He points out the habit differences between Orgyia
antiqua, O. recens (gonostigma) and O. splendida. Even within O
antiqua there may be modifications of habit. Cockayne (2) quotes
Pictet (3) as saying that in Switzerland Orgyia antiqua produces two
kinds of female, a small one, which must be fertilized and gives both
male and female offspring, and a large one with different habits, which
is parthenogenetic. Both kinds of female are said to occur in the
same brood, and in one case the sexes were equal in number, but there
were about twice as many parthenogenetic females as ordinary ones.
When one considers that the spread of this genus, where the females
are apterous and where the male cannot carry her during copulation,
must be dependent on larval activity only, it is surprising they have
so widespread a distribution. Selection for the apterous state may
at times have an obvious advantage, for instance it appears to be
found more frequently in species which live on small islands in turbu-
lent climates (e.g. Tristan da Cunha). Flight in these windswept areas
is full of hazards. H. B. Williams has shown in Rhodometra sacraria
that a partial apterous state in both sexes may be under the control
of a single pair of allelomorphs and inherited as a simple recessive (4).
Furthermore the vestigial state may confer benefits under the con-
trol of the same gene. W. P. Spencer (1932) (5) showed that even
though the wingless mutant of Drosophila melanogaster is at a disad-

196 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOU. 65. 15/ VITT/ 1953

vantage in a normal environment, it is longer lived in the absence of
moisture and in drought conditions. ,
A compromise has been reached in Orgyta thyellina which occurs in
Japan. The females are dimorphic, one form being apterous, the
other having large and effective wings (6, 7). I am grateful to C. L.
Collenette of the British Museum for calling my attention to this
state of affairs, one which I do not know in any other Macrolepidop-
tera, but it is similar to the dimorphic females of Acentropus niveus
Oliv. in the Pyralidae where the apterous form is adapted for living
underwater whilst the normal winged state is attained by others.

In 1950 I sent Mr. Collenette all the Lymantriidae I had collected
in various parts of Africa and amongst these was a series of fifteen
males of a ‘ Vapourer-like ’ moth taken on the Cape Peninsula. He
identified these as Bracharoa dregei Herr.-Sch., and added the remark
‘female unknown, probably wingless’. In 1951 I took a ‘ Vapourer ’
larva near the summit of the Glencairn Mountains, Cape Peninsula.
-It was feeding on an Erica species and pupated in due course. The
next observation I have is that some weeks later I found the cocoon
full of infertile eggs. The dead and completely apterous female was
also in the cocoon. I suspected correctly that this was the female
dreget. On the 27th December, 1952, my attention was attracted to
larvae of this same species feeding in numbers on a bush of climbing
Geranium on a wall and they were found to be dimorphic. Of a total
of 215 collected between this date and January 10th, 123 had bright
crimson humps on segments 8 and 9 (head number 1), and 70 pale
yellow, 18 of the crimson having been an intermediate orange in their >
third instar but subsequently turned crimson. Jt was noted that the
further one collected larvae from their breeding centre (the Geranium
bush) the higher the percentage of yellow ones occurred. Differential
counts were undertaken at the centre and at a distance of 18 feet from
this on the following dates, December 27th, January 6th and 10th, and
a collection of larvae made, a summary of which is given below:—

Counts. Centre. Over 18 feet from centre.
Date. Crimson. Pale Yellow. Crimson. Pale Yellow.
Dec. 27th 96 34 1 11
Jan. 6th 11 A % 14
Jan. 10th 3 Y 5 24
Total 110 43 13 49

This gives the highly significant result of 28.1% yellow at the centre
and 79% at 18 feet distant. It may be added that two larvae taken
over 20 yards distant were both yellow. It therefore appears that in-
creased activity may be linked with the yellow form, an important
point of survival value for a species whose dispersal (in the female)
must be undertaken entirely in the larval stage. Much more work
must be done on this, however, before these results can be accepted as
definite.

On the other hand it was found that in the presence of damp and
bad feeding the ‘ yellows’ are less viable than the ‘crimsons’. In
the brood subsequently mentioned 20 ‘ yellow’ and 61 ‘ crimson’ were
isolated in a container and subjected to damp food which was changed

THE HANDLING OF ‘PAPERED’ INSECTS. 197

every fourth day. After ten days of this treatment 12 crimson and
1 yellow remained. The control was unaffected.

Breeding experiments to elucidate the genetics were hampered by
continual invasions of the Argentine ant and also virus disease in the
late summer, which carried off whole broods and only one earlier brood
from a wild cocoon containing eggs, collected on January 6th, is worth
mention. 162 larvae were bred of which 40 had yellow and 122 had
crimson humps. This is suggestive that the ‘ yellow’ are recessive to
the ‘crimson’. Pairings of crimson x crimson, yellow x yellow were
all destroyed at an early stage by the ants. There was no sign of any
total sex linkage. 32 ‘ yellows’ produced 21 males and 11 females, and
55 ‘crimsons’ 40 males and 15 females, the deficiency of females being
caused most likely by the late larvae having been killed off by a virus
disease. The female larvae are much bigger and take longer to feed
up than the males but they appear to have a shorter pupal period.

The apterous female has all its appendages completely atrophied
or absent.. There are no signs of wings externally and the legs under
a lens appear like the larva’s three pairs of thoracic legs. Behind
the head she has a chitinous modification of her thoracic tufts which
may well be used for helping the males to gain access to the interior
of the cocoon. The males assemble freely in daylight from early morn-
ing to late afternoon. After a moment or two of hesitation on the
outside of the cocoon, he pushes his way in, disappearing altogether,
but unlike O. splendida reappears again in about two hours. Oviposi-
tion commences within the cocoon soon after and on opening this at
a later date the still-living female, now like an empty bag, is found
lying up against her egg mass. She continues to remain alive until
the young larvae hatch. Originally I could not imagine what hap-
pened to her then as she always disappeared. I have since established
that, strange as it seems, the young larvae feed on, and entirely eat
up their living parent! Gifts of other living females are gratefully
accepted only if ovipositing has been completed and they do not relish
females full of eggs. It is therefore not surprising that the ‘ female
is unknown ’ at the British Museum! One supposes that this is yet
another provision against drought and under the very dry conditions
which usually prevail when this species is breeding rapidly one may
think that matricide is indeed excusable!

REFERENCES.
. Ent. Rec., 192, 64: 12, 361.
Cockayne, 1938, Biol. Reviews, 13, p. 128.
Pictet, A., 1924, Bull. Soc. Lepid. Geneve, 5, 107.
Williams, H. B., 1950, Ent. Gazette, 1, p. 109.
Spencer, W. P., Amer. Nat., GG: 474-8.

Wohnig, Int. Ent. Zeit., XXI, p. 36 (197).
. Ent. Zeit., 1915, 29, p. 9.

The Handling of ‘Papered’ Insects.

By D. G. Stvastoruto, F.R.E.S.

Re-reading past accounts of collecting trips on the Continent, I have
been struck by the apparent neglect of the technique of ‘‘papering’’ by
British collectors abroad. Collector after collector, in article after
article, lays stress on the loss of time occupied by setting, on the need for

TO Om wo to

198 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIII /1953

space, and on the risk of damage in transit, yet not one appears to have
adopted the alternative of papering his captures and setting at his
leisure after his return. I am not suggesting that a relaxed insect is
as easy or pleasant to set as a fresh one, but I know that I would far
prefer the minor disadvantage of setting relaxed specimens to the major
ones that setting abroad and transporting set specimens involve.

As my work takes me permanently to the Tropics, I usually accumu-
late several thousand specimens, ranging in size from small Pyralids to
large Saturniids, between furloughs and an account of my methods may
be of interest.

To start from the beginning, the paper used for the ‘‘papers’’
should not be glazed, nor should it be too rough in surface; it should not
be too thin and flimsy, or it will not retain its folds, and it should not
be too stiff and thick, or the pressure will flatten the bodies of the
insects. I have found medium-weight typewriting paper a very suitable
quality. The papers themselves should be made in definite sizes, and I
prefer to have the long side of each size double the length of the short
side of the next smaller size. This makes for neatness and saves space
when it comes to packing. I use rectangles of 5x34, 4x24, 24x18, and
2x11 inches respectively for my four standard sizes. These can be made
conveniently by cutting a quarto size sheet into four, eight, sixteen or
thirty-two pieces, the largest (first) and third sizes requiring a slight
trimming along the long side of the slip. The method of folding is too
well known to require description.

Specimens should be papered with the wings folded over the back,
the under surface outwards, and with the antennae placed between the
wings. The position of the insect in the paper should be with the costal
edge of the wings along the long fold. It is most important, to my mind,
to use the smallest possible paper and never to put more than one speci-
men in each. A small insect in a large paper is apt to slide about and
rub itself, and the same happens if more than one specimen are put in
one paper. Full data should be written on the paper in ordinary lead
pencil, not in ink or in copying pencil as this is troublesome when the
time comes for relaxing.

The filled papers are best stored in a wooden or cardboard box until
they are completely dry, a little naphthaline keeping off insect pests and
a few thymol crystals keeping off mildew. A closed tin is not a suitable
container for freshly caught, papered insects as the bodies are apt to de-
compose.

When the insects are perfectly dry, they should be packed for transit.
Piele, in his book A Guide to Collecting Butterflies of India, figures and
describes a very ingenious triangular cardboard packet, which I have
found most useful. His design, however, is rather complicated, and a
similar packet can be made much more simply. I take a piece of card-
board—the cardboard from cartons containing the various breakfast
cereals is very suitable—and outline two triangles of the size of the
papers to be packed. An inch wide flap is then provided on each of the
three sides and the whole is cut out. The figure below will show what
it looks like.

The flaps are then folded along the dotted lines and the two cut and
folded pieces of card are pasted together by the two short flaps A and
B, the finished result being a small triangular box, exactly the size of

THE HIBERNATION OF PLUSIA FESTUCAE LINN. 199

the papers it is to contain and one inch in depth. When dealing with
large numbers of insects it will be found easier to cut outline stencils
out of thicker card or celluloid, and use these for making the outline
drawings of the packets themselves.

When the paste is dry, the papers can
be packed in the packet. It is advisable
to place them so that the abdomina are
alternately to the left and right, this
makes for evenness of pressure, and it
is better to keep insects with thick
and slender bodies in different packets.
If thick-bodied moths and slender-bodied
butterflies are packed in the same packet,
the pressure is uneven and there is liable to be breakage. When the
packet is full, the long flaps in front can either be fastened by a
strip of gummed paper or tied round with a strand of wool. It is a
good plan to number the individual packets and to keep a list of the
contents of each: this saves time if a particular specimen is wanted
later.

The packets can then be packed in tins for transit by post or in bag-
gage. It is here that the advantage of exact sizes will be realised as it
means a great saving in space. A little naphthaline and thymol should
be added to discourage insect pests and mildew. The tins are best
closed with a piece of insulating tape round the lid to exclude damp, or,
if the risk of damp is greater, soldered up. In this latter case one end
of the tin, which should be clearly marked, must be filled with crumpled
paper, not with packets of specimens, so that it can be opened with a
tin opener without risk of damage.

_ My method of relaxing is unorthodox, but both quick and successful.
The insects, in their papers, are placed in an ordinary zinc relaxing tin,
in which the cork carpet covering the bottom has been raised half an
inch on strips of wood. When the box is full, a spoonful of methylated
Spirit is poured over the papers and the box is closed for forty-eight
hours. The amount of spirit varies, naturally, with the number of insects
to be relaxed, but the aim should be to ensure that the papers are just
damp, not sodden, with the spirit when the box is opened forty-eight
hours later. Setting is done in the normal way and the insects will be
found to be perfectly dry and stiff after forty-eight hours on the setting
boards.

In an old note on the use of methylated spirit for relaxing (1929,
Entomologist 62: 284) I stated that it could not be used for blue Lycae-
nids as it discoloured them. I have since found that this is incorrect:
an occasional specimen is discoloured, but this is due, apparently, to
grease, and the discoloration is easily removed by a petrol bath.

Kampala, 8.1v.53.

The Hibernation of Plusia festucae Linn.

By An Otp Mortu-Hunrer.

Can any reader of this journal tell me whether Plusia festucae
hibernates in the egg or the larval or the pupal stage and, if in the
larval or pupal stage, where? None of my friends and correspondents

200 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vol. 65. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

can answer my comprehensive question from personal experience; one
and all they refer me to the books—which, as often as not, are wrong
or contradictory. In this case a search of the books has merely confused
me. Here is what the ‘authorities’ say—and by ‘authorities’ I mean
those lepidopterists whose works are customarily referred to as ‘text
‘books’.

Barrett (Zep. Br. Is., 6: 114) evades the subject. Tutt (Practical
Hints, II :128) remarks ‘‘The larvae of Plusia festuwcae hybernate when
very young, and begin to feed again in April... .’’ Since the imago
flies in June, and many collectors have taken it again in August, it
would seem that Tutt’s words ‘‘when very young’’ indicate that the
larvae which hibernate are the progeny of a normal second brood. But
unhappily in the next volume of the same work (III: 38) Tutt classes
festucae as one of those species ‘‘which are naturally single-brooded, but
which produce a partial double brood occasionally, or even frequently’’.
Barrett also (op. cit. ibidem) says ‘‘On the wing in June and July, and
as a second generation in August and September. This, however,
appears only to have been observed locally, more especially in Cheshire,
and in Scotland and Ireland, and probably depends in some degree upon
the season’’. But if the second brood ‘‘depends... . upon the season’’,
in what stage does the insect hibernate normally?

Barrett’s mention of Cheshire seems to indicate that he had in mind
an article by J. Arkle of Chester in Entomologist, 29: 113 (April 1896)
wherein Arkle relates that on 6th June he ‘‘found a larva spinning up”’
and on 13th June ‘‘took six pupae’’. The moths from all these pupae
emerged on 29th June, Ist July and 5th July. Arkle then went on to
say that ‘‘the second brood this year had spun up by Aug. 18th, when
I found three cocoons .. . . On the 24th I found three more cocoons....
On the 27th I found two pupae, and a caterpillar in the act of spinning
its cocoon’’. In 1895 the last imago from pupae collected by Arkle in
August emerged on 7th September.

Arkle then quoted a correspondent who told him that at Bolton,
Lancashire, ‘‘the half-grown larvae are found in April, and full-grown
larvae up to the middle of June’’. Another correspondent related that
‘Gn forward seasons”’ he had found the chrysalis by 18th May, but never
earlier. ‘‘It is in the chrysalis state about four or five weeks, and I
believe the young larvae hibernate’’. Arkle ended by expressing the
opinion that either there is a second brood or ‘‘the progeny of the only
brood (June-July) .. . . hybernate as eggs or larvae’’.

Clearly, then, in Arkle’s experience the winter of 1894 at Chester
was passed by festucae in the egg or larval stage; but Newman & Leeds
(Text Book of Brit. Butt. and Moths, 1918, p. 62) state that it is the
larval stage in which the species normally hibernates and note that it is
“usually single brooded North imago July’’. If this last assertion be
correct the egg stage must be of several months duration, the eggs laid
at the end of June hatching, presumably, in September or October.
Merrin (Lepid. Cal., 2nd ed., 1875, p. 235) states that the larvae are to
be found in May-June, July, August; pupae in June, and imago in
August.

In France and Belgium, according to Lhomme (Cat. des Lép. de
France et de Belgique, I: 317, No. 857) the moth flies from June to
September and the larvae are to be found only in May and June! Berge

FURTHER EXPERIENCES IN BREEDING VARIETIES. 201

(Schmetterlingsbuch), however, states briefly that the larva feeds ‘‘from
September to May’’, which indicates that in Germany at all events fes-
tucae hibernates as a second brood larva. Newman (Illus. Nat. Hist.
Br. Moths, p. 453), on the other hand tells us that the larva feeds in
May and June “‘and is full-fed at the beginning of August, when it spins
a whitish cocoon among the leaves of grasses and changes to a green
chrysalis” ; so he was of opinion that the insect hibernates in the pupal
stage. Westwood (Br. Moths and their Trans., 1841, p. 234) says that
the moth appears ‘‘in June and August. It is not a very rare species,
occurring in the marshes round London, as well as in the meres of
Hunts. and Cambs.’’, so he was of opinion that the August brood was
a normal] one and not confined to Cheshire.

In spite of this confusion in the books I find it difficult to believe
that no lepidopterist has ever bred Plusia festucae through the winter
in captivity and recorded his observations; but such record, if it exists,
has successfully eluded me. Surely there must be readers of this maga-
zine who can enlighten me. A request for information on the subject
printed in the Entomologist in 1948 (81: 101) did not elicit any reply.

So I ask again: Where, and in what stage, does this species hiber-
nate?

Further Experiences in Breeding Varieties of

Panaxia dominula Linn
By H. Symes.

Towards the end of a previous paper on this subject (Hnt. Rec. 65:
67) I mentioned that a vigorous brood of larvae had resulted from a
pairing between two ab.bimacula and that 164 larvae had gone into
hibernation last autumn.

They came through the winter extremely well, with only seven
casualties. Once before, in the winter of 1941-2, over 90% of my
hibernating larvae survived, but in other years only a small percentage
did so. I have been looking for possible reasons for success or failure
in this matter and think that there may be three of these: (1) climatic
conditions during the winter, (2) nature of receptacle used for housing
the larvae during hibernation, (38) comparative healthiness of the
broods of larvae. This last point can hardly be assessed except by re-
sults. But as regards the first point, 1941-2 and 1952-3 were both cold
winters, whereas 1948-9, 1950-1, and 1951-2 were mild, damp winters,
and in each of these there were very heavy losses. Only 22% survived
in 1952, and although I have not exact records for the other two mild
winters I think the percentage of survivors was even lower. As for the
second point, the larvae in 1941-2 and 1952-3 were kept in similar
receptacles. In each case 50 or 60 were kept outdoors in a muslin sleeve
erected like a tent over a 9-in. flowerpot full of earth in which cut
stems of hemp agrimony (Hupatorium cannabinum L.) were inserted :
most of the larvae spent the winter in curled-up dry leaves. The muslin
tent was supported by a stick firmly driven into the earth in the pot.
Early in 1942 this contraption was buried in snow for several days. The
other half of my 1941-2 larvae was kept in a glass cylinder fitted to an
earthenware pan with a perforated zinc lid. This is described as
“‘Young’s cage’’ in Tutt’s Practical Hints, II, p. 82.

202 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIII /1953

The rest of my 1952-3 larvae was divided into small batches of 20-30
and placed in small muslin bags, each tied at the base round a twig of
Prunus or Salix with dry leaves attached to it or loose in the sleeve.
These bags were placed inside the open window of a garden shed, facing
east, with the supporting stem of Prunus or Salix inserted in an old
ink bottle. In other years some of the larvae were kept in ordinary
wooden breeding-cages, and I have come to the conclusion that these
are not good receptacles for domimula larvae during hibernation.

Of the 157 larvae that survived the winter about 20 died during the
spring, and another 20 I gave away. A few were accidentally killed,
a few failed to pupate, and eventually 73 moths emerged, the first on
29th May, the last on 12th June. Every one of these was ab. bimacula.
There was the usual variation in the number of spots at the apex of
the forewings: they were always small in size and in four or five moths
were entirely absent. There appeared to be no variation in the mark-
ings of the hindwings or in the amount of black on the upper surface
of the abdomen.

Dr. H. King tells me that bimacula x bimacula would be expected
to yield nothing but bimacula, so there does not appear to be much
prospect of any fresh mutation appearing in this strain, the history of
which may be summarized as follows :—

1950. From 29 larvae collected near Abingdon, one ab. medionigra
do was bred. This paired with a type dominula 9 of the same race.

1951. F1. Of 17 moths, 9 were type and 8 ab. medionigra. Pair-
ings were obtained between mediomgra 3 ¢ and 2 Q.

1952. F2. Of 54 moths, 23 were ab. bimacula: a pairing was ob-
tained between two of these.

19538. F%. Of 73 moths, 100% were bimacula.

These bred moths emerge too early in the year to mate with wild
dominula, but I have obtained pairings between—

(1) bimacula G and 9.

(2) bimacula S$ and a @ bred from eggs laid by a 2 taken at Kings-
down, Kent, in 1952.

(3) bimacula $ and a @ bred from larvae collected at Ringweod,
Hants, by the Rev. F. M. B. Carr in 1953.

In each case eggs have been laid, and I hope these cross pairings
may produce something interesting.

Memories of the Years

By Kennetu J. Haywarp.

In a corner of my laboratory stands an old kite net. More than
half a century has passed since that morning I unwrapped the parcel
in which it came, and since that day it has been my constant companion
in many parts of the world. It is a tribute to British workmanship,
for through all those years it has but twice required attention and on
both occasions the fault was mine, when more than thirty years ago
on the slopes of Mount Troddos I fell and broke the Y, which, however,
was so well soldered by an itinerant Turkish tinker whom I shortly
afterwards encountered at his roadside camp that it has never since
shown any signs of weakness, and more recently in the forests of

MEMORIES OF THE YEARS. 203

Misiones when it became necessary to replace one of the canes with a
piece of local hardwood after I had for some time been using the net
for sweeping, which is not a kite net’s job.

Constant assembling and dismantling has worn the ferrules so that
they must now be packed with paper, but otherwise, except for the
replaced cane, the frame remains as it was when it left the makers.
I would not care to guess how many bags have come and gone, for
tropical forest and thorny scrub play havoc with the thin fabric and
there was even one that was eaten into lacework by a small swarm
of locust-hoppers.

Sometimes as I sit resting for a moment in those last minutes of late

evening when the day’s work has been put aside, and I see the old net,
my thoughts go back over the years

Schooldays at Bruton when every free minute was spent collecting;
Cogley wood with its fritillaries and valesina; the almost black Comma I
saw and missed and later found again; the scent of privet at the
Cogley gate where the white-letter hairstreaks flew; Vanessids on the
purple scabious that filled the fields around the wood, and the colony of
marsh fritillaries in the damp meadow below the ruined keeper’s cot-
tage, a colony now lost through war-time ploughing. Evenings spent
dusking in lanes where the scent of flowers lay heavy and the air was
redolent with the perfume of honeysuckle. Stourton woods and the
quarry on Creech Hill in which even yet the chalk-hill blue maintains
a precarious foothold and where I once caught syngrapha. Swanage
and Lulworth Cove and the forests of Exmoor; occasional visits to the
New Forest and summer holidays amongst the combes and lanes and
along the cliffs of Devon and Cornwall, followed by first working days
in Anglesea and North Wales; and then in Southern Egypt. Moments
snatched from war by Macedonian roadsides or along the foothills of
the mountains where amongst the flowers lay relics of past conflicts. An
autumn in Malta and an English spring and summer revisiting old
haunts, and once again to Southern Egypt with its cloudless skies and
interminable sunshine; searching for blues amongst the sparse stunted
vegetation of the islands near Aswan; the hum of insects round mimosa
the fragrance of whose flowers was everywhere; the clouded yellows
swarming over the alfalfa till the plots seemed filled with buttercups;
the afternoon when I caught a Hypolimnas misippus, vagrant from the
far Sudan, and another when out of the blue vault of heaven a dead
fox crashed to earth beside me, dropped by some passing bird of prey;
the Oleander hawk moths whose caterpillars left our hedges bare ot
leaves, and my first contact with the long-tailed blue.

Occasional visits to Cairo and collecting around Maadi, then but a
few houses scattered amongst the cultivated fields, and odd hours spent
in Mediterranean ports of call as I wandered homewards for the
annual leaves. Two visits to Cyprus where the mountain air was heavy
with the fragrance of the pines in whose shade Satyrus hermione flitted
and where in small glades the pandora fritillary floated lazily or some-
times a passing cleopatra brimstone, to turn my thoughts to the paphia
in Cogley wood and to England in springtime. Here on Mount
Troddos, erstwhile Olympus of the gods, long years after it had been
recorded by Guillemard I rediscovered the black-veined white and on
the bare slopes below Platres saw for the first time machaon on the

204 ENTOMOLOGIST ’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIII / 1953

wing. I see again the solitary arbutus round which two Charazes
jasius flew and sense once more my chagrin when | missed them and
the joy at their eventual capture on another day. Then there was the
evening when I went dusking in the forest with a torch and was mis-
taken for an incendiary and the whole hotel staff turned out to cap-
ture me, led by the cook in full regalia and armed with a butcher’s
chopper. Pleasant were those months spent in the mountains of
Cyprus amongst the Corsican pines, where tiny ice-cold streams have
cleft for themselves deep gullies whose sides are green with maiden-
hair and colourful with flowers and where sometimes at high noon one
sees the striped hawkmoth hovering at the pink blossoms of the oleander.

Followed two unsettled years in England with but scant collecting.
A day in the hills behind Rio where Heliconiids and their mimics sported
in the deep shade of the forest and where I first saw the wealth of tropic
insect life; and lastly Argentina, the Silver Land that, stretching from
Capricorn to the Antarctic*, from sea level to the high Andine peaks,
covers an area more than a third as large as Europe, a land so vast that
even after thirty years of almost continuous collecting it seems that I
have hardly scratched its surface.

Here at first in the red quebracho forests of northern Santa Fé I
came to know the tangled undergrowth of the snake-infested islands of
the Paranda and the more open hardwood forests, the sawgrass-covered
esteros that broke up the continuity of the woodland, and the pond-
studded area with its riverain forest and fascinating exuberance of bird
life that lay to the west of the Paranda and where I fished and shot and
collected insects, camping by the rivers or in sun-drenched meadows
purple with petunias.

There have been long months spent in the dense virgin forests of
northern Misiones where the fauna is that of south-east Brazil and
where in half an hour I have taken more than a dozen species of
Papilio from a single patch of flowers; where sometimes the damp
sand by the rivers is covered with a patchwork of bright colours from
the multitude of drinking butterflies; where twenty years ago in six
months of solitary collecting I added more than eighty butterflies and
an untold number of moths to our country’s fauna and where more
recently with a colleague and assistant we increased in three months
by forty, the hundred Odonata known from Argentina and, in spite of
adverse conditions, brought back 120,000 insects.

There have been seasons spent in the dry mid-west, in La Rioja and
Catamarca, where the forest is sparse and open and there are great
areas of sandy plains covered with cactus and jarilla* and salt marshes
where only Chenopodiaceae flourish, but in whose mountains are little
fertile valleys.

Trips to Mondoza with its vast expanse of vineyards and to the
high Andes, to Patagonia with its incessant winds that sometimes for
days on end prevent collecting, treeless till one reaches the western
Nothofagus forests that skirt the Cordillera and where in spring the
ground is covered with flowers, with yellow Viola, wild calceolarias,
anemones and orchids and where big bumble bees are golden yellow.

* The distance from the Bolivian frontier to Tierra del Fuego is approximately
equal to that separating London and Port Said.

*Larrea spp. (Zygophyllaceae).

~ s —

COLLECTING IN THE NINETIES. 205

There are memories of days spent collecting with old friends in the
suburbs of Buenos Aires and further out amongst the Tigre islands
of the Delta and of an expedition to the mid north-west to search for
overwintering locusts. Six years of citrus entomology in north-eastern
Argentina where my territory, half as large again as England, gave
opportunities for collecting in many corners untrodden by an entom-
ologist that were followed by four years of agricultural entomology in
the extreme north-west, in Tucumaén and Salta and Jujuy, where the
Bolivian fauna makes its influence felt and where the forests are sub-
tropical and there are high upland valleys; where at 15,000 feet I have
taken Phulia and at 10,000 caught Colias blameyi flying over freshly
fallen snow.

There have been visits to the Pampa and the vast central plains
where only the far horizon breaks the monotony of endless leagues of
waving corn and grassland; weeks spent amongst the fertile lands of
Buenos Aires and Entre Rios; collecting in the hills of Cérdoba of sum-
mer tourist fame and amongst the canefields of the north-west, and
everywhere in the sandy xerophilous deserts that cover so much of
Argentina.

And as my thoughts wander back over the years other incidents
come to mind. The small stump rabbit netted as it fied from its home
in a hollow log one midday in the Chaco, and a hare surprised in its
form and whose capture nearly caused disaster to the net. Humming
birds that I have taken as they hovered at some flower, mistaking them
for hawkmoths, and a morning in camp when as a last resort the net
was used for fishing after more orthodox methods had failed to provide
us with a breakfast. How often too has the net bag served to carry
home wild fruits or eggs or some reptile that could not otherwise be
easily transported, or young parrots raped from their ancestral nests.

Only an old net, but what happy memories it revives!

Collecting in the ‘Nineties
By P. B. M. Atian.

A note in the May issue of this magazine (Hnt. Rec., 65: 148) headed
‘The New Forest in the ’Nineties’’ referred to the abundance of butter-
flies in that renowned hunting-ground in 1893 and quoted a remark by
a contributor in an earlier issue to the effect that the Victorian lepi-
dopterists ‘‘lived in a land of plenty’’. The ’nineties—or at least some
of them—were undoubtedly years of plenty for the lepidopterist, but
I do not think any year in that decade was noticeably more prolific
of butterflies in any particular habitat, except possibly the New Forest,
than any ‘‘good’”’ year, e.g. 1941, we have had since. We are part-way
through a “‘bad’’ cycle of years and presently our Lepidoptera will be
plentiful once again—in their restricted habitats.

It must be borne in mind that in the ’nineties there were many more
habitats for Lepidoptera in England than there are to-day. The
countryside came much closer to the towns: some-hundreds of thousands
of acres of open country round about the towns have now been built
over; consequently the habitats of certain species have been reduced
in number. But in those habitats which are still open or wooded
country the populations of these species in any decade of this present

206 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VITT/1953

century are probably much the same, ceteris paribus, as they were in
the nineties. They fluctuate just as they have always done and some-
times there are long spans of years, perhaps even a century or more,
when climatic conditions are severely repressive to certain species—
witness the Comma and the White Admiral, the Large Tortoiseshell
and the Wood Argus. It is getting on for half a century since the
Large Tortoiseshell and Purple Emperor were plentiful in the New
Forest; that they will be equally plentiful there again some day is quite
- likely—provided of course that the Forest is not felled and built over.
But the list of our Lepidoptera is not, and never has been, a stable
one. Species die out and others arrive from the mainland to take their
places. Prophecy is as unwise where Lepidoptera are concerned as it
is in most other things in this uncertain world.

Of course there was much more uncultivated ground in England in
the last century: since 1890 some 20 million more people have had to
be housed and more food for them grown; the exigencies of two major
wars have largely denuded our island of sizeable trees. So there were
more common lands and woodlands and more marshy meadows which
have since been ploughed and drained and are now good pasture or
cornland. Waste lands overgrown with gorse and thorn bushes, which
throughout the centuries had never known a plough, have been cleared,
broken up with steam ploughs, and sown with grain. The ‘rough bits’,
odds and ends of land on every farm, are almost non-existent. to-day.
The enclosing of common land and ‘waste of the manor’ has proceeded
apace since the close of last century and it is still going on; one sees
bungalows, fowl-runs, and garages being erected on common and waste
land almost everywhere one goes. The abolition of manorial rights a
few years ago has had effects which our legislators certainly did not
foresee.

If I were asked to name the chief features, apart from bricks and
mortar, which distinguish the English scene of the ’nineties from our
countryside to-day I should say ‘‘the roads and hedges’’. Usually one
could not see over the hedges when on foot and often they were eight
or nine feet high. They were dense growths, chiefly of hawthorn, black-
thorn, hazel, bramble and sallow (allowed to grow tall for use as poles
and helves); but the wild rose grew rampant almost everywhere, filling
the hedges with blossom throughout the summer. The rose was indeed
the emblem of England. Perhaps its disappearance has been due not
only to the cutting of hedges to within two or three feet of the ground
but to the tarring of the roads. So in summer the hedges were great
banks of blossom; for honeysuckle usually grew in partnership with the
roses. At the foot of the hedges, encroaching on the verges, were wild
flowers in profusion. The activities of rural district council surveyors
in ‘tidying up’ their rural districts, urbanising them in fact, were still
unknown. There were no kerbed ‘sidewalks’ in the villages; grass grew
to the walls of the houses in the village streets.

Every road, whatever its size, was obliged to have a grass verge
(usually one on each side) for the use of those who travelled on horse-
back: no one who had regard for his horse’s legs wanted it to ‘‘ ’ammer,
’ammer, ’ammer on the ’ard ’igh road’’. The width between the hedges
being the same then as it is now it is plain that the metalled surface
of lanes and byroads was only about one-third of its present width.

COLLECTING IN THE ’NINETIES. 207

Actually most of the country lanes were wide enough only for one
vehicle and a pedestrian or two, at most say eight feet. When you met
a vehicle one of you, or both, pulled over partly or wholly on to the
verge. The narrower the road, the less the cost of its upkeep and the
more quickly it could be repaired. So nobody wanted wide roads, ex-
cept of course those main roads upon which there was much traffic.

Throughout the centuries each parish had been required by the
Common Law to maintain all the roads within its bounds; but in 1888
the Local Government Act assigned the upkeep of main roads (only) to
the county councils. This Act made little or no difference to the country-
side; it was not until 1909 that the Road Board was established, when
powers were given to county councils to ‘‘improve’’ all the existing
roads. ‘‘Improve’’ was defined as widening the road surfaces, cutting
off corners, levelling, and acquiring land for these purposes. It was
these ‘‘improvements’’ which eradicated the grassy flowery verges that
had beautified our. English roads ever since they had been trackways
leading from one place to another. This 1909 Act was of course in-
stigated by the coming of the motor-car.

It is plain that with all these luxurious hedges and flowery verges
and waste lands and commons and large woodlands the country as a
whole was capable of supporting a larger insect fauna than it supports
to-day. The point I want to make is that although our butterflies now
have the same populations in each habitat as they had in the ’nineties
there are vastly fewer habitats. So to-day one is not so continuously
in the presence of butterflies in whichever direction one goes. For not
only have the towns and cities spread out into the country but villages
are often double and treble their former size; many of the smaller
towns of the ’nineties are now almost cities. Also there are new towns
and villages. The town of West Reading did not exist when I was a
boy; Golders Green was open fields as far as the eye could reach. It is
the eradication of habitats by bricks and mortar that gives us the
impression that our butterflies have become scarcer.

As a fact, some butterflies are much more common to-day than they
were in the ’nineties, notably the Marsh Fritillary, which had dis-
appeared from many a county where it now flies again. The White-
letter Hairstreak also was much more local and not nearly so wide-
spread across England and Wales, though the contrary could be said of
the Large Tortoiseshell. The Wood White also ranged further to the
east: it was flying in Essex in the ’eighties. As for all the other butter-
flies, so far as the southern half of England is concerned I should say
that there has been no change at all, the two obvious exceptions being
the Comma and White Admiral. The Heath Fritillary had died out
in Staffordshire and Essex long before the ’nineties. Papilio machaon
was no more plentiful at Wicken and on the Norfolk Broads than it is
in a ‘“‘good’’ year of our present era. If there were more butterflies in
England there were also more of their predators and doubtless the
populations of their predators are in the same proportions to them as
they have always been.

It is an old story. P. machaon was common at Battersea (on the
south bank of the Thames at London) two hundred years ago and so was
Cossus cossus in the same place. Mark the sequel: bricks and mortar
have long since obliterated machaon, but cossws occurs in Battersea

208 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/1953

Park to-day as it did in 1753. For in this case the habitat, namely
trees, has not been obliterated. Only a few years back Mr. Neville
Chamberlain found a Zeuzera pyrina at rest on the trunk of a tree
in the garden of No. 10 Downing Street and doubtless pyrina occurs
in all the London parks. It has not been ‘‘introduced’’ to London; it
‘was there when Boadicea chased the Romans out of the town and for
several thousand years before that. Plainly if every tree and sizeable
bush in London were felled the Leopard Moth would become extinct in
that place; but that would be the only way to eradicate it.

So I see no reason for the present-day collector to be gloomy about
the future of our island entomologically. Man cannot rid himself of
butterflies and moths permanently in any other way than by covering
their habitats with bricks and mortar, and so long as there are wood-
lands and open country, so long will there be butterflies and moths.

But so far as collecting is concerned there certainly is a very great
difference indeed between the ’nineties and the ’nineteen fifties. If one
may judge by the magazines the pursuit (not of course the science) of
Entomology reached its zenith during the last decade of Queen Vic-
toria’s reign and it has declined ever since. There may have been fewer
dipterists and orthopterists, but without question there were many
more lepidopterists and coleopterists than there are to-day. There
were five entomological societies in London. During the decade 1890-
1899 the entomologists who were sending notes to, or writing regularly
or irregularly for, the three chief entomological magazines in this
country (Ent. mon. Mag., Entomologist, Ent. Rec.) numbered about
1,099.* In 1950 the number of persons who contributed to these three
magazines was 293. i

The Exchanges and Wants in these magazines provide a good indica-
tion of the activities of collectors. For instance in the Record of
September 1892 the notices of these enthusiasts filled four pages of
small type. Between 1890 and 1899 the Hntomologist printed the
‘‘swops’’ of 346 collectors, the Record 348. In 1950 the figures were 12
and 15 respectively. ‘‘O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!’’ Many
of these collectors advertised their swops in both Entomologist and
Record at the same time, the total number of collectors who were mak-
ing use of the Exchanges and Wants pages in both magazines during
the decade being 518. In 1950 it was 26.

On all counts therefore it is plain that the Good Estate of Entomo-
logy was in a healthier condition during the nineties than it has ever
been since. The remarkable thing is that people had much less leisure
in those days. There was no working eight hours a day, with Saturday
morning off: the wage-earner normally worked ten hours a day and
most employers a good deal more. Also there was no leaving the office
early on Friday afternoon in order to motor down to the seaside or
country cottage for the week-end, returning to work at ten o’clock on
Monday morning. The employer was often the last man to leave the

*Margin of error plus or minus 5. The printer did his best with illegible signa-
tures, and when his best did not satisfy a contributor the editor usually
received an expression of wounded feelings, the name this time being written
in capitals. When therefore no address follows the name, Mr. I. W. Frush
in, say, the June issue may be the same person as Mr. J. M. French later
in the year; but often both names would be included in the List of Contri-
butors, from which I have compiled my statistics.

NOTES ON LIFE-HISTORIES. 209

office.on Saturday, taking the opportunity. to tackle a few arrears in
quiet after the staff had left. There is food for thought in the truism
that the busier a man is, and the longer the hours he has to work, the
more profitably will he spend his leisure hours.

If the Hxchanges und Wants pages show a falling-off in the number
and activities of present-day collectors the advertisements in the maga-
zines stress that regression no less strongly. During the ’nineties 20
firms or individuals were offering to supply the entomologist with vari-
ous requisites comprising everything that he needed for his work in the
field and at home. In 1950 the firms of this description who advertised
in the three magazines numbered 3! Between 1890 and 1899 those who
advertised live insects for sale numbered 25. In 1950 the advertisers
of livestock in the three magazines numbered 4. In addition, 24 other
dealers advertised specimens set or in papers. In 1950—one.

So, after all, our contributor was not so far out when he remarked
that the ‘‘Victorian lepidopterist lived in a land of plenty’’. But it was
not to the butterflies only that his dictum applied! Perhaps in view
of the great restriction of habitats to-day it is not a bad thing that
there are so few collectors. Nature’s ways of ‘‘preserving a balance’’
are remarkable indeed... . !

Notes on Life-Histories

In a short paper which he contributed to the Ent. mon. Mag. in
1892 (vol. 28, p. 147) Major J. N. Still ‘‘ put down a few facts in the
life-history of this handsome species that have come under my im-
mediate notice.’’ The ‘‘ handsome species ’’ was Colocasia coryli L.
and lepidopterists who have reared this insect will agree the epithet.
‘“ Why the English name (the nut-tree Tussock) is given to this moth,”’
he began, ‘‘I cannot understand, for out of the many dozens of the
larvae that I have beaten out, I have never got one from the nut, the
greater proportion were from beech, although the oak has yielded a
few.’’ This was written from Devonshire and C. coryli was said to be
more common among the beechwoods on the lower slopes of Dartmoor
than it is elsewhere except perhaps in thea Chilterns. But away from
those great stretches of beechwood the moth is widely distributed
throughout our island and no experienced lepidopterist would call it
rare.

We have found the larva as often on hazel as on beech. Allan’s
Larval Foodplants gives hawthorn, birch, hornbeam, alder, blackthorn,
maple and apple as well as beech, oak and hazel, and Lhomme avers
that so far as France and Belgium are concerned the foodplants are
(in this order) Corylus, Crataegus, Betula, Carpinus, Fagus, Quercus,
and Salix. So the moth has catholic tastes and, perhaps, local prefer-
ences. In Devonshire, Still found that ‘‘ stunted beech bushes in
hedges ’? were much more prolific than beech trees and that ‘‘ a bleak
and exposed situation, at an altitude of 500 to 700 ft., much more so
than the sheltered lower ground.’’ Yet we have found the larva not
uncommonly in hazel hedges on watermeadows beside a big river as
well as on the lower branches of large beech trees on limestone hills 500
feet above those same watermeadows. Barrett was of opinion that C.

210 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

coryli undoubtedly has a preference for the higher ground—‘“ particu-
larly affecting hill tops and sides, and hedges in other exposed situa-
tions’’ are his words. But here he may have been quoting Major
Still, for he goes on to mention that the larva prefers bushes to trees.

The moth used to be common, and perhaps still is, in Epping Forest,
which is not particularly high ground, and Still’s opinion “‘T feel sure
that where the beech thrives, there coryli will be found if thoroughly
looked for’’ is probably correct. As for its distribution Barrett says
“Plentiful in Devonshire, and also in Berks. and Bucks. on the hills
among beech’’, which information he obtained, one imagines, from Still
and the Reading and Marlow collectors. But so far as Berkshire is con-
cerned it seems likely that Barrett jumped to a wrong conclusion. The
Reading collectors of the ’nineties—Butler, Clarke, Hamm, Holland—
took C. coryli freely every year but not in Berkshire: they collected it
on the Oxfordshire bank of the Thames, in the beechwoods that clothed
the chalk hills beneath which Thames flows. The gravels of the lower
Berkshire terrain, the clays of the Thames valley, the heather and pine
areas, the open chalk downs, all seem unlikely localities to harbour
corylt.

“The female’’, says Major Still, ‘‘lays some fifty to seventy ova.’’
Perhaps the words ‘‘in captivity” should have been added; for we can-
not call to mind any other of the larger moths which normally lays so
few eggs. Still gives no reason for his assertion nor any account of his
observations on this point. ‘‘The date (of oviposition) last year with
me,” he went on, ‘‘being the 15th May; they hatched on the 11th June,
the first to pupate did so on August 15th. The larvae are extremely
easily reared, but care is necessary to avoid their being thrown away
with the foodplant during their moults, which take place between united
leaves of the beech, where they seem to spin a web-like cocoon; the period
of change lasting two to four days.’? Our own experience has been that
the larvae about to moult not only ‘‘seem’’ to spin a web-like cocoon but
actually do so. The ‘‘web-like cocoon’’, however, does not differ to any
extent from the contrivances made by many other species (e.g. Polyploca
ridens Fab.) for security during ecdysis.

po feed at all hours of the day and night, which, I think, ueeatihts
for one’s being able to beat several larvae from the same bush that a few
hours before yielded none; when not feeding they are almost invariably
between leaves, and are then most difficult to dislodge’. Our own obser-
vations of these larvae in cages certainly bears out Major Still’s re-
marks: the larvae do undoubtedly feed spasmodically throughout the
day; but we have not noticed that they retire to a hiding-place between
leaves as soon as they have finished a meal. Have other observers
noticed this? What we have noticed is that when a feeding larva is
disturbed it arches its thoracic somites and porrects the red ‘horns’
(tufts) very much in the manner of a bull facing the matador! What
is the biopsychological significance of this?

“In the breeding-cages I have never seen the larvae change on or
under moss, although placed there for the purpose; all that I have reared
during the last two seasons have changed between united leaves, of
course in the wild state this may be different.’? We have found that
in captivity strands of dried moss are frequently incorporated into the
cocoon, and in the West Country we have occasionally found the pupa

CURRENT NOTES. 211

underneath moss rather low down on the trunks of large beech trees.
But in a drier climate (e.g. the Chilterns) it is possible that the larva
descends the tree and wanders about among the dry debris at its roots
before spinning up between leaves, etc. Finally Major Still records
that he had ‘‘taken the larvae on two sides of the city (Exeter), and
last season forty dozen within twelve miles of Exeter’’. Nowadays C.
coryla is being taken in its haunts by most users of the m.v. lamp.
Variation is considerable; indeed Still remarked ‘‘what I have always
considered the type seems this year to be the most uncommon form’’.

Current Notes

How times change! Our good friend, Mr. S. Gordon Smith of
Chester, writes: ‘“‘IT have had very little success with light so far this
season; but I did manage to attract 12 A. alni in Caernarvonshire last
month in two nights.’?’ Very little success—yet in two nights twelve
specimens of a moth that until a very few years ago was accounted
one of the rarest British species! Indeed only ten years ago the man
who could claim that he had taken six alnz in forty years’ collecting
was looked up to as a fine field lepidopterist and he who could show a
drawer containing a series of immaculate bred specimens was entitled
almost to reverence.

Two correspondents have demurred at the remarks on ‘county’ lists
printed in our May issue. One chides us gently and courteously as
becomes the great lepidopterist he is, hoping that the three best of these
lists which have yet appeared were not meant to be included in our
strictures. And indeed they were not: they were far from our mind
when we wrote in haste (even as King Solomon did) that we had yet
to see a county list which was even remotely accurate. Our other critic
casts all restraint to the winds, abuses us roundly, and after desperate
efforts to make the cap fit himself ends up by informing us that he is
not (and, so far as we can discover, never has been) a supporter of this
journal. He also assumes that our criticism was directed at his own
list, of the existence of which, incidentally, we were unaware.

So far from discouraging the compilation of ‘county’ lists our criti-
cism concerned, and was directed at, those lists which, by reason of the
method whereby most of them are compiled, are inaccurate and mis-
leading. We repeat our words: ‘‘. . . the only county list which the
zoologist can use for scientific work is the list compiled by an individual
whose work is known to be invariably accurate, therefore reliable.”’
This is the reason why the few lists which we single out for mention
are in a class by themselves: each one is the production of a scientific
and, therefore, highly critical, entomologist of national repute.

The information given in the late Claude Morley’s Suffolk list is
invariably accurate. The text is marred by misprints, there is no index,
and the order in which it is arranged is, at times, infuriating. But, we
repeat, the information about species and habitats which it gives is
accurate. Mansbridge’s list for Lancashire and Cheshire, 1940, also
is very good. But the best county lists which have been issued so far
are those for Cheshire and of six of the Welsh counties, all prepared

212 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65, 15/ VIIIT/ 1953

by S. Gordon Smith. They are so good that they should serve as models
which the compilers of all future county lists should copy and as
standards to which all future annalists should strive to attain.

A few days ago we came across some remarks of Charles Golding
Barrett on this subject. He was writing in 1892 (Entomologist 25:
215). ‘‘There is one difficulty in asking for lists: 1t seems to include
an obligation to accept them, faults and all. And nowhere does there
seem to be a greater risk of error than in compiling a local list. Every
species that somebody thought that he saw, and every one that has
been wrongly named, is sure to creep in.’’? So the local Society which
embarks upon the compilation of a local list should make sure first of all
that it can entrust the editorship not necessarily to an elderly collector
but to an experienced lepidopterist who is a sceptical autocrat (however
kindly and tactful), who keeps science always to the fore-front of his
mind, caring not a jot about including ‘‘as many species as possible’,
and obsessed only by the essentiality of accuracy.

During the last few years a North American Arctiid has reached
Eastern Europe and has not only established itself there but appears to
be extending its range with some rapidity. The species is Hyphantria
cunea Drury (= budea Hub., punctatissima Sm. & Abb., mutans Wkr.),
and in appearance the imago resembles our Cycnia mendica Clk., in
fact at first sight it might well be mistaken for a small female of that
species. The ground colour of all four wings is white, the fore wings
having a number of small irregular black dots, the hind wings entirely
white. Wing span 3cms. The abdomen is covered with white hairs.
The egg stage lasts eight days, the pupal stage about twelve days, and
there are two, sometimes three, broods in a year. Hibernation is in the
pupal stage.

The larval habits resemble those of Malacosoma neustria L. On
emerging from the egg the young larvae together spin a common web
enclosing a leaf, and as they grow, more leaves are enclosed in the
‘nest’. After the third moult they leave the ‘nest’ and spread in-
dependently to the neighbouring leaves and branches. They are virtually
omnivorous: in Kastern Europe they have been found on fruit trees of
all kinds, hazel, vine, ornamental trees and shrubs (including Ailanthus,
Robinia, Celtis australis, and maples), forest trees (oak, ash, willow,
lime) garden vegetables of various kinds as well as on lucerne, hop, maize,
tobacco, nasturtium and dahlia, also on Triticum repens and stinging
nettle. The difficulty of dealing with the pest by chemical means is,
therefore, apparent. One dipterous (Compsilura concinnata Meigen)
and five hymenopterous parasites are known.

In May 1940 two specimens of the moth were caught by a lepidopterist
near Budapest, but no attention was paid to this and the insect re-
mained unnoticed until 1946, by which time it had increased consider-
ably. Since then it has spread through Central Europe ‘‘with extra-
ordinary rapidity’. By 1947 it had already overrun three-quarters of —
Hungary and had reached the frontiers of Czechoslovakia, Austria and
Jugoslavia. Now it has invaded these three countries and appears to be
pressing on towards Italy, Switzerland and France, though since 1952
its rate of progress seems to have slowed down somewhat. Entomologists

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 218

in the countries afflicted by this pest are attempting to introduce and
acclimatise its North American parasites. There is a short paper on this
moth by M. Jacques d’Aguilar in the Bulletin de la Société Entomo-
logique de France, 58: 7 (1953, No. 1), from which the above informa-
tion has been taken.

The common blue-tit (Parus caeruleus L.) is perhaps the chief avian
predator of lepidopterous larvae in this country and several observers
have recorded the number of caterpillars taken to a nest of young tits
by the two parent birds in the course of a single day. We have watched
one of these birds clearing batches of first instar larvae of Mamestra
brassicae from gladiolus—a welcome sight, for M. brassicae is a per-
ennial pest of the sword lily in our garden. But not until recently
have we heard of starlings performing the same functicn. Browsing on
an old volume of the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine (1890, vol. 26, p.
216) we came across the following : —

“‘On the 6th of this month (June) Captain Robertson and I went to
get some larvae of populeti from some low trees of Populus tremula
which were covered with that species. Captain Robertson had picked
off about 100 larvae the night before; but this morning when we ar-
rived at the trees, we found some starlings had also discovered the cater-
pillars, and had gone over the trees systematically from branch to
branch, pecking a hole in one side of the spun together leaves, and
drawing out the caterpillar, and so nearly had they cleared them all
off, that we had much trouble to find a dozen. We caught the birds in
the act, and although they had so nearly finished their feast they were
very unwilling to go, and loudly objected to our disturbing them.—
W. Houuann, Reading, Jwne 21st, 1890.’’

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hueerns, F.R.E.S.

Donacaula mucronellus Schiff. This pretty and rather secretive
moth is on the wing in July; I have usually seen it as its best in the
second and third weeks. It is often said that it flies in the early even-
ing; I have seen only one odd specimen then and I think the idea
has gained credence from Barrett’s account (vol. X, p. 134) of its habits;
but he specifically states that he saw it at that time only on one or two
occasions.

Its natural flight begins at dusk, but on warm nights there is a much
larger flight from 12—1 a.m. when it may be found with a hand-lamp
in its chosen haunts and is strongly attracted to a brighter one. I have
seen large numbers and taken all I wanted on the Broads when rowing
round the edges of the reed-beds with the back of the boat covered with
a sheet and a petrol vapour lamp standing on a box on the stern seat.
The insects should be netted before settling as the sheet in this position
soon becomes saturated with dew and a delicate insect like mucronellus
is quickly spoilt if allowed to fiutter on it. Crambus paludellus Hib.,
Schoenobius forficellus Thunb. and S. gigantellus Schiff. will be taken
at the same time, though S. gigantellus is at its best a fortnight earlier.
The females of these must be killed at once as they soon damage them-
selves, if kept in pill-boxes, by knocking off the pointed tips of the

214 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VITI/1953

forewings characteristic of the female sex in all these insects. The
males may be carried home in the usual way.

Stenia punctalis Schiff. This moth is particularly fond of hiding in
vegetation at the foot of cliffs by the sea on the South Coast, where it
stays close to the ground amongst grass-roots and rubbish. It is chary
' of flying but runs quickly on its extremely long legs and flits into the
thicker parts. It is easier to take in the evening, as by day, though
readily disturbed, it creeps so much to the thicker places as to be
difficult to extract in good condition. It comes, however, pretty freely
to a lamp standing on a sheet on the ground at Dungeness, etc., and can
easily be boxed then as it scuttles over the sheet.

Hapalia fulvalis Hubn. I believe only two specimens of this Pyralid
had been recorded when, in the winter of 1931-32, Captain Cyril Diver
showed me a number amongst insects he wished me to identify which
had been taken by him near Parkstone in Dorset in July 1931. In
1932 he kindly took the late Sir John Fryer and myself to the locality
and we found the moth commonly, flying at early dusk round garden
hedges. Fryer kept some for eggs and succeeded in rearing a few. I
was moving from Cliftonville to Westcliff at the time, so was unable
to look after any larvae. .

Phalonia gilvicomana Zell. has had a somewhat chequered history as
a British insect. It was first taken in some numbers in 1879 by the
late F. O. Standish, it is supposed in Gloucestershire; but he died the
following year and nothing further was heard of gilvicomana until the
late 20’s of the present century, when the late Professor E. G. R.
Waters took it near Lynton in Devonshire. It seems quite possible that
this may have been Standish’s locality; but as the moth has obscure
habits it may just as well have been an inhabitant of Gloucestershire,
where its foodplant is locally common. Waters gave his locality to
Sheldon and myself, and Sheldon discovered several localities for it
near Lynton and also the foodplant in this country, Lactuca muralis,
from which he bred it.

P. gilvicomana does not fly in the same way as most Phalonia,
which usually flit and buzz amongst low vegetation. Waters and I
both found most of ours flying about five feet from the ground. Mr.
Wakely afterwards found the larva common in a Surrey locality. It
is very easy to rear if the Lactuca stems and seeds are placed in a
fifteen-inch flowerpot with good drainage, covered with muslin, and
left in the garden. But when emergence time arrives the pot should
be brought into the house, or a net taken in hand directly the muslin
is raised, as gilvicomana is skittish and I lost several trying to box them

from the pot in my garden.

I always find that micros, and many macros, do best in the winter
if left severely alone in the garden, provided the pot be big enough
and the drainage good. Suggestions are often made such as half burying
the pot, shading with glass in wet weather, etc. I have never bothered
about any of these things and find from talking to my friends that I do
quite as well as the most careful and ingenious of them.

P. gilvicomana is on the wing in July and the larva may be collected
in August. It seems to like a place, such as a clearing, where quanti-
ties of Lactuca grow.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. at

[There is a paper on P. gilvicomana and its foodplant, by W. G.
Sheldon, in Entomologist 7% (1937), pp. 197-199. The generic name of
LI. muralis formerly used on the Continent was Prenanthes. Lyssa
woodland plant, local but not uncommon in England, and occurs also
(according to Bentham & Hooker) at Perth and Stirling, but is known
only from Wicklow and Louth in Ireland. The leaf somewhat resembles
that of Sonchus arvensis. The moth is figured in Barrett, vol. X, plate
459.—Ep. |

Notes and Observations

EPISCHNIA BANKESIELLA RICHARDSON IN PEMBROKESHIRE.—When col-
lecting at Tenby, Pembrokeshire, on 24th July 1951 I took a specimen
of a Pyralid at the m.v. lamp which was new to me. I had some difh-
culty in identifying it so put it to one side pending expert opinion.
Now through the good offices of Mr. Tams the moth has been identified
by Mr. E. L. Martin of the British Museum (Natural History) as
Epischnia bankesiella Richardson. Previously recorded only from the
Dorset coast the present record demonstrates that the species has a much
wider range and may possibly have been overlooked.—NeEviLtE L. Brr-
KETT, 3 Thorny Hills, Kendal. 4.vi.1953.

CELERIO LIVORNICA Esper at SAtispurRY.—On 3rd June 1953 TI received
two specimens of Celerio livornica Esp. for identification or confirmation.
One was taken on the wall of St. Martin’s Church, Salisbury, by Mr.
Fitzroy Jones of Westbury, the other was from Tollard Royal near
Salisbury where it was found on the grass verge by the roadside by Miss
Vere Temple, F.R.E.S.—C. M. R. Prrman, ‘Malvern’, Southampton
Road, Clarendon, Salisbury, Wilts. 30.vi.53.

A Dwarr Race or ANTHOCHARIS CARDAMINES L. In a previous article
(Ent. Rec., 64: 317) I referred to the existence of Anthocharis carda-
mines ab. hesperidis in the clearing in Park Hills woodland in Hamp-
shire. The only tree-growth here consists of widely-spaced saplings of
ash and Scots pine. The sloping surface is thickly covered with numer-
ous species of wild flowering plants, but the only likely food for car-
damines is a weak form of Cardamine pratensis (Lady’s Smock). This
is not plentiful and the petals are mostly white with only a mere trace
of the richer mauve of the marshland blossoms.

The several] visits made to the locality this year ccated that ap-
proximately 80% of all cardamines were dwarf, dd averaging 36 mil-
limetres in expanse. The SG population more than doubled the 2 in
numbers, the size average of the latter being 38 millimetres. The orange
tip on most of the gd just reaches the discal spot.

On 10th May every specimen observed was a dwarf, whereas in the
immediate surrounding pastures they were all of normal size. This
seems to indicate that cardamines is no great traveller, probably limit-
ing its range to within a given radius.

Examination of the soil content revealed an entirety of clay, hence
the stunted growth of C. pratensis. In the surrounds where normal
butterflies predominate this plant is lush and colourful; an occasional
large patch of Hrysimum alliaria (Garlic Mustard) <opefes another
favourite food.

216 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

The cause of dwarfism, therefore, in this instance would appear to
be fundamentally mineralogical. In view of this perhaps the name
hesperidis should only be allotted to a dwarf aberrant occurring in a
habitat producing typical insects—Paun H. Hottoway, Warwick
House, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hants. 18.v.53.

POECILOPSIS LAPPONARIA Bpv. IN INVERNESS-SHIRE.—The chance dis-
covery of a belated female of this interesting species on 4th May 1952
near Newtonmore caused me to make a widespread search in 1953. As
I believe this to be a new record for this part of Inverness-shire I think
it may be worth while to record further that my 1953 search has suc-
ceeded in locating four separate colonies in the Newtonmore district,
extending from Kinloch Laggan to Kingussie, at heights above sea-level
ranging from 700 to 1,500 feet.

On 6th April 1953 I had the good luck to observe the assembling
flight of the males. The day was sunny, and at about 1800, an hour
before sunset, the males began flying, and soon there were several con-
gregations of up to a dozen fluttering over single females ensconced in
the bog myrtle bushes. The flight continued until sunset, and then
appeared to stop.—G. W. Harprr, Neadaich, Newtonmore. 13.v.53.

ANTHOCHARIS CARDAMINES L. IN ScoTLaAnp.—At noon on 8th May
1953, a fine sunny day, I was amazed and delighted to take a ¢ A. car-
damimes flying along the Tromie burn, a tributory of the Upper Spey
in Inverness-shire. The pleasure was increased when on subsequent
days I took six further fresh male specimens, five near Aviemore* and
one at Boat of Garten, indicating that the insect was occurring through-
out the whole valley of the Upper Spey, where one of the food-plants,
Cardamine pratensis L., is widespread. Search for females and eggs,
however, has not yet been successful.

Further information on the present-day status of A. cardamines in
Scotland is needed in order to determine whether it is increasing in
numbers and distribution. Twentieth century records are very meagre.
R. Richter,-in The Scottish Naturalist, 62: 123 (1950) states that he
has found the butterfly commonly in Morayshire ‘‘during the last four
years’. Prior to this record, F. W. Smith, in the same publication,
61: 32 (1949) can find only three records since the turn of the century,
all for Southern Scotland. In the same interesting paper he summarises
the earlier records and maps the distribution, which is confined roughly
to Southern and Eastern Scotland. He concludes that Dr. E. B. Ford’s
statement in his book Butterflies (1945, pp. 128-9) is not borne out by
the Scottish records, certainly of the last fifty years —G. W. Harper,
Neadaich, Newtonmore. 1.vi.53.

[*I saw a large male A. cardamines during the latter half of May 1944 about
14 miles south of Aviemore.—ED.]

EUBLEMMA PARVA His. In NortH-West SuRREY.—On the morning of
25th May I found in my light-trap here a male Eublemma parva Hib.
in fine condition. It was probably an immigrant, perhaps accompany-
ing the score of plusia gamma I. and odd specimens of Nomophila noc-
tuella Schiff. and Agrotis ipsilon Hufn. which appeared on the same
and the two previous days. I can trace only thirteen previous British
records of H. parva, and this appears to be the first for an inland

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 217

locality. At least five of them are for late May or early June, and
there is no evidence that the species has ever bred here. It is, how-
ever, doubtless often overlooked, and should be carefully watched for.
In size and colour it resembles a Tortrix of the Phalonia group, but
its sitting posture is quite different, and I suspected it at sight of being
a Hublemma. The illustration in ‘South’ is blurred and too dark; but
it is excellently shown in Herbulot, Atlas des Lépidoptéres de France,
Fascicule IJ, figure 246.—R. F. Breturrton, Ottershaw Cottage, Otter-
shaw, Surrey. 3.vi.53.

EusLEMMA (THALPOCHARES) PARVA Huts. IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE.—I
have to record the capture of a specimen of Hublemma parva on 29th
May in my garden at Hardwicke in Gloucestershire. I found it at mid-
day resting on a leaf of delphinium; I think it is a female. Its resting
place may be the result of the m.v. light which was operating in the
garden on the previous night.—R. P. Demurs, Hardwicke, Gloucester.

[There seems to have been a very large immigration of this moth.
We have heard of 33 others.—EpD. ]

APATELE ALNI L. AND PyscHE OPACELLA H.-S. In DERBysHIRE.—I have
one good thing to report. On 25th May I was searching the boles of a
line of 300-year-old beech trees in Tupton Park, a routine check which
has become a habit since I went to school there. It was the first time,
however, that I had ever come across Apatele alni L. It was a perfect
newly emerged male specimen resting about one foot above the soil on
the north side of the trunk. I almost lost it in my eagerness to box it:
it flew off as I moved the box towards it, but luckily it rested on the
ground long enough for me to recover myself.

_Another find which may be of interest concerns one of the Psychidae.
While I was searching the walls on Beeley Moor on 23rd May I saw a
tiny black moth resting on a case made of old bits of grass. Closer
examination revealed it to be a male specimen of Psyche opacella H.-S.
I searched the wall thoroughly for more cases, but without success.—
J. H. Jounson, 53 Knighton Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield.
27.v.53.

ACHERONTIA ATROPOS LINN. aT WESTON-SUPER-MARE IN May.—It may
be worth recording that I took a specimen of A. atropos L., which was
attracted to my mercury vapour lamp in my garden at Weston-super-
Mare, on the night of 24th May last.—C. S. H. Buatrnwayr, 27 South
Road, Weston-super-Mare. 29.v.53.

ACHERONTIA ATROPOS LINN. IN BiIRMINGHAM.—On Ist June I was
given a specimen of A. atropos L. This moth had been caught on the
previous day and was still alive when I received it. It had been found
on a lawn close to a beehive in the Weoley Castle suburb of Birming-
ham.—CartwricHt Timms, 524 Moseley Road, Birmingham, 12. 6.vi.53.

Hytorcus prnastri L. at Licht In CamBripce.—Amongst the few
species which came to the m.v. lamp in my garden on the night of 22nd
May 1953 was a fine male example of the Pine Hawk. He was an un-
expected visitor, to say the least of it, since Pinus is scarce in this
neighbourhood, the nearest being a plantation of less than one hundred

218 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/1953

trees a quarter of a mile to the south-east and a few specimens in the
University botanic garden a mile away in the opposite direction. I can
find no record of H. pinastri having been taken previously in Cambridge-
shire—W. H. Srorry, Fairstead, Long Road, Cambridge.

Harty APPEARANCE OF HyLoiIcus PINASTRI LINN. IN BouRNEMOUTH.—-
On 16th May 1953 I found a 9 H. pinastri L. close to the ground on a
pine trunk in a main road not far from the Lansdowne, Bournemouth.
I first saw it soon after 2.0 p.m. and had no box with me, and was un-
able to take it until about 6.0 p.m. During the interval hundreds of
people must have walked past it within two yards without either notic-
ing or disturbing it.—H. Symms, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth.
15.vi.1953.

Micrant Morus 1n East Devon.—I took a specimen of Laphygma
exigua Hiib., worn, at light here on the night of June 12th-13th, and
a Heliothis peltigera Schiff. on June 13th-14th.—F. H. Lyon, Samp-
ford Peverell, Tiverton, Devon. 15.vi.53. .

PROTRACTED EMERGENCE OF PANOLIS FLAMMEA ScHIrr.—F rom about
40 larvae of Panolis flammea Schiff. of all sizes beaten near Aldeburgh,
Suffolk, last summer, 23 moths resulted from 29th March to 18th May
1953. Four emerged on 29th March, eight in April, and eleven in May
(two on the final date, 18th May).—F. H. Lyon, Sampford Peverell,
Tiverton, Devon.

Earty APPEARANCE OF ODONTOSIA CARMELITA Esp. IN THE SouTH.—
In his note on this subject in Ent. Rec., 65: 182, Baron de Worms
states that his capture of a ¢ carmelita at Horsell Common on 15th
April 1953 was the earliest date he had known for this species. On
looking up my records I find that I took a pair of carmelita between
Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst on 7th April 1945. They were resting
about five feet up on the trunk of a large birch tree not far from the
trees on which Baron de Worms took two females this year. I note, not
without satisfaction, that he found them both on large trees, that the
newly-emerged specimen was only a foot from the ground, where it had
probably mated during the previous night. These details confirm my
own experiences with this species. I think 7th April is an exceptionally
early date for a wild carmelita. My other dates for this species in the
same locality are 21st April (1942, 1943), 23rd April (1940, 1941), 26th
April (1940).—H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 15.vi.1953.

TIME OF APPEARANCE OF COLIAS CALIDA VERITY.—M. Berger in his
note ‘‘A Colias new to Britain”? (Entomologist, 81: 129) states that the
specimens figured in South’s Butterflies of the British Isles, Plate 21,
represents the new species, ‘‘on the other hand, figures 3-5 on Plate 25’’
(should be 26) ‘‘of Ford’s Butterflies represent true hyale’’. Baron de
Worms, referring to these species in an article in Hntomologist’s Gaz-
ette (2: 154), says ‘‘The Pale Clouded Yellows seen in this country in
May are always C. australis (calida), since the first brood of C. hyale
does not appear before mid-June or July’’. However, in the text of
Butterflies (p. 203) Ford refers to ‘‘. . . the female Pale Clouded Yellow,
Colias hyale, illustrated on Plate 26, Fig. 4, which I found in May flying
at the foot of White Horse Hill, Berkshire’. Since these three state-

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 219

ments cannot be reconciled, it would be interesting to see which of
them requires modification.—T. H. Forp, 275 Derbyshire Lane, Shef-
field, 8. 14.v.53.

Hasirats or PaRARGE AEGERIA Linn.—In his article on the habitats
of Pararge aegeria L. in the current issue of the Record Mr. D. F. Owen
asks for further information. I have seen P. aegeria in single specimens
quite regularly since 1946 in my garden here on the borders of Leicester-
shire and Northamptonshire. I was extremely surprised when I first
saw it, as my garden is a walled one and is very hot and bright in the
summer, and quite different from the conditions under which we expect
to see this insect flying. I would emphasize that this is casual and I
have never seen it in any quantity. The nearest woods are about two
miles away.—Hersert A. BuckierR, Sutton Bassett, Market Har-
borough. 19.v.53.

Anent a letter in last month’s Hnt. Rec. about P. aegeria in open
spaces away from woods, it may be of interest to report that this insect
is common round Ivinghoe Beacon and the downland close to it.—S. H.
KersHaw, Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks. 28.v.53.

