Skip to main content

Full text of "British journal of entomology and natural history"

See other formats 


eee 2 
rire , 
‘ eT Te an the 
: en cmecra at whe hee 
f item’ 


eae 
eee 
i 


fore ee 


ted tieded sents 
ats Cee 
pap tatat a ai 
fi : 
: antes 
; ere 
sinew Ae. 
et im anaricte é 
pre ee a 
: etna. 
Care 
ee 


us 
es 
Qacataste nes ate 
ern ie0e apt a eat 
inert 


ath! 
fe 
rep 


cnet: 
oats’ 


a 
thd creat 


ae seaae 
Fn seroe 
ries ns 
* are : 2 = 
Sa ; 
: tf SHEE 
; - 


~ 
OTT 
ae te 
f ree 
ieee et 


rene 
races 
As 


ean easel 
we 


ema 


Pigs ee i, Gl” Aes (i ees | 
a tute tte i one . PR Sy 5. a ae 
r He on ron or vd ta 


\ i 7 iy 7 i‘ ¥] its ti Mi 
1 | caw . 
iY { j { ) 4 Pi 7 1 ‘ J 4 ae Lt D a Noh & \ 
: i ‘ | : : i uf : > any mw § Ay x ¥ ; 7 
a isi i 7 j / ms fl ) i if: boyd oP 
Pal ; on 
j : i A Vv} . ‘ | | | - } a 
' | . . | 4 | | 
ee ie | 
' . ‘ 


ON r “ MC 00 : y. 
and Natural eA ih at 
Veiigine 3 
- Bin 


Ry a oe fu ay j ve 
/ rm - Mea i bel : ere ve 


we 
; Sar y val <t 


A) i i. i | on 


; We 
ant f aS 
= # a i i { 
ae aa 
7 ° 1 ' 
a 4 a en i [ 


ISSN: 0952-7583 


British Journal of 
ENTOMOLOGY 
and Natural History 


Volume 8 
1995 


Published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History 
Society and incorporating its 
Proceedings and Transactions 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological 
and Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, 
Berkshire RG10 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. The journal is distributed free to BENHS 
members. 


Editor 
Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F.L.S. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 


Editorial Committee 
Rev. D.J.L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D. 
R.D.G. Barrington, B.Sc. 
E.S. Bradford 
P.J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
B. Goater, B.Sc., M.I.Biol. 
A.J. Halstead, M.Sc. 
R.D. Hawkins, M.A. 
P.J. Hodge 
T.G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 
I.F.G. McLean, Ph.D., F.R.E.S. 
Mrs F.M. Murphy, B.Sc. 
M.J. Simmons, M.Sc 
T.R.E. Southwood, K.B., D.Sc., F.R.S. 
R.W.J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
B.K. West, B.Ed. 


© 1995 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Registered charity number: 213149 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester. 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY 
AND NATURAL HISTORY 


Index to volume 8, 1995 


Compiled by David Young, with the assistance of 
P.J. Chandler, A.J. Halstead, N. Hall, A.W. Jones, 
A.J. Pickles, J. Robbins and R.D. Hawkins 


Dates of publication 


Part | — January 1995 
Part 2 — March 1995 
Part 3 — September 1995 
Part 4 — October 1995 


GENERAL Entomological bygones or historical 
entomological collecting equipment and 
memorabilia 100 
Flies in the Yorkshire museum 154 
Ground beetles in the Yorkshire museum 154 
Insect conservation biology 17 
Insects: an outline of entomology 59 
Insects: life cycles and the seasons 60 
Invertebrate zoology 77 
Invertebrates of Wales: a review of 
important sites and species 159 
New life for old woods 216 
Ranty 76 
Systematic and applied entomology: an 
introduction 144 

British species of Metopia with two new to Britain 33 

Colour plates 


Aculeate wasps and bees of Crow Wood, Finningley in 

Watsonian Yorkshire, with the introduction of a 

new national quality scoring system 49 
Announcements 

Bedfordshire butterflies and moths 

rear cover part | 

BENHS expedition 72 

Blachford collection of Coleoptera 96 

Microlepidoptera of Middlesex: an 

appeal for records 42 

Nat. Pyralid Recording Scheme 174 

Prof. Hering Memonial Res. Fund 72 

Public liability insurance rear cover part 3 
Annual Exhibition Reports for 1994 

Arachnida 212 

Brush butterflies 177 


British macrolepidoptera 181 1 101 
British microlepidoptera 188 M177 
III 208 


Coleoptera 201 

Corrigendum to 1992 report 213 
Diptera 198 

Dennaptera 210 

Foreign lepidoptera 194 
Hemiptera 207 

Illustrations 212 

Hymenoptera 207 

Mecoptera 211 


Correction to Butterfly Conservation’s claimed 
attitudes on conservation 171 
Deadwood Coleoptera from two important Denbighshire 
parklands, including five new to Wales 156 
Dipterists Forum 121 
Dirhagus pygmacus and Hallomenus binotatus: 
two beetles new to Wales 158 
Distribution and habits of the bee Hylaeus pectoralis in 


Neuroptera 21] Britain 430 
Odonata 210 Distribution and habits of the small carpenter bee Ceratina 


Orthoptera 210 cyanea in Britain | 
Siphonaptera 211 Distribution of the Socicty’s Journal 222 
Armadillidium pictum new to Gloucestershire 76 Doreatoma dresdensis new to Glos. 137 
BENHS workshop 8 April 1995 The National Network Editorial. House style 5: County names in records 27 
for Recording Britain’s Moth’s 170 Effects of cattle poaching on insects living at the margin 
Breeding experiment with the Small Copper Butterfly 97 of the river Itchen, 165 
Book reviews and notices Ephemera lineata Eaton at Reading 75 
Agricultural entomology 160 Field meetings of the BENHS 
Australian beetles 6 Tadnoll Heath, 23 May 1993 88 
Book of the spider 10 Mount Cabum NNR, 19 June 1993 88 
Butterflies and moths of Berkshire 221 Dinton Pastures , 23 April 1994 90 
Butterflies’ fly-past 47 Aldbury Common, 11 June 1994 91 


Colour guide to hoverfly larvae 48 Nunhead Cemetery, 9 July 1994 92 
Dic Kafer Miltelcuropas 77 Richmond Park, 6 August 1994 93 
Die Schmetterlinge Osterreichs (Lepidoptera). Abernethy Forest, 13 August 1994 94 
Systematisches Verzeichnis mit Verbreitungs- Powerstock Common,11 June 1994 214 
angaben fur die cinzelnen Bundeslander 35 Catfield Fen, 16 July 1994 214 


ill 


Further study of the behavioural patterns of six species of 
British butterfly whilst in copula 7 
Indoor mectings of the BENHS 
14 June 1994 78 
12 July 1994 80 
13 September 1994 81 
10 October 1994 82 
7 November 1994 84 
13 December 1994 138 
10 January 1995 140 
28 February 1995 141 
14 March 1995 144 
Interesting saproxylic fauna at Snelsmore Common 74 
Letters to the editor: 
Capital letters for English names 119 
County names 169 
Habitat preference in the Lepidoptera and 
distribution in light-traps 155 
Life cycle, distribution and habits of Hypena 
obsitalis in Devonshire 37 
Moths at Carlyon Bay, Comwall recorded 1989-1993 61 
Myopites eximia new to Devon 157 
Obituaries 
1.G.Farwell 87 
BJ.MacNulty 175 
Observations of Bombus terrestris feeding on 
honeydew 73 
Officers’ reports for 1994 
Council’s report 145 
Curator’s report 152 
Editor’s report 153 
Librarian’s report 151 
Prof. Hering Memonial Res. Fund 150 
Treasurer's report 146 
Panoquina panoquinoides cugeon from the Winward 
Islands, Lesser Antilles 161 
Report of the discussion meeting held on 12 May 1992 to 
consider invertebrate conservation in the UK 19 
Rheotanytarsus rioensis, a new species of the pentapoda 
group, from the Canary Islands 11 
Some observations on the pros and cons of being a bark- 
feeding insect 129 
Some records of root-aphids on spruce in Britain 125 
Swammerdammia compunctella in Merthyr Tydfill, 112 
Two new species of Megaselia 113 
Two species of Agromyzidae new to the British fauna 74 
Understanding size and pattern variation in mainland 
Britain Pararge aegeria 102 
Winter emergence of Phyllonorycter strigulatella 158 


CONTRIBUTORS 

Agassiz, D. 142 

Alexander, K.N.A. 74,76,91,137,157, 158,198,201 ,207 
Allen, A.W.J. 202 

Archer, M.E. 49,83 

Armitage, P.D. 11 

Bailey, K.E.J.Plate 11,177 
Baker, B-R. 47,75 

Ball, S. 80 

Barrington, R.D.G. 178 

Bland, K.P. 188 

Bowdrey, J.P. 208 

Boyd, G. 78,199,207 

Bradford, E.S. 181,188 
Britton, M.R. 178,181,189 
Brock, J.P. 208 

Brotheridge, DJ. 181, Plate 111 


lv 


Bum, J.T. 49 

Butcher, A.G.J. 181,Plate 111 

Callow, M. 178 

Callow, N.A. 87 

GartersC. 141 

Chandler, P.J. 199 ° 

Clancy, S.P. 182,189,Plate 111 

Clarke, J.H. 182,Plate 111,212 

Classey, E.W. Plate 11,178 

Colenutt, S. 189, Plate 111 

Collins, G-.A. 93,199,208,211 

Cook, R.R. 182 

Copestake, D.R. 202 

Corke, D. 161,162 

Corley, M.F.V. 182,189,194, Plate 111 

Cramp, PJ. 183,189 

Deeming, J.C. 74 

Dennis, R.C. Plate 11,178 

Disney, R.H.L. 113 

Dobson, A.H. 37,183,189,Plate 111 

Drake, C.M. 165 

Else,G.R. 1,43,119 

Elston, HJ. Plate 11,195 

Emmet, A.M. 183,189 

Eversham, B.C. 202,207,210 

Falk, S.J. 33 

Fensome, B. 178 

Foster, A-P 91,183,189,198,201,207 

George, R.S. 211 

Gill, N. 183 

Goater, B. 35,183,Plate 111 

Godtrey, A. 199 

Hackett, D.S. 81,84,86,195,200,203 212,213 

Hall, N. 183,196 

Halstead, A.J. 60,78,80,81,84,85,142, 144,200,203 208 

Harley, B.H. 213 

Hannan, T.W. 183,197,200,Plate 111 

Hamner, A.S. Plate 11,179 

Harper, M.W. 190,Plate 111 

Han, C. 183 

Harvey, P.R. 200,208 

Hawkins, R.D. 200 

Haywood, B. 183 

Haywood, R. 183 

Heckford, R.J. 190 

Henderson, M. 203 

Henwood, B.P. 213 

Hey, M. cover part 1 

Hoare, D.I.B. Plate 11,204 

Hoare, R.J.B. 190,Plate 111 

Hodge, P.J. 200,204,207,209 

Houghton, D.W. 179 

Howton, D.H. 184,190,209 

Hoy, S. 82,83 

Iley, M. cover part 1 

Jenkins, A. 184 

Jones, A.M. Plate 11,179 

Jones, R.A. 6,48,77,80,82,86,89 ,92,93,120,138,142, 
144,154,160,169 

Kemp, R. 180 

King, G. 197 

Kitching, I. 80 . 

Knill-Jones, S.A. 7,180,184,191,205 

Kolaj, A. 184 

Langmaid, J.R. 191,Plate 111 

Langton, P.H. 11 

Lees, D.C. 88 


Lonsdale, D. 17,126,129 

Lott, D.A. 205 

MacKenzie Reid, I. 185 

Major, E. 125 

Manning, D.V. 185 

McCormick, R. 185,216 

McLean, I.F.G. 79,82 

Meredith, S. 84,86 

Merrifield, K. 140 

Middleton, A.P. 197 

Middleton, H.G.F. 185 

Miles, S.R. 19,85,140,143 

Morgan, J. 169 

Morris, M.G. 206 

Muggleton, J. 86 

Murphy, F. 10 

Natural History Museum 194 

Owen, D.F. 185 

Owen, J. 186 

Page, K. 144 

Parker, M. 88,214 

Parsons, M. 76,78,79,93,186,191 

Payne, J.H. 180 

Perry, I. 200 

Phillips, J.W. 186 

Pickles, A.J. 175,213 

Pittis, S. 221 

Plant, C.W. 100,138,186,201 211,212 

Porter, D.A. 207,209 

Porter, J. 180,186,192,210 

Pratt,C. 186 

Pullem, A. 138 

Robbins, J. 192,201,209 

Roberts, S.P.M. 119,209 

Quinn, R. 81 

Revels, R. cover part 3,180 

Robertson, T.S. 97, Plate 1 

Rouse, T. 180,186 

Salt Del. 125 

Sawyer, N. 86 

Scanes, J.J. 185,187,Plate 111 

Scoble, MJ. 59 

Simmons, M.J. 187,192,201 

Simpson, A.N.B. 187,192 

Sims, I. 187,192 

Skinner, B. 142,187,193,Plate 111 

Slade, DJ. 112,158 

Softly, R. 79,86 

Sokoloff, P. 213 

Spalding, A. 61 

Standing, P.A. Plate 11,180 

Sterling, MJ. 187,194,Plate 111 

Sterling, P.H. 187,194,Plate 111 

Stubbs, A.E. 121,171, Plate 11,201 

Tebbutt, P. Plate 11,180,187 

Telfer, M.G. 202,207,210 

Trembath, D.A. 197 

Tremewan, W.G. Plate 11,181 

Tubbs, R.S. 181 

Turner, C. 73 

Uffen, R.W.J. 210 

Ward, J.W. 187,Plate 111 

Waring, P. 78,82,84,86,90,94,138, 140,141,156, 
198,213,214,217 

Wame, BJ. 187 

Watson, C. 210 

Wedd, D. 187 


Williams, R. covers part 2 and 4 
Wilson, M.R. 158,159 
Winokur, L. Plate 1,102 
Wooldridge, D.B. 188 

Wyaltt, N.P. 33 

Young, D.A. 90,188,222 


COLEOPTERA 


Abdera quadrifasciata 157 
Actidium aterrimum 205 
Agapanthia villosoviridescens 203 
Agonum ericeti 204 
A.sexpunctatum 204 
Agrilus laticornis 203 
A.pannonicus 9] 
A.sinuatus 202 

Altica brevicollis 207 
Amara anthobia 202 
A.apricaria 202 

A.bifrons 202 

A.consularis 202 
A.equestris 202 
A.curynota 202 

A.fulva 202 

A.fusca 202 

A.lucida 202 

Amauronyx maerkeli 202 
Amphimallon ochraceus 201 
A. solstitialis 93,202 
Anaglyptus mysticus 203 
Anthophagus alpinus 205 
Anthriscus sylvestris 80 
Aphodius contaminatus 203 
A.distinetus 202 

Apion genistae 204 
A.stolidum 207 
Aplocnemus pini 203 
Apteropeda globosa 201 
Arhopalus rusticus 142,203 
A.tristis 142 

Athous campyloides 93,203 
Attelabus nitens 203 
Auletobius convexifrons 206 
A.cylindnicollis 206 
Bagous brevis 202 
Bembidion ascendens 205 
B.azurescens 205 
B.bipunctatum 204,205 
B.octomaculatum 138 

B. pallidipenne 204 
B.quadripustulatum 207 
Bitoma crenata 157 
Bolitochara mulsanti 204 
Boreaphilus velox 205 
Brachinus crepitans 142 
Broscus cephalotes 203 
Calathus ambiguus 202 
C.cinetus 202 

Carabus auratus 204 
C.glabratus 95 
Cardiophorus asellus 202 
Carpelimus nitidus 205 
C.obesus 205 

C.pusillus 205 

Cassida nebulosa 202 
Cathormiocerus attaphilus 206 
C.britannicus 206 


C.maritimus 206 
C.myrmecophilus 206 
C.socius 206 

Chactarthnia similis 205 
Choragus sheppardi 204 
Chrysolina americana 78,203 
C.banksi 86 

C.fastuosa 204 
C.orichaleea 203 
C.sanguinolenta 202 
Chrysomela populi 203 
Cicindela campestris 95,204 
C.maritima 201 

Cicones undata 92 

Cionus variegatus 206 
Cleonus piger 202 

Clytus arietis 93,203 
Coccinella quinquepunctata 201 
Colydium elongatum 202 
Conopalpus testaceus 203 
Copris lunaris 204 
Cryptarcha stngata 157 
Crypticus quisquilius 202 
Cryptocephalus aureolus 89 
C.biguttatus 203 
C.bilineatus 89 

Cteniopus sulphureus 202 
Ctesias serra 75,157 
Curculio villosus 203 
Cychrus caraboides 203 
Cylindrinotus laevioctostriatus 75 
Cymindis humeralis 205 
Dacne bipustulata 82 
Dasytes niger 202 
Deleaster dichrous 201 
Deliphrum tectum 205 
Dendroctonus micans 136 
Derocrepis rufipes 142 
Dirhagus pygmaeus 158,201,202 
Doreatoma chrysomelina 75 
D.dresdensis 137 

D.serra 157 

Dorcus parallelipipedus 203 
Drypta dentata 202 
Dytiscus marginalis 205 
Elaphrus uliginosus 204 
Eledona agricola 82,91,157 
Epitrix atropae 89 
Erichsonius signaticomis 205 
Emoporus fagi 91,136,157,202 
Euchlora dubia 202 
Euheptaulacus villosus 89 
Euryalea decumana 205 
Gabrius astutus 205 
G.nigrituloides 205 
G.pisciformis 205 
G.tirolensis 205 

Galeruca tanaceti 202 
Galerucella sagittariae 138 
Gastrophysa polygoni 142 
Gaurotes virginea 205 
Geodromicus kunzei 205 
Gcorissus crenulatus 201 
Gnorimus nobilis 204 
G.vanabilis 202 

Gnypeta caerulea 205 
Goedromicus kunzei 205 


Vi 


Grammoptera variegata 207 
Gyrophaena angustata 204 
Haliplus obliguus 207 
H.varicgatus 207 

Hallomenus binotatus 158,20] 
Harpalus affinis 202 
H.attcnuatus 202 

H.anxius 202 

H.froclichi 202 

H.honestus 202 

H.puncticeps 202 

H.rubripes 202 

H.rufibarbis 202 

H.rufitarsis 202 
H.smaragdinus 202 
H.vernalis 202 

Helochares punctatus 203 
Helophorus dorsalis 201 
H.longitarsis 204 

Helops cacruleus 203 
Hesperorhynchus hesperus 206 
Heterothops niger 202 
Hydnobius punctatus 204 
Hygrogeus aemulus 205 
Hypera meles 204 

Hyphydmus ovatus cover part 4 
Ischnomera cyanea 157 
Ischnopoda balteata 205 
Kalcapion fortunatum 206 
Laemostenus terricola 202 
Laparocerus ellipticus 206 
L.excavatus 206 

Lapidapion canariense 206 
Lathrobium angustatum 205 
Lebia chlorocephala 89,142 
Leptura livida 203 

Lesteva monticola 205 
Licinus depressus 202 
Lilioceris lilii 204 

Liogluta nitidiuscula 205 
Lionychus quadnillum 205 
Liparus germanus 204 
Lissodema quadripustulata 202 
Macrobrachonyx gouncllei 206 
Magdalis cerasi 203 
Masoreus wetterhali 202 
Mecinus collaris 207 

Medon npicola 205 
Melanimon tibialis 202 
Meligethes viduatus 204 
Membidion bipunctatum 205 
Mesosa nebulosa 207 
Metabletus truncatellus 202 
Metoecus paradoxus 93,203,207 
Miarus micros 201 
Micropeplus marietti 205 
Microplontus triangulum 201 
Mogulones biondii 206 
M.pseudopollinarius 206 
Molorchus umbellatarum 203 
Mordellistena neuwaldeggiana 93 
Mordellochroa abdominalis 80 
Mycetophagus piceus 201 
Nebria castanea 205 
N.jockischi 205 

Necrodes littoralis 95,144 
Neobisnius procerulus 205 


N.prolixus 205 
Notiophilus aquaticus 95 
Notoxus monocerus 202 
Ochthebius pusillus 204 
Ochthephilus longipennis 205 
Ocypus chevrolati 205 
O.ophthalmicus 202 
O.picipennis 205 
Oedemera nobilis 203 
Olophrum alpinum 205 
Omalium ferrugineum 205 
Omaloplia ruricola 89 
Oncomera femorata 204 
Onthophagus coenobita 203 
Oodes helopioides 204 
Orsodacne cerasi 80,203 
var: chlorotica 80 
var: glabrata 80 
var: lincola 80 
O.lineola 80 
Otiorhynchus scaber 205 
Oxylaemus vanolosus 202 
Paederus balcanicus 205 
P.littoralis 142 
Panagaeus bipustulatus 
P.cruxmajor 204 
Paralister purpurascens 203 
Parethelcus nesicola 206 
P.pollinarius 206 
Pediacus dermestoides 157 
Perapion neofallax 206 
P.tubiferum 206 
P.violaceum 206 
Philonthus cocrulescens 205 
P.confinis 205 
P.montivagus 205 
P.palustris 205 
P.rubripennis 204 
P.rufimanus 205 
Phloeophagus lignarius 203 
Phyllobrotica quadrimaculata 201 
Phytodecta decemnotata 91 
Phytoecia cylindrica 202 
Platyderus ruficollis 204 
Platypus cylindrus 203 
Plegaderus dissectus 201 
P.vulneratus 202 
Podabrus alpinus 91 
Podagrica fuscipes 142 
Polydrusus sericeus 203 
Prionocyphon serricomis 157 
Prionus coriarius 93 
Prionychus ater 157 
Psephidonus kunzei 205 
Psylliodes luteola 202 
P.sophiae 202 
Pterostichus kugelanni Plate 11,204 
P.multipunctatus 205 
P.pumilio 205 
Pyrochroa serraticomis 203 
Quedius dubius 205 
Q.obscuripennis 205 
Q.punctatellus 205 
Q.ventralis 157 
Rhinoncus albicinctus 138 
R.ruficollis 142 
Rhissotrichum tubuliferum 206 


202 


Vil 


Rhizophagus nitidulus 92 
Rhynchaenus avellanac 202 
Rugilus subtilis 204 
Scolytus intricatus 75 
S.scolytus 136 

Scopaeus gracilis 205 
S.laevigatus 205 

Scymnus schmidti 89 
Selatosomus bipustulatus 204 
Sermylassa halensis 142 
Silis ruficollis 

Silpha carinata 204 
S.laevigata 202 

Sirocalodes mixtus 206 
S.nigroterminatus 206 
Sitona latipennis 206 
Smicronyx pauperculus 206 
S.reichi 89 

Stenagostus villosus 203 
Stenolophus teutonus 204 
Stenopelmus rufinasus 206 
Stenus canescens 205 
S.fossulatus 205 

Stranglia aurulenta 204 
S.maculata 93 

Tachys sexstriatus 205 
Tachyusa balteata 205 
Taeniapion atlanticum 206 
T.delicatulum 206 
Tetratoma desmaresti 157 
T.fungorum 142 

Tetrops pracusta 203 

Tillus clongatus 91,142,201 
Tomoxia bucephala 202 
Trachyphloeus aristatus 201 
Trachys scrobiculatus 202 
Trichophya pilicomis 207 
Triplax aenea 142 
Tropiphorus terricola 204 
Tomoxia bucephala 89,93 
Trachyphloeus altemans 89 
Trichius zonatus 204 
Trichotichnus laevipennis 205 
Tychius colonnellii 206 
Typhaeus typhoeus 203 ,204 
Xantholinus longiventris 207 
Xestobium rufovillosum 157 
Xyleborus dryographus 91,92 
Xyloterus domesticus 157 
Zcugophora subspinosa 91,142 
Zyras humeralis 207 


DIPTERA 


Achanthiophilus helianthi 198,199,200 
Acrocera orbicula 199 
Agathomyia elegantula 199 
A.wankowicziil 198,199 
Agromyza prespana 74 
Agromyzidae 201 
Anasimyia contracta 199 
Anthalia beatricella 200 
Anthomyiidae 201 
Anthomyza collini 167 
Arctophila superbiens 199 
Asilus crabroniformis 200 
Aulacigaster leucopeza 200 
Beris fuscipes 166 


Bittacomorpha clavipes Plate 11,201 
Brachyopa bicolor 200 
B.pilosa 91,198,200 
B.scutellaris 198 
Brachypalpus laphriformis 91,199 
Callicera aurata 200 
Campsicnemus pectinulatus 166 
Cecidomyiidae 201 

Cetema neglecta 167 
Chaetorellia loricata 200 
Cheilosia grossa 199 
C.impressa 89 

C.soror 92 

Cheilotrichia imbuta 166 
Chloromyia formosa 167,215 
Chrysotoxum sp. 201 
C.cautum 199 

C.festivum 92 

C.verralli 199 

Cleigastra apicalis 166 
Clinocera stagnalis 167 
Cnemacantha muscaria 200 
Cocidomyiidae 201 

Coenosia albatella 201 
Colobaca distincta 200 
Conopidae 201 

Cosmetopus dentimanus 166 
Cricotopus vierriensis 16 
Ctenophora flaveolata 198 
C.pectinicomis 91,200 
Dictenidia bimaculata 91,199,200 
Dichetophora finlandica 199 
Dioctria oelandica 198 
Dolichopeza albipes 201 
Dolichopus campestris 166 
Doros profuges 199 
Drosophilidae 201 

Elachiptera pubescens 166 
Empis woodi 200 

Epiphragma ocellare 200 
Episyrphus balteatus 87,215 
Erioptera fuscipennis 167 
E.fusculenta 167 

E.trivialis 167 

Enstalinus sp. 201 

Eumerus sp 201 

E.sabulonum 198 

Eutolmus rufibarbis 200 
Fannia ringdahlana 201 
Ferdinandea cuprea 200 
F.ruficomnis 200 

Helius flavus 166 
Hercostomus plagiatus 166 
Hilara obscura 166 

H.morata 200 

H.woodi 166 

Leptogaster gultiventris 200 
Limonia lucida 166 

Lipara lucens 43,45,46 

Lispe tentaculata 167 

Mallota cimbiciformis 199,200 
Megaselia sp 113,115 
M.haraldlundi 113,114,115,116 
M.intercostata 114,115 
M.intonsa 117 
M.jameslamonti 115,116,117,118 
M.septentrionalis 115 


vill 


M.teneripes 116,118,119 
Metopia argentata 33 
M.argyrocephala 33,34 
M.campestris 33,34 
M.grandii 33,34 

M.staegerii 33,34 ~ 
Microdon devius 199 
Mycetobia pallipes 199 
Myopa extricata 199 
Myopites eximia 157 

M. frauenfeldi 157 
Nematoproctus distendens 199 
Neoascia geniculata 166 
N.tenur 166 

Norellisoma spinimanum 167 
Nyctia haltcrata 200 

Odinia boletina 200 
O.xanthocera 200 

Ochthera mantis 199 
Opomyza petrei 167 

Orellia falcata 198,199,200 
Ornithomyia avicularia 199 
Orthonevra brevicornis 213 
Oxycera mormisii 166 
O.pardalina 198,199 
Paragus sp. 201 
Parallelomma vittatum 201 
Paratrichocladius rufiventris 16 
Parydra aquila 166 

Pedicia rivosa 96 

Phaonia cineta 200 

Phryxe vulgaris 139 
Phytoliriomyza melampyga 199 
Phytomyza archhieracii 74 
P.erigerophila 74 

Pilaria fuscipennis 166 
Platynochaetus rufus 201 
Platypalpus infectus 166 
P.leucothrix 89 
P.pallidicornis 166 
Portevinia maculata 213 
Pseudopomyza atrimana 198,201 
Pyrophaena rosarum 199,215 
Rhagio lineola 95 
Rheotanytarsus sp. 11,13,15 
R.ororus 15 

R. pentapoda 11,15,16 
R.photophilus 11,16 
R.rioensis 12,13,14,15,16 
Sapromyza basalis 201 
S.opaca 166 

Sarcophagidae 33 
Sarcotachinella sinuata 200 
Sargus bipunctatus 84 
Scaeva sp. 201 

Scatella paludum 167 
Scathophaga stercoraria 167 
Scenopinus niger 198 
Sciapus laetus 200 

Sepsis cynipsea 167 
S.orthocnemis 167 
Spiniphora maculata 199 
Stratiomys longicomis 200 
Syneches muscarius 166 
Syntormon denticulatus 166 
S.pallipes 167 

Systenus scholtzii 199 


Tanyptera atrata 199 
Tephritidae 201 

Terellia longicauda 200 
T.vectensis 200 
Teuchophorus calearatus 199 
T.spinigerellus 166 
Thecophora atra 89,214 
Themira minor 167 
T.superba 166 

Thereva nobilitata 86,200 
Thricops aculeipes 200 
Typhamyza bifasciata 199 
Ulidia erythrophthalma 200 
Urophora cardui 151 
U.cuspidata 200 
U.spoliata 200 

Vanoyia tenuicomis 166 
Volucella pellucens 92 
V.zonaria 92 

Xylota segnis 215 
X.xanthocnema 199 


HEMIPTERA 

Agramma laeta 90 

Alydus calcaratus 207 
Bothynotus pilosus 95 
Chorosoma schillingi 207 
Cinara piceae 135 
Coranus woodroffei 207 
Cryptococcus fagisuga 130—-133,134,136 
Cyphostethus tnstriatus 78 
Eurydema dominulus 143 
Globiceps dispar 95 
Kermes quercus 135 
Lasiacantha capucina 207 
Liorhyssus hyalinus 207 
Microvelia pygmaca 207 
Neides tpularius 207 
Pachypappa.tremulae 125 
P.vesicalis 125 
Pachypappella lactea 125 
P.xylostei 125 

Pemphigus sp. 141 
Physatocheila smreezynskii 207 
Pineus pini 135 
Pionosomus varius 207 
Podops inuncta 207 
Polymerus unifasciatus 96 
Prociphilus spp. 141 
P.xylostei 125 
P.imbricator 134,135 
Pulvinaria regalis 135 
Pyrrhoconss apterus 142 
Saldula saltatoria 167 
Schirus luctuosus 90 
Stagona xylostei 125 
Syromastus rhombeus 207 
Thyreocons scarabaeoides 90,207 
Trapezonotus ullrichi 207 
Troilus luridus 86 
Tubcerolachnus salignus 135 
Xylocoris cursitans 91 


HYMENOPTERA 


Abia sp. 86 
Ammophila sabulosa 59,207,210 
Ancistrocerus oviventnis 58 


C.rybyensis 207 
Chrysididae 50 

Chrysis angustula 58 
C.cyanea 58 

C.impressa 58 

C.ruddii 58 

Cimbex femoratus 208 
Cleptes semiauratus 50,52,58 
Coclioxys clongata 210 
Colletes daviesanus 210 
C.fodiens 59 

C.halophilus 43 

C.similis 210 

C.succinetus 210 
Colletidae 50 

Crabro cribrarius 58 
C.peltarius 58 

Crossocerus distinguendus 210 
C.elongatulus 58 

C.nigritus 59 

C.ovalis 58 

C.palmipes 50,58 
C.quadrimaculatus 59 
C.tarsatus 59 

C.varus 59 

C.wesmaeli 59 

Cynips divisa cover part 1, 1, 2,3 
Dasypoda altereator 209 
Diodontus luperus 59 
D.minutus 59,209 

D.tnstis 59 

Dipogon subintermedius 207 
Dolerus bimaculatus 208 
Dolichovespula media 83,209 
D.saxonica 83 

D.sylvestris 58 

Dryinidae 50 

Ectemnius cavifrons 207 
E.continuus 207 

Elampus panzen 209 
Entomognathus spp. 59 
E.brevis 210 

Epeolus variegatus 59 
Episyron rufipes 207,210 
Eumenidae 50 
Eutomostethus gagathinus 208 
Evagetes crassicornis 58 
Fonnica fusca 49 

F. rufa 83 

Gasteruption assectator 47 
G.jaculator 47 

Gonatopus sepsoides 58 
Gorytes bicinctus 210 
G.quadrifasciatus 59 
G.tumidus 59 

Halictidae 50 

Halictus rubicundus 59 
H.tumulorum 59 
Hedychndium 58 

H.ardens 209 

H.roseum 209 

Hedychrum niemelai 209 
Heterarthrus nemoratus 208 
Hoplitis claviventris 4 
Hoplocampa testudinea 208 
Hylaeus brevicormnis 59 
H.communis 43,59 


H.comutus 210 
H.pectoralis 43,44,45,46,47 
Hyposoter clausus 80 
Janus femoratus 208 
Lasioglossum calceatum 59 
L.leucopum 59 
L.leucozonium 59 
L.malachurus 210 
L.nitidiusculum 59 
L.punctatissimum 59 
L.rufitarse 59 

L.villosulum 59 

Lasius brunneus 91 
L.fuliginosus 83 

L.niger 49,83 

Leptothorax nylanden 82 
L.tuberum 207 

Lindenius albilabris 59 
Lonchodryinus ruficornis 58 
Macrophya rufipes 208 
Macropis curopaca 209 
Megachile leachella 209 
M.versicolor 59 
M.willughbiella 210 
Megachilidae 50 

Melitta haemorrhoidalis 210 
M.tricincta 210 

Mellinus arvensis 59 
Metorus colon 39 

Mimesa bruxellensis 209 
Mimumesa spooneni 43 
Mutilla curopaea 209 
Mutillidae 50 

Myrmecina graminicola 207 
Myrmica atra 58 
M.ruginodis 4 

Myrmosa atra 209 
Nematus capreae 208 
N.ribesii 52 

Nomada fabriciana 59 
N.flavopicta 50,59 
N.fulvicormis 49,59,209 
N.goodeniana 59 
N.leucophthalma 59 
N.marshamella 59 
N.panzen 59 

N.striata 59 

Nysson dimidiatus 209 
N.spinosus 59 
N.trimaculatus 50,59,210 
Omalus auratus 58,93 
Osmia leaiana 59 
O.leucomelana 4 
Oxybelus uniglumis 59 
Panurgus banksianus 59 
Paravespula germanica 58 
P.vulgaris 58 

Pareophora pruni 208 
Passaloecus eremita 209,210 
P.singularis 59 


P.schioedtei 50,58 
Prosopis kriechbaumeri 43 
P.palustris 43 

Psen bicolor 49,59 
P.bruxellensis 210 
P.dahlbomi 59 
P.cquestris 59 
P.lutarius 59 
P.spooneri 43 
Pseudogonatopus distinctus 58 
Pseudopipona herrichii 209 
Psithyrus bohemicus 59 
P.vestalis 59 

Rhogogaster chambersi 208 
R.genista 208 

Rhopalum coarctatum 59 
Scolia sp. 86 
Smicromyrme mifipes 209 
Sphecidae 50 

Sphecodes ephippius 209 
S.fasciatus 59 

S.geoffrellus 209 

S.gibbus 59 

S.longulus 210 
S.monilicornis 59 
S.pellucidus 59 
S.puncticeps 209 
S.reticulatus 209 

Stelis omatula 209 
S.punctulatissima 209,210 
Symmorphus crassicornis 209 
S.mutinensis 58 
Tachysphex pompiliformis 58,210 
T.unicolor 58 

Tenthredo arcuata 78 
Trypoxylon attenuatum 58 
T.figulus 58 

Vespa crabro 83 

Vespula austriaca 58 
V.rufa 58 

Xiphydria prolongata 82 


LEPIDOPTERA 


abbreviata, Eupithecia 71,91 
abictana, Eupithecia 183 
abietella, Dioryctria 188,215 
absinthiata, Eupithecia 68,71 
acanthadactyla, Amblyptilia 188,191 
achatana, Ancylis 191 
Acraea sp. 197 
acroxantha, Tachystola 191 
acteon, Thymelicus 
ab.alba 179 
ab.virescens 179 
acula, Chrysodeixis 84,138,140 
adelphella, Sciota 193 
adspersella, Agonopterix 195 
adustala, Ligdia 91 
adustatella, Depressaria 195 
advenella, Numonia 70 


Pemphredon inomatus 59 peri ° 2 

Philanthus triangulum 208,209,210 oad eee Ore. ee de 79 
Pompilidae 50 ab.cockaynei 177 

Pompilus cinereus 58 f.drumensis 102,105,108,109 
Priocnemis exaltata 58 ab.pallidior 179 

P.parvula 58 ab.parviocellata 178 

P.perturbator 58 ab.schmidti 178 


ssp.oblita Plate 1,102,103,104,105, armigera, Heliothis 63,71,183,184,186,187 


107,108,109,110 ashworthii, Xestia 182 
ab.cockaynei Plate 1,102,107,108,109 asinalis, Mecyna 62,70 
ssp.tircis Plate 1,102,103,104,105, asseclana, Cnephasia 70 
106,107,108,109,110 assimilella, Agonopterix 70 
ab.cockaynei 102,107,108,Plate 1 asteris, Cucullia 183 
ab.mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata Plate 1, atalanta, Vanessa 39,83,85,92,213 
105,106,107 ab.cos 213 
acrugula, Nola 187 ab.klemsiewicz1 177 
aescularia, Alsophila 70 ab.virgala 178 
aestivaria, Hemithea 70,91 ataxella, Myrmecozela 194,195 
aethiops, Erebia 96 atrifasciella, Infurcitinea 194 
ab.flavescens 180 atriplicis, Trachea 187 
ab.purpurea 180 augustella, Denisia 195 
affinis, Cosmia 184 aurinia, Eurodryas 177,214 
affinitata, Penzoma 71,186 ab.sebaldus 177,179 
agathina, Xestia 71,184 ab.virgata Plate 11,179 
agenjoi, Nemapogon 195 australis, Aporophyla 65 
agenjoi, Peristomastix 194 autumnaria, Ennomos 182 
agestis, Anicia 178 auxo Chalcosia 
ab.glomerata 181 ssp.albata 197 
Agonopterix sp. 195 aversala, Idaea 70,155 
ahenella, Hypochalcia 90 azaleella, Caloptilia 189,193 
albicapitella, Swammerdamia 112 badiata, Anticlea 70 
albicapitella, Paraswammerdamia 70 badiella, Depressaria 195 
albicilla, Salebriopsis 140,189,193 bankiana, Deltote 181,183,187 
albicosta, Coleophora 70 basaltinella, Bryotropha 191 
albipuncta, Mythimna 63,71,181,186 basifasciella, Tinea 194 
albofasciata, Xandrames 197 batis, Thyatira 70 
albovenosa, Simyra 184 bellargus, Lysandra 87,180 
albula, Meganola 62,65,66,68,69,71,182,185,Plate 111 ab.krodeli 180 
albulata, Asthena 71 ab.parvipuncta 180 
albulata, Perizoma 90 ab.striata 180 
albumella, Teleiodes 190,Plate 111 bembeciformis, Sesia 63,70,214 
alchemillata, Perizoma 68,71 berbera, Amphipyra 140,182,Plate 111 
alfacariensis, Colias 179 ssp.svenssoni 188 
algae, Archanara 184 berberata, Pareulype 220 
alni, Acronicta 71 betularia, Biston 71,186 
ab.suffusa 181 ssp.cognataria 186 
alniana, Ennomos 71,185 betulinella, Nemaxera 191,192 
alpicola, Xestia bicolorata, Hecatera 71 
ssp.alpina 184 bicostella, Pleurota 195 
alpinella, Platytes 189,191 bicruris, Hadena 71 
alsines, Hoplodrina 71,187,Plate 111 bidentata, Odontopera 71,181,188,Plate 111 
alternana, Semiothisa 68,71 bifasciana, Olethreutes 70 
alternata, Epirrhoe 70 bilineata, Camptogramma 70,185 
amaniella, Pleurota 195 binaevella, Phycitodes 90 
amazonicus, Baeotus 197 bipartitella, Trichophaga 194,195 
ambigualis, Scoparia 70 bipunctella, Ethmia 191,194 
amparoella, Pscudatemelia 195 bipunctosa, Agonopterix 191 
amydon, Agnas 197 biriviata, Xanthorhoe 183,220 
analis, Parallelia 197 biselata, Idaea 70,155 
anglicella, Paromix 70 ab.fimbriolata 184 
angustana, Eupoecilia 70 blanda, Hoplodrina 71 
angustea, Eudonia 70 blandella, Brachmia 70 
angustiorana, Ditula 70 blandella, Caryocolum 70,190 
ankerella, Neurothaumasia 194,195 blandelloides, Caryocolum Plate 111 
annulifera, Psyra 197 blandiata, Perizoma 185 
apiformis, Sesia 188 blomeri, Discoloxia 186 
aprilina, Dichonia 71 bombycina, Polia 182 
arenella, Agonopterix 70 borelii, Gortyna 
areola, Xylocampa 71 ssp.lunata 188 
argiolus, Celastrina 81,83,92 Brachmia sp. 195 
argus, Plebejus 181 bradleyi, Mompha 190,194 
ab.nigrescens 180 brassicae, Mamestra 71 
argyrana, Pammene 70 brassicae, Pieris 109,177,178 
armigera, Helicoverpa 195 ab.coerulea 179 


ab.flava 179 
brevilinea, Photedes 184,215 
britannica, Thera 71 
britanniodactyla, Capperia 192 
brizella, Aristotelia 189,191 
brockeella, Argyresthia 70 
brongniardella, Acrocercops 193 
brumata, Operophtera 91 
brunneata, Semiothisa 94 
bucephala, Phalera 71 
caesia, Hadena 

ssp.mananii 183 
caesiata, Entephria 96,184,185,186 
caesiella, Swammerdamia 112 
caja, Arctia 182 

ab.fumosa 187 
c-album, Polygonia 83 
caliginosa, Acosmetia 196 
cambridgei, Euchromius 196 
camilla, Ladoga 

ab.nigrina 177,181 

ab.obliterae 181 
cana, Eucosma 70 
canapennella, Elachista 70 
canella, Gymnancyla 191 
caniola, Eilema 62,65,71 
captiuncula, Photedes 

ssp.expolita 181,182 
capucina, Ptilodon 71 
cardamines, Anthocharis 88,178 
cardui, Cynthia 86,178,215 

melanic Plate] 1 
carpinata, Trichopteryx 71 
casta, Psyche 215 
castanea, Xestia 96,185 
castancae,Phragmataecia 182,184,214 
castrensis, Malacosoma 182 
Catocala sp. 93 
centaureala, Eupithecia 71 
cerasana, Pandemis 70 
cerasi, Orthosia 71,92,182,187 

melanie 183 
cerussclla, Platytes 70 
cespilalis, Pyrausta 192 
chalcites, Chrysodeixis 84,138,140,182,183 
chamomillae, Cucullia 65,67,68,71 
chenopodiata, Scotopteryx 68,70 
chi, Antitype 186 
chlorosata, Petrophora 71 
choragella, Morophaga 74,192 
chrysidiformis, Bembecia 212 
chrysitis, Diachrysia 71 
chrysopterella, Reisserita 195 
cinerea, Agrotis 187,Plate 111 

gynandromorph 183 
cingulata, Pyrausta 189 
ciniflonella, Exaeretia 188 
cinxia, Melitaea 8,10 

ab.wittei 180 
clavipalpis, Caradrina 68,71,186 
clavis, Agrotis 68,71,185 
cloacella, Nemapogon 192,195 
clorana, Earias 62,63,64,69,71,185,215 

ab.flavimargo 64,183 
clypeiferella, Coleophora 194 
enicicolana, Epiblema 194 
c-nigrum, Xestia 71 


Xil 


cognata, Thera 183,184 
combinella, Pseudoswammerdamia 191 
comes, Noctua 71,186,187 
comma, Mythimna 71 
complana, Eilema 65 - 
compunctella, Swammerdamia 112 
concinnata, Chloroclysta 182 
confusa, Hadena 71,183 
confusalis, Nola 71 
confusella, Stigmella 95 
conigera, Mythimna 
melanic 181,Plate 111 
consimilana, Clepsis 70 
consonana, Paradarisa 
fnigra 184 
conspicillans, Egira 185 
contaminella, Pediasia 93,191 
ab.sticheli 191 
contigua, Lacanobia 186 
continuella, Stigmella 188 
convolvuli, Agrius 186 
cordon, Lysandra 8,10,178,181 
ab.cacca 178 
ab.discreta 178 
ab.fowleri 180 
ab.inaequalis 178 
ab.i-nigrum 180 
ab.parallela 178 
ab.postdiscoclongata 178 
ab.striata 179 
coronata, Phlyctaenia 70 
corylata, Electrophaes 71 
coryli, Colocasia 71,185 
melanie 185 
costalis, Hypsopygia 70,189 
costella, Scrobipalpa 70 
craccae, Lygephila 65 
crassa, Agrotis 187 
crassinotata, Problepsis 197 
cratipennella, Coleophora 192 
crenata, Apamea 71 
crepuscularia, Ectropis 71 
eribrumalis, Macrochilo 215 
crocealis, Ebulea 70 
erocella, Adela 191 
croceus, Colias Plate] 1,179,180,181 
fhelice 179 
cruda, Orthosia 91 
ab.haggarti 184 
crypta, Euxoa 142 
cuculata, Catarhoe 70,90 
cuculipennella, Caloptilia 193 
cucullatella, Nola 91 
culiciformis, Synanthedon 183 
culmella, Chrysoteuchia 70 
cupressata, Thera 185,186,187 
cursoria, Euxoa 183 
cyanzimarmorella, Stenoptinca 194,195 
daucella, Depressaria 70 
deceptona, Lithacodia 175 
decimalis, Tholera 71 
decolorella, Blastobasis 189,191 
decoratus, Marumba 197 
decrepitalis, Udea 213 
defoliaria, Erannis 91,184 
degeerella, Nemophora 70 
delunella, Eudonia 192,196 


denotata, Eupithecia 
ssp.jasioneata 65 
dentaria, Selenia 71,91 
derivata, Anticlea 70 
detrimentella, Pseudatemelia 195 
diana, Choreutis 190 
didymata, Penzoma 94 
diffinis, Teleiopsis 68,70 
diluta, Pempeliella 70 
dilutaria, Idaca 138,182,186 
dimidiata, Idaea 70,182 
dimidioalba, Hedya 70 
discordella, Coleophora 188 
dispar, Lycaena 138 
ssp.batavus 139 
ab.radiata Plate! | 
dispar, Lymantria 182,188 
dissoluta, Archanara 184,215 
distans, Oxipulus 191 
distinctaria, Eupithecia 62,65,71,181 
dodonaea, Drymonia 187,Plate 111 
dodoneata, Eupithecia 71,91 
domestica, Cryphia 181,184,186 
ab.suffusa 186 
dominula, Callimorpha 194 
ab.medionigra 185 
douglasella, Depressaria 195 
dromedarius, Notodonta 71,187 
dubitella, Phyllonorycter 193 
dumerilii, Luperina 142 
dumetata, Odontognophos 
ssp.hibernica 183 
duplaris, Ochropacha 70 
efformata, Aplocera 185 
elinguaria, Crocallis 71,187 
ab.restncta 187 
ab.unicolor 182,185 
elpenor, Deilephila cover part 2,71,184 
elutella, Ephestia 191 
emargana, Acleris 70 
emberizaepenella, Phyllonorycter 193 
eremita, Dryobotodes 186 
ericella, Pleurota 195 
encinella, Aristotelia 70 
crinaceella, Depressaria 195 
erula, Euxoa 142 
eugcon, Prenes 164 
euphrosyne, Boloria 
ab.edna 177 
evonymaria, Artiora 198 
exanthemala, Cabcra 71 
exclamationis, Agrolis 71,182,183,184,185 
exigua, Spodoptera 183,185,187 
expallidata, Eupithecia 185 
extersaria, Paradarisa 186 
extimalis, Evergestis 189,192 
exulans, Zygaena 
ssp.subochracea 184 
fagana, Pseudoips 71 
fagaria, Dyscia 182 
fagivora, Parornix 193 
falcataria, Drepana 70 
falconipennella, Caloptilia 193 
falsella, Catoptria 188,192 
fascelinella, Pediasia 189 
fasciaria, Hylaea 71,96 
fasciuncula, Oligia 71 


xii 


favicolor, Mythimna 187 
ferchaultella, Luffia 192 
ferrago, Mythimna 71,196 
f.argyristis 196 
ferrugalis, Udea 63,70 
ferrugata, Xanthorhoe 70 
ferruginea, Rusina 71 
fibulella, Adela 192 
filicivora, Psychoides 192 
firmata, Thera 7] 
flammea, Panolis 71 
flammealis, Endotricha 68,70 
flavago, Gorlyna 71 
flavalis, Mecyna 190 
flavicaria, Therapis 198 
flavicincta, Polymixis 71 
flavicinctata, Entephria 184,185 
ssp.ruficinetata 184 
flavinigra, Arichanna 197 
flaviventris, Synanthedon 182 
flavofasciata, Perizoma 68,71 ,90,184 
florescens, Gaurena 
ssp.albomaculata 197 
floslactata, Scopula 70,184 
fluctuata, Xanthorhoe 70,182,186 
fluxa, Photedes 215 
forficella, Schoenobius 188 
formicacformis, Synanthedon 182 
formosa, Oncocera 188 
formosella, Epicallima 195 
forsterana, Lozotaenia 70 
fucosa, Amphipoea 
ssp.paludis 181 
fuliginana, Parascotia 93,186,181 
fuliginosa, Phragmatobia 71 
fulvalis, Udea 191,193 
fulvata, Cidaria 71 
furcata, Hydriomena 71,94,184,185 
furuncula, Mesoligia 68,71 
furva, Apamea 
ssp.britannica 181,182,186 
fuscalis, Opsibotys 90 
fuscatella, Lampronia 189 
fuscella, Niditinea 194,195 
fuscovenosa, Idaca 70,138 
galathea, Melanargia 10,Plate11,180,195 
ab.nigricans 180 
galiata, Epirrhoe 65,68,70,90,181 
gamma, Autographa 39,40,63,71,186 
ab.gammina 185 
geminipuneta, Archanara 67,71,181 
gemmifera, Ginshachia 197 
geniculea, Agriphila 68,70 
genistella, Oncocera 191 
geometrica, Grammodes 197 
germmana, Pammene 191 
geryon, Adscita 181 
gibbosella, Psoricoptera 93,189 
gigantella, Schoenobius 188,192,193,215 
glareosa, Paradiarsia 68,71 
glaucata, Cilix 70 
globulariae, Adscita 89,90,186 
glyphica, Euclidia 214 
gnoma, Pheosia 71 
goedartella, Argyresthia 95 
gothica, Orthosia 71,91 
ab.gothicina 182 


gozmanyi, Euchromius 196 
graminis, Cerapteryx 93 
granella, Nemapogon 195 
grisealis, Herminia 71 
griseata, Timandra 70 
griseola, Eilema 71 
grossulariata, Abraxas 71,155 
ab.dohmii 184 
hacmatidea, Agrochola 78,182,184 
hamana, Agapeta 70 
harpagula, Sabra 86 
hastiana, Acleris 70,191 
haworthii, Celaena 215 
hebetella, Pleurota 195 
Helicoverpa sp. 195 
heparana, Pandemis 70 
heracliana, Agonoptenx 70 
herculeella, Alabonia 195 
herminata, Diplodoma 192 
heterodactyla, PseInophorus 78 
hexadactyla, Alucita 70 
hieroglyphica, Baorisa 197,Plate 111 
hilarella, Phyllonorycter 193 
honestalis, Actenia 196 
honorella, Pleurota 195 
hortulata, Eurrhypara 70 
humuli, Hepialus 70 
hyale, Colias 179 
hylas, Cephonodes 197 
hyperantus, Aphantopus 180,215 
icarus, Polyommatus 8,10,178 
ab.livida 178 
melanic Plate11,181 
ab.radiata 178,180 
icteritia, Xanthia 91 
ab.flavescens 181 
imbecilla, Eriopygodes 186 
imbuta, Alphaca 197 
imella, Monopis 194 
imitaria, Scopula 70 
immundana, Epinotia 70 
immutata, Scopula 70,215 
impura, Mythimna 71 
incarnalalis, Orthopygia 196 
incarnatana, Epiblema 190 
incerta, Orthosia 71 
incertalis, Anarpia 196 
inopiana, Phtheochroa 70,190 
inomatella, Brachmia 194 


inquinatella, Agriphila 189,192,Plate 111 


insecurella, Epermenia 90,190 
insulana, Earias 64,183 
insulare, Ateliotum 194,195 
interjecta, Noctua 71 
io, Inachis 85,215 

ab.belisaria 180 
ipsilon, Agrotis 63,71,186,187 
iridicolor, Iotaphora 197 
iris, Apatura 86 
urorella, Setina 187 
janetta, Syntherata 197 
janthina, Noctua 71 
jota, Autographa 71 
jubata, Alcis 185 
junctella, Caryocolum 190,192 
juniperata, Thera 85 
juniperella, Dichomeris 194,Plate 111 


Xiv 


jurtina, Maniola 10,215 
ab.pallidula 180 

Kasyniana sp. 195 

kollarella, Odites 195 

lacticinia, Nyctemera 197 

lacunana, Olethreutes 70 ; 

lacustrata, Dipleurina 70 


lalbum, Mythimna 62,63,64,65,67,68,71 


lamisca, Plutodes 197 
lancealana, Bactra 70 
lancealis, Perinephela 70,193 
lanestris, Eriogaster 184 
lapidata, Coenocalpe 82,185 
lapponica, Stigmella 95 
lassclla, Coleophora 190,191,194 
lasserrei, Powellinia 198 
latruncula, Oligia 71 
lavinia, Doxocopa 197 
legeri, Charaxes 220 
leporina, Acronicta 71 
lcucographa, Cerastis 
melanic 182 


Icucographella, Phyllonorycter 188,193 


leucostigma, Celaena 215 

ssp.scotica 186 
leucotreta, Cryptophlebia 191 
libatrix, Scoliopteryx 71 
lichenaria, Cleorodes 71 
lichenea, Eumichtis 68,71,186 
lienigialis, Pyralis 189 
licnigianus, Leioptilus 192 
ligustri, Craniophora 71 
ligustri, Sphinx 71,187,214,215 
limacodes, Apoda 181,187 
limbata, Evergestis 189,Plate 111 
lineata, Hyles 

ssp.livornica 188 
lineolea, Coleophora 188 
lincola, Thymelicus 

ab.anuiordens 180 
linga, Miltochrista 197 
linneela, Glyphipteryx 191 
literosa, Mesoligia 71 
lithoxylaea, Apamea 71 
litoralis, Mythimna 62,65,68,71 
littoralis, Lobesia 70,190 
lixella, Coleophora 90 
longana, Cnephasia 190 
lonicerae, Zygaena 187 

ssp.jocelynac 185 
loreyi, Mythimna 63,71 
lota, Agrochola 71 
loti, Zygacna 

ssp.scolica 184 
lubricipeda, Spilosoma 71,188 
lucella, Ypsolopha 194 
lucens, Amphipoea 182 
lucernea, Standfussiana 65 
lucida, Acontia 186 
lucidella, Monochroa 189 
lucina, Hamearis 214 

ab.semibrunnea 181 
lucipara, Euplexia 71 
lunaedactyla, Marasmarcha 90 
lunaris, Batia 195 
lunularia, Selenia 187 
luridana, Piercea 189,190 


luridata, Scotopteryx muscerda, Pelosia 183,184,214 


ssp. plumbaria 94,184 myrtillana, Rhopobota 70 
lurideola, Eilema 71 nacvana, Rhopobota 96 
lutatella, Brachmia 189 nanata, Eupithecia 71 
luteago , Hadena nanatella, Agonopterix 195 

ssp.barrettii 62,65,68,71 napi, Pieris 88,92,215 
luteolata, Opisthograptis 71 nebulata, Euchoeca 71,184,215 
luteum, Spilosoma 71 nebulosa, Polia 71 
lutosa, Rhizedra 67,71 nera, Hesperocharis 197 
lutosella, Exaeretia 195 nervosa, Agonopterix 70,195 
lutulenta, Aporophyla 181 neustria, Malacosoma 65,70 
lychnitis, Cucullia 182,187 nevadellus, Nemapogon 194 
machaon, Papilio 215 ni, Trichoplusia 184 
maculana, Epinotia 188 nickerlii, Luperina 183,Plate 111 
macularia, Pscudopanthera 198 ssp.gueneei 182 
maillardi, Polyphacnis ssp.leechi 65 

ssp.assimilis 188 nigra, Aporophyla 71 
malvae, Pyrgus 10 nigricans, Estigmene 197 
manuelaria, Peribatodes 182 nigricans, Euxoa 65 
marcella, Depressaria 195 nigricantella, Monopis 194,195 
marcunella, Infurcitinea 194,195 nigricomella, Bucculatrix 193 
margarilacea, Chersotis 198 nignpunctella, Tenaga 195 
margaritata, Campaea 71,91 nigrivenella, Mussidia 189,Plate 111 
marginana, Endothenia 70 nigropunclata, Scopula 184 
marginata, Lomaspilis 71 nisella, Epinotia 70 
marginella, Dichomeris 190,191 nitida, Agrochola 198 
marginepunctata, Scopula 183 noctuclla, Nomophila 63,70 
manitima, Phycitodes 62,68,70,191 notana, Acleris 19] 
maritimus, Chilodes 185 nupta, Catocala 93,185 

ab.bipunctata 185 obductella, Pempelia 89,90 

ab.nigristriata 185 obelisca, Euxoa 65 
marmorea, Numonia 192 obeliscata, Thera 71,183 
maronesis, Callicore 197 obfuscatus, Gnophos 185,186 
matura, Thalpophila 183,196 obscurata, Gnophos 65 

f.provincialis 196 obsitalis, Hypena 37,38,39,40,41,183,185,188 
maturata, Parallelia 197 obsoleta, Mythimna 185,187 
maura, Monno 71 obstipata, Orthonama 63,70,183 
megacephala, Acronicta 71 obtusa, Pelosia 182,184,187,214 
mendica, Diarsia 71,181,182,187,Plate 111 occulta, Eurois 185 
menyanthidis, Acronicta 94 ocellana, Agonopterix 70 
mercedella, Epicallima 195 ocellana, Spilonota 70 
mercurella, Eudonia 70,196 ocellata, Cosmorhoe 70 
merdella, Proterospastis 194,195 ocellea, Euchromius 196 
meticulosa, Phlogophora 71 ochrearia, Aspitates 65 
micacea, Hydraccia 71 ochroleuca, Eremobia 185 
micella, Argolamprotes 190 oculea, Amphipoea 68,71 
microdactyla, Adaina 215 oditis, Leucochlaena 65 
miniata, Miltochrista 71 oleracea, Lacanobia 68,71,182 
mitterbacheriana, Ancylis 189 olivalis, Udea 70 
molesta, Cydia 192 olivata, Colostygia 185 
molliculana, Cochylis 190,191,Plate 111 ononidis, Parectopa 188,189 
monacha, Lymantria 71 oo, Dicycla 196 
monilifera, Narycia 192 f.sulphurago 196 
monoglypha, Apamea 71 operculella, Phthorimaea 190 
montanata, Xanthorhoe 70 ophiogramma, Apamea 188 
morellus, Morophaga 194 or, Tethea 
morpheus, Caradrina 71 ssp.hibernica 183 
morrisii, Photedes 185,187 orbona, Noctua 182 
mouffetella, Athrips 190 orstadii, Elachista 188 
mundana, Nudaria 65 osseana, Eana 96 
mundella, Bryotropha 194 osseola, Hydraccia 
munitata, Xanthorhoe 96,185 ssp.hucherardi 185,188 
muralis, Cryphia 71 padella, Yponomeuta 70 
murariella, Tinea 195 palealis, Sitochroa 188,189,191 
muricolella, Novotinea 194,195 paleana, Aphelia 191 
murinata, Minoa 186 pallens, Mythimna 71 
muscaeformis, Bembecia 62,65,70,182,185 pallidata, Evergestis 189 


XV 


palpina, Pterostoma 71 
palumbella, Pempelia 191 
palustrella, Monochroa 189 
pamphilus, Coenonympha 180 
pandora, Pandoriana 86 
panoquinoides, Panoquina 
ssp.crrans 163 
ssp.cugcon 161,162,163,164 
ssp.panoquinoides 161,163 
paphia, Argynnis 87,220 
ab.confluens 178 
ab.ocellata 87,Plate11,179,180 
paralellaria, Epione 86 
parasitella, Tnaxomera 192 
parenthesella, Ypsolopha 70 
pariana, Choreutis 193 
palustrana, Olethreutes 95 
pasiuana, Cnephasia 188 
pavonia, Pavonia 94,215 
pectinataria, Colostygia 71 
peltigera, Heliothis 183,185,186,187 
pennaria, Colotois 183,184 
pentadactyla, Pterophorus 70 
peribolata, Scotopteryx 182 
perlella, Crambus 70 
permutana, Aclens 191,194 
perotteti, Estigmene 197 
perplexa, Hadena 65,71,182 
ssp.capsophila 183 
persicariae, Melanchra 71,181 
personella, Nemapogon 192 
philodoce, Colias 177 
phlacas, Lycacna 10,97,98,Plate 1,178 
ab.alba 97,99 
ab.auronitens 97,98,100,Plate 1 
ab.cuprinus 179 
ab.obsoleta 97,98,99,Plate | 
ab.pallidula 97,98,99,Plate | 


ab.partimauroradiata 97,98,99,Plate | 


ab.radiala 97,98,99,Plate 1,180 
ab.subradiata 97,98,100 
phragmitella, Chilo 215 
phragmitidis, Arenostola 185,215 
pilosana, Apocheima 91,182 
pinastri, Hyloicus 65 
pinella, Catoptria 70 
piniania, Bupalus 67,71 
pinivorana, Rhyacionia 191 
plagiata, Aglaemorpha 197 
planella, Pleurota 195 
plecta, Ochropleura 71 
ab.rubricosta 181 
plumigera, Pulophora 187 
podana, Archips 70 
populata, Eulithis 94,184 
populetorum, Caloptilia 93,191 
populi, Laothoe 71 
porcellus, Deilephila 71 
porphyrea, Lycophotia 71 
postvittana, Epiphyas 70,189 
potatona, Philudoria 70 
practermissa, Parallelia 197 
prasina, Anaplectoides 71 
primaria, Thena 91 
priscilla, Liptena 220 
proboscidalis, Hypena 7 
procellata, Melanthia 182 


XVI 


procerella, Bisigna 189 
promissa, Catocala 188 
pronuba, Noctua 71,155 
pronubana, Cacoecimorpha 190 
gynandromorph 181 
protasella, Pleurota 195 . 
proximum, Caryocolum 189 
prunata, Eulithis 155 
pruni, Strymonidia 178 
pruniana, Hedya 70 
prunivorana, Cydia 190 
pseudospretella, Hofmannophila 70 
psi, Acronicta 71 
pterodactyla, Stenoptilia 95 
pudibunda, Calliteara 71,181 
pudorina, Mythimna 183,215 
pulchella, Sontia 197 
pulchellata, Eupithecia 71 
pulcherrimella, Depressaria 195 
pulchrina, Autographa 71 
punctalis, Synaphe 188 
purpuralis, Zygacna 
ssp.caledonensis 185 
ssp.sabulosa 183 
purpurea, Agonopterix 195 
pusana, Cabera 71 
pusillata, Eupithecia 96,184,188 
puta, Agrotis 71,185 
putnami, Plusia 
ssp.gracilis 183,184,215 
putrescens, Mythimna 62,65,71 
putris, Axylia 71 
pygarga, Protodeltote 71,182 
pygmina, Photedes 185 
pyramidea, Amphipyra 71,140 
pyri, Stigmella 190 
pyritoides, Habrosyne 70 
quadrimaculana, Endothenia 191 
quereana, Carcina 70,195 
quercus, Lasiocampa 
ssp.callunae 94 
ssp. quercus 70,184,215 
quercus, Quercusia 179 
ab.cacrulescens 179 
quinqueguttella, Phyllonoryeter 193 
ragusaclla, Neurothaumasia 194,195 
ramburiellus, Euchromius 196 
ramella, Epinotia 95 
rancidella, Athnips 191 
rapac, Pieris 10 
gynandromorph 181 
reclangulata, Chloroclystis 71,91 
rectilinea, Hyppa 185 
remissa, Apamea 71 
repandana, Acrobasis 193 
repandania, Epione 71 
repandata, Alcis 71,182,194 
f.conversana 184 
retinella, Argyresthia 70 
retusa, Ipimorpha 184,188 
revayana, Nycteola 71 
rhododactyla, Cnaemidophorus 213 , 
thomboidaria, Peribatodes 71 
rhomboidella, Hypatima 70 
ribeata, Deileptenia 183 
ridens, Polyploca 91 
riguata, Cataclysme 198 


ripae, Agrotis 62,65,68,71,187,188 

rivata, Epirrhoe 187 

roborella, Phycita 70 

rosaecolana, Epiblema 70 

rostralis, Hypena 78 

rotundella, Agonopterix 195 

ruberata, Hydriomena 185 

rubi, Callophrys 7,10,88 

rubi, Diarsia 71,184 

rubi, Macrothylacia 70 

rubidalis, Orthopygia 196 

rubidata, Catarhoe 62,65,70,187 

rubiginata, Plemyria 215 

rubiginata, Scopula 182 

tubiginea, Conistra 62,71 

rubricosa, Cerastis 71 

rufa, Coenobia 93,215 

rufata, Chesias 94 

ruficornis, Drymonia 71,91,188 
melanic 182 

tufifasciata, Gymnoscclis 71 

rufipennella, Caloptilia 193 

rumicis, Acronicta 71,181 
semi-melanic 182 

turalis, Pleuroptya 70,191 

turicolella, Nemapogon 192,194 

rutana, Agonopterix 195 


sacraria, Rhodomctra 63,70,93,181,182,183,184,185,187 


salicella, Dasystoma 190 
salicicolella, Phyllonorycter 193 
saligna, Phyllocnistis 193 
sambucaria, Ourapteryx 71,85 
sannio, Diacrisia 186 
saucia, Peridroma 63,71186,187 
saxicola, Phycitodes 68,70 
saxifragac, Kessleria 188,189 
schuetzcella, Dioryctria 191 
scoliaeformis, Synanthedon 182,185 
scolopacina, Apamea 71,184 
scopariella, Agonoptenx 195 
scriptella, Teleiodes 190 
scrophulariae, Cucullia 182,Plate 111 
secalis, Mesapamea 71 
seeboldi, Saragossa 198 
segetum, Agrotis 71 
semifascia, Caloptilia 193 
sehestediana, Prochoreutis 189 
selene, Boloria 214 

ab.zeta Platel!,177 
semele, Hipparchia 

ab.holonops 180,181 

ab.monocellata 180,181 
semifasciana, Apotomis 189 
senex, Thumatha 215 
senticetella, Gelechia 191 
sequax, Teleiodes 189 
sericealis, Rivula 71 
sertula, Lasiocampa 198 
sexalata, Pterapherapteryx 71 
signatana, Epinotia 192 
silaceata, Ecliptopera 70 
siletti, Numenes 197 
similis, Euproctis 85,181 
simpliciata, Eupithecia 65,68,71 
simulans, Rhyacia 184 
sinapis, Leptidea 214 


sinuclla, Homoeosoma 70,189,193,Plate 111 


sobrina, Paradiarsia 96,182 
sociella, Aphomia 70,191 
somnulentella, Bedellia 188 
sororcula, Eilema 185 
sororculella, Gelechia 188 
sororiata, Carsia 94 
spadicearia, Xanthorhoe 70 
sparganella, Orthotaelia 188 
sparsana, Acleris 191 
sparsata, Anticollix 214 
spartiella, Anarsia 70 
spheciformis, Synanthedon 182 
sphinx, Brachionycha 181 
splendana, Cydia 70 
statices, Adscita 186 
steinkellneriana, Semioscopis 191 
stellatarum, Macroglossum 185 
stephensiana, Cnephasia 70 
straminea, Cochylimorpha 70 
straminea, Mythimna 184,215 
straminella, Agriphila 70,95 
stratiotala, Parapoynx 191 
sticticalis, Margaritia 189 
striana, Celypha 68,70 
strigana, Lathronympha 191 
strigilis, Oligia 71 
strigulatella, Phyllonoryeter 158 
suasa, Lacanobia 
ab.dissimilis 184 
subcaudata, Plutodes 197 
subfasciella, Cedestis 95 
subfusca, Scopania 191 
subfuscata, Eupithecia 71 
sublustris, Apamea 90 
subpropinquella, Agonoptennx 70,195 
subsericeata, Idaea 68,70 
subtusa, Ipimorpha 187 
subumbrata, Eupithecia 90,184 
succedana, Cydia 70 
suffumata, Lampropteryx 70 
sulphurella, Esperia 195 
suspecta, Parastichtis 96,215 
swammerdamella, Nematopogon 70 
sylvata, Abraxas 186 
sylvestris, Thymelicus 7,10 
syringaria, Apeira 71,186 
taenialis, Schrankia 62,71 
tamaricalis, Lepidogma 196 
tapetzella, Trichophaga 195 
tarsipennalis, Herminia 71 
temerata, Lomographa 71 
templi, Dasypolia 65 
tenuiata, Eupithecia 71 
ternatella, Brachmia 195 
testacea, Luperina 68,71,142,183 
thapsiella, Agonopterix 195 
thoracella, Bucculatrix 191 
tiae, Mimas 183 
tipuliformis, Synanthedon 187 
tithonus, Pyronia 9,10,180,215 
ab.caeca 178 
ab.excessa 180 
ab.obsoletissima Plate! 1,178 
ab.postobscura 180 
logata, Xanthia 71 
tortuosa, Asota 197 
trabealis, Emmelia 198 


translucens, Tinea 194,195 
trapezina, Cosmia 71 
tremula, Pheosia 71 
triangulum, Xestia 71 
tricolor, Eterusia 197 
tridactyla, Pterophorus 189 
tridens, Calamia 

ssp.occidentalis 188 
trifolii, Discestra 68,71 

melanic 181,Plate 111 
trifolii, Lasiocampa 

ssp.flava 

ab.obsoleta 181 
trifolu, Zygaena 

ssp.decreta 186 
trigemina, Abrostola 71 
trigrammica, Charanyca 71,181 


tringipennella, Aspilapteryx 188,193 


triplasia, Abrostola 71 
tripunctaria, Eupithecia 184 
tristella, Agriphila 70 
tritici, Euxoa 65,68,71,142 
truncata, Chloroclysta 71,185 
trux, Agrotis 62,65,71 
tullia, Cocnonympha 
ab.cockaynci 181 
ab.impupillata 181 
turionella, Blastesthia 191 
typhae, Nonagria 71 
ab.fraterna 184 
typica, Naenia 71 
uddmanniana, Epiblema 70 
umbra, Pyrrhia 90 
umbrana, Acleris 190 
uncula, Eustrotia 184,215 
unionalis, Palpita 192 
urticae, Aglais 85 
ab.semiichneusoides 180 
ustella, Ypsolopha 70 
utonella, Biselachista 190 
vaccinii, Conistra 71,184 
varicoloraria, Pachyodes 197 
variegana, Acleris 70 
y-ata, Chloroclystis 71 
venata, Ochlodes 92,215 
ab.fuscus Plate11,180 
venosata, Eupithecia 71 
ssp.fumosae 183 
verbascalis, Anania 192 
verbasci, Cucullia 90 182 
versicolor, Oligia 71 
versurella, Coleophora 188 
vestigialis, Agrotis 65,68,71 
velusta, Xylena 184 
vibicuria, Rhodostrophia 198 
viburnana, Aphelia 191 
vinculellus, Euchromius 196 
vinula, Cerura 71 
viretata, Acasis 71 
Virgaureata, Eupithecia 68,71,213 
Viridaria, Phytometra 214 
viriplaca, Heliothis 183,186 
vilalbata, Horisme 185 
vitellina, Mythimna 63,71,184,186 
vulgata, Eupithecia 71 
vulpecalis, Actenia 196 
wauaria, Scmiothisa 155 


XViil 


weaverella, Monopis 188,192 
xanthographa, Xestia 71,91 
xanthomista, Polymixis 62,65,71 
xanthosoma, Pseudatamelia 195 
xenias, Kasyniana 195 
xylostella, Plutella 70 . 
zelleri, Melissoblaptes 193 
zemyl, Reisserita 195 
zeta, Apamea 

ssp.assimilis 185 
ziezac, Eligmodonta 71 
zoegana, Agapeta 70 


OTHER INSECT ORDERS 


DERMAPTERA 


Forficula auricularia 96 
Labia minor 210 


EPHEMEROPTERA 
Ephemera lineata 75,76 


MECOPTERA 
Panorpa cognata 211 


NEUROPTERA 

Euroleon nostras 211 
Hemerobius atrifrons 211 
Micromus angulatus 211 
Myrmeleon formicarius 211 
Osmylus fulvicephalus 211 
Psectra diptera 211 
Wesmaclius betulinus 96 


ODONATA 


Coenagrion mercuriale 166 
C.puella 211 

Ischnura elegans 215 
Sympetrum nigrescens 210 
S.striolatum 83,211,215 


ORTHOPTERA 
Conocephalus dorsalis 210 
Leptophyes punctatissima 92 
Meconema thalassinum 92 
Melanoplus spretus 18 
Stenobothrus lineatus 210 
Tetrix undulata 91 


SIPILONAPTERA 
Ceratophyllus farreni farreni 211 
C.hinindinis 211 

C.rusticus 212 

Ctenocephalides felis felis 211 
Monopsyllus anisus 211 
Spilopsyllus cuniculi 211 


OTHER ORDERS 


ARACHNIDA 

Eresus sp. 86 

Euscorpius carpathicus candiota 212 
Nuctenea umbratica 75 

Segestria florentina 86,212,213 


AVES 

Circus aeruginosus 215 
Locustella naevia 215 
Picus viridis pluvius 63 
Tetrao urogallus 95 


BACTERIA 
Borrelia burgdorferi 80 


ISOPODA 
Armadillidium pictum 76 


REPTILIA 
Lacerta vivipara 95 


PLANTS 


Abies sp. 141 

Acer sp. 135,199,209 
A.campestre 91,190,193 
A.pseudoplatanus 193 
Achillea sp. 68 
A.filipendulina 210 


Aesculus hippocastanum 135,157,199,200 


Alnus sp. 199,200 
A.glutinosa 61 

A.incana 158 

Ammophila arenaria 61,62,68 
Angelica sp. 47 

Anthemis sp. 68 

Armeria maritima 66,67,189 
Asteraceae 4 

Atriplex sp. 66,67,68 
Azolla sp. 206 

Betula sp. 66,189,200 
B.pendula 88,96 
B.pubescens 61 

Buddleja sp. 92,187 
Calluna vulgans 61,66,94 
Campanula sp. 210 
C.rotundifolia 4 

Cardamine pratensis 88 
Carex vesicaria 190 
Centaurea sp. 199 

C.cyanus 4 

Cerastium sp. 190 

Ceralina cyanea 209 
Chamaecypanis lawsoniana 78 
Chenopodium 66 
Chrysanthemum 78 

Cicuta virosa 213 

Cirsium arvense 151,190,209 
C.oleraceum 115 

Cistus monspeliensis 206 
Clematis 74 

Clinopodium vulgare 4 
Conifer sp. 66 

Conyza canadensis 74 
Corylus avellana 140 
Crassula helmsii 138 
Crassulaceae 206 
Crataegus sp. 141,200 
C.monogyna 91,140,193 
Crocosmia x crocosmiflora 61 
Cuscula sp. 206 

Cynodon dactylon 163 
Cyltisus scoparius 94 


XIX 


Dactylis glomerata 102 
Daucus sp. 210 

D.carota 47 

Dryopteris sp 213 

Echium sp. 206 

E.vulgare 4 

Elatine hexandra 138 

Emex spinosa 206 

Epilobium hirsutum 190,194 
Erica cinerea 61 

Erigeron acer 74 

E. canadensis 74 

E. uniflorum 74 

Euonymus sp. 198 
Eupatorium cannabinum 5,215 
Fagus sp. 192,200,201 ,202,203 
F.grandiflora 134 


F.sylvatica 73,78,91,130,131,132,134,136,137,157,193 


Fragaria 66 

Frangula alnus 215 
Fraxinus excelsior 141,157,192 
Fumaria sp. 206 
Galeopsis sp. 68 
G.tetrahit 204 

Galium sp. 68 

Genista anglica 204 
Gramineae 66 
Heracleum sp. 210 
H.sphondylium 47 
Helianthemum 189 
Helichrysum sp. 140 
Heracleum sphondylium 203,204 
Hieracium sp. 197 
Hippocrepis comosa 9 
Hypochoenis sp. 4 

Inula crithmoides 157 
Lhirta 210 

Iris pscudacorus 61,167 
Jasione montana 202 
Juncus sp. 82 
J.articulatus 192 
J.bufonius 190,191,194 
Juniperus sp. 78 
Lamium album 198 
Lanx sp. 141 
Leontodon sp. 47 
L.hispidus 4 
Leucanthemum vulgare 7,193 
Ligustrum vulgare 193 
Lilium pyrenaicum 204 
Linum catharlicum 4 
Lonicera sp. 140,141 
L.periclymenum 66,193 
Lotus corniculatus 4 
L.glaucus 206 

Lygos monosperma 206 
Lysimachia vulgaris 209 
Lythrum salicaria 139 
Malus sp. 208 

M. sylvestris 207 
Malva sylvestris 86 
Mercurialis annua 206 
Mimosa camporum 163 
M.pudica 163 

Mycelis muralis 78 
Odontites 189,210 
O.vema 190 


Oenanthe crocata 66 

Ononis spinosa 90 

Oreopteris sp. 213 

Origanum vulgare 89,90 

Osmunda regalis 215 

Parietaria sp. 206 

P.judaica 37,38,39,40,41,189 

Persicaria amphibia 138 

Phalaris arundinacea 167 

Phragmites australis 43,45 ,66,67,139,167,215 

Picea sp. 141 

P.abies 125 

P.sitchensis 125 

Picris echioides 190,191 

Pinus sp. 14 

P.canariensis 206 

P.sylvestris 94 

Plantago lanceolata 193 

P. maritima 201 

Populus sp. 116,141,200 

P.canescens 141 

P.tremula 86,91 

Potentilla sp. 66 

P.anserina 61 

P.erecta 4,82 

P.reptans 61 

Prunclla vulgaris 4 

Prunus spp. 92,140 

P.spinosa 91,190,204,208 

Pseudotsuga sp. 141 

Pteridium aquilinum 61 

Pulicaria dysenterica 66 

Pyracantha coccinea 188,193 

Pyrus pyraster 190 

Quercus spp. 66,74,75,91,157,158,192,193,194199,200, 
201 202,203,207 

Q.petraca 189 

Ranunculus acris 4,82,88 

R. bulbosus 4 

Reseda lutea 207 

Rhinanthus sp. 4 

Rhododendron simsii 193 

Ribes nigrum 187 

Rosa sp. 3 

R.canina 190,213 

R.rugosa 61 

R. spinosissima 4 

Rosmarinus officinalis 78,203 

Rubiaceae sp. 198 

Rubus sp. 61,68,200,206 

R.caesius 66 

R.fruticosus 1,5,47 

R.idaeus 207 

Rumex acetosella 68 

R. hydrolapathum 139,140 

Salix sp. 63,66,68,115,193,198,203 

S.caprea 193 

S.cinerea 61,91,213 

S.fragilis 193 

S.repens 193 

Sambucus sp. 204,210 

Scrophularia 206 

Scutellaria minor 189 

Senecio sp. 4,68 

S.jacobaea 61,209 

Silene sp. 68 

S.maritima 66 


S.uniflora 66,68 
Smymium olusatrum 209 
Solcira soleirolii 40 
Solidago virgaurea 213 
Sonchus arvensis 47 
S.asper 208 

Sporobolus jacquemontii 163 
S.virginicus 163 

Stelis ornatula 209 
Stellaria graminea 190,192 
S.media 189 

Taraxacum spp. 67,68 
Thesium humifusum 190 
Thuja sp. 78 

Thymus sp. 4 
T.polytrichus 66 
T.praecox 66 

Tilia sp. 135 

T.cordata 189 
Tragopogon sp. 200 
Tripleurospermum maritimun 66,67,68 
Triticum aestivum 74 
Trollius sp. 200 

Typha sp. 66 

Ulex europacus 61,88 
Umbelliferae 203 

Urtica sp. 206 

U.dioica 37,38,39,40 
Vaccinium myrtillus 94,96 
Verbascum thapsus 90 
Veronica chamaedrys 4 

V. officinalis 4 

Vicia sp. 68,206 


LICHENS 
Lichen sp. 66 


FUNGI 


Bjerkandera adjusta 192 
Coriolus versicolor 192 
Ganoderma adspersum 137,192 
G.applanatum 199 

Inonotus dryadeus 74,157 
Laetiporus sulphureus 91,157,158,201 
Nectria coccinea 130 
Ophiostoma novo-ulmi 136 
Piptoporus betulinus 192 
Polyporus squamosus 192 
Pscudotrametes betulinus 192 
Stereum hirsutum 194 
Tyromyces stipticus 192 


OTHER PABULA 


Hymenoptera nests 66 
Mole’s nest 202 
Rabbit midden 203 


XX 


ISSN 0952-7583 Vol. 8, Part 1 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


Published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History 
Society and incorporating its 
Proceedings and Transactions 


Price: £3.00 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
Editor: 


Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., Ee-SENITHSON]Z 
13 Bellwood Road WV 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


{ 


\ MAR 6 1996 
LIBRARIES 


Rev. D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A. T. G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R. 

R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. i BE) Ge Meccan, Ph De bake E. S. 

E. S. Bradford Mrs F. M. Murphy, B. Sc. 

P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.I.Biol. T. R. E. Southwood, K. oe DSc) FE Rebs 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., FR. | BS, 

R. D. Hawkins B. K. West, B.Ed. 

P. J. Hodge 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, 
Hurst, Reading, Berkshire RG10 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


©1995 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal 
Entomological Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL 
EXHIBITION is planned for a Saturday in late October 1995 at Imperial College, London 
SW7. Frequent Field Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome 
at all meetings. The current Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, 
R. F. McCormick, at the address given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, 
which are open to members on the second and fourth Sundays of each month, telephone 
01734-321402 for the latest meeting news. 


Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 

Subscriptions and changes of address to the Assistant Treasurer: M. G. Telfer, 12 Jasmine 
Close, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7NE. 

Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of 
the Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, 
Reading, Berkshire RG3 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: 
R. D. Hawkins, 30d Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 


General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, 
Devon TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. 


Cover illustration: Scanning electron microscope picture of the head of a female gall wasp, 
Cynips divisa Hartig (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea). Photo:.M. Iley. 


NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs for black and white reproduction 
on the front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on aesthetic 
value rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or black 
and white prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 1 


THE DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS OF THE SMALL 
CARPENTER BEE CERATINA CYANEA (KIRBY, 1802) 
(HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN BRITAIN 


GEORGE R. ELSE 


Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, 
Cromwell Road, London SW7 SBD. 


INTRODUCTION 


Ceratina cyanea (Kirby, 1802) is a small, almost hairless metallic blue or blue-green 
bee. It is the sole representative of its genus in north-west Europe, though numerous 
species occur further south, around the Mediterranean. The genus is especially well 
represented in North Africa (Daly, 1983), the Levant, and south-west Asia. Formerly 
it was considered to be one of the great rarities among the British bee fauna and 
few collections, either museum or private, contained specimens. It is listed as ‘rare’ 
by Falk in his account of the scarce and threatened bees of Great Britain (1991). Falk 
defines a ‘rare’ taxon as one with a small population that is not at present endangered 
or vulnerable, but is at risk; such species are estimated to exist in only 15 or fewer 
10-kilometre squares since 1970. However, a reappraisal of the status for this species 
would seem to be in order as it has been reliably recorded since 1970 from 18 
10-kilometre squares (Fig. 1) and, in the western Weald (from which most recent 
records originate), from thirty-three 2-kilometre squares (Fig. 2). 

While collecting aculeate Hymenoptera on Oxenbourne Down, a reserve of the 
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, 6 kilometres south of Petersfield, 
Hampshire, on 14.vii.1972, I encountered a dead female C. cyanea wedged between 
the split ends of a dry bramble (Rubus fruticosus L. sensu lato) stem. On sorting 
out my catch at home later that day I found I had collected another female. These 
were the first records of the species from Hampshire. 

C. cyanea has long been known both to nest and overwinter in dead, dry stems 
(e.g. Smith, 1846; Shuckard, 1866). Prior to my finding this bee, I had not sought 
stem nests of any aculeate. However, Danks’ excellent account of the biology of British 
stem-nesting aculeate Hymenoptera (1971) (which contains a key to the nests of these 
species) proved to be invaluable as an introduction to the subject, and the key briefly 
described the nest of this bee. On further visits to Oxenbourne Down on 23.ix and 
7.x.1972 I searched for suitable stems and found a number of dead, cut bramble stems 
which each had an obvious burrow in the exposed pith. On opening these stems, some 
were found to contain overwintering adults of both sexes of C. cyanea; in some 
instances a stem contained several individuals. 

Locating occupied stems is undoubtedly the easiest way of finding this very local 
bee, as more can be found in this way than by searching for specimens visiting flowers. 
Furthermore, the adult occurs in every month of the year, although the flight period 
extends only from May to August or early September. 


BRITISH HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION 


In Britain C. cyanea is a strongly thermophilous species, being confined to warm, 
sheltered sites, particularly those which are exposed to the sun for much of the day, 
and where the soil heats up quickly. Thus, the bee is associated with scrub on the 
south-facing slopes of chalk downland (there are no reports of the species from north- 
facing slopes), open rides in woodland on chalk, disused sand pits, and the 


2 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


© Before 1970 


@ 1970 onwards 


“3 Unconfirmed literature records 


Fig. 1. British distribution of Ceratina cyanea. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 3 


Fig. 2. Distribution of Ceratina cyanea in Sussex. 


edges of heathland. The species is sometimes locally common in suitable 
stems. 

Although C. cyanea occurs as far north as southern Sweden (Erlandsson, 1954; 
Janzon & Svensson, 1988), recent British records (post-1970) of the species are entirely 
from south-east England. Records (Figs 1 and 2) are known from the following 
counties: eastern Hampshire, West Sussex, Surrey, north Kent and south Essex. There 
are older, confirmed records from Avon and Suffolk, and unsubstantiated reports 
in the literature from south Cornwall (Clark, 1906, 1907), Devon (Smith, 1876), and 
Hereford & Worcester (Saunders, 1896). All post-1970 records have been confirmed. 


LIFE-CYCLE IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND 


The following account is based on a personal study carried out on Oxenbourne 
Down in 1972-73. Unfortunately no figures of the immature stages suitable for 
publication were prepared at that time. However, as no other, detailed observations 
on the nesting biology of this species seem to have been published, the following 
contribution may be of interest. 


The nest 


Both sexes become active during May, when the presence of mounds of fresh, fine, 
pith fragments directly beneath the cut ends of dead stems betray the presence of 
females engaged in nest building. Mating also seems to occur at this time. Nest burrows 
are excavated only in dead, broken stems in which the pith has been exposed; common 
examples are those of bramble and rose (Rosa species). Such stems usually become 
broken by the action of large herbivores, or as a result of scrub-clearance. In my 
experience preferred stems lie on, or are suspended close to, the ground in sunlit 
situations. Female C. cyanea will often accept as nest sites cut, loose pieces of dead 
Rubus stems (‘trap-nests’) laid out on short turf in open areas. Stems of sufficient 
length (e.g. about 30 cm or more) will sometimes attract two females, each excavating 
a nesting burrow from opposite ends of the stem. 

The nest burrow varies from about 57 to 110 mm in length and is usually characterized 
by a constriction just within the entrance. An occupied nest has been illustrated by 
Westrich (1989). Smith (1846) observed C. cyanea entering stems excavated by the 


4 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


small megachiline bee Hoplitis claviventris (Thomson) [as Osmia leucomelana] and 
thought it probable that the former species may use a ready-made burrow as a nest 
site; this, however, has not been confirmed and seems unlikely. 

Cells are 7-9 mm in length and 3 mm in width, and are separated from one another 
by pith fragment partitions, these being about 1 mm wide. Male and female cells are 
not segregated within the nest. Sometimes the last cell to be built (i.e. that nearest 
the nest entrance) has no outer partition. In such an instance the female sometimes 
remains just within the nest burrow and guards her brood; she may remain with it 
until the young adults emerge. 

Each cell is provisioned with a roughly brick-shaped pollen loaf; one typical loaf 
measured 6mm long, 4mm wide and 3 mm deep. Loaves have a shallow dorsal 
depression and, of those examined on the study site, were always bright yellow in 
colour. The entire ventral surface of the provision probably lies on the side of the 
cell nearest the ground (most stems containing nests of this species are usually 
horizontal or nearly so). 

C. cyanea is polylectic. An analysis of pollen in loaves from three Oxenbourne 
nests by G. Clarke produced the following results (the percentages were calculated 
by identifying 200 pollen grains from each sample and halving the results). Nest 1: 
yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus species) 37%; cinquefoil (Potentilla cf. erecta (L.)) 
24%; buttercup (Ranunculus cf. acris L.) 20%; Asteraceae (probably a cat’s ear 
(Hypochoeris species)) 15%; cornflower (Centaurea cyanus L.) 2%; and purging flax 
(Linum catharticum L.) 2%. Nest 2: Asteraceae (probably a cat’s ear (Hypochoeris 
species)) 48%; yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus species) 29%; buttercup (Ranunculus cf. 
acris) 15%; and birdsfoot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) 8%. Nest 3: Asteraceae 
(probably a cat’s ear (Hypochoeris species)) 50%; cinquefoil (Potentilla cf. erecta) 
27%; yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus species) 9%; buttercup (Ranunculus cf. acris L.) 8%; 
and Asteraceae (ragwort, or near (cf. Senecio species)) 6%. The lowest percentages 
may only indicate grains fortuitously picked up whilst the females were drinking nectar, 
or wind-blown grains contaminating a major pollen source. Bees have also been 
observed (in various British localities) at bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus 
L.), bramble (Rubus), common tormentil (Potentilla erecta (L.)), burnet rose (Rosa 
spinosissima L.), viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare L.), common speedwell (Veronica 
officinalis L.), germander speedwell (V. chamaedrys L.), thyme (Thymus species), 
wild basil (Clinopodium vulgare L.), self-heal (Prunella vulgaris L.), harebell 
(Campanula rotundifolia L.) and rough hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus L.), but it is 
not known whether the bees were foraging from these, or simply visiting them for 
nectar. An Oxenbourne Down specimen was collected carrying an unidentified orchid 
pollinium attached to the upper portion of the clypeus (S. P. M. Roberts (pers. comm.). 
He has also observed individuals of Ceratina curcubitina (Rossi) carrying orchid 
pollinia on their faces in Crete). 