VARIATION IN ARCTIA viLLIcA Linn.—On 25th June 1951 a friend
gave me an Arctia villica 2 taken at Bournemouth, which insect pro-
vided me with 262 eggs. By good fortune the larvae were safely win-
tered and all was well in the spring of 1952. They fed up on dandelion
and groundsel, and ultimately produced 247 moths during June 1952.
Of this total only two showed anything in the way of variation, which
consisted of confluent spots on the forewings. However, a small dark
genetical mark in the form of an extra dusky spot in the centre of the
hind wings was present in one of two females, and it was possible to
obtain one or two pairings. In my experience this species differs from
Panazxia dominula L. in the fact that the imagines seem to be reluctant
to pair in captivity. From the paired females approximately 500 larvae
were eventually obtained, as well as some thousands of infertile eggs
from unmated females. The larvae again wintered successfully and as
before fed up on dandelion and groundsel. Almost 100 per cent.
pupated and are now emerging. This generation shows a marked in-
crease in variation. Apart from a larger number with confluent spots
on the forewings some have the spots reduced in number and size. The
same applies to the hind wings also; one has suffused black hind wings,
and on Ist June 1953 a male emerged which was completely black on
all wings and body. There have been less than 50 emergences so far,
and it will be interesting to see what is forthcoming from the remainder.
—C. M. R. Pirman, Malvern, Southampton Road, Clarendon, Salisbury.
3.V1.53.

PHRAGMATOBIA FULIGINOSA L. ¢@ G@ ATTRACTED BY SCENT OF 9 PANAXIA
DOMINULA L.—On 26th May a young collector friend, who was breeding
P. dominula ab. bimacula, put a 3 and @ in a cage to pair, towards
dusk. Shortly afterwards he saw two reddish moths fluttering round
the cage. They proved to be OC P. fuliginosa. He watched for a
few minutes and noticed that the two dominula were not taking any
notice of each other. He then opened the cage and let in the fuliginosa.
One of the latter $d at once clasped the 2 dominula with his forelegs.

220 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

He was at once driven off by the ¢ dominula, which then paired with
the © dominula.—S. H. KersHaw, Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath,
Bletchley, Bucks. 28.v.53.

INCIDENCE OF ARGYNNIS EUPHROSYNE L. IN 1953.—A. euphrosyne is
much less scarce in this area than for the last three years, and the
females are laying freely. I saw the first one, a male, on 12th May.—
S. H. Kersnaw, Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks.
28.v.53.

HIBERNATION OF VANESSA ATALANTA TLinn.—On 15th March a friend of
mine found an atalanta in his mother’s drawingroom and turned it out
on an early primrose, upon which it fed.—S. H. Kersnaw, Alderman’s
Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks. 28.v.53.

AN ABERRATION OF CHIASMIA CLATHRATA Linn.—Yesterday afternoon,
14th June, I went to Fleam Dyke, near Newmarket, with my friend,
D. A. Ashwell. He took an aberration of (. clathrata which appears
to be identical with that figured in Barrett’s Lep. Br. Is., vol. vii,
Pl. 281, fig. li, from the coll. of S. J. Capper. Has this aberration a
name ?—CLiFFoRD CRAUFURD, Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.
LASWARD Sse

[ab. alboguttata Fettig: Dobiasch Almanack 1889, 43 = nigricans
Oberthiir 1896, nocturnata Fuchs 1898, aethiopissa Meves 1914.—Ep. ]

PupaTION Hasits oF AFRICAN SAaTURNIIDAE.—With reference to Dr.
Kettlewell’s note on this subject (1953, Ent. Rec., 65: 118), I have
noticed occasional pupae enclosed in the larval skin in all the African
species of Saturniidae with subterranean pupae that I have bred, but
I have never considered it to be a general rule.

I have bred the following species: —Bunaea alcinoe Stoll., Nudau-
relia dione F., N. amathusia Weym., Lobobunaea phaedusa Drury and
Imbrasia eblis Streck., as well as three unidentified species of Nudaurelia
and one species, which died as a pupa, of which the genus could not be
determined. In all these the last larval skin is shed in a very peculiar
and characteristic manner. A long dorsal slit is made, reaching from
the head to the 6th or 7th somite, and the pupa somehow or other (I
have never been lucky enough to see the actual change) wriggles its way
out, leaving the extended skin lying beside it. The skin is never worked
down the body and cast off as a crumpled pellet as in most other larvae.

The usual habit of these larvae is to form a cell under the soil by
pressure only, I have never found any trace of any silken threads, and
in dry, sandy soil the cell often collapses so that the pupating larva
is in contact with the soil all round. It is only in such cases that I have
found the pupa enclosed in the larval skin, in damp, clay soil, where
there has been a definite cell, or where the pupating larva has been dug
up and made to complete the change on the surface of the soil, the skin
is shed as described above, and I am of the opinion that the pheno-
menon to which Dr. Kettlewell draws attention is due to the pressure
of the surrounding soil on the larva at the time of change. As Dr.
Kettlewell remarks, the enclosing larval skin would prove a valuable
aid to prevent desiccation, and it would also protect the newly formed

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 221

and delicate pupa from abrasion and injury through particles of soil
coming into direct contact with it. .

Whilst on the subject of these subterranean Saturniid pupae, it is
perhaps worth recording that the small, paired, scar-like marks on
the meso- and meta-thorax are black on the newly formed pupa and
contrast strongly with the ivory colour of the rest of it. The small
paired knobs on the pro-thorax, however, are coloured the same as the
rest of the pupa and darken with it.—D. G. Srvasroruto, Kampala.
22.v.53.

LIBERATING MARKED BuTTERFLIES.—lor many years I have been breed-
ing thousands of Vunessa to L. and A. urticae L. with a view to obtaining
information as to the travel of these insects when released. Various
experiments were conducted last year in marking the liberated butter-
flies with spirit paint, cellulose thinned with amyl acetate, etc. How-
ever, none of the methods employed produced satisfactory results; either
the paint took too long to dry, in which case the wings stuck together
when the insects shut them, or else the paint was too heavy and impeded
flight; in other cases the marking could not be easily seen. This year
it is hoped to breed even more V. io and A. urticue for continuing the
experiments, and I have found what | believe to be a much better and
more practicable method of marking. For this purpose I am using gold
lacquer thinned down a little. It is easy to apply with a small camel
hair brush, making a smear or splash of gold on the wing. It dries
instantly, will not rub off, will not impede flight, and above all is readily
and easily seen; in fact it even attracts attention when the insect sits
sunning itself on flowers and can be detected by an observer when
cycling or passing by in a bus. The marking is also noticeable when
the insect is on the wing. So far, all the specimens I have marked and
released have a splash of gold on the right forewing.

At 12.30 p.m. on 25th June I marked and released 50 V. 10 at Claren-
don, Wiltshire. At 10 a.m. on 26th June one was seen sunning itsell
at King Manor, approximately 14 miles distant. A little later in the
day one was returned to me from Pitton, about 3 miles distant, in both
cases due east from the point of release. Fifty more were liberated
on 26th June at mid-day, and the same evening one was seen north of
Salisbury, about 2 miles N.E. from the point of release. I use a slightly
different mark for each day of release and no doubt I shall soon have to
resort to markings on the hindwings or on all wings. However, it seems
as though the experimental stages will yield some interesting results
later on, especially when the 90 which are now pupating begin to emerge.
It is proposed to mark thousands of specimens during the next few weeks
and as it is possible that many of them will travel far and wide I shall
be very grateful to hear from anyone who has seen or caught any of
these marked butterflies, with date and place of capture.—C. M. R.
Pirman, ‘Malvern’, Southampton Road, Clarendon, Salisbury, Wilts.
30.v1.53.

CoMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION oF BritisH INsEcTS.—Two matters
of general interest were discussed at the last meeting of this Committee.
It appears that the Conservators of Oxshott Heath are finding it diffi-
cult to discharge their duties because of the smallness of the funds at

222 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

their disposal. There can hardly be a London collector who has not
visited Oxshott Heath. Most of them, like the writer, will have won-
dered whose responsibility it was to look after the area, and where the
money came from. Apparently the Conservators rely entirely upon
_voluntary contributions from local residents. The Treasurer to the
Conservators is Mr. G. Roy Symmons, Birds Hill Farm, Warren Lane,
Oxshott, Surrey, and it is known that he would gladly accept offerings
from entomologists and others who have enjoyed the amenities over
which he watches. The other matter concerns access to Forestry Com-
mission property. The Committee is often asked by entomologists why
they cannot be issued with general permits allowing entry to all Forestry
Commission property. This, it appears, is not possible because entry
is controlled by the Area Conservators and not by the Headquarters of
the Commission. The Commission’s policy is to welcome genuine natur-
alists, but, because conditions vary so much from place to place and
from time to time, a close control is essential. Fuller particulars are
being circulated by the Royal Entomological Society of London in thei1
Proceedings, Series C.—N. D. Rutzy. June 1953.

An Erratum.—Colonel W. Bowater has called my attention to some
errors in my account of Gonodontis bidentata Clerck ab. bowateri (Ent.
Rec., 1952, 64: 334). He says that no melanic bidentata with a buff
border have ever been bred from larvae beaten at Cannock Chase. The
form was not known in 1915 and his stock did not originate from a
specimen bred from a larva beaten there by Mr. Manly in 1949. I do
not know how this misunderstanding occurred. After a long conversa-
tion with him I altered my account of the origin of the aberration and
he now says it was quite correct. The aberration with the buff border
appeared for the first time in the offspring of a cross between a melanic
specimen, ab. nigra Prout, from Cannock Chase and a normal bidentata
from Torquay. In the first generation the border was ill-developed and
only affected some individuals. Either it was a new mutant or the
buff border was introduced by the bidentata from Torquay, in which
it would be very inconspicuous. The latter explanation of its origin
seems to be the more probable. The available evidence points to its
being dominant.—E. A. CocKAYNE.

Collecting Notes

RARITIES IN TILGATE ForEsSt.—On 10th June in Tilgate Forest, Kenic.
a Qelerio livornica Esp. came to the mercury vapour lamp soon after
11 p.m. In addition to this, four Harpyia bicuspis Bork. arrived, the
first at 11.15 and the last just before midnight. No Tethea fluctuosa
Hiib. put in an appearance, but was plentiful on the night of the 12th
in another part of the forest. Three more bicuspis also came in. All
the bicuspis were very fresh, as were also most of the fluctuosa. Other
insects included two Hyloicus pinastri L., several Apatele alni L. and
Stauropus fagi L., with many Hapalotis venustula Hiib. One hundred
and thirty species were noted during the two nights.—W. Rerp, 6 Whir-
low Park Road, Sheffield, 11. 16.v1.53.

COLLECTING NOTES. 223

COLLECTING IN Hast HERTFORDSHIRE.—My m.yv. light trap has been
used from 25th March to 14th June with the exception of about six
nights when I was away from home. The garden, about an acre in
extent, 1s rather enclosed by trees and hedges, and the light is, there-
fore, not much spread; but the trap gives a fair idea of the local moths
present. Species and numbers are as follows: —-

Orthosia gothica L. (221), O. incerta Hufn. (135), O. stabilis Schf.
(85), and Lycia hirtaria Cl. (57) were the commonest moths in the first
six weeks. Xylocampa areola Esp. (19), O. cruda Schf. (18) and Ceras-

tis rubricosa Schf. (15) came next in numbers. 0. gracilis Schf. (13)
appears to be a commoner moth in the district than I had thought as I
had taken only one specimen in previous years. 0. mwnda Schf. ap-

peared only once although it is fairly common at Hatfield Forest, five
miles away. Drymonia ruficornis Hufn. came twice, on 28th April and
25th May.

In the remaining period from about the middle of May the late
spring moths appeared. Agrotis exclamationis L. (150), Apamea obscura
Haw. (53) and Spilosoma lubricipeda L. (87) are the commoner moths
still flying (14th June). Hadena w-latinum Hufn. (genistae Bork.),
Stauropus fagi L., Drepana binaria Hufn. and Heliophobus anceps
Schf. (saponariae Bork., reticulata Vill.) have occurred singly; the last-
named is very rare in this district.

During the above-mentioned period there have been 1,011 moths
of 67 species in the trap, an average of 14 moths per night. On only
one night was there none, and 89 on the night of 13th/14th June was the
largest number. This, of course, is very small compared with the num-
bers taken by other collectors, as I understand that over 1,000 moths
have been taken in one night. A very few of those taken have been set;
the remainder is released each day about half a mile away. No killing
agent is used in the trap.

The nomenclature used is that contained in Allan’s Larval Food-
plants.—CLiFFoRD CrRAvuFURD, Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford.
14.vi.53.

A Note from Dorsret.—I have not come across much in the moth
line down here this year; only 4 larvae of Ptilophora plumigera Schf.
in Cranborne Chase. I took a very nice var. of Euphydryas aurinia
Rott. on Hod Hill, the best I have seen alive. I was glad-to see there
were plenty of Lysandra bellargus Rott. up there this year: they were
very scarce in 1952. I did not see any unusual forms. Anyhow, the
excavations of the archaeologists on the hill top have not had any
bad effect on the local Lepidoptera.—H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road,
Bournemouth. 15.vi.53.

Top M.V. Lamp in East Arrica.—My mercury vapour lamp is a great
success. Unfortunately, it is now attracting quantities of unpleasant
water Hemiptera, including the very large Belastoma. I have a sneak-
ing fear that one day one of these will fall on my slippered foot and
bite. The other day a small Pyralid, Marasmia trapezalis, was in such
numbers that I do not think you could have put a tumbler anywhere on
about twelve square feet of wall without enclosing six or seven.—D. G.
SevAsToPpuLo, Kampala, Uganda. 27.iv.53.

224 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIL/ 19538

ORTHOPTERA
‘Burnt’ Grasshoppers

By Matcotm Burr, D.Sc., F.R.E.S.

A good many years ago I spent a couple of years in equatorial Africa,
in the interior of Angola, the Belgian Congo and Northern Rhodesia,
when I could not help noticing the famous custom of burning the grass
in the dry season. The consequences are wide areas covered with burnt
grass and the place is dirty with soot. It is astonishing how the grass-
hoppers adapt themselves to this unnatural environment. ‘This was
particularly the case with three little species of Truvalids. As is cus-
tomary in the savannah country, these were slim, elongated creatures,
and pale yellowish in colour, matching excellently with the dried grass
before it is burnt.

But after the burning they sympathise with the grass, and become,
as it were, charred. In three species this was particularly noticeable.
In one, the apices of the elongated head, tibiae and fore part of the
body turned blackish, and in another it was at the posterior end, the
hind legs and tips of the elytra and wings. I am under the impression
that both of these were of new genera, the description of which is likely
to appear shortly. The third species, however, was not merely singed
at the tips, but burnt black all over. This was Glyphoclonus miripen-
nis Karsch. When I first saw it, I was walking through a burnt patch
and my boots scattered, it seem to me, sparks and flashes of fire, which
kept vanishing. Then I found to my astonishment that there was no
fire, but numbers of this jet black grasshopper, with brilliant crimson
wings, the famous ‘‘flash colouration’’ in excelsis. At another place
afterwards I found a different form of the same species with fiery-
orange wings.

When the first rains came, springs of green would appear among the
black and, as a rule, there was a basis of unburnt grass near the ground
itself, thus giving three colours. It was the persistence of the original
buff at the base of the grass itself, contrasting with the sooty black
of the burnt upper part, that made the resemblance of the two first
mentioned kinds so remarkable. But when there was an occasional spot
of green, to my amazement I found some specimens with a green stripe
down the suture of the elytra.

I never ceased marvelling at this extraordinary phenomenon and
wrote home about it to Sir Edward Poulton, who sent me out a copy
of a short paper on the subject that he had published. In the Congo,
in forest country, I did not see anything like it, but in Northern
Rhodesia I was in the bush, and one afternoon I had to pitch camp
among some rattling dry grass. To clear the ground I burnt it out.
Before doing so I took care to collect a few of the grasshoppers in it and
they were all buff. I watched with curiosity to see if I could find any
scorched ones before leaving that spot, where | stayed only a few days,
and, sure enough, there they were.

This was all in the years 1927 and 1928. Luckily, I wrote up my
impressions while they were fresh, and most of them are in my Field
Notes from Angola that came out in the Ent. Record at the time, and
also in reminiscences published in a little book, A Fossicker in Angola,

COLEOPTERA. 225

published in 1933. Unfortunately my original notes were burnt during
the war and the publisher’s stocks of the book were bombed, and, living
abroad with restricted library facilities, I cannot give references.

My object in reviving these fascinating memories is to call attention
to a recent paper by Dr. Saadet Ergene, who is persevering with her
experiments on the coloration of Orthoptera, to which references have
appeared from time to time in these pages. In the Zool. Jahrbiicher,
Bd. 81, Heft 5/6, March/53, there is a brief paper by her entitled
Homochromer Farbwechsel ohne Haiitung bei Heuschrecken auf schwar-
zem Untergrund, in which she describes how specimens of two common
grasshoppers, Oedipoda caerulescens and Acrida turrita, were put into
cages painted black inside and covered with black material. The insects
were adult and of the natural pale colour. Here again I am obliged
to use the word ‘‘astonishing’’, for she found that all turned black in a
few days. A control experiment at the same time in ordinary cages
showed no change. The change occurred only when they were in the
garden during the day, exposed to the sun. Specimens put in a dark
room did not change. Amputated elytra placed alongside the owners
did not change. The change in some cases was complete in two days
and the longest period was seven. Another surprising thing was that
specimens blinded by having their eyes painted with black varnish also
turned black.

So we are forced to the conclusion that it is not only the immature
nymphs that are subject to these changes and that it does not operate
through the eyes, as believed, but by direct reaction of the integument.

iv will be remembered that in the Proc. R. ent. Soc. in 1944 and 1951
there have been further field observations on this point by Dr. Burtt and
Dr. Uvarov.

COLEOPTERA

The Coleoptera of a Suburban Garden

5—Clavicornia (Part 1)
By A. A. Auten, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
(Continued from Vol. 64, page 93).

The ‘Clavicornia’ are a very artificial group of families, and for con-
venience of treatment the name is here used in the old sense as excluding
the Palpicornia, ‘Serricornia’, and Heteromera (already dealt with) and
the Brachelytra which will form the last section of the list proper.

SILPHIDAE.

Necrophorus humator Gled.—Has occurred only once (June or July
1949), in some numbers under vegetable compost in a very putrid
liquescent state; its non-appearance at the carrion put down during
summer since 1952 is difficult to explain.

*Necrophorus interruptus Steph.—A female example was found
buried in the soil under rotten fish placed as a trap, when in a rather
dry condition. 18.vii.52.

Thanatophilus sinuatus F.—First noticed with N. huwmator above,
and common almost continuously from early summer to autumn at

226 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VITI/1953

carrion (mostly fish) since this was put down in 1952; at times in great
profusion, also the larvae which quickly feed up; pupae not found, pre-
sumably deeply buried. The active stages seem to pass far more of their
time hidden in the loose surface soil, or under any available cover
around the bait, than in direct contact with it; they may feed to some
extent on maggots and other larvae present, but this has not been
proved. Latest date noted for adults 21.x; larval peak-periods about the
end of May and beginning of September. (According to the books 7.
rugosus 1. should be commoner than this species, but in my experience
the reverse is the case at least in the south-east.)

CHOLEVIDAE.

*Parabathyscia wollastont Jans.—One specimen of this elusive little
subterranean species under dead grass on a flower-bed, 8.v1i.52; and
another likewise in nearly the same spot, 11.vili.52. (Usually recorded
as taken in old seed-potatoes, and doubtless much overlooked.)

Ptomaphagus subvillosus Goeze (= sericeus F.).—Not common, but
a moderate number have occurred in the last few years at carrion, and
odd ones by sweeping, on the wing, running in the sun, and under
rubbish; spring to autumn; small specimens with the male post-tibial
character undeveloped predominate.

Catops fuliginosus Er.—Three examples by shaking a pile of rotting
cabbage stalks, 21.v.53.

Catops chrysomeloides Panz.—Occasional in 1951-2, in decaying vege-
tation and singly in moss, at grass roots, and at carrion, in summer.

Catops fumatus Spence.—One in earth under decomposing fish,
28.1x.52.

Catops watsoni Spence.—Rare; singly by sweeping, especially
towards evening, May to August, 1951 onwards. is

LEIODIDAE.

Cyrtusa pauxilla Schm.—During June and July of last year this
species turned up in small numbers by evening sweeping on a lawn,
chiefly near a beech hedge and under limes and other trees overhanging
from the next garden; it was not to be found later in the season, nor else-
where, but will probably recur this year. (Doubtless breeds in under-
ground fungi, like most of the Leiodini; a few other small species may
well await discovery in the garden.)

CLAMBIDAE.

Clambus minutus Stm.—In vegetable refuse of various kinds; of
irregular occurrence ever since the spring of 1933, several specimens
being nearly always found at a time, with long intervals between—
months or years—in which it is not met with; two by sweeping, 8.vi.53.
(I do not regard this species as rare compared with the next, as Fowler
and Joy do.)

Clambus pubescens Redt.—In the same situations, and taken with
C. minutus in April 1933 and later occasions up to the present, but
decidedly scarcer.

SCYDMAENIDAE,.
*Hutheia schawmii Kies.—Single males taken last year by brushing
the foliage of pear trees along a wall on warm evenings, 14.vili and 22.1x;
both specimens very active and volatile. This uncommon species ap-

COLEOPTERA. 227

pears to breed in decaying vegetable matter, and had not previously
been recorded from the London suburbs (cf. Hnt. mon. Mag. 1952, 88:
260).

Scydmaenus tarsatus Miill.—In heaps of cut grass and other rotting
herbage, compost, etc.; not uncommon and sometimes in numbers, at
intervals throughout the year in all seasons since such habitats were
worked; occasionally by sweeping near its breeding-grounds.

PSELAPHIDAE.

Euplectus sanguineus Den.—As for the last species, except that it
was lost sight of for a long period (about 1934-47); one also in a poly-
pore fungus on the remains of a marrow-bed, 13.vii.51.

Euplectus signatus Rchb.—Very rare; one example only in well-
rotted grass in March, 1950.

Tychus niger Payk.—Taken singly since last autumn as follows: by
general sweeping, 16.ix.62; under dry rubbish, 5.x.52; sweeping lush
grass beneath apple trees, 20 and 22.v.53.

PTILIIDAE.

Unlike any of those preceding, this family (especially the genus
Acrotrichis) is well represented in the garden fauna; but owing to their
minute size the smaller species must be continually overlooked. The
main habitat here is more or less the same for all, viz., decaying plant
material such as grass-heaps, and need not be repeated for the various
species. Few but the commonest seem to have been recorded from nearer
London than Tonbridge—which shows how most collectors regard (or dis.
regard) the family! They can be found during the greater part of the
year.

Ptenidium pusillum Gyll. (= evanescens Marsh.).—General, and as a
rule abundant, sometimes in great profusion; the commonest of the
genus everywhere in my experience.

Ptenidium nitidum WHeer.—Much less often seen, but when it is,
usually in colonies and not intimately mixed with P. pusillum. (Two
or three other species are likely to be found eventually.)

Millidium minutissemum Lj.—A few specimens at wide intervals of
time from 1937 to 41 only. It seems searce in the south-east.

Ptilium exaratum Allib.—Not uncommon at times, but rather erratic.

Ptiliolum spencei Allib.-Somewhat more plentiful and of more
regular occurrence; occasionally also taken by sweeping. —

Ptiliolum kunzeit Heer.—Seemingly not at all common, but easily
passed over with N. titan in the field; odd specimens have been noted
since the autumn of 1937 when the garden was first worked for
Ptiluidae.

Oligella foveolata Allib.—Very rare apparently, four specimens hav-
ing been taken on 9.x.37 and none since; like all the above, in a pile of
cut grass.

Nephanes titan Newm.—Tolerably common at intervals, usually in
company with some of the preceding and succeeding species.

Acrotrichis grandicollis Mann.—Not infrequent, though it tends to
occur singly; has also been captured on the wing and by beating, ete.

Acrotrichis fascicularis Hbst.-—Easily the commonest of the genus
in the garden; can be found at almost any time, often in quantity; has
also occurred in moss, in a heap of twigs and sticks, dead leaves and

228 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VITI/ 1953

mouldy fruit, on foliage, and flying. I have an example of the var.
laetitiae Matth. from cut grass in the garden, dated 23.111.38; this form
may prove a distinct species, as originally described. (The allied and
supposedly common A. intermedia Gillm. (= lata Brit. auct.) has been
sought in vain.)

Acrotrichis atomaria Deg.—Much less abundant than the last, but
not rare; it occurred copiously on a damp asphalt surface under turf,
June 1952.

*Acrotrichus championt Matth. (= thoracica Matth., Joy, nec
Waltl.).—Very scarce, unless confused with the last, which it closely
approaches; the only certain specimen is dated 23.x.37. (This is the
species shaped like atomaria, the thorax still more remotely tuberculate
and scarcely reticulate, and long yellow antennae with longer third
joint.)

*Acrotrichis thoracica Waltl (= anthracina Matth., Joy).—Three
examples on different days in October 1937 are all that have been noted
so far. (In the tangled synonymy of the two latter species I here follow
Kloet and Hincks (1945) who differ from Britten and Joy—see Joy, 1932,
Pract. Handb. Brit. Beetles, 1: 571. The present species is broad and
subparallel with a shining diffusely tuberculate thorax which is but
little wider than the elytra, and short dark antennae.)

Acrotrichis montandonu Allib.—In some numbers at times, chiefly in
past years; occasionally in moss or by sweeping.

*Acrotrichis brevis Mots.—A single specimen from siftings of cut
grass, 22.vi.389, must apparently be referred to this very rare species.

Acrotrichis sericans Heer.—Hardly common and never found freely,
but less erratic in incidence than several of the species.

Acrotrichis bovina Mots.—Scarce and always found singly; April
1946 and subsequently; one caught flying over grass heap, 11.v.53.

Acrotrichis brevipennis Er.—Equally sporadic; first taken 1.iv.41,
and one or two more since.

*Acrotrichis longicornis Mann.—Another very rare species, of which
a male was obtained from rotted-down grass, 23.111.38.

HISTERIDAE.

Except where otherwise stated, these inhabit well-decayed vegetable
refuse. They apparently hibernate as adults.

Onthophilus striatus Forst.—Rather sparing as a rule, but found at
frequent intervals since about 1930.

Acritus nigricornis Hoff.—Not often met with, but when it is,
generally a number are found; two in a small fungus, March 1949; one
swept off long grass, 14.vii1.52. First observed about 1938.

Saprinus semistriatus Serb. (= nitidulus F.).—So far only seen in
1952, when it occurred in varying numbers with the next species in June
and July, more rarely later in the season (latest 4.1x).

Saprinus aeneus F.—Sometimes numerous under rotting fish and
dead birds, May to September, 1952-3.

*Carcinops 14-striata Steph.—Taken very sparsely and at rather
long intervals, chiefly early spring, from iii.35; not seen in the last few
years.

Hister unicolor L.—Found almost every year since 1927 in which grass
and compost have been worked, but can hardly be called really common.

COLEOPTERA. 229

Also in a pile of rotten apples in autumn, and very exceptionally at
carrion. (Elsewhere also in dung.)

Hister cadaverinus Hoff.—Common at carrion, and very often found
buried in the soil beneath like the Saprini and indeed most of the necro-
phagous species; also sometimes in putrid vegetable matter, but the
general habitat of this species and the last are markedly different—a
fact not usually recognized. Cudaverinus is slightly the more catholic
in its tastes but I have never taken it in dung.

(*)Hister merdarivus Hoff.—Frequent at certain periods since first
detected in 1933, though at others not seen at all (e.g., the last six years
or more up to the end of this May, after which it has suddenly re-
appeared in force); has sometimes been the commonest Hister in the
garden. This and the two preceding species occurred together in semi-
liquid grass-mulch, 30.v.53. The natural death of a specimen was wit-
nessed recently: found under a tile at the foot of the house wall, in
worn but seemingly still vigorous condition, it was taken for identity-
check and released from the study-window; next day it was seen to be
back in the very same spot (the tile was one of a whole row, almost
under the said window, serving as beetle-traps), and for three days more
was left undisturbed, but on the next was found to be dead. The species
occurs also in birds’ nests elsewhere, and is not nearly as rare as the
books suggest.

Hister purpurascens Hbst.—Taken singly, and only three times so
far: in rotting herbage, 1l.v.46 (ab. niger Er.); and twice by gr ae
amongst grass on a flower-bed, 9 and 22.iv.53 (typical form).

Hister 12-striatus Schrk.—Somewhat common as a rule; has been
found in mid-winter in compost-heaps; one at roots of grass, 15.iv.51.
Hister bimaculatus L.—This pretty little species seems very rare
here, a single example only having occurred as long ago as August 1930.

NITIDULIDAE.

Brachypterus glaber Steph.—By sweeping; 4.vi.51, 8.viii.52.

Brachypterus urticae F.—Also swept up, 27.vi. 50. The single speci-
mens encountered are evidently strays, as the food-plant of both species
is nettle which is not present in the garden.

Brachypterolus pulicarius Li.—One swept from weeds, 5.vi.51; an-
other from lilac bloom, 26.v.53. Its foodplant, toadflax, again is not
found in the garden.

*Brachypterolus vestitus Kies.—On pear blossom; odd specimens
beaten from other flowers (Pyracanthus, lilac, etc.) and by general
sweeping; one at roots of chickweed on cinder path; April to June; by
no means rare. Found first in 1944 (see Hnt. mon. Mag., 1945, 81: 77).
First recorded in Britain as damaging antirrhinums at Cambridge,
but has since become naturalized in the wild. I could never find a trace
of it on the few antirrhinums in this garden.

Laria (=Pria) dulcamarae Scop.—A few examples taken last sum-
mer by general beating and sweeping; it will probably increase now
that Solanwm dulcamara is thoroughly established in the garden.

Meligethes flavimanus Steph. (=lumbaris Stm.).—Apparently a re-
cent arrival, two or three specimens having occurred at flowers of lilac
and weigelia and one by sweeping, in late May and early June of this
year.

230 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIII /1953

Meligethes aeneus F.—Common, but not abundant, from spring to
autumn on buttercups, lilac, fruit trees in flower, etc.; one at roots of
grass, 9.1v.53. Its breeding- pleas are Renelenne especially charlock—
not found in the garden.

_ Meligethes viridescens F.—Unaccountably rare; one off lilac bloom,
26.v.53, is the sole record.

Meligethes nigrescens Steph. (=picipes Stm.).—Only in the last two
years: twice by sweeping, July-August 1952; several by beating flowers
of the kinds mentioned above, May-June 1953. If it breeds in the
garden, it probably does so on clover.

Meligethes flavipes Stm.—As soon as its host, Ballota nigra, was
noticed in the garden in 1949 a look-out was kept for the beetle, which
first turned up on 18.v11.51 (two examples swept from the plant). More
frequent since that time, on and off from spring to autumn, by sweep-
ing and on thistle and other flowers, often far from any Ballota.

*Meligethes mncanus Stm.—Since first taken in 1951, has occurred
on many occasions (sometimes two or three individuals together) between
spring and autumn but mostly in July and August, on such flowers as
globe-thistle (Echinops), wild thistle, golden-rod, yarrow, and aster; and
even by sweeping near the flower-beds. It breeds on catmint, which is
absent from the garden; and appears to have been almost invariably
mistaken in Britain for M. wmbrosus Stm.—indeed there was only one
specimen on record before Dr. A. M. Easton, the specialist in this genus,
cleared up the confusion.

Melagethes erythropus Gyll.—Fairly general, but never numerous,
throughout the summer on a variety of blossoms and by sweeping; like
most of the species, noted only in recent years . (This is probably due
as much to reduced cultivation of the garden as to intensified collecting !
The breeding-plant of this species, according to Dr. Easton, is Lotus—
which has not yet been observed to grow there.)

*Nitidula carnaria Schal. (=4-pustulata F.).—A solitary example in
the earth under the remains of decomposed fish, 25.vii.53.

Omositu discordea F.—Common; in profusion in and under old
bones in spring, under dry carrion in summer, and in plenty with the
next species under rotten mouldy plums in autumn; odd specimens in
vegetable refuse, and by sweeping in warm weather (e.g. 25.111.53).

Omosita colon L.—In the same situations as discoidea, but less gener-
ally common, except perhaps in the last few years; plentiful under car-
case of starling, v.53, unaccompanied by the other species; the two were
equally abundant under mouldy plums in Sept.-Oct. 1952, a few in-
dividuals of both lingering on until well into December. First taken
in a compost heap in 1948.

Epuraea aestiva L.—From April to August on flowering shrubs or
trees, but chiefly in May and the first half of June; on lilac and
weigelia in large numbers; two very small specimens from golden-rod,
14.ix.51; a few swept under apple trees long after the blossom was over,
various dates, vili.52; one at grass roots, 19.iv.51.

Epuraea florea Er.—In late August, 1951, a few rather large speci-
mens were brushed from flowers of golden-rod, hollyhock and globe-
thistle, but it was not found the following year.

DIPTERA. 231

Epuraea heert Tourn. (=2-rubrum J. Sahl., wnicolor and obsoleta
Brit. cat.).—An example of this long-expected species was found under
orange-peel put down as a trap, 6.v.53.

Soronia grisea.L.—Two shaken out of rotting dahlia roots, iv.33; it
is surprising that no more have occurred, as so many saprophagous
species have turned up in the last few years.

(To be continued)

DIPTERA

Notes on the Emergences of Trypetidae
By M. Nistett, F.R.E.S.

During my extensive breeding of Trypetid flies from their larvae a
number of observations on their emergences have been made, a summary
of which may be of some interest.

GALL-CAUSING SPECIES.

With some exceptions to which I will refer later the larvae overwinter
in the galls in which they eventually pupate, the flies emerging in June
and July of the second year.

Urophora cardui L. in stem galls on Cirsium arvense; U. stylata F.
in flower-heads of Cirsium vulgare; U. cuspidata in flower-heads of
Centaurea scabiosa; U. jaceana Her. in flower-heads of Centaurea nigra;
and Myopites blotu Bréb. in those of Pulicaria dysenterica all do this.
An exception is Sphenella marginata Fln. whose larvae live and pupate
in flower-heads of various species of Senecio, the flies emerging in
August and September of the same year and hibernating.

There are two species where the time taken to reach maturity must
be very short, they are Oxyna flavipennis Lw. whose larvae cause galls
on the roots of Achillea millefoltum from which the flies emerge in July;
I have found these galls from August to March and in every case they
contained empty puparia, flies emerging only from galls found in June;
and Paroxyna misella Lw. whose larvae cause galls on shoots of Artemisia
vulgaris, these galls may be found in June and July, the flies emerging
in July of the same year.

STEM-FEEDING SPECIES.

The larvae of Ceriocera microceras Her. live in stems of Centaurea
scabiosa and pupate there, the flies emerging in July of the second year ;
those of Oxyna parietina L. do the same in stems of Artemisia vulgaris
but the flies emerge in the following May; the larvae of Trypeta falcata
Scop. live at first in the roots of Tragopogon spp. and work up into the
stems to pupate, the flies emerging in May and June of the second year.

LEAF-MINING SPECIEs.

These larvae all leave the mines when full-fed to pupate in the earth.
They are Spilographa zoé Mg. in mines on Artemisia, Chrysanthemum,
and Senecio, the larvae may be found in June and July, the flies emerge
in July and August of the same year, hibernating as adults; the larvae
of Philophylla heracler L. which live in the leaves of various species of
Umbelliferae behave in the same manner, the flies emerge in July and

232 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 69. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

August and also hibernate; the larvae of Acidia cognata Wied. are
found in mines in leaves of Petasites ovatus and Tussilago farfara in
late autumn, they overwinter and the flies emerge in June of the fol-
lowing year. |

FRUIT-FEEDING SPECIES.

We have few of these in Britain and the larvae all leave the feulee
in the autumn to pupate in the earth.

The larvae of Gonioglossum wiedemanni Lw. are to be found on
Bryonia dioica in the late summer and the flies emerge in the following
May and June; the larvae of Phagocarpus permundus Har. on Cratae-
gus and Pyracantha spp. may be found in September and October, the
flies emerging in May and June of the year following; Zonosema alter-
nata Fln. with larvae on Rosa spp. in September and October, has the
flies emerge in May and June of the following year.

FLOWER-HEAD SPECIES.

The larvae of a large proportion of our Trypetidae inhabit flower-
heads of the Compositae. Some species are single-brooded, other double-
brooded, while some have retarded emergences, a portion of a brood
emerging in the first year and the remainder overwintering as larvae,
with the flies coming out in the second year. I will deal with them in
that order.

Single-brooded Species:—Urophora spoliata Hal. on Serratula tinc-
toria, has the flies emerge in June and July of the second year; Cerio-
cera cornuta F. on Centaurea scabiosa, I have had a few flies of this
species emerge in August and September of the first year but have not
yet sufficient evidence to class it as a double-brooded species, the main
emergence is in June of the second year. Terellia longicauda Mg. on
Cirsium eriophorus has the flies emerge in June and July of the second
year, as do also those of T. serratulae L. from Carduus nutans and
Cirsium vulgare; Trypeta ruficauda F. with larvae in heads of Cirsium
arvense, C. palustre and C. pratense; T. winthemi Mg. in Carduus
crispus, and T. vectensis Col. in Serratula tinctoria, all pupate in the
heads; and T. tussilaginis F. whose larvae live and pupate in the
achenes of Arctium spp., are all species whose larvae overwinter, the
flies emerging in June and July of the second year.

Larvae of Paroxyna elongatula Lw. pupate in flower-heads of Bidens
tripartita, the flies emerging in August and September of the first year
and hibernating; P. plantaginis Hal. has larvae on Aster tripolium
which pupate in the heads, the flies emerge in June and July of second
year; Tephritis bardanae Schr. on Arctiwm spp. has the larvae pupate
in the heads, with the flies emerging in August and September of the
first year; T. conjuncta Lw. on Chrysanthemum leucanthemum emerges
in June and July of the first year; T. hyoscyami L. on Carduus crispus
emerges in July and August of the first year; Trypanea stellata Fuess.
has larvae in Hieraciwm spp. and Senecio spp., the flies emerging in
August and September of the first year.

Double-brooded Species:—It is rather difficult to decide with some
species as to whether they have two broods or not, with those mentioned
below there is no doubt of this being the case.

Chaetostomella onotrophes Lw. whose larvae are found in flower-
heads of Centaurea nigra, Cirsium arvense, C. palustre and Serratula

DIPTERA. 233

tinctoria, has the flies from overwintering larvae emerging in April,
May, June, and occasionally July, these giving rise to a second brood
in July and August; Chaetorellia loricata Rond. in flower-heads of
Centaurea scabiosa emerges from overwintering larvae in June, and is
followed by a second brood in July and August; Trypeta colon Mg. with
larvae in flower-heads of Centaurea scabiosa, has the first brood emerge
in June and July, the second brood emerging in August; Hoplochaeta
pupillata F. has rather erratic emergences, these from overwintering
larvae take place in May and June, from July to September another
brood, or broods, will emerge. It is not an uncommon thing to find both
larvae and empty puparia in the same swollen flower-head of a Hiera-
cium sp. in which they feed and pupate; Xyphosia miliaria Schrnk.
larvae live and pupate in flowers of Cirsium arvense and C. palustre,
flies from overwintering larvae emerge from May to July, a second
brood emerges in August and September; Urophora quadrifasciata Mg.
larvae live and pupate in the achenes of Centaurea nigra, here again
we have two broods, flies from the overwintering larvae emerge in May,
June and July; flies from the second brood in July and August.

I feel it safe to assume that Tephritis vespertina Lw. is a double-
brooded species, I have found larvae in heads of Hypochoeris radicata
in May, from which flies emerged two weeks later, and other larvae and
pupae up to the end of July, flies from the late pupae emerging in July
and August and undoubtedly hibernating. The larvae and pupae of
Ensina sonchi L. may be found in flower-heads of various species of
Compositae from May to August, the flies emerging from June to Sep-
tember; with this and the previous species there is probably a succession
of broods.

Retarded Emergences:—With Chaetostomella onotrophes Lw. I
have had few instances, a portion of a brood emerging in August and
the remainder in the following June; with Ceriocera cornuta F. on
several occasions from July collected larvae a portion of the brood has
emerged in September, the remainder coming out in June and July of
the following year; with Trypeta colon Mg. I have had a number of
instances where a portion of a brood has emerged in July and August,
with a further emergence in June of the following year; Hoplochaeta
pupillata F., I have had numerous flies of this species emerge in July
and August, and a considerable emergence in the following May;
Xyphosia miliaria Schrnk. from July larvae on several occasions have
emerged in August and September, and again a number from May to
July of the following year; with Urophora quadrifasciata Mg. a number
of series have given a considerable emergence in July and August, with
about an equal number emerging in the following May and June; the
larvae of Myopites frauenfeldi Schin. cause galls in flower-heads of
Inula crithmoides, flies have emerged in August and September, fol-
lowed by a good number in June and July of the next year.

I have only dealt with species of which I have had considerable num-
bers of their larvae, it is necessary to collect large numbers over as wide
a period as possible, to obtain correct details of the emergence times
of the flies.

The above notes refer to 4150 Trypetids bred from a very much larger
number of their larvae that were collected.

234 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIII / 1953

The Hover-flies (Syrphidaec)

By L. Parmenter, F.R.E.S.
(Continued from page 190).

LITERATURE.

The selected list below includes several that mention many more
papers on the family. It also includes items relating to additions to
the British List since the publication of Kloet and Hincks’ Check List.
Allen, A. A. 1947. Aggressive Behaviour of a Syrphus (Dipt.). Ent.
mon. Mag., 83: 78.

——, 1952. Volucella manis Lh. (Syrphidae) twice found Indoors at
Blackheath. Hnt. Rec., 64: 299-300.

Alsterberg, G. 1934. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Anatomie und Biologie
der limnophilen Syrphidenlarven. Biol. Zentrbl., 54: 1-20.

Andrews, H. W. 1931, 1935, 1943, 1949. British Dipterological Liter-
ature. I-IV. Ent. Rec., 43, 47, 55 and 61.

—., 1948. Rhingia campestris Mg., and Syrphus balteatus De Geer.
Ent. Rec., 60: 107.

Aubertin, D., and Diver, C. 1933. Triglyphus primus Lw. (Syrphidae)
taken in London. Hnt. mon. Mag., 69: 188-189, 203.

Audcent, H. L. F. 1949, 1950. Bristol Insect Fauna. Diptera. Proc.

Bristol Nat. Soc., 27: 409-470 and 28: 45-132.

, 1951. Midnight flies. Ent. mon. Mag., 87: 138.

Banks, C. J. 1951. Syrphidae (Dipt.) as pests of cucumbers. Ent. mon.
Mag., 87: 239-240.

Beling, T. 1882. Beitrag zur Metamorphose zweifltigeligen Insecten

aus den Familien ... Syrphidae. Arch. Natur., 48: 186-
240.

——, 1888. Beitrag zur Metamorphose einiger zweifltigeliger Insecten
aus den Familien . .. Syrphidae. Verh. zool.-bot. Ges.

Wien, 38: 1-4.
Bromley, P. J. 1946. Ichneumonidae (Hym.) bred from Syrphid —
puparia. Ent. mon. Mag., 82: 269.

Brown, E.S. 1951. Variation and Polymorphism in Lampetia equestris
(F.) (Dipt., Syrphidae) and other British Mimetic Insects.
Ent. mon. Mag., 87: 16-18.

Buckton, G. B. 1895. Natural History of Eristalis tenax or the drone
fly, 1-88. London.

Carrick, R. 1936. Experiments to test the efficiency of protective adap-
tations in insects. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 85: 131-140.

Coe, R. L. 1938. Rediscovery of Callicera yerburyi Verrall (Diptera:
Syrphidae); its breeding habits, with a description of the
larva. Ent., 71: 97-102.

——, 1939. Callicera yerburyi Verrall (Diptera: Syrphidae), a syno-
nym of C. rufa Schummel, further details of its life history,
with a description of the puparium. Hnt., 72: 228-231.

——, 1939. Description of the female of Xylota xanthocnema Collin
(Dipt., Syrphidae). Hnt. mon. Mag., 15: 224.

——, 1989. A second British record of Rhingia rostrata Linnaeus
(Dipt., Syrphidae): its distinctions from R. campestris
Meigen. Ent. mon. Mag., 15: 225-227.

, 1942.

pads HI950.

Collin, J. E.

piety 1087.
£21 LO 98D
2+ 41940,
=3 1946,

, 1946.

, 1952.

Poe appa:

Colyer, C. N., and Hammond, C. O. 1951.

THE HOVER-FLIES (SYRPHIDAE). 235
Chrysochamys ruficornis F. (Dipt., Syrphidae): its dis-
tinctions from C. cuprea Scop. Ent. mon. Mag., 17: 165-
167.

Brachypalpus eunotus Loew (Dipt., Syrphidae) new to
Britain ; its distinctions from B. bimaculatws Macquart and
notes on synonymy in the genus. Ent. mon. Mag., 17:
193-197.

Rhingia campestris Meigen (Dipt., Syrphidae): an account
of its life-history and descriptions of the early stages. Hnt.
mon. Mag., 78: 121-1380.

Criorrhina oxycanthae Meig., a variety of C. berberina F.
(Dipt., Syrphidae). Ent. mon. Mag., 86: 124-126.

1931. Notes on some Syrphidae. Hnt. mon. Mag., 67:
153 et al.
Notes on Syrphidae (Diptera) II. Ent. mon. Mag., 73:
182-185.
Notes on Syrphidae (Diptera) ITI. Hnt. mon. Mag., 75:
104-109.
Notes on Syrphidae (Diptera) IV. Ent. mon. Mag., 76:
150-158.

Syrphus ericarum sp. n. 69 (Diptera, Syrphidae). Ent.
Rec., 58: 117-119.

A redescription of Syrphus mecogramma Bigot, and a note
on the occurrence of probably the same species in Scotland

(Diptera). Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. B., 15: 11-12.

. A second British species of Myolepta (Diptera, Syrphidae).

J. Soc. Brit. Ent., 3: 133-187.

Syrphus malinellus sp. n. (Diptera, Syrphidae).
ent. Soc. Lond. B., 21: 35-36.

On the Subdivisions of the Genus Pipizella Rnd. and an
Additional British Species (Diptera, Syrphidae). J. Soc.
Brit. Ent., 4: 85-88.

Proc. Ft.

Flies of the British Isles,
1-383. London.

Cumber, R. A. 1949. Humble-bee parasites and commensals found with-

in a thirty mile radius of London. Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond.
A., 24: 119-127.

Donisthorpe, H. St. J. K. 1927. Guests of British Ants, 1-268.. London.

Fonseca, E.

Fraser, F. C. 1946.

Be HT OLG:

Gabler, H.

C. M. d’A. 1948. Four Notes on Diptera. Hnt. Rec., 60:
50-51.

Volucella (Dipt., Syrphidae) larvae sp., breeding
in a nest of Vespula vulgaris L. (Hym., Vespidae). Ent.
mon. Mag., 82: 55-57.

A final report on the breeding of Volucella (Dipt., Syrphi-
dae) larvae in a nest of Vespula vulgaris L. (Hym. Vespi-

dae). Ent. mon. Mag., 82: 158.

1932. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Fristalis larven. Stettin
ent. Ztz., 93: 143-147.

Goffe, E. R. 1934. Tubifera (=Eristalis) tenax Linn. (Dipt., Syrph.)

== 1945,

in flight in December. J. Soc. Brit. Ent., 1: 10-11.
Migration in the Syrphidae (Diptera). Ent. mon. Mag.,
81; 61-62.

236 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/ 1953

——, 1947. The wing venation of Syrphidae (Diptera). Hnt. mon.
Mag., 83: 225-239.

——, 1949. Some further records of Triglyphus primus Loew (Diptera,

Syrphidae) and the finding of the larvae in Belgium. J.

Soc. Brit. Ent., 3: 62-63.

——, 1949. The first genus to be proposed in Syrphidae (Diptera). J.
Soc. Brit. Ent., 3: 63-64.

——, 1952. An Outline of a Revised Classification of the Syrphidae
(Diptera) on Phylogenetic Lines. Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent.,
11: 97-124.

Hammer, O. 1941. Biological and ecological investigations on flies as-
sociated with pasturing cattle and their excrement.
Vidensk. Medd. Naturh. Foren., 105: 141-893. Copen-
hagen.

Hassan, A. A. G. 1944. The structure and mechanism of the spiracular
regulatory apparatus in adult diptera and certain other
groups of insects. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 94: 103-153.

Heiss, E. M. 1938. A classification of the larvae and puparia of the
Syrphidae of Illinois exclusive of aquatic forms. JI. Biol. |
Monogr., 16: 1-142.

Hennig, W. 1952. Die Larvenformen der Dipteren. 3 Teil. viii + 1-628.
Berlin |

‘Hobby, B. M. 1932. Observations on the Habits and Prey of the Fos-
sorial Wasp Mellinus arvensis L. Trans. ent. Soc. S. of

Eng., 7: 68-80.

——, 1933. Prey of British Dragonflies. Trans. ent. Soc. S. of Fng.,
8: 65-76.

——, 1933. Prey of Scatophaga stercoraria LL. (Dipt., Cordyluridae).
J. ent. Soc. S. of Eng., 1: 106-110.

—, 1940. Pocota personata (Harris 1776) (=apiformis (Schrank

1781)) (Dipt., Syrphidae): occurrences in Britain. Ent.
mon. Mag., 76: 238-244.

, 1940. Spiders and their Prey. Ent. mon. Mag., 76: 258-259.

Hodson, W. FE. H. 1927. The binomics of the lesser bulb flies, Humerus
strigatus Fall. and E. tuberculatus Rond. in south-west
England. Bull ent. Res., 17: 373-384.

——, 1931. A comparison of the immature stages of Humerus tuber-
culatus Rond. and Syritta pipiens Linne (Syrphidae).
Bull. ent. Res., 22: 55-58.

——, 1932. A comparison of the larvae of Humerus strigatus Fln. and
Eumerus tuberculatus Rond. (Syrphidae). Bull. ent. Res.,
23: 247-249.

—, 1932. The large narcissus fly Merodon equestris Fab. (Syrphidae).
Bull. ent. Res., 23: 429-448.

Ilse, D. 1949. Colour Discrimination in the Dronefly, Hristalis tenaz.
Nature, 163: 255.

Imms, A. D. 1947. Insect Natural History, 1-317. London.

Kerrich, G. J. 1942. Second Review of Literature concerning British
Ichneumonidae (Hym.) with notes on Palaearctic Species.
Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent., 8: 43-77.

Lack, D. and E. 1951. Migration of insects and birds through a Pyre-
nean Pass. J. Anim. Ecol., 20: 63-67.

THE HOVER-FLIES (SYRPHIDAB). 237

Laurence, B. R. 1945. Syrphidae, ete. (Diptera) in Bedfordshire. Ent.
mon. Mag., 81: 125. :

——, 1947. Aggressive Behaviour of Syrphidae (Dipt.). Ent. mon.
Mag., 83: 219.

——, 1947. Behaviour of Chrysotoxum (Dipt., Syrphidae). Ent. mon.
Mag., 83: 280.

——, 1948. Abundance and Scarcity of Rhingia campestris Mg. (Dipt.,
Syrphidae). Hnt. Rec., 60: 100-101.

Lundbeck, W. 1916. Diptera Danica. 5: 18-603. Copenhagen.

Metcalf, C. L. 1913. The Syrphidae of Ohio. Ohio Biol. Surv. Bull.,
1: 9-123.

——, 1916. The Syrphidae of Maine. Maine Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul., 253:
193-264.

Nixon, G. E. J. 1934. Two notes on the behaviour of Volucella
pellucens in its association with the wasps Vespa vulgaris
Linn. and Vespa germunica Fab. Ent. mon. Mag., 70:
17-18.

Parmenter, L. 1944. Behaviour of Syritta pipiens L. (Dipt., Syrphi-
dae). Hnt. mon. Mag., 80: 44.

——, 1948. Rhingia campestris Mg. (Dipt., Syrphidae) a further note.
Ent. Rec., 60: 119-120.

—, 1950. The Diptera of Bookham Common. London Naturalist for
1949, 29: 98-133.

—, 1951. The number of eggs laid by a Hover fly. Ent. Rec., 63
250.

——., 1951. The egglaying of Catabomba (= Scaeva) pyrastri L. [Dipt.,
Syrphidae]. Hnt. Rec., 63: 255.

——, 1952. Syrphidae (Dipt.) attracted to yellow colours. Ent. mon.

Mag., 88: 50.

Saunt, J. W. 1945. Migration of Syrphidae (Dipt.). Ent. mon. Mag.,
AL -¢ 13.

Scott, E. I. 1939. An account of the development stages of some
aphidophagous Syrphidae (Dipt.) and their parasites
(Hymenopt.). Ann. Applied Biol., 26: 509-532.

Shillito, J. F. 1947. Pocota personata (Harris, M.) (Dipt., Syrphidae)
from Epping Forest. Ent. mon. Mag., 83: 180-181.

Tilden, J. W. 1952. Observations on the Habits of Certain oe phidae
(Diptera). Ent. News, 63: 39-43.

Timms, C. 1946. Hibernation of Tubiferu tenax L. Ent. Rec., 5
39.

Turner, A. H. 1946. Prey of Misewmena calycina (Arach., Thomisidae).
Ent. Rec., 58: 113-114.

Varley, G. C. 1937. Aquatic Insect larvae which obtain oxygen from
the roots of plants. Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. A., 12: 55-60.

Verdcourt, B. 1948. Scarcity of Rhingia campestris Mg. (Dipt., Syr-
phidae). Hnt. Rec., 60: 108.

Verrall, G. H. 1901. British Flies, 5. London.

Wainwright, C. J. 1942. A new British Syrphid (Dipt.) Lasiophthicus
(Catabomba) albomaculata Macq. (gemellari Rond.). Ent.
mon. Mag., 17: 3-4.

——, 1944. Hammerschmidtia ferruginea Fall. (Dipt., Syrphidae) in
Scotland. Hnt. mon. Mag., 80: 8-9.

238 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIIT/1953

——, 1944. Migratory Diptera. Ent. mon. Mag., 80: 225-226.

——, 1945. Triglyphus primus Lw. (Dipt., Syrphidae) in Hants. Ent.
mon. Mag., 81: 53-54.

Wigglesworth, V. B. 1947. The Principles of Insect Physiology, 3rd
edit., 1-434. London.

Zumpt, F., and Heinz, H. 1949. Studies on the Sexual Armature of
Diptera. EHnt. mon. Mag., 85: 299-306

(Concluded.)

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903.)

PAPILIO MACHAON FEEDING ON SKIMMIA SP.—Some examples of Papilio
machaon, turned loose in Surrey, last June, laid ova on Skimmia
oblata, a plant only introduced from China and Japan some thirty
years since. Some hundred larvae were brought to me, and they all
fed up greedily on the shrub in question, often, indeed, leaving carrot,
which I grew at its side, to feed on it. I am trying experiments on a
large scale with it this year, as I wish to find out if P. machaon, which
I have been told feeds on Skimmia in Japan, though I cannot verify this
statement, will vary towards its far eastern relations if fed here for
some generations.—CEcIL FLOERSHEIM.

Curtous Resting Hasit or Mania MAURA.—I have recently come
across a curious resting-habit of Munia maura. I found no less than
fifteen of them in a space something under a yard square. They were
‘‘piled up,’’ if I may use the term, in one instance seven were touching
each other. In the majority of cases their heads were together, so that
they were resting similarly to the way moths sometimes cluster round
a spot of treacle—Mervyn G. Parmer. 10th September 1903.

CRIOCEPHALUS POLONICUS DISCOVERED IN THE NEW Forest.—During
last year Mr. F. Gilbert Smith took some larvae of a longicorn beetle in
the New Forest in Scotch fir, and, after seeing them, I decided to accom-
pany him this year to that district to thoroughly investigate the sub-
ject, and we succeeded in finding the insect in numbers. They were all
taken in the larval stage, the colony being a very strong one. Soon
after arrival home they pupated and eventually emerged, and proved
to be Criocephalus polonicus Motsch., a large longicorn beetle new to
Britain. The conditions under which they were living left no doubt
that they had been breeding there for many years, and it is most
probable that they are to be found in other parts of the forest if worked
for in places offering the right conditions.—H. WitLovensy ELLs.

Current Literature

Hr. Alfred Kernen of Stuttgart, who publishes the Insektenboerse
and Ent. Zeitschrift, has sent us for review a most useful 28-page
booklet for the use of collectors who visit Digne (Basses-Alpes).
Originally issued as a Supplement to the Ent. Zeits. it is by G. Lederer
and J. Leinfest and has now been translated into French by Mons. J.
Propper. The price is not stated, but doubtless it is a modest one. The
title is La Fawne des Papillons de Digne. For a hundred years Digne

CURRENT LITERATURE. 239

has been a favourite hunting-ground for lepidopterists both English
and Continental, and indeed with good reason: this sheltered valley
and the mountains which surround it, 150 km. N.W. of Nice, contain
no less than 3 species of Papilio, 2 of Thais, 4 of Huchloe and Anthocharis,
3 of Parnassius, 11 Satyrids, 35 Lycaenids, 21 Hesperiids, 20 Zygaenids,
and 11 species of Catocala.

The ‘Papillons’ of the title comprise moths as well as butterflies, and
the authors tell us about the ‘‘good things’’ we are likely to attract with
the lamp. All the best localities (19 in number) in the neighbourhood of
Digne are described and their ‘specialities’ given, also where to go and
when to go for both imagines and larvae, butterflies and moths. There
is an account of the changes in the fauna which have taken place between
1851 and 1950 and, equally important, the modern names of the localities
mentioned by writers sixty years ago. A useful bibliography of papers
(which includes twelve by English collectors) on Digne and its Lepidop-
tera completes the work. We strongly recommend those of our readers
who contemplate collecting in the South of France to procure a copy
of this most useful guide. Incidentally, it contains the advertisements
of seven hotels.

The issue of the first number of The British Journal of Animal
Behaviour in January 1953 was welcomed by many naturalists. This
quarterly journal is to be the regular scientific publication of the
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour which was founded in
1936 and until now has only produced bulletins at irregular intervals.
In the present issue the only paper of special entomological interest is
by C. R. Ribbands on ‘The Inability of Honeybees to Communicate
Colours’. The author describes an experiment which suggests that
bees are unable to communicate the colours of flowers to other bees.
This is contrary to the findings of Francon (The Mind of the Bee, 1939)
whose evidence, however, was not convincing. The other papers in this
number, although not entomological, should be read by everyone
interested in animal behaviour. DeReO:

ButterrLty Farmer. By L. Hugh Newman. Published by Phoenix
House Ltd., London. Price 16s.

This book of gossip and reminiscence will interest many readers,
old and young. The parts about the author’s father, L. W. Newman,
who started the farm will appeal most. If a few of the stories are
apocryphal many are true, and the inaccuracy of some of the statements
does not matter much in a book of this kind. The illustrations are
good. A little more care would have prevented some mistakes. For
instance (p. 82) the name ‘pug’ was given to members of the genus
Eupithecia because one of the meanings of ‘pug’ is ‘dwarf’, vide the
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, not because the pug dog had reached
the pinnacle of popularity when the name was given. Cockerell did not
catch the yellow female Pieris napi mentioned on p. 137. It was caught
by F. D. Wheeler and C. G. Barrett’s eldest son and was named by
Cockerell in 1889. Apparently the author has never heard of Prof. T.
D. A. Cockerell since he refers to him as ‘‘a Mr. Cockerell’’.

On pp. 150-151 the author, writing about the Camberwell Beauty,
says ‘‘I believe I am alone in thinking that these butterflies should not
be classed as migrants, but that most of them arrive here simply as

240 ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ VIII / 1953

unwilling passengers on board ship’’. He thinks they are carried in
ships bringing pit props from S. Finland, because he saw scores of them
flying round stacks of timber and some already settled on the trunks
preparing for hibernation in the early autumn of 1935. He was told
they were a great nuisance fluttering in the hold. He gives no date,
‘but presumably means September or October. He supports his theory
by referring to the map of the distribution of captures in one solitary
year—1872, given by C. B. Williams, many of which were near ports on
the East Coast.

According to his theory 1935 ought to have been a good year for the
Camberwell Beauty, but actually apart from one or two in the South
only five were seen 27 miles inland in the Tyne valley, 27th August to
17th September. Butterflies settling down to hibernate before they were
carried from Finland would go into hibernation as soon as the cargo
reached its destination. But in 1872 most of the antiopa were caught
or seen on 20th August and the following 14 days, though one was taken
on 26th July and stragglers were recorded in October, and some travelled
a great distance from the East Coast. In 1896 one was caught, on 10th
September, by P. M. Ellis in the Isle of Skye. This is some distance
from any port at which foreign pit props are landed. So long ago as
1803 Haworth wrote: ‘‘There is something very extraordinary in the
periodical appearance of this species . . . . They are plentiful all over
the kingdom in some years, after which antiopa in particular will not
be seen by anyone for eight, ten or more years, and then appears as
plentifully as before’. These facts are much more in accordance with
a migration than an importation in ships. Pit props are not and never
have been imported sporadically in point of time, with several years’
intervals between the arrival of ships. In 1789 Camberwell Beauties
are said to have been as common as garden whites. Did they import
pit props from Finland in 1789?

C. B. Williams et al. in Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 92, Pt. I, 109-113,
summarise the appearances of V. antiopa in Great Britain, 1824-1939,
and show that 63.5% of the specimens taken in this island were caught
in August and September. Mr. Newman’s theory implies that in Fin-
land antiopa flies down to the docks in August in order to make sure
of finding a convenient hibernaculum on pit props stacked on the quays,
for use in October. This is rather a hard pill to swallow. I prefer to
follow Stainton and C. B. Williams rather than L. Hugh Newman.
It is a pity Mr. Newman should mislead young entomologists by putting
forward a theory based on a single observation.

BH. A. C.

Supscriptions.—An Order Form (and Banker’s Order) will be found
in this issue only by those whose subscriptions are now due, or overdue.
Our Treasurer will be greatly assisted if remittances are sent to him
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Aberrations of British Geometridae ;
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P. OCT o 18
Plate XIII. ARVADE

The following aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell SYERST
Collection in the British Museum. a

Semiothisa liturata Clerck ab. semivirgata ab. nov.

The median line is displaced towards the base and fused on the
costa with the antemedian line.

Type 6: Oxshott, 12.vi.1938, E. A. Cockayne.

Allotype 2: Oxshott. R. Adkin coll.

Paratypes 2 dd: 1 d Oxshott, 1890. R. Adkin coll. 1 ¢ Tongue,
Sutherland, vii.1906, E. A. Cockayne.

Biston betularia Linnaeus ab. nigricosta ab. nov.

On the fore wing the costa from the base to the subapical mark
has a broad black band along it, which includes the discoidal spot. The
rest of the wing is white speckled with black. The thorax is black and
the collar white speckled with black.

Type ¢: Loc. incog. (Mason coll. Hanbury coll.) Cockayne coll.
The specimen is figured, Barrett, Pl. 301, fig. 1b.

Phigalia pedaria Fabricius ab. submarginalis ab nov. (Fig. 16.)

On the fore wing the second line is absent, but the subterminal dark
line is broader and more distinct than usual; on the hind wing the
transverse line is reduced to a few dark scales, but the subterminal line
is thick and unusually distinct.

Type ¢: Yorkshire, bred 11.1909. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Ithysia zonaria Schiffermiiller ab. obsolescens ab. nov. (Fig. 9.)

All the dark markings on the thorax and wings are replaced by very
pale brownish grey.

Type ¢: Lancs. B.M. 1937-45.

Paratypes 2 6d: 1 Lancs. B.M. 1937-45, 1. (Gregson coll.) Roths-
child coll.

Ectropis bistortata Goeze ab. bicolor ab. nov. (Fig. 6.)

The area from the base to the postmedian line on both the fore and
hind wing and along the costa of the fore wing to the subterminal line
is blackish brown; external to this the wings are of the normal pale
colour with the usual markings.

Type 2: New Forest, bred. (B. W. Adkin coll.) Cockayne coll.

Ectropis bistortata Goeze ab. brunneipennis ab. nov. (Fig. 7.)

The thorax, abdomen, and wings are of a uniform café au lait colour
with the markings present; the submarginal line which is white in the
darker melanic forms is of the same colour as the rest of the wing in
this aberration.

Type ¢: Wye, Kent, 20.iv.1924, E. A. Cockayne.

Paratypes 2 6d: 1 SG Brockham, 9.vii.1901, W. Anning. Cock-
ayne coll. 1 ¢ Oxshott, Surrey, 4.iv.1906. Cockayne coll.

242 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1 X [19538

Psodos coracina Esper ab. degenerata ab. nov. (Fig. 10.)

On the fore wing the median band is so much narrowed that it is
reduced to three black marks, one on the costa, a second V-shaped one
where nervure 2 takes origin from the median nervure, and a third on
the inner margin.

Type ¢: Loe. incog. (J. A. Clark coll. 1909.) Bankes coll.

Selidosema brunnearia Vill. ssp. scandinaviaria Staudinger ab.
semivirgata ab. nov. (Fig. 15.)

On the fore wing the second or median line is displaced towards the
base and united with the first line to form a broad band; the discoidal
spot is external to it instead of lying in the median line as usual.

Type ¢: New Forest, vi.1916, L. W. Newman. (Levick coll. B.M.
1941-83.)

Paratype ¢: New Forest, 1900, N. D. Riley. B.M. 1928-430.

Aspitates ochrearia Rossi ab. lativittata ab. nov. (Fig. 2.)

On the fore wing the whole of the basal area to the antemedian line
is dark in colour, and the postmedian line on both fore and hind wing
is much increased in width to form a band 3 mm. wide.

Type 2: Suffolk. R. Adkin coll.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIII.

Fig. 1. Lithostege griseata ab. scripta. Q. Type.

Fig. 2. Aspitates ochrearia ab. lativittata. Q. Type.
Fig. 3. Triphosa dubitata ab. pura. dg. Type.

Fig. 4. Perconia strigillaria ab. semifasciata. 92. Type.
Fig. 5. Perconia strigillaria ab. atra. dg. Type.

Fig. 6. Ectropis bistortata ab. bicolor. 9. Type.

Fig. 7. Ectropis bistortata ab. brunneipennis. ¢g. Type.
Fig. 8. Lygris testata ab. paradoza. Q. Type.

Fig. 9. Ithysia zonaria ab. obsolescens. ¢. Type.

Fig. 10. Psodos coracina ab. degenerata. ¢. Type.

Fig. 11. Eupithecia puichellata ab. guttata ©. Type.

Fig. 12. Aspitates ochrearia ab. fuscata. ¢. Type.

Fig. 13. Aspitates gilvaria ab. vitiata. ¢. Type.

Fig. 14. Aspitates gilvaria ab. suffusa. dg. Type.

Fig. 15. Selidosema brunnearia ssp. scandinaviaria ab. semivirgata. ¢. Type.
Fig. 16. Phigalia pedaria ab. submarginalis. ¢. Type. i

Fig. 17. Biston betularia ab. albapicata. QO. Type.

4

Aspitates ochrearia Rossi ab. fuscata ab. nov. (Fig. 12.)

The ground colour of both fore and hind wing with the exception
of the inner margin of the hind wing is dark and of the same colour as
that of the lines in a normal specimen. The thorax and abdomen are
of normal coloration.

Type ¢: Loc. incog. (F. Bond coll.) R. Adkin coll.

Aspitates gilvaria Fabricius ab. vittata ab. nov. (Fig. 13.)

On the fore wing the oblique postmedian line is increased in width
to form a broad band, which is ill defined on its distal aspect. The
band on the hind wing is a little wider than usual.

Type ¢: Loc. incog. (Clark coll., Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Allotype ¢: Dover, 1884, Chatwin. R. Adkin coll.

Aspitates gilvaria Linnaeus ab. suffusa. (Fig. 14.)
The ground colour of the fore wing is normal, but so heavily pow-
dered with dark scales of the same colour as the oblique stripe that

PLATE XIII.

VOL. 65.

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH GEOMETRIDAE. 243

little of it is visible; the area just internal to the oblique stripe is the
least powdered. The hing wing is normal. The thorax and abdomen
are normal. The under side of the fore wing is like the upper side,
but the powdering is darker.

Type 3d: Loc. incog. (Salwey’s coll., 8.2.1872; Cooke, 1894; C. A.
Briggs: Vauncey Harpur Crewe coll.) Rothschild coll.