THE IMMATURE STAGES 


The egg is laid on the posterior part of the pollen loaf, with its base glued to the 
inner side wall of the cell. The egg is elongate, strongly curved and rather translucent; 
except for the transparent apices. It is about 4mm long and slightly less than 1 mm 
wide at its mid-point. Following oviposition the cell is sealed with a partition of pith 
fragments. 

The larva lies on a membranous pad (usually stained by the pollen and is therefore 
sometimes difficult to see) which is about 2mm long and 1 mm wide. Part of this 
pad is firmly attached to the provision, with the remaining posterior portion attached 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 5 


to the cell wall. The larva is firmly attached to the pad and while the feeding phase 
continues it is most difficult to remove a larva from the pad without causing injury. 
The pad seems to be composed of the accumulation of the exuviae from earlier instars. 

The fully grown larva is faintly brownish in colour (caused by food in the gut) and 
possesses a fleshy, slightly raised lateral ridge which extends from the first to the 
penultimate segment; at this instar the spiracles are distinct. The mandibles are strongly 
sclerotized, brown, narrow and unidentate, the tooth extending a little beyond the apex 
of the mandible. With the exception of the mandibles, the prepupa (a fully fed larva 
which has voided the excrement it accumulated during its development) is entirely white 
and is about 6 mm in length. Its trunk, including the head capsule, is weakly sclerotized; 
the head bears a pair of prominent antennal tubercles. The lateral ridge characteristic of 
the mature larva has been lost and the spiracles may be indistinct. The thoracic segments 
are swollen, their intersegmental divisions being only weakly defined. The surface of the 
thorax is smooth and almost devoid of wrinkles, except in the immediate vicinity of the 
spiracles. The abdominal intersegmental divisions are obvious, except for that between 
the last two segments. Michener (1953) draws attention to the absence of body tubercles, 
the unidentate mandible and the distinct antennal tubercle of Ceratina larvae. 

The larva spins no cocoon and remains quiescent for a few days prior to pupation. 
The most noticeable feature of the pupa is its long glossa and galea. 


Parasitoids 


I have found a larva of an ichneumonid wasp (possibly Aritranis signatorius (F.)) 
in the act of devouring a C. cyanea larva. Unfortunately the wasp larva died in its 
cocoon. 

In mainland Europe, Malyshev (1968) records Aritranis heliophilus Tschek [as A. 
mediterraneus Tschek ] (a species not known from Britain) as a parasitoid of C. cyanea. 
Daly et al. (1967) review the natural enemies of Ceratina species in North America; 
Daly (1983) describes those parasitoids recorded from Ceratina nests in Iberia and 
Tunisia. 


The hibernaculum 


The new generation of bees emerges from the pupa by August or early September 
and may occasionally be found visiting flowers at this time. The autumn and winter 
months are spent as an adult within a hibernaculum. This may be the cleaned-out 
parental nest, as has been noted in other Ceratina species found in temperate regions 
(Daly, 1983). The hibernaculum resembles a nest but lacks partitions. Burrow lengths 
of hibernacula vary: I have found the mean length of 21 hibernacula to be 78 mm 
(range 25-170 mm); the internal diameter is 3-4 mm. Usually a little pith adheres 
to the walls, but the burrow contains no pith fragments. Most hibernacula that I have 
found were in bramble stems, but others were in hemp agrimony (Eupatorium 
cannabinum L.), and one in a dead Apiaceae stem. Adults of both sexes occupy the 
hibernacula from September to May, either singly or in small groups (rarely more 
than six individuals to a stem). They always enter the burrow head first and remain 
in this position throughout the winter. 

Females in particular are usually long-lived, with an adult life-span of almost a 
year. One hibernaculum which I collected in late January contained an apparently 
old, diapausing female which may have been overwintering for a second time (its 
age was assessed by its discoloured and abraded wings). If this was correct, then the 
specimen must have been about 18 months old when collected. 


6 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I am grateful to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlifé Trust (formerly the 
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Naturalists’ Trust) for permission to collect aculeate 
Hymenoptera on Oxenbourne Down in 1972-73, to G. H. L. Dicker, M. Edwards 
and P. Harvey for their records of this species, and to G. Clarke (formerly of the 
Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, London) for identifying the 
pollens present in samples which I submitted to him for analysis. S. P. M. Roberts 
very kindly prepared the distribution maps (drawn on DMAP). 


REFERENCES 


Clark, J. 1906. The bees, wasps and ants of Cornwall. Rep R. Cornwall Polytech. Soc. 1906: 
92-130. 

Clark, J. 1907. Hymenoptera Aculeata In: The Victoria county history of Cornwall. 

Daly, H. V. 1983. Taxonomy and ecology of Ceratinini of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula 
(Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Syst. Ent. 8: 29-62. 

Daly, H. V., Stage, G. I. & Brown, T. 1967. Natural enemies of bees in the genus Ceratina 
(Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 60: 1273-1282. 

Danks, H. V. 1971. Biology of some stem-nesting aculeate Hymenoptera. Trans. R. Ent. Soc. 
Lond. 122: 323-399. 

Erlandsson, S. 1954. Ceratina cyanea Kirby, eine thermophile Art der fennoskandischen Fauna 
(Hym. Apidae). Opusc. Ent. 19: 211-212 

Falk, S. 1991. A review of the scarce and threatened bees, wasps and ants of Great Britain. 
Research and Survey in Nature Conservation. No. 35. The Nature Conservancy Council, 
Peterborough. 

Janzon, L. & Svensson, B. G. 1988. 110 4r med trabiet Ceratina cyanea (Hym., Anthophoridae). 
Ent. Tidskr. 109: 19-23. 

Malyshev, S. 1968. Genesis of the Hymenoptera and the phases of their evolution. Methuen 
& Co, Ltd, London. 

Michener, C. D. 1953. Comparative morphological and systematic studies of bee larvae with 
a key to the families of hymenopterous larvae. Kans. Univ. Sci. Bull. 35: 987-1102. 

Saunders, E. 1896. The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Islands. L. Reeve & Co., London. 

Shuckard, W. E. 1866. British Bees: an introduction to the study of the natural history and 
economy of the bees indigenous to the British Isles. L. Reeve & Co., London. 

Smith, F. 1846. Description of the British species of bees belonging to the genera Chelostoma, 
Heriades, Ceratina, Eucera, Panurgus, and Anthidium; with observations on their economy 
etc. Zoologist 4: 1445-1454. 

Smith, F. 1876. Catalogue of British Hymenoptera in the British Museum. Part 1. Andrenidae 
and Apidae. London. 

Westrich, P. 1989. Die Wildbienen Baden-Wiirttembergs. Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co., Stuttgart. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Australian beetles, by J. F. Lawrence and E. B. Britton, Melbourne University 
Press, 1994, x + 192 pages, hardback, Aus $39.95, about £28.—For anybody imagining 
that this book could only be of interest to someone going to visit Australia, think 
again. This book is of international interest in putting together in concise and available 
form the authors’ thoughts on the higher classification of the Coleoptera. The text 
is highly illustrated with line figures and there are several coloured plates to whet 
the appetite with bright exotic forms. This is a must for coleopterists. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 af 


A FURTHER STUDY OF THE BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS OF SIX 
SPECIES OF BRITISH BUTTERFLY WHILST IN COPULA 


S. A. KNILL-JONES 
Roundstone, 2 School Green Road, Freshwater, Isle of Wight PO40 9AL. 


Between 1989 and 1994 I have been fortunate enough to observe six species of British 
butterfly in copula and now describe their behavioural patterns. This follows my earlier 
observations on 6 other species (Knill-Jones, 1989). 


SMALL SKIPPER (THYMELICUS SYLVESTRIS PODA) 


At 11.23 a.m. on 4.viii. 1991 I was walking to Golden Hill, Freshwater when I came 
across a pair of small skippers (7hymelicus sylvestris Poda) in copula at rest on an 
oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare Lam.). The female was facing due west and the 
male north 15 degrees east as they basked in warm hazy sunlight. They remained 
motionless except for the opening and closing of their wings in that position until 
12.30 p.m., six minutes prior to separation, when they both quickly altered their 
positions in two movements ending up with the female facing north 10 degrees east 
and the male due west. 

When I first noticed them their wings were closed, but after 5 minutes they opened 
their wings and except for four occasions at intervals of 20 minutes when they both 
had their wings closed for about 5 minutes, their wings remained partially opened 
whilst they were in copula. The female’s wings were open from 10 to 45 degrees whereas 
the male on two occasions around noon had its wings nearly fully open at 75 degrees. 
Occasionally both sexes, with the female more frequently, would briefly close their 
wings for a few seconds especially when the wind blew them. The female did show 
some other movement when after each period of about 15 minutes had passed it would 
roll its head & antennae whilst its forelegs remained static. 

At 12.36 p.m., after 6 minutes preparation when they changed positions on the 
flower, they separated with the male flying off first, leaving his mate feeding on the 
daisy with her wings partially open until she flew off five minutes later. 

They remained in copula for 1 hour and 13 minutes. 


GREEN HAIRSTREAK (CALLOPHRYS RUBI L.) 


May 3lst, 1994 was a warm, cloudless, sunny day when Brian Warne and myself 
visited Compton Down with a view to observing the butterflies there. While walking 
up a footpath towards the down Brian disturbed a pair of Callophrys rubi (L.) in 
copula which had been resting on a sycamore and they flew a few yards before alighting 
on a long blade of grass at 11.48 a.m. After a little bodily movement they settled 
down with the female facing due west and the male facing east south east. Throughout 
the whole time in copula their wings remained tightly closed and they only opened 
them to fly away after separation. 

At 12.10 p.m. the female briefly moved its front legs and at 12.12 p.m. the male 
did likewise. Throughout their time together similar slight leg movements were made 
at intervals of between 10 and 20 minutes. At 12.22 p.m. and 12.35 p.m. they both 
moved their positions slightly before resorting to their initial ones. At 12.49 p.m. the 
female moved to west north west and the male east south east and at 1.02 p.m. they 
moved again, rotating with the position of the sun to north west and south east 
respectively. At 1.50 p.m. there was a gust of wind which caused them to alter their 


8 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


position with the male facing directly up the blade and its mate down the grass blade. 
Now there was also some bodily movement shown by the female and at 2.37 p.m. 
they moved a further inch up the grass blade. At 2.40 p.m. there was considerable 
bodily movement as they tried to separate and 5 minutes later they successfully parted 
and the male flew off. The female remained motionless for a further 2 minutes and 
at 2.47 p.m. it flew off into the distance. I had observed them in copula for 2 hours 
and 57 minutes. 


COMMON BLUE (POL YOMMATUS ICARUS ROTT.) 


Shortly before noon on a warm sunny day on 9.ix.1991, whilst walking on Tennyson 
Down, I noticed a pair of Polyommatus icarus Rott. flying together over some old 
thistle heads. At 11.54 a.m. they settled on a small thistle head and mated. Soon the 
male was facing due east with its wings open and the female faced due west with 
its wings closed. After 3 minutes the male closed its wings before opening them again 
two minutes later. It continued this movement of its wings for 10 minutes until it 
finally closed them. Except for a brief moment when facing south its wings remained 
closed for the final 20 minutes. The sun was fully out all the time and there was a 
cloudless sky. The female however had its wings closed for the whole time whilst 
they were in copula except for 4 minutes at 12.10p.m. when facing due south, 
her wings were held at an angle of 45 degrees. 

Approximately every 5 minutes they would change position on the flower head 
and each faced all the main points of the compass for 3 to 5 minutes. Both sexes 
opened their wings when facing south directly towards the sun. About 5 minutes before 
separation there was considerable movement as they rotated several times around 
the thistle attempting to find a new position. When they were static their abdomens 
pulsated rhythmically giving considerable movement. 

At 12.25 p.m. they both opened their wings (they separated). The male flew off 
almost immediately to a nearby thistle. Its mate remained on the original flower for 
2 minutes before departing. They had been in copula for 31 minutes. 

Compared to Lysandra coridon Poda., P. icarus remained in its original resting 
place for the whole duration whereas L. coridon moved its position once after being 
disturbed. The time spent in copula was four times longer with L. coridon. 


GLANVILLE FRITILLARY (MELITAEA CINXIA L.) 


On 11.vi.1994, a warm sunny day apart from the occasional passing cumulus clouds, 
I went to Compton Bay with a view to seeing a pair of Melitaea cinxia in copula. 
My visit was rewarded and at 10.38 a.m. I noticed a pair flying together; after a minute 
they had mated. They flew a couple of yards and I observed that the larger female 
carried the male in flight. They settled on a blade of grass and after a few minutes 
the male ended up facing south south west and the female north west. They stayed 
there until 11.04.a.m. when the male changed its direction to face due south. Their 
wings were mainly open and up until 11.54 a.m; there was considerable opening and 
closing of the wings. Throughout the whole time in copula the male remained the 
passive partner with its wings being closed for a far longer period than its mate. The 
female opened and closed its wings far more often. Between 12.14 p.m. and 1.00 p.m. 
they both kept their wings closed except for an occasional flap. 

At 1.00 p.m. they moved about 15 feet to a grass flower where the female held 
its wings fully open and the male held its wings at an angle of 75 degrees. At 1.02 p.m. 
there was considerable movement and they flew a few more feet and alighted on a 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 9 


yellow flower of the horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa L.) where they began to 
feed at about 10 minute intervals. At 1.10 p.m. there was further bodily movement 
and their position changed through an angle of 180 degrees before finally coming 
to rest with the male facing due west and the female east north east. During this time 
their wings remained open until 1.40 p.m. when the male closed its wings and its mate’s 
were fully open. This situation continued until 2.34 p.m. when there was considerable 
movement and they flew off together, quickly separating in mid-air. 

They had been in copula for 3 hours and 55 minutes, the longest that I have observed 
for any butterfly. 


SPECKLED WOOD (PARARGE AEGERIA L.) 


At exactly mid-day on 17.iv.1989 I came across what I thought was a single Pararge 
aegeria L. attempting to fly. I put my finger under it and realized that it was a pair 
in copula which on being disturbed, flew for several feet until they settled onto another 
blade of grass. The male rested with its wings folded and faced north west in the 
sun whilst the female faced downwards in a south easterly direction with its wings 
also folded. The male remained motionless with its wings closed even though the sun 
was fully out, although the female made three rapid movements when it opened and 
closed its wings. After 5 minutes both of the butterflies flapped their wings as they 
separated. The male left first and the female about 20 seconds later. 

It is difficult to say how long they had been in copula before I found them amongst 
the grass but it seems that this species is in copula for only a short time, probably 
less than a half an hour. I have often seen them flying together in pairs and I have 
observed this courtship behaviour continuing for about 30 minutes, but I have yet 
to witness them actually mating. 


GATEKEEPER (PYRONIA TITHONUS L.) 


At 3.22 p.m. on 28.vii.1991 on the way to Golden Hill, Freshwater I noticed a pair 
of Pyronia tithonus (L.) in copula at rest in the afternoon sunshine on a blackberry 
leaf. After 2 minutes they flew 3 feet to another piece of bramble and I observed 
that the female carried the male whilst in flight. At rest the female faced due east 
and the male faced west 10 degrees north. Between 3.24 p.m. and 4.17 p.m. they flew 
to five different resting places, three of which were on blackberry and two on 
blackthorn. On two occasions they changed perches when they were disturbed by 
a bee, but they moved of their own free will on the other occasions. On all except 
two occasions the female faced due east and the male west 10 degrees north. Once 
the female faced west 10 degrees north and the male due east when they flew to a 
bramble flower and for a brief period of 5 minutes the female faced south 10 degrees 
east and the male due north at another resting place. 

There was no opening and closing of the wings by either sex during the whole time 
in copula except when the male opened its wings on being disturbed by a bee and 
when on one occasion it opened its wings several times after alighting on a new bramble 
leaf. There was no such movement in spite of the bright afternoon sunshine, when 
the temperature in the shade was over 70 degrees, which is an unusual feature in 
comparison to other species of butterfly that I have observed. 

At 4.17 p.m. they moved for the last time alighting on a blackberry leaf and 
remained there motionless until 5.02 p.m. when they separated. The male flew off 
first; its mate followed 4 minutes later having remained motionless with its wings 
closed for 3 minutes before a hoverfly disturbed it. She opened her wings and flew 
off a minute later. They remained in copula for 1 hour 40 minutes. 


10 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


I give below a table of the durations, in order of the length spent in copula, for 
the 12 species that I have observed over the last 11 years. 


Date Species Time Duration 
17.1v.1989 Pararge aegeria L. 12 noon-12.05 p.m. 5 min 
9.ix.1991 *Polyommatus icarus Rott. 11.54 a.m.-12.25 p.m. 31 min 
13.v.1984 Pyrgus malvae L. 12.28-1.00 p.m. 32 min 
4.vill.1991 Thymelicus sylvestris Poda 11.23 a.m.-12.36 p.m. 1h 13 min 
3.vil. 1984 Maniola jurtina L. 3.05-4.25 p.m. 1h 20 min 
7.vil.1984 Melanargia galathea L. 10.45 a.m.-12.20 p.m. 1h 35 min 
28.vii.1991 Pyronia tithonus L. 3.22-5.02 p.m. 1h 40 min 
12.1x.1984 Pieris rapae L. 4.30-6.15 p.m. 1h 45 min 
27.vii. 1984 *Lysandra coridon Poda 10.40 a.m.-12.45 p.m. 2h 5 min 
31.v.1994 Callophrys rubi L. 11.48 a.m.-2.45 p.m. 2h 57 min 
26.1x.1983 *Lycaena phlaeas L. 11.35 a.m.-2.40 p.m. 3h 5 min 
11.vi.1994 *Melitaea cinxia L. 10.39 a.m.-2.34 p.m. 3h 55 min 


*denotes a species in which the actual mating to the time of separation was observed. 


Except for Melitaea cinxia L. when separation took place in mid-air it was always 
the male which left first whilst the female remained static for a minute or two before 
flying off. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I should like to thank my mother for reading and commenting on the manuscript 
and to Brian Warne for his patience while I was observing Callophrys rubi L. 


REFERENCE 


Knill-Jones, S. A. 1989. A study of the behavioural patterns of six species of British butterflies 
whilst in copula. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hisi., 2: 139-141 


BOOK REVIEW 


The book of the spider by Paul Hillyard. London, Hutchinson, 1994, 196 pages, 
26 plates, numerous figures in text, £16.99, hardback.—Although the author works 
on spiders at the Natural History Museum in London, this is a popular rather than 
an academic collection of interesting facts and entertaining anecdotes on a variety 
of arachnological topics. 

He discusses arachnophobia and its causes but without coming to any conclusion. 
Also he mentions some of the modern treatments to ameliorate this condition. He 
passes on to folklore and then ballooning, venomous spiders (actual and believed), 
a brief account of a spider’s life and some especially interesting types of spider, uses 
of spider silk and various webs, South American spiders and finally a brief history of 
arachnology from Aristotle to the present day with accounts of the lives and works 
of some well-known arachnologists. 

This is a book for those who are mildly interested in spiders, rather than for those 
who prefer a more academic treatment. It may well act as an antidote to the irrational 
fear of spiders. It would certainly intrigue the young. Alternatively it would make 
a good bedside book. 

The book is pleasantly printed and produced. I think that it is a pity that the 
illustrations in the text are frequently unlabelled and unexplained. 


FRANCES MURPHY 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 11 


RHEOTANYTARSUS RIOENSIS (DIPTERA: CHIRONOMIDAE), 
A NEW SPECIES OF THE PENTAPODA GROUP 
FROM THE CANARY ISLANDS 


PETER H. LANGTON AND PATRICK D. ARMITAGE* 


3 St Felix Road, Ramsey Forty Foot, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE17 1YH and *The Institute 
of Freshwater Ecology, River Laboratory, East Stoke, Wareham, Dorset BH20 6BB. 


Rheotanytarsus species of the pentapoda group are characterized by the form of 
two structures of the male hypopygium: the narrow, elongate apices of the gonostyles 
turned downwards at the tip, and the narrow, gently sinuate or curved appendage 2a. 
The form of the flattened plates at the tip of appendage 2a appear to be good species 
discriminators, but these are usually indistinguishable in normal mounts as they project 
nearly vertically from the shaft of the appendage, are very thin and nearly transparent. 
In general, in this genus pupal structure provides confirmation of specific identity. 

The described west Palaearctic species of the pentapoda group are pentapoda 
(Kieffer) and photophilus (Goetghebuer). Specimens of all stages of a further species 
of this group were collected by PDA from an irrigation conduit on Tenerife. 

Terminology follows that of Szether (1980), except that the flattened setae on the 
pupa are referred to as taeniae (singular taenia, adjective taeniate), a replacement 
term for the misnomer ‘filament’. 

Abbreviations used. AR antennal ratio: in adults, ratio of length of apical 
flagellomere divided by the combined length of the more basal flagellomeres; in larvae, 
length of basal segment to combined length of the remaining segments. LR leg ratio: 
ratio of metatarsus length to tibial length. BR bristle ratio: ratio of length of longest 
seta of tarsal segment 1 divided by minimum width of tarsal segment 1. VR venarum 
ratio: ratio of length of Cu to length of M. 


DESCRIPTION 


Holotype male deposited in Zoologische Staatssammlung, Munich; paratypes also 
in the University of La Laguna, Tenerife, The Natural History Museum, London, 
and in the authors’ collections. 

Adult male, total length 2.1-2.7 mm (n=6). Head including appendages brown, 
eyes black; thorax brown, scutellum and halteres pale; anterior legs pale at base of 
femur, progressively more brownish to metatarsus, thereafter brown; posterior legs 
only weakly darkened to tarsus with tibial combs conspicuously black; abdomen 
brownish, a little darker posteriad. 

Head. AR 0.8-1.2 (m= 1.0, n= 11). 7 or 8 temporal setae; 2 postocular setae; 19-27 
clypeal setae. Lengths of palp segments: 30-55, 30-40, 93-130, 103-138, 160-215 um 
9) 

Thorax. 7-11 dorsocentral setae (n = 9) extending from anterior edge of dorsiventral 
muscle attachment to scutellum; occasionally there may be 1-3 additional setae in the 
humeral area. 20-26 (n = 8) biserial acrostichals ending at mid-thorax. | prealar seta. 
8 scutellar setae. Wing length 1.46-1.75 mm (n= 8), 3.4-3.7 times as long as broad. Anal 
lobe absent. Costa not produced. VR 1.32-1.44 (n= 8). Membrane and veins with dense 
macrotrichia from near base to tip. Legs: lengths (in »m) and proportions (n= 6): 


leg fem tib tar 1 tar 2 tar 3 tar 4 tar 5 LR BR 

1 760-830 380-460 780-900 420-470 300-350 270-310 120-150 1.8-2.0 2.2-3.4 
2 690-790 500-620 300-350 150-180 110-130 80-100 60-70 1.3-1.5 3.0-5.7 
3 760-880 630-750 420-510 260-330 240-270 150-180 85-100 1.2 4.5-6.1 


12 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Anterior tibia with a peg-like spur apically; mid and hind tibia with a pair of small apical 
combs, each with an outwardly curved spur about twice the length of the comb setae. 

Abdomen. Tergites and sternites with setae arranged in anterior and posterior 
transverse bands; a longitudinal lateral row also present on tergites; setal numbers: 


tergite: IV Vv VI Vil Vil 

anterior band 8 7-9 6-10 7-8 8-9 

posterior band 11 8-10 9-11 5-10 6-10 
lateral row 5 5 5(6) 4 3 


sternite: IV V VI VII_«sCV*'IzCZzCT 
anterior band 5 5 6-7 6-8 14-15 
posterior band 5 a 6-8 6-10 10-14 


Hypopygium (Fig. 1). Anal tergite with 6 very short setae spreading forwards from 
between the anal point combs, 5 or 6 about 18 ym long setae on each side of the anal 
point base, and 3 slightly longer setae immediately below the anal point. Anal point 
contracted to the posterior extent of the combs, thereafter slightly swollen to the 


Fig. 1. Rheotanytarsus rioensis. Male hypopygium dorsal and appendage 2a lateral. Scale=0.1 mm. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 13 


rounded apex; anal combs high. Gonostyles swollen, contracted strongly in distal 
quarter, the narrow, gradually narrowing apex bent downwards at tip. Appendage 
1 with 2 inner marginal setae, 5 or 6 dorsal setae and | ventral seta directed inwards. 
Appendage la peg-shaped, reaching, or not quite reaching, the inner apical margin 
of appendage 1. Appendage 2 somewhat clubbed apically, where there is a patch of 
setae dorsally, most of which are curved forwards. Appendage 2a narrow, nearly parallel- 
sided, with setae on inner margin from near base; at apex with three flat extensions. 

Adult female, length 1.7-2.2 mm (n=6). Colour as in male. 

Head. Antennal flagellomere lengths: 70-100, 53-60, 63-68, 58-63, 75-88 »m 
(n=5). 6-9 temporal setae. 2 postorbital setae. 21-26 clypeal setae. Lengths of palp 
segments: 20-35, 30-45, 103-115, 108-120, 166-200 ym (n=5S). 

Thorax. Dorsocentral setae: 8-9 from anterior margin of dorsiventral muscle 
attachment to scutellum; in addition a humeral patch of 3-6 setae connected to the 
posterior dorsocentrals by one or two intermediate setae. 20-24 biserial acrostichal 
setae. 1 prealar seta. 8 scutellar setae. Wing (Fig. 2), length 1.44-1.60 mm (n= 5); 
3.1—3.4 times as long as broad. Anal lobe slight. Costa not produced. VR 1.4-1.5. 
Legs: lengths (in wm) and proportions (n= 3): 


leg fem tib tar 1 tar 2 tar 3 tar4  tar5 LR BR 
1 640-680 380-390 690-740 380 270-280 DAO, 120) 1.6—157 228 
2 610-650 420-500 280-290 130-150 100-110 60-80 60 1.3-1.5 3.8-5.3 
3. 670-700 560-630 380-390 220-240 200-210 120-130 80 1.1-1.2 5.0 


Tibial spurs and combs as in male. 

Genitalia (Fig. 3). Cerci with a sharp, nearly right-angled point dorsally, gently 
curved posteriorly and strongly curved ventrally to base. Seminal capsules 70 wm long. 
Notum 2.1 times as long as seminal capsules. Gonapophysis VIII with ventrolateral 
lobe broad, weakly rounded, and dorsomesal lobe strongly projecting, smoothly 
rounded. 

Pupa (Rheotanytarsus Pe2 Langton 1991), length 3.0-3.9mm (n=10). 
Cephalothorax brownish, somewhat darker anterodorsally, around the base of the 
wingsheaths and ventrally at the base of the legsheaths; wing sheaths margined with 
brown. Abdomen very pale brown, laterally darker, these lateral bands intensifying 
posteriad. Anal segment brown, anal lobes with a median colourless band. 

Cephalothorax. Frontal setae and cephalic tubercles absent. Frontal apotome 
granulate towards apex. Thoracic horn (Fig. 4a) 225-265 wm long (n=9); 6.6-8.9 
as long as broad, without setulae or points. Nose of wingsheaths prominent. Lateral 


Fig. 2. Rheotanytarsus rioensis. Female wing. Scale=0.1 mm. 


14 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Fig. 3. Rheotanytarsus rioensis. Female genitalia ventral and cercus lateral. Scale=0.1 mm. 


antepronotal setae about 80m long, narrow taeniate; median antepronotal seta 
narrow taeniate. Precorneal setae length: 35-40 .m (setaceous); 75 wm (narrow 
taeniate); 100-160 um (narrow taeniate). Dorsocentral setae bristle-like; lengths 15-25; 
28-50; 15-18; 30-50 ym. Suture with a narrow band of granules along margin. 
Abdomen (Fig. 4b). Tergites II-VI with a pair of dark brown point patches 
anteriorly, twice as broad as long on tergite II, progressively reduced and more circular 
on following segments; point patches small, e.g. little more than 0.1 length of tergite 
on IV. Tergites III-V covered with minute shagreen points arranged in more or less 
transverse rows, less extensive on II; on VI and VII this fine armament is progressively 
reduced posteriorly; tergite VIII with antero-lateral shagreen patches only. 70-89 hooks 
in hook row of tergite II. Segment VIII with a single posterolateral brown spur. Chaetotaxy: 


I II Ill IV Vv AY) Conceal lf Coe UH be TE 
dorsal 3 4 5) 5 5 5 5 1 0 
lateral 0 3 3 3 3 3 5 3 28-36 
ventral 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 


Larva, length 3.9 mm. Greenish-pink in life, smudged brownish posteriorly. Head 
brown, mentum and apices of mandibles dark brown. 

Antenna (Fig. 5e), segments 80, 23, 7.5, 5, 5 wm long; AR 2.0. Antennal seta on 
first segment at 0.55-0.7 from base; ring organ at base of first segment; blade about 
as long as second segment, accessory blade about half as long as blade. Lauterborn 
organs on segment 2 reaching tip of antenna. Mentum (Fig. 5d) with anterior outline 
weakly convex: teeth generally very worn (Fig. 5a); median tooth simple, weakly 
shouldered laterally; the inner four of the five lateral pairs of teeth about equal in 
size, the outermost much smaller. Ventromental plates (Fig. 5d) about six times as 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 15 


oo _________J 


Fig. 4. Rheotanytarsus rioensis. Pupa: a. thoracic horn and precorneal setae, b. abdominal 
segments II and III dorsal. Scale=0.1 mm. 


wide as long, nearly touching medially. Mandibles (Fig. 5b) with outer tooth extending 
as far as inner apical tooth; three inner teeth. Labrum (Fig. Sc), labral lamella with 
about 24 teeth, pecten epipharyngis undivided, with about 16 teeth. Maxillary palp 
as in Fig. Sf. 


SYSTEMATIC CONSIDERATIONS 


The hypopygium of only one previously described Rheotanytarsus species possesses 
appendage la (digitus) in common with rioensis: an African species, ororus Lehmann 
(Lehmann, 1979). It is, however, not a member of the pentapoda-group, for its styles 
are not markedly narrowed and bent downwards at their tips. (The generic description 
and key in Cranston ef a/. (1989) require emendation to include the presence of 
appendage la in some species.) The pupa of rioensis is similar to that of pentapoda 
(Langton, 1991), but differs from all previously described Rheotanytarsus in the 
extensive shagreen of many of the abdominal segments, necessitating emendation of 
the generic description in Pinder & Reiss (1986). Very few females and larvae of this 
genus have been described; those of rioensis show no striking differences to allow 
separation. 


ECOLOGY 


Known only from Tenerife, Canary Isles. 

Adults were collected from a swarm over an open conduit on 15.xii.1983 in Barranco 
del Rio at an altitude of 480 m. Subsequent collections at the same place on 14.xii.1985 
included adults (males and females) and pupae with associated larvae. The conduit 


16 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Fig. 5. Rheotanytarsus rioensis. Larva: a. characteristically worn mentum, b. mandible, c. 
labrum, d. mentum and ventromental plates, e. antenna, f. maxillary palp. Scale=0.1 mm. 


was rectangular in cross-section, about 0.6 m wide with a water depth of about 0.25 m. 
The water velocity was between 0.5 and 1.0ms_!. Algae covered the sides and base 
of the conduit which had no loose substratum. 

Two other species of Chironomidae were also found at the same site: 
Paratrichocladius rufiventris (Meigen) and Cricotopus vierriensis Goetghebuer. 

Two further records of this species are known from collections made by Malmaqvist 
et al. (1993) in riffles in the natural stony bottomed stream in Barranco del Rio at 
an altitude of 1450 m on 2.xi.1991 and in the stream Ijuana at an altitude of 770m 
on 16.iv.1991. The specimens were identified from pupal material. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


We are grateful to Mrs A. M. Matthews for the original drawing of the male 
genitalia, and to Dr F. Reiss for advice and the loan of the types of Rheotanytarsus 
photophilus and pentapoda. 


REFERENCES 


Cranston, P. S., Dillon, M. E., Pinder, L. C. V. & Reiss, F. 1989. 10. The adult males of 
Chironominae (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the Holarctic Region—Keys and diagnoses. Ent. 
Scand. Suppl. 34: 353-502. 

Langton, P. H. 1991. A key to pupal exuviae of West Palaearctic Chironomidae. 386 pp. Privately 
published. 

Lehmann, J. 1979. Chironomidae (Diptera) aus Fliessgewassern Zentralafrikas (Systematik, 
Okologie, Verbreitung und Produktionsbiologie). I. Teil: Kivu-Gebiet, Ostzaire. Spixiana 
Suppl. 3: 1-144. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 17 


Malmavist, B., Nilsson, A. N., Baez, M., Armitage, P. & Blackburn, J. 1993. Stream 
macroinvertebrate communities in the island of Tenerife. Arch. Hydrobiol. 128: 209-235. 

Pinder, L. C. V. & Reiss, F. 1986. 10. The pupae of Chironominae (Diptera: Chironomidae) 
of the Holarctic region—Keys and diagnoses. Ent. Scand. Suppl. 28:299-456. 

Seether, O. A. 1980. Glossary of chironomid morphology terminology (Diptera: Chironomidae). 
Ent. Scand. Suppl. 14: 1-51. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Insect conservation biology by M. J. Samways. London, Chapman & Hall, 1994, 
xvi + 358 pages, hardback, £37.50.—The growing popularity of conservation in western 
countries has not been matched by a public awareness of the nature and relative scale 
of the damage that human activities inflict on different forms of wildlife. Vertebrate 
taxa receive most of the attention, but this book assembles a body of compelling 
evidence to show that the risk of extinction is greater for insect species, not only because 
there are immensely more of them, but also by virtue of their often exacting habitat 
requirements. The first chapter illustrates the evolutionary adaptation of insects to 
almost every terrestrial ecosystem. The author draws on some interesting data; for 
example in a survey of Seram rainforest, over half the estimated 43.3 million individual 
arthropods in one hectare were Collembola, reflecting the importance of habitats in 
the soil. The very success of insects, which has produced perhaps 10 million extant 
species, belies the vulnerability of many species which are so closely adapted to 
geographically restricted biotopes that even a slight change can wipe them out, often 
to the point of total extinction. In the tropics, both the diversity of species and the 
threats to them may seem to make British conservation issues pale into insignificance. 
However, despite our relatively small insect fauna, our ratio of species to land area 
appears to be surprisingly high by world standards. 

The remaining introductory chapters describe the many ways in which insect habitats 
have been damaged, while also outlining the aims and responsibilities of national 
and international organizations which seek to ameliorate this loss. A central problem, 
which has a chapter of its own later in the book, is the fragmentation of biotopes. 
This is less serious for relatively mobile animals, especially birds, whose requirements 
often seem uppermost in the minds of those who influence conservation policy. 
Fragmentation prevents species from re-colonizing suitable sites following chance local 
extinctions. In the longer term it could also prevent species from keeping pace 
geographically with climate change or other large-scale events (as many did during 
past glaciations). When fragmentation and other problems are viewed in the context 
of tropical ecosystems, current conservation efforts seem inadequate in scale and often 
inappropriate in emphasis. 

The author goes on to examine ways in which conservation could become more 
effective by taking proper account of insect population ecology. The ability of species 
to disperse in a fragmented landscape must be understood in order to determine the 
optimum size and shape of reserves and the value of different types of ‘corridor’ 
between otherwise isolated habitats. He stresses the need to think about very small-scale 
‘micro-sites’ within biotopes, which are essential for survival. Studies on single species 
show that their different developmental stages and sometimes the two sexes have greatly 
different micro-site requirements. This does not necessarily mean that we must tinker 
with sites to help favoured species, since a broader-brush management of the landscape 
can achieve diversity in a way that is compatible with the economic use of the land. 

Although there are still places where the protection of natural ecosystems is the main 
objective of conservation, there are many other parts of the world where the 


18 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


sympathetic management of agricultural and other ‘disturbed’ land is important. The 
author describes systems of ‘adversity agriculture’ in which populations of vulnerable 
species can often fall below a ‘minimum viable level’, leading to local or even total 
extinctions. This has happened even to former pest species such as the Rocky Mountain 
grasshopper (Melanoplus spretus) in North America. The risk of extinction is lower 
in ‘agroecology’ systems, in which areas of natural vegetation can support a high 
proportion of the local insect fauna while serving as refugia for natural enemies of 
crop pests. There are, however, no absolute rights and wrongs in agricultural methods. 
Burning, for example, is very harmful to many species, but others depend on it. 
Similarly, although biological control is often a ‘green’ alternative to the use of 
chemical pesticides, it can be disastrous when the agents released are able to persist 
and to attack non-target species. 

The author looks at the pros and cons of ‘restoration ecology’ and concludes that 
it is worthwhile in some cases, as when trees are planted for agroforestry in deforested 
tropical areas, or when herb-rich grassland is re-established in temperate farmlands. 
Restoration strategies can be helped by knowing the specific requirements of individual 
species, but the most vulnerable species are usually less able to recolonize the restored 
sites than widespread ones with greater tolerance of varied conditions. Some of the 
vulnerable species get special attention and can be artificially re-established, but the 
author sees this as a last resort. 

The rate at which insect species are being lost worldwide, according to one estimate 
quoted by the author, could be 19 per hour over the next 30 years. Such figures serve 
both to stimulate concern about individual species and to emphasize that attempts 
to save a favoured few cannot address a problem of such proportions. The need is 
for an ‘umbrella’ approach which can take account of both small-scale and large- 
scale elements of the landscape. To the extent that individual species can be helped, 
there is a need to improve methods of assessing their status; for example by recording 
the number of habitat sites per 10-km square; not just mapping a dot for the entire 
square. Attention also needs to be focused on species which are good indicators of 
diversity and which can be recorded efficiently in site surveys, rather than on taxa 
which happen to enjoy the most popularity. On a global scale, it is important to identify 
the regions of ‘mega-diversity’ and endemism where efforts should be concentrated. 

By concentrating on the biology behind conservation, this book helps to identify 
the most urgent uses to which time and money should be devoted. However, the author 
admits that such an analysis is not supported by human attitudes towards insects, 
which often involve taxonomic favouritism or hypocrisy, as exemplified by those who 
are less aware of their own daily mass slaughter of insects than of the sadism of pulling 
the wings off a fly. Governments that ignore the wider conservation issues may pass 
laws to protect species against collecting or trade, but the result is often a high black 
market price. 

The extensive bibliography testifies to the great deal of work that has gone into 
producing this book. Its emphasis on fundamental issues and on scientific evidence 
will complement other recent works which have concentrated more on practical 
conservation. A subject like this is intrinsically hard to divide into distinct sections, 
but there could perhaps have been less overlap and repetition of ideas. It required 
a good index, and the one provided here is certainly comprehensive, although it fails 
to list all the entries for some important topics. The author’s commitment to the cause 
makes this much more than a dry academic treatise, but it-will perhaps be more useful 
to students, research workers and policy makers than to the amateur conservationist. 


D. LONSDALE 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 19 


REPORT OF THE DISCUSSION MEETING HELD ON 12 MAY 1992 
TO CONSIDER INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION IN THE 
UNITED KINGDOM 


STEPHEN R. MILES 


At the beginning of this meeting a handout entitled ‘‘Invertebrate conservation— 
major discussion points’’, produced by the author, was provided to each participant 
to focus on the major issues within this subject; this is reproduced below. A brief 
introduction was also given to the meeting, explaining the history and role of the 
Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates, by Helen Smith, its 
Conservation Officer. An introduction to the Wildlife Link organization was provided 
by Steve Brooks, the JCCBI representative. 

Stephen Miles, BENHS representative to JCCBI, then read out a paper reviewing 
the existing status of invertebrate conservation in the UK, suggesting a change to 
the status quo, in that a single invertebrate conservation membership organization 
should be formed. This paper is also reproduced below. 


INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION—MAJOR DISCUSSION POINTS 


1. Do you consider that invertebrate conservation is well served by: 

a. the Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates, (JCCBI) 
which is mainly a national advisory organization for policy and project 
formulation; 

b. governmental organizations, e.g. English Nature, and the Scottish and 
Welsh successors to the former Nature Conservancy Council and the 
Joint Nature Conservation Committee (custodians of the Invertebrate Site 
Register); 

c. the main non-governmental conservation organizations, e.g. the county wildlife 
trusts, World Wide Fund for Nature, Woodland Trust, the National Trust and 
Butterfly Conservation; 

particularly as to how the organizations that have reserves, manage them for 
insect conservation or promote the well-being of the invertebrates within them? 

2. Do we need to worry about the retention of invertebrate habitats and their 
appropriate management? At each of this society’s annual exhibitions, exciting new 
discoveries of species found in new localities are exhibited each year, despite some 
reported losses. Even species new to Britain are a regular occurrence. 

3. How many county trust nature reserves have been specifically set up to safeguard 
invertebrate habitats? Is it unrealistic to expect any to be set up just for what is 
perceived to be the narrow field of invertebrates? 

4. As well as the JCCBI, which is only a committee, is there a need for a separate 
organization specifically set up to campaign for the conservation of invertebrate 
habitats? 

5. Or should the existing entomological societies take on this role through the 
JCCBI? (As in theory they do at present). 
or 

Should the JCCBI be somehow reconstituted into a national invertebrate 
conservation trust? 
or 

Should it be suggested that Butterfly Conservation broaden its role to take on all 
insects, or even all invertebrates? 


20 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


6. How does Butterfly Conservation’s mainly anti-collecting stance on Lepidoptera 
fit in with the necessity to collect voucher specimens of nearly all other groups of 
invertebrate species, as well as many moths? 

7. Do we as entomologists promote our subject and educate others in its complexities 
sufficiently? 

8. Does the JCCBI need to advertise itself more to entomologists and to the general 
nature conservation community? 

9. How can invertebrate conservation be funded in the non-governmental 
organization sector? Clearly there should at least be one general invertebrate 
conservation organization to which people can make donations or leave legacies. 

10. Would invertebrate conservation benefit from having a demonstration reserve 
where the special management techniques that ensure that a wide variety of habitat 
niches are continually available could be readily seen by other natural history 
organizations? 

11. Would the Balfour-Browne Club (the water-beetle organization) defend a site 
containing rare solitary bees and wasps, or Butterfly Conservation promote the 
conservation of a site containing no interesting butterflies? In effect with a multiplicity 
of order- or family-based entomological conservation groups is the advance of 
invertebrate conservation hindered? 


REVIEW OF THE EXISTING STATUS OF INVERTEBRATE 
CONSERVATION IN THE UK 


As one of the two current representatives for this society to the Joint Committee 
for the Conservation of British Invertebrates I considered that it was about time the 
society’s membership was consulted for their views on the way invertebrate 
conservation is organized and promoted in this country. Personally I have been 
somewhat dissatisfied with the extent to which invertebrates and their special habitat 
needs are considered by the mainstream conservation organizations. The positive 
publicity which invertebrates other than butterflies receive in the natural history press 
appears to me to be absolutely minimal. But unlike most other species groups the 
lack of a specific membership organization representing the promotion of the 
conservation of all invertebrates seems to be the major omission. Birds have the RSPB, 
plants have Plantlife. Apart from JCCBI, which is after all only a committee, what 
do invertebrates have? 

To look at the organization of invertebrate conservation I suggest we will need 
to examine the following points. 

Have the existing bodies that work either directly or indirectly to secure and promote 
the conservation of invertebrate habitats and their appropriate management succeeded 
in this role? 

Could or should the entomological community in the UK and Europe be better 
organized or focused in our conservation role? Can we afford to be complacent; can 
we assume that all the niches invertebrates inhabit will always be represented, at least 
somewhere in Europe. 


Existing bodies able to influence invertebrate conservation 


The existing bodies in this field in the UK are principally the statutory government 
bodies: English Nature, Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage 
and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. In the voluntary sector there is the 
JCCBI itself, the British Entomological and Natural History Society, the Amateur 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 21 


Entomologists’ Society, the Balfour-Browne Club (for water beetles), the British 
Dragonfly Society, Butterfly Conservation and lastly the Initiative for Scottish Insects. 
The county trusts network through the Royal Society for Nature Conservation are 
also relevant as are the National Trust and the World Wide Fund for Nature. 

Are these bodies effective? I will comment briefly on their performance and propose 
some questions worth exploring on some of them. 

You have heard about the JCCBI; may I remind you however that it is primarily 
an advisory and policy group and it is rarely able to do anything to defend specific 
sites. It does have a very valuable role though as a forum for airing views on legislation 
and other political issues likely to affect invertebrate conservation. I believe it is not 
as effective as it could be due inevitably to the fact that it lacks a firm financial 
foundation and as a consequence is not staffed on a full-time basis. If JCCBI is to 
continue more effectively in the future how can the funding problem be resolved? 

I am not sure that the entomological community fully supports the JCCBI, or that 
they would feel it necessary to support any other type of organization that might be 
set up to promote invertebrate conservation. Perhaps entomologists are mainly lone 
workers, as many people have suggested to me, not feeling the need to co-ordinate 
their activities in the same way that the ornithologists have in recent years. 

If we look at the statutory organizations, as they have only recently been completely 
reorganized by the government following the dismembering of the former Nature 
Conservancy Council, it is perhaps too early to say whether they will be as effective 
as the latter body appeared to be. The present plans to do without an entomologist 
in the headquarters of Scottish Natural Heritage do not bode well for the future 
though. To the outsider the old NCC achieved a lot as a unified body; certainly insect 
conservation appeared to be successfully promoted by some of the BENHS’s own 
distinguished members employed by it. The ‘‘Research and Survey in Nature 
Conservation Series’’ reviews of different invertebrate groups are useful in synthesizing 
the requirements for habitat management of the invertebrate fauna. The one-day 
workshops arranged for staff of other nature conservation organizations to attempt 
to advise them on how to adopt the special management requirements of invertebrates 
are examples to us all of the sort of promotion work that needs to be done. I 
understand these events are being continued in England at least, by one of NCC’s 
successor bodies, English Nature. 

The designation of certain SSSI’s has been considerably assisted following the receipt 
of knowledge about sites representing important invertebrate assemblages through the 
Invertebrate Site Register scheme. However I understand that not all the best sites for 
invertebrates will be designated SSSI, firstly because in some cases their vegetation 
features are not correspondingly as good. Secondly it is said to be more difficult to 
defend SSSI’s designated purely on invertebrate interests only. If this is truly the 
situation is the JCCBI or the entomological community sufficiently well organized 
and do we hold sufficient data to be able to challenge this? I believe we do not. 

The British Butterfly Conservation Society or Butterfly Conservation as it is now 
known, from its inception nearly 25 years ago, is arguably the most successful non- 
governmental insect conservation organization in this country. Of course it has obvious 
advantages; it is dealing with a small species group which are probably the most 
popular group of insects world-wide. Perhaps its members can be more active in a 
conservation sense, as they are mostly observers or other types of sympathizers to the 
cause of butterfly conservation. Thus as non-collectors they do not have to be involved 
with curation activities or concerned about taxonomic problems, leaving more time for 
active involvement in butterfly promotion and site management. The acquisition by 
Butterfly Conservation of its own reserves has also been a significant step forward. 


22 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Regarding the county wildlife trusts, how many of their in excess of 2000 reserves 
are devoted to invertebrate conservation you may ask? Our president writing nearly 
20 years ago in an article entitled ‘‘Insect conservation and a county trust’’ (AES 
Conservation Group Bulletin 4, 1971), summarized the typical position of a county 
trust then, in this case the Gloucestershire Trust; none of its reserves were specifically 
devoted to insects. Its primary aim was to acquire at least one example of the major 
habitat types present in the county. Has this situation improved in the intervening 
period in better favour of invertebrates throughout the wildlife trusts’ network? 

The National Trust appears to me to have improved its record on invertebrate habitat 
management. Provided its management committees and land agents take notice of 
the entomological advisers to its Biological Survey team, it will be well placed to 
continue to assist the conservation of the invertebrate habitats in its ownership. 
Members should note a member of this team sits as an observer at the main JCCBI 
meetings. 


What improvements are needed in invertebrate conservation? 


The JCCBI does not appear to campaign for site retention; should it change or 
must we rely on the hope that the county wildlife trusts will by chance save sites holding 
important invertebrate assemblages? Could the JCCBI do more? For example should 
its future remit include advising landowners of nature conservation sites, on how to 
manage them appropriately for invertebrates? Are we as entomologists organized in 
such a way as to be able to influence the trusts and government organizations in the 
procurement of important invertebrate sites? Are these organizations maintaining 
the appropriate conditions on their existing reserves for the invertebrate inhabitants? 

In a speech nearly 2 years ago (28 November 1990) the departing chairman of the 
Nature Conservancy Council, Sir William Wilkinson, highlighted the gradual decline 
in interest of SSSIs through lack of adequate management. A paper I have seen suggests 
that there is a high representation of nationally important invertebrates on National 
Nature Reserves and SSSIs. Have we voiced our concern that these special sites are 
managed appropriately for their invertebrate interest? While I have great respect for 
the abilities of the staff of the government nature conservation organizations, I believe 
we rely too much on them. Are they too constrained now by a government policy 
which does seem less than committed to the national series of SSSIs particularly since 
the break up of the old Nature Conservancy Council? At present, however, I have 
little confidence in the ability of entomologists as a group, as we are currently 
organized, outside of the government organizations, to have any influence in 
safeguarding the well-being of important invertebrate sites. 

I believe there is considerable scope for us to have greater influence in the future 
over these matters provided we are organized in some way under a single umbrella 
group, but one that is not just a committee. Surely this would command more respect 
for entomologists if we could actively campaign for site retention and correct 
management as well. Certainly then we could not only give more support to the 
Government’s invertebrate conservation advisers but also be a more influential force 
in non-governmental nature conservation. At present JCCBI appears often to just 
lend its name to other groups’ campaigns. Should we in fact become a little more 
strident? 

The setting up of a new organization would be a major undertaking, as the existing 
entomological societies often find it difficult to fill their functional voluntary positions. 
Reorganization of the JCCBI is probably the best option. Additionally in either case 
there would be major problems with funding. It is also important here, to make the 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 23 


observation that if any of us wished to leave some wealth or land specifically to the 
invertebrate conservation cause, apart from butterflies, there is no organization to 
which such resources could be left in our wills. This should change. 

There is one further important point I would like to make and that is that there 
is a growing anti-collecting sentiment in the wider world and perhaps particularly 
within Butterfly Conservation, RSPB, and in Europe in Germany influenced by 
extreme ‘‘Green’’ politics. There is a danger here, I believe, in that those groups who 
look down on the formation of natural history collections and even despise the modest 
insect collector are going to be seen as making all the running in invertebrate 
conservation initiatives. Entomologists or the main entomological organizations that 
fully acknowledge the need for specimen collection do need to become more involved 
in invertebrate habitat conservation. 

It should also be borne in mind that it is more politically expedient to prohibit 
collecting and thus the collector than to act to save invertebrate habitats. And the 
collector is of course the main person able to feed back information about species 
declines. 


Conclusion 


The platform of success of the Amateur Entomological Society’s recent habitat 
conservation book (Fry, R. & Lonsdale, D., 1991, Habitat conservation for insects—a 
neglected green issue), and of the Royal Entomological Society’s 15th symposium 
publication The conservation of insects and their habitats (Collins, N. M. & Thomas, 
J. A., eds) are the flagships on which an invertebrate conservation organization could 
go forward. These publications plus the invertebrate and insect ‘‘red data books”’ 
and the NCC’s invertebrate species reviews reveal that we have a large amount of 
knowledge to make a start in seeking a higher profile for invertebrates and their 
habitats; it is time we invested more effort in such activities. 

Our insect survey expertise can form the basis for the designation of SSSIs as in 
the recent case of Richmond Park being named in the press as one of the most 
important UK sites for beetles. Although the species survey is essential and one of 
the foundations of our interest I believe we need to combine it with more efforts 
in the public relations and political lobbying aspects of entomology which most of 
us appear to avoid. Perhaps there is an obvious reason for our lethargy which I am 
too naive to see, but if we don’t take command of the situation it will be manipulated 
by others to the detriment of entomology. 

In a paper given to the 3rd European Congress of Entomology in 1986 (Velthius, H. W., 
ed.), the dipterist Martin Speight said, ‘‘the one group within Europe’s population 
that might be expected to be promoting conservation of Europe’s entomofauna is 
the entomologists. But do entomologists promote insect conservation?’’ he asked. 
It seems he was convinced they did not. For his next statements were to this effect. 

*‘Among amateur entomologists in particular there is a tendency to use insects as 
an escape from the trials and tribulations of normal human existence, to practice 
as it were, zen through the art of entomology‘‘. 

Although Martin’s comments are perhaps slightly off-putting and extreme I think 
he is making an important point. He went on to say “‘if entomologists are not prepared 
to put time and effort into the promotion of insect conservation, they can hardly 
expect other people to do so’’. 

Finally for those entomologists who are not already aware of it they should know 
that nature conservation was pioneered in this country by an insect collector, Charles 
Rothschild. He founded the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves in 1912, 
the forerunner of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation. It is ironic isn’t it that 


24 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


80 years later, of the major natural groups, invertebrate conservation could be said 
to be the least financially supported and organized in this country in a unified sense. 
However perhaps this discussion meeting will re-assure me that all is well and that 
I am being pessimistic—as usual, as Council would say. 


DISCUSSION SESSION 


Despite the range of points provided in the handout and in the preliminary papers, the 
meeting appeared to settle down to the consideration of seven major topics. These 
were: habitats; the county wildlife trusts and their reserves; the multiplicity of different 
entomological groups; the Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates 
(JCCBI); Government agencies, SSSIs and information collection; SSSIs; and, finally, 
collecting. 


Habitats 


FRANCES MuRPHY said achievement of balance in invertebrate conservation is 
difficult; the management of one group of invertebrates may be to the detriment of 
others. Habitat conservation is better than purely caring for individual species, thereby 
political lobbying for the retention of these habitats is essential. 

STUART BALL indicated that in entomology there was still much work to be done on 
finding out where species occur. This was the great value of the Invertebrate Site Register 
scheme as information fed to the scheme, such as where the best invertebrate 
assemblages occurred, led to its use in assisting site management plans. He also felt 
that a single invertebrate conservation group promoting invertebrate habitats for 
conservation would not be effective. It was a far better approach to base reserves 
on habitat types and manage them to maintain the broad assemblage associated with 
that habitat. In future, he thought, emphasis should be placed on habitats not well 
represented in existing reserves. 


The county wildlife trusts and their reserves 


A disparate collection of views was expressed regarding invertebrate conservation 
and the county wildlife trusts as follows. 

IAN FERGUSON cited the observation that most interesting insect species invariably 
seem to occur outside reserves. 

MARTIN DRAKE mentioned that county wildlife trusts tend to purchase reserves of 
SSSI quality, often because they desired representative types of each major habitat 
type present in their county. 

ROGER Morais stated that entomologists need to be on the boards of management 
of their local wildlife trusts and trust reserves to influence and advise in favour of 
sympathetic management for invertebrates. 

Davip LONSDALE mentioned that local entomologists are often active within their 
local wildlife trust but central groups, like JCCBI, don’t hear of their activities, perhaps 
this represents a lack of coordination between entomologists. 


Multiplicity of different entomological groups 


Knowledge of what occurs on any one site needs to be shared. 
STEVE BROOKS maintained that the British Dragonfly Society believe that they are 
good at achieving this and able to influence conservation landowners in the process, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 25 


despite being a small organization themselves. He felt that mass membership is not 
desirable within organizations as it can dilute the knowledgeable members and reduce 
influence. In this context he did not believe that Butterfly Conservation would become 
the main organizer of invertebrate conservation in the UK, because of their lack of 
specialists in the other orders. 

STUART BALL felt that small active organizations like the Balfour-Browne Club 
were very effective. 

STEPHEN MILES had asked during his address ‘‘Should there be a unified 
invertebrate group to promote invertebrate conservation?’’ If so he felt it must not 
duplicate what others were already doing. This approach was not felt by the 
conservation professionals from English Nature and the Joint Nature Conservation 
Committee, present at the meeting, to be likely to be effective. It was maintained 
that a ‘‘mega’’ invertebrate society would still not stop loss of sites. There are three 
general entomological societies in the UK. It was felt that there was no need for any 
others. 

A major concern of the meeting was that Butterfly Conservation could take 
over as the main conservation organization for invertebrates, as it is keen to 
take on a wider role. The meeting felt that Butterfly Conservation would not be able 
to take on this responsibility. However the general opinion was that it might set the 
agenda for the issue of insect collecting. Butterfly Conservation is viewed as a large 
society of non-specialists, as is the RSPB, however that organization is also very 
successful. 

The need for special interest groups organized by taxon was therefore justified as 
they can work with other larger groups, like the RSPB, and influence them. This 
should be the way forward. 

JOHN MUGGLETON felt that more interest in the conservation of invertebrate 
assemblages needs to be shown by other entomological societies. Furthermore a 
specific society dedicated to promoting reserves for insect/invertebrate conservation 
alone might lead to more appropriate management for insects rather than 
other things. 


Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates (JCCBI) 


The view of some at the meeting was that this committee should promote itself 
and its products more, as it was not well-known. For instance many people had not 
heard of the ‘‘code for insect collecting’’ or the ‘‘code for insect re-establishment’’, 
both produced by the committee. However JCCBI’s limitations in not being a society 
were a problem, it could not publish its own activities without its own funds. It was 
pointed out that it was up to individual societies who finance some of JCCBI’s activities 
to publish the details of the committee’s activities. But it was also recognized that 
most societies normally want to promote their own activities, not those of a third 
party, especially if promotion costs money. 

DAVID LONSDALE said that the AES Conservation Committee feeds ideas to 
JCCBI. It had promoted various ideas in attempts to raise funding for the 
JCCBI because he considered that JCCBI should have a full-time conservation 
officer. He also recognized that JCCBI needed to move forward from discussion 
to action. 

To be effective JCCBI needs to be able to act quickly, much more so than at present; 
its purpose, it was considered, should be to influence and educate people in the merits 
of invertebrate conservation. But it could not concern itself with sites or it would 
very quickly be bogged down in paperwork. 


26 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Government agencies, SSSIS and information collection 


IAN FERGUSON perceived that invertebrates were well down the list of priorities 
for these agencies. They act to announce SSSIs but the designation is then perceived 
as being ignored by the government. Countryside legislation is seen as excellent but 
can so often be overruled, even against the government’s own expert advisers, the 
countryside agencies, English Nature etc. 

Others felt that organizations like English Nature were ‘‘tied by the leg’’, unable 
to tell a landowner what to do positively. These organizations have limited budgets, 
their staff are not necessarily expert on every order, they need information to be 
channelled to them efficiently by entomologists through the wildlife trusts and local 
and national recording schemes. 

ROGER Morris said there was a perception that many entomologists were not keen 
on sending information in to these organizations because they saw this whole process 
as a chore. What was the role of entomologists, were they collectors or 
surveyor/consultants? Were they interested in the wider issues of legislation and 
conservation? 

PETER CHANDLER confirmed that he just wanted special sites to be still extant, not 
lost to development or other threats. 


SSSIs 


Some members felt these should be based more on invertebrate assemblages rather 
than as traditionally they are perceived, just on plant communities. 

In relation to landowners the SSSI system appeared coercive but ‘‘environmental 
sensitive areas’? were seen more positively as co-operative systems. However the 
problem still remains that SSSI designations are largely ignored by government when 
it suits them. Habitat management of SSSIs was seen as a priority. Overall the SSSI 
system is seen very positively with many sites being successfully defended at public 
enquiries but MARTIN DRAKE inferred that one weakness was that designations cannot 
enforce appropriate management, they can only ban specified harmful practices. 


Collecting 


Butterfly Conservation was perceived as having an anti-collecting attitude, which 
may be its worst attribute in the eyes of other entomologists. Collecting was seen 
as not absolutely necessary for butterflies but essential for the learning process of 
correct identification for all other groups. The case for collecting needs to be strongly 
and favourably stated by all entomologists, the meeting decided. 


Conclusions 


Habitat management and conservation of broad assemblages of invertebrates, birds, 
animals and plants was seen as the focus, a holistic approach; it being considered 
as a trap for the unwary to concentrate on management just for a few single species 
of invertebrates. Specialist interest groups based on taxon were still desirable; overall 
the meeting appeared to conclude that there was no need for a single dominant 
invertebrate conservation group. 

The British Entomological and Natural History Society was identified as having 
a future additional role: to promote invertebrate conservation more, perhaps through 
including more articles on this topic in its journal. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 27 
EDITORIAL 


HOUSE STYLE 5: COUNTY NAMES IN RECORDS 


Accurate presentation of records is of vital importance, and details of locality are 
arguably the most vital. The overriding consideration must be whether or not someone 
reading of an insect’s discovery can identify the locality. This is not so that collectors 
can rush off to the same place to make further captures, but to aid distribution and 
recording schemes which may take place years into the future. 

A grid reference is the nearest we can get to pin-pointing the exact spot, but rows 
and rows of grid reference numbers make poor reading, and offer little insight into 
patterns of distribution. The traditional compromise has always been: (i) the locality 
(be this a named wood, hill, river, lake etc); (ii) the nearest village, town, city or 
district, and (ili) the county or vice-county. 

Localities, villages and towns rarely change their names, though many appear more 
than once across the country. Access to a gazetteer will clear up many misunderstandings 
before they occur. Counties on the other hand have proved troublesome, particularly 
their borders. With the interest in county lists, promulgated particularly since the 
Victoria county histories, has also come the confusion created by boundary changes, 
the creation and the abolition of various administrative areas. With the possible 
dissolution of Avon and Humberside and the restructuring of Yorkshire into a form 
resembling its former Ridings, more confusion looks on its way. 


The vice-county system 


In an attempt to overcome some of this confusion and standardize recording, the 
British vice-county system created by Watson (1852) was formalized in Dandy (1969). 
Vice-counties for Ireland, H1 to H40, were created by Praeger (1896, 1901) and Ragge 
(1965) gives a list of these together with an explanation of the subsequent changes 
used by recent Irish biogeographers. A complete list of British and Irish vice-counties 
is given in several publications, notably Druce (1932) and appears at irregular intervals 
in Watsonia, the journal of the Botanical Society of the British Isles. 

The ‘Watsonian’ system remains well known and moderately well understood and 
forms the basis for much biological recording. However, individual entomologists 
do still go their own ways; among recent ‘county’ lists some stick rigidly to vice-county 
boundaries (e.g. Duff, 1993) while others have overridden these artificial frontiers 
by creating other equally artificial perimeters (e.g. Plant, 1993). 

In putting forward records in the journal, the vice-county scheme would seem to be 
the best, but it is impossible to lay down the law about how individuals record their 
finds. The following list of abbreviations, expanded and revised from the list given 
by Buck (1959), is supplied in the interests of conserving space on the printed page. 
Watsonian vice-counties, together with modern and old administrative areas are listed. 
As will be quite clear from Dandy’s (1969) maps and accompanying text, the strict vice- 
county boundaries are sometimes significantly different from modern-day ‘equivalents’. 

Sometimes, the terminology of modern equivalents can seriously upset understanding 
of the original vice-counties. South of the River Thames, ‘London’ is divided between 
West Kent (VC16) and Surrey (VC17). According to Dandy (1969) West Kent includes 
‘the south-eastern part’ of London and Surrey ‘the south-western part’. But the modern 
London postcodes ‘SE’ and ‘SW’ do NOT correspond. Nunhead Cemetery, London 
SE15 is actually south-western in the Watsonian sense and hence in ‘Surrey’. For many 
border localities, examination of old Ordnance Survey maps may be necessary. 


28 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Capitalization of cardinal points 


The cardinal points, north, south, east and west, and their Various combinations, 
do not ordinarily take capital letters when spelled out in full. Thus: the north part 
of the wood, the northern slope of the downs, the north-easterly direction of the wind. 
However, if part of a place name, a capital letter is required, thus: West End, East 
Sussex, North America, West Devon but [the] south [of] Devon, South Coast (of 
England) but south coast of Ireland (and elsewhere). 


Punctuation of abbreviations 


In the following list, Salop and Hants (and by analogy Northants) are not followed 
by a full stop because they are not abbreviations, but are older names for their 
respective counties. Middx is not followed by a full stop because it is a contraction 


rather than an abbreviation. 
RICHARD A. JONES 


REFERENCES 


Buck, F. D. 1959. The style of the house. Proc. S. Lond. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1958: 116-117. 

Dandy, J. E. 1969. Watsonian vice-counties of Great Britain.Ray Society, London. 38 pp, 2 maps. 

Druce, G. C. 1932. The comital flora of the British Isles. Buncle, Arbroath, pp. i-xxxii, 1-406, 
1 map. 

Duff, A. 1993. Beetles of Somerset. Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, 
Taunton, 270 pp. 

Plant, C. W. 1993. Larger moths of the London area. London Natural History Society, London. 
292 pp. 

Praeger, R. L. 1896. On the botanical subdivisions of Ireland. Jrish Nat. 5: 29-38, 1 map. 

Praeger, R. L. 1901. Irish topographical botany. Proc. R. Irish Acad. 3rd series 7: i-clxxxviii, 
1-410, 8 maps. 

Ragge, D. R. 1965. Grasshoppers, crickets and cockroaches of the British Isles. Warne, London. 

Watson, H. C. 1852. Cybele Britannica. Vol. 3, pp. 524-528. 


List of county name abbreviations 


Where it is not desired to spell the names of counties in full, the following 
abbreviations should be used. Watsonian vice-counties (VCs) may differ significantly 
from modern administrative boundaries. Reference to Dandy (1969) is advised. 

Note: many counties take their names from county towns, the names of which 
should not be abbreviated. Thus Aberdeenshire may be abbreviated to Aber., but 
Aberdeen (the city) should always be spelled in full. Confusion is also possible because 
the corresponding Watsonian vice-county names are South and North ‘Aberdeen’, 
not South and North Aberdeenshire. In the following list, vice-county numbers are 
given and the Watsonian vice-county names when these are necessary. 


Aberdeenshire Aber. [VCs 92, S. Aber. and 93, N. Aber. ] 

Anglesey Angl. [VC 52, (East Anglia should be abbreviated 
to E. Anglia) ] 

Argyllshire Argyll. [Most of the mainland is VC 98, Main Argyll, 


others are VC 101, Kintyre, VC 102, S. Ebudes, 
VC 100, Clyde Is. of Bute and Arran] 


Armagh Arm. [VC H37] 

Ayrshire Ayr. [VC 75] 

Angus Angus [also known as Forfar, VC 90} 
Antrim Antrim [VC H39] 


Avon Avon [a modern administrative area] 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Banffshire 
Bedfordshire 
Berkshire 
Berwickshire 
Borders 


Brecknockshire 


Breconshire 
Buckinghamshire 
Buteshire 


Caernarvonshire 


Caithness 
Cambridgeshire 
Cardiganshire 
Carlow 
Carmarthenshire 
Cavan 

Central 


Channel Islands 


Cheshire 
Cheviotland 
Clackmannan 
Clare 
Cleveland 
Clwyd 


Clyde Isles 
Cork 


Cornwall 
Cumberland 
Cumbria 


Denbighshire 
Derbyshire 
Derry 
Devon(shire) 
Donegal 
Dorset 
Down 
Dublin 
Dumfriess & 
Galloway 
Dumfriesshire 
Dunbartonshire 


Durham 


Dyfed 


Banff. 
Beds. 
Berks. 
Berw. 
Borders 


Breck. 


Brecon. 
Bucks. 
Bute. 


Caer. 


Caith. 
Cambs. 
Card. 
Carlow 
Carm. 
Cavan 
Central 


Chan. Is. 


Ches. 
Chev. 
Clack. 
Clare 
Cleve. 
Clwyd 


Clyde Is. 
Cork 


Corn. 
Cumber. 
Cumbria 


Denb. 
Derbys. 
Derry 
Devon 
Don. 
Dorset 
Down 
Dublin 
Dumf. & 
Gall. 
Dumf. 
Dunb. 


Dur. 
Dyfed 


29 


[VC 94] 

[VC 30] 

[VC 22] 

[VC 81] 

[modern administrative region of south-east 
Scotland comprising several former counties ] 

[ alternative name for Breconshire, not to be con- 
fused with Breckland, the Breck of East Anglia ] 

[VC 42] 

[VC 24] 

[part of VC 100, Clyde Is. ] 


[mainland part is VC 49, Caernarvon, 
Anglesey is VC 52] 

[VC 109] 

[VC 29] 

[VC 46] 

[VC H13] 

[VC 44] 

[VC H30] 

[modern administrative area comprising 
several former counties ] 

[although technically part of the British Isles, 
sufficiently foreign to warrant separate status ] 

[VC 58] 

[ VC 68, the northern part of Northumberland ] 


[VC H9, includes Aran Isles] 


[modern administrative county of Wales, 
comprising several former counties ] 

[VC 100, comprising Bute, Arran and other 
islands of Argyllshire] 

[VCs H3, W. Cork, H4, Mid Cork and HS, 
E. Cork] 

[VCs 1, W. Corn. and 2, E. Corn. ] 

[VC 70] 

[modern administrative county ] 


[VC 50] 

[VC 57] 

[VC H40] 

[VCs 3, S. Devon and 4, N. Devon] 

[VCs H34, E.Don. and H35, W. Don.] 

[VC 9] 

[VC H38] 

[VC H21] 

[modern administrative area comprising several 
former counties ] 

[VC 72] 

[VC 99, Dunbarton, not to be confused with 
Dumbarton the county town] 

[ VC 66, to distinguish city from county, use 
Co. Dur. if necessary] 

[modern administrative county ] 


30 


East Anglia 
East Lothian 
Easterness 
Ebudes 


Edinburghshire 
Elgin(shire) 
Essex 


Fermanagh 
Fife(shire) 
Flintshire 
Forfarshire 


Galway 
Glamorgan(shire) 
Gloucestershire 
Grampian 


Greater London 


Greater Manchester 


Gwent 


Haddingtonshire 
Hampshire 


Hebrides 
Hereford & 
Worcester 
Herefordshire 
Hertfordshire 
Highland 


Humberside 
Huntingdonshire 
Inverness-shire 
Isle of Man 

Isle of Wight 
Isles of Scilly 


Kent 

Kerry 

Kildare 

Kilkenny 
Kincardine(shire) 
King’s County 
Kinross 


E. Anglia 
E. Loth. 
Easterness 
Ebudes 


Edin. 
Elgin. 
Essex 


Ferm. 
Fife 
Flint. 
Forf. 


Gal. 
Glam. 
Glos. 
Gramp. 


Gt. Lond. 


Gt. Manc. 


Gwent 


Hadd. 
Hants 


Hebr. 
Heref. & 
Worcs. 
Heref. 
Herts. 
Highland 


Humb. 
Hunts. 
Inv. 
I.o.M. 
I.o.W. 
Fors: 


Kent 
Kerry 
Kild. 
Kilk. 
Kine. 


King’s Co. 


Kinr. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


[combination of several VCs] 

[also known as Haddingtonshire, VC 82] 

[ VC 96, the north-east part of Inverness-shire | 

[ various isles of Argyllshire and Inverness-shire, 
VCs 102, S. Ebudes, 103 Mid Ebudes, 
104, N. Ebudes] 

[VC 83, also known as Midlothian] 

[VC 95, also known as Morayshire] 

[VCs 18, S. Essex, 19, N. Essex] 


[VC H33] 

[ VC 85, includes Kinross-shire ] 
[VC 51] 

[VC 90, also known as Angus] 


[VCs H15, S. E. Gal., H16, W. Gal. and 
H17, N. E. Gal.] 

[VC 41] 

[VCs 33, E. Glos. and 34, W. Glos. ] 

[modern administrative area comprising 
several former counties | 

[modern administrative area comprising 
parts of several former counties } 

[modern administrative area ] 

[modern administrative county ] 


[ VC 82, also known as E. Lothian] 

[VCs 11, S. Hants and 12, N. Hants; VC 10 
is Isle of Wight ] 

[Outer Hebrides are VC 110] 

{modern administrative area] 


[VC 36] 

[VC 20] 

[modern administrative region of Scotland 
comprising several former counties, not to 
be confused with ‘the Highlands’, a more 
general term] 

[modern administrative region ] 

[VC 31] 

[VCs 96 Easterness, 97 Westerness | 

vem 

[VC 10] 

[also known as the Scilly Isles; part of VC1, 
W. Corn. | 


[VCs 15, E. Kent, 16, W. Kent] 

[VCs H1, S. Kerry and H2, N. Kerry] 
[VC H19] 

[VC H11] 

[VC 91] 

[former name for Offaly, VC H18] 
[part of VC 85, Fife] 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 


Kintyre 
Kirkcudbrightshire 


Lanarkshire 
Lancashire 
Laois 
Leicestershire 
Leitrim 

Leix 

Limerick 
Lincolnshire 
Linlithgowshire 


Londonderry 
Longford 
Lothian 
Louth 


Main Argyll 


Mayo 

Meath 
Merionethshire 
Merseyside 
Middlesex 
Midlothian 
Monaghan 
Monmouthshire 
Montgomeryshire 
Morayshire 


Nairnshire 
Norfolk 
Northamptonshire 
Nottinghamshire 
Northumberland 
Northumbria 


Offaly 

Orkney Isles 
Outer Hebrides 
Oxfordshire 


Peebleshire 
Perthshire 


Pembrokeshire 
Powys 


Queen’s County 


1995 


Kintyre 
Kirk. 


Lan. 
Lancs. 
Laois 
Leics. 
Leit. 
Leix 
Lim. 
Lincs. 
Linlith. 


Lon. 
Longf. 
Loth. 
Louth 


Main 
Argyll 
Mayo 
Meath 
Merion. 
Mersey. 
Middx 
Midloth. 
Monag. 
Mon. 
Montg. 
Moray. 


Nairn. 

Norf. 
Northants 
Notts. 
Northumber. 
Northumbria 


Offaly 
Ork. Is. 
Out. Hebr. 
Oxon. 


Peeb. 
Perth. 


Pemb. 
Powys 


Queen’s Co. 


31 


[VC 101, part of Argyllshire] 
[VC 73] 


[VC77] 

[VCs 59, S. Lancs., 60 W. Lancs. ] 

[VC H14] 

[VC 55, includes Rutland] 

[VC H29] 

[former name for Laois, VC H14] 

[VC H8] 

[VCs 53, S. Lines., 54, N. Lincs.] 

[VC 84, Linlithgow, also known as West 
Lothian ] 

[alternative for VC H40, Derry] 

[VC H24] 


[VG-HS1] 
[VC 98] 


[VCs H26, E. Mayo and H27, W. Mayo] 
[VC H22] 

[VC 48] 

[modern administrative region ] 

rve Zt 

[also known as Edinburghshire, VC 83] 
[VC H32] 

[VC 35] 

[VC 47] 

[also known as Elginshire, VC 95] 


[part of VC 96, Easterness ] 

[VCs 27, E. Norf., 28, W. Norf.] 

[VC 32] 

[VC 56] 

[VCs 67, Northumber. S., 68 Cheviotland ] 


[VC H18] 
[VC 111] 
[VC 110] 
[VC 23] 


[VC 78] 

[VCs 87, W. Perth, 88, Mid Perth, 89, East 
Perth] 

[VC 45] 

[modern administrative county ] 


[former name for Laois, 
VC H14] 


32 


Radnorshire 
Renfrewshire 
Roscommon 

Ross & Cromarty 
Roxburgh(shire) 
Rutland 


Selkirk(shire) 
Shetland Isles 
Shropshire 
Sligo 
Somerset 
Staffordshire 
Stirling(shire) 
Strathclyde 
Suffolk 
Surrey 

Sussex 
Sutherland 


Tayside 
Tipperary 
Tyne & Wear 
Tyrone 


Warwickshire 
Waterford 
Westerness 
Western Isles 
West Lothian 
West Midlands 
Westmeath 
Westmorland 
Wexford 
Wicklow 
Wigtownshire 
Wiltshire 
Worcestershire 


Yorkshire 


Zetland 


Rad. 

Renf. 

Rosc. 

R. & Crom. 
Rox. 

Rut. 


Selk. 
Shet. Is. 
Salop 
Sligo 
Som. 
Staffs. 
Stirl. 
Strath. 
Suff. 
Surrey 
Sussex 
Suther. 


Tay. 
Tip. 
Tyne & Wear 
Tyr. 


War. 

Wat. 
Westerness 
Western Is. 
W. Loth. 
W. Midi. 
Westmeath 
Westmor. 
Wex. 
Wick. 
Wig. 
Wilts. 
Worcs. 


Yorks. 


Zetl. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


[VC 43] 

[VC 76] 

[VC H25] ° 

[VCs 105, W. Ross, 106, E. Ross] 
[VC 80] 

[part of VC 55, Leics. ] 


[VC 79] 

[also known as Zetland, VC 112] 
[VC 40] 

[VC H28] 

[VCs 5, S. Som, 6, N. Som.] 

[VC 39] 

[VC 86] 

[modern administrative region ] 
[VCs 25, E: Suff.,.26,'W. Suite] 
[VC 17] 

[VCs 13, W. Sussex, 14, E. Sussex] 
[VCs 107, E. Suther., 108, W. Suther. ] 


[modern administrative region] 
[VCs H7, S.. Tip.cand/H10, N. Tips] 
[modern administrative region] 

[VC H36] 


[VC 38] 

[VC H6] 

[VC 97, north-east part of Inverness-shire] 
[modern administrative region] 

[also known as Linlithgowshire, VC 84] 
[modern administrative county ] 

[VC H23] 

[VC 69] 

[VC H12] 

[VC H20] 

[VC 74] 

[VCs7, N. Wilts., 8, S. Wilts. ] 

[VC 37] 


[VCs 61, S.-E. Yorks., 62, N.-E. Yorks., 
63, S.-W. Yorks., 64, Mid-W. Yorks., 65, 
N.-W. Yorks. ] 


[VC 112, also known as Shetland Isles] 


Past Presidents 


1872-4 J. R. WeLimAN (dec.) 1941 F. D. Coore, F.R.£.s. (dec.) 
1875-6 A. B. Farn, F.E.s. (dec.) 1942 S. Wake-y (dec.) 
1877 J. P. Barrett, FES. (dec.) 1943 R. J. Burton, L.D.S., R.C.S.ENG. (dec.) 
1878 J. T. Wittiams (dec) 1944 Stan.ey N. A. Jacoss, F.R.£.S. (dec.) 
1879 R. STANDEN F.E.s. (dec.) 1945-6 Capt. R. A. JACKSON, R.N., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1880 A. Fick.in (dec.) 1947 L. T. Forp, B.A. (dec.) 
1881 V. R. Perkins, F.e.s. (dec.) 1948 Col. P. A. Carpew (dec.) 
1882 T. R. Bittups, F.e.s. (dec.) 1949 J. O. T. Howarp, o. A. (dec.) 
1883 J. R. WELLMAN (dec.) 1950 Air-Marshal Sir Ropert SAUNDBY, 
1884 W. West, L.p.s. (dec.) K.B.E., C.B., M.C., D.F.C., A.F.C., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1885 R. South, F.E.s. (dec.) 1951 T. G. Howarth, M.B.E., F.R.E.S., F.Z.S. 
1886-7 R. Apbkin, F-.E.s. (dec.) 1952 E. W. Ctassey, F.R.E.S. 
1888-9 T. R. Bittups, F.E.s. (dec.) 1953 F. STANLEY-SMITH, F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1890 J. T. CarrincTON, F.L.S. (dec.) 1954 Stantey N. A. Jacoss, S.B.ST.J., F-R.E.S. (dec.) 
1891 W. H. TucGwett, pu.c. (dec.) 1955 F. D. Buck, A.M.I.PTG.M., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1892 C. G. Barrett, F.E.S. (dec.) 1956 Lt-Col. W. B. L. ManL_ey, F.R.E.s. (dec.) 
1893 J. J. Weir, F.us., etc. (dec.) 1957 B. P. Moore, B.SC., D.PHIL., F.R.E.S. 
1894 E. Step, F.v.s. (dec.) 1958 N. E. Hickin, PH.D., B.SC., F.R.E.S (dec.) 
1895 T. W. HALt, F.E.s. (dec.) 1959 F. T. VALLINS, A.C.LL., F.R.E.S (dec.) 
1896 R. Soutn, F.£.s. (dec.) 1960 R. M. Merg, F.R.E:s. (dec.) 
1897 R. Apbkin, F-.E.s. (dec.) 1961 A. M. Masse, 0.B.E., D.SC., F.R-E.S. (dec.) 
1898 J. W. Tutt, Fes. (dec.) 1962 A. E. GaArpner, F.R-E.S. (dec.) 
1899 A. Harrison, F.L.S. (dec.) 1963 J. L. MESSENGER, B.A., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1900 W. J. Lucas, B.A., F.E.S. (dec.) 1964 C. G. Rocue, F.C.A., F.R.E.S. 
1901 H. S. FREMLIN, M.R.CS., L.R.C-P., F.E.S. (dec.) 1965 R. W. J. UFFEN, F.R.E.S 
1902 F. Noap Crark (dec.) 1966 J. A. C. GREENWOOD, 0.B.E., F-R.E.S (dec.) 
1903 E. Step, rF..s. (dec.) 1967 R. F. BRETHERTON, C.B., M.A., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1904 A. Sicu, FES. (dec.) 1968 B. GoaTER, B.SC., F.R-E.S 
1905 H. Main, Bsc., FES. (dec.) 1969 Capt. J. ELLERTON, D.S.c., R.N. (dec.) 
1906-7 R. ADKIN, F.E.s. (dec.) 1970 B. J. MacNUuLty, B.SC., PH.D., F.R.I.C.S., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1908-9 A. Sicu, FES. (dec.) 1971 Col. A. M. Emmet, M.B.E., T.D., M.A. 
1910-1 W. J. Kaye, F.e.s. (dec.) 1972 Prof. H. E. Hinton, PH.D., B.SC., 
1912-3 A. E. ToncE, F-.E.s. (dec.) F.R.S., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1914-5 B. H. Smitn, B.A., F.E.S. (dec.) 1973 J. M. Cuatmers-Hunt, F.R.E.S. 
1916-7 Hy. J. Turner, F-E.s. (dec.) 1974 C. MACKECHNIE JARVIS, F.L.S., F.R-E.S. 
1918-9 StanLey Epwarps, F.L.S., ETC. (dec.) 1975 M. G. Morris, M.A., PH.D., F.R.E.S. 
1920-1 K. G. Bair, B.sc., F.E.s. (dec.) 1976 W. G. TREMEWAN, M.I.BIOL. 
1922 E. J. Bunnett, m.a. (dec.) 1977 R. Tusps, 0.B.E., F.R.1.B.A., F.R.E.S. 
1923-4 N. D. Ritey, F.z.s., F.E.s. (dec.) 1978 G. Prior, F.L.S., F.R-E.S (dec.) 
1925-6 T. H. L. Grosvenor, F.E.s. (dec.) 1979 Rev. D. J. L. AGassiz, M.A. 
1927-8 E. A. CocKkAYNE, D.M., F.R.C.P., F.E.S. (dec.) 1980 R. FairRCLOUGH, F.R-E.S. 
1929 H. W. Anprews, Fes. (dec.) 1981 A. E. Stusss, B.SC., F.R.E.S. 
1930 F. B. Carr (dec.) 1982 J. HeaTH, F.R.E.S. (dec.) 
1930 C. N. Hawkins, F.k.s. (dec.) 1983 B. R. BAKER, B.SC., A.M.A., F.R.E.S. 
1931 K. G. Bair, B.SC., F.Z.S., F.E.S. (dec.) 1984 P. A. SOKOLOFF, M.SC., M.I.BIOL., F.R.E.S 
1932 T. H. L. Grosvenor, F.E.s. (dec.) 1985 P. J. BAKER, C.ENG., F.R.H.S. 
1933 C. G. M. De Worms, M.A., PH.D., 1986 J. M. Cuacmers-Hunt, F.R.E.S 

A.LC., F.R.E.S., M.B.0.U. (dec.) 1987 Prof. J. A. Owen, M.D., PH.D., F.R.E.S. 
1934 T. R. Eactes (dec.) 1988 I. F. G. MCLEAN, PH.D., F.R.E.S. 
1935 E. E. Sys, F-.R.E.s. (dec.) 1989 Mrs F. M. Murpny, B.sc 
1936 M. Nistett (dec.) 1990 C. W. PLant, B.SC., F.R.E.S. 
1937 F. J. Courson (dec.) 1991 A. J. HALsTEAD, M.SC 
1938 F. Sranvey-SMith, F.R.E.s. (dec.) 1992 J. MUGGLETON, M.SC. PH.D. M.I. BIOL., F.R.E.S 
1939 H. B. Wiitiams, LL.D., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 1993 D. LonsDALE, PH.D, B.SC. 
1940 E. A. CockayNe, D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S. (dec.) 1994 P. M. Warina, M.A., PH.D., F.R.E.S. 

ANNOUNCEMENT 


Bedfordshire butterflies and moths—I am taking part in an historical review of 
Bedfordshire Lepidoptera since the beginning of the century when the Victoria County 
History was published and have been looking for early records. Recently I was very 
pleased to find a few specimens taken by W. G. Nash who collected in the early part 
of this century. His collection was sold in the 1930s and some of it came into the 
BENHS collections and thence to members as ‘‘duplicates’’. I would be most interested 
to hear from anyone who has any of his specimens or indeed any others from 
Bedfordshire in their collection. Charles Baker, 3 Holywell Close, Studham, Dunstable, 
Beds., LU6 2PB. 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 


19 


2, 


10 
1Y/ 


VOLUME 8, PART 1, JANUARY 1995 


ARTICLES 


The distribution and habits of the small carpenter bee Ceratina cyanea (Kirby, 1802) 
(Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Britain. G. R. ELSE 


A further study of the behavioural patterns of six species of British butterfly whilst in copula. 
S. A. KNILL-JONES 


Rheotanytarsus rioensis (Diptera: Chironomidae), a new species of the pentapoda group 
from the Canary Islands. P. H. LANGTON AND P. D. ARMITAGE 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 


Report of the discussion meeting held on 12 May 1992 to consider invertebrate conservation 
in the United Kingdom. S. R. MILES 


Editorial. County names in records 


BOOK REVIEWS 
Australian beetles 
The book of the spider 


Insect conservation biology 


{ 
BS5Q2 
MARCH 1995 ISSN 0952-7583 Vol. 8, Part 2 


an 8 Be oe 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


Published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History 
Society and incorporating its 
Proceedings and Transactions 


Price: £6.00 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
Editor: 
Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 


(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


Rev. D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D. T. G. Howarth, B.E. 

R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. I. F. G. McLean, Ph.D., F.RESS. 

E. S. Bradford Mrs F. M. Murphy, B. Sc. 

P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.I.Biol. T. R. E. Southwood, K.B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. Hawkins, M.A. B. K. West, B.Ed. 

P. J. Hodge 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, 
Hurst, Reading, Berkshire RG10O OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


©1995 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal 
Entomological Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL 
EXHIBITION is planned for Saturday 28 October 1995 at Imperial College, London SW7. 
Frequent Field Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome at 
all meetings. The current Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, 
R. F. McCormick, at the address given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, 
which are open to members on the second and fourth Sundays of each month, telephone 
01734-321402 for the latest meeting news. 


Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 


Subscriptions and changes of address to the Assistant Treasurer: M. G. Telfer, 12 Jasmine 
Close, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7NE. 


Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of 
the Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, 
Reading, Berkshire RG3 6FB. 


Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: 
R. D. Hawkins, 30d Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 


General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, 
Devon TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. ES 

Cover illustration: The elephant hawkmoth, Deilephila elpenor (L.). Photo: Robin 
Williams. 

NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs forblack and white reproduction 
on the front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on aesthetic 
value rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or black 
and white prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 33 


BRITISH SPECIES OF METOPIA (DIPTERA: SARCOPHAGIDAE) 
WITH TWO SPECIES NEW TO BRITAIN 


NIGEL P. WYATT 
Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD 
AND STEVEN J. FALK 


Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry CV1 5QP. 


The flesh-flies (family Sarcophagidae) are medium sized to large silvery or yellowish- 
grey pollinose flies, usually with tessellate, spotted or banded patterns on the abdomen. 
The world fauna consists of approximately 2500 species, of which 56 were included 
in the most recently published checklist of the British fauna (Kloet & Hincks, 1976); 
however this total has now increased to 59 following subsequent additions and 
amendments (Rognes, 1986; Pape, 1987; Wyatt & Sterling, 1988; Wyatt, 1991). Four 
subfamilies are recognized by Verves (1986) of which two, the Sarcophaginae and 
Paramacronychiinae, have mainly necrophagous or parasitic larvae (either with 
invertebrate hosts or acting as agents of myiasis in mammals), while the other two, 
Macronychiinae and Miltogrammatinae, are mainly cleptoparasites with their larvae 
developing within the nests of aculeate Hymenoptera. 