Paratypes 2 dg: 1 ¢ S.E. Kent, 1897, C. F. Johnson coll. Cock-
ayne coll.: 1 § Snodland, 9.viii.1901 Burrows. Burrows coll. presented
by H. J. Turner.

Perconia strigillaria Hiibner ab. semifasciata ab. nov. (Fig. 4.)

On both fore and hind wing the second and third lines are approxi-
mated and the space between them suffused with dark scales.

Type ¢: Sandburn, Yorks, 1882, S. Walker. (S. Walker coll.)
Cockayne coll.

This aberration has a very different appearance from ab. herpeti-
caria, in which the first and second lines are close together with dark
scales between them or actually fused.

Perconia strigillaria Hiibner ab. atra ab. nov. (Fig. 5.)

The whole of both fore and hind wing is a uniform dark slaty grey,
almost black, and entirely without markings. The abdomen is the same
colour, but the thorax is whitish grey.

Type d: Brockenhurst, 1932, Haynes. Cockayne coll.

Allotype 9: New Forest, v.1934, Gulliver. Rothschild coll.

Paratype 29: New Forest, vi.1936, H. D. Smart. Cockayne coll.

+

Oporinia dilutata Linnaeus ab. albescens ab. nov.

The ground colour of the fore wing is very pale ochreous, the mark-
ings being darker ochreous. The hind wing is whitish ochreous. This
is an albino form.

Type 6: Loc. incog. (Stevens sale 14937, 1933). Cockayne coll.

Lygris testata Linnaeus ab. paradoxa ab. nov. (Fig. 8.)

The ground colour is pale ochreous; on the fore wing the extreme
base and the median area are pale ochreous, but the areas between the
basal and antemedian lines and from the postmedian line to the termen
are red-brown; the discoidal spot is indistinct and many of the ner-
vures have dark scales along them. The hind wing is pale and un-
marked with the exception of a broad border of the same brown as the
dark parts of the fore wing. The thorax and abdomen are pale.

Type @: Burnley, Lancs., 1912, W. G. Clutten. (Treadgold coll.,
per R. L. E. Ford, 1952.) Cockayne coll.

There is a corresponding form of Lygris populata L. ab. inversa
Nordstrom (H#nt. Tidskr., 1916, 37, 185). Nordstrom figures a male,
and there is a female labelled Rannoch, 1891, in the Rothschild-Cock-
ayne-Kettlewell coll.

Lithostege griseata Schiffermiiller ab. scripta ab. nov. (Fig. 1.)

The ground colour is the usual pale grey; on the fore wing there is
an angulated line near the base and a wavy blackish-grey transverse
line near the termen; parallel with and just external to this is a broken
line of similar character present at the costa, opposite the cell, and
near the inner margin. The hind wing has no markings. On some

244 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/TX/1953

specimens of griseata one can just see a faint indication of the trans-
verse lines so conspicuous in this aberration.
Type 2: Breck Sand, No. 13382, 16.vi.1935, C. G. de Worms.

Triphosa dubitata Linnaeus ab. pura ab. nov. (lig. 3.)

On the fore wing at the base there is a single thick black transverse
line instead of the usual paler and thinner ones; between the basal area
and the median area the usual band of transverse lines is absent, leav-
ing an expanse of shining brown ground visibie; the median area is
bounded on each side by a single thick black line instead of the usual
thin double line, and the two black lines are united by black along the
costa; the usual thin transverse lines in the median area are absent,
but the black discoidal spot is present in the normal situation and the
nervures are blackened; there is a dark subapical spot and a very
narrow pale line near the termen; between nervures 3 and 4 there is an
ill-defined pale spot on the inner side of the subterminal line and an-
other sharply defined one just posterior to nervure 2. On the hind
wing in place of the numerous faint wavy transverse lines there is a
single dark line, much more distinct than any normal one, and there
is also a narrow wavy pale subterminal line. The median area stands
out much more distinctly than in a normal specimen.

Type ¢: Shipley, bred 6.viil.1934, by H. W. Head. (D. Smart
coll., Treadgold coll. per R. L. E. Ford, 1952). Cockayne coll.

Eupithecia pulchellata Stephens ab. guttata Cockayne.

This was described and named in the June number, p. 167, with-
out a figure. This is now supplied on Plate XIII, Fig. 11.

Biston betularia Linnaeus ab. suffusa Cockayne.

This aberration was described in the June number, p. 168, and
figured on Plate XII, Fig. 23, but the data were not given. They
have now been supplied by Lt.-Col. W. Bowater, who has presented the
insect to the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell Collection. The data
are: Folkestone, S. G. Hills, purchased from L. W. Newman,
2.x11.1926.

Biston betularia Linnaeus ab. albapicata Cockayne.

This was described and named in the June number, p. 168. A
figure is now given on Plate XIII, Fig. 17. The data are: Tibshelf,
Derbyshire, 1925, bred from a pupa dug up in December 1924 by A. W.
Richards. This information was supplied by Mr. Richards himself. °

Hormones and the Development of Hybrid
Lepidoptera

It is now well established that growth and metamorphosis in insects
are controlled by hormones. Like other physiological activities of the
body, the production of growth-promoting hormones is dependent on
the hereditary genes. In certain mutants, for example in Drosophila,
death occurs at an early stage of growth because production of these
hormones fails. Disturbances in the proper action of the genes is
liable to occur in hybrid insects, and where the growth hormones are

FURTHER REMARKS ON PLUSIA FESTUCAE L. 245

affected abnormalities of growth may appear. The appearance of pupal
characters in the larva is not infrequent in hybrid Lepidoptera (Cockayne
1941). Many hybrids fail to develop at all.

Tt has long been known that in hybrid Lepidoptera the female is
more liable to be affected than the male. If the Sphingids Celerio galii
dg and C. euphorbiae 2 are crossed the female pupae fail to produce
imagines though they may survive for several years, while the males
complete their normal development. It was shown by Bytinski-Salz
(1933) that if the wing germs or the ovaries of the hybrid females were
transplanted into the hybrid males they would develop normally. He
therefore concluded that it is the growth hormones that are lacking in
the female pupae.

The converse experiment has now been reported in a very interesting
paper by Meyer (1953). In an attempt to induce development in the
female hybrid pupae he withdrew a large part of their blood and re-
placed it by the injection of a similar quantity of blood removed from
male hybrid pupae in which adult development had already begun. The
experiments were completely successful and Meyer has been able to fill
his cabinets with fine series of female hybrid hawkmoths hitherto un-

known: Celerio galu ¢ x C. livornica Q@ = galivornica; C. hippo-
phatis g¢ x C. galii_Q9; C. lineata 3 x C. euphorbiae 9 = giintheri;
Pergesa porcellus ¢ x P. elpenor = standfussi and many more.

He describes in detail the procedure for sterilization and operation.
One secret of success is to use a large amount of blood. It is necessary
to use blood from rather closely related insects: injection of blood froim
Vanessa into Celerio proved fatal. He has succeeded in obtaining nor-
mal female Colias hybr. chryseis (C. hyale 3 x edusa 9); and pre-
liminary experiments, which will be reported in full later, have shown
that it may be possible to use the same methods on the caterpillars of
hybrids which fail to develop beyond the larval stage.

V. B. WIGGLES WworRTH.

REFERENCES.

Bytinski-Salz, H. Arch. Entw. Mech., 129 (1933), 356-78.
Cockayne, E. A. Proc. Roy. Ent. Soc. Lond., A, 16 (1941), 55-9.
Meyer, J. H. Z. Wiener ent. Ges., 38 (1953), 44-62.

Further Remarks on Plusia festucae. L.

By B. J. LEMPKE.

It is remarkable indeed that, as far as I know, it is not possible to
answer the ‘Old Moth-Hunter’s’ question: ‘‘ Where, and in what
stage, does this species hibernate?’’ (Hnt. Rec., 65: 201). I have
never read an article in which the complete life history of the species
was treated, nor have I tried myself to fill this gap. Even the article
on the species by De Roo Van Westmaas in the famous Sepp (second
series, vol. 1, pp. 51-54, pl. 14, 1858) is very incomplete. Not a word is
said about the egg and young caterpillar! De Roo writes that the larva
overwinters when half grown and pupates ‘‘ in May and later,’’ but he
also tells us that he had never bred the larva himself, so that it is pos-
sible that he only copied what he found in literature. A fact of real
value stated by him is that Snellen found cocoons in September 1857

246 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1X/1953

on the leaves of Glyceria fluitans R.Br. from which the moths hatched
on Ist October. This presents us with another difficulty. There are two
generations in Holland. The first, which is weak, flies from the second
half of May till the end of June. The second generation, which is
much commoner, is observed from the second half of July till within
- the second half of September, reaching its maximum in August and the
beginning of September. It looks as if Snellen’s specimens belonged to
an extra third brood, but it has never been observed again in Holland!

An important note on the larva of festucae was published by J. E.
R. Allen (Entomologist, 27: 270, 1894). He writes: ‘‘ At Bolton, where
I have taken it for many years, half-grown larvae are found in April,
and full-grown larvae up to the middle of June; the foodplant is almost
always the yellow iris. The pupa is generally in a bend of the iris leaf,
about two inches from the point, and the moths begin to emerge at the
end of June.’’? That is more than a month later than the earliest date
in Holland (24th May)! But it is at any rate certain that the young
larva hibernates.

This is confirmed by Karl Uffeln in his Groszschmetterlinge West-
falens (1908, Jahresber. Westfal Prov. Ver. fiir Kunst wu. Wissensch.,
Beiheft, pp. 1-158), a publication full of interesting original biological
observations. He writes (p. 102): ‘‘ The caterpillar has been found
near Miinster in the Lodden Heath in the first half of May on
Glyceria, reed and Carex riparia; they eat the tops of the leaves and
sit fully stretched out on the midrib.”’

Another interesting note on festucae is to be found in Warnecke’s
Groszschmetterlinge der Umgegend von Hamburg-Altona (1981,
Verhandl. Ver. f. naturw. Heimatforschung zu Hbg., vol. 23 p. 52).
Here we read: ‘‘ Albers got eggs from a 9 taken on 28.viii.28, from
which the caterpillars hatched on 13.ix.28; they pupated from 17.iii.29
and the moths began to emerge on 29.iv.29.’’ This brood was of course
more or less forced and Warnecke adds: ‘‘ The moth is at any rate
principally found in August, and it is possible that a second generation
is, as with other Plusias, only found in favourable years or as a partial
generation.’’

Urbahn and his wife, in their excellent publication on Die
Schmetterlinge Pommerns (1939, Stett. ent. Z., vol 100, pp. 185-826)
give as the time of flight for this part of pre-war Germany 5th June
till 24th September, ‘‘ more numerous only from the beginning of July;
evidently in two overlapping generations; but exact breeding observa-
tions are still lacking ? (p.638).

From all this it is evident that there is still much to be cleared up
in the life history of this moth. Not only is the place where the young
larvae hibernate unknown but the exact stadium in which hibernation
takes place. There is also much doubt about the exact number of
generations of this locally common Plusia.

Oude Yselstraat 12iii, Amsterdam—zZ 2.

Ent. ec., 1958, 65: 218. Earty APPEARANCE oF ODONTOSIA CARME-
LITA Esp. Line 10 of this paragraph, between “ground” and “where”
insert ‘‘and that the other was found about five feet up the trunk’’.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE LARVA OF NOLA ALBULA SCHIFF. 247

Observations on the Larva of Nola albula Schiff.

Ry H. Symes, M.A.

The Kent Black Arches, like the Kentish Glory, seems no longer
to be particularly associated with the county from which it takes its
English name. It still occurs there, for one was taken at Sandhurst
by Dr. G. V. Bull in 1952 (Hnt. Rec., 64: 350), but I do not know
whether it still survives in Chattenden Roughs, where the first English
specimens were taken nearly a hundred years ago.

In recent years it has been recorded from several localities in the
Wessex area: at Ashley, near Milton, Hants, in 1939, by the late Mr.
Leshe Burt (I have a specimen he gave me); Sandbanks, near Poole,
Dorset, one in 1951, by the Rev. F. M. B. Carr (Ent. Rec., 64: 1183);
and near Swanage, Dorset, commonly in 1951, by Mr. J. Antony Thomp-
son (Ent. Rec., 64: 182). But all these records were of moths that came
to light. To the best of my knowledge there are not many entomo-
logists who have found the larva, so I hope my experiences in finding
and rearing a few of them this year may not be without interest.

The occurrence of Nola albula in a certain Hampshire wood was
accidentally discovered by the late Mr. W. H. Jackson in the 1930’s.
He found an unfamiliar larva resting on a grass stem, could not iden-
tify it, and did not know what food to offer it. Fortunately this pro-
blem was settled by the larva itself, which very scon formed a cocoon,
from which in due course an albula emerged. During the next few
years Mr. W. H. Jackson and Capt. R. A. Jackson, who was present
at the discovery of this larva, regularly took the insect on the wing in
mid-July, but all their efforts to find another larva were unsuccessful.
I had a strong conviction that when a species is known to occur in a
restricted area diligent search among the food-plant ought eventually
to turn up the larva.

Last year Dr. H. King and I visited the locality on 19th June and
examined the dewberry bushes, but without success. We may have been
a week or so too late, but in any case we had not discovered the secret
of where to search. On 3rd June this year the Rev. F. M. B. Carr,
Dr. King and I paid a visit to the albula ground, and after examining
a number of the taller dewberry bushes in vain I was delighted to find
a larva low down on a small growth of dewberry. In about an hour I
found four more, all in the same sort of place. Dr. King then found
one, and after I had gone off to have lunch (it was 2.15 by then) he
found eight more. The secret was now out: the larvae are to be found
very low down on scruffy-looking bits of dewberry partly hidden among
the coarse grass. Looking for them is a back-aching job, and the aid
of a small boy with sharp eyes and low in the chassis would be invalu-
able. It is no use searching the taller bushes. The larva sits on the
under side of the leaf (Dr. King, however, found one on the upper side,
but in the shade of a bush) and when the leaf chosen is a very small one,
as was often the case, the long hairs and part of the body of the larva
could be seen projecting beyond the side of the leaf. They showed a
distinct preference for the more mature leaves, avoiding the younger
succulent ones. I was led to the discovery of more than one larva by
noticing that a dewberry stem had been stripped of a few small leaves,
only the midribs remaining. One larva, considerably smaller than the

248 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD. VOL. 65. 15/1X/1953

others, had spun a pad on the underside of a leaf and taken up its
position there for changing its skin, which it did a day or two later.
I paid a second visit to the locality on 10th June and found four more
larvae in exactly the same sort of place: these were nearly full-fed.
It would be interesting to know whether the larva has been found
in a wild state on any foodplant other than dewberry (Rubus caesius L.).
' The experts seem to differ. South, Barrett and Scorer give a number
of foodplants; Tutt (Practical Hints, III, p. 81, where the process of
finding the larvae is made to appear altogether too easy) and Newman
& Leeds give dewberry only, and this was the diet of Buckler’s larvae.
There is a very full description of the larva and the construction
of its cocoon in Buckler (Larvae, III, pp. 41-48). The ground colour
of all my larvae was ivory white, and most of them were only lightly
marked with grey, but two were rather heavily marked with dark grey.
On the morning of 11th June one larva left its food and took up
a position on the side of the cage. Here it remained for twenty-four
hours; then it moved to the top, where it stayed until nightfall. I had
provided some dry brown stems of rush (Juncus effusus) as a pupating
site: the larva crawled up one of these, and when I examined the cage
at 5.0 a.m. on 13th June it had begun the work of constructing a cocoon
from the fibrous surface of the rush: by 7.0 a.m. considerable progress
had been made with one of the wing-like sides: by 9.0 a.m. it had
fashioned what looked like a tiny open boat and was lying along the
centre of it, head upwards: by 11.0 a.m. it had drawn the two sides
together except for a small space at the top end, where its head was
still visible, and by 11.30 a.m. this gap had been sealed and the larva
was totally enclosed. On the same date another larva constructed its
cocoon on a dewberry stem, and two more commenced operations on rush
stems. When completed, the cocoon resembles that of a Zygaenid in
shape, but not in colour, and is of course much smaller. It takes its
colour from the material of which it is formed: one constructed on a
dewberry stem is darker than those on the dry rush stems. One of
Dr. King’s larvae formed its cocoon on the underside of a dewberry leaf.
One night two larvae chose the same rush stem on which to make
their cocoons, and when I looked into the cage at 7.30 a.m. one of the
larvae, which must have been a quick worker, had completed its task.
The other had finished making the wing-like sides of its cocoon, but had
not begun to unite them. This cocoon overlapped the other, and fearing
that the first moth might find its exit impeded I decided, after some
thought, to take a chance and remove the larva from the second cocoon.
I was afraid, however, that it might not have the energy to start making
a cocoon all over again, or a sufficient supply of viscous secretion for
mixing with the fibrous matter, chewed from the rush stem. For a few
hours it wandered about the cage, looking, I thought, rather discon-
solate, but towards evening it climbed on to a rush: at 1.30 a.m. it had
‘made a start with the sides of the cocoon; at 6.30 it had finished them,
and at 9.0 a.m. it had drawn them together and made a cocoon indis-
tinguishable from the others. By 19th June seven of my nine larvae
had formed their cocoons. There was a considerable difference in the
time which they took to make them. About twelve hours, I should say,
was a fair average: some took less than this and two spent eighteen
hours over the work. They carried on their operations by day and
night without discrimination.

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA. 249

The smallest of the larvae I found on 3rd June was full-fed on 23rd
June, and during this period it changed its skin twice. I felt quite
sorry when it sealed itself up in its cocoon just before 11.0 p.m. on the
24th, for, as Buckler says, the larvae are ‘fearless little fellows’ and
when you pick up the dewberry leaf on which a larva is feeding to
examine it more closely—for it remains on the underside even in cap-
tivity—the larva does not fall off the leaf or indeed take any notice
at all.

Moths emerged from all nine cocoons, two on 6th July, two on the
7th, two on the 9th, and the remainder on the 13th, 15th and 17th July.
The last moth to emerge did not come from the last cocoon to be formed.
There were four males and five females. With one exception the moths
emerged in the forenoon, at some time between 8.0 and 11.0 a.m. The
exception I found with its wings not yet expanded at 8.45 p.m. on 9th
July. A bred specimen of N. albula is a very beautiful insect, but the
powdery scales are very easily dislodged.

Dr. King was less fortunate with his larvae. He bred four albula
and five ichneumon flies, similar in appearance to those which he had
bred from larvae of Eupithecia inturbata.

An Entomologist in Argentina

I. Early days. The Chaco Santafecino
By KennetH J. Haywarp, D.Sc.(Hon.), F.R.E.S.

I arrived in Argentina just thirty years ago and after a week in
Buenos Aires, during which I spent a good deal of time in the parks
looking over the butterflies, proceeded to the small factory town of Villa
Ana in the north of the province of Santa Fé. Here I was to pass six
summers.

At first my hours as an engineer in the tannin factory were long,
and eager as I was to explore the new world now laid at my feet, my
collecting had to be confined to Sunday afternoons. Later when I was
transferred to the office of the Superintendent of Factories I found
myself free from mid-day on Saturday till Monday and on all national
and religious holidays.

With the ignorance and enthusiasm of youth I immediately began
to compile a list of the country’s butterflies, buj in a very short while
I found that I had set myself a task beyond my power, since it was in
most cases not possible to classify my captures with the inadequate
literature at my disposal. My enthusiasm would no doubt have received
a still greater setback could I have then foreseen that this task was to
take me twenty-seven years and that even now additions are being
made yearly to our total of over twelve hundred species, subspecies and
forms.

Though I abandoned my early attempts at preparing such a list, I
lost no opportunity of collecting and studying every kind of insect,
sending all my material to South Kensington. I would like to ac-
knowledge the invaluable assistance received through those Chaco years
from the staff of the Natural History Museum in identifying my cap-

250 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15 (LX 1953

tures and I often shudder to think of the hours they must have lost
over this task and in preparing those long lists of names to which [ still
make frequent reference. More valuable even than the naming of my
insects was the moral support and encouragement I obtained from their
frequent letters.

During the first year my collecting was restricted to the immediate
neighbourhood of Villa Ana, but with my transfer to office work and
the necessity of frequent visits to our other factories, I was later able
to explore many places scattered over an area about half the size of
England, though the nature of the country varied little and the fauna,
except for a few local species, was everywhere very similar.

Although the butterflies I caught at first were of the commonest,
they were strange to one who knew only those of Europe and northern
Africa, and the thrill I obtained from netting them has never been
repeated ; only the clouded yellows and the painted ladies had a familiar
look about them.

The country in which I now found myself was flat and covered with
hardwood forest, the woodland being broken up by large tracts of coarse
sawgrass that in places grew shoulder high and by the esteros, low lying
areas of the same grass which became inundated in the wet season,
home of duck and teal and other water birds.

The village lay in the centre of a large opening nearly two miles
in diameter, the western half covered with sawgrass, the eastern por-
tion coarse weed-covered grassland with a few fields of maize and millet
and about an acre of alfalfa. It was in this latter area that I made
my first essays at collecting and I often dallied for a short time in the
alfalfa, looking over the clouded yellows.

Like crocea, Colias lesbia has both a yellow and a white female
form, the latter often predominating. Small though was our patch of
alfalfa, the colour variation of the females it produced was really extra-
ordinary, ranging from deep yellow to primrose, from chalk white to
cream, whilst freshly-emerged specimens of both sexes were frequently
shot with a deep coppery lustre. It was soon after my arrival that I
had the fortune to net in succession a primrose male and that strange
gynandromorph described in Ent. Rec., 39: 97-100, in which the upper-
side forewings and left hindwing were of the white female form but
streaked with yellow and the right hindwing male streaked with white,
whilst beneath one side was of the normal male colouring and the other
side that of a white female. I think most entomologists will agree that
a collector should be content with one such freak, but exactly six years
later to the very day whilst collecting on the outskirts of some virgin
forest near Punta Lara to the south of Buenos Aires I caught another,
similar in all respects except that in this case it was the left forewing
that was male. I suspect that this streaking of yellow with white and
vice versa is not so uncommon in Colas lesbia as we might suppose, as_
there is in our collections a perfectly halved male and white female
gynandromorph in which the white hindwing is rayed with yellow and
I have seen yet another white female with yellow patches on the fore-
wing.

For a considerable distance round all the factory towns the forest
was very open as it had been cleared years previously of the red que-
bracho which was the source of our tannin and of the majority of the

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA. : 251

other hardwoods. There was, however, a fairly thick and in places im-
penetrable undergrowth that made it necessary to keep to the waggon
tracks that still remained from those days when the forest was being
exploited and which ran in all directions. After heavy rain these
tracks became quagmires, and where they dipped a little pools formed,
as they did in every hollow in the woodland, so that one often had to
wade and mosquitoes rose everywhere in clouds.

Collecting within the forest itself never produced much, either
butterflies or other insects, and though I could seldom resist explor-
ing it was generally a waste of time. I think about the only butterflies
I ever caught there which I could not have obtained more easily in the
open were a Hamadryas (perhaps better recognised under the name
Ageronia) and two species of Anartia jatrophae, which was rather
scarce and the lovely Amalthea roeselia, both of which were occasionally
to be found near certain waterlogged hollows. I did, however, in my
fifth year take a Castnia phalaris sora in the forest, the only Castnia I
ever saw in those parts.

Undoubtedly the best place for collecting was along the edge of the
woodland and in the many openings that ran back into the forest where
the ground was fairly free of undergrowth and covered with scattered
bushes and flowering plants. It was here that one saw Papilio thoas
brasiliensis, whose females sometimes spanned as much as five inches,
and whose caterpillars could be found on a wild Rutaceae and in our
gardens on the orange trees, and also in one restricted corner the
beautiful and somewhat scarce Papilio hellanichus. The earlier stages
of this latter swallowtail were still unknown and as it confined its acti-
vities to one small glade of about a couple of acres in extent, rarely
straying further afield, I did not contemplate any difficulty in remedy-
ing this defect. However, it was four years before I achieved my end,
which was finally brought about by seeing a hellanichus flying round
and round a small Berberis. Though it did not alight, I was mindful
of another afternoon when on Mount Troddos a male cleopatra brim-
stone had given away the hiding place of its females by a similar
manoeuvre, and searching this plant and neighbouring bushes of Ber-
beris I found at last both the eggs and young larvae of the swallow-
tail.

The majority of the butterflies one caught along the forest verge
were woodland varieties, shade loving Huptychia satyrids that seldom
stray far from the undergrowth, Thecla blues of which there were some
fourteen or fifteen species including the magnificent marsyas and polybe,
and of course a large number of Hesperiidae, which family supplied a
third of our local list of about 115 species and which seemed to be the
only butterflies attracted by the pink blossoms of Vernonia chamae-
dryas, a bushy composite that, like the golden-rod, grew in large con-
spicuous clumps. Apart from these, practically all the other local
species would put in an appearance at some time or the other and I re-
member especially the big yellow Phoebis sennae and cipris, the latter
for the odour of butyric acid it sometimes gave off and both for the
marked preference they always showed for red flowers.

The part of the forest to which I refer and where [ usually collected
lay about three-quarters of a mile from the village and could be reached
either by a track that gave access to the cultivated fields or by cross-
ing the intervening uncultivated ground. This latter waste was knee

252 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1TX/1953

deep in flowering weeds and grasses and harboured great numbers of
snakes, including the poisonous yarard, many of which made their home
beneath the numerous termite nests, and was separated from the wood-
land by a narrow belt of sawgrass in which one occasionally came across
the large yellow Felis pajeros (wild cat) or the small guasuncho deer.

Though the sawgrass belt produced little else than two Clytrinae
beetles that could generally be found in numbers on some scattered mes-
quite bushes, insects abounded on the waste ground owing to the diver-
sity of its flora, and it was always worth while to sweep as one crossed
it. Here, too, Huptoieta claudia hortensia with its golden-spotted
-chrysalids bred, and the larvae of Junonia evarete hilaris sometimes
occurred in thousands. This latter butterfly was on the whole very
constant in pattern and colouring, but when the earlier stages had been
passed under conditions of excessive atmospheric dampness, a relatively
high percentage of the dark form hiibnerz might result.

Whether it is that their sloping banks accumulate more warmth or
more readily intercept the passing wind-borne seeds, or whether there
is some factor of better drainage or greater shelter, railway embank-
ments always seem to produce a very wide selection of the local flora
and in consequence prove more than usually attractive to many kinds
of insects. This was the case also in the Chaco, where the Company I
worked for owned over six hundred miles of track connecting their fac-
tories with those parts of the forest then being exploited. These rail-
ways ran almost exclusively through worked-out forest and were in
places embanked to avoid any danger of flooding. At these points they
possessed an additional attraction (not overlooked by the mosquitos),
in that the excavations alongside from which the earth for the bank
had been taken were more or less permanently filled with water and
had their own aquatic flora.

Apart from Crambids and other small fry that were disturbed as one
walked through the grass, there were few day-flying moths and I soon
gave up searching tree trunks when I failed consistently to find any-
thing by this method. On the other hand, moths and many insects were
attracted in great numbers to light, especially on those sultry evenings
that preceded the violent electric storms that visited us periodically
during late spring and summer. I tried sugaring but without much
success; but I suspect that this was due in great part to a certain lack
of enthusiasm! It took courage to forgo a night’s sleep after twelve
hours in the factory, knowing that one had to be on duty again at six
next morning, and apart from that it was lonely wandering in the forest
after dark and there was always the possibility of stepping on snakes.

Practically all the moths I caught were those attracted to light. I
had no need to use sheet and lantern as my house was at the extreme
edge of the village and possessed a well lighted whitewashed verandah
that faced the forest and was separated from it only by a level expanse
of waste, in itself a rich source of insects, so that on favourable nights
the walls and floor became covered with specimens of all kinds. On one
such night the number was so fantastic that I made a rough calcula-
tion by measurement and sampling, which convinced me that there were
more than a quarter of a million insects present. Most of these were
of course tiny flies, jassids and fulgorids, but there was a good sprink-
ling of larger species and of the other Orders. There were, however,
nights when not a single insect came to light, a fact always pre-adver-

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA, 253

tised by the failure on the part of my six verandah toads to put in their
usual appearance shortly after sunset.

For several months I was on night duty in the factory, which was
illuminated everywhere both within and without by powerful electric
lights, and as it stood a little apart from the village, these were plainly
visible over the surrounding country right up to the forest. Quite a
number of the rarer moths I obtained at Villa Ana were the result of
this spell of duty, some of them being species that did not arrive till
the early hours of the morning.

A study of the lists of those moths that were determined for me
seems to point to a rational distribution of the various families and to
call for little comment. The inclusion in one such list of ninety-six
pyralids out of a total of a little over three hundred species is, I think,
due to the predilection shown by Mr. Tams at that time for representa-
tives of this family, rather than to any preponderance of these moths
in the local fauna! It seems strange, however, that in a country so
well supplied with Sphingids that the names of only five appear and
one of those a day-flying Sesia.

- What I have written above might lead the reader to suppose that I
restricted my collecting activities to the Lepidoptera, but this was far
from being the case. It was not long before I began to exhaust the
possibilities of the butterflies, and my walks would produce few novel-
ties or species worth catching, so I turned my attention to the other
Orders, collecting the bees and wasps and larger flies, sweeping and
beating for beetles, plant bugs and grasshoppers, and searching under
old logs and the loose bark of trees for whatever might turn up, some-
times receiving a none too pleasant surprise.

With exception of the Lepidoptera, a considerable number of the
insects I caught were still undescribed, which was only to be expected
since I was collecting in virgin country as far as entomological research
was concerned. I have before me for example one of Dr. China’s lists
of Hemiptera-Homoptera in which out of the thirty-four species sent
him he notes nineteen as not being previously represented in the
Museum collections and at least three as new to science. In all I col-
lected just short of fourteen thousand insects whilst at Villa Ana.

One insect of which I obtained a limited number calls for atten-
tion as it must be one of the bulkiest in existence to-day. This was the
giant Dynastid beetle Megasoma janus, whose males when fully ex-
tended may cover a space of six inches over all and have a displacement
value of from fifty to fifty-eight cubic centimetres, the females being
smaller. The grubs when fully grown are rather repulsive looking
creatures and would provide two or three good mouthfuls for any grub-
eating indian. When I sent my first specimens to South Kensington,
the male was acclaimed as something rather out of the ordinary and as
the first perfect specimen of the beetle to have reached England, but I
have since found it far less rare than usually supposed, though it is
never very common.

It was in Villa Ana that I was first introduced to that strange aspect
of insect life known as migration, which I found occurred with reason-
able regularity at the commencement of each autumn, that is to say to-
wards the end of March. About this time certain species, especially
our local buckeye, Junonia evarete hilaris, and the common Ascia

254 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1X/1953

monuste white, would be observed day after day flying in a northerly
direction with that steady flight that distinguishes the butterfly on
migration from the casual passer-by. On one occasion I was witness of
a mass flight of butterflies of a kind I have never seen repeated. Late
on a March afternoon I noted on the horizon a small smudge such as
‘might have been caused by smoke from a grass fire or an approaching
swarm of locusts, and as it came nearer this resolved itself into a com-
pact mass of butterflies containing at least nine different species,
thousands of dragonflies bringing up the rear. This swarm was at least
half a mile wide and probably of considerably greater extent and took
just under half an hour to pass. I also sometimes saw great masses of
Odonata. In this country dragonfly migrations or mass flights some-
times precede the dry south-west wind known as the pampero that from
time to time sweeps across the level central plains of Argentina.

Towards the end of my second year in Villa Ana I found myself de-
voting more and more of my spare time to the magnificent mixed shoot-
ing available literally on my doorstep, and the approach of any holi-
day generally found me torn between a desire to spend it shooting and
a sense of duty to my Entomology. It was due to the kindness of Mr.
Riley that I was eventually provided with a solution, for he sent me
a small folding net that easily fitted my pocket, so that henceforward
I was able to shoot and be at the same time prepared for any entomo-
logical contingency. My shooting undoubtedly took me to many places
I should never have visited solely in search of insects, especially to the
esteros, and on every possible occasion to that wonderful pond-studded
area that lay between the great river Parana and the small Pind6 and
Paranamini, where in the narrow strips of riverain forest that bor-
dered these rivers I caught the clicking Hamadryas and the swallowtail
perrhebus and in the cane brakes Riodina lysippoides.

It was through shooting also that I was led to a solution of the pro-
-blem of ant survival in flooded areas. One day when wading waist deep
in an estero after duck I noticed everywhere, either floating or attached
to the stems of water plants and rushes, small black or reddish masses,
some of which were as large as tennis balls. On closer inspection these
proved to be living balls of ants which, having been driven from their
nests by the encroaching waters, had adopted this method of survival.
Undoubtedly mortality from suffocation and drowning must be high,
but out of the millions of ants that form these balls enough will remain
alive to permit the colony to be refounded when the ground once again
dries. Ants were a plague in the Chaco, small red ants that raided the
larders, black leaf-cutting ants that destroyed our gardens, and the
large reddish Atta with their huge sexual forms whose nests, measur-
ing often four or five yards across and three or four feet high, were
prominent everywhere, their bare surface perforated by the many
domed adits that gave access to the subterranean galleries and from
which the narrow ant-roads, often more than a hundred yards in
length, ran in all directions.

With those of Cyprus, my Chaco days provide my happiest memo-
ries. Days in the sun collecting insects; camping along the rivers in
clearings where the scent of wild petunias was almost more than one
could bear; fishing for dorado and the giant swrubi and, above all, the
most wonderful rough shooting that has ever fallen to my lot, unre-

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTED A. 255

stricted and unlimited, snipe and finimous and pigeon, wild turkey
and charata and a host of other local game birds, and in their season
duck and teal, of which no less than seventeen species fell to my indif-
ferent aim.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hueerns, F.R.E.S.

Alispa angustella Hiib. The larvae of the second brood of this moth
are to be found in berries of the spindle-tree at the end of September.
They spin two or three berries together when in the last skin and can
easily be found by the quantities of frass extruded. For pupation they
burrow into dead wood when at liberty; in captivity they spin easily
enough in holes bored with a gimlet in virgin cork, or will make their
own puparia in rotten wood from a willow trunk. I have found this
latter material generally useful when obtainable. I particularly remem-
ber watching a larva of Apatele alni cutting chips from it and going
right into it at Horning. I bred that moth the following year—this
was in pre-m.y. days when alni was ALNI.

If cork be used it must be left in the garden for several days before
being supplied to the larvae as they do not pupate till the following
spring and must be kept out of doors, so if the cork be given to them
dry it may swell, with bad results when placed in the rain.

The moth emerges in June. Its distribution is capricious in my
experience. [ have never found it off the chalk, but on the chalk downs
I have found it locally from the west bank of the Medway to Wiltshire.
Oddly enough I have never seen it east of the Medway, though it is
probably there.

Epischnia boisduvaliella Guen. This very local larva may be found
on the sea-pea (Lathyrus maritimus) in East Anglia in September. It
is said also to feed on Anthyllis vulneraria and restharrow (Ononis),
but I have never seen it off the sea-pea, which is locally common on the
Suffolk coast (Aldeburgh, Thorpeness, etc.). E. boisduvaliella was a
lost species for many years until the late Sir John Fryer found it near
Southwold. Subsequently it has been bred in quantity by Mr. L. T.
Ford and others.

The larva, as usual, must be kept through the winter out of doors,
with good drainage. Like Dioryctria abietella Schif. it makes two
cocoons, one in the autumn for hibernation and another without further
feeding in the spring for pupation; but if given plenty of sand it is not
much bother.

Homoeosoma nebulella Schiff. Seed-heads of thistle and ragwort col-
lected in East Anglia (and no doubt elsewhere) will produce this moth
if kept out of doors till May. I seldom see nebulella now; about 1930
Fryer asked me to get him larvae of H. cretacella Roes. to experiment
with as a possible enemy of ragwort in New Zealand. He then told
me that all the ragwort-feeding Phycitids he could find in East Anglia
had proved to be nebulella, which was ineligible as an immigrant as it
was known to change its foodplants at times and was therefore poten-
tially dangerous.

256 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 65. 15/1TX /1953

Phalonia dipoltella Hiib. Heads of yarrow collected in September
and kept out of doors will yield this beautiful insect the following July.
I have always found it a coastal moth and attached to light soil, chalk,
sand, shingle, etc., but subject to these limitations it may be sought
successfully in many places from Margate to the Isle of Wight. The
. perfect insect, which, unlike most of the group, may be disturbed freely
all day, varies very greatly in the number and breadth of the DES
bands of the forewings.

Cacoecia pronubana Hiib. This bright little moth flies very freely
on sunny mornings in late September and early October about 8 a.m.,
G.m.t. It is now fairly generally distributed and in warm summers has
sometimes three broods in a year, always two; but, if wanted, it is better
to take the last brood, as setting is then slowing down.

Notes and Observations

VANESSA CARDUI LINN. IN MERIONETHSHIRE.—On 2nd May I took a
specimen of Vanessa cardui on the south side of the Cader Idris range,
Merionethshire, at 1,270 feet above sea-level. The only records for
V. cardwi in Merionethshire of which I know are given in Vol. 2 of the
Proceedings of the Chester Society of Nat. Sci., Int. and Art, one
specimen on Arenig (2,800 ft.) in 1917 by R. E. Vaughan-Roberts, and
in Vol. 4 of the same, one at Dolgelly in 1950 by R. Prichard and one on
the Barmouth-Harlech road about 1950 by J. N. Thornton. My speci-
men was flying north when taken. On being released it resumed its
course over the range.—G. G. E. Scupper, 3 Six Acre Cottages, Fawk-
ham, Dartford, Kent. 138.v11.53.

EUBLEMMA PARVA His. In SuRREY.—You may like to record the occur-
rence of Eublemma parva Hiib. at light at Dunsfold, Surrey, on 28rd
May. I was sitting beside a sheet, with the lamp suspended above, when
the moth settled on the toe of my boot.—W. E. Minnton, 40 Cannonbury
Avenue, Pinner. 17.vii.53.

AOCHERONTIA ATROPOS LINN. NEAR SALISBURY.—You may be interested
to know that I have had a report of Acherontia atropos from near Salis-
bury. It was a worn male and flew into a bedroom on 5th July.—C. M.
R. Prrman, ‘Malvern’, Southampton Road, Clarendon, Salisbury.
10.vii.53.

FooDPLANTS OF POLYCHRISIA MONETA F'an.—With regard to Mr.
Allan’s argument with ‘An Old Moth-Hunter’ on the foodplants of cer-
tain moths years ago, Polychrisia moneta was generally distributed in
the southern counties before Delphiniums became so common and there
fed on Monk’s-hood (Aconitum napellus I.), which was found in almost
every garden but is much less grown now.

In 1902 A. B. Farn showed me how to get meneta in the shoots of his
Delphiniums in the garden at Greenhithe, but told me it preferred
Monk’s-hood. The following year I found it very commonly at Spring-
head Tea Gardens, between Gravesend and Southfleet, and here it was

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, 257

almost entirely on Monk’s-hood of which more was grown than Del-
phinium, the few Delphiniums being almost free of larvae. I always
reared moneta on Monk’s-hood, of which we had a lot in our garden;
the few Delphiniums were taboo as my mother liked them.—H. C.
Hvueeins, 65 Eastwood Boulevard, Westcliff-on-Sea. 20.vi.53.

Morr Success with THE M.V. Lamp.—I have been having a most
exciting time with my M.V. lamp. I work it against the whitewashed
wall of my house so that an area of roughly a hundred and forty square
feet is brightly lit. On this recently I estimate that there have been
over seven thousand moths, with innumerable winged white ants, bugs,
beetles, grasshoppers, etc. JI have been trying to rough out a short
paper for you, but it is difficult to know where to start. Unfortunately
all this mass of insects contains very little that is new or interesting, the
great bulk being Noctuidae and Pyralidae of three or four species only.
You can imagine that it is not too easy to isolate something that is
wanted from the swirling mass on the wall.—D. G. Srvastorputo, Kam-
pala, Uganda. (in lit. 16.vi.53.)

Yettow Burnet Motus In HampsHire.—-A specimen of Zygaena fili-
pendulae Linn. ab. flava Robson (cerinus Robson and Gardner) was ob-
tained at Shawford Downs on 26th July by Mr. R. Houghton. The
condition suggested that it had been on the wing for some time before
capture.

It was in this locality I first encountered ab. flava, a feral imago in
1947; further colour forms followed and were reported in Ent. Rec., 64:
117. Last year (1952) all Zygaenid activities were carried out on St.
Catherine’s Hill, approximately three miles from Shawford, when the
combined efforts of two colleagues produced two ab. aurantia Tutt and
one ab. flava, the emergence of the latter being arrested by the cocoon
and the moth remaining undeveloped. These were among 936 imagines
from cocoons collected on the Hill.

Although both Z. filipendulae and Z. trifolui Esp., are extremely
abundant in these areas aberration other than colour is rare, confluent-
spotted specimens being almost non-existent.—PauL H. Hottoway,
Warwick House, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hants. 2.v111.53.

AMATHES ALPICOLA ZETT. IN AN ‘‘OppD’’ YEaR.—The Editor has sug-
gested that I put. on record the capture of a specimen of Amathes alpi-
cola during an ‘‘odd’’ year, namely 1909. The moth, which was a female,
was found during the afternoon of July 28th crawling over Crowberry
(Empetrum nigrum) on a mountain in north Ross-shire. Though I
cannot now recollect the exact spot, it was somewhere within the por-
tion of Ross-shire which thrusts northwards, like a pointer, into Suther-
landshire, east and west of Long. 4° 54’ W. The area lies north of the
main Invershin-Lochinver road. It was then, and may still be, part of
the Lubecroy deer forest. Lubecroy Lodge is 356028 on the National
Grid. A reference to the map shows that the mountains rise to a maxi-
mum of about 2,000 ft. at the most northerly point of the area.

Although the insect was taken so long ago I have no doubt at all
about the date of capture; nor as to its identity as I later became very
familiar with the species at Rannoch. Unfortunately I no longer have
the specimen, neither was it in my recently sold British collection. So

258 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vol. 65. 15) TX] 1953

far as I can recollect it was sold at Stevens’s in about 1913 with a small
miscellaneous collection of insects. This occurred after I had bred a
fine series of Rannoch specimens and when, unfortunately, I did not
realize the interest attaching to an ‘‘odd’’ year hyperborea, as it was
then called.—E. S. A. Baynes, 2 Arkendale Road, Glenageary, Co.
‘Dublin.

LrucaNia unrpuNcTA Haw. at LicHt.—While collecting near Killar-
ney, Co. Kerry, on the night of 13th/14th June of this year, with Capt.
Stuart Wright, we caught, at his mercury vapour lamp, a specimen of
Leucania unipuncta. So far as I have been able to ascertain most, if
not all, the previous specimens taken in Great Britain and Ireland have
been found during the autumn and early winter; moreover I have been
unable to discover, from the books at my disposal, whether the moth
is normally double brooded. T should appreciate information about this.
—KE. 8S. A. Baynes, 2 Arkendale Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin.

MetHop or Parrine ArctTiIa vitiicA Linn.—The remainder of the
A. villica emerged very well (see Ent. Rec., 65: 219), but no more out-
standing variation has occurred though there have been many more
with the spots confluent, missing or reduced in size; but there have
been no more black or partial black ones. I have found a more success-
ful method of obtaining pairings with them: I set the males free and
when climatic conditions are favourable they return and _ assemble
freely round the breeding-cages containing the females, a pairing being
readily obtained when the males are permitted to enter the cages. I
have now some thousands of young villica larvae, but not all from
selected parents although they are all from the original stock. The
males liberated were all marked to make it possible to recognise them
when they returned to the females. It would have been interesting if
an unmarked male had put in an appearance as I do not know of villica
occurring anywhere in this area in the wild state-—C. M. R. Pirman,
Malvern, Southampton Road, Clarendon, Salisbury. 30.vi.53.

SexvaL SELECTION IN LASIocAMPA QUERCUS L. F. CALLUNAE PALMER.
—On 26th June the emergence of a 9 Lasiocampa quercus L. f. callunae
Palmer was followed by a fine sunny day. Although there was a
strong N.E. wind blowing—it had been in that quarter for weeks and
there seemed little chance of a change—I decided to try assembling on
the moors. I reached Beeley Moors at nine o’clock and as I wanted to
obtained fertile eggs rather than male imagines I placed the @ on
the heather and proceeded to search for larvae.

For a long time no males appeared: it was 11.50 when the first one
approached; but he flew by without even stopping. Within a few
minutes after this ten males had arrived and had passed by in a simi-
lar fashion. I came to the conclusion that the proximity of a wall was
confusing the line of scent, for the males all flew along the wall instead
of approaching the female. I then moved the female a few hundred
yards away and tried again. But I found that the od were still
overshooting the mark by a foot or more and losing the scent again.
Moreover, they all seemed to be ‘ skittish ’ and in a hurry to get away.
I had left a large piece of white paper to mark the female’s position so
that I should be able to find her easily, and it occurred to me that pos-

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, 259

sibly this was disturbing her suitors. So I removed the paper and
watched again.

Within a few minutes, at about 12.20, two males found the female
and were jostling her. She would have nothing to do with them and
after a little they flew away. It was not long before three more males
were fluttering round her; but again she refused them all. She moved
a few feet away and took up a fresh position. Males were now arriv-
ing continuously and trying to pair with her, but it was not until 12.50
that she accepted one. The hustle died down and although a few
males arrived during the next twenty minutes they soon travelled on.
At least forty males had assembled to my female in an hour and all had
been refused except the one. I boxed the paired moths and in less
than three hours the female had laid 150 eggs.

I have read that LZ. quercus ¢¢ will assemble to the box or even
haversack in which a female has been carried, but on this occasion
neither had the slightest attraction for them.—J. H. Jounson, 53
Knighton Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 5.vii.53.

[We do not remember to have heard or read previously that [L. quer-
cus f. callunae exhibits sexual selection. Our own experience has been
that bred 9 9 of this species will pair readily with the first male put
into the breeding cage.—Ep. ]

[On referring to my diaries I see that on 19th June 1943, in Wales,
a newly-emerged © callunae refused to pair with an assembled ¢ when
they were placed in a large cage and that when removed from the
cage this 2 paired immediately with another male who flew up. Have
any of our readers known a ¢ callunae to pair more than once? Per-
haps the reason who no males were attracted to Mr. Johnson’s box or
haversack is that the female when in them was not ‘ calling ’, 7.e., her
scent gland was not extruded.—P. B. M. A.]

A Rapip ImMacinaL DEVELOPMENT.—The following is taken from a
letter from a friend who spent last winter in East and South Africa :—

‘‘ One rather interesting experience was the finding of some larvae
of either the Milkweed butterfly or at any rate a very near relative.
The larvae, in all stages of growth, were in great profusion and butter-
flies were laying still more eggs on a shrub of what I imagine to be one
of the Milkweed plants near the harbour at Tanga. The leaves of the
shrub were whitish, rough and fleshy, and exuded a milky substance
when picked.

**T took some leaves and four half-grown larvae and for want of
something better put them in a cardboard chocolate-box. They ate
with unbelievable rapidity, never seeming to stop, and by the next
evening one had pupated, and the other three by the following morning.
Being in such numbers 1 did not really expect other than that they
would all be parasitised, but to my surprise all four butterflies emerged
four days later!’’—F. H. Lyon, Sampford Peverell, Tiverton, Devon.
26.v1.53.

CoLocasIA CORYLI LINN. IN SuRREY.—With reference to the note on
C. coryli in the July/August number (Hnt. Rec., 65: 209) it might be
of interest to record that the larvae of this species are quite common
on the lower branches of the big beech trees which grow along the top
and sides of the Downs at Ranmore near the church, close to Dorking.

260 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1TX /1953

Il have frequently beaten the larvae in this area, where I would class it
as common in favourable seasons. It is very easy to rear.—R. EK. Par-
sons, Woodlands Lodge, Woodlands Close, Ottershaw, Surrey. 1.viii.53.

A Note on Cotocasta coryii L.—With reference to the notes on this
‘ species in Ent. Rec., 65: 209-211, Barrett is right in saying that it is
found ‘‘ in Berkshire . . . on the hills among beech’’. I have beaten
larvae from large beech trees cn top of the downs above Wantage, and
also on lower ground near the ‘ Blowing Stone’ at Kingston Lisle. I
have certainly found this larva more often on beech than on any other
foodplant, and have beaten only one larva from hazel, in Cranborne
Chase two years ago. But I can add another to the list in Allan’s
Larval Foodplants, for on 30th September 1925 I found a larva feed-
ing on aspen (Populus tremula L.) at Malvern. I can support from
my own observation the statement that they retire to a hiding-place
between leaves after finishing a meal.—H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road,
Bournemouth. 25.vi1.53.

HIBERNATION OF PLUSIA FESTUCAE L.—The article by An Old Moth-
Hunter on the hibernation of Plusia festucae L. (Hnt. Rec., 65: 199)
greatly interested me and I trust the following personal experience in
breeding the moth may assist in lessening the uncertainty surrounding
its hibernation.

On 22nd June 1933 I caught a female festucae in my garden at
Doncaster, which incidentally boasted of a lily pond containing a growth
of yellow flag (/ris pseudacorus). Placed in a chip box the moth laid
freely and ultimately I had about 150 eggs, all of which duly hatched.

Feeding presented no difficulty as the lily pond provided the food-
plant. I dug up an iris root, put it in a large jampot, and accommo-
dated the leaves in a long sleeve, the top of which was tied for support
to the sill of an attic window. This attic faced roughly west and got
the benefit of the afternoon and evening sunshine, and as a result got
extremely hot at times. Possibly it was this condition which fostered
the success in breeding. ;

All the larvae fed readily and nothing untoward was noticeable
until they had attained a length of about half-an-inch. A curious situa-
tion then manifested itself. About half the larvae continued to feed
voraciously while the remainder absolutely refused to feed further,
clinging immobile—mostly to the undersides of the leaves—and com-
pletely ignoring the gluttonous proclivities of their brethren. They
remained thus in a comatose condition while the others duly spun up
and pupated, and in August I had a large emergence of over 50
imagines. Having obtained all the moths I required I confess that I
lost interest in the surviving larvae, which to my mind had evinced an
unshakable resolve to hibernate as larvae.

A fortnight’s holiday now supervened, and on my return I fanlie
that the continued hot weather had dried up the iris leaves and that
a number of the larvae had died. I took pity on the survivors and
dumped them in the middle of the iris growing in the lily pond, and
left them to fend for themselves. On the following dates, viz. 15th
June 1934, 18th June 1935, and 5th July 1939, I took festucae in my
garden. My last record was 1939, but I have a strong recollection,

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 261

though no specific record, that a few years ago while fishing in late
August near Doncaster I saw a worn festucae.

I am convinced therefore that as a general rule the larvae hibernate
as such when comparatively small, since in a normal year I have seen the
imagines only in June or early July; in a hot summer, however, some
larvae elect to feed up and provide an August emergence. In this re-
spect they resemble P. chrysitis, which I have bred with results iden-
tical with those of the festucae mentioned above.—L. G. F. Wappine-
ton, 8 Lawn Avenue, Doncaster.

A Note FRom PursBeckK.—Vanessu 10 and Polygonia c-album have
been very abundant during the last fourteen days in many parts of
the island. On 4th July I found larvae of the latter species feeding on
gooseberry in my garden. Males of Lysandra coridon were flying on
4th July in many localities, and on the 8th Melanargia galathea,
Argynms aglaia and A. paphia were observed in fair numbers. In a
wood less than two miles from the sea I turned up a new spot for Limen-
itis camilla.—LEONARD TATCHELL, Swanage, Dorset. 6.vili.53.

A Note rrom Kast Dorsrer.—I have nothing much to report. Insects
are well out to time; for instance dd of Argynnis aglaia and Melanargia
galathea were on the wing ten days ago. Larvae of Vanessa io have
been swarming everywhere. But there has been no sign this year of
either Colias croceus or CU. hyule, and I have seen only one Vanessa
curdui.—LeONARD TATCHELL, Rockleigh Cottage, Swanage. 6.vii.53.

VANESSA ANTIOPA LINN.: MicRANT oR Stowaway ?—In reply to Dr. E.
A. Cockayne’s criticism of my theory about the Camberwell Beauty
arriving in this country as a stowaway rather than as a migrant I would
like to clarify some points. I say, in my book Butterfly Farmer, that I
watched these butterflies being disturbed from the wood stacks in early
autumn. Unfortunately I omitted to mention the date and Dr. Cockayne
took this to mean September or early October. In fact it was late
August, which in Finland and also in Sweden is counted as early
autumn. Hard frosts are usually expected in September and the Cam-
berwell Beauty, which like its close relation the Large Tortoiseshell in
this country, is an early hibernator, settles down in its winter quarters
about the end of August. My contention is this; why should a butter-
fly, which in its native habitat has already gone into hibernation, or is
on the point of doing so, be suddenly seized by an irresistible urge to
travel hundreds of miles across the sea to this country? I still feel sure
that at least the great majority of Camberwell Beauties found here in
the autumn have been disturbed from their ‘‘beauty sleep’? on board
ships, and once here, particularly if the weather is fine and warm, they
might very well wake up again for a time and continue flying instead
of immediately going back into hibernation again.

There is certainly no question either of the butterflies ‘‘flying down
to the docks’’ to wait for shipment. Much of the timber is not loaded
at the docks at all but collected by the ships from various points along
the coast where the forest comes almost down to the shore as I thought
the photographs in my book clearly showed. This is the kind of locality
where sallows grow and the butterflies breed. I did not intend to sug-
gest that 1935 was a specially good Camberwell Beauty year just. be-

262 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1X/1953

cause I happened to make this observation then. It does not follow that
because I noticed a number of V. antiopa in one particular locality they
were plentiful throughout Scandinavia, but it is surely a lucky coin-
cidence for me that the few V. antiopa seen that year were in the Tyne
Valley, as Tyneside is one of the ports I mentioned. The sporadic
. appearance of V. antiopa can surely be explained quite simply. In
Scandinavia you get good and bad Camberwell Beauty years just in the
same way as Vanessas fluctuate over here. It would have to be an ex-
ceptionally good year for a number of the butterflies to arrive here
safely. A Finnish entomologist with whom I have been in touch has
told me that during the last few years V. antiopa has been very scarce
in that country owing to a succession of cold wet summers. As far as
Sweden and Norway are concerned I have no information, but possibly
the situation there has been the same.

Frankly, I disbelieve many of the very early records about V. antiopa
having been seen in swarms. It would need a credulous person to
believe that they were ever as common as Cabbage Whites, even as far
back as 1789—this would mean they were in millions all over the country !
Even to-day, with Nature Study in every school, eight out of ten people
don’t know the difference between a Red Admiral and a Peacock and I
imagine that quite a few of the so-called Camberwell Beauties may have
been Peacocks.—L. Hugo Newman, The Butterfly Farm, Bexley, Kent.

[Many of the antiopa caught in the eastern counties have the white
or pale cream border characteristic of the northern race and show a
structural abnormality of the scales as I pointed out in The Entomo-
logist’s Record in 1921. 33: 205-210. In my opinion they are migrants
from Scandinavia, probably from Norway or Sweden. Mr. Newman
postulates that they have come by boat from Finland. There is not
a jot of evidence for this. Does Mr. Newman suggest that of the
antiopa caught in 1872 ‘‘ quite a few . . . may have been peacocks ’”’?
If so, the suggestion is a very silly one and would not have been made
if he had read the contemporary journals.

In his rejoinder he does not answer the most important question:
when were pit-props first imported? I suspect home-grown timber was
used in 1800 and possibly in 1872. The onus is on Mr. Newman to show
that at those dates pit-props were imported from Finland. If he can-
not do so his theory falls to the ground. The Customs and Excise De-
partment Statistical Office informs us that the first mention in their
records of pit-props being imported from Scandinavia is 1901.—Ep.]

Corrections.—Hnt. Rec., 1953, 65: 163. Coenotephria deriata
Schiffermiiller (synonym nigrofasciaria Goze). Ab. nigrofasciata Cock-
ayne was a slip for nigrocinctata, but unfortunately nigrofasciaria Goze
is a specific name and the aberrational name being of infraspecific rank
is valid and no alteration can be made. .

Hydriomena ruberata Freyer ab. constricta Loberbauer, Z. Wien.
ent. Ges., March 1953, 38: 20. Pl. i, row 6, 2 figures. This has
priority over ab. constricta Cockayne, Ent. Rec., June 1953, 65: 166.

Errata.—FEnt. Rec., 1953, 65: 2. Arctia caja L. ab. septata Gor-
don Smith. In the ‘ Explanation of Plate I’, fig. 3, ‘ septa’ should
be septata.

NEUROPTERA AND TRICHOPTERA AT SYMONDS YAT. 263

VapouReR Motu ADAPTATIONS AND THE APTEROUS StTatE.—I much
regret that by an oversight I omitted to thank Mr. Russell Hudson
of Fish Hoek, Cape Town, for his help in the collecting, counting, and
breeding of Bracharoa dreget in my paper in the July-August issue.—
H. B. D. KertLewe...

THe AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGIsSTS’ Society will hold its Annual Exhibi-
tion at Buckingham Gate Central Schools, Wilfred Street, London,
S.W.1, on Saturday, 19th September 1953, from 2 to 5.30 p.m. Admis-
sion is free and everyone interested in Entomology will be welcome.
Further particulars may be obtained from the Hon. Meetings Secretary,
19 Hengist Avenue, London, S.E.12.

Neuroptera and Trichoptera at Symonds Yat
By A.'F. Practy, FRIES.

Symonds Yat is situated on the boundary between Gloucestershire
and Herefordshire, at a point where these two counties are separated
from the county of Monmouth only by the river Wye. In many old
collections specimens are merely labelled ‘‘Symonds Yat’’, thus present-
ing a problem to the county recorder, since the insects in question may
have been taken in either of three counties and may be reasonably ex-
pected to occur in all of them. This applies with particular force to the
Trichoptera and other aquatic and semi-aquatic Orders which one can
hardly expect to find on one side of the river and not on the other,
since their early stages are actually passed in the water between. -

For the benefit of scrupulous county recorders I will state here that
all insects mentioned in this note were actually taken within the county
of Gloucestershire.

On 13.vi.53 I paid a short but interesting visit to this area, reaching
the well-known Yat rock about mid-afternoon. From a small group of
pine trees a number of caddis flies were obtained. These belonged to
three species, namely, Chewmatopsyche iepida Pictet., Psychomyiu
pusilla Fabr. and Inmnephilus sparsus Curt.

An isolated hawthorn bush produced one specimen of Hydropsyche
pellucidula Curt. and a small swarm of the Neuropteron Chrysopa ciliata
Waes. The only other Neuropteron taken, Hemerobius micans Oliv.,
was obtained in some numbers from beech, as were several more speci-
mens of Psychomyia pusilla Fabr.

Leaving this elevated position, I made my way down to the river,
reaching the bank a short distance below the rapids. From the alder
bushes at the water’s edge I disturbed countless numbers of caddis flies,
securing specimens of Silo pallipes Fabr., Goera pilosa Fabr., Sericos-
toma personatum Spence., Polycentropus flavomaculatus Pictet., Rhya-
cophila. dorsalis Curt., Leptocerus cinereus Curt. and an odd specimen
of Cheumatopsyche lepida Pictet. This insect was very scarce, only
three specimens being taken, all of the male sex.

Sweeping herbage at the water’s edge produced two specimens of
Lepidostoma hirtum Fabr, both females, and a few Mystacides azurea L.
The apparent scarcity of this species, usually so abundant wherever it is
found, was so marked that I made a careful search for it, but without
success, only five specimens being taken. As I worked upstream towards

264 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/1TX /1953

the rapids, odd specimens of Chimarrha marginata Linn. occurred from
time to time in the sweeping net. These became more numerous as I
approached the rapids and were at rest in vast numbers on the sedges
actually bordering the fast water. This was by far the largest number
of caddis flies I have ever seen at one time. Some idea of the numbers
-present may be gained from the fact that one sharp stroke with the
net secured no less than ninety-three specimens. For about twenty
yards the sedges were covered with the insects and then, above the
rapids, were clear again, only an odd specimen occurring from time to
time in the net. J was now approaching the county boundary and
ceased collecting at that point, having, in a little under two hours,
taken specimens of thirteen species of Trichoptera and two species of
Neuroptera.

DIPTERA

The Pinning and Setting of Flies
By E. C.M. pv’ Assis-Fonseca.

The question of setting Dipterous specimens has been and still is the
subject of a certain amount of controversy, although the arguments for
and against do not so far appear to have found their way into print.
The writer has had a good deal of experience in attempting to identify
specimens which have been treated to varying degrees of setting, or the
lack of it, and this experience has shown without any possible doubt
that, except perhaps in the hands of the expert, a properly set speci-
men has the greatest chance of being correctly determined.

The decision as to how much setting is to be done to a collection of
Diptera will probably depend upon the amount of time which is avail-
able for the particular study in hand. Accordingly the quantity of
material required for any given study will be the first consideration,
and one of the principal factors in time expenditure will be the collect-
ing of this material. Nevertheless it will still pay to adopt some
standard of setting, for it may be safely assumed that if the specimens
are merely impaled on pins, a practice all too common to-day, the time
thus saved will be more than offset by the difficulty and uncertainty
which will be experienced when it comes to identifying the species.

The need for a certain standard of setting applies most particularly
perhaps to the Muscidae (incl. Anthomyidae). The identification of
the species of this difficult family, and more particularly of the sub-
family Anthomyinae, is based very largely on the leg bristles, and unless
the legs are properly separated and correctly positioned, so that all
surfaces of femora, tibiae and tarsi are able to be examined, consider-
able difficulties may be experienced when a specimen is to be deter-
mined. This does not mean that the necessity for setting ceases at the
Muscidae; the same principle applies to the whole of the Brachycera
and Cyclorrhapha, and to at least the Bibionidae and Scatopsidae of
the Nematocera.

Owing to the relative importance of different characters in different
groups of the Diptera, it might be argued that the degree of setting to
be adopted could be made to suit the particular specimen concerned.
But this presupposes that the identity of the fly, and therefore the

DIPTERA. 265

characters by which it is identified, are already known—in other words,
that one is already an expert! It is therefore advisable to adopt one
standard of setting for all specimens, and to suit that standard to the
most exacting of the groups—the Anthomyinae.

Having, as it is hoped, established the desirability of a certain
standard of setting, a word or two on the method by which this may
be achieved will not come amiss. Firstly, no specimen should ever be
mounted by gumming to card or celluloid strip. Apart from the fact
that portions of the specimen thus mounted are bound to be hidden
from view, a gummed specimen can never be relaxed should this become
necessary at some later date. All specimens should be pinned. Secondly,
only stainless steel pins should be used for mounting. Any other kind
of entomological pin, whether enamelled steel, or plated or enamelled
brass, is liable to cause ruin to a valuable specimen by corrosion. The
truth of this may be observed by examining almost any of the older
collections of Diptera in the country. Stainless steel pins may be
obtained from several of the well-known entomological dealers, and are
available in a good selection of thicknesses and lengths.

Before attempting to set a specimen it is as well first to ensure that
it is in proper condition, 7.e. fully relaxed and with no “‘spring’’ in the
joints of the various segments. This condition is best brought about
by keeping the specimens for a certain period, spread out on a strip of
newspaper or thin blotting-paper, in a laurel tube. The tube should
be laid on its side with the paper strip in contact with the glass only,
to avoid the absorption of too much moisture from the laurel. The
length of time required to condition specimens depends mainly on their
size. The smallest, such as small Dolichopodids, Ephydrids, Sphaero-
cerids, etc., may be set after 24-48 hours, while large specimens, such
as the larger Tabanids, Syrphids, Tachinids, etc., may be left as long as
4-5 days under these conditions. It will be found that certain thickly
pollinose flies, even though of medium size (e.g. the females of some
species of the Muscid genus Helina) tend to become ‘‘wet’’, and con-
sequently spoiled, if left in the laurel tube for more than one or two
days, but the collector will very quickly learn by experience which
species are likely to need more careful treatment in this respect.

When the specimens are in the right condition, the setting may be
carried out as follows :—

1. Select a stainless steel pin of suitable size and insert it through the
thorax slightly behind the transverse suture and to one side of
the centre line of the insect. This ensures that the bristles on
at least one side will be left intact. If the pin is correctly in-
serted, perpendicular to the plane of the insect, it will come
through about half-way down the sternopleuron (the triangular
plate immediately above the middle coxa).

2. Insert the pin, with the fly mounted on it, squarely into a plain
(angrooved) sheet of papered cork of such a thickness as to ensure
the desired length of pin beneath the specimen. Arrange the
specimen with its under surface slightly above the setting-board.

3. With a needle or fine pin pull the legs out from underneath so that
they lie in a more or less natural position, with the middle legs
pointing somewhat forward. At this stage do not use any pins
to keep the legs in position.

266 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1X/1953

4. Insert a pair of pins in the board so that they cross beneath the
abdomen towards its tip, supporting it in a horizontal position.
This abdomen support will also help to steady the sperimen as
setting proceeds.

5 Insert a pin at a point to the side of, and about level with, the tip
of the abdomen, slanting forward at an acute angle to fe setting-
board so that it lies across and above the wing near to its base.
Insert another pin a little further out than the first, and at about
the same angle, but this time beneath the wing. The relative
heights of the two pins to each other and to the insect must be
such that, when the wing is drawn forward by a setting-needle, it
lies snugly and horizontally between the pins and remains in a
position about 90° to the axis of the fly. If the upper pin is too
low or the lower one too high the wing will be bent where it lies
between the pins. If, on the other hand, the upper one is too
high or the lower too low the wing will not remain in the required
position. The aim should be to fix each wing more or less hori-
zontally, or slightly inclined upwards, so that it does not obscure
any of the pleural characters.

6. Finally, ensure that the legs do not move during drying by insert-
ing pins in the board where required. Each specimen should re-
main on the board for about a month before the setting pins are
removed and the specimen labelled and transferred to a store-box
to await identification.

Nore: For all specimens up to medium size (e.g. Phaonta errans
Mg.), No. 20 white pins should be used throughout for setting; for
larger specimens use No. 20 pins for everything except the wings, for
which No. 8 or No. 17 white pins may be used according to the size of
the specimen.

The above six paragraphs describe briefly the basic procedure for
setting, but after some practice a collector will no doubt adopt his own
particular variant of the described method. It will be found by experi-
ence that certain families or groups of species require additional mani-
pulation in order to expose special characters. For example, in the
Tachinidae, Calliphoridae and Muscidae sens. lat. the proboscis should
be pulled downwards sufficiently to bring the palpi into view, and the
antennae lifted away from the face and slightly separated from one
another so that. the inner surface can be examined. Similarly, the male
genitalia of all species of the above three families should be drawn out
so that they remain exposed when the specimen is dry. These three
operations are most easily performed after the mounting pin has been
inserted in the specimen, but before pinning it to the board. I+ will
probably be found necessary to use one or two suitably placed pins to
keep the genitalia exposed while the specimen is drying.

In conclusion, it may be safely asserted that setting will, almost
certainly, be a tedious business at first, and any collector who decides
to give it a trial may well wonder if the results are worth the effort.
Anyone, however, who has experienced the exasperation, caused by
failure to reach a definite conclusion because vital characters are com-
pletely obscured, will appreciate the value of good setting. It must be
remembered that, once a specimen has become dry and brittle, any
attempt to remove an obstruction, in order to bring some hidden surface
or character into view, will probably result in irreparable damage.

PROTOCALLIPHORA AZUREA FALL. IN BIRDS’ NESTS. 267

Protocalliphora azurea Fall. in Birds’ Nests

with a Record of the Killing of Magpie Nestlings by the
Larvae of this Fly
By D. F. Owen.

At Wytham in Berkshire in 1953 I examined the nests of 21 great
tits Parus major, 12 blue tits P. caeruleus, 1 coal tit P. ater, 1 marsh
tit P. palustris and 2 redstarts Phoenicurus phoenicurus for the larvae
or pupae of Protocalliphora azurea. Only one nest, a great tit’s, was
found to contain pupae (15) and there was no indication that the nest-
lings had suffered by the presence of this species. In 1952 in the same
area 20 nests were found to contain pupae (1953, Ent. Rec., 65: 31-32).
Near Wytham a nest of a whitethroat Sylvia communis contained two
pupae from which flies eventually emerged.