Sarcophagids are represented by a substantially larger number of species in 
Continental Europe than in the British Isles: for example, Pape (1987) gives accounts 
of 30 species of Miltogrammatinae recorded in Fennoscandia and Denmark, while 
only nine are known from Britain (Kloet & Hincks, 1976) including only two species 
of Metopia: M. campestris (Fallén) and M. argyrocephala (Meigen). Here we record 
a further two species of Metopia, M. staegerii (Rondani) and M. grandii Venturi, 
both of which are widely distributed in the western Palaearctic and eastwards, and 
we provide a key for their identification. 

There is a key to British Sarcophagidae (Emden, 1954—as a subfamily of Calliphoridae), 
but this now requires updating. Some species may be more easily identified by using 
more recently published keys to the western Palaearctic fauna, such as that by Pape 
(1987) which includes most of the British species including all of the Miltogrammatinae, 
and provides illustrations of the diagnostic characters for species of Metopia. Verves 
(1986) regards staegerii as a junior synonym of argentata Macquart, the latter being 
an older name, which may therefore be preferred in future publications. 


KEY TO BRITISH SPECIES OF METOPIA 


1. Middle tibia with 1 av seta. Male: fore tarsus with very long posterior hairs, the 
longest up to 4 times the width of the tarsus itself; frons with broad dark frontal 
vitta approximately 3.3 times as broad as fronto-orbital plates, thus lacking an 
SRLCUSIV CNY SILVED UTOMS Um. 0st). iP a. Palle ob. utd wnt M. campestris (Fallén) 
Recorded from nests of Pompilidae, Vespidae and Sphecidae. England, Wales, 
Scotland (north to Sutherland), Ireland, generally distributed. 


—Middle tibia without av seta. Male: fore tarsus without or with only short hairs 
BOePencMOnSUTlace LCs mee sh AAG Ae BAGELS: psec Dye anon dee wre remaey 2 

2. Abdomen: syntergite 1+2 lacking median marginal setae. Male: dark frontal 
vitta 3.5 times as broad as fronto-orbital plates, thus lacking an extensively 
UG IMIS ES - Wie ices hie ASS. £ seca as ctslstane oo rierAd cheb M. grandii Venturi 
Hosts unknown. Southern England and Wales, northwards to Glamorgan, 
Worcestershire and Norfolk. 


34 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


— Abdomen: syntergite 1 + 2 usually with a pair of median marginal setae, but these 
occasionally weak or absent. Male with broad contiguous,fronto-orbital plates, 
obliterating the median vitta, thus frons extensively silver (females of following 


species. presently inseparable)! ji... 24 Gos. Oe 00s gs 5s oe es > Oe 3 
3. Male: fore tarsus with long curled hairs on posterior surface, the longest 1.5 times 
the width Of the tarsus’... eR ok Bead. wee cutee M. staegerii (Rondani) 


Hosts unknown. Fairly widespread but local, England: Devon, Suffolk, Norfolk, 
Oxon; Scotland: Forfar, Moray. 


— Male: fore tarsus without long hairs on posterior surface ...............sceeseeeeees 
SE ee er ces See Te oe Cos ae ae M. argyrocephala (Meigen) 
Recorded from nests of Vespidae, Sphecidae and Apidae. England, Wales, Scotland 
(to Moray Firth), generally distributed. 


M. argyrocephala and M. campestris remain the two most frequently encountered 
British species, with a wide distribution encompassing both inland and coastal areas. 
These two Metopia species are cleptoparasites of various aculeates; Pape (1987) cites 
that both M. argyrocephala and M. campestris are recorded from a variety of ground- 
nesting aculeate species, especially sphecids, but also a few vespids, apids and 
pompilids. There are no published biological data available yet for M. staegerii or 
M. grandii, but it is likely that their biology is similar, but perhaps with differences 
in the range of host species, or in the preferred location of the host nest. 


METOPIA STAEGERII RONDANI, 1859 


This species is predominantly recorded from coastal dunes, but it has also been 
taken at inland sites with sandy soil in Oxfordshire and Suffolk. At Winterton Dunes 
in east Norfolk males were observed to be especially common basking on birch shrubs 
on mid dune while others were on hind dune areas together with M. argyrocephala, 
and at Elvedon Holiday Village in the west Suffolk Breck a solitary male was collected 
with a series of M. argyrocephala on chalk heath with scrub and conifer plantations. 

Females of M; staegerii cannot be separated from those of M. argyrocephala. All 
current British records are based on males. 

Material examined and other records (BMNH: The Natural History Museum, 
London; OUM: Hope Entomological Collections, Oxford University Museum). S. 
Devon: Dawlish Warren (SX9676), two males, 29.vi.1957 and 26.vii.1962, G. M. 
Spooner (BMNH). N. Devon: Maiden Down (ST0716), two males, 9-16.vii.1949, 
E. C. M. d’Assis Fonseca; 9.vii.1949, J. Cowley (BMNH); Braunton Burrows 
(SS4534), 21.vi. 1987, S. J. Falk. Oxon: Shotover (SP5606), 6.viii.1903, A. H. Hamm 
(OUM). W. Suffolk: Elvedon Holiday Village (TL8080), one male, 23.vii.1994, S. 
J. Falk. E. Norfolk: Winterton Dunes (TG4920), 7.vii.1993, S. J. Falk. England: 
one male, no locality or date, A. Piffard (BMNH). Forfar: Monifieth (NO4932), 
6.vi.1915, 24.vi.1917, A. E. J. Carter (QUM). Moray: Culbin Sands (NH9862), 
14.vi.1984, J. H. Cole (pers. comm.). Also occurs widely elsewhere in the western 
Palaearctic east to the Altai Mountains. 


METOPIA GRANDII VENTURI, 1952 


This species has been recorded mainly from inland sites. At Sot’s hole in 
Staffordshire a male was found resting on oak foliage beside a sandy bank, whereas 
another male collected at Woodbastwick Fen in East Norfolk was found on bramble 
foliage in an area of damp woodland and fen with little light soil in the vicinity. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 35 


Material examined and other records. S. Devon: River Tamar, one male, 10.vii.1949, 
E. C. M. d’Assis Fonseca (BMNH). Somerset: Dunster (SS9943), one male, 24.v.1953, 
E. C. M. d’Assis Fonseca (BMNH). W. Kent: Woolwich Wood, one male, 30.vii.1953, 
E. C. M. d’Assis Fonseca (BMNH). E. Norfolk: Woodbastwick Fen (TG3316), 
5.vii.1993, S. J. Falk. Herefordshire: Stoke Wood (SOS53), one male, 24.vii.1902, 
J. H. Wood (BMNH). Worcestershire: Wyre Forest, one male, 3.vi.1934, C. J. 
Wainwright (BMNH). Staffordshire: Sot’s Hole, West Bromwich (SP0192), one male, 
8.viii. 1986, M. Bloxham. S. Glamorgan: Kenfig Hill, one male, 5.vi.1903 (SS7981), 
Col. J. W. Yerbury (BMNH). Also occurs widely elsewhere in the Palaearctic region, 
from western Europe to Japan. 


The authors recommend that all British records of Metopia species are reappraised. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


Thanks are due to John Ismay and Jonathan Cole for providing extra records of 
M. staegerii, and to Mike Bloxham for the extra record of M. grandii. 


REFERENCES 


Emden, F. I. van, 1954. Diptera Cyclorrhapha Calyptrata (1), section (a): Tachinidae and 
Calliphoridae. Handbk. Ident. Br. Insects 10(4a): pp. 133 

Kloet, G. S. & Hincks, W. D. 1976. A checklist of British insects (second edition), part 5: Diptera 
and Siphonaptera. Handbk Ident. Br. Insects 11: pp. 139. 

Pape, T. 1987. The Sarcophagidae (Diptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Ent. Scand. 
19: pp. 203. 

Rognes, K. 1986. The systematic position of the genus Helicobosca Bezzi with a discussion of 
the monophyly of the calyptrate families Calliphoridae, Rhinophoridae, Sarcophagidae 
and Tachinidae (Diptera). Ent. Scand. 17: 75-92. 

Verves, Y. G. 1986. Family Sarcophagidae. In: Soos, A. & Papp, L. (Eds). Catalogue of 
Palaearctic Diptera, Volume 12, Sarcophagidae-Calliphoridae, pp. 58-193. 

Wyatt, N. P. 1991. Notes on Sarcophagidae (Dipt.), including one species new to Ireland, one 
new to science from England and Malta and a change in the British list. Entomologist’s 
Mon. Mag. 127: 1-6. 

Wyatt, N. P. & Sterling, P. H. 1988. Parasites of the brown-tail moth Euproctis chrysorrhoea 
(L.) (Lep., Lymantriidae), including two Diptera (Tachinidae, Sarcophagidae) new to Britain. 
Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 124: 207-214. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Die Schmetterlinge Osterreichs (Lepidoptera). Systematisches Verzeichnis mit 
Verbreitungsangaben fir die einzelnen Bundeslander, by P. Huemer & G. Tarmann. 
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, 1993, 224 pages, Price OSch 200, 
(about £12).—Although Austria is some distance across Europe from Britain, this 
nicely-produced list of the Lepidoptera of that country will be of great interest to 
British lepidopterists, for several reasons. 

Following some introductory remarks, a list of superfamilies, families and 
subfamilies is given, with the number of Austrian representatives in each category: 
this makes a useful and readily accessible comparison with our own fauna. For 
example, the list gives 207 Austrian Coleophoridae, 45 Sesiidae, 310 Pyraloidea, 25 
Hesperioidea, 187 Papilionoidea, 463 Geometridae and 582 Noctuidae in a total 
lepidopterous fauna of nearly 4000 species. The sequence of superfamilies, which 


36 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


reflects the result of recent research, may come as a surprise to some of us: for instance, 
Cossoidea, Sesioidea, Zygaenoidea and Choreutoidea are placed just before the 
Tortricoidea; Urodoidea, Schreckensteinioidea, Epermenioidea, Alucitoidea, 
Pterophoroidea and Copromorphoidea are placed between Tortricoidea and 
Pyraloidea; and the Lasiocampoidea and Bombycoidea (which includes Sphingidae) 
come before the butterflies. 

The main list is attractively presented and easy to read, but all taxonomic categories 
are in italics. Reference back to the introductory list, in which Roman characters 
are usefully employed, suggests this may have been inadvertent. The species are 
numbered, giving a total of 3963 species, and a table to the right of the species list 
indicates records of each species in the 10 Austrian provinces (Ldnder)—an extremely 
interesting bonus. The sequence of species in some families may be unfamiliar and, 
although in line with some recent studies, is still controversial and unlikely to be the 
last word. There appears to be general agreement at present that the most satisfactory 
arrangement of Noctuidae commences with Herminiinae and concludes with Agrotis, 
and Huemer and Tarmann adhere to the sequence proposed by Fibiger & Hacker 
(1990). Another change which is adopted here is in the pyrales, in which a sound 
overview remains a problem. The Pyraloidea are composed of two taxa accorded 
full family ranking: Pyralidae comprising Galleriinae, Pyralinae and Phycitinae, and 
Crambidae in which Crambinae, Nymphulinae, Schoenobiinae, Scopariinae, 
Heliothelinae, Evergestinae, Odontiinae, Glaphyriinae and Pyraustinae are included. 

A consequence of intensive research into some taxonomic groups has resulted in 
a proliferation of genera which this reviewer considers unfortunate. Other workers 
have made sensible use of the subgenus to indicate differences between groups of 
species, for example in Zygaenidae and Noctuidae. No subgenera are indicated in 
the presently reviewed work, but full play is made with novel genera, particularly 
those proposed by Beck and by Berio for Noctuidae, and a number of them refer 
to British species. Thus in Sesiidae, we now have Pyropteron chrysidiformis and 
Synansphecia muscaeformis, and in Noctuidae Pyramidcampa pyramidea and 
P. berbera, Loscopia scolopacina, Leucapamea ophiogramma, Eremobina 
pabulatricula, Melanarta melanopa, Coranarta cordigera, Aneda rivularis 
(=cucubali), Colonsideridis albicolon, Putagrotis puta and more. Apart from 
devaluing the rank of genus, cross-reference to other recently published lists is made 
more difficult, especially when no generic synonymy is given. A further plethora of 
irritating changes results from the concept that the species name is adjectival to, and 
not in apposition to, the generic name, affecting particularly certain Geometridae, 
in genera such as Perizoma. 

Subspecific rankings are used sparingly; it would have been helpful to include the 
nominotypical combination, with author and date, in square brackets, where this does 
not occur in Austria, e.g. with 3900 Standfussiana lucernea and 3912 Xestia alpicola. 

There is a useful list of species which have been incorrectly reported from Austria 
in the past, an extensive table of annotations concerning unconfirmed records, a very 
full bibliography and separate indices for species and for higher taxa. 

Misprints are annoying in any work, but an abomination in a definitive check list. 
They are very difficult to eliminate altogether, and even this carefully-produced work 
has its share, such, aptly, as 2866 hulimiata for humiliata! 

This is the first list of the Lepidoptera of Austria to have been written, and is a 
valuable addition to the published faunas of the European countries. 


B. GOATER 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 37 


THE LIFE CYCLE, DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS OF HYPENA 
OBSITALIS (HUBN.) (LEPIDOPTERA: NOCTUIDAE) IN 
DEVONSHIRE 


ANTHONY H. DOBSON 
282 Britten Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG22 4HR. 


This is an account of further studies into the life cycle, distribution and habits of 
Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.) (the Bloxworth snout) since the discovery of a colony by 
the author on the Torbay coast (Dobson, 1991). The same field work techniques that 
were used during the 1990 to 1994 investigations were also used in the same area during 
1947 to 1959 when the author’s home was in Torquay, suggesting very strongly that 
the species did not then occur in the Torbay area. Alas now living in Hampshire, 
it has not been possible to carry out a weekly survey throughout the year, but the 
data provided should illustrate the moth’s life cycle and habits in Devonshire. 

Following the discovery of the colony on 2 and 3.viii.1990, Dr Barry Henwood 
obtained a female obsitalis on 8.viii at the same location (Henwood, 1991). Of the 
four larvae received in the post from him, two were fed with Parietaria judaica L. 
and the others with Urtica dioica L.; the former two were reared successfully and 
resulting imagines emerged on 15.ix.1990, but the latter two struggled and died before 
pupating. As the imagines had been set for exhibiting, the cycle through to the 
following year could not be studied. 

In the Channel Islands the imago has been recorded in every month of the year 
except February during 1960 and 1963 and on 8.ii.1972 over 200 were counted 
overwintering in an old German bunker (Emmett & Heath, 1983). It has also been 
found in garden sheds, garages and other buildings (Skinner, 1984). To find possible 
overwintering sites, the location was visited on 19.i.1991. Using a beating tray and 
a stick, an attempt was made to find or dislodge specimens from possible hiding places: 
low hedges, tangled undergrowth, scrub on upper cliff slopes, rabbit holes and deep 
crevices in the cliff just above the beach, but without success. 

From the August 1991 breeding of ova and larvae sent through the post by Barry 
Henwood and Bernard Skinner, seven specimens were retained for overwintering. 
From 12 to 17.ix the imagines were put into a clear plastic box, dimensions 
279 x 159 x 102 mm with Parietaria judaica L., tissue and a small cotton wool ball 
soaked in red wine steeped in sugar to give the moths sustenance. The plastic box 
was placed on the raised carpeted floor of a wooden shed in Basingstoke. However 
on 21.ix, the maximum day temperature in the shade outside the shed was 23.5 °C 
and because the imagines were so lively, the container was kept for a week during 
daylight hours in a cool bedroom and at night in the shed. At dusk on 29.ix five 
were lively when disturbed, one was crippled and one dead. At dawn on 5.x, when 
the temperature was 6 °C and the imagines in a state of torpor, the five healthy 
imagines were transferred to another container with similar contents. It was then 
discovered that two ova had been laid on a piece of tissue. The imagines then remained 
in a state of torpor. After a hard frost outside, minimum temperature of — 3.5 °C, 
during the night of 6/7.xii, they were examined next morning and found still alive, 
though in torpor. With even severer frosts forecast, newspaper was wrapped around 
the container, which was placed on boxes about a metre off the floor. During the 
night of 10/11.xii the minimum temperature outside was — 8.5°C, and the next day 
three imagines were dead and the ova collapsed. A bag of potatoes covered with 
newspapers in the shed was also frosted. The following night there was another severe 
frost, minimum temperature —8 °C, during which the remaining two succumbed. 


38 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


From observations of the imagines in the shed, at 15 °C or higher outside temperature, 
the moths were very alert and any movement in the shed would result in them flying, 
particularly at dusk. From 14°C down to 7 °C they were quiet and would not fly 
unless the container was tapped and below 7 °C outside temperature, they were in 
a state of torpor. In the protection of the shed they survived an outside temperature 
of —3.5 °C, but in their habitat it is feared they would not survive a temperature 
lower than —5°C in their overwintering site. It has been found since that the shed 
temperature is 1 °C warmer on a cold night than the outside temperature. The probable 
overwintering sites would be in a deep cover of scrub, ivy and vegetation, because 
of a lack of suitable buildings in most locations. The species can survive the winter 
in south Devonshire with its milder climate and close proximity to the sea. However, 
if the south Devonshire coast were to experience a severe winter, the species would 
die out. 

The next step was to find when overwintering imagines would awaken. A careful 
watch was kept on the weather forecasts and in recording temperature, making an 
allowance for the south Devonshire coast. The temperature at dusk first reached 16 °C 
on 14.v.1992. On 24.v with a dusk temperature of 16 °C the location was visited from 
dusk onwards. No imagines were in flight. Parietaria and Urtica were swept vigorously 
to check if there were any larvae. One female was swept out from a thick growth 
of Parietaria deep within the hedge and close to the thick vegetation on the other 
side. The following night also with optimum weather conditions for most other species 
with many moths again in flight, not one obsitalis was seen, probably due to the 
temperature being only 13 °C. Then a return to Hampshire had to be made. Bob 
Heckford (pers. comm.) informed me later that on 12.vi. he saw two worn imagines 
at two locations. On 20.vi another evening visit was made, but no imagines were seen. 
The Parietaria that had not been cut by the council workmen was searched randomly 
for ova and then tapped with a stick over a beating tray but no ova or larvae were 
found. So it appeared that overwintering specimens were reappearing during late May 
to early June and the ova probably overlooked. 

With a long illness in 1993, the author was unable to visit Devonshire, but with 
improved health in 1994, was determined to find first brood larvae, the second brood 
larvae having been found on 22.viii.1992 in another location (Pickles, 1993). An 
estimation had to be made for suitable dates for finding the larvae. Breeding the 
second brood in captivity took 5 days for the ovum, 16 days for the larva, 16 days 
for the pupa, resulting in a total of 37 days (Henwood, 1991). Calculating 
forward from imagines seen on 12.vi, larvae should be found from 17.vi to 3.vii. 
Calculating back from imagines on 2.viii (Dobson, 1991) and 11.viii (Henwood & 
Skinner, pers. comm.), larvae should be found from 2 to 17.vii and from 10 to 27.vii 
respectively. A holiday to south Devonshire was booked for the week 16 to 23.vii. 
Unbeknown to the author, Roy McCormick made visits to three of the locations and 
David Wedd made one to the second location during 1994. Their records have been 
added to the 1994 results. 

To protect the species, locality and local feature designations and map references 
have been omitted. All locations listed are within the Torbay Borough Constituency 
Boundary and are on or near an imaginary north-north-west to south-south-east line 
spanning 10.5 km. Height and distance measurements are either based as accurately 
as possible on Ordnance Survey map data or estimated. 

First location: hedgerow with good growth of Parietaria judaica L. up to 1.25m 
in height amongst Urtica dioica L. and other herbage beneath a canopy of shrubs 
and trees; aspect—east and shaded, 105 m above sea level and 220 m from the sea; 
known history—female, early viii.1991 (B. P. Henwood, pers. comm.), imagines 1992 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 39 


(Clarke, 1993), 9.vi.1994 none (R. F. McC.), 17.vii.1994 Parietaria and Urtica searched 
and beaten, foliage disturbed, none, though probably in pupal stage, if there (A. H. D). 

Second location: horizontal cleft in cliff, third of way up from beach between scree 
and scattered herbage below and overhanging rock above with restricted Parietaria 
growth with nearby dense herbage and foliage against cliff, also adjacent footpaths 
with Parietaria growth along sides and with empty and inhabited buildings nearby; 
aspect—cliff, north-north-east and shaded, paths, various and sunny or shaded, 
30 to 10m above sea level, 15 to 40 m from the sea; known history—22.viii.1992, 
larvae from which imagines were bred from 16.ix.1992 (Pickles, 1993), 7.vi.1994 
none, 17.vii.1994 cliff site, tapping some Parietaria onto beating tray produced 
one larva in third and three in fourth instars, edge of path beneath fencing, one fifth 
instar larva on Parietaria (A. H. D.) (third instar larva died in the next instar, 
parasitized, the cocoon posted to Dr A. A. Allen, who bred on 5.viii.1994, a female 
Metorus colon (Hal.) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a species attacking a wide range 
of lepidoptera larvae and which does not seem attached to a particular habitat or 
larval strategy), the fourth and fifth instar larvae produced imagines on 2 and 
3.vili.1994), 3.viii.1994 imago and larvae, 13 and 22.viii.1994 larvae (R. F. McC.), 
25.viii. 1994 larvae in last instar, which produced imagines which laid third brood 
ova in September, and worn imagines (D. J. W.). 

Third location: rocks and sparse herbage near path at base of cliffs; aspect—east 
and sunny until mid-afternoon, seen 7m above sea level, 12m from sea; known 
history—12.vi.1992, worn imago (R. J. H.), 19.vii.1994 whole area searched above 
and below cliffs, which are now too dangerous to climb, no Parietaria in sight, deep 
clefts in upper cliffs for overwintering imagines. Nearest Parietaria found on wall of 
car park 400 m away as the crow flies, full grown larvae of Autographa gamma (L.) 
beaten out and a larva in its second instar which looked like obsitalis, but proved 
to be gamma in the third instar. 

Fourth location: coastal path with mostly low compact hedges with lush growth of 
Parietaria in places, but many plants next to path were cut down by council workmen 
during the first half of June, 1994; a derelict garden shed found nearby, but most of 
roof missing so little protection for overwintering imagines; low thick scrub down to 
cliffs, danger of cliff fall to part of path; aspect—south-west to south-east, sunny 
except for one continuously shaded patch of Parietaria, 20 to 35 m above sea level, 
five to 50 m from the sea; known history—2 and 3.vili.1990, 12 imagines (Dobson, 
1991), 8.viii.1990, female (Henwood, 1991), 29.vii.1991, male (A. H. D.), 11.viii.1991 
two females (B. P. Henwood & B. F. Skinner), 6.ix.1991, imago (Heckford, 1992), 
24.v.1992, female (A. H. D.), 12.vi.1992, one worn imago, (R. J. H.), 10.vi.1994 
none (R. F. McC.) (temperature not high enough for flight), morning 19.vii.1994 
using beating tray under Parietaria produced larvae of Vanessa atalanta (L.) and 
Autographa gamma (L.), but no obsitalis. Towards end of beating session a male 
flew out of a bush. Parietaria growing in the shady area was collected to feed larvae 
back at the cottage, later when checking the foodplant before putting it into larvae 
containers, three scattered ova under one leaf later produced gamma larvae and 
two singleton ova under other leaves produced obsitalis larvae; night 20/21 .vii.1994 
pre-dusk to 22.00 hours, seven imagines, one female ovipositing on Parietaria near 
where ova had been found, at 00.05 hours, one imago and at 00.45 hours, two imagines 
in flight (A. H. D.); 3.viii.1994 none, 26.viii.1994 larvae (R. F. McC.). 

Fifth location: cliff top site, short grass with Parietaria growing at base of walls; 
aspect—various and sunny, except in shade cast by walls, 52 m above sea level, 120 m 
from the sea; known history—28.vii.1989, one female at M. V. light (Henwood, 1991) 
and believed to have been a migrant, the first confirmed county record, 22.vii.1994 


40 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


a brief visit at 22.30 hours, two females, one ovipositing on Parietaria, and a male 
seen (A. H. D.). 

From a few ova, ex female secured on 20.vii.1994, secondebrood imagines were 
bred on 21 and 22.viii.1994. The two kept for overwintering have been going into 
and out of torpor with the range of temperature experienced. They are still alive today 
(9.x.1994) but now in torpor with the overnight temperature in the shed having dropped 
to 2 °C. To facilitate recharging the contents of the plastic box when the temperatures 
were higher, the box was kept in the refrigerator overnight so that at 5 °C next morning 
the imagines were in a state of torpor. 

Regarding flight habits, the original statements (Dobson, 1991) still remain true, 
though the moth will fly after midnight. The species usually ignores light; only two 
of the 1994 imagines flew towards torch light. The species was attracted neither to 
Barry Henwood’s bulb over a sheet nor to Dobson’s actinic (Heath) trap, 1.5 and 2m 
respectively from the imagines’ flight paths. 

Abroad, Urtica dioica is a recorded foodplant and the Iford, Dorset specimen was seen 
amongst nettles (Emmett & Heath, 1983). In south Devon, the only foodplant appears 
to be Parietaria judaica; however, the few Urtica plants seen could have been worked 
at the wrong time or overlooked in preference to Parietaria with which the author was 
having success. It is still advisable for others to work both plants. In captivity the species 
has been reared successfully on Soleira soleirolii (Dandy) (Riley, 1992). The ovum and 
larva in the early instars could be confused with Autographa gamma (L.). The ovum of 
gamma in its development turns to a shade of pale green similar to obsitalis. Its larva in 
the first two instars is like obsitalis in its stance at rest, colour and markings but it has 
three pairs of prolegs compared to the four pairs of obsitalis. The larva does seem to 
prefer shady places (Seitz, 1914). The pupa of obsitalis has not yet been found in the 
wild on mainland Britain; in captivity the larva spins a flimsy cocoon amongst leaves 
of Parietaria out of which the pupa can fall, when the leaves are moved. 

The life cycle in Torbay will now be compared with statements in literature. It was 
believed that obsitalis was ‘single-brooded, flying from August to October and after 
hibernation in May and June’ (Skinner, 1984). From the data, there appears to be 
a staggered awakening from the overwintering state from late May to mid-June. This 
could be the result of weather and variation between the aspects and micro-climates 
of the locations. The earliest first brood cycle commenced with ova laid in early June 
resulting in imagines about 17.vii as witnessed in locations four and five. The latest 
first brood cycle with ova laid at the end of June resulted in imagines emerging in 
early August and with larvae on 17.vii as witnessed in location two. The second brood 
imagines emerge from late August to mid-September with a flight period until mid- 
October, earlier or later according to the temperature. All these cycles can be affected 
by the weather; in 1990, June was the dullest, coolest and wettest for many years 
resulting in the first brood imagines flying in early August in location four. Could 
there be a third brood? Dobson and Wedd have experienced ova of a third brood 
being laid in captivity, but there is no evidence yet of it taking place in nature in 
the British Isles. In Continental literature there is some confusion over the broods, 
probably the result of an extended ovipositing period and overlapping broods; in May 
and June and in August and September. Observed in May and December in Portugal, 
the larva lives in April and May and in the late summer (Spuler, 1908); south of France, 
southern Europe, north Africa and Asia Minor, moth from April to September, 
sometimes later according to terrain, larva in Spring (Culot, 1914-17); localities chiefly 
in southern France, June, July to October (Lhomme, 1923-35); in Alsace, Valais 
and southern Alps to 1000 m, mostly common in two to three not clearly separated 
generations from early June, overwintering to mid-May, the moth comes into houses 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 41 


to overwinter, larvae from May and in the autumn (Forster & Wohlfahrt, 1971); 
throughout the whole year, often captured in caves and dark places (Calle, 1983); 
Greece, flight period March to December, two or three generations, adults of autumn 
generation overwinter in caves, holes and buildings (Hacker, 1989). The flight periods 
do vary according to terrain and latitude, hence June to October in France and March 
to December in Greece. Could Spuler’s statement imply that ova overwintered or 
did he overlook a March flight? The earlier authors appear to have been unaware 
of overwintering. A number of sites for overwintering on the Continent and the 
Channel Islands have been mentioned but as yet none has been found in Devon and 
it is hoped that further work will be carried out by others to resolve this. However 
the Rye, Sussex specimen of 6.i11.1983 being disturbed in a garage, flew and resettled 
on a beam (Tweedie, 1983) (the previous September being good for migrant moths, 
followed by a very mild winter, strongly suggest that the specimen overwintered). 

It has been suggested that obsitalis occurred in south Devon, in the late 19th century, 
but the only statement that has been found is the late Captain Stidston’s: ‘In my 
own collection there are eight specimens rather old and worn. I recognise my setting 
of early collecting days and therefore may have been taken in the South Hams district 
but, of course, the record cannot stand’ (Stidston, 1952). The species is now established 
in Torbay and further to the south Roy McCormick (pers. comm.) has found larvae 
on 16.viii.1994 in a location by the mouth of the River Dart. David Wedd (pers. 
comm.) has found larvae common on Parietaria in an open site on the north Cornwall 
coast, but it is very doubtful if this colony was established by the 1943 migrant specimen 
at Boscastle, for the extremely low temperatures of the 1947 severe winter would have 
wiped out any colonies in the south-west. If such weather does not recur, the future 
prospects for this species on mainland Britain are good. Parasitism is low at present 
and the colonies, being on or close to cliffs, should be safe from development. It 
should be found in more localities, where its foodplant occurs, from Land’s End 
to the Isle of Purbeck. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I should like to thank Dr A. A. Allen for his help with identifying the parasite, 
B. Goater and A. J. Pickles for loosely translating and providing Continental 
references, and Dr J. H. Clarke, R. J. Heckford, Dr B. P. Henwood, R. F. 
McCormick, A. J. Pickles, B. F. Skinner, Miss M. A. Turner and D. J. Wedd for 
their help in supplying records and/or information. 


REFERENCES 


Calle, J. A. 1983. Noctuidos Espanoles. Madrid, Vol. 1, p. 171. 

Clarke, J. H. 1993. [Examples of summer and autumn broods of Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.). 
Exhibit at BENHS Annual Exhibition, 1992.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 6: 54. 

Culot, J. 1914-17. Noctuelles et géométres d’Europe. Geneva, Vol. 2, Noctuelles, pp. 225-226. 

Dobson, A. H. 1991. Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) temporarily established 
in Devonshire. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 4: 64. 

Emmet, A. M. & Heath, J. (Eds). 1983. The moths and butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Harley Books, Colchester, Vol. 10, p. 387. 

Forster, W. & Wohlfahrt, T. A. 1971. Die Schmetterlinge Mitteleuropas: Eulen (noctuidae). 
Stuttgart, Vol. 1, p. 310. 

Hacker, H. 1989. Herbipoliana. Mark Tleuthen, Germany, Vol. 2, die noctuidae Griechenlands, 
p. 408. 

Heckford, R. J. 1992. [Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.) from Torbay. Exhibit at BENHS Annual 
Exhibition, 1991.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 56. 


42 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Henwood, B. P. 1991 Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) bred in Devon; 
Entomologist’s Gaz. 42: 81-83. 

Lhomme, L. 1923-35. Catalogue des lépidoptéres de France et de Belgique. Le Carriol, Vol. 
leepsoane 

Pickles, A. J. 1993. Larvae of Bloxworth snout Hypena obsitalis (Lep: Hypeninae) in Devon. 
Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 105: 37. 

Riley, A. M. 1992. A new larval foodplant for captive rearing of Hypena obsitalis Hubner, 
the Bloxworth snout. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 104: 82. 

Seitz, A. 1914. Macrolepidoptera of the world. Stuttgart, Vol. 3, Palaearctic Noctuidae, 
pp. 435-436. 

Skinner, B. 1984. Colour identification guide to moths of the British Isles. Viking, London, p. 156. 

Spuler, A. 1908. Die Schmetterlinge Europas, Stuttgart, Vol. 1, p. 330. 

Stidston, S. T. 1952. A list of the Lepidoptera of Devon. Devonshire Association Entomological 
Section, Torquay, part 1 and introduction, p. 49. 

Tweedie, M. W. F. 1983. The Bloxworth snout: Hypena obsitalis Hbn in 1983. Entomologist’s 
Rec. J. Var. 95: 126. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


Microlepidoptera of Middlesex: an appeal for records.—Following on from the 
success of the recent publication of Larger moths of the London area the London 
Natural History Society now proposes to work towards publication of a checklist 
of the microlepidoptera of Middlesex. It is expected that this exercise may take about 
5 years to complete. 

The term Middlesex involves the entire vice-county 21 and thus includes all the 
London boroughs north of the River Thames with the exception of the five lying 
east of the River Lea; these five are in South Essex. Middlesex also incorporates some 
areas which lie in the current administrative county of Hertfordshire, notably the 
Potters Bar area. Records are actively sought from appropriate persons for all those 
families generally regarded as ‘‘micros’’—thus including the Psychidae which were 
formerly referred to as ‘‘macros’’, as well as those which are sometimes referred to 
as ‘‘mesolepidoptera’’ (Tortricidae, Alucitidae, Pyralidae and Pterophoridae). 

Records should include the species name, the Bradley and Fletcher code number 
(to avoid nomenclatural confusion) the date where possible and the locality. Records 
will be assumed to relate to imagines unless ‘‘mine’’, ‘‘larva’’ or other qualifying 
statements are given alongside. Localities will ideally involve a place name and a four 
figure grid reference. Place names should be those appearing on the Ordnance Survey 
maps; precise localities, such as the names of nature areas or ecology parks in London 
are desirable, but if these do not appear on OS maps the nearest locality should always 
be given. Where a grid reference can not be obtained, a precise address as it appears 
in one of the various published books of street maps of London should be used. Site 
lists will ideally be presented in log book order to facilitate data entry. Overnight 
trap dates should be given according to the example 23/24 August or 23 August, and 
not as 24 August. Approximate counts and sexes are desirable for immigrants. 
Confidentiality of selected records may be requested. Records are required from all 
time, not just the present period. 

Records should be addressed to C. W. Plant, 14 West Road, Bishop’s Stortford, 
Hertfordshire CM23 3QP, who will happily provide more detailed information. All 
communications will be acknowledged and records fromoutside Middlesex contained 
in mixed lists will always be forwarded to appropriate recorders unless directions are 
given to the contrary. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 43 


THE DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS OF THE BEE HYLAEUS 
PECTORALIS FORSTER, 1871, (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) 
IN BRITAIN 


GEORGE R. ELSE 


Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 SBD. 


R. C. L. Perkins (1900) described Prosopis palustris as a species new to science, 
which had been collected at Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, and in similar localities 
in Suffolk. Both this name and Prosopis kriechbaumeri Forster, 1871, are now 
regarded as junior synonyms of Hylaeus pectoralis Forster, 1871. For many years 
following its discovery in Britain, this small bee was found only in a number of wetland 
sites in East Anglia (particularly at Wicken Fen). There is also an unconfirmed record 
from Matley, New Forest, Hampshire, in August 1901 (Morley, 1903). 

On 26.vii.1972 I collected both sexes of a Hy/aeus in fenland adjacent to the River 
Alver at Browndown, near Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, which I assumed were large 
individuals of H. communis Nylander. However, it soon became apparent that these 
were H. pectoralis. Further visits to the site in 1972, and in later years, demonstrated 
that it was well established in this locality. In subsequent years I also reared numerous 
specimens of the bee from nests, built in the galls of the chloropid fly Lipara lucens 
Meigen, collected in the same area. From 1973 onwards I searched for the species in 
other, similar wetland localities in the county and found a further 17 sites. Most of these 
localities are on the coast, but some are also inland (including Matley, corroborating 
Morley’s old record). Searches by me in suitable localities in other counties produced 
records from Dorset, Essex, the Isle of Wight, Suffolk, and West Sussex. Further 
recent records by others are from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and West 
Sussex. In addition, there are pre-1970 records from Northamptonshire, Suffolk and 
north Norfolk. All records (for most of which there are voucher specimens in The 
Natural History Museum, London) are shown on the distribution map (Fig. 1). 

H. pectoralis is a good example of an ‘‘Anglo-Dutch”’ or ‘‘Doggerland’’ species. 
Before Britain became separated from mainland Europe (c. 6000 years ago) it was 
joined to the Continent by a largely swampy land bridge, through which the Rhine 
flowed northwards. Some species of insects which occurred on the banks of the river 
are, in Britain, still mainly confined to south-east England. These ‘‘Doggerland’’ 
species also include the bee Colletes halophilus (Verhoeff) and the sphecid wasp 
Mimumesa spooneri (Richards) [sometimes cited as Psen spooneri] (Richards, 1964). 


HABITAT, NESTING HABITS AND PARASITOIDS 


H. pectoralis is associated with stands of the common reed, Phragmites australis 
(Cav.). Perkins (1900) described the bee as ‘‘burrowing in the dry stems of reeds’’. 
More recently J. P. Field (pers. comm.) reared a specimen from a bundle of cut, 
dead Phragmites stems suspended as ‘‘trap nests’ from a pole within a reed bed. 
However, the majority of nests have been found in the vacated, spindle-shaped galls 
of Lipara lucens. These galls are located on the apices of the flower stems of the 
Phragmites, their development inhibiting flowering (Fig. 2). In a gall containing a 
larva of L. /ucens the ensheathing leaves are tightly pressed together (forming a sharp 
apical point) and are green in colour. L. /ucens overwinters within a puparium in 
the cavity which it created as a result of its larval feeding activity within the basal 
half of the gall (Fig. 3). By this time the gall has generally assumed a brown coloration, 
following the death of the leaf sheaths. The adult fly emerges in the early summer 


44 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


© Before 1970 


@ 1970 Onwards 


Fig. 1. British distribution of H. pectoralis. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 45 


Fig. 2. Old gall of Lipara lucens Meig. on Phragmites australis (Cav.) stem. Browndown, 
Hampshire (G. R. Else). 


and it is only then that the gall becomes available for use as a nest site by the bee. Old 
galls, which may contain nests of this bee, can further be recognized by their frayed tips. 

The female H. pectoralis apparently always removes the fly’s empty puparium from 
the gall chamber, as this has never been found in one containing a nest (those without 
such a nest contain the eclosed puparium, unless the L. /ucens larva was parasitized 
or eaten by a bird). The female bee builds its nest within the gall chamber, the cells 
sometimes extending into the apical leaf sheathing. The nest entrance is between the 
leaves which form the apex of the gall, and is generally not clearly visible. The galls 
of L. lucens vary considerably in size, and this dictates the number of cells each can 
contain, the usual range being from two to eight, as the cells are constructed as a 
linear series (Fig. 4). Those cells destined to contain female progeny are generally the 
first to be built (i.e. the cells furthest from the nest entrance), whereas males are found 
in those built nearest the nest entrance. In common with those of other British Hy/aeus, 
cell linings are formed from a secretion of the female’s salivary glands, the viscous 
liquid being spread on to the inner walls of the gall with the bee’s short, bilobed glossa; 


46 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Fig. 3. Opened gall chamber of L. /ucens gall with puparium of this species in situ 
(G. Dickson). 


Fig. 4. Occupied cells of Hy/laeus pectoralis Forster in gall of L. lucens. (G. Dickson). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 47 


the cell partitions are constructed in similar fashion. On drying, the secretion produces 
a thin, transparent, cellophane-like membrane which is impermeable to water (it also 
ensures the cells retain the semi-liquid pollen/nectar provision). British pollen sources 
are not known, but the species is probably polylectic (as in Germany (Westrich, 1989)). 
In Britain individual bees have been observed visiting bramble (Rubus fruticosus L., 
sensu lato), angelica (Angelica species), hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium L.), wild 
carrot (Daucus carota L.), hawkbit (Leontodon species) and field milk-thistle (Sonchus 
arvensis L.) flowers. 

A provisioned nest is sealed with a substantial plug of compacted, finely shredded 
reed leaf fragments which often extends up into the leaf sheath of the gall. This plug 
immediately betrays the presence of a nest when a gall is opened by carefully tearing away 
the outer leaf sheathing. H. pectoralis overwinters as a prepupa within its cell; the larva 
does not spin a cocoon. A photograph of an opened nest also appears in Imms (1971). 

I have reared both the evanioid wasps Gasteruption assectator (L.) and G. jaculator 
(L.) from nests of this bee. No other parasitoids seem to have been recorded. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I am most grateful to M. Edwards and S. Falk for their records of this species, 
and to S. P. M. Roberts for preparing the distribution map of Hylaeus pectoralis 
(drawn on DMAP). G. Dickson kindly permitted the use of his photographs (Figs 
3 and 4) to illustrate this paper. 


REFERENCES 


Imms, A. D. 1971. Insect natural history. Collins New Naturalist, London. 

Perkins, R. C. L. 1900. Prosopis palustris, sp., nov., an addition to the British Hymenoptera. 
Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 36: 49-50. 

Morley, C. 1903. Insects, especially parasitic Hymenoptera, noticed in the New Forest in August, 
1901. Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 39: 25-29. 

Richards, O. W. 1964. The entomological fauna of southern England with special reference 
to the country around London. Trans. Soc. Br. Ent. 16: 1-48. 

Westrich, P. 1989. Die Wildbienen Baden-Wiirttembergs. Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co, Stuttgart. 


BOOK REVIEWS 


The butterflies’ fly-past by Clive Simson. Leeds, Peregrine Books, 27 Hunger Hills 
Avenue, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 SJS, 1994, xviii + 127 pages, £19 (post free), hardback. 
—‘This book is in no way a textbook’. So begins, and ends, the author’s first sentence, 
and for this much we should be forever thankful. Were it otherwise, what gems from 
many an entomological encounter, what field-notes from past years and what other 
pleasures we should have missed. These, together with carefully detailed observations 
from the wider field of natural history, liberally populate this unusual book—and 
all is achieved without the aid of a single dot-distribution map. 

But I have jumped the gun, for the stage is set by a foreword written in forthright 
style by Wilson Stephens, Editor of The Field from 1951 to 1977. Here, one or two 
sacred cows are, of necessity, put to slaughter, but in a well reasoned, open and totally 
honest fashion, a manner which is matched by each page of the ensuing fly-past. 

The author admits to having chosen unusual chapter headings. What, I wonder, will 
the reader make of ‘Big Fritz and little Fritz’, ‘Purple is for Caesar’, ‘A brown study’, 
‘Putting on the Ritz’, ‘Birth of the blues’, ‘Streaking’, ‘Buddleia bugs’, ‘All white’ and 
‘Skip for joy’?. All these, in the author’s inimitable style, relate to groupings of the 


48 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


fifty-five species of our native butterflies, a ‘native’ being interpreted as one which must 
regularly be present in some form throughout the year. In writing of these fifty-five 
species, many accurate observations are made of the various life stages and inevitably 
details are given of successful captures with the net. What is so refreshing is to find these 
captures chronicled in such an honest way—no pussy-footing here—specimens have not 
just been recorded, they have actually been taken. I have no intention of opening a 
contentious can of worms generously sprinkled with hot potatoes, for many people 
‘have a thing’ about butterflies. Far better, let the author’s wise words speak for 
themselves: ‘Of course, moderation is the key word. I do not believe that butterfly 
collecting in moderation, can seriously affect butterfly populations. There is no need 
for a long series of a species, all looking the same, so prevalent in Edwardian times. 
What is essential is the conservation of habitat and the careful control of chemicals.’ 
There is more, but to know how much more you should read the book. 

On a point of detail we read ‘I have released every female iris I have bred’. How 
fortunate this was for the brood of binocular-carrying enthusiasts, assembled under 
the watchful eye of the ever present warden, in that wood near Oxford. In the following 
few seconds they learned more from a man who knows his craft than from many 
an hour spent in scanning the oak tops. Books written in this style have been absent 
for far too long. In the 30s I treasured J. H. Bell’s Days with a butterfly net, then 
came the first of the P. B. M. Allan classics to be followed later by his others, and 
now, Clive Simson offers us a new one to savour. 

Butterfly illustrations have not been lacking in recent years. Some are fine, clinically 
executed examples of set specimens, others are best termed fanciful and leave much 
to be desired. The eight delightful colour plates by Mandy Shepherd which grace this 
book are truly alive and match the spirit of the words upon the pages. This spirit 
(‘butterflies are beautiful; they are fun’) pervades the book and has full rein when 
novel methods are required to assist the lepidopterist in reaching new ground. Over 
the years I too have tried a few innovations, yet surely only Clive Simson could have 
thought of seeking the aid of an ex-RAF inflatable dinghy! 

Happy paddling to you Sir, albeit these days with the paddle of memory. Your 
invitation to review this delightful book has been accepted with great pleasure. 


BRIAN R. BAKER 


Colour guide to hoverfly larvae (Diptera: Syrphidae), by G. E. Rotheray, Dipterists’ 
Digest number 9, Derek Whiteley, Sheffield, 1994, 156 pages (including 16 colour 
plates), £11.95, paperback.—After an introduction discussing how to recognize 
hoverfly larvae and how to find them, short illustrated keys lead variously to species 
or genus. Generic accounts give a brief description of overall appearance, offer some 
confirming characters and give notes on the varying biologies of these curious and 
fascinating creatures. There is an extensive reference list. However, the main reason 
people will buy this book is for the colour plates which show the larvae of 76 species. 
Most of these are photographed in life, although a few are of preserved specimens. 
Opposite these are further explanatory notes and diagrammatic sketches. There are 
also a few colour photographs of habitats and larval damage. ~ 

I found the layout somewhat underdesigned and the headings are not as clear as 
they could have been. Since the generic accounts are sadly in alphabetic rather than 
taxonomic order the index to genera is redundant and an index to species would have 
been much more useful. On the whole though a neatly produced and useful book 


and excellent value. 
R. A. JONES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 49 


THE ACULEATE WASPS AND BEES OF CROW WOOD, 
FINNINGLEY IN WATSONIAN YORKSHIRE, 
WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF 
A NEW NATIONAL QUALITY SCORING SYSTEM 


MICHAEL E. ARCHER 
University College of Ripon & York St John, York YO3 7EX 
AND JOHN T. BURN 


I Sycamore Avenue, Armthorpe, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN3 3HO. 


Crow Wood has been found to be an excellent locality for aculeate wasps and bees, 
having 135 recorded species, nine species of national importance, and 15 species of 
regional significance. 

Crow Wood, an area of about 152 ha, is situated immediately to the south of 
Finningley (VC63, SK6697). The region has sandy acid soils of remnant heathland. 
At present, Crow Wood consists of old sand and gravel pits gradually being filled 
with waste materials, coniferous afforestation, regenerating woodland with flowery 
areas, open sandy surfaces, some of which are used as motor-cycle and go-kart tracks, 
grassland, and arable farming. The dry open areas with ditches and mounds of sand 
and gravel provide nesting areas for many aculeate wasps and bees. 

About 50 visits have been made to Crow Wood, mainly during May, June, July, and 
August, with a few during March, April, and September. Most visits were made by 
J.T. Burn (1971-1991: in excess of 36 visits to a sample area of about 18 ha) and 
M.E. Archer (1986-1989: 10 visits to a sample area of about 55 ha). Collecting was 
by visual observation, but J.T. Burn also collected by sweeping low mixed vegetation. 
A smaller number of visits were made by J.H. Flint (1965) and P. Skidmore (1973). 

Biological names are according to Kloet & Hincks (1978), except for the Dryinidae 
which are according to Olmi (1984, 1989). 

This paper was written by M. E. Archer (M.E.A.). The contributions of J.T. Burn 
were the many records from his large number of visits, and all information relating 
to the Bethylidae and Dryinidae. 


RESULTS—SPECIES PRESENT AT CROW Woop 


A full list of recorded species is given in the Appendix. The taxonomic distribution 
is given in Table 1, at the family level. The 135 species represent about 46% of the 
aculeate wasp and bee species (including the bethylids and dryinids) of Watsonian 
Yorkshire. In addition the following ant species (Formicidae) have been recorded: 
Myrmica ruginodis Nylander, Formica fusca L., Lasius niger (L.). 

The accumulated records from any locality can be analysed to understand the 
ecological relationships of the recorded species and the conservation value of the 
locality in a regional or national context. This paper assesses ecological relationships 
with the concepts of cleptoparasitic load and aerial nester frequency and conservation 
value with the aid of regional and national quality scores and species quality scores. 


QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF SOLITARY SPECIES 


Two species are nationally rare or ‘red data book species’ (Falk, 1991). Both of 
these, Psen bicolor (RDB2) and Nomada fulvicornis (RDB3), reach the northern 
boundary of their British distribution in Watsonian Yorkshire. 


50 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Table 1. The number of species of aculeate wasps and bees recorded 
from Crow Wood. 


Family No. species 
Solitary wasps 
Dryinidae 14 
Bethylidae 2 
Chrysididae fi 
Mutillidae 1 
Pompilidae 12 
Eumenidae 4 
Sphecidae 36 
Total solitary wasps 716 
Solitary bees 
Colletidae 3 
Andrenidae 17 
Halictidae 13 
Megachilidae 2 
Anthophoridae 10 
Total solitary bees 45 
Total solitary wasps & bees 121 
Social wasps and bees 
Vespidae 5 
Apidae 9 
Total social wasps & bees 14 


Seven species are nationally scarce or notable species (Falk, 1991). Andrena tibialis, 
which is a category A scarce species, reaches the northern boundary of its British 
distribution in Watsonian Yorkshire. The other six species, which are category B 
species, are either at the northern boundary of their distribution (Cleptes semiauratus, 
Priocnemis schioedtei, Nysson trimaculatus, Andrena humilis, Nomada flavopicta), 
or are more widespread in Britain (Crossocerus palmipes). 

Fifteen species are rare in the context of Watsonian Yorkshire (Archer, 1993a); 
these are indicated in the Appendix. 

There are 27 species of solitary wasps and bees, which although not rare in 
Watsonian Yorkshire, have a local distribution being more or less restricted to sandy 
habitats (Archer, 1994a). Seventeen of these local species (indicated in the Appendix) 
are found at Crow Wood. 

The 105 species of solitary wasps and bees can be considered to have a common, 
frequent, occasional or rare status in Watsonian Yorkshire (Archer, 1993a) (Table 
2). The dryinid and bethylid species cannot be given a status as insufficient information 


Table 2. The regional coding of the 105 species of solitary wasps and 
bees recorded from Crow Wood (Dryinids and Bethylids excluded). 


Status No. species 
Common 39 
Frequent 31 
Occasional 20 


Rare 15 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 51 


exists on their distributions. By giving each species a value depending on the above 
statuses, including a higher value for the nationally scarce and rare species, a regional 
quality score of 416 can be calculated by the addition of the status scores (Table 3). 
Dividing this quality score by the 105 species gives a regional species quality score of 4. 


Table 3. The regional status scheme of the 105 species of solitary wasps and bees recorded at 
Crow Wood. 


Status Status value No. species Status score 
(A) (B) (A x B) 

Common 1 38 38 
Frequent 2 31 62 
Occasional 4 19 76 
Rare 8 8 64 
Nationally scarce 16 7 112 
Nationally rare 32 2 64 

105 416 


Summation of status value times number of species gives a final regional quality score of 416. 
Dividing this by the number of species (105) gives a regional species quality score of 3.96, 
approximately 4. 


Ball (1992) proposed a methodology for scoring the value of invertebrates at sites 
in a national context. Archer (in press) has adopted this methodology for use in 
Watsonian Yorkshire. Using the Ball methodology on the 105 Crow Wood species, 
a national quality score of 274 and a national species quality score (274 + 105) of 2.6 
can be calculated (Table 4). 


Table 4. The Ball (1992) national status evaluation of the 105 species of solitary wasps and 
bees recorded at Crow Wood. 


Status Status value No. species Status score 
(A) (B) (A x B) 

Common 1 62 62 
Local 2 26 52 
Regional notable 4 8 Sy 
Scarce B 8 6 48 
Scarce A 16 1 16 
Rare 32 2 64 

105 274 


Two objections can be raised against the Ball methodology. First, many regions 
of England and Wales lack a list of regionally notable species making it sometimes 
impossible to apply Ball’s methodology. Secondly, a national scheme should logically 
give a species status based upon that species’ importance in a national and larger 
geographical setting but not in a smaller or regional distribution. 

To overcome the above two objections M.E.A. suggests the following scheme in 
which the statuses of ‘common’, ‘local’ and ‘regionally notable’ of Ball are replaced 
by: ‘universal’, ‘widespread’ and ‘restricted’. At present there is no objective way 
of assigning a ‘universal’, ‘widespread’ or ‘restricted’ status to the species of the British 
aculeate Hymenoptera. From personal experience M.E.A. has therefore assigned 


52 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


British aculeate Hymenoptera one of these three statuses based upon abundance and 
distribution within England and Wales. Ireland, the Channel Islands and Scotland 
have not been included: little information is available on Irish distributions of aculeate 
Hymenoptera; fauna of the Channel Islands relates more to France than the British 
Isles; and Scotland’s cooler climate greatly reduces diversity. A ‘universal species’ 
would therefore refer to a common species found throughout England and Wales, 
usually with some extension into Scotland. A ‘widespread species’ would be one found 
in about three-quarters of England and Wales, usually either with a distribution in 
Wales, southern and midland England or in northern and western England and Wales. 
A ‘widespread species’ would also be found throughout England and Wales but either 
with a local distribution or a less-than-common abundance. A ‘restricted species’ would 
be one mainly found in about one-half of England and Wales, and usually confined 
to southern England and East Anglia. The status of a species may not be fixed and 
can change as its range or abundance changes. As such the statuses of species need 
to be kept under constant review. Using this new methodology for the 105 Crow Wood 
species a national quality score of 266 and a national species quality score (266 + 105) 
of 2.5 can be calculated (Table 5). 


Table 5. The Archer national status scheme of the 105 species of solitary wasps and bees recorded 
at Crow Wood. 


Status Status value No. species Status score 
(A) (B) (A XB) 

Universal 1 56 56 
Widespread 2 39 78 
Restricted 4 1 4 
Scarce B 8 6 48 
Scarce A 16 1 16 
Rare 32 2 64 

105 266 


CLEPTOPARASITIC LOAD 


The cleptoparasitic load (CL) is the percentage of aculeate species that are 
cleptoparasites (or parasitoids) on other host aculeates (Table 6). A more-or-less 
complete list of species in a locality should be made before the CL is calculated to 
avoid possible bias of either host or cleptoparasitic species. Cleptes semiauratus, 
dryinids and bethylids are not considered as they are parasitoids on non-aculeate hosts. 
C. semiauratus is a parasitoid on the cocoons of sawflies, e.g. Nematus ribesii (Scop.). 
The two bethylid species are parasitoids on lepidopterous larvae. B. cephalotes has 
been recorded using hollowed-out plant stems to shelter its larvae while feeding on its 
paralysed host. Dryinids are predators and parasitoids of Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha. 


Table 6. The relative frequency of the cleptoparasitic species among the solitary wasps and bees 
from Crow Wood. 


No. No. Cleptoparasitic 
hosts cleptoparasites load 
(H) (C) CL = 100 x C/((H + C) 
Solitary wasps 49 10 16.9 


Solitary bees 32 13 28.9 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 53 


The CL for the species of solitary bees is higher than the CL for the species of solitary 
wasps. 


AERIAL NESTER FREQUENCY 


The aerial nester frequency (AF) is the percentage of host aculeate species that have 
aerial nest sites. Again a more-or-less complete list of species in a locality should be 
made before the AF is calculated to avoid possible bias of either aerial or subterranean 
nesters. Aerial nests are often in old beetle burrows in dead wood, or the central cavities 
of stems such as those of bramble. Subterranean nesters nest in the soil, usually in 
burrows dug by themselves, but sometimes in crevices or pre-formed burrows. The 
AF for the species of solitary wasps is higher than the AF for the species of solitary 
bees (Table 7). 


Table 7. The nesting habits of the host solitary wasp and bee species from Crow Wood. 


No. aerial No. subterranean Aerial nester 
nesters nesters frequency 
(A) (S) AF=100x A/(A+S) 
Solitary wasps 10 39 20.4 
Solitary bees 3 29 9.4 


DISCUSSION. QUALITY ASSESSMENT 


The regional and national status schemes of Ball and Archer respectively can be 
applied to other sandy habitats in Watsonian Yorkshire (Archer, 1984, 1985, 1988, 
1989, 1992b, in press), Lincolnshire (Risby Warren, Archer, 1994b), Nottinghamshire 
(Sherwood Forest, Archer, in press) and Leicestershire (Charnwood Forest, Archer, 
1992a). These sites are compared in Table 8. These sandy habitats vary greatly in 
size from the sand pit at Swincarr Plantation to the eroded Precambrian mountain 
range of Charnwood Forest. The number of species of aculeate wasps and bees varies 
from 35 species at Swincarr Plantation to 147 species at Charnwood Forest. The 
records are from recent times except for the records from pre-coniferized Allerthorpe 
Common which date from the 1920s until the 1950s and Charnwood Forest which 
date from the beginning of the twentieth century until the present. Since species status 
depends upon the current distribution and abundance of species, species only recorded 
in earlier times could be assigned the wrong status if the distribution or abundance 
of a species has changed. 

The national quality and species quality scores derived from the Ball and Archer 
status schemes respectively, for each locality, are of a very similar or even of the 
same value (Table 8). Crow Wood on its species quality score is ranked fourth on 
the Ball scheme and equal fourth with Strensall Common on the Archer scheme, out 
of the eleven data sets. Both schemes would seem suitable as a national status scheme, 
but the Archer scheme is preferred for the reasons given earlier. 

In the context of Watsonian Yorkshire, and considering the number of species, 
regional quality score, regional species quality score, and the number of national scarce 
and rare species (Table 8), Crow Wood is ranked second in importance behind pre- 
coniferized Allerthorpe Common. Since pre-coniferized Allerthorpe Common is no 
longer in existence, Crow Wood must now be considered the most important sandy 
locality for aculeate Hymenoptera in Watsonian Yorkshire. 


1995 


i) 
et 
2 
jac} 
& 
$ 
i: (80661) JayoIY uO paseg satoads ajqejoU [eUOIsIY +,» 
a “QIIYSYIOX uULTUOSIe A UO pase saloeds a[qeujoU [eUOTSAY, 
4 pe Ee TSS Se ee eS a eS ee a 
| 
zg 81 91 ST 61 ore org SZ 4 [he 67 Oe asoos Aten “dg 
2 79 601 vag 707 SII SLI SCZ 997 ZOP 6LE 967 a100s AyTENd 
SUIIYOS jeuoneu §,Joyo1y 
oT a 61 61 Cie (CG €7 97 LG Oe 67 a1oos Ayyenb “ds 
LS Sol +611 607 raul LOI €I7Z vLT +«COP I8€ +067 loos Aqend 
suayos yeuoinjeu S 1ea 
Lac Cie = es Lac 87 GE Or = Or — 100s Aqjenb “dg 
bl 6r1 = Iv€ 9€I TIZ 687 9IP = vis = a10os AyTENd 
dUIDYOS [eUOISIY 
I (é € 9 € € 9 6 ZI Ol 6 satoads are 
pue 90IB9S [euoreu “ON 
is 69 €9 601 IS SL 16 SOI Ll 671 001 saioads “ON 
60'0 TIE OLI OSI Lay O£07 069 TSI OS9IT 0£07 06€ (ey) ealy 
ie ee 2 ae ee ee Sn es ee 
uOWUWO0D uOWUWIOD 
uolejUue[d uoOWWOD Use UOUIWOD adioyyel[y  wourUloD poom 1so1O4 adioywol[Vv 1s010J 
IIGOUIMS wads Aqsry uoyXxXel_g yesodwiog  paziiajiuoD [esusss MOI) poomureYyD peZiejtu0d pooMmssyg 
-d1g 


ee eT Ee aa eee 


‘(papnpoxe sprjAyieq puke sprulAsp) sseq pue sdsem Areyjos Jo saroeds ay} 
uo paseq pue[suq Ul d19YMas|o PUL IITYSYIOA UPIUOS]e A UT s}eIQeYy Apurs Jo vase pue Ajlies ‘ASIOAIP JO BLI9ILIO ay] JO UOSTIRAWIOD YW °g PGP 


54 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 sh) 


For the eight Yorkshire localities the regional species quality score and Archer 
national species quality score from each locality show a significant linear positive 
relationship (correlation coefficient, =0.84, p<0.01). Similarly, the regional quality 
score and Archer national quality score from each locality show a highly significant 
linear positive relationship (r=0.98, p<0.001). These relationships, in non- 
mathematical terms, indicate that the ranking—the order of the eight localities (best, 
2nd, 3rd. . . 8th)—based on the regional scores are similar to the rank order based 
on the Archer national scores. At present these relationships cannot be explored outside 
Watsonian Yorkshire as regional statuses for other parts of England are not yet 
available. 

The regional species quality score and regional quality score are higher for each 
locality than the Archer national species quality score and Archer national quality 
score (Table 8) because there are four, rather than three, statuses before the national 
scarce species (Tables 3 and 5). 

The three most popular criteria for the evaluation of wildlife importance are 
diversity, rarity, and area (Usher, 1986). The current investigation measures diversity, 
rarity, and area (Usher, 1986). The current investigation measures diversity by species 
richness, or the number of species; rarity by the species quality scores, and the number 
of national scarce and rare species; and area by the area of each locality in hectares 
(Table 8). Quality scores combine diversity and rarity in one measurement. 

There are some measurement problems in these criteria. It is difficult to know if 
the species list for a locality is complete. Rarity status is not a static parameter as 
the distributions and abundances of species change with time, sometimes in cycles. 
The area of a locality is not always easy to measure, particularly when its boundaries 
are not clear because the surrounding habitats are similar to those on the locality, 
e.g. aS at Blaxton Common, and Risby Warren. 

For each of the 11 locations in Table 8 the number of species shows a highly 
significant linear correlation with both the number of nationally scarce and rare species 
(r=0.94, p<0.001) and the Archer national quality scores (r= 0.95, p< 0.001). Thus, 
the larger the diversity the increased chance there is of finding nationally scarce and 
rare species. These relationships are probably a reflection of a species—area relationship 
when the number of species increases as area increases. A plot of number of species 
as a natural logarithm (In) versus area in hectares as a natural logarithm (In) gives 
a highly significant linear relationship (r= 0.86, p<0.001). Removing the data for 
coniferized Allerthorpe Common, which is a damaged habitat (Archer, 1989), increases 
the significance of the species—area relationship (r=0.90, p< 0.001), (Fig. 1) and gives 
the species—area regression equation. InS = 3.87+0.11 xInA, where S= number of 
species and A =area in hectares. Thus the larger the area of the locality the more 
species are present. 

The positive relationship between diversity and rarity on sandy heathland habitats 
is probably related to the thermophilic requirements of aculeate wasps and bees. Dry 
sandy habitats, particularly with sheltered banked open areas facing southwards, are 
able to warm up quickly in sunlight, and provide excellent nesting and foraging 
resources. With an increase in area of such sandy habitats, environmental heterogeneity 
will tend to increase so that more species will be able to find their specific resources 
which are more likely to persist from year to year. Disturbance of sandy habitats 
by rabbit burrowing, public pressure within limits or the digging of sand pits increases 
the habitat’s suitability for aculeate wasps and bees. 

Ball (1992) showed a negative relationship between diversity and rarity for lowland 
peat bog habitat. Peat bogs have low species richness but many of the species are 
restricted to peat bogs. Since peat bogs are a rare habitat the bog specialities are rare 


56 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Allerthorpe m 
Common 


Blaxton Common gg — Sherwood 
Crow Wood & ee 


| 
Strensall 
Common 


m Skipworth Common 


w 
Risby Warren 


Ln no. species 


Pompocali 


Swincarr 
Plantation 


-4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 
Ln Area (ha) 


Fig. 1. The number of species as a natural logarithm (In) versus area (ha) as a natural logarithm 
(In) of the species of solitary wasps and bees recorded from sandy habitats in Watsonian Yorkshire 
and elsewhere in England. The regression line is given by In S=3.87+0.11xInA, where 
S=number of species and A =area in hectares. 


species. Disturbance of a peat bog by peat cutting or increasing drainage increases 
diversity, but the rare species tend to be lost. 

Thus the relationship between diversity and rarity may be positive or negative. This 
observation has implications for the conservation of wildlife. The aim of increasing 
diversity within a particular habitat may or may not be suitable, depending on the 
type of habitat and group of organisms to be conserved. 


CLEPTOPARASITIC LOAD 


Weislo (1987) showed that the amount of parasitic behaviour among aculeate 
Hymenoptera correlated with geographical latitude, being higher in the temperate 
compared with the tropical regions. If this is the case, since England and Wales occupy 
less than 6° of latitude then the CLs for localities in England and Wales should have 
similar values. Table 9 shows the CLs for the 11 data sets of sandy habitats. The 
CLs of the solitary wasps all have a similar value (range 13.2—20.0) as do the solitary 
bees (range 25.0-36.6). The higher CL for the solitary bees versus the solitary wasps 
is a function of the British fauna and is probably a consequence of food-chain 
relationships. Host solitary wasp species are the less numerous secondary consumers 
and thus less likely to support cleptoparasitic species, while the host solitary bee species 
are the more numerous primary consumers and thus more likely to support 
cleptoparasitic species. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 57 


Table 9. A comparison of the cleptoparasitic loads and nesting habits of the species of solitary 
wasps and bees of sandy habitats in Watsonian Yorkshire and elsewhere in England. 


Cleptoparasitic loads Aerial nester frequency 
Wasps Bees Wasps Bees 
Sherwood Forest 17.6 25.0 47.6 19.4 
Pre-coniferized 
Allerthorpe Common 16.9 32.8 45.3 16.3 
Charnwood Forest 18.1 27.0 TAA Spe) 
Crow Wood 16.9 28.9 20.4 9.4 
Strensall Common 18.0 35.0 41.5 19.2 
Coniferized 
Allerthorpe Common 329) 35:9) 20.0 8.0 
Pompocali 20.0 36.6 12.5 0.0 
Blaxton Common 15.0 26.5 43.1 13.9 
Risby Warren 17.2 29.4 12.5 8.3 
Skipwith Common Nah? 3)5}55) 42.4 30.0 
Swincarr Plantation 16.7 34.8 0.0 6.7 
British Isles 17.8 26.0 44.9 19.0 


AERIAL NESTER FREQUENCY 


The AFs of the species of solitary wasps (range 0.0-71.2) and solitary bees (0.0-30.0) 
from the 11 data sets are rather variable (Table 9). Much of the variation of AFs is 
dependent on the availability of aerial nesting sites (Archer, 1993b), but the higher 
solitary wasp aerial nester frequency of Charnwood Forest could be related to its 
higher altitude, where average temperatures and amounts of sunshine would be 
reduced. Under such weather conditions, aerial nesting sites are likely to warm up 
quicker and be warmer for a longer time than subterranean sites. Lomholdt (1975) 
showed that aerial nester frequency increased with increasing latitude for Sphecidae 
(28% in France and 79% in northern Norway) along a decreasing warmth gradient. It 
is unlikely that much of the variation of AFs is dependent on the availability of 
subterranean nesting sites because all localities under study are sandy habitats and 
personal investigation has shown that such habitats are very favourable to subterranean 
nesters. 

The higher AFs for solitary wasps compared with solitary bees are a function of 
the British fauna and are probably a consequence of the cooler English climate. It 
is known that the activities of solitary wasps are more affected by weather conditions 
than those of solitary bees in England (Archer, 1990b) so that as explained by the 
altitude effect, solitary wasp species are more likely to be successful as aerial nesters. 


REFERENCES 


Archer, M.E. 1984. The solitary bees and wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of a sand-pit at 
Swincarr Plantation, near York. Naturalist 109: 23-25. 

Archer, M.E. 1985. The wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Pompocali near Leeds: 
the first 27 visits. Naturalist 110: 49-51. 

Archer, M.E. 1988. The aculeate wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of my local patch: 
Strensall Common, the first 70 visits. Naturalist 113: 25-30. 

Archer, M.E. 1989. The wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Allerthorpe Common before 
and after coniferization. Naturalist 114: 129-136. 

Archer, M.E. 1990a. The aculeate solitary wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of 
Leicestershire. Trans. Leicester Lit. Phil. Soc. 84: 9-25. 


58 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Archer, M.E. 1990b. The solitary aculeate wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of an English 
suburban garden. Entomologist’s Gaz. 41: 129-142. 

Archer, M.E. 1992a. A comparison of the solitary wasps and bees (Hym., Aculeata) of 
Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire and Lydford Moorland, Devon. Entomologist’s Mon. 
Mag. 128: 51-57. 

Archer, M.E. 1992b. Aculeate wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Skipwith Common 
and a comparison of Skipwith Common with Allerthorpe and Strensall Commons. Naturalist 
117: 19-25. 

Archer, M.E. 1993a. Recorder’s fourth report on the Aculeate Hymenoptera in Watsonian 
Yorkshire and the development of a quality scoring system. Naturalist 118: 13-15. 
Archer, M.E. 1993b. The aculeate wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Duncombe Park 

in Watsonian Yorkshire. Naturalist 118: 37-44. 

Archer, M.E. 1994a. Recorder’s fifth report on the Aculeate Hymenoptera in Watsonian 
Yorkshire. Naturalist 119: 73-77. 

Archer, M.E. 1994b. The aculeate wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of Risby Warren 
in Watsonian Lincolnshire. Trans. Lincolnshire Naturalists Union, 23: 123-131. 

Ball, S. 1992. The importance of the invertebrate fauna of Thorne and Hatfield Moors: an exercise 
in site evaluation. Thorne & Hatfield Moors Papers 3: 34-65. 

Falk, S. 1991. A review of the scarce and threatened bees, wasps and ants of Great Britain. 
Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough. 

Kloet, G.S. & Hincks, W.D. 1978. A Check List of British Insects. Part 4: Hymenoptera, revised 
by M.G. Fitton et al. Handbks Ident. Br. Insects 11(4): 126-140. 

Lomholdt, O. 1975. The Sphecidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Ent. 
Scand. 4: 1-224. 

Olmi, M. 1984. Revision of the Dryinidae (Hymenoptera). Mem. Am. Ent. Inst. 37: 1-946, 
947-1913. 

Olmi, M. 1989. Supplement to the revision of the world Dryinidae (Hymenoptera, Chrysidoidea). 
Frustula Ent. (N.S.) 12: 109-395. 

Usher, M.B. 1986. Wildlife conservation evaluation. Chapman and Hall, London. 

Weislo, W.T. 1987. The role of seasonality, host synchrony, and behaviour in the evaluations 
and distributions of nest parasites in Hymenoptera (Insecta), with special reference to bees 
(Apoidea). Biol. Rev. 62: 515-543. 


APPENDIX. ACULEATE WASP AND BEE SPECIES RECORDED FROM CROW WOOD 


* Yorkshire rare species. ** Yorkshire local species. 

Dryinidae. Aphelopus melaleucus (Dalman), A. serratus Richards, Anteon arcuatum (Kieffer), 
A. brachycerum (Dalman), A. ephippiger (Dalman), A. flavicorne (Dalman), A. fulviventre 
(Haliday), A. gaulei (Kieffer), A. jurineanum Lat., A. pubicorne (Dalman), A. tripartitum Kieffer, 
Lonchodryinus ruficornis (Dalman), Gonatopus sepsoides Westw., Pseudogonatopus distinctus 
(Kieffer). 

Bethylidae. Bethylus cephalotes Forster, B. fuscicornis (Jurine). 

Chrysididae. Omalus auratus (L.), Chrysis angustula Schenck, C. ruddii Shuck.**, C. impressa 
Schenk, Chrysis cyanea (L.), Hedychridium ardens (Lat.)**, Cleptes semiauratus (L.)*. 

Mutillidae. Myrmosa atra Panz. 

Pompilidae. Priocnemis exaltata (F.), P. perturbator (Harris), P. parvula Dahlbom, P. 
schioedtei Haupt, Pompilus cinereus (F.)**, Arachnospila anceps (Wesm.), A. trivalis (Dahlbom), 
A. spissa (Schigdte), Anoplius concinnus (Dahlbom), A. viaticus (L.)**, A. infuscatus 
(V.d.Lind.)*, Evagetes crassicornis (Shuck.). 

Eumenidae. Ancistrocerus parietinus (L.), A. oviventris (Wesm.), A‘ scoticus (Curt.), 
Symmorphus mutinensis (Baldini). 

Vespidae. Dolichovespula sylvestris (Scop.), Vespula austriaca (Panz.), V. rufa (L.), 
Paravespula germanica (F.), P. vulgaris (L.). 

Sphecidae. Astata pinguis (Dahlbom), Tachysphex pompiliformis (Panz.)**, T. unicolor 
(Panz.)*, Trypoxylon attenuatum Smith, F., T. figulus (L.), Crabro cribrarius (L.)**, C. peltarius 
(Schreb.)**, Crossocerus elongatulus (V.d.Lind.), C. ovalis Lepel. & Brullé, C. palmipes (L.)*, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 59 


C. tarsatus (Shuck.), C. varus Lepel. & Brullé, C. wesmaeli (V.d.Lind.), C. nigritus (Lepel & Brullé), 
C. quadrimaculatus (F.), Lindenius albilabris (F.), Entomognathus brevis (V.d.Lind.), Rhopalum 
coarctatum (Scop.), Oxybelus uniglumis (L.)**, Psen dahlbomi (Wesm.), P. bicolor Jurine*, 
P. equestris (F.)**, P. lutarius (F.)*, Pemphredon inornatus Say, Diodontus luperus Shuck.*, 
D. minutus (F.)**, D. tristis (V.d.Lind.)**, Passaloecus singularis Dahlbom, Ammophila sabulosa 
(L.)**, Mellinus arvensis (L.)**, Nysson spinosus (Forster), N. trimaculatus (Rossius)*, Gorytes 
quadrifasciatus (F.), G. tumidus (Panz.), Argogorytes mystaceus (L.), Cerceris arenaria (L.)*. 

Colletidae. Colletes fodiens (Geoff.), Hylaeus communis Nylander, H. brevicornis Nylander*. 

Andrenidae. Andrena clarkella (Kirby)**, A. fulva (Miiller), A. jacobi Perkins, A. bicolor 
F., A. angustior (Kirby), A. nigroaenea (Kirby), A. haemorrhoa (F.), A. tibialis (Kirby)*, A. 
barbilabris (Kirby)**, A. chrysosceles (Kirby), A. humilis Imhoff, A. minutula (Kirby), A. 
saundersella Perkins, A. subopaca Nylander, A. ovatula (Kirby)*, A. wilkella (Kirby), Panurgus 
banksianus (Kirby)*. 

Halictidae. Halictus rubicundus (Christ), H. tumulorum (L.), Lasioglossum leucozonium 
(Schr.), L. calceatum (Scop.), L. nitidiusculum (Kirby), L. punctatissimum (Schenck), L. rufitarse 
(Zett.), L. villosulum (Kirby), L. leucopum (Kirby), Sphecodes fasciatus von Hagens, S. gibbus 
(L.), S. monilicornis (Kirby), S. pellucidus Smith**. 

Megachilidae. Osmia leaiana (Kirby), Megachile versicolor Smith. 

Anthophoridae. Nomada fabriciana (L.), N. flavopicta (Kirby)*, N.fulvicornis (F.)*, N. 
goodeniana (Kirby), N. leucophthalma (Kirby)**, N. marshamella (Kirby), N. panzeri Lepel., 
N. striata F., Epeolus variegatus (L.), Anthophora furcata (Panz.). 

Apidae. Bombus lucorum (L.), B. terrestris (L.), B. lapidarius (L.), B. pratorum (L.), B. 
hortorum (L.), B. pascuorum (Scop.), Psithyrus bohemicus (Seidl), P. vestalis (Geoff.), Apis 
mellifera L. 


BOOK REVIEWS 


The insects: an outline of entomology by P. J. Gullan and P. S. Cranston. Chapman 
& Hall, London, 1994, xiv+491 pages, £24.99, paperback.—The history of 
entomology has been one of increasing fragmentation and specialization. General 
texts, like this one, serve primarily to inform students; but also they provide a means 
by which specialists can update themselves by access to a modern framework for insect 
science. The writers have succeeded in compiling a well-integrated book, attractively 
presented and very reasonably priced. 

The volume is divided into 15 chapters. After an introduction on the importance 
and diversity of insects, which incorporates a table with brief characterizations 
of the 29 orders recognized, there follow seven chapters dealing, broadly speaking, 
with structure, function and development. External anatomy is reviewed briefly 
in chapter 2, followed (chapter 3) by a treatment of internal anatomy and related 
physiological function. Sensory systems and the main components of insect behaviour 
are described in chapter 4. Reproduction is the subject of a chapter (5) to itself and 
incorporates the relevant aspects of behaviour, morphology, physiology and the 
diversity of modes of reproduction (e.g., parthenogenesis, neoteny, polyembryony). 
It is followed, logically enough, by insect development and life histories (chapter 6), 
which considers not only the expected topics such as ontogeny, voltinism and 
polymorphism, but also examines how an understanding of certain environmental 
factors affecting development can be applied to model predictively insect abundance 
and distribution. 

Chapter 7, on insect systematics, phylogeny and evolution, is followed by eight 
chapters, shifting the course of the book to somewhat broader entomological themes. 
The first two of these chapters (8 and 9) deal with aspects of insect biology in particular 
habitats—the soil (including also litter, carrion and dung) and water. Chapter 10 is 


60 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


about insects and plants, 11 addresses insect societies, 12 concerns predation and 
parasitism, and 13 examines insect defence. In the final chapters, the writers turn 
their attention to insects of medical and veterinary importance (14) and to pest 
management (15). 

Two underlying aspects of this book are particularly attractive. One is the way 
in which the writers bring to the fore the dynamics of insect biology. Wherever possible 
technical detail, which is abundant, is portrayed in the light of the ‘problems’ that 
insects face and the ‘solutions’ to those problems. The other is the very evident 
enthusiasm Gullan and Cranston have for communication, a quality apparent in the 
thoughtful planning of the structure of the book, the care that has gone into selecting 
the illustrations (drawn by Karina Hansen McInnes), the use of boxes for special topics, 
and the clarity of the prose. The writers, rightly, have no inhibition about making 
extensive use of Latin and Greek-based terminology; rather they demonstrate, by the 
use of pithy definitions in the text supported by an effective glossary, just how succinct 
and elegant technical language can be—giving the lie to that trite generalization that 
scientists cannot write. 

Although both writers are systematists, they deliberately avoid treating the 
insects order by order. Their taxonomic background has, however, been used to 
great effect in structuring whole-organism entomology into a lucid text and in 
illustrating the biological concepts with which they deal by a wide variety of insectan 
examples. 

Potential buyers may wonder, not unreasonably, how this book compares with 
another volume from Australia-based entomologists Systematic and applied 
entomology (1994, edited by I. D. Naumann), which is an abridged version of the 
second edition of Insects of Australia. They may be reassured. Although, inevitably, 
there is some overlap, the works differ significantly in content, balance and approach. 
The greater part of The insects is theme-based, and the style more analytical than 
descriptive. Systematic and applied entomology is a multiauthor work that takes a 
more taxon-based line and will probably have a more specialized readership. 


MALCOLM J. SCOBLE 


Insects: life cycles and the seasons by John Brackenbury. Blandford, 1994, 192 
pages, £19.99, hardback.—The five chapters of this book cover various aspects of 
the lives and behaviour of insects. Each chapter has a short introductory section but 
most of the text is in the form of descriptive captions to the 215 colour illustrations. 
Three of the pictures are incorrectly identified. No. 22 primrose, Primula farinosa, 
is cowslip, P. veris L., No. 171 a click beetle is the wasp nest beetle, Metoecus 
paradoxus (L.), and No. 26 shows the larvae of a bibionid fly rather than a crane 
fly. The text contains some personal observations on insect behaviour made by the 
author but this is a book primarily for enjoying the photographs rather than for 
reading. 

Apart from a few habitat photographs, the illustrations are close-up views of a 
wide range of insects and a few spiders. They are shown feeding, mating, overwintering 
and in motion. Those showing insects leaping or in flight are particularly impressive. 
Ladybirds and other shiny insects have, however, caused the author some problems 
by showing a reflection of the ring flash used to illustrate the subject. 


A. J. HALSTEAD 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 61 


THE MOTHS AT CARLYON BAY, CORNWALL 
RECORDED 1989-1993 


ADRIAN SPALDING 


Tremayne Farm Cottage, Tremayne, Praze, Camborne, Cornwall TR14 9PH. 


INTRODUCTION 


Carlyon Bay is the name given to a complex of beaches south-east of St Austell, 
Cornwall. There are three beaches called (from west to east) Crinnis, Shorthorn and 
Polgaver beach. Crinnis Beach is heavily used by holidaymakers, attracted to the site 
by the presence of Cornwall Colliseum, a leisure park with facilities for adults and 
children. Fewer people use Shorthorn Beach, which is further from car parking 
facilities. The long walk required to reach Polgaver Beach means that the site is only 
sparsely used (it is now a designated nudist beach). In past years, a small train took 
passengers across Shorthorn Beach to the western edge of Polgaver beach, but this 
train stopped running in 1992 following major storm damage to the track. 

Crinnis Beach consists of a narrow strip of sand backed by a large car park, behind 
which rise tall cliffs which contain interesting plant communities. Shorthorn Beach 
is a wilder place. At the western end is a wide flat area above the beach with many 
kinds of grasses and low-growing plants such as Potentilla reptans L., P. anserina 
L. and Senecio jacobaea L. Just above the beach to the east of this area there is a 
small area of dune dominated by Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link, backed by a narrow 
belt of trees (mainly Salix cinerea L. and Betula pubescens Ehrh.) with abundant 
Rubus sp. and Crocosmia x crocosmiflora (Lemoine ex Burb & Dean). A small adit 
flanked by Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertner runs to the sea. The tracks of the railway 
enscribe a large circle round a hollow with Salix cinerea growing in places in standing 
water. Between this woodland and the faulted shales of the cliff lies a small heathy 
area with some Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull, Erica cinerea L., Ulex europaeus L. and 
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn. 

Polgaver Beach is similar in many ways to Shorthorn Beach, although the dunes 
are higher with more Ammophila arenaria. The garden introduction Rosa rugosa 
Thunb. ex Murray is abundant here (first recorded here in 1922). On the inland edge 
of the dunes grow Salix cinerea and some Alnus glutinosa, leading down into a dune 
slack with wetland plants such as Jris pseudacorus L. Behind a large seasonal pond 
(often dry in summer) is more willow growing on grassy ground rising up to the high 
cliffs here. These coastal habitats are rare on the south-east coast of Cornwall. 


THE HISTORY OF CARLYON BAY BEACH 


The St Austell area is well known for its associations with the china clay industry. 
North of the town lies the lunar landscape of the china clay tips, white conical hills 
composed of the waste quartz-sand and undecayed granite, left over after the extraction 
of kaolin (china clay). 100 years after the foundation of the china clay industry, china 
clay operations were established on four sites north of Carlyon Bay around 1865. 
For the next 80 years or so the fine sand and mica residue was carried away from 
the open mine areas by a system of leats and natural streams, all flowing eventually 
into a single stream crossing what is now the golf course and then into an adit which 
discharged this residue onto Shorthorn Beach (Grigg, pers. comm.). In the late 1950s, 
some of the mine residue was contained on site, but discharges continued from some 
sites until the mid-1970s. Today, the stream still has a milky appearance. The 


62 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


deposition of this residue has built up the beach, which is largely composed of coarse 
grains of quartz. The sand is too coarse for Ammophila arenaria, which just sits on 
top in the areas of finer sand. The areas behind these dunes have been built up by 
the deposition of china clay waste dredged up from the sea bed near Par Harbour 
(Lees, pers. comm.). These areas retain moisture even in the driest summer. 

Although these beaches are of recent industrial origin, they have become rich in 
wildlife. There has been much recent interest in the colonization by nature of industrial 
sites (see Box, 1993, 1994). In Cornwall ECC International Ltd are running an on- 
going land reclamation programme (Wardell Armstrong, 1993). The importance of 
the site for wildlife was recognized by South West Water who in 1992 constructed 
a new sewage pipe across Polgaver Beach into the sea. Although much of the habitat 
was destroyed during the construction work, restoration work has now taken place 
to reinstate the dunes and the willow carr. Unfortunately, no account was taken of 
the moths of the site during this work. 


METHODS 


The collecting and recording was done by several people (particularly Bill Kittle 
and Phil Boggis) over a 4-year period, especially in 1992 and 1993. Records were also 
contributed by Abigail and Simon Boggis, Clarence Brind, David Evans, John 
Gregory, Paul Siddons, Lee Slaughter and myself. Bill Kittle has had a long association 
with the site and it was he who first drew my attention to its excellence for moths. 
Surveying was mainly carried out by lamping and torchlight searching for larvae. 
Some larvae were bred through by Bill for later identification. Critical species were 
examined by Paul Siddons and myself. 


RESULTS 


A detailed list of the species recorded at Carlyon Bay 1989-1993 is given in the 
Appendix; 331 species were recorded. 

Seventeen nationally notable species (see Ball, 1986, updated by Waring, 1993) were 
recorded, comprising three notable A species, 13 notable B species and one notable 


Table 1. Nationally important species found at Shorthorn and Polgaver Beach 1989-1993. 


Name Classification Habitat 
Agrotis ripae Hibn. Notable B sand-dune 
Agrotis trux Hibn. Notable B cliff 
Bembecia muscaeformis Esp. Notable B rocks/cliff 
Catarhoe rubidata D.&S. Notable B cliff 
Conistra rubiginea D.&S. Notable B woodland 
Earias clorana L. Notable B damp woods 
Eilema caniola Hibn. Notable B cliffs 
Eupithecia distinctaria H.-S. Notable B coastal areas 
Hadena luteago barrettii Doubl. Notable A cliffs 
Mecyna asinalis Hibn. Notable B cliffs 
Meganola albula D.&S. Notable B coastal areas 
Mythimna litoralis Cutt. Notable B sand-dunes 
Mythimna I-album L. Notable B coastal areas 
Mythimna putrescens Hibn. Notable A cliffs 
Polymixis xanthomista Hiibn. Notable A cliffs 
Phycitodes maritima Tengst. Notable cliffs/beach 


Schrankia taenialis Hibn. Notable B damp woodland 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 63 


Table 2. All species recorded at Carlyon Bay classified 
according to habitat (excluding migrant species). 


Habitat Species numbers 
Dry woodland 40 
Sand-dune 32 
Cliff 30 
Scrub 24 
Wet woodland 22, 
Wetland 10 
Conifer woodland 7 
Generalist species i153} 
Total 318 


Table 3. Migrant species found at Shorthorn and Polgaver Beach 1989-1993. 


Agrotis ipsilon Hufn. dark sword-grass 
Autographa gamma L. silver Y 

Earias clorana L. cream-bordered green pea 
Heliothis armigera Hubn. scarce bordered straw 
Mythimna albipuncta D.&S. white-point 
Mythimna I-album L. L-album wainscot 
Mythimna loreyi Dup. the cosmopolitan 
Mythimna vitellina Hibn. the delicate 
Nomophila noctuella D.&S. rush veneer 
Orthonama obstipata F. the gem 

Peridroma saucia Hibn. pearly underwing 
Rhodometra sacraria L. the vestal 


Udea ferrugalis Hiibn. 


species (Table 1). The mix of notable species comprises an interesting collection of 
cliff (nine species), sand-dune (two species) and woodland (three species) species. In 
fact, out of the total 331 species recorded, I have calculated that 30 were cliff species, 
32 were sand-dune species, 62 were woodland species (including 22 wet woodland 
species), 24 were scrubland species and 10 were wetland species (Table 2). 

The status of Phycitodes maritima has recently been revised by Parsons (1993) and 
is now provisionally classed as notable (a downward revision from notable status B), 
i.e. its distribution is insufficiently known for detailed classification. 

Bill Kittle found signs of larvae of Sesia bembeciformis Hiibn. feeding in willow 
on Polgaver Beach, but there was heavy predation by green woodpeckers and this 
moth may no longer be present here. 

The beach has proved to be of exceptional value for migrants during this period, 
when 13 migrant species were recorded (Table 3). 


DISCUSSION 


Migrants 


We did well for migrants at the site. Although moths may arrive at the site at 
random, they are likely to stay at Carlyon Bay where there are nectar sources and 
hiding places, thus increasing the chance of encounters by visiting entomologists. They 
can only leave the site by flying out to sea or upwards over the steep cliff. Some 


64 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


migrants may breed here. For example, Mythimna |-album is probably a temporary 
resident here; although most specimens were recorded in September and October, 
the single found here on 19.vi.1992 may well have been a first-brood specimen. 
A single specimen of Farias clorana was caught by Bill Kittle at mercury vapour 
light at Shorthorn Beach on 13.vi.92. It was an unusually marked form, subsequently 
determined by Barry Goater as ab flavimargo de Joannis. FE. clorana is unknown 
from Cornwall and generally rare in the south-west. (A single clorana caught near 
Exeter by A.H. Dobson on 26.vi.92 was thought to be a migrant). It was therefore 
at first thought that this specimen was Earias insulana (Boisd.) (the Egyptian 
bollworm), the third British (and first Cornish) record of this rare migrant. It was 
exhibited as this species (Skinner, 1993), at the 1992 B.E.N.H.S. Annual Exhibition. 
Work by Roy McCormick has shown that EF. clorana occurs commonly on at least 
one coastal site in Devon. It is therefore possible that this species is breeding at Carlyon 
Bay, where the damp willow woodland provides a suitable habitat. However, Goater 
(1994) writes that the British populations of E. clorana are apparently invariable apart 
from size, and Martin Honey (pers. comm.) suggests that ab flavimargo has not 
apparently been recorded in Britain within breeding populations. Examples of ab 
flavimargo such as that taken on 25.vi.1992 by S.A. Knill-Jones on the Isle of Wight 
(and exhibited at the 1994 B.E.N.H.S. Annual Exhibition (Knill-Jones, 1995) are 
certainly migrants. Ab flavimargo has been recorded from Brittany and it is therefore 
likely that the singleton recorded at Carlyon Bay was a migrant from France. 