At Wytham a brood of magpies Pica pica hatched on 20th May. The
smallest of the three was found dead on 4th June and the second young
died on 7th June. An examination of the exposed part of the stomach
of the remaining bird revealed six larvae firmly attached to the skin.
There were also traces of blood and the skin appeared hard and dry.
The larvae were removed, but when the nest was visited about an hour
later more were attached to the stomach. On 9th June this bird was
found dead and an examination of the base of the nest revealed about
250 Protocalliphora larvae among the twigs and hair. I should add that
there is little doubt that this fly was the cause of death as food was not
short; other broods of magpies in the area survived. Also both parents
were seen alive after the death of the nestlings.

Both magpie and whitethroat are additional to Audcent’s list of the
hosts of this fly (1942, Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent., 8: 1-42).

Phaonia laetabilis Collin and other bred Diptera

By B. R. Lavrence.

Mr. E. C. M. 4’A. Fonseca has recently been good enough to look
through some Muscidae bred from larvae and puparia collected in
Rothamsted Manor Wood, Herts., in 1951. Notes on these and some
other species are given below. The breeding jars were kept in a large
unheated room. The date of emergence is given immediately after the
number of each species bred.

‘Phaonia laetabilis Collin, 2 2 Q (3/viii/51) bred from puparia found
in wet material in a rot hole of silver birch, collected 19/vii. Avulaci-
gaster leucopeza Mg., 1 ¢ also emerged from a puparium found at the
same time.

Phaonia scutellaris Fall., 1 2 (28/v/51) from the fungus Polystictus
growing at the end of a cut trunk. Larva collected 30/ili in company
with larvae of Limonia decemmaculata Loew, 9 dd, 6 @Q (21/v-
2/vi/51).

Phaoma variegata Mg., 14 33,8 @@ (5/v-17/v/51) from puparia
collected 24/111 in wet and dry wood of a decayed tree stump. One male:
showed the ‘‘hemithorax’’ condition (not inherited) recorded in labora-

268 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/1TX /1953

tory bred Drosophila. 4 383, 2 99, of Hydrophoria linogrisea Mg.
(3/v-7/v/51) also bred from puparia in stump (see Fonseca 1952, who
suggests this species may be a variety of H. conica Wied.). ;

P. variegata, 2 dd, 2 992 (14/v-29/v/51) also bred from decayed
horsechestnut husks. Larvae (23/11) in company with numerous larvae
of Anisopus fenestralis Scop. (1/v-14/vi/51). Lonchoptera lutea Panz.,
1 ¢ (1/v/51), found as a larva, and 1 6, 1 2 of Docosia gilvipes Hal.
(10/v/51) also emerged. Edwards, 1924, records D. fumosa Edw. as
saprophagous.

Fannia sociella Zett., 1 S (26/v/51) from puparium collected
27/ii1/51 in dry earthy material in crevice of cut willow trunk. Cerote-
lion lineatus F., 1 ¢ (5/vii/51) emerged from salmon red larvae found
in slime tubes in cracks in the trunk. One larva ate a pupa of the same
species.

Helina impuncta Fall., 1 Q (4/vi/51), from larva collected 27 /1ii1/51
in spruce litter around loose bark of a spruce stump. Numerous Sciara
larvae also present, and one larva of Leptis (Rhagio) scolopacea I., 1 @
(2/vi/51).

Two larvae of L. scolopacea (larvae white, with blood red internal
organs) were found beneath bark of deciduous tree stumps. 1 ¢ emerged
29/v/51 having pupated at about 1/v/51.

A male Rhamphomyia nigripes F. emerged 22/v/51 (pupated about
1/v/51) from a larva found in moss and liverworts on a very wet stump
on 16/iv/51. 533,299, Tipula staegeri Nielson emerged 20-21 /ix/51
from larvae collected at the same time.

Most of the species above overwintered therefore as larvae.

REFERENCES.

Collin, J. E., 1951, Phaonia laetabilis sp. n. with notes on some other related
Anthomyidae (Diptera). Ent. Rec., 63: 1-5.

Edwards, F. W., 1925, British Fungus-Gnats (Diptera, Mycetophilidae). Trans. R.
ent. Soc. Lond., 1925: 505-662.

Fonseca, E. C. M d’Assis-, 1952, Translation of ‘‘A survey of the Swedish species
of Hydrophoria and Acroptena (Dipt., Muscidae)’’ by O. Ringdahl. J. Soc.
Brit. Ent., 4: 75-83.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1908)

Hasits oF Apatura rais L.—Dr. Norman H. Joy exhibited speci-
mens of Apatura iris from the neighbourhood of Reading, captured in
1901. .. . he said that, with Mr. Lee, he took altogether fourteen
specimens, all males, eleven of them from the three top branches on the
north side of a beech tree. No females were seen, in fact it appeared
to be the throne of the ruling ‘‘ Emperor ”’ of the wood. Whenever
another iris came by, the one on the ‘‘ throne ”’ attacked it, and, after
a fight in which one would eventually pursue the other out of sight,
one of them would return to the perch. If this specimen was captured
the next iris coming along would take possession of the throne, and
so on, so that five were taken in one afternoon off the same tree. When
on the throne they were extraordinarily confident, as more than once
the chosen branch was struck hard without disturbing them, yet if one
happened to settle on a lower branch, the slightest movement even of
the hand frightened it away at once.

CURRENT LITERATURE. 269

Rats and Motus.—I see no special mention [in the Proc. ent. Soc.
Lond. for this year] of one great enemy to insects here [Durban, Natal]
. . - IL refer to the ordinary and very common grey South African rat,
which is one of the most dreadful pests to the breeders of butterflies
and moths that I know of. These rats seem to be particularly fond of
almost any pupae, and I have had thick wooden boxes containing
pupae eaten right through, and the contents all devoured. They
are especially fond of Chaerocampu eson and CU. nerii. Even more re-
markable than their keenness in hunting pupae is the way in which they
capture moths on the wing whilst feeding. Over the verandah of my
previous residence here J had a large honeysuckle upon the blossoms of
which a great number of Sphingid species used to feed. Whilst I have
been watching them just at dusk, all of a sudden I have heard a rush
and down came a rat from the roof right on to the plant, and more
often than not the moth selected for attack was captured, usually fol-
lowed by a fight amongst the rats over the prize. The moths I have
seen captured in this way are Sphinx convolvuli, Nephele variegata,
Chaerocampa eson and C. celerio. The first named is the most success-
ful in escaping, owing to the long proboscis which compels it to hover
at some distance from the blossom. N. vuriegata is probably the swiftest
flier, but it is more conspicuous owing to its dark colour.—G. F. Lrieu.

LIVENING UP THE ENtToOMoLoeGiIcAL SocieTy.—Professor E. B. Poulton
is to be the next president of the Entomological Society of London,
and possibly no more popular choice could have been made. Even
those who disagree with his theories cannot but admire his energy and
the cool certainty with which he advances the most remarkable views,
and the ex cathedra way in which he occasionally lectures those who
disagree with him. His lectures on the proposal to amend the byelaws
have been charming, but we do sincerely hope that he will put aside
for ever the notion that Fellows who hold a different opinion from the
Council are censuring the Council by giving effect to their own opinion.
One thing is certain, there will be some life at the meetings of the Ento-
mological Society of London in the immediate future.—J. W. Turr.

Current Literature

THe DIstTRIBUTION OF THE NORTHERN DART, AGROTIS HYPERBOREA ZET-
TERSTEDT, ON THE MAINLAND OF ScoTLAND.. By Kenneth Tod.
The Scottish Naturalist, 65: 11-18.

This species is more correctly designated Amathes alpicola Zett.:
the larva alone distinguishes it from an Agrotis. The author copies all
the text books and gives the date of the first capture in Scotland as
1839 though Douglas in the original account gives 1838. The dis-
covery of a pupa by J. S. Allin (Scottish Nat., 1873, 2: 162) ‘‘ last
July’? he takes to mean July 1873. The letter is not dated, but others
before and after it are dated August 1873, March 1873 and August
1873. It is probable that ‘‘last July’? means July 1872 and that both
these early records refer to even years and are not exceptions to the
rule that the moth only appears in the even years.

The most important part of the paper is that on its distribution.
The author failed to find it in Wester Ross or Sutherland, where the
summits were too grassy and the areas of suitable ground too small to

270 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/1X/1953

support the species. He found it in the Angus Mts., which lie be-
tween Glen Callater and Clova, and are very inaccessible. Plants
found nowhere else in Scotland have been found there recently and so
far as I know they have never been explored by an entomologist. He
found alpicola not uncommon on one summit, others examined were
too grassy. The form differed appreciably from the Rannoch form and
from that found on the Monadhliath mountains of Inverness-shire. The
author says that individuals occur which might have come from any
locality, but in a series the Rannoch specimens are more rosy, the
Monadhliath darker and marked with a great deal of black and light
blue, and the Angus ones are browner, but the black and white figures
do not bring out these differences in colour.

The methods of collecting which Mr. Tod gives are not new. The
fact that the well-drained edges of sheep and deer paths were the best
places to search for pupae was known to the professional collectors and
I was told about it more than fifty years ago. His discovery that on
the drier Angus Mts. it pupates in the dips in the ground was unknown
previously.

He has exaggerated ideas of the danger of over-collecting. A. alpi-
cola is subject to remarkable fluctuations in numbers and is now at the
beginning of another period of scarcity. No doubt it will become
abundant again in a few years. A Proctotrypid which laid its egg in
the newly-formed pupa and multiplied by polyembryony was supposed
to have caused the scarcity at Rannoch, but it was not found in the
Monadhliath Mts. when it became scarce there, nor were the parasites
of the large larvae unusually common. Nothing is known about the
parasites of the small larvae found in the odd years. Here is some-
thing for the enterprising author of this interesting paper to investi-

gate.
HOAY C

Tur ADAPTABILITY OF THE HomECoMING HoNnEYBEE. By C. R. Ribbands
and Nancy Spiers. The British Journal of Animal Behaviour, 1:
59-66.

It is well known that vision is of prime importance in the orienta-
tion of honeybees to their hives. In this paper the authors describe
experiments which were conducted in order to study the behaviour of
bees when the position of their hive entrance was changed, especially to
discover how quickly they became adapted to the new conditions and to
determine whether individual age affected their ability. It was found
that bees re-orientated completely on the first visit and even more
rapidly on subsequent visits, and that age was unimportant. In this
short notice it is impossible to describe other aspects of the experiment
adequately and readers interested are referred to the original paper,

which also contains a good bibliography.
D. F. O.

Ture RED-BANDED LEAF-ROLLER AND ITs ContTRou. By E. H. Glass and
P. J. Chapman. New York State Agricultural Experimental
Station. Bulletin 755. Oct. 1952.

This Tortrix, Argyrotaenia velutinana Walker, has been a minor
pest of apples and other fruits in the eastern apple-growing areas for
many years, but suddenly became a major pest of apples in 1946 and sub-

CURRENT LITERATURE. 27F

sequent years. It is believed that the use of D.D.T. instead of lead
arsenate was the cause. D.D.T., timed and applied to control the cod-
lin moth, was not so effective an insecticide and is highly toxic to the
common parasites of the leaf-roller, thus favouring the leaf-roller in
two ways. This shows that insecticides may upset the balance of nature
disastrously even when they are used with care. Again and again ento-
mologists have called attention to the danger of using insecticides and
weed killers indiscriminately. Some of the modern weed killers destroy
every living thing in a field—pheasants, partridges, small birds and
insects of every kind, and sometimes the man who sprays the field dies
of the poison. No doubt we get more food for the first year, but are
the unknown risks worth taking?
i eAt ©.

Tue Sociau Insects. By O. W. Richards. Published by Macdonald &
Co., Ltd., London, at 15s.

Besides providing an admirable review of our present knowledge of
the social insects, which will be of considerable value to the serious en-
tomologist, the author of this book, who is well known for his work on
the Hymenoptera, has presented his material in a style which the layman
can read with ease and enjoyment. The introductory chapter is devoted
to a brief account of the general physiology of insects and the develop-
ment of social behaviour. Then follow chapters on the behaviour and
social organisation of wasps, bees, ants, social parasites and termites.
In the final chapter there is an interesting discussion of the evolution
of social behaviour in insects and comparisons are made between the
ways by which they and man have overcome certain problems common to
both. Throughout this book the emphasis is on experimental study and
the author frequently stresses the need for much more of this, making
suggestions for future work. There is also much to interest the etholo-
gist and the ecologist. The book concludes with a short list of works for
further reading and a good index. In the reviewer’s opinion, a more
comprehensive bibliography would have been a useful addition for the
benefit of those readers who will wish to pursue the subject further. The
photographs and line drawings are excellent and appropriate to the
text.

Fed

Two Species or CALLIPHORA FROM THE ABERDEEN District. By E.G. H.
Lightfoot. Scottish Naturalist, 65: 50.

Two flies, Calliphora loeuwi and C. uralensis, were found near Aber-
deen in 1949 and 1952. Both are regarded as rare in the north of Scot-
land.

D. F. O.

ADDITIONS TO THE LEPIDOPTERA AT ULVERSTON. By Neville L. Birkett.
The North Western Naturalist, June 1953, 1: 293-295. (New
Series).

Twenty-seven additions to the author’s previous list of the Lepidop-
tera of Ulverston (Lancashire) (N.W.Nat., 17: 37). There is a single
record of Ortholitha scotica Ckyne. Much further work is needed to
work out the distribution of the species listed.

D. F. O.

272 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/1X/1953

LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ODONATA (A PRELIMINARY List). By W. K.
Ford. The North Western Naturalist, June 1958, 1: 227-233.
(New Series). :

Twenty-three species of dragonfly have been recorded from the
counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. Erythromma najas, Libellula
quadrimaculata, L. depressu and Coenagrion pulchellum are regarded as
uncommon and Bruchytron pratense seems to reach its northern limit in
Cheshire and south Yorkshire. The only recent records of Cordulia
aenea and Cordulegaster boltoni are from the Lakes area and Sympet-
rum danae has possibly decreased as a result of a reduction of its habi-
tat. There is one record of S. fonscolombu and S. flaveolum is rare.
The old record of Ceriagrion nymphula is rejected.

Bd Cee 6

Obituary

Puitir PercitvaLt GRAvEs died, aged 77, at Ballylickey House, Bantry,
Co. Cork, on June 3rd, 1953. He was educated at Haileybury and Oriel
College, Oxford, and, from 1906 onwards, became well known as The
Times Correspondent in the Near East. During the 1914/18 war he
served with the rank of captain in the intelligence corps in Egypt,
Arabia and Palestine, afterwards returning to the staff of The Times
and travelling in Ireland, India, the Levant and the Balkans. He was
the author of many books dealing with European and Near Eastern
problems; his most spectacular work being a twenty volume history of
the 1939/45 war, written volume by volume as the war progressed.

It was during his many travels that Philip Graves developed a great
interest in entomology generally and Lepidoptera and Odonata in par-
ticular. At different periods he collected butterflies in Palestine,
Cyprus, Bulgaria and Egypt, also in England, and from time to time
contributions from his pen appeared in the entomological press.

When, in 1945, he retired to Ballylickey near Bantry in Co. Cork, he
was at last able to give up a considerable part of his time to entomology
and he devoted himself particularly to the study of Irish butterflies.
Previously, on a former visit to Ireland, he had been greatly struck
by the marked difference between the Irish form of Maniola jurtinu L.
and the normal English form and, in 1930, he had described and named
the Irish form as ssp. iernes (Entomologist, 63: 49). Itis hoped that his
Irish butterflies will be added to the collection in the National Museum
in Dublin.

The number of serious entomologists in Ireland is small and Philip
Graves will be sadly missed by those who remain. He was a delightful
colleague in the field and, indeed, a charming companion at all times.
His memory and his knowledge of world affairs were remarkable and
these, combined with his unfailing sense of humour, made him a con-
versationalist of outstanding character. During the last two years of
his life his outdoor activities had been greatly restricted by failing
health, but his interest in entomology continued up to the end.

Philip Graves had been twice married, first in 1912 to Leila Millicent
Knox, by whom he had a daughter, and secondly in 1935 to Mrs. Kath-
erine Eleanor Dewar, who survives him, and to whom our deep sym-
pathy is extended. E.S. A. B.

SupPLEMENT TO THE ENToMOLOGIST’s REcorRD. Vow. 65, No. 9
(SEPTEMBER 1953).

Further Observations on Hybrid Swallowtails
By C. A. Cuarke and P. M. SHEPPARD.

In November 1952, using the technique of hand-mating (described
in Ent. Rec., 64: 98), the hybrid between a female North American
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius) and a male Old World
Swallowtail (P. machaon) was obtained. In February 1953 the recipro-
cal cross (P. machaon 2 x P. polyxenes @) was also produced. The
salient feature of both these hybrids was that they were black, in this
resembling the American parent, but in addition they showed certain
definite but less striking machaon characteristics.

Since that time it has been found possible to cross more of these
North American Swallowtails and the following hybrids have now been
obtained, all by hand-pairing.

. polyxenes 9 x P. machaon co.

. machaon 2 xX P. polyxenes ¢.

. brevicauda 2 x P. machaon Co.
. brevicauda 2 x P. polyxenes SC.
. polyxenes Q x P. brevicauda 6.
. zelicaon @ xX P. machaon Co.
machaon Q@ x P. zelicaon ¢.

. polyxenes 9 X P. zelicaon SC.

Da Baca Ba Ba aa

- Rance anp Brier DescriPTion oF Species. (See map and plates).

A. P. machaon L:

This insect occurs as various races throughout most of the Old
World and extends across the Behring Strait into Alaska, Manitoba
and Alberta where it is found in three or four sub-arctic forms. The
butterfly is so well known that no detailed description is necessary.
There are, however, certain special characteristics which deserve
mention because of their importance when describing the hybrids.
Ground colour yellow.

There is no sexual dimorphism.

There is a smudge of yellow on the apex of the forewing on the under-
side; this is formed by a powdering of yellow scales.

4 The legs are partly yellow.

5. The eye spot on the anal angle has a thin black posterior border.

Se

wae

OC tS

ae

‘sana

SUPPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOL“GIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65, No. 9.

There is very little or no orange in the four submarginal yellow
lunules above the tail on the underside of the hind wings.

The full grown larva is green with black transverse bands broken
up by a number of characteristic orange spots.

P. polyxenes asterius Stoll.

The distribution of this butterfly is from Quebec in the north to
Louisiana in the south keeping east of the Rocky Mountains
throughout its range. It is the Common Black Swallowtail of North
America. The special features to be noted are :—

Ground colour black.

There is marked sexual dimorphism.

There is no smudge of yellow on the apex of the underside of the
forewing.

The legs are black.

The eye spot on the anal angle has a round black central pupil.
The four submarginal lunules above the tail are almost entirely
orange.

The full grown larva has yellow spots.

P. brevicauda Saunders.

This insect is found only in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Anti-
costi Island, Labrador and Quebec. It is a polyxenes-like butterfly
but the yellow in it is more orange and the tails are very blunt and
short. It also differs from polyxenes in that there is no sexual
dimorphism. The larva resembles that of polyxenes in having yel-
low spots in the last instar.

P. zelicaon Lucas

This species occurs west of the Rocky Mountains ranging from
British Columbia in the north to Arizona and California in the
south. It is a large, striking, orange-yellow butterfly with heavy
black markings, superficially resembling machaon more than poly-
zenes or brevicauda. The special characters to be noted are:
Ground colour orange-yellow.
There is no sexual dimorphism.
The apical smudge is present.
The legs are black.
The eye spot on the anal angle has a central pupil as in polyxenes
and brevicauda.
The four lunules above the tail are almost entirely yellow.
The larval spots in the last instar vary between yellow and yellow-
orange.

ANALYSIS OF THE HYBRIDS.

P. polyzxenes asterius Stoll 9 x P. machaon L. ¢. (Called hybrid
?); A
The special features to be noted are:
Ground colour black as in polyzenes.
There is marked sexual dimorphism.
The yellow smudge on the apex of the forewing on the underside is
present but less marked than in machaon.
The legs are partly yellow but less yellow than in machaon.

or

“I

Il.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON HYBRID SWALLOWTAILS. 3

The eye spot on the anal angle is intermediate but resembles the
narrow marginal black are of machaon more than the central pupil
of polyxenes. ;

The four submarginal lunules above the tail are yellow streaked
with orange.

The full-grown larva has orange spots.

Number of times hybrid obtained :—Five.
Numbers and sex ratio :—

3d a?
oO a 64 40 24
roy? 9 20 11 )
oy oe 13 e 6
Or A 3 i 2
ory 2 2 1

Length of life cycle at 70° F. from laying of first eggs to emergence
of first insects: —83 days.

*Fertility:—No fertile eggs have been obtained from numerous
crossings inter se. A 2 P. machaon mated with a ¢ ‘‘O’’ 5 laid 29
eggs of which 23 are fertile (9.8.53). Previous similar pairings have
always been infertile and up to the present time no fertile eggs have
been obtained from back crosses to polyzxenes.

P. machaon L. 2 x P. polyxenes asterius Stoll 6. (Called hybrid
a ae

Description. Similar to ‘‘O’’ but cross appears less fertile. Hybrid
features as in ‘‘O”’, the yellow in the submarginal lunules being
especially marked.

Number of times hybrid obtained :—Three.

Numbers and sex ratio :—

oe. 0% 292 Gynandromorphs.
ca 1 iF 2 5
2 6 2 2 9
Ree 3 13 a 6

Length of life cycle at 70° F. from laying of first eggs to emergence
of first insects: —38 days.

Fertility :—Fertile F.1 matings have not been obtained from ‘‘R’’
hybrids inter se, nor from ‘‘O’’ x ‘p? matings (‘‘O”? 9 x “R”’ ¢
apie bet ee OP? ct).

All possible matings have been done between ‘‘O’’ and ‘‘R’’, most
of them several times, and all have proved infertile. With the
back crosses, however, fertile eggs have been obtained on two occa-
sions, once with a ¢ polyxenes and once with a ¢ machaon.

The Back Cross to Polyxenes. (2 “R”’ hybrid x ¢ polyxenes, March
1953).

Twenty eggs were obtained from this mating but only four
proved fertile; from them four imagines were bred, all females. The

*In all cases infertility has only been assumed where the butterflies have been

successfully hand-paired

4 SUPPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 65, No. 9.

butterflies had the general appearance of polyxrenes females and
were also very large. They are shown analysed for hybrid features
in the table.

9 “R” x 6 polyxenes.
Butterfly 1 Butterfly 2 Butterfly 3 Butterfly 4

1. Ground colour _ black black — black” | black
2 Sexual dimorphism = ~—_—_ alll butterflies were females —s_
3 Apical smudge | very faint | present | very faint absent
4. Colour of legs | black — partially | black —*|- black»
| _ yellow | |
5. Analeye spot i polyxenes- polyxewes- | polyxenes- polyxencs-
‘likey | like* | like* “Tike*
6. Colour of submarginal | hybrid-like , hybrid-like hybrid-like | polyxenes-
lunules | _ like
7 Colour of larval spots orange orange > yellow —| yellow |
| |

in last instar | |

*But not all alike: the photograph illustrates this (Fig. 12).
Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—34 days.

Fertility :—No. 2 was killed unmated; butterflies 1, 3 and 4 were
mated with different machaon males. Nos. 1 and 3 laid infertile
eggs. No. 4 which appeared indistinguishable from a pure polyzenes
laid fertile eggs. From these thirteen pupae were obtained and
eleven butterflies have so far emerged (9.8.53). For clarity their
pedigree is shown below.

Q@ machaon X 6 polyxenes

|
ee ae ee heat Pe tle || |
Res nas AD Wray Ds Pa raw NO. ox. Gs palymenies
—— s——"_ machaon
infertile infertile (see later)
| | | :
Q Q Q 2 xX 6 machaon
intertile killed infertile |
| | eee | ltieltgerhy esd instr Savers ey.
Ce NG UD", es Qao® ena ro dG Urged Wipupale pupa

* Description :—All the butterflies that have so far emerged appear
similar to ‘‘O”’ (or ‘‘R’’) hybrids and they, therefore, have the usual
hybrid features.

Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—About 35 days.

Fertility :—No fertile eggs have been obtained either from inter se
matings or from the back crosses to a female polyxenes, to a male
machaon or to a female machaon. Two pupae have still to come
out (9.8.58).

a

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON HYBRID SWALLOWTAILS. a

b. The Back Cross to Machaon. (2 ‘“‘R” hybrid x ¢ machaon, March

1953).
Six eggs were laid but only one was fertile. From this was bred

a very large female butterfly resembling machaon, except that the
anal spot was hybrid-lhke.
Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—37 days.
Larval spots in last instar :—Orange.
Fertility :—This butterfly was mated to a male machaon and laid

ten eggs. Seven of these darkened but only one hatched. From
this was bred a female butterfly the parentage of which is given

below.
Q machaon x C polyxenes
| Ly. asi | |
Pee. 2+ 2. 9 Dae heh 2 x 3d machaon
—— = polyxenes
infertile (see above)

9 x 6 machaon
be

*Description:—Resembles machaon, except that the anal spot is
hybrid-like. Normal machaon size.
Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—387 days.
Larval spots in last instar :—Orange.
Fertility :—Mated to male machaon. Laid about twenty-five eggs;
most hatched but big larval death-rate from virus disease and only
“one pupa obtained (3.8.53).

III. P. brevicauda 9 x P. machaon Lh. o. (Called ‘‘brevimach’’).
Description: —The male appears identical with the ‘‘O”’ or “R”’
hybrids. The black background of brevicauda replaces the yellow
of machaon as does the black of polyxenes, but the specific brevi-
eauda features (short tails and orange spotbands) have disappeared.
The tails of the hybrid are long, the spotbands are of the machaon
yellow, the anal spot is hybrid-like, the legs are partially yellow and
the butterfly has the hybrid smudge. Sexual dimorphism is absent,
in this differing from the ‘‘O” and ‘‘R’”’ hybrids. The larval spots
in the last instar are orange.

Number of times hybrid obtained :—Two.

Numbers and sex ratio :—

oO,
(ek
+0
40

“Brevimach”’ 1 1 -—

“Brevimach”’ 2 — 2
Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—88 days.
Fertility :—There have been no fertile eggs from an inter se pair-
ing, but a fertile mating was obtained between the male ‘‘brevi-

mach”? and a female machaon. She laid about twenty-five eggs
which were fertile except for two or three.

6

*

TV.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE) ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 65, No. 9.
The Back Cross to Machaon. (2 machaon x 6 ‘‘brevimach’’).

- Result of this mating (in order of emergence :—

Qmachaon xX So “‘brevimach’’ 1.
aa rel Fee: emi eae | | | | | |

—S—J"”’ Vie ——
Cue oi Chine) 36 2 2 pupa pupa pupa pupa pupa pupa pupa pupa
machaon- hybrid- machaon-
like like like

*Description :—It will be seen that among the butterflies that have
so far emerged a clear-cut segregation has occurred in respect of
ground-colour, the butterflies either looking like machaon (yellow
ground colour) or like the hybrid (black ground colour). Two of
the machaon-looking insects resembled machaon exactly; in the
other four the anal spot was hybrid-like. Both black butterflies
exactly resembled their hybrid father, except that in one the anal
spot was machaon-like. No black females have yet emerged but
there is no sexual dimorphism among the yellow individuals. The
larval spots in the last instar are orange.

Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—89 days.

Fertility :—Inter se: a fertile brother-sister mating was obtained
between the hybrid-looking male with the machaon-like spot and
a machaon-like female. Four eggs were laid, two of which were
fertile ; the larvae from these died of virus disease when half grown.
The same hybrid-looking male was also mated to a female machaon.
She laid thirteen eggs, ten of which were fertile and from these
four pupae have been obtained.

P. brevicauda 9 x P. polyxenes 3. (Called ‘‘bras’’).
Description: —The male is very similar to polyzenes, the tails being
long and the spotbands on the upper side yellow, thus markedly
differing from brevicauda (see p. 2). On the underside of the fore-
wing the orange inner spotband is broad as in brevicauda. In the
female the orange has also given place to yellow and the spotband
on both upper and underside is intermediate between that of poly-
xenes which is narrow and faint, and that of brevicauda which is
broad and striking. The male and female hybrids are the same
size, thus differing from polyxenes, and in general the sexual dimor-
phism is intermediate. The larval spots in the last instar are
yellow.

Number of times hybrid obtained :—One.

Number and sex ratio :—

3d og
15 7 8

Length of life cycle at 70° F.:

34 days. (Females emerged first).

Fertility:—No fertile eggs were produced from inter se matings.
Two fertile back crosses were obtained with polyxenes and brevi-
cauda females respectively.

Fig. 1.. g P. machaon. The 9 is similar.
Note light ground colour and character of anal spot.

Hise 25. OP polyrenes:
Note black ground colour and central anal pupil. The upper side of the oh
polyxenes is similar to Fig. 3 except for the character of the anal pupil (see
fext). Marked sexual dimorphism.

Hg 3. Go . Om Hybrid:
Note character of anal spot.

Big. 4, JO 40" bhy brid:
Note sexual dimorphism and character of anal spot.

Rig). O —P brevicauda
Note short blunt tails, wide inner spot-band, and character of anal pupil.
The ¢ is similar.

RPE. Og @ os BLAS 72
Note wide inner spot-band as in brevicauda and long tails as in polyxenes,

Hig: Ae Os Blase
Sexual dimorphism intermediate between Dbrevicauda and polyxrenes.

Figs. 8. dG “Brevimach:.
Note resemblance to Hybrid ‘O’’.

Fig. 9. G& P. zelicaton.
Note general similarity to machaon Dut heavier black markings and central
anal pupil.

- - — = pas ]
i
| |
| j
i
q
| |
| j
if
L eI ees _ 3 eZ ]

bre 10, oO ~ Zelimach:7:
Note hybrid-like type of anal spot.

segregation in respect of ground colour.

Offspring of back cross of 9 machaon x @ “brevimach”’, showing

11.

Fig

oe AD

Yop Left: Butterfly No. 1.

Top hight: Butterfly No. 2.
Botlom Left: Butterfly No. 3.
Boltom Right: Butterfly No. 4.

Yr ZELICAON.
== RrevicAuDdA,

HII! PoLYXENES,
WY MACHAON.

AR\zonMA
(i EXAS

ye

WL

Fig 12 Map showing distribution in North America of Papilio zelicaon,
- P. brevicauda, P. polyxenes and P. machaon.

b.

,

VI.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON HYBRID SWALLOWTAILS.

—~I

The Back Cross to Polyxenes.
3 ‘bras’? xX 9 polyxenes

| | | | |
i Stara 3 2 Q pupa pupa

*Description:—The four butterflies that have emerged strongly
resemble polyxenes in both sexes and on the upper side are iden-
tical: on the under side the spotband is hybrid-like in two, polyrenes-
like in one and in one we could not be certain. The tails are all
long. Sexual dimorphism is present and well-marked. The larval
spots in the last instar are yellow.

Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—42 days.

Fertility:—A brother and sister mating was easily obtained and
the female laid about fifty eggs. About twenty-five hatched and
from these we now have eight pupae (2.8.53).

The Back Cross to Brevicauda:—

3 “bras’’ X 2 brevicauda
|

| |
* 3 Q 3
*Description: —The butterflies obtained are small like brevicauda
and have wide orange spotbands. The tails, however, are long.
Sexual dimorphism is absent. The larval spots in the last instar
are yellow.

Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—41 days.
Fertiity:—Unknown. Interval between emergences_ precluded
inter-hybrid matings, and no suitable insects were available for

‘further back crosses.

P. polyxenes 9 x P. brevicauda ¢. (Called ‘‘recip. bras’’).
Description :— Males identical with ‘‘bras’’. Female not obtained.
Sexual dimorphism unknown. The larval spots in the last instar
are yellow.
Number of times hybrid obtained :—Once.
Numbers and sex ratio:—
3d 29 i

3 3 0 one pupa still to come out 4.8.53.
Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—37 days.
Fertility:—Inter se: not known. No fertile eggs obtained from
mating 9 ‘“‘bras’”’ x ¢ ‘‘reeip. bras’’. No suitable butterflies avail-
able for back crosses.

P. zelicaon 2 x P. machaon 3. (Called ‘‘zelimach’’).

Description: —The upper side is identical with machaon, except for
the spot, which is ‘‘hybrid-like’’. The ochreous yellow background.
of zelicaon has been replaced by the yellow of machaon. On the
underside the butterfly is intermediate, having the wider black

veins of gelicaon, and the yellow being more ochreous than in

machaon. In size the butterfly resembles machaon rather than

8 SUPPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65, No. 9.

zelicaon. Sexual dimorphism is absent. The larval spots in the
last instar are orange.
Number of times hybrid obtained :—Two: (all second brood died of
virus disease).
Numbers and sex ratio :—
33d ~~

9 (‘‘zelumach”’ 1) 6 3 (2 99 came out first).
Length of life cycle at 70° F'.:—32 days.
Fertility :—No fertile inter se matings obtained. Back crosses of
male hybrids to machaon female and female hybrids to male machaon
were infertile. Back cross of female ‘‘zelimach’’ to male machaon
was infertile.

VIT. P. machaon 9 x P. zelicaon 3%. (Called ‘‘recip. zelimach’’).
Description: —Males identical with ‘‘zelimach’’. Females not yet
emerged (4.8.53). Sexual dimorphism unknown. The larval spots
in the last instar were orange.

Number of times hybrid obtained: —One; failed eight times. Cross
appears less fertile than ‘‘zelimach’’.
Numbers and sex ratio :—
3d ; ee

3 3 (one deformed) 0 4 pupae remain (9.8.58).
Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—87 days.
Fertility :—Three back crosses obtained with machaon @°: one of
these produced ten eggs, five fertile. These are now half grown
larvae (9.8.53). Other back crosses infertile.

VITI. P. polyxenes 9 x P. zelicaon ¢. (Called ‘‘asterizel’’).
Description :—On the upper side the male hybrid exactly resembles
polyxenes, the orange-yellow background having been replaced by
black. On the underside of the butterflies there is some light
yellow on the inner spotband of the hindwing and there is a-faint
yellow smudge on the apex of the forewing in one of the butterflies ;
in the other it is absent; otherwise the resemblance to polyxenes is
complete. Sexual dimorphism not known. Larval spots in last
instar not noted.

Number of times hybrid obtained:—Once. Four infertile hand-

pairings.
Numbers and sex ratio :—
sad od Qo.
2 2, 0

Length of life cycle at 70° F.:—42 days.
Fertility :—Not known.

Discussion,
Genetics.
a. The ground colour.
The results of the back cross of ‘‘brevimach’”’ to machaon suggest that
the difference of the ground colour is due to a single gene, the butter-

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON HYBRID SWALLOWTAILS. 9

flies segregating clearly as yellow (muchaon-like) or black (hybrid-like).
It is possible, however, that the segregation is only apparent, the parent-
like butterflies having emerged before the intermediate forms. If the
remaining insects should fail to come out the segregation could be due
to gene complexes producing intermediate degrees of blackening, giving
rise to less viable butterflies. The same could be true if there had
been marked infertility, but only two eggs out of twenty-five failed to
hatch. A more definite answer can be given when the remaining pupae
have emerged. It the difference is due to a single gene, as seems likely*,
it will still be necessary to find out if the saine gene is responsible for
the black in polyxenes as in brevicauda.

The back crosses of the ‘‘O’’ and ‘‘R’’ hybrids to muchaon and poly-
xenes do not in themselves give much information about the inheritance
of black but they do not disprove that it is due to a single gene. A
female ‘“‘R’’ hybrid when mated to a male machauon gave one machaon-
like female with a hybrid spot and its sister mated to a polyxenes gave
four rather variable female insects all hybrid-like or polyxenes-like. One
of these which was polyxenes-like (black legs, no yellow smudge and
orange lunules—and therefore on a one-gene hypothesis homozygous)
when mated to a machaon ¢G has given eleven butterflies all like the
hybrids. More variation might be expected if black were multifactori-
ally controlled but there are still two pupae to emerge which may be
intermediate.

It appears that the black body with yellow spots, the presence or
absence of an apical smudge as well as the amount of yellow on the legs
is controlled by the factor (or factors) controlling the main distribution
of black.

b. The anal marking.

The other striking difference between pulyxcenes (or brevicauda) and
machaon is in the black marking of the eye spot on the anal angle. The
segregation occurring in the back-cross between the female machuon and
a “‘brevimach’”’ hybrid shows quite clearly that the form of this marking
is inherited independently of the black ground colour. The variability
in the size, shape and position of the spot suggests that several genes
are involved in determining this character. The back-cross of a female
“R”’ hybrid to a male polyxenes strengthens this hypothesis (see photo-
graph of spots). However, more data are required before it is certain
if one of these genes has a greater effect than the others, causing segre-
gation but with some variability in the character, or whether there is
no such segregation.

c. Fertility.
So far no fertile eggs have been obtained from any F.1 matings but
a number of back crosses have proved partially fertile. Thus, an ‘‘R’”’
2x polyxenes g produced four fertile eggs out of twenty. Two of the
resulting butterflies which had some hybrid characters (see table page
) were infertile with machaon and one was not tested. The remain-
ing butterfly (No. 4) had a central eye spot on the anal angle, no yellow

*Since writing this paper evidence has accumulated which suggests that the
same segregation in respect of ground colour occurs in the offspring of
“0” and ‘“‘R”’ hybrids when back-crossed to machaon.

10 SUPPLEMENT TO THE FNTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65, No. 9.

smudge, black legs and orange lunules, as well as yellow spots in the
larva; this suggested that its gene complex was very like polyxenes, any-
how with respect to the genes controlling visible characters, so that
fertility with machaon nearly as great as in the ‘‘O’’ hybrids was hoped
for and in fact obtained.

In a back cross between an ‘‘R”’ hybrid @ and a P. muchaon S six
eggs were laid, only one of which was fertile. The resulting female when
mated to machaon produced ten eggs, seven of which started to de-
velop but only one hatched. The. butterfly from this egg when back
crossed to a ¢ machaon produced twenty-five eggs most of which
hatched. These interesting matings show that the fertility is indepen-
dent of the black and there seems to have been a steady increase in the
viability of the individuals with repeated back crosses, suggesting that
several genes are involved in the infertility. and that it has been im-
proved either by selection or by making the gene complex more and
more like machaon by repeated back crosses. The matings between
machaon and brevicauda support the multifactorial hypothesis of via-
bility. The F.1 matings proved infertile although the back cross was >
quite fertile. However, after one back cross the brother-sister mating
was obtained which produced four eggs, two of which hatched even
though one of the parents was black. This same black individual when
mated to P. muchaon proved quite fertile again suggesting that there
has been an improvement in viability as well as that it is independent
of black. The F.1 of the hybrid between P. brevicauda 9 and P. poly-
xenes 6 produced no fertile eggs, but the back cross to a P. polyzxenes
was fertile. The resulting offspring gave a fertile brother-sister mating,
again suggesting an increase in fertility with back crossing.

d. Colour of larval spots.

The information on the genetics ot this character is rather scanty.
Since the colour of the hybrid larva is like that of machaon and not
intermediate it seems possible that a single gene is involved. If this
be the case the only back cross which throws light on the point is that
of the ‘“‘R”’ hybrid @ to the P. polyxenes g. Here the larva of the 9
was heterozygous for the gene producing orange spots whereas that of
the male was homozygous for yellow. This gave a clear segregation ot
two yellow and two orange spotted larvae. This supports the one-gene
hypothesis but does not prove it, both because of the small numbers
involved and the fact that there was considerable infertility, so that
intermediates might be less viable. All the other back crosses have been
either between two individuals respectively heterozygous and homozyg-
ous for the gene producing orange spots (“‘R’’ x machaon and ‘‘brevi-
mach’? x machaon) or between individuals homozygous for yellow (°
polyxenes Xx S ‘bras’ and @ brevicauda x 3 “bras’’) and therefore
give no information on the genetics.

e. Sexual dimorphism.

The inheritance of this character is also of interest but the data are
very scanty. The most informative matings so far obtained are be-
tween P. brevicauda 9 and P. polyxenes 6 where the hybrids show an
intermediate degree of sexual dimorphism. The only female from a back
cross of a ‘“‘bras’’? hybrid to brevicauda was not sexually dimorphic but

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON HYBRID SWALLOWTAILS. ll

a number more would have to be produced to see if sexual dimorphism
was segregating or not. The matings of both polyxenes and brevicauda
with machaon also gave some information. The F.1 from a mating
between polyxenes and machaon has marked sexual dimorphism whereas
that between brevicauda and machaon has none. Unfortunately none
of the other matings have yet given any information on this problem
so that the question is still open.

Systematics.

It is generally agreed that the members of the machaon complex of
North America are closely related—they are in fact listed as subspecies
of machaon by the British Museum. Their early stages and larval food-
plants are all very similar and the genitalia of machaon and polyzxenes
are not significantly different (Knudsen, 1953, personal communication).
The technique of hand-mating enabled us to start investigating these
inter-relationships genetically. Using this method some useful experi-
mental data have been accumulated in a short space of time. Much
remains to be done but the evidence so far indicates that the F.1 hybrids
are infertile inter se. It is clear from the information so far obtained
on fertility that the forms are genetically fairly distinct and must be
considered as at least extreme subspecies. However, for the moment it
seems better to call them subspecies rather than good species, as some
of the back crosses between the hybrids and parent forms are fertile.
It seems reasonable to suppose that back crosses such as we have ob-
tained may occur in nature where the insects fly together, since Floers-
heim (1910) noted a spontaneous mating between polyxenes and machaon
in his greenhouse. Our original hybrid closely resembles a western
Canadian form, P. nitra. This is a rare butterfly which occurs in the
region where polyxenes and the Hudsonian machaon overlap. From the
taxonomic point of view it is important to find out if nitra is a hybrid.
If it is then its frequency compared with that of the two parent forms
would indicate the amount of genetic interchange that does take place
and so help to determine the systematic position of the two parent
forms.

We are not on much firmer ground with brevicauda x polyxenés.
Ferguson (1953, personal communication) has seen these two species fly-
ing together and states that there seemed to be no evidence of inter-
breeding. However, in the light of our experiments this would be diffi-
cult to assess, since the hybrid would certainly be taken for polyxenes
unless it were noticed that some polyxenes-like females were not sexually
dimorphic.

It seems reasonable to consider the relationships of the butterflies
from the point of view of fertility of the back crosses which were ob-
tained. If this can be shown to be due to many genes, and the experi-
mental data suggest that this is so, then the fertility will give a general
guide to the degree of genetic difference between the forms not already
indicated by morphological differences. It is too early to come to any
definite conclusion but so far it appears that zelicaon hybrids may be
less fertile when back crossed than other hybrids. This would indicate
if it were proved that this butterfly had progressed further towards
becoming a distinct species than the other forms. I+ is possible that the
natural barrier of the Rockies has isolated zelicaon for a long period of

12 SUPPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65, No. 9.

time, during which it has split up into many allied forms—bairdi, indra,
oregonii, ete.—which we have not yet bred.

The present work, although only just begun, does show that the
systematics of this group can only be understood adequately if mor-
phological, genetic and ecological investigations are undertaken and the
results combined to give a proper picture of the relationships between
the forms. Moreover such a survey may in time throw light on the
evolution of the group. }

We wish to thank Colonel Cator for permission to visit certain areas
of the Norfolk Broads to observe the Swallowtails in their natural
haunts.

We are very grateful to Mr. Douglas C. Ferguson of the Nova Scotia
Museum of Science for information about the distribution of brevicauda
and for sending us pupae of this butterfly.

We are also indebted to Dr. Cyril F. dos Passos for giving us infor-
mation about the general distribution of the North American forms and
for help in the nomenclature.

We wish to thank Mr. George B. Reichart and Mr. Theo. W. Hower,
both of California, for kindly sending us pupae of zelicaon.

We wish to thank Mr. Wilfred Lee of the Central Photographic
Department of the University of Liverpool, for taking the photographs.

One of us (P. M. Sheppard) is indebted to the Nuffield Foundation
for its generous support.

REFERENCES.

Clarke, C. A. 1952. Hand Pairing of Papilio machaon in February.
Ent. Record, 64: 98.

Clarke, C. A., & Knudsen, J. P. 1953. A Hybrid Swallowtail. Ent.
Record, 65: 76.

Clarke, C. A. 1953. A Hybrid Swallowtail. Ent. Record, 65: 118.

Clarke, C. A.- 1952. Proc. R. ent Soc. Lond., 17: 55.

Clarke, C. A. 1953 Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 18: 11.

Clarke, C. A. 1953. Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 18: 31.

Floersheim, Cecil. 1910. Ent. Record., 22: 200.

Floersheim, Cecil. 1915. Entomologist, 48: 225, 253 and 275.

Klots, Alexander B. 1951. Field Guide to the Butterflies of North
America, East of the Great Plains. Houghton Mifflin Com-
pany, Boston.

hes F. J. CHITTY, Entomologist
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Dysstroma truncata’ Hufnagel ssp. concinnata

: Stephens
By Ei A. COCKAYNE, DMs FR:G-P:

O. H. Wild took a considerable number of concinnata on rock faces
on South Uist ane had these in front of him when he described them
and figured one.* He says‘“Colonel C. Donovan, to whom I have sub-
mitted the South Uist specimens, tells me they are similar to examples he
has taken in the hilly districts of S.W. Cork and Kerry in Ireland.
These lack the russet colouring of the Arran species. He considers
these examples from Ireland and South Uist to be worthy of subspecific
rank and intends to call this subspecies Cidaria concinnata oressigena
(Mountain bred)’’.

Wild did not realize that his brief description with a figure con-
stituted publication and made him the author of the name. He de-
pended on Col. Donovan’s statement that the S. Uist and Irish speci-
mens were similar, but in my opinion they are very different and the
name oressigena applies only to the S. Uist form, since the figure and
description are taken from it and he had no Irish specimens before him.

Mr. Siviter Smith’s discovery that oressigena is a valid name has
made me look carefully at the series of concinnata and truncata in the
Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection. There are 105 concinnata
from Arran selected to show the range of variation as completely as
possible. Some Arran examples are very rufous, others have no rufous
markings ‘at all, and every gradation between them occurs; some have
the black areas increased at the expense of both white and rufous, and
the row of white subterminal dots on the hindwing is so suffused with
dark grey that it is very inconspicuous. One is a melanic aberration
and another corresponds to ab. angustifasciata Groth, a very beautiful
form with a very large area of pale rufous both inside and outside the
narrow median band. In spite of the variation they have a character-
istic facies.

Our Hebridean series contains 4 from §. Uist, in general appear-
ance very similar to Arran specimens, and though Wild says his S.
Uist specimens lack the russet colouring of the Arran ones his coloured
figure shows one with two distinct rufous bands like most Arran ones.
The 31 from Lewis all have a mottled appearance, some: with well
developed rufous markings others without any, but they are not so
homogeneous in size or appearance as Arran concinnata, and I do not
feel sure that they are a random sample and really represent the Lewis
form.

The 14 from Tarbert on the mainland of Kintyre were taken on
rocks on high ground and are single brooded. They are very like the
commonest Arran form. Four, labelled Kintyre, are very prettily
variegated and two have extensive pale rufous markings. I have seen
no others quite like them.

There are 30 specimens from Orkney which I will describe later.

From the Highlands of Scotland (Perthshire, W. Aberdeenshire,
Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and Sutherland) where truncata is single

* Dysstroma concinnata Stephens ssp. oressigena Wild.” The Scottish Natur-
alist, 1931.

274 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

brooded there are 50 examples selected because they have in some
respect a resemblance to Arran concinnata, but even those most clearly
marked with black, white, and rufous on the forewing have a different
facies and as a rule have ampler wings. In some the hindwing is dark
with the row of subterminal spots on the upper and the thick dark
- transverse line on the under side characteristic of all but the darkest
Arran concinnata. Some have a dark median area dusted more or less
with white scales and bordered by a thin whitish line and outside it a
narrow rufous band. These are ab. perfuscata Haworth similar to the
one figured by Hoffmeyer in De Danske Maalere, Pl. 6, fig. 17, but with
the whitish line outside the median area narrower. With these are a
number of large bright ab. russatu Hbn. with a clear white median
area, some with and some without a rufous band outside it, and there
are a few truncata Hufn. with grey median area. Very rarely a speci-
men of the rufescens group with rufous median area is seen. They
differ from English specimens in their more intense colouring. Their
larvae are green with a red lateral stripe ike English ones.

The Irish examples consist of 7 from Achil Island off the coast of
Mayo, and 51 from the mountains of Kerry. In addition there are 83
in the Donovan collection, 8 with concinnata on the label and the rest
with a comprehensive label ‘‘Cidaria concinnata Steph. ssp. oressigena
mthi’’. They may have been labelled before Wild published his paper,
but they prove that he intended to use the name himself for the Irish
mountain form. Of the 83 about a dozen have a white median area,
one with no black markings in it and none with as much black as Arran
concinnata, and some have no rufous markings. There are one or two
with a grey median area, and a few are rather dark perfuscata, most of
them with the black median area more or less dusted with white scales.
The majority are much blackened and the rufous band is entirely or
almost entirely obscured by black scales. They are very unlike dark
concinnata from Arran. There are no examples of the rufescens group.

From a wild female captured by Dr. Kettlewell I bred 41, three or
four with a white median area and a rufous band, the rest dark per-
fuscata exactly like some I bred from Rannoch. A few belonged to an
F2 generation, of which both parents were dark and the offspring were
still darker with little trace of white dusting; all had dark hindwings
with distinct pale subterminal dots. They were nearly as dark as
Hoffmeyer’s fig. 18. The bred specimens were larger and had broader
wings than Donovan’s wild ones, a difference I attribute to a more
plentiful supply of nutritious food.

The few from Achil Island taken by Captain R. S. Gwatkin-Williams
and Mr. W. G. Sheldon are large, clearly marked with black, white,
and rufous, and have a conspicuous row of whitish subterminal spots
on the dark hindwings, and the transverse line on the under side is
dark and thick. Their facies, however, differs from that of any Arran
concinnata. According to Sheldon their larvae were pale green with no
red lateral stripe. Those I bred from Kerry were also pale green with
no red lateral stripe or only a very narrow broken one, whereas the
larvae of concinnata from Arran has light and dark green longitudinal
stripes and a broad reddish purple or maroon lateral stripe.

Those from Orkney are small and the majority are much darker
than most Arran concinnata but four of the lightest match the §. Uist

OBSERVATIONS ON REARING AMATHES DEPUNCTA LINN. 270

examples and some of the dark ones are like the darkest from Arran.
The two darkest are brownish black, even darker than the melanic
specimen from Arran, with mere traces of white on the forewing but
with dark rufous bands visible, and a uniform brownish black hindwing.
Some of the dark ones are unlike any form I have seen from elsewhere.
They have less white on the forewing than any of the Arran specimens
and no rufous is visible; the hindwing is almost uniformly dark and
the row of white spots and the chequering of the fringes are absent.
Taken as a whole the Orkney specimens have a different facies from
any others. [ think they belong to a distinct subspecies, but hesitate
to name it on so small a number.

To sum up my conclusions, I think concinnata Stephens is a sub-
species of truncata and not a distinct species and consider that it in-
habits the high ground on Arran, the neighbouring mainland, and South
Uist in the Outer Hebrides. [ do not think the Lewis specimens are
worth separating, though they are less uniform in size and in the ap-
pearance of the hindwing.

Oressigena Wild is a synonym of concinnata Stephens. Since con-
cinnata is a subspecies of truncata, ab. angustifasciata Groth is avail-
able and there is no need to name this form in concinnata.

In Orkney there is a peculiar race which deserves a subspecific name.

Specimens from the Highlands of Scotland and the mountains of
southern Ireland are on the whole very similar and are brighter and
more boldly marked than most English ones, but cannot always be
distinguished from them. In our Irish series there is a higher per-
centage of blackish specimens. The use of the name concinnata for
either race is incorrect and neither has been named.

Observations on Rearing Amathes depuncta Linn.
By D. A. B. Macnicor, M.B., Ch.B.

On 9th September 1952 I took a female Amathes depuncta L. at
Kincraig, Inverness-shire, a very late date for this moth and about
four weeks later than the average. The moth was kept alive and fed
with sugar solution, and between 12th and 14th September it laid 84
eggs. By 29th September the eggs turned dark in colour and on 3rd
October they all hatched except 4 that proved infertile. ;

In the meantime Dr. Cockayne had heard that I was going to try
to breed the species, and he wrote and described the difficulties he
and other people had encountered in unsuccessful attempts, and sug-
gested that the larvae hatched in autumn and hibernated without
feeding, probably entering hollow stems. He had found that the
newly hatched larvae go into clumps of three to six when kept in a
glass-topped box and lose their mobility, and very soon die without
eating any of the foodplants offered.

I had quickly planted two flowerpots with small plants of primrose
and white dead-nettle and scattered the surface of the soil with dry
hollow stems of various lengths and thicknesses, and I put half the
newly hatched larvae immediately into one of these. The other half
I tried with all the likely foodplants in a glass-topped box for three
days. At the end of that time no sign of feeding could be seen and the
larvae had all gone into clumps of 3 to 6 and were very sluggish, so

276 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

they were transferred to the second pot. Both pots were covered with
muslin and kept outside all the winter.

On 12th March 1953 a few small holes were noted in the primrose
leaves in both pots and some very small larvae were seen feeding in the
curled young leaves. These were left in the flowerpots till 25th April
’ when a careful search produced 15 in all—13 from the first pot but only
2 from the second. ;

Unfortunately the number of instars cannot be stated with certainty,
but four were seen if one assumes that it was the second in March,
after hibernation, and the final instar was reached about 6th May,
the last two having very much the same markings.

I sent Dr. Cockayne six larvae in their final instar, and of the nine
which I kept, all pupated in earth between 20th and 27th May, and
8 moths emerged between 16th and 19th July and one on 9th August.

Up till the end of the last but one instar the larvae showed a strong
preference for primrose and white dead-nettle and, when I could get
it, Vaccinium myrtillus flowers and young leaves; but in the final
instar they accepted readily all the usual ‘‘low plants’? such as plan-
tain and knotgrass, and also sallow and apple, and grew very rapidly.

It is quite evident that the larvae do hatch in autumn, usually some
time in September, and hibernate clustered together in small groups
in hollow stems without feeding until about March. Barrett states
that the larva has been swept from low plants as early as January, but
I do not think this would be the case in the localities where it is most
common in Inverness-shire and Moray. In several places in these
counties where I have found the moth fairly common at sugar there
is certainly no primrose or dead-nettle, and the only likely foodplant
would be Vaccinium myrtillus, which would not produce leaves and
flowers till late April or early May, and even later in some years. I
offered the larvae the evergreen Vaccinium vitis-idea in early April,
but they would not eat it.

The following is a description of the larva in its final instar, 6th
May 1953 :—

Length just under 3 centimetres. Medio-dorsal line whitish, faint,
rather broken, but clear on plate on segment one. Dorsum sooty brown,
formed by a varying amount of light grey and blackish mottling, and
with a rather faint formation of dark, oblique, stripes, clearest on
segment 11, making a blackish wedge; on segment 10) making a faint
wedge.

A broad, blackish, stripe in subdorsal area, with the spiracles near
its lower margin. Spiracles pinkish-white, each surrounded by a small,
oval, pitch black area.

Subspiracular stripe broad, clear-sulphur-yellow. Ventral area be-
low this abruptly greyish-ochreous, with a little black mottling. Head
narrower than Ist segment, glossy ochreous, with a blackish, tapering,
mark on each side, broad above; some dark reticulation at sides. Plate
on segment one about the same colour as the rest of the dorsum, but
light grey on anterior one-third, and with 3 clear, light, lines.

Thoracic legs and claspers the same colour as underside.

[From 9th to 18th August 1927 I was at Forres and took from one
to five Amathes depuncta on ragwort nearly every night. Most were
females that had laid their eggs, but eggs in masses on and behind

VOL: 65. PLATE XIV.

4
4
4
4
3
4

|

THE LARVA OF AMATHES DEPUNCTA LINN.

Above: Penultimate instar x 2. Above: Final instar x 1.
Below: Final instar x 7. Below: Final instar x 17.

MELANISM IN TETHEA OCULARIS LINN. pit

muslin were laid by one female on 10th August and two others laid eggs
on llth August. Fertile eggs had a red dot at the micropyle and thin
red ring round. The larvae hatched on 23rd and 24th August and were
pale ochreous, rather stout, with small black tubercles, and a very
black head and prothoracic plate. After eating their eggshells they
rested in heaps and ate nothing, and however often they were scat-
tered with a soft brush they found one another and formed one or two
heaps again. Those I tried to force died, but I still had 42 on 3rd
October and put them on to primrose plants in two flowerpots and
never saw them again.

Years later I found a note by J. E. Gardner entitled ‘‘Habits of
Young Larvae of Noctua. depuneta’’ (Ent. Rec., 1906, 18, 7/9) giving a
very good account of their gregarious habit and refusal to feed. This
was what made me think they hibernate in a hollow stem, probably the
dead broken stem of an umbelliferous plant. Next time I went to
Forres I failed to get a single depuncta and so was unable to test my
hypothesis.—E. A. Cockayne. ]

Melanism in 7 ethea ocularis Linn.
ie © Co Hocaxe bees.

Tethea ocularis l.. has always seemed to me one of the three insects
characteristic of Westcliff-on-Sea, the other two being Catocala nupta
L. and Sesia apiformis Cl. All three are common on the rows of poplars
with which most of the streets in the district are planted, though
ocularis is the most difficult of the three to obtain. However, this year
I installed a mercury vapour lamp trap and ocularis soon began to
appear in some numbers and, to my surprise, in several forms. Besides
the typical, three melanic forms appeared, two of which were equally
common whilst of the third I saw only two, one of which was damaged
and so was released.

The first is a form in which the upper wings, thorax, and abdomen
are olive-brown, with the exception of the space between the two double
lines which enclose the ‘80’ mark, which is somewhat lighter. All the
usual markings are present.

In the second form the whole upper wing and thorax are leaden-
‘black, which shines with a greenish reflection when viewed a a a
The ene nner are all present as still darker lines.

The third and rarest form is a genuinely black insect in which all
the markings are invisible from the base to the outer of the double
lines, the remainder to the apex can be made out with some difficulty.
In this insect even the ‘80’ mark shows signs of suppression. Its white
is more conspicuous than usual owing to the black ground, but the 8
is reduced to an X, so that the mark is XO.

I wrote to Dr. Cockayne as these moths began to arrive and he
_ kindly informed me that melanic forms varying in blackness had ap-
peared quite recently in Herts, Cambs. and Cheshire and that their
occurrence in so many places was a remarkable phenomenon.

Mr. A. M. Morley has suggested that they may have come from
Belgium, where they appear to have been known for some time, but
although at first examination the idea seems probable I do not think it
likely that the moth could have reached Cheshire in so short a time.

278 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 65. 15/X/1953

Mr. Morley informed me that ocularis was practically unknown at
Folkestone before the war, so that it might, like Hadena compta Schiff.,
have come from abroad.

IT am practically certain the melanic form has arrived here salle in
the last year or so. The proportion of melanics, lumping all the forms
’ together, to that of the typical form is about one to three. I have seen
a few ocularis almost every year since 1946 and until this year never saw
a melanic one.

The melanic forms were certainly not here in 1935. In that year
I decided to breed a good number of ocularis from several localities, so
collected about a dozen from Barton Broad from aspen, ten from Had-
leigh Woods, also from aspen, and nine from Westcliff from poplar.
_ Every moth I bred from all three localities was quite typical. The larva
of ocularis is easy enough to find at the end of July if aspen and poplars
be examined about two hours after sunset, when the white, rather dis-
agreeable-looking larva will be conspicuous in the hght of a torch. It
is very easy to rear if taken then in the last skin. J do not remember
losing any.

Although melanic ocularis are very interesting I hope that they will
not swamp the rather pretty typical insect, as the melanic Biston betu-
laria LL. have done locally.

The melanic ocularis has turned up in equal proportions at Had-
leigh and Hockley, quite outside this town.

_[R. T. Bowman took a nearly black Tethea ocularis at Chingford
(Entomologist, 1919, 52: 47). TI know no other record of melanic ocularis
in this country before those of the last few years.

Derenne (Amateur des Papillons, 1935, 7: 285) described f. franki
as completely black save for the two characteristic markings, the reni-
form and orbicular, which are vivid greenish yellow. The form was first
found in 1922. At this date the typical form was the common one, but
in later years it has been replaced by franki. At Roubaix for the last
two years all have been franki, but at Cysoing less than 20 kilometres
from Roubaix the two forms have been equal in numbers.

The description of franki does not agree with any of the ee
melanic forms described by Mr. Huggins, but the rapid way it has in-
creased may be comparable with that of the English melanic forms.—
E. A. Cockayne. |

Notes on the Butterflies of the North Kent
Marshes in August, 1953

By D. F. Owen.

In mid-August 1953 K. H. Hyatt and I spent three days on the
North Kent marshes between Higham and All Hallows. Most of the
time was spent in walking over the marshes and along the sea wall in
fine weather. This area, like much of the low lying country on the
east coast, was almost completely covered with sea water during the
severe floods early in the year. It would be reasonable to suppose that
this major ecological change would have some effect on the butterflies,

NOTES ON THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE NORTH KENT MARSHES. 279

which at that time of year would be mainly in the larval or pupal
state. With this in view we tried to estimate whether any species were
less common, more common or similar in numbers to other localities
which had not been flooded. We also formed impressions of numbers
in relation. to previous seasons, this, however, might be misleading as
numbers of each species have fluctuated considerably during recent
years.

Very few species seem to have been really badly affected by the
flooding. Pararge megera L. was common all along the sea wall and
was also seen in fair numbers on grazed land, but our impression was
that it was not as numerous as on the higher ground off the marshes.
Maniola jurtina L. was definitely much scarcer, but the situation was
confused as numbers elsewhere appeared lower than usual. No Aphan-
topus hyperanthus Ll. were seen, but the status of this species on the
marshes is uncertain (1950, Hntom., 83: 119-120), and in any case by
mid-August few could be seen in woods bordering the marshes. Very
few Lycaena phlaeas L., Coenonympha pamphilus L. and Pieris spp.
were seen, but it is difficult to be certain whether this was due to the
floods. No Thymelicus lineola Ochs. were seen. This species is normally
extremely common in the area and by mid-August we usually see many
worn individuals on the marshes. There was also a noticeable lack of
migrants, but this seems linked with a general scarcity. Summarizing,
numbers of M. jurtina and T. lineola have been reduced, but for the
others the position is rather uncertain.

A few notes on other species seen may be of interest. Six EHumenis
semele Hub. were seen on the sea wall at Higham. This species had
previously been recorded in the area in 1948 when one was seen on the
marshes at Cliffe. In 1949 a colony was found at Higham, though none
have been seen since until 1953. The habitat is unsuitable but the new
records suggest that a colony is established somewhere. Maniola
tithonus L. was widespread over the whole area, being especially numer-
ous near the sea wall. Also many were seen in open agricultural country
between the marshes and the woods at Northward Hill. This marsh-
land habitat of M. tithonus seems unusual for a butterfly which is nor-
mally associated with woods and hedges (1950, Hntom., 83: 119-120).
The butterflies appeared specially attracted to the flowers of Pulicaria
dysenterica and Malva sylvestris, both of which are abundant on the
marshes. Polyommatus icarus Rott. was extremely common on the sea
wall between Cliffe and All Hallows. Dozens could be seen together
and in the evenings many rested in the long grass. Smaller numbers

of Aricia agestis Schiff. were seen. Our impression was that both these
_ species were more common than in previous years. One day-flying moth,
Aspitates ochrearta Ross., seemed as common as usual throughout the
area.

One of the most striking features of the butterflies on the North
Kent marshes was the concentration of both individuals and species
along the sea walls. Here, unlike the open fields where cattle graze, the
grass grows long and there are many flowers which are attractive to
certain species. Also butterflies take advantage of the shelter offered
by the sea walls from the strong winds. The effect of wind might in
addition influence numbers as it seems likely that some butterflies are
blown out to the marshes from other habitats.

28() ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/X/1953

Does Charaxes jasius Linn. occur in Turkey ?
By Maucomm Burr, D.Sc., F.R.E.S.

It has been asserted that Charaxes jasius L. has been found on the
island of Prinkipo (Biiyitik Ada) in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul.
This has become a legend, but I have never known anyone who has seen
the species there. I traced it down to the paper on the Lepidoptera
of the neighbourhood of Istanbul by the late Philip Graves, who had
worked this district for some years and knew the lepidopterous fauna
of the region better than anyone except Dr. de Lattin. In his paper
(Entomologist, 1925, 58: 294) he wrote of this species that ‘‘Dr. Buresch
took a specimen . . . on Prinkipo Island in September 1918, which is in
the Royal Entomological Museum at Sofia’’.. Graves added that he had
never seen it there, but had never looked for it. In his articles on col-
lecting in the district in Hnt. Rec., 1911, 23: 315, and 1912, 24: 10,
Graves does not mention it.

My interest in the question was aroused about ten years ago when
Sir Leigh Ashton told me that when he had gone on an excursion to
the island of Yasi, in the same group, he had seen a number of huge
brown butterflies sunning themselves in the ruins on the old landing-
stage of that island. He said they were known as the ‘‘Pasha of Two
Tails’? and he recognised them clearly, although not an entomlogist.
After all, they are unmistakable and Sir Leigh Ashton may be trusted
to know them.

For several years in succession I paid visits to the island of Yasi
at dates from late June to middle July in the hope of seeing this mag-
nificent insect, but never with success. The island is now out of bounds.
I do not remember seeing Arbutus growing there, which is its food-
plant, but on Prinkipo, the greater part of which is built over as it is
a fashionable resort, there is abundance of Arbutus andrachne on a
patch of the original maquis on the south-east coast. JI have looked for
it there too, but without success.

Some months ago I met one of our diplomatic staff from Sofia and
asked him if he would kindly have a look in the Museum and let me
know if there were any specimens of the butterfly there from Prinkipo.
As the late King Ferdinand was a keen naturalist, who collected both
birds and butterflies, I think it likely that there may be specimens in
the Museum, which presumably contains his collections. Recently I
had a letter from my friend at court with the remarkable news that
the Museum is open only on Sunday evenings and that there are no
Charazes from Prinkipo there but that there are two males and a
female of ©. jasius taken at Ombla, near Dubrovnik in Dalmatia in the
’twenties.

In April I wrote in Russian to the Director of the Zoological Museum
in Sofia asking him to be good enough to inform me whether there were
any specimens of C. jasius from Prinkipo in the collection, and at the
end of June I was surprised and pleased to get a letter in German from
Dr. Buresch himself, telling me that he knows of no record of this
species from Prinkipo although he had been there to look for it in
October 1909 and September 1935, but that once Philip Graves had told
him in conversation that he had not been able to find C. jasius on the
island, which is strange in view of Graves’s statement quoted above.

A NEW HYBRID RACE OF THE GENUS PHTLOSAMIA. 28]

There’ must have been a misunderstanding between them, perhaps
through a difficulty of language.

Dr. Buresch continues that in October 1909 he himself took C. jasius
in Southern Thrace, east of Kavala, in some numbers and that there is
plenty of Arbutus there, both wnedo and andrachne. Also that he had
taken C. jasius in some numbers at Ombla, near Dubrovnik, in Dal-
matia, in September 1917, so those must be the specimens in the Sofia
Museum to-day. In my young days I had several times visited Ombla,
a remarkable spot, but had never had the luck to see this splendid
insect. As Buresch reports it in September and October I must always
have been too early.

As to the Turkish title of ‘‘Pasha with Two Tails’, this is both
appropriate and interesting. I have been told by someone—I cannot
remember by whoim—that it is actually so-called by the Turks. In ancient
times there were three degrees of the rank of pasha, indicated by one,
two and three horses’ tails respectively as emblems on their standards.
I have not yet run this down, but hope to do so.

So this magnificent butterfly is not yet authentically on the Turkish
list; but as the foodplant is abundant enough over wide stretches,
especially along the south coast of Anatolia, most probably it only
requires looking for at the right season.

A New Hybrid Race of the Genus Philosamia
By W. J. B. Crorca.

The Silkmoth Philosamia cynthia Drury (Saturniidae) has many
subspecific forms in various parts of the world, notably P. cynthia can-
ningt Hutton in South Asia; P. cynthia walkeri Felder in Southern
Europe; P. cynthia advena Packard in North America; P. cynthia
obscura Butler in North India; and P. cynthia ricini Boisduval, a
domesticated Asian form, probably debased from obscura. They have
in general been raised to specific status*, because, although the basic

othe+ spp. tevetsa

(and very distinctive) wing pattern remains pretty constant, the colour-
ation of the moth is extremely variable when introduced into new re-
gions. lts ground colour varies from pale gamboge to olive green in

*T deprecate this and regard the different forms as races. All the evidence
points to their being as inter-miscible as Homo sapiens.

282 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

one direction, and through warm browns to Vandyke brown and even
sepia in the other; while wing-span varies from 8 cm. to 14 cm. In all
forms the pattern of the fore and hind wings is disrupted by a broad
transverse double bar of white, often bordered by vivid heliotrope or
pink. Among the many hundreds of wild specimens available for re-
. ference in the British Museum (Natural History) collections at Tring
and Kensington, the ground colour nearer the body is of darker tone
(whatever the colour) than that beyond the bar towards the margins
of the wings.

Mr. M. Harrison-Gray, having supplies of both P. canningi (an
almost ginger form) and P. obscura (a blackish brown ferm), obtained
cross-pairings in both directions. From the very numerous fertile ova
which resulted, I was permitted to segregate about forty larvae which
were readily distinguished from their congeners by heavy lateral mark-
ings (see upper figure) which took the shape of short bars on the
posterior segments, in place of the normal circular or slightly oval dots
which are usual, when present at all.

Members of the Silkmoth Study Group of the Amateur Entomologists’
Society have since been breeding from within this initial stock, which
provided imagines which favoured the ground colour of obscura, but
retained the pink borders to the double transverse bar that are vivid
in canningi, but absent in obscura. They showed however a remarkable
reversal of the colour tones referred to above (see lower figure). The
outer area is distinctly darker than the inner. This characteristic has
remained fixed in the third filial generation and it is proposed to give
it the name Philosamia (cynthia) reversa.

The colouration of the type diagrammatically depicted is as follows:
—linear markings white, outlined in black, except double transverse
bar, which is white broadly bordered with bright rose madder. Crescents
hyaline above, Indian yellow below. Apical spot indigo, in area of
middle grey. Margins sepia. Outer ground colour dark Vandyke
brown: inner ground colour raw umber.

In a Devon Garden

By E. Barron WHITE.

An opportunity to plan a new garden which would be attractive to
insects occurred at the end of 1936, when a bare field of one and a half
acres was acquired about a mile from this village. It is on a gentle
slope downwards from North to South, bordered on the North by a
third-class road and steeply rising ground beyond; to the East by a
bank and hedge of elm, hawthorn and bramble, and a row of Scots pines
in a neighbour’s field; on the West by a fence and evergreen hedge
over which is another garden. On the South there is a nut hedge and
bank over a deeply sunk lane, and beyond that is some cultivated flat
land before reaching the marshes around the estuaries of the Taw and
Torridge where they meet to flow past Appledore and Westward Ho!
into the Atlantic bay. The Western and South-Western outlook is over
the back of the sandhills of the ‘‘Burrows’’ about two miles away and
across the water towards Clovelly and Hartland Point. The plot is
therefore very exposed except to the North. Atlantic gales do much

IN A DEVON GARDEN. 283

damage from time to time and a cold East wind comes down a partly
wooded valley about March. .

The field had been used mainly for grazing sheep and the soil is a
fairly heavy loam with, here and there, streaks of yellow clay some four
or five feet down, discovered when excavating for a pond.

The main entrance was made on the North side near which the

house was built. All that need be said about this is that french win-
dows from the Study led on to a three-sided loggia facing South and
South-West down the garden and over the estuary. An electric lamp
hangs in the loggia. The garden was planned in green plasticine on a
2’ 6” square board. From halfway down the East bank to the bottom
a sallow grove was planted, through which a path led down steps to the
lane. Dotted about here are a few poplars, beeches and an oak. On
the West side a wide flower border was made, backed by bushes of
wiegela, lilac, lobelia, buddleia and hawthorn, with a few beach, ash
and sycamore trees. In the border were planted michaelmas daisies,
kaffir lies, etc., in front of which annual seeds are sown, the most
attractive of these to day-flying insects being the blue Gilia. There are
also some perennial tobacco plants, night-scented lilies and stock.
_ The slope from the house necessitated a stone terrace, and a rockery
was made along this with a lavender border. To the West side of this
a red valerian bank was planted. About one sixth of the ground was
allowed to grow wild, but on it some two dozen apple and fruit trees
were planted. This patch contains much knapweed, scabious, red and
white clover, trefoil, ragwort and some thistle. The Eastern bank is
also covered naturally with ferns, ribbon grass, red and pink campion,
primrose and white violet, and on the floor of the adjacent sallow grove
is wild hyacinth. Daffodils and narcissus have been added.

_A wide strip along the South, above the lane, has been kept as a
kitchen garden, bordered by a trimmed Tonicera hedge. The terrace
contains a tank to collect roof water. This overflows under the rockery
to supply a small pond, near which is a group of silver birches on a mown
lawn. A channel from this overflows indirectly into a larger pond forty
feet long by an average of fifteen feet, sunk well below the surface
level to be out of the wind, bounded by high banks of flowering shrubs
and sheltered from the West by a high Hscallonza hedge, the flowers of
which, both red and white, are very attractive to night-flying insects.
Along a paved path by this pond is a larchwood pergola of honeysuckle,
Clematis montana and climbing roses.

Several species of water-lily and other aquatic plants are in this
pond. It is 4’ 6” deep at one end and shelves up to a gravel bed at the
shallow end which is used mainly as a bird bath. It was astonishing
to find that by the second year this pond contained so many aquatic
insects. The Odonata were represented by a large Aeschna, Libellula
depressa, an occasional banded Agrion and many blue and black dam-
sel flies. The nymphs of the larger dragonflies are vicious in their
attacks on small fish. Among the Coleoptera are Dytiscus marginalis,
Acilius sulcatus, Gyrinus natator and Notonecta glauca. These, too,
attack small fish. In spite of this, the three dozen fish introduced
in 1938 have now increased to over three hundred. Their main enemy
is the heron who waits for them at dawn in the shallow end and will
take ten or more fish on one visit if not disturbed. By the second year,
caddis flies and mayflies had also arrived.

284 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

One neighbour looked on this pond with suspicion, declaring that I
was breeding mosquitoes for his benefit. Very few gnats, if any, suc-
ceed in completing their larval existence in this pond, for they are the
fishes’ favourite food. Between this pond and the house a mown lawn
has on it two maples and a weeping willow. There are also six red-
skinned filberts nearby. Several trees, mainly poplar and hawthorn
soon had lichens growing on their trunks and branches.

With regard to the Lepidoptera, a list of species common to iiout
gardens would not be of interest, Comimon species are only mentioned
for some particular reason. Pventy seven of the butterflies have been
found here. The larvae of P. brassicae and P. rapae are known to the
native gardening fraternity round here as ‘‘maskels’’. The spelling is
mine as I doubt if the word has ever been printed. So far, I have not
discovered its origin, but must make further effort. C. croceus comes
up from the Burrows whenever there has been a migration, and in 1947
a number of the October brood were reared in this orchard. J boxed
one var. helice with unexpanded wings, and two others that had not yet
flown. C. hyale has paid several visits but only to fly rapidly from
South to North, scorning all flowers, and has been seen to settle only
twice. A. paphia unexpectedly visits the flower border each year, the
nearest woods being half a mile away. P. c-album is plentiful, a rather
small dark form, and this April was on damson blossom in the orchard.
Var. ichnusa of A. urticae is not uncommon, and one extreme var.
nigrocaria was taken on Buddleia bloom four years ago. P. aegeria
was soon established in the sallow grove, and is plentiful from mid-
April. It is flying now on September 14th. It wanders into the sunny
parts of the garden where it assumes a much more lively flight, but
seldom settling on flowers, preferring to sun itself on shining evergreen
leaves. It seems a smaller and rather darker form than those from
other districts. Occasionally an extra spotted dark form of M. tithonus
occurs among many of the type. A few A. hyperanthus are to be met
in the sallow grove each year. L. phlaeas varies much in numbers from
year to year and even from brood to brood. One fine ab. fasciata has
been taken. P. icarus soon became established in the orchard and
several interesting female forms have turned up. C. argiolus is very
plentiful. JT. quercus and C. rubi have both been seen to visit the
flower border singly.

There is a noticeable tendency to melanism in North Devon, for in-
stance, in H. conspersa, C’. lichenaria, C. repandata and EF. bistortata.
Some beautiful forms of lichenaria have been taken in the loggia. Apart
from melanism, many species are richer and darker in colour than the
average. This is seen in the males of P. potatoria, in A. clavis, D. rubi
and many others. LE. fasciaria, which came regularly to light in some
numbers until a neighbouring larch plantation was demolished, fre-
quently was of a dusky leaden grey colour which I have not seen else-
where.

The Sphingidae are well represented. LZ. popult, S. ocellata, 8.
ligustri, D. elpenor and C. livornica (one) have all visited the loggia,
and H. convolvuli visits the tobacco plants. M. stellatarum is about
every year and has already been seen this April over the rockery. Other
moths taken in the loggia include A. villica, M. miniata, C. coryli, E.
nigricans, H. nana, E. lichenea, H. conspersa, B. sphine, A. praecoz,

SOME AUCTION SALES OF THE NINETIES. 285

D. templi, and P. umbra. I have not known praecox so far inland be-
fore. D. templi comes from the flats behind the sandhills where the
cow parsley grows luxuriantly. I think the moth most frequently found
on the windows is O. hexadactyla (polydactyla). This is not surprising
since honeysuckle is everywhere. It is found commonly indoors where
it suffers from being taken for a ‘‘clethes moth”’.

There is a constant patrol of bats outside the loggia. They have
even come in and taken moths off the Study window. Often they hang
up on the rough-cast walls to devour their prey, and they must account
for an enormous number of insects judging by the wings on the floor
which are duly inspected in the morning.

The China Mark, H. nymphaealis, has found its way to the pond
but it is kept severely in check by the fish, which eat the floating larvae
in their cases. J have also suspected the Yellow Wagtail of this while
standing on a water-lily leaf.

Sugaring has been disappointing. I have used pieces of cork bark
on stakes about three feet high. A dozen of these have been placed
in what were thought likely spots in the garden. Only the very com-
mon species have appeared. I found one A. c-nigrum paired with A.
ranthographa on the sugar patch. No eggs were laid.

Noting South’s statement that ZT. quercus f. callunae is not uncom-
mon in the Exmoor district, I have assembled with both local and
Scottish females during three separate seasons within the last six years,
and have examined over 270 males. Every one has been of the callunae
form. I am a little puzzled, for the Ilfracombe Fauna and Flora of
1946 gives the type ZL. quercus as abundant about Braunton.

Sallow blossom has attracted the usual crowd of common insects.
Among the many common larvae, D. vinula occurs on the weeping wil-
low, ZL. ziczae on sallow, N. dromedarius on birch, L. quercus on haw-
thorn and P. potatoria on ribbon grass. LH. papilionaria has been found
more than once on silver birch. Though a privet hedge is less than
fifty yards away, S. ligustvi is found most years on the dwarf or Per-
sian lilac. A. villica is fairly regular on dandelion and groundsel. Bull-
finches invaded this garden some five years ago and a brood of them has
been reared each year. Since when there has been no blossom on the
Prunus trees and very little on the double red hawthorn. I have watched
the birds systematically stripping the twigs, suggesting that these birds
are not entirely insectivorous, but largely salad eaters.

One pupa of A. atropos was dug up with the potatoes, but was in-
jured at the time.

Some Auction Sales of the Nineties

During the decade 1890-1899 several collections of Lepidoptera came
under the auctioneer’s hammer in London each year. In March 1890
J C. Stevens announced for sale by action the collection of an anonym-
ous lepidopterist which contained ‘‘authentic specimens”’ of P. daplidice,
V. antiopa, L. dispar (several), C. semiargus, N. subrosea, C. fraxim
‘‘and many fine varieties, including Black Sibylla’’. Howard Vaughan’s
cabinets came up for sale the following month, the first of the great sales

286 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

of the ’nineties. The specimens were ‘‘all authentic and mostly labelled,
and in the finest condition’’, and the collection was ‘‘remarkably rich
in Varieties and local forms’’, with ‘‘fine series’’ of LD. dispar, N. sub-
rosea ‘and many other rare and extinct species’’, also ‘‘valuable Her-
maphrodites’’. The micros in this collection were sold a month later
and included series of named aberrations and local forms of P. hastiana
and cristana, C. ocelleus, myellus, alpinellus, and T. pryerella. Prices
ran high. Three aberrations of C. croceus fetched £10 each and a
fourth ten guineas, which price was also paid for a damaged aberration
of A. aglaia. £9 10s. was given for two aberrations of V. 10, the same
for a V. atalanta, and £10 for an aberration of V. cardwi. The Lycae-
nids were sold at from 2 to 4 guineas a lot and an aberration of A. caja
for 15 guineas. All the high prices were given for aberrations.

The only important sale next year was the collection of the Rev. G. H.
Raynor, later to become famous for his aberrations of A. grossulariata.
His collection included both macros and micros with ‘‘remarkable
varieties’ of A. cardamines, Z. filipendulae (yellow), FE. fasciaria (green),
C. pusaria (black), C. clathrata ‘‘and many others’’. The whole was
contained in ‘‘three expensive cabinets by Standish’’. Towards the
end of the year the Coleoptera and Lepidoptera of Ferdinand Grut,
British and Foreign, also came under the hammer, together with the
library of entomological books which Grut had formed.

In the spring of 1892 Stevens sold the collection of R. E. Salwey.
The specimens in this collection were ‘‘in exceptionally fine condition’’
and included a black M. stellatarum. as well as H. pinastri from Suffolk,
A. arenaria (vidwata. Schiff.) from the New Forest and ‘‘a beautiful lot
of Pterophori ... . in perfect order’’. Arthur Naish’s collection, which
came under the hammer in May, had seven L. dispar (of which a ©
‘in very fine condition’* made £4 10s.) and ‘‘some fine pink specimens’’
of N. subrosea with ‘‘some beautiful varieties of A. caja and an almost
unique long series of Nemeophila plantagims’’. The ‘pink’ N. subrosea
sold for 8s. to £2 10s. each. An A. caja with yellow abdomen and hind
wings was knocked down at 8s. 6d. Whether it came from Wimbledon
or Wiesbaden we should have thought it was worth more than that.
Four Mazarine Blues, ‘‘perhaps extinct’’, made 18s. and 8 ZL. caenosa,
‘“‘apparently recently extinct’’, £3 17s. 6d. A small sale (E. Cooper) in
August contained ‘‘a small series of fine bred specimens of P. dispar’’.
This autumn was to see the dispersal of one of the largest private col-
lections of British Lepidoptera which had been formed hitherto, that
of the Rev. Henry Burney, rector of Wavendon, near Fenny Stratford,
Bucks.

The Burney sale began on 21st November. Burney, who had died
in the previous July at the age of 79, had been rector of Wavendon
since 1847. Jt was a living in the gift of the Hoare family (bankers)
and Burney had been instituted to it, shortly after he came down from
Oxford, at the age of 23. The rectory of Wavendon was worth nearly
£700 a year and had 83 acres of glebe; its incumbent therefore—when
one considers how far the pound went in those days—was in ‘‘comfort-
able circumstances’. From his youth he had been an ardent lepidop-
terist and after middle age he began to increase his collection by buy-
ing widely from the dealers—widely but not wisely, for he showed small
discrimination in his purchases. By the time of his death he had

lod

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 287

amassed long series of exceedingly rare and extinct species (he had 31
specimens of L. dispar, which sold for £132 10s.); but the names of the
soi-disant captors on some of the data labels frightened the assembled
company and prices were strangely erratic. However, the 42 C. semi-
argus fetched an average of eight shillings apiece, 53 M. arion 2s. 6d.
each. The most desirable item in this vast collection seems to have
been a melanic P. dominula, which made £10. This sale, with its
plethora of Continental specimens masquerading as British, gave rise
to an amusing article in this magazine (Hnt. Rec., 4: 325) which well
deserves re-reading to-day. After lasting for two days the Burney
sale was continued in the following January.

The collection of J. R. Wellman of Clapham, London, which came
under Stevens’ hammer in July contained 12,000 specimens and was
the fruit of forty years’ assiduous collecting. Most of the specimens
were bred, all were in perfect condition, and they had reliable data.
But there were few rare and extinct species and very few aberrations
of butterflies, so the entire collection fetched only about £200—a dis-
appointment to its owner who had parted with it owing to ill-health.
Collections formed by the Rev. J. St. John, Jenner Weir, Francis and
one or two others were sold the same year but did not call for any
comment in the magazines.

The J. W. Downing collection (23rd October) occupied two 40-drawer
and one 17-drawer cabinets and contained JL. dispar, LL. caenosa, N.
subrosea, etc., but was of no interest to the field lepidopterist since the
contents of this collection had nearly all been caught in London, Down-
ing having been ‘‘a constant frequenter of Stevens’ sale rooms for
several years past’’. A ‘‘very fine black male LIycaena adonis’’ was
purchased for £3 10s., but there is no mention of any other aberrations
of butterflies. | Prices seem to have been good, perhaps because the
specimens were adorned with authentic auctionroom data labels. ‘‘The
gem of the collection,’’ wrote T. W. Hall, ‘‘was a remarkable mottled
variety of Venilia maculata, in which the ground colour and the colour-
ing of the spots apparently changed places.’’ This aberration made £4

(To be continued.)

Notes on Microlepidoptera

By H. C. Hveerns, F.R.E.S.

Diasemia ramburalis Dup. Workers with m.v. light on the South
Coast, particularly in the south-west, should keep a sharp look-out for
this obscure little insect, many of our recent captures having been in
late October or early November. The beautiful Margaronia unionalis
Hiib. is likely to occur at the same time but is so conspicuous that there
is little likelihood of its being overlooked, whereas the miserable looking
ramburalis might easily be passed over as a worn faded purpuralis,
which occasionally occurs in October, probably a partial third brood.
D. ramburalis has never been bred in this country as Mr. Howarth and
others have bred wnionalis, and the experiment should be worth trying,
though an August female would be preferable for the attempt.

288 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/X/1953

’ Peronea contaminana Hiib. may be beaten from hawthorn in October
and as it varies very greatly is of interest to the collector not favour-
ably placed for a cristana hunt. I always used to call P. variegana
Schiff. ‘‘the poor man’s cristana’’ because of its great range of varia-
tion, similar habits, and wide distribution; but variegana is finished
after mid-September so the analogy is not perfect. P. contaminana may
also be found with a lantern, sitting on hawthorn twigs after dark, and
is easy to box. I have particularly noticed it when working late-
flowering ivy.

Peronea ferrugana Schiff. and P. fissurana Pierce may now be beaten
from birch and oak respectively. Although fissurana is sometimes
said to feed on birch I have never found this to be the case. I sent
many, carefully selected where the food-plant was known, or where they
had been beaten from isolated trees, to the late Mr. Pierce and in every
case the birch insects were ferrugana and the oak ones fissurana.

Peronea lorquintana Dup. Should anyone be working light in the
Fens or Broads in October, on the off-chance of something turning up,
this moth and also hastiana should occur in numbers. The second brood
of lorquiniana is much the more abundant and the examination of a
large number of specimens at light should result in the capture of a
series of the scarce diagonally striped variation. I wonder if anyone
has systematically worked the Broads in October; it may be that new
discoveries are not confined to Ham Street and the Burren. My late
friend W. S. Gilles and myself tried two paraffin vapour lamps at
Barton in October 1936, when we were staying at Wroxham pike fishing.
but one night was cold and windy and the next raining, and all we
saw were a couple of worn G. flavago (ochracea) and a belated N. typhae.

Notes on Lepidoptera, 1952-53

By F. M. B. Carr.

The long and dreary winter of 1952-53 gave rise to some wishful
thinking on the part of hibernating lepidopterists as they crouched -over
their fires. Might not this winter turn out to be of sufficient severity
to introduce us to a spring, summer and autumn in which the country-
side should once again abound in ‘‘all things bright and beautiful’’ to
the moth-hunter’s eye? Nota bit of it! There was the usual multitude
of creatures that bite and suck, and maybe our dipterists rejoiced there-
at, but the mere butterfly man went forth again and again with very
little to show for his efforts other than a new collection of mountains
and molehills on his long-suffering person. Why do we persist? Because
there is in all of us something of Mr. Micawber still.

But to return to the winter of our wishful thinking. It is well to
try to make a bit of hay even when the sun does not shine. Even in the
dreary winter, when most of our pupae and hibernating larvae must bide
their time in cold storage, there are larvae also that may be persuaded
by the use of artificial warmth to be extremely active. Amongst these
is that very lively fur-coated little fellow Parasemia plantaginis L. My
friend Dr. H. King kindly gave me last autumn 10 larvae of this species
from an ab. hospita strain. These I placed in ordinary metal boxes
with glass lids on the mantelpiece of a room where there is a fire day
and night, the temperature ranging round about 65° F.

NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA, 1952-53. 289

As I succeeded in bringing only five of them through I was very
lucky to get a pairing. A female emerged on 4th December and the
next day a typical male. They had paired when I looked at them at
8.45 p.m. on 6th December. Eggs were laid on 7th December and
hatched on the 16th. Meanwhile two males and a female emerged, one
male being ab. hospita and the female having nearly white under wings.
The males described as typical are very much more heavily marked with
black on all four wings than any of my Dorset specimens.

The 2nd generation larvae were treated in the same way and fed as
before on groundsel. They began to spin up on 4th February. Moths
emerged from 14th Februiary to 19th March. Males numbered 17, of
which 13 are ab. hospita, and females 12. On 23rd February one of the
ab. hospita males paired. As a large number of eggs were laid I thought
I was in clover. Alas! this was the beginning of the end. Only 15
larvae hatched, the bulk of the eggs proving infertile.

The 3rd generation larvae staged a series of hunger-strikes and
eventually all expired, some of them lingering on to a time when all
self-respecting little Wood Tigers should, in a state of nature, have
become pupae.

Considering the not very congenial conditions J was surprised to
find larvae ot Arctia villica sunning themselves as early as 25th Feb-
ruary at Bournemouth. Persistent cold winds made spring collecting
most unprofitable. Over large tracts of the New Forest the young
foliage of the oaks and beeches was ruined by a severe frost in May, and
for many weeks afterwards the trees presented a melancholy spectacle.
During three evening visits to the Forest with Dr. King in early to
mid-May a few Notodonta anceps Goze (trepida Esper), and some Eupi-
thecia irriguata Hb. and FE. mdigata Hb., came to light.

On 13th May Mr. H. Symes and T, visiting the Forest by day, beat
long and fruitlessly for larvae. One larva of Nola strigula fell to my
tray. This is a species that we hardly ever see in the Forest in these
days. In 1900 I beat 38 larvae of this species in two days at Holmsley
anu in Hurst Hill.

On 21st May Dr. King and I went to the Test Valley to look for
larvae of Plusia chryson Esp. Our bag was a very small one, the total
being 4.

At Studland, Dorset, on the 26th May, Lobophora halterata Hufn.
was very restless in an absolute tangle of aspen. It was almost im-
possible to follow up once it had skipped off an aspen trunk.

On 28th May Dr. King, Mr. Symes and IT repeated our expedition of
last year into Wiltshire for larvae of Apatura iris. This time none of
us got any. It was nevertheless an interesting day. KHulype hastata
was flying fairly freely and Cepphis advenaria flew up from time to
time. We devoted our attention, however, to larvae. These were more
plentiful here than in most places. They included Thecla quercus,
Lymantria monacha, Trichiura crataegi, Poectlocampa popult, Pseudoips
bicolorana, Bombycia viminalis, Griposia aprilina, Brachyonycha
sphinz, Orthosia miniosa, O. munda, Catocala sponsa, and Biston
strataria. .

On 38rd June we three had a day in Hampshire in pursuit of Acos-
metia caliginosa. Tt was either very scarce or very disinclined to fly up,

290 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Vou. 65. 15/X/1958

and only two were secured. Mr. Symes and Dr. King wisely turned to
something else, and by diligent searching of the dewberry found quite
a number of larvae of Nola albula Schf. They also found larvae of
Brephos notha on the aspen.
On 6th June Mr. B. C. Barton took me to Hod Hill, Dorset, where
Euphydryas aurinia was up to sample, and Lysandra bellargus showed
a distinct improvement in numbers on last year. Procris geryon was
just appearing.

With the last week of June began a memorable time. The weather
was hot and fine, and I had the good fortune to be staying with my
old friends Mr. and Mrs. S. Gordon Smith in Chester. To collect once
again with Mr. Smith ‘on his own heath’, i.e. North Wales, Cheshire
and Shropshire, was a joy. On 25th June we went to Whixall Moss in
the morning and there acquaintance was renewed with Coenonympha
tullia. Argynnis selene was abundant, as was Perconia strigillaria. In
the afternoon we switched on to Denbighshire and took the local form
of C. tullia. A few belated Apatele menyanthidis were sitting about,
including a fresh female.

The next day we began with Merionethshire, a glorious drive through
the mountains. This proved to be the red-letter day of my season.
Again (. tullia, also single examples of Venusia cambrica, Scopula ter-
nata Schr. (fumata Steph.) and Hepialus fusconebulosa. <A local thun-
derstorm cut short our operations and Mr. Smith whisked us off, and
hey presto! we were soon enjoying the sunshine in Caernarvonshire.
Here we worked a fine large race of Plebeius argus L. (aegon Schiff.),
of which I got two nice male aberrations. Jaspidia pygarga Hufn. was
fairly common and I also took Rivula sericealis, Hulype subhastata, and
two small larvae of the same species on bog myrtle, whereon were also
a number of larvae of Orthosia gracilis.

As it appeared to be an ideal night for light, Mr. Smith turned on
the current and we enthusiastically stood on guard till 1.30 a.m. We
had a busy time and of the crowd of moths that arrived the following
were the most notable: —Deilephila elpenor, Stauropus fagi (3), Noto-
donta dromedarius, Tethea fluctuosa (12), Apatele alni, Polia tincta (3),
Anaplectoides prasina and Hadena contigua.

We had a wonderful drive back to Chester, the moonlight being just
sufficient to show up the mountains and the white mist in the valleys.
As the day began to break, though we sped along, snatches of the dawn
chorus reached us. Somewhere between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. we tumbled
contentedly into bed.

(To be continued.)

Notes and Observations

Hasrrats or PaRaRGE AEGERIA Linn.—Anent the interesting corre-
spondence in the Record about Pararge aegeria L. in open spaces and
gardens, for some years a small number of this species has regularly
frequented my garden here from April till September. Although there
are various evergreen shrubs, hedges, etc., providing ample shade, I
notice that the butterflies invariably choose sunny places in which to
settle. Indeed they appear to revel in the sun, for those of the spring
brood can be seen basking on the bare earth of the potato patch before

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 991,

the plants are up, while in summer they settle on laurustinus and other
foliage, always ignoring the shady sides for those in full sunlight. On
Sth August of last year I noticed an odd bleached looking specimen of
P. aegeria on the wing in the garden. On examination the right fore-
wing and left hind wing of this butterfly—a male—were seen to be of a
pale greyish brown while the left fore wing and right hind wing were
the normal colour. The markings of the affected wings were white.
The left hind wing was limp and inclined to curl, making it by no means
easy to set.—BorineBRoKR, Moorhayes, Crow Hill, Ringwood, Hants.
17.viii.53.

Yesterday, 3rd September, I noticed a somewhat worn speci-
men of the above species feasting on a decaying plum upon a bare patch
of earth in full sunlight in my garden. There could be no mistake
about the identity of the insect, for I got to within a yard of it and
clearly saw the insect imbibing. Though this may be a known habit of
P. aegeria I had not previously seen or heard of it feeding on rotten
fruit, and it struck me as being an observation worth recording.—
BotincBRoKE, Moorhayes, Crow Hill, Ringwood, Hants. 4.1x.53.

A Migration or NonaGRIA pissotuta Tr.—On 6th August 1953 I
took 2 Nonagria dissoluta in my m.v. light trap at Ashridge, Herts.,
and on 7th August 3 more, all females and all ab. arundineta Schmidt.
‘In my garden, situated on the side of Tring farthest from the reser-
voirs, I took 6 females on 6th August and 30 (4 3d, 26 2) on 7th August,
one being a typical dissoluta (melanic). There were none on the pre-
ceding and following nights. There are no reeds within several miles
of the Ashridge trap. My father never took the species at the reser-
voirs, although he collected there assiduously, and in recent years
neither Mr. Tite nor I have seen it there. The Ashridge trap is about
4! miles from the one in my garden. The most probable explanation of
the occurrence of so many dissoluta on the same two nights at places
so far apart seems to me to be that a large migratory horde passed
through the district; an unusual feature of the migration is the great
preponderance of females. These females are more robust than Kent
and Hampshire specimens and I think they were of Continental origin.
Did anyone else observe this migration ?—A. I. Goonson, 26 Park Road,
Tring, Herts. 138.viii.53.

ORIA MuscuLOosSA His. IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE.—On 6th August 1953 I
caught a specimen of Oria musculosa at light at Bourton-on-the-Water,
Gloucestershire, at an altitude of 450 feet above sea-level.—C. RENFREW,
Lanhill, Bourton-on-the-Water, Glos. 13.vili.53.

CLOSTERA ANACHORETA SCHIFF. IN Kent.—I have to report the cap-
ture of a fresh male specimen of Clostera anachoreta near the South
Kent coast on 9th August 1953. The moth came into an hotel bedroom
illuminated by a Crookes’ glass mercury vapour lamp sometime during
the night of 8/9th August and was found at rest on the wall of the
room next morning. It was ‘bottled’ on the assumption that it was an
ordinary chocolate-tip and its identity was not discovered till it was
set. The black spot on the fore wing and the crooked white line through
the chocolate tip were then noticed for the first time. The specimen

292 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VoL. 65. 15/X/1953

was seen by the Baron de Worms, who confirms the identification.—
G. F. Jounson, Castlesteads, Brampton, Cumberland. 25.vi11.53.

AN ABERRANT LARVA OF LAOTHOE PoPpULI Linn.—While removing cater-
pillars from some willow cuttings I have growing here today I found
a Poplar Hawkmoth larva with a double row of red spots—something I
have never seen before. There are two rows of seven red spots along
each side of the back, and another pair just before the ‘tail’, besides
the ordinary red spots on the spiracles. This has been a poor season
for Lepidoptera here and the only noticeable feature is the very large
numper of L. popult, Cerura vinula, and Notodonta ziczac larvae seen,
on poplars and willows of my own planting.—J. L. Campsrty, Isle of
Canna, Scotland. 26.viii.53.

KvusLEMMA PARVA His. In SoutH Lonpon.—As I was moving into
my new home in Dulwich on 17th August I boxed a small moth on the
fence, which I was at first unable to identify. After more careful
examination its identity as Hublemma parva Hiib. soon became ap-
parent. The position of the wings at rest was typically Noctuid. I
understand that there was a considerable migration of this rare moth
on the East Coast of Kent earlier in the year, more than thirty speci-
mens having been recorded in m.y. light traps and at least two being
taken further inland.

The date of this capture seems to indicate that my specimen was
not an immigrant but a product of the second brood, bred in this
locality. Mr. Bretherton in his Note published in the August number
of the Record (p. 216) says that there is no evidence that the species
has ever bred in this country. This latest record from the Greater
London area would appear to point to a different conclusion.

The specimen itself is in perfect condition and my friend Mr. S.
Wakely kindly exhibited it for me at a recent meeting of the South
London Entomological Society. I agree with Mr Bretherton that it
bears a superficial resemblance to a Tortrix of the Phalonia genus. The
colour is much lighter than that of South’s figure in the second volume
of his Moths of the British Isles; but T have had no opportunity of com-
paring it with Continental specimens.—Canon T. G. Epwarps, 98
Alleyn Park, Dulwich, London, S.E.21. 29.viii.53.

EvBLEMMA PARVA HUBNER IN Devon.—On 15th August 1953 I took
a small specimen of Hublemma parva Hiib. in good condition at my
m.v. trap at Torcross, S. Devon. It must belong to the second brood.—
AH. B. D. Kertrirwerr, Dept. of Zoology, Oxford. 14.1x.53.

KUPITHECIA PLUMBEOLATA IN Dorset.—This ‘‘pug’’ is not recorded in
Parkinson Curtis’s List as occurring in Dorset. On 22nd July 1952 I
collected a large bunch of flowers of cow-wheat in Holt Forest in the
Wimborne area and 5 days later found on it two stumpy larvae nearly
full grown which fitted the description and pictures of the larva of E.
plumbeolata. The imagines failed to emerge in 1953 but on visiting the
locality on 3lst May and 18th June I took single specimens of the imago
on each occasion at late dusk. On 26th June I collected a large bunch
of cow-wheat in this locality and kept it in water till 3rd August, when
I beat out from it 6 larvae of this species.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 293

On lith June 1953 I was in the Dolgelley, Merionethshire, neigh-
bourhood where cow-wheat is plentiful and walked up a specimen of
E. plumbeolata in the afternoon sun. On returning to the locality at
5.30 p.m. S.T. | found there was a flight of HK. plumbeoluta and I was
able to secure 11 specimens in a few minutes.

In Fassnidge’s List (Ent. Rec., 1923-25) EH. plumbeolata is not men-
tioned as occurring in the New Forest. This year I took it in Holms-
ley Inclosure and at Shirleyholmes.—Harotp Kine, D.Sc., F.R.S.,
Parley Cross, Dorset. 28.v111.53.

[UPITHECIA SATYRATA FAGICOLARIA ROBSON AND GARDNER AND E. VALERI-
ANATA IN Dorspr.—According to W. Parkinson Curtis there are few
reliable records for EH. satyrata in Dorset. Wishing to complete my
series of E. valerianata, in 1951 1 collected many flower-heads of Valeri-
ana officinalis in widely separated parts of the Stour valley in July but
failed to find a single ‘‘pug’’ larva; but when I collected heads of this
plant on the chalk in and about Cranborne Chase I found large num-
bers of ‘“‘pug’’ larvae, apparently of more than one species. Many
were stung but in May and June 1952 I bred many E. valerianata with
6 specimens of a larger pug which I could not identify. Mr. D. S.
Iletcher of the British Museum (Natural History) very kindly examined
their genitalia and identified them as the southern form of E. satyrata
known as E. satyrata fagicolaria. There were 5 females and one male.
As far as I have been able to ascertain, V. officinalis has not been re-
corded as a food-plant for this species.

This year larvae of E. valerianata were very scarce in the Cran-
borne Chase area, but larvae were present on V. officinalis which are
probably FH. satyrata and FH. castigatu.n—Hanroip Kine, Parley Cross,
Dorset. . 23.vi11.53.

CIDARIA OTREGIATA IN WaLes.—On 9th June 1953 I was dusking at
the roadside on the exact border of Merioneth and Montgomery, a few
miles north of Machynlleth, when I netted a fresh specimen of the
above species of a slightly darker colour than those I have taken at
Starcross in Devon.—Haroip Kine, Parley Cross, Dorset. 23.viii.53.

A Notr oN BREEDING CoLiss crocEus Fourc.—At one time I did a
considerable amount of breeding Colias croceus but found that it was
not an infrequent occurrence to fail to obtain what I considered a really
good batch of eggs from a female which was caged in the ordinary way
with the foodplant. I experimented and found that the only way of
ensuring a really good ‘lay’ was to put the female in an ordinary deep
type of 3-in or 33-inch glass-topped metal box with a couple of small
sprigs of fresh lucerne and then prop the box up on a windowsill so
that as much sun as possible struck the glass. To prevent too much
condensation the lid was put on sideways so that there was a fairly
good crack round the upper edge to allow for ventilation, but of course
not large enough for the insect to get out. The tin of course got very
hot indeed, but females kept in this way laid large quantities of eggs
invariably. They used to flutter and bang themselves about a great
deal but it never deterred them from laying continuously. The sprigs
of lucerne had to be rather small and had to be changed fairly frequently
as they began to wither and became covered with eggs. The insects

294 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65, 15/X/1958

never damaged themselves to such an extent that they died as a result
or became unduly tattered. It was necessary to put the boxes in a
cool shady place occasionally to give females a rest, and feeding was
done by hand about three times a day. The insect was held by the
wings between finger and thumb in the left hand with its feet in con-
tact with a wad of cotton wool well soaked in sugar and water, while
its proboscis was carefully uncoiled with a pin in the right hand and
its tip placed in contact with the cotton wool pad. The insects were
usually so thirsty that they at once began to drink and continued to
do so naturally when the wings were gently released, provided the
operation was carried out in a cool shady room. They usually continued
to feed for quite a considerable time and then began to fly about in the
room, when it was an easy matter to catch them and put them back in
their boxes after washing off any encrustation of the sticky sugar solu-
tion on their feet with a few drops of ordinary water squirted out of an
eye dropper. This method never seemed to interfere with the fertility
of the eggs and I was able to rear large broods which provided interest-
ing data with regard to the relative percentages of the sexes and of
the proportions of the helice and other forms of the females in a brood
as the result of in-breeding and cross-pairing while on one occasion a
very handsome gynandrous example appeared. It was, however, never
possible to carry the experiments through the winter as it was not
found possible to keep the insects warm enough and with enough light
to induce pairing with the facilities at my disposal at the end of the
year and specimens emerging from the pupa under artificial conditions
in the early winter were usually undersized and weakly. It was not
difficult to keep the insects alive for considerable periods with the
methods employed.—R. E. Parsons, Woodlands Lodge, Woodlands
Close, Ottershaw, Surrey. 28.viii.53.

THALERA FIMBRIALIS SCOPOLI IN KENT IN 1953.—I observed this insect
again this year in the Denge Marsh district of Kent. Thus, it has now
been noted annually in this neighbourhood for the last four seasons,
having been first seen here in 1950.—J. M. CHatmers-Hunt, 70 Chest-
nut Avenue, West Wickham, Kent. 19.vili.53.

AucIs (CLEORA) JUBATA THUNB, IN SomeRSET.—I have pleasure in
reporting that a perfect specimen of Cleora jubata Thunb., a male,
turned up at my m.v. light on 7th August at Brockley Coomb, Somerset
(about ten miles S.W. of Bristol). I have heard of no previous record
for this district.—F. J. Stonn, 79 Reedley Road, Bristol, 9. 10.viii.53.

OXYPTILUS PILOSELLAE ZELL. IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE.—I have also to
report that I have just identified a small Plume which J took at Hallen,
Glos. (on the banks of the Severn) in July last year as Oxyptilus pilo-
sellae Zell. The single scale-tooth mentioned by Beirne (British Pyralid
and Plume Moths, 1952, p. 163) is unmistakable.—F. J. Stonr, 79 Reed-
ley Road, Bristol, 9. 10.viii.53.

HIBERNATION OF Ptusia FestucAE L.—An Old Moth-Hunter asks
(Hnt. Rec., 65: 199) where, and in what stage, does Plusia festucae
hibernate? He seems to have been singularly unlucky with this species
or he would know the answers to these questions himself. As an old

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 295

moth hunter myself I can claim to have taken this species, not once,
but many times. I have netted it from campion bloom in the dusk of a
sununer evening and taken it from street lamps in August. I have also
bred it from larvae and pupae found in the wild and from ova laid by
captured 9 9, so can speak from some experience. The species is by
no means common, here in the south, but it occurs more or less regu-
larly every season. A second brood emergence occurs, too, sometimes
about August, but it is then only partial, much depending upon weather
conditions.

P. festucue never in my experience goes over the winter as a pupa.
The larvae go into hibernation while still quite small in curled leaves
and hollow stems on and about the food plant upon which they have
fed. They recommence feeding as soon as the new growth appears the
following spring.—A. T. Postans, 13 Stanfield Road, Bournemouth,
Hants. 3.vi1i.53.

[The Old Moth-Hunter writes: ‘‘Much obliged to Mr. Postans. I
hope he will lose no time in giving readers of the Record a full account

of the life-history of this species from his observations and notes. As
he will have seen from Mr. Lempke’s paper in the September issue the
life-history of P. festucae is equally unknown on the Continent.

“Do Mr. Postans’ observations on hibernation sites, viz., ‘curled
leaves and hollow stems on and about the food plant’, refer to larva-
cages, or has he found the young larvae in these situations in the wild
in wintertime? And what are the hibernation sites when the larva
feeds on aquatic plants (e.g. Alisma, Sparganiwm) ?’’.]

ORIGIN OF GONODONTIS BIDENTATA AB. BOWATERI.—I have just seen
Lt.-Col. W. Bowater’s Gonodontis bidentata Clerck bred during the
last four years and it is clear that both the accounts of the origin of
the pale border of ab. bowateri Cockayne, published in this journal,
1952, 64: 334, and 1953, 65: 222, are incorrect. There is no evidence
that this form occurred in Bowater’s early broods recorded in 1915, and
it is not the usual form on Cannock Chase, but is a rare one. In 1949
Mr. G. B. Manley gave Lt.-Col. Bowater 18 pupae from a pairing
between two melanic specimens from Cannock Chase. All the offspring
were melanic and a male and a female had the pale border on the under
side and several had pale fringes. Four brother and sister matings
were obtained, all of which produced some bowateri. This does not
prove whether the mutant is recessive or dominant, but definite evi-
dence is afforded by a pairing between a wild normal male from Bir-
mingham sent by Mr. Stanton and a melanic female bowateri. This
male shows no trace of a pale border. Specimens of bowuteri, however,
appeared amongst the offspring, which could not have happened unless
bowatert is dominant. All his other broods are consistent with this
interpretation. The normal female from Torquay was received from
Mr. F. H. Lees after bowatert had been bred and I cannot understand
why this insect was mentioned.—E. A. Cockayne, Tring. August 1953.

IMMIGRATION OF VANESSA URTICAE LIinn.—During last week-end there
was a very marked increase in the numbers of Vanessa urticae Li. at
Weston. This butterfly was present in normal numbers last week, but
by the morning of 6th September was feeding at flowers in a nearby

296 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

public garden in hundreds, and by the afternoon in thousands. The

numbers were so great that the fact was commented on by members of

the general public with no particular interest in butterflies. No doubt

there has been a large migration from abroad.—C. 8S. H. Buaruwayr.
27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare. 7.1x.53.

DapHNIs NERIT LINN. In Dorset.—A female specimen of this insect
was taken on board H.M.S. Implacable in Portland harbour on 7th
September 1953 by Lieut.-Commander N. R. Benson, who gave it to
me two days later. I put some sprigs of variegated periwinkle leaves
with it in a roomy box and on the edges of these it laid three pale green
eggs.—HaroLtp Kine, Parley Cross, Dorset. 12.1x.53.

ParILio MACHAON Linn. In Kent.—On 15th August 1953, a warm
sunny day, I took a large @ Papilio muchuon in my garden here about
11.30 a.m. The insect was in a very weak condition and had a piece
torn out of the left hindwing, including the ‘tail’. I endeavoured to
obtain eggs, but without success, and | also failed to induce it to eat
sugar-water. After an hour or so the insect seemed likely to bash .
itself to pieces in its attempts to escape, so I decided to preserve it for
the cabinet. The alar expanse is at least 96 mm.—J. L. ATKINSON, 76
Northwood Road, Tankerton, Kent. 11.1x.53.

PsEUDOIPS BICOLORANA FUESS. IN SoMERSET.—On the night of 10th
July 1953, I had the good fortune to take a specimen of Pseudoips
bhicolorana Fuess. in a makeshift m.v. trap at Bath. South does not
give a very clear indication of the status of this species in the West
Country and [I should be grateful if anyone could let me have further
information about its distribution. Also I should be glad to know if it
has an alternative foodplant to oak, as there are but two or three oak
trees within a mile of the trap.

Since writing the above note I have been informed by my friend Mr.
J. Kk. C. Kemp, of Bath, of the capture of a fresh 2 specimen of bicolur-
ana at his house at the ead of June this year.—J. EK. THorpe, 20 ee
Green, Kendal, Westmorland. 5.1x.53.

[ Barrett (hep. Br. Is., 2: 180) gives the distribution of P. bicolorana
Iruess. as Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hants, Berks, Hunts, Herts, Middlesex,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs., Essex; very uncommon in Devon, Somerset,
Gloucs.; rare in Hereford and Worcs. The only recorded foodplants in
this country, so far as we are aware, are oak, birch and sweet chestnut.
The Continental authorities give only oak and birch.—Ep. |

LAPHYGMA pxiIcguA Hts. at WesTON-SUPER-MARrE.—It may be of in-
terest to record the capture of a specimen of Laphygma exigua in my
moth trap at Weston-super-Mare on lst August last.—C. S. H. Buiatu-
wayt, 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. 2.1x.53.

YeLttow Burner Motus In Hampsuire.—Further to my note in the
September issue of Hnt. Rec. details have been brought to my notice
of three additional feral imagines of Zygaena filapendulae Linn. ab.
flava Robson (cerinus Robson and Gardner) collected this year at Shaw-
ford Downs, as follows :—25th July, one, Robert W. Watson; 25th July,
one, Mrs. N. J. Watson; 3rd August, one, [an G. Farwell. The July

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 207

insects were taken within ten minutes of each other, and all three
were in a newly-emerged condition.—Paut H. Horioway, Warwick
House, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hants. 2.1x.53.

PROBABLE SECOND Broop or LIMENITIS CAMILLA LINN.—While collect-
ing butterflies on the North Downs at Magpie Bottom, near Shoreham,
Kent, on 9th August 1953, IT was surprised to see an apparently freshly
emerged Limenitis camilla L. at bramble blossoms. In view of the date
and its condition it is probable that it was a second-breod example. In
this connection, it is interesting to note that I saw two worn camilla in
the same locality on 19th August 1951.—J. F. Burton, 483 Eversley
Road, London, S.E.7. 12.viti.53.

CHILODES MARITIMA TauscH., LEUCANIA STRAMINEA TREITS., AND
EUSTROTIA UNCULA CLERCK IN YORKSHIRE.—On 9th July and 21st August
1953, I took two specimens of Chilodes maritima in a locality about five
miles from Selby, Yorks. On the 24th July in the same locality I took
several specimens of Leucania straminea. This species has only recently
been discovered in Yorkshire at Askham Bog, T believe (. maritima is
a new record for Yorkshire.

On 17th June 1952 I took a perfect specimen of Hustrotia uncula
on a small area of marshy land about three miles from Selby and saw
one or two others. Unfortunately much of the ground has now been
ploughed and is in danger of being destroyed as a habitat. I saw none
in 1953 and have not heard of anyone in recent times taking wncula in
Yorkshire, though it has been recorded for Askham Bog.—S. M. Jacx-
son, 15 Westbourne Road, Selby, Yorks. 31.vi1i.53.

CELERIO LIVORNICA Esp. In SoMERSET.—At about 8 p.m. on 5th Sep-
tember last J saw a specimen of Celerio livornica Esp. hovering over
petunias here. It was quite easy to identify, as it was still quite light.
This moth was of course fairly common here in September 1949 flying
over petunias at about sunset or shortly afterwards.—C. S. H. Brata-
wayt, 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare. 7.1x.53.

ANTS IN GALLOWAY.—There appear to be few ants recorded for the
counties of Kirkcudbright and Wigtown in Galloway. On a journey on
10th-12th September 1952 through these counties the following species
were recorded. In the rocky outcrops near the roadside above New
Galloway, Kirkcudbrightshire, on the Newton Stewart road were found
Myrmica lobicornis Nyl.*, M. sabuleti Meinert*, M. scabrinodis Nyl.*.
M. laevinodis Nyl.*; the latter species was common under stones in a
small sloping meadow by a stream; in one colony a pterergate was taken.
Lasius flavus Fab.* and L. niger lu. were abundant. Leptothorax acer-
vorum Nyl.*, Formica fusca L. and Myrmica ruginodis Nyl.* were com-
mon and generally distributed. A specimen of F.. fusca I.. on the moor
measured only 3.2 mm. in length (usual size 4-6.5 mm.).

At Luce sands, Wigtown, Myrmica sulcinodis Nyl.*, M. ruginodis
Nyl.*, M. scabrinodis Nyl.*, M. sabuleti Meinert*, and M. laevinodis
Nyl.* were present. The last species was common in the area by con-
trast with the Scottish Highlands where it is very local. Lasius flavus
Fab. and L. niger L. were abundant. One worker of Lasius alienus
Foerst.* was taken but no colony was found. However, several colonies

298 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, vow. 65. 15/X/1953

were found of the intermediate variety Lusius niger var. alleno-niger
Forel.* The workers of these were light coloured but possessed a few
scattered hairs on tibiae and scapes. On the coast at the Mull of Gal-
loway one dealated female of Myrmica lobicornis Nyl.* was taken. In
many colonies of ants in the area winged sexed forms were still present
in large numbers, cold weather having prevailed for several weeks past.
A shale heap near Drummore was also visited—this place abounded with
ants but no uncommon species were found.

The species marked with an asterisk are believed to be new county
records.—C. A. Cotiinewoop, Evesham. 4.1x.53.

Collecting Notes

A Norr rrom Sussex.—A fortnight’s holiday in the Shoreham area
from 25th July did not produce any exceptional results, but such field
work as was done was anything but intensive. Night work was con-
fined to ‘dusking’ along the shingle banks towards Lancing and to
investigation of certain lights on the caravan site where I stayed. Along
the shingle, flowers of ragwort, hogweed and valerian were quite pro-
ductive and several Procus literosa Haw., Scopula marginepunctata
Goze and Epirrhoe galiata Schf. were seen. Procris furuncula Schf.
was in profusion and much variety, and Plusia gamma L. were plentiful.
One Heliothis peltigera Schf. was netted as it was flying, quite slowly,
over the stones. It was interesting to find Ortholitha bipunctaria Schf.
commonly on the shingle as I had always assumed this insect to be
peculiar to chalk and limestone. The majority of the typical coastal
insects were conspicuous by their absence.

Round the lights were a number of Arctia caja L. and Phragmatobia
fuliginosa I.. in profusion. Surely this moth is much more plentiful
than it was a few years ago. Nola albula Schf. and Nonagria gemini-
puncta Haw. were perhaps the most interesting insects at the lamps,
and some Hilema griseola Hb. and H. luridata Zk. also turned up.

Three visits were paid to the famous ‘‘coridon ground’’ at the back
of Shoreham, primarily to look for Mesotype virgata Hufn., but none
was found. Eremobia ochroleuca Schf. was plentiful. About half a
dozen males of Colias croceus Foure. were noted and the large robber
fly Asilus crabroniformis I. was also seen.

Each time this locality was visited other collectors were searching
for varieties of Lysundra coridon Poda, as many as six being present
on one day. Whenever the hillside could be seen from a distance at
least one figure armed with a net could be detected. It seems amazing
that any varieties can survive this intensive unnatural selection. Small
wonder these specialists always seem to say that things are not what
they were.

Remaining entomological excursions covered the Downs behind
Lancing, but intensive cultivation has reduced the natural downland
to those areas like Cissbury Ring which come under the National Trust
and the slopes which are too steep to plough. Even the area round Chanc-
tonbury Ring is now overgrown with thistles and ragwort, and the well-
known dew-pond seems to have been ploughed over. In spite of this
Argynnis aglaia li. appears to be quite numerous, though it seemed
strange to see it flying over cornfields. A clover field was covered with

DIPTERA. 999

countless Nymphalis io L., and V. urticae and other Vanessids appre-
ciated the thistles. A specimen of Ectropis bistortata Goze was found
on a post on the top of the Downs far from any trees, and Abraxas gros-
sulariata L. also was seen on the top of the hills where it had probably
fed on blackthorn. Aphantopus hyperantus LL. was seen flying round
Chanctonbury Ring. One or two colonies of Melanargia galathea I.
apparently were flourishing, but one cannot but be apprehensive of the
ultimate effects of the increasing cultivation of the Downs.—W. FE.
Minnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middx. 10.ix.53.

CoLLECTING IN LINCOLNSHIRE IN 1953.—The year started rather earlier
than last, for Gonepteryx rhamni was seen in our garden on 8th March
as against mid-April last year. This early promise, however, was not
maintained. A. cardamimes was more than a week later in appearing
than last year and there were no migrants seen. But it was good to
be brought a very late specimen of (. palaemon caught not far from
here on 25th June. A search in the locality on the next day provided
not even the sight of one, so it must have been a straggler. Various
expeditions to woods adjoining this parish showed that LL. camilla is
now very well established and seems indeed to be increasing its range.
The same woods also showed J. quercus and on one ash tree in particu-
lar they were very numerous indeed. Not far from Grantham L. coridon
was again to be found in numbers on 20th July.

T have not been able to visit this year the locality near Sleaford where
S. w-album is found, but I believe collectors have drawn blank there.
In view of the bad year it was a surprise to see a specimen of P. malvae
on the wing in a wood near Bardney towards the end of July. T. sylves-
tris was also taken on that day in the same wood. QO. venata has been
extremely common. A. selene, I have recently heard, was found again
near Bardney this year.

Tn view of the above I think we may say that we have had a fair
season up here in Lincolnshire.—Rev. P. C. Hawker, Gautby Rectory,
Wragby, Lincs. 11.1x.53.

DIPTERA

Observations on Hemerodromia unilineata Zett.
(Dipt., Empididae).
By B. R. Laurence.

Few observations appear to have been published on the food of the
Hemerodromiinae in the Empididae although Lundbeck in 1910 in
Diptera Danica 3 says of the genus Hemerodromia that ‘‘they are cer-
tainly carnivorous and they no doubt use the front legs in capturing
prey. Zetterstedt says: ‘Victus e minorum Dipterorum rapina’ ’’.

Both sexes of Hemerodromia unilineata Zett. were found commonly
on 13th July 1953, beside Ludford Bridge at Ludlow, Shropshire, wallk-
ing in a delicate manner over and under the leaves of shrubs growing at
the water’s edge. One male of H. oratoria Fall. was also caught in the
fifteen males and seventeen females of Hemerodromia captured. Male
and female were found in cop. without prey. Males showed a certain

300 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1958

aggressiveness towards other males. Two males facing head on and
separated by a distance of about half an-inch advanced and retired
alternatively three times before one male flew off onto another leaf.

Only males were found with prey and some of the prey observed were
alive and struggling. All were small Diptera, but very few Empids were
* seen to feed relative to the numbers of Empids and possible prey present.
The observations were made in the evening. The prey collected consisted
of two indeterminate Chironomids, male and female, one female
Tanytarsus, and two male Pericoma. During feeding the front legs
appeared to be holding the prey, the other legs supported the Empid on
the leaf. Two ineffectual attacks were observed on a small Braconid.
The Empid appeared to see. the prey at a distance, walked towards it,
and then about half an inch away began to sway its body, reminiscent
of a cat about to spring, before darting at the Braconid. A similar
ineffectual attack was observed at a Psychodid. Aphids were numerous
under the leaves but none appeared to be attacked. Two aphids were
stalked but the Empids suddenly turned away and did not attack.
An aphid was being sucked by a Heteropteran bug (Anthocoris nemorum
L. det. R. Southwood).

The only other Hemerodromiid I have seen with prey was a female
Chelifera precatoria Fall. (2? without antennae) at Malham, Yorks.,
August 1952, on a tree leaf with a black Chironomus larger than itself.

The active predatory habits of the Hemerodromiinae are in contrast
to the habits shown by the Clinoceratinae, some of which feed on insects
which have fallen onto the surface of water (see Lindroth, C. H., 1931,
Die Insektenfauna Islands und ihre probleme, Zool. Bidr. Uppsala, 13).

I am much in debt to Mr. J. E. Collin who named the Empids.

COLEO Pidiilsa

Bronomics oF Mrarorcus paRapoxus L.—With reference to Mr. 8.
Wakely’s note concerning this wasp parasite in Ent. Rec. 64: 93 (March
1952) I was interested to read an account of the larval habits of this
beetle in Wood’s Insects at Home (1872, pp. 151-154) extracted from a
paper by S. Stone in Proc. ent. Soc. Lond., 2nd January 1865. Mr.
Stone’s observations are confirmed by the later studies of Dr. T. A.
Chapman, who is briefly referred to by E. Step in Bees, Wasps and Ants
(Lond. 1846, p. 41). The larvae apparently feed continuously, attain-
ing full growth within a few days. While the manner of feeding of the
larvae has been thoroughly described, what is less certain is how the
eggs or larvae are introduced into the wasps’ nests. Mr. Wakely says
that according to Fowler ‘‘eggs are laid in the autumn... . and it
was thought the larvae hatch in the spring ....’’ This cannot be
reconciled with E. Step’s statement that ‘‘its (the larva’s) progress from
hatching to pupa occupies only one week’’, unless the eggs do not hatch
until late in the summer as Stone found larvae in wasps’ nests during
August and early September. I have taken specimens of this interesting
bettle emerging from dug out wasps’ nests (Vespa vulgaris L.) at Ripple,
Worcestershire, on 15th August 1951. According to the countryman who
had been destroying these nests the creatures had been emerging for
several days past.—C. A. Coniincwoop, Aston under Hill, Evesham.
Worcs. 8.1x.53.

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 301

TRICHODES ALVEARIUS IF. In ENGLAND.—A _ specimen of this clerid
beetle, which is said to be parasitic on Osmia and Megachile bees, was
taken among peaches imported from Spain at Wyre Piddle, Worcester-
shire, in July 1953. T. G. Wood devotes a paragraph to this insect in
his book Insects at Home (1872) which, according to his Preface, is ‘‘an
account of the insects which inhabit England’’. This beetle, however, 1s
not described by Joy in his Handbook of British Beetles nor listed by
Kloet & Hincks in their Check List of British Insects, and there is little
doubt that the specimen obtained at Wyre was an alien.—C. A. CoLLINnG-
woop, Ashton under Hill. Evesham, Wores, 8.ix.53.

STRANGALIA AURULENTA Fas. In Devon.—Our attention has been
drawn to Mr. R. S. Ferry’s paper in Ent. Rec., 65: 26-28. We are
rather surprised to hear of his failure to find this beetle in Bickleigh
Vale in 1948; the upper part of the Vale is one of our favourite haunts
and S. aurulenta is a prominent enough insect there to impress itself
upon one’s attention. It seems that the larvae feed not so much on
newly felled trees, for the beetle is common in an area that was cleared
during the last war, but rather in the old logs with which the foresters
used to construct the roadways that were built to remove the timber.
We found a pair in cop. on one of these logs last Wednesday afternoon.

The late Dr. Stanley Kemp asked Mr. F. W. Jeffery for specimens
of this beetle; that was about ten years ago. They collected eight dur-
ing the course of two seasons but since then it seems to have become
commoner in Bickleigh Vale. Mr. Jeffery has also recorded single
specimens from North Tawton in central Devon and from the actual
city of Plymouth.—Davip Hare and Paut Jerrery, Plymouth. 11.viii.53.

Fifty Years Ago
(From The Entomolgist’?s Record of 1903.)

Oniscus anp AnTS.—On March 14th I had dug up my old nest [of
Formica rufa] as no ants had appeared this year. | tound the bulk of
the ants and several queens in a ball all joined together by mould,
which had probably killed them. There were no living ants, but the
remains of many were scattered about the nest, the work, I am inclined
to think, of the common wood-louse, of which there were great numbers
alive in the nest. This recalls to mind Mr. W. W. Smith’s note... on
the displacement of ants by woodlice in New Zealand. I think the
woodlice take the opportunity when the ants are hibernating to eat
them; they are evidently obnoxious to the ants, as | have written in
my note-book, on October 20th, 1901, ‘‘A common woodlouse came up on
to the hillock; it was attacked by two ants and killed’’.—H. Donis-
THORPE.

A LarvaL Prepator In Natau.—Charazes ethalion also has a terrible
enemy in the larval state in the shape of a small Mantis larva. This
butterfly, instead of being rather rare, would be one of our commonest
species, as the ova and young larvae can be found by hundreds in April
on certain small trees. After leaving them to grow in the natural state
upon their foodplant, I was surprised, in the season of 1901, to find only
single larvae here and there where there had been great numbers of

302 ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X/1953

both ova and young larvae. This season | determined to find out the
reason and marked down several young trees with hundreds of eggs
upon them. After they had hatched 1 watched every day and found
them getting less and less numerous, so | paid a visit by night with a
_lantern and then found the cause. On all the trees were several larvae
of a Mantis eating the young C. ethalion larvae for all they were worth.
This winter I have planted small trees in my garden and hope to breed
(. ethalion next year by protecting it in ‘sleeves’.—G. F. Leicu,
Durban.

Eeos Lai sy Lepipoptera.—Herr Gauckler of Carlsruhe sends us a
separatum ... in which he has brought together a large number of
statistics (nearly all from his own personal observation) of the average
numbers of eggs laid by various species of lepidoptera, and the average
percentages of moths bred. His general conclusion is that the smallest
numbers are laid by Rhopalocera (with some exceptions, however, such
as Pieris brassicae, Aporia crataegi, Colias edusa, Vanessids, etc.), then
follow the Sphingids, Geometrids, Bombycids (sens. lat.) and Noctuids,
individual females in the last two ‘‘families’’ sometimes yielding as
many as 800 ova. He considers that the Geometrids repay the breeder
best in the percentage of moths yielded.—J. W. Turrv.

Current Literature

Entomonogica, PHorograpHy IN Practice. By E. F. Linssen, F.Z.S.,
F.R.E.S., F.R.P.S. The Fountain Press. 32s 6d.

There are many entomologists who would welcome a book on insect
photography, and this volume, written by an author who is both expert
photographer and experienced naturalist, may prove to be of some
assistance to some of them. The scope of the book is wide, ranging from
stereoscopic work to photomicrography and embracing some elementary
Entomology, with notes on collecting and rearing specimens.

The majority of entomologists, however, will probably be disap-
pointed, for they will be looking for more guidance on the question of
the apparatus required and more detailed instruction and suggestions
as to the methods to be employed to overcome the problems inherent in
this branch of photography. The references to lighting are somewhat
confusing and there is little guidance on the arrangement and control
of subjects and on suitable backgrounds to be used when, as is gener-
ally the case, the insects have to be photographed at home.

The chapters on photographic technique are insufficient unless some
experience of photography is assumed, and they do not contain much
that a practical photographer would not know already or be able to
work out for himself. On the other hand the chapters on Entomology
yield little that an entomologist will not have learnt by experience or
from his standard reference books. In short, an entomologist wishing
to photograph insects will find that the book contains much that has
little bearing on his problems, to the exclusion of fuller information
that would be of assistance to him.

Finally the cost of the book seems to be excessive in relation to its
contents.

i i

APPENDIX. 305

APPENDIX

The Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell Collections of British
Lepidoptera

Remarks have been made during the last four years and are still
being made, which show that entomologists, even those who are on the
staff of the British Museum itself, have no idea how the Rothschild-
Cockayne-Kettlewell collection originated or on what authority it was
formed. In order to make this clear we are publishing the Agreement
between the Trustees of the British Museum and ourselves, which was
signed 10th May 1947.

An Agreement made the Tenth ae of May, One Thousand Nine
Hundred and Forty-seven, BETWEEN THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH
Museum (hereinafter led the Trustees) of the one part and Epwarp
ALFRED Cockayne of 8 High Street, Tring, in the County of Hertford,
a Registered Medical Practitioner, and Henry Bernarp Davis Kerrie-
WELL of Homefield, Cranleigh, in the County of Surrey, a Registered
Medical Practitioner (hereinafter called the Donors) of the other part.
Whereas 1—

(1) The Donors have each formed a collection of British Lepidoptera
which they have given to the Trustees.

(2) The Donors each intend to give to the Trustees during their re-
spective lifetimes such additional specimens of British Lepidoptera
as appear to them to merit addition to the collections which they
have given to the Trustees.

(3) It is intended that the collections which the Donors have given to
the Trustees shall be amalgamated with a collection of British
Lepidoptera now held by the Trustees and known as the Rothschild
British Collection in order to form together with such other speci-
mens of British Lepidoptera as may from time to time be added
thereto a single uniformly arranged collection to be named the
Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell Collection (hereinafter called the
joint collection).

(4) The Donors in making the said gift have expressed the’ wish that
no specimen be removed from the joint collection after their deaths.
And it is the intention of all parties hereto that no type specimens,
examples of gynandromorphism, homoeosis or industrial melanism
or any aberrations shall be removed from the joint collection at any
time.

Now IT IS HEREBY AGREED AND DECLARED as follows :—

1 (1) The Trustees shall permit the Donors to amalgamate the col-
lections which they have given to the Trustees with a collection
now held by the Trustees known as the Rothschild British Col-
lection so as to form one uniformly arranged collection display-
ing the variation and genetics of British Lepidoptera which
together, with such other specimens as may from time to time
be added thereto, shall be named the Rothschild-Cockayne-
Kettlewell Collection.

304

an
She!

(2)

(3)

(4)

ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15 /X /1953

The Trustees shall give the Donors all reasonable facilities for
carrying out such amalgamation.

The Trustees shall forthwith take steps to provide ten cabinets
of the J. J. Hill Unit System pattern uniform with those now
in use by the Donors to enable the Donors to begin the work
of amalgamation and shall from time to time provide such
further cabinets as shall reasonably be required by the Donors
for the purposes of the said work.

The Trustees shall cause the Keeper of the Department of En-
tomology to make available for incorporation in the Rothschild-
Cockayne-Kettlewell Collection such specimens at present con-
tained in other collections of British Lepidoptera already the
property of the Trustees as may add materially to the value
and usefulness of the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection.

In connection with the said amalgamation the Trustees shall cause
the tollowing work to be done :—

(1)

(2)

(3)
(4)

(1)

(2)

The preparation of a detailed catalogue of the joint collection
attributing each specimen to its original source and to its donor
and the Trustees shall give consideration to the possibility of
printing it when it is complete or at some other convenient
time.

The preparation and maintenance of a Register in which shall
be recorded the names of donors of specimens to the joint col-
lection other than the Donors, together with the particulars
of their gifts.

The publication from time to time of the entries in such Regis-
ter in one or other of the entomological journals.

The labelling of each of the specimens in the joint collection
showing the name of the collection from which the specimen
is derived.

The Trustees shall, subject to their Regulations for the time
being in force governing the making of loans of exhibits, per-
mit the Donors to borrow from the joint collection from time
to time for the purposes of study, exhibition or otherwise, such
specimens as the Donors require.

Until the amalgamation of the said collections is completed the
Trustees shall not without the consent of the Donors lend to
any person any specimen forming part thereof.

The Trustees shall permit the Donors to publish descriptions and
illustrations of any specimens in the joint collection which the
Donors deem desirable to be published in the interests of science.

In Witness whereof the Srat of the British Museum has been here-

unto affixed and the Donors have hereunto set their hands and seals
the day and year first above written.

The Seat of the British Museum was hereunto affixed in the pres-
ence of

Crawford, Trustee.
Tichester, Trustee.

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED by the said Edward Alfred Cockayne.

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED by the said Henry Bernard Davis Kettle-
well.

EK. A. Cockayne, H. B. D. Kettlewell.

idl bi

SUPPLEMENT TO
Ture Enromonocist’s Record AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
OcToBEeR 1953 (VoLUME 65) .

PROBLEMS OF SPECIATION IN THE
GENUS EREBIA

BY B.C. 5S; WARREN; F:R-E.S:

hus. 8 AP. 7p ne 2p |
LigRERY

NOW 9 1953

| RARVARD

UNIVERSITY

2 SUPPLEMENT TO THF ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 65, No. 10.

Problems of Speciation in the Genus Erebia
By B. C. S. Warren, F.R.E.S.