Habitats and national importance 


Table 2 classifies moths according to habitats which can be found at Carlyon Bay. 
All the species recorded at Carlyon Bay can fly and therefore may have come from 
neighbouring areas, but I consider this site to be largely a closed community (apart 
from migrants) surrounded as it is by cliffs on one side and the sea on the other. 

Carlyon Bay is of some importance in national terms (Tables 1 and 4), but no red 
Data Book species were recorded there. Emmet (1991) allocated species to the principal 
habitats in which they are commonly found. He divided maritime habitats into five 
subsections (salt-marsh, sand-dune, cliff and undercliff, shingle beach and ‘other 
maritime situations’). I have calculated from this list that there are a total of 358 
maritime species (excluding all butterflies and migrant species) found in Britain and 
Ireland, not counting those generalist species that can be found anywhere. Several 
of these species can be found in more than one of these habitats, so that adding up 
the number of species in each of these habitats gives a total of 451 species. A small 
proportion (average 13%) of these have been recorded at Carlyon Bay (Table 4). It 


Table 4. Numbers of moth species found in maritime habitats. 


Habitat type Britain Carlyon Bay % of total 
& Ireland for Britain & 
nos* nos Ireland 
Salt-marsh 57 4 7 
Sand-dune 133 23 17 
Cliff and undercliff 119 23 19 
Shingle beach 50 5 10 
Other maritime situations 92 10 11 
Totals 451 64 average 13 


*According to Emmet & Heath (1991) habitat classification. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 65 


would be useful to compare the proportion of maritime species here with those at 
other coastal sites. This would allow us to build up a picture of the relative importance 
in national terms of coastal sites for moths. 

Some of the moths recorded here (e.g. Cucullia chamomillae and Malacosoma 
neustria) have no close association with maritime habitats according to Emmet & 
Heath (1991), although all can be found regularly in coastal situations in Cornwall. 
This shows how regional variations in habitat preference can modify the overall picture 
(and also explains why the species totals in Table 2 differ from those in Table 4). 


Local importance 


The interest of the site lies mainly in the juxtaposition of widely different habitats 
and the moths that live there. I estimate that there are 32 resident macro-moths found 
in Cornwall which are restricted to coastal areas (Table 5). Of these 18 (56%) have 
been recorded at Carlyon Bay, making it a very important coastal site for Lepidoptera 
in local terms. 


Table 5. Resident Macro-moths in Cornwall with a distribution largely 
restricted to the coast. 


Recorded at Carlyon Bay? 
Species name (Y =yes N=no) 


Agrotis ripae Hubn. 

Agrotis trux Hiibn. 

Agrotis vestigialis Hufn. 
Aporophyla australis Boisd. 
Aspitates ochrearia Rossi 
Bembecia muscaeformis Esp. 
Catarhoe rubidata D.&S. 
Cucullia chamomillae D.&S. 
Dasypolia templi Thunb. 
Eilema complana L 

Eilema caniola Hibn. 
Epirrhoe galiata D.&S. 
Eupithecia denotata jasioneata Crewe 
Eupithecia distinctaria H.-S. 
Eupithecia simpliciata Haw. 
Euxoa nigricans L. 

Euxoa obelisca D.&S. 

Euxoa tritici L. 

Gnophos obscurata D.&S. 
Hadena luteago barrettii Doubl. 
Hadena perplexa D.&S. 
Ayloicus pinastri L. 
Leucochlaena oditis Hiibn. 
Luperina nickerlii leechi Goater 
Lygephila craccae D.&S. 
Meganola albula D.&S. 
Mythimna I|-album L. 
Mythimna litoralis Curt. 
Mythimna putrescens Hiibn. 
Nudaria mundana L. 
Polymixis xanthomista Hiibn. 
Standfussiana lucernea L. 


ZSZK6KKKZAZZAZRKRK ARK AZAZK KAZAKH ZZ KKK ZZ KKK 


66 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Meganola albula D.&S. (Kent black arches) 


Paul Siddons and I found two specimens (one male and one female) of Meganola 
albula at mercury vapour light at Shorthorn beach on 10.vii.92. This is the only site 
so far in Cornwall for this species. I had been hoping for some time to find this 
nationally scarce species on the Cornish coast as it has been recorded both sides of 
Cornwall on the Isles of Scilly and in Devon (Heath & Emmet, 1979). In fact, the 
records for Scilly are all pre-1980 (Waring, 1992). The only records I can find for 
Scilly were in 1956, 1957 and 1959 from Tresco, Bryher and St Agnes (per the Cornish 
Biological Records Unit). Nevertheless, the discovery (although accidental) of M. 
albula here shows that distribution maps can be used to provide clues to where species 
may be found. 

In Britain, Meganola albula is a southern species largely confined to the coast but 
occasionally found inland in woodland clearings. The open woodland habitat here 
looks ideal. The main foodplant in Britain is considered to be Rubus caesius L. 
(Skinner, 1984), but I could find no trace of this plant here (although Lousley (1971) 
states that there are several records for the Isles of Scilly). The moth is also known 
to feed on Potentilla and Fragaria, but Bill Kittle and I found no sign of larvae on 
these plants during spring 1993. In fact, we saw no adults in 1993 despite extensive 
trapping on the site. Unfortunately, a large part of the site had been bulldozed to 
make a road for construction vehicles and it may be that M. a/bula no longer occurs 
here (Spalding, in press). 


Foodplants 


The list of larval foodplants associated with the species recorded at Carlyon Bay. 
(Table 6) shows the plant species that are likely to occur here. New (1991) suggests 


Table 6. Number of moth species (excluding migrants) associated with particular 
foodplants at Carlyon Bay. 


Pulicaria dysenterica (L.) Bernh. 

Lonicera periclymenum L. 

Oenanthe crocata L. 

Typha spp. 

Betula spp. 

Thymus polytrichus A. Kerner ex Borbas (= 7. praecox) 

Phragmites 

Tripleurospermum maritimum (L.) Koch 

Armeria maritima (Miller) Willd. 

Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull 

Silene uniflora Roth (=S. maritima) 

Atriplex/Chenopodium 

Lichen spp. 

Conifer spp. 

Quercus spp. 

Salix spp. 21 

Gramineae 33 

General polyphagous species 20 

Polyphagous on herbaceous plants 48 

Polyphagous on trees and shrubs 48 

Others 98 

[Hymenoptera nests 1] 
Total 318 


ONIYIARRRWNNNNE ERE 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 67 


that there may be a complicated relationship between butterflies and hostplant diversity 
and this is likely to be true of moths. Plant diversity is high at Carlyon Bay because 
of the number of different habitats and their associated plants, the early successional 
stage of the dune vegetation which is constantly changing and the recent disturbance 
of the area which has led to colonization by so-called ‘weed’ species. 

However, some moths have occurred at Carlyon Bay despite the apparent absence 
of their foodplant. I could find no sign of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel 
in Carlyon Bay, although two moths (Archanara geminipuncta and Rhizedra lutosa) 
associated with this foodplant were recorded there. It is well known that Rhizedra 
lutosa can be found at some distance from its foodpant (Skinner, 1984), but Archanara 
geminipuncta is generally considered to be less mobile. In fact, Phragmites probably 
occurred here in previous years near the adit (D. Gibbon, pers. comm.). 

The abundance of a foodplant at a site has no apparent bearing on the number 
of moth species that feed on it. Armeria maritima (Miller) Willd. is abundant here 
but only three moth species feed on it. Conifer trees are scarce, yet seven moth species 
with conifer-feeding larvae were present on the site, including Bupalus piniaria which 
is particularly rare in east Cornwall. 


The community of sand-dune moths at Carlyon Bay 


I have calculated from foodplant associations and other factors that there are 32 
species associated with the sand-dunes at Carlyon Bay (Table 7), excluding generalist 
species found in a wide variety of situations. (The figure of 32 differs from Emmet’s 
23 out of 133 (Table 4) because it is based on local knowledge). These species form 
a maritime community of moths, apparently a random assemblage of species but 
probably linked together by a variety of factors such as the structural diversity, 
historical continuity and maritime aspect of the site, as well as the presence of shared 
food resources. (e.g. seven species feed on grasses). No attempt was made to assess 
the abundance of species on this site. 

The ecology of most (perhaps all) of the species found here is so poorly understood 
that we cannot say with certainty which (if any) factors are common to all or most 
of the species. Several of these species form guilds sharing a common foodplant (e.g. 
three species feed on Atriplex and two on Taraxacum), but may utilize different parts 
of the foodplant at different times of year. The foodplant resource at this site is 
probably sufficient for the guilds of moths here so that interspecific competition for 
food is unlikely. (Porter et al (1992) says that there is no clear-cut case of competitive 
exclusion among British butterflies, but it is possible that competitive exclusion is more 
common among British moths because there are so many more species on a site such as 
this.) The moths are here partly because their larval foodplants are present. Their 
national distributions may be linked to the distribution of the foodplants, but there are 
other limiting factors such as the prevalence of parasites etc. Moths such as Mythimna 
l-album are probably confined as breeding populations to the frost-free areas on the 
warm southern cliffs. In Cornwall, Cucullia chamomillae is largely confined to the 
coast, despite the fact that its foodplant (Tripleurospermum maritimum) is widespread 
throughout the county. For these species, the restricted coastal distribution implies 
that factors other than the availability of foodplant limit their distribution. 


Numbers of species 


The total of 331 species represents the results of several nights trapping; 83 
Geometridae and 118 Noctuidae were recorded. However, some families such as the 


68 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Table 7. Sand-dune moths at Carlyon Bay. 


Moth Foodplant 
er: Cee ear) Ee + 
Close coastal Close coastal 
Species name association? Species association? 
Agriphila geniculea Haw. grasses 
Agrotis clavis Hutn. herb. plants 
Agrotis ripae Hiibn. dune plants 
Agrotis vestigialis Hufn. grasses etc 
Amphipoea oculea L. grasses 
Caradrina clavipalpis Scop. grasses 
Celypha striana D.&S, Taraxacum 
Cucullia chamomillae D.&S. Tripleurospermum 
Discestra trifolii Hutn. Atriplex etc. 
Endotricha flammealis D.&S. polyphagous 
Epirrhoe galiata D.&S. Galium 
Eumichtis lichenea Hiibn. polyphagous 
Eupithecia absinthiata Cl. polyphagous 
Eupithecia simpliciata Haw, Atriplex etc. 
Eupithecia virgaureata Doubl, Senecio etc. 
Euxoa tritici L. polyphagous 


Taraxacum 
Silene uniflora 
Atriplex etc. 


Idaea subsericeata Haw. 
Hadena luteago barrettii Doubl. 
Lacanobia oleracea 1. 


Luperina testacea D.&S. grasses 
Meganola albula D.&S, Rubus etc, 
Mesoligia furuncula D.&S. grasses 
Mythimna lalbum 1. grasses 
Mythimna litoralis Curt. Ammophila 
Paradiarsia glareosa Esp. polyphagous 
Perizoma alchemillata L. Galeopsis 
Perizoma flavofasciata Thunb. Silene spp. 


Achillea etc. 
Anthemis etc. 
Vicia etc. 

Salix etc. 

Rumex acetosella 


Phycitodes maritima Tengst. 
Phycitodes saxicola Vaugh. 
Scotopteryx chenopodiata 1. 
Semiothisa alternaria Hiibn. 
Teleiopsis diffinis Haw. 


ZZ<<<<Z2Z2Z<~<~<~<<«<«~<~2Z2<~2Z2<~Z2Z<~ZZ<ZZ<<<<*«< 
Py ey ey Ey By By Sy Peco, By OO By Ly Be By A, Et Dy, Me Da 


Gracillariidae, Coleophoridae and Elachistidae (one species each) were under-recorded, 
indicating an over-reliance on the attractiveness of light to moths on our part. It is 
likely that there are many more species still to be found on the site. 


SUMMARY 


The national importance of a site such as Carlyon Bay for moths may be evaluated 
according to the number of nationally notable species present. However, this method 
concentrates on a small proportion of the total number of species and ignores the 
communities of moths present. An alternative method is to calculate the proportion 
of species present which are representative of the types of habitat available to the 
moths, Emmet’s classification of all British species allows us to do this on a national 
scale. On this basis, Carlyon Bay has 13% of the maritime species of Britain. Carlyon 
Bay also has 56% of the Cornish maritime macro-moths, making it important in local 
terms. Taking one habitat (sand-dune), this site has 17% of the sand-dune species 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 69 


nationally, but with local knowledge we can list 32 species with close links to this 
habitat. Many species are here partly because their larval foodplants are present, but 
the disparity between the distribution of foodplants and of moths indicates that factors 
other than the availability of foodplant limit the distribution of these sand-dune moths. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


I wish to thank all the people who accompanied me on the moth collecting trips 
in Carlyon Bay as well as those who provided additional moth records, especially 
Bill Kittle and Phil Boggis. Dave Gibbon and Steven Lees of Wildlife Woodlands 
provided information about the history of the site, as did Mr Grigg of ECC 
International Ltd. I also thank Frank Smith for preparing the genitalia slide of Earias 
clorana and Barry Goater, Martin Honey and Roy McCormick for valuable 
information on this species and others within the Earias genus. 


CLARENCE BRIND 


11.vii.92 was the night we made the first capture of Meganola albula for Cornwall. 
Clarence Brind shared this moment with us. It was unfortunately the last moth trip 
I went on with Clarence, who died on 8.11.93. Clarence was well known in Cornwall 
and beyond as a real enthusiast for all kinds of wildlife. During the course of his 
life, he built up a huge collection of insects from around the world stored in several 
hundred large display boxes. Unfortunately, I never knew Clarence as well as I would 
have wished, but I was privileged to accompany him on several nocturnal mothing 
trips and will always remember his sense of humour, his knowledge and above all 
his keen appreciation of the beauty of all living things. 


REFERENCES 


Ball, S. G. 1986. Invertebrate Site Register, NCC Report number 66. NNC, Peterborough. 

Box, J. D. 1993. Conservation or greening? The challenge of post-industrial landscapes. Br. 
Wildlife 4: 273-279. 

Box, J. D. 1994. Conservation or greening? The challenge of post-industrial and derelict sites. 
Regrow Conference. 

Emmet, A. M. 1991. Life history and habits of the British Lepidoptera. In: Emmet, A. M. 
& Heath, J. (Eds). The moths & butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 7, Part 2, 
pp. 61-304. Harley Books. Colchester. 

Goater, B. 1994. The genus Earias Hiibner (1825) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Britain and Europe. 
Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 106: 233-239. 

Heath, J. & Emmet, A.M. 1979. The moths & butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 
9. Curwen Books, London. 

Knill-Jones, S. A. 1995 [Exhibit at 1994 B.E.N.H.S. Annual Exhibition.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 
8: in press. 

Lousley, J.E. 1971. The flora of the isles of Scilly. David & Charles. Newton Abbot. 

New, T. R. 1991. Butterfly conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 

Parsons, M. S. 1993. A review of the scarce and threatened pyralid moths of Great Britain. 
UK Nature Conservation, no. 11. JNCC, Peterborough. 

Porter, K., Steel, C. A. & Thomas, J. A. 1992. Buttterflies and communities. In: Dennis, R. 
L. H. (Ed.). The ecology of butterflies in Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 

Skinner, B. 1984. Colour identification guide to moths of the British Isles. Viking, 
Harmondsworth. 

Skinner, B. 1993. [Exhibit at 1992 B.E.N.H.S. Annual Exhibition.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 6: 57. 

Spalding, A. (in press). Lepidoptera recording: responses to habitat degeneration and destruction, 
with particular reference to Cornwall. In: Spalding, A. & French, C. N. (Eds). Proceedings 
of the 1993 NFBR Conference. NFBR. Institute for Cornish Studies, Redruth. 


70 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Wardell Armstrong, 1993. Landscaping and revegetation of china clay wastes. Summary report. 
HMSO, London. 

Waring, P. 1992. Moth Conservation Project, News Bulletin 4. JNCC, Peterborough. 

Waring, P. 1993. National Moth Conservation Project, News Bulletin 5. Butterfly Conservation. 


APPENDIX. LIST OF SPECIES RECORDED FROM THE STUDY AREA 


Hepialidae. Hepialus humuli L. 

Incurvariidae. Nematopogon swammerdamella L., Nemophora degeerella L. 

Gracillariidae. Parornix anglicella Stt. 

Sesiidae. Sesia bembeciformis Hibn., Bembecia muscaeformis Esp. 

Yponomeutidae. Argyresthia brockeella Hiibn., Argyresthia retinella Zell., Yponomeuta 
padella .., Paraswammerdamia albicapitella Scharf., Ypsolopha parenthesella L., Ypsolopha 
ustella Cl., Plutella xylostella L. 

Coleophoridae. Coleophora albicosta Haw. 

Elachistidae. Elachista canapennella Hubn. 

Oecophoridae. Hofmannophila pseudospretella Stt., Carcina quercana F., Depressaria daucella 
D.&S., Agonopterix heracliana L., Agonopterix subpropinquella Stt., Agonopterix arenella 
D.&S., Agonopterix ocellana F., Agonopterix assimilella Treit., Agonopterix nervosa Haw. 

Gelechiidae. Aristotelia ericinella Zell., Teleiopsis diffinis Haw., Scrobipalpa costella Humph. 
& Westw., Caryocolum blandella Dougl., Anarsia spartiella Schr., Hypatima rhomboidella L., 
Brachmia blandella F. 

Tortricidae. Phtheochroa inopiana Haw., Cochylimorpha straminea Haw., Agapeta hamana 
L., Agapeta zoegana L., Eupoecilia angustana Hibn., Pandemis cerasana Hiibn., Pandemis 
heparana D.&S., Archips podana Scop., Clepsis consimilana Hubn., Epiphyas postvittana Walk., 
Lozotaenia forsterana F., Ditula angustiorana Haw., Cnephasia stephensiana Doubl., Cnephasia 
asseclana D.&S., Acleris variegana D.&S., Acleris hastiana L., Acleris emargana F., Celypha 
striana D.&S., Olethreutes lacunana D.&S., Olethreutes bifasciana Haw., Hedya pruniana Hubn., 
Hedya dimidioalba Retz., Endothenia marginana Haw., Lobesia littoralis Humph.& Westw., 
Bactra lancealana Hiibn., Epinotia immundana F.v.R., Epinotia nisella Cl., Rhopobota 
myrtillana Humph. & Westw., Epiblema uddmanniana L., Epiblema rosaecolana Doubl., 
Eucosma cana Haw., Spilonota ocellana D.&S., Pammene argyrana Hiibn., Cydia succedana 
D.&S., Cydia splendana Hibn. 

Alucitidae. Alucita hexadactyla L. 

Pyralidae. Chrysoteuchia culmella L., Crambus perlella Scop., Agriphila straminella D.&S., 
Agriphila tristella D.&S., Agriphila geniculea Haw., Catoptria pinella L., Platytes cerussella 
D.&S., Scoparia ambigualis Treit., Dipleurina lacustrata Panz., Eudonia angustea Curt., Eudonia 
mercurella L., Eurrhypara hortulata L., Perinephela lancealis D.&S., Phlyctaenia coronata Hufn.., 
Ebulea crocealis Hiibn., Udea olivalis D.&S., Udea ferrugalis Hiibn., Mecyna asinalis Hibn.., 
Nomophila noctuella D.&S., Pleuroptya ruralis Scop., Hypsopygia costalis F., Endotricha 
flammealis D.&S., Aphomia sociella L., Numonia advenella Zinck., Phycita roborella D.&S., 
Pempeliella diluta Haw., Homoeosoma sinuella F., Phycitodes saxicola Vaugh., Phycitodes 
maritima Tengst. 

Pterophoridae. Pterophorus pentadactyla L. 

Lasiocampidae. Malacosoma neustria L., Lasiocampa quercus quercus L., Macrothylacia 
rubi L., Philudoria potatoria L. 

Drepanidae. Drepana falcataria L., Cilix glaucata Scop. 

Thyatiridae. Thyatira batis L., Habrosyne pyritoides Hufn., Ochropacha duplaris L. 

Geometridae. Alsophila aescularia D.&S., Hemithea aestivaria Hibn., Timandra griseata 
Peters. Scopula imitaria Hibn., Scopula immutata Linn., Scopula floslactata Haw., Idaea biselata 
Hufn., /daea fuscovenosa Goeze, Idaea dimidiata Hufn., Idaea subsericeata Haw., Idaea aversata 
L., Rhodometra sacraria L., Orthonama obstipata F., Xanthorhoe spadicearia D.&S.., 
Xanthorhoe ferrugata Cl\., Xanthorhoe montanata D.&S., Xanthorhoe fluctuata L., Scotopteryx 
chenopodiata L., Catarhoe rubidata D.&S., Catarhoe cuculata Hufn., Epirrhoe alternata Miull., 
Epirrhoe galiata D.&S., Camptogramma bilineata L., Anticlea badiata D.&S., Anticlea derivata 
D.&S., Lampropteryx suffumata D.&S., Cosmorhoe ocellata L., Ecliptopera silaceata D.&S., 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 71 


Chloroclysta truncata Hufn., Cidaria fulvata Forst., Thera firmata Hiibn., Thera obeliscata 
Hiibn., Thera britannica Turn., Electrophaes corylata Thunb., Colostygia pectinataria Knoch, 
Hydriomena furcata Thunb., Perizoma affinitata Steph., Perizoma alchemillata L., Perizoma 
flavofasciata Thunb., Eupithecia tenuiata Hiibn., Eupithecia pulchellata Steph., Eupithecia 
venosata F., Eupithecia centaureata D.&S., Eupithecia absinthiata Cl., Eupithecia vulgata Haw., 
Eupithecia subfuscata Haw., Eupithecia simpliciata Haw., Eupithecia distinctaria H.-S., 
Eupithecia nanata Hibn. Eupithecia virgaureata Doubl., Eupithecia abbreviata Steph., Eupithecia 
dodoneata Guen., Chloroclystis v-ata Haw., Chloroclystis rectangulata L., Gymnoscelis 
rufifasciata Haw., Euchoeca nebulata Scop., Asthena albulata Hufn., Trichopteryx carpinata 
Borkh., Pterapherapteryx sexalata Retz., Acasis viretata Hibn., Abraxas grossulariata L.., 
Lomaspilis marginata L., Semiothisa alternaria Hiibn., Petrophora chlorosata Scop., 
Opisthograptis luteolata L., Epione repandaria Hufn., Apeira syringaria L., Ennomos alniaria 
L., Selenia dentaria F., Odontopera bidentata C\., Crocallis elinguaria L., Ourapteryx sambucaria 
L., Biston betularia L., Peribatodes rhomboidaria D.&S., Alcis repandata L., Cleorodes lichenaria 
Hufn., Ectropis crepuscularia D.&S., Bupalus piniaria L., Cabera pusaria L., Cabera exanthemata 
Scop., Lomographa temerata D.&S., Campaea margaritata L., Hylaea fasciaria L. 

Sphingidae. Sphinx ligustri L., Laothoe populi L., Deilephila elpenor L., Deilephila 
porcellus L. 

Notodontidae. Phalera bucephala L., Cerura vinula L., Notodonta dromedarius L., 
Eligmodonta ziczac L., Pheosia gnoma F., Pheosia tremula C\., Ptilodon capucina L., Pterostoma 
palpina Cl., Drymonia ruficornis Hufn. 

Lymantriidae. Dasychira pudibunda L., Lymantria monacha L. 

Arctiidae. Miltochrista miniata Forst., Eilema griseola Hiibn., Eilema caniola Hiibn., Eilema 
lurideola Zinck., Spilosoma lubricipeda L., Spilosoma luteum WHufn., Phragmatobia 
fuliginosa L. 

Nolidae. Meganola albula D.&S., Nola confusalis H.-S. 

Noctuidae. Euxoa tritici L., Agrotis vestigialis Hufn., Agrotis segetum D.&S., Agrotis clavis 
Hufn., Agrotis exclamationis L., Agrotis trux Hiibn., Agrotis ipsilon Hufn., Agrotis puta Hibn., 
Agrotis ripae Hibn., Axylia putris L., Ochropleura plecta L., Noctua pronuba L., Noctua comes 
Hubn., Noctua janthina D.&S., Noctua interjecta Hibn., Paradiarsia glareosa Esp., Lycophotia 
porphyrea D.&S., Peridroma saucia Hiibn., Diarsia mendica F.., Diarsia rubi View., Xestia c- 
nigrum L., Xestia triangulum Hufn., Xestia xanthographa D.&S., Xestia agathina Dup., Naenia 
typica L., Anaplectoides prasina D.&S., Cerastis rubricosa D.&S., Discestra trifolii Hufn., Polia 
nebulosa Hufn., Mamestra brassicae L., Melanchra persicariae L., Lacanobia oleracea L.., 
Hecatera bicolorata Hufn., Hadena perplexa D.&S., Hadena luteago barrettii Doubl., Hadena 
confusa Hufn., Hadena bicruris Hufn., Tholera decimalis Poda, Panolis flammea D.&S., 
Orthosia cerasi F., Orthosia incerta Hufn., Orthosia gothica L., Mythimna ferrago F., Mythimna 
albipuncta D.&S., Mythimna vitellina Hiibn., Mythimna impura Hiibn., Mythimna pallens L., 
Mythimna litoralis Curt., Mythimna |-album L., Mythimna comma L., Mythimna putrescens 
Hubn., Mythimna loreyi Dup., Cucullia chamomillae D.&S., Aporophyla nigra Haw., 
Xylocampa areola Esp., Dichonia aprilina L., Polymixis flavicincta D.&S., Polymixis xanthomista 
Hiibn., Eumichtis lichenea Hiibn., Conistra vaccinii L., Conistra rubiginea D.&S., Agrochola 
lota Cl., Xanthia togata Esp., Acronicta megacephala D.&S., Acronicta leporina L., Acronicta 
alni L., Acronicta psi L., Acronicta rumicis L., Craniophora ligustri D.&S., Cryphia muralis 
Forst., Amphipyra pyramidea L., Mormo maura L., Rusina ferruginea Esp., Euplexia lucipara 
L., Phlogophora meticulosa L., Cosmia trapezina L., Apamea monoglypha Hufn., Apamea 
lithoxylaea D.&S., Apamea crenata Hufn., Apamea remissa Hiibn., Apamea scolopacina Esp., 
Oligia strigilis L., Oligia versicolor Borkh., Oligia latruncula D.&S., Oligia fasciuncula Haw.., 
Mesoligia furuncula D.&S., Mesoligia literosa Haw., Mesapamea secalis L., Luperina testacea 
D.&S., Amphipoea oculea L., Hydraecia micacea Esp., Gortyna flavago D.&S., Nonagria typhae 
Thunb., Archanara geminipuncta Haw., Rhizedra lutosa Hiibn., Charanyca trigrammica Hufn., 
Hoplodrina alsines Brahm, Hoplodrina blanda D.&S., Caradrina morpheus Hufn., Caradrina 
clavipalpis Scop., Heliothis armigera Hiibn., Protodeltote pygarga Hufn., Earias clorana L.., 
Pseudoips fagana F., Nycteola revayana Scop., Colocasia coryli L., Diachrysia chrysitis L., 
Autographa gamma L., Autographa pulchrina Haw., Autographa jota L., Abrostola trigemina 
Werneb., Abrostola triplasia L., Scoliopteryx libatrix L., Rivula sericealis Scop., Hypena 
proboscidalis L., Schrankia taenialis Hibn., Herminia tarsipennalis Treit., Herminia grisealis D.&S. 


72 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


ANNOUNCEMENTS 


BENHS Expedition—This Society is contemplating organizing an ‘expedition’ to 
Belize, Central America. As members will realize, this is the first time such an 
ambitious project has been raised and it is very much a pilot scheme. If successful, 
however, the intention is for further projects in the future. 

The BENHS is already active throughout the British Isles, and has even arranged 
exchange field meetings with entomologists in Europe. Why then go to the Carribean? 
Belize is a former British dependent territory and despite its now independent status, 
it maintains strong links with the United Kingdom, for example the Natural History 
Museum is at present establishing a field research station there. 

The aims of the BENHS enterprise are: to raise the profile of the Society so that it is 
seen to be actively involved in current entomological issues (in this case conservation and 
sustainable management of tropical rainforest); to establish links with other national 
and local groups; to form working partnerships in an international framework, and to 
provide members with opportunities to contribute and develop their skills in developing 
nations where conservation issues are pressing, but local expertise and funds are lacking. 

The expedition will seek to investigate the macro-lepidopterous fauna of a 
sympathetically managed tropical fruit enterprise and compare it with adjacent 
undisturbed forest. 

At present it is envisaged that four members will take part in the expedition, for two 
weeks of fieldwork and travel, some time between October 1995 and February 1996. 

If anyone is interested in taking part, they should contact the field meetings secretary, 
Paul Waring, with particulars, to include: means of financing individual expenses (flight, 
accommodation etc), experience and expertise in the Lepidoptera, physical fitness 
and health, evidence of a commitment to spend often long months working up material 
and publishing results.—Paul Waring, 1366 Lincoln Road, Werrington, Peterborough, 
Cambridgeshire PE4 6LS. 


The Professor Hering Memorial Research Fund—The British Entomological and 
Natural History Society announces that awards may be made from this Fund for 
the promotion of entomological research with particular emphasis on: 


(a) leaf-miners 

(b) Diptera, particularly Tephritidae and Agromyzidae 
(c) Lepidoptera, particularly Microlepidoptera 

(d) general entomology 


in the above order of preference having regard to the suitability of applicants and 
the plan of work proposed. 

Awards may be made to assist travelling and other expenses necessary to fieldwork, 
for the study of collections, for attendance at conferences, or, exceptionally, for the cost 
of publication of finished work. In total they are unlikely to exceed £600 in 1995/96. 

Applicants should send six copies, if possible, of a statement of their qualifications, of 
their plan of work, and of the precise objects and amount for which an award is sought, 
to Dr M. J. Scoble, Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell 
Road, London SW7 S5BD, as soon as possible and not later than 30 September 1995. 

Applications are also invited from persons wishing to borrow the Wild M3 stereo- 
microscope and fibre optics illuminator bequeathed to the Fund by the late Edward 
Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle. Loan of this equipment will be made for 
a period of up to 6 months in the first instance. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 73 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Observations of Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) feeding on 
honeydew—The foraging of bumblebees for nectar and pollen from flowers is well 
documented (Alford, 1975; Betts et a/., 1986; Prys-Jones & Corbet, 1987) particularly 
in relation to foraging strategies (Prys-Jones & Corbet, 1987). The foraging of 
bumblebees is not restricted to flowers but has been reported from extra-floral nectaries 
on certain plants such as the field bean and the sunflower (Alford, 1975). Bumblebees 
have also very occasionally been observed visiting aphids and some other plant-sucking 
insects; this was particularly notable for the species Bombus lucorum (L.) and Bombus 
terrestris (L.) (Alford, 1975; Free & Butler, 1959). The following observations detail an 
occurrence of aphid honeydew foraging. 

On the 16.vi.1991 in the Tonbridge area of Kent, several individuals of Bombus 
terrestris were observed patrolling the leaves of a beech tree (Fagus sylvatica L). Each 
bumblebee was observed until it passed out of sight. A total of eight individuals active 
around the beech tree were observed in detail. The behaviour of the bumblebees was 
consistent between individuals. The following is a description of the typical behaviour 
of the foraging bumblebees. 

The beech tree was approached rapidly and purposefully by the bumblebees. Nearing 
the tree they slowed and hovered around patches of leaves. This hovering would centre on 
anything from a couple of leaves to as many as several dozen. Close examination revealed 
the majority of these leaves to be curled and distorted in the manner typical of aphid 
damage. A fair proportion of these leaves were infested with aphids. Particular leaves 
were targeted by the bumblebees and they were investigated more closely by the bee. 

The close investigation took the form of a slower hovering flight around the leaf 
during which the antennae brushed the air close to the leaf surface. A few seconds later 
the bee would land on the underside of the leaf and touch the leaf surface with its 
antennae. After this it was usual for the bee to extend its proboscis and feed off the leaf 
surface. The period of feeding varied from less than 10 seconds to in excess of 1 
minute. The leaf patches fed on always possessed honeydew and frequently had resident 
aphids. The extent of honeydew being taken directly from the aphids was doubtful 
but feeding took place within millimetres of individual aphids on several occasions. The 
bumblebees appeared to spend more time feeding on the leaves that held active colonies 
of aphids. 

Deserting the leaf of feeding the bees would hover slowly, carefully inspecting the 
surrounding leaves. This search of narrow radius would continue until an adjacent 
leaf was landed on or the bee lost interest. The bumblebees’ interest would, however, 
not be totally lost as they would resume a rapid searching flight close to the tree, 
frequently closing in on patches of leaves and repeating the detailed searching 
behaviour and occasionally to resume feeding on honeydew. The bumblebees would 
always leave the tree with the same rapid flight with which they approached. The 
beech tree, about 5 metres tall, regularly had several B. terrestris patrolling 
simultaneously.—Clive Turner, 19 Pew Tor Close, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8QJ. 


REFERENCES 


Alford, D. V. 1975. Bumblebees. Davis-Poynter, London. 

Betts, C., Laffoley, D., Cribb, P. (Eds) 1986. The hymenopterist’s handbook. The Amateur 
Entomologist, Volume 7. 

Free, J. B. & Butler, C. G. 1959. Bumblebees. Collins, London. 

Prys-Jones, O. E. & Corbet, S. A. 1987. Bumblebees. Naturalists’ Handbooks 6. Cambridge 
University Press. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 74 


Two species of Agromyzidae (Diptera) new to the British fauna—Preparatory to 
publishing a report on the Diptera of the Kenfig National Nature Reserve, Glamorgan, 
I wish to formally record two species as yet unrecorded from the British Isles. Material 
is deposited in the collections of this museum, which will be publishing the full report 
in early 1995. 

Agromyza prespana Spencer. 

Described (Spencer, 1957: 35) from Macedonia. Spencer (1976: 136), in recording 
it from Sweden, cited its known distribution as being ‘widespread in Europe from 
Macedonia (type series) through Austria to northern Germany (Berlin) but uncommon 
and local’ and commented on its immature stages and biology as a leaf-miner of wheat, 
Triticum aestivum L. I collected a single male by sweeping on coastal dunes at the 
Kenfig N. N. R. on 11-13.vi.1990. 

Phytomyza erigerophila Hering. 

Described (Hering, 1927: 174) from Germany. Spencer (1976: 412) placed 
Phytomyza archhieracii Hering 1927: 173, also from Germany, as a Junior synonym 
of it, commenting that ‘although archhieracii has page priority over erigerophila, the 
latter name has been more widely used and I therefore treat archhieracci as junior 
synonym’. Spencer (1976: 412-413) further recorded this species from Denmark, 
Norway, Finland and near Grenoble, S. France, giving rearing records as being from 
leaf-mines on blue fleabane Erigeron acer L. and E. uniflorum L. in Norway and 
the latter host in S. France. Dr Spencer and I swept a large series of both sexes, mainly 
from Clematis, on the Merthyr Mawr dunes, Glamorgan on 16.vii.1986. I obtained 
a further male by sweeping a solitary pine tree, to which it might have been attracted 
by aphid honeydew, on the central dune area of the Kenfig N. N. R on 16.1x.1993. 
It should be pointed out that Erigeron canadensis L., which has now been transferred 
to the genus Conyza, occurs widely in South Wales as an alien and is there becoming 
a common species. I must thank Dr Spencer for identifying the Merthyr Mawr 
material.—J. C. Deeming, Department of Zoology, National Museum of Wales, 
Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NP. 


REFERENCES 


Hering, M. 1927. Beitrage zur Kenntis der Okologie und Systematik blattminierender Insekten 
(Minenstudien VIII). Zool. Angew. Ent. 13: 156-198. 

Spencer, K. A. 1957. Two new European species of Agromyzidae (Dipt.) Entomologist’s Mon. 
Mag. 93: 35-36. 

Spencer, K. A. 1976. The Agromyzidae (Diptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Ent. 
Scand. 5: 1-606 (pp. 1-304 separately bound under Part 1, pp. 305-606 under Part 2). 


An interesting saproxylic fauna at Snelsmore Common, Berkshire.—Snelsmore 
Common is best known as Berkshire’s largest and finest remaining area of heathland, 
but, as with so many old commons, there is also an old pasture-woodland interest 
associated with old trees around its fringes. This was well demonstrated during a brief 
visit on 9.vii.1994 when a number of interesting insects were found in association 
with the older trees along the lanes and droves approaching from the south. 

The most interesting find was the nationally scarce moth Morophaga choragella 
D. & S. (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). Large numbers of empty pupal cases were found 
attached to pieces of Jnonotus dryadeus (Pers.ex Fr.) Murr. bracket fungi which had 
been broken off from the base of an old oak at about SU 456703. Suspecting this 
moth, some of the fragments were retained to see if further moths would emerge, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 75 


which duly did a few days later. There are a few previous records from the county 
for this species, but this is a new locality (B. R. Baker, pers.comm). Remarkably, 
it is not known from Windsor Forest and Great Park, although occurs close by at 
Silwood Park. 

There is a concentration of large old field oaks immediately to the north-west of 
Donnington Castle (SU 460693) and these were also inspected for insects. The largest 
tree held a population of the dermestid beetle Cresias serra (F.) beneath loose bark 
on its trunk, and a single specimen of the scarce anobiid beetle Dorcatoma 
chrysomelina Sturm was found crawling over cuboidal red-rot exposed in the 
heartwood of another overmature tree alongside Castle Wood. These two species are 
of restricted occurrence nationally due to their requirement for large old trees, and 
the Dorcatoma is otherwise only known in the county from Windsor. Fallen oak 
branches contained the beetles Scolytus intricatus (Ratz.) and Cylindrinotus 
laevioctostriatus (Goeze) and the spider Nuctenea umbratica (Clerck). 

My thanks to J. M. Chalmers-Hunt and B. R. Baker for information about the 
moth, and to A. P. Foster for confirming its identity.—K. N. A. Alexander, 14 
Partridge Way, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1BQ. 


Ephemera lineata Eaton (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) at Reading, Berkshire.—In 
August 1953 when operating a makeshift light trap at Tilehurst, just to the west of 
Reading, I trapped two large ephemerids and, thinking August rather late to see 
mayflies, both were kept for future reference. The insects were added to the meagre 
collection of Ephemeroptera at Reading Museum and given no further thought until 
1958. Early that year, a keen young freshwater biologist, G. Harrisson, a pupil at 
Leighton Park School, came to us and asked to see the Ephemeroptera collection. 
The drawer had an immediate effect upon our visitor who could not restrain himself 
from executing several jumps of delight! It appeared that the Tilehurst specimens 
were Ephemera lineata Eaton, known previously from the River Thames near Reading, 
Laleham, Teddington and Weybridge, but not recorded since 1901. Kimmins’s FBA 
key (1954) added ‘scarce in collections’. We decided to try and discover /ineata nymphs 
and on 29.v hired a boat from the Tilehurst stretch of the Thames and, with the aid 
of a grab borrowed from Reading University, sampled the silty shoals for most of 
the afternoon. This proved totally unsuccessful. On 31.vii.1958 by arrangement with 
the then Thames Conservancy, a plug-in was obtained at Mapledurham Lock, about 
three miles upstream from Reading, and a Robinson trap operated there for three 
nights. This was again unsuccessful as far as E. /ineata was concerned. Soon afterwards 
Harrisson went off to Cambridge but maintained his interest in Ephemeroptera and 
I learned later that he had discovered E. lineata somewhere near his parents’ home 
on the River Wye. This is reflected by Macan’s comment in his 1961 key to ephemerid 
nymphs when referring to E. lineata: ‘Rare. R. Wye and R. Thames’. By 1974 I had 
moved to my present address at Caversham Heights, less than half a mile north of 
the Thames, and on the humid night of 9.vii.1981 (minimum temperature 16 degrees 
centigrade) was delighted to trap a further specimen. Another was trapped on 
13.vii.1987. My wife Heather noted another on our window on 23.vii.1991 and on 
11.viii.1991, as we were walking home over Caversham Bridge just before midnight 
we noted many sub-imagines (50 plus) sitting nearby on a brightly lit shop window. 
Most recently, 12.vii. 1994 another very humid night, a similarly large number of 
E. lineata, duns and spinners, were attracted to a mercury vapour lit sheet operated 
on our back lawn. 


16 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


I do not know whether one can read into this series of events an improved water 
quality of the River Thames at Reading, but can say with certainty that there has 
been a marked rise in the status of E. lineata there.—B. R. Baker, 25 Matlock Road, 
Caversham, Reading, Berkshire RG4 7BP. 


REFERENCES 


Kimmins, D. E. 1954. A revised key to the adults of British Ephemeroptera. FBA Scientific 
Publication No. 15. 

Macan, T. T. 1961. A key to the nymphs of British Ephemeroptera. FBA Scientific Publication 
No. 20. 


Armadillidium pictum Brandt (Isopoda: Armadillidiidae) new to Gloucestershire. — 
The finding of a number of pill woodlice (Armadillidium sp.) which appeared to 
be the Red Data Book A. pictum was mentioned in the field meeting report for 
Symonds Yat and Wye Gorge, 13 September 1992 (Alexander, 1993). Their identity 
has now been confirmed by David Bilton. 

This pretty woodlouse is otherwise known from two distinct areas of the British 
Isles: north-west England (north Lancashire, Westmorland, mid-west Yorkshire) and 
central Wales (Breconshire and Radnorshire). The Gloucestershire specimens were 
found beneath loose bark on a fallen dead branch, probably beech, above The 
Slaughter. The branch was tangled up amongst other foliage, etc, and the woodlice 
were actually found at about 1 m above ground level. This situation is very similar 
to that described for one of the Welsh localities and in mainland Europe, and unlike 
the rocky terrain favoured by the species in the north-west (Bratton, 1991; Harding 
& Sutton, 1985).—K. N. A. Alexander, 14 Partridge Way, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 1BQ. 


REFERENCES 


Alexander, K. N. A. 1993. BENHS Field Meeting: Symonds Yat and Wye Gorge, 13 September 
1992. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 6: 87. 

Bratton, J. 1991. Armadillidium pictum In: Bratton, J. (Ed.). British red data books: 3. 
Invertebrates other than insects. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, pp. 113-114. 

Harding, P. T. & Sutton, S. L. 1985. Woodlice in Britain and Ireland: distribution and habitat. 
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Huntingdon. 


BOOK REVIEWS 


Rarity, by K. J. Gaston. Population and community biology series 13. Chapman 
& Hall, London, 1994, 205 pages, £17.99, hardback.—The Population and community 
biology series aims to explore many facets of population biology and the processes 
that determine the structure and dynamics of communities. This volume aims to review 
and provide a synthesis of the diverse topic of rarity. As stated on the back cover 
of this book ‘Population and community biology [books] have been based largely 
on studies of abundant and widespread species. Most species are Neither.’ Despite 
this, the volume, which has obviously been well-researched, has been able to draw 
on a large selection of published references. 

The topic is covered by eight chapters. The first of these examines what is meant 
by rarity, including extracts of definitions from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 
(1983), criteria that have been utilized by a range of studies to delineate rare species, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 71 


and a selection of categories from schemes classifying species on the basis of threat. 
The next two chapters discuss abundance and range size and are liberally illustrated 
with relevant graphs and scatter diagrams. Spacial dynamics, temporal dynamics and 
the causes of rarity are covered in the following chapters, with topics such as geographic 
range structure, rarity and persistence over time and colonization ability all being 
discussed. However, it is the next chapter, covering conservation and rarity, that is 
probably the most immediately relevant to many members of this society. This is 
followed by a concluding chapter which asks ‘Where next?’ covering how the study 
of rarity can be improved and the main issues which remain to be resolved. 

Except for some minor errors in proof-reading, e.g. an inverted map on page 111, 
this book has been well produced, is well printed and has a clear format. The text 
includes many examples of entomological and non-entomological studies. Most 
chapters end with concluding remarks, although I feel it would also have been useful 
to provide a concise summary. As a volume, it would seem primarily aimed at, and 
written for, the ecologist rather than the field naturalist. However, this summary of 
the topic has many aspects which are widely relevant as well as thought-provoking, 
and could prove useful source material for those wishing to take their field studies 
further. 


MARK PARSONS 


Die Kafer Mitteleuropas, volume 14, (supplement volume 3), edited by G. A. Lohse 
and W. H. Lucht, Krefeld, Goeke & Evers, 1994, 404 pages, hardback, DM182 (about 
£75).—In theory, this third supplemental volume finishes the series, but for the fact 
that a Schlussband (concluding volume) is in preparation for 1995, and a whole series 
of spin-offs on larvae and ecology are also now being produced. However, this current 
volume concludes the supplemental analysis of the beetles covered in volumes 9 to 
11—the Phytophaga. There is little new on on the Cerambycidae (8 pp), appart from 
a long list of generic name changes affecting the previously large genera Leptura, 
Strangalia etc. In the Chrysomelidae (126 pp) there are numerous additions and 
changes, in particular long new keys for Chrysolina and Longitarsus with numerous 
aedeagus figures of Longitarsus and other flea beetles. In the Apionidae (62 pp), a 
new key raises previous Apion subgenera to full generic status. Other families covered 
are Bruchidae (8 pp), Urodonidae (2 pp), Anthribidae (1p), Scolytidae (27 pp), 
Platypodidae (2 pp), Cimberidae (1 p), Nemonychidae (1 p), Rhynchitidae (1 p), 
Attelabidae (1 p) and Curculionidae (53 pp). 


RICHARD A. JONES 


Invertebrate zoology, by E. E. Ruppert and R. D. Barnes, 6th edition, Orlando, 
Saunders College Publishing (Harcourt Brace), 1994, 1114 pages, paperback, 
£17.50.—This standard work on invertebrates continues to represent excellent value 
and an excellent introduction to all those creepy crawlies which are not insects. 
Arranged taxonomically, from protozoa to insects, echinoderms and protochordates, 
each chapter begins with brief review essays on particularly relevant topics introduced 
by each phylum or class as it is brought up. The coverage is international and although 
brief for each group, gives a clear and well-illustrated introduction to the wider study 
of invertebrates. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


78 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


BENHS INDOOR MEETINGS 
14 June 1994 


The President, Dr P. WARING announced the death of Mr R. I. Lorimer, an 
Orkney lepidopterist who had been a member since 1948. 

Dr Waring showed a specimen of the southern chestnut Agrochola haematidea 
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) which had been raised from the egg stage. This was first 
discovered breeding in Sussex by Mr G. Haggett in 1990. It is possibly an overlooked 
resident species as there are no records of it being taken as a migrant. Dr Waring 
also showed some colour transparencies taken at the recent well-attended Dinton 
Pastures workshop on clearwing moths, and at the light trapping evening. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed some live specimens of the juniper shield bug 
Cryphostethus tristriatus (F.) (Hemiptera: Acanthosomatidae). They were found 
feeding in some numbers on the developing female cones on a tall hedge of Lawson’s 
cypress, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Murray) Parl., at the RHS Garden, Wisley, 
Surrey. At one time this bug was thought to feed on juniper only but a number of 
records have been made of it feeding on garden conifers, including Chamaecyparis 
and Thuja. 

Mr Halstead also showed three live specimens of the leaf beetle Chrysolina americana 
L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). They were found separately on 12 and 20.v.1994 
and 1.vi.1994 on some pot-grown plants of rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis L, at 
the RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey. These plants had been propagated from cuttings 
taken from Wisley plants in October 1992 and had been standing in the open near 
a glasshouse since spring 1993. This beetle is a native of southern Europe and north 
Africa. The finding of three specimens over a period of 3 weeks suggests this beetle 
may have successfully bred on the plants during the previous summer. 

Mr G. BoypD showed a live female buttoned snout, Hypena rostralis (L.) 
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) taken in his Cambridge garden on the 13.vi.1994. The larvae 
feed on hops but the exhibitor was not aware of this plant near his garden. This appears 
to be an unusually northern record for this moth. The President noted that it seems 
to have declined since its distribution was shown in Moths of Great Britain and Ireland 
and it is now found mainly in the London area and coastal regions. 

Mr M. PARSONS showed a specimen of the very local plume moth Pse/nophorus 
heterodactyla (Miiller) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae). It was found as a larva on wall 
lettuce in dark woodland near a beech trunk at Cronham Wood, Glos. A search of 
Chadworth Woods failed to find it. Beirne (1952) in British pyralid and plume moths 
describes it as an ‘exceedingly local species in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire’. 
Occasional specimens have been recorded in Norfolk, Perthshire and Cumberland. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD said he had taken a female sawfly Tenthredo arcuata Forster 
on an ox-eye daisy in the wild flower meadow at Highgrove House, near Tetbury, 
Glos., on 7.vi.1994. 

Dr P. WARING noted that light trapping for moths had generally been poor due 
to low temperatures. He thought it was the worst year since 1987. Mr R. UFFEN said 
it has also been a poor year for Diptera. 

Dr Waring displayed some literature produced by Butterfly Conservation as part of 
their woodlands campaign. He drew attention to a ‘mothathon’ being conducted by 
Dominic Couzens who will light trap at various places in Surrey between 14 and 
21.vii.1994. Mr Couzens was seeking sponsorship for the Surrey Wildlife Trust. 

Concern has been expressed recently about the proposed release of a genetically 
engineered virus which incorporates genes from a scorpion. The virus has affected 
over 50% of the moth species tested. It seems likely that approval for the virus’s 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 79 


experimental use on cabbages will be given; further details of this matter can be 
obtained from Dr Waring. 

The main business of the evening took the form of a discussion on a national review 
of the scarcer British microlepidoptera. The discussion was introduced by MARK 
PARSONS, who outlined the various category statuses ranging from RDB1 (endangered) 
to nationally notable (scarce). He also described the objectives of the Invertebrate Site 
Register scheme and the processes that go into producing a species group review. This 
involves producing annotated species lists, consulting specialists, collating their 
comments to produce an updated annotated list, collating information on species 
identified as scarce, compiling data sheets on these species, sending the data sheets to 
specialists for their comments, and finally publishing the revised data sheets. The 
starting point for assessing scarcity are sources such as Victoria vice-county history lists, 
English Nature records, Scottish Insect Record Index, literature sources, museum 
collections, amateur records and national and local record centres. Mr Parsons described 
some microlepidoptera whose status has changed since the 1970s. He queried whether 
recording by vice-counties was appropriate and whether habitat association and species 
assemblages might be better. The review does not cover immigrant species and the 
question of when a temporary resident becomes a long-term resident needs to be resolved. 

Opening the discussion, Dr Waring commended the recently published review of 
the scarcer pyralid moths which updates the information given in Barry Goater’s 1986 
book British pyralid moths. Dr Waring noted that books such as this tend to stimulate 
people to take up insects they would previously not have bothered with. The surge 
of new recording activity can exceed that of earlier workers and may give a misleading 
impression that some species are becoming more common. Mr Parsons replied that 
the pyralids had been reasonably well recorded in the past. Dr Waring noted that 
there were no distribution maps in the pyralid review and wondered if they could 
be included in future reviews. Mr Parsons thought this would be possible although 
some records were too vague to be placed accurately on a map. Dr Waring suggested 
that species associated with quality habitats should also be incorporated into the review, 
even if they were themselves below notable status. It is possible that these common 
species may show changes in abundance which may also occur with scarcer species. 

Mr R. SOFTLY noted that dots on maps showed where a species occurs but give 
little other information. A dot may represent anything from a single moth to thriving 
breeding colonies. Dr S. BALL said that it was possible to produce maps with a variety 
of symbols which would indicate the quality and quantity of the records. Mr Softly 
said that dot maps are sometimes in reality a distribution map of recording activity, 
with distortions in the apparent distributions being the result of particularly keen 
recorders operating in some localities. He queried whether the current recording level 
was good enough to offer support in site evaluations. 

Dr Waring stressed the need for a locally important category for species that 
are uncommon in some parts of the country but too widespread elsewhere to fit 
into any of the existing status categories. He believed that dot maps based on 10-km 
squares are important for showing distributions and that they stimulated further 
recording activity. Much of the distribution data has and is being supplied by 
amateur entomologists who should press for the information to be published. 

Dr I. F. G. MCLEAN said there was a need to revitalize moth recording following 
the ending of the national scheme. The scheme operated by Dr Waring is restricted 
to a relatively small number of the scarcer species. It would be necessary to spread 
the work load produced by a wider scheme. Computer programs such as the Recorder 
package could help with this. Computer systems need to be compatible so that 
information can be transferred. 


80 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Dr S. BALL noted that a national review of the scarcer microlepidoptera was just 
one of several projects that were in the pipeline. Others include a new ‘red data book’ 
with revised categories, and national reviews for sawflies and some Diptera families. 
These projects are all competing for a limited amount of finance and staff time. 

The discussion closed with some suggestions as to how the recording of micro- 
lepidoptera could be encouraged. It was agreed that there is a need for an organized 
microlepidoptera recording scheme. To support this there should be a newsletter for 
the exchange of information and to carry items that would assist in identifications, 
as is done with the Diptera Recording Schemes. The BENHS could help by publicizing 
the names and addresses of county or taxa recorders. It could hold workshops at 
Dinton Pastures or at field study centres to help newcomers to the subject. Through 
its journal it could publish articles to keep up the recording momentum, possibly with 
a review of the year featuring notable microlepidoptera records. It could also publicize 
lists of material wanted/help offered as is done by dipterists. Existing local recorders 
should be incorporated into a national scheme. Persons to act as coordinators will 
be required. Council should consider obtaining a computer with the Recorder program. 


12 July 1994 


The Vice-President, Dr M. SCOBLE, in the chair. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed six specimens of the leaf beetle Orsodacne cerasi (L.). 
These were var. chlorotica Lat. which is all testaceous, var. /ineola Lac. which has 
head, thorax and suture darker and var. glabrata F. which is entirely dark. This beetle, 
extremely variable in size and colour, was very common on cow parsely, Anthriscus 
sylvestris (L.) Hoffm., at Leigh Woods, Bristol, on 2.vi.1994. Over 50 individuals 
were counted in a few minutes as they ‘swarmed’ on the umbels. Previously, this 
beetle was considered rare. However, it is now regarded as the more common of the 
two British Orsodacne species, hence it is not accorded the ‘notable B’ status of its 
congener O. /ineola (Panz.) which is not gregarious. The flower beetle Mordellochroa 
abdominalis (F.) was also common on the flowers, over 35 being counted. 

He also showed an unidentified ichneumon cocoon beaten from an oak tree in 
Nunhead Cemetery, 30.vi.1994. The remains of the host caterpillar were still attached, 
the head capsule standing proud on top of the mottled grey cocoon. This was 
subsequently identified as probably Hyposoter clausus (Brischke) (Ichneumonoidea: 
Campopleginae) on its usual host Agriopis aurantiaria (Hiibn.) by Dr M. R. Shaw. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed a copy of the June 1994 Health and Safety 
Commission Newsletter which contains a distribution map of ticks infected with 
Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease in humans. The map 
shows that infected ticks are widespread throughout England, Wales and Scotland. 

The following persons have been approved as members by Council: Michael Guye, 
Nicholas Steven Gordon, Gordon B. Corbet, Gareth Matthes and David Graham Maund. 

Dr IAN KITCHING spoke on the use of computer programs to map biodiversity and 
identify priority areas for conservation. He discussed the reasons for conserving 
biodiversity and the problems involved in deciding how to achieve this. Staff at the 
Natural History Museum in London have developed a world map computer program 
to help in analysing data. Dr Kitching showed how this could be used to assess the 
conservation needs of owls, tiger beetles and hawk-moths in Thailand. These groups 
of animals were chosen as their status and distribution in Thailand is reasonably 
well known. The computer program can select the richest site and identify other 
complementary areas. These other sites are not necessarily the next most species-rich 
sites as these may largely duplicate what is found at the best site. By ‘removing’ species 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 81 


common to the best and other sites, the program shows which areas are needed to 
conserve the greatest range of species. In this way Thailand’s 18 species of owls could 
be protected by conserving six sites, its 178 hawk moths in 14 sites and its 103 species 
of tiger beetles in 30 sites. 

If the program is to be of value, it needs to be based on good quality recording. 
This is lacking in many parts of the world, where recording may be heavily biased 
towards known good sites in the more accessible areas. 


13 September 1994 


The Vice-President, Mr A. J. HALSTEAD, in the chair. The chairman welcomed 
members of the LNHS; 34 members and friends attended. 

The Vice-President announced the deaths of Mr J. Newton and Mr I. G. Farwell. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed a mystery object: a bone, 21 cm long, 43 mm wide 
at the middle and 74 mm at the widest end, found lying on a flower bed at the RHS 
Garden, Wisley, Surrey. It was presumably from a mammal, possibly a pig, and is 
likely to have come to the Garden with some farmyard manure used as mulch. 

The bone appeared to have been flattened on one side and at the broadest end 
a hole 7 mm in diameter had been drilled through it. The same end had a 22 mm 
deep, 6 mm wide groove apparently cut into it, the base of which was about 15 mm 
from the centre of the hole cut into it. 

Dr D. S. HACKETT exhibited two larvae of the holly blue Celastrina argiolus (L.) 
from Hearne Road, Kew, Middlesex (TQ193779), both found on ivy flower buds. 
This butterfly is not uncommon, even in central London, but the larva can be hard 
to see as it is green and slug-shaped and, in the second generation, occurs on ivy 
flowers which may be high up on a tree or a wall. When small the larva also hides 
amongst the buds. The feeding damage often gives it away as the larva eats into a 
bud and hollows it out, then moves away, leaving a neat round hole. Also present 
was an egg and egg shell remnants of the same butterfly. 

Dr Hackett also showed a female Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, and exuvia. 
It was found on the foreshore at Kew, Middlesex (TQ194777). A fresh-water crab 
originally from China, it was first reported in the Thames in 1936 (it is also found 
in the Humber). It is recognized by its squarish body and four marginal teeth and, 
in larger specimens, by its ‘furry’ claws. Ingle (1986; London Naturalist 65: 101-105) 
described it as a contentious immigrant, possibly arriving as larvae in ships’ ballast 
water. However, as small and large individuals can be found at low water, Dr Hackett 
suggests that it is breeding successfully. It is a burrowing crab alleged to undermine 
river banks and has been reported to reach plague proportions in Europe. 

The following persons have been approved as ordinary members of the society by 
Council: Gerald Michael Tonks, Wendy Monica Jupe, John Robert Gerald Storer, 
Peter R. Howell and Simon Hodge. Mr N. Sawyer signed the obligations book and 
was welcomed to the Society by the Vice-President. 

The first part of the lecture was given by RACHEL QUINN and covered the topic 
‘biodiversity in Britain—where is it?’ This part of the lecture covered what is meant by 
biodiversity and touched upon the history of the Biological Records Centre and the type 
of information held by that organization. National and regional species patterns for 
butterflies and Odonata showed that there were few species in the north-west of Great 
Britain with more species in the south-east. Conversely, the pattern for liverworts 
was the reverse. This was probably because of the climate requirements of these groups. 
A graph was shown illustrating the fact that the diversity of butterflies and Odonata 


82 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


generally decreased from Dorset to East Anglia with some variation in counties in 
between. This could largely be explained by the regional differences in available habitats. 

It was asked if the biodiversity of some groups of insect, such as butterflies, could 
be used as indicator groups of species for a range of other species in Great Britain. 
It was shown that there was a 40% coincidence between butterfly and Odonata 
‘hotspots’. For larger groups of insects all the biodiversity ‘hotspots’ contained scarcer 
species. There was a small number of scarcer species absent from these ‘hotspots’; these 
were either species which occurred in just one or two 10-km squares or were northern 
species. Past and future changes in patterns of biodiversity were also briefly discussed. 

Dr I. F. G. MCLEAN took the next section of the lecture: ‘biodiversity—how do 
we keep it?’ Dr McLean briefly covered the history of the UK’s approach to 
conservation from the ‘put a fence round it’ approach, through the use of science 
and fortress SSSIs, to the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and the trend in the 
1990s towards positive management. The main points of the Biodiversity Action plan 
were covered and what this means in Great Britain. The membership of the steering 
group of this plan was shown to comprise a wide range of organizations. The different 
sorts of countryside designation were mentioned including SSSIs. This latter grouping 
was often fragmented parts of habitat which were effectively islands. Dr McLean 
described a new conservation approach, the ‘prime biodiversity areas’, which looks 
at clusters of the range of designated sites. Also covered by this part of the lecture 
was the role of natural history societies in conservation. 

A keen and useful discussion followed for about an hour after the lectures. This 
discussion covered most of the topics of the lectures and even touched upon world 
population levels! 


10 October 1994 


Dr S. Hoy showed a small captive nest of the ant Leptothorax nylanderi (Forster). 

The President, Dr P. M. WARING, showed slides of a recent trip to the Scottish 
uplands in search of the slender-striped rufous, Coenocalpe lapidata Hiibn., and to 
discover its foodplant in the wild. He visited two sites at Trinafour and Lairg. Adults 
were found at dusk resting on Juncus stems and could possibly have been associated 
with either Ranunculus acris L. or Potentilla erecta (L.) Raeusch. Two freshly emerged 
adults were found in a single clump of Juncus, with only R. acris below, but no females 
were seen egg-laying. The larval foodplant remains unconfirmed but a list of candidate 
species has been compiled. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed four interesting insects from the Gordano Valley NNR, 
Avon, (VC 6, North Somerset), taken on 6.vii.1994. These were: Eledona agricola 
(Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), several hundred of which were found in an 
old powder-dry fungus on oak; Dacne bipustulata (Thunb.) (Coleoptera: Erotylidae), 
a single specimen in the same fungus; Silis ruficollis (F.) (Coleoptera: Cantharidae), 
a male swept from dyke-side vegetation, once considered very local but now 
more widespread; and Xiphydria prolongata (Geoff. in Fourc.) (Hymenoptera: 
Xiphydriidae), a single specimen with damaged wings crawling up a sallow trunk. 

Two new members were announced: John L. R. Ledbury and Derek H. Howton. 
Mr Kent Lee of Hong Kong was welcomed to the meeting. 

The President reminded members that as Field Meetings Secretary he would 
like to be approached with ideas for the 1995/1996 field season, particularly for 
localities away from the well-served south. He also reported that the A.E.S. had 
just published a facsimile reprint of Tutt’s Practical hints for the field lepidopterist. 
He also showed the latest issue of the children’s newsletter of the Bug Club and 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 83 


announced that the national pyralid moth recording scheme had just issued its first 
newsletter. 

Several members had seen late butterflies, including commas, red admirals and 
holly blues. Other insects recently seen on the wing were hornets and the dragonfly 
Sympetrum striolatum (Charp.). 

The main portion of the evening was given over to two short lectures. 

Dr S. Hoy reviewed the different ‘Ants in Britain’, starting with the generalization 
that they were simply wasps without wings. Once given their own superfamily, they 
are now grouped in a single family, the Formicidae, within the Vespoidea. Worldwide 
there are between 9000 and 10 000 species described, with 15 000 to 20 000 anticipated. 
On the British mainland there are 46 species recorded with four more from the Channel 
Islands. Considering that there are 300-400 species in Europe, Britain’s fauna is rather 
depleted, indeed 47 ant species have been recorded from a single South American 
tree. British ants are a reasonably ‘easy’ and compact group to study though they 
do show wide diversity of biology, behaviour and ecology. 

Ants are characterized by the possession of an alitrunk; this is not a true thorax 
and contains the first segment of the abdomen. Thus the gaster is not a true abdomen. 
All have a node or petiole between the alitrunk and gaster, with either one or two 
segments. 

Dr Hoy went on to describe and comment on various ant species. The common 
black pavement ant, Lasius niger (L.), has recently been ‘split’, two species being 
identified in Germany and the status of the species in Britain remains to be determined. 

Semisocial parasitism is shown in 16 British ant species; a queen enters a host nest, 
takes over the egg laying and eventually only the ‘parasite’ occurs. Lasius fuliginosus 
(Lat.) exhibits hyperparasitism, parasitizing other parasites. 

The large mounds of the wood ant, Formica rufa L., are well known and sometimes 
combine to form ‘supercolonies’ with trackways between several nests. 

Dr Hoy finished with some slides of ants swarming and lecking around him in a 
cloud and used these images as a metaphor for the abundance and widespread 
occurrence of ants and to encourage further study of them. 

Before Dr M. E. ARCHER gave his lecture he briefly illustrated the invasions by 
Dolichovespula media (Retz.) and D. saxonica F. into Britain. Since its first discovery 
in Sussex in 1980, D. media has spread to S. Devon and N. Yorks. Since 1987, D. 
saxonica has expanded in two patches, one in Surrey the other in Norfolk, suggesting 
either two invasions or two recording groups. These recent immigrations were possibly 
linked with the re-expansion of the hornet, Vespa crabro L., to its previous range 
north into the Midlands. Scandinavian research has suggested that this might reflect 
a change in the July isotherm. 

Dr Archer then considered the use of quality scoring of aculeate Hymenoptera to 
determine the relative importance of natural history sites. By assigning a score to 
individual species, high scores for rare species and low scores for common species, 
and summing these scores it was possible to construct a final quality score for individual 
localities. By dividing this score by the number of species an index of quality could 
be achieved which took into account the amount of recording done at a site and the 
completeness of the species list. 

Six rarity statuses were commonly given: ‘common’, ‘local’, ‘regionally notable’, 
‘notable A’, ‘notable B’ and ‘red data book’. Of these, the most problematical was 
‘regionally notable’, because no strict definitions or criteria have been published. Dr 
Archer suggested replacing the three lower statuses with ‘universal’ (i.e. throughout 
Britain and common), ‘widespread’ (i.e. throughout Britain but uncommon) and 
‘restricted’ (i.e. only found in a narrow region). 


84 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


These were still rather subjective, but he had tried out the two scoring schemes 
at selected Yorkshire sites and they had given the same ranking for the sites regardless 
of scoring system. ‘ 

Other indices of natural history interest particularly relevant for the aculeates were 
‘cleptoparasite load’ and ‘aerial nester frequency’. Cleptoparasitism ranged from 15.5 
to 20% in solitary wasps and 25 to 36.6% in bees. It was higher in temperate regions 
than in the tropics, possibly because host/cleptoparasite life cycles were more closely 
synchronized in a more seasonal climate. Aerial nester frequency, ranging from 0 
to 92.9% in wasps and 0 to 36.7% in bees, was linked to availability of dead wood 
and stems, and increases if sandy soil is absent and subterranean nesting becomes 
difficult. At higher altitudes, temperatures are lower and sunshine is less; aerial nests 
warm quicker than underground nests, but this appears to affect only wasps since 
furry bees seem to be less sensitive to local weather and temperature conditions. 


7 November 1994 


The President, Dr P. M. WARING, showed some pinned examples of the Tunbridge 
Wells gem, Chrysodeixis acuta (Walker), and the golden twin-spot, C. chalcites (Esper) 
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) he had collected in Africa. These infrequent migrants to 
Britain are difficult to separate and the President drew attention to the dark curved 
line at the fore wing tip that is a feature of acuta. It was noted that both illustrations 
in Bernard Skinner’s book, Moths of the British Isles, are of chalcites as this species 
also has black anal tufts in the male*. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed some live specimens of the New Zealand flatworm, 
Artioposthia triangulata (Dendy) collected from farmland near Dunoon, Argyllshire. 
This soil-dwelling planarian was first recorded in Britain in 1963 (northern Ireland) 
and 1965 (Scotland). It is now widespread in those regions and has spread to England, 
but not apparently to Wales yet. Initially it was regarded as a curiosity but is now 
causing great concern. The flatworm is a voracious predator of earthworms and in 
some parts of northern Ireland and western Scotland it has virtually wiped out the 
earthworm population. This will have long-term adverse effects on soil drainage, 
aeration and the incorporation of organic matter into the soil. It will also affect animals 
such as badgers, foxes, moles, shrews and many birds which include earthworms as 
an important part of their diet. The demise of earthworms will also affect many insects 
and other invertebrates that depend on them for food. 

The flatworm will become widespread and it is likely to be distributed by the trade 
in garden plants. It will not necessarily be a major problem throughout Britain. In 
its native New Zealand it is confined to ancient woodland at the southern end of 
South Island (i.e. the coolest area of New Zealand). The heaviest infestations in Britain 
are in the cooler, high rainfall areas. Elsewhere earthworms are surviving even though 
the flatworm has been present for many years. 

Dr D. HACKETT showed some live specimens of slugs believed to be Limax flavus 
L. (Stylommatophora: Limacidae) which he regularly finds near a compost heap at 
his Crouch End, London N8, home. This is a synanthropic but local species. 

Mr S. MEREDITH showed a specimen of the soldier fly Sargus bipunctatus (Scop.) 
(Dip: Stratiomyidae) collected in Northampton on 1.xi.94 when it had alighted on 
his coat. 


*During a discussion of these points at the meeting of 13 December 1994. Mr C. W. Plant drew 
attention to his own observations on these species (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 1991; 4: 59-60) suggesting 
that genitalia dissection was necessary to ensure accurate identification. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 85 


The President passed on the thanks of his wife Rachel for the flowers presented 
to her at the Exhibition Dinner. 

He then drew attention to the fact that a member of the Society had fallen foul 
of the authorities in the Aragon region of Spain while moth trapping. He had set 
up his light on a piece of open land but was soon interrupted by the police, who 
confiscated his four boxed specimens and released the 50 other moths and hundreds 
of chironomid midges in the trap. Although he had fully cooperated with the police, 
this member heard via the British Consulate after his return to Britain that he was 
liable to be fined for causing distress to insects. It seems that new laws have recently 
been enacted in Spain that make life difficult for entomologists. A letter has been 
sent to the Spanish authorities asking for details of the legislation. The President 
has also written a reference for the member, who is a responsible person who actively 
records moths and provides lists for interested parties. Similar restrictive regulations 
occur in Germany and there are proposals for restrictions on collecting in France. 
Such legislation has no real benefits for conservation and discourages recording work. 

The President said that the field meetings exhibit shown at the Annual Exhibition 
had also been taken to meetings organized by Butterfly Conservation and Derbyshire 
Entomologists and would also be shown elsewhere. He wished to give the Society’s 
field meetings a higher profile and wanted to encourage recording at sites which may 
be under threat. Suggestions of suitable meeting places and leaders should be passed 
to Dr Waring. 

Mr S. MILES reported that the Joint Council for the Conservation of British 
Invertebrates is to have a new format. At some meetings the constituent bodies would 
report on their activities and interests; other meetings would deal with matters arising 
from these reports. He made available for inspection some reports presented at a 
recent general meeting. These included details of the quinquennial review of Schedule 
5 invertebrates protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Any comments 
on additions or deletions should be passed to Mr Miles. 

Several members reported insects seen in the recent mild weather. Dr Waring noted 
a small tortoiseshell in his garden at Werrington, Cambs., on 5.xi and light trapping 
at Mucklens Wood had yielded 20 moths including four juniper carpets, Thera 
Juniperata (L.). This once nationally scarce moth is now widespread on garden junipers. 
An 8-year-old boy, Will Bloodworth, had brought a swallowtail moth, Ourapteryx 
sambucaria (L.), to Dr Waring for identification on 3.xi. Mr. R. Softly reported that 
a speckled wood butterfly had been seen at the Gunnersbury Triangle, London, 
on 3.xi. Mr N. A. CALLOwW had seen a peacock on 4.xi and Dr D. HACKETT a red 
admiral on 6.xi. 

Mr A. HALSTEAD said that a fresh male specimen of the yellow-tail moth, Euproctis 
similis (Fues.), had been taken in a Rothamsted trap at RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, 
on 3/4.xi. He also referred to the mystery bone he had exhibited at the 13.ix.94 
meeting. Colin Plant had shown the bone to a colleague in the Newham Museum 
Service. It has been identified as the metatarsal bone of a cow. The smoothing of 
the bone and the drilled hole indicate it may have been used in conjunction with rope 
or leather work, perhaps with a harness. Worn bone is very smooth and provides 
a largely frictionless surface. It was apparently common practice to use bones to ease 
the movement of ropes etc. over sharp corners up to about 100 years ago. 

Members then reviewed the Annual Exhibition and Dinner. The exhibition and 
dinner organizer was unable to attend the meeting. The consensus of those present 
was that the exhibition has gone with its usual smoothness. The numbers attending 
and the numbers of exhibits were slightly down; the dinner attendance was slightly 
up. Mr P. CHANDLER reported on the Diptera exhibits. Dr Waring took the 


86 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


opportunity to thank him for the work he has done in collating the invertebrate records 
at Dinton Pastures and for his recent article on the subject. Mr Halstead reported 
on the Hymenoptera and other orders exhibits. He noted that while our exhibition 
is well supported compared with members’ exhibits at the AES exhibition, there are 
still members who do not exhibit because ‘they have not taken anything worthwhile’. 
People should be encouraged to show exhibits for their educational side rather than 
concentrating on scarce species. Dr Waring said that some of the Lepidoptera exhibits 
showed forms of common moths or collections of locally interesting moths which 
are not necessarily uncommon in a national context, 

Some discussion took place on alternative venues where parking and access might 
be easier. The AES venue at Kempton Park racecourse would suit some people but 
poor lighting and heating would be problems in late October. Mr R. HAWKINS noted 
that no name badges were available at the Exhibition. The provision of stick-on labels 
would be an easy and cheap means of allowing members to find the owners of 
interesting exhibits. Mr R. JONES noted that some exhibitors fail to put their names 
on their exhibits, Some are non-members and may also fail to provide any notes for 
publication with their exhibits. The meeting gave a vote of thanks to Mr M. Simmons 
for organizing the Exhibition and Dinner. There then followed a slide evening. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed slides of various animals seen during a recent visit to Sri 
Lanka. These included gecko lizards, frogs, snails with the mantle growing over their 
shells, harvestman spiders in abundance on tree trunks in Kandy Botanic Garden and 
various flies, bugs, spiders and aculeate hymenoptera. 

Dr D. HackeT?Y showed slides of various moths and butterflies photographed 
mainly in north London and Cornwall. These included a painted lady larva feeding 
on common mallow, Also shown were the leaf beetle Chrysolina banksi (F.), the larvae 
of the therevid fly, Thereva nobilitata (F.), found under oak bark, a web of the spider 
Segestria florentina (Rossi) and a view of its head end showing its distinctive bottle- 
green fangs. 

Mr N. SAWYER showed slides of various adults and larvae of lepidoptera he had 
photographed in Turkey and Greece. 

Mr R. Sorry showed slides taken in early summer on the Macedonian coast of 
Greece. These included the pandora fritillary butterfly and a solitary wasp, Scolia 
sp., on flowers of thistles, and an Eresus sp. spider. 

Dr J. MUGGLETON showed some slides taken in September in Southern France. 
These included a pair of mating praying mantids, A series of pictures showed the 
female trying to strike at the male, while the male kept out of danger by pressing 
its body closely against the female’s abdomen. This suggests that reports of the female’s 
cannibalistic tendencies are not just the result of abnormal behaviour patterns observed 
with captive mantids. Also shown were pictures of large soldier-fly maggots in a 
shallow muddy pool, and of a drainage channel before and after a heavy storm, 

Mr 8S. MEREDITH showed a series of pictures of a shield bug nymph, possibly 
Troilus luridus (F.), feeding on a caterpillar in late July. At Bentley Woods, Wilts, 
he had photographed a female sawfly, Abia sp., and a purple emperor butterfly. The 
latter was feeding on a cypress and presumably getting honeydew from aphids. 

Dr P. WARING showed a site in Aberdeenshire he had surveyed to assess the status 
of the dark bordered beauty moth, Epione paralellaria (D. & S.y° This was found 
in good numbers in 1994 at a site where it seemed to be associated with regenerating 
coppiced aspen. At another site where it had been recorded in the 1950s and where 
only mature aspen now occurs, the moth was not found, He also showed pictures 
of the Wye Valley, Glos., and the scarce hook tip moth, Sabra harpagula (Esp.) that 
has its stronghold in the woods there. The Forestry Commission will be extracting 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 87 


conifers from the woods this winter but intend to leave most of the small-leaved lime, 
which is the larval food plant. 

Mr N. A. CALLOW showed a very diverse range of subjects taken in Britain and 
overseas. Some of these were close-up shots of subjects such as the claw of a stag 
beetle, a bluebottle’s face and an anthocorid bug biting the photographer’s skin. Some 
of Mr Callow’s insects had been photographed in his compost heap or on rotting 
apples he had set out to attract suitable subjects. Some of his slides showed examples 
of insect behaviour, including an ant dragging a dead hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus 
(Deg.), a parasitic wasp laying eggs in a yellow composite flower, and a solitary bee 
occupying its tunnel in a drilled piece of wood and facing a nearby cleptoparasitic fly. 


OBITUARY 
Ian Guy Farwell 


The death is announced of Ian Guy Farwell on 26th August 1994 at the age of 
seventy-four. Ian became a member of our society in 1947, and although he was not 
often able to attend ordinary meetings he was a devotee of the Annual Exhibition, 
forming part of a group of members from the Lymington area of Hampshire who 
looked forward to the annual pilgrimage by train, when a carriage would be taken 
over and filled with bug talk and the faint ambrosial aroma of naphthalene. 

Ian was most interested in butterflies and the larger moths and in his younger days 
collected varieties keenly. His fieldcraft was rewarded with several outstanding 
butterflies of which the most notable were probably two halved gynandromorph 
Argynnis paphia (L.) taken in the New Forest in 1939, and a male and female var. 
ocellata of the same butterfly in 1941. He also took a wonderful Lysandra bellargus 
(Rott.) at Hod Hill, a favourite collecting ground. This specimen is figured by 
Russwurm on plate 15 of the ‘new’ South. As time went on, Ian turned to photography 
as a way of recording the butterflies and moths which he found, building up a large 
collection of slides over the years, although he never abandoned the net completely. 

In addition to the Lepidoptera, Ian was a general naturalist of the old school with 
a particular interest in, and knowledge of birds. For many years he was a stalwart 
of the Lymington Natural History Society, leading many field trips to the local 
marshes, the Isle of Wight, and his beloved New Forest. He communicated his 
enthusiasm to many and took a particular delight in introducing newcomers to the 
New Forest; friendly evenings at his home listening to his anecdotes and swapping 
bug stories will long remain in my memory. 

His interests were varied, and included a love of classical music and an involvement 
with local parish activities and work for such organizations as the scouting movement. 
Jan lived all his life in and around Lymington and was a printer working for the local 
firm of Kings Booksellers for most of his life. He served with the Royal Hampshire 
Regiment during the War, seeing action in North Africa and Italy and bringing back 
stories of exotic insects and animals in unlikely situations. 

Ian is survived by his wife Hazel, son Peter and daughter Avis to whom we extend 
our sympathy. 


A. J. PICKLES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 88 


BENHS FIELD MEETINGS 
Tadnoll Heath, Dorset, 23 May 1993 


Leader: Mick Parker. Six members turned up for this meeting on a Dorset Trust 
for Nature Conservation Reserve. The conditions were fine and sunny but rather 
windy. The assembled group took the main path through the reserve which is mainly 
dry heath, leading to a small copse of birch, Betula pendula Roth, and gorse Ulex 
europaeus L., scrub which afforded some shelter from the wind. Here large numbers 
of green hairstreak, Callophrys rubi (L.), congregated. Further down the track we 
entered meadowland with cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis L., and meadow 
buttercup, Ranunculus acris L. being dominant with attendant orange tips. 
Anthocharis cardamines (L.) and green-veined whites, Pieris napi (L.). Unfortunately 
the wind was too strong to note anything on the swaying flowers. Sweeping became 
the order of the day but resulted in a rather disappointing list. The hoverfly list reached 
16 species, all common. The meeting ended with members dispersing to sheltered areas 
of the reserve, but no worthwhile species were taken as a result. 


Mount Caburn NNR, Glynde, Sussex, 19 June 1993 


Leader: David C. Lees. A small but diverse assemblage of members (see Fig. 1) 
turned up for the field meeting at the NNR of Mount Caburn, near Glynde, E. Sussex, 
greeted by good sunny daytime weather. This site has been monitored for butterflies 
for the last 9 years but other insects are less well known, and so it was good to 
have a mixture of beetle, moth and fly expertise. The night meeting for light 
trapping attracted just one member (Derek Coleman) in addition to the 
leader. The light was not visible from Glynde so no local interest in the goings-on on 


Fig. 1. Three members and a visitor perch on the precipitous forget-me-not covered slopes 
of Mount Caburn. Left to right: A. W. Jones, D. C. Lees, P. J. Hodge and R. A. Jones. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 89 


Fig. 2. Omaloplia ruricola, one of several of these small chafers found flying across the turf. 
This specimen is of the dark form, without the paler discs of the elytra. Photo: R. A. Jones. 


this iron age hill fort was stirred up, in marked contrast to a memorable 
evening in 1992 (when ‘Did aliens land on Mount Caburn?’ subsequently appeared 
on a Sussex Express placard). 

It was pleasing to turn up nine scarce or notable beetles, plus one RDB3 beetle, 
Smicronyx reichi (Gyll.), and one notable empid fly. The mordellid beetle Tomoxia 
bucephala Costa was neatly netted by Richard Jones as we returned to the cars just 
outside the reserve next to a house which had a quantity of felled timber. Mount 
Caburn was confirmed as one of the few Sussex sites for the phycitine pyralid Pempelia 
obductella (Zell.) spinnings being locally common among marjoram. The night was 
clear and temperatures dropped quite rapidly, only 55 species in 11 families being 
observed. The highlight of the night meeting was the seldom observed nocturnal flight, 
unique among British zygaenids, of males of the scarce forester moth just after 11 p.m. 
(Jackson, R. A. 1959. Some observations on Adscita globulariae (Hb,) the scarce 
forester: Lepidoptera (Zygaenidae), Entomologist 92: 111-115). 

Total species recorded were: Coleoptera 53 spp. in 16 families; Diptera 28 spp. 
in 8 families; Hemiptera 10 spp. in 4 families, and Lepidoptera 58 spp. in 12 families. 

In the list that follows, more interesting or notable species only are given. 
Conservation status ratings are given as appropriate. 

Coleoptera. Carabidae: Lebia chlorocephala (Hoffmannsegg) Nb. Scarabaeidae: 
Euheptaulacus villosus (Gyll.) Na, Omaloplia ruricola (F .) Nb (Fig. 2). Coccinellidae. 
Scymnus schmidti Firsch Nb. Chysomelidae: Cryptocephalus aureolus Suff. Nb, C. 
bilineatus (L.) Nb, Epitrix atropae Foud. Nb. Curculionidae: Trachyphloeus alternans 
Gyll. Nb, Smicronyx reichi (Gyll.) RDB3. 

Diptera. Empididae: Platypalpus leucothrix (Strobl) N. Syrphidae: Cheilosia 
impressa Loew. Conopidae: Thecophora atra (F.). 


90 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Hemiptera. Cydnidae: Sehirus luctuosus Muls. & Rey (on forget-me-not), 
Thyreocoris scarabaeoides (L.). Tingidae: Agramma laeta (Fall.) (on sedges). 

Lepidoptera. Zygaenidae: Adscita globulariae (Hiibn.)» Na. Epermeniidae: 
Epermenia insecurella (Stt.). Coleophoridae: Coleophora lixella Zell. Pyralidae: 
Phycitodes binaevella (Hiibn.), Pempelia obductella (Zell.) (larvae on Origanum 
vulgare L.), Hypochalcia ahenella ({D. & S.]), Opsibotys fuscalis ({D. & S.]). 
Pterophoridae: Marasmarcha lunaedactyla (Haw.) (larva on Ononis spinosa L.). 
Geometridae: Catarhoe cuculata (Hufn.) (1), Epirrhoe galiata ({D. &. S.]), Perizoma 
flavofasciata (Thunb.), P. albulata ({D. &. S.]), Eupithecia subumbrata ({D. &.S.]). 
Noctuidae: Pyrrhia umbra (Hufn.), Cucullia verbasci (L.) (arvae on Verbascum thapsus 
L.), Apamea sublustris (Esp.). 


Dinton Pastures Country Park, Berkshire, 23 April 1994 


Leaders: Paul Waring and David Young. The first field meeting of the year 
was held at Dinton Pastures in the late afternoon and evening of 23 April. 
The leaders were joined by 15 members and friends, most of whom stayed on 
from Brian Baker’s very successful clearwing workshop, which was attended 
by over 40 people. We started with a walk round the park, during which trees 
and shrubs were beaten for larvae, before we retired for a most enjoyable meal 
in the local pub, the Jolly Farmer, just half a mile up the road from the entrance to 
Dinton Pastures. Afterwards the park staff provided a pick-up truck which 
greatly assisted us in reaching the less accessible parts of the park with light- 
traps, generators and other equipment. We were also supplied with walkie-talkie 


Fig. 1 Dinton Pastures nocturnal session, 23 April 1994. Left to right: Martin Harvey and Martin 
Townsend examining beating tray by light of Robinson trap, with David Gibbs onlooking, Paul 
Waring with radio and Peter Chandler pooting from light trap. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 91 


radios so that the various mothing groups could be kept informed as the moths 
arrived. The moon clouded over and the temperature at dusk was 9 °C, after 
a dry day but at 21.50 hours there was a clap of thunder and the rain began. 
We kept on trapping until the increasingly heavy rain forced us to pack up. 
As in many places at this date in 1994, numbers of moths were low, with light 
trap catches struggling to get into double figures. Only nine species of larger 
moths were recorded at light but ten more were added as larvae. Moth species recorded 
as adults included, in order of appearance, the lunar marbled brown Drymonia 
ruficornis (Hufn.), common Quaker Orthosia cerasi (F.), Hebrew character Orthosia 
gothica (L.), early thorn Selenia dentaria (F.), frosted green Polyploca ridens 
(F.) scorched carpet Ligdia adustata (D. & S.), brindled pug Eupithecia abbreviata 
Steph., oak-tree pug Eupithecia dodoneata Guen., and small Quaker Orthosia 
cruda (D. & S). 

Species recorded as larvae included the winter moth Operophtera brumata (L.), 
green pug Chloroclystis rectangulata (L.) and early moth Theria primaria (Haw.) from 
blackthorn Prunus spinosa L., the common emerald Hemithea aestivaria (Hiibn.) 
mottled umber Erannis defoliaria (Cl.), pale brindled beauty Apocheima pilosaria 
and short-cloaked Nola cucullatella (L.) from common hawthorn Crataegus monogyna 
Jacq., the light emerald Campaea margaritata (L.) from field maple Acer campestre 
L., the sallow Xanthia icteritia (Hufn.) from grey willow Salix cinerea L. agg. and 
a larva of the square-spot rustic Xestia xanthographa (D. &. S.) was found on an 
unidentified grass-stem after dark. 

Peter Chandler collected some Diptera from the light traps and these are being added 
to the records for the site (see Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 118-126). Two ground-hoppers 
Tetrix undulata (Sow.) jumped onto Gavin Boyd’s sheet and one was retained and 
later identified by him. 


Aldbury Common, Hertfordshire, 11 June 1994 


Leaders: Keith Alexander and Andy Foster. A group of nine members and friends 
spent the morning on Aldbury Common and moved across to Frithsden Beeches for the 
afternoon. The day was memorable for the large numbers of the hoverfly Brachyopa 
pilosa Coll. present, particularly at Frithsden, and even Brachypalpus laphriformis (Fall.) 
was plentiful at Aldbury. These are nationally scarce relict old forest species and amply 
rewarded the selection of these areas of the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate as sites of 
considerable potential for such insects. The uncommon deadwood-breeding craneflies 
Ctenophora pectinicornis (L.) and Dictenidia bimaculata (L.) were also noted in both areas. 

The large old beeches and oaks of Aldbury Common also produced a good range 
of nationally scarce beetles associated with decaying timber, including Tillus elongatus 
(L.) on a standing dead beech which had lost most of its bark, Eledona agricola 
(Herbst) in the remains of the bracket fungus Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull. ex Fr.) ona 
live ancient oak, Xyleborus dryographus (Ratz.) in galleries within the bark of felled 
beech trunks, exit holes of Agrilus pannonicus (Pill. & Mitt.) in the bark of a further 
old oak, and a single Ernoporus fagi (F.) which was caught in a sweep net. Foliage- 
feeding beetles included the scarce Zeugophora subspinosa (F.) and Phytodecta 
decemnotata (Marsh.) on aspen. The most interesting soldier beetle of the day was 
Podabrus alpinus (Payk.) which appears to be the first modern record for the county. 
Other orders were not totally neglected and included brown tree ant Lasius brunneus 
(Latr.) and the sub-cortical bug Xylocoris cursitans (Fall). 

Diptera were very much the feature of Frithsden Beeches, with other orders making 
a poorer showing. In addition to the Brachyopa pilosa, Mycetophilidae were also 


92 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


particularly well-represented. Beetles did however include the uncommon Rhizophagus 
nitidulus (F.) as well as Xyleborus dryographus. 

We would like to thank the National Trust Countryside Manager Graeme Cannon 
for stimulating the visit and the Area Warden Don Otter for his company on the day. 


Nunhead Cemetery, London SE15, 9 July 1994 


Leader R. A. Jones. Two members and one visitor joined the leader on a warm 
and sunny day when ten species of common butterfly were on the wing and visiting 
flowers. Nunhead Cemetery is on the very edge of ‘Surrey’, VC 17, in the central 
tetrad ‘M’ of the 10-km square TQ37 and ironically several of these records were 
new! These included the large skipper, holly blue, green-veined white and red admiral. 
Roger Hawkins was similarly looking for new Orthoptera records and both the oak 
bush cricket, Meconema thalassinum (De Geer) and speckled bush cricket, Leptophyes 
punctatissima (Bosc) were found. Buddleja bushes attracted the large hoverfly 
Volucella zonaria (Poda) and males of V. pellucens (L.) hovered above the party. 