Some years ago my friend Prof. Z. Lorkovic consulted me on the
identity of two new races of Hrebia that he had discovered; one in the
Durmitor mountains (Montenegro), the other from the Julian Alps. He
suggested the former to be a race of EF. cassioides, the latter one of FE.
tyndarus. From his photographs I was inclined to think the position
reversed. Later, he gave me some specimens from the Julian Alps, and
examination of these confirmed my previous impression, so far as that
race was concerned. Recently, Prof. Lorkovic informed me (1.1), that
his identification of these races had been confirmed by examination of
the female genitalia, and that, on the same ground, he considered the
races hispania, goya and rondowi to constitute a species distinct from
E. tyndarus. His Durmitor race he holds to be close to E. tyndarus
macedonica, and connects the latter with EH. cassioides transylvaniensis.
He further stated that the chromosome count demonstrates that poly-
ploidy has taken place in the hispania-group of races, confirming their
separation as specifically distinct from H. tyndarus. In this, however,
he seems to be relying on the race of the Julian Alps as ‘“‘tyndarus’’ ;
but if my view that it is a race of EH. cassio1des chanced to be correct,
this would place a totally different interpretation on his data. Mauch,
therefore, depends on the taxonomic value attaching to the female struc-
tural characters, and my previous investigations into these had left no
doubt in my mind that in this groups of races these characters were
valueless, so far as speciation was concerned. Prof. Lorkovic is pub-
lishing a paper on his work; had he kept me informed I would gladly
have given him the photographs accompanying this paper, which might
have inclined him to take a different view. As it is, the lack of ac-
curate information on the subject necessitates their publication now.
The present paper refers to the tyndarus and cassioides race-groups
only; though from what I have seen similar conditions prevail in some
other groups also. In the female structures the sclerotized parts of the
8th sternum, known as the ‘‘genital plate’’, provide the characters that
are usually of most taxonomic value; it is recognized, however, that
they are extremely variable. In spite of this there seems to be an idea
that, in the group under consideration, a specific type of formation char-
acterizes each species. This is a complete misconception. In actual
fact there exists in each race, not one type, but two or even three types
of formation; all of extreme variability; though most frequently these
types segregate quite sharply. It will be shown that these complemen-
tary types of one race can appear severally, in another combination of
types, in other races. This transmutation of type affects each race in
these groups, so most types (? all) are representative of two species.
If the hispania race-group is proved to constitute a distinct species, then

PROBLEMS OF SPECIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA. 3

some types will be linked to three species; and probably more, if one
were to extend one’s researches into the KH. cullias and E. dromulus
groups. It is impossible to convey any idea of these fluctuating types
in words. They must be illustrated to be appreciated. This is best done
by photography, which gives a realistic impression of the individuality
of formation and size of each specimen. The dual, or triple lines of de-
velopment are apparent in the central process of the genital plate. This
process can have plain or crenulated edges, vary endlessly in size, especi-
ally in width, and the development of the distal arms may be convergent,
divergent or parallel; occasionally they disappear. In reading the fol-
lowing notes it must be kept in mind that every feature mentioned
varies in practically every individual. I have no idea of the relative
frequency of occurrence of the various types. It would need the dissec-
tion of many scores of specimens of each race to get anything approach-
ing a true conception of this. FE. cassioides cassioides (figs. 1, 2). Type
1, short, diverging, distal arms, springing from narrow base, appears
in FH. tyndarus tyndarus (12 and 16, the latter seems to be a variant of
8, many other variants exist), also in FE. tyndarus semimurina (4); type
2, a featureless type, but losing none of the variability, especially in
size, appears in EF. tyndarus semimurina (3).

KH. cassioides murina (figs. 5, 7, 10). Type 5, massive base, slightly
curved, distal arms, passes into type 7, can have crenulated edges,
appears in HL. tyndarus tyndarus (8), E. tyndarus hispania (21), E. cas-
sioides Julian race (24); type 10, massive, slightly diverging, distal arms,
appears in EF. cassioides transylvaniensis (26), E. cassioides carmenta
(11), H. tyndarus tyndarus (12).

FE. cassioides carmenta (a 3-type race, figs. 6, 9, 11). Type 6, crenu-
lated edges, variant of formations appearing in FE. cassioides murina (7)
and EF. cassioides Julian race (24), in E. tyndarus tyndarus (8), EH. tyn-
darus hispania (21) and E. tyndarus goya (not shown); type 9, crenu-
late edges, thin, distal arms of all lengths, appears in E. cassioides
murima with half-length arms (not shown); type 11, stunted with diverg-
ing arms, appears in H#, tyndarus tyndarus (12).

E. cassioides dolomitensis (figs. 18, 19). Type 19, with long, diverg-
ing, distal arms, appears in EF. tyndarus tyndarus (16) and EK. tyn-
darus macedonica (22); type 18, a stunted variant of E. cassioides
murina (10) and F#. cassioides Julian race (17), shows the solitary, cen-
tral perforation on left side of process, that appears in the Julian race
(24) and FH. cassioides murina (not shown) and EH. tyndarus goya fre-
quently. The size of type 18 is interesting when compared with that
of type 17. The latter came from a specimen twice as large as that
from which type 18 was taken.

E. cassioides transylvaniensis (fig. 26). A massif type similar to E£.
cassioides murina (10), the second type is slighter with curved, short,
convergent, distal arms, appearing in EZ. tyndarus tyndarus, a variant
of (8).

E. cassioides Julian race (figs. 17, 24). Type 24 with thin, slightly
converging, distal arms, appears in E. tyndarus hispania (21), E. tyn-
darus rondoui (15) and, E. cassioides carmenta (6). The marke pee

tral, solitary perforation on the left edge appears, as noted, fre fas, C coh,
in E. tyndarus goya. Type 17, massive and stunted, appearsjin LE. iDHAL

cassioides dolomitensis (18) and EH. cassioides carmenta (11).

ny

Me rate pp

G
s £ “

4 SUPPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 65, No. 10.

E. tyndarus macedonica (a 3-type race, figs. 13, 14, 22). Type 14,
long in proportion to its width, crenulated edges and short, parallel,
distal arms, appears in EF. tyndarus rondowi (15), E. tyndarus goya
(20); type 13, a remarkable, narrow type, solid at the distal extremity,

appears in EL. tyndarus goya in both widths illustrated; type 22, very
“massive compared with the other types, with long, diverging, distal
arms, appears in E. cassioides dolomitensis (19). 3

FE. tyndarus goya (a 3-type race, figs. 20, 23). Type 20, as mentioned,
appears in H. tyndarus macedonica and E. tyndarus rondoui; type 23, a
strangely spider-like type, with little body, seems unique (so far as my
present researches go); the third type assumes the solid termination
as in H. tyndarus macedonica (13), this appears in widths similar to
both types 20 and 23.

Kk. tyndarus rondow (fig. 15). This type has already been men-
tioned, the second type takes the formation as in EH. tyndarus semi-
murina (4).

E. tyndarus hispania (fig. 21). I have only had one specimen of this
race to examine, so do not know what formation the complementary
type assumes.

To recapitulate briefly: the FE. tyndarus tyndarus formations appear
in EH. cassioides cassioides, murina, carmenta, dolomitensis and E. tyn-
darus hispania ; those of EF. tyndarus macedonica in FE. tyndarus rondoui,
goya and E. cassioides dolomitensis; those of E. tyndarus semimurina in
E. cassioides cassioides; those of E. cassioides Julian race in F#. tyndarus
rondour and hispania and E. cassioides dolomitensis; those of H. tyn-
darus goya in E. tyndarus macedomca, and EH. cassioides carmenta and
the Julian race; those of EH. cassioides carmenta in E. tyndarus tyn-
darus, hispania and goya. It is scarcely necessary to point out that no
one type, or combination of types, will separate the tyndarus and cas-
sioides race-groups as a whole; or even the goya-rondouwi combination
from either group, for the three types of EH. tyndarus macedonica link
them with both groups—macedonica 13 to goya; 14 to rondowi and 22
to EH. cassiotdes dolomitensis; and a variant of goya 20 assumes the
formation of E. cassioides carmenta 6. One need not labour the point;
such features are but racial fluctuations, inconstant as the superficial
facies of the races in which they occur. The only logical deduction that
could be drawn from them would be that all tyndarws-cassioides races
were conspecific. This, however, we know is not the case. These ever-
changing developments of the genital plate are not in any way corre-
lated to the phylogenetic race groups indicated by the male genitalia.
So much is incontestable. The signa and spermatophores are at times
of taxonomic value, but in this group there is no appreciable difference
here either. As, unfortunately, these species do not develop andro-
conial scales, we have to rely on the male genitalia for morphological
data bearing on speciation. Little need be said on this point. The LH.
cassioides group of races, differ from the EF. tyndarus group in the
strongly-developed shoulder to the claspers. This is seen at its greatest
development in the races transcaucasica and murina. In all races there
is variation in the degree of development of the shoulder, and in such
races as EH. cassioides cassioides, dolomitensis and swbcassioides it~ de-
creases, attaining a tyndarus-like form in the extreme examples. For
this reason IT did not separate the two species in my book, not having

5 (OctToBeR 1953)

a
~

SuPpPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S REcoRD, Vou. 6

By B. C. S. Warren.

AS

PROBLEMS OF SPECIATION IN THE GENUS FEREBI

=|

PROBLEMS OF SPECIATION IN THE GENUS ERFBIA. 2)

the incontestable proof that was only discovered many years later. Fig.
25 shows the male genitalia of the Julian insect. Such a specimen could
only be EF. cassioides: no such formation has ever been seen in any race
of E. tyndarus. Over the last 30 years I have examined many scores
of specimens, and was able to draw on the experience and notes of the
late Dr. Chapman and the late Prof. Reverdin, both of whom made
really extensive researches into this question. I have only examined
four specimens of the Julian race, but of this small number a second
gave a slightly different, but equally typical cassioides-formation, the
remaining two showing less pronounced forms, often seen in typical
FE. cassioides cassioides.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.
Variation in genital plate of female in Hrebia species of the tyndarus
and cassioides groups. All photos x18.

. cassioides cassioides, Hohe Tauern, Carinthia.

. cassioides cassioides, Hohe Tauern, Carinthia.

tyndarus semimurina, Kandersteg district, Bernese Oberland
tyndarus semimurina, Kandersteg district, Bernese Oberland
cassioides murina, Gavarnie, Pyrenees.

cassioides carmenta, Six Jeur, Valais.

cassioides murina, Grammont, Valais.

tyndarus tyndarus, Taeschtal, Valais.

cassioides carmenta, Flégére, Chamonix Valley.

cassioides murina, Rochers des Naye, Vaud.

cassioides carmenta, Col des Montets, Chamonix Valley.
tyndarus tyndarus, Rosegtal, Engadine.

tyndarus macedonica, Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria.
tyndarus macedonica, Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria.
tyndarus rondoui, Pyrenees.

tyndarus tyndarus, Simplon Pass. Valais.

cassioides, race from Julian Alps.

cassioides dolomitensis, Karer Pass, Dolomites.

cassioides dolomitensis, Cisles Tal, Dolomites.

tyndarus goya Canigou, Pyrenees.

3 . tyndarus hispania, Andalusia.
22. tyndarus macedonica, Rhodope Mountains. Bulgaria
2,3}. tyndarus goya. Canigou, Pyrenees.
Q4. . cassioides, race of Julian Alps.

. Cassioiaes, race of Julian Alps, male genitalia
. cassioides transylvaniensis, Retyezat Mountains

SSHBTAME SSE SOMAANR we

Photos B.C. S. Warren

As to the hispania group of races; anatomically they are indistin-
guishable from the tyndarus group. The chromosome number may solve
the question, but the discovery of the Julian race of FH. cassioides, proves
that an eastern and a western race of that species have slightly different
chromosome numbers; the Julian race 8, and EH. cassioides murina 10.
It cannot be held that there are sufficient physiological differences be-
tween these races to accept a difference of 2 in the chromosome number
as an indication that the cassioides races divide into two species. The
possibility of polyploidy appearing in hispania remains, but short of
this it does not seem that much help can be derived from the chromo-
somes. The early stages are the most probable source of useful informa-
tion. Prof. Lorkovic has been breeding many tyndarus and cassioides
races, including the Balkan races and the western rondoui. If the

6 SUPPLEMENT TO THE ENTOMOLOGIS?T’S RECORD. von. 65. No. 10.

latter is a species distinct from KH. tyndarus, this fact should be obvious,
and no further support would be necessary. But will the early stages
of hispania agree with those of rondowi or tyndarus?
Concerning the race of the Durmitor mountains, J have not had any
specimens to examine. Prof. Lorkovic tells me this race is close to FE.
‘tyndarus macedonica, which seems natural enough, but this provides
no reason for connecting the latter with EH. cassioides transylvaniensis,
which morphologically, is a very marked cassioides race; and mace-
donica is an equally marked tyndarus race. To turn to the female
structures of course only confuses the question, and whatever the chro-
mosome numbers may be in these two races, it will make no difference ;
even if they are identical in both, this could not be held to unite two
such, anatomically, distinct races as conspecific; Prof. Lorkovic has
shown in the past that many distinct species of Hrebia have identical
chromosome numbers. A slight difference in the numbers between HL.
tyndarus tyndarus and macedonica, would be of little importance either.

Whatever facts are obtained from the early stages, they will have to
be of sufficient importance to be independent of morphological support,
if they are to justify further subdivision of the tyndarus race group.

IT cannot but regret that Prof. Lorkovic should have published his
paper, without having cognisance of the facts relative to the female
structures that are set out in this paper. However, even if this has
led him to some unsound conclusions, the data he has derived from the
early stages will remain as a basis for future work.

—MICROSCOPES & ACCESSORIES

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SOUTH AMERICAN INSECTS

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BUTTERFLIES.

PAYABLE IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Apply to Senor F. H. WALZ

Reconquista 453, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EXCHANGES AND WANTS

Wanted.—Volume LVI (1944) of The Entomologist’s Record (unbound).—H: W.
Andrews, Spring Cottage, Smugglers’ Lane, Higheliffe, Christchurch, Hants.

Wanted.—Volume XV (1903) of The Entomologist’s Record, in parts as. issued.
£1 offered.—F. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road, St Albans, Herts.

Wanted.—We are still in. need of copies of our issue of January 1951 and July-
August 1951. If any of our readers have spare copies for disposal we shall
be glad to buy them back.—I’. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road, St. Albans,
Herts.

For Sale.—Some solid Pine Storeboxes (re-conditioned) and some post-war ones
of deal with plywood bottoms. 14” x 10”, 10s. each; 16” x 11”, 15s. each;
17” x 114”, 20s. each. Full details from A. C. R. Redgrave, Hartsdown, Glen-
field Avenue, Bitterne, Southampton.

For Sale.—Assorted sizes of second-hand Storeboxes for sale.—For full details
apply to P. G. Baker, Lawn End, Grangecourt Road, Harpenden, Herts.

THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD
AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
(Founded by J. W. TUTT on 15th April 1890).

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R-E:S.
Assistant Editor: P. B. M. ALLAN, M.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.E.S.

Treasurer: A. C. R. REDGRAVE. |

Publicity und Advertisements: F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road,

St. Albans, Herts.

The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:
Lepidoptera: S. N. A. JACOBS, F.R.E.S., Dr. H. B. WILLIAMS, Q.C.,
LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., F.R.E.S. ;
Coleoptera: A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc.; Diptera: E. C. M. d’ASSIS-
FONSECA, F.R.E.S. Business: P. SIVITER SMITH, F.R.E:S.

CONTENTS
DYSSTROMA TRUNCATA HUFN. SSP. CONCINNATA STEPH. BEA:
Cockayne ae 273
OBSERVATIONS ON REARING AMATHES DEPUNCTA L. D. A. B. Mac:

nicol a5 aw me ee: 275
MELANISM IN TETHEA OCULARIS L i. & Husain Sue bs 277
NOTES ON THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE NORTH KENT MARSHES. ‘D. Pr.

Owen se is ai ry. 278
DOES CHARAXES JASIUS L. OccuR IN TURKEY? M. ee ie 280
A NEW HYBRID RACE OF THE GENUS PHILOSAMIA. W. J. B. Croteh 281
IN A DEVON GARDEN. E. Barton White Se seg ae se oa = 282
SOME AUCTION SALES OF THE ’NINETIES ... ae 1 ae ig 285
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. H. C. Huggins ... ae oe eo se 287
NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA, 1952-53. F. M. B. Carr. rie a 288
OBSERVATIONS ON HEMERODROMIA UNILINEATA. Bo Re aiierenee ee 299
APPENDIX: THE ROTHSCHILD-COCKAYNE-KETTLEWELL COLLEC-

TIONS. E. A. Cockayne ae 4 ; 303

SUPPLEMENT: PROBLEMS OF SPECIATION IN THE GENUS EREBIA Wee
PLATE). B. C. S. Warren.

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305

Thalera fimbrialis Scopoli in England
The Discovery of Wild Larvae
By H. B. D. Kerrrewei, M.B., B.Ch.

On 7th August 1952 I visited Dungeness, Kent, in the hope of get-
ting a late 2 of this species. I was unsuccessful, however, and re-
cords have shown that in this year they were on the wing as early as
June.

On my last day I collected random samples of the heads of yarrow,
Achillea millefolium, trom a small area of the Ness. These were care-
fully cut and lifted into a wooden box. As this box was less than one
foot square it stands to reason that only a few heads were taken, pro-
bably in the region of one hundred. The following day they were placed
in a wooden cheese box and a bottle containing fresh millefoliwn was
placed in the middle. The whole was covered by a muslin square; this
is essential treatment as mould must be avoided at all costs.

In a few hours I commenced to find very small (second instar) larvae
which could be recognised as ‘ Emeralds ’ because of their notched
heads. Their colour was green. They had a peculiar habit of vibrat-
ing their bodies at high speed when disturbed and I used this effec-
tively in finding them. Altogether seventeen were recovered. At the
same time I picked up two larvae of Hupithecia millefoliata Ross.

The fimbrialis were transferred into glass-topped tins and fresh
millefolium was given them each day. They grew rapidly throughout
August, and when about 34-inch long in early September they changed
their colour rather rapidly to reddish brown.

On 21st September they were all transferred to a large wooden
cheese box which had been previously planted out with millefoliwm
and grass. A muslin dome supported by wooden struts was placed over
this and a slit some six inches long was made in this to act as an obser-
vation window. On this date the box was transferred to Major Col-
lier’s keeping, to whose subsequent success I am greatly indebted. It
was placed in a cool greenhouse facing south but was in partial shade
by the plants he grew near-by.

Major Collier kept record of all his observations throughout the
winter and spring and he watered the yarrow about once a week, vary-
ing according to the season. He reported that in the first week a large
number of predators, such as ‘‘ spiders and dipterous larvae ’’, became
apparent in the box, and in our opinion they were responsible for the
disappearance of many of the larvae. This, of course, is avoidable
and the whole box should have been submerged in water for twenty-
four hours before the introduction of the larvae. The highest num-
ber of fimbrialis counted after the 23rd of the month was five. On
22nd October he reported that they had taken up hibernation posi-
tions and that two of them had not moved for two weeks and were
‘rigid and straight on dead fronds of millefolium ”’.

On 10th March they had left their hibernation positions and by
the 24th he noted that two were feeding, growing and green in colour.
He also made the important observation that they spent a great deal
of their time sitting on grass. On 8th April one was taking up posi-
tion for its last ecdysis and both attained full growth in May. They

NEC 8 1953

306 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL, 65. 15/ XT / 1953

pupated on the 24th and the 25th of the month respectively. One
imago hatched on 29th June.

I think this is the first record of the species being successfully reared

in this country though others have succeeded in overwintering them
only to die near full growth.
On 2nd June this year J went to Dungeness with the ode
that I had seen full-grown larvae of fimbrialis in captivity. The first
day I visited the identical patches of millefolium from which I had pre-
viously taken my samples. I found that very few of these were en-
tirely free from grass growing among them. On one of these I found
two full-grown larvae sitting on the base of the yarrow fronds. They
were extremely difficult to see. I then concentrated my efforts on this
patch, which was about two square yards in extent, and each leaf was
picked separately; no further larvae were found here, however. Later
on I repeated this with two further patches both with grass growing
amongst them, spending about 24 hours per patch. On no occasion
did 1 find a larva after the first half-hour and I came to the conclu-
sion that, though difficult to see, they are not overlooked if a concen-
trated effort is made. Subsequently four other larvae were found and
some of them were sitting on the grasses and were unbelievably diffi-
cult to pick out. I think this is the normal habit of the larva. Two
of them had their pink dorsal stripe missing which undoubtedly con-
tributed to their downfall, and I am of the opinion that a colour-blind
person might find the normal larva more easily than I did. The
yarrow sometimes shows signs of the presence of a larva by the last
inch or more being partially cut through so that it hangs down slightly
withered.

I found the larvae over a considerable area of the Ness, and con-
sidering the large amount of suitable ground left untouched by me
IT came to the conclusion that the total population might be quite high.
Two of the larvae were feeding in the shade of a willow tree. Seve-
ral night expeditions were made to the Ness using both electric torch
beam and paraffin vapour lamps, but no larvae were found by this
method. ; ;

J handed over the six larvae to Dr. Cockayne, who blew two of
them; one, a male, emerged 14th July and a second male 25th July;
one died. Three of the larvae pupated quite high up on the yarrow,
hut | doubt if this is a usual habit. The pupa is a pale amber with
conspicuous black markings and is enclosed in a frail cocoon.

[t would appear therefore that the larva is easily acquired before
hibernation (but not after), and by taking random samples of the
millefoiitum in the late summer from localities (I would suggest the
Crumbles at Eastbourne) we may be able to learn more about the true
range of this insect on the South Coast.

[Three more larvae were found later by Messrs. H. S. Robinson,
Robin Mere, and A. L. Goodson. Mr. Goodson says that the larva is
difficult to find because there are innumerable little plants of yarrow
growing amongst a tangled mass of grass all over the breeding ground.
Many food-plants are given in books, including thyme and birch, but
the only reference I have seen describing the finding of wild larvae is
one I found in the winter of 1952 after Dr. Kettlewell had discovered

THALERA FIMBRIALIS SCOPOLI IN ENGLAND. 507

the young larvae. Boldt (Int. ent. Z., 1929, 23, 273) found larvae in
Germany, after over-wintering, half grown on Achillea millefolium and
Itumex acetosella.—K, A. Cockayne, Tring.]_

Description of the Larva
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

The larva is long, slender, and smooth, tapering a little towards
the head. The head is dark red and bifid with unusually long sharp
spikes even for an ‘ Emerald ’; the spikes or spinous processes are red
externally and green in front and behind; on the prothorax are two
more long spinous processes, green with the distal half red. The thorax
has a narrow dorsal red stripe; the abdomen has an uninterrupted
broad red dorsal stripe ending just before it reaches the anal plate;
the anal plate is large, hard, and curved slightly downwards ending in
a rather long spine, red in colour. On each side of the red dorsal
stripe is a yellowish green one and outside that the whole surface is
darker green and without markings even on the venter. On the lateral
aspect of the somite carrying the first pair of prolegs and running its
whole length is a dark red streak, horizontal, and pointed at each end.
The legs are dark red, the prolegs green, and the spiracles are green.

Two larvae. not found near together, had a dark green dorsal stripe
on the thorax and abdomen replacing the dark red one, but the head,
the external aspect of the spinous processes, the distal half of the pro-
thoracic spinous processes, the legs, the streak on the lateral aspect
of the abdominal somite carrying the first pair of prolegs, and the tip
of the anal spine were dark red as in the normal form of the larva.

Description of the Pupa
By C. N. Hawkins.

A few days ago Dr. Cockayne very kindly sent me pupae of various
species and amongst them were four examples of Thalera fimbrialis
Scop. of which he asked me to give a brief description. Unfortunately
the specimens are not in good condition, one (dehisced, 3) had been
broken across the abdomen (possibly in the post) and the other three
(dead, 2 ¢d, 1 Q) are more or less shrunken, mouldy and distorted
and all have had their anal armature damaged. In the circumstances
I am afraid the following description cannot be regarded as very reli-
able, at any rate ag to measurements.

Superficially, the pupa in shape and markings appears rather simi-
lar to that of Jodis lactearia L. but of course is considerably larger.
Kxcluding the cremastral spines (hooks) the total length would seem
to be about 12 mm.-in the dg and slightly more in the 9 ; the greatest
width is about 4 mm. at the fourth abdominal somite. The whole sur-
face is finely rugose and the colour is buff with the maxillae, shafts
of the antennae, tibiae of the 2nd pair of legs (which are small and
narrow compared with those of the first pair), the interneural spaces
on the wings, a line down the middle of the dorsum from the head to
the 8th or 9th abdominal somite (faint on the forward half of the meso-
thorax), a row of more or less connected blotches along the line of the
spiracles on each side, a spot on the front of the head between the bases

308 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL, 69, 15/X1/1953

of the shafts of the antennae, the usual seta-bearing tubercles (which
are rather prominent and bear curved buff coloured setae, one on each)
and a double row of fairly large spots on the ventral surface of abdo-
minal segments 5 to 8 at about the lines of the larval prolegs, black or
very dark brown contrasting strongly with the general ground colour.
The anal spike is rather long and slender with concave sides at the
base and then tapering evenly to a blunt point; the dorsal surface of
this spike is strongly rugose and the ventral surface bears a number of
rugose ridges radiating outwards from the base towards the sides and
end. The cremastral armature appears to consist of four pairs of fairly
long and strong hooked spines, two pairs right on the blunt tip of the
anal spike one pair dorsad of the other, another pair situate on the
-sides of the anal spike a little way forward of. the two terminal pairs,
and the fourth pair also situate on the sides of the spike about the
same distance further forward. The anal spike is about 1} mm. in
length and the cremastral spines are concentrated into about } mm.
at the extreme end.

Nola albula Schiff. at Chattenden

By H. C. Hueerns.

In his most interesting article on the larva of N. albula in the
Record (65: 247) Mr. Symes says that he does not know if the moth still
survives at Chattenden Roughs, in North Kent. I regret to say that
it does not, unless it has re-colonized the wood, and its old locality
there is completely destroyed, although ulbula had been exterminated
a dozen years before.

I first visited Chattenden in 1900. The woods were at that time
preserved for sport and insects, more especially the latter, by the late
Earl of Darnley (the famous cricketer, the Hon. Ivo Bligh). N. albula
was already practically extinct; both it and Siona lineata Scop.
(dealbata L.) were found only in an open plantation of ash-stools in
the lower part of the wood, and I believe they had never been found
elsewhere by collectors since collecting began there.

Lord Darnley and his predecessors kept this plantation in Ns
proper condition for the moths by cutting out all poles directly they
reached a height of twenty feet, and the stools were on an average
thirty feet apart. The ground between was covered with long grass,
dewberry, small dog-roses and many flowers, and being thus sheltered
but open to sun and air was an ideal place for insects. In addition to
albula and lineata, Cybosia mesoinella L., Parasemia plantaginis L.,
Diacrisia sannio L., and Lygephila pastinum Tr. were there.

I was a young schoolboy at the time and was not allowed to stay
late in July, when albula flew. In 1902 the keeper, Peek, showed me
three larvae he had succeeded in finding for the present Lord Darnley
(then Lord Clifton) who was making a small collection of moths found
on the estate, and took me to the place and showed me how to look on
the underside of small dewberry leaves near the ground. However,
neither he nor I found any more and to the best of my knowledge no
others were ever found there. Two of the three larvae were successfully
bred and taken to Lord Clifton at Cobham Hall.

Peek told me these were the only larvae he had found since 1900,
but he caught a moth in 1901 which his wife set (incidentally scratching

NOTES ON BREEDING EUPLAGIA QUADRIPUNCTARIA PODA. 309

a big hole in one wing) which he gave me to console me as we found no
larvae. I believe these were the only albula taken at Chattenden in the
20th Century. I still have mine as a curiosity.

During the 1914-1918 war the plantation was left to look after
itself and when I visited it a few years later it was a thick wood with
no undergrowth, quite unsuitable for any of the old insects.

I think it may be regarded as almost a certainty that albula
colonises this country from abroad. I do not think it was found after
it disappeared from Chattenden until the ’thirties. In the ’tens and
*twenties it was always referred to as extinct, and many of its present
haunts are near the sea. It is most unlikely that a moth with a habit
of flying to any light such as albula would have been overlooked for
thirty years, particularly by men like Eustace Bankes, who lived in the
centre of one group of its present localities.

I may mention that its curious localisation at Chattenden was men-
tioned to me by A. B. Farn, one of its earliest captors, who told me he
never saw it outside the plantation.

Notes on Breeding Euplagia quadripunctaria
Poda

By J. L. ATKINSON.

I obtained some five dozen larvae from two small batches of eggs
laid by two females taken on ivy at Paignton, Devon, last year early
in August (Hnt. Rec. 1952. 64: 322). These eggs commenced hatch-
ing on 15th August, having been ten days in the egg stage. The larvae
were placed in two glass-topped tins and fed on ivy, honeysuckle,
groundsel and raspberry, and occasionally nettle. I kept the larvae
indoors in these two tins until I left Paignton for Tankerton, Kent, in
the first week of September.

At home I was able to give them more space and used small glass
breeding-cages for some, with the foodplant in water, whilst the rest
were still kept in the tins, about a dozen in each.

On the 19th December I had to return to Paignton again and was
obliged to leave the larvae to look after themselves. At this time they
had not gone into complete hibernation and were still feeding occa-
sionally. The yellow-orange stripe on the back was now clearly in
evidence in the larger larvae. I did not return to Tankerton until
10th March 1953 and I then found some 3 dozen larvae still alive with
marked differences in sizes, some being half an inch long whilst
others were not much more than a quarter of an inch. Those in the
tins with much moisture from the decayed foodplant seemed to be the
fittest. It seems evident that there had been some cannibalism as I
could not find many dead larvae in the tins or cages. I transferred
about half the larvae to growing foodplants (groundsel and raspberry
in flowerpots) but continued to supply honeysuckle every few days.

On 10th April I again left for Paignton and returned on the 18th
to find the larvae still doing very well although a few had died or
escaped or been eaten by the others. The total remaining was now 30.

On 22nd May several started to spin up amongst moss and dead
leaves at the base of the foodplant in the flowerpots and in the tins.
The first pupa appeared at the end of May and by 12th June there
were 26 in all, four larvae having failed to make the change.

310 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von, 65. 15 / XT /1953

The first imago, a female, emerged on 15th July, followed by three
more °@ the next day. By the 24th July 24 moths had emerged, the
sexes being about equal. There were 4 crippled insects and one with
three wings only, the right hind wing being entirely missing. One male
was the form lutescens.

Of the 6 pupae which did not result in moths four were evidently
about to do so as the colours of the wings were very clearly visible
through the pupa-case. I put these failures down to the fact that the
sun’s rays penetrated to the cage and must have shone directly on
these particular pupae.

I kept a series of ten for my cabinet and released the remainder
on the honeysuckle in my garden, but I have little hopes of seeing
any larvae there next year as there is no lush undergrowth beneath the
honeysuckle, which is a very old bush (thirty years or more) at the edge
of a lawn by a concrete path. Moreover, Tankerton is north of
Lat. 51°, and on the Continent EH. quadripunctaria does not quite reach
that latitude.

An Entomologist in Argentina

I]. Buenos Aires and La Rioja
By Kenneto J. Haywarp, D.Sc.(Hon.)., F.R.E.S.

After leaving the Chaco Santafecino of which a short account has
been given in a previous issue, I spent about eighteen months in Buenos
Aires, where my collecting was confined to occasional visits to the low-
lying ground near the river at Palermo, a somewhat unsavoury area
covered with squatters’ shacks but where a little woodland and scrub-
covered waste still remained, and to one or two excursions to a small
strip of virgin forest at Punta Lara near La Plata or to the Delta islands
at Tigre. Both the forest and the islands were interesting as they
occasionally provided a surprise in the shape of some insect more pro-
perly associated with Misiones or south-eastern Brazil which had un-
doubtedly been brought south on the floating camalote or water hyacinth,
large rafts of which in time of flood frequently break away from their
original anchorage in some ‘tranquil backwater and come drifting down-
stream, often transporting members of the smaller fauna, especially
snakes. It was probably by this means that Morpho catenarius
argentinus arrived at Punta Lara where it is now firmly established.
the most austral home of any Morpho, a butterfly whose larvae live
eregariously on Inga uruguensis, so resembling its red flowers that they
may easily be overlooked.

Although my field work was restricted, I was able to attend the
meetings of the Argentine Entomological Society that had been formed
some three years previously and especially those friendly unofficial meet-
ings that they held from time to time for conversation and exchange
of insects. Thus I came to know intimately all of that small band
of enthusiasts who in those days comprised the entomologists of Argen-
tina, especially the brothers Breyer to whose friendship and unwavering
support I was to owe so much in the years ahead, a friendship which
eventually enabled me to throw off the thraldom of mechanics and de-
vote my life to entomology.

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA. el

When [I had been about a year in Buenos Aires, Adolfo Breyer asked
me if IT would in my spare time look after his collection of beetles and
also help him with his extensive archaeological collection of stone and
pottery artefacts pertaining to the Indian civilisation of the time of
the Diaguitas, a civilisation that perished about the middle of the
seventeenth century when the Spanish conquistadores subjugated the
Chalchaqui and Quilmes, the two last tribes to offer them resistance. A
few months later he suggested that I give up my engineering job and go
and live with him for a while on one of their country properties.

The Estancia Santa Rosa, better known as Guayapa from the Indian
name of the locality where the main buildings were situated, was of
about fifty thousand acres in extent and lay near Patquia on the
western edge of the central plains of the province of La Rioja. Like all
the surrounding country it was sandy, the monotony of its flatness being
here and there relieved by low dunes and by the deeply eroded gullies
and dry river beds gouged out of the soft soil by the run-off water
from the torrential storms that now and again struck the district. The
vegetation was mainly low xerophilous scrub, especially jarila (Larrea
spp.), with a great deal of mesquite and cactus and there were large
areas of open forest where amongst the scattered: trees the white
quebracho predominated. In places the land was completely devoid
of any vegetation, its surface sun-baked and cracked, whilst in a corner
of the estancia there was a wide shallow depression containing a salt
marsh with its typical flora of Chenopodiaceae, the ground covered with
a thick layer of sodium chloride that looked like snow.

After rainfall the desert aspect would for a time change, the forest
becoming green with the lush grasses whose seed had long lain dormant,
and there would be a plethora of small flowering plants. In spring the
scrub was brightened by the yellow flowers of mesquite, mimosa, retamo
and chanar (Gourliea spinosa) and it was then that my bees worked
overtime. Later came the flowers of the cacti whose exquisite beauty
can only be fully realised when they are seen in their natural setting.
To appreciate and know the flowering cacti one must live amongst them,
for there are many whose blooms do not open till dusk has fallen and
which fade with the first rays of the morning sun, and in many the
flowering period lasts but two or three days after which they will not
blossom for another year. These flowers always attracted great quanti-
ties of nitidulid beetles and, of course, small flies and I suspect that
they were wooed by the larger hawkmoths though I never saw this
happen.

On all sides our horizon was bounded by mountains, the nearby
Colorados coppery red at dawn and sunset, the more distant ranges every
shade of blue, their tiny well-watered valleys offering at that time a
virgin field for the naturalist as many possess their individual micro-
climate which influences their flora and the fauna.

Winter still had a month to run when we arrived at Patquia after a
two-day journey from Buenos Aires, but though the nights were cold,
the days were warm and sunny. Nowhere except in the African deserts
have I ever experienced such absolute silence as reigned over Guayapa,
not even the rustle of leaves broke the intense stillness, and often we
heard clearly the noise of trains shunting in Patquia ten miles away.
Eager as I was to start exploring, I had for a time to contain myself in
patience since the estancia house had long lain empty and putting this
and the garden in order kept us fully occupied till spring came.

eH bey ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von, 65, 15/X1/1953

The surrounding scrub was everywhere just a little too high to see
over and as there were no paths, the only guides to direction were the
sun and wind and an occasional glimpse of one or other of the scattered
dunes or of the distant mountains. Consequently, it was all too easy to
lose oneself, even within a few hundred yards of the estancia buildings,
~ and until I came to know my way about it was no uncommon thing to
find myself walking in exactly the opposite direction to that intended.

After the Chaco where there were such quantities of insects that
one was sometimes embarrassed to know what to take and what to
leave, the insect population of Guayapa seemed very poor, but repre-
senting a desert fauna it was no wit less interesting. One thing that
drew my attention was the considerable colour variation that existed
in some of the beetles, the dynastid Phaneuws imperator being remark-
able in this respect. It was here that I saw for the first time the larvae
of the Drilidae which with their tiny headlights and lateral row of
luminescent spots appear in the dark for all the world like tiny trains.

In those days the estancia had no electric light and the paraffin
lamps on which we depended attracted few insects. Using this primi-
tive illuminant I constructed a portable light trap but though I oper-
ated it for many months, and even carried it with me on several camp-
ing trips to other parts of the province, it was a complete failure, at~
tracting nothing else but huge quantities of a small webworm moth
whose larvae fed on the many coloured Portulaca with which the forest
was in places carpeted. I tried at times most of the other recognised
aids to collecting with equally poor results, though I did obtain a
modicum of success with a trap of my own devising that was simply a
small hole dug in the ground and filled with chopped green leaves and
grasses, this material fermenting and’ proving attractive to a number
of staphylinid beetles and certain Apterygota which could be separated
by means of a Berlese funnel.

After moonlight nights insects were sometimes to be found settled
on the whitewashed walls of the buildings and it was thus that I ob-
tained the male of Castnia lecerfi. This was one of the two Castnia I
encountered at Guayapa, the other being a species near icarus endelechia
represented in my case by a pair of wings picked up near the salt marsh
and its presence in the locality confirmed curiously enough some seven
or eight years later by Mr. Alberto Breyer when he picked up a single
wing in the desert near Patquia. Another occasional source of insects
following moonlight nights was the big Australian water tank where
we bathed in summer. Here I frequently found beetles floating on the
water, having no doubt dived into it attracted by the glimmer of the
moonlight on its surface.

At the time of which I write I had not yet begun to take any in-
terest in the scale insects, this came later when I was engaged in agri-
cultural entomology, but subsequent visits to Guayapa have shown that
the area is rich in species endemic to the xerophilous regions of the
country. I have probably collected as many different species of scale
in Argentina as anyone else and if one excepts the agricultural pests
that abound wherever man has taken his civilization, I have found
some of the best places for collecting to be the drier parts of the
country where the average collector would not think to look. Even

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA. 31?

Suaeda divaricata, one of those curious salt-marsh plants known locally
as yumes aud a most unlikely looking host, harbours a small Icerya.

Scale insects provide a fascinating study for anyone who likes to
roam about the countryside and has some knowledge of botany, but
their classification is not always easy and requires the use of a high
power microscope and certain proficiency in the preparation of the
necessary slides. I have successfully solved the somewhat difficult pro-
blem of preserving for exhibition samples of scale-attacked leaves, twigs
and bark, by the use of Riker mounts, 74 by 5 inches being a very
convenient size (depth one inch). In these mounts the scale does not
become separated from the plant and the preparations are very useful
for study and handling by students. To get over the difficulty of mount-
ing thick twigs I remove a certain amount of the underlying cotton
wool from that part of the mount where the specimen will rest and if
the twigs are very thick, they can be carefully split.

The Lepidoptera of La Rioja do not attract much attention. Many
of the species are small and their colouring is subdued as befits a desert
fauna, nor are they over plentiful. The larger butterflies show a ten-
dency to dwarfing and except in the clouded yellow (Colias lesbia) where
my smallest specimens have come from high mountain valleys, most of
my ‘“‘smallest ever’? records are from La Rioja in those cases where the
species In question flies in that province. I turned up only three new
species during my stay at Guayapa; a tiny hesperid the first specimen
of which I found floating in a water tank, afterwards locating its home
amongst the grasses atop the dune that lay behind the houses; a com.
mon TJhecla recently described and a pierid still without a name. The
nymphalid Mestra apicalis sometimes appeared in fair numbers and |]
was able to take a fine series showing its extensive range of variation
and I think it was perhaps commoner at Guayapa than I have ever
found it elsewhere. Perhaps the most interesting butterflies, however,
were the many species of Haméearis, a genus of the riodinids I have
never plucked up enough courage to study. Some of these latter are
not difficult to recognise, especially certain species from south-east
Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine mesopotamia, but in the more arid
zones of this country from the Rio Negro valley right up to the Bolivian
frontier there are a number so resembling each other and presenting
such individual variation from locality to locality that it is not at all
easy even to sort them into species.

It was whilst I was at Guayapa that I witnessed the first of the two
great migrations of Ascia monuste that it has been my fortune to
observe. This pierid may be seen migrating on a small scale almost
every year but there are years when the flights assume almost incred-
ible proportions and may continue for several months. Such has been
the case this century during the summers of 1909-10 and 1930-31! and
more recently during that of 1951-52?, curiously enough at twenty-one
year intervals, probably a mere coincidence. During the whole of the
month of December and on into January these butterflies passed over-
head in millions, dropping down to feed and rest in the late afternoons
in such quantities that the grasses and even the more slender branches

1See Rev. Soc. ent. Arg., 3: 225-232, 1931.
2See Proc. ‘A’, R. ent. Soc. Lond., 28: 638-73, 1953.

314 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL, 65, 15/ XT /1953

of the tamarisks that lined our water channels were bowed beneath
their weight.

Guayapa presented me with a riddle which is still unsolved. In a
sandy corner of our garden there was a patch of [bicella lutea, known
- locally as ‘‘cwerno del diablo”’ or the devil’s horns, from the curious shape
of its large seedpods. The pale creamy almost white larvae of a medium
sized sphingid fed on the underside of the leaves of this plant as I have
since found them feeding further north on the leaves of the closely
allied Craniolaria argentina, another Martyniuceae, but though I have
time and again attempted to rear them in captivity, every caterpillar
has died before pupating, and this has been the experience of all who
have tried to rear this moth. Is it that the leaves of these plants be-
come toxic to the larvae after they have been cut and the sap has
ceased to flow?

Even if my rambles round Guayapa produced few insects they were
never for a moment dull. Although at first sight the country looked
all alike, it was in reality quite varied as everywhere there were small
areas where soil and vegetation differed, and even to the last I never
went out without that feeling of anticipation that J experience when
fishing in new waters. What added greatly to the interest of my
walks was that in the soft sandy soil every creature left a message of
its passing; the print of fox and skunk and hare; of rabbit or the wild
guinea pigs and other smaller rodents; the pug marks of the puma; the
tiny footprints of the armadillos between which lay the thin line graved
by dragging tail; the tracks of the large rhea or of the many smaller
birds or those left by passing snake. As a child learns first his alphabet
and then to form his words, so I learnt first to recognise the makers of
these signs and then to read the story that they told. Nor did I lack
for shooting, for there were pigeon and tinamou, and in that wiley
creature the Patagonian hare (Dolichotis australis) I found a worthy
opponent.

The two years I spent at Guayapa were not in one long stretch but
interrupted by a further spell of eight months in Buenos Aires, nor was
all my time spent on the estancia itself as we often made short excur-
sions or camping trips to other parts of the province which is a little
larger in extent than Portugal.

One of our favourite camping sites was at a spot known as the
Mogotes Colorados which was within easy riding distance of the estancia,
an area of about sixty square miles where in comparatively recent
geological time some great upheaval has left a maze of deep gorges
whose containing cliffs of soft red rock tower skywards, of rocky hills
and outcrops which, weatherworn, have taken on fantastic shapes. It
was on the outskirts of this strange area where there was a little brackish
water and some poor cultivation that I found the unnamed pierid, a
Hesperocharis we have always mistaken for /actea which is a south
Brazilian species.

My trips to the higher mountain valleys were not numerous but
what insects they produced were always well worth while. One sum-
mer I spent a week at Los Corrales, a small estate lying at 7,500 feet
back in the Nevado de Famatina (which rises to over 20,000 feet), and
here I saw Mathania on the wing and caught new species of moths and
beetles and, incidentally, worked for two days as a road navvy when a

SOME AUCTION SALES OF THE ‘NINETIES. 315

sudden flood washed out the corniche road behind us. That same sum-
mer I passed some time at Chilecito, staying for several days in a shallow
valley that at 4,500 feet runs back into the mountains behind the old
smelting works at La Florencia. Here I was lucky in «finding several
acres of cultivated land that had been left fallow and invaded by flower-
ing weeds that seemed to have attracted all the insects of the valley.
It was whilst collecting over these flowers that I observed two cases of
copulation between Coremia bruchi ¢ and Rhonolophera bicolor 9 and
the former of these beetles in copulation with a species of another
family, a female of Photinus fuscus. It was in this valley, too, that I
noticed for the first time the propensity of the hesperid Nascus ocellatus
for dark caves, a peculiarity since amply confirmed by further observa-
tion and reports. J remember, also, how on my first day I spent long
hours laboriously collecting six of the diaphanous Hpiscada hymenaea,
a Mechanitidae J had not seen before, only to catch sixty in a single
sweep of my net when early the next morning I found them playing
midge-like in the shade of a great walnut tree.

But of all my excursions to the mountains, that which remains most
graven on my memory is one we made to a spot called El Duraznillo in
the Velascos a little to the north of the city of La Rioja. Here, turning
over stones in a damp ravine [ found insects in such quantity and variety
that I could hardly believe that I was not exploring some forest in the
tropics whilst all around I saw the yellow Teriocolias riojana whose male
remains unknown!. But it is no record of a great collecting that keeps
green the memory of that day but rather a deep down rankling. It was
a picnic and I had not taken even my smallest killing jar! For more
than twenty years I have planned to return and, perhaps, some day I
shall; stranger things have come to pass.

My stay at Guayapa ended suddenly. A telegram from the Ministry
of Agriculture arrived one evening offering me the leadership of one of
the expeditions then being formed to study the winter habits of the
locust. It was only a temporary appointment but might prove the
stepping stone to something better, so somewhat reluctantly I bade
good-bye to the estancia and its easy-going open-air life. Little did
I think as I looked back for the last time as the trees began to hide the
houses how many times I was to return, to find in its tranquillity and
peacefulness a place of rest when I sought to escape for a moment from
the rush and burden of modern life.

1T believe that 7. riojana will eventually be found to be a dimorphic female of
zelia (Lucas).

Some Auction Sales of the Nineties
(Continued from page 287).

Willie Machin’s collection was sold in February 1895. Machin had
collected round about London for 58 years and was perhaps the best
field lepidopterist of his day. By trade he was a compositor in a
London printing-house; by nature he was a born observer with a flair

316 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL, 65, 15/X1/1953

for animals. <A skilful breeder of Lepidoptera, few men have accumu-
lated so much knowledge of life histories. Tied to London by the long
hours of his trade, he was never able to travel far afield, yet his
knowledge was unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries. He was a
.quiet man who spoke little, and it was said that every word he spoke
was worth listening to and every assertion that he made could be
depended upon. Few men have been held in greater affection by their
contemporaries. When he died (at the age of 72) Tutt accorded him
a leading article in this magazine (Hnt. Rec., 5: 209) wherein he was
described as ‘‘a kind-hearted genial friend, an upright and _ con-
scientious man, a keen and enthusiastic lepidopterist, an observant and
diligent student of nature’’.

Machin’s collection was a very fine one, ‘‘being especially rich in
Tortrices and Tineina, and the whole are in the most perfect condition.
It is one of those reliable collections, composed entirely of British
species, which represent a labour of love spread over a man’s whole
life’. An account of the sale will be found in vol. 6 of this magazine,
pages 134 to 137. The macros realised about £370. But the prices
fetched by aberrations of butterflies were low, a ‘‘grand female variety
of A. puphia’’? making only £1 12s. 6d., another similar, two guineas.

Dr. F. D. Wheeler of Norwich, whose collection came up for sale
in July, had collected chiefly in the Broads and Fens, consequently his
collection was rich in fenland species. But as a whole his collection
was disappointing, the condition of most of the specimens being
described as ‘‘lamentably defective’. Many showed signs of rough
usage, possibly at the time of capture; the cabinets had been badly
neglected for years: grease and mites had been ‘‘allowed to accumulate
to a deplorable extent’”’. Six CU. semiargus from Evan John of Llantris-
sent sold for £2. Practically all prices ruled low. During the same
month, among some oddments auctioned by Stevens were a_ nearly
black A. aglaia taken in the New Forest by Gulliver, which sold for £6,
and a similar specimen, taken by Harper the same year, which made
£8 10s. Both these are probably at Tring. A fine streaked male A.
aglaia was sold for £6 and a melanic A. caja for three guineas. J. KH.
Robson’s collection of Geometrids and micros passed under the hammer
in October. The condition of these specimens was poor and the prices
were low, but two pairs of P. lapponaria fetched 40s. and 42s. In
December Stevens disposed of W. H. Tugwell’s collection—which
incidentally contained ‘‘the only British specimen of Syntomis phegea’’.
This redoubtable foreigner, said to have been caught by a Mr. Batchelor,
fetched £3. !

Tugwell kept a chemist’s shop in the City, later moving to
Greenwich where he built up a prosperous business. But this neces-
sitated close personal attention and except for an hour’s fence and
trunk searching every morning before breakfast he had little oppor-
tunity to collect. So he devoted his scanty spare time to rearing
larvae from eggs sent him by his friends. Later he was able to work
further afield and started to enrich his collection by buying specimens
at Stevens’, being a large buyer at the Howard Vaughan sale. But he
bought and collected wisely: long series did not attract him; every
specimen was carefully chosen, and he amassed a good many aberra-
tions and local forms. He was, in fact, a good business man and saw

SOME AUCTION SALES OF THE ’NINETIES. 317

which way the trend of collecting was going. In 1873 he became
President of the ‘South London’. Under the hammer his large col-
lection fetched good prices—the Howard Vaughan eleven (. semiargus
had fetched only about 3s. each; now, in Tugwell’s cabinets, two pairs
made 35s. and 30s. The ZL. dispar were in fine condition, single speci-
mens selling for £5, £6, and £7 7s. Bidding rose to 25s. for a J.
phlaeas with one hindwing. A pair of N. subrosea brought £4. Prices
were higher at this sale than at any previously recorded, the total
realised being rather more than £460. Yes, Tugwell was a good man of
business.

William Farren’s collection, sold the same year, was also a large
one and contained what was described as ‘‘the finest series of Fen
forms sold at Stevens’ auction-rooms for a long period’’. The butter-
flies were ‘‘practically given away’’. The fine series of P. machaon
described by Farren in his long paper in this journal in 1893 (Ent. Rec.,
4: 100-108) sold for only £2 11s., a ‘‘fine asymmetrical var.’’ of this
species realising but 21s. Farren’s series of Cryphia muralis var. iinpar,
collected by himself from the walls in Cambridge, described by Tutt as
‘the choicest morsel in the collection’ and to be ‘‘the finest in
existence’’, sold in lots of four and five from 18s. to 45s. The Noctuids,
however, realised comparatively high prices, especially the ‘wainscots’.
A series of Perizoma sagittata, containing an aberration in which the
hand was nearly obsolete, went up to £3 5s.

In March 1896 the collection of Clarence Fry came up for sale at
Stevens’. It was contained in cabinets of 52, 20 and 12 drawers, the
smallest one housing the Tortrices collected by three generations of the
famous Standish family of ‘professionals’. Joseph Standish, the first
of whom we have seen any mention, was born in 1753 and lived to the
ripe age of 84, dying in 1837 and collecting almost up to the day of his
death. His son, the more famous Benjamin, was a shoemaker by trade
and for sixty years used to trudge from Camberwell to Darenth and
Black Park (Uxbridge) in search of insects. But by thrift, added to
his success as a field lepidopterist, his honesty and his business acumen,
he acquired sufficient house property to furnish his modest requirements
and thereafter devoted his whole time to travelling about in search
of Lepidoptera for his customers, collecting largely in the Fens. He
was one of the great purveyors of Lycaena dispar. Standish believed
himself to be the heir to a baronetcy and six estates in the north of
England worth some £60,000 a year and was said to possess papers
which indicated that he was the lineal descendant of two baronets of
his name. Unfortunately for lovers of romance he never possessed the
means to pursue his claims. Francis Oram Standish, his son (born
1832), accompanied him on many of his expeditions and died at
Cheltenham in 1880. He was the discoverer of Hwpoecilia (Phalonia)
gilvicomana. Shortly before he died his collection was acquired by E.
G. Meek.

Fry’s sale realised £405 9s. 6d. It contained few aberrations but a
good many rarities, and many of these were considered to be of such
doubtful nationality that suspicion was cast on some that really were
British. The 14 L. dispar—all from Standish—were very good and
made £64 15s., the lowest price being £2 and the highest £6 15s. (a
bred 2). The mazarine Blues sold in pairs, from 14s. to 18s. per pair,

318 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL, 65, 15/ XT /1953

The ‘‘original specimen’’ of Poecilopsis lappunaria brought only £2 5s.
—on its previous appearance in the auction-room (1884) it made £14.
This large collection was typical of those formed by men who buy their
rarities and the specimens fetched the prices which their confréres were
themselves prepared to pay. The 52-drawer cabinet was knocked down
‘for £14 3s. 6d. A small sale (J. A. Cooper) held the same spring was
interesting for two series of A. caja aberrations, one series (which in-
cluded a specimen with golden yellow hindwings and a fine melanic
male) realising 37s. 6d., the other 21s. The L. caenosa were either
not very good or not very credible, for they fetched only 5s. 6d. each.
So also with the T. craccae, which were accompanied by 67 other insects
and then made only 6s. But a veritable British Hyloicus pinastri
‘well authenticated’? reached 32s. 6d. The 36-drawer Brady cabinet
(and Brady’s cabinets are probably the best that have ever been made)
was knocked down for sixteen guineas. A 40-drawer Gurney reached
£27 6s.

C. A. Briggs, whose collection came up at Stevens’ in October 1896,
was a solicitor practising in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and living at Leather-
head. He was something of a ‘character’, a good raconteur with a
fund of curious knowledge, therefore an agreeable companion. He
never married and in his later years left Leatherhead and went to live,
with a bachelor brother who was also a lepidopterist, at Lynmouth in
North Devon. Here he turned his attention to other Orders, notably
the Trichoptera, became a cryptogamist—by which we mean that he
studied and collected mosses—busied himself with land shells, filled
his house with antique furniture, and amassed some 2,000 pieces of
rare china. As he had specialised, so far as the Lepidoptera were con-
cerned, in aberrations, particularly those of the Lycaenidae, it is not
surprising that his collection took nearly five days to sell and realised
only five pounds short of £1,000.

An account of the more important aberrations was given by Tutt
in this magazine (Hnt. Rec., 8: 272) and he prefaced his remarks with
the words: ‘‘High as the prices ruled, there can be no doubt they
would have been much higher had there not been so many forms pre-
cisely alike’. Jt must have been a rich collection, indeed! The prices
certainly were high, even though ‘‘several well known buyers . . . were
notably absent’’. A male A. cardamines ‘‘with exceptionally pale
orange tips’? made £5, a ditto gynandromorph £4 10s., other aberra-
tions of this species making from £4 10s. to £2 10s. These figures ruled
for many other insects, but £5 was the highest attained (several times)
until a bleached M. jurtina reached £7. <A pale A. caja, the hind-
wings obsolete, went up to £12 2s. 6d. One of the 16 LL. dispar made
the record price of 8 guineas. Six gynandromorph I’. argus ranged
from 6s to 22s. per pair; other aberrant Blues fetched rather more,
a P. icarws reaching £5. This was the first great sale of Lycaenid
aberrations and the prices bid were in excess of anything previously
attained.

The next important sale at Stevens’ rooms, held in November 1897,
was that of J. B. Hodgkinson, a Lancashire cotton-mill operative who
lost the sight of one eye when a boy. We shall say nothing about him
here, for he was the most noted lepidopterist of his age and a long
chapter would be necessary to give even a résumé of his career. The

CURRENT NOTES. 319

prices at this sale fell a good deal below those reached by the Briggs
collection, though an aberration of A. urticae fetched £7 10s. But
there were few butterfly aberrations and the rare moths did not
command very good prices, the ‘‘historical Wharfedale’? Cosciniu
striata (Hulepia graminica) making only 8s. LL. caenosa fetched from
12s to 32s a pair. But a male Leucodonta bicoloria reached £4 5s. and
a female, complete with pupa-case, five guineas. The highest price
for V. subrosea was 50s. a pair. The total realised was £340 18s. 6d.

In April 1898 the collection of George Elisha was dispersed by
Stevens. Of this collection Tutt remarked ‘‘It was probably one of the
finest collections of Lepidoptera that had ever come under the hammer,
both as to condition of specimens and the excellence of the setting.
There were, however, no localities given and no attempt to name the
various aberrations. The result of the sale, therefore, from the
monetary point of view, must be considered most unsatisfactory, scarcely
a single lot fetching anything like a fair or even moderate price’’. Two
dark aberrations of A. caja and one with yellow hindwings (with 47
other specimens) made but 4s. 6d. A pair of LZ. caenosa 10s., two JX.
conformis 10s., and so on. Large lots of perfectly set Tineids, mostly
bred, went for 4s. and 5s. per lot of 150 and 200. <A 40-drawer cabinet
produced only £15 and a 20-drawer one five guineas.

In December this year (1898) Richard South, editor of the
Entomologist, sold all his collection other than Noctuids and Geometrids.
The total realised, littl more than £100, was surprisingly low; but
the sale was not advertised: it does not seem even to have been an-
nounced, as many of the auction-room collectors ‘‘had no idea that the
sale was about to take place’. The Lycaenids in which South had
specialised went for 4s. to 6s. per lot of 40 specimens. <A 32-drawer
cabinet sold for £16 16s. and a 30-drawer for 10 guineas. Which all
goes to show that it pays to advertise.

The decade closed on 20th November 1899, with the sale of a small
collection formed by Joseph Merrin of Gloucester, which the magazines
did not deem worthy of notice.

Current Notes

At another page we print an interesting Note by Mr. W. H. Storey
on the occurrence of JLophopteryx cucullina Schiff., the Maple
Prominent, at Cambridge. For many years we have known that the
larvae of this moth used to be had by searching the coppiced maples
that grow in one of the woods on the Gog Magog hills; but Mr.
Storey tells us that this locality seems to have been forgotten and that
William Farren (who knew the Cambridge lepidopterous fauna if any-
body did and who died only last summer) did not recall it when dis-
cussing [. cucullina a few years ago. Certainly the Gog Magog locality
was known fifty years ago and may have been known long before that.
Can any old Cambridge man who was ‘up’ in the ’nineties give any
information about it?

In view of the pronounced northward movements of certain of our
Lepidoptera during the last twenty-five years a Note by Mr. D. KE.

320 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von, 65. 15/ XT /1953

Allen in the July number of The Irish Naturalists’ Journal 1s of interest
to entomologists. Headed ‘‘Botanical Indications of a possible climatic
change in the Irish Sea area’’ Mr. Allen mentions a number of plants
which ‘‘have recently shown a corresponding increase or decrease in
the various regions bordering the Irish Sea. Thus Anacamptis pyra-
‘midalis L. (the Pyramidal Orchid) was .... unknown in North-East
Ireland prior to 1873 and has since spread all round the coast; it also
appeared for the first time in the Isle of Man in 1923... .”

The Bee Orchid, -also, which was apparently unknown in North-
East Ireland till 1928, ‘‘seems to have begun to increase on the South
Lancashire coast about 1920’’ and is now spreading’ all over the dunes,
while Lyme Grass ‘‘which has been spreading on the Antrim coast since
1912”? has recently appeared in Co. Down and is now found in the
Isle of Man. Lactuca muralis is increasing in Ireland, while Goat’s-
beard (Tragopogon pratensis) is spreading northwards.

Mr. Allen asks ‘‘What is the explanation of these facts? It will be
observed that the species which are spreading have, with the exception
of Hlymus arenarius, a south-eastern range in the British Isles—the two
orchids, in fact, belong to Watson’s Germanic Type. Most of the de-
creasing species, on the other hand, have a pronounced western range.
This seems to be correlated with the fact that in the Isle of Man
many bogs have been drying up of their own accord . . . The evidence
seems to suggest a change to a less oceanic type of climate, permitting
the infiltration of species of a more ‘Continental’ type’’.

On the mainland of Europe the westward movement of certain
Lepidoptera of late years has been most marked. Among the species
‘fon the move’? may be mentioned Lycaena virgaureae L. (the ‘Middle
Copper’ of the eighteenth century writers); Polyommatus amandus
Schn., which has recently spread westwards from Sweden and the
south Baltic lands into Denmark; Dendrolimus pini L. (the Pine Lappet
of the old English authors), which until a generation ago was regarded
as a rare moth in Denmark and has now increased considerably in
that country—it is also moving north in France and now occurs little
more than a hundred miles from our south coast; and Panthea coenolbita
Esper, a species formerly restricted to the pine forests of eastern
Europe, which reached Hamburg in 1890 and appeared in Belgium in
1933. By 1949 it had spread to Denmark.

Notes on Microlepidoptera

By H. C. Hvucerns, F.R.E.S.

Argyroploce penthinana Guen. The rediscovery of Hustroma reti-
culata Fab. leads me to hope that A. penthinana. which used to ac-
company it on the balsam, may also be taken again. Possibly it has
already been found, but I have so far seen no record and heard no
whisper that this has occurred.

Its larva was discovered by the late J. B. Hodgkinson in the dead
stems of the balsam, and the northern collectors must have reared it

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 321

in considerable numbers as most of the old collections contained a full
series. It should not be difficult to get by collecting the stems in
November or December, but they must be kept out of doors till May
or the hibernating larvae will dry up.

My friend Mr. J. W. Corder told me that when penthinana had dis-
appeared from most of its localities, chiefly from destruction of the
food-plant, a well-known collector went and swiped all the dead stems
in the place where it still survived, bringing them away in suit-cases
at a time. Ags he kept them indoors he bred only half a dozen, but,
at any rate temporarily, he finished penthinana. This was just be-
fore the 1914-18 war and I have not heard of its capture since. Should
it be rediscovered it is to be hoped it will be given a chance. Luckily
it is a micro.

Hemimene alpinana Treits. The larva of this Tortrix is to be
found in winter in the root-stocks of the moon-daisy (Chrysanthemum
leucanthemum J.) and also in the big white cultivated kind in gar-
dens. It is curious this moth was overlooked for so long, as it appears
to be well distributed and in places abundant. It is very common in
the Southend and Benfleet areas where the food-plant grows at all,
and this year I found it most abundant in several places in the Burren,
Co. Clare. in fact a nuisance as its numbers made it difficult to see if
any rarer somewhat similar insects were about.

The genus Metzneria may now be found as larvae in the seed-heads
they frequent. As they are obliging enough to spend the winter in
the seed-heads it is not essential to take them in November; but their
food-plants, being mostly conspicuous weeds, are apt to be destroyed.
So it is as well to get them whilst the going is good.

M. lappella Linn. and M. metzneriella Staint. appear to be uni-
versal on burdock and lesser knapweed respectively, but I have not
found littorella Douglas (plantain), carlinella Staint. (carline thistle)
nor neuropterella Zell. (also a knapweed feeder) either common or well
distributed. The larvae again do not pupate before April and must
be kept out of doors till then.

Notes and Observations

DaPHNIS NERIT LINN. In BrrmMincHAM.—On 11th September 1953 I
had the good fortune to take a specimen of Daphnis nerii whilst it
was resting on the stem of a weed against the wall of an engineering
works in Tyburn Road, Erdington, Birmingham. Though I took it
with my hands it is only very slightly worn. The moth is a male and
has a wing expanse of 43 inches.—J. Bootu, 35 Farthing Lane, Sutton
Coldfield, Warks. 16.ix.53.

DaPHNIs NERIT LINN. 1x Dorset.—A specimen of D. nerii was found
at rest on a window-ledge of the King’s Arms Hotel, Poole, at 12.15
p.m. on 13th September. This hotel is about 50 yards from Poole
Quay, and on that day four vessels from foreign ports were lying along-
side; one each from Leiden and Skutskar, and two from Antwerp.
Weather was good but slightly cold. It is possible that the moth flew

322 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL, 65. 15/ XT /1953
to this country. or it could have been a passenger on one of these boats.
It was captured by Mr. H. K. Jackson, who is an officer of H.M. Cus-
toms at Poole.—Lronarp TAaTCHELL, agi anage. 8.x.53.

DANAUS PLEXIPPUS L. SSP. ARCHIPPUS FAB. IN SOMERSET.—I thought
you would be interested to hear of a record for the Milkweed butterfly
(Danaus plexvppus) this year. I had the good fortune to see one on a
heather-clad moor near the village of Upton, Somerset, at about 3
o'clock in the afternoon of Ist August this year. When I first saw it,
it was flying at a little over seven feet from the ground. It flapped
its wings strongly for a little way, and then it glided. It had re-
peated this action several times before I caught up with it, but owing
to the disconcerting flying habits of this species and the fact that I
was ‘ armed ’ only with an unsuitable ring net, after several attempts
at catching it, it outdistanced me. Then just as I had rejoined it
again I tripped over a tussock of heather and when I picked myself
up T could see no sign of it, and although I methodically searched that
part of the moor in which I had last seen it for some time I never saw
it again.

Tts appearance on the wing, however, I shall never forget. Its un-
mistakably orange, black-veined wings showed very clearly, as did the
white dots around the borders of the hind wings on the under side.
These showed particularly well when the butterfly was performing the
gliding action I have previously described. If this is the only record
for this year, T would be interested to know. or if not I would be in-
terested to hear the details of the other captures or sightings.—Pavun
K. Smarr, 69,4 Cleveland Road, South Woodford, London. E.18.
16:1x.58.

CoENONYMPHA TUTLIA MULLER IN LincoLNsHire.—In the Hntomologist,
1953, 86: 197, J. H. Duddington records the capture of several males
on 14th June 1953 flying over a large tract of boggy heathland near
Scunthorpe. This lies between the well-known locality near Doncaster
in Yorkshire to the west and Glandford Brigg, now called Brigg,
Lincolnshire, to the east. recorded by Morris in his British Butterflies
(1853, pp. 48-9). It is interesting to know that tu/lia still exists in
north Linecolnshire.—Ep.

EKuBLEMMA PARVA Hus. IN WILtTsHIRE.—On 26th May 1953 a good
male specimen of Hwblemma parva came into an upstairs room lighted
by a m.v. lamp. This house is about 14 miles west of Salisbury, with
the Plain lying to the north and a high wooded ridge about two miles
to the south. The valley of the Wylie runs east and west.—R. A.
Jackson, Codford St. Mary, Wiltshire. 18.1x.53.

CALOPHASIA LUNULA Hurn. LARVAE IN Eissex.—I have to report that
on 19th September last I took three full-grown larvae of Calophasia
lunula Hufn. in South Essex. It was rather unfortunate I did not
hear sooner of its presence in England this year ag the locality in
which the larvae occurred was the third I visited and had I reached it
a week before T am satisfied from the condition of the food-plant I
should have obtained several more. I was particularly struck by the
superficial resemblance of the larva to that of Pieris brassicae L., al-

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 323

though its colours are brighter than those of the butterfly —H. C.
Hvcerns, 65 Kastwood Boulevard, Westcliffe-on-Sea. 29.1x.53.

CALOPHASIA LUNULA Hurn. In Kent.—On 16th August 1951 I took a
male of this species at light at Dungeness, and two more at the same place
on 31st July 1952. Thinking that the insect might be breeding there,
Mr. G. Law and I searched for larvae in the following September, and
from the few we found we each bred a male and a female, mine emerg-
ing on 30th June and 3rd July of this year and Mr. Law’s a few days
earlier.

This year I found five nearly full-fed larvae at Dungeness, and I
am informed that others have taken large numbers of larvae both there
and at Eastbourne; so that the species seems to be well established
in those localities.

Two further records should be mentioned. In September 1952 Mr.
Law found a larva practically at his doorstep at Stone, Dartford, but
it failed to pupate, and the toadflax on which it was feeding was
promptly obliterated by the local Council. Also I had a worn male in
my moth-trap here on 10th June of this year; but a search of likely-
looking patches of toadflax in this district during the early autumn
has failed to yield any larvae. ;

The pupa of @C. lunula is remarkable in that the distal half of the
proboscis sheath is free.—Evear J. Harr, Harrow Place, Pinden, Dart-
ford, Kent.

LARVAE OF CALOPHASIA LUNULA HUFN. IN SussExX.—On learning that
this newcomer to our shores had appeared in the larval state in some
numbers, I travelled to Eastbourne on the afternoon of September 26,
1953, on one of the most lovely autumn days I can remember. En route
IT surveyed the coast from Seaford onwards in search of the foodplant,
Yellow Toadflax, but little was forthcoming here or on the downs
near Beachy Head. On joining Mr. R. E. Ellison at his house, he
suggested visiting the Crumbles where he had noticed quite a lot of the
Toadflax in bloom. We arrived soon after 3 p.m. It was like a sum-
mer’s day. The first bunch of the foodplant we examined proved a
blank. However, we then made our way westwards along the shingle
when we noticed some small plants of Toadfilax near a large ditch.
In a moment I spotted a couple of the most striking black and yellow
larvae sunning themselves on some grass nearby. A careful search re-
vealed a number more, some feeding on quite short stems. A few were
only half grown. After searching about on further pieces of toadflax
we met a man who said he remembered a big patch among some bushes
near one of the roads. This clump of high growing Linaria was covered
with the larvae, feeding quite conspicuously. We finished up with a
total bag of seventeen, all of which have now pupated, 5th October.
They seemed to feed on all parts of the foodplant, flowers, seed and
foliage, often stripping a whole stem of seed-pods, which is a good
indication of their presence in the wild.—C. G. M. pr Worms, Three
Oaks, Shore’s Road, Woking 5.x.53.

CaLOPHASIA LUNULA Hurn. Larva In- Kent.—On 20th September
Baron de. Worms and I, at his suggestion, examined a growth of the
yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris Mill.) in a locality in Kent, and about

324 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Von, 65. 15/ XT /1953

noon I was lucky enough to find a larva of C. lunula, feeding openly
on the seeds and flowers. It appears to be in its last instar. The
ground colour is pale blue; there are yellow stripes on the sides and
back, and two broken black stripes on the sides, with a thick sprinkling
of black spots on the blue ground. The markings thus resemble those
‘of a Cucullia, but the shape, tapering slightly towards head and tail,
is like that of Pieris brassicae L. . Altogether, a striking and beautiful
object. So far as I know, it has not been seen in Britain before this
year, but I understand that others have been taken in at least two
places in the past fortnight. Despite considerable search both by day
and after dark, Baron de Worms and I failed to find any more, though
stems of the food-plant stripped of leaves and flowers suggested that
several others had been at work.—R. F. BretHEerton, Ottershaw, Sur-
rey. 2221x.)o.-

HEnMIOTHIS scuToSA ScHiFF. IN NorrouK.—A good specimen of
Heliothis scutosa was taken on 12th June last at Cockley Cley, Nor-
folk, and on 14th June I took one in my m.yv. trap at Wells in the same
county. A very worn one was taken at Hunstanton on or about the
16th. I hear that four more were caught near Norwich about the end
of May, but I have no personal knowledge of these. All were taken in
m.v. traps.—R. G. Topp, Wells, Norfolk. 23.1x.53.

LOPHOPTERYX CUCULILINA ScHIFr. at CAMBRIDGE.—On 20th July 1946
Angus McCrae and Norman Holden, then at the Leys School, brought
me a male specimen of the Maple Prominent which they had found on
the herbage beside the Roman Road where it crosses the Gog Magog
Hills not far from here. This capture was of special interest because
the locality concerned is practically devoid of maple, the tree on which
I believe the larva is usually found elsewhere. When I remarked upon
this to the two boys they reminded me that there is instead plenty of
sycamore, which South indicates as an alternative foodplant for the
larva in captivity, and which might serve the insect in the wild state
equally well. .

So it turned out, for between the 27th August and the 21st Septem-
ber of that year McCrae, Holden and I beat twelve DL. cucullina larvae
from sycamore trees in the neighbourhood of the ‘‘Gogs’’. Five of
these larvae were parasitised. The preferred feeding place seemed to
be a cluster of saplings growing close to the base of a tree, when this
condition was available. Otherwise several larvae were beaten from
the lower branches which came within reach of our sticks. I found one
more larva actually in my garden when gathering food plant for those
already in captivity. ‘

On the 13th June of the following year I found a male moth sitting
on the upper side of a poplar leaf in Chesterton, on the eastern outskirts
of Cambridge, in a garden well furnished with sycamore. Since then
my opportunities for collecting have been regrettably few and far be-
tween. A female was disturbed from the curtains in my study towards
the end of July 1949. It flew, with none of the dash one might expect
of a ‘‘Prominent’’, through the open door into the hall before I could
get my net and I noticed that it paid no heed to the two electric lamps
it passed on the way. When sleeved outdoors it laid twenty-four eggs
which produced moths in the following year. Two males came to the

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, 325

m.v. lamp in my garden during the first week of July 1952. None has
been attracted by the lamp this year but insects generally have been
scarcer, due no doubt to the cold nights. A few days ago I spent an
hour or two beating sycamore alongside the Roman Road and obtained
three larvae from the shrubby growths which they appear to favour.

The ‘‘Victoria County History’? gives two records for ZL. cucullina
in Cambridgeshire; Fulbourne, a village close to the ‘‘Gogs’’, in 1886,
and Fordham in 1924. That the insect is established in this part of
the county seems clear; its range, however, has still to be ascertained.—
W. H. Srorey, Fairstead, Long Road, Cambridge. 10.ix.1953.

CaTocaLa NupTA LINN. AND ENARGIA PALEACEA ESP. IN DERBYSHIRE.—
My disappointment at failing to rear Heliophobus anceps this year
has been somewhat relieved by the discovery in my light-trap on the
evening of 26th.September of a perfect specimen of Catocala nuptu L.
It was so unexpected that [ almost overlooked it! In a similar way
I almost ignored a fine Hnurgiu puleacea Esp. (fulvago Hb.) on 16th
August. I thought it was ab. fluvescens of Cirrhia icteritia Hufn. at
first, but there was no doubt about the difference when they were placed
side by side-—J. H. Jounson, 1 Berry Street, Hepthorne Lane,
Chesterfield. 27.1x.53.

ACHERONTIA ATROPOS LINN. IN West SurrouK.—When staying at
Felsham, a few miles south-east of Bury St. Edmunds, in the last half
of September I had six pupae of Acherontiu utropos Linn. brought to
me, one from Felsham itself and the rest from the neighbouring village
of Cockfield. Before my arrival four others had been found at Cock-
field; all nine were in the same potato field.—F. H. Lyon, Sampford
Peverell, Tiverton, Devon. 8.x.53.

A Late Lirhosia quapRA Linn.—-While working my m.yv. lamp on the
coast near Mudeford on 21st August 1953 for Huxou tritici L. 1 took
a single male Lithosia quadra LL. which I think may have been a
migrant as I believe the date rather late for a resident and in addi-
tion the locality is some distance from the wooded area of the New
Forest.—A. C. R. Reperave, Hartsdown, Glenfield Avenue, Bitterne,
Southampton. 17.1x.53.

EusTROTIA UNCULA CLERCK IN YORKSHIRE.—Since I sent you my Note
on this species (Znt. Rec., 65: 295) I have met two entomologists who
tell me that they found Hustrotia uneula commonly in 1953 in a locality
five miles from the place where I found it, on the other side of Selby.
The species appears to be extending its range every year and I do not
think it likely to have been overlooked, since although a small insect
it is unmistakable and can be taken by daylight.—S. M. Jackson, 15
Westbourne Road, Selby, Yorks. 4.x.53.

DasypPoLIA TEMPLI THUNB. IN HERTFORDSHIRE.—I should like to re-
cord the capture of a specimen of this species in our mercury vapour -
light trap here last year on 23rd October. This is a very belated re-
cord but I have delayed mentioning it with the hope of taking another
specimen of this insect which usually has a littoral distribution in the

326 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL, 65, 15/ XT /1953

south of England. Apparently this is the first inland record as well
as being the first for S.E. England.—T. G. HowarrH, Barnet Gate,
Arkley, Herts. 10.x.53.

HeRSE convoLvunt Linn. in HERTFORDSHIRE IN 1952.—I should like
to record the capture and subsequent release of a very worn male of
this species on the 30th August 1952 at our m.v. trap in the garden
here.—T. G. HowarrH, Barnet Gate, Arkley, Herts. 10.x.53.

KupHYIA LUCTUATA ScHIFF. IN Mip-Sussex.—On 14th June 1953 |
captured a fresh male specimen of Huphyia luctwata Schf. in a wood
in mid-Sussex. Recent captures of this species seem to indicate that it
is a new arrival, already established in parts of Kent. If this is the
case, my mid-Sussex record may be of interest and perhaps indicate
that the moth is already extending its range from its early foothold. I
hope more records from further afield will follow.

The specimen I captured was in excellent condition and was taken
by day near the edge of the wood where oaks and young and old aspen
predominated. The foodplant of this moth, Epilobiwm spp., was not
only within the wood but also in large quantities outside the wood in
an overgrown and rough field. This environment seems to correspond
to its haunts in Kent. As time was limited a thorough search of all the
ground could not be made and thus no more specimens could be obtained.
—M. W. Harrver, Neadaich, Newtonmore, Inverness-shire. 18.vi11.53.

Is EvpHyIA LucruaTA SCHIFF. CONTINUOUSLY BroopEp ?—After
several abortive attempts to obtain this species during August 1953 in
the Ashford area, I visited another part of Kent where it had been
taken. It was rather a forlorn hope since the date was 29th August.
After circulating for some time among the. willow-herb which was
growing luxuriantly, I was about to leave when a small black and
white moth flitted up and I had no difficulty in discerning it as my
quarry. J retraced my steps and put up several more. It was 5 p.m.
and very overcast. I was surprised to find my captures, mostly females,
were in fresh condition as also were a few more taken two days later.
Specimens had been taken in this locality at the beginning of June,
at the end of July and in early August, so that my specimens would
seem to be a third brood for the year. Eggs I obtained hatched on 6th
September. The resulting larvae are just pupating now, 5th October.
Will they produce yet a fourth brood?—C. G. M. pe Worms, Three
Oaks, Shore’s Road, Woking. 5.x.53.

An Arremer to Rear THE Larva or HELIOPHOBUS ANCEPS SCHIFF,
(SAPONARJAE BoRK., RETICULATA Vixy.).—On 6th July last a specimen
of Heliophobus anceps Schf. was found in a coalmine shaft near here.
When it was brought to me it had laid about seventy eggs, all in
separate straight lines about one inch in length. They had all hatched
out by 19th July, but the young larvae rapidly disappeared, until by
30th August I had only one left. I provided them with a salad of
plants including several species of Polygunum, Rumex, Trifolium,
Lotus, Lychnis and Silene. I found that most species of Polygonum
were nibbled, and the flowers of Lotus corniculatus L. were eaten, the
rest were ignored. The single survivor reached a length of 20 mm.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 327

and was a reddish brown colour on Ist September. It continued to eat
the flowers of Polygonum aviculare Li. and occasionally the leaves until
20th September when it ceased to move, became flaccid, and died. The
larva was fond of resting on Dactylis glomerata L., but I saw no signs
of feeding on this plant—J. H. JoHnson, 1 Berry Street, Hepthorne
Lane, Chesterfield. 27.1x.53.

[The foodpiant of this species in England remains (1953) a mystery.
Hearing that Mr. Austin Richardson had taken the larvae in Ireland
we wrote to him and he has kindly sent us the following :—‘‘In early
September 1936 I was digging under Silene maritima near Waterville,
Co. Kerry, for larvae of Hudena burrettti and found in the soil two
full-grown larvae unknown to me. They pupated almost immediately
and J had next year two of the lovely rosy form which inhabits $.W.
Ireland. I take the moth not infrequently here (Gloucestershire), very
often flying over garden pinks, but have never found the larva’’.

Barrett (Zep. Br. Is., 4: 153) asserts categorically that the larva
feeds ‘‘on knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare), and doubtless other low
plants. Abroad it is said to feed on Silene inflata, Saponaria and
Dianthus, preferring the capsules; but Mr. Buckler was unable to
induce his larvae to eat Silene. The suggestion of these plants ind:-
cates either a confusion or a singular unanimity of taste between this
species and the somewhat similar species of the genus Diantheeia. Un-
fortunately we know very little of this larva here”

Surely there must be some among our readers who have reared this
insect successfully from the egg ?—Ep. |

SwWARMING OF ACENTROPUS NIVEUS OLIVIER.—One evening this sum-
mer (unfortunately I did not record the date) T was surprised to find
hundreds of Acentropus niveus Oliv. at the m.v. lamp in my
garden. They swarmed on the sheet and congregated in masses in the
hollows, fluttering over each other in great numbers. <A considerable
number were dead when [ put the light out about midnight. B. P.
Beirne (Brit. Pyralid & Phime Moths, 1952) refers to a ‘‘swarming
period’’ for this species and remarks that the males may fly several
miles from their breeding ground. It would seem that they must have
come from some distance to my garden as I cannot find any really
likely water close at hand. I would be grateful if any reader could
give me more details of the ‘‘swarming’’.—A. C. R. Reperave, Harts-
down, Glenfield Avenue, Southampton.

ABUNDANCE oF Piusta GAMMA LL. IN HAMPSHTIRE.—TI have noticed the
large number of Plusia gamma L. this Autumn. Just now it is the
commonest species at the m.vy. lamp and every evening recently I have
seen specimens at the flowers in the garden, sometimes four and five
flying at once. All appear to be in perfect condition.—A. C. R.
REDGRAVE, Hartsdown, Glenfield Avenue, Bitterne, Southampton.

STERRHA SERIATA SCHRANK (VIRGULARIA HRN.) AB. ATRA KUHN AND
Von ENGELHARDT.—This melanic form from Sicily, described and named
in Biol. Zentralbl., 1937, 57, 329-346, is genetically distinct from ab.
cubicularia Peyer, which is found in England. It is a dominant deter-
mined by a single gene; the female is darker than the male; some of
the darkest heterozygotes are as dark as a few of the lightest homozy-

328 ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD, VOL, 65. 15/X1/1953

gotes and an exceptional heterozygote may be as dark as the darkest
homozygotes, but the majority of the latter are easily recognizable.
The degree of melanism is influenced by the environment, being greater
at a low temperature and high humidity and the larvae of the melanic
form are more viable than those of the normal under these conditions.
The name hidden in the middle of many pages of text has probably
escaped the notice of British entomologists.—E. A. CocKAYNE. Eee

ABUNDANCE OF LARVAE OF EUPITHECIA MILLEFOLIATA RossLER.—The
larvae of this comparatively new ‘pug’ were very numerous in the Folke-
stone area on 4th October 1953. They were to be found quite con-
spicuously in the dead heads of the yarrow, nearly always in a clump
of very thick growth. Most were full-fed, but some were still quite
small. Mr. A. M. Morley, who has had much experience with this
larva, says they come to the tops of the heads in the late afternoon.
At other times they hide among the seed-heads and are often very
dificult to spot.—C. G. M. pe Worms, Three Oaks, Shore’s Road,
Woking. 5.x.53.

CatocaLas IN Ham Street, Kent.—On 28th August 1953 I reached
this well-known spot at dusk under very warm conditions. Insects were
abundant at sugar. Among many common species I took two Catocala
sponsa, one of which, a female, was quite fresh and later laid a number
of eggs. Two nights later, on the 30th, I took the first C. fraxina of
the season as well as a worn CU. promissa. CC. nupta was in great
plenty: we saw as many as twenty on the patches in one night. I do
not think any other locality could produce all four breeding species of
Catocala and I wonder if anyone has seen them all together before in a
single week-end.—C. G. M. pe Worms, Three Oaks, Shore’s Road,
Woking. 5.x.93.

A Novet Way or TAKING CarocALA FRAXINI Linn.—On 18th Septem-
ber 1953 I sugared quite a large round in a well-known Kentish
locality. I decided to finish in a spot well out in the open. As I
sugared the last tree just as dusk was falling I was amazed when a
huge moth fluttered to the ground. I at once realised I had brushed
a fraxini at rest three feet from the ground. Not having a box or
container handy I picked it up and put it in the loose pocket of my
overcoat. It took me quite five minutes to get back to the car, where
I deposited the moth in a large hat-box, brought for the purpose. Un-
fortunately close inspection later showed the insect to be a male which
by that time had wrecked itself, so that my special efforts to preserve
it alive were in vain.—C. G. M. pz Worms. Three Oaks, Shore’s Road,
Woking, Surrey. 21.1x.53.

KUPITHECIA INTRICATA ZETT. SSP. ARCEUTHATA F'REYER IN HERTFORD-
SHIRE.—On 3rd June 1952 I found two large ‘pugs’ which I did not
recognise on some fencing near Hadley Wood-Cockfosters, close to the
Middlesex border. Later I showed them to Mr. A. L. Goodson at
Tring, who identified them as rather large specimens of Hupithecia
intricata ssp. arceuthata. The identity has been confirmed by Dr. E.
A. Cockayne. I believe this species has not previously been recorded
for Hertfordshire. There is no Juniper near, but I believe there were

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 329

some species of conifers beyond the fence where I found the moths.—
S. M. Jackson, 15 Westbourne Road, Selby, Yorks. 4.x.53.

[This species feeds also on the Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macro-
carpa Hart., which is not uncommon in gardens.—Eb. |

ORTHOSIA ADVENA SCHIFF. AND JEUCANIA VITELLINA Hus. In Hants.
—It may be of interest to record the capture.of Orthosia advena Schf.
in my m.v. light trap on 25th April this year. This seems to be south
of its normal range. I also took Leucania vitellina Hub. on 26th May.
The colouring was paler than that of the normal autumn brood, the
first of which appeared on 15th September. Presumably the May cap-
ture would be an immigrant.—B. C. Barton, Castle Mead, Highcliffe,
Hants. 26.1x.53.

Notes FROM PuRBECK.—On 28th August over Slepe Heath near Corfe
Castle two gd Colias croceus in fresh condition were observed flying in
a S.E. direction. The day was hot, with clear skies; temperature near
70°F. On 10th September the first Herse convolvuli appeared, and
quite a few have been seen since. From 15th September Vanessa
atalanta has been very abundant; also a fair number of V. cardui.—
LEonaRD TaTCHELL, Rockleigh Cottage, Swanage. 22.1x.53.

Notes From East Essex.—In common with other areas the present
season has been rather disappointing for Lepidoptera, particularly
migrants, though several species which had not been noted previously
were captured by the light-trap. The first Plusia gamma was taken
on Ist May; a second occurred on the 15th, and the species has missed
only three nights since then. A male Nycterosea obstipata was found in
the trap on 19th May. Later in the day the first Vanessa atalanta was
seen, followed by V. cardui on the 21st; neither became common but
three of each were seen on the 25th. The first Nomophila noctuella
occurred on 23rd May, but only five have occurred since, singly.

Two good specimens of Heliothis peltigera appeared in June, on
the 9th and 11th respectively, and a single male Leucania albipuncta
on the 2ist. A specimen of Macroglossum stellatarwm was seen flying
round the house on 28th June.

Plusia gamma increased considerably in number from 13th July,
nearly 9,000 having been taken between then and 14th September.

The first Colias croceus was seen on 2nd August and a further six
next day in lucerne fields near the sea. A male U. hyale was seen flying
over lucerne on 15th August, the first time since September 1951. On
the 19th, in East Kent and Thanet lucerne fields, 10 (. hyale of both
Sexes were seen to only three (©. croceus.

On 21st August the light-trap produced 1,019 P. gamma, with a
male Herse convolvuli and a pair of L. albipuncta.

On 27th August, in the Folkestone district, a further five C. hyale
were seen in a lucerne field with only two (. croceus. Fifteen V.
atalanta were also noted.

Seven more ZL. albipuncta, two males and five females, occurred
between 30th August and 10th September, with a very fine large male
H. convolvuli and 630 P. gamma on 9th September. A female H. con-
volvult occurred with 498 P. gamma on 16th September.

Species recorded which seem unusual for the Essex coast were Plusia
pulchrina on 23rd June; Stawropus fagi, a perfect male, 24th June;

330 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von, 65, 15/ XT /1953

Drymonia trimacula, several males, the first on 28th June; Lygephila
pastinum, a male in good condition, 7th July: and Simyra albovenosa,
three specimens, 3lst July.—A. J. Drewtck, Curry Farm, Bradwell-on-
Sea, Essex. 16.1x.53.

HIBERNATION OF PLUSIA FESTUCAE Linn.—In reply to An Old Moth-
Hunter (Hnt. Rec.: 65: 199) T have always looked upon P. festucae
as a double-brooded species, emerging in June/July and again in
August/September. The eggs from the autumn brood hatch quickly
and the young larvae hibernate quite small, reappearing in April/May.
They hibernate among the old leaves of Sparganium, Iris and Carez.
In 1926 I caught a female in July near Wicken. She laid a batch of
eggs which produced imagines towards the .end of August. Two of
these paired and their eggs hatched early in September. I put a plant
of each Sparganium and Iris in a large pot and covered it with a
_ sleeve’ and stood it out in the garden. The sleeve was tied to a
stick and also the pot to prevent it being knocked over. The young
larvae hid themselves in folds of the leaves and if I remember correctly
had spun themselves little pads of silk on which to sit. They reap-
peared in April/May and started feeding on the new growth. Almost
all came through and I bred about two dozen imagines. The larvae
seemed to prefer the 7ris. Jn their natural state the young larvae
must be able to stand severe flooding at times. I see no reason why
late September pupae should not occasionally spend the winter as pupae
instead of producing another brood.—H. M. Enpegrsten, Bramble
Hill, Baleombe, Sussex. 22.ix.53.

HIBERNATION OF PLUSIA FESTUCAE T..—The recent notes on this species
prompt me to record my experienec of it in 1951, 1952 and 1953. The
species does not appear to be common in this part of the country, but
it is fairly widespread. It first came to my notice in 1951 when several
specimens were taken in a garden at Romsey about the 8th Septem-
ber. T took it again at Farley Mount, near Winchester, on 9.vi.52
and again at Titchfield Haven on 19.vi.52. This year IT took it at
Titchfield Haven on 13th June and in my garden on 3rd September and
at Hedge End, near Southampton, again on 8th September. Thus
there was an autumn emergence in 1951 and 1953 and there could have
been in 1952 since T stopped collecting after the first week in August
because of the bad weather. This does not, of course, answer the
question of hibernation, but at least it points to some regularity in
the times of emergence when most of the text-books are at variance
with each other.—A. C. R. Repverave, Hartsdown, Glenfield Avenue,
Bitterne, Southampton. 17.ix.53.

Diurnat SyncHrony In Hatcnine or Eacs.—A brood of some 200
Amphipyra tragopoginis Clerck hatched from the egg with such precision
as regards time of day that it may be worth recording if only to
encourage other breeders of Lepidoptera to notice if other species have
a fixed daily time of emergence. The brood commenced to hatch on 12th
April, a few at a time, but it was not until the third or fourth day that
T noticed none hatched in the afternoon. I then paid more attention
and found that the hatching period was incredibly exact, from 10 a.m.

COLLECTING NOTES. ok

until 11.30 a.m., and on only one occasion did a larva hatch earlier
and that by only half an hour, namely 9.30 a.m. The brood took fifteen
days to complete emergence, had been in the egg stage for seven
months, and yet hatched at what must be a specially fixed time.—A. lL.
Goopson, 26 Park Road, Tring.

VANESSA ANTIOPA LINN. IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.—In The Field of 24th
September Mr. J. J. Sawnson reports that ‘‘this very fine butterfly
made one of its uncertain periodical appearances on Saturday, Septem-
ber 5th, in a garden in the village of Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire.
It was seen resting on an apple tree, where it stayed for several
minutes, giving ample time for examination’’.—Ep.

A Hint on Preservine Larvaet.—I have seen several descriptions of
the way to ‘blow’ lepidopterous larvae but I don’t remember having
seen in any of them the recommendation to starve a larva for 24 hours
or more before blowing it. By this period of starvation the first part
of the gut is emptied and the risk of breaking it and leaving food
inside or even outside it is avoided. Food in the thorax is especially
unsightly in the paler and more transparent species.—E. A. CocKAYNE,
‘brings,) 10.53.

Collecting Notes

CottEctING Nores Is 1953.—Kuphyia luctuata: 1 took five speci-
mens of this species between 2nd and 6th June in the woods near Ham
Street, Kent. Three were flushed by day and two came to m.v. traps.
All were in perfect condition.

Plusia ni: Two 33 came to m.y. traps on the night of 14th August
on the beach at Torcross, Devon. Another arrived on the 16th and a
fourth on the 17th. The two traps were placed in identical positions
on the same shingle bar the same distance from the sea, one a quarter
of a mile north of the other. On the night of 8th August well over
1,000 P. gamma were in the traps, by far and away the majority being
in the trap nearest Start Point (to the South). On the 14th there were
about 500 P. gamma and once again the majority were in the more
southerly trap. On each occasion they left almost immediately and
on the 17th, a reasonably good night, I counted only 8. I think, there-
fore, that this was a primary migration.

Other Devon records: Two Heliothis peltigera came to m.v. traps
on 8th August and one on the 16th, on which night I also took four
Nomophila noctuella. Macroglossum stellatarum came to m.v. on the
15th and one Peridroma saucia (porphyrea Schiff.) on the 11th.
Euplagia quadripunctaria was fairly common by day but on no occa-
sion came to the m.v. traps. The larvae of Hadena barrettit were
extremely common this year.

Of butterflies, one ¢ Colias croceus was caught on 16th August, on
which date also a 9 Argynnis euphrosyne was taken by my son.—H. B.
D. Kerriewett, University Museum, Oxford. 8.x.53.

A Nieat at PortLaNp witH THE M.V. Lamp.—On 29th September
1951 I went with a friend to Portland and among other insects took
three specimens of Leucania l-albwm T., two at ivy-blossom and one at

oD ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von, 65. 15/ XI /1953

sugar. That night was not altogether favourable, there was a strong
wind and clear sky and it was cold. The opportunity to revisit the
Island came on 26th September this year. On this occasion the
weather was much more favourable and although the sky was clear there
was no wind and the temperature was high for the time of year; in
addition this time I took with me a portable m.v. outfit. My friend
and [ arrived at our chosen spot, on the edge of the cliffs, near a dis-
used stone quarry not far from Church Ope Cove at about 6.30 p.m.
Two lights were used, an 80-watt at the top of the cliff and a 125-watt
in a Sheltered hollow abounding with ivy bloom about half-way down the
cliff side. We expected that this second lamp would provide us with
the majority of our insects. The lamps were switched on at 7 p.m.
and while I kept watch on the lower lamp my companion stationed
himself at the ivy bloom out of range of the light, and about half an
hour later he took the first two specimens of [-album. At the lower
lamp the first moth to appear was Plusia gamma L. but this was quickly
followed by a further three l-album. By this time it was quite dark
and my friend had moved up the cliff to the top lamp where gamma
and Phlogophora meticulosa L. were appearing in numbers together
with an occasional [-album. It soon became apparent that the lower
lamp was attracting very little while the top one was bringing in
plenty.

By 9 o’clock some 12 or 15 [-albuwm had been taken, together with a
number of Antitype flavicincta Schf. and Aporophyla australis Bdv.
There was then a distinct lull until about 10 o’clock, even gamma and
meticulosa ceased to arrive. Things became livelier and during the
next two and a half hours reasonable series of the three. insects were
taken. After 1 a.m. Humichtis lichenea Hb. began to appear in smal]
numbers and although in general there was a marked falling off in
numbers, l-albwm and australis continued to arrive at intervals, but
no more flavicincta were seen.

We were surprised to: see only a few Leucochlaena hispida Geyer,
as in 1951 this was quite the most abundant of the more desirable
species. A petrol lamp put down then on the grass immediately at-
tracted about 20 specimens (all males).

Among the other species noted up to 2 a.m. when we shut down
the generator were Aporophyla nigra Haw. (commonly), Omphaloscelis
lunosa Haw. (few), T'riphaena comes Hb. (a few in rubbed condition)
and a perfect T. pronuba L., two Rhyacia simulans Hufn. and two
Scopula marginepunctata Goze one of which was of the Portland form
with a ground colour almost that of freshly-quarried Portland stone
with very clear markings.—A. C. R. Reperavr, Hartsdown, Glenfield
Avenue, Bitterne, Southampton. 4.x.53.

DY PPE RA

VOLUCELLA ZONARIA Popa IN Mippriesrx.—This afternoon, 7th
September, I caught a specimen of this fine Syrphid in my garden at
Wembley. It was feeding at the flower of a Sedum spectabile. Mr.
LL. Parmenter, who has seen it, has kindly confirmed the identity. It
is a female.—I. R. H. Auian, 33 West Hill, Wembley Park, Middlesex,

Vitxees3

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 3003

COLEOPTERA

Beetles in Epping Forest
By ff. A: Hunter, B.A. ko R_wS.

I visited Epping Forest for the first time in June this year, and
during a stay of two weeks at Chingford I came across a number of
interesting beetles. The preponderance among the trees of Carpinus
and Fagus was notable, and most of the beetles recorded were taken in
the dead and decaying stumps of these trees.

One large fallen beech log on examination provided an interesting
ecological study in the succession of beetles inhabiting fallen logs. The
bole of the trunk was rotted, and contained only small Elaterid larvae
and woodlice. Further up the trunk the galleries of Dorcus parallelopi-
pedus (l.) were very much in evidence, and here also I found a male
adult of the large Elaterid Athous villosus (Geoff.). In the sound wood
towards the top of the trunk I found larvae, pupae, and adults in their
galleries of the local Longicorn beetle Leptura scutellata Fab.

I was both surprised and pleased to find, just under the sapwood in
the upper part of the trunk, a small colony of adults of the rare
Serropalpid Phloiotrya rufipes (Gyll.). Previously I had seen this
beetle only singly in the New Forest, Hampshire. I was fortunate
enough to take twelve adults and a pupa from this colony. These were
lying in their pupal cells, with their heads towards the outside. Un-
fortunately, the pupa had changed into an adult before I decided to
preserve it, so that I now have no pupal specimen.

In the hornbeam stumps I examined I discovered the following more
important species : —

Under bark: Melandryu curaboides (L.) adults; Rhagium bifascia-
tum Fab. larvae; Anuclyptus mysticus (L.) adult; Athous villosus
(Geoff.) pupa.

In wood: Leptura scutellata Fab. larvae, pupae, adults.

Other interesting species noted on bramble flowers, etc., were:—
Clytus arietis (.), Grammoptera ruficornis (Fab.), Melandryu cara-
boides (L.), Rhagium mordac (Deg.), Strangalia melanura (L.),
Chrysomela popult L., Onthophugus vacca (L.), Sinodendron cylindri-
cum (L.), Lucanus cervus (L.), and Dorcus parullelopipedus (L.).

I was amazed at the frequency of Leptura scutelluta Fab., which
seemed here to be much commoner even than in the New Forest.

CETONIA AURATA L. In BourNEMouTH.—On 7th April this year I saw
a very early specimen of this chafer, as reported in the Record, 65:
185. On 5th September I saw one fly to a Buddleia in my garden and
alight on a flower spike. I gather from Mr. A. A. Allen’s note that
this is an unusually late date for this insect. Strangely enough, I have
not seen more than one or two specimens between these two dates.—
H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 22.1x.53.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903).

DRYMONIA CHAONIA IN Kew Garpens.—It is not often that I get
the chance of observing an insect nowadays, but I happened to-day

334 ENTOMOLOGIST'’S RECORD, VOL, 65. 15/X1/1953

in Kew Gardens to see a specimen of Drymonia chaunia which fluttered
down to my feet. It seems rather an urban locality for it, and I sus-
pect on this account it is interesting enough to make a note of. My
last urban insect of interest under somewhat similar conditions was
Cyaniris argiolus, which was sitting on the pavement near St. John’s
Wood Road Station.—W. F. H. BLanprorp.

Tur ‘C’? 1x Potyeonta c-ALtBum L.—Professor EK. B. Poulton showed
a specimen of Polygonia c-aulbwm in the attitude of prolonged repose
He said that probably the ‘C’ or ‘comma’ on the undersurface of
the pea ings in butterflies belonging to the genus LPolygonia repre-
sents, in bright, strongly-reflecting ‘body-colour’, the light shining
through a semi-circular rent in a fragment of dba leaf, the rent pro-
duced when a little segment of leaf has broken away along a curved
line, but still remains connected with the rest across the chord of the
arc. Unless such a segment remains precisely in the plane of the
leaf—or even then when shrinkage has taken place—light may pass
through a curved and often a semi-circular slit-like window. Such
curved cracks, probably produced by alternate wetting and drying, are
very common in dead leaves.

PARASEMIA PLANTAGINIS L. IN THE ALPS.—On some of the high flower-
covered alps it occurs in boundless profusion and in marvellous variety.
The variation from the blackest to the whitest examples is most extreme.
Above Arolla, at an elevation of from 7,000 ft. to 7,500 ft. I found the
species between August lst and 13th, 1903, in the greatest profusion on
the alps above the higher chalets towards the Pas du Chevres, which
at this time were huge beds of blue, and yellow, and white, due to the
magnificent masses of bloom of forget-me-nots, gentians, hieracii, saxi-

frages, etc., with which the upland alps were covered. . . . It is
impossible to guess at the abundance of this species on these slopes.
There must have been literally millions. ... The attempt to capture

the swift-flying males on steep slippery slopes is not at all bad sport,
and where the ground is at all bad, rather difficult and dangerous as
well. I had one or two nasty falls whilst thus engaged, but this did not
prevent me from keeping to the work until a very fair series had been
collected.—J. W. Tutt.

Current Literature

HanpBooks FoR THE IDENTIFICATION oF BrittsH INSEcTS. W ol nta,
Part 1. Drierera. Syrpuipas. By R. L. Coe. Published by
the R. Ent. Soc. Lond. 19538. Price 17s. 6d.

Mr. Coe’s volume will be welcome to dipterists as apart
from the excellent but necessarily brief summaries in Chapter XII
of Colyer and Hammond’s Flies of the British Isles no comprehensive
work on the British Syrphidae has been published since Vol. 8 of
Verrall’s British Flies in 1901. It deals with 234 species compared
with ‘“‘about 200” in Verrall and after some brief introductory remarks
on general characters, life-histories, etc., there follow the keys to sub-
families, genera and species. There is a bibliography and an Index.
There are no detailed descriptions of individual species and one misses

CURRENT LITERATURE, ooo

the valuable comparisons with closely allied species which are such a
useful feature of Verrall’s work. However, to have included these would
have made the book considerably longer and probably more expensive.
Each genus has a brief descriptive introduction including what is known
of the life-histories of its species. The specific descriptions in the keys
are concise and, so far as the writer can judge, adequate. Distribu-
tion is given but definite localities only in the case of rare species.
The month of appearance is stated.

There are 49 outline text figures. In the reviewer’s opinion those of
head-profiles and tops of heads are not too easy to use unless one has
most of the species illustrated for comparison; and the figures of the
Jegs of Platychirus and Xyleta would be improved by the addition of
their characteristic hairs and spines. The figures of antennae and wing-
venation are excellent. As to nomenclature, the author has made the
best of both worlds by keeping to the old well-known generic names in
most cases and at the same time giving the ‘‘modernist’’?’ names in
brackets. This is a most useful, compact, and up-to-date work on one
of the best known and most popular families of Diptera, and its rela-
tively low price puts it in reach of most purses.

Ets Wc

HANDBOOKS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BritisH INSECTS: COLEOPTERA.
Published by the Royal Entomological Society of London. 1953.

Vol. V, Part 7: CoccineLitipar & SpHINDIDAE. By R. D. Pope. 12
pp., 23 figs. Price 2s. 6d.

The Sphindidae are treated as including Aspidiphorus, which
arrangement is likely to be generally adopted; but the family is not
here characterised. All but two species, therefore, dealt with in this
part are Coccinellids. Though many of these beetles (the familiar
‘Ladybirds’ and their allies) are tolerably well known and have a con-
spicuous colour-pattern, the extreme variability to which the latter is
often subject, and the fact that generic and specific criteria equally often
rest upon somewhat obscure or slight differences of underside anatomy,
render the construction of a simple yet reliable key no easy task. The
author has to a large extent overcome this difficulty, with the help of
economical illustrations, and we believe his keys to be a distinct improve-
ment on previous English ones. The present family has suffered from
the activities of taxonomic hair-splitters and it is doubtful whether
some of the genera created by Mulsant, Weise et al. are of more than
subgeneric value; the dismemberment of the old genus Seymnus
(justifiable, perhaps, from the specialist standpoint) seems rather to
complicate than simplify matters for the ordinary student. Mr. Pope
has rightly not attempted to list the innumerable named aberrations,
which would only have overburdened a work of this scope, but refers
to the literature on them and notes for each species the general range
of colour-pattern. Indications relating to occurrence are sufficient in
some cases, but this has hardly been carried through consistently.
Thus, the connection of several species with fir trees is stated, but it
might have been extended to Hurmonia (p. 6) and Myrrha (p. 7), if
not also to Nephus 4-maculatus (p. 9); and the apparent restric-
tion of the first to a few south-eastern localities and of Coccinella 5-
punctata (p. 10) to the north and the south-west could well have been

336 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, von. 65. 15/ X1/1953

noted. Frequency is seldom mentioned; there is nothing to show that
Adalia conglomerata v. bothnicu—British on one specimen—is any
rarer than the ubiquitous A. bipunctata with which it is contrasted
(p. 11), or that Vibidia 12-qguttata (p. 6) is not Known to have occurred
with us for over a century. On p. 8 the habitat of both Pullus suturalis
and P. limbatus is given as ‘Usually in marshy places’; this should be
‘On fir trees’ and ‘On sallows or willows’ respectively (cf. of the re-
viewer’s note in Hnt. mon. Mag., now in the press). Calvia 10-guttatu
L., added to our list in 1928 (abid., 64: 104) from Ireland, is omitted—
seemingly by accident. The ‘palely testaceous’ spots (p. 8) of Chilocorus
renipustulatus are a full blood-red in life; and the ‘yellow’ of Adalia
bipunctata ought surely to be ‘red’ as regards the elytra, at least in
the two commonest forms which might with advantage have been briefly
noticed here. ‘Sycmnus’ (p. 4) should, of course, be “Scymnus’. Changes
of name are few and unimportant.
Asp Ans Ar
AmateuR Entomo.ocist Leartets. (Reprinted from The Amateur
Entomologist and The A.E.S. Bulletin).

No. 9. Collecting Caddises, by W. Whitehead, 5 pp. 4 Plates,
1/-.

No. 22. Collecting Lacewings, by Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, 9 pp..
5 Plates, 1/-.

No. 25. Collecting Bumble Bees, by T. B. Poole, 20 + ii pp., 2/-.

No. 26. Collecting Collembola, by P. R. Barratt, 6 pp. 1/-.

(All obtainable from The Amateur Entomologists’ Society, 1 West
Ham Lane, London, E.15. Postage 13d.)

The stimulating of beginners to take up the serious study of an
Order of Insects which particularly interests them is always a laudable
aim and it is at that stage that they are most in need of guidance,—
‘How shall I start? What equipment must I get hold of ? Where do I
look, and how can I identify my captures when I get them home? Where
can I find out more about the Order I’m interested in ?”’

To varying degrees the leaflets listed above provide that guidance
and, in answering these questions, encourage the beginner to pursue
his studies along the right lines. The fact that the Leaflets are Reprints
occasionally leads to anomalies which do not help the reader. For in-
stance in No. 9 reference is made to Plates IX, X, XI and XII which,
presumably, are those actually numbered I to IV, and in No. 26 no
reference is given wherein Dr. Salmon’s mounting method may be
found. ;

Leaflet No. 25 on the Bumble Bees is particularly good and the
excellent identification key and drawings should enable even the veriest
tyro to run his bees to earth without difficulty.

The photographs vary considerably in their use to a beginner and
in some cases the space could better have been used with drawings of
apparatus.

Ie BEA

ARGENTINA

EGGS AND PUPAE OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.

PAPERED MATERIAL OF LEPIDOPTERA AND ALL ORDERS OF INSECTS.
PAYABLE IN GREAT BRITAIN.

PUPAE MORPHO CATENARIUS ARGENTINUS 5/- EACH. ORDERS UNTIL
DECEMBER 10TH.

DESPATCH OF ALL MATERIAL BY AIR MAIL.

Apply to—

F. H. WALZ,

Reconquista 453, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EXCHANGES AND WANTS

Wanted.I would be grateful for the loan of any photograph or coloured
drawing of specimens of Lysandra coridon of. the various forms of ab.
extrema as illustrated and described in Bright & Leeds’ Monograph of the
Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly, pl. 10 and 18.—S. G. Castle Russell, 5 Bridge
Road, Cranleigh, Surrey.

Wanted.—Volume LVI (1944) of The Entomologist’s Record (unbound).—H. W.
Andrews, Spring Coitage, Smugglers’ Lane, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Hants.

Wanted.—Volume XV (1903) of The Entomologisi’s Record, in parts as issued.
£1 offered.—F. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road, St Albans, Herts.

Wanted.—We are still in need of copies of our issues of January, July/August,
and December 1951. If any of our readers have spare copies for disposal
we shall be glad to buy them back.—F. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road,
St. Albans, Herts.

Wanted, for experimental purposes, Pupae of S. ocellatus. I can offer ova of
T. aurago, or set local Lepidoptera.—R. G. Todd, Wells, Norfolk.

_Exchange.—Pupae of N. zonaria. Wanted.—Pupae of L. sinapis and N. lucina.—
T. D. Fearnehough, 13 Salisbury Rodd, Dronfield, nr. Sheffield.

For Sale.—Seitz Butterfly Volumes: Palaearctia, Africana, Americana, Indo-
Australica. Text and Plates in each (English).—Russell, Woodside,
Minstead, Hants.

For Sale.—Assorted sizes of second-hand Store-boxes. Full details apply to :—
P. G. Baker, Lawn End, Grangecourt Road, Harpenden, Herts.

:

THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD
AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
(Founded by J. W. TUTT on 15th April 1890).

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.
Assistant Editor: P. B. M. ALLAN, M.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.E.S.

Treasurer: A. C. R. REDGRAVE.

Publicity and Advertisements: F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road,

St. Albans, Herts.

The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:

Lepidoptera: S. N. A. JACOBS, F.R.E.S., Dr. H. B. WILLIAMS, Q.C.,

LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., F.R.E.S. ;

Coleoptera: A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc.; Diptera: E. C. M. d’ASSIS-

FONSECA, F.R.E.S. Business: P. SIVITER SMITH, F.R.E.S.

CONTENTS
THALERA FIMBRIALIS SCOP. IN ENGLAND. (i) H. B. D. Kettlewell,

(ii) E. A. Cockayne, (iii) C. N. Hawkins ... aN ih: Me oe eid 305
NOLA ALBULA SCHIFF. AT CHATTENDEN. H.C. Huggins ... Sas ay 308
NOTES ON BREEDING EUPLAGIA QUADRIPUNCTARIA PODA.

J. L. Atkinson le ee gy ae a bs ee cs te oa 309
AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA, Il. K. J. Hayward a os se 310
SOME AUCTION SALES OF THE ‘NINETIES (continued) ans ee bes 315
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. H.C. Huggins ... oe ae. RY es 320
BEETLES IN EPPING FOREST. F. A. Hunter ... ae ve io: me 333

ALSO

CURRENT NOTES, NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, COLLECTING NOTES,
CURRENT LITERATURE, Etc.

TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS
All material for the magazine should be sent to the Assistant Editor
at No. 4 WINDHILL, BISHOP’S STORTFORD, HERTS.

EXCHANGES and ADVERTISEMENTS to F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney
Court Road, St. Albans, Herts.

CHANGES of ADDRESS should be sent to the Assistant Editor.

We must earnestly request our contributors NOT to send us communi-
cations IDENTICAL with those they are sending to OTHER
MAGAZINES.

If REPRINTS of articles (which can be supplied at cost price) are
required, please mention this IN YOUR COVERING LETTER.

Articles that require ILLUSTRATIONS are inserted on condition that
the AUTHOR DEFRAYS THE COST of the illustrations.

All reasonable care is taken of MSS., photographs, drawings, ete.; but
the Editor cannot hold himself responsible for any loss or damage.

Printed by T. Buncle & Co. Ltd., Arbroath.

DECEMBER 1953

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| ENTOMOLOGIST’S
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| iauS. COMP. ZeUL.
LIBRARY

JAN 21 195
WAnVARD Editorial

UMVERS Mp ieti n of the first volume of this magazine in March 1891
utvb wrote: ‘‘ The general tendency of a large number of readers to
require a complete index for scientific reference has led us to compile
a complete ‘ Special Index ’, containing every reference in the Maga-
zine. This will be published separately, price 1s, and we trust that
our subseribers will buy this, so that no loss may fall on our enterpris-
ing proprietor ’’. This first Special Index comprised 24 pages, and its
format and arrangement have been followed in each succeeding volume
up to last year.

Henceforward we shall have to revert to the practice adopted by
our Founder: it is no longer possible to supply the Special Index free
of charge. For financial reasons it has never been possible to entrust
its compilation to a paid indexer, and although it entails considerable
labour and occupies many hours which an entomologist could spend more
profitably, willing helpers have never been lacking. There is no diffi-
culty on that score. But it is now a costly thing to produce. If the
economic price of the 24-page Index of 1891 was 1s, it would be at
least 4s to-day. Even the present-day 16-page Index is too heavy a
burden for the magazine to bear in its present size. We believe it
would be contrary to the wishes of our subscribers to reduce the num-
ber of pages of each issue in order to supply the Specal Index free of
charge.

So we must return to the original practice of making a charge for
the Special Index. That charge will be 2s. Will those of our sub-
scribers therefore who wish to receive the Special Index for 1953 please
add this amount to their remittances when renewing their annual sub-
scriptions ?

An Isolated Fauna

By Matcotm Burr, D.Sc.

In The Entomologist’s Record of 1945, Plate I shows a fine view
along the Bosphorus, with the grim castle of Rumeli Hisari, which is
a prominent landmark for miles. It was built in the year 1452 by
Mehmet II, the Ottoman Sultan who captured Constantinople in the
following year. The prominent feature in the photograph is the noto-
rious Kara Kula, the Black Tower, with all its dungeons. The actual
builder. was Sarudja Pasha, one of the Sultan’s generals. It is 28
metres in height and the diameter is 23.80 metres. The thickness of
the walls varies from 3.5 to 7 m., and near the top, on the inside, there
is a passage into the interior of the wall, at the end of which is an
opening into a pit some 3-4 m. deep, in the middle of the masonry.
Unwanted prisoners were pushed into the passage and along it until
they fell into this dry well, to be forgotten. That is why it is called an
oubliette, one of the two perfect specimens still existing in Europe, I
believe. I looked down into it with a torch, but could see no grisly
remains,

At the top, on the outside. there is a central turret around which,
bounded with battlements, is a circular path about three metres in

338 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XI1/ 1953

width. On this there is an accumulation of soil which provides a home
for a tolerably rich fauna and flora, which is interesting because it
started from scratch and has been isolated for 500 years; so it must
have been populated by wind or by bird transport in the case of plants
and by flight or crawling by insects. Also, both may have been brought
in by human beings, most probably unconsciously, on their clothing,
boots or food. The tower is kept locked, but the key is available and
occasionally an enterprising visitor may bring some refreshment with
him and scatter some seeds, which would account for the little fig
, trees, or some seeds or eggs attached to the mud on his boots. But
how could the myrmecophiles have found their way there?

On two occasions I have been up to the top, both times accompanied
by Professor Kosswig, once in May and once in October.

The first thing to greet us as we entered the gloomy portals was a
flutter of bats. I made a sweep at one with my net, but his radar was
too good and he evaded it. They were big fellows, very likely the sero-
tine. In one of the guard chambers on the way up there are some old
bins, where I suppose the men kept their corn for bread-making. In
these were the remains of faeces suggestive of rats or mice, dried up,
but of unknown age. So we started with at least two mammals on
our list!

When we got to the top I had a good hunt below the stones and
rubble on the patch of earth. Here were nests of ants (Tetramorium).
Among them we found a Lepisma or, according to Kosswig, probably
an Atelura, and I dare say a prolonged search would reveal other Thy-
sanura. Of Collembola there were tiny white ones in the ants’ nests,
which Kosswig suggested are Nicholetia. Now how did they and the
ants get up there? Even if flying queens settled up on that isolated
top how did they get their guests?

Of Rhynchota there were only some small white Cercopid larvae on
the plants, and of Coleoptera surprisingly few. We found some Tene-
brionidae and numerous specimens of a small black beetle, not iden-
tified. I note that Donisthorpe agreed with Father Wasman’s view
that the association of the former beetle with ants is not a chance one
and that they show a marked tendency to be, or to become, myrmeco-
philous. Their occurrence up there in association with the ants
strengthens this view.

Lepidoptera were not much in evidence. I saw only a small green
caterpillar and a few small pale Crambus in the grass. Rather sur-
prising was the presence of Loboptera decipiens, an apterous cockroach
that is common in Southern Europe. How did he get up there?
Twenty-eight metres up a vertical wall is a stiff climb. Just as sur-
prising was a single larva of a small green bush cricket, Poecilimon
bosphoricus, that is abundant in the herbage at the foot of the tower.
It is an apterous genus, sluggish in habits, related to our British
Leptophyes punctatissima and it is difficult to see how it found its
way up.

There were several representatives of other groups of Arthropoda.
A small brown spider with a long abdomen that looked familiar enough
and two species of woodlouse that Kosswig named for me, Armadulium
granulosum, very common under stones, and A. vulgare, which we found
only on the second visit. It is exceedingly common.in the neighbour-

THE MOTH TRAP IN OCTOBER. 350)

hood. Characteristic with the ants was Platyarthrus hoffmanseggii,
which Donisthorpe identified for me some years ago. It is associated
with almost all European ants. he told me, yet we wonder how it found
its way up there. Verhoeff has discriminated three species of this
genus among material sent him from this neighbourhood by Professor
Kosswig, so possibly this may turn out to belong to one of the new
ones. There was also plenty of a small red mite, and an Acarine among
the ants was clearly a myrmecophile, associated with Tetramorium.
Another Arthropod was the Myriapod Pachyjulus flavipes, common
under stones, often in clusters. Did they crawl up those high walls?
Or were they brought up attached to some human boot? Finally, Koss-
wig saw, but did not catch, a Scutigera.

Outside our scope, it is worth mentioning the birds, though not
actually on the tower but flying around and perhaps settling there from
time to time. There were the common and the alpine swift, plenty
of jackdaws and rock doves, some lesser kestrel and a peregrine that
flew round and round, shrieking at our intrusion, so perhaps she had
a vested interest in the building. There were also several lizards on
the top, which must have been enterprising fellows, or descendants of
enterprising parents. Kosswig told me that they are the colour variety
glivacea otf Lucerta sicula hieroglyphica. Finally, there were a few
Mollusca, which probably climbed up the walls, several small Heliz,
and plenty of a small Bulimus or Clausilla.

It is worth mentioning the little flora. Our specimens were kindly
identified for me by Professor Heilbrunn of Istanbul University. There
were several small fig trees, some clinging to the precipitous walls of
the tower, and a little ivy creeps along the walls, without contact with
the earth. There was also the Nettlewood Tree, Celtis australis, which
is fairly common in the neighbourhood. The pigeons love their bluish
berries, so perhaps the seeds were dropped up there by these ubiqui-
tous birds. Clematis vitalba grows freely on the top. and there were
a few shrubs of the Chermes Oak, which is one of the most prominent
members of the flora on the surrounding hills. But who planted the
acorns up there? Pigeons? ‘There are a few Pistacia mutica, a
charming tree that is common locally, a few bay shrubs, and the local
white-flowered comfrey. Fifteen common. local weeds were identified,
probably mostly windblown or brought by birds, including succory,
rocket, snapdragon, which is probably an escape, and a common creep-
ing hedge plant, Asparagus asper, with its rough and harsh stems and
fohage. That is 27 species of plants.

The Moth Trap in October,
1952 and 1953

By R. F. Breruerton, C.B., M.A., F.R.E.S.

Intil the weather broke on the 26th, conditions in October 1953 in
north-west Surrey were exceptionally favourable for the attraction of
moths to light. There was very little wind; skies were frequently
overcast; night temperatures were high and only once, early in the
month, did the thermometer even on the grass touch freezing-point.
October 1952, on the other hand, was a thoroughly bad month. The

340 ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD, VOL. 69. 15/ XIT/1953

contrast between the attendances of moths (Macrolepidoptera and
Pyrales) at my light-trap at Ottershaw is so striking as to be worth
analysis.

In both years I used a ‘Robinson’ trap with an 85-watt m.v. bulb,
standing on the open lawn about 25 yards from the house. It was
switched on only when the weather seemed reasonably favourable, and
usually run until dawn, though on bad evenings it was brought in
between 11 and 12 p.m. The count included, as far as possible, not only
the insects actually in the trap, but also those sitting about on the
outside and on the grass. This is quite an important point, as certain
species, especially the ‘Thorns’ and the Oporinia group, are incorrigible
sitters-out, and a count which ignores these can much understate their
relative abundance. Some comparative statistics are set out below :—

1952 1953
Total moths recorded in October ... + ome! OFS) 3668
Total species recorded a Bas i 7 ote Ao 55
Number of nights worked ... ee on ay dei | 23
(of “which part only) © ... ais is He 6 2
Nightly average recorded ... ok Sie Rd at Prectel FS) ~ 160
Maximum recorded on one night ... 8 ~. L217 G8th) 645 (2G)
Maximum species on one night _... ech a 22 34
Dominant species (Agrochola lychnidis Schiff. a 366 1891

Thus the total a insects recorded was more than four times as great,
and the nightly average more than three times as great, in 1953 as in
1952. It seems, however, that these differences were not wholly due to
weather conditions in the month of October itself, but to some extent
to more’ general differences in the progress of the two seasons. The
emergence dates of moths were generally rather later throughout the
autumn in 1953 than in 1952, so that more of the mainly September
species were still flying well into October. This lateness in 1953,
despite much more favourable autumn weather, is at first sight sur-
prising. A probable explanation is that until July the weather in 1952
was much better than in 1953, so that the larvae of the autumn species
fed up and pupated earlier. I have noticed the same point in breeding
some of these species: the length of their pupal stage seems to be
constant and little affected by temperature, but it is often possible to
get early autumn emergences by forcing the larvae.

In both seasons Agrochola lychnidis Schiff. was the dominant
October species. It accounted for 48% of the total in 1952 and 51%
in 1953, and no other species approached 10% in either year. Megan-
ephria oxyacanthae L., Agrochola macilenta Hb. and Phlogophora
meticulosa L. accounted for a much larger proportion of the remainder
in 1953 than in 1952, when Triphaena pronuba L. was the second most
numerous species thanks apparently to a partial second brood, of which
there was no trace this year. In neither year did October provide any
of the scarcer migratory species; but Agrotis ipsilon. Rott. was common
in 1952 and Plusia gamma L. in 1953 was abundant: there was a few
Peridroma porphyrea Schiff. in both years; and Nomophila noctuella
Schiff. was represented by a single example in 1952 and not at all in
1953. Odd specimens of the partial second broods of Hypena probos-
cidalis L. appeared in October in both years, and of Rivula sericealis

FAST COAST FLOOD AND ITS EFFECT ON CERTAIN SPECIES OF LEPIDOPTERA. 341

Scop., Cleora rhomboidaria Schiff., Hypsogyia costalis F. and H.
glaucinalis Li. in 1953: in 1952 these did not extend beyond September.
Aporophyla nigra Haw., Agrochola lota Cl., Anchoscelis litura L.,
Hydraecia micacea Esp., Thera obeliscata Hb., Conistra vaceinn MW.
and Hupsilia transversa Hufn. provided a solid core of common species
which were, relatively to the totals, about equally prominent in both
seasons.

Though the 1952 total of species was only 43, against 55 in 1953, it
contained one, Tiliacea aurago F. (three examples), which did not
appear at all in the latter year, and five others, Cirrhia icteritia Hufn.
(3), Amphipyra tragopoginis LL. (1), Scoliopteryx libatrix L. (one,
probably of a second brood), Opisthograptis luteolata L. (1), and Nomo-
phila noctuella Schiff., which did not appear in October. In 1953 four
species, Anchoscelis helvola L. (6), Epione repandaria Huin. (4), Griposia
aprilina I. (8), and Hpisema caeruleocephala L. (1), occurred which
were not seen at all in 1952, and thirteen others which were not seen in
October of that year: most of these were the mainly September species
which were referred to earlier. A single specimen of Oporinia christyi
Prout was detected for the first time in 1953: the species may well have
been overlooked previously, but is certainly very much scarcer here than
O. dilutata Schiff. and O. autumnata Bork. Lithophane semibrunnea
Haw., which is generally a rare species here, appeared in October only
in 1953 (two examples), though it came to the trap in the spring in both
years. Of Rhizedra lutosa Hb. there were four in 1952 and seven in
19583: this moth must be a considerable wanderer, as the nearest reed-
bed known to me is 14 miles away.

Statistical comparison with years before 1952 is not possible because
the types of light-traps used were different. But two species, Pyrausta
martialis Guen. and Orneodes hexadactyla L., can be added to the list
from earlier years, to bring the total number of Macrolepidoptera and
Pyrales observed at light at Ottershaw during the month of October
to 58. A few more, including that local speciality, Dasycampa rubiginea
Schiff., have been taken at sugar or by other means. Who shall say
that October is a dead month?

The East Coast Flood and Its Effect on Certain

Species of Lepidoptera
By C. G. M. pr Worms, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.E.S.

The great storm and sea flood which overwhelmed the East Coast
on the night of 3lst January-lst February 1953 caused loss and life and
damage in this region without precedent for some 500 years. Professor
Steers has estimated that over 200,000 acres were affected by sea water.
The coast line from the Humber to the Wash, the Thames Estuary and
even the south-east portion of Kent suffered severely in many low-lying
areas. Naturally anxiety has been felt about many coastal species of
our Lepidoptera after this terrible onslaught and incursion of the sea,
especially as such favoured breeding grounds as sandhills were wholly
swept away in many places, especially along the Lincolnshire coast,
while near Lowestoft and Southwold long stretches of dunes were
eliminated along the shore. Salt marshes often for a mile or more

342 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15 / XIT/ 19538

inland were under sea-water for many days, while fresh marshes were
invaded by salt water in many notable places, in particular along the
coast in South Suffolk. Fortunately, however, in this great catastrophe
the defences of the coastline at Horsey prevented a repetition of the
1938 disaster to the Norfolk Broads. The calamity at Canvey Island
was by far the most grievous. Here an analysis of the local farm soil
gave a yield of 0.5% of salt or 5 tons per acre. The north coast of Kent
also took the full force and toll of the storm, while at Pegwell Bay the
sea drove right over the golf course at Sandwich.

From these facts and data one can well visualise the potential
damage and destruction to insect and especially lepidopterous life in
the affected regions. Doubtless myriads of hibernating larvae perished
in the flood, while those species with wintering ova may have had their
foodplant killed by the saline conditions. Those species hibernating
as pupae were probably less vulnerable. To take a few examples, egg
masses of Malacosoma castrensis are well adapted for floating. Jarvae
of Agrotis ripae burrow deep into the sea sand for overwintering before
pupation, but one wonders how such hibernating larvae as those of
Leucania litoralis may have fared in the general destruction of the
sandhills and huge stretches of marram. Lithosia complana, a common
insect among the dunes of North Norfolk, is likely to have suffered badly
in the larval state. There is little doubt that the sandhill species were
the worst affected.

IT will now deal with some of the more localised species associated
with this portion of our coasts. There seems to be evidence from various
on-the-spot investigations that none have suffered very materially, which
is a most gratifying outcome.

Kilema pygmaeola Doubleday reappeared plentifully along that
stretch of coast at Pegwell Bay, Kent, which is one of its headquarters.
It was well out in numbers quite early in July this year. As to the
colony on the sandhills at Waxham in Norfolk I have had no direct news,
but I have little doubt this also has survived, since that part of the coast
was not too seriously affected.

Arenostola elymi Treits. must have been eliminated from many
localities where its foodplant flourished among the sandhills. As already
mentioned, north of Lowestoft and at Southwold, where it used to be
abundant, large tracts of dunes were completely washed away, but
doubtless there are many spots where the lyme grass occurs in the area
which were not affected. This species is so widespread up the east coast
to Scotland that it cannot have been much depleted.

_ Nonagria newrica Hbn. In the restricted area where this insect has
been discovered in Suffolk the sea made big inroads into the fresh
marshes, but it is satisfactory to know that on 10th July this year Mr.
P. J. Burton took a specimen at rest on a reed stem, so that it is
evidently surviving without much fear of extinction through the salting
of the reed-beds.

Aplasta ononaria Fuessl. Grave fear was felt about the colony at
Sandwich where the sea broke in over its breeding ground with salt
water remaining on it for several days. However, this species too
reappeared there in fair numbers in July, General Johnson taking a
sperimen in the hotel along the sea front bordering the golf course.

Sterrha ochrata Scop. which occurs with the last-mentioned species on

BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTING. 1953. 343

the same ground, was also quite numerous there. There is no reason to
believe it was seriously affected in its other haunts at Aldeburgh in
Suffolk.

Euchloris smaragdaria Fab. This Emerald, a denizen of salt
marshes, must be used to seaflooding during its hibernation in the larval
stage. I found a few larvae at Canvey as usual this autumn, but noted
that much of the sea wormwood growing along the sea walls, one of its
most favoured breeding grounds, was being destroyed in the strengthen-
ing of the walls against further flood damage. These operations along
the Essex coast must have accounted for large numbers of the larvae of
this restricted species.

Eupithecia extensaria Frey. The areas where this occurs in North
Norfolk must have been very badly affected. It is to be hoped that the
pupae were not submerged for sufficient time to be killed. Mr. Chipper-
field visited some of the best ground in late September this year, 1953,
but failed to find any larvae, which may have already pupated. Further
investigation is required into this species on this stretch of the coast.

British Lepidoptera Collecting, 1953

1. January to the end of June
By C, G. M. pE Worms, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.E.S.

T was greeted on my return from East Africa with a very bleak spell
which lasted most of January and well into February. Collecting in
earnest did not begin till the middle of that month. Most of the usual
early species of Geometers were out by then in the Woking area with
Apocheima hispidaria appearing on the 18th, Achlya flavicornis on the
21st February and Orthosia incerta and OQ. gothica the following day.
Biston strataria was again plentiful at light from this date till well
into March which proved to be a very cool month till the third week
when sallows were well out in the Bracknell area. Here on 18th March
Orthosia cruda and O. stabilis were in numbers. On the 20th I paid a
visit to Mr. Austin Richardson at Minchinhampton. We travelled to
South Wales later that day. In the locality in which we collected the
sallows were at their height producing an abundance of O. incerta, O.
gothica and QO. stabilis with a sprinkling of Pachnobia rubricosa and
Panolis flammea (piniperda). There was a spate of Achlya flavicornis
and B. strataria to the m.y. light. I was in Kent on 29th March visiting
the woods at Ham Street that evening. In spite of a high wind insects
were fairly plentiful at sallows at which I had the satisfaction to take
a couple of Jodia croceago, from one of which T subsequently bred a fine
series. Orthosia munda, O. miniosa and Graptolitha ornitopus were
among other visitors to the blooms.

The Easter holiday proved a very fine and most propitious period.
On 8rd April I spent a morning sawing off birch stumps in Swinley
Forest. These later produced a number of Aegeria culiciformis. That
evening was a memorable occasion in the Chiddingfold area where I was
accompanied by Mr. R. Bretherton. Moths were swarming at the
sallows, mainly O. gothica, O. incerta, O. miniosa with a few O. munda,
P. rubricosa and Xylocampa areola together with single examples of
Gypsitea leucographa, Lithophane socia and J. croceago. The next

344 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XIT/ 1958

day I travelled to Carlisle to stay with Major General Johnson. On the
5th, Easter Sunday, we motored via Ullswater to Grange-over-Sands.
It was a mild and drizzly evening when we ventured to the woods near
Witherslack where we were joined by Dr. N. Birkett. Sallows were once
’ more well patronised. We recorded a dozen G. leucographa and many
O. miniosa at light, while searching the small ash saplings yielded a
nice series of Nothopteryx polycommata just out. The next night was
less good in the same locality where we saw half a dozen each of G.
lewcographa and N. polycommata. Ova were obtained from the former
species and a large brood of larvae brought to the pupal stage. On the
morning of 8th April I accompanied General Johnson to a locality in
the Carlisle area where larvae of Huphydryas aurinia were abundant and
nearly full-fed already. A good series with heavy markings was later
bred from this source. JI returned south later that day.

The 11th April proved yet another remarkable night in the Chidding-
fold district (see Ent. Rec., 65: 182). Mr. R. Bretherton, Mr. D.
Messenger and I were kept busy at the sallows till a late hour. Among
a host of O. miniosa, O. stabilis and P. rubricosa we saw four G. leuco-
grapha, including three females, a single J. croceago, several Nothop-
teryx carpinata and Lycia hirtaria. JI was in the same area the next
night with Mr. A. Wightman and Mr. G. Manley, but a mist descended
and little appeared at the sallows. Spring butterflies were on the wing
on 18th April when I was in the New Forest, chiefly Pieris rapae and
Anthocharis cardamines. The next day, which was very warm, I was
delighted to find a freshly emerged female Odontosia carmelita in the
Brockenhurst area (see Ent. Rec., 65: 183). That evening Dr. H. King
and I joined Mr. R. P. Demuth in a well wooded spot near Brockenhurst.
Drymonia ruficornis (chaonia) was numerous at the m.v. light with a
few Polyploca ridens, while with some agility we managed to net several
Eupithecia irriguata circling round the lamp. The next day I found
larvae of Callimorpha dominala full-fed near Salisbury. I was again
in the New Forest with Mr. D. Messenger on 26th April. Cleora cinc-
taria. was starting to appear near Beaulieu Road station, while we found
another female O. carmelita-on a birch trunk in the same locality as
that of the previous Sunday (loc. cit.).

On the evening of 28th April I travelled to Aviemore where I was
greeted with a very dull and cool spell. However, searching posts on
Granish Moor the next day produced a number of Anarta cordigeru
freshly out. These became more plentiful in this spot the next two
days. On ist May I saw the first Isturgia carbonaria. The sight of
several skeins of wild geese flying north seemed to presage a warmer
period which duly set in on the 2nd, when T found a pair of Hndromis
versicolora. Thecla rubi was well out now. Later that day I journeyed
to Newtonmore to join Commander G. W. Harper. In spite of the mild
conditions his m.v. lamp that night attracted only A. flavicornis and
Ectropis bistortata. Summerlike weather had now brought out many
spring insects. Lampropteryr suffumata came to light on the 3rd.
Commander Harper’s trap was well patronised by many species, includ-
ing Pheosia gnoma, N. carpinata, Chesias rufata, Anticlea derivata
(nigrofasciaria) and Selenia tetralunaria. The next morning on a heath
near Kingussie T. rubi was swarming. The first Hadena bombycina
(glauca) were seen together with many 7. carbonaria. - In the early

BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTING, 1953. 545

afternoon male Saturnia pavonia were on the move. That evening thie
m.v. light drew a large company in a marshy area along the Loch Laggan
road. By midnight we had recorded over a dozen WN. tetralunaria,
including one female, many O. gothica of all varieties, several Orthosia
gracilis and H. bombycina, quite a run of L. suffwmata with a good
proportion of f. piceutu, also Notodonta ziczac, P. gnoma and Selenia
bilunaria. The 5th May proved to be one of the warmest days I have
ever experienced in the Highlands, causing one to collect in shirt
sleeves. While searching some gnarled birch trunks in the afternoon,
about 4 p.m. I had the thrill to spot a pair of O. carmelita. Within
two hours the female had laid some eighty ova, all fertile. That evening
I travelled south once more, very well pleased with the closing days of
my visit.

The fine spell continued for nearly a fortnight, but I did not under-
take another collecting expedition till the middle of the month when |
visited Mr. R. E. Ellison at Eastbourne. On the afternoon of the 16th
I joined him and Mr. Hutchinson in Abbott’s Wood, but little was flying
owing to an overcast sky. However, I beat several nearly full-fed larvae
of Trichiura crataegi. The warm weather returned next day when we
walked round the local downs. Pyrgus malvae was much in evidence.
We took three extreme f. faras and several intermediates. Polyommatus
icarus was just appearing as also was Clossiana selene later that day
in Abbott’s Wood. C. euphrosyne was already getting worn. At Mr.
Ellison’s house that evening we took some KHupithecia doduneata and
Nola confusalis. On 20th May, another very warm day, C. euphrosyne
was very numerous in Oxshott coverts. That night Mr. Bretherton,
Mr. Messenger and I made Box Hill our venue. The short grass was
covered after dark with P. icurus at rest, while the main visitor to our
lamps was Agrotis cinerea, of which we took a single female. Horisime
vitalbata was also out.

I spent the last week of the month, which included the Whitsun
holiday, in Belgium. On the 3lst Dr. N. Birkett came over to Woking.
Working one of the local heaths only produced one female Dyscia fugaria
and a few larvae of Amathes castanea.

June opened with a very chilly spell which lasted over the Coronation
period. On the 5th I travelled to Sheffield to stay with Mr. W. Reid,
but very unpropitious conditions prevented any outstanding captures
at his m.v. light set up in his garden on the outskirts of the city. The
most interesting visitors were dark forms of Abrostola tripartita and
Dysstroma truncata. Other species seen at the light included H. bomby-
cina, Hadena thalassina, many Noctua festiva and some good forms of
Gonodontis bidentata. On the 7th we went over to Sherwood Forest
where larvae of Thecla quercus were in great plenty as well as a few of
Pseudoips prasinana (bicolorana). Back in the south some very warm
weather began in the second week in June. Conditions were very favour-
able when Mr. Messenger and I visited Tilgate Forest on the 11th. We
were kept busy till 1 a.m. at our Tilley lamps. Tethea fluctuosa was
already well out. We saw a few Hapalotis venustula at the lights
together with numbers of Jaspidia pygarga, Electrophaes corylata,
Hydriomena coerulata and Semiothisa notata, but no Cerura bicuspis
appeared though several were taken during this period.