A small Prunus tree in a clearing seemed to be attracting a number of specimens 
of Chrysotoxum festivum (L.) to its leaves where they rested a short time, darting 
out and back again as if examining passing insects. The few specimens captured were 
males, suggesting, perhaps, that they were waiting for females. An unusual find was 
Cheilosia soror (Zett.) a scarce chalk downland species, the larvae of which have been 
reported from truffles. Nunhead’s claim to fame, the Colydiid beetle Cicones undata 
Guér.-Mén., associated with the sooty bark disease fungus on dead and dying 
sycamores, was present at a number of sites. Some interesting beetles found 


Fig 1. Posing in front of some overgrown Victorian monuments in Nunhead Cemetery, left 
to right: R. A. Jones, A. J. Halstead, A. W. Jones and R. D. Hawkins. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 93 


Fig. 2. The summer chafer Amphimallon solstitialis found roosting at a path edge on 
overhanging vegetation. Photo: R. A. Jones. 


included the longhorns Strangalia maculata (Poda) and Clytus arietis (L.), the click 
beetle Athous campyloides Newman and the summer chafer, Amphimallon solstitialis 
(L.). The Cemetery’s first rubytail wasp record was for Omalus auratus (L.) and 
Andrew Halstead recorded 13 species of sawfly. 


Richmond Park, Surrey, 6 August 1994 


Leaders: Mark Parsons and Graham Collins. This meeting was the third annual 
meeting at Richmond Park and proved to be popular, with ten members and guests 
attending. Our intention was to attempt to relocate the crimson underwings (Catocala 
spp.) last recorded from the park at the end of the previous century. Large quantities 
of sugar were applied and many light traps run but, needless to say, there was no 
sign of even Catocala nupta L. (red underwing). The moths provided a few additions 
to the park list and included the migrant Rhodometra sacraria L. (vestal); Parascotia 
fuliginaria L. (waved black), still increasing its range in Surrey; Coenobia rufa Haw. 
(small rufous); and Cerapteryx graminis L. (antler), in rather greater numbers than 
is usual in the south-east of England. More interesting species amongst the 
microlepidoptera were: Pediasia contaminella Hiibn., Psoricoptera gibbosella Zell., 
and Caloptilia populetorum Zell. Probably the most spectacular catch of the evening 
were two specimens of the huge longhorn beetle Prionus coriarius L., a species only 
recorded from the park on one previous occasion this century, that last year. Other 
interesting beetles included: Tomoxia bucephala Costa, Metoecus paradoxus L., and 
Mordellistena neuwaldeggiana Panz.; the latter probably new to vice-county 17, 
Surrey. We would like to thank the park authorities for their assistance in holding 
this meeting. 


94 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 
Abernethy Forest RSPB reserve, Inverness-shire, 13 August 1994 


Leader: Paul Waring. This was a joint meeting with Butterfly Conservation, as 
part of their Landrover-sponsored Woodland Campaign, and also included the 
Highland Biological Recording Group. This meeting was hosted by the RSPB, whom 
the BENHS assisted in the purchase of this reserve. The meeting provided an 
opportunity for BENHS members to explore the Caledonian pine forest, birch 
woodland and heather moorland which this reserve now protects. 

During the afternoon the party of 14 explored Tulloch Moor on the southern edge 
of the forest (NH9616, altitude 200 m). The twin-spot carpet Perizoma didymata (L.) 
was numerous amongst the heathers, freshly emerged Manchester treble-bars Carsia 
sororiata (Hiibn.) and worn July belle Scotopteryx luridata plumbaria (F.) were seen. 
Three nearly full grown larvae of the light knotgrass Acronicta menyanthidis (Esp.) 
were found basking on the ling heather Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. A full-grown 
emperor moth larva Pavonia pavonia (L.), of the pink-warted rather than yellow- 
warted form, was seen and several larvae of the northern oak eggar Lasiocampa 
quercus callunae Palmer, two of which had died of a virus disease. Some stands of 
bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus L. amongst the pines Pinus sylvestris L. were searched 
for adults of the Rannoch looper Semiothisa brunneata (Thunb.), which had been 
plentiful two weeks previously, but the only moths seen in the search were numerous 
northern spinach Eulithis populata L. and July highflyer Hydriomena furcata 
(Thunb.), the larvae of which also feed on bilberry. In addition larvae of the broom- 
tip moth Chesias rufata (F.) were found by Mike Britton, on broom Cytfisus scoparius 
(L.) Link growing between Nethy Bridge and the Loch Garten Osprey Centre. 


Fig. 1. The afternoon group at Abernethy Forest, 13 August 1994. Left to right: Steve Moran, 
Gordon Ramel, Stewart and Ruth Taylor, Mike Britton, Robert Hoare, Mr & Mrs Rich Austin, 
Jimmy McKellar, Gus Jones, Dr MacBean and Gary Roberts (Paul Waring behind camera). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 95 


Micro-lepidoptera seen during the day included mines of Stigmella lapponica 
(Wocke) and S. confusella (Wood) (Nepticulidae) which were abundant on the birch 
trees on Tulloch Moor. The Yponomeutid Argyresthia goedartella (L.) was beaten 
in numbers from the birches. Two or three of the plume moth Stenoptilia pterodactyla 
(L.) were encountered by the car-park at Tulloch Moor along with the pyrale Agriphila 
tristella (D. &. S.). The Tortricoid Olethreutes palustrana (Lien. & Zell.), very much 
a northern species, was seen on the Moor. 

A single Cedestis subfasciella (Steph.) (Yponomeutidae) was disturbed from a pine 
tree in Abernethy Forest, several Epinotia ramella (L.) were flushed from birches 
and Agriphila straminella (L.) was seen amongst the trees. 

A number of beetles (Coleoptera) and bugs (Hemiptera) were recorded on the Moor, 
of which the more noteworthy were the green tiger beetle Cicindela campestris L. and 
the Carabids Carabus glabratus Payk. and Notiophilus aquaticus (L.) the first two as 
dead remains. Fourteen species of Hemiptera were recorded including the local mirid 
Globiceps dispar (Boh.). The common lizard Lacerta vivipara Jacq. was seen and 
a predated egg-shell of the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus L. was found amongst the 
heathers (det. Stewart Taylor). 

In the grounds of Abernethy Forest Lodge (NJ020160, altitude 300 m) at the end 
of the afternoon, the local mirid bug Bothynotus pilosus (Boh.) was amongst ten 
species of Hemiptera recorded and two pupae of the silphid beetle Necrodes littoralis 
(L.) were found by Steve Moran under a brick in a small dumping area. The pupae 
were reared and an adult emerged on 19.viii.1994. The common rhagionid fly Rhagio 
lineola F. was on the wing. 

At dusk the party was swelled by another two guests and a Robinson trap and two 
Heath traps were set up in the edge of the pine forest at Rynettin, (NJO15143, altitude 


Fig. 2. Exploring Tulloch Moor, 13 August 1994. 


96 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


320 m) where scattered silver birch Betula pendula Roth. and bilberry were present 
among the heathers. The main objective was to see if the cousin german Paradiarsia 
sobrina (Dup.) occurs in this part of the site. Four of these*moths were recorded, 
all at the Robinson trap, even though it was a cold night (5 °C at dusk and 3 °C when 
we packed up at midnight). Several grey mountain carpet Entephria caesiata (D. & 
S.), juniper pug Eupithecia pusillata (D. & S.) and neglected rustic Xestia castanea 
(Esp.) and singletons of the red carpet Xanthorhoe munitata (Hibn.) and suspected 
Parastichtis suspecta (Hiibn.) were noted amongst other moths in the traps but the 
only moth to food bait was a single barred red Hylaea fasciaria (L.) on one of the 
wine ropes. The discovery of the cousin german among scattered old birch is of interest 
because the species is thought by some authorities to prefer areas of young regrowth, 
which was not so much in evidence here. 

Several specimens of the tortricoids Eana osseana (Scop.) and Rhopobota naevana 
(Hiibn.) were seen flying at dusk and coming to the light traps and the latter was 
also common on Tulloch Moor. The Scotch argus butterfly Erebia aethiops (Esp.) was 
present in some numbers over a wide area, especially on the edges of the forest adjacent 
to moorland, as at Rynettin. 

About 30 species from the other invertebrate orders were recorded at Rynettin, 
ranging from common ones such as the common earwig Forficula auricularia L. and 
the lacewing Wesmaelius betulinus (Str6m) to the somewhat local cranefly Pedicia 
rivosa (L.) and mirid bug Polymerus unifasciatus (F.) 

Acknowledgements. I would like to thank Stewart Taylor, site manager for the 
RSPB, and Steve Moran of the Highland Biological Recording Group for their help 
in organizing this field meeting. It was part of the Butterfly Conservation Woodland 
Campaign which was sponsored by Landrover who provided a vehicle for Gary 
Roberts, one of BC’s press officers, to attend the meeting and assist with local 
transport. Landrover are also sponsoring the RSPB. The meeting was featured in 
a short advance piece in the Highland and Moray edition of the Press and Journal 
of 9 August 1994. 

I would like to thank everyone who supported this meeting and made it such an 
enjoyable one. Robert Hoare determined the micro-lepidoptera, Gordon Ramel the 
hoverflies (Syrphidae) and ants (Formicidae), and Steve Moran the other invertebrates. 

The records of this meeting have been sent to: Stewart Taylor, RSPB, Abernethy 
Forest Lodge, Nethy Bridge, Inverness-shire PH25 3EF; Steve Moran and Jimmy 
McKellar, Highland Biological Recording Group, Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, 
Castle Wynd, Inverness IV2 3ED; James Stewart, local Lepidoptera recorder, 15 
Strathspey Drive, Grantown-on-Spey PH26 3EY, and Gordon Ramel, The Bug Club, 
24 East John Walk, Exeter EX] 2EW. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


The J. V. Blachford collection of Coleoptera.—Readers of the British Journal of 
Entomology and Natural History may like to know that the ownership of this collection 
has changed. Because the University of Bath has found it difficult in recent years 
to find the resources to care properly for the Blachford Collection, the decision was 
taken earlier this year to pass the collection on to the Bristol City Museum. 

For those interested, the appropriate contact there is: Mr R. J. Barnett, City of 
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Queen’s Road, Bristol BS8 IRL. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Officers and Council for 1995 


President: 
ME Je Scoble) B:Scs) MEPhiL PhDs ERCE:-S: 


Vice-Presidents: 
P. M. Waring, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.E.S. 


Caran hesc 
Treasurer: Secretary: 
A. J. Pickles, F.C.A., F.R.E.S. R. F. McCormick, F.R.E.S. 
Curator: Librarian: 
Eee Chandlers Bsc.) bok. E es: I. R. Sims, B.Sc., C.Biol., M.I.Biol. 
Lanternist: Editor: 
M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. RePACP ONES be SC eRe Re ESS samen lS. 


Building Manager: 
P. J. Baker, C.Eng., F.R.H.S. 


Ordinary Members of Council: 


G. Collins I. F. G. McLean 
C. M. Drake M. K. Merrifield 
J. Firmin J. M. Muggleton 
A. Jenkins M. Parsons 

D. Lonsdale D. Young 


Contents continued from back cover 


BOOK REVIEWS 


Die Kafer Mitteleuropas, volume 14 (supplement volume 3), edited by G. A. Lohse 
and W. H. Lucht. R. A. JONES 


Invertebrate zoology, by E. E. Ruppert and R. D. Barnes. R. A. JONES 


ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Microlepidoptera of Middlesex: an appeal for records 
BENHS Expedition 


The Professor Hering Memorial Research Fund 


The J. V. Blachford collection of Coleoptera 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
VOLUME 8, PART 2, MARCH 1995 , 


ARTICLES 


British species of Mefopia (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) with two species new to Britain. 
N. P. WYATT AND S. J. FALK 


The life cycle, distribution and habits of Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) 
in Devonshire. A. H. DOBSON 


The distribution and habits of the bee Hy/aeus pectoralis Forster, 1871, (Hymenoptera: 
Apidae) in Britain. G. R. ELSE 


The aculeate wasps and bees of Crow Wood, Finningley in Watsonian Yorkshire, with the 
introduction of a new national quality scoring system. M. E. ARCHER AND J. T. BURN 


The moths at Carlyon Bay, Cornwall recorded 1989-1993. A. SPALDING 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Observations of Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) feeding on honeydew. 
C. TURNER 


Two species of Agromyzidae (Diptera) new to the British fauna. J. C. DEEMING 
An interesting saproxylic fauna at Snelmore Common, Berkshire. K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


Ephemera lineata Eaton (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) at Reading, Berkshire. 
B. R. BAKER 


Armadillidium pictum Brandt (Isopoda: Armadillidiidae) new to Gloucestershire. 
K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 

BENHS Indoor Meetings, 14 June to 7 November 1994 
Obituary of Ian Guy Farwell. A. J. PICKLES 

BEHNS Field Meetings 


BOOK REVIEWS 


Die Schmetterlinge Osterreichs (Lepidoptera). Systematisches Verzeichnis mit 
Verbreitungsangaben fiir die einzelnen Bundeslander, by P. Huemer and G. Tarmann. 
B. GOATER 


The butterflies’ fly-past, by C. Simson. B. R. BAKER 

Colour guide to hoverfly larvae (Diptera: Syrphidae), by G. E. Rotheray. R. A. JONES 
The insects: an outline of entomology, by P. J. Gullan and P. S. Cranston. M. J. SCOBLE 
Insects: life cycles and the seasons, by J. Brackenbury. A. J. HALSTEAD 


Rarity, by K. K. Gaston. M. PARSONS 


Continued on inside back cover 


4 


BO SQA 
SEPTEMBER 1995 ISSN 0952-7583 Vol. 8, Part 3 


ENT 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


Published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History 
Society and incorporating its 
Proceedings and Transactions 


Price: £6.00 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 


Editor: 


Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


ES: 


MAR 6 1996 


Rev. D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D. T. G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. I. F. G. McLean, Ph.D., F.R.E.S. 

E. S. Bradford Mrs F. M. Murphy, B.Sc. 

P: J. Chandler, 'B:Sc:, F-R-E:S: M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.1.Biol. T. R. E. Southwood, K. B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. Hawkins, M.A. B. K. West, B.Ed. 

P. J. Hodge 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological and 
Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, Berkshire 
RG10 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


© 1995 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal 
Entomological Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL 
EXHIBITION is planned for Saturday 28 October 1995 at Imperial College, London 
SW7. Frequent Field Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome 
at all meetings. The current Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, 
R. F. McCormick, at the address given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, 
which are open to members on various advertised days each month, telephone 01734- 
321402 for the latest meeting news. 

Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 

Subscriptions and changes of address to the Assistant Treasurer: M. G. Telfer, 12 Jasmine 
Close, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7NE. 


Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of the 
Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, 
Reading, Berkshire RG3 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: 
R. D. Hawkins, 30d Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 

General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, 
Devon TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. 


Cover illustration: A male white admiral, Ladoga camilla (L.). Photo: Richard Revels. 


The Society has learned of the recent sad deaths of Mrs F. M. Murphy, past Secretary 


and President and Mr E. S. Bradford an Honorary Member of the Society. Obituaries 
will be published in forthcoming issues of the journal. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 97 


A BREEDING EXPERIMENT WITH THE SMALL COPPER 
BUTTERFLY, LYCAENA PHLAEAS (L.) 
(LEPIDOPTERA: LYCAENIDAE) 


T. S. ROBERTSON 
348a Nine Mile Ride, Wokingham, Berkshire RGI1 3NJ. 


In his classic book on butterflies, Ford (1945) discussed a hypothetical case in 
which the aberration obsoleta (a known recessive) and the aberration alba (which he 
considered also probably a recessive) were mated together and then inbred to give, in 
the F, generation, wild-type, obsoleta, alba and the double recessive obsoleta + alba in 
a 933 23 31 ratio. 

So far as I am aware, no-one has been able to perform such an experiment. In 1989 
and again in 1991, I was able to carry out some small-scale breeding experiments that 
bear some resemblance to Ford’s case, using wild females caught in the Wokingham 
area of Berkshire. 

In two small-scale breeding experiments on Lycaena phlaeas, the aberration 
obsoleta appeared to act as an incomplete recessive to the wild type. The aberration 
radiata appeared to be distinct from obsoleta, although their heterozygotes, 
appearing dissimilar, are both referable to partimauroradiata. The double recessive 
pallidula+ radiata was obtained. 


NOMENCLATURE 


Since the strict rules on priority in zoological nomenclature are no longer enforced 
at the level of subspecific aberrations, some names that are commonly used and 
which are reasonably descriptive of the aberrations are used. These are as follows: 

ab. obsoleta Tutt—with the hind-wing copper band absent (although some traces 
can usually be detected in the interneural spaces between the veins). 

ab. radiata Tutt—with the hind-wing copper band replaced by thin lines on the 
nervures. 

ab. partimauroradiata—with the hind-wing copper band broken up, but not as 
extreme as radiata. 

ab. alba Tutt—with the copper colour of the fore and hind wings replaced with 
silver. 

ab. pallidula Leeds—with the copper colour of the fore and hind wings replaced by 
a brassy or cream colour. 

ab. subradiata Tutt—with fine copper-coloured rays extending along the nervures 
inwards from the hind-wing copper band. 

ab. auronitens Schultz—with a copper suffusion on that part of the hind wing 
which is normally dark brown, sometimes incorporating the ab. subradiata. 


METHODS 


The 1989 experiment 


A female ab. partimauroradiata (as in Plate I, Figure 1) was captured at 
Wokingham, Berks., in May 1989, and when she had laid about 50 eggs in captivity 
she was released at the point of capture. An F,, but no F,, was raised (Robertson, 
1990). 


98 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


The 199] experiment 


A female showing, rather weakly, the characters partimauroradiata, subradiata and 
auronitens was captured, in rather worn condition, at Finchampstead, Berks., in June 
1991 (Plate I, Figure 1). She laid a small number of eggs and died a few days later. 
An F, of seven adults was reared and one mating followed. An F, was reared, and 
the numbers of the different forms of adults were recorded. No matings were 
obtained in this generation (Robertson, 1992). 


RESULTS 


The 1989 experiment 


The 39 F, adult offspring reared from the captured female partimauroradiata 
showed a range of variation from wild-type (with fully developed hind-wing bands) 
to obsoleta (Plate I, Figures 2-4). Twenty were referable to obsoleta, but all had 
traces of copper remaining on the hind wings. However, this was in the interneural 
spaces rather than on the nervures, which distinguishes it from ab. radiata. Most of 
the remaining 19 butterflies showed more or less reduction or breaking up of the 
bands (ab. partimauroradiata); a few showed wild-type markings. 


The 1991 experiment 


The F, from the P, female partimauroradiata + subradiata + auronitens consisted of 
4 male and 3 female wild-type adults. The F, from the single mating consisted of 37 
butterflies, none of which showed the subradiata or auronitens characters that were 
present in the P, female. However, two forms which had not been detected in the P; 
or F, occurred, separately and in combination. These were radiata (Plate I, Figure 8) 
and pallidula (Plate I, Figures 9-12). Forms with hind-wing bands varied from wild- 
type through partimauroradiata and could not be classified as such with certainty, so 
were scored as ‘with bands’. Although variable, pallidula and normal copper colour 
were reasonably distinguishable and were scored accordingly. The radiata form was 
clearly distinguishable and differed from the obsoleta forms of the 1989 experiment in 
that it did not have any interneural traces of copper. Males and females were in 
about equal numbers and occurred in both varietal forms. The results of the 1991 
experiment are summarized in Table 1. 


Table 1. The phenotypes of the F2 of the 1991 experiment with Lycaena phlaeas 


Ground colour 


Copper Brassy Total 
Hindwing band 
with bands 20 8 28 
bands replaced by rays 6 3 y) 
Total 26 11 37 


The ratio 20 : 8: 6:3 is achieved. This concurs with the predicted ratio of 9:3: 3:1 (as 
8.65 : 3.46 : 2.59 : 1.30). There is no statistical difference, y2 (3 degrees of freedom)=0.52, 
0.95>P>0.8. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 99 


DISCUSSION 


Taken together, the two experiments suggest that obsoleta and radiata are distinct 
from one another. In their heterozygous state, both are incomplete recessives and are 
referable to partimauroradiata but still differ (Plate I, Figures 1 and 7), so this name 
can represent two different mutations. 

The 1989 experiment gave an almost exact 1 : 1 ratio for obsoleta to ‘with bands’ 
(partimauroradiata+ wild-type) suggesting that the expression of obsoleta in the 
heterozygote is variable, and that the P, female was heterozygous for obsoleta and 
had mated in the wild with a homozygous male obsoleta. The P, cross would be 
represented by: 


Oo x 00 


The F, would then be 50% Oo and 50% oo, conforming to the result obtained. 

An alternative explanation for the F, in the 1989 experiment is that not one but 
two gene complexes were involved, with obsoleta dominant to radiata and both 
recessive to the wild-type. The cross to lead to the F, would be: 


RrOo x RRoo 
The F, would have the following genetic make-up: 


RROo RROo RrOo RrOo 
RRoo RRoo Rroo Rroo 


The gene combinations shown in the upper line would give wild-type and 
partimauroradiata, and those of the lower line obsoleta (0 being dominant over r), 
again a 1: 1 ratio as obtained in the experiment. 

As neither obsoleta nor radiata are common, their occurrence together is not 
particularly likely, and the single-gene mechanism is perhaps the more probable one. 

The 1991 experiment resembles that of Ford (1945) in some respects, except that it 
involves pallidula and radiata rather than the more extreme alba and obsoleta which 
Ford discussed. 

To get the results obtained, the cross to give the F, must have been: RrPp x RRPP 
or RrPP x RRpp. 

The following genetic make-ups, for example, could be present in the F;: 
RrPP RrPp RRPp RRPP 

In whatever combinations of R and P, the result would still produce all wild-type 
(apart perhaps for some partimauroradiata) and to get the result obtained in the F, 
generation the F, cross would be: RrPp x RrPp. It was fortunate that with only seven 
butterflies in the F, this mating must have taken place. 

The complete genetic make-up of the F, would be as follows: 


RERPP} RrPP 9 RrPPiomPP 
RRPp RrPp RrPp rrPp 
RRPp RrPp RrPp_ rrPp 
RRpp Rrpp Rrpp_ rrpp 


Examination of this make-up reveals a 9:3:3:1 ratio for wild-type: 
pallidula : radiata : pallidula+ radiata. 

It has been shown that both obsoleta and radiata are incomplete recessives, and 
that even in the heterozygous condition remain distinct. The brassy coloured 
pallidula is a complete recessive and is probably not the heterozygote of the silvery 
alba. The double recessive of radiata with pallidula indicates that these are non-linked 
genetically. 


100 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


The forms auronitens and subradiata, present rather weakly in the P, of the 1991 
experiment, did not appear in the F, or F,, and either are not controlled in a simple 
Mendelian fashion, or, more probably, were lost when only one mating was obtained 
from the very small F, reared. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


The valuable comments on the manuscript made by M. J. Simmons were greatly 
appreciated, as was the photography by D. E. Wilson, without which it would have 
been difficult to convey the results of this study. 


REFERENCES 


Ford, E. B. 1945. Butterflies. The New Naturalist. Collins, London, pp. 177-185, P1. 29. 

Robertson, T. S. 1990. [Lycaena phlaeas L., ab. obsoleta Tutt. Exhibit at BENHS Annual 
Exhibition 1989.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 3: 65. 

Robertson, T. S. 1992. [Lycaena phlaeas L., abs. Exhibit at BENHS Annual Exhibition 1991.] 
Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 53. 


REVIEW 


Entomological bygones or historical entomological collecting equipment and 
associated memorabilia by J. M. Chalmers-Hunt. Arch. Nat. Hist. 1994; 21: 
357-378—Being asked to review for this journal a paper appearing in another 
journal, particularly one which was essentially a catalogue of items, has presented 
quite a reasonable challenge. Nevertheless, the equipment and other memorabilia 
associated with field entomology is a much neglected subject and, were it not for the 
genuine passions of gentlemen such as my friend Michael Chalmers-Hunt, important 
historical material such as this may well be lost for ever, save within the pages of 
ancient, dusty entomological books. One wonders how many of today’s entomol- 
ogists have actually heard of a forceps net, let alone know what one looks like or how 
to use it. And who today could afford, or would even wish to use, a hand-crafted 
mahogany and brass killing bottle? 

The paper catalogues some 200 items of entomological memorabilia in the 
Chalmers-Hunt collection. They range from nets and beating trays to pooters, 
collecting boxes, setting boards and even curious light sources for attracting moths 
on dark nights. Who in his right mind would, today, wander around the local woods 
with a “bull’s-eye oil-burning lantern” and seriously hope for a large “‘bag”’ of 
moths? Ah .. . those were the days (so they tell me!). 

Chalmers-Hunt is one of a diminishing breed of true collectors. Not only does he 
amass the objects of his desire, but also books, journals, manuscript catalogues, 
diaries and notebooks, equipment and, indeed, absolutely anything else that is in any 
way associated with his chosen entomological subject. In the Chalmers-Hunt 
collection, now housed at the British Museum (Natural History) [which name I shall 
continue to use until it is formally altered by Act of Parliament] we have, probably, 
the most comprehensive collection of entomological equipment. Chalmers-Hunt is to 
be congratulated not only for accumulating the material that goes to form his 
collection, but also for cataloguing it and having the good sense to ensure its survival 
by gifting it to a national, rather than a local, museum. 


C. W. PLANT 


he 


. ] PL ATF i 


@ amen =e ene 


7 


ee 6° he ee ee 
¢ ie i 


eo a 


PLATE | 


A BREEDING EXPERIMENT WITH THE SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY, LYCAENA PHLAEAS (L) (LEPI- 
DOPTERA: LYCAENIDAE). T.S. ROBERTSON 

Figs 1—4 Lycaena phlaeas, Berks. , 1989. 

Figs 5-12 Lycaena phlaeas, Berks., 1991. 


1 2 3 4 
F, female F, female obsoleta F,male obsoleta F, female obsoleta 
partimauroradiata 


5 6 7 8 
P, female F, female wild type F, male F, female radiata 
partimauroradiata partimauroradiata 

+auronitens 


9 10 11 
F, female pallidula F, female pallidula F, male F, male 
pallidula+radiata pallidula+radiata 


12 


UNDERSTANDING SIZE AND PATTERN VARIATION IN MAINLAND BRITAIN PARARGE AEGERIA L. (LEPI- 
DOPTERA: SAT YRIDAE). L.WINOKUR 

Figs 13-17 Pararge aegeria tircis. 

Figs 18—21 Pararge aegeria oblita. 


13 16 19 
Low-altitude F, female High-altitude F, male F, female ex-diapause pupa 
mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata cockaynei 
14°C and 16 hdaylength 


14 17 20 


High-altitude F, male Low-altitude F, female F, female ex-direct 
mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata cockaynei developing pupa 
14°C and 16 hdaylength 14°C and 16 hdaylength 


15 18 21 
High-altitude F, female F,male cockaynei F, female showing pattern 
mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata modification 
+cockaynei, room temp. 20°C and 16 hdaylength 
and winter daylength 


102 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


UNDERSTANDING SIZE AND PATTERN VARIATION IN 
MAINLAND BRITAIN PARARGE AEGERIA L. 
(LEPIDOPTERA: SATYRIDAE) « 


LEONARD WINOKUR 
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, Reading University, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 2AJ. 


The Speckled Wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria L., is represented in England, 
Wales and N.E. Scotland by subspecies tircis Butler, and in N.W. Scotland by 
subspecies oblita Harrison (Thomson, 1980). Adult P. a. oblita are larger than P. a. 
tircis (Thomson, 1980; Brakefield & Shreeve, 1992), but latitudinal size variation 
within mainland Britain has not been extensively examined. Thompson (1952) 
reported an altitudinal cline in Snowdonia, culminating at high altitude in large, 
prominently marked specimens and designated form drumensis, but no further 
investigation into the form has been conducted. 

The present paper examines latitudinal and altitudinal size variation in the species 
within mainland Britain, comparing cohorts from S. England, low and high altitude 
in N. Wales, and N.W. Scotland, at 14°, 17° and 20°C under 16 hours (16 h) 
daylength. The environmental and hereditary factors underlying the clines, and the 
adaptive significance of the size variation, are considered. A new eyespot aberrant 
from N. Wales is characterized and the gene frequency at each altitude is estimated. 
The occurrence of ab. cockaynei Goodson (Russwurm, 1978) and. ‘spring brood’ 
forms (Robertson, 1980a) among N. Wales P. a. tircis and P. a. oblita undergoing 
pupal diapause at 14°C is discussed, and an explanation of form drumensis is 
proposed. The present findings represent a more extensive account of P. aegeria 
specimens presented at the 1993 BENHS Annual Exhibition, and complement a 
study into clinal variation in life history traits (Sibly et al, in prep.). 


MATERIALS AND METHODS 


Adult P. aegeria were collected from the Isle of Appin, Scotland (56° 32’ N, 
5° 24’ W) on 14.viii.1992, at 50-60 m above mean sea level (amsl) (Gorswen, 
53° 13’ N, 3° 51’ W) and 200-220 m ams! (Hafod-y-cae, 53° 13’ N, 3° 54’ W), from 
the S.E. face of Tal-y-fan mountain, N. Wales, between 17—21.viii.1992, and from the 
west of Salisbury Plain, S. England (51° 13’ N, 1° 39’ W) on 4.ix.1992. They were 
transferred to the laboratory 9 days after capture (Scotland), 2-6 days (Wales) or 1 
day after capture (England). 

Pairs were maintained in 22" diameter card tubs lined with untreated tissue and 
covered with fine-mesh netting secured with elastic. Adults were fed 5% vol/vol 
unmodified honey solution from cotton pads placed on the netting. Pads were 
replaced daily. When females started ovipositing on the netting and tissue, the males 
were killed. Oviposition was continued in the laboratory at 20°C. 

Ova from each female were collected daily and divided between 14°, 17° and 20°C 
constant temperature regimes under 16 hours light : 8 hours dark photoperiod 
provided by fluorescent lighting of spectral composition approximating daylight. Egg 
samples from a given female were held in 3" x 2" x 1" transparent perspex boxes until 
hatched. Ten larvae per female per temperature (30 per female) were segregated (i.e. 
one larva per box) to similar boxes containing excess cultivated cock’s-foot grass, 
Dactylis glomerata L. The 30 larvae per female were randomly collected to ensure 
that they reflected the genetic make-up of the total egg batch; the excess larvae were 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 103 


dispersed elsewhere. Boxes containing pupating larvae were cleared of food and 
oriented so that the prepupae hung vertically. Representative adults were killed and 
preserved. 


LATITUDINAL VARIATION 


At all three temperatures, adults of P. a. oblita were the largest and S. England P. 
a. tircis the smallest, indicating a progressive increase in size with distance north. 
Within each stock, adults were noticeably larger at 17° than 20°C, following the 
general tendency of ectotherms to attain greater mature weights at lower 
temperatures, and probably related to slower growth under cold (Atkinson, 1994). 
However, adults were slightly smaller at 14° than 17°C, especially in S. England tircis 
but this difference became less marked with latitude. 

In P. aegeria, the photoperiodic cue governing developmental strategy comprises 
the interval sunrise to sunset, and possibly also morning and evening twilights, 
during the first and final larval instars (Nylin et al, in press). At the latitudes 
compared here, daylengths of 16 h or more prevail through May to July, when the 
collected animals would have been larvae (Goddard, 1962). Mean daily temperature 
in 1992 declined by ~1°C per degree increment in latitude (Table 1). Given the 
temperature gradient alone, field-collected adults would be expected to be larger at 
the more northerly sampling sites, as found by Brakefield & Shreeve (1992). 
However, the persistence at each culture temperature of a latitudinal size cline in the 
adult form predicted on the basis of a latitudinal gradient in field temperature, 
suggests that developmental strategies originally governed by temperature alone have 
become genetically determined. This suggests that selection could act on individuals 
whose size is ‘adaptive’ in the respective environment, to build up a genetic pattern in 
which individuals attain similar sizes even when ‘transplanted’ to alternative 
environments, a process Waddington (1961) termed ‘genetic assimilation’ and 
defined as ‘an increase in the importance of heredity in the extent to which a 
character is determined by heredity and by the environment’. 

The speckled wood basks in sunshine to raise body temperature to levels enabling 
flight (Shreeve, 1986). In N.W. Scotland where air temperatures are cooler (Table 1) 
and cloud cover is more prevalent (Thomson, 1980), large specimens would retain 


Table 1. Periods in 1992 comprising daylengths (sunrise to sunset, and including morning and 
evening civil twilights) or 16 h or more at the three sampling sites, and mean (+SD) daily 
temperatures (°C) at proximal weather stations over the corresponding periods. 


S. England N. Wales N.W. Scotland 
Salisbury Plain Tal-y-fan Mountain Isle of Appin 
> 16h day: 24.v—-18.vii 18.v—25.vii 9.v-3.vili 
> 16h day + twilights: 30.iv—12. viii 26.iv—16.vili 20.iv—22. viii 
Middle Wallop Colwyn Bay Greenock MRCC 
SIN 3a. Wa LIN. 3 43) We dD, OS UN ab: 
90 m amsl 36 m amsl 5 m amsl 
Temperature (°C) April: — 10.0+ 3.4 9.142.9 
May: 14.0+6.8' SSeS) 12.6+5.3 
June: 15.9+6.5 14.6+4.2 15.2+4.1 
July: 17.0+4.6 NS /ss3\7/ 14.9+3.9 
August: 1SaeeSal IS16=E32 14.343.1 


"Includes data for 30.iv.1992. 


104 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


body heat for longer thereby maximizing oviposition and mate locating activity; 
larger males may also be better at defending territories (Davies, 1978). The smaller 
size of Hampshire specimens may result from their faster larval growth (Sibly et al, in 
prep.), not only facilitated by warmer summer temperatures, but possibly adaptive in 
minimizing their period of exposure to predation, parasitism and disease (Smith et al, 
1987), and in enabling rapid population recovery following losses through drought 
(Thomas & Webb, 1984); P. aegeria is at least bivoltine throughout its British range 
(Goddard, 1962; Thomson, 1980). 

The smaller sizes of adult P. aegeria attained at 14° than 17°C, especially in the 
case of S. England P. a. tircis, would appear to violate the expected increase in size 
with cooling temperature (Atkinson, 1994). A tentative explanation is that larvae are 
less efficient at utilizing food at 14°C than 17°C. In S. England, as the season 
progresses, daylengths of 16 h or more prevail and air temperatures rise (Table 1), 
and incident sunlight enables the larvae to utilize metabolic resources efficiently. In 
N.W. Scotland, where temperatures are cooler and cloud cover is more prevalent, 
larval physiology in P. a. oblita may be adjusted to utilize metabolic resources more 
efficiently at cooler temperatures. In the present study where daylight was simulated 
by acold light source, the metabolic efficiency of P. a. tircis at 14°C (compared to 
that at 17°C) may have been considerably more compromised in the absence of 
supplementary radiant heat. Indeed the smaller size attained by P. a. tircis at 14° 
than at 17°C despite larval growth being the more protracted at 14°C (Sibly er al, in 
prep.), would concur with this hypothesis. 

Nylin & Svard (1991), in a study of museum specimens, found that P. a. tircis in 
Sweden, showed a decrease in size with distance north; they also found a decrease in 
size northwards from central Europe. Although contradicting the findings of 
Brakefield & Shreeve (1992), Nylin & Svard (1991) argue that at more southerly 
latitudes, specimens should be larger because of the greater prevalence over the year 
of air temperatures above a critical temperature for larval growth, and hence a longer 
growing season. 

However, one might expect growth to be faster under the higher temperatures, 
resulting in smaller adults but more annual generations. Moreover, under hot 
regimes (and especially in central Europe where a more ‘continental’ climate prevails 
than further west), larvae may aestivate to survive food stress during drought, with 
protracted larval durations but less time spent growing. Since a number of low 
altitude N. Wales male P. a. tircis at 20°C showed larval periods of 9-10 weeks 
(compared to the norm of 4-5 weeks) yet if anything emerged lighter in weight (Sibly 
et al, in prep.), their protracted development may represent such a strategy. 
Although corresponding larval durations were undergone at 20°C by a number of 
female P. a. oblita, such ‘slow’ individuals emerged heavier than the faster growing 
ones (Sibly et al, in prep.) indicating a different strategy and suggesting that even 
under hot summers P. a. oblita would continue to emerge larger than English P. a. 
tircis. 

Latitudinal size trends in P. aegeria are further complicated by shifts in voltinism 
(Nylin & Svard, 1991), and where the species is multivoltine, by seasonal differences 
in climate (Robertson, 1980a). The author proposes that rather than the butterfly 
showing a simple latitudinal cline, the smallest adults result wher€ conditions are 
most extreme. Accordingly one would expect smaller adults under Continental and 
‘Arctic’ than oceanic conditions. By way of example N.W. Scotland P. a. oblita enjoy 
an ‘oceanic’ climate with cool summers and largely frost-free winters (Thomson, 
1980). In N. Sweden P. a. tircis suffers more extreme conditions. It experiences cooler 
summers and winter temperatures that rarely rise to levels allowing larval growth 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 105 


(Nylin & Svard, 1991). Here, the species is univoltine, the larvae aestivating when 
summer temperatures are cool (rather than the adult emerging the same season) and 
pupating in the autumn (Wiklund ef al, 1983). Swedish univoltine populations lie at 
the northern limit of the species range (Brakefield & Shreeve, 1992), where 
aestivation may help the larva cope with less efficient nutrient utilization, and the 
early autumn pupation may enable the animal to withstand winter frosts. Under the 
Continental conditions of central Europe where there are extremes of heat, and 
especially where associated with drought, aestivation may enable larvae to survive 
food shortages. With more oceanic regimes such as in N.W. Scotland, hot summers 
may be less prone to drought, and hence larval diapause less critical to survival. 
Indeed, the protracted development and heavier weight of ‘slow’ P. a. oblita at 20°C 
(compared to ‘fast’ P. a. tircis) (Sibly et al, in prep.), accords with this hypothesis. 
Detailed examination of the temperature ranges over which temperature, larval 
period and adult size show direct correlation (in the present study between 17° and 
20°C), of individual instar durations and dimensions, and of larval growth curves, 
would further clarify the factors determining latitudinal size trends in non-migratory 
species such as P. aegeria. 


ALTITUDINAL COMPARISONS 


There was no obvious difference in adult size between low and high altitude N. 
Wales P. a. tircis at any of the study temperatures. Sibly et al (in prep.) similarly 
found no significant differences in body weight (nor in other components of life 
history), suggesting that the larger size (and more extensive pale markings) of the 
high altitude ‘drumensis’ forms described by Thompson (1952), may have been 
simply a consequence of their having developed under cooler temperatures than their 
low altitude counterparts (Geiger, 1965; Table 1). Some features of the present N. 
Wales samples are now considered to determine further the nature of any altitudinal 
effects. 


Spot-pattern aberration 


Two of the 21 wild high-altitude females and one of the 21 wild low-altitude 
females originally taken between 17 and 21.viii.1992 displayed an eyespot or ocellus 
element (Schwanwitsch, 1935) in ventral forewing space 2 additional to that in space 
5. The phenotype does not appear to have been previously documented. Since the 
forewings correspond to the mesothoracic segment (Sibatani, 1980), it is suggested 
that the phenotype be designated mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata ab. nov. (Plate I, Figs. 
13-15). The phenotype appeared at all three temperatures among the F, of both 
stocks and in both sexes, indicating that the allele is autosomal (i.e. not carried on the 
sex chromosomes), and since the low-altitude ab. mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata female 
#9 yielded all wild-type F, (12 in all), also recessive; a dominant allele would predict 
at least 50% biocellata phenotypes among the F, (Falconer, 1981). 

GENOTYPE FREQUENCIES, LOW ALTITUDE. Calling the wild-type allele 
‘W and the recessive biocellata allele ‘b’, low-altitude female #9 was probably bb and 
the male most likely WW. Low-altitude wild-type female #5, however, yielded 9 out 
of the 30 F, of which 3 (33%) were aberrant; low altitude female #5 was probably 
Wb, and the male most likely Wb (a bb male would predict a 1 : 1 ratio of aberrant to 
wild-type). Of the 19 remaining low-altitude females, only 9 yielded an F, generation. 
These were wild-type and yielded all wild-type offspring. If these females were Wb 
they would necessarily have paired with WW males, while if WW they could have 


106 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


paired with WW, Wb or bb males. Minimum and maximum estimates of biocellata 
allele frequency within the low-altitude parent sample can be estimated using the F, 
results of these 11 females. Based on the assumption of 9 WW x,WW pairings (lower 
estimate) and 9 WW x bb (upper estimate) and taking into account females #5 
(Wb x Wb) and #9 (bb x WW), the following can be expected. 

Lower estimate. The lower estimate assumes 9 WWx WW, 1 Wbx Wb and 1 
bb x WW pairings, involving (1 x bb) + (2 x Wb) + (19 x WW) genotypes comprising 4 
‘b’ and 40 ‘W’ alleles, and hence a biocellata gene frequency of 4/44 (9.1%) with 3/22 
(13.6%) of individuals carrying the gene. 

Upper estimate. The upper estimate assumes 9 WWxbb, 1 Wbx Wb and 1 
bb x Wb pairings, involving (10 x bb) +(2 x Wb)+(10 x WW) genotypes comprising 
22 ‘b’ and 22 ‘W alleles, and hence a biocellata gene frequency of 22/44 (50%) with 
12/22 (54.5%) of individuals carrying the gene. 

GENOTYPE FREQUENCIES, HIGH ALTITUDE. High altitude mesoventro-s2/ 
s5 biocellata females #1 and #5 were most likely bb. Both yielded aberrant F, (3 out 
of 15 individuals (20%) and 11 out of 26 (42%) respectively), the male parents 
therefore having been most likely Wb (bb would predict an all aberrant F; and WW 
an all wild-type F,). The lower than expected frequency of biocellata phenotypes 
predicted from a bbx Wb cross may indicate a greater mortality among bb 
genotypes. The 13 remaining females to yield F, were wild-type and yielded all wild- 
type offspring. 

Lower estimate. The lower estimate of biocellata gene frequency in the high- 
altitude population assumes 13 WWx WW and 2 bbx Wb pairings, involving 
(2 x bb) + (2 x Wh) +(26 x WW) genotypes comprising 6 ‘b’ and 54 ‘W alleles, and 
hence a biocellata gene frequency of 6/60 (10%) with 4/30 (13.3%) of individuals 
carrying the gene. 

Upper estimate. The upper estimate of biocellata gene frequency in the high 
altitude population assumes 13 WWxbb and 2 bbx Wb pairings, involving 
(15 x bb) +(2 x Wb)+(13 x WW) genotypes comprising 32 ‘b’ and 28 ‘W alleles, 
ie. a biocellata gene frequency of 32/60 (53.3%) with 17/30 (56.7%) of individuals 
carrying the gene. 


Population structure and gene flow 


Since the field collected males from both altitudes displayed wild-type pattern 
when the biocellata gene is autosomal (i.e. not sex-linked), the actual gene and 
genotype frequencies in the wild populations probably lie nearer the lower estimates. 
However, the occurrence in samples from both altitudes of similar lower and upper 
estimates, suggests that individuals along the altitudinal gradient function as a single 
population. Although the sampling sites represented separate woodlands, each 
woodland was contiguous between 30 and 200 m amsl. Furthermore, maximum 
separation between these woodlands was ~400 m, yet female P. aegeria can disperse 
up to 600m and traverse open terrain (Davies, 1978). Thus, while genetic 
assimilation has been implicated in the evolution of high-altitude forms elsewhere 
(Shapiro, 1976), gene flow between low- and high-altitude P. a. tircis in N. Wales 
may limit such altitudinal differentiation here. 


Pupal diapause 


Among the high altitude stock at 14°C, 6 of 87 F, individuals (7%) underwent 
pupal durations greater than 28 days indicative of diapause (Lees & Tilley, 1980). Of 
these 6 high-altitude diapause pupae, 3 males and 1 female (67%) emerged as ab. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 107 


cockaynei Goodson, in which the dark underside wing areas tend to merge and 
appear more uniform, contrasting vividly with the remaining pale markings and 
eyespot pupils (Russwurm, 1978: Plate 32) (Plate I, Figs 16-17). Diapause pupae 
appeared in the low altitude stock however, only after two generations at 14°C (2 
diapause pupae, total of direct developing pupae not ascertained). 

An earlier study using S. England P. a. tircis under 16 h daylength (Winokur, 
1992), had found that the offspring of individuals reared at 18°C yielded only direct 
developing pupae at both 14° and 18°C, but that if the parents were briefly chilled as 
pupae to —2°C, then some of the offspring reared at 14° (but not 18°C) underwent 
diapause to emerge as ab. cockaynei. Since British P. a. tircis typically form diapause 
pupae only under daylengths of 11 h or less irrespective of temperature (Lees & 
Tilley, 1980), it was concluded that pupal diapause and pattern modification at 14°C 
with 16 h daylength depended on the parents having experienced pupal frost, thereby 
implicating some parental effect. Considering again the N. Wales low altitude P. a. 
tircis, it is proposed that diapause in the F, at 14°C with 16 h could similarly have 
been conditioned by the parents too having developed at 14°C. While Colwyn Bay 
meteorological station (36 m amsl) recorded a July mean of 15.7°C (Table 1), higher 
altitudes would be expected to be cooler (Geiger, 1965), hence a number of the high- 
altitude parental sample (collected at 200-220 m amsl) might have developed at 14°C 
(or cooler). Higher altitudes would also be expected to suffer more prevalent winter 
frosts (Geiger, 1965), and while this would be of more direct consequence to 
individuals of generation 1, sporadic summer frosts at high altitude cannot be ruled out. 

P. a. tircis mesoventro-s2/s5 biocellata. F, from a high altitude F, mesoventro-s2/s5 
biocellata female reared at 20°C (female #1.4), were cultured indoors from 11.x.1992 
in 5" diameter translucent perspex tubs, under natural daylength but away from 
direct sunlight, and replenished with cut foodplant at two-day intervals. Room 
temperature was not recorded but might be expected to be warmer than in the field. 
Only three pupae diapaused, yielding two ‘early spring’ form males (Plate I, Fig. 14); 
and a cockaynei female (Plate I, Fig. 15) which may have been ‘forced’ by indoor 
temperature. 


Diapause comparisons with subspecies oblita 


Of the P. a. oblita F, at 14°C, 36 of 52 pupae (70%) diapaused, but of 24 diapause 
adults preserved only 3 males and 1 female (17%) were ab. cockaynei (Plate I, 
Fig. 18); the remainder were typical ‘early spring’ forms (Plate I, Fig. 19). Direct 
developing P. a. oblita were of the late spring/summer form that typify the 2nd brood 
(Plate I, Fig. 20; Robertson, 1980a), suggesting that ‘early spring’ phenotype in P. 
aegeria is linked to pupal diapause; linking of vernal phenotype to diapause is known 
in other species (Shapiro, 1976). 

Aberrant pattern in North Wales (and S. England) P. a. tircis, may have resulted 
from the 16h daylength being atypical of times in their season when prevailing 
temperature is 14°C or less (Table 1). Hence the atypically long photoperiod may 
have ‘forced’ pupae that at 14°C or less would normally have been diapausing under 
shorter associated daylengths. 

At the latitude occupied by P. a. oblita on the other hand, daylengths of 16 h or 
more persist later into the season, when concomitant temperatures would be cooler 
than further south (Table 1) thereby leaving less time for the animals to complete the 
life cycle before winter. Hence in P. a. oblita, one might expect the critical 
photoperiod for pupal diapause to be shifted to longer daylengths than for more 
southern P. a. tircis (cf. Nylin et al, in press); with 16 h daylength therefore being 


108 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


closer to the normal photoperiodic cue for diapause in P. a. oblita and so less likely 
to result in aberrant wing pattern. 


UNDERSTANDING AB. COCKAYNEI AND ‘DRUMENSIS’ FORMS 


The incidence of ab. cockaynei among the respective cohorts points against 
chance genetic mutation, and suggests that development of the phenotype does not 
depend on a particular genotype per se, but rather is a structured response of the 
wing developmental physiology to a variety of atypical cytogenetic-environmental 
interactions. Several examples of cockaynei are known e.g. Rothschild-Cockayne- 
Kettlewell collection, British Museum (Natural History), and it may represent a 
‘recurrent’ aberration (cf. Shapiro, 1975). P. aegeria larvae often pupate in exposed 
locations and show little inclination to seek shelter (Cole, 1962), and cockaynei 
individuals may represent the progeny of animals subjected to frost as young 
pupae. The parental frost exposure might result in the progeny larva undergoing 
protracted growth, but nevertheless reaching the final instar under daylengths of 
16 h or more. While 16 h daylength would normally cue direct pupal development, 
the parental history could result in the individual undergoing atypical diapause, the 
adult possibly emerging in late autumn if temperatures permit but otherwise 
perishing as a pupa; the specimen figured by Russwurm (1978) was taken in 
November. 

Should the progeny larva not reach the final instar until later in the autumn, the 
shorter daylength itself would cue pupal diapause and associated ‘early spring’ 
phenotype. The parental history may further protract the diapause, so that the ‘early 
spring’ form thus emerges later than the usual April-May of generation 1 part i 
(Goddard, 1962) as with ‘drumensis’ which Thompson (1952) reported as flying 
above the tree line in June. 

In the present study, diapause individuals from high altitude P. a. tircis and 
Scottish P. a. oblita, also grew more slowly as larvae and produced heavier adults 
(Sibly et al, in prep.). Thus protracted larval development in putative ‘drumensis’ (P. 
a. tircis) individuals could account for their larger size. Indeed, Thompson’s 
specimens may have resembled vernal P. a. oblita (Plate I, Fig. 19), for N. Wales 
P. a. tircis and P. a. oblita diapause animals showed similar pupal durations and 
male weights (Sibly ef al, in prep.). 

Alternatively, drumensis may simply have constituted an unusually late generation 
1 part ii, which flies in late May/June (Goddard, 1962) and typically comprises the 
largest adults of all the broods (Robertson, 1980a). Such drumensis may have 
resembled somewhat ‘late spring’ P. a. oblita specimens (Plate I, Fig. 20), though 
without Thompson’s specimens for comparison further field work is required to 
reliably characterize the form. Reasons for the absence of subsequent reports include 
the failure to conduct any further planned studies, and it is therefore important not 
to discount a priori the natural occurrence of ‘drumensis’. Second, since its 
occurrence would appear to depend on prevailing climate, fluctuations in the 
prevailing weather between years (Shreeve, 1986) may result some years in the form 
being absent. Third, being described from atypical habitat (open grassland/moor, 
pers. obs.) where recorders are unlikely to be monitoring the species, it is liable to be 
overlooked. Finally, its June flight period means that collectors in search of fresh 
voucher specimens, and breeders in search of gravid females, would likely have 
completed their activities. 

Whether an individual undergoes a ‘cockaynei’ or ‘drumensis’-type life cycle, may 
also depend on the emergence (part i or ii) from which it derived and hence the time 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 109 


available to complete larval development, and on underlying genetic differences in 
growth rate (Robertson, 1980b). Similar considerations would apply to the offspring 
of second generation individuals developing under cool summers. 


EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS 


P. aegeria probably reached Britain from Europe when the ice retreated after the 
Loch Lomond readvance of c. 10 000 B.P. (Dennis, 1977), though the history of 
subspecies oblita is not firmly established since the species can undergo dramatic 
changes in distribution over much briefer time scales, as within the present century 
(Barbour, 1986). However, while winter frost is rare in N.W. Scotland (Thomson, 
1980), populations colonizing the region from the south would experience cooler and 
shorter summers and correspondingly longer daylengths, possibly resulting in a 
proportion of the progeny undergoing ‘cockaynei and ‘drumensis’ life cycles. 
Individuals undergoing the normal strategy would be likely to emerge too late in the 
season to breed, but those undergoing the ‘drumensis’ strategy could yield progeny 
the following spring that in turn develop under a cool summer. Under such recurrent 
seasons, a strategy initially conditioned by parental effect might come to be 
intrinsically determined, and under the prevailing seasonal daylengths, show a 
concomitant shift in the critical photoperiod for pupal diapause to longer 
daylengths; although the precise mechanism by which such shifts in the ‘norm of 
reaction’ come about is a matter for investigation. In Scotland, P. a. tircis appears to 
be extending its range down the Great Glen from deciduous forest in the north-east 
to cooler pine forests more south-west. An examination of responses along the cline 
to particular climatic regimes could help us understand whether there is a rapid 
adaptation in the species to minor climatic shifts (Barbour, 1986). 

One of Waddington’s (1961) experiments selected for ‘bithorax’ flies (where the 
metathorax develops wings in place of halteres) produced by exposing the eggs to 
ether, but Ho et a/ (1983) obtained similar increases in the incidence of bithorax using 
highly inbred lines of negligible genetic variability and without applying selection; 
moreover, despite reduced fecundity and survival in bithorax. These findings appear 
to involve progressive changes in maternally imposed organization of the egg surface 
cytoplasm, which may further condition changes in nuclear gene expression (Ho et 
al, 1983). Since a study on pupal chilling in P. aegeria had shown more extreme 
development of ‘cockaynei’ features among the F, at 14°C than in the cold-treated 
parents (Winokur & White, in prep.), comparable cytoplasmic effects could be 
involved in mediating lepidopteran evolution; although induced changes in sperm 
chromosomal DNA could represent a possible mechanism (cf. Vuillaume & 
Berkaloff, 1974). 

Vuillaume & Berkaloff, working with the large white butterfly, Pieris brassicae L., 
had found that larvae administered LSD failed to undergo the usual pupal diapause 
under daylengths of 9h or less, but that their progeny were resistant to 
corresponding doses of the drug. They suggested that LSD activates a detoxifying 
mechanism in the parent butterfly that is passed on to its offspring. Moreover, since 
the resistance of the progeny to LSD proved greater when just the male parent had 
been treated than when the female alone had been treated, Vuillaume & Berkaloff 
suggested that inheritance of the detoxification mechanism is mediated via induced 
changes in sperm chromosome structure. 

Alternatively, adaptation might involve the process of gene amplification, in which 
multiple copies of appropriate DNA sequences are generated and incorporated 
within the genome (see Pollard, 1988). Gene amplification, for instance, is known to 


110 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


be involved in the rapid acquisition by insect populations of insecticide resistance, 
and appears to be part of the physiological repertoire of all cells (Ho, 1988). 
Moreover, the environmental stimulus may actually stabilize those cells in which the 
appropriate genes are being amplified, in which respect the environment, rather than 
selecting for a pre-existing genetic variant, is selecting for a cytogenetic response (Ho, 
1988). For example, it was above suggested that in P. a. oblita, adult size was 
compromised to a lesser degree by rearing at 14° versus 17°C than in P. a. tircis, 
because the former had become metabolically adjusted to enable more efficient 
growth at lower temperatures. Should this have involved the amplification of genes 
appropriate for efficient nutrient assimilation and metabolism, and also present in 
P. a. tircis but in a lesser complement (as opposed to selection for a gene just 
improving metabolism at 14°C), then this would explain P. a. oblita continuing to 
attain the greater size at 17° and 20°C. However, when egg yields and fertility were 
compared, performance was severely compromised at 14°C compared to 17°C 
in P. a. oblita (Sibly et al, in prep.), the reverse of what might be expected should P. 
a. oblita be carrying the greater metabolic gene complement. An alternative 
explanation therefore, is that in S. England, where the hotter summers and more 
intense solar radiation force high metabolic rates with a concomitant risk of tissue 
damage, P. a. tircis has responded by amplifying genes appropriate for coping with 
rapid metabolic turnover. Not only would this protect such individuals from heat 
stress, but the amplified complement of metabolic genes may enhance the allocation 
of metabolic resources to other functions such as reproduction. Should this have 
involved genes also present in P. a. oblita only in lesser complement (as opposed to a 
gene enhancing performance specifically at 20°C), then this would explain P. a. tircis 
continuing to grow faster (and accordingly to produce smaller adults) yet remaining 
more fecund than P. a. oblita at also 17° and 14°C. The initial adjustment to warmer 
conditions however, would likely have required a shift in the allocation of metabolic 
resources from growth (and reproduction) to cytogenetic restructuring, leading to an 
initial loss of condition, as occurs with flax plants transplanted between culture 
media (Cullis, 1983). Indeed, it is noteworthy that among P. a. oblita undergoing 
larval aestivation at 20°C (warmer than normally experienced in the field, Table 1), a 
number of individuals showed varying degrees of wing pattern abnormality (Plate I 
Fig. 21), indicative of developmental stress. Furthermore, a shift in resource 
allocation to cytogenetic restructuring could explain why rearing at 20°C did not 
bring fecundity up to the level exhibited by P. a. tircis. However, cytogenetic 
and molecular studies will be required before firm conclusions are drawn. Such 
considerations, as well as those pertaining to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity 
of ancestral environments (Sibly & Atkinson, 1994), are particularly critical if the 
success of introduction attempts necessitating stock of disparate origin, the capacity 
of species to expand their ranges, and the impact of rapid climatic shifts as with 
global warming, are to be accurately predicted. 

Reciprocal crosses between stocks (e.g. oblita female x tircis male, tircis 
female x oblita male) with pure crosses as controls, and between cohorts reared 
under different culture regimes (e.g. 14°C female x 20°C male, 20°C female x 14°C 
male) could identify more specifically the roles of maternal (cytoplasmic) effect, 
genotype, and environment, in determining life history strategy and consequently 
adult size and pattern. A high incidence of pattern abnormalities in such crosses 
might disclose nuclear/cytoplasmic incompatibilities, important in predicting the 
effects of mixing between locally adapted populations, as could occur between P. a. 
tircis and P. a. oblita south-west of the Great Glen. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 111 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


The present study was funded under Natural Environment Research Council 
(UK) small grant GR9/706, awarded to Professors Robert H. Smith and Richard M. 
Sibly. I also thank Dr Roger L. H. Dennis, Dr George Thomson, Tom Murray 
Gibson and David J. Jones for advice on field site locations, and Mrs Viv Rimmer 
and John Millard for technical assistance. Climatic data were provided by The 
Meteorological Office and Nautical Almanac Office. 


REFERENCES 


Atkinson, D. 1994. Temperature and organism size—a biological law for ectotherms? Adv. Ecol. 
Res. 25: 1-58. 

Barbour, D. A. 1986. Expansion of the range of the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria L. 
in north-east Scotland. Entomologists’ Rec. J. Var. 98: 98-105. 

Brakefield, P. M. & Shreeve, T. G. 1992. Diversity within populations. In Dennis, R. L. (Ed.). 
The ecology of butterflies in Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 178-216. 

Cole, L. R. 1962. Autumn pupae of Pararge aegeria (L.) (Lep., Satyridae) in a natural 
environment. Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 98: 179. 

Cullis, C. A. 1983. Environmentally induced DNA changes in plants. CRC Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 
1: 117-131. 

Davies, N. B. 1978. Territorial defense in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria): the 
resident always wins. Anim. Behav. 27: 961-962. 

Dennis, R. L. H. 1977. The British butterflies: their origin and establishment. Classey, Faringdon. 

Falconer, D. S. 1981. Introduction to quantitative genetics. 2nd Edition. Longman, London. 

Geiger, G. 1965. The climate near the ground (Translated by Scripta Technica Inc.). Harvard 
University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Goddard, M. J. 1962. Broods of the speckled wood (Pararge aegeria aegerides Stgr.) (Lep. 
Satyridae). Entomologist 95: 289-307. 

Ho, M.-W. 1988. On not holding nature still: evolution by process, not by consequence. In: Ho, 
M.-W. & Fox, S. W. (Eds). Evolutionary processes and metaphors. John Wiley and Sons, 
Chichester, pp. 117-144. 

Ho, M.-W., Tucker, C., Keeley, D. & Saunders, P. T. 1983. Effects of successive generations of 
ether treatment on penetrance and expression of the bithorax phenocopy in Drosophila 
melanogaster. J. Exp. Zool. 225: 357-368. 

Lees, E. & Tilley, R. J. D. 1980. Influence of photoperiod and temperature on larval 
development in Pararge aegeria (L.) (Lepidoptera: Satyridae). Entomologist’s Gaz. 31: 
3-6. 

Nylin, S., Gotthard, K., Wickman, P.-O. & Wiklund, C. (in press). Life cycle regulation and life 
history plasticity in the speckled wood butterfly: are reaction norms predictable? Biol. J. 
Linn. Soc. 

Nylin, S. & Svard, L. 1991. Latitudinal patterns in the size of European butterflies. Holarctic 
Ecol. 14: 192-202. 

Pollard, J. W. 1988. New genetic mechanisms and their implication for the formation of new 
species. In Ho, M.-W. & Fox, S. W. (Eds). Evolutionary processes and metaphors. John 
Wiley and Sons, Chichester, pp. 63-84. 

Robertson, T. S. 1980a. Seasonal variation in the Pararge aegeria (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: 
Satyridae): a biometrical study. Entomologist’s Gaz. 31: 151-156. 

Robertson, T. S. 1980b. Observations on Pararge aegeria (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Satyridae) 
in 1979. Entomologist’s Gaz. 31: 211-213. 

Russwurm, A. D. A. 1978. Aberrations of British butterflies. Classey, Farringdon. 

Schwanwitsch, B. N. 1935. Evolution of the wing-pattern in palaearctic Satyridae III. genus 
Pararge and five others. Acta Zool. 16: 145-281. 

Shapiro, A. M. 1975. Natural and laboratory occurrences of “elymi’ phenotypes in Cynthia 
cardui (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). J. Res. Lepid. 13: 57-62. 

Shapiro, A. M. 1976. Seasonal polyphenism. Evol. Biol. 9: 259-333. 


112 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Shreeve, T. G. 1986. The effect of weather on the life cycle of the speckled wood butterfly 
Pararge aegeria. Ecol. Ent. 11: 325—332. 

Sibatani, A. 1980. Wing homoeosis in Lepidoptera: a survey. Dev. Biol, 79: 1-18. 

Sibly, R. M. & Atkinson, D. 1994. How rearing temperature affects optimal adult size in 
ectotherms. Functional Ecol., 8: 486-493. 

Sibly, R. M., Winokur, L. & Smith, R. H. (in prep.). Interpopulation variation in phenotypic 
plasticity in the speckled wood butterfly (Parage aegeria L.). 

Smith, R. H., Sibly, R. M. & Moller, H. 1987. Control of size and fecundity in Pieris rapae: 
towards a theory of butterfly life cycles. J. Anim. Ecol. 56: 341-350. 

Thomas, J. A. & Webb, N. 1984. The butterflies of Dorset. Dorset Natural History and 
Archaeological Society. 

Thompson, J. A. 1952. Butterflies in the coastal region of North Wales. Entomologist’s Rec. J. 
Var. 64: 161—166. 

Thomson, G. 1980. The butterflies of Scotland—a natural history. Croom Helm Ltd, London. 

Vuillaume, M. & Berkaloff, A. 1974. LSD treatment of Pieris brassicae and consequences on 
the progeny. Nature 251: 314-315. 

Waddington, C. H. 1961. Genetic assimilation. Adv. Genet. 10: 257-294. 

Wiklund, C., Persson, A. & Wickman, P.-O. 1983. Larval aestivation and direct development as 
alternative strategies in the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, in Sweden. Ecol. Ent. 
8: 233-238. 

Winokur, L. 1992. Stable changes in voltinism strategy and their implications. Nota Lep. Suppl. 
4: 36-56. 

Winokur, L. & White, R. J. (in prep.). Wing pattern variation in Pararge aegeria L. 
(Lepidoptera: Satyridae): natural selection or constructive reciprocity? 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


Swammerdammia compunctella H.-S. (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae), in Merthyr 
Tydfil, Glamorgan, S. Wales.—Whilst curating G. Fleming’s collection of 
Lepidoptera (accession number NMW.1927.644) in the National Museum of Wales, 
Cardiff, I came across a series of Swammerdammia that he had named as S. caesiella 
(Hiibn.). The series was collected from the area of Merthyr Tydfil between 1920 and 
1926, in the months of June and July. Of the twenty specimens, 18 were 
re-determined by myself as S. albicapitella (Scharf), and the remaining two as 
S. compunctella (H.-S.). My determinations were confirmed by David Agassiz at the 
1994 BENHS exhibition. 

It would appear that S. compunctella has not previously been recorded in 
Glamorgan (VC41), and possibly not even from Wales (Agassiz, 1987). It would 
therefore be useful to search for the larvae in the spring on young Rowan trees. 

It is also worth noting that the G. Fleming collection contains a great number of 
micro-Lepidoptera, mostly from South Wales, the records of which have probably 
never been published. 

The full data from the two specimens are: Merthyr Tydfil, 22.vi.1925, and Merthyr 
Tydfil 25.vi.1926.—D. J. SLADE. c/o National Museum of Walesj»Cathays Park, 
Cardiff CF1 3NP. 


REFERENCE 


Agassiz, D. J. L. 1987. The British Argyresthiinae and Yponomeutinae. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. Soc. 20: 1—26. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 113 


TWO NEW SPECIES OF MEGASELIA (DIPTERA: PHORIDAE) 
FROM EUROPE 


R. H. L. DISNEY 


Field Studies Council Research Fellow, University Museum of Zoology, Downing Street, 
Cambridge CB2 3EJ. 


The genus Megaselia Rondani is the largest in the family Phoridae, probably 
including more than half the species of the present-day phorid fauna. Not only the 
boundaries of the genus but also the recognition of the species is still far from 
satisfactory. The problems and the identification literature for the world are reviewed 
elsewhere (Disney, 1994). The present priority is to characterize clearly the males and to 
provide illustrations of the male hypopygia. The most recent treatment of European 
species is a key to the males of species recorded from the British Isles (Disney, 1989). 

This paper describes two new species, which were collected in Germany and were 
sent to me by Dr Sabine Prescher and Dr Gisela Weber. In addition the male 
hypopygia of two poorly known species are illustrated. 

The specimens have been mounted on slides in the standard manner recommended 
for male phorids (Disney, 1983, 1994). The type material has been deposited in the 
Cambridge University Zoology Museum. 


DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES 


Megaselia haraldlundi sp. nov. 


Type locality, Germany, near Adenau. 

Type material, holotype male, Germany, Eifel mountains, Nordrhein-Westfalen, 
near Adenau, 20.v.—3.vi.1990, in emergence trap in spruce forest. Leg. Mechthild 
Engel, deposited in Cambridge University Museum of Zoology; 1 male paratype 
with holotype. 

Etymology. The species is named after Harald Lund. 

Diagnosis. Lower supra-antennal bristles strong, but a little shorter than upper 
pair, frons dull, labella with only sparse spines below, palps largely pale yellow, two 
notopleural bristles, scutellum with two hairs and two bristles, mesopleuron bare, 
epandrium with more than 20 hairs on left side, anal tube a little shorter than 
epandrium and brownish yellow, hairs of proctiger slightly more robust than those 
on cerci, hypandrial lobes with short hairs, legs mainly pale yellowish brown with 
darker apex to hind femur, hairs below basal half of latter longer than those of 
anteroventral row of outer half, hind tibia without differentiated anterodorsals, 
costal index about 0.47, costal section 1 longer than sections 2 +3, costal cilia long, 
vein Sc free, haltere knob essentially yellow. 


Description (male only) 


Frons brown, with bristles positioned as Fig. 3. The lower supra-antennals are 
robust but a little shorter and more slender than the upper pair. Four bristles on 
cheek and four stronger ones on jowl. Frons with dense microtrichia (i.e. dull) and 
50-60 hairs. Palps pale yellow very lightly tinged brown and with seven bristles, the 
longest being at most 0.09 mm long. The brown, subglobose, third antennal segment 
somewhat large (greatest diameter 0.16mm). Arista brown, the basal segments about 
2.5 x as long as broad, the first being fractionally longer, and swollen basal section of 


114 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


third segment being just over 3 x as long as broad. Pubescence of third segment short. 
Proboscis pale dusky yellow, including labrum, whose greatest breadth is about 
0.1mm. Labella a little expanded, but with only a few scattered pale spines below 
apart from dense patch apicolaterally. Thorax brown, being darkest on top and more 
chestnut on sides. Each side of scutum with a humeral, two notopleurals, an intra- 
alar, a postalar and a prescutellar dorsocentral bristle. Scutellum with an anterior pair 
of hairs, at most as strong as those at rear of scutum, and a posterior pair of bristles. 
Mesopleuron bare. Abdomen with brown tergites with scattered short hairs, which 
are a little longer posterolaterally on 1—5, especially on 2. Posterior row of tergite 6 
much stronger and longer (Fig. 1). Internally with four rectal papillae. Venter 


Figs. 1-2. Megaselia, left faces of male hypopygia: (1) M. haraldlundi; (2) M. intercostata. Scale 
bars=0.1 mm. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 115 


pale greyish yellow, but with darker transverse bands on flanks below sides of tergites. 
Ventrally with scattered hairs on segments 3-6, the longest being at rear of 6 in the 
middle. Hypopygium with brown epandrium, paler hypandrial lobes, a pale brownish 
yellow anal tube, and as Fig. 1. 

Legs pale yellowish brown, with darker brown at apex of hind femur and along 
dorsal face of hind tibia. All five fore tarsal segments with a well-developed 
posterodorsal hair palisade. Front metatarsus more than 5 x as long as broad. Dorsal 
hair palisade of middle tibia extends three-quarters of its length. At least six of the hairs 
below basal two-thirds of hind femur are longer than those of anteroventral row in 
distal half. Hind tibia with about a dozen differentiated posterodorsal hairs, of which 
the seven lowest are more spine-like. The dorsal hair palisade is deflected onto anterior 
face just before last posterodorsal spine. Spines of apical comb of posterior face all 
simple. Wing 1.8—1.9mm long. Costal index 0.47. Costal ratios 3.17—3.35: 1.84— 
1.85: 1. Costal cilia 0.13-0.14mm long. Veins yellowish to brownish grey. Membrane 
lightly tinged brownish grey. Vein Sc clearly ending before reaching R,. A small hair at 
base of vein 3. Axillary ridge with four bristles, the outermost being as long as costal 
cilia of section 3. Vein 4 originates just beyond fork of vein 3. Haltere with brown stem 
and pale yellow knob, which may be lightly tinged grey. 


Similar species 


In the keys to British Megaselia (Disney, 1989) this species readily runs to couplet 
225 and then by a return loop to couplet 159 and to M. septentrionalis (Schmitz). 
This species and M. haraldlundi are evidently sibling species. The latter tends to be a 
little smaller and with much paler legs and palps. The size difference is best indicated 
by the length of the hind femur, which is less than 0.85mm in M. haraldlundi, but 
more than this in M. septentrionalis. The hypopygia are similar (cf Fig. 1 with fig. 398 
in Disney, 1989), but differ in small details. For example the hairs of the 
posterolateral extremity of the left side of the epandrium below the anal tube of 
M. haraldlundi are the shortest hairs, but in M. septentrionalis the hairs in this 
position are among the longer hairs on the side of the epandrium. The anterior 
scutellars are stronger in M. septentrionalis. 

Megaselia septentrionalis was originally described from a single female (Schmitz, 
1919). A male was included in the keys of Schmitz & Delage (1981), but the description 
is cut off in mid sentence, after the characterization of the antenna; this work having 
remained unfinished ever since. The inclusion in the key to British species, therefore, 
provides the best available published characterization of the male of this species. 


Megaselia intercostata (Lundbeck, 1921) 


Material examined, 1 male, Germany, Thiiringen, Apfelstadter Ried nature 
reserve, 1—15.vi.1985. Leg. Jorg Weipert. 

Lundbeck (1922) provides a description, with a figure of the wing, of this species. 
The male hypopygium is depicted in Fig. 2, a suitable specimen for illustration 
having not been available when writing the key to British Megaselia (Disney, 1989). 


Megaselia jameslamonti sp. nov 


Type locality, Germany, Thiiringen. 
Type material, holotype male, Germany, Thiiringen, Apfelstadter Ried nature 
reserve, 12—26.1x.1985, moist meadow with Cirsium oleraceum (L.) Scop., Salix and 


116 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Populus, in yellow bowl-trap. Leg. Jérg Weipert, in University Museum of Zoology, 
Cambridge, England. 

Etymology. The species is named after James Lamont. : 

Diagnosis. Lower supra-antennal bristles subequal to upper pair, frons dull, palps 
brown, three notopleural bristles, scutellum with two hairs and two bristles, 
epandrium with less than a dozen hairs on left side plus one longer bristle-like hair, 
anal tube pale brown and clearly longer than epandrium, hairs of proctiger little if 
any stronger than hairs of cerci, left lobe of hypandrium very short, it and right lobe 
with short hairs, legs mainly brown, hairs below base of hind femur longer than those 
of anteroventral row in distal half, hind tibia without differentiated anterodorsal 
hairs, costal index 0.48-0.49, costal section 1 longer than sections 2+ 3, costal cilia 
short, vein Sc free, haltere knob brown. 


Figs. 3-6. Megaselia males. (3) M. haraldlundi frons, with bristles represented by basal sockets 
only; (4) M. jameslamonti frons; (5) M. teneripes, posterior face of hind femur and tibia; (6) M. 
teneripes frons. Scale bars=0.1 mm. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 117 


Description (male only) 


Frons brown, with bristles positioned as Fig. 4. The lower supra-antennal bristles 
subequal to upper pair. Three bristles on cheek and two stronger ones 
on jowl. Frons with dense microtrichia (i.e. dull) and 54-60 hairs. Palps brown, 
with a very short vestigial basal segment. Distal segment a little inflated in basal 
half and with 8-9 differentiated bristles, the longest being 0.11mm in length. 
The brown, subglobose, third antennal segment large (greatest diameter 0.16mm). 
Arista brown and short-haired. Labrum pale brown, its greatest breadth about 
half diameter of third antennal segment. Labella relatively narrow, pale whitish 
yellow but tinged pale brown above, with only a few scattered pale spines 
below. 

Thorax brown to almost black on top. Each side of scutum with a humeral, 
three notopleurals, an intra-alar, a postalar and a prescutellar dorsocentral 
bristle. Scutellum with an anterior pair of fine hairs (shorter and finer than 
those at rear of scutum) and a posterior pair of bristles. Mesopleuron with 11—12 
hairs and a bristle at hind margin that is longer than anterior notopleural bristle. 
Abdominal tergites brown with scattered short hairs, which are a little longer at 
hind margins. Venter brownish grey with scattered hairs below on segments 3-6. 
Hypopygium with brown epandrium and hypandrium apart from paler posterior 
lobe of right side, with a paler brown anal tube, and as Fig. 7. 

Legs brown, but tarsi and front tibia paler, being pale yellow lightly tinged brown. 
All five fore-tarsal segments with a well developed postero-dorsal hair palisade. 
Front metatarsus a little thickened, being about 4.5 x as long as greatest breadth, 
and ventrally with a single longitudinal row of differentiated truncated hairs. Dorsal 
hair palisade of middle tibia extends only about 0.6 of its length. Five or six 
hairs below basal half of hind femur are longer than those of anteroventral row 
in distal half. Hind tibia with about 14 differentiated posterodorsal hairs, the 
six or seven in middle being the most robust. The dorsal hair palisade is deflected a 
little onto anterior face from position of penultimate posterodorsal hair. 
Spines of apical comb of posterior face all simple. Wing 1.59 mm long. Costal index 
0.48-0.49. Costal ratios 4.10:2.05:1. Costal cilia 0.08-0.09mm long. Veins grey 
to yellowish grey. Membrane only lightly tinged grey. Vein Sc fades away before 
reaching R,. No hair at base of vein 3. Axillary ridge with two, well spaced, 
bristles, the outermost being longer than costal cilia of section 3. Vein 4 originates at 
or just beyond fork of vein 3, but its base is obscure. Both stem and knob of haltere 
brown. 


Similar species 


In the keys to British species (Disney, 1989) M. jameslamonti runs to couplet 
48. Neither lead applies, although lead 2 is to be preferred. If one proceeds 
it runs to couplet 58 and then by a return loop to couplet 47; neither lead applies, 
because of the details of the hypopygium. A note at couplet 48 directs one to 
couplet 60, if neither lead of 48 applies. It will then run readily to couplet 126,but 
neither lead applies because of its long anal tube. In the keys of Schmitz 
(1957a) M. jameslamonti will run to couplets 19-22 on page 432. The species covered 
by these couplets are also included in my keys to British species except for 
M. intonsa Schmitz. The latter resembles M. jameslamonti but it has a shorter costal 
index, different costal ratios, longer costal cilia, and differences of detail in the 
hypopygium. 


118 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


8 


Figs. 7-8. Megaselia, left faces of male hypopygia. (7) M. jameslamonti; (8) M. teneripes. Scale 
bars=0.1 mm. 


Megaselia teneripes Schmitz, 1957b 


Material examined, 1 male in Museum Koenig, Bonn, labelled ““Dolomiten 
grasteilenpaB. S. Hang+2540m, 3/7/56 Klebelsberg’” (or perhaps “‘Klobolsberg’’) 
“Meg. teneripes’’. 

Schmitz (1957b) described a single female from the Spanish Sierra Nevada. The 
hitherto undescribed male has been remounted on a slide and is characterized below. 
The male closely resembles the female in its overall brown coloration and slender 
femora and tibiae (e.g. Fig. 5). The frontal bristles are*disposed as in Fig. 6. The 
brown labrum much narrower than greatest diameter of third antennal segment (0.09 
and 0.17 mm respectively). The brown labella relatively short and narrow, with only 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 119 


a few pale spines below. The hypopygium as Fig. 8. As in the female, there are only 
two notopleural bristles. There is no notopleural cleft. Anterior scutellars reduced 
to small hairs, at most as long as hairs at rear of scutum. Apical comb on posterior 
face of hind tibia with all spines simple (Fig. 5). Wing similar to female (fig. 8 in 
Schmitz, 1957b), with strong vein Sc reaching and fusing with R,. A minute hair at 
base of vein 3. Six well developed bristles on axillary ridge. 


Similar species 


In my keys (Disney, 1989) the male of M. teneripes runs to couplets 273 and 274. 
The details of the hypopygium and slender hind femora will readily distinguish it 
from the species of these couplets. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


Iam grateful to Dr H. Ulrich (Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum K oenig, 
Bonn) for the loan of the specimen in his care and for his hospitality during a visit 
to Bonn. My work on Phoridae is currently funded by a grant from the Leverhulme 
Trust (London), made to Dr W. A. Foster for a Research Associate, and a grant 
from the Isaac Newton Trust (Trinity College, Cambridge). 

The new species are named after Harald Lund and James Lamont, who responded 
to an appeal for funds made by our local church 


REFERENCES 


Disney, R. H. L. 1983. Scuttle flies Diptera Phoridae (except Megaselia). Handbk Ident. Brit. 
Insects 10(6): 1-81. 

Disney, R. H. L. 1989. Scuttle flies Diptera Phoridae genus Megaselia. Handbk Ident. Brit. 
Insects 10(8): 1-155. 

Disney, R. H. L. 1994. Scuttle flies: The Phoridae. Chapman & Hall, London. xii +467 pp. 
Lundbeck, W. 1921. New species of Phoridae from Denmark, together with remarks on 
Aphiochaeta groenlandica Lundb. Vidensk. Meddr. Dansk. Naturh. Foren. 72: 129-143. 

Lundbeck, W. 1922. Hypocera, Phoridae. Diptera Danica 6: 69-455. 

Schmitz, H. 1919. Uber einige Phoriden der Oldenbergschen Sammlung. Ent. Ber. Ned. Ent. 
Ver. 5: 185-196. 

Schmitz, H. 1957a. Phoridae. In: Lindner, E. (Ed.). Die Fliegen der palaearktischen Region 
4(33) (Lieferung 196): 417-464. 

Schmitz, H. 1957b. Zoologisch-systematische Ergebnisse der Studienreise von H. Janetschek 
und W. Steiner in die spanische Sierra Nevada 1954. IV. Phoridae (Diptera). Sber. Ost. 
Akad. Wiss. 166(5 + 6): 231-247. 

Schmitz, H. & Delage, A. 1981. Phoridae. In: Lindner, E. (Ed.). Die Fliegen der palaearktischen 
Region 4(33) (Lieferung 325): 665-712. 


LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


Capital letters for English names.—Both of us were wondering about the Journal’s 
policy regarding the use of capital letters. We know that you are keen to avoid 
moving towards the German position, where every noun is capitalized, and we both 
heartily agree with this policy. Where we are unsure concerns the titles of articles 
which we are quoting. If an author used capitals in a paper or book title and we are 
quoting such a publication, we feel that we should use capitals exactly as he did. 
Similarly, in our paper (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 59-65), we quote Sladen who referred 


120 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


to Bombus ruderatus as the ‘Large Garden Humble-bee’ we would like to think that 
Sladen’s original usage might have been allowed to stand (as indeed it has). 

Regarding the English names of wild flowers: originally when,we wrote the paper, 
we used capital letters in both parts of the English binomial, e.g. “Deadly 
Nightshade”, ‘‘Long-stalked Orache’’, “Lesser Water-plantain’” and ‘‘Narrow- 
leaved Everlasting-pea”. This system is recommended in the English names of wild 
flowers, by J.G. Dony, S.L. Jury and F. Perring (2nd edn, B.S.B.I., 1986). This 
system is used to distinguish between a specific identification, e.g. “Spear Thistle’, 
Cirsium vulgare, and the general name “thistle” which could refer to various 
members of several genera. 

We hope you will not think us presumptuous in writing on this matter, but wonder 
whether the current policy might be in need of a rethink STUART ROBERTS, 22 
Belle Vue Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3YG and GEORGE ELSE, Department of 
Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD. 


Reply from the Editor —Capital letters are overused and often misused, and I must 
admit that I have come down rather hard on them. In most cases, however, capital 
letters serve no purpose and often interrupt the flow of thought when one is reading a 
sentence. But to take the points in order. 

Capital letters can be used to good stylistic effect on the cover and title page of a 
book—take for example the Society's own book on hoverflies. However, when 
quoting this publication in text or in a reference list, a decision must be made which 
words to capitalize. Examination of the original book is useless, since all the letters of 
the book’s title are capitals. It would be daft to list the book as it appears on its own 
title page with six words totalling 49 capital letters. Similarly, the title of the article 
by Else and Roberts is composed entirely of upper case letters in the original, but in 
quoting it in a reference list, this would not be followed. 

It may be seen as ironic that the reference style of the Journal, occasionally 
reproduced on the inside back covers, suggests that article and book titles should 
carry only initial captial letters for the first word while journal titles have all words 
capitalized. This is especially ironic since the “World List” suggests journal titles 
should have lower case for adjectives and hence “Br. J. Ent. nat. Hist.” However, the 
current practice (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist.) is regarded as “more modern” by scientific 
publishers. 

Whether or not other authors have used capital letters is no guide to how we 
should use them now. At certain periods, and in certain popular books, capital letters 
are used with abandon for all and sundry. However, I am intrigued to discover that 
botanists have adopted an “official” system. 

What should entomologists do? Faced with names such as small white and large 
white, it might be suggested that they deserve capital letters whereas the general term 
“‘white”’ does not. But then what of the peacock butterfly? The birds peahen, peacock 
and peafowl do not ordinarily take capital letters, so why should the butterfly? 

At present, I have adopted a style in which capital letters are zealously guarded 
against unless truly a “proper”? noun. Thus New Forest burnet, Portland ribbon 
wave and Roesel’s bush-cricket. However I recently came unstuck on the cousin 
german moth, initially capitalizing it as a cousin from Germany, until it was pointed 
out to me that it was a corruption of the French cousin germain, meaning simply a 
first cousin. 

Having said all this, I would be interested to hear the opinions of readers.— 
RICHARD A. JONES, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, London SE15 3DE. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 121 


THE DIPTERISTS’ FORUM: A MODEL FOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW? 


ALAN E. STUBBS 
181 Broadway, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE] 4DS. 


One of the features of recent decades has been the proliferation of invertebrate 
recording schemes. Some of these are very active, providing the support that is 
needed in terms of assistance with identification, new keys, field meetings and other 
events that bring people together, and in particular, newsletters that maintain 
enthusiasm for a common purpose. 

Directly or indirectly, various new societies have been generated. The Balfour 
Brown Club (water beetles) is a prime example. The British Dragonfly Society grew, 
in large part, out of the success of the dragonfly recording scheme. Apart from 
insects, one only has to look at the BRC atlas on terrestrial and freshwater molluscs 
to appreciate what a dynamo recording has been in the Conchological Society, and 
the British Arachnological Society was begun by enthusiasts for recording in the 
field. 

A further element in this growth has been the increasing range of identification 
keys and books that have opened up taxonomic groups that were previously fraught. 
With groups such as butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers, which are suitable for 
the general naturalist (including ornithologists suffering from boredom in the mid- 
season lull in birds), the relationship between good books and adherents is obvious. 
One only has to look to moths to see this effect. A decline in popularity followed a 
decline in plate quality in the last edition of the book by South, and the marked rise 
in popularity followed publication of better illustrated books. 

On the back of this enthusiasm for insects, conservation has become a growing 
concern. Butterfly Conservation has gained a large membership, taking the lead with 
the butterfly recording scheme, whilst the British Dragonfly Society, with its 
recording base, is developing its own conservation role. 

So where does this leave a long-standing traditional society such as the BENHS? 
In my own experience, from virtual isolation as an entomologist, it was a revelation 
to attend a ‘South London’ meeting in 1966 and find such activity going on, 
unbeknown to me, only half a mile from my office. Since that date, lures for 
allegiance from recording schemes and new societies have arisen, yet, apart from 
Lepidoptera, the Society is becoming less and less central to the action. The Society 
has taken no lead in recording, or for that matter conservation, which are the two 
main growth points in entomological activity. The chances are that the isolated 
entomologist of today will discover recording schemes, or conservation orientated 
societies, and not the BENHS. 

The move to Dinton Pastures was from the outset seen as providing new 
opportunities, such as the workshop meetings and open days at the weekend for 
access to the collections and library. Many of us hope that other opportunities can be 
found that will increase the relevance of the Society to entomologists. 

As regards Diptera, the Society already has about 80 members who are solely 
dipterists or include flies in wider entomological interests. The Society has published 
British hoverflies, which has been a success in stimulating study of these insects and 
focused attention on the Society, including drawing in more dipterists as members. 
The BENHS journal has published papers on Diptera and some dipterists have 
played a prominent role in the society, not least Peter Chandler as Curator. 
However, the main action, centred on recording schemes, has been outside the 
Society. 


122 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Hence at a time when the dipterists find it necessary to set up their own ‘society’, 
the concept of affiliation to BENHS as the Dipterists’ Forum has emerged as an 
option with considerable merits. 


THE DIPTERISTS’ FORUM 
Origin of concept 


After 21 years, the Diptera recording schemes have reached the point where a 
formal organization has become essential. To the present we have managed to get all 
our circulars and newsletters produced free but at long last we have had to face up to 
collecting subscriptions, and there are other previously free services to be covered. 
Hence we have to set up an administration and also spread the tasks more equitably. 
Thus we may as well go the full hog and form a society. 

This was discussed at the recording schemes annual meeting in November 1993. 
Whilst there was support for starting a society there was also considerable concern at 
this further step in fragmenting entomology into isolated disciplines. Quite a few 
dipterists have wider entomological interests. Hence it was put to the meeting that we 
should consider affiliation with a parent national society, with BENHS as the most 
compatible option. Since various other recording groups watch for how the dipterists 
operate, it was possible that this could start a momentum towards bringing 
entomology together again. 

A small working party was set up which produced a consultation document for 
scheme organizers, outlining the implications and options. With unanimous support, 
the relevant parts of the consultation document were sent to BENHS Council to seek 
affiliation. A meeting was held at Dinton Pastures in April 1994 to discuss the 
implications with representatives of Council, and having clarified various points, 
Council agreed to affiliation at its July meeting. The Forum held its inaugural AGM 
in November 1994 and is now functioning as intended. 


Objectives 


(a) To foster the study of Diptera, linking with other disciplines where there is a 
relationship with other animals and plants. 

(b) To promote recording of all aspects of the natural history of flies, including the 
advancement of distribution mapping. 

(c) To encourage and support amateurs, in harmony with professionals in 
museums, institutes and universities. 

(d) To promote conservation of flies. 

(d) To organize indoor meetings, workshops, field meetings and other relevant 
events. 

(f) To disseminate news and information via newsletters and publications. 

(g) To focus on the flies of the British Isles, whilst maintaining an interest in 
Europe and elsewhere. 

Our journal, Dipterists Digest, has an increasing list of foreign subscribers and 
there is a great deal of interest abroad in how British dipterists organize themselves. 


Background history 


The Forum has evolved out of the launch of the Cranefly Recording Scheme in 
1973. Even the first indoor meeting had people coming from as far as Scotland and 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 123 


the first week-long field meeting in 1974 had 14 people. Newsletters were produced. 
Soon there were 80 people registered, with a quarter of that number attending week- 
long field meetings. A need was clearly being met, but it was soon apparent that the 
popularity was not so much craneflies as bringing together people with a wider 
interest in Diptera. 

The demand was for a hoverfly recording scheme. In 1976 such a scheme, 
together with recording schemes for a few other groups of flies, was launched. All the 
meetings and events were run under the auspices of the Central Panel of Diptera 
Recording Scheme organizers, with a coordinator who produced a Bulletin of the 
Diptera recording schemes. Most of the schemes produced newsletters, some 
quite vigorously, and indeed there are newsletters for various study groups which are 
not running recording schemes as such. In the last 2 years we have run 
residential workshops based at Preston Montford Field Centre in Shropshire, with 
over 30 people attending for the two themes so far, hoverflies and pictured-wing flies. 

We encourage the study of flies well beyond the recording schemes, and indeed on 
field meetings it can be amazing the range of insect groups which are being recorded 
in response to requests for material. The recording schemes, inevitably, are in various 
states of advancement. Provisional BRC atlases have been published for two groups 
of craneflies (long-palped craneflies and Ptychopteridae), for Sepsidae and with 
selected maps for larger Brachycera (robber flies etc.). Sets of maps have also been 
produced for snail-killing flies, meniscus midges and selected mosquitoes and various 
other flies. 

Increasingly we are looking to our own resources to computerize data for atlas 
production. The Hoverfly Recording Scheme now has well over 200000 records 
processed on computer, with many more records in hand. 

It is important to emphasize two things. Firstly, we are concerned with all aspects 
of improving knowledge on the identification, life history, behaviour and ecology of 
flies; distribution maps are but one output of our combined recording effort. 
Secondly, the existence of the national schemes has been a stimulus to various county 
or district recording schemes and some of these have already produced excellent 
atlases. 

At present there are 12 recording schemes and study groups: craneflies (Tipulidae 
sl, Trichoceridae, Ptychopteridae and Anisopodidae), meniscus midges (Dixidae), 
mosquitoes, fungus gnats, chironomid midges, hoverflies, larger Brachycera (robber 
flies, soldier flies, horseflies etc.), Dolichopodidae & Empidae, Pipunculidae, 
Conopidae, snail-killing flies, Tephritidae (pictured-wing flies), and Sepsidae. 

The annual meeting in the autumn, held at the Natural History Museum in 
London, attracts about 80 (it used to be over 100 until costs of travel became so 
high), with people still coming from as far afield as Scotland, plus one or two from 
Europe, especially for the event. We have a morning series of lectures and in the 
afternoon exhibits, demonstrations and discussion topics. A separately run 
Dipterists’ Dinner is held in the evening, a buffet with 40 to 50 attending. 

In the last 21 years we have held a week-long field meeting over a wide geographic 
area; sometimes there have been twin-centred fortnights. In a week we expect to 
cover anything up to 100 sites within up to 30 10-km squares. We also hold 
long-weekend autumn field meetings and various one-day meetings. Over the years 
we have dramatically increased knowledge of ecology and distribution of flies by 
blitzing under-recorded areas, including the addition of about 50 species to the 
British list. 


124 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


The enthusiasm for the recording schemes gave confidence for the launch of a 
refereed journal, Dipterists Digest, run as a separate venture but now being brought 
into Forum publications. 


The advantages of affiliation to BENHS 


The Forum will in any event have to set up its own structure and administration 
which will to all intents and purposes amount to a society. Affiliation is an elastic 
term for the present since it will take time to sort out with the Charities 
Commissioners whether an affiliated Forum is within BENHS charitable status. 
Hence, it will be a loose affiliation for an initial period of 3 years. It would be an 
undue imposition to require all recording scheme dipterists to join BENHS, though 
80 are already members, and the hope is that more will join. Hence the affiliation is 
with the Forum, not individual members, but we are looking to something much 
more meaningful than a token label. 

So what is the advantage? It cuts both ways, since there is advantage to both 
BENHS and the Forum. 

The Forum brings to the Society an active group of field-orientated entomologists, 
with considerable experience in running events and producing information which has 
been a successful catalyst in helping people find their feet in entomology and in 
generating enthusiasm for common objectives. Not least it brings to the Society a 
major locus in national recording schemes. It is not a case of dipterists trying to take 
over, but it means that the Society gains a broader image than catering largely for 
Lepidoptera. It also further enhances its image as a national society (the South 
London connection still within memory). The hope is that the Society will gain more 
affiliations and be stimulated into meeting the needs of members of all disciplines. 
Field meetings should become more viable as greater numbers of entomologists are 
invited and there is increased expertise to call on for running workshops at Dinton 
Pastures. The collection and library are more likely to be strengthened as Forum 
members recognize the value of Dinton Pastures. The long-term prospects for the 
Society to be offered key works for publication is enhanced. 

The advantage of affiliation to the Forum is the wish of many of its members to be 
part of a multi-disciplinary entomological society rather becoming yet another 
isolated part of entomology. The BENHS has a membership of kindred spirits and is 
the only national society with a collection, library and day workshop facilities, 
notably available at weekends. There has already been the successful relationship in 
publishing British hoverflies. With the Forum setting out without a cushion of money 
in the kitty, it is reassuring to find that the Society can provide limited bridging loans 
if the need arises (we expect to balance the books each year). There is also the benefit 
of the advice of entomologists used to running the Society, and potential advantages 
of an umbrella society such as the charitable status that these days is difficult and 
expensive to obtain by new groups such as the dipterists. 


Conclusion 


The affiliation, in the first instance, is for 3 years. We think it will*work well and 
hopefully everyone will find that the Forum concept will prove a stimulus within and 
outside the Society. 

Martin Drake has joined BENHS Council to represent the Dipterists’ Forum and 
Peter Chandler is BENHS Council’s representative on the Dipterists’ Forum 
committee. Alan Stubbs is the Dipterists’ Forum Secretary. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 125 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


Some records of root-aphids (Aphidoidea: Pemphigidae) feeding on spruce (Picea 
spp.) in Britain ——Over the past few years there has been some interest in the root- 
aphid fauna of Sitka (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) and Norway spruce (Picea 
abies (L.) Karsten) two of Britain’s most important forestry trees. Aspects of their 
taxonomy (Stroyan, 1975, 1991; Carter & Danielsson, 1991), complicated life- 
cycles (Carter & Danielsson, 1993) and interactions with air pollutants have been 
studied (Salt & Whittaker, 1995). However, little is known of their distribution in 
Britain. The following records are based on identifications of adult apterous 
virginoparae collected from roots just below the surface of the needle litter. We 
are grateful to R. Danielsson and C. Carter for help with identifications of some 
of this material. 


Pachypappa tremulae (L.): 2.xi.89 SD68, Old Park, Cumbria, P. abies & 
P. sitchensis; 17.x.90. SU854298, Iron Hill, W. Sussex, P. abies; 14.v.91 NS68, 
Carron Valley Forest, Strathclyde, P. abies; 15.v.91 NY67, Spadeadam Forest, 
Cumbria, P. abies. 


Pachypappa vesicalis Koch: 14.viii.90 SD68, Old Park, Cumbria, P. sitchensis; 
17.x.90. SU864298, Iron Hill, W. Sussex. P. abies; 13.v.91 SE88, Dalby Forest, 
N. Yorks, P. sitchensis; 13.v.91 NX78, Barr Hill, Dumfries & Galloway, P. sitchensis; 
13.v.91 NX66, Laurieston Forest, Dumfries & Galloway, P. abies; 13.v.91 NX36, 
Bennan Plantation, Dumfries & Galloway, P. sitchensis; 14.v.91 NT20, Craik Forest, 
Borders, P. abies & P. sitchensis; 14.v.91 NS68, Carron Valley Forest, Strathclyde, 
P. sitchensis; 14.v.91 NS49, Loch Ard Forest, Central, P. sitchensis; 15.v.91 NY67, 
Spadeadam Forest, Cumbria, P. abies & P. sitchensis. 


Pachypappella lactea (Tullgren): 7.x.89 SD45, Bailrigg, Lancs, P.sitchensis; 
2.xi.89 NY61, Bank Moor, Cumbria, P. sitchenis; 2.xi.89 SD68, Old Park, 
Cumbria, P. sitchensis, 22.11.90 SD38, Astley’s Plantation, Cumbria, P. sitchensis; 
8.ix.90 SE20, Langsett S. Yorks, P. sitchensis; 13.v.91 SE88, Dalby Forest, N. 
Yorks, P. abies. 


Prociphilus (Stagona) xylostei (De Geer): 25.x.91 SU82, Iron Hill, W. Sussex, 
P. abies; 2.xi.91 SD68, Old Park, Cumbria, P. sitchensis; 14.v.91 NT20, Craik Forest, 
Borders, Picea abies; 15.v.91 NY67, Spadeadam Forest, Cumbria, P. abies.—D. T. 
SALT, Division of Biological Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA] 4YQ & 
E. MAJoR, Forestry Authority, Alice Holt Research Station, Wrecclesham, 
Farnham, Surrey GU14 4AH. 


REFERENCES 


Carter, C. I. & Danielsson, R. 1991 Two spruce root aphids Pachypappa vesicalis and 
Pachypappella lactea new to Britain with keys to the morphs from Picea roots. 
Entomologist 110: 66-74. 

Carter, C. I. & Danielsson, R. 1993 New and additional records of gall-forming aphids of the 
family Pemphiginae in Britain. Entomologist 112: 99-104. 

Salt, D. T. & Whittaker, J. B. 1995. Populations of root-feeding aphids in the Liphook forest 
fumigation experiment. Plant Cell Environ. 18: 321-325. 

Stroyan, H. L. G. 1975 The life cycle and generic position of Aphis tremulae L. (Aphidoidea: 
Pemphiginae), with a description of the viviparous morphs and a discussion of spruce root 
aphids in the British Isles. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 7: 45-72. 

Stroyan, H. L. G. 1991 Some loose ends in the British aphid fauna (Homoptera: Aphidoidea). 
Entomologist 110: 24-28. 


126 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


THE 1993 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PART 1 REPORT 


DAVID LONSDALE 


Forestry Authority Research Station, Alice Holt Lodge, Wrecclesham, Farnham, 
Surrey GU10 4LH 


During my year as President I have been very much aware of the lengthy service 
that many of my predecessors rendered to the Society before their presidencies. I can 
claim no such deserving record, and so feel all the more honoured for having been 
nominated for this post. The President has to do a certain amount of work behind 
the scenes, as well as simply being there to chair meetings. However, the really hard 
work of routine management and of coping with the past year’s particular exigencies 
has been done by the Society’s officers, some of whom have given their reports this 
evening. My thanks are due to all of them, and indeed to all members of Council. 
Special thanks are due to the retiring Assistant Treasurer, Geoff Burton, who 
concludes ten years’ service early in 1994. The awkward cases that crop up in the 
handling of members’ subscriptions have added considerably to Geoff's workload, 
and he is to be congratulated for tackling these problems with efficiency and 
perseverance. 

It has been my sad duty to announce the deaths of ten members during the year. I 
regret that I was not able to find out very much about the interests and achievements 
of some of these deceased members. 

Lt. Col. Gordon Eastwick-Field, who died on 29 April 1993, joined the Society in 
1978. He set up a Lepidoptera study group at Aldermaston, and recorded species 
there over many years. He was also involved in the establishment of a national moth 
recording network, and designed a refrigerated moth trap for use in surveys. 

Mr W. G. Vosper died in the Spring of 1993, having been a member since 1969. 
His main interest was in the Lepidoptera. 

Mr P. W. Brown died on 25 May 1993. He had joined in 1988, with interests in 
Lepidoptera and general entomology. 

Mr Michael F. W. Tweedie died in the Summer of 1993, having been a member 
since 1953. He was a well known naturalist who will be remembered for his work as a 
photographer and radio broadcaster. Until several years ago he had enjoyed a fairly 
regular attendance of the Society’s meetings, at which he was a speaker on a number 
of occasions. He also contributed regularly to the Annual Exhibition, especially in 
the field of macro-moths, and was on the Society’s editorial panel until 1991. 

Mr C. S. H. Blathwayt, whose death was notified to us in June 1993, was a 
lepidopterist and had been a member since 1949. 

Mr A. Crowhurst, who died in the late summer of 1993, having joined the Society 
in 1988, was a coleopterist. 

Mr F. Wright, whose death was notified to us in September 1993, joined the 
Society in 1987. 

Mr Peter W. Cribb died on 30 October, having been a member since 1970. He was 
an all-round naturalist whose special interest and considerable expertise was in 
European butterflies, which he studied throughout southern Europe® He organized 
many collecting trips which were attended by various members of the Society. He 
was also a regular contributor to the Annual Exhibition and was a speaker at indoor 
meetings. He will be particularly remembered for his pioneering work for insect 
conservation, conducted partly under the auspices of the Amateur Entomologists’ 
Society, to which he gave outstanding service. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 127 


Mrs Katie Emmet died on 23 December 1993. Long before joining the Society in 
1984, she began to attend its meetings and exhibitions regularly with her husband, 
Lt. Col. A. M. Emmet, a past President and honorary member. She was a good field 
naturalist, who contributed to Maitland Emmet’s outstanding work on the micro- 
lepidoptera and elucidated the life cycles of a number of species. 

Mr C. B. Ashby died early in January 1994. Brad Ashby had been a member of the 
Society since 1965, providing considerable service which culminated in his becoming 
a Trustee in 1987. In this role he did more than was required of him, especially by 
regularly attending Council meetings over the last few years of major change in the 
Society’s affairs, on many occasions providing valuable guidance. During the storage 
of the Society’s library, he arranged for our members to have access to the library of 
the London Natural History Society, one of several other organizations that he 
served. He also secured for us the donation of a notable collection of Lepidoptera by 
the Swedish entomologist Stig Torstenius. As well as serving the Society in these 
special ways, Brad contributed very much as an active naturalist, regularly attending 
meetings, and providing exhibits. The Society was represented at his funeral by Mr 
Eric Groves who was a long-standing friend. 

We have already stood in memory of these members at previous meetings, and so I 
will not ask you to do so now. 

I have mentioned that Council has been concerned not only with routine 
management, but also with special tasks. One such area of activity has been created 
by the need to comply with the new charity law, as you have heard in the Hon. 
Treasurer’s report. This has involved re-drafting the Society’s byelaws, as well as re- 
investing part of its assets. Special thanks are due to Tony Pickles for all the hard 
work that he has done to ensure the successful implementation of these changes. 

We have this evening heard about our new Headquarters, the Pelham-Clinton 
Building at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Berkshire. On 27 June 1993, following 
completion of the building in the previous August, I had the pleasure of welcoming 
Professor Sir Richard Southwood who carried out the formal opening ceremony. It 
was an opportunity to thank all the individuals and organizations who contributed 
to the success of our move to Berkshire. Their various roles have been documented in 
our Journal, but I would like once again to give especial mention to Peter Chandler, 
who has overseen every stage of the commissioning, construction and equipping of 
the building. I am aware that he is, to this day, still coping with what we hope are 
teething troubles with the air conditioning system. Council has recognized his 
contribution by nominating him for honorary membership. This honour is also 
accorded to Stephen Miles, who has worked very hard and with great care to 
re-house our library and to update its indexing system. 

The opening ceremony at Dinton Pastures was itself a great success, with 
everything going according to plan under glorious sunshine. I must thank all the 
Council members who worked so efficiently to ensure the smooth running of the 
event, especially Dr Ian McLean who master-minded the operation. 

Another special occasion at Dinton Pastures was the visit in May of a group of 
French entomologists who had welcomed a party of the Society’s members to France 
in 1992. They greatly enjoyed their visit, and their comments made us very much 
aware of the exceptional heritage that is enjoyed by natural history societies in 
Britain, not least our own Society. 

With the acquisition of the Pelham-Clinton Building, the range of our activities 
has widened. In particular, we have begun a series of workshop meetings, which have 
been well attended and very well received. Also, members’ access to our Library and 
Collections has been restored and improved, with the twice-monthly system of 


128 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


opening that is now in operation. Finally, the value of the Dinton Pastures site for 
wildlife is reflected in our involvement in the recording of species there, and in 
providing advice on conservation management. 

The need for invertebrate conservation is receiving much wider attention than was 
the case several years ago, and there are increasing calls on the expertise of our 
individual members to supply information that is of great value in identifying sites 
and species that require special attention. Apart from the work of individual 
members, our Society as a whole is represented on the Joint Committee for the 
Conservation of British Invertebrates (JCCBI), and thus on Wildlife and Country- 
side Link. We are indebted to Stephen Miles and Frances Murphy for giving up their 
time to represent us, and it must be hoped that the JCCBI, which is now in dire need 
of resources, can continue. I should add that the Society also makes occasional 
donations to conservation bodies, most recently in the case of the Royal Society for 
the Protection of Birds, which received £250 towards the purchase of a reserve at 
Cantley Marshes. 

Although our Society is represented on outside conservation committees, there is 
no stated BENHS policy on conservation which could guide our representatives 
when they are asked to respond to initiatives from other organizations. The only 
options are as follows: to take up Council’s time with detailed discussion of these 
issues, to let individual Council members represent our conservation interests at their 
purely personal discretion, or to do nothing. I feel that our Society now needs to 
consider whether it wishes to play more of a corporate role alongside other non- 
governmental bodies. The wish of some of these bodies to be involved in invertebrate 
conservation is not always matched by their ability to receive advice from naturalists 
who have relevant knowledge and ideas. The Council will welcome the views of 
members on this matter, particularly with regard to the question posed by Stephen 
Miles as to whether we should form a conservation group or committee. This matter 
will be discussed during 1994, and may have been resolved by the time that this 
address is published. 

In one area, the Society already has a conservation policy; I refer here to our 
definition of what is acceptable for display at our Annual Exhibition. Apart from 
upholding the law concerning scheduled species, we discourage the display of long 
series of others that are endangered. However, the wording of our guidelines has not 
been precise enough to ensure that exhibitors will be beyond reproach regarding the 
collection and display of such species. It is, in any case, hard to define the term “long 
series”. Even for the many species for which collecting cannot intelligently be seen as 
a threat, we should not encourage their collection on a scale that shows no respect 
for them as living things. To these ends, Council is reviewing the guidelines that have 
been in existence for some years, and which were slightly strengthened before the 
1993 Exhibition. It is hoped that the new guidelines will reflect the responsible 
attitude that most field entomologists already adopt, while in no way detracting from 
the need to collect specimens where appropriate. 

I feel privileged to have been President at a time when the Society has been 
emerging with renewed vigour from a period of change. We have been able to 
continue our traditional activities, and have now embarked on a range of new ones 
that can only add to the strength of the Society. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 129 


THE 1993 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PART 2 
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROS AND CONS 
OF BEING A BARK-FEEDING INSECT 


DAVID LONSDALE 


Forestry Authority Research Station, Alice Holt Lodge, Wrecclesham, Farnham, 
Surrey GUI1O 4LH. 


The bark of woody plants offers special advantages for insects that use it as a food 
source. Under its outer corky layer (periderm), it contains relatively succulent tissues 
(phloem and in some cases cortex) which are a much better source of carbohydrates 
and amino-acids than the underlying wood. It can therefore be compared 
nutritionally with leaves and young shoots, but it provides a resource that is not 
available to insects that feed on the green tissues of deciduous trees; that is, a habitat 
in which survival and even development can take place throughout the year, given a 
sufficiently mild winter climate. 

Although bark is one of the few year-round food sources available to 
phytophagous insects in woodlands, it is a strongly defended tissue in many woody 
plant species. The need for defences against bark-feeding insects becomes clear when 
we consider how important bark is for a tree’s survival. The evolutionary success of 
trees and shrubs has depended on their ability to form and maintain a long-lived 
woody cylinder, which in turn depends on the presence of a largely intact covering of 
bark. The bark overlies the vascular cambium which lays down annual rings of both 
bark and wood, and its own inner layers include the phloem which is essential for the 
translocation of sugars and other assimilates. The outer bark (periderm), provides a 
vital protection for all the perennial parts of the plant, preventing excessive moisture 
loss and the entry of pathogenic micro-organisms. If an area of bark is killed or 
removed, it can usually be replaced only through the rather slow process of 
occlusion, which involves the inward growth of new tissues from around the edge of 
the damaged area. 

As I have mentioned, the protection of the woody cylinder by bark needs to be 
long-term. Since some tree species can live for several or even many centuries, the 
need for good defences against attack by bark-feeding insects and micro-organisms is 
paramount. Defences in bark can be broadly divided into chemical and structural 
types. Chemical defences make bark tissues unpalatable or toxic, while structural 
defences take the form mainly of physical barriers. There is some overlap between 
these two categories, as I shall explain later. As with all forms of defence, including 
human armaments, there is a price to be paid in the diversion of resources which 
might otherwise fuel faster growth. In the case of trees, fast growth has advantages 
for competition for space within the forest canopy. To some extent, trees can 
minimize their defence expenditure by producing certain kinds of defence only after 
damage begins to occur. These reponsive defences contrast with pre-formed ones, 
which are an unavoidable cost to the plant. As I shall show, using some specific 
examples, the dual system of “strategic” and “tactical” defence can involve both 
chemical and structural mechanisms. 

The effectiveness of defence mechanisms in bark is demonstrated by the fact that a 
largely intact covering of bark is the norm, even on old trees. However, bark is too 
good a source of nutrients for its defences to have gone unchallenged. Thus, bark- 
feeding insects have evolved strategies by which the defences of bark can to some 
extent be overcome or evaded. The resulting interactions between bark-feeding 


130 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


insects and their hosts are fascinating, and I hope that this will be apparent from the 
examples that I will mention. 

The role of both pre-formed and responsive defences is illustrated by the first of 
my examples, which is the colonization of the bark of beech, Fagus spp. by the beech 
scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga Lind. As a sucking insect, C. fagisuga removes 
materials in solution from individual cells of the cortex without ingesting structural 
components of the cells, which might be toxic or unpalatable to a biting insect such 
as a bark beetle. However, most sucking insects can feed on bark only if the outer 
corky layer is thin enough to allow insertion of their mouthparts into the cortex or 
phloem. For C. fagisuga on beech bark (Fig. 1), the penetrative depth of 1-2 mm is 
sufficient to allow feeding over most of the bark surface. Additionally, this insect’s 
food source becomes enhanced by the stimulation of a gall-like growth of the cortical 
cells that surround the tip of its mouthparts (Hartig, 1878). In some cases, infestation 
is so heavy and continuous over the bark surface that the stem takes on a 
whitewashed appearance owing to the presence of the insect’s white, woolly wax 
secretion (Fig. 2). In such cases, the growth of the tree is impaired, and the wood of 
the stem grows abnormally (Fig. 3) (Lonsdale, 1983). Heavy infestations also 
predispose the tree to a potentially lethal attack (“‘beech bark disease’’) by the fungus 
Nectria coccinea (Pers. ex. Fr.), which is otherwise usually incapable of causing much 
damage to beech trees (Lonsdale & Wainhouse, 1987). 

The vulnerability of thin-barked trees like beech to attack by sucking insects may 
explain why other tree species normally develop a thick, rough bark as a pre-formed 
defence. Also, since a thick corky layer is a good thermal insulator and shock 
absorber, it helps to protect trees against injury from extremes of temperature (e.g. 
through sunscorch or forest fire) and from mechanical damage. Nevertheless, there 


Fig. 1. Longitudinal section through bark of beech, Fagus sylvatica, showing penetration of 
mouthparts (stylets) of the beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 131 


ny 


< 


Pellet 


. 
* 


Fig. 2. A heavy infestation of a beech stem by the bark-sucking insect Cryptococcus fagisuga, 
Queen Elizabeth Forest, Hampshire. The white woolly wax secreted by the insects is 
conspicuous. 


are advantages in having a thin bark. As, I have already mentioned, there is a place 
for economy in defence expenditure, and such an economy is achieved by minimizing 
the thickness of the outer corky bark. A thin corky layer also allows light to 
penetrate to the living cells beneath, so that the bark can contribute to 
photosynthesis. In the case of beech, chlorophyll can indeed be seen in the bark 
even of large old stems. 

Of course things are not so simple that we can divide trees and shrubs simply into 
thick-barked and thin-barked species. Even in thick-barked species, at least the 
young twigs have a thin smooth bark. Like those of thin-barked species, they are at 
this stage enveloped by a simple primary periderm which expands to accommodate 
their increasing diameter. This smooth expansion ends sooner or later when the 
characteristic thick bark (rhytidome) starts to form through the development of 


132 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Fig. 3. Abnormal wood anatomy, with local reduction in annual ring width and parenchyma- 
like xylem cells, seen in a transverse section in the region of a colony of Cryptococcus fagisuga. 
The bark is at the right of the picture. 


overlapping secondary periderms which arise in the outer phloem. In species where 
this ‘“‘mature’” bark forms only after many years, sucking insects have the 
opportunity to colonize the surface of stems of semi-mature trees. Even after this 
stage, there may still be localized sites in natural fissures where such insects can 
persist, and I shall mention an example of this later. 

Although some tree species such as beech can retain a thin primary periderm 
throughout their lives, they also retain the ability to form a thickened bark 
(“pathological rhytidome”’) in response to injury. Thus, they can benefit from the 
advantages of reducing expenditure on cork production and from retaining 
photosynthetic capacity in the bark, while also being able to switch on a defensive 
response if necessary. A pathological rhytidome can often be seen in beech after 
several years’ attack by C. fagisuga (Kunkel, 1968; Lonsdale, 1983; Ostrofsky & 
Blanchard, 1983). The resulting thickened, furrowed bark is more reminiscent of an 
elm or an ash than a beech. 

When a beech stem forms a pathological rhytidome in response to prolonged 
feeding by C. fagisuga, the insect’s feeding sites become restricted to the bases of 
fissures which form between the corky ridges of the rhytidome*(Kunkel, 1968; 
Lonsdale, 1983). Even before this stage is reached, however, the initial feeding sites 
become unavailable due to the necrotic breakdown of the gall-like zones which 
previously served as enhanced food sources. It is this necrotic reaction which seems 
to trigger the development of ‘“‘wound periderms”’ which eventually give rise to the 
pathological rhytidome. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 133 


Li 


~*~ TO wee CGB DBencsoQ= Co 


02 ZZ TNQ2zT, 
ieee 


Fig. 4. Drawings of transverse sections of bark from beech trees whose resistance to attack by 
C. fagisuga was apparently high (above) or low (below); from Lonsdale (1983), [J suberized 
tissue, Z lignified tissue, L] ‘soft’ tissue. 


Although the primary periderm of beech is too thin to deter feeding by C. fagisuga, 
this does not mean that the bark as a whole lacks pre-formed defences. Within the 
living tissues beneath the periderm, there are heavily lignified cells (stone-cells) which 
provide a partial barrier to the penetration of the sucking mouthparts (Ehrlich, 
1934). Lignin is a major structural constituent of wood, but its occurrence in other 
plant tissues is often associated with defence. Since colonization of beech by 
C. fagisuga can become very heavy despite the presence of lignified cells, the 
defensive role of lignin in beech did not at first attract much interest following the 
work of Ehrlich (1934). In the 1970s, David Wainhouse, one of my colleagues at 
Alice Holt Research Station, began to investigate genetic variation in resistance to 
C. fagisuga. He identified a number of beech clones of either high or low genetic 
resistance (Wainhouse & Howell, 1983), and I examined these to see whether they 
showed any obvious differences in bark anatomy. 

I found that most of the relatively resistant trees identified by David Wainhouse 
had either a fairly unbroken sheet of stone-cells just beneath the corky periderm 
(Fig. 4), or a generally high content of such cells (Lonsdale, 1983). The resistant and 
susceptible clones could in most cases be distinguished anatomically by reference to 
an index, calculated from the relative thicknesses of the “‘soft’’ (parenchymatous) and 
“hard” layers of bark, and from the overall density of lignified cells (Fig. 5). Even 


134 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


MH ‘resistant’ 
[_] ‘susceptible’ 


‘Parenchyma accessibility index’ 
=) SNe Glee) ON oy ec oe) 


oO 


Individual trees, ranked 


Fig. 5. Index values of the depth and accessibility of outer parenchyma (feeding zone) in beech 
trees with apparently high and low resistance to C. fagisuga attack; adapted from Lonsdale 
(1983). 


eae 100 (P1 + P2)? 

Bark bility index = 2 __—_—__—_____ 
re ae eer Sno Pie Pe em 

P1, P2, L1 = depths in pm of the corresponding layers in Fig. 4 


brlighe ss { %L1, %L2 = percentage lignin content of layers L1 and L2 


relatively susceptible trees showed some ability to use lignin defensively, by laying 
down new lignin in the cell walls of tissues attacked by the insect. 

Since, in a few cases, David Wainhouse found beech trees with an anatomically 
“susceptible” bark type which were quite resistant to attack by C. fagisuga, it was 
clear that other factors (probably chemical ones) were also contributing to resistance. 
The chemical explanation is borne out to some extent by another of his findings; that 
individual clonal lines of this parthenogenetic insect become adapted to their 
particular host trees (Wainhouse & Howell, 1983), a phenomenon known as ‘host- 
tracking’ (Edmunds & Alstad, 1978). 

In North America, where C. fagisuga has the status of an introduced pest on the 
American beech, Fagus grandifolia (Ehrh.), this relative of the European beech also 
supports other bark-sucking insects. These include the beech blight aphid, 
Prociphilus imbricator Fitch, which can occur on main stems (Baker 1972), but 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 135 


Fig. 6. The beech blight aphid, Prociphilus imbricator, Tunxis Forest Massachusetts. 


often seems to prefer thin-barked twigs and even leaves (Fig. 6). Dense colonies of 
this woolly aphid are quite spectacular, since their members respond to disturbance 
by waving their abdomens, which bear long tufts of the insects’ waxy secretion. 

The feeding preferences of P. imbricator show that the age and thickness of bark, 
even on a thin-barked species like beech, affects food quality. If we look at tree 
species which normally develop a rhytidome, we tend to find bark-sucking insects 
largely confined to their twigs and small branches. Well known examples of such 
insects include the pine woolly aphid, Pineus pini (L.), and the large willow aphid, 
Tuberolachnus salignus (Gmelin) (Bevan, 1987). In the case of spruces, the periderm 
of the main stem tends to remain fairly thin until the tree has reached a considerable 
size, and thus allows feeding by the great black spruce bark aphid, Cinara piceae 
(Panz.). 

Among those sucking insects that can occur even on thick-barked stems, though 
only in fissures, is the oak scale or “pox’’, Kermes quercus (L.). The oak scale, whose 
waxy capsules are visible as small shiny spheres, is associated with a dieback of oak 
in some parts of Britain. The prevalence of this disorder in the Forest of Wyre in 
Worcestershire has given it the name “Wyre pox’’. Another well known scale insect 
that is seen on thick-barked trees is the horse chestnut scale, Pulvinaria regalis 
Canrard. Its hosts include several genera of broadleaved trees apart from Aesculus, 
these including Acer, and Tilia. The adult females of this insect are found on the 
main stem and large branches of the host, but this is merely their final resting place 
where they lay their eggs under a conspicuous waxy secretion. The immature stages 
feed in the crown of the tree, where there are soft shoots and thin-barked twigs and 
branches. 


136 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


As I have mentioned, the solid constituents of bark tissues often include 
substances which deter feeding by biting insects, even on tree species that are 
susceptible to attack by bark-sucking insects. However, there is a major group of 
biting insects that are common in the bark of tree species belonging to many plant 
families. I refer to the bark beetles, which belong principally to the family Scolytidae. 
Many such beetles only attack environmentally stressed or moribund individuals, 
which are probably less able to manufacture anti-feeding materials as a defensive 
response. One of the most notorious bark beetles is the greater elm bark beetle, 
Scolytus scolytus (F.), which is one of the main vectors of the fungi which cause 
Dutch elm disease, Ophiostoma (Buism.) Nannf. and O. novo-ulmi Brasier. The 
transmission of these fungi occurs when beetles which have bred in the bark of 
moribund victims of the disease emerge and migrate to twig crotches of healthy trees, 
where they eat the young bark in their “maturation feeding”’ phase. 

It is interesting that the lignin story crops up in relation to bark beetle attack, as 
well as in the case of the sucking insect, C. fagisuga, which I have already mentioned. 
Following my work on the stone-cells of beech bark, my colleague, David 
Wainhouse found that stone-cells in the bark of spruce, Picea spp., confer some 
resistance to the great spruce bark beetle, Dendroctonus micans Kug. This Eurasian 
beetle is not native to Britain, but was apparently imported here in the early 1970s on 
logs from the Continent (King & Fielding, 1989). It is rather unusual among bark 
beetles in that it can attack perfectly healthy trees. It does so by feeding communally, 
and also by virtue of its large size, both being attributes which help to overcome 
induced host resistance in the form of resin secretion. David Wainhouse has shown 
that the stone-cells in the bark of relatively resistant individuals of spruce confer 
partial protection by occurring in a layer which confines the larvae to a relatively 
narrow zone of soft tissue either above or below this layer. This confinement, 
perhaps together with the ingestion of some of the nutritionally poor stone-cells 
themselves, reduces the growth potential and survival of the larvae (Wainhouse et al., 
1990). 

In many other relationships between trees and bark beetles, the size of larval 
galleries is probably determined by the thickness of the phloem layer that is available 
for feeding: either the total thickness of the soft zone of the phloem, or the thickness 
of a layer delimited by stone-cell barriers. This may account for the small size of bark 
beetle species which are able to feed in tree species with prominent stone-cell layers, 
such as Ernoporus fagi (F.) in beech. 

These examples are just some of those for which research—led by an economic 
need—has revealed something of the fascination of the relations between bark- 
feeding insects and their hosts. I am sure that there must be many others for which 
field observations suggest the existence of equally interesting interactions. 


REFERENCES 


Baker, W. L. 1972. Eastern forest insects. U.S. Dept. of Agric. Miscellaneous Publication. 
No. 1175., Washington, D.C. 

Bevan, D. 1987. Forest insects. Forestry Commission Handbook No. 1. HMSO, London. 

Edmunds, G. F. & Alstad, D. N. 1978. Coevolution in insect herbivores and conifers. Science 
199: 941-945. 

Ehrlich, J. 1934. The beech bark disease: a Nectria disease of Fagus, following Cryptococcus fagi 
Baer. Can. J. Res. 10: 593-692. 

Hartig, R. 1878. Die krebsartigen Krankheiten der Rothbuche. Z. Forst-und Jadgwesen 9: 
377-383. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 137 


King, C. J. & Fielding, N. J. 1989. Dendroctonus micans in Britain—its biology and control. 
Forestry Commission Bulletin 85, HMSO, London. 

Kunkel 1968. Untersuchungen iiber die Buchenwollschildlaus Cryptococcus fagi Bar. (Insect, 
Coccina), einen Vertreter der Parenchymsauger. Z. Ang. Ent. 61: 373-380. 

Lonsdale, D. 1983. Wood and bark anatomy of young beech in relation to Cryptococcus attack. 
Proc. Conf. I.U.F.R.O. Beech Bark Disease Working Party, Hamden, Conn., USA, 1982. 
USDA Forest Service General Technical Report WO-37: 43-49. 

Lonsdale, D. & Wainhouse, D. 1987. Beech bark disease. Forestry Commission Bulletin 69, 
HMSO, London. 

Ostrofsky, W. & Blanchard, R. O. 1983. Characteristics and development of necrophylactic 
periderms in mature bark of American beech. Proc. Conf. I.U.F.R.O. Beech Bark Disease 
Working Party, Hamden, Conn., USA, 1982. USDA Forest Service General Technical 
Report WO-37: 69-80 

Wainhouse, D., Cross, D. J. & Howell, R. S. 1992. The role of lignin as a defence against the 
spruce bark beetle Dendroctonus micans: effect on larvae and adults. Oecologia 85: 257-265. 

Wainhouse, D. & Howell, R. S. 1983. Intraspecific variation in beech scale populations and in 
susceptibility of their host Fagus sylvatica. Ecol. Ent. 8: 351-359. 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


Dorcatoma dresdensis Herbst (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) new to Gloucestershire —On 
28.x1.1993, I collected a large piece of the bracket fungus Ganoderma adspersum 
(Schulz.) Donk. which had fallen from an ancient beech along the southern parish 
boundary of Rendcomb (SP 022089), E. Glos. The beech is one of a series along this 
boundary and which extend up the slope from Conigree Wood, an ancient woodland 
which has been much modified by Victorian plantings. The fungus was kept in a 
plastic box in a cool room and re-examined the following summer. Some 14 
specimens of Dorcatoma dresdensis were found to have emerged, together with a few 
Cis and a parasitic wasp. This is the first time that this Dorcatoma has been reported 
from the county, although it is known from the adjoining counties of Oxfordshire 
(Cornbury Park in 1986, P. Hyman, pers. comm.) and Worcestershire (Whitehead, 
1992), in both cases also on the Cotswold Limestone country. The Rendcomb 
locality is within 1km of one of the county’s best sites for saproxylic beetles, 
Rendcomb Park. 

The species is otherwise only known from a thin scattering of ancient pasture- 
woodland sites in southern and eastern England. It was given red data book category 
1 (endangered) status in Welch (1987) but this has since been revised to ‘notable A’ in 
Hyman & Parsons (1992), i.e. is believed to be confined in Britain to 30 or fewer 
10 km squares. The reasons for the extent of the down-grading are not clear as I am 
only aware of records from about 10 other localities this century, with Windsor, 
Burnham Beeches and the New Forest being the only other records since 1980. RDB 
category 3 (Rare) seems to be more appropriate—K. N. A. ALEXANDER, National 
Trust, 33 Sheep Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1QW. 


REFERENCES 


Hyman, P. S. & Parsons, M. S. 1992. A review of the scarce and threatened Coleoptera of Great 
Britain. Part 1. UK Nature Conservation, No. 3. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 
Peterborough. 

Welch, R. C. 1987. Dorcatoma dresdensis. In: Ed. D. B. Shirt. British red data books: 2. Insects. 
Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough, pp. 197-198. 

Whitehead, P. F., 1992. The Coleoptera fauna from Broadway, Worcestershire. Entomologist’s. 
Mon. Mag. 128: 47-50. 


138 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


BENHS INDOOR MEETINGS 


13 December 1994 


The President, Dr P. WARING, announced the deaths of Mr R. G. T. St Leger and 
Mr W. E. Minnion. 

Dr Waring showed colour photographs of the silky wave moth, Jdaea dilutaria 
(Hiibn.) and the dwarf cream wave, I. fuscovenosa (Goeze). The former is a scarce 
species, being known from Durdham Common, near Bristol, and at Great Orme, 
Caernarvonshire. They can be confused, especially at sites such as Great Orme where 
both occur together. Dr Waring noted that the silky wave appeared to be a more 
active species and flew more readily than the dwarf cream wave. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed three beetles from Powdermill Reservoir, near Brede, East 
Sussex, taken on 23.vili.1994. These were the ground beetle Bembidion octomacu- 
latum (Goeze), the weevil Rhinoncus albicinctus Gyll. and the leaf beetle Galerucella 
sagittariae (Gyll.). On a previous visit to the reservoir, on 23.vi.1992, Mr Jones 
discovered the Bembidion, the first British specimens for 105 years. These were 
exhibited at the BENHS indoor meeting of 8 September 1992. Several other 
coleopterists have since visited the site and confirmed a strong colony. Judging from 
previous records, this is the first time a colony of the beetle has been recorded in 
Britain, other occurrences being only singletons. Subsequently a Norfolk specimen 
was found in 1993 and a 1926 Wicken Fen record unearthed. A recent trip to the lake 
revealed that water levels had dropped many feet and much of what was once open 
water was now an exposed and sun-baked mudflat. Mr Jones showed slides of the 
half-drained lake, now a waist-high jungle of amphibious bistort, Persicaria amphibia 
(L.) Gray. Despite this change to the habitat the beetle was still present on the wet 
mud around the feeder stream which was reduced to a trickle after the long hot 
summer. Feeding on the Persicaria were Rhinoncus albicinctus, first discovered in 
this, its second, British locality by Mr P. J. Hodge in 1992 and countless millions of 
Galerucella sagittariae. Mr Jones showed slides of the gregarious larvae of the 
Galerucella and of two semi-aquatic plants exposed by the falling water levels: the 
six-stamened waterwort, Elatine hexandre (Lapierre) DC. and the New Zealand 
pigmyweed, Crassula helmsii (Kirk) Cockayne. 

On hearing the minutes of the 7 November meeting read Mr C. W. PLANT noted 
that he had shown, at an earlier indoor meeting, a similar exhibit on the difficulty of 
separating chrysodeixis acuta (Walker) and C. chalcites (Esp.) to that shown by Dr 
Waring on 7th November. He believed that these species can only be separated 
reliably on male genitalia characters. Examination of specimens in collections 
indicate that all male specimens of acuta taken in Britain in recent years are, in fact, 
chalcites, and it is doubtful whether acuta should be on the British list. 

Dr Helen Marcan-Hill, Mr Kent Hing Kun Li, Ms Jacklyn Louise Ryrie, Mr 
Roger Clive Kendrick, Mr Stephen H. Hind, Dr Keith Murray Harris and Mr Peter 
Verdon have been elected as members. 

Mr C. W. PLANT announced that he was going to produce a list of the micro- 
lepidoptera of Middlesex. Apart from a brief list produced by Cockerill in 1891 there 
is no publication that covers this topic. He anticipated the project would take about 
five years to complete and he would be pleased to receive both old and recent records 
for Middlesex. 

Dr ANDREW PULLEN spoke on the prospects for the conservation and restoration 
of the large copper, Lycaena dispar (Haw.), in north-west Europe. The British strain 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 139 


of this butterfly became extinct in about 1850 and the Dutch strain ssp. batavus (Ob.) 
has been introduced at Wood Walton Fen since 1927. The large copper is widespread 
in Europe but is in decline due to drainage schemes and loss of habitat, especially in 
north-west Europe. In Holland it has declined to just one stronghold at Weeribben 
National Park. Dr Pullen has been investigating means of conserving the remaining 
populations in Holland, with the longer-term aim of restoring viable populations to 
suitable sites in Holland and Britain. This has involved studies into the butterfly’s 
biology. 

In northern Europe the large copper has one generation a year, unlike the two or 
three generations achieved in warmer areas. Eggs are laid singly or in small groups, 
usually near the mid-rib on the upper side of water dock leaves, in July and August. 
The newly hatched larvae crawl to the underside of the leaves where they graze the 
lower epidermis and create distinctive slot shaped “windows” in the foliage. The 
young larvae overwinter in curled dry leaves between September and March, but not 
necessarily at the base of the plant as widely reported in the literature. Feeding 
commences again during April and May, with pupation in June and adult emergence 
in July. 

Earlier studies at Wood Walton Fen have shown that overwintering mortality can 
be as high as 95%. Experiments to identify the causes of larval mortality at various 
times of year have been conducted over a three-year period. This involved caging 
some host plants with netting to exclude birds and mammals, some plants with 
smaller mesh netting to also exclude invertebrate predators and parasites, with other 
plants fully exposed as controls. Comparisons were also made between water docks 
growing in reed beds with those in more exposed positions in waterside situations, 
and between larval mortality at Wood Walton and Weeribben. The studies showed 
that invertebrate predation is a significant factor for young larvae and that 
unseasonal flooding during the larvae’s active periods can be catastrophic. About 
50% of the mortality at Wood Walton is unexplained by predation. Laboratory 
studies suggest there can be a high mortality of larvae between hatching and starting 
to feed. This may be an indication of in-breeding and consequent lack of vigour in 
the Wood Walton stock. 

Studies of larval mortality in the dispausing period show that predation is not 
important, although significant losses do occur over winter. Winter survival is 
significantly higher at the Dutch site, where over 70% survived during the study 
period, whereas at Wood Walton the best achieved was 38%. Future experiments 
will involve taking Wood Walton stock to Weeribben and vice versa to see whether 
this difference is maintained. If it is, it would support the view that Wood Walton 
stock has become weakened by in-breeding. Flooding has been more frequent at 
Wood Walton in recent years and this may be an important factor in the different 
mortality rates at the two sites. Vertebrate predators take significant numbers of post 
diapause larvae and a few were killed by the tachinid fly, Phryxe vulgaris (Fallén). No 
significant differences were detected between waterside and reed bed plants. 

It is possible that the Wood Walton site is too small and isolated to sustain a viable 
population of the large copper. Its numbers fall to very low levels without 
supplementary captive rearing and release. The possibility of releasing the butterfly 
into the Norfolk Broads, where the Bure, Ant and Yare river system provides a 
potentially large linked habitat, is being investigated. A study of the Weeribben site 
has been undertaken to identify important habitat features and management 
techniques. At Weeribben the males choose large open fen meadow areas when 
establishing their territories. These meadows have few nectar plants which are thinly 
distributed amongst sparse Phragmites. Flowering spikes of purple loosestrife are 


140 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


always used by the males as resting posts in the centres of their territories. Similar 
habitats occur in the Norfolk Broads, e.g. at Upton Broad, but these are smaller 
areas than at Weeribben. The highest numbers of eggs were laid on waterside dock 
plants in warm sunny positions, although plants in other situations are also used. If 
an attempt to introduce the large copper into the Broads is made, eggs will be taken 
from Weeribben water dock plants in fens that are due to be mown in order to avoid 
depleting the population. Dr Pullen summarized the management requirements for 
the large copper as: (1) having food plants in sunny open positions; (2) having active 
plant growth at egg laying time to provide good quality food for the young larvae; 
(3) lowest-lying sites will be prone to fatal floodings; (4) large open summer-cut 
marshes are required for mating territories, and (5) a network of sites is desirable to 
allow dispersal to new sites at the right stage for colonization. 


10 January 1995 


The President, Dr P. WARING showed two colour transparencies to indicate the 
difference between the copper underwing moths, amphipyra pyramidea (L.) and A. 
berbera Rungs (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The first slide showed a berbera larva 
together with the female moth from which it had been reared. The second slide 
showed a final instar larva of both species together and Dr Waring indicated the 
diagnostic features. The most obvious feature is the red-tipped caudal horn in 
berbera, which is yellowish-green in pyramidea. Dr Waring noted that when beating 
for larvae it was always pyramidea larvae that he found. He suggested that pyramidea 
larvae feed in the shrub layer, especially on hawthorn, hazel, honeysuckle and 
blackthorn, while berbera may be feeding higher in the tree canopy. 

Dr Waring also showed a slide of a pyralid moth Salebriopsis albicilla (H.-S.) 
attracted to an MV light at the BENHS field meeting at Westbury Wood, Glos. Both 
sexes of the scarce moth were recorded. The specimen photographed was a male and 
Dr Waring noted that as it rested on the trap it waved its white-based antennae 
alternately. 

Mr K. MERRIFIELD showed a glass-topped display case containing an arrange- 
ment of dry seeds and flowers. On examining this closely Mr Merrifield had noticed 
that there were some as yet unidentified lepidopterous larvae busy devouring the 
Helichrysum flower heads. 

Referring to the minutes of the meeting of 13 December 1994, Dr Waring asked 
Rev D. Agassiz to comment on whether the noctuid moth Chrysodexis acuta Walker 
had ever been taken in Britain. Rev Agassiz thought that one had been taken in the 
1950s but not in recent years. He noted that Chrysodeixis chalcites Esper was a 
glasshouse pest species in Europe and was therefore more likely to reach Britain than 
acuta, which is North African. The specimen photographed as acuta in Barnard 
Skinner’s book Moths of the British Isles, is now known to be chalcites. 

Mr S. MILES said that the Joint Committee for the Conservation of British 
Invertebrates was preparing consultation papers for the quinquennial review of the 
Wildlife and Countryside Act. Butterfly Conservation had submitted a paper 
proposing that all British butterflies with Red Data Book or notable status should be 
put under Schedule 9. This would mean that bred specimens could not be released 
into the wild except under licence. The President noted that this was an attempt to 
regulate rather than prevent the release of the scarcer’ species. Comments were 
invited. Mr R. Softly said he had no objections to this provided everyone was made 
aware of the regulations and that licences were not difficult to obtain. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 141 


Mr CLIVE CARTER spoke on the subject of gall-forming aphids and adelgids on 
trees, rather than his original title of the importance for wildlife of canopy gaps in 
forests. A gall is defined as a growth abnormality induced in the plant by the 
influence of an animal or pathogenic organism. Gall formation involves the 
production of tissues different from those found in a normal leaf or stem, and so 
abnormalities such as simple leaf rolls, leaf mines and spun leaves are excluded from 
this definition. Aphids and adelgids have sucking mouthparts, and, as they feed, they 
secrete saliva into the plants. Some species secrete growth hormone mimic 
compounds that induce the growth of gall tissues. 

Insects of the Adelgidae family are all associated with conifers and a number of the 
species found in Britain have come originally from overseas and are found on exotic 
conifers. Like aphids, many adelgids alternate between two host plants. The primary 
host on which they overwinter is a spruce, Picea sp., and they migrate to other 
conifers such as larch Larix sp., silver fir Abies sp., douglas fir Pseudotsuga sp. or 
pines Pinus sp. The gall forming generation occurs on spruce during the spring. The 
gall is initiated by a female feeding near a dormant bud during the late winter. She 
lays a batch of eggs covered by fluffy white waxy wool and these hatch at bud burst. 
The bases of the developing leaves are swollen and the newly hatched nymphs crawl 
into them. Shoot extension is halted by the adelgids’ feeding activities and a globular 
gall develops with nymphs feeding inside in a series of hollow chambers. The gall 
dries up and cracks open in late summer to release the winged adults. In some 
adelgids occurring in Britain the gall forming generation is scarce and the insect is 
found throughout the year in its non-gall forming state on its alternative conifer host 
plant. Dr Carter showed slides of various adelgid galls and described the life cycles of 
the causal insects. 

Amongst the tree aphids it is those of the Pemphigidae family which are mostly 
responsible for galls on trees. The Pemphigus genus has poplars as its primary host 
and migrates to herbaceous plants in the summer. They induce galls on the petioles 
or leaf veins of poplar leaves in the spring. They secrete waxy filaments from their 
abdomens and this forms a coating around the honeydew excreted by the aphids 
within the galls. This enables the aphids to keep dry and avoid drowning in their 
excrement. 

Aphids in the Prociphilus genus have a variety of trees as their primary host and 
these include Populus, Fraxinus, Lonicera and Crataegus spp. During the summer 
these aphids migrate to the roots of conifers. In 1986 the speaker had investigated 
poor growth in a sitka spruce plantation in south Wales. The roots were found to be 
heavily infested with a north American species which was likely to be overwintering 
on poplars. Such trees are scarce in the locality of the plantation. Grey poplar trees, 
Populus canescens, with galled leaves were found later many miles to the north of the 
plantation. Conifers for commercial plantations are raised in nurseries, often long 
distances from their ultimate planting site. If seedlings become infested with root 
aphids in the nursery they will be carried to the plantation site and this may explain 
infestations in areas where the alternative host plant is absent. Dr Carter closed his 
talk by showing some slides of aphid galls on apple and elm. 


28 February 1995 


The President Dr P. WARING passed round some empty lepidopterous pupal cases 
found on a birch trunk and asked if anyone could recognize what sort of moth had 


142 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


emerged. No one could name the moth but it was confirmed that they were not 
clearwing pupal cases. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed some live specimens of the firebug, Pyrrhocoris 
apterus (L.) (Hemiptera: Pyrrhocoridae). These had been sent in for identification at 
RHS Garden, Wisley from a private garden at Ripley, Surrey on 11.11.95. Four live 
and two dead specimens had been found on a yew tree purchased from a garden 
centre at Lyne, near Chertsey, Surrey. P. apterus is a common plant bug in the 
warmer parts of Europe and it lives gregariously on a wide range of plants. It had 
presumably been imported with nursery stock since, although it has previously been 
recorded in Britain, it seems unable to sustain itself under our climate. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed specimens of the two British Arhopalus species 
(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). These were A. rusticus (L.) from Tunstall Forest, East 
Suffolk, 25.vii.93 and A. tristis (F.) from Harbridge, South Hampshire, 25.vii.77. The 
two British species of this genus were added to the British list at the beginning of the 
century and were both regarded as rare natives, found in the relic heartlands of 
Scotland (A. rusticus) and the New Forest (A. tristis). However, in the ensuing 90 
years both species have spread widely. A. tristis occurs in much of England, but is less 
common than A. rusticus which, after a slow start in the West Country, has recently 
spread to almost the entire south-east. On the Continent, A rusticus is distributed 
further north into Scandinavia than A. tristis which appears to be quite sporadic in 
occurrence. Although the two species closely resemble each other and both vary 
tremendously in size, there are distinct and obvious differences in the tarsi and eyes. 

Mr JONES also showed 13 species from seven diverse beetle families showing 
remarkable similarity in their colour schemes—reddish fore-parts but metallic blue 
elytra. Hardly any of these species occur together, so he wondered how mimicry 
could possibly have evolved. These were: Carabidae: Lebia chlorocephala (Hoff- 
mannsegg), Brachinus crepitans (L.); Staphylinidae: Paederus litoralis Grav.; 
Erotylidae: Triplax aenea (Schaller); Tetratomidae: Tetratoma fungorum F.; Cleridae: 
Tillus elongatus (L.); Salpingidae: Rhinosimus ruficollis (L.): Chrysomelidae: 
Zeugophora subspinosa (F.), oulema melanopa (L.), Gastrophysa polygoni (L.), 
Sermylassa halensis (L.), Derocrepis rufipes (L.), Podagrica fuscipes (F.). 

Mr B. SKINNER showed a unicolorous form of Dumeril’s rustic, Luperina dumerilii 
Dup. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) taken at the Lizard, Cornwall on 7.ix.83. The 
specimen lacked the pale whitish stigma and subterminal shading found in most 
specimens and was initially identified as an aberrant form of the flounced rustic. 
Luperina testacea (D. & S.). 

Rev D. AGASSIZ showed some specimens of the white-line dart, Euxoa tritici L. 
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). This is believed to be a complex of three species in Europe 
and it is likely that all three taxa are resident and widespread in Britain. These are E. 
tritici (L.), the majority of specimens, usually with the “white line’; E. eruta (Hibn.), 
forms with the ground colour largely speckled; E. crypta (Mann), generally smaller, 
dark brown forms, occurring late in the season. There are differences in the genitalia; 
in males chiefly in the everted vesica, but also in the ratio of the length of the sacculus 
extension to other processes; in the females in the shape of the bursae and the 
ovipositors. Examples determined by Michael Fibiger were shown but these were not 
confirmed and the status of the names used still requires confirmation. All three taxa 
can be found in the same locality. Members were encouraged to examine their series 
and make careful observations and descriptions of the larvae. 

Leslie Alan Wiles, Michael George Sexton, Jonathon Stewart Brock and Maxwell 
V. L. Barclay have been elected as ordinary members, and Robert Graham as a 
junior member. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 143 


MrS. MILES made available for inspection a booklet produced by the Biodiversity 
Challenge Group. This is made up of various NGOs and the document provides an 
alternative agenda to the government’s programme on biodiversity. 

The Ordinary Meeting then closed and was followed by the Annual General 
Meeting and the President’s Address. 


Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Society 
held at the Royal Entomological Society of London’s rooms 
at 6.30 pm on 28 February 1995 


Chairman: The President, Dr P. WARING. Present: 32 members. 

Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting were read and signed. 

The Secretary read the Council’s report, followed by the Treasurer who read his 
report. The Treasurer then invited questions on his report but there were none. The 
Editor, Librarian and Curator then read their reports and Dr M. Scoble read the 
report of the Hering Memorial Fund. The President proposed the adoption of the 
reports, this was seconded by Mr D. Young and passed unopposed. 

The President then read the names of the Officers and Members of Council 
recommended by the Council for 1995/96 and, as no other names had been 
submitted, he declared the following duly elected: President M. J. Scoble, Vice- 
presidents P. Waring and C. Hart, Treasurer A. J. Pickles, Secretary R. F. 
McCormick, Editor R. A. Jones, Curator P. J. Chandler, Librarian I. R. Sims, 
Lanternist M. J. Simmons, Building Manager P. J. Baker, Ordinary Members of the 
Council J. Muggleton, D. Lonsdale, I. F. G. McLean, G. Collins, C. M. Drake, D. 
Young, R. K. Merrifield, M. Parsons, A. Jenkins and J. Firmin. 

The Secretary then read bye-law 26(d) and invited motions or questions. There 
was none. 

The President then read his report and gave his address. 

The President then installed the new President, Dr M. J. Scoble. 

The President proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring President, and this was 
seconded by Mr Stubbs. The President asked for permission to publish the 
Presidential address, and this was given. 

Mr B. SKINNER gave a vote of thanks to the retiring Officers and Council. 

The President proposed the election of Mr R. A. Bell and Mr D. O’Keeffe as 
auditors for the coming year, with Council being empowered to appoint registered 
auditors under the Charities Act if necessary. This was seconded by Mr Jones and 
passed unopposed. 

The Meeting closed at 9.30 pm. 

The new President, Dr M. J. SCOBLE, invited comments on the exhibits. Mr E. 
Bradford recalled that he had found another red and black plant bug, Eurydema 
dominulus (Scop). earlier last year and he had made drawings of their distinctive 
banded eggs which are laid in rows of six. Mr A. Stubbs suggested that the red and 
metallic blue colour of the diverse beetles shown by Mr Jones might be warning 
colouration to indicate they are distasteful to would-be predators. He suggested that 
Mr Jones might experiment by eating a few. Without showing much enthusiasm for 
this proposal, Mr Jones pointed out that some of the beetles spend much of their time 
under bark or in other concealed places where the risks of predation are reduced. 


144 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


14 March 1995 


Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed an unusual colour form of a burying beetle, Necrodes 
littoralis L. On 27.vii.93 a brown example of this normally all black beetle was taken 
in a Rothamsted light trap at RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey. Despite the killing fluid 
used in this type of trap, the beetle survived for several days and showed no signs of 
developing its usual colour. A typical example, also taken in a Rothamsted trap at 
Santon Downham, Suffolk on 21.ix.87, was shown for comparison. 

Neil Arthur Robinson, Ronald H. Carpenter, Simon Curson, Ronald H. Harvey, 
Colin Nichols and David Colin Neville have been elected as ordinary members. 

The President Dr M. J. SCOBLE, drew attention to a meeting being held on 4th 
May at the Natural History Museum by the UK Systematics Research Forum. The 
purpose of the meeting is to set priorities for the study of systematics and training. 
Anyone interested in attending should contact Prof Stephen Blackmore; also any 
systematicists not yet registered with the UK Forum should get in touch so that their 
database can be made more complete. 

KEVIN PAGE spoke on the subject of ammonites. This large group of marine 
animals became extinct at about the same time as the dinosaurs but has left behind a 
rich fossil record. Ammonites show some similarities to the modern animal, Nautilus; 
both have (or had) air-filled chambered shells which the animals can regulate to 
allow them to rise or sink in the water. Ammonite fossils can be found in suitable 
rock strata in various situations such as coastal cliffs, land slips, quarries and 
cuttings created by road works. The species assemblages of ammonite fossils can be 
used to date and classify rock deposits. Ammonites often occur in large and small 
forms, and it is likely, that like modern squids, ammonites were sexually dimorphic 
with the larger forms being females. Dr Page showed some slides of a number of 
notable ammonite sites in Britain, France and Spain. Also shown were some of the 
wild flowers and insects found at these sites. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Systematic and applied entomology: an introduction, edited by I. D. Naumann, 
Melbourne University Press (UK: UCL Press, London), 1994, viii + 484 pp, softback, 
Aus$ 44.95, £24.95—Although an Australian publication, the coverage is interna- 
tional and represents a highly attractive and well-produced summary of current 
entomological theory and knowledge. The book begins with general chapters on 
insect structure, biology, phylogeny and applied study. Then follow 32 chapters on 
the 32 orders of insects recognized by the authors. The editor candidly admits that 
these chapters are abridged from the huge (and hugely expensive) The insects of 
Australia (Melbourne University Press, 2nd edn, 1991), but they maintain a thoroughly 
general stance, offering biological details wholly relevant to study anywhere in the 
world, including the United Kingdom. The only concession to an antipodean audience 
is a brief paragraph in each chapter outlining a few special features of the Australian 
fauna. Of special interest is each order’s world-wide classification, offering a modern 
listing of all known suborders, superfamilies and families irrespective of which part of 
the world they might occur in. Eight superb colour plates offer a taste of what the 
Australian fauna has to offer and the text is copiously illustrated throughout with line 
drawings and half-tones. Apart from the fact that all the page numbers in the first page 
of the contents list are wrong, this is an excellent introductory text for the general 
entomologist, A-level student or undergraduate. 


R.A. JONES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 145 


OFFICERS’ REPORTS FOR 1994 
COUNCIL’S REPORT 


The Society’s membership stood at 729 at the end of the year, a small increase on 
the numbers for the previous year; 44 new members were elected during the year, 12 
were struck off for non-payment and 1 member resigned. Six deaths were reported to 
the Society during 1994. 

The Council met 7 times during 1994 and, on average, 15 members attended each 
meeting. Less of the Council’s time was taken up discussing Dinton Pastures, (the 
Pelham-Clinton Building), but there are still ongoing problems with the air 
conditioning and alarm systems. The two Council members who have taken the 
brunt of attending for engineers’ visits have been our Curator, Mr Peter Chandler, 
and our Building Manager Mr Peter Baker. Our thanks go to these hard working 
members of Council, and to any other members who have helped with this work. 
Because of the death of Mr C. B. Ashby, a replacement Trustee had to be found. A 
special meeting was arranged on the 10 May 1994 and Rev D. Agassis was elected by 
vote at this meeting and by postal ballot; the ballot also covered the increase in the 
number of Honorary Members to 12 and this matter was passed by a majority in the 
postal ballot and unanimously at this special meeting. Other topics that have taken 
up a lot of Council time have been the formation of a Dipterist’s Forum affiliated to 
the BENHS; there will be an article about this affiliation published in the Journal. 
The formation of a conservation group within the BENHS has been initiated. Two 
meetings have taken place and further information will be distributed with the 
Journal; we have also discussed ongoing environmental issues. 

There were 11 indoor meetings held at the rooms of the Royal Entomological 
Society which included the joint meeting with the London Natural History Society. 
In general, attendances at indoor meetings were improved with around 25 or more 
people coming to each meeting; this was probably because of the hard work put in by 
our Indoor Meeting Secretary, Dr McLean, in arranging speakers for these events. 
Six workshops were arranged at the Pelham-Clinton Building, and these proved to be 
very popular; along with these, three moth trapping evenings at Dinton Pastures 
were carried out in order to increase our knowledge of the Lepidoptera of the area. 
The Pelham-Clinton Building was opened on a Sunday every second week during the 
months of January to April and October to November and every 2nd Sunday of the 
month from May to September and December; in the main these were poorly 
attended and the Council will be reviewing the open day frequency at a future 
Council meeting. The poor attendance on open days shows a marked contrast to the 
interest of the membership in the other organized events; this interest makes it 
rewarding for the hard-working Council Members involved and our new premises a 
moderate success. A full programme of meetings and events is being prepared for 
1995/96. 

The Society continued to represent members’ interests in the field of conservation 
and Mrs F. M. Murphy and Mr S. R. Miles take an active part as the Society’s 
representatives on the Joint Committee for Conservation of British Invertebrates. 
The Society also paid an annual subscription of £60 to Wildlife and Countryside 
Link as part of the joint payment contributed by all the major entomological groups 
to this countryside policy forum and conservation promotion organization. 

Eighteen field meetings were held in wide-ranging areas of the countryside, 
including the moth trapping events at Dinton Pastures Country Park. Attendance at 
these varied widely. We would like to thank Mr Roger Morris our outgoing Field 
Meetings Secretary, for all his hard work in arranging these meetings; Mr Morris has 


146 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


had to retire due to other commitments and his position will be taken over by Dr 
Paul Waring. A full list of field meetings for 1995, arranged by Dr Paul Waring, has 
been distributed. " 

A successful Annual Exhibition was organized by Mr Michael Simmons and was 
attended by 200 members and 103 visitors, around the same numbers of members 
who attended the previous year with an increase in the number of visitors. There 
were around 175 exhibits with the usual slant on the Lepidoptera but with a welcome 
increase in the other orders. The Council reinforced its guidelines to stop 
controversial exhibits from being shown at our Exhibition. The aim is to stop long 
series of any species from one locality from being shown, unless for a special reason. 
Mr Michael Simmons organized the Annual Dinner for the first time and made a 
great success of a job that was suddenly thrust upon him; an increase in the numbers 
of members and companions sat down to a meal that was enjoyed by all. 


Roy McCorMICK 


TREASURER’S REPORT 


1994 has been the first full year of normal occupation of Dinton Pastures and it is 
now possible to see how the actual costs compare with our estimates. Our budget for 
running the Society was £14000 and at first sight the actual cost of £18555 seems 
excessive. However there were two exceptional items, firstly the expenditure of £2300 
on equipment, a water softener and a new computer, principally for the library, but 
having implications for other activities of the Society. Secondly, the financial 
implications of the water leak we suffered. The leak was in the length of mains 
leading to the building but for which we are responsible. As a result we had to pay 
the water authorities £1700 and some £500 for repair costs. The bankruptcy of our 
builders has not made it possible to claim successfully. 

Taking away these items our expenditure has not been vastly higher than 
anticipated, but the worrying feature which remains is the cost of controlling the 
humidity and temperature of our premises. There have been continuing problems in 
this area most of which have cost money, either for increased electricity costs, for 
repair, or for the water softener, which we are advised may relieve problems but costs 
£984 in the short term. 

This year the cost of producing the magazine was reduced to £5700 due to a hold 
over to next year, and because some costs of the supplement were included last year. 
Once again a grant of £1000 towards the cost of colour plates has been made from 
the Bequest Fund. 

Turning to income we see a sharp increase in subscriptions resulting from the 
increase in rates and the effects of covenanting which has provided a further £600 
reclaimed from the exchequer. Investment income is slightly down but in assessing 
this the nature of our new investments has to be considered. The theory is that 
income for the most part is accumulated within the bonds until we require it. 
Unfortunately the value of our investments has fallen during the year in common 
with the stock exchange, although there have been encouraging signs of recovery 
towards the end of the year. Fortunately we consider these investments to be long 
term, and the current value is not a problem to us. The value of our investments 
overall still exceeded their cost by some £30000 at the balance sheet date. 

I am pleased to report that the Society is in a strong financial position with a 
balance sheet value of £348 000 and a value taking into account the unrealized profits 
of investment of nearly £380 000. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Income and expenditure account 
year to 3lst December 1994 


General account 

Subscriptions 

Interest and dividends 

Redemption surplus 

Donations and bequests 

Surplus on Christmas cards 
Surplus on cabinets and collections 


Total income 


Headquarters services 

Insurance 

Headquarters security and maintenance 

Council rooms and expenses 

Equipment 

Members meetings and exhibitions 

Administration 

Library 

Donation to RSPB 

Subscriptions and donations to other 
societies 

Honorariums 

Cost of dinner 


Cost of running society 


Publications account (free to members) 
Sales 

Bequest fund grant for plates 
Production of journal 

Distribution costs 


Net cost of journal 
Deficit (surplus) on membership 


Special publications (for sale) 
Sales 

Opening stock 

Publication costs 

Distribution and general costs 
Closing stock 


Surplus on sale of special publications 


Transferred to Hering fund 
Transferred to bequest fund 
Transferred to general fund 
Transferred to special publications fund 


1994 
10,249 
10,181 
1,339 
130 
23 
(21,922) 
4811 
935 
1,807 
1,981 
2,328 
2,345 
2,534 
960 
173 
181 
18,055 
(3,867) 
(1,267) 
(1,000) 
6,402 
1,572 
5,707 
1,840 
(6,128) 
9,088 
128 
871 
(5,021) 
(1,062) 
778 
643 
8,170 
(11,242) 
1,651 


(778) 


(1,344) 
(1,000) 
6,775 
1,844 


(1,786) 


147 


1993 


(21,674) 


12,751 
(8,923) 


6,275 
(2,648) 


(980) 
(3,628) 


3,628 


148 


Balance sheet as at 31st December 1994 


Employment of capital 
Leasehold property 
Additions 

Opening amortization 
Amortization 


Quoted investments 
General fund 
Hering fund 
Investment bonds 


Current assets 

Special publications 

Christmas cards 

Sundry debtors and payments 
in advance 

Bank capital reserve account 

Business reserve deposit 

Bank societies reserve account 

Bank current account 


Current liabilities 
Sundry creditors and accrued expenses 


Net current assets 


Capital employed 

General fund 

Opening balance 

Transfer from bequest fund 

Transfer from income and expenditure 
account 


Housing fund 
Contributions from other funds 
Amortization 


Special publications fund 
Opening balance 
Surplus from sales 


1994 
154,736 
(2,210) 
(2,210) 
150,316 
28,036 
3,540 
139,000 
5,021 
50 
3,149 
14,200 
4,468 
2,424 
29,312 
2,048 
(2,048) 
27,264 
348,156 
39,590 
11,242 
(11,242) 
39,590 
152,526 
(2,210) 
150,316 
29,495 
1,651 


31,146 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


1993 
144,432 
10,304 
(2,210) 
152,526 
28,036 
3,540 
139,000 
9,088 
289 
3,591 
11,327 
8,070 
32,365 
2,724 
(2,724) 
29,641 
352,743 
39,589 
5,367 
(5,367) 
39,589 
144,432 
10,304 
(2,210) 
152,526 
28,515 
980 
29,495 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 149 


Bequest fund 
Opening balance 126,191 136,411 
Income 8,170 7,451 
Grants & expenditure (12,242) (17,671) 
122,119 126,191 
Hering memorial fund 
Opening balance 4,942 4,878 
Income 643 564 
Expenditure (600) (500) 
4,985 4,942 
348,156 352,743 


(a) 
(b) 


(c) 


(d) 
(e) 


Accounting policies 


The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention. 

The costs of building and equipping leasehold premises at Dinton Pastures Park 
have been capitalized. The total cost of these premises which were completed 
during the year to 31st December 1993 are being amortized over the term of the 
lease. The first amortization charge was made in 1993. 

The value of the library, collections, ties, back numbers of Proceedings and 
Journals and the computer system is not included in these accounts. Current 
expenditure on such items is written off to the income and expenditure account. 
Donations and legacies are brought into account when they are received by the 
Society. 

Surplusses (or deficits) arising on the special publications fund which accounts 
for publications primarily for sale are transferred to that fund to finance future 
publications. 


Investments Book value at cost Market value 
General & bequest Hering memorial 
1230 Shell T&T 25p Ord. 477.79 771.83 8561 
750 Unilever Sp Ord. 248.45 8685 
6272 M&G Charifund Units 19091.17 1147.24 51556 
2450.90 Treas. 9 1/2% 1999 UN OD 1621.21 2523 
3863.71 Treas. 8 3/4% 1997 36876.94 3890 
3882.90 Treas. 9% 1994 3759.57 3883 
28036.14 3540.28 79098 
Investment bonds Total 
Hendersons 58000.00 49253 
Sun Life 56000.00 49599 
Barings 25000.00 21293 
139000.00 120145 


150 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Fund movements 


Amortization on the leasehold premises at Dinton Pastures has been charged to the 
Housing Fund. A grant has been made from the bequest fund towards the cost of 
coloured plates published in the Journal and towards the general running expenses of 
the Society. 

Make up of funds 


The funds are represented by the following assets: 


Housing fund Bequest fund 
Leasehold premises 150,316 Hendersons bond 48,000 
Special publications Sun Life bond 56,000 
Stock 5,021 Barings bond 18,119 
Cash deposits 12,125 Cash deposits = 
Hendersons bond 10,000 
Barings bond 4,000 122,119 
General fund 
Sue Barings bond 2,881 
Hering fund Investments 28,036 
Investments 3,540 Current assets 8,673 
Cash deposits 1,445 39,589 
4,985 


The audit of these accounts marks the end of an era as it is the first time for over 15 
years that Col. Dougie Sterling has not been associated with the preparation of the 
accounts either as treasurer or auditor. We have been fortunate in obtaining the 
services of Dennis O’Keeffe who has performed the audit together with our long 
serving joint auditor Reg Bell and I extend my thanks to these gentlemen. 

Mark Telfer took on the onerous task of Assistant Treasurer at the beginning of 
1994 and has done splendid work in re-organizing the computer system and carrying 
out a smooth transfer and I would also like to extend my thanks to him. 


A. J. PICKLES 


Report of the auditors to the members 


We have examined the financial statements attached which have been prepared in 
accordance with the recomendations of SORP 2. 

We have audited the financial statements annexed in accordance with approved 
Auditing Standards. 

In our opinion the financial statements which have been prepared under the 
historical cost convention give a true and fair view of the state of the Society’s affairs 
at 31st December 1994 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended. 


D. O’KEEFFE 
R. A. BELL 


PROFESSOR HERING MEMORIAL RESEARCH FUND 


The committee agreed to support two applications ‘to the Fund for 1995. Mr 
Roland Johansson (Vaxj6, Sweden) was awarded the sum of £300 to help with the 
cost of a visit to the Natural History Museum, London, to study and illustrate types 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 151 


of Australian Nepticulidae. Mr Johansson is well known for his studies and excellent 
colour illustrations of microlepidoptera. His work on the Australian Nepticulidae 
forms part of a collaborative study with colleagues from Canberra and Leiden. 

Dr Sergej Sinev (Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg) was awarded £300 
to further his work on Russian microlepidoptera. The funds will be used to support 
fieldwork in the far east of Russia, particularly for the collection of immature stages, 
to enable Dr Sinev to make his work on keys to Russian Microlepidoptera more 
complete. 

Reports have been received on the results of work of the two projects funded last 
year. Michael Bonsall, Imperial College, London, who is working on the parasitoid 
complexes of Tephritidae on thistles, has reared and identified several species of 
parasitoids from various tephritid flies. The data will be used to compare the host— 
parasitoid associations on the various hostplants. 

The study of Dr Alan Gange (Royal Holloway College) involving the tephritid fly 
Urophora cardui, which forms galls on the thistle Cirsium arvense, has shown that 
significantly larger galls and greater numbers of live larvae were found on thistles 
treated with fungicide to reduce mycorrhizal infection. Application of fertilizer, to 
increase nitrogen levels, seems to counteract the effect of the fungicide. This work is 
the first report of the protective effect of a mycorrhiza against insect herbivory. 
Chemical studies are currently in progress to examine whether mycorrhizal infection 
is altering the nitrogen-carbon balance in the plant. 


MALCOLM J. SCOBLE 


LIBRARIAN’S REPORT 


The major occupation in the Library this year has been to specify and purchase a 
personal computer. This, it is hoped, will not only benefit the running of the library 
but assist the Society in many other ventures. With the help of a small committee a 
proposed specification was produced. I then set myself the task of examining possible 
equipment, not only obtaining brochures but also visiting demonstration sites. This 
culminated in the purchase of an Elonex PC-450 model in mid-December 1994. With 
the help of Graham Collins’ expertise, the library program database disks were 
converted in January 1995 from 5.25 inch format to 3.5 inch format and transferred 
to the new computer. The computer was finally installed at Dinton Pastures on the 
12th February. 

As the result of a kind offer by Frances Murphy and her husband a single sheet 
photocopier has also been installed at the Society’s rooms. 

A further tranche of book purchases, originally recommended by the library 
committee in 1993, with subjects ranging from European Noctuidae to field keys for 
Neuroptera, was completed this year. Thanks are due to Andrew Halstead for 
arranging these purchases. 

One exchange journal arrangement was agreed during the year, this was with 
Sociedad Entomologica Aragonesa for their journal Zapateri. 

Moves are being suggested to dispose of some of the older items in our library to 
lighten the insurance load. Depending on the extent of disposal to be contemplated I 
believe this to be a retrograde step. Potentially it could diminish the interest in the 
library from those who would not normally get the opportunity to see these types of 
items, let alone borrow them by special permission, which is still feasible. 

I am still concerned with those members who don’t return books they have 
borrowed, due perhaps to an unwillingness to make the effort to visit Dinton 
Pastures a second time. It is the responsibility of all members to make arrangements 


152 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


to return books they have on loan, once they have received a request from the 
librarian to do so. 

During the year I placed an advertisement in the Society’s journal for a 
replacement librarian following the announcement of my resignation in last year’s 
report. I am glad to say that Mr Ian Sims, a resident of the Reading area, has 
volunteered to take on these responsibilities from today. I shall be still concerned 
with the library for a little time yet in order to ensure that the transition runs 
smoothly, particularly the aspect of the use of the computer for library work. I wish 
Ian success and hope that the members, the library committee and Council will 
support him in this endeavour. 

Special thanks are due this year to Graham Collins, Ken Merrifield, Stuart Ball, 
Ian McLean and Peter Verdon for giving me advice leading to the specification of the 
Society’s computer requirement. 

Thanks are due, for books donated to the library during the past year, to Brian 
Baker and also to the Biodiversity Challenge Group. 

Finally I would like to thank all those who have helped me over the past twelve 
years in the library, particularly the understanding shown during the traumatic 
period of reported losses when the books were in store and for the help received at 
the installation of the books to Dinton Pastures. 

S. R. MILES 


CURATOR’S REPORT 


In the reports for the past two years I have referred to the ongoing rearrangement 
of the beetles, involving uniting the Massee and Henderson collections into a single 
entity. Progress on this has continued as time allowed and the layout according to 
John Owen’s revised check list has now been completed in 86 drawers. It will now be 
easier to assess the gaps in this collection and determine how they can best be filled. 
Notes provided by Peter Hodge on recent splits and synonymy in the Coleoptera, as 
well as likely areas of confusion, are invaluable in indicating where revision is 
essential, and assistance of specialists will be sought to resolve the identity of such 
material. Some help has already been given by Keith Alexander on the Cantharidae 
and David Moore on the Elateridae. 

This has now freed the two cabinets (40 and 20 drawer respectively), formerly 
housing the Massee collection for the arrangement of the European butterflies to 
begin in due course. It has also freed two Hill units, which after repapering will be 
used to begin the projected new layout of the British moths. 

Preliminary work on the moths has continued with selection of suitable material 
from the Mackworth-Praed collection, begun by Peter Baker and being continued by 
David Moore, who has offered to make a start on the moth arrangement later in 
1995. 

During 1994, the Society was offered Michael Tweedie’s collection of Lepidoptera, 
excluding the cabinets. Due to lack of space for rehousing them at the time it was 
initially agreed that we would take specimens of value to our collection, which 
included most of his micro moths (an area in which we are still weak) and a smaller 
number of the macros. This initial selection was made by Bernard Skinner and I am 
most grateful to him for this valuable contribution. A cabinet of Geometridae passed 
to Barry Goater and it is understood that Barry has selected a representative 
collection to pass to Guy Sircoulomb, a member of the Société Entomologique 
d’Evreux, who specializes in Geometridae, in continuation of the links already 
established between our two Societies. The residue was then obtained for us by Peter 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 153 


Baker but most of necessity became duplicates and the greater part were immediately 
donated to the Northamptonshire Natural History Society to assist in building their 
Lepidoptera collection. 

Some further donations of sawflies have been made by Andrew Halstead, and due 
to the additions made by him our collection now includes 200 species of this group. 

It is expected, with the changes in organization of the Lepidoptera collections, that 
a number of the older cabinets will become available for sale over the next few years 
as they are cleared. It is then hoped to replace them with additional ten-drawer units 
for the eventual rehousing of the Diptera, Hymenoptera and those smaller orders 
still awaiting arrangement. 

Use has been made of the collections during four of the workshop meetings held 
during 1994, and microscopes and table space have been fully utilized on these 
occasions. On the other hand attendance at the open days has been very variable and 
it may be necessary to reduce their number unless there is fuller use of the library and 
collections on each occasion. Anyone who has not already visited the building would 
be welcome to attend any of the open days or workshops. It is hoped that the 
associations with Dipterists’ Forum and BWARS will increase use of the collections 
of those orders and it is also hoped that coleopterists will be encouraged to attend 
now that the beetle collection has been updated. 

There have been some further occasional upsets over the air conditioning system, 
despite some modifications to the design carried out during the year as well as the 
addition of a water softening facility in an effort to reduce the impact of lime scale on 
the rehumidifying component of the system. This was initially successful but due to a 
neglect in routine maintenance there has been renewed malfunctioning in recent 
months and the hardness of the water has proved too great for water softening to 
fully solve the problem. The required parameters have nevertheless been consistent 
for most of the time and regular maintenance visits by the contractor have now been 
resumed. Consideration is still being given to the longer term operation of the air 
conditioning, but it is as yet unclear whether beneficial changes to its mode of 
operation can be achieved. 

Our initial inability to accept the Tweedie collection in its entirety under the 
arrangement described above, led some members to express concern that we should 
have a formalized Collections Policy. Any member with views on this subject should let 
me know. 

I am grateful to all those already mentioned for their assistance and 
encouragement during the year. 

PETER CHANDLER 


EDITOR’S REPORT 


I hope it will come as no surprise when I say that the Journal continued on its 
merry way in 1994, as per usual. There were, however, two small detours from its 
normal annual path. Although four colour plates were printed, only three were 
actually published in 1994; the fourth is being held over to accompany two papers on 
butterfly genetics which will appear in 1995. And the Journal published a 
supplement, its first in a more or less continuous publishing history of 110 years. 

This was actually quite a departure from standard procedure since the contents of 
this special supplement were actually the proceedings of a completely different 
society—the National Federation for Biological Recording, the NFBR. There is no 
formal link between that group and the BENHS, so how did our Journal become 
involved in issuing their notes? 


154 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


As it turned out, the subject of the NFBR annual meeting in question was 
‘invertebrate recording’ and how such recording could be used in site evaluation and 
monitoring, quite a vogue topic and one which the BENHS Council thought 
worthwhile supporting. Many of the delegates to that NFBR meeting and some of 
the speakers were also members of the BENHS and all of the papers presented were 
of potential interest to BENHS members, many of whom are already involved with 
local and national recording schemes and surveys. 

The cost of producing the supplement was to some extent defrayed by the fact that 
the guest editor, Paul Harding from the Biological Records Centre, was able to take 
all of the authors’ papers, and generate the camera-ready copy from his own 
department. The printing costs were also partly met by a special grant from the 
NFBR. In this way the supplement was produced with only a minimal cost to the 
BENHS, but, I hope, with great benefit. The supplement was circulated to many 
organizations and it further raised the Society’s profile among a wide variety of 
bodies involved with invertebrate recording. It also offered readers a deeper insight 
into just how important is the work of the field entomologist. 

The supplement aside, the Journal continues relentlessly. There is always a steady 
supply of papers to publish, though I am always happy to receive more of the shorter 
communications which will usually enjoy very rapid publication indeed. I'll close 
with a thank you to the 14 listed members of the Editorial Committee who referee, 
revise or proof-read all the material, and without whose help I would find the job of 
Editor a burden instead of a joy. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


BOOK REVIEW 


Ground beetles in the Yorkshire Museum, by Michael Denton, Yorkshire 
Museum, 1993, 84 pages, paperback, and Flies in the Yorkshire Museum, by 
Andrew Grayson, Yorkshire Museum, 1994, 160 pages, paperback.—Both of these 
small books were published and issued free to anyone sending a stamped and 
addressed envelope, and have been produced with local backing to promote the 
Museum and its collections. 

The ground beetles were primarily collected by Herbert Willoughby Ellis (1869— 
1943) and represent a portion of his collection of 80000 beetle specimens. For each 
species, a brief entry records the number of specimens in the collection and 
comments on the contemporary and present status as well as local and national 
distribution. A short biography describes how Ellis corresponded with all the 
eminent coleopterists of the day and the comprehensiveness of this current reference 
collection reflects this. 

The flies were collected mainly by Percy Hall Grimshaw (1869-1939) a former 
keeper of natural history of the Royal Scottish Museum where his main 
collection is housed. The systematic list gives full data for the collection’s 801 
specimens. 

The books are rather generously laid out and could probably have been 
adequately printed with two-thirds or half their actual number of pages. Nevertheless 
they are attractive and useful publications and succeed in their aim of raising 
awareness of the Museum’s collections. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 155 
LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


Habitat preference in the Lepidoptera and patterns of distribution in light-traps.— 
I was most interested to read the results of Majerus et al. (1994) concerning light- 
trapping comparisons in woodland and grassland. As they report, I also found 
significant and persistent differences in the abundance of particular species when 
comparing two or more habitats within woodland, and readers will not be surprised to 
read of greater differences between woodland and open grassland where there are likely 
to be differences relating to shelter and wind speed as well as habitat type. In fact, 
interesting comparisons between catches in grassland and woodland were reported by 
Hosny (1953, 1955, 1959) way back in the infancy of mercury vapour light traps. 

As Majerus et al. discuss, reasons for these patterns of distribution can be expected 
to relate to various factors. Amongst these are the relatively weak flight of many 
geometrids and the dependence of a large proportion on woody perennials for food 
as larvae. No British geometrid moths feed as larvae on grasses, unlike the larvae of 
many of the noctuids, and low herbaceous plants of open conditions are also 
exploited widely by noctuids, many of which are strong fliers, able to fly higher and 
in windier conditions than most geometers. 

Just as with butterflies, presence of the larval foodplant is not enough to guarantee 
the presence of the moth. Very often the situation in which the plant is growing 
proves to be important, with some species of larvae occurring more frequently in 
sunny situations, others in shade, and with differences between abundance or density 
on mature trees and shrubs and on regrowth. Some results illustrating these 
differences are given in Waring (1990). 

A particularly interesting example in the British context is provided by Shaw 
(1991) who found larvae of the magpie moth, Abraxas grossulariata, and the V moth, 
Semiothisa wauaria, only on gooseberry bushes growing in sunny locations, while 
those of the phoenix, Eulithis prunata, were found only on more or less fully shaded 
gooseberry bushes in woodland understorey. 

My Ph.D. thesis (Waring, 1990) includes many other examples, some of which clearly 
relate to local differences in the availability of particular species of plants and even to 
the proximity of a single tree or bush. However, as Bowden (1982) suggests, and I 
found, some apparent patterns of distribution can be artifacts of the trapping 
technique, such as differences in the visibility of individual traps or the degree of 
shading and contrast between the light-trap and its background. In Waring (1990) I 
explored several different methods of evening out and correcting for such factors using 
species expected to have uniform distribution. By looking at the ratio in which moths 
actually occur in traps and comparing the distributions of other species against this 
empirical ratio, it was hoped that it might be possible to correct for the resultant 
combination of all the factors which might be biasing trap results, such as one site being 
slightly warmer, windier or more shaded than another. Needless to say, the results 
depended on which species I selected as my bio-indicator: the large yellow underwing, 
Noctua pronuba, riband wave Idaea aversata and the small fan-footed wave J. biselata. 
In practice I found that in the real world each of these species let me down sooner or 
later, appearing to favour one habitat in preference to another. 

For many species the pattern of distribution between habitats was the same no 
matter what method of analysis I chose, the latter affecting only the degree of 
difference in the comparisons. I repeat the advice I gave in Waring (1989) to all moth 
recorders interested in using light-traps for looking at differences between habitats 
and management regimes—make things easy for yourself—try and ensure that all 
traps which you wish to compare with each other are operated under an open sky, or 


156 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


all under tree canopy, and that they are visible for about the same distance. This 
makes the comparisons much simpler and the results much more easy to interpret. 
For other tips on the practicalities of light-trapping, readers may find Waring (1994) 
and the references listed there of interest. 

Lastly, I am sure readers will look forward to reading the results of Dearnaley et 
al. (referred to as “in prep.” in Majerus et al. 1994 p129 para. 4) when this study is 
published. There is already a large body of literature reporting that the effectiveness 
of light-traps is influenced by trap design, bulb height and the height of the trap 
above ground. It is also known that the performance of bulbs deteriorates with age 
and use. Just for the record, all the traps in the experiments reported by Waring 
(1989, 1990) were operated on the ground. All the tubes and bulbs for the traps were 
purchased new at the start of the experiments and the tubes in the actinic light traps 
were replaced at the start of each year. In all comparisons the traps were operated all 
night in order to sample as large a range of moths and their possible times of flight as 
possible. These and other experimental details, including dates and sites, are given in 
full in Waring (1990).—PAUL WARING, Windmill View, 1366 Lincoln Road, 
Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6LS. 


REFERENCES 


Bowden, J. 1982. An analysis of factors affecting catches of insects in light traps. Bull. Ent. Res. 
72: 535-556. 

Hosny, M.M. 1953. Studies on the activity and abundance of macrolepidoptera in relation to 
environment. Ph.D thesis (unpublished). University of London. 

Hosny, M.M. 1955. Notes on the effect of some secondary environmental conditions on the 
activity of nocturnal Macrolepidoptera. Bull. Soc. Ent. d’Egypte 39: 297-314. 

Hosny, M.M. 1959. A review of results and a complete list of Macrolepidoptera caught in two 
ultra-violet light traps during 24 months, at Rothamsted, Hertfordshire. Entomologists’ 
Mon. Mag. 95: 226-236. 

Majerus, M., Grigg, A., Jones, C., Salmon, F., Strathdee. A. and Dearnaley N. 1994. Factors 
affecting habitat preferences in the Lepidoptera. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 129-137. 

Shaw, M. R. 1991. Magpie moth, Abraxas grossulariata (L.), (Lep., Geometridae) and other 
caterpillars on Gooseberry, Ribes uva-crispa, in south Cumbria. Entomologists’ Rec. J. Var. 
103: 272-273. 

Waring, P. 1989. Comparison of light-trap catches in deciduous and coniferous woodland 
habitats. Entomologists’ Rec. J. Var. 101: 1-10. 

Waring, P. 1990. Abundance and diversity of moths in woodland habitats. Ph.D. thesis 
(unpublished). Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University). 

Waring, P. 1994. Moth traps and their use. Br. Wildlife 5: 137-148. 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Deadwood Coleoptera from two important Denbighshire parklands, including five 
species new to Wales.—Two National Trust owned historic parks, Chirk and Erddig, 
have received very little attention from entomologists in the past, but have now 
proved to be of considerable interest for their deadwood fauna. Both were visited in 
1993 as part of the Trust’s national programme of biological survey. The park at 
Chirk originated as a 14th century hunting park, while the early history of Erddig is 
not yet known. 

Erddig Park (SJ326482) straddles the Black Brook immediately above its 
confluence with the Clywedog River and therefore encompasses ancient river-cliff 
woodland within its present bounds. Amongst the more interesting finds are a 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 157 


Tetratoma desmaresti Lat. found beneath bark of a dead lower branch on an old oak, 
23.vi, a Prionocyphon serricornis (Miller, P. W. J.) swept at the base of a wooded 
river-cliff section in Big Wood, 24.vi, and a dead Prionychus ater (F.) beneath loose 
bark on the trunk of a mature ash, and a Quedius ventralis (Aragona) under loose 
bark with congealed sap on a horse chestnut trunk, both 28.vi.1993. Other species of 
lesser note include Ctesias serra (F.), Bitoma crenata (F.), and Xestobium rufovillosum 
(Deg.). A subsequent visit, on 26.iv.1994, added an elytron of Jschnomera ? cyanea 
(F.) found beneath loose bark on an oak, and A. P. Fowles took a Ernoporus fagi 
(F.) from beech bark. 

Chirk Castle Park (SJ269381) was visited on 19.vii. 1993. The old deer park 
includes a large concentration of ancient oaks, partly within a matrix of secondary 
birch, oak, beech and sycamore, partly in conifer plantation and including a large 
area of open bracken with some hawthorns. The most important find here was 
Dorcatoma serra Panz., which was tapped from a bracket of Inonotus dryadeus on an 
oak. Ctesias serra was found on another old oak. The neighbouring Baddy’s Park is 
a large area of sheep pasture studded with overmature oak and hawthorn, plus a few 
field maple. The most interesting find here was Abdera quadrifasciata (Curt.) which 
was tapped from a dead lower branch of an old spreading oak. Eledona agricola 
(Herbst) was typically found in Laetiporus sulphureus bracket on an oak, and other 
species noted include Cryptarcha strigata (F.), Prionychus ater, Pediacus dermestoides 
(F.) and Xestobium rufovillosum. A dead tree in the Home Park was riddled with 
borings of a Xyloterus sp., most probably X. domesticus (L.). This is clearly an 
important old Border parkland and would merit further investigation. 

Of these beetles, Abdera quadrifasciata, Dorcatoma serra, Ernoporus fagi, Quedius 
ventralis, and Tetratoma desmaresti are new to Wales, and Cryptarcha strigata, 
Eledona agricola, and Prionychus ater new to North Wales. 

These findings bring both sites into the top league of Welsh parklands. The 
“‘Alexander index”’ for both parks currently stands at 13, a total surpassed in Wales 
only by Dinefwr Park (Alexander & Pavett, 1992) and Powis Castle Park, with 
indices of 25 and 17 respectively. Old Cilgwyn, Ceredigion also has 13, while 
Gregynog Great Wood stands close at 12. Welsh parks are however currently the 
subject of a major survey by the Countryside Council for Wales. 

My thanks go to Adrian Fowles of the Countryside Council for Wales for his 
comments on an earlier draft of this note—K. N. A. ALEXANDER, National Trust, 
33 Sheep Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1QW. 


REFERENCE 


Alexander, K. N. A. & Pavett, P. M. 1992. The beetles of Dinefor Castle Estate. Dyfed Inv. 
Group Newsl. 25: 1-9. 


Myopites eximia Seguy (Diptera: Tephritidae) new to Devon.—While in S. Devon 
on holiday, I collected some dead flowerheads of golden samphire, /nula crithmoides 
L., growing from rock crevices low down on the rocky coast on the south side of Bolt 
Tail (SX 669394), 14.xi.1993. In due course, a single specimen of this red data book 
(Shirt, 1987) species emerged (called M. frauenfeldi Schiner in that publication). 

M. eximia is only known from western and south-western Europe (White, 1988), 
and in Britain has only so far been reported from south-eastern England, as far west 
as Dorset (Falk, 1991). The foodplant is much more widespread than this, occurring 
from the Mull of Galloway southwards along the Atlantic coats of Europe and 
across the Mediterranean (Clapham et al., 1989). Falk (1991) associated the species 


158 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


with saltmarsh and coastal shingle banks. While the foodplant is perhaps most 
frequent in these habitats in the south-east, it is very characteristic of the splash zone 
of rocky cliffs in the south-west and it is perhaps no surprise that it has now been 
found at a rocky south-western site—K. N. A. ALEXANDER, 14 Partridge Way, 
Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1BQ. 


REFERENCES 


Clapham, A. R., Tutin, T. G., & Moore, D. M. 1989. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge 
University Press. 

Falk, S. 1991. A review of the scarce and threatened flies of Great Britain. Research and survey in 
nature conservation No. 39. Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough. 

Shirt, D. B. (Ed.) 1987. British red data books: 2. Insects. Nature Conservancy Council 
Peterborough. 

White, I. M. 1988. Tephritid Flies. Diptera: Tephritidae. Hanbk Ident. Br. Insects 10(5a). Royal 
Entomological Society, London. 


> 


Dirhagus pygmaeus (F.) (Eucnemidae) and Hallomenus binotatus (Quen.) (Melan- 
dryidae): two beetles new to Wales.—These two deadwood beetles were discovered 
new to Wales in the course of National Trust Biological Survey fieldwork during 
1994. A dead Hallomenus binotatus was found within a bracket of the fungus 
Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) growing on oak in Graigllech Woods (SN848119), 
Brecon., 26.vii.1994. Although reasonably widespread across much of England and 
Scotland, it does appear to be much rarer in the south-west, being unknown in 
Devon and Cornwall for instance. A male and a female Dirhagus pygmaeus were 
swept within the extensive woodlands of the Bishopston Valley (SS568878), Gower, 
Glam., 22.vi.1994. The distribution of this species in Britain is rather curious, but it 
occurs right across the southern counties, in the West Midlands and the north, and 
its discovery in Wales is therefore no real surprise. Brackeny oakwoods are a very 
typical habitat and there is no shortage of such in Wales——K. N. A. ALEXANDER, 
National Trust, 33 Sheep Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1QW. 


A winter emergence of Pahyllonorycter  strigulatella Zeller (Lepidoptera: 
Gracillariidae)—A large number of Phyllonorycter mines, situated on the underside 
of the leaves of grey alder (Alnus incana L.), were collected from a supermarket car 
park in the eastern suburbs of Cardiff, in early November. They were taken indoors 
with the intention of placing them into individual storage for the winter, but began to 
hatch within a few days. After one week, forty adults and one parasitoid 
(Pteromalidae) had emerged. The moths were later identified as P. strigulatella 
(Zeller, 1846), by the authors. This would appear to be a new record for Glamorgan 
(VC41), and is possibly new for Wales. 

P. strigulatella is described as being bivoltine (Heath & Emmet, 1985), with the 
adults on the wing in early May, or late July and August. The autumn larval stage is 
thought to be completed in October, leaving the pupae to survive the winter. It seems 
unusual for the moths to have emerged so quickly upon being brought indoors, 
especially since the autumn was reasonably mild prior to collection =D. J. SLADE & 
M. R. WILSON, National Museum of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF1 3NP. 


REFERENCE 


Heath, J. & Emmet, A. M. 1985. The moths and butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland 2: 
294-368. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 159 


BOOK REVIEWS 

Invertebrates of Wales: a review of important sites and species, by Adrian Fowles. 
JNCC and Countryside Council for Wales, 1994, 157 pages plus 16 colour plates, 
£24.50, hardback.—Britain has the best known invertebrate fauna in the world, the 
result of over 150 years’ accumulation of the records of field collecting. We are now 
in a position to use this knowledge, however incomplete it may sometimes seem, to 
evaluate the rich variety of natural sites in Britain for conservation purposes. 
Invertebrates of Wales, by the invertebrate ecologist for the Countryside Council for 
Wales (CCW), Adrian Fowles, is an attempt to present an overview of the range of 
habitats in Wales, to describe their conservation status and highlight some of the key 
invertebrates. The bulk of the book is divided into three sections, corresponding to 
the three regions formerly administered by the Nature Conservancy Council; North 
Wales, Dyfed—Powys and South Wales. Within these sections the habitats 
represented, e.g. woodlands and coastland are described drawing upon examples 
of both the fauna present and also particular localities. These localities are drawn 
together into an appendix of notable sites for conservation of invertebrates in Wales. 
Here 93 sites are listed for which current information indicates the localities are of 
notable significance. Some of these sites are SSSIs and other national nature reserves. 
I would have greatly valued a complete list and brief account of the SSSIs and NNRs 
in Wales. Naturally many of these would not have been originally designated for 
their invertebrate fauna. In his position in CCW Adrian Fowles would be able to 
produce such a site inventory. This would, however, have produced an entirely 
different sort of book. Also, valuable as such an inventory would be, I suspect, 
however, the author may feel that such a list would polarize and concentrate 
recording to these sites at the expense of work at other potentially important sites. 
This is an important issue—should we concentrate recording and collecting at 
protected sites or those that might benefit from formal designation? 

I felt that the emphasis in this book on the conservation aspects of habitats 
overlaps to some extent with Peter Kirby’s Habitat management for invertebrates: a 
practical handbook (JNCC & RSPB, 1992) (which strangely is not listed in the 
bibliography). Both describe habitats and the invertebrates that may be present, 
although obviously Kirby’s book has a different purpose and coverage and 
Invertebrates of Wales concentrates on one large area and its habitats. It is possible 
to make comparisons in the way information is given. The style of presentation in the 
two books is considerably different and I find Kirby’s book much easier to browse 
because it is broken up with many sub-headings and spaces between paragraphs, 
notably lacking from Fowles’s. That aside I find myself asking when would I use 
Invertebrates of Wales and which audience was it written for? There is much useful 
information but it is not easily accessible. The introductory material is not especially 
helpful to someone wanting rapid information on the status of sites and recording 
coverage in Wales. Just how well recorded are the Lepidoptera, Odonata or 
Orthoptera in Wales? Fowles does not really tell us. I couldn’t find a statement as to 
the number of SSSIs or NNRs in Wales or a proportion of the total land under such 
protection (or in a National Park) compared with other parts of the British Isles. The 
Invertebrate Site Register could have been more thoroughly introduced for the 
uninitiated. The photographs, especially those of habitats, are excellent and will 
certainly encourage interest in recording in Wales. 

The book is completed by a selected bibliography of around 150 references, which 
serve to highlight papers containing information on Welsh Invertebrates. This may 
be too selective since it does not include any general works or list any of the excellent 
series of JBCC guides “Reviews of the scarce and threatened .. .” 


160 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Over 30 of the references given are relatively recent articles in newsletters or 
unpublished reports (or reports produced in low numbers). This serves to emphasize 
the increasing importance of newsletters for publication of such information as long 
as they are widely available. (But are all journals easily available?) I am more 
concerned about the general availability of information in “‘unpublished” reports but 
that is another matter! Kirby’s book includes an appendix listing recording schemes 
and record centres, societies, further reading, invertebrate identification guides and 
works on invertebrate conservation and habitat management. I would have thought 
a similar appendix could have been usefully included in Invertebrates in Wales. Only 
a list of organizations associated with the conservation of invertebrates in Wales is 
given by Fowles. 

This book should certainly be widely available, used and consulted, although as 
mentioned above the lack of sub-headings does not make it easy browsing. It should 
certainly raise the profile of invertebrate conservation in Wales. Unfortunately the 
price, at £24.50 for an A4 hardback, may make many amateurs think twice about a 
personal purchase even with the excellent photographs 

M. R. WILSON 


BOOK REVIEW 


Agricultural entomology, by D. S. Hill, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, USA and 
Cambridge, UK, 1994, 636 pp, hardback, $89.95 (about £60).—Although there are 
many books in the field of agricultural entomology, there are few that claim to take a 
global view of this agricultural scene. Plenty concentrate on particular crops, 
particular pests or particular regions, but the author has set his sights high to try and 
cover the subject across international borders. A short introduction considers some 
of the current problems with agriculture, especially those of poverty, emphasis on 
cash crops, the need for land reform, erosion and over-population. It is these 
underlying causes which aggravate the developing world and make straightforward 
entomological problems into devastating and life-threatening plagues. Illustrated by 
examples from Africa and elsewhere, the theories behind our ideas of insect 
distribution, ecology and population dynamics are put into a farming perspective. 
The majority of the book is given over to order-by-order accounts of major pest 
species, from the minor nuisance of the firebrat eking out a living on bakery floors to 
migratory locusts ravaging the African plains. All important groups and major 
species are listed with details of their geographic range and pest status. Along with 
pests of farming, forestry, livestock and humans, beneficial insects receive welcome 
coverage since it is often the balance with natural enemies which causes insect 
outbreaks. We are rather sheltered in the United Kingdom, and we get upset by a few 
lily beetles making holes in our prize blooms, but looking through the book it is 
sobering to consider just how many of the creatures we like to study do great damage 
to the world’s crops. Despite the rather bland quality of the paper, most of the large 
number of illustrations are crisp and clear and only a few rather sketchy figures leave 
something to be desired. For a book which lists specific insect pests it is strange that 
authors’ names are not given for the specific names. Entomologists concerned with 
agriculture will find the book a useful reference and summary and perhaps also a 
teaching aid, but although the book is large, and hence very good value, its 
moderately high price will put it beyond the reach of many of the neediest workers in 
Third World countries where a book like this will be the greatest benefit. 


R. A. JONES 


INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS 


General. Contributions must be typed double-spaced on one side only on A4 paper with 3-cm 
margins either side to facilitate marking up. Layout should follow that of the Journal, but apart 
from underlining scientific names, no marks should be made to define typeface. 

Two copies of typescripts and figures are required, the second copy can be a photocopy. 
Authors who have prepared their article on word processor are invited to supply a disk also. 

Nomenclature. Use the most up-to-date nomenclature available. After first use of a specific 
Latin name give the author’s name; use parentheses only if required according to the rules of 
nomenclature. This should apply not only to insect names, but also to the names of plants, non- 
insect invertebrates and other animals. 

Figures and tables. Line figures and half-tones are accepted. Size of lettering, thickness of 
lines and density of shading, stippling and hatching must take into account likely reduction in 
size to fit appropriately into the journal page size. Illustrations must be of good quality, 
however lettering can be typeset if necessary; indicate requirements on a duplicate figure. 
Colour illustrations may be available, please contact the Editor. Tables should be prepared on 
separate sheets; avoid vertical rules, use horizontal rules sparingly. 

References. In the text, references should give author and year, (e.g. Allan, 1947); multiple 
references (e.g. Kendall, 1982; Smith, 1989; Baker, 1994) should be listed in date order. But 
references should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the article. Book titles take only an 
initial capital letter. Journal titles are abbreviated in the style of the World List, but with each 
word taking an initial capital. Examples: 


Allan, P. B. M. 1947. A moth-hunter’s gossip. 2nd edn, Watkins and Doncaster, London, p. 149. 

Baker, P. 1994. The modified status of Strymonidia w-album (Knoch) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in 
north west Surrey. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 25-26. 

Jones, R. A. 1994. [Bilobed inflorescences of Plantago lanceolata L. Exhibit at BEHNS Annual 
Exhibition 1993.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 179. 

Kendall, P. 1982. Bromius obscurus (L.) in Britain (Col., Chrysomelidae). Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 
117 (1981): 233-234. 

Pratt, C. R. & Emmet, A. M. 1989. Polygonia. In: Emmet, A. M. & Heath, J. (Eds). The moths and 
butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester, Vol. 7, Part 1, pp. 212-215. 

Smith, K. G. V. 1989. An introduction to the immature stages of British flies: Diptera larvae, with 
notes on eggs, puparia and pupae. Handbk Ident. Br. Insects 10(14): 1-280. 

Stubbs, A. E. 1987. Oxycera dives. In: Shirt, D. B. (Ed.). British red data books: 2. Insects. Nature 
Conservancy Council, Peterborough, pp. 304-305. 

Stubbs, A. E. & Falk, S. J. 1983. British hoverflies: an illustrated identification guide. BEHNS, 
London, pp. 191-192. 

West, B. K. 1994. The time of appearance of Lancanobia oleracea L. (Lep.:Noctuidae) in the British 
Isles. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 106: 81-84. 


Offprints. Authors of main articles qualify for 25 free offprints taken directly from the 
Journal. These may contain extraneous matter such as short communications or book reviews 
used as ‘fillers’. Extra copies must be ordered when proofs are returned. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


Public liability insurance.—It has come to the notice of the Society that some organizations 
issuing permits to enter their land to study insects are now asking that all those issued with such 
a permit should have public liability insurance, typically for two million pounds cover. 

This may at first sight seem a somewhat daunting requirement. The Society has consulted its 
insurance brokers and it emerges that many members who have household insurance may already 
have public liability insurance included. It is suggested that ifin doubt the policy document should 
be consulted. We discovered however that for a nominal sum the Society could extend its own 
public liability insurance to cover members of the Society while engaged on entomological 
pursuits. We have taken this option and are pleased to inform all members that they now have 
public liability cover of two million pounds while engaged on their own field work, research and 
entomological study in addition to such activities arranged by the Society. Typically this would 
give cover against claims by third parties for injury caused in the course of such pursuits. A copy of 
the schedule to the policy is available for inspection at Dinton Pastures.—A. J. PICKLES, Hon. 
Treasurer, 2a Park Avenue, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9GX. 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
VOLUME 8, PART 3, SEPTEMBER 1995 


ARTICLES 


A breeding experiment with the small copper butterfly, Lycaena phlaeas (L.) (Lepidoptera: 
Lycaenidae). T. S. ROBERTSON 


Understanding size and pattern variation in mainland Britain Pararge aegeria L. (Lepidoptera: 
Satyridae). L. WINOKUR 


Two new species of Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) from Europe. R. H. L. DISNEY 
The Dipterists’ Forum: a model for others to follow? A. E. STUBBS 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 

Swammerdammia compunctella H.-S. (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) in Merthyr Tydfil, 
Glamorgan, S. Wales. D. J. SLADE 

Some records of root-aphids (Aphidoidea: Pemphigidae) feeding on spruce (Picea spp.) in 
Britain. D. T. SALT AND E. MAJOR 


Dorcatoma dresdensis Herbst (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) new to Gloucestershire. K. N. A. 
ALEXANDER 


Deadwood Coleoptera from two important Denbighshire parklands, including five species new 
to Wales. K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


Myopites eximia Seguy (Diptera: Tephritidae) new to Devon. K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


Dirhagus pygmaeus (F.) (Eucnemidae) and Hallomenus binotatus (Quen.) (Melandryidae): two 
beetles new to Wales. K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


A winter emergence of Phyllonorycter strigulatella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae). D. J. 
SLADE AND M. R. WILSON 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 
The 1993 Presidential address—Part 1. Report. D. LONSDALE 


The 1993 Presidential address—Part 2. Some observations on the pros and cons of being a 
bark-feeding aphid. D. LONSDALE 


BEHNS indoor meetings, 13 December 1994 to 14 March 1995. 
Officers’ reports for 1994 


145 Council’s report 151 Librarian’s report 
146 Treasurer’s report 152 Curator’s report 
150 Prof. Hering fund report 153 Editor’s report 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
Capital letters for English names. S. ROBERTS AND G. ELSE 
Habitat preference in the Lepidoptera and patterns of distribution in light traps. P. WARING 


BOOK REVIEWS 

Entomological bygones or historical entomological collecting equipment and associated 
materials, by J. M. Chalmers-Hunt. C. W. PLANT 

Systematic and applied entomology: an introduction, edited by I. D. Naumann. R. A. JONES 


Ground beetles in the Yorkshire Museum by M. Denton and Flies in the°Yorkshire Museum 
by A. Grayson. R. A. JONES 


Invertebrates of Wales: a review of important sites and species by A. Fowles. M. R. WILSON 
Agricultural entomology by D. S. Hill. R. A. JoNEs 


OCTOBER 1995 ISSN 0952-7583 Vol. 8, Part 4 


2 oe 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


Published by the British 
Entomological and Natural History 
Society and incorporating its 
Proceedings and Transactions 


Price: £6.00 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
SMITHSONTay, 


.L.S. 


MAR 6 1996 


Editor: 


Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 


(Fax: 0171 277 8725) LIBRARIES 
Editorial Committee: 
Rev. D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D. T. G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 
R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. I. F. G. McLean, Ph.D., F.R.E.S 
P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 
B. Goater, B.Sc., M.I.Biol. T. R. E. Southwood, K. B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
R. D. Hawkins, M.A. B. K. West, B.Ed. 


P. J. Hodge 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological and 
Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, Berkshire 
RG1O0 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


© 1995 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal 
Entomological Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL 
EXHIBITION is planned for Saturday 28 October 1995 at Imperial College, London 
SW7. Frequent Field Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome 
at all meetings. The current Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, 
R. F. McCormick, at the address given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, 
which are open to members on various advertised days each month, telephone 01734- 
321402 for the latest meeting news. 

Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 

Subscriptions and changes of address to the Assistant Treasurer: M. G. Telfer, 12 Jasmine 
Close, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7NE. 

Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of the 
Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, 
Reading, Berkshire RG3 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: 
R. D. Hawkins, 30d Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 

General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, 
Devon TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. 


Cover illustration: Globular water beetle, Hyphydrus ovatus (L.). Photo: Robin Williams. 


NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs for black and white reproduction 
on the front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on 
aesthetic value rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or 
black and white prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 161 


PANOQUINA PANOQUINOIDES EUGEON SKINNER 
(LEPIDOPTERA: HESPERIDAE) FROM THE WINDWARD 
ISLANDS, LESSER ANTILLES 


DAVID CORKE 


Department of Environmental Sciences, University of East London, Romford Road, 
London E15 4LZ*. 


Panoquina panoquinoides panoquinoides Skinner (1891) is widespread in the 
southern part of the USA and the northern West Indies but is usually restricted to 
coastal habitats (Spencer Smith et al., 1994). The subspecies P.p.eugeon (Godman & 
Salvin, 1896) seems to be unique to the Windward Islands but it is not known to 
which subspecies the population that inhabits Trinidad (Riley, 1975) belongs. It is 
presumably the nominate form, as on the mainland of South America. Barcant 
(1970), in a monograph of Trinidad butterflies, does not list the species at all and nor 
is Trinidad listed as a locality by Spencer Smith et al. (1994). 


DISTRIBUTION RECORDS 


P.p.eugeon was described from specimens collected on Union Island, Grenadines 
and Granville & St George’s parishes in Grenada (Godman & Salvin, 1896). Spencer 
Smith et al. (1994) give records from the following Grenadine Islands: Bequia, Caille, 
Mayreau and Palm. 

My own investigations on St Lucia (April 1983, June/July 1986, May/June 1989) 
and St Vincent (May 1989) were incidental to a survey of reptile populations and the 
preparation of conservation management plans for endangered reptile species 
(Corke, 1987, 1992). St Lucia has an excellent guide book to its butterflies (Hunt & 
Mitchell, 1979) and with one exception I saw no species in St Lucia that were not 
included in that guide and in the habitat types already associated with the species. 
The sole exception was a small brown hesperid which was quite common on the 
halophytic grassland just above the beach on Maria Major island at the extreme 
southern tip of St Lucia (see fig. 1). I could not identify these specimens beyond the 
level of genus using Riley (1975) [P.p.eugeon is not figured]. The find was announced 
as a new species for St Lucia (but not identified) in Geoghegan & Renard (1985). 
Specimens were seen on the Maria Islands on each of my three visits in the 1980s. 

The same species was found in very similar conditions at Milligan Cay off the 
extreme south of St Vincent in May 1989. My work on reptiles tended to pay especial 
attention to small islets, so there is no reason to suppose that P.p.eugeon will not be 
found on the coastal mainland of St Lucia & St Vincent. 

With the publication of Spencer Smith et al. (1994) the identification problem was 
resolved. The specimen from Maria Major (April, 1983) in Fig. 2 is quite clearly 
P.p.eugeon. 

Figure 3 summarizes the known distribution of the two subspecies of 
P.panoquinoides in the Lesser Antilles. It is likely that the species will be discovered 
on most of the islands north of St Lucia but where the transition from P.p.eugeon to 
P.p.panoquinoides will occur is pure conjecture. 


LARVAL FOODPLANTS 


The larva of P.p.eugeon is unknown and thus its likely foodplants can only be 
guessed at by what is known for other subspecies. P.p.panoquinoides on Jamaica were 


*Email:CORKE@uel.ac.uk Fax:0181-849-3641. 


162 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Fig. 1. Maria Major Island, St Lucia, seen from the north. The coastal grassland on the leeward 
side of the island is the only habitat for P.p.eugeon. [photo: David Corke] 


. i tf i ae | 


Fig. 2. The first specimen of P.p.eugeon collected (in 1983) from the Maria Islands, St Lucia. 


Scale lines 1 mm intervals. [Photo: David Corke] 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 163 


SOMBREROg 
ANGUILLA St. Martin 
ST.CROIX P St. Barts 
SABA®S Poarbuda 
St. Eustatius 
ST KITTS Pp 
Nevis 6 ANTIGUA 
REDONDA @) 
MONTSERRAT Grande Terre 


Désirade 
@ @MARIE GALANTE 


GUADELOUPE 
SAINTES 


AVES 9 


DOMINICA 


MARTI on 
ST Mugs 


P5ARBsADOS 
e 
e 


Grenadines 


e 
400km GRENADA e 


Fig. 3. Map of the Lesser Antilles showing islands and island banks (from Lazell, 1972) and the 
known distribution of Panoquina panoquinoides panoquinoides (p) in the Leeward Islands and of 
Panoquina panoquinoides eugeon (e) in the Windward Islands. 


reared on Cynodon dactylon although the eggs were found on Mimosa pudica (Brown 
& Heineman, 1972). P.p.errans from California feeds also on C. dactylon and also on 
Sporobolus virginicus (Comstock, 1930). 

On the Maria Islands, which have been thoroughly surveyed botanically (Fournet, 
1982), Sporobolous virginicus and S. cf.jacquemontii occur as does a species of 
Mimosa (cf. camporum) but Cynodon is absent. 


FLIGHT TIMES 


The type specimens of the species were captured in October (Godman & Salvin, 
1896). I saw adults flying in all months from April to July. As with many tropical 
species, P.p.eugeon may fly throughout the year. 


164 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Is P.P.EUGEON A GOOD SPECIES? 


The taxon was originally named as a full species (Prenes eugeon Godman & Salvin, 
1896). Riley (1975) says “It could well be a distinct species”. Spencer Smith et al. 
(1994) consider that description of the larva is necessary before assessing this 
suggestion. Certainly the adults are quite distinct in terms of wing pattern. 

Entomologists holidaying in the islands of the Lesser Antilles could help greatly 
with further distribution records and studies of egg-laying and larval morphology. 
Only then will the question of specific status be resolved. 


SUMMARY 


The skipper butterfly Panoquina panoquinoides eugeon (Godman & Salvin, 1896) is 
reported, for the first time, from St Lucia and St Vincent. In both cases the species 
was inhabiting a tiny island close inshore to the main island. 

The known distribution of the subspecies in the Windward Islands, to which the 
taxon is probably unique, is mapped. 

The possibility that the taxon merits specific status is discussed. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I am extremely grateful to the staff of the St Lucia National Trust (Robert 
Devaux) and of CANARI (Yves Renard) for helping my work on St Lucia in many 
practical ways. On St Vincent Brian Johnson and his staff at the St Vincent & 
Grenadines Division of Forestry were exceptionally helpful. Financial assistance was 
provided by WWSF (USA), the Herpetological Conservation Trust (UK), the 
Vincent Wildlife Trust (UK) and British Airways. 


REFERENCES 


Barcant, M. 1970. Butterflies of Trinidad and Tobago. Collins. 

Brown, F. M. & Heineman, B. 1972. Jamaica and its butterflies. Classey. 

Comstock, J. A. 1930. Studies in Pacific coast Lepidoptera (continued). Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci. 
29: 135-142. 

Corke, D. 1987. Reptile conservation on the Maria Islands (St Lucia, West Indies). Biol. 
Conserv. 40: 263—279. 

Corke, D. 1992. The status and conservation needs of the terrestrial herpetofauna of the 
Windward Islands (West Indies). Biol. Conserv. 62: 47-58. 

Fournet, J. 1982. Compte-rendu de la mission a Sainte-Lucie. Ministére de lAgriculture, 
République Frangaise. 

Geoghegan, T. & Renard, Y. 1985. Maria Islands Nature Reserve: interpretive guide. St Lucia 
National Trust. 

Godman, F.D. & Salvin, O. 1896. On the butterflies of St. Vincent, Grenada, and the adjoining 
islands of the West Indies. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 513-520. 

Hunt, D. & Mitchell, G. 1979. A recognition guide to the insects of St Lucia 1: butterflies. St 
Lucia Naturalists’ Society. 

Lazell, J. D. 1972. The anoles (Sauria, Iguandiae) of the Lesser Antilles. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 
Harvard 143: 1-115. 

Riley, N. D. 1975. A field guide to the butterflies of the West Indies. Collins. 

Skinner, H. 1891. A new species of Pamphila. Ent. News 2: 175. 

Spencer Smith D., Miller, L. D. & Miller, J. Y. 1994. The butterflies of the West Indies and 
Southern Florida. Oxford University Press. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 165 


THE EFFECTS OF CATTLE POACHING ON INSECTS LIVING AT 
THE MARGIN OF THE RIVER ITCHEN, HAMPSHIRE 


C. MARTIN DRAKE 
English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough PEI 1UA. 


An important factor affecting the entomological interest of stream and river 
margins is the amount of disturbance to the banks. Streams with a natural flow 
regime are subjected to annual disturbance by high flows, resulting in regularly 
regraded shores and eroding banks. This disturbance has been much reduced as a 
result of bank reinforcement and flood alleviation work. One mechanism that can 
partially replace the natural process is trampling (poaching) by cattle. Trampling 
promotes a diverse fauna at the margins of ponds and ditches on soft substrates 
(Biggs et al., 1994; Dolman, 1993; Drake, in press). However, it is also known that 
trampling harms the specialized beetle fauna of the shoals of stony rivers and the 
bare shores of rivers draining catchments on rocky substrates (Lott, 1992). Between 
these two extremes of still waters on soft sediments and rivers on hard rocks, there is 
presumably a change in best management practice for insects of the margins. For 
instance, it is uncertain what the best recommendation is for chalk streams. 

A brief survey was undertaken to see whether there was an obvious answer to this 
problem. The reasons for looking at chalk streams is that fishing syndicates blame 
cattle trampling for damaging salmonid fishing (Summers, 1994), but it is likely that 
low flows of the recent droughts are more culpable than a change in the response of 
the rivers to disturbance by cattle. Several chalk streams, including the River Itchen, 
are currently being notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest so the information 
will be useful when advising on conservation management. 


SITES AND METHODS 


Six sites along the River Itchen were selected to include banks with and without 
cattle access. They were visited on 8 and 9 July 1994. Full details of the sites are given 
in Drake (1995). Briefly, they were four stations at the Itchen County Park (grid 
reference 41/4617), four stations at Twyford Moors near Colden Common (41/4722), 
two stations at Winnall Moors SSSI (41/4830 and 41/4930), one station at each of 
Itchen Stoke (41/5432) and Ovington Mill (41/5631), and three stations on the 
Candover Stream, a tributary of the Itchen near Abbotstone (41/5634). 

Insects were sampled at the water margin using a sweep net, supplemented by 
direct capture using a pooter. Although a wide range of taxa was taken, only flies, 
caddis and dragonflies were identified in all samples. Occasional beetles, bugs, 
crickets and stoneflies were identified. 

Species were allocated to simple habitat groups based on their known biology. The 
categories were streams, ponds, water margins, fen and other wet places but not 
necessarily the water edge, grassland and woodland. The habitat of some species was 
unknown and others were “tourists” in the river margin context, although they may 
have been specific to other habitats such as heathlands. 


RESULTS 


Two hundred and forty species were identified, dominated by 210 flies. Craneflies 
(Tipuloidea) were not kept in their separate stations and were later identified by Alan 
Stubbs. A full species list is given in Drake (1995). Four red data book (RDB) species 
and 12 nationally scarce species were recorded (Table 1). One of these, the 


166 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


scathophagid fly Cosmetopus dentimanus, was the second British record (Drake & 
Ball, in press). Nine of the nationally rare or scarce species are associated with water 
margins. These species were found most often on unfenced water margins although a 
few were also found along fenced sections. Another three species are found in 
fenland or wet grassland and one in grassland, and these were found mainly along 
fenced sections of stream-bank. None of the rare or scarce species was found with 
any great frequency. The southern damselfly Coenagrion mercuriale was present at 
three of the four sampling stations at Itchen County Park where it has a thriving 
colony (Mayo & Welstead, 1983, and subsequent observations) and the empid Hilara 
woodi was found at two stations at Twyford Moors and at the Candover Stream. 
Two craneflies normally found in carr woodland, Limonia lucida and Pilaria 
fuscipennis, may have strayed from their more typical habitat. 

Some nationally uncommon species were frequently recorded. The sepsid Themira 
superba (Hal.), whose larvae probably feed in dung-enriched wet mud, was 
particularly common at most trampled sites but absent from fenced margins. 
Parydra aquila (Fallén), an ephydrid whose larvae probably live in shallow water or 
saturated margins, was also found mainly at trampled stations. Two dolichopodids 
had contrasting preferences, Dolichopus campestris Meig. being found only at fenced 
stations, whereas Syntormon denticulatus (Zett.), in common with most other 
dolichopodids, was present mainly at trampled sites. Several other frequently 
recorded species were probably no more frequent at trampled sites than at fenced 
ones: the hoverfly Neoascia tenur (Harris), the empids Platypalpus pallidicornis 
(Collin) and Hilara obscura Meig., the dolichopodid Teuchophorus spinigerellus 
(Zett.) and the scathophagid Cleigastra apicalis (Meig.). The location of capture of 
craneflies was not known so their association with fenced or unfenced margins could 
not be assessed. However, Helius flavus (Walk.), a species associated with emergent 


Table 1. Nationally scarce (notable) and rare (red data book, RBD) species recorded from 
several sites along the Itchen valley. National statuses are defined in Ball (1994) and were 
obtained from Recorder (Ball, 1992); the prefix “‘p” indicates a provisional status. |CP—Itchen 
Country Park; TM—Twyford Moors; WM—Winnall Moors; IS—Itchen Stoke; OM— 
Ovington Mill; CS—Candover Stream. 


Status ICP TM WM IS OM CS 


ODONATA 

Coenagiidae Coenagrion mercuriale (Charp.) RDB3 ss 

DIPTERA 

Tipulidae Limonia lucida (de Meijere) Notable - 
Pilaria fuscipennis (Meig.) Notable oa 
Cheilotrichia imbuta (Meig.) Notable - 

Stratiomyidae  Beris fuscipes Meig. Notable id 
Oxycera morrissii Curt. Notable * 
Vanoyia tenuicornis (Macq.) Notable * 

Hybotidae Platypalpus infectus (Collin) pRDB3 “3 
Syneches muscarius (F.) pRDB2 “a 

Empididae Hilara woodi Collin Notable i a 

Dolichopodidae Hercostomus plagiatus (Loew) Notable . 
Campsicnemus pectinulatus Loew Notable * * 

Syrphidae Neoascia geniculata (Meig.) Notable z 4 

Lauxanidae Sapromyza opaca Becker Notable a 


Chloropidae Elachiptera pubescens (Thalh.) Notable * 
Scathophagidae Cosmetopus dentimanus (Zett.) RDB1 ss 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 167 


Table 2. The mean percentage (+95% confidence limits) of species in four habitat groups at 
fenced and unfenced margins. n=number of stations. 


Number of species Unfenced (n=10) Fenced (n=4) 


Water edge species 80 Sl3} 327/58) 36.84+9.9 
Fen species 33 14.8+3.9 WES Ey: 
Grassland species 36 20.0+3.7 24.348.3 
Tourists Pap) 9.5+5.0 12.5+6.7 


plants, was widespread, showing that its habitat was not eliminated by grazing, for 
example at the Candover stream which had a broad fringe dominated by yellow iris 
Tris pseudacorus L. and reed canary grass Phalaris arundinacea L. 

There were differences in the frequency of occurrence of some common species 
between fenced and unfenced stretches. Water-margin species that were most often 
found on trampled margins were the saldid bug Saldula saltatoria (L.), a predatory 
species that hunts over bare mud, the empid Clinocera stagnalis (Hal.) whose larvae 
probably develop on saturated margins or in shallow water and whose adults sit 
about on muddy margins, the dolichopodid Syntormon pallipes (F.), the ephydrid 
Scatella paludum (Meig.) whose larvae develop in saturated mud and whose adults 
abound on its surface, the muscid Lispe tentaculata (Deg.) whose adults hunt on bare 
mud, the sepsid Themira minor (Hal.) and the scathophagid Norellisoma spinimanum 
(Fallen). The only species in this water-margin group that was obviously more 
frequent at fenced sites was Anthomyza collini Andersson, which is an anthomyzid 
inquiline of galls of other Diptera in tall emergent plants such as common reed 
Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin., so it is not surprising that this species was not 
favoured by grazing. The craneflies Erioptera fusculenta Edw., E. fuscipennis Meig. 
and E. trivialis Meig. are usually abundant at sites with bare mud (A. Stubbs, pers. 
comm.) and were numerous at trampled sites including Candover Stream and Itchen 
Country Park. They were absent from Itchen Stoke where there was limited bare 
mud, but instead bare chalk where the bank was grazed. 

Among the grassland species that showed clear differences in occurrence between 
fenced and unfenced sites were the sepsids Sepsis cynipsea (L.) and S. orthocnemis 
Frey, and the scathophagid Scathophaga stercoraria (L.), which all develop in cattle 
dung, and the soldierfly Chloromyia formosa (Scop.) whose larva is a detritivore in 
grassland; all were more frequent where stock had access. Species that were more 
abundant at fenced sites were the opomyzid Opomyza petrei Mesnil and perhaps also 
the chloropid Cetema neglecta Tonnoir, both of which have grass-mining larvae. 

In general, most of the common species were not obviously distributed differently 
between fenced and unfenced sites, even though their biology suggests that they might 
prefer one type to the other. However, casual observations made while collecting the 
samples suggested that some grassland species were more numerous in the taller 
vegetation by fenced margins, and that some water-margin species were particularly 
abundant at trampled sites, even though a few individuals were also found at fenced sites. 

Because sampling effort was uneven, the numbers of species in each of the habitat 
groups was expressed as a percentage of the total recorded, and these were compared 
between fenced and unfenced margins. Most groups were represented by too few 
species to show any real differences, but species of water edge, fen and grassland, and 
tourists were numerous (Table 2). The sample from Ovington Mill was excluded 
because the site was atypical, being next to scrubby, ungrazed fen. Although none of 
the mean values were significantly different, there was a notably larger percentage of 


168 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


water-edge species along unfenced margins than along fenced margins. There was a 
similarly large, although non-significant, difference in the percentage of uncommon 
and scarce water-edge species alone between unfenced and fenced margins 
(17.4+7.6% and 11.0+12.1%, respectively). The percentages of fenland and 
grassland species were much the same for both groups of sites. 


DISCUSSION 


The survey showed that the river-edge fauna contained some nationally rare or 
scarce species. Most of these were found on unfenced margins where cattle had 
trampled the edges and partially grazed the taller vegetation. Unfenced margins also 
supported a slightly greater proportion of water-margin species, both common and 
uncommon, than did unfenced edges. Few species of note seemed to be more 
frequent at fenced sites and none was apparently confined to these. 

Mild trampling helps to restore some of physical diversity lost through flood 
defence work and other modifications made to improve conditions for salmonid 
fishing. If the river was allowed to develop a natural pool and riffle structure, there 
would be plenty of areas of bare silt left by normal deposition processes, and perhaps 
areas of sparse vegetation suppressed by annual inundation. These features would be 
interspersed with margins dominated by tall vegetation, forming a linear matrix where 
each species would be able to find its niche. Fast-flowing water and a clean, silt-free 
bottom, suitable for fish and aquatic invertebrates that require these conditions, would 
also be present. In the absence of a natural flow regime, allowing stock access to parts 
of the banks replaces this natural variation, at least in the structure of the bank where 
much of the invertebrate interest of these rivers lies. It is not suggested that the whole 
length of the river should be subjected to trampling or that it should be heavy and 
damaging, as undoubtedly it is along some stretches of this river. Only one station in 
this survey had been damaged by trampling (at Itchen Country Park) and all the 
others had a more diverse physical structure as a result of the cattle’s activity. Low- 
intensity grazing along, say, half of the river’s length would achieve the desired result. 

The tentative conclusion that lightly cattle-trampled margins are superior habitat 
to fenced margins for river-edge species needs to be tested more rigorously using a 
wider selection of lowland rivers and invertebrate groups. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
I thank Dr Jon Cox for instigating this survey and arranging access. 


REFERENCES 


Ball, S. G. 1992. Recorder: an environmental recording package for Local Record Centres. 
Peterborough: English Nature. 

Ball, S. G. 1994. The Invertebrate Site Register—objectives and achievements. Br. J. Ent. Nat. 
Hist. 7(Suppl. 1): 2-14. 

Biggs, J., Corfield, A., Walker, D., Whitfield, M. & Williams, P. 1994. New approaches to the 
management of ponds. Br. Wildlife, 5: 273-287. 

Dolman, P. 1993. Trampling of pond margins. Br. Wildlife 4: 243-244. 

Drake, C. M. 1995. A brief survey of the insects of river banks with or without grazing along the 
River Itchen. English Nature Research Reports No 135. Peterborough: English Nature. 

Drake, C. M. in press. Factors influencing the species richness of aquatic invertebrates in 
grazing marsh ditches. In: J. Harpley (ed.) Nature conservation and the management of 
drainage system habitat. International Centre of Landscape Ecology, Loughborough 
University. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 169 


Drake C. M. & Ball, S. G. in press. The second record of Cosmetopus dentimanus (Zetterstedt) 
(Diptera: Scathophagidae). Dipterist’s Digest. 

Lott, D. 1992. A survey report on the terrestrial beetles of riparian habitats along the River 
Soar near Loughborough, Leicestershire, March—October, 1991. Unpublished report, 
Leicestershire Museums Service, Leicester. 

Mayo, M. C. A. & Welstead, A. R. 1983. Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier) on the flood 
plain of the River Itchen and River Test in Hampshire. J. Br. Dragonfly Soc. 1: 20-21. 

Summers, D. 1994. Livestock and stream banks. Enact 2: 21-23. 


LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


County names.—I was interested to read the editorial on county names (Br. J. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. 1995; 8: 27-32). For over 30 years I have kept all my records of insects on 
5"x 3" filing cards (over 50000 of them by now!) and have always filed them in 
drawers under the vice-county names. I take no notice of the modern administrative 
county names as they cover too big an area. It is almost useless to have a record 
simply listed as “Gwynedd” when this county stretches for 100 miles from N. 
Anglesey to S. Merioneth. 

Referring to Gwynedd, which includes Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merioneth, 
I am puzzled by the omission of this name from the list when Clwyd, which covers 
Denbighshire and Flintshire in North Wales (not “several” former counties) is 
included. Also baffling is the reference to Caernarfonshire as the mainland part of 
VC 49; this vice-county is only mainland, apart from Bardsey Island at the tip of the 
Lleyn Peninsula, and one or two tiny little islets. The reference at this point to 
Anglesey is confusing; while it is now included in Gwynedd, it was never part of 
Caernarfonshire. 

One of the name problems I have found, especially in the older journals, is the use 
of “Caernarfon” (or “Caernarvon’’), ‘“‘Flint” and “Denbigh” where it is not at all 
clear from the context whether the reference is to the town of Flint or the county of 
Flintshire. To avoid this confusion I always abbreviate the counties as Caerns., 
Flints. and Denbs., which makes it quite clear that one is not referring to the county 
towns. The terminal s is used in this way in, for example, the abbreviation of 
Bedfordshire so as not to confuse it with the town of Bedford. Of course this 
confusion would not arise if grid references and more details were added, but they 
are not always provided.—JOAN MORGAN, School of Biological Sciences, University 
of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW. 


Reply by the Editor—My thanks to Joan Morgan for her astute observations. Of 
course, Gwynedd should have been in the list of names, but luckily is short enough 
not to warrant any abbreviation. Hopefully references to Denbigh and Caernarfon 
(or Caernarvon) will always signify the towns, while Denb. and Caer. the vice- 
counties. However, the possible confusion over Flintshire would be solved by 
accepting Flints. as the vice-county abbreviation. Buck’s original list was only of 
“suggested abbreviations” and this is all I can claim for my revision. Although I 
hope the list can form a basis for conserving space in the journal, it must to some 
extent remain up to individual authors to try and avoid needless confusion between 
similar sounding place names.—RICHARD A. JONES, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, 
London SE15 3DE. 


170 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


BENHS WORKSHOP 


8 April 1995, The National Network for Recording Britain’s Moths: 
the way forward 


The accompanying photograph shows some of those who attended the 
penultimate workshop of the BENHS 1994/5 season at Dinton Pastures. On this 
occasion the subject was the National Network for Recording Britain’s Moths. The 
workshop consisted of an introductory session explaining how the network was set 
up and operates, the importance of county recorders, other sources of information 
and some of the products of the network to date, including a draft atlas of Britain’s 
rarer macros. A range of nationally scarce species were discussed for which members, 
together with local branches of Butterfly Conservation and other moth groups, could 
help develop our knowledge of their distribution and habits. Techniques for finding 
these moths were demonstrated. In the afternoon there were several sessions 
demonstrating computer databases and their advantages in sorting data and plotting 
maps. This included a problem-solving session for more experienced users. In 
parallel there were informal presentations and discussion groups by several county 
moth recorders and Butterfly Conservation officers dealing with their work and ways 
of developing moth recording in the future. 

Council would like to thank all leaders of this year’s workshops, all members who 
attended and Ian McLean, Indoor Meetings Secretary, for putting together such an 
interesting and wide-ranging programme and ensuring that the workshops have run 
smoothly on the day. 


“niece 


BENHS workshop, 8 April 1995. Left to right, standing: G. Collins, G. Revill, J. Clarke, D. 
Coleman, I. Rutherford, S. Jeffcoate, P. Winter, R. Barnett, M. New, M. Albertini, —, —, R. 
Soutar, S. Lucas, P. Fleming; front: G. Jeffcoate, S. Carson, R. Kendrick, A. Pym, I. Sims, P. 
Waring. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 171 


A CORRECTION TO BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION’S CLAIMED 
ATTITUDES IN INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION 


ALAN E. STUBBS 
181 Broadway, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PEI 4DS. 


On 12 May 1992 BENHS held a discussion meeting to consider invertebrate 
conservation in the United Kingdom (Miles, 1995). The meeting covered a lot of 
ground and was clearly a valuable occasion for views to be expressed. In the 
published report there are a number of statements about the attitudes of Butterfly 
Conservation which misrepresent its position, most certainly in today’s context. As 
one who has been closely involved with both societies, particularly so with the issues 
raised, the National Conservation Officer has asked me to reply. 


BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION AS A SOCIETY 


Under its former public name of British Butterfly Conservation Society, it began 
over 25 years ago in a small way, reflecting the attitudes of those who founded the 
society. The constitutional motives were laudable but there was an image problem in 
some quarters. Nonetheless, worthwhile advance was made and the Society grew, 
attracting in some of the entomologists with good expertise who were keen to see the 
society adapt to the challenges ahead. 

Few outside Butterfly Conservation will be fully aware of just how profound a 
change has taken place. A Director was appointed with office support and a 
membership drive trebled the membership to 10 000 in three years. That post has not 
been refilled; instead emphasis has been focused on building up a team of 
professional conservation staff. Thus in very recent years, there has been the 
appointment of a National Conservation Officer, Martin Warren (a leading butterfly 
conservation researcher), an Assistant Conservation Officer, Paul Kirkland (with 
much experience in site management and formerly with Cumbria Wildlife Trust) and 
a Projects Officer, Linda Barnett (a moth specialist who is drawing up action plans 
for 25 butterflies and national and regional action plans for butterflies as a whole). 
These three are based in the Society’s Dorset office. In addition, Paul Waring is 
working half-time on the national review of scarce macro moths, via a contract with 
the society from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 

There is a great deal of other expertise that the society can draw on, including 
professional researchers and some quite remarkable amateur research specialists. 
There are now 26 branches of the society in the UK effecting local action, some with 
considerable expertise, others still developing. Until the national action plan is in 
place in about three years time there will be some variation in priorities. It would 
take many pages to spell out all that the society is doing, such as being the lead 
society for a new butterfly atlas in the closing years of the century, called the 
Millennium Project. 

The society has an executive committee that attends to the business end of things. 
There are other committees for the advancement of various functions. These include 
the conservation committee to whom the scientific staff are directly responsible. All 
policies concerned with entomological conservation are the province of this 
committee, with a membership of wide expertise. I am on that committee and see 
my role as ensuring that the wider context of policies is evaluated. 

It is important to add two points. Firstly, the constitution of Butterfly Conservation 
embraces ‘Lepidoptera’, and the direct promotion of moth conservation is now 


172 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


being advanced vigorously at both national and branch levels. The conservation of 
fauna and flora as a whole is allowed for but the emphasis is on the Lepidoptera. 
Secondly, the society is now accepted as belonging to the ranks of leading 
conservation agencies, for instance being a full partner in the authorship of 
Biodiversity challenge, a review document setting out targets for conservation, and 
largely accepted by government within the framework for conservation over the 
next ten years (the other partners were FoE, PlantLife, RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and 
WWE). Thus Butterfly Conservation has gone well beyond its original butterfly 
role. In the case of Biodiversity challenge, the opportunity to ensure the needs of all 
invertebrates were taken into account was covered by deploying a member with 
wide invertebrate conservation experience, in this case, myself. 


BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION’S ATTITUDE TO COLLECTING 


A society whose purpose is conservation either picks up the image that it is against 
all collecting or it is accused of hypocrisy if its members are collecting. With 10 000 
members, most of whom joined because they like to see butterflies alive, those who 
collect are in the minority. 

In the paper published by BENHS, both the opening address and the discussion 
sessions expressed concern about the anti-collecting attitude of Butterfly Conserva- 
tion. That is understandable, indeed it would be far more worrying if the accusation 
was one of the hypocrisy of unnecessary collecting. 

Everyone knows collecting is a fraught issue and that it is impossible to please all 
the people all the time. Butterfly Conservation has been addressing this issue to 
determine where, within its membership, the boundaries should come. The 
conservation committee has devised a policy, which should be published shortly, 
and if it is seen as closely resembling the stance that you know I have been favouring 
over the years, then I admit to being the person who drafted the text. 

The Butterfly Conservation guidelines closely follow the JCCBI code on collecting, 
which all leading entomological societies have endorsed. That code asks for restraint 
with regard to scarce species, and advises there should be no collecting at all with 
regard to the most vulnerable species. The justification for taking moths for 
identification and vouchers is upheld, as indeed are such purposes within 
invertebrates as a whole. The society is somewhat tougher in that it cannot endorse 
the collecting of butterflies for collecting’s sake and effectively has a hands off policy 
with all the rare and scarce species, including scarce races etc. The guidelines do, 
however, allow for some flexibility with common species, in particular the finding 
and keeping of a few caterpillars to learn about their life history. There is room for 
openness for those with special needs. 

The membership will be asked to accept these guidelines. The predominant anti- 
collecting members have to see the justification for taking and killing insects. Those 
in favour of some flexibility have to know that their reasonable needs, which are 
necessary to support the conservation efforts via survey and study, are understood 
and accepted within the society. 

Hopefully other entomological societies will feel comfortable with a fellow society 
adopting the needs and purpose of these guidelines. The one point that Butterfly 
Conservation has to be tougher on is butterfly collecting, which is anathema these 
days in so many conservation circles. I led a BENHS discussion meeting on this topic 
(Stubbs, 1982) which concluded that there was no general justification that would 
hold the respect of the conservation movement. Anyone with particular needs ought 
to discuss these openly with local conservation bodies and site owners. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 173 


WOULD BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION PROMOTE THE CONSERVATION OF A SITE 
CONTAINING NO INTERESTING BUTTERFLIES? 


This was question 11 of the opening address by Stephen Miles. It will be evident 
from the above account that about 2400 species of moths come directly within the 
society’s ambit, and macro-moths are already getting serious treatment. When 
deciding on the case for making a Butterfly Conservation reserve, or in the 
management or defence of a site, all invertebrates are taken into account, indeed the 
society welcomes collaboration with other specialists. However, the constitution and 
resources of the society require it to concentrate on the Lepidoptera. Most sites have 
some potential for Lepidoptera, and it is always helpful to have real bullets to fire. 
More generally, the society sees its remit as including support of the wider efforts to 
ensure a future for habitats of importance for plants and animals. This was the case 
with Biodiversity challenge and will no doubt increasingly be the case on many site- 
related issues. 


BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION AND ITS WIDER ROLE 


As expressed in Stephen Miles’s report, ‘a major concern of the meeting was that 
Butterfly Conservation could take over as the main conservation organization for 
invertebrates, as it is keen to take on a wider role’. Part of that concern was that ‘it 
might set the agenda for the issue of butterfly collecting’. The commentary continued 
‘Butterfly Conservation is viewed as a large society of non-specialists, as is the RSPB, 
however, that organization is very successful’. 

Well, it is for others to take their view based on what they see and hear of Butterfly 
Conservation. The points not already covered need to be put in perspective. 

We all want entomologists to be better understood and the needs of entomologists, 
and the future of invertebrates, to be taken seriously in all the quarters that matter. 
There are two ways in which this can be accomplished. There is personal 
responsibility, to get involved with the conservation bodies and to utilize one’s 
expertise to good effect. There is also corporate responsibility through the 
entomological societies to which we belong, including our influence on non- 
entomological societies and the official arms of local and central government, 
including the wildlife agencies (these issues were addressed in Stubbs, 1982). 

What is the track record over the last 25 years? The three leading national 
entomological societies have made little headway on the ground in influencing 
conservation until recently. All credit to the Amateur Entomologists’ Society for at 
least having a conservation group and for publishing its well-received book on insect 
conservation (Fry & Lonsdale, 1991). BENHS has only just begun a conservation 
group. The Royal Entomological Society has tended to duck potentially 
controversial conservation issues. As a member of all three, and as such part of 
that blame could rest on me, the memberships have not shown a strong desire to roll 
up their shirt sleeves and take action for conservation. The Joint Committee for the 
Conservation of British Invertebrates (JCCBI), of which I was a founder member 
and one-time representative of BENHS, has hardly been a driving force for joint 
action by the societies, except with regard to codes, and it is now trying to re-vamp 
itself after a near-death experience. The Nature Conservancy Council did much 
behind the scenes to get entomology onto a serious footing, and over 2000 people 
have submitted information to the Invertebrate Site Register which has had an 
immense impact on site evaluation, management and defence. The ISR continues to 
run and after a lot of pressure, all four subsequent agencies have entomological 


174 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


specialists, but they have not got the capacity to get involved on the ground in all the 
local issues that concern, or should concern us. When entomologists want action, 
they must take action. ° 

If Butterfly Conservation emerges as the largest voluntary entomological 
organization, with a conservation constitution and professional entomological 
staff, and a national network of branches to co-ordinate and effect local action, is 
one to applaud or say how dreadful this day has become? In the real world, Butterfly 
Conservation is in the strongest position to take forward a coherent national action 
plan for Lepidoptera, indeed is already doing so, but this can only be fully effective if 
lepidopterists as a whole give their support to this venture. It is not a question of 
Butterfly Conservation taking over, for there has been little that other societies have 
done to take over. For instance at Wildlife Link in the last year or so, it is Butterfly 
Conservation representatives (as full members) that have been covering for 
invertebrates in the absence of a JCCBI representative for other societies. If 
Butterfly Conservation is invited into partnership with other leading conservation 
societies, as with Biodiversity challenge, this can only be to the wider good of 
increasing the profile and acceptability of the entomological cause; indeed all 
societies were invited to be part of the action through their names being up front as 
endorsing the document. 

Hopefully other societies will be encouraged that it is possible to generate a large 
membership, and resources to take action, when conservation is given a high profile. 
Butterfly Conservation is not trying to take over but it is, for the present, finding 
itself in a position of opportunity to provide some cover whilst other societies 
develop their conservation groups. Butterfly Conservation has no current intention 
of becoming an all-invertebrates society, the Lepidoptera needing plenty of attention. 
In the longer term who can say, but all societies should even now be working more 
closely together in order to draw upon their strengths and cover for each other over 
any weakness, since the conservation battle does not wait for ideal structures. 


REFERENCES 


Fry, R. & Lonsdale, D. (Eds.) 1991. Habitat conservation for insects—a neglected green issue. 
The Amateur Entomologist 15. Amateur Entomologists’ Society. 

Miles, S. R. 1995. Report of the discussion meeting held on 12 May 1992 to consider 
invertebrate conservation in the United Kingdom. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 19-26. 

Stubbs, A. E. 1982. Conservation and the future for the field entomologist. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. Soc. 15: 55-67. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


A National Pyralid Recording Scheme has recently been launched. The first 
newsletter, which contains full details of how to contribute to the scheme, is available 
from Tony Davis, The Rangers House, Cricket Hill Lane, Yateley, Camberley, 
Surrey, GU17 7BB. An SAE would be appreciated. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 175 


OBITUARY 
BASIL JOSEPH MACNULTY Ph.D., B.Sc., F.R.I.C., F.R.E.S. 


Basil MacNulty died suddenly on 12th April 1994 at his home in Rhossili, on the 
Gower Peninsula. He was born on 14th June 1915 and spent his early childhood in 
Leighton Buzzard. When he was ten the family moved to Wimbledon where he later 
attended Wimbledon College before going on to London University. Basil read 
chemistry and remained there until 1939 taking his Ph.D. and teaching. Shortly 
before the outbreak of war he joined the War Office, working in research and 
development of explosives, initially at Woolwich and later in South Wales when the 
establishment was evacuated from London. 

It was while involved in this war work that Basil met and married his wife Dodo as 
well as developing his abiding love for the Gower Peninsula. After the war his career 
with the Ministry caused him to be posted at different times to The Woolwich Arsenal, 
Runcorn in Cheshire and Waltham Abbey where the family lived for 19 years, but 
perhaps the posting of most interest to him, certainly entomologically, was to Nigeria 
between 1952 and 1958. Here he worked in the Tropical Testing Establishment and was 
able to make an extensive collection of West African insects, especially Lepidoptera 
and Coleoptera. He was later to publish much material based on this period. 

Basil’s interest in insects had begun, as for so many of us, at a very early age, with 
the pursuit of butterflies, and there are family stories of his early collecting from the 
age of six. During the period that he lived in Waltham Abbey he had started 
collecting beetles as well as Lepidoptera and this added interest was to flourish. 
During the time he spent in London he worked the Home Counties extensively with, 
the then revolutionary, M.V. light and was rewarded on 13th June 1952 at Worth 
Forest with one of the very few Lithacodia deceptoria Scop. ever taken. 

Basil, who was an honorary member of our Society, first joined in 1931 and was 
prominent in our affairs for many years. He was a long-serving member of Council 


ce : 
2s 


Basil MacNulty, 1915-1994. 


176 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


acting as Secretary between 1961 and 1968 and then as President in 1970. He will be 
especially well known to the majority of our members for his work over many years 
in organizing the annual dinner, and to those stalwarts who regularly attend for the 
introduction, after a long campaign, of the toast to “the founding fathers’. This 
annual toast won against the prevailing tradition of no speeches will surely continue 
as an affectionate tribute to Basil. Over the years that Basil stood up to propose this 
toast it developed its own traditions with a feigned reluctance to rise, and the annual 
retelling of the story of the search for knotgrass by two of our founders. 

Basil, was also a long-standing fellow of the Royal Entomological Society which 
he joined in 1957, and a keen supporter of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society. Basil 
had two retirements, from his Ministry of Defence career in the mid-seventies when 
he moved on to research at Leeds University, and finally in 1983. Basil was able to 
join his wife in the house at Rhossili which they had bought in 1974 and assist her 
with running her guest-house. 

He worked here on a list of the moths of the Gower as well as devoting much time 
to the, as yet unpublished, volume of The moths and butterflies of Britain and Ireland 
on geometers, drafting sections on Sterrhinae and Ennominae. Basil was keenly 
interested in the structure of pupae of Lepidoptera and encouraged his friends to let 
him have the exuviae of species they were breeding. Again his work on this area 
remained unpublished at his death. His presidential address to our Society was on 
the little-studied association of mites with insects. Amongst the numerous articles 
and notes which he contributed to the entomological press over the years may be 
mentioned in particular the series “Outline life histories of some West African 
Lepidoptera” which was published between 1966 and 1970 in our “Proceedings and 
Transactions” as then was, and a series published in the Bulletin of the Amateur 
Entomologist’s Society entitled ‘““So you want to study beetles”’. 

All his notes and unfinished entomological research were passed to the National 
Museum of Wales together with the British part of his collection which numbered 
some twenty thousand specimens of Lepidoptera and beetles. The West African 
collections went to the Natural History Museum at South Kensington and contained 
6000 specimens and much biological information. 

Basil was a gregarious man with a love of good food and wine as well as company and 
could usually be found at the annual social gatherings of our society and its sisters deep 
in conversation. I well remember an occasion when my wife and I had been collecting 
with him on the Gower, a memorable night when we had watched phosphorescence on 
the sea, and carried generators nearly a mile over soft sand, returning to his home for 
him to open a bottle of Chateau Yquem at two in the morning! 

Despite living so far from London, Basil kept involved with Society affairs to the 
end, always attending the Annual Exhibition and that of the AES as well as paying 
frequent visits to the Natural History Museum in connection with his research. He 
attended a Council Meeting to discuss dinner arrangements as recently as 1993. He did 
however feel somewhat cut off from other collectors and was always keen to go out 
collecting with those who visited him in Gower, confessing on the last such occasion I 
visited him that it was the first time that year that he had been out with the ‘engine’. 

Basil enjoyed a wide range of interests and was an accomplished actor and keen 
member of amateur dramatic societies in his younger days, on one occasion touring 
Ireland with a theatrical company. He wrote poetry and several plays for relaxation, 
one of which was produced in Croydon. 

Basil was such a well known member of the entomological fraternity that he will 
long be remembered both for the work he performed and for his good fellowship and 
humour. We extend our sympathy to his family in their loss. 

A. J. PICKLES 


TAY ORATi Vista. 


ow bia a am 


» 


: 
4 
>) 


. e 
a | or 
nS f 7 i 
Law wel) ae 
tion al ; 
% ia ays 
th pi ite ‘i 
9 - - 
. oo) 
fr 
ee i;, 
Os ’ ~ ' 
: = me ma - a: mi ; ¥ ; 
y ay ats : e 
often i pets,’ : | es 
j i 
= : 
i id 
a 
7 } 
mint : 
4 . 
Ps ' ) 
all : 
a) i La 
a R bt é x sl 
i #\ ‘ 
, rary 
fi ‘, : 
fae 
( / oa . 
ay 
| » 
ore te Bs | { 
oe roe ‘ 
av Le I oes 
. fain, a 
7 + Se, OY OR i, 4 
; a Wo ple @ rani ( : 
wns twee 7 Sage pte 5 . , Sol 
i vig SEE a oe ola Pia BPs 


ac =e iin eran 1a.% wun, seems 


7 4s were q — 
Apa IEEE SWNIN, Cale + 


Plate Il. ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1994 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 177 


1994 ANNUAL EXHIBITION 
Imperial College, London SW7—22 October 1994 


The following account of exhibits has been compiled by R. D. G. Barrington 
(British butterflies), B. Elliot (British Macrolepidoptera), J. M. Chalmers-Hunt 
(British Microlepidoptera), B. Goater (Foreign Lepidoptera), P. J. Chandler 
(Diptera), P. J. Hodge (Coleoptera), R. A. Jones (Hemiptera), A. J. Halstead 
(Hymenoptera and other orders), and R. Dyke (illustrations). The photographs for 
the two colour plates were taken by D. E. Wilson and the cost of printing these plates 
was met by a grant from the Hammond Memorial Fund. 


BRITISH BUTTERFLIES 


BAILEY, K. E. J.—A bred series of what may prove to be a new aberration of 
Eurodryas aurinia Rott. in which the fulvous markings are darkened to deep red and 
the normally pale markings reduced to a grey colour. These characteristics are 
apparent on both surfaces. This form was first noticed in the pupal stage because 
those pupae that were to produce aberrations were ‘black and white’, lacking any 
orange markings at all. This makes it one of the very few recorded aberrations in 
Butterflies in which the gene/s involved affect the coloration of more than one stage 
in the life cycle (others have been found in Pieris brassicae L. and the American 
species Colias philodoce Godt.). The exhibitor is maintaining the stock to investigate 
the genetics. 

Mr Bailey’s experiments with temperature shocks on the pupae of butterflies has 
extended successfully now from the nymphalids to the smaller fritillaries. Included 
from the current year’s work were a marvellous, almost entirely black, Boloria selene 
L. ab. zeta Mots. (Plate II, Fig. 7) and an extreme B. euphrosyne L. ab. edna Lobb 
with long silver streaks on the underside of the hindwings. These were produced by 
cold-shocking both late larvae and the new pupae. A series of E. aurinia ab. sebaldus 
Schultz were produced by cold-shock to the pupae only. Extreme, temperature- 
induced, forms of Vanessa atalanta L. ab. klemsiewiczi Schille and Ladoga camilla L. 
ab. nigrina Weymer were also shown. 

A series of variations of Pararge aegeria L. ab. cockaynei Goodson including 
several of a curious form having the third spot in the hindwing band enlarged and the 
rest absent or nearly so (in cockaynei, all the spots usually tend towards 
obsolescence). 


PLATE Il. ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1994 

1: Colias croceus, male, ab. nov. bred Sawley, Hants, 9.x.1994, A. S. Harmer. 2: 
Lycaena dispar ab. radiata, bred 2nd brood, 1994, P. A. Standing. 3: Pyronia 
tithonus ab. obsoletissima, bred F3, 1994, R. C. Dennis. 4: Cynthia cardui 
melanic, Uffington, Oxon, 7.viii1994, E. W. Classey. 5: Argynnis paphia ab. 
ocellata, Hampshire, 1994, A. M. Jones. 6: Ochlodes venata ab. fuscus, Dorset, 
15.vi1994, P. Tebbutt. 7: Boloria selene ab. zeta, cold shock, bred 1994, K.E. J. 
Bailey. 8: Eurodryas aurinia ab. virgata, bred 1994, A.M. Jones. 9: Polyommatus 
icarus melanic, Isle of Skye, 27.vi.1993, W. G. Tremewan. 10: Bittacomorpha 
clavipes, Ontario, Canada, 8.viii.1994, A. E. Stubbs. 11: Melanargia galathea, Mt 
Venteux, Provence, France, 12. vii.1994, H. J. Elston. 12: Pterostichus kugelanni, 
Bicton Common, Woodbury, S. Devon, D. |. B. Hoare. 


178 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


BARRINGTON, R. D. G—Two forms of Pararge aegeria L. showing variation in 
the eye-spot size. A captured male ab. parviocellata Lempke had the hindwings spots 
almost entirely absent and a bred female ab. schmidti Dioz had them considerably 
enlarged. The latter was bred in the F, brood from an extreme female captured in 
Wiltshire in September 1993. Apart from the exhibited specimen only typical 
examples and minor forms were bred in both F, and F, broods. This would seem to 
be a multifactorial form. 

Aberrations of Lysandra coridon Poda including males ab. parallela B. & L. and 
ab. postdiscoelongata B. & L. and females ab. inaequalis Cockayne, ab. discreta B. & 
L. and ab. caeca B. & L. A male E. aurinia ab. virgata Tutt and a bred aberration of 
Aglais urticae L. having the hindwing red band almost eliminated by dark scaling 
and with large blue lunules on all wings. This was the only aberration to emerge from 
a large brood reared under natural conditions. 

BRITTON, M. R.—Polyommatus icarus Rott. and forms of Aricia agestis L. from 
Yorkshire. 

CALLOW, M.—A female aberration of Pararge aegeria with enlarged areas of pale 
markings on the forewings (the same form as that illustrated on the Annual 
Exhibition plate for 1989 which has been shown to be controlled by a recessive gene). 
This specimen emerged in an F, generation of 81 insects from type stock. It was the 
only aberration in the brood. 

Two male Anthocharis cardamines L. showing homoeosis, with thin streaks of 
underside hindwing coloration on the underside of one forewing. This is 
the most frequently recorded form of homoeosis in the species. Five specimens 
emerged from 300 pupae. Although homoeosis has been shown to be an 
inherited form in some other animals this has not yet been proved in butterflies. 
Attempts have been made to breed from homoeotic forms in both Lycaena phlaeas L. 
(up to the F, brood) and Pieris brassicae L. (up to the F,), but no further 
aberrations were bred. It may yet be shown to have a heritable basis or it may occur 
due to a genetic imbalance between the parents. A bred Strymonidia pruni L. 
with a streak of orange on the underside of the right forewing. This had the 
appearance of a homoeotic form but was more likely to be an instance of 
uneven development of the pattern. A captured Argynnis paphia L. ab. confluens 
Spuler. 

CLASSEY, E. W.—An aberration of Cynthia cardui L. taken at Uffington, 
7.viii.1994 in which the outer third of the forewings was predominantly black (Plate 
II, Fig. 4). 

DENNIS, R. C.—Specimens from an F; generation of Pyronia tithonus L. ab. caeca 
Tutt. Details of the first two broods were given in the report of exhibits for the 1993 
Annual Exhibition. The parents for the F; lacked the double white pupils of the 
apical spots and had the hindwing spots obsolete. The F; included a male of the very 
rare obsoletissima Leeds with the forewing eyespot absent on one side and 
represented by just a pin-prick on the other. There are very few recorded examples 
of this form (Plate II, Fig. 3). 

Some bred aberrations of Anthocharis cardamines L. from the collection of the late 
Reg Griffiths. This included two fine gynandrous examples, one a mainly female 
insect with a streak of male apical orange on each forewing, the other almost halved 
but with some female coloration in the apical area of the male side. 

FENSOME, B.—Two male Polyommatus icarus Rott ab. livida Gillmer with grey 
uppersides but typical undersides bred from ab. radiata Courv. stock, and a selection 
of bred ab. radiata forms. A wild captured male showing radiata on the hindwings 
and a good male radiata on all wings from S. Lincs. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 179 


A captured male Lysandra coridon Poda ab. striata B. & L., a pale male 
Lycaena phlaeas L. ab. cuprinus Peyer taken in May 1994 and a curious Pararge 
aegeria L. with all markings darkened and indistinct, captured in Bedfordshire, 
March 1994. 

HARMER, A. S.—A female Thymelicus acteon L. ab. alba Bolton taken in Dorset, 
August 1994 which was used for breeding, and a male ab. virescens Tutt from the 
same locality. 

Three remarkable male examples of Colias croceus Geoff. showing a complete 
absence of yellow and pink pigmentation (Plate II, Fig. 1). The result is 
that the ground-colour of the uppersides is creamy white on the forewings and 
yellow-grey (similar to f. helice Hiibn.) on the hindwings. The black borders are 
normal. On the underside forewings the ground-colour is again creamy-white and the 
border area yellow-grey. On the hindwings the normal greenish-yellow coloration is 
replaced by yellow-grey giving a blueish appearance. The hindwing discoidal spot is 
white on both surfaces. Yellow pigment is similarly lacking in the marginal hair, 
body hair, legs and antennae. These were bred from a typical female captured at 
Sawley, Hants on 4.vili.1994 by Arran Harmer. A crippled female of the same form 
emerged from this brood and other examples of the aberration coloured up but failed 
to emerge. 

F. helice is a sex-linked form restricted to the female and the present insects 
represent a quite separate aberration. It bears a significant resemblance to an 
aberration of Colias alfacariensis Berger shown at the 1991 Annual Exhibition by D. 
Wedd, and photographed for the exhibition plate. There are also similarities with the 
well known ab. coerulea Gardiner of Pieris brassicae L. (a recessive). 

A form equivalent to f. helice occurs in many species of Colias in different parts of 
the world, always restricted to the female. Very rare white male forms have been 
found in a few species in USA and Asia. When bred these have proved to be 
controlled by a recessive gene which affects both sexes equally and is unrelated to 
helice. If this form has been recorded before in C. croceus then it is certainly 
extremely rare. There do not appear to be any references to such an insect in the 
literature and it is likely to be a new aberration in this species. 

HOUGHTON, D. W.—A male Pieris brassicae L. ab. flava Kane taken on the 
Thames Embankment near the power station at Dartford, Kent in August 1949. 
Colias croceus Geoff. and Colias hyale L. were common in the area and this very rare 
aberration was thought to be just another croceus f. helice Hiibn. until it was in the 
net. 

JONES, A. M.—A bred series of Eurodryas aurinia Rott ab. virgata Tutt (Plate II, 
Fig. 8) probably bred from a pair of virgata parents, although the strain was mixed 
in with type stock. Pairings between aberrations have been achieved and the stock 
carefully segregated. An extreme female ab. sebaldus Schultz from the same stock. 
K. E. J. Bailey has shown this to be a temperature-induced form, and as this 
specimen was reared in a greenhouse it is likely that it experienced unnatural 
temperatures. 

A bred gynandromorph of Quercusia quercus L. being predominantly female but 
with half of the left forewing male and some male scaling in the borders of both 
right-hand wings. A female ab. caerulescens Lempke with an orange patch at the anal 
angle of the hindwing upper surface. 

A good captured male Argynnis paphia L. ab. ocellata Frings (Plate II, Fig. 5) 
with very dark hindwings and a halved gynandromorph. The latter was spotted in 
the field when it was noticed that the visible upperside was of a different sex to the 
displayed underside. A credit to sharp observation. A male Aricia agestis L. ab. 


180 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


pallidior Ober with cream lunules and an unusual male having the black centres to 
the lunules absent from the underside and so resembling Lysandra coridon ab. fowleri 
South. . 

KEMP, R.—Lycaena phlaeas L. ab. radiata Tutt having the hindwing orange band 
replaced with thin streaks. Taken near Aylesbury, Bucks in September 1994. This is a 
recessive form. 

KNILL-JONES, S. A.—A female Plebejus argus L. ab. nigrescens Tutt from 
Hampshire, July 1994 and second brood examples of Colias croceus Geoff. from 
Compton Down, I.o.W., October 1994. 

PAYNE, J. H.—The results of temperature experiments, including a good Argynnis 
paphia L. ab. ocellata Frings, Aglais urticae L. semiichneusoides Pronin and Inachis io 
L. ab. belisaria Ober. 

PORTER, J.—Examples of Pyronia tithonus L. ab. excessa Leeds from S. Devon 
and a female ab. postobscura Leeds. Obsolete forms of Aphantopus hyperantus L. and 
a large female Coenonympha pamphilus L. with the outer part of the forewings 
distinctly pale. Erebia aethiops L. ab. flavescens Tutt with the orange bands paler 
than type and a male ab. purpurea Sibille having the hindwings spotting obsolete 
(Aviemore). 

Lysandra bellargus Rott. abs parvipuncta Tutt and krodeli Gillmer. 

REVELS, R. C.—A captured female Melanargia galathea L. with extra black 
scaling, appearing to be transitional to ab. nigricans Culot; 40 ova were obtained. A 
good male Polyommatus icarus Rott. ab. radiata Courv.—one of several of this type 
seen in one locality in July and August 1994. A female Maniola jurtina L. ab. 
pallidula Leeds. 

Further breeding from an aberration of Pyronia tithonus L. having broad borders 
to the forewings and the hindwing orange absent or nearly so. The F, and F, broods 
were exhibited in 1993 and the form was shown to be dominant. Further examples 
were shown, being the result of crossing female aberrations with wild males showing 
extra spotting. Two batches were reared. One produced a brood of 91 insects of 
which 60 were aberrations (11 showing extra spotting) and the other a brood of 72 
insects comprising 34 type (two with some extra spotting) and 38 aberrations. 
Pairings have been obtained between some of the more extreme aberrations. 

ROUSE, T.—A bred Lysandra coridon Poda ab. i-nigrum B. & L., from a type 
parent. A male L. bellargus Rott. bred in the F,; generation from Folkstone, Kent 
with two streaked spots on underside of the left hindwing and a female ab. striata 
B. & L., both from type stock. 

Aglais urticae L. ab. semiichneusoides Pronin captured flying around a Budleia 
bush with about 50 typical specimens at Densole, Kent on 10.x.1994. 

STANDING, P. A.—Three ab. wittei Geest of Melitaea cinxia L. and a form with 
reduced black markings in the centre of the forewings. 

A fine female Lycaena dispar batavus Ober ab. radiata B. & L. (Plate II, Fig. 2) 
bred in the second brood, August 1994. This developed under natural conditions. 
The spotting was streaked outwards on all wings on the underside and on the 
upperside forewings. This strain has shown tendencies towards this form over the 
years. Also shown was another transitional female. A captured female Hipparchia 
semele L. from Dorset, July 1994 being ab. holonops Brouwer on one side and 
monocellata Lempke on the other. 

TEBBUT, P.—An outstanding melanic aberration of Ochlodes venata Br. & Grey 
(Plate II, Fig. 6). This was an extreme ab. fuscus Frohawk which was virtually black 
but with the patterning still visible. Captured in Dorset, June 1994. A male 
Thymelicus lineola Ochs ab. antiordens Lempke, with all darker markings replaced 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 181 


with pale brown. This may be an albinistic form. Two Ladoga camilla L. ab. obliterae 
Robson & Gardner and one ab. nigrina Weymer. 

A most unusual Aricia agestis L. ab. glomerata B. & L. very similar to the example 
of Lysandra coridon Poda illustrated on the exhibition plate for 1991. This is very 
possibly a unique aberration in agestis. Hamaearis lucina L. ab. semibrunnea 
Osthelder and a gynandromorph of Pieris rapae L. being a mainly female insect but 
with male streaks on the left side. A good Coenonympha tullia L. ab. cockaynei 
Hopkins and ab. impupillata Lempke, lacking the pupils to the spots. A female Colias 
croceus Geoff. lacking the yellow spots in the black border and having the hindwing 
discal lunule pear-shaped. A female Plebejus argus L. with the hindwings and base of 
forewings blue and no lunules. 

TREMEWAN, W. G.—A further showing of the remarkable melanic variety of 
Polyommatus icarus Rott that was exhibited at the 1993 exhibition and figured on the 
exhibition plate. This form, which is equally aberrant on the underside (Plate II, 
Fig. 9), was taken on the Isle of Skye on 27.vi.1993. 

TusbBs, R. S——A drawer showing Mr Tubbs’s researches into the genetics of 
Hipparchia semele L. abs monocellata Lempke/ holonops Brouwer. This is a recessive 
form also associated with a rayed effect in the orange markings. Three strains were 
shown. The first was representative of an F, from an original holonops female 
captured by R. C. Revels in Dorset in 1975. This included a full male holonops and 
others with reduced spotting. The other two strains were from parents with the 
spotting much reduced, both parents taken by R. S. Tubbs in Dorset in 1979. The 
offspring included monocellata males and ‘rayed’ females. 


BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA 


BRADFORD, E. S.—Some moths taken from Penn Hill, Whitstable, Kent: 
Archanara geminipuncta Haw., 13.viii.94, Mythimna albipuncta D. & S., 12.viii.94; 
Parascotia fuliginaria L., 27.11.94; Rhodometra sacraria L., 24.viii.94; Apoda 
limacodes Hufn., 28.vi.94. Deltote bankiana F., 14.vii.94; Amphipoea fucosa Freyer 
ssp. paludis Tutt, 29.vii.94. Also a further specimen of R. sacraria from Child’s 
Forstal Wood, East Blean, Kent, 29.viii.94. 

BRITTON, M. R.—A selection of characteristic Lepidoptera of Yorkshire limestone 
including both sexes of Adscita geryon Hiibn. Photedes captiuncula expolita Staint., 
Apamea furva britannica Cockayne, Epirrhoe galiata D. & S., and Eupithecia 
distinctaria H.-S. 

BROTHERIDGE, D. J.—An extreme melanic example of Discestra trifolii Hufn. 
from Wroughton, Wilts. on 9.viii.1992 (Plate III, Fig. 3). 

BUTCHER, A. G. J.—A series of specimens comparing varieties and aberrations 
with typical examples. Included were, Lasiocampa trifolii flava Chalmers-Hunt ab. 
obsoleta, Calliteara pudibunda L., intermediate form, Ochropleura plecta L. ab. 
rubricosta., Euproctis similis Fuessl. with suffused forewings, Diarsia mendica F. 
resembling ssp. thulei Stoud., a pale form of Melanchra persicariae L., a 
gynandromorph Noctua pronuba L., dark Brachionycha sphinx Hufn., a possible 
melanic Mythimna conigera D. & S. (Plate III, Fig. 11), Xanthia icteritia Hufn. ab. 
flavescens, Acronicta alni L. ab. suffusa, an example of Aporophyla lutulenta D. & S. 
resembling ssp. /unebergensis Freyer, forms of Acronicta rumicis L., Charanyca 
trigrammica Hufn., a yellow form of Cryphia domestica Hufn., and Odontopera 
bidentata Clerk. 


182 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Amongst Geometridae shown were a var. of Idaea dimidiata Hufn., Melanthia 
procellata D. & S. with suffused forewings, four temperature-affected Rhodometra 
sacraria L., melanic forms of Odontopera bidentata Cl., Apocheima pilosaria D. & S. 
and Alcis repandata L. were shown. Two selected bred varieties of Ennomos 
autumnaria Wermeb. were also shown. 

CLANCY, S. P.—Migrants taken in the Dungeness area in 1994. These comprised 
Scopula rubiginata Hufn., 4.viii.94 (Lydd), Scotopteryx peribolata Hiibn., 6.1x.94 
(Greatstone), Peribatodes manuelaria H.-S., 4.viii.94 (New Romney), Lymantria 
dispar L., 4.viii.94, Polia bombycina Hufn., 25.vi.94 (Greatstone), Chrysodeixis 
chalcites Esp., 29.ix.94. In addition, five specimens of Amphipoea lucens Freyer were 
exhibited from the Dungeness area in 1992/1993. 

A number of aberrations were also exhibited and included: Malacosoma castrensis 
L., lacking cross-lines; an aberrant Xanthorhoe fluctuata L., an Arctia caja L. with 
reduced dark scaling, a Meganola albula D. & S. with reduced markings (Plate III, 
Fig. 5), an obsolete example of Agrotis exclamationis L., a dark specimen of 
Lacanobia oleracea L., a melanic Cerastis leucographa D. & S., a striking semi- 
melanic aberration of Acronicta rumicis L., and a specimen of Protodeltote pygarga 
Hufn. with reduced scaling in the distal part of the forewing. 

CLARKE, J.—A selection of Lepidoptera taken or bred in 1994 including: 
Apamea furva britannica Cockayne from Sychnant Pass North Wales; Dyscia fagaria 
Thunb.; Chloroclysta concinnata. Steph from Arran, 27.vi.94; Paradiarsia 
sobrina Dup. from Carrbridge, Inverness-shire; Xestia ashworthii Doubl. at light, 
from Sychnant Pass, North Wales; Agrotis cinerea D. & S., a mixed gynandromorph 
from Swanage, Dorset (Plate III, Fig. 9); Drymonia ruficornis Hufn., a melanic 
example from Lingfield Surrey; Orthosia cerasi F., taken at Lingfield, Surrey on 
3.xi.93; a variety of Diarsia mendica P. from Lingfield Surrey; from Norfolk, 
Phragmataecia castaneae Hiibn. and Pelosia obtusa H.-S.; Idaea dilutaria Hibn. 
from Great Orme, North Wales; Agrochola haematidea Dup. bred from Sussex 
and an example of Crocallis elinguuria ab. unicolor Prout from Carrbridge, 
Inverness-shire. 

Also exhibited was a case of Sesiidae bred in 1994 complete with larval workings. 
Species included were: Synanthedon formicaeformis Esp., S. flaviventris Staud., from 
southern Surrey and Ashdown Forest; Bembecia muscaeformis Esp. from Devon and 
S. scoliaeformis Borkh. from Rannoch Scotland. 

In a separate exhibit, was the second adult British record of Cucullia scrophulariae 
D. & S. This was captured on 18.vi.94 in Dorset (Plate III, Fig. 12). For comparison, 
it was displayed alongside C. lychnitis Namb. and C. verbasci L. 

Cook, R. R.—An exhibit of species taken or bred in 1994: Chloroclysta 
concinnata Steph. from Monamore Glen, Arran; Synanthedon spheciformis D. & S., 
bred from Bastley Heath, Hants, vi.94; Idaea dilutaria Hiibn. from Great Orme, North 
Wales; Luperina nickerlii gueneei Doubl. from Prestatyn, North Wales, viti.94; Noctua 
orbona Hufn., bred from larvae found at Icklingham, Suffolk; Xestia ashworthii 
Doubl., from Sychnant Pass, North Wales, vi.94; Hadena perplexa D. & S., bred from 
larvae, Hurst Castle, Hants, Apamea furva britannica Cockayne, from Sychnant Pass, 
North Wales; Orthosia gothica L., ab. gothicina H.-S., bred from larvae, Kincraig 
Inverness, 111.94. a 

Also exhibited were Agrochola haematidea Dup. from Sussex with photographs of 
larvae taken by P. Davey. 

CorLEY, M. F. V.—A dull brown specimen of Amphipyra berbera Rungs with the 
hindwing lacking the normal copper coloration from Blandon Heath, Oxon on 
22.vi.1993 (Plate III, Fig. 2). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 183 


CRAMP, P. J—An example of Mythimna pudorina D. & S., from Godshill I.o.W. 
12.vii.94, new to the island. 

Dosson, A. H.—Examples of Cucullia asteris D. & S., bred from larvae found at 
Calshot 17.viii.93; a melanic Orthosia cerasi F., from Penn Wood 28.iii.94; 
Xanthorhoe biriviata Borkh. from River Itchen; Spodoptera exigua Hiibn., at m.v. 
light Greywell Moors, 16.viii.94; Agrotis exclamationis L., with black suffusion in the 
median area of the right forewing, from Yorkshire; Photedes captiuncula expolita 
Staint., from Grassington, Yorkshire; Heliothis peltigera D. & S., from Starcross, 
Devon; also several Hypena obsitalis Hiibn., from Torbay including two live second 
brood females. 

EMMET, A. M.—An example of Scopula marginepunctata Goeze from Saffron 
Walden Essex, taken at m.v. light, 20.viii.94. Also Heliothis viriplaca Hufn. from 
Saffron Walden Essex, taken at m.v. light 6.vili.94, probably a wanderer from 
Breckland. 

Also, exhibited was a possible example of Plusia putnami gracilis Lempke from 
Ahakista, Co. Cork, taken at m.v. light, 16.vi.94. 

FosTER, A. P.—A specimen of Eupithecia abietaria Goeze, taken at m.v. light in a 
conifer plantation at Pontneddfechan, Breconshire, 18.vii.94. 

GILL, N.—The following moths: Odontognophos dumetata hibernica Forder, 
Hadena caesia manani Gregson, H. perplexa capsophila Dup., Zygaena purpuralis 
sabulosa Trem., Tethea or hibernica Turner, and Thera cognata Thunb., were taken 
in, or bred from, Ireland in 1994. 

Also, from Shetland, were Hadena confusa Hufn. and Eupithecia venosata fumosae 
Gregson, bred from larvae taken in 1992. 

GOATER, B.—An exhibit of cases of Luperina nickerlii Freyer from Britain and 
Europe (Plate III, Figs. 15-18) with a varied series of Luperina testacea D. & S. This 
exhibit is to be the subject of a paper in the Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. that will 
demonstrate that the saltern race of Essex and Kent is a good sub-species. 

Also exhibited were western European species of Earias to show that specimens of 
E. insulana Boisd. taken in southern England in 1992 were in fact EF. clorana L. f. 

flavimargo de Joannis. 

HALL, N.—Bred Deileptinia ribeata Cl. from Bernwood Oxon, 31.vii.94, the night 
of a B.E.N.HLS. field meeting. An aberrant Agrotis exclamationis L., from Earley 
Reading 24.vii.94. Normal and dark forms of Thalpophila matura Hufn. from 
Birmingham, 22.vii.94. Also two Synanthedon culiciformis L., exhibited plus their 
emergence stump from Dinton Pastures, collected 23.iv.94. 

HARMAN, T. W.—Example of Heliothis armigera Hibn., Westbere, Kent, 2.x.94; 
H. peltigera D. & S., Turville Heath, Bucks. Also exhibited on behalf of F. Solly: 
Chrysodeixis chalcites Esp., Kingsgate, Kent, 14.x.94; Euxoa cursoria Hufn., 
Kingsgate, Kent, 13.viii.94 and Pelosia muscerda Hufn., Kingsgate, Kent, 
31.vii.94, also one specimen of Deltote bankiana F., Dover, Kent 13.vii.94. 

Hart, C.—A noctuid larva found 7.x.94 in a packet of mange-tout purchased in a 
Supermarket in Horsham, West Sussex. Its origin was Zambia. The larva was 
probably of Heliothis armigera Hibn. 

HAYwoop, B.—Some immigrant Lepidoptera taken in 1994: Spodoptera exigua 
Hiibn., from Abbotskerswell, Devon, 10.vii.94 and Lyme Regis, Dorset, 2.vii.94; 
Orthonama obstipata F., Abbotskerswell, Devon, 25.1x.94. 

HAYWOOD, R.—A selection of Lepidoptera taken or bred in Slough mainly during 
1994. These consisted of: Rhodometra sacraria L., to m.v. light, Slough, 6.viii.94; 
Thera obeliscata Hiibn., a dark form of the first brood at m.v. light, 26.vi.94; Colotois 
pennaria L., with large white ‘eyes’ on the forewing and a pale right hindwing; Mimas 


184 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


tiliae L., with two distinct shades of green in the central band; six Lacanobia suasa D. 
& S., bred from Slough parent of ab. dissimilis Knoch, April 1994; four specimens of 
Cryphia domestica Hufn. taken between 30.vii and 6.viii.94, demonstrating the wide 
variety of forms in Slough; two Cosmia affinis L., a welcome visitor to the garden 
trap this year; finally an example of Heliothis armigera Hiibn. bred from a larva 
which probably emanated from a bunch of chrysanthemums in the house. 

HowTONn, D. H.—Paradarisa consonaria Hibn f. nigra Bankes, an example found 
on Ranmore Common, Surrey on a beech trunk, 10.v.86; an unknown sphingid 
found in a crate of grapes in August 1992, Hinckley Leicestershire; Orthosia cruda D. 
& S., ab. haggarti Tutt, taken 16.iii.91 on Geddington Chase, Northants, this was 
amongst 120 ‘normal’ specimens. 

JENKINS, A.—Zygaena exulans subochracea White, a series taken at Braemar. One 
specimen had yellow legs, yellow spots on thorax and yellow colouring to main vein 
in the upper wings. Zygaena loti scotica Rowl.-Br., a series from the Isle of Mull with 
one specimen having middle and inner spots united. A series of Xestia alpicola alpina 
Humph. & Westw., from Grampian, taken at m.v. light on two nights, none flying 
before 1 a.m. Bred Archanara algae Esp from Sussex, from pupae found. Pelosia 
obtusa H.-S., taken at m.v. light in Norfolk. Photedes brevilinea from Norfolk also at 
m.v. light. Also the following bred species: Alcis repandata L., of the conversaria 
form from South Wales; Agrochola haematidea Dup. from Sussex, and Eriogaster 
lanestris L. from Norfolk. 

KNILL-JONES, S. A.—An exhibit largely of moths from Freshwater, Isle of Wight, 
consisting of Eupithecia tripunctaria H.-S., 3.vii and 4.viii.94; Euchoeca nebulata 
Scop., 2.vii.94, Conistra vaccinii L., a grey aberration, 10.11.94; Diarsia rubi View., an 
aberration taken 17.viii.94; Rhodometra sacraria L., 1.viii and 12.x.94; Apamea 
scolopacina Esp., 31.vii.94; Rhyacia simulans Hufn., 18.vii.94; new to the Isle of 
Wight; Trichoplusia ni Hiibn., new to the Isle of Wight; Scopula nigropunctata Hufn., 
5.viii.94, new to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Xestia agathina Dup., 15.1x.94; 
Ipomorpha retusa L., 20.viii.94; Autographa gamma L., two aberrations taken 11.viii 
and 1.ix.94; a dwarf Deilephila elpenor L., with a wingspan of only 46 mm taken 
30.vi.94; Nonagria typhae Thunb. ab. fraterna 15.viii.94; Archanara dissoluta Treits., 
typical and melanic, 25.vii and 6.viii.94; three Agrotis exclamationis L., aberrations; 
Abraxas grossulariata L., ab. dohrnii, 11.viii.94; Heliothis armigera Hibn., 14.x.94; 
Mythimna straminea Treits., 16.vi.94; a bred series of Lasciocampa quercus L., 
showing variation 1993-94. From other parts of the Isle of Wight, the following 
moths were shown: a series of Eupithecia subumbrata D. & S., Compton Down, vi.94; 
Perizoma flavofasciata Thunb., Redcliff Bay, 23.vi.94; Scopula floslactata Haw., 
Cranmore, 6.vi.94; Idaea biselata Hufn. ab. fimbriolata Steph., Afton Reserve, 
8.vii.94; Erannis defoliaria Cl., Cranmore; Scotopteryx luridata plumbaria F., 
Cranmore, 9.vi.94; Mythimna vitellina Hiibn., a dark form, Cranmore, 4.xi.93; 
Colotois pennaria L., a pale form, Cranmore, 5.xi.93. Also from further afield: Xylena 
vetusta Hiibn., and Entephria flavicinctata Hibn from Bunessan, Isle of Mull, 20— 
23.1x.94. 

KoLaJs, A.—A sample of moths bred from larvae beaten from various plants in 
and around Aviemore including: Entephria flavicinctata ruficinctata Guen., Thera 
cognata Thunb., Hydiomena furcata Thunb., Entephria caesiata D. & S., Eupithecia 
pusillata D. & S., and an unusual form of Eulithis populata L. 

A sample of moths taken during a very hot week in the Norfolk Broads including: 
Eustrotia uncula Cl., Pelosia muscerda Hufn., P. obtusaH.-S., Archanara dissoluta 
Treits., Simyra albovenosa Goeze, Photedes brevilinea Fenn., Plusia putnami gracilis 
Lempke and Phragmataecia castaneae Hiibn. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 185 


In addition, also exhibited were: Macroglossum stellatarum L. and Heliothis 
peltigera D. & S. from Warwickshire; Hydraecia osseola Stdgr.; Colocasia coryli L., 
including melanic forms from Bucks.; Thera cupressata Geyer, from Dorset and 
Agrotis clavis Hufn., from Suffolk. 

MACKENZIE REID, IA series of Agrotis exclamationis L. demonstrating its 
variability from Claverdon and Bearley, Warwickshire. A specimen of Ennomos 
alniaria L. from Warburg N. R., Bucks. Also a specimen of Aplocera efformata 
Guen., taken 18.viii.90 from Bearley, Warwickshire. 

MANNING, D. V.—A specimen of Rhodometra sacraria L., without forewing 
streak taken 18.viii.94, Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire. 

McCorMIck, R.—The following species bred or captured during 1993/94: 
Synanthedon scoliaeformis Borkh., from Rannoch; Bembecia muscaeformis Esp., 
from Start Point; Colostygia olivata D. & S., from Babbacombe; Coenocalpe 
lapidata Hibn., from Trinafour, Tayside where it was found commonly; 
Eupithecia expallidata Doubl., at light, Holne Chase and Dawlish Warren, Devon; 
Alcis jubata Thunb., Holne Chase; Photedes morrisii Dale, from Charmouth 
Dorset; Hypena obsitalis Hiibn., several specimens from Dartmouth to Watcombe, 
Devon. 

The following species considered to be unusual for Devon or near its borders were 
captured: Hydriomena ruberata Freyer from Teignmouth (and was also seen at 
Dawlish Warren); Horisme vitalbata D. & S., several seen Dawlish Warren; Eilema 
sororcula Hufn., from Teignmouth, Devon; Meganola albula D. & S., seen commonly 
at Dawlish Warren; Mythimna obsoleta Hibn. from Exminster Marshes, Devon; 
Photedes pygmina Haw., a striated specimen from Holne Chase; Eremobia ochroleuca 
D. & S., from Dawlish Warren; Arenostola phragmitidis Hiibn., a pair from several 
seen at Dawlish Warren; Chilodes maritimus Tausch., from Dawlish Warren and 
Exminster Marshes including ab. nigristriata Stdgr., and ab. bipunctata, Haw.; 
Calocula nupta L., one specimen from Dawlish Warren; Earias clorana L. found 
commonly at Dawlish Warren. 

The following migrants appeared in the garden trap at Teignmouth: Rhodometra 
sacraria L., Spodoptera exigua Hiibn., Heliothis peltigera D. & S., and Autographa 
gamma L. ab. gammina Stdgr. 

The following species were bred this year from various localities: Chloroclysta 
truncata Hufn., bred from larvae swept at Feshiebridge, Inv. Hydriomena furcata 
Thunb., bred from larvae swept at Feshiebridge; Crocallis elinguaria L., an ab. 
unicolor Prout bred from a larva also swept at Feshiebridge; Xestia castanea Esp., a 
pair of dark red specimens swept at Mooremore, Aviemore; Egira conspicillaris L., 
part of a series of typical specimens bred from a female caught at Kynaston, 
Hereford. 

Finally, a series of Agrotis puta Hiibn., and A. clavis Hufn., showing the variety of 
forms occurring in South Devon. 

MIDDLETON, H. G. F. & SCANES, J. J—During a visit to Scotland 11—15.vii.1994, 
the following species were taken in the Isle of Skye: Zygaena purpuralis caledonensis 
Neiss, Zygaena lonicerae jocelynae Trem. and Camptogramma bilineata bilineata L. 

From Perthshire, the following species were taken: Entephria caesiata D. & S.., 
Gnophos obfuscatus D. & S., Entephria flavicinctata Hiibn., Xanthorhoe munitata 
munitata Hiibn., Perizoma blandiata blandiata D. & S., Hydriomena ruberata 
Freyer, Eurois occula L., Hyppa rectilinea Esp. and Apamea zeta assimilis Doubl. 

OwEN, D. F.—An exhibit to confirm the prediction of Owen and Clarke (Oikos 
67: 393-402) that the medionigra phenotype of Callimorpha dominula L., was 
temperature-controlled. The studies were made in 1993 at the famous Cothill, 


186 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Oxfordshire colony and a similar result obtained at the nearby locality of North 
Hinksey. 

Another exhibit highlighted the interesting parallel decline in frequency of 
melanism in Biston betularia L. in England and the U.S.A. where the North 
American subspecies Biston betularia cognataria occurs. 

OwEN, J.—A specimen of Acontia lucida Hufn. taken at m.v. light at Dymchurch, 
Kent on 6.viii.94. 

PARSONS, M.—The following specimens were exhibited: Parascotia fuliginaria L., 
Great Bookham Common, Surrey. 21.vii.94; Minoa murinata Scop., Sapperton, E. 
Glos., 3.vii.94. Xanthorhoé fluctuata L., Rayner Park, Surrey, 31.vili.94, a variety 
with reduced and suffused markings; Paradarisa extersaria Freyer, a dark example 
from Richmond Park, Surrey, 4.vi.94; two pale examples of Gnophos obscuratus 
D. & S. from Cow Gap, 29.vii.94; four examples of Cryphia domestica Hufn., 
showing the range in variation in this species in the capital. 

PORTER, J.—A male Thera cupressata Geyer from Dorset, 15.x.94; a dark example 
of Noctua comes Hibn. and three forms of Celaena leucostigma Hibn. ssp. scotica 
Coch., from Argyllshire, 14.vii.94; two pairs of Antitype chi L. from Kinross-shire 
on 9 and 16.viii.94; a dark female Eumichtis lichenea lichenea Hiibn. from the Essex 
coast, 1.x.94, and Caradrina clavipalpis Scop. with dark marginal areas from Surrey 
22.x.94. 

PHILLIPS, J. W.—A selection of Macrolepidoptera captured or bred during 1994 
mainly as a result of a trip to North and South Wales. They comprised: Abraxas 
sylvata Scop., Tintern; Discoloxia blomeri Curt:, Tintern; Eriopygodes imbecilla F., 
from South Wales, Jdaea dilutaria Hiibn., Great Ormes Head; Apamea furva 
britannica Coch., Great Ormes Head; Apeira syringaria L., bred from Tintern; 
Entephria caesiata D. & S., from North Wales. From other areas: Heliothis peltigera 
D. & S., bred ex. larvae, Pagham, W. Sussex and Zygaena trifolii decreta Ver. from 
Arne, Dorset. 

PLANT, C.—Eleven examples of Cryphia domestica Hufn. showing a variation 
from typical to melanic. Six slightly differing examples were shown, three from 
Bishop’s Stortford, Herts., 12.vili.88 and 18.vi.89, two from East Ham, S. Essex, 
6.vii.82, and 4.vii.85 and one from Romford, S. Essex, 1982. Four differing examples 
approximating to ab. suffusa Tutt all from East Ham. Finally, a melanic form, the 
name of which has not been traced, in which the entire forewings are darkened except 
for a pale sub-basal fascia not reaching the dorsum and a pale pre-tonal patch taken 
at Enfield, Middx on 21.vii.1994 by Ms Anna Hughes. 

Also exhibited were Perizoma affinitata Steph., a suffused dark form in which 
forewings are a suffused brown all over apart from the white part-median line and 
the upper sides of the hind wings are entirely grey with the whitish fascia barely 
discernible. This was captured in Rushey Mead Nature Reserve near Bishop’s 
Stortford, 2.vi.94. Also from the same reserve, Heliothis viriplaca Hufn., a typical 
Breckland Moth, on 6.viii.94. 

PRATT, C.—An aberration of Dryobotodes eremita F. from the Arundel area, in 
appearance being somewhat similar to a small Lacanobia contigua D. & S. 

RousE, T.—The following species taken at Densole and Dungeness, Kent: 
Peridroma saucia Hiibn., Mythimna vitellina Hibn., Agrotis ipsilon Hufn., Heliothis 
armigera Hiibn., H. peltigera D. & S., Autographa gamma L., Mythimna albipuncta 
D. & S., Agrius convolvuli L. 

The following species were bred during 1934-94: Adscita statices L., bred from a 
female taken at Odiham, Hants; Adscita globulariae Hiibn., bred from a female taken 
at Whinless Down, Kent; Diacrisia sannio L., bred from a female taken at Whinless 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 187 


Down, Kent; Deltote bankiana F., bred from a female taken at Whinless Down, 
Kent; Rhodometra sacraria L., bred from a female taken at the Warren Kent, lastly 
an example of Trachea atriplicis L., taken at Densole, Kent, being the first record for 
the British Isles since 1986. 

SCANES, J. T.—A selection of macro moths from the summer of 1994; Photedes 
morrisii morrisii Dale from Charmouth Dorset; Epirrhoe rivata Hiibn. and Catarhoe 
rubidata D. & S., from Seatown, Dorset; Spodoptera exigua Hiibn. and Mythimna 
favicolor Burr. from Keyhaven, Hants; Agrotis ripae Hibn., from West Wittering; 
Agrotis cinerea D. & S., from Kings Somborne, Hants; Spodoptera exigua Hiibn., 
from Tolworth, Surrey and an aberrant Drymonia dodonaea D. & S., from Ashtead 
Surrey, taken at m.v. light, 26.vi.94 (Plate II, Fig. 10). 

Two moth aberrations were exhibited on behalf of Mr A. D. A. Russwurm. They 
were: Diarsia mendica mendica F. at m.v. light, 22.vi.94 and Notodonta dromedarius 
L. at m.v. light, 9.vii.94, both at Brockenhurst. 

SIMMONS, M.—An exhibit of migrant moths taken in E. Sussex during 1994: 
Heliothis armigera Hibn., H. peltigera D. & S., (which was recorded three times on 
15.vi, 7.vii and 7.viii.94), Agrotis ipsilon Hufn., Peridroma saucia Hibn., Rhodometra 
sacraria L., all taken at light in Crowborough. Another species, Spodoptera exigua 
Hiibn. was taken at light in Normans Bay. 

SIMPSON, A. N. B.—An example of Mythimna obsoleta Hibn., to m.v. light at 
Upton Warren, Worcestershire on 1.vii.94, the first VC37 record. 

Sims, I.—A varied exhibit of Synanthedon tipuliformis Cl., bred from Ribes nigrum 
emerging on 27.iv.90; Ptilophora plumigera D. & S., to m.v. light, Pheasant Wood, 
Hambledon, Bucks., 26.xi.91; Setina irrorella L., an imago from Inishmore, Galway, 
Eire, 1.vi.91; Cucullia lychnitis Namb., bred from larvae from Medmenham, Marlow, 
Bucks., these emerged on 9.vi.93 after having been fed on Buddleia in 1992 in 
captivity. Craniophora ligustri D. & S., to m.v. light Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., 
16.vi.93; Ipimorpha subtusa D. & S., to m.v. light. Ashley Hill Forest, Knowl Hill, 
Reading, Berks., 21.vii.94. 

SKINNER, B. F.—Pelosia obtusa H.-S., two males and two females from Catfield, 
Norfolk, July 1994; Hoplodrina alsines Brahm, an albino male from Dungeness, 
Kent, 8.vii.94 (Plate III, Fig. 13); Nola aerugula Hiibn., a male from Greatstone, 
Kent, 12.vii.94, being the fifteenth Kentish record this century; Agrotis crassa Hiibn., 
from Portland Bird Observatory, Dorset, 4.vili.94 being the sixth English record this 
century. 

STERLING, M. J. & P. H—An exhibit of Zygaena lonicerae Schev., from Cume 
Down, near Weymouth, Dorset, VC9, 6.vii.94, to demonstrate occurrence which is 
widespread in the County despite report in M.B.G.B.I. vol. 2. 

TEBBUT, P.—An example of Arctia caja L. ab. fumosa Horhammer. 

WARD, J. W.—An aberrant Diarsia mendica F. from Geddington Chase, 
Northants on 20.vi.1988 (Plate III, Fig. 1), a melanic specimen of Orthosia cerasi 
F. bred ex pupa, 1.iv.1976 from Warkton, Northants. 

WARNE, B. J.—An aberration of Selenia lunularia Hiibn., taken at Binstead, 
L.o.W., 2.vii.94. 

WEDD, D.—An exhibit of species bred or captured 1993-4. From Henley-on- 
Thames, Oxon: Heliothis peltigera D. & S., two from a series bred from a 
female captured in May; Apoda limacodes Hufn., to actinic light in Henley; Crocallis 
elinguaria L., varied colour forms including a buttered ab. restricta, from 
Bude, Cornwall, normal and also several round-winged specimens which emerged 
from F, generation from Prawle Point, Devon, from a female captured by Brian 
Baker. 


188 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


From Ireland, the following captured at Dromore Park, Co. Clare: Amphipyra 
berbera svenssoni Fletcher, Ipimorpha retusa L., Apamea ophiogramma Esp. and 
Spilosoma lubricipeda L. From Inch, County Kerry: Hyles lineata livornica Esp. from 
Duncormick, Co. Wexford: Odonoptera bidentata Cl., F, specimens, Agrotis ripae 
Hiibn., examples of the S. E. Irish form. 

From Scotland: Eupithecia pusillata D. & S. a varied series from Feshiebridge; 
Polyphaenis maillardi assimilis Doubl., two specimens from Achlean, Inv. and a dark 
female from Kilmahoy, near Cullander, Inv.; Noctua comes Hiibn., from Findhorn, 
Morayshire—a range of colour forms. 

From South Devon and North Cornwall, a series of Hypena obsitalis Hibn. 

Finally, an exhibit of Calamia tridens occidentalis Cochayne, varying from wild- 
caught specimens from Aglish, Burren, Co. Clare to results of breeding the moth at 
different temperatures. 

WOOLDRIDGE, D. B.—An example of Thera cupressata Geyer, taken Freshwater, 
Lo.W., 13.vii.94. 

YOUNG, D.—From the New Forest, a Lymantria dispar L., captured 5.viti.94 
along with other common migrant species; Drymonia ruficornis Hufn., an aberrant 
specimen with area between ante- and post-median lines whitish yellow, taken 
25.iv.94. 

From Reading, Sesia apiformis Cl. boxed from a poplar trunk at Reading from 
7.15-7.30 a.m. 27.vi to 1.vii.94. Hydraecia osseola hucherardi Mab., from Kent, 
7.1x.94. Catocala promissa D. & S. from the New Forest. Agrotis ripae Hiibn., a 
short-series bred from larvae from Wittering, W. Sussex. Gortyna borelii lunata 
Freyer, found to be reasonably common this year in Essex. 


BRITISH MICROLEPIDOPTERA 


BLAND, K. P.—Stigmella continuella Staint., vacated leafmines in birch, found 
10.ix.1994 at Camghouran (NN5455), Rannoch, new to Perths. (VC88) and only 
third Scottish vice-county. Kessleria saxifragae Staint., Invernaver NNR (NC6960), 
Suther., 8.vili.1994, new to VC108. Coleophora discordella Zell., Bettyhill (NC7062), 
Suther., to light, 9/10.viii.1994, new to VC108. Elachista orstadii Palm,333,19, 
Williamshope, Glen Kinnon, Selk., taken 29.v.1994, new to VC79, the female 
appears to be the first British example taken. Exaeretia ciniflonella L. & Z., 
Camghouran (NN5455), Rannoch, Perths. (VC88), a rare species which is rarely 
captured; this specimen was on the wing in quite heavy autumn rain, 10.ix.1994. 
Gelechia sororculella Hiibn., Apigill Wood (NC7157), Suther., taken by Tony 
Simpson, 11.viii.1994, new to VC108. Epinotia maculana F., near Persie House 
(NO1455), Perths., taken 24.ix.1994, new to VC89. 

BRADFORD, E. S.—Monopis weaverella Scott, Childs Forstal Wood, East Blean, 
Kent, at light, 23.viii.1994. Phyllonorycter leucographella Zell., Pean Hill, Whitstable, 
Kent, specimens bred from Pyracantha coccinea, 20—25.iv.1994. The following all 
taken at light, Seasalter Marshes, Whitstable, Kent, 10.vii.1994: Orthotelia 
sparganella Thunb., Schoenobius gigantella D. & S., S. forficella Thunb. The 
following 16 species all taken at light at Pean Hill, Whitstable, Kent: Aspilapteryx 
tringipennella Zell., 23.vii.94; Parectopa ononidis Zell., 24.vii.94; Bedellia somnulen- 
tella Zell., 29.viii.94; Coleophora versurella Zell., 27.vii.94; C. lineolea Haw., 20.vii.94; 
Cnephasia pasiuana Hiibn., 22.vii.94; Synaphe punctalis F., 11.vii.94; Dioryctria 
abietella D. & S., 19.vii.94; Sitochroa palealis D. & S., 25.vii.94; Amblyptilia 
acanthadactyla Hiibn., 4.ix.94; Catoptria falsella D. & S., 23.vili.94; Oncocera 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 189 


formosa Haw., 15.vii.94; Platytes alpinella Hiibn., 11.vii.94; Bisigna procerella D. & 
S., 12.vii.94; Monochroa palustrella Dougl., 4.vii.94; Psoricoptera gibbosella Zell., 
31.vii.94. From Ellenden Wood, Whitstable, Kent, Ancylis mitterbacheriana D. & S., 
specimens bred from Quercus petraea L., 12—24.iv.94. 

BRITTON, M. R.—Species from Yorkshire limestone. Teleiodes sequax Haw., 
Kilnsey, Grassington, Wharfedale, Yorks., bred ex spinnings in rock-rose, 13.vi.94, 
emerged 10.vii.94 onwards. Pterophorus tridactyla L., top of Dib Scar, Bastow 
Wood, Grassington, Wharfedale, Yorks., 4.vii.94. Pyrausta cingulata L., Dib Scar, 
Bastow Wood, Grassington, Yorks., 16.vii.94. 

CLANCY, S. P.—The following taken in the Dungeness area: Pediasia fascelinella 
Hiibn., 30.vii.1994; Margaritia sticticalis L., 31.vii.1994 (Greatstone); Mussidia 
nigrivenella Rag., 12.viii.1994 (Plate III, Fig. 7), and Agriphila inquinatella D. & S.., 
27.vii.1994 (Plate III, Fig. 8). 

COLENUTT, S.—Evergestis limbata L., Chale Green, I.o.W., 23 and 30.vii.1994, 
new to Britain (Plate III, Fig. 4). 

CORLEY, M. F. V.—Monochroa lucidella Steph., Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, 
Oxon., 13.vii.94, new to VC22. Brachmia lutatella H.-S., Lulworth, Dorset, 1994, 
netted in the evening; this was Waters’ 1926 locality. Aristotella brizella Treits., 
Portland Bill, Dorset, 22.vii.1994, disturbed from Armeria maritima (Miller) Willd. 
Caryocolum proximum Haw., Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, Oxon., bred from Stellaria 
media (L.) Vill, 7.vii.1994, the first VC22 record since an undated Reading record in 
the Victoria County History (1906); this foodplant has been recorded on the 
Continent, but not previously in Britain, Spinnings are inconspicuous—only one was 
found; Phalonidia luridana Gregs., Portland, Dorset, 22.vii.1994, netted at dusk 
flying over a trackside with abundant Odontites. 

CRAMP, P. J.—Evergestis pallidata Hufn., Godshill, I.o.W., 24.viii.1994. E. 
extimalis Scop, Godshill, I.o.W., 10.viii.1994. 

Dosson, A. H.—Homoeosoma sinuella F., Torquay, 20.vii.94, an aberration with 
blackish median band (Plate III, Fig. 6). Ephiphyas postvittans Walk., Torquay, bred 
from larva swept from Parietaria judaica L. on 19.vii.94. Blastobasis decolorella 
Woll., Basingstoke, Hants (VC12), disturbed from vegetable refuse. Sitochroa 
palealis D. &S., Starcross, S. Devon, 5—7.viii.94. Salebriopsis albicillaH.-S., Welshbury 
Hill, Glos., at m.v. trap under Tilia cordata Miller during field meeting of 25.vi.94. 

EMMET, A. M.—Lampronia fuscatella Tengst., two reared from galls in twigs of 
birch from Mildenhall, W. Suff. (VC26), 18—20.iv.1994, the first specimens from 
Suffolk. Galls were found at the same locality in 1988, but no moth emerged. 
Caloptilia azaleella Brants, Saffron Walden, Essex, at m.v. light, 18.vili.1994, new to 
N. Essex (VC19). Parectopa ononidis Zell., Saffron Walden, Essex, at m.v. light, 
5.viii.1994, the second record from north-west Essex. Kessleria saxifragae Staint., 
Baureenagh Mountain, Co. Kerry, reared 2—12.vii.1994. The locality, 1000 feet 
above sea-level, was discovered in the 1960s by the late R. M. Mere and E. C. 
Pelham-Clinton. Epiphyas postvittana Walker, Saffron Walden, Essex, at m.v. light, 
22.ix.1994, new to north-west Essex. Where it becomes established, this Australian 
species tends to become a pest. Apotomis semifasciana Haw., Monreith, Wig., at m.v. 
light, 15.vii.1994, the second record from Scotland. Hypsopygia costalis F., a typical 
specimen and two varieties, one from Wicken Fen, Cambs., 5.viii.1970, in which the 
yellow costal spots are greatly enlarged and another from Saffron Walden, Essex, at 
m.v. light, 8.vii.1994, in which the yellow costal spots are amalgamated. 

FOSTER, A. P.—Prochoreutis sehestedeana F., Tretio Common, Pemb., 13.vii.94, 
sweeping wet heath with Scutellaria minor Hudson; first county record. Pyralis 
lienigialis Zell., Cricklade, Wiltshire, 24.vi.94, at m.v. light in garden. 


190 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST,, 8; 1995 


HARPER, M. W.—Teleiodes alburnella Zell (Plate II, Fig. 23), Kincraig, Inv., a 
short series of specimens caught by day on 17.vii.1994, showing a very well-marked 
form and unlike the less well-marked form from England; distribution appears to be 
disjunctive with no records from midland and southern Scotland. Caryocolum 
junctella Doug)., specimens bred from mines in leaves of Stellaria graminia L., and a 
single tenanted mine in a species of Cerastium; larvae were also found in May/June 
with Dr A. N. Simpson in a meadow in Worcestershire, having first captured two 
post-hibernated moths in April 1994, which were flying by day in the same locality. 
Biselachista utonella Frey new to Scotland (gen. det. confirmed by Dr K. P. Bland), 
in June 1994 several tenanted mines found in Carex vesicaria L. in a small marsh near 
Kincraig, Inv., from which a short series of bred moths is shown, together with 
examples of the mines and a pupa. 

HECKFORD, R. J.-Epermenia insecurella Staint., Portland, Dorset (VC9) bred 
from Thesium humifusum DC., 4.vii.1994 (locality courtesy of Dr P. H. Sterling). 
Coleophora lassella Staud., Slepe Heath, Dorset (VC9) bred from Juncus bufonius L., 
7-27.v.1994; Hartland Moor, Dorset bred from same 15 & 22.v.1994 (both localities 
with Drs J. R. Langmaid and P. H. Sterling), Wytch Heath, Dorset 17.vi.1994. 
Argolamprotes micella D. & §., Lyme Regis, Dorset (VC9) 8.vii.1994, one at light. 
Phthorimaea operculella Zell., Plympton, Plymouth, new to Devon (VC3) (exhibitor’s 
garden), 11.vii.1994, one at light. Mompha bradleyi Riedl, Stratford-upon-Avon 
(VC38) bred from galls on Epilobium hirsutum L., 4-22.ix.1993. Piercea luridana 
Gregs., Portland, Dorset (VC9), 30.vii.1994, Portland, bred from seeds of Odontites 
verna (Bellardi), 2-4.ix.1994, previously unrecorded foodplant. Cochylis molliculana 
Zell., Portland, Dorset 24.vi.1991, earliest known British specimen; Portland 
24.vi.1994; Portland, bred from Picris echioides L. 11 & 12.viii.1994, foodplant 
previously unknown (see also exhibit of Dr J. R. Langmaid). Ac/eris umbrana Hibn., 
Heybrook Bay, Devon (VC3) bred from Prunus spinosa L. 17-27.x.1993. Cydia 
prunivorana Rag., Plympton, Plymouth, Devon (VC3) (exhibitor’s garden) 1.vii.1994, 
three at light. 

HOARE, R. J. B.-Stigmella pyri Glitz, one bred from a mine on Pyrus pyraster 
Burgsd. collected 8.ix.93 at Exeter University Campus, new to Devon VC3. A few 
vacated mines were found on the same tree later in the month, but they appeared to 
be confined to a single branch. Choreutis diana Hiibn., one on Cirsium arvense (L.) 
Scop. flower in afternoon sun at its only known British locality, Glen Affric, Inv., 
17.viii.94. Dasystoma salicella Hiibn., two females bred from larvae on Prunus 
spinosa L., collected at Branscombe, new to Devon VC3 on 18.ix.93, the moths 
emerging on 24.i11.94. Teleiodes scriptella Hibn., two shown of five bred from larvae 
on Acer campestre L., found at Lillesdon near Taunton, Somerset VCS5 on 5.ix.93. 
Caryocolum blandelloides Karsholt (Plate I, Fig. 22), three flying at dusk on sand 
dunes at Loch Fleet NR, East Sutherland VC107, 23.viii.94; determined on genitalia, 
new to Britain. Epiblema incarnatana Hibn., one flying at dusk, Stockbridge Down, 
Hants, VC12, 30.vii.94, the third Hampshire specimen, and the second from this 
locality, where the foodplant is presumably Rosa canina L. Mecyna flavalis D. & S., 
Stockbridge Down, one at dusk, 30.vii.94, an infrequent species on the mainland of 
Hampshire. 

HowrTon, D. H.—First county records for Northamptonshiré and Soke of 
Peterborough VC32. Species shown: Athrips mouffatella L., Teleiodes alburnella 
Zell., Dichomeris marginella ¥., Trachysmia inopiana Haw., Cacoecimorpha 
pronubana Hibn., Cnephasia longana Haw., Lobesia littoralis Humphr. & Westw. 
For the most recent list of Microlepidoptera of VC32, it is necessary to go back to 
the records of Eustace Wallis published in the J Northampton Nat. Hist Soc. 1908 to 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 191 


1912. David Manning is currently compiling a list, and some examples of new 
records for the county are shown. The exhibitors hope that anyone who is not 
already providing records for David Manning will do so. 

KNILL-JONES, S. A.—AIl the following specimens were taken at m.v. light at 
Freshwater, I.o.W. unless stated otherwise. Scoparia subfusca Haw., uniform grey 
ab., 7.viii.94. Udea fulvalis Hiibn., 17.viii.94. Acleris sparsana D. & S., 30.1x.94. 
Pseudoswammerdamia combinella Hiibn., 13.vi.94. Aphelia viburnana D. & S., 3 & 
5.vii.93, new VC record. A. paleana Hiibn., 9.vii.94, new VC record. Pempelia 
palumbella D. & S., 4.vii.94. Endothenia quadrimaculana Haw., 6.viii.94. Rhyacionia 
pinivorana L. & Z., 24.vi.85. Adela croesella Scop., Tennyson Down, I.o.W., 15 and 
21.vi.85, 19.vi.89. Ancylis achatana D. & S., 9.vii.93. Acleris hastiana L., 21.1.94. A. 
notana Don. Blastesthia turionella L., 25.v.91, new VC record. Cryptophlebia 
leucotreta Meyrick, found indoors, 29.1x.89, new VC _ record. Dioryctria 
schuetzeella Fuchs, 16.vii.85, new county record. Lathronympha strigana F., 
23.vi.92, new VC record. Dichomeris marginella F., 8.vii.89, new VC record. 
Semioscopis steinkellneriana D. & S., 12.iv.90. Amblyptilia acanthadactyla Hibn., 
found indoors, 9.x.94. Gymnancyla canella D. & S., St Helens, I.o.W., 26.vii.94. 
Platytes alpinella WHiibn., 12.vii.94. Oncocera_ genistella  Dup., Cranmore, 
I.o.W., 13.vii.94. Pleuroptya ruralis Scop. ab., Cranmore, I.o.W., 14.vii.94. 
Sitochroa palealis D. & S., Compton Down, I.0.W., 21.vii.94. Pediasea contaminella 
Hiibn., three including one ab. sticheli Constant, St Helens, I.o.W., 26.vii.94. 
Phycitodes maritima Tengst., St Helens, I.o.W., 26.vii.94. Parapoynx stratiotata L., 
4.vili.94. 

LANGMAID, J. R.—Coleophora lassella Staud., a series of four bred from Juncus 
bufonius L. together with larval cases, Hartland Moor, Dorset; cases appeared from 
foodplant randomly gathered 26.vii.93, moths emerged 17.v—4.vi.94 and another on 
23.vii.94, the first time the species has been bred in this country (see also exhibits by 
R. J. Heckford and P. H. Sterling). Tachystola acroxantha Meyrick, a specimen 
taken in an m.v. trap belonging to M. T. M. Roberts at Portsmouth, 1.vii.94; new to 
Hampshire. Ethmia bipunctella F., Southsea, one taken at m.v. light, 31.vii.94; fourth 
Hampshire record. Blastobasis decolorella Woll., Portsmouth, one of several 
specimens taken at light, 8.vii.94; new to Hampshire. Cochylis molliculana Zell. 
(Plate III, Fig. 21) a series of four bred from Picris echioides at Portsmouth in 1994; 
larvae and pupae were found in the seedheads of the foodplant on 1.viii and moths 
emerged 4~27.viii; a specimen which was not exhibited was taken at m.v. light at 
Southsea, Hampshire, 21.viii.93, and found, on dissection of the genitalia to be this 
Mediterranean species, new to Britain. 

PARSONS, M.—E. Sussex: Agonopterix bipunctosa Curt., Milton Hide, larvae 
27.v.1994; Pammene germmana Hiibn., Milton Hide, 27.v.1994; Oxyptilia distans 
Zell., Camber Sands, 25.v.1994. E. Kent: Aristotelia brizella Treits., Nagden 
Marshes, 22.viii.1994; Acleris permutana Dup., singletons from Hythe Ranges, 
6.vii.1993 and Dungeness 8.vii.1993. Surrey: Bucculatrix thoracella Thunb., 
Richmond Park, 29.iv.1994; Nemaxera betulinella F., Great Bookham Common, 
21.vii.1994; Caloptilia populetorum Zell., Richmond Park, 6.viti.1994; Athrips 
rancidella H.-S., Raynes Park, 15.vii.1994 and Richmond Park, 15.vii.1994; Gelechia 
senticetella Stgr. Raynes Park, 13.vii.1994, 3.viii.1994; Glyphipteryx linneela Clerk, 
Raynes Park, 22.vi.1994; Pediasia contaminella Hiibn., Richmond Park, 6.viii.1994; 
Sitochroa palealis D. & S., Richmond Park, 21.vii.1994; Aphomia sociella L. and 
Ephestia elutella Hibn., bred from larvae found feeding on the remains of dead 
insects from the base of an “‘insect-o-cutor’’, Richmond Park, viii.1994. E. Glos.: 
Bryotropha basaltinella Zell., Hilcot End, 2.vii.1994. 


192 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


PoRTER, J.—Evergestis extimalis Scop., 24.ix.1994; Anania verbascalis D. & S.., 
18.vii.1994; Palpita unionalis Hiibn., 24.ix.1994 all from the Kent coast, and another 
P. unionalis from Dorset on 5.x.1990. : 

RosBINS, J.—An album containing specimens of the leaf mines of the families 
Eriocraniidae, Nepticulidae, Tischeriidae, Incurvariidae, Heliozelidae, Bucculatrici- 
dae, Lyonetiidae, Gracillariidae, Coleophoridae and Momphidae. The mined leaves 
were collected between 1988 and the current year exclusively from within the 
boundaries of the Exmoor National Park. A total of 138 species were represented 
and an index was included in a pocket within the back cover of the album. 

SIMMONS, M.—Pyralid moths from E. Sussex, 1994. From Norman’s Bay: 
Schoenobius gigantella D. & S., Evergestis extimalis Scop., Pyrausta cespitalis D. & 
S., Numonia marmorea Haw. From Crowborough: Agriphila inquinatella D. & S., 
Catoptria falsella D. & S. 

SIMPSON, A. N. B.—Eudonia delunella Staint., Tregroes, near Llandysul, 
Ceredigion, Dyfed, 29.vii.94, at light. Capperia britanniodactyla Gregs., Hartlebury 
Common, Worcs. VC37, bred from larvae collected 30.v.94. Leioptilus lienigianus 
Zell., Upton Warren, new to Worcs., VC37, 1.vii.94. Cydia molesta Busck, bred from 
nectarine purchased in Worcester ix.94. Epinotia signatana Dougl., Mill Meadow, 
Drakes Broughton, new to Worcs., VC37, 14.vi.94. Caryocolum junctella Dougl., 
Wyre Forest NNR, female caught flying in evening 27.iv.94; three bred from 
Stellaria graminea L. v. 94 from same site; first WC record. Coleophora cratipennella 
Clemens, bred from cases collected from Juncus articulatus L., River Cole, Sparkhill, 
Birmingham on 10.ix.93; first record for VC37. 

Sims, I.—Adela fibulella D. & S., River Lodden, Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 
adults 30.v.94. Diplodoma herminata Geoff., Hainault Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, 
adult and case, oak trunk, 11.iv.93, hatched 30.iv.93; case, hornbeam trunk, 13.11.93. 
Narycia monilifera Geoff., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., adults and cases, fence 
post, 18.iii.92, hatched 3.v.92; Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 14.iv.90, oak trunk 
adults hatched 10.v.90. Luffia ferchaultella Steph., Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 
adults end cases on oak trunk 12.iv.90, hatched 16.vi.90. Morophaga choragella D. & 
S., Burnham Beeches, Slough, Berks., mining in the fungus Ganoderma adspersum 
(Schulz) Donk, growing on beech trunk, 14.x.90, hatched (forced) 31.xii.90; Hainault 
Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, mining in the fungus Polyporus squamosus (Huds.) Fr. 
(dryad’s saddle) on ash trunk, 3.xi.92, hatched 6.1.93 (forced); Medmenham, 
Marlow, Bucks., mining in the fungus Pseudotrametes gibbosa on dead wood, 9.ix.94, 
hatched 12.xi.94. Psychoides filicivora Meyrick, Woody Bay, Martinhoe, Devon, on 
Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott, 15.viii.93, hatched 20.viii.93; Great Torrington, 
Devon, 20.ix.90, hatched 12.xi.90 (forced). Nemapogon personella P. & M., Burnham 
Beeches, Slough, Bucks., mining in the fungus Piptoporus betulinus (Bull) Karsten, 
14.x.90, hatched 29.xii.90 (forced). N. cloacella Haw., Ashley Hill Forest, Knowl 
Hill, Reading, Berks., mining in the fungus Piptoporus betulinus 27.11.94, hatched 
17.vi.94; Hainault Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, in dead wood and the fungus 
Tyromyces stipticus, 6.xi.92, hatched 12.iii.93 (forced). N. ruricolla Staint., Hainault 
Forest, Lambourne End, Essex, mining in the fungus Coriolus versicolor (L.) Quél., 
30.xii.93, hatched 25.ii.94 (forced); Hainault Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, in fungus 
Coriolus versicolor, 28.xii.93 hatched 20.ii.94 (forced). Nemaxera betulinella Fabr., 
Hainault Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, 28.xii.93, hatched 20.ii.94 (forced). 
Triaxomera parasitella Hiibn., Ashleyhill Forest, Knowl Hill, Reading, Berks., 
mining in the fungus Piptoporus betulinus, 27.iii.94, hatched 19.iv.94; Hainault 
Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, mining in the fungus Bjerkandera adjusta, 28.xii.93, 
hatched 16.ii.94 (forced). Monopis weaverella Scott., Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, at 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 193 


m.v., 20.v.91. Bucculatrix nigricomella Zell., Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., cocoons 
26.iv.94 on Leucanthemum vulgare Lam., hatched 13.vii.94, heavily parasitized with 
50 larvae producing 12 moths and 30 Hymenoptera. Caloptilia cuculipennella Hibn., 
Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., mine on Ligustrum vulgare L., 7.ix.94, hatched 
15.ix.94. C. rufipennella Hiibn., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks, on Acer pseudopla- 
tanus L. 18.viii.94, hatched 7.1x.94. C. azaleella Brants, Rosemoor RHS Gardens, 
Great Torrington, Devon, mines on Azalea (Rhododendron simsii), 20.ix.90, hatched 
20.x.90. C. falconipennella Hiibn., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., mines 10.x.94, 
hatched 14.x.94. This appears to be a new record for VC24. Field-work and 
subsequent rearing has also shown it to be present in VC22 (Berks., at Twyford and 
Lower Earley), VC12 (N. Hants., at Eversley) and VC23 (Oxon., at Henley-on- 
Thames). All appear to be new county records, and located in the valleys of the River 
Thames and its tributaries. Perhaps it is extending its range, or maybe it has always 
been present here and has had a good year. It would be a good one to look out for at 
Dinton Pastures, the Lower Earley site is within 2 miles. C. semifascia Haw., 
Pheasant Wood, Hambleden, Marlow, Bucks., on Acer campestre L., 10.vii.94, 
hatched 22.vii1.94. Aspilapteryx tringipennella Zell., Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 
on Plantago lanceolata L., 23.vii.94, hatched 30.vii.94; very heavily parasitized with 
200 mines producing two moths and 185 Hymenoptera. Parornix fagivora Frey, 
Pheasant Wood, Hambleden, Marlow, Bucks., on Fagus sylvatica L. 19.x.91 and 
9.x.93, hatched 14.11.92 and 12.ii.94 (both forced). Acrocercops brongniardella F., 
River Lodden, Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., on Quercus sp. 17.viii.91, hatched 
3.ix.91 (still present here, and in Essex in 1994). Phyllonorycter leucographella Zell., 
Wickford, Essex, mines on Pyracantha coccinea Roemer, 26.iii.89 and 25.ii.90, 
hatched 23.iv.89 and 11.iv.90 (heavily parasitized in this area, with 100 mines 
producing four moths and 70 Hymenoptera; as a result far less common here in 
1994). P. salicolella Sirc., Ashley Hill Forest, Knowl Hill, Reading, Berks., on Salix 
caprea L., 2.xi1.90, hatched 21.iii.91 (forced); Burnham Beeches, Slough, Bucks., 
14.x.90, hatched 22.i11.91 (forced). P. dubitella H.-S., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., 
on Salix caprea, 26.x.92, hatched 16.ii.93 (forced); Pheasant Wood, Hambleden, 
Marlow, Bucks., on Salix, 31.x.92, hatched 8.11.93 (forced). P. hilarella Zett. Ashley 
Hill Forest, Knowl Hill, Reading, Berks., on Salix caprea, 2.xii.90, hatched 15.iv.91; 
Burnham Beeches, Slough, Bucks., on Salix, 14.x.90, hatched 16.iv.91. P. 
quinqueguttella Staint., Braunton Burrows, Devon, on Salix repens L., 29.ix.90, 
hatched 15.iv.91. P. emberizaepenella Bouche, Wangles Copps, Woodly, Reading, 
Berks., on Lonicera periclymenham L., 23.ix.89, hatched 3.iv.90; Chigwell Row, 
Essex, cocoon, 3.x.88. Phyllocnistis saligna Zell., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., on 
Salix fragilis L., 17.vii.92 and 4.viii.94, hatched 1.viii.92 and 8.viii.94; mine on S. 
fragilis 11.x.89 (unusual in being on upper-side). Choreutis pariana Cl., on Crataegus 
monogyna Jacq., River Lodden, Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 30.v.94, hatched 
19.vi.94. 

SKINNER, B.—Udea fulvalis Hiibn., Highcliffe, Hampshire, three bred 
specimens ex female vii.1993 together with photographs illustrating life history. 
Salebriopsis albicilla H.-S., Welshbury Hill, Glos., caught males, vi.1994, 
together with photographs illustrating life history. Melissoblaptes zelleri Joannis, 
male with discal spots united, Greatstone, Kent, 14.vii.94. Homoeosoma sinuella F.., 
male with banded forewing, Stoke Saltings, Kent, 24.vii.94 Acrobasis repandana F., 
melanistic male, Ham Street, Kent, 13.vii.94. Sciota adelphella F.v.R., short 
series bred from southeast Kent. Schoenobius gigantella D. & S., melanistic male, 
Stoke Saltings, 24.vii.94. Perinephele lancealis D. & S., albino male, Ham Street, 
13.vii.94. 


194 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


STERLING, M. J. & P. H—Nemapogon ruricolella Staint., Charborough Park, new 
to Dorset VC9, bred from larvae feeding in Stereum hirsutum on oak bark, collected 
28.iv.94, emerged from 26.v.94. Ypsolopha lucella F., Stoke Common, Bucks., VC24, 
one bred from larva on oak collected 30.v.94, and one adult (of many) beaten from 
oak 16.vii.94. Coleophora lassella Stdgr., Arne, Dorset, VC9, bred from cases made 
from Juncus bufonius L., collected 26.vii.93, emerged v.94. C. clypeiferella Hofm., 
Weymouth, new to Dorset VC9, at light 3/4.viii.94. Ethmia bipunctella F., 
Weymouth, at light, 3/4.viii.94. Bryotropha mundella Dougl., Fanore, Co. Clare 
VC H9, smoked out 13.vi.94. Dichomeris juniperella L. (Plate III, Fig. 20), Achlean, 
Cairngorms, vi.77,det.K.Sattler. Brachmia inornatella Dougl., Wicken Fen, Cambs., 
at light 17.vi.94. Mompha bradleyi Reidl, Stapleford, Herts. (collected 21.viii.93) and 
Woodwalton Fen, Hunts. (collected 3.ix.93), bred from flower stem galls on 
Epilobium hirsutum L. Acleris permutana Dup., Leagh South, Co. Galway, VC H15, 
18 & 21.viii.94, at light. Epiblema cnicicolana Zell., Charmouth, Dorset, VC9, 
7.vii.94, two of many at rest on fleabane. 


FOREIGN LEPIDOPTERA 


THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM—(1) Two drawers of Noctuidae recently 
received by the Museum, one containing material from Argentina, the other with 
material from Mongolia, Turkey, Turkmenia and parts of the former USSR, all in 
very fine condition. (2) Three drawers from the Inoue Collection of South-East Asian 
Lepidoptera, presented to the Museum in 1992. (3) Two drawers of Alcis repandata 
L. and two drawers of Callimorpha dominula L. from the National Collection of 
British Lepidoptera (R.C.K.). These species are currently the subject of research 
projects funded by the Cockayne Fellowship. 

The Entomology Department of the Natural History Museum receives 
approximately 25 000 specimens annually. Since January 1994, the start of the 
Museum’s electronic registration system, the Lepidoptera collections have received 
over 4000 pinned specimens. The majority of these have been collected by staff of the 
Museum’s research divisions for particular projects. Two drawers of specimens 
shown at this Exhibition were a representative sample of some of the material 
obtained by staff of the Collections Management Division, either by exchange or for 
assistance with research projects for colleagues abroad. Part of the Museum’s vital 
role is the enhancement of collections by obtaining well documented, legally collected 
material from areas that are inaccessible to Western collectors, too distant to be 
economically viable, or regions in which the Museum has no current research 
priorities. The material from Argentina was presented in return for colour 
transparencies of some type material which was needed for identification purposes. 
The other drawer consisted of part of a larger collection of specimens presented by 
fellow noctuid workers at the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, in 
return for assistance given on their last visit to the Natural History Museum. 

Corey, M. F. V.—(1) Tineidae from Portugal. Eighteen species of Tineidae 
collected in Algarve, Portugal in recent years: Morophaga morellus Dup., Ateliotum 
insulare Rebel, Peristomastix agenjoi Petersen, Myrmecozela ataxella Chrét., 
Novotinea muricolella Fuchs, Infurcitinea marcunella Rebel, I. atrifasciella Stdgr, 
Stenoptinea cyaneimarmorella Mill., Nemapogon nevadellus Caradja, Neurothaumasia 
ankerella Mann, N. ragusaella Wocke, Monopis nigricantella Mill., M. imella Hibn., 
Trichophaga bipartitella Rag., Proterospastis merdella Zell., Niditinea fuscella L., 
Tinea translucens Meyr., T. basifasciella Rag. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 195 


Most of these were taken at mercury vapour light, but Tinea translucens (a 
southern species only recently recorded in the Iberian Peninsula from near Seville) 
and Niditinea fuscella were taken indoors. Novotinea muricolella was flying in late 
afternoon in March on a rocky hilltop. 

Stenoptinea cyanaemarmorella is a poorly known species. MBGBI mentions only 
four British specimens and illustrates it badly. This is the first record for the Iberian 
Peninsula. In life, the recorder did not at first recognize it as a tineid: although the 
head is tineid-like, the scale-tufts and resting position, with wings held flat and only 
partly overlapping, are not. 

Besides the last species and T. translucens, several other species were new records 
for Portugal: A. insulare, M. ataxella, I. marcunella, N. ankerella, N. ragusaella, 
M. nigricantella and P. merdella. At present, only seven other species of 
Tineidae have been recorded from Algarve, namely Reisserita zernyi Petersen, R. 
chrysopterella H.-S., Tenaga nigripunctella Haw., Nemapogon granella L., N. 
cloacella Haw., N. agenjoi Petersen and Tinea murariella Stdgr. Records of 
Trichophage tapetzella L. probably all refer to T. bipartitella. 

(2) Oecophoridae from Portugal. Twenty-four species of Oecophoridae sens. Jat. 
taken in Algarve: Denisia augustella Hiibn., Batia lunaris Haw., Epicallima formosella 
D. & S., Esperia sulphurella F., Carcina quercana F., Pleurota ericella Dup., 
P. amaniella Mann, Pseudatamelia xanthosoma Rebel, P. amparoella Vives, 
Agonopterix thapsiella Zell., A. c.f. adspersella Koll., A. nanatella Staint., A. 
scopariella Hein., A. purpurea Haw., A. subpropinquella Staint., A. rotundella Dougl., 
Exaeretia lutosella H.-S., Depressaria marcella Rebel, D. badiella Hiibn., D. 
douglasella Staint., D. adustatella Turati, D. erinaceella Stdgr, Kasyniana xenias 
Meyr. and Odites kollarella Costa. 

In Vives Moreno’s 1991 catalogue of Iberian Microlepidoptera these species are 
assigned to Oecophoridae, Xylorictidae and Depressariidae. The exhibitor does not 
argue the rights and wrongs of this arrangement, but points out that Vives Moreno 
includes only one species (Odites kollarella) in Xylorictidae, although three other 
Iberian species belong to this family: two are placed by him in a new genus Kasyniana 
in Oecophoridae sens. str., and one is left in Brachmia in Gelechiidae! It has not yet 
proved possible to name all the Agonopterix species. 

Of the species exhibited, Esperia sulphurella is day-flying. One of the Pseudatemelia 
amparoella specimens was also taken by day. P. xanthosoma comes to light readily, 
but also has a flight at sunrise. The remainder were taken at light or reared from 
larvae or pupae. 

There is an old unlocalized record of Pleurota amaniella from Portugal. Vives 
Moreno rejected this and omitted the species from his list. Agonopterix nanatella is 
given only for the Balearic Islands in his list. Both species of Pseudatamelia, 
Agonopterix thapsiella, A. adspersella (if correct), A. purpurea, A. rotundella, 
Depressaria douglasella, D. adustatella and D. erinaceella are new records for 
Portugal. There are records from Algarve of 12 other species: Epicallima mercedella 
Stdgr, Alabonia herculeella Wals., Pleurota bicostella Clerck, P. protasella Stdgr, P. 
honorella Hiibn., P. hebetella Rag., P. planella Stdgr, Pseudatemelia detrimentella 
Stdgr, Agonopterix rutana F., A. nervosa Haw., Depressaria pulcherrimella Staint. 
and ‘Brachmia’ ternatella Stdgr. 

ELSTON, H. J.—A selection of Lepidoptera taken in July 1994 in the Alpes 
Maritimes and Luberon areas of Provence in Southern France including a dark 
Melanargia galathea L. (Plate II, Fig. 11). 

HACKETT, D.—A drawer illustrating problems in identification on external features 
of African species of Helicoverpa Hardwick closely related to H. armigera Hiibn. 


196 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


HALL, N.—Heterocera from France and Spain, selected for exhibition 
because of their taxonomic interest or because they are on the British List. (1) 
Dicycla oo L. bred from a female obtained at St. Laurent du Pape, Ardéche. On two 
occasions French oo had been kept for eggs, and each time a mere 4 were laid after 
keeping the moths in darkness in a pill-box, offering them diluted honey solution 
every 24h for 2-3 days. The eggs were laid on the sides of the boxes, not in the 
corners, and were easy to see. They were kept through the winter out of doors, in 
their boxes, in a meat safe. The first batch was lost through predation by other insect 
larvae, but the second lot, kept in a tighter fitting box, survived, and hatched on 
26-27.iv.1994. All four were kept separate. They were provided with opening oak 
buds, into which they bored, and three were lost because they literally 
disappeared, and could not be found even by dissecting the buds under a binocular 
microscope. After a while, both buds and the larvae within succumb to mould 
fungus. In retrospect, it would have been better to search for precociously opened 
oak foliage on which to feed the larvae. The surviving larva took to such foliage, and 
promptly made a spinning in one of the leaves, while still in its first instar. Thence it 
was easy to re-find and transfer to fresh food, and was reared without trouble. (2) 
Two other specimens of D. 00, from Arlanzon. Prov. Burgos, Spain, one of the plain 
yellow form sulphurago Stdgr and the other yellow with very faint markings. (3) Very 
dark specimens of Thalpophila matura Hufn. f. provincialis Culot from Osse-en-Aspe, 
Pyr. Atl., France, 4.viii.1994. Other specimens from Britain, including dark ones, 
were shown for comparison. (4) Four specimens of Acosmetia caliginosa Hibn. from 
sea cliffs near Llanes, Prov. Asturias, Spain, between 9 & 13.vili.1987, and two others 
from Osse-en-Aspe, an inland site at c. 800m altitude on 4.vili.1994. It was 
suggested that the species is probably double-brooded in Spain and Southern 
France. (5) Two specimens of Mythimna c.f. ferrago F. from Beniarrés, Prov. 
Alicante, Spain, 10.viii.1994 and Simat, Prov. Valencia, on 16.viii.1994. Two British 
specimens of M. ferrago and two others from Southern France and Northern 
Spain, of the pale f. argyristis Ramb. usual in southern Europe were shown for 
comparison. The specimens from Southern Spain looked like neither, but it is 
difficult to see what else they can be. (6) Five species of Euchromius Guen.: E. ocellea 
Haw., St Martin de Londres, Hérault, France, 26.vi.1994; E. vinculellus Zell., 
Beniarrés, 10.viii.1994; E. gozmanyi Blesz., La Albufera, Prov. Valencia, Spain, 
28.vi.1994; E. cambridgei Zell., La Albufera, 28.vi.1994, and E. ramburiellus 
Dup., St Martin de Londres, 26.vi.1994. (7) Four Scopariinae: Anarpia incertalis 
Dup., Sierra Nevada, Prov. Granada, Spain, 2700 m, 3.vii.1994; Eudonia mercurella 
L., Pradena, Prov. Segovia, Spain, 5.vii.1994; E. delunella Staint., St Laurent du 
Pape, Ardéche, France, 25.vi.1994, and an unidentified species from Sierra de Baza, 
Prov. Almeria, Spain, 2000 m, 1.vii.1994. (8) Lepidogma tamaricalis Mann, from 
Ontifiena, Prov. Huesca, Spain, 5.vii.1991, apparently not previously recorded from 
Spain. (9) Actenia vulpecalis Rag. from Pto de la Mora, Prov. Granada, Spain, 
12.vii.1991, det. M. Shaffer. These were exhibited for reference when considering 
other similar or related specimens from both France and Spain that were exhibited 
for the purpose of discussion. Two of these were identified with certainty as 
Orthopygia rubidalis D. & S. and O. incarnatalis Zell., the others probably A. 
vulpecalis and A. honestalis Treits., with some narrow-winged feniales presenting 
particular problems. It was pointed out that A. honestalis was not in Leraut’s 
Checklist (1980) for France, and that A. vulpecalis appears in neither the French nor 
Spanish checklists, but should be in the latter as there are specimens from Spain in 
the B.M. (N.H.). (M. Shaffer, pers. comm.). (10) A selection of other species from 
localities in France and Spain. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 197 


HARMAN, T. W.—A selection of exhibits of Lepidoptera from around the World. 
(1) Australia. Syntherata janetta White (Saturniidae), a series to show variation 
within the species; bred from cocoons found on small shrubs growing on the beach at 
Holloways Beach, Cairns, Queensland, April 1993. (2) Nepal. Some interesting 
moths, including the following. Zygaenidae: Chalcosia auxo albata Moore, Eterusia 
tricolor Hope, Soritia pulchella Koll.; Geometridae: Jotaphora iridicolor Butl., 
Xandrames albofasciata Moore, Arichanna flavinigra Hamps., Pachyodes varicolor- 
aria Moore, Psyra annulifera Walk., Problepsis crassinotata Prout, Plutodes lamisca 
Swin., P. subcaudata Butl.; Sphingidae: Cephonodes hylas L., Marumba decoratus 
Moore (the second record for Nepal and the most westerly record of this species); 
Notodontidae: Ginshachia gemmifera Moore; Lymantriidae: Numenes siletti Walk. 
Arctiidae: Asota tortuosa Moore, Aglaemorpha plagiata Walk., Nyctemera lacticinia 
Cram., Miltochrista linga Moore, Alphaea imbuta Walk.; Noctuidae: Baorisa 
hieroglyphica Moore, Grammodes geometrica F., Parallelia maturata Walk., P. 
praetermissa Warr., P. analis Guen. and Gaurena florescens albomaculata Werny. (3) 
A specimen of Baorisa hieroglyphica (Plate III, Fig. 19) ‘twinned’ with a copy in 
sugar-icing by Anne Finch! 

KING, G.—Over 30 specimens of F, and F, generations of the Indian arctiid, 
Estigmene perotteti Guerin. The original female was found in Bombay, Western 
India, in June 1994. Several ova were laid, and the subsequent larvae fed on a wide 
range of plant species. The original specimen was identified by the B.M. (N.H.) as 
E. nigricans Moore, but as a result of breeding out three different forms in the F, 
generation, an examination of the male genitalia was deemed necessary. In 
September, 1994, an additional form was observed: the cream-striped form is the 
most frequent, but these specimens were black and grey, the usual pink areas being 
replaced by grey. Only four examples were bred, and unfortunately no pairings were 
obtained. A female was exhibited. In the most recent emergence, October 1994, 
specimens have appeared with irregularly shaped or broken stripes. In addition to set 
examples, 3rd instar larvae were shown, feeding on hawkweed (F;), and two live 
imagines were also exhibited. 

MIDDLETON, A. P.—A selection of butterflies obtained during visits to Portugal 
(Sintra region) in 1993 and Poland (Bydgoszcz region) in 1994. 

TREMBATH, D. A.—Five drawers of butterflies collected in the south-eastern and 
western Andean region of Venezuela during June, 1993, illustrating the wonderful 
diversity and colour of the butterflies of the Neotropical region. Relatively little 
serious work has been done on the fauna of Venezuela, and some of the species 
shown were of unusual interest. Drawer 1 contained 29 species of ithomids, many of 
which can be collected in dull weather along paths in the forest. Sometimes they 
occur in great abundance, with several species occurring together: the exhibitor 
found 11 species within a few minutes in one area at Rio Frio in the Andean region. 
Drawer 2 was devoted to heliconids, including some rare and local forms; there is still 
controversy over the status of some forms and subspecies. Drawer 3 contained 
Acraea and nymphalids, showing the tremendous range of shape and colour among 
these butterflies; included were Baeotus amazonicus Riley, male and female, a very 
rare subspecies of Agrias amydon Hewitson female, Callicore maronesis Oberthiir and 
the brilliantly coloured Doxocopa lavinia Butler—a very rare un-named subspecies. 
Drawer 4 showed 29 species of pierid, a fascinating group of great interest to 
collectors, especially many of the little-known high-altitude species. Unfortunately, 
bad weather hindered collecting during the exhibitor’s stay in the high-altitude region 
of San Cristobel. One notable species taken there was Hesperocharis nera 
Fruhstorfer, thought to be a rarity in Venezuela. Drawer 5 contained Papilionidae 


198 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


and Morpho, the latter particularly magnificent. The large Morpho species fly at 
canopy height across the valleys until they meet wide paths or roads which they then 
invariably follow, flying at a height of between 7 and 10 metres. Very considerable 
skill and fitness are then required to capture them, aided by the use of shiny blue 
lures. The sight of them is unforgettable. 

WARING, P.—({1) A reference collection of moths found in the Pyrenees and 
southern Spain during October. In the south, there are numerous semi-desert species 
which fly in late autumn, avoiding the intense heat of the summer, such as 
Lasiocampa serrula Guen., Powellinia lasserrei Oberthiir and Saragossa seeboldi 
Stdgr. (2) Some interesting moths from the Palava Protected Landscape area in the 
Czech Republic, 4-9.ix.1994, during the biennial SEL Congress which was held at 
Lednice, near Brno, including the Geometridae Rhodostrophia vibicaria Clerck, 
widespread in Europe but absent from the British Isles; Cataclysme riguata Hiibn., a 
southern and central European species associated with xerothermic habitats where 
the larvae feed on species of Rubiaceae (bedstraws); Therapis flavicaria D. & S., a 
south-east European species which resembles Pseudopanthera macularia L. The larva 
feeds on Lamium album L. The one specimen seen came to m.v. light on the edge of 
riverine woodland just north of Lednice on 9.ix.; Artiora evonymaria D. & S. is an 
eastern European relative of the ‘thorns’, which extends into Austria and Germany 
but not further west. It was common locally on the Palava hills; the moths could be 
found at night fluttering round spindle (Euonymus) bushes, or settled upon them, 
more rarely at light. Noctuidae were represented by Chersotis margaritacea Vill., one 
of a rather large and diverse genus without a single representative in Britain which 
was fairly common at light in the Palava hills; Agrochola nitida D. & S., widely 
distributed in central Europe. The individual shown came to a wine rope hung on a 
riverside willow (Salix sp.) just north of Lednice on 5.ix.; Emmelia trabealis Scop., 
formerly resident in the Breckland of East Anglia, but no evidence of breeding since 
1960. Widespread in warm, dry habitats in Europe and abundant in the Palava hills. 
the one shown came to light there on 4.ix. A map was displayed alongside the 
exhibit,, indicating the location of sites worked. 


DIPTERA 


Among the wide range of species exhibited, it was evident that the tephritids 
Achanthiophilus helianthi (Rossi) (4 exhibitors) and Orellia falcata (Scop.) 
(3 exhibitors) must have been on the increase in 1994; both are usually rarely seen but 
are Closely tied to their food plants, Centaurea nigra L. and Tragopogon respectively. 
A third British record of Pseudopomyza atrimana Meig. (Pseudopomyzidae) from a 
new locality was particularly encouraging. The platypezid Agathomyia wankowiczii 
(Schnabl) appears to be a recent introduction; the galls exhibited confirm that it has 
become established at one Kentish site but British examples of the insect itself have 
yet to be seen. 

ALEXANDER, K. N. A. & FOSTER, A. P.—Flies found in 1994 by the National 
Trust’s Biological Survey: Ctenophora flaveolata (F.) (Tipulidae), open beech pasture 
woodland, Ebworth Farm, Glos., 9.v; Oxycera pardalina Meig. (Stratiomyidae), tufa 
spring, Dinefwr Deer Park, Carms., 18.vii; Dioctria oelandica (L.) (Asilidae), Colby 
Lodge, Pembs., woodland glade, 13.vi; Scenopinus niger (Deg.) (Scenopinidae), dead 
standing oak, Dinefwr Park, Carms., 27.vi; Brachyopa*pilosa Collin (Syrphidae), 
fallen beeches, Aldbury Common and commonly at Frithensden Beeches, Herts., 
1l.vi; B. scutellaris R.-D., woodland ride, Woodchester Park, Glos., 6.vi; Eumerus 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 199 


sabulonum (Fall.) (Syrphidae), St David’s Head, Pembs., 22/23.vi and Nicholaston 
Burrows, Gower, 19.vii; Brachypalpus laphriformis (Fall.) (Syrphidae), Aldbury 
Common, Herts., 11.vi; Myopa extricata Collin (Conopidae), Ebworth Farm, Glos., 
6.v; Ochthera mantis (Deg.) (Ephydridae), wet heath, Mynachdy’r-Graig, Cards., 
28.vi. 

BoyD, G.—A selection of Syrphidae, Stratiomyidae and Conopidae collected in 
1994, among them the following Syrphidae: Xylota xanthocnema Collin, Aldbury 
Common. Herts., 11.vi; Pyrophaena rosarum (F.), Dinton Pastures, Berks., 4.vi; 
Chrysotoxum verralli Coll, Cambridge, in garden, 30.vii; C. cautum (Harris), 30.v. 

CHANDLER, P. J.—(1) Agathomyia wankowiczii (Schnabl) (Platypezidae), male, 
female from Denmark (previously exhibited at 1992 Annual Exhibition) and 
brackets of the perennial fungus Ganoderma applanatum (Pers.) Pat. galled by its 
larvae, from Beechen Wood, Lullingstone, Kent, 19.vi.1994; it had been found there 
in 1993 by Joyce Pitt who had recorded fungi there for 20 years and had not seen it 
there before; one bracket had 3 years of galled layers, but it is probably a recent 
introduction—the first and only other British record was from Bouldermere, Wisley, 
Surrey, 23.ix.1990 (Spooner, B. M., 1991, Cecidology 6(2): 80-81). 

(2) Diptera newly recorded from Dinton Pastures in 1994: Acrocera orbicula (F.) 
(Acroceridae), Mortimer’s Meadows, 3.vii; Teuchophorus calcaratus (Macq.) 
(Dolichopodidae), Sandford Copse, 19.vii, abundant by muddy creek; Agathomyia 
elegantula (Fall.) (Platypezidae), Sandford Copse, 30.vii; Spiniphora maculata 
(Meig.) (Phoridae), Mungell’s Pond, 9.iii and Sandford Copse, 27.iii; Cheilosia 
grossa (Fall.) (Syrphidae), Mungell’s Pond, 19.111 (collected by Roger Morris); 
Anasimyia contracta Torp & Claussen (Syrphidae), Mungell’s Pond, 25.vi; 
Achanthiophilus helianthi (Rossi) (Tephritidae), Mortimer’s Meadows, 30.vii; Orellia 
falcata (Scop.) (Tephritidae), Mortimer’s Meadows, 25.vi; Typhamyza bifasciata 
(Wood) (Anthomyzidae), on Typha stems at Mungell’s Pond, 24.vii; Ornithomyia 
avicularia (L.) (Hippoboscidae), hedge south of Black Swan Lake, 9.vii; 
Phytoliriomyza melampyga (Loew) (Agromyzidae), Sandford Copse, 10.vii, its leaf 
mines on /mpatiens glandulifera Royle are common in the Park. 

(3) Nematoproctus distendens (Mg.) (Dolichopodidae), the first male found in 
Sandford Copse, 16.vii.1994; only 2 females were found in 1993 but in 1994 many 
females were found around the shady creek in the wood (Fig. 5 in Chandler, P. J., 
1994, Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 118-126). 

COLLINS, G. A.—Three Syrphidae found in 1994: Doros profuges (Harris), 
Mickleham, Surrey, 12.vi; Microdon devius (L.), Chipstead Valley, Surrey, 12.vi; 
Brachypalpus laphriformis (Fall.), Underlaid Wood, Westm., 28.v. 

GODFREY, A.—Diptera found in 1994: Tanyptera atrata (L.) (Tipulidae), Brown 
Moss, Chesh., 23.v and Boveney Brook/Sturt Common, Wyre Forest, Worcs., 22.v; 
Dictenidia bimaculata (L.) (Tipulidae), male, female reared ex rotten oak debris, 
Ashtead Common, Surrey, collected 19.iv, emerged in v and vi; Mycetobia pallipes 
Meig. (Anisopodidae), male reared from pupa in sap runs on horse chestnut, 
Hognaby, Spilsby, Lincs., collected 2.vi, emerged 21.vi; Oxycera pardalina Meig. 
(Stratiomyidae), female swept from turfaceous seepage, Moccas Park, Heref., 1.vii; 
Systenus scholtzii (Loew) (Dolichopodidae), 2 males, 2 females reared ex rot hole in 
cleft of twin trunked sycamore, Pot Riding Wood SSSI, W. Yorks., collected iii, 
emerged iv—v; Mallota cimbiciformis (Fall.) (Syrphidae), female reared 15.vi from rot 
hole in alder, Shrawardine Pool, Salop; Arctophila superbiens (Miller) (Syrphidae), 
male on Centaurea flowers, former railway line, Smytham, Great Torrington, Devon, 
4.vii; Dichetophora finlandica Verbeke (Sciomyzidae), apparently first rearing from 
outside laboratory, ex puparia found in empty shell of Cernuella species, collected iv 


200 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


from fore dunes, Gibraltar Point, Lincs., male, female emerged 7.vi; Colobaea 
distincta (Meig.) (Sciomyzidae), Stanley Bank Nature Reserve, St Helens, Mersey- 
side, 29.ix; Aulacigaster leucopeza (Meig.) (Aulacigastridae), v—vii at horse chestnut 
sap, Chatsworth Park, Derbys., Moccas Park, Heref. and Powis Castle Park, Wales; 
Odinia xanthocera Collin (Odiniidae), Devil’s Spittleful, Kidderminster, Worcs., 
female, 26.v.; O. boletina (Zett.), Bretton Park, W. Yorks., 25.vi; Cnemacantha 
muscaria (Fall.) (Lauxaniidae), grassland, Roundton Hill Nature Reserve, Wales, 
25.v; Sarcotachinella sinuata (Meig.) (Sarcophagidae), male, Stowford Moor, Great 
Torrington, Devon, 4.viii; Phaonia cincta (Zett.) (Muscidae), 2 males reared from rot 
hole in alder, Shrawardine Pool, Salop, emerged 24.vi; Thricops aculeipes (Zett.) 
(Muscidae), 2 males on Trollius flowers, Arncliffe, N. Yorks., 11.vi. 

HACKETT, D.—A selection of Syrphidae and other flies, mainly associated with 
dead wood, including: Ctenophora pectinicornis (L.) (Tipulidae), reared from under 
poplar bark, Trent Park, Middx, collected 15.x.93, emerged 23.xii.93; Dictenidia 
bimaculata (L.) (Tipulidae), reared ex rotten beech stump in vi.94; Epiphragma 
ocellare (L.) (Limoniidae), reared 26.11.94 ex rotten birch trunk, Queen’s Woods, N. 
London; Mallota cimbiciformis (Fall.) (Syrphidae), at Rubus, Totteridge Fields, 
Barnet, 18.vi; Brachyopa pilosa Collin (Syrphidae), on beech log, Frithstone Beeches, 
Herts., 11.vi; Thereva nobilitata (F.) (Therevidae), reared 24.vi, from larva under 
loose bark of standing dead oak, Hampstead Heath, N. London, collected 1.vi.94. 

HALSTEAD, A. J.—Ten species of Diptera found in 1994: Leptogaster guttiventris 
Zett. (Asilidae), Zealand Cross, Salisbury Plain, Wilts., 22.vii; Nyctia halterata 
(Panz.) (Sarcophagidae), Mungell’s Pond, Dinton Pastures, Berks., 25.vi; Ulidia 
erythrophthalma Meig. (Otitidae), Cheverell Down, Salisbury Plain, Wilts., 19.vii; 
seven species of Tephritidae from Salisbury Plain, Wilts.: Achanthiophilus helianthi 
(Rossi), 1 female, Netherhaven Down, 18.vii; Chaetorellia loricata (Rond.), Haxton 
Down, 19.vii; Orellia falcata (Scop.), Haxton Down, 19.vii; Terellia longicauda 
(Meig.), on flowers of Cirsium eriophorum (L.) Scop., its food plant, Alton Down, 
18.vii; T. vectensis (Collin), Netherhaven Down, 18.vii and Orcheston Down, 21.vii; 
Urophora spoliata (Hal.), Netherhaven Down, 18.vii (two latter on their food plant 
Serratula),; U. cuspidata (Meig.), Robin’s Hood Ball, 18.vii. 

HARMAN, T. W.—Callicera aurata (Rossi) (Syrphidae), in office of Canterbury 
Environmental Education Centre, Kent, 21.1x.1994. 

HARVEY, P. R.—Insects from sites in south Essex, threatened by housing 
development: (1) from Mill Wood Pit, Thurrock: Eutolmus rufibarbis (Meig.) 
(Asilidae) and Stratiomys longicornis (Scop.) (Stratiomyidae); (2) from Ferry Fields, 
near Tilbury: Asilus crabroniformis L. (Asilidae) (other recent Essex records of the 
latter were mentioned, from the nearby horse-grazed Broom Hill and Ferry Fields). 

HAWKINS, R. D.—Ferdinandea ruficornis (F.) (Syrphidae), in a green lane 
alongside woodland, Driver’s Green, near Outwood, Surrey, 21.iv.1994; the 
commoner species F. cuprea (Scop.) was exhibited for comparison. 

HopGE, P. J.—Achanthiophilus helianthi (Rossi) (Tephritidae), Crade Hill, 
Alfriston, E. Sussex, 23.vii.1994, on Centaurea nigra L. at margin of arable field. 

PERRY, I.—Diptera found in 1994: Anthalia beatricella Chandler (Hybotidae), at 
Crataegus flowers, Denny Wood, New Forest, 23.v; Empis woodi Collin (Empididae), 
Wandlebury, Cambs., 12.v; Hilara morata Collin (Empididae), shaded ditch on 
Cavenham Heath, Suff., 18.vi; Sciapus laetus (Meig.) (Dolichopodidae), Pennard 
Hill, Glam., freshwater seepages flowing onto saltmarsh, 8.vii; Brachyopa bicolor 
(Fall.) (Syrphidae), male hovering by sap flow on birch, Cavenham Heath, Suff., 
14.v; Orellia falcata (Scop.) (Tephritidae), around the food plant Tragopogon, Kenfig 
Burrows, Glam., 30.vi; Achanthiophilus helianthi (Rossi) (Tephritidae), Rhossili, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 201 


Glam., 2.vii; Pseudopomyza atrimana Meig. (Pseudopomyzidae), Denny Wood, New 
Forest, 22.v, third British record; Sapromyza basalis Zett. (Lauxaniidae), Millwoods, 
Glam., 5.vii; Parallelomma vittatum (Meig.) (Scathophagidae), Cwm Ivy Woods, 
Glam., 29.vi; Fannia ringdahlana Collin (Fanniidae), first English records from the 
New Forest: Denny Wood, 22.v and Millyford Bridge, 23.v; Coenosia albatella 
(Zett.) (Muscidae), Whiteford Burrows, Glam., 29.vi and Oxwich, 5.vii, swept from 
bare sand on dunes. 

PLANT, C. W.—Twelve species of Syrphidae from Malta, iv.1994, including a 
possibly new species of Eumerus; 3 other species of Eumerus and 3 species of Paragus 
were included in the exhibit, with 1 species each of Scaeva, Chrysotoxum, Eristalinus 
and Platynochaetus—P. rufus Macq., noted for its “incredibly long arista’’. 

ROBBINS, J.—An album containing specimens of leaf mines caused by larvae of 
Diptera, collected from 1989 to 1994 in Exmoor National Park, mostly identified (in 
some cases provisionally) from their mines: 101 species of Agromyzidae, 6 species of 
Anthomyiidae, 2 species each of Tephritidae and Drosophilidae, and 1 species of 
Cecidomyiidae. 

SIMMONDS, M. J.—Six species of Conopidae from E. Sussex and Kent. 

STUBBS, A. E.—Bittacomorpha clavipes (Ptychopteridae) (Plate II, Fig. 10), a 
“phantom crane-fly” from Canada, collected in viii.1994; this has white banded tarsi 
which detract attention from the dark body while the insect is flying along shaded 
woodland streams. The British Dolichopeza albipes (Str6m) (Tipulidae), which occurs 
in the same habitat and which uses a similar ploy, was exhibited for comparison. 


COLEOPTERA 


ALEXANDER, K. N. A. & FOSTER, A. P.—A selection of the more interesting 
beetles found during the work of the National Trust’s Biological Survey in 1994. 
Cicindela maritima Lat. & Dej. (Carabidae), Nicholaston Burrows, Gower, W. 
Glam., 19.vii.1994; Georissus crenulatus (Rossi) (Hydrophilidae), St David’s Head, 
Pemb., 16.vi.1994, cliff seepage; Helophorus dorsalis (Marsh.) (Hydrophilidae), 
Woodchester Park, Glos., 7.vi.1994, woodland rut puddle; Plegaderus dissectus Er. 
(Histeridae), Hardwick Hall, Derbys., 8.viii.1994, moist oak bark; Deleaster dichrous 
(Grav.) (Staphylinidae), Cwm Hoffnant, Card., 30.vi.1994, streamside stones; 
Amphimallon ochraceus (Knoch) (Scarabaeidae), Paviland Cliff, Gower, W. Glam., 
22.vii.1994, limestone grassland; Dirhagus pygmaeus (F.) (Eucnemidae), Bishopston 
Valley, Gower, W. Glam., 22.vii.1994, male and female swept, new to Wales; Tillus 
elongatus (L.) (Cleridae), Aldbury Common, Herts., 11.vi.1994, on dead standing 
beech trunk; Coccinella quinquepunctata L. (Coccinellidae), Dinefwr, Carm., 
18.vii.1994, river shingle; Mycetophagus piceus (F.) (Mycetophagidae), Williams 
Clough, Kinder Estate, Derbys., 11.viii.1994, red-rotten oak; Hallomenus binotatus 
(Quen.) (Melandryidae), Peter Nook Wood, Kinder Estate, Derbys., 10.viii.1994, 
and Graigllech Woods, Brecons., 26.vi.1994, new to Wales, in both cases 
from bracket fungus Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Bond & Singer on oak; 
Phyllobrotica quadrimaculata (L.) (Chrysomelidae), Tretio Common, Pemb., 
13.vii.1994, lesser skullcap on wet heath; Apteropeda globosa (Ill.) (Chrysome- 
lidae), Bishopston Valley, Gower, W. Glam., 22.vii.1994, swept and Woodchester 
Park, Glos., 22.vii.1994, swept in shady ride; Trachyphloeus aristatus (Gyll.) 
(Curculionidae), Pwll Caerog, Pemb., 12.vii.1994, at roots of sea plantain; 
Microplontus triangulum (Boh.) (Curculionidae), Woodchester Park, Glos., 
31.v.1994 swept from limestone grassland; Miarus micros (Germ.) (Curculionidae), 


202 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Letcha Cliff, Cornwall, 16.v.1994, on sheep’s-bit; Ernoporus fagi (F.) (Scolytidae), 
Aldbury Common, Herts., 11.vi.1994, beech bark. 

ALLEN, A. W. J.—Nine species of Coleoptera collected in Dorset between 
1992 and 1994. Plegaderus vulneratus (Panz.) (Histeridae), Chetterwood near 
Manswood, ST 90, x.1992 one under bark of dead conifer; Heterothops niger 
Kraatz (Staphylinidae), Cranbourne, SU 01, it1.1994, one in a mole’s nest; 
Trachys scrobiculatus Kiesenwetter (Buprestidae), in a wood near Ashmore, ST 91, 
vi.1993, one swept from a grassy clearing, first post-1969 record for Dorset; Dirhagus 
pygmaeus (F.) (Eucnemidae), Chetterwood near Manswood, ST 90, vi.1993, one 
swept in a clearing, new to Dorset; Colydium elongatum (F.) (Colydiidae), near 
Alderholt, SU 01, vi.1992, under bark of dead beech; Lissodema quadripustulata 
(Marsh.) (Salpingidae), Chetterwood near Manswood, ST 90, vi.1992, one swept; 
Tomoxia bucephala Costa (Mordellidae), near Alderholt, SU 01, vi.1992, on a dead 
oak; Psylliodes luteola (Miller, O. F.) (Chrysomelidae), Tadden near Wimbourne, 
ST 90, viii.1993, one swept from vegetation beside grassy field, and near Wimbourne, 
SU 00, viii.1993, plentiful at the edge of a wheat field, and ix.1994, in the hedge 
beside the same field, the first post-1969 record for Dorset; Cassida nebulosa L. 
(Chrysomelidae), Crichel, SU 00, vi.1992, one swept. 

COPESTAKE, D. R.—Eleven species of British Coleoptera collected between 1992 
and 1994. Calathus cinctus Mots. (Carabidae), Hitchcopse Pit, Oxon., 5.x.1994; 
Harpalus honestus (Dufts.) (Carabidae), St Bee’s Head, Cumbria, 22.v.1994; Drypta 
dentata (Rossi) (Carabidae), Eypesmouth, Dorset, 31.viii.1994; Amauronyx maerkeli 
(Aubé) (Pselaphidae), Wisely Common, Surrey, 17.11.1994, in grass tufts by pond; 
Gnorimus variabilis (L.) (Scarabaeidae), Windsor, Berks., emerged vi.1994, bred from 
larva; Agrilus sinuatus (Ol.) (Buprestidae), Bushy Park, Middlesex, 21.vii.1994; 
Dasytes niger (L.) (Melyridae), Brinken Wood, New Forest, South Hampshire, 
9.vi.1994; Oxylaemus variolosus (Duf.) (Colydiidae), Windsor, Berks., 18.vi.1994; 
Lissodema quadripustulata (Marsh.) (Salpingidae), Windsor, Berks., 18.vi.1994; 
Bagous brevis Gyll. (Curculionidae), Brockenhurst, S. Hants, 9.vi.1993; Rhynchaenus 
avellanae (Don.) (Curculionidae), Windsor, Berks., 9.vi.1992, a specimen with black 
tarsi and antannae. 

EVERSHAM, B. C. & TELFER, M. G.—Coleoptera recorded from a Breckland road 
verge near Lakenheath Warren during 1993 and 1994. 

(1) Seed-eating Carabidae of the genera Amara and Harpalus. A. anthobia Villa; A. 
apricaria (Payk.); A. bifrons (Gyll.); A. consularis (Dufts.); A. equestris (Dufts.); A. 
eurynota (Panz.); A. fulva (Miller, O. F.); A. fusca Dej.; A. lucida (Dufts.); H. affinis 
(Schr.); H. anxius (Dufts.); H. attenuatus Steph.; H. froelichi Sturm; H. puncticeps 
(Steph.); H. rufibarbis (F.); H. rubripes (Dufts.); H. rufitarsis (Dufts.); H. smaragdinus 
(Dufts.); H. vernalis (Dufts.). 

(2) Other notable Coleoptera. Calathus ambiguus (Payk.) (Carabidae); Laemos- 
tenus terricola (Herbst) (Carabidae); Licinus depressus (Payk.) (Carabidae); 
Panagaeus bipustulatus (F.) (Carabidae); Masoreus wetterhali (Gyll.) (Carabidae); 
Metabletus truncatellus (L.) (Carabidae); Silpha laevigata F. (Silphidae); Ocypus 
ophthalmicus (Scop.) (Staphylinidae); Aphodius distinctus (Miiller, O. F.) (Scar- 
abaeidae); Amphimallon solstitialis (L.) (Scarabaeidae); Euchlora dubia (Scop.) 
(Scarabaeidae); Cardiophorus asellus Er. (Elateridae); Melanimon tibialis (F.) 
(Tenebrionidae); Crypticus quisquilius (L.) (Tenebrionidae); Cteniopus sulphureus 
(L.) (Tenebrionidae); Notoxus monocerus (L.) (Anthicidae); Phytoecia cylindrica (L.) 
(Cerambycidae); Chrysolina sanguinolenta (L.) (Chrysomelidae); Galeruca tanaceti 
(L.) (Chrysomelidae); Psylliodes sophiae Heikertinger (Chrysomelidae); Cassida 
nebulosa L. (Chrysomelidae); Cleonus piger (Scop.) (Curculionidae). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 203 


HACKETT, D.—Thirteen species of Coleoptera found during 1994. Broscus 
cephalotes (L.) (Carabidae), Southgate, Gower, W. Glam., 17.vii.1994, under stone, 
Typhaeus typhoeus (L.) (Geotrupidae), Hampstead Heath, Middlx, 18.x.1994, female 
in sandy soil under rabbit midden; Aphodius contaminatus (Herbst) (Scarabaeidae), 
Hampstead Heath, Middx, 24.1x.1994, in soil; Agrilus laticornis (Ill.) (Buprestidae), 
Queen’s Wood, Middx, 29.vii.1994, in light trap; Stenagostus villosus (Fourc.) 
(Elateridae), Coldfall Wood, Middx, emerged 24.iv.1994, bred from larva found 
under oak bark; Athous campyloides Newm. (Elateridae), Railway Fields Nature 
Park, Harringay, Middx, 6.vii.1993; in light trap; Aplocnemus pini Redt. (Melyridae), 
Queen’s Wood, Middx, 22.11.1994, under oak bark; Helops caeruleus (L.) 
(Tenebrionidae), Lesnes Abbey Wood, W. Kent, iii.1994, under bark; Pyrochroa 
serraticornis (Scop.) (Pyrochroidae), Astonbury Wood, Herts., 5.vi.1994; Oedemera 
nobilis (Scop.) (Oedemeridae), near Park Mill, Dinton Pastures C. P., Berks., 
25.vi.1994, on hogweed; Arhopalus rusticus (L.) (Cerambycidae), Graffham, W. 
Sussex, emerged 24.iv.1994, bred from pine log; Phloeophagus lignarius (Marsh.) 
(Curculionidae), Hanger Lane Hill, Middx, viii.1994, from beech heart rot; Platypus 
cylindrus (F.) (Platypodidae), Hampstead Heath, Middx, 19.v.1994, from oak. 

HALSTEAD, A.—Some local Coleoptera taken in 1994. Paralister purpurascens 
(Herbst) (Histeridae), RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, 29.iv.1994, in water trap; 
Conopalpus testaceus (Ol.) (Melandryidae), Richmond Park, Surrey, 6.viii.1994, at 
m.v. light; Metoecus paradoxus (L.) (Rhipiphoridae), Richmond Park, Surrey, 
6.viil.1994, at m.v. light; Molorchus umbellatarum (v. Schreb.) (Cerambycidae), 
Mortimer’s meadow, Dinton Pastures C. P., Berks., 22.v.1994, swept; Anaglyptus 
mysticus (L.) (Cerambycidae), Mortimer’s meadow, Dinton Pastures C. P., Berks., 
22.v.1994, swept; Agapanthia villosoviridescens (Deg.) (Cerambycidae), Therfield 
Heath, Royston, Herts., 31.v.1994, swept; Orsodacne cerasi (L.) (Chrysomelidae), 
Therfield Heath, Royston, Herts., 31.v.1994, swept; Cryptocephalus biguttatus 
(Scop.) (Chrysomelidae), Wisley Common, Surrey, 23.vi.1994, swept; C. moraei 
(L.), White Downs, Surrey, 26.vi.1994, swept; Chrysolina americana (L.) 
(Chrysomelidae), RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, one of three adults found 
singly on Rosmarinus officinalis L. between 12.v and 1.vi.1994; Polydrusus sericeus 
(Schall.) (Curculionidae), RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, 2.vi.1994, male and female 
swept. 

HENDERSON, M.—(1) Thirteen species of beetles from Wimbledon Common, 
Surrey. Cychrus caraboides (L.) (Carabidae), west of site of Brickfields Cottage, 
18.11.1994, one over-wintering in rotten wood; Helochares punctatus Sharp 
(Hydrophilidae), Seven Posts Pond, 2.vi.1991; Dorcus parallelipipedus (L.) (Lucani- 
dae), woodland just north of the windmill, 16.vii.1994, at lepidopterist’s sugar; 
Onthophagus coenobita (Herbst) (Scarabaeidae), Farm Bog, 23.iv.1989, in carrion in 
pit-gall trap; Agrilus laticornis (Ill.) (Buprestidae), north of windmill, 1.viii.1992, 
beating oak; Leptura livida F. (Cerambycidae), near Brook Cottage, 29.vi.1991, on 
umbelliferae; Clytus arietis (L.) (Cerambycidae) 2.vii.1987, on umbelliferae; Tetrops 
praeusta (L.) (Cerambycidae), near windmill, 19.v.1991, beating willow; Chrysolina 
orichalcea (Miller, O. F. ) (Chrysomelidae), in neighbouring Cannizaro Park, 
25.vi.1992, on Heracleum sphondylium L., Chrysomela populi L. (Chrysomelidae), 
near King’s Mere, 9.vii.1994, feeding on willow; Attelabus nitens (Scopoli) 
(Attelabidae), near Seven Posts Pond, 2.vi.1991, beating oak; Magdalis cerasi (L.) 
(Curculionidae), near Seven Posts Pond, 2.vi.1991, beating oak; Curculio villosus F. 
(Curculionidae), north of windmill, 1.v.1991, swept. 

(2) A selection of beetles collected by Dr A. S. Henderson in Provence, France, in 
1992 or on a joint collecting trip to Nanteuil-en-Vallee, near Poitiers, and the Central 


204 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Massif, France, in July 1993. Carabus auratus L. (Carabidae), Le Mont Dore, 
Central Massif, 14.vii.1993; Cicindela campestris L. (Carabidae), Pueche der 
Dardailla, Provence, 28.iv.1992, a specimen with unusual bronzed colour from 
heathland; Silpha carinata Herbst (Silphidae), Col de la Croix St Robert, Central 
Massif, 14.vii.1993, at altitude of 1451 m; Typhaeus typhoeus (L.) (Geotrupidae), 
Provence, iv.1992; Copris lunaris (L.) (Scarabaeidae), Verdun sur Gorrone, Goronne 
Valley, 2.v.1992; Gnorimus nobilis (L.) (Scarabaeidae), La Folatiere, Nanteuil-en- 
Vallee, 12.vii.1993, on dwarf elder flower; Trichius zonatus Germ. (Scarabaeidae), La 
Folatiere, Nanteuil-en-Vallee, 16.vii.1993, on dwarf elder flower