On 12th June I motored to Woodwalton Fen where I was joined by

346 ENTOMOLOGIST'’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/X11/ 1953

Mr. W. Quibell. It was a very mild night with a hght drizzle. The
sugar patches were well patronised mainly by Apumea wnanimis, very
fresh and variable. Many very dark forms were seen. Polia nebulosa
was the next most numerous with a few Eumichtis adusta, but only one
-Leucania obsoleta. Very little of interest came to light. The next day
we did a survey of the Breck sand area, chiefly to try to locate Silene
otites, the foodplant of Anepia irregularis. In spots where it used to be
abundant only a few scattered plants were found. Only in one very
restricted area was it in any way plentiful, which is not very encourag-
ing for the very local insect it harbours. A second night at Wood-
walton produced in addition to the species already mentioned Tethea or
and one Arenostolu concolor (extrema) at light at 1 a.m.

I visited the Ham Street woods for the following week-end, on 20th
June. At dusk Angeérona prunaria was plentiful, but sugar attracted
only a single Tethea ocularis and some Poliu tincta and P. nebulosa.
Pterostoma palpina was the only visitor to light that night. I went
over to Sandwich the next morning, but saw only Mesvtype virgata.
Lysandra bellargus was well out on the downs behind Folkestone. That
evening I took a female Cossus cossus at the sugar at Ham Street.

The 22nd June, a very fine day, I spent at Dungeness where Eupi-
thecia pulchellata was in numbers with an occasional Hadena conspersu
(nana), H. lepida and H. serena on the posts. That evening I went to
Westwell to sample Dr. E. Scott’s well-known downland locality. I was
surprised to see several Diacrisia sannio on the sugar with many Agrotis
exclamationis and an Apamea characterea (hepatica). At the m.v.
light by the house a single Lophopteryx cucullina came quite early and
later Deilephila elpenor, D. porcellus and Stauropus fagi. Some re-
markably warm weather was the feature of the last week of June. On
the 24th, a very heavy night, Mr. Ellison and I drove to Tilgate Forest
after attending a meeting of the South London Society. Arriving about
10 p.m. moths soon flocked to our Tilley lamps on top of the tunnel.
There was still a steady stream when we left at 1 a.m. By that time
we had counted nearly sixty JT. fluctuosa, which kept coming in little
rushes from an early hour. Among the fifty species recorded at the
lamps were several S. fagi, Apatele leporina, P. nebulosa, P. tincta, S.
notata, Euphyia unangulata, H. coerulata, Bapta bimaculata, A.
prunaria and Biston betularia, but no Apatele alni which had been
prevalent there early in the month.

On 27th June I motored to the New Forest. En route I halted at
Alice Holt Forest where Inmenitis camilla was just appearing. On the
downs near Winchester Melanargia galathea was already well out. That
evening Dr. H. King joined me in the Emery Down area. At dusk we
searched the low bilberry with our lamps taking several Bomolocha
crassalis (fontis) and a dozen quite fresh Chloroclystis debiliata which
also came to light in fair numbers. Other visitors included Cleora
lichenaria and a fine Alcis repandata f. conversaria, also Cosymbia
linearia. The next day I spent searching for larvae of O. gracilis which
were fairly plentiful in the bog-myrtle. In the evening I proceeded to
West Wittering where sugar was quite productive, a few Leucania
litoralis, L. favicolor, Heliophobus albicolon and Apamea oblonga
(abjecta) being taken.

(Tu be continued.)

A FEW NOTES ON CIRRHIA OCELLARIS BORK. 347

A Few Notes on Cirrhia ocellaris Bork.
By H. C. Hueerns.

“Apparently still rarer species with us are Mellinia ocellaris, of which
our member, Mr. Burrows, has taken and shown us a specimen; Sesia
(Aegeria) andreniformis, taken by Mr. Huggins at Gravesend on July
17th; and Parascotia (Boletobia) fuliginaria, captured by my friend
Mr. R. W. Robbins at Walthamstow on July 29th.’’

This extract from the late L. B. Prout’s review of the season 1901
in his presidential address to the City of London Entomological Society
makes queer reading today. Few present-day collectors would select
those three species as the ‘star’ captures of the year, yet then the
British specimens of ocellaris and fuliginaria were certainly below 25
and my andreniformis, for which I refused an offer of £5 from Eustace
Bankes, was the fifth. I have it still, and a miserable little one it is,
netted from a dogwood leaf whilst I was assembling L. quercus. Perhaps
one day we shall be treating zollikoferi and alchymista with as little
respect.

The capture of that ocellaris at sugar in his garden at Mucking,
Essex, by C. R. N. Burrows has always made me feel a kind of pro-
prietorial interest in the species, as not only was it linked with my
own great boyish capture but also he gave me a pre-view of it and
carefully pointed out the distinctions between it and gilvago.

Today, of course, the moth is easy enough to get if a locality where
it occurs be known. All that is required is to watch the nearest tree
of male black poplar, and directly the red catkins have fallen, to go
off to the ocellaris place and pick up a supply of the catkins there and
place them on the surface of the earth in a big flowerpot with plenty
of drainage. In two or three weeks the young larvae will begin to come
out of the catkins and may then be fed with young poplar leaves of any
sort till they disappear in the earth. Nothing more need be done
except leave the pot out of doors, and in September ocellaris will emerge
without difficulty. This year I decided to increase my series of ocellaris,
and as I had long since given away all my duplicates I visited a Breck
locality for half an hour. From less than a pint of the red catkins
gathered [ reared 19 moths without the slightest difficulty. .

C. ocellaris is also easy to rear from the egg. A captured female lays
readily on the buds of a poplar twig, and the larva will go straight
into the catkins provided directly it hatches. I usually provide the
young catkins partially covered by the sheathing-bud to begin with.
The only difficulty in rearing from the egg is to keep the eggs cool
enough so that they do not hatch before the catkins are ready, but in
1937 I successfully reared larvae that hatched prematurely by starting
them on aspen catkins, which appear long before the poplar ones. These
moths emerged in early July instead of September. It is perhaps
needless to say the eggs are laid in the autumn.

To take a female or so for eggs it is not necessary to sugar for it,
especially as like most ‘‘sallows’’ it is somewhat capricious, turning up
in dozens some nights and on some not appearing at all. In early
September break the ends of a few low twigs of black poplar, so as to
leave a bunch of withered leaves. A fortnight later this may be shaken

348 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. bs 1 T9953

over a net or tray, and ocellaris, mostly females, will fall down. ‘I last
tried this trick with the late W. S. Gilles in 1936 near Sudbury and
between us we got over a dozen ocellaris from about twenty bunches.
Gilles was told the dodge by the late Bernard Harwood, who said it
worked equally well with gilrago on wych elm, or croceago on oak. It
certainly works with gilvugo on wych elm, or any broad-leaved tree;
we took two gilvago with the ocellaris at Sudbury on the dead poplar
leaves, which had doubtless come from neighbouring elms. As to
croceago I cannot say; in the localities where I collect there are so few
croceago to so many oaks—‘‘so much water and so few fishes’’.

The variation in ocellaris and gilvago seems to run on parallel lines;
there is the usual dusky form, and the form with a hight ground colour
with a distinct spotted band. Douglas Smart used to call this the gilvago
form of ocellaris, whilst Harwood used to call the parallel insect the
ocellaris form of gilvago. In both insects the banded form is uncommon ;
in ocellaris in the Breck and Thames Valley it seems to be about one
in ten (I bred two in my nineteen this year); but I never saw it at all
at Sudbury.

There appears to be one unsolved mystery about this moth, the food
in nature after the larva leaves the catkin. It cannot be the fallen
catkins as, unlike those of the sallow, these disintegrate entirely before
the larva is full grown. I have noticed, however, that until the last
instar in captivity the larvae spin hiding-places in the young poplar
leaves provided; in the last instar they hide on the surface of the earth.
It seems possible therefore that in nature they spin amongst the higher
leaves till then, and after that ascend the tree to feed at night, living
on the ground by day.

Notes on Lepidoptera, 1952-53

By F. M. B. Carr.
(Continued from page 290.)

Some forty years ago my wife and I spent two summer holidays at
Llandrindod Wells. Walking and. cycling we explored the beautiful
Radnorshire countryside and saw enough of its entomological possibilities
to make me wish for a further acquaintance with it. With this end in
view I left Chester on 29th June and halted en route at Church Stretton.
Here, as arranged, Mr. and Mrs. Symes, who had motored there from
Bournemouth, met me. Our plan was to have a day on Whixall Moss
and on Ist July to go on to Llandrindod Wells for a week. On the Moss,
in addition to Coenonympha tullia, we put up an occasional Sterrha
muricata. But alas! Radnorshire proved a sad disappointment. Noth-
ing was seen of the more desirable species taken by me there in 1911
and 19138, e.g. Ammogrotis lucernea and Plusia mterrogationis. Indeed
there was a strange scarcity of anything lepidopterous. Cucullia
umbratica was fairly common on posts, and an occasional Scopula ternata,
Lygris populata, Epirrhoe galiata and E. tristata appeared. We found
several batches of Saturnia pavonia larvae and one larva only of
Apatele menyanthidis.

IT returned to Mudeford on 8th July to find day collecting almost
useless owing to persistently cold windy weather. One example must

NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA, 1952-53. ~ 349

suffice, the date being 30th July. On this day Dr. King and I went
forth to the New Forest to seek the elusive larva of Moma alpium, but
never a one! For six hours we beat. Larvae of any kind were extremely
scarce, and the best we could manage were three Drymonia trimacula.
The next day I wrote in my diary ‘‘Thus ends the worst July for weather
and collecting that I can remember’’.

With August came better weather. On the 14th Mr. B. C. Barton
and I visited woods in the Salisbury area for larvae of Cucullia asteris.
We soon found on the golden-rod as many as we wanted. This done we
spent some time beating oak and sallow, etc., but except for two larvae
of Atolmis rubricollis and one Notodonta ziczac we beat very little. We
ended the day on the open down, where we found a good colony of
Hesperia comma.

Five days later we went to Hod Hill. Here we saw only four males
of Lysandra bellargus, but beat from privet a fair number of Cranio-
phora ligustri larvae.

We made a second trip to the same locality on 28th August, hoping
to find L. bellargus in strength, but though fine the sun shone but
little and we saw only about a couple of dozen. Yet this small number
included ab. caeca and ab. obsoleta, one of each. When Mr. Symes and
I went again on 7th September the species was still in small numbers,
but between us we took several of these two aberrations. Another
feature of this visit was the quite exceptional abundance of Aglais
urticae, sitting on the scabious and on anything and everything that
offered a meal.

Between these two visits to Hod Hill Mr. Symes and I had a fairly
good day’s larva-beating on Cranborne Chase, larvae including Apatele
leporina (4), A. tridens (2) and a few C. ligustrt.

On 9th September Mr. Barton and I went to Portland where we
found plenty of larvae of Cucullia absinthit.

On 14th September Dr. King and I went to the New Forest to beat
for the larvae of Cosymbia orbicularia, and in this were highly success-
ful. Other larvae that fell into our trays included several N. ziczac and
Pterostoma palpina. ;

A large patch of Nicotiana in my garden delighted the family over
a long period with its fragrance, but never a ‘‘hawk’’ did I see at it.
My one Herse convolvuli of the season came to me on 19th September
not sublimely but ridiculously. She sat about 12 feet up on the outside
wall of a large store in Bournemouth. I debated with myself whether
T should buy a long bamboo or borrow a short ladder, and finally decided
on the ladder. An obliging porter in a white overall co-operated, and
up I went to the penultimate rung. When I regained terra firma with
my convolvuli safely boxed a host of white-coated porters appeared
‘from nowhere demanding to see the prodigy that all unbeknowst had
been sitting on their wall. Introductions followed and all was well.

The 25th September, a lovely warm sunny day, was spent in larva-
beating with Mr. Symes at Buzbury Camp. Here we did quite well,
taking larvae of Gastropacha quercifolia (5), Drepana cultraria (4),
Atolmis rubricollis (8), Colocasia coryli (4), Hemistola chrysoprasaria,
Horisme tersata and Ligdia adustata.

TI treacled in the garden at Mudeford spasmodically in July and
August, and regularly in September. I often felt inclined to give it

350 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 65. 15/ XIT/ 1953

up, as until 26th September only a few common moths appeared on the
patches. But on that date the luck changed and I was glad that I had
persevered. Amathes castanea (neglecta) was a surprise as I know of
no heath in the neighbourhood. Aporophyla nigra made its first appear-
ance of the season, to be followed by others on subsequent evenings.
The evening of 27th September was a good one, with a lovely Leucania
vitellina and L. l-album as the ‘star turns’. The latter was my second
record for Mudeford.

I saw no more of these two species, but treacling continued good
throughout October, a month in which we enjoyed much beautiful
weather. Inthophane semibrunnea (16) and LD. socia (12) head the list,
with a good sprinkling of commoner species such as Griposia aprilina,
Agrochola lota, A. macilenta, Graptolitha ornitopus and Conistra ligula.
Now and then Rhizedra lutosa appeared, also one Schrankia costae-
strigalis and a few Sarrothripus revayana.

It was light, however, that produced far more than any other means
of collecting. I am still without a mercury vapour lamp trap. Judging
by Mr. Barton’s experiences, rather more than a mile away at High-
cliffe, I might expect to do very much better with one and spare myself
many late nights. However, there were many additions to my previous
records for Mudeford, notably Cerura furcula, Pheosia tremula, Euproc-
tis chrysorrhoea, Gastropacha quercifolia, Cycnia mendica, HKilema
deplana, Apamea ophiogramma, Hadena lepida, Leucania obsoleta,
Orthosia gracilis, Cosmia pyralina, Atethmia xerampelina, Heliothis
peltigera ab. pallida, Plusia ni, Lampropteryx suffumata, Mesoleuca
albicillata, Chesias legatella and Epione repandaria (apiciaria). Of the
above, A. xerampelina came in numbers to Mr. Barton’s trap. I took
my H. peltigera on 11th June, and Plusia ni on 18th August.

I do not know what is the status in Hampshire of E. chrysorrhoea.
I have not previously met with it in the county in any stage.

An Entomologist in Argentina

Il]. Exploring for Locusts
By Kennetu J. Haywarp, D.Sc. (Hon.), F.R.E.S.

To readers who expect something about entomology, this instalment
will prove a disappointment. I include it to maintain the continuity of
my reminiscences since the journey played no small part in my entomo-
logical life. It is a tale of small adventures; insects play but little part.

During the autumn of 1933 the Ministry of Agriculture, ever more
perturbed at the increasing damage caused by locusts, decided to
explore thoroughly the northern portion of the country in an effort to
ascertain where these insects overwintered. With this idea in view
they equipped eight small expeditions and, as previously mentioned,
I was offered the leadership of one of these and because of my know-
ledge of the area in which it was to operate, was given that destined to
cover La Rioja and certain portions of the adjacent provinces, a total
area rather larger than the British Isles. I was assigned two technical
assistants and authorised to spend a certain sum but beyond this
everything was left to my own judgment.

On arriving in Buenos Aires I found myself plunged into a whirl of

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA. 35]

preparations, planning the route we were to follow and accumulating
the necessary stores, mainly camp equipment and saddlery. In addition
each expedition received a large case of medical supplies that appeared
sufficient to stock a small hospital and which I conveniently discarded,
selecting only the absolute necessities. We were also authorised to apply
to the local army commanders of our respective zones for a non-com-
missioned officer and six men to accompany us, but I did not avail
myself of this suggested addition to our forces.

My party left for Cordoba on 24th May, arriving the following day.
It was cold and grey but as I had nothing better to do I went out collect-
ing, finding only a number of cases of two species of bagworm
(Psychidae), one of which was hibernating in large quantities on the
posts of a railway fence. Though these seemed far too common to be
of any interest, both proved to be undescribed and were two of the very
few insects we discovered that were new to science.

The next morning we continued on to La Rioja, a journey in those
days of about twenty-four hours, the steam train following the route
through the beautiful Cordoba hills before turning westwards across
the semi-arid plain covered for the most part with jarilla and Prosopis
and low scrub forest. We arrived early in the day and after paying the
usual courtesy calls on the local authorities IT went to see my old friend
Brother Gomez at the San Francisco monastery, where I had previously
stayed as a guest whilst helping him sort out and catalogue his small
collection of pre-colonial Indian relics, which over the years has grown
to be one of the most important in the country and now forms the Inca
Huasi Archeological Museum. It was an unforgettable fortnight. I
slept in a small simply furnished ‘cell’ and ate with the Brothers at their
long refectory table, innocent of cloth, and after the evening meal they
recounted tales of old-time La Rioja. When I took my morning bath
it was to the song of many canaries, for one of the Brothers bred them and
at night hung their cages in the bathroom that was mine to use.

Returning to the village of Serrezuela that lay just over the border
into Cordoba, we put up at a small pensién where they served us a white
Chilcito wine that still lingers in my memory. Here we remained for
a little over a week as there were local arrangements to be made and I
had to find a car, since it was my intention to travel as much as possible
by this means, resorting to mules or horses only when it became neces-
sary to leave the main tracks and enter more deeply into the mountains.
This period of semi-inactivity was passed in exploring the neighbourhood,
especially the low scrub and cactus covered hills to the south; but the
nights were cold and there were few insects to be found.

Before leaving I had been asked to do what I could to get together a
representative collection of the region’s cactus for the Ministry’s green-
houses, and as we were visiting out of the way places from which little
or no botanical material had ever been received, to collect plants. This
additional task was welcome, as in the almost complete absence of insects
it provided us with an interest that went far to relieve the monotony of
long hours of travel and sometimes led us into little valleys that we
should not otherwise have troubled to visit. In the end we were able
to send a large assortment of cacti to Buenos Aires, and in spite of its
being winter we made a fair collection of flowering plants and crypto-
gams.

352 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XTT/ 19538

We had some difficulty in finding a suitable car but eventually
located a 1928-model Ford at a reasonable rental. I do not think that
any other car of that period would have stood up to what we asked of it
and survived the ordeal. We covered more than 4,000 miles and some
- idea of the state of the roads in those days will be gathered when I add
that our average speed for the entire distance was thirteen miles an
hour and that we only twice touched thirty. Often we were compelled
to dig our way down into and out of gullies where they cut the roads
or lay down tracks of branches to get us over soft sandy stretches where
the wheels sank deep, and even though we carried eight spare inner
tubes these frequently proved insufficient when our way lay over thorny
scrub or cactus-covered wastes.

It was not till 3rd June that we finally got away from Serrezuela,
‘crossing the plains to the Sierras of Malazdn, skirting their eastern
slopes to Chepes and then continuing southwards into San Luis to make
a complete circuit of the Sierras of Ulapes, a journey not without
adventure since for much of the way no roads existed. Failing to find
any trace of locusts in this area we turned our attention westwards
into northern San Juan, proceeding to the well watered Valle Fértil
which was a distinct change from the arid scrub-covered country we had
so far traversed. Here we remained for several days and it was the
only place where we made any considerable collection of plants, as in
spite of the cold nights a fair number were in flower in some of the
more sheltered valleys. Here too when the sun had warmed the air
a few butterflies appeared, the usual common species I have since
learned to associate with our north-western valleys in winter, the ubiqui-
tous clouded yellow and our commonest Vanessa, a Tatochila white and
three very common Pyrgus skippers, Eurema deva whose foodplant
Cassia aphylla grows everywhere in the dry scrub forest, and occasional
fresh specimens of the Danaid Diogas erippus beguiled into emergence
by the warmth of the winter sun. In a tiny stream at whose edges
ice formed nightly, Gyrinidae were swimming and, what was perhaps
more surprising, abundant water-striders skated over the surface of the
stiller pools. One unusual note was the finding of a noctuid chrysalid
within an empty case of the Oiketicus kirbyi bagworm, the only occasion
on which IT have ever seen one of these being made use of by any other
insect.

Since only a bridle track connected Valle Fértil with central La Rioja
it was necessary to retrace our route to Chepes before following up the
western side of the Sierras of Malanzdn and Tama with their delightful
little valleys and continuing across the plain to Patquia. Here we
arrived with the back spring of the car completely smashed, and as
there was no way of getting it repaired in the village we borrowed tools
from the railway and cutting a suitable sapling bent it into shape and
lashed it in place with wire to form a temporary wooden spring. With
this we managed the following day to reach Chilecito even though the
eighty-five miles took us exactly twelve hours. The road, which cuts
through the Colorados, crosses some of the most desolate country that
can be imagined till at Vichigasta, twenty miles from Chilecito, one
enters the grape growing area of La Rioja. It was near this latter
village on a previous trip that, having stopped at a small roadside
almacén or general store to get something to eat, I discovered its owner

AN ENTOMOLOGIST IN ARGENTINA. 353

to have been a sergeant in a Greek battalion that had been for some
time under my charge during the 1914-18 war.

After a short trip to Famatina at the foot of the 20,000 ft. peak of
that name we returned to Chilecito to cross the Cuesta de Miranda into
the western valleys that skirt the pre-cordillera, following these north-
wards to Vinchina where they end. It had long been my desire to visit
a small lake that existed back in the high mountains about two days
by mule beyond Vinchina but we found that the paths were blocked
with snow, and as both my assistants fell victims to puna or mountain
sickness (not caused by altitude alone as is generally supposed but by
a combination of certain factors), I had no choice but to cut short my
stay in this interesting district and return. A few days previously we
had been basking in a temperature of 83° F., but now our night read-
ings were falling below 20° and I was therefore surprised to find a fair
number of insects in some of the valleys and a very active colony of
Aethalion reticulatum (Homoptera) on some willows near a water channel
at Vinchina.

Back in Chilecito we had again to garage our car for repairs but as
soon as these were completed we lost no time in leaving for Tinogasta in
Catamarca, following a little used western trail that led us across long
stretches of sand dunes. We spent about a week where La Rioja and
Catamarca join, sometimes on the vast plains where the only vegeta-
tion consists of countless millions of the small Opuntia glomerata,
sometimes exploring the western valleys of the Velascos in one of which
I found a number of fasciated Cleistocactus, unusual since abnormal
specimens of this cactus seem very rare. We paid a visit to the Aimo-
gasta district, famous for its olives and where there is a four-hundred-
year old tree that still bears its annual crop, a tree that either by
accident or design escaped destruction when in obedience to a Real
(‘édula issued in the seventeenth century by the Spanish Court, all the
local olive trees were cut down so that their production should not
compete with that of Spain.

More than six weeks had now passed since we had left. Serrezuela,
and although we had accumulated much information we still had found
no signs of overwintering locusts. It remained only to explore the
extreme north-eastern corner of our area and the salt marshes lying to
the east. Before setting out on this last leg of our travels we returned
to La Rioja, following a track along the western face of the Velascos, one
of the most dangerous trips it has been my lot to undertake. As a new
road was under construction, the old one had been allowed to fall into
disrepair and in many places the surface soil had washed away, leaving
only stones and small boulders over which the car slithered erratically,
whilst only a foot or two to our right a sheer drop awaited us into
the valley far below. Nor were we made any happier by having a
shower of dirt and small stones descend on us following blasting on
the new road which was higher up the mountainside.

After a short delay we started north, thinking little of locusts as
only that same morning we had been assured by the local authorities
that none existed in the province. We were therefore greatly surprised
when after travelling about twenty-five miles we found ourselves in the
midst of a swarm that covered many square miles and had according to
local information been there for more than a week. This discovery led

354 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15 / XIT/ 1955

us to change our plans and for several days we remained with the
locusts, following them during their short midday flights till we tem-
-porarily lost them in the mountains west of Chumbicha in which small
town, the northern limit of our area, we made our headquarters. Since
we found the hotel impossible we bargained with the stationmaster
for the use of the waiting room, which was just large enough to
accommodate our three camp beds, and arranged with him to give us
food, which he served in the ticket office. As there were only three
trains a week I do not think that the railway was seriously incon-
venienced.

We were now experiencing another of those cold spells that made
the winter of 1931 memorable in this respect, the night temperatures
dropping as low as 14° F. This gave me an opportunity to make some
observations on the cold hardiness of the locust (Schistocerca paranensts)
and it was not till five or six days after the onset of this cold that |
began to notice any mortality. By eight o’clock in the mornings they
were already crawling about although the temperature was still far
below freezing point, but as soon as the sun dropped behind the moun-
tains towards mid-afternoon they would pile up round the trunks of
trees in cone shaped heaps or crowd together in hollows or under fallen
branches, seeking shelter and mutual warmth. Eventually the cold
spell broke and when the locusts moved again they passed out of our
area and I handed them over to the expedition working to our north.

We had still to explore the extreme eastern border of the province,
an area of scrub forest and salt marshes, and to cover this ground we
made a wide sweep eastwards before turning south again to La Rioja,
a distance of some two hundred and fifty miles. On our last day we
followed a track through open forest and here we saw a mayuatu or
South American food-washing racoon (Procyon cancrivorus), the only
specimen I have seen out of captivity, and a puma ran ahead of us for
some distance. Our great adventure was however still to come. On
stopping to remove an obstruction from the path I noticed that the
engine was overheated and found that somewhere we had hit a hidden
stump and broken off our oil drainage cock and in consequence were
without oil. We still had thirty miles of rutted track to cover, and
although it was a simple matter to plug the broken pipe, the question
of what to use for lubrification was another matter as, expecting to he
in La Rioja that night, I had used up the last of our reserves. How-
ever, necessity stimulates the brain, and seeing a herd of goats grazing
nearby I bought two of them and had them killed and stripped of fat,
and this we melted down and poured into the engine. With frequent
stops to allow the motor to cool we reached our destination late in the
evening. It was not till I had garaged the car that I understood why
our progress through the town had attracted so much attention. It
would not have been strange had we, like the Pied Piper and his rats,
attracted in our wake all the cats and dogs of La Rioja, such was the
pungent smell of burning fat we trailed behind us.

Our exploration was now practically finished and after a few days
spent amongst the eastern salt marshes we collected our scattered cases
and equipment, and whilst two of us returned to Buenos Aires, the
third member of the party took our car back to San Juan from where
it had been obtained, a distance of rather over three hundred miles of

WEST COUNTRY TOUR. En)

sandy track. Here our faithful steed was to receive its last jolt, for
the petrol which I had ordered to be sent ahead, since none was avail-
able along the route, although packed and labelled as such, turned out
to be kerosene and on this substitute the journey was completed.

Although my report was negative as regards areas where the locust
overwintered it.was still valuable as it enabled this zone to be excluded
from future exploration. My observations had led me to suspect that
the female locust laid several times and did not, as was the prevalent
idea in those days, lay her hundred or so eggs and then turn up her
tarsi. When I expounded this theory to the Central Committee they
were sceptical and smiled, but subsequent investigation proved me
right. Another indirect result of the trip was a series of experiments
I carried out when opportunity offered a few years later on the destruc-
tion of locust eggs by the adults and larvae of the beetle Trox suberosus,
experiments suggested by the frequent mention of this beetle, called
locally champi, by people with whom we conversed during our travels.

From an entomological point of view little was achieved beyond the
discovery of three or four new species and the addition of a few new
records to the country’s list. It had however given me the chance to
explore thoroughly the lesser known corners of La Rioja, and the know-
ledge I gained has stood me in good stead over the succeeding years.

It was a trip filled with small adventures that have no place in this
account but which remain graven on my memory. Our daylight hours
were spent under sunny winter skies in the invigorating air of mountain
valleys and our nights where darkness found us, in town or farm or
village or beneath the stars.

West Country Tour

By An Otp MorH-Hvunter.

When I was sixteen I made an entomological expedition by bicycle
into the West Country; for in those days I collected and I wanted to
add several species to the cabinet which an indulgent parent had given
me. The maker of the bicycle called it a ‘‘road racer’’; but before the
coming of the motor-car there were precious few country roads on which
one could ‘race’. In dry weather most of them were blanketed with dust
two to four inches thick and in wet weather the potholes were miniature
ponds of similar depth.

I wandered through Dorset, stopping wherever the mood took me—
which was quite often, for the bicycle and I did not agree on the subject
of road racing—and I remember making a sketch of stocks on a village
green—TI think it was one of the several villages called Gussage which
were dedicated to various saints. Doubtless the stocks have long since
been used for firewood. On heaths I found Plebeius argus and, here
and there in chalky spots, Cupido minimus. This little butterfly always
seems—in my experience—to have rather restricted habitats. One never
finds it in profusion over a hundred and more acres as one does Lysandra
coridon and other Blues, at least I never have. Even on such a wide
expanse as Newmarket Heath it is confined to a few acres. Leucophasia
sinapis was common, on 26th July, in Burlescombe Wood, Somerset, and
perhaps it is common there still, if the wood has not been felled.

356 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XI1/ 1953

On the 27th July it rained. Not just summer showers but a dour,
soulless, downpour which soon had me wet to the skin. Strapped
inside the frame of my bicycle was a more or less triangular case—
(Good God! says the purist; how on earth can a triangle be ‘‘more or
less’? >—Pay no attention, reader—the bottom angle was square)—which
fitted the frame of the bicycle nicely and was about four or five inches
thick. In this were stored my spare shirt, vest and socks, sleeping suit,
shaving tackle (perhaps ‘down-remover’ would be more accurate con-
sidering my age), bath-sponge, soap, towel, hair-brushes, and entomo-
logical impedimenta. All these things, especially the sponge, had a
great attraction for the rain. When I reached Moreton Hampstead I
was in much the same condition as a Persian cat which has been floating
about off the port of Basra for a week or two.

The White Hart inn looked inviting, so I dismounted, discarded the
bicycle, and asked if I could have a meal and my clothes dried. The
landlady, who was a fat motherly woman, took me to a bedroom, told me
to strip and put my clothes outside the door, and in an hour they
would be returned to me dried and a hot meal ready. Till then I was .
to lie in bed. So I lay naked in bed until a pretty young maid came
in with my clothes and told me that dinner would be ready in five
minutes. I told her not to be in a hurry to go, so she sat down beside
the bed and put her arms round my neck and kissed me. . . . She really
was very pretty, and I was very young... . I thought this was an excel-
-lent introduction to Devonshire. However, she was afraid that mistress
would come up after her if she didn’t hurry, so off she went, and I got
into my warm dry clothes.

When | came downstairs I was shown into a parlour with a cheerful
fire, and presently the little maid brought in a large roast fowl, a steam-
ing hot boiled gammon, and a truly royal dish piled high with potatoes
and French beans. The accoutrements were a quartern loaf (home
baked), half a pound of butter, and a large round cheese. If I had
been hungry when I arrived I was ravenous by now, and I consumed the
whole of the fowl except bones and chitin and most of the gammon. I
also ate the best part of the loaf and nearly—but not quite—all the
vegetables, at least half the butter, and a considerable lump of cheese.
These were washed down with a pint of good ale—very different from
the stuff one is served with today. When I had finished my meal the
landlady brought me half a pint of ‘‘sherry wine’’ to ‘‘keep off a chill’’.
I was only sixteen, but I manfully deposited this also in the correct
receptacle. JT then pulled up an.armchair before the fire and felt that
I should not require anything further to eat for several days.

When I awoke the rain had stopped, so I paid the reckoning (which
probably did not exceed two shillings), kissed the pretty little maid,
mounted my road racer, and departed. But I don’t think T rode very
fast after that meal and I expect the bicycle wobbled a bit. Later in
the day I arrived at a little beerhouse in a desolate spot which seemed
to be plumb in the middle of Dartmoor. Jt was called Warren House
and a more uninviting place I had never stayed at before, having pre-
viously led a somewhat sheltered life. I could not foresee that there
would be many days, and nights, in years to come when such a house,
with walls and roof intact, would seem to me the height of luxury! The
landlord, having looked me up and down, scrutinised my throat, appar-

WEST COUNTRY TOUR. BOT
ently so that he would know exactly where to cut, and the landlady
seemed to be wondering how much money I had on me and what my
clothes and shoes would be worth. I felt very lonely and far from aid.
.. . Actually, they were excellent folk, and they fed me well. I stayed
the night, a daughter giving up her room to me, and in the morning
my throat was intact and the money in my trouser pocket ditto. Next
day the sun shone and I netted Argynnis agluia, fresh and frisky, as
they flew about the old workings of the long-abandoned Vitifer tin
mines. Again I doubt if my reckoning, which included a vast breakfast,
amounted to more than a shilling or two.

Fifty-one years later I came to the Warren House once more and
found that except for an outhouse or two it looked very much as it did
at the time of my first visit. But the road was now a motor road, and
the little beerhouse probably sold more liquor in a week than it formerly
did in a month, at least in summertime. While I was renewing acquain-
tance with it my wife found four full-grown larvae of Anarta myrtilli
on the ling overhanging a bank at the side of the road. I should never
have found them in a month of Sundays, so perfect was their procrypsis.

Next day I bicycled to Dartmouth and found Melanaurgia galatheu
flying everywhere. I had never caught this butterfly before, so I made
hay while the sun shone. Then I turned back coastwise and was beset
by galathea all the way to Bridport. In a narrow hillside lane above
Dawlish a brilliant tigermoth was cavorting in the hot sunshine. I
recognised ‘‘hera’’ as we then called it; for in the early ’nineties the
magazines had had a good deal to say about Euplagia quadripunctaria.
But by the time my net was ready the insect had disappeared in a
cottage garden and although I lent over the hedge and watched for
some time it did not reappear. Shortly afterwards another, with yellow
wings, flew across the lane. I pottered about all afternoon but did not
see any more.

At the top of the hill into Charmouth a man asked me if I had seen
a lion, as one had escaped from a travelling circus the previous night.
As I was armed only with a butterfly-net I took the hill in top gear and
let the road racer race. The initial note of a donkey braying on the
other side of the hedge caused my legs to revolve almost as fast as the
spokes of the bicycle. At Lulworth Cove | lay face downwards on the
grass near the top of the chiff while little brown butterflies flew about
me in plenty. But I was chary of harming the colony, so took only six
and felt guilty at that.

Thence I made my way to Salisbury, and on the hills named Dean,
Pepper-box, and Whiteparish ZL. coridon and Hesperia comma were
abundant and in perfect condition. I knew nothing about aberrations
in those days so took about half a dozen of both sexes of each species, all
of them as normal as could be. Indeed I think I should probably have
discarded an aberration as being an imperfect specimen. At Streatley-
on-Thames I found that the colony of Lysandra bellargus which I had
discovered there a few years previously was still flourishing, with H.
comma and L. coridon all about the chalk hills on both sides of the river.
So far as I remember it did not rain again after I left Moreton Hamp-
stead.

Those were happy days and perhaps even happier in retrospect.
O mihi praeteritos referat si Jupiter unnos!

358 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XIT/ 1953

Current Notes

A Clavicorn beetle new to Britain, Ostoma ferrugineum Linn., is
recorded in Ent. mon. Mug. (89: 251). Two specimens were taken on
18th May 1952 by Mr. A. M. Robertson under bark of Scots pine at
Linn O’ Dee, Braemar, Aberdeenshire. It is common on the Continent
and extends across Siberia into North America. Length 7-10 mm. Mr.
R. W. Lloyd, reporting this capture, states that it is probably a fungus
feeder and that Reitter (1911, Fawn. Germ. Kdfer, 3: 9), whose descrip-
tion he quotes, records it from old floor boards in dwelling-houses.

Colonel F. C. Fraser reports (Ent. mon. Mag., 89: 258) a Dasychira
fascelina larva feeding on the spear plume thistle, Cirsium vulgare
(Cnicus lanceolatus L.) at Bournemouth. It was in its last instar. ‘‘It
had consumed part of the leaf and there was frass beneath. However,
as the food-plant is quite unusual, I took the larva home together with
some of the thistle leaves in order to avoid error. One hour later I
observed that it was feeding voraciously on the thistle. I have not been
able to find Carduus listed as a food-plant for this species ; in the Bourne-
mouth area it is occasionally found on Erica, but almost exclusively on
some species of Saliz. The larva subsequently pupated and a fine female
emerged on July 22nd, 1953.”’

One does not expect a London daily newspaper to have an entomo-
logist on its staff, so the occasional lapse in a paragraph of ‘‘popular
entomology’? can be forgiven. The following, which appeared in The
Daily Telegraph on 6th July last, is at least comprehensible :—‘‘When
I walked from Moorgate to various points in and near Cheapside, and
thus across large bombed areas, sadness has been relieved by noticing
the country flowers, clover, campion and bracken which have added
themselves to the usual ragwort and willow-herb. Now we are beginning
to see several bright butterflies and moths, which we do not see in our
semi-rural gardens. I have had accounts of some, and the other day
saw some small bright scarlet ones, which seem to me to be the moth
produced by a woolly bear caterpillar which feeds on ragwort.” But what
are we to say to a piece of ‘‘news’’ printed in the same newspaper on
12th October ?—‘‘African butterfly in Sweden. A giant African butter-
fly, the oleander swarmer, with a 43 in. wing-span, caught near Gothen-
berg, Sweden, is believed to have flown from the Equator’’. This kind
of thing is not ‘‘news’’; it is merely stupid. To translate ‘‘Oleander-
Schwirmer’’ correctly should not be beyond the capacity of a newspaper
man.

Some time ago the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries appointed
a committee to investigate the use of toxic chemicals in agriculture.
This committee has now been asked by the Ministry to extend the range
of its investigations to a survey of the risks to wild life by the chemicals
employed. The terms of reference are: ‘‘To investigate the possible
risks to the natural flora and fauna of the countryside from the use in
agriculture of toxic substances, including the possible harmful effects
for agriculture and fisheries, and to make recommendations’. However,
it is one thing for a committee to make recommendations and quite an-

CURRENT NOTES. 359

other to ensure that the recommendations are carried out. Meanwhile
the indiscriminate spraying of our foodstuffs continues, to the probable
detriment of ourselves and the certain detriment of innocuous insects.

At a recent meeting of the R. Ent. Soc., Mr. A. E. Gardner showed
male and female imagines of the dragonfly Aeshna isosceles Mill. which
had been taken at Potter Heigham in Norfolk on 27th June 1952. A
mature larva of the species, which was dredged up in weed from a dyke
at the same place on 30th May this year (1953), was also shown. This
is the first larva to be found in this country. It was described as 20 mm.
in length, dark brown in colour, with the first three abdominal somites
yellowish. The insect reached maturity on 26th September. From a few
eggs laid on 30th June 1952 larvae emerged on 5th August 1953.

In a paper on the time of appearance of Erebia ligea (the Arran
Brown of our books) in Belgium by J. Hackray, printed in Lambillionea
of 25th April 1953, the interesting fact is brought out that in the valley
of the Helle ligea appears only in uneven numbered years. ‘‘In each
expedition [to this valley] which I made in uneven numbered years’’,
says this writer, ‘‘I always met with ligea. On the other hand, in spite
of special and prolonged searches I never saw a single specimen in an
even year.’ But in other valleys which descend from the same plateau
ligea occurs in both even and uneven years. Altitudes, climates and
terrain are the same in all these valleys. A critical examination of
specimens from these localities has not revealed any relevant morpho-
logical differences ; they all belong to the race carthusianorum.

The writer goes on to say that the development of ligea is slow and
that two years are probably required for attaining the adult stage;
indeed its biennial appearance in the Helle valley makes this probable,
and it is unlikely that the life cycle is otherwise in the other valleys.
Hackray therefore suggests tentatively that during a more or less recent
period the ligeéa in most of the valleys have been influenced by particular
meteorological conditions which, by accelerating the development of a
certain portion of larvae, have initiated the appearance of a corre-
sponding proportion of imagines in the following year. At Helle it is
not impossible, he suggests, that the ‘forward’ individuals, being perhaps
far less numerous, have not yet brought about the result observed
elsewhere.

An interesting footnote in this paper, which seems to bear out
Hackray’s suggestion, is to the effect that in certain localities in Ger-
many and Switzerland ligea appears only in uneven years. Moreover
a Czech entomological journal (Casopis Ceskoslovenske Spolecnosti
Entomologicke, xliv, 1947, Nos. 3-4, pp. 102-109) records that in the
Tatra Mountains at an altitude of 700-1,400 metres ligea is met with
also only in uneven numbered years. Perhaps some of our readers who
have taken ligea in various localities from Scandinavia to the Caucasus
will send us their observations of this butterfly.

An addition to the Hope Department at Oxford are some specimens
of Nonagria algae Esper (cannae Ochs.) from western Ireland, taken
recently. They are very richly coloured and strongly marked.

360 ENTOMOLOGIST’S. RECORD, vou. 65. 15/ XIT/ 1953

The current issue (October) of The Entomologist’s Gazette contains
“An Original Account of Rearing Luceria virens Linn.’’ by Mr. G.
Haggett, with excellent photographs of the larva; also-a paper by Mr.
E A. J. Duffey on a new pest of real economic importance, now breeding
out of doors in timber yards in this country, the Cerambycid beetle
Trinophylum cribratum Bates. This beetle is a native of India, and
the photographs which illustrate Mr. Duffey’s paper show the damage
caused by it to stacked timber. There are also illustrations of the larva
and imago.

Notes on Miucrolepidoptera
By H. C. Hueeins, F.R.E.S.

When at Dr. Cockayne’s suggestion I began this series it was intended
to take the form of somewhat expanded ‘‘Practical Hints’’ for each
month. So far I have roughly kept to this plan; but it 1s obvious that
after two years, these Notes for the winter and early spring must become
very scanty or largely repetitive. | propose, therefore, at these times
to take up one or two problems that interest me in the hope they will
interest readers of the Record also.

Perinephela lancealis Schiff. This Pyralid is said in all the books to
feed on Hupatorium cannabinum. In most of the places where I have
taken lancealis, however, this plant is absent. In Kent and Essex the
plant is by no means common, whilst lancealis is found in almost every
old wood. P. lancealis is certainly common enough in the overgrown
lanes in the Isle of Wight where hemp agrimony grows, but I have never
seen it at Kingsdown near Deal where there are the largest beds of
E. cannabinum I know in Kent, and in the Southend area, where the
moth is locally common, the plant is confined to one road in the Shopland
area and here the moth is not found.

I suspect lancealis of feeding on several species of Stachys. At one
time I thought it fed on S. betonica, but I have now found it where
betonica also does not grow and fancy the food will prove to be the
common S. sylvatica, which is always abundant in its localities. Perhaps
a search in early September might solve this problem, though the full-
fed larva unfortunately does not pupate till the following spring.
Obtaining eggs and rearing the emergent larvae would, I fear, be of
little value as many Pyralids take readily to substitute food-plants.

Adoxophyes orana v. Roessl. This imported pest seems to be spread-
ing quickly and has arrived in Essex. Mr. Jacobs (Hnt. Rec., 64: 86)
has already recorded its arrival as far west in Kent as Bromley; but it
has now succeeded in crossing the estuary. On 16th June last I took
a male in my m.v. trap in the garden here, and in late September the
second brood has been comparatively common, up to half a dozen (all
males) arriving on most evenings. I have no fruit trees in the garden,
but there is a good sized orchard of old apple-trees about fifty yards
away. This week I found time to ask the proprietor if I might look
at the apples he was picking and a fair number bore the characteristic
disfigurement of second brood orana larvae. The larva does not bore
into the fruit to eat the seeds, as with pomonella, but eats a groove in

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 361

the rind of the apple; usually of a more or less circular character. The
base around the stalk is a favourite place for this surface gallery, in
which the greenish-yellow larva, of the usual Cucoecia type, may be
discovered. .

I think the moth is probably spread as a larva in picked fruit or
else in the fruit baskets, as although with a favourable wind it could
no doubt cross the estuary, the female appears to be very sluggish and
I have not yet taken a single example in the trap. The ease with which
pests are spread by equipment was brought home to me over thirty
years ago. As is well known, LL. funebrana Treits. is very difficult to get
as a perfect insect, although so common as a larva, as it is seldom reared
successfully and the moth’s habits are obscure. When I lived at Sitting-
bourne a local fruit-grower bought an old army hut with glazed
windows, in which to store his market baskets, and in June I took a
large number of funebrana on the windows, which had emerged from
larvae which had spun in the wicker whilst the plums were in transit
the previous summer. It seems clear therefore that any pest emerging
after the baskets had begun duty again might be scattered over a very
wide area of country by lorry and railway. Such a means of transport
is readily overlooked as in the ordinary course the baskets are stored
in more or less open sheds and the moths would escape at once without
being noticed.

T shall be glad if others will kindly report in the Record any orana
taken outside Kent.

Notes and Observations

DISTRIBUTION OF DEILEPHILA FLPENOR Linn.—I am interested in the
distribution of Deilephila elpenor Viinn. and recently IT have been in-
formed that it is absent from Braintree, Bournemouth, and Portsmouth.
T am unable to check up on this, but T should very much like to know if
it is true. Are there any users of m.v. light traps in these areas who
keep records of their captures? I should imagine that the species is
quite abundant in all those towns, since it seems to flourish in any kind
of habitat, except perhaps high moorlands. This year it seems to have
returned to its pre-war degree of scarcity in this area. Intensive search-
ing has yielded only 24 larvae (of which none was of the green form in
the final instar); the last one was found on 17th October still only half
grown; the first full grown one was found in the same field on 12th
August and it pupated on 14th August. This variability in habit seems
noteworthy.—J. H. JoHnson, 1 Berry Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chester-
field, Derbyshire. 19.x.53.

LARVAE OF LIMENITIS CAMILLA J. AFFECTED BY PARASITES.—I was very
interested in Major Collier’s remarks in the May issue (Hnt. Rec., 65:
145) concerning his experiences in rearing the larvae of ZL. camilla, and
I am grateful to Dr. G. V. Bull and others who kindly wrote to me
privately on the same subject. It certainly appears that Z. camilla is a
frequent victim of insect parasites, especially Apanteles glomeratus I.
If, as mentioned by Major Collier, parasites of the genus Meteorus are
also turning their attention to the larvae of this butterfly, it may easily
lead to a rapid decline in the number of White Admirals. On 10th April

362 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XII / 1953

this year (1953) I made an intensive search in the previously mentioned
Huntingdonshire locality for larvae of L. camilla, but I was only able to
find three examples, all of which were still in hibernation. The weather
was cool at the time, and the larvae showed no outward sign of life for
“another week. They subsequently fed in a sluggish manner, never
exhibiting much relish for the honeysuckle, and although each of them
reached the final instar, all three proved to be victims of Apanteles
attacks. I was unable to visit the wood in question during the time
when DL. camilla was flying, but I fear that the species is seriously
declining in the locality. It first appeared there only a few years ago,
and never has secured a really good hold.—Grorer EK. Hype, 20 Wood-
house Road, Doncaster, Yorks. 16.x.53.

Priusia Nt Hits. In GLoucEsTERSHIRE.—A male of this species came
to m.v. light in my garden at Hardwicke on 12th August 1953. IJ am
told this is the first record for the county.—R. P. Demutu, Hardwicke,
Gloucester.

LEUCANIA FAVICOLOR BARRETT IN HAMPSHIRE.—A specimen of Leucania
favicolor Barr. was taken in my m.y. light trap on 8th July 1953. It
has recently been identified by Dr. H. King.—B. C. Barton, Castle
Mead, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Hants. 13.x1.53.

BUTTERFLIES AND Birps.—A few days ago I watched a pied wagtail
make several unsuccessful attempts to take an Aglais urticae on the
wing. The butterfly appeared to dally with the bird and after some
undulating flights, which covered about twenty-five yards, the bird gave
up the attempt and the insect settled on some michaelmas daisies.—
C. M. R. Prirman, Malvern, Southampton Road, Clarendon, Wilts.
Six. 5a. ay hia

Ora MuscuLosa Hits. In Surrey.—On 6th August 1953 I took a worn
specimen of Oria musculosa in my m.v. light trap at Weybridge, Surrey.
—J. L. Merssencer, Oakhill, Oatlands Drive, Weybridge, Surrey.
19.x.53.

CoLOURATION OF Pieris NAPI LINN. Pupak.—On 31st July this year
I obtained a female P. napi, which laid a number of eggs on hedge
garlic. These duly produced larvae which all pupated between 19th and
21st August. Several of the pupae were yellowish or buff, whilst the
remainder were green. From the yellowish coloured pupae perfect
insects emerged on 3rd, 4th and 5th September. The green pupae, how-
ever, have, up to date, not produced any imagines. All the pupae were
kept under identical conditions. I am rather interested to know whether
it is chance or not that all the yellowish pupae have produced butterflies
already, whilst the green ones have not.—W. Morris, 66 Wells Road,
Penn, Wolverhampton. 19.x.53.

INCIDENCE OF BISTON BETULARIA LINN. AB. CARBONARIA JORDAN. --
Between 7th June and 26th July, 1953, I took 46 Biston betularia ab.
carbonaria in my light trap and only 1 of the normal grey form. It is
the first normal betularia that I have taken here. It is a male. I
attempted to mate it with several bred females but failed.—J. H.
Jounson, 1 Berry Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 7.xi,3.

>)

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 363

Late Date FoR OPISTHOGRAPTIS LUTEOLATA L. (cRATAEGATA L.).—On
12th October last I took a fine large female ‘Brimstone Moth’ (0. luteo-
lata) at my m.y. light. It seems a very late date for this species.—
C. M. R. Prrman, Malvern, Southampton Road, Clarendon, Salisbury,
Wilts: 13.x.53.

Eariiest Date or OccURRENCE IN ENGLAND or THE MELANIC FORM OF
TETHEA OCULARIS .—With reference to the earliest date of occurrence
of Tethea ocularis L. in its melanic form, mentioned by Dr. Cockayne
in his note on page 278 of the October number (Hnt. Rec., 65: 278), my
brother, G. B. Kershaw, took a completely black ocularis, with very
prominent ‘‘XO”’ or ‘‘YO”’ discal mark, in South Devon in the spring
of 1902. I do not know the exact date or place but it was almost cer-
tainly the Lynton Valley, as G.B.K. spent his holiday there and seldom
altered his ‘‘S’’ Devon printed labels for any part of Devon. Incidentally,
the reniform and orbicular stigmata are white in this G.B.K. aberra-
tion, which is now in my collection.—S. H. Kersuaw, Alderman’s Place,
Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks. 17.x.53.

DarHNIs NER LINN. IN SourH YoRKSHIRE.—A female of this species
was caught in Doncaster on the 19th September. It was found on a
pavement near the centre of the town, and was subsequently taken to
the local museum. The moth was in worn condition, and was unfor-
tunately killed before I heard about its capture. It is a pity that no
attempt was made to obtain ova.—Grorcr E. Hyper, 20) Woodhouse
Road, Doncaster, Yorks. 16.x.53.

DAPHNIS NERII LINN. IN East YoRKSHIRE.—I have to report the cap-
ture of an Oleander Hawkmoth at Bridlington, on the Yorkshire coast
just south of Flamborough Head. It was taken by a Mr. Scholes and
brought to the Hull Museum for identification. The captor found it on
the lid of a dustbin about midday on 27th October. I had the task of
setting the specimen, which was still alive when brought to me—a
pleasure which seldom comes to the English entomologist. During the
previous night there had been a strong westerly gale which died away
early the following morning, and the 27th was sunny and calm. Brid-
lington is sheltered from the north by Flamborough Head.—D. Waope.
17 Waldegrave Avenue, Hull. 14.xi.53. :

““Maskets’’.—The name ‘maskel’ for the larvae of the White butter-
flies which Dr. E. Barton White suggests in his article (Ent. Rec., 65:
284) has not previously occurred in print, is recorded at some length in
the English Dialect Dictionary from Somerset and Devon. It is quoted
in various spellings as well as the usual one of ‘maskel’—mascel, maskell,
mahlscrall, mal-scral, maltscale, marly-scrarly, mascale, maskill, maul-
scrawl, muskel, all in Devon, and as maul-scrawl] in Somerset also. It
is applied also to a small shrivelled apple in W. Somerset.

Bullfinches, which, Dr. Barton White suggests, are not entirely
insectivorous, are in fact bud, seed, and berry eaters; it is their young
that are fed on the larvae of Lepidoptera, and on Coleoptera and Diptera
(‘‘“Handbook’’). They are by far the most destructive of their family
to the fruit-grower.—A. W. Boyp, Frandley House, Nr. Northwich,
Cheshire. 18.x.53.

364 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ X1T/ 1948

SPHINX LicusTRI I.. In NoRTHAMPTONSHIRE.—I can add some evidence
to Mr. Gent’s note in the June issue (Hnt. Rec., 65: 181) postulating
the establishment of Sphinx ligustri lL. in Northamptonshire. In June
_1907 T took a pair in cop. on the gates of Wellingborough School and
bred successfully from the pairing. IT think, however, that Northants
must be the fringe area as I] have worked two light traps, one here and
one near Market Harborough, during the last two years without seeing
it, the distance from Wellingborough being only about seventeen miles.
—Hersert A. BucKLeR, Sutton Bassett, Market Harborough. 17.xi.53.

Dicycia oo L. at Woxine.—On 24th June, 1953, a specimen of this
insect appeared at my m.v. trap here for the first time and another
example the next night, but not a single one more in spite of the most
favourable conditions. Mr. Bretherton, who lives barely three miles
distant at Ottershaw, took the species almost nightly from this date till
the third week in July. Oaks are as prevalent here as there. This area
seems to be on the fringe of its range.—C. G. M. pr Worms, Three Oaks,
Shore’s Road, Woking. 28.x.53.

MicRATION OF NONAGRIA DISSOLUTA TREITS.—With reference to Mr.
Goodson’s note in the October number of the Record (65: 291) headed
‘““A Migration of Nonagria dissoluta’’, a specimen came to the m.v.
light trap in my garden on the night of 5th-6th August. Like Mr. Good-
son’s it is noticeably larger than my Hampshire specimens. I know of
no large reed-bed for many miles, but there are reedy ditches where it
could have bred. The fact that the species is not recorded in the local
list (Lepidoptera of Haslemere and District, 1951) and that this has
been the one and only example of the species that has been found in three
years of m.y. trapping suggest that it is probably a vagrant or migrant.

The following night one Leucania straminea Treits. came to the trap,
again a species not recorded in the local list or previously seen by me
here. ;

Undoubted migrants in the trap were a Plusia ni Hiibn. on the night
of 12th-13th August, and a Herse convolvult Linn. on the night of 8th-
9th September.

An odd find was an Earias clorana Linn. on the 2nd-3rd August.
The species is not recorded in the local list, nor have I seen it here
previously. Why one of the comparatively rare second brood should
appear in the trap is mystifying. Are there any migration records of
the species?—R. M. Mere, Mill House, Chiddingfold, Surrey. 31.x.43.

CorREcTION.—In the 9th paragraph of my paper ‘‘ The Discovery of
Wild Larvae of Thalera fimbrialis’’ in the November issue, page 306.
the last sentence should read: ‘‘Dr. Cockayne states that ‘the yarrow
sometimes shows signs of the presence of a larva by the last inch or
more being partially cut through so that it hangs down slightly
withered’. I did not find this state of affairs, however, in the wild’’.—
H. B. D. Kerriewetx, University of Cape Town, Zoology Department,
Rondebosch, South Africa.

SALE Caratocurs.—As T am working on the history of collecting
Lepidoptera in England, with the lives and captures of some of the

DIPTERA. 365

early nineteenth century collectors, | should be grateful for any copies
or bundles of old sale catalogues for which their present owners have no
further use.—P. B. M. Auuan, 4 Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.

SyMpETRUM FLAVEOLUM L. at Sanpown.—I should like to record the
capture of a specimen of this dragonfly at Sandown (Deal Sandhills) on
the 29th June. It was shown to Mr. G. H. Youden, who later told me
he took another in his moth-trap at Dover the following night.—S.
WakeELy, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5.

A Recorp or MecostetHus crossus (L.).—In my recent ‘‘Some
Notes on Orthoptera and Dermaptera in the West Midlands’”’ (Ent. Rec.,
65: 151) I referred to a record of Mecostethus grossus by Elton from
Whixall Moss, Shropshire. This is incorrect and I am indebted to Mr.
D. K. McE. Kevan for pointing this out to me.—F. Fincuer, Randan
Wood, Bromsgrove. 11.x1.53.

COLEOPTERA

CRIOCEPHALUS FERUS MULSANT (POLONICUS MOTSCHULSKY) IN THE ISLE
or WicHt.—Under the heading ‘‘Fifty Years Ago” in the July-August
number of the Record (p. 238) there is an interesting note of the first
discovery of this longicorn in Britain, when it was found in the New
Forest. As far as I know there have been no records of this beetle for
the Isle of Wight, and I should like to record the capture of a fine
specimen at Osborne on 12th August this year. It was taken by Mr. J.
Lobb, who was kind enough to send me the specimen.—S. WakELy, 26
Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5.

ee a ON ee

VoLUCELLA ZONARIA Pops IN MIppLESEX AND HERTFORDSHIRE.—At the
suggestion of Mr. L. Parmenter I am sending you my records of Volucella
zonaria Poda. During a conversation recently he mentioned that you
had received a note of this fly being found in Middlesex ‘this year. I
was under the impression that it had been recorded in this county
during 1950 when the B.M. had quite a number of specimens from the
general public. All the specimens I have taken so far have been females.
The records are as follows :—

15.viii.50. Harrow, Middx. In garden on flower of Rubus fruticosus.
Q1.vii .51. Batchworth Heath, Herts. On leaf of Rubus fruticosus.
16.viii.52. Batchworth Heath, Herts. On flower of Scabiosa Succisa.
97 .viii.52. Harrow, Middx. On flower of Solidago Virgaurea.

5.vii .538. North Harrow, Middx. On flower of Solidago Virgaurea.
13.ix .53. Batchworth Heath, Herts. On flower of Scabiosa Succisa.

The Hertfordshire specimens were taken about 100 yards from the
Middlesex boundary, this being the road from Batchworth Heath to
Harefield.—B. L. J. Byrriry, 48 Elmgrove Road, Harrow, Middx.
21.x.53.

366 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XTT/ 1953

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1903).

Roostinc ATTITUDE OF VANESSA CARDUI L.—In the afternoon I paid
~ a visit to Dulwich Park, where I found them [Vanessa cardui] extremely
abundant. . . . It being late in the afternoon, I sat down on a seat to
watch them, and was presently rewarded by seeing them one by one
fly up to roost in a small laburnum tree. I marked one or two down,
and found that they generally roosted upside down, on the underside
of a leaf, with the antennae slightly expanded.—C. W. CoLTHRUP.

Cocoons oF THE BurRNEtT Motrus.—Anthrocera trifolat was just appear-
ing and in very fresh condition. Not being able to secure a series of
imagines, a hunt for cocoons and larvae was made. A large number of
Anthrocerid cocoons were found, but they did not produce A. trifolu
but A. filipendulae, and very few of these, as almost every cocoon con-
tained dipterous parasites, while one produced a good-sized ichneumon.
The finding of these cocoons has revealed an interesting fact. Nearly
all of them were found low down in the tufts of grass (Poa sp.) near
their foodplant, and, from the fact that they were low down, the
erroneous impression was formed that they were very probably A.
trifolii, which usually has this habit. From the results obtained 1t
appears as if larvae that are stung spin up low down, while healthy
larvae usually come well up the stem to pupate. Many cocoons were
dark-coloured, a fact that suggested that their contents were not
healthy pupae, but some of the cocoons were quite healthy and yellow-
looking, yet these also, except in two instances, produced parasites.—
W. J. Kaye.

ABUNDANCE OF APATURIDS NEAR LAUSANNE.—On July 20th, in a little
wood near Lausanne, I made what I should think to be a record catch
of Apaturids in one long morning’s work. I netted in all 70 Apatura
iris, 42 A. ilia, and 17 A. ab. clytie, in decent condition, and I must
have thrown away about as many chipped ones. In addition, I took
what I am given to understand is a great rarity here, five A. ab. tole
and seven transitions. These, with two Limenitis populi, Qs, and a
number of ZL. sibilla, and our commoner Argynnids . . . completely loaded
me, and I returned without trying what the afternoon hunting might
be worth.—P. A. H. MuscHamp.

Hasirs or ScIAPHILA PENZIANA [CNEPHASIA BELLANA Curt. ].—I should
be much obliged for exact details as to the foodplants of the larva of
Sciaphila penziana, and the time of year at which I could find the larvae,
as I should like to try to breed it. It is fairly numerous in its very
restricted locality here, and on one evening last August I found over 20.
T had an idea that the larvae fed on lichen growing on rocks, but I find
all the newest specimens on stones on the slopes below the rocks, and
about the end of their time of appearance, when they are getting worn,
they are mostly found on the rocks at all heights. I found one example
drying its wings, the nearest vegetation to which was a dark rough
moss and the little mountain Galiwm—no lichen at all—whilst I found
a pupa-skin within three inches in a little tuft of moss.—H. A. Braptg,
Keswick.

CURRENT LITERATURE. O67

Current Literature

OBSERVATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENTAL CYCLE OF THE PINE PROCESSIONARY
Mora (THAUMETOPORA PITYOCAMPA Scutrr.). By E. Biliotti, P.
Grison aud R. Silvestre de Sacy.

This paper, printed in Bull. Soc. ent. Fr., LVI, No. 2, pp. 30-32,
brings out two interesting facts. Firstly that the duration of the pupal
stage in 7. pityocampa Schf. is longer in the extreme south of France
at low altitudes than it is further north and in more elevated regions.
Thus at Montpellier, about 7 miles from the Mediterranean and less
than 50 feet above sea-level, the pupal stage lasts for 43 months, whereas
at Sables d’Olonne, about 200 miles north of that town, the insects
pass only 34 months as pupae. Secondly the larval development is
retarded in maritime areas. This is clearly shown in a table compiled
from observations on Jarvae collected during the first week of Septem-
ber in two areas on the Bay of Biscay, viz. Lacanau and Nantes (about
150 miles north of Lacanau), and in Angouléme, an inland area some
80 miles north-east of Lacanau and 60 miles from the coast :—

ist. St. 2nd St. srd St. 4th St.

AGATA by ico ucbioecs 2° fiaws 25 % —=
PGS So ss eas cv cs — ees, 25 % =
Angouléme ...... — soe) 88 % 8%

A week later differences of the same order were found in larvae col-
lected in a_semi-continental region and a maritime locality, namely
in the Department of Sarthe and at Carnac on the coast of Lower
Brittany :—

Ist St. . 2nd St... 8rd St... 4th St.

Si a ee ane -- Lief, 95 % =
@arnne-+ ale... 8% 68 % 24 % at

There are five larval stadia (7. processionea has six) and the winter
(November-February) is passed in the 4th stadium in the majority of
the areas from which the writers obtained larvae. Hibernation is only
partial, the larvae coming out of their webs to feed on mild days.

The influence of the plant-host on larval growth is discounted by the
writers. Time-stadia records of the larvae have been identical for
both Pinus maritima and Pinus insignis. At Caudos in the Landes
Pinus caraibea has been planted and the development of larvae fed on
this tree is comparable with that shown by the insect when reared on
pine and P. maritima.

With regard to altitude (the effect of which on the larval develop-
ment was shown by Wilkinson in the case of 7. wilkinsont) larvae col-
lected on 9th October in the Col du Vent on Le Larzac at an altitude
of 770 metres were all in the 4th stadium, i.e. the normal hibernation
stadium, and consequently they were very much more advanced than
those in the neighbourhood of Montpellier, where egg-batches on pine-
needles had been found so late as the first week of September. In the
area of Angouléme during the period 18th to 20th October moultings
from 4th to 5th stadium were observed, whereas at Caudos moults from
3rd to 4th stadium were still occurring (28% on St. ITI and 72% of

568 ENTOMOLOGIST'’S RECORD, VOL. 65. 15/ XIT/ 1953

St. IV) whilst at Carnac during this period the larvae were yet another
stadium behind (42% of St. TI and 58% of St. IIT). It would seem
therefore that climate plays some part in the developmental cycle of this
species. But as to whether the climatic factors have a real, effective
influence and if their fluctuations are capable of provoking each year
local variations in the development cycle remains to be proved. Judg-
ing by their observations on rearings carried out at Versailles these
writers are of opinion that these individual variations are likely to be
less potent than the variations acquired by natural selection, which
eventually result in the formation of ecotypes or. ecological races.

Pee Me A,

HANDBOOKS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BRITISH INSECTS: COLEOPTERA
Published by the Royal Entomological Society of London. 1953

Vol. [V, Part 3: HyprapepHaca. By F. Balfour-Browne. 33 pp.,
numerous figs. Price 6s.

Prof. Baifour-Browne’s reputation as an authority on the Aquatic
Coleoptera is sufficient guarantee of the high standard of this publica-
tion, which deals. with our carnivorous water beetles (Haliplidae,
Hygrobiidae, Dytiscidae, Gyrinidae). It is, as he points out, practi-
cally an abstract of his book British Water Beetles (2 vols., 1940, 1950),
with certain mistakes corrected and some changes in the keys, that to
Hydroporus being entirely new. The figures, in 44 groups, are all
that could be wished for and the rather difficult and obscure characters
that have sometimes had to be used to separate genera and species
are thereby, as a rule, considerably clarified. That the keys are in-
tended for the fairly advanced student, presumed to be already familiar
with the general appearance of the main types, is evident from there
being only few references to this feature and to size (e.g., in the
Dytiscini—pp. 27-8) except where they happen to be used as key charac-
ters. To call Hygrobia a large insect (p. 9) might almost lead the
novice to expect something on the scale of a Dytiscus. Specially com-
mendable is the concise but comprehensive statement on habitat and
British range under each species—except, by an oversight, for the
Laccophilini. These, it may be remarked, are here widely separated
from the Noterinae, being placed between the Hydroporini and
Colymbetini—a position which, as the author implies, is open to dis-
pute. Jn the first line of p. 3 the word ‘ Aquatic ’ has been accident-
ally omitted.

; AOA ae

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AND THEIR VARIETIES, 1926-1950

By HENRY J. TURNER, F.R.E.S.
3 Volumes and supplement, with an Index to each volume.

This great work, which was originally issued as a supplement to The Entomo-
logist’s Recoré during 25 years, is the only handbook which gives all the aber-
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The Authority for each name is eiven, with. full reference to the publication

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EXCHANGES AND WANTS

Wanted.—l would be grateful for the loan of any photograph or coloured
drawing of specimens of Lysandra coridon of the various forms of ab.
extrema as<illustrated and described in Bright & Leeds’ Monograph of the
Chalk Hill Blue Butterfly, pl. 10 and 18.—S. G. Castle Russell, 5 Bridge
Road, Cranleigh, Surrey. f

Wanted.—Volume LVI -(1944) of The Entomologist’s Record. (unbound).—H. W.
Andrews, Spring Cottage, Smugglers’ Lane, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Hants.

-Wanted.—Volume XV_ (1903) of The Entomologist’s Record, in parts as. issued.

£1 offered.—F. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road, St Albans, Herts.

Wanted.—We are still in need of copies of our issues of January, July/August,
and December 1951. If any of our readers have spare copies for disposal
we shall be glad to buy them back.—F.-W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road,
St. Albans, Herts. z

Exchanges and Wants (continued from previous page)

Wanted, for*experimental purposes, Pupae of S: ocellatus. I can offer ova of
T. aurago, or set local Lepidoptera.—R. G. Todd, Wells, Norfolk.

Exchange.—Pupae of NV. zonaria. Wanted.—Pupae of L. sinapis and N. lucina.—
T. D. Fearnehough, 13 Salisbury Road, Dronfield, nr. Sheffield.

For Sale.—Seitz Butterfly Volumes: Palaearctia, Africana, Americana, Indo-
Australica. Text and Plates in each (English).—Russell, Woodside,
Minstead, Hants. ‘

or Sale.—Assorted sizes of second-hand Store-boxes. Full details apply to :—
P. G. Baker, Lawn End, Grangecourt Road, Harpenden, Herts.

Wanted.—Owing to the occurrence of virus disease amongst the Laboratory
stock of Biston betularia it will be necessary to breed from fresh material
next year. Would anyone willing to supply either typical, carbonaria or
insularia pupae (either exchange or cash)_please notify :—The Secretary,

* Genetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University Museum, Oxford.
Di He heed) MEL UCeWeLe, DEERE of ae Ag Cape Town University,
Rondebosch, ee Africa.

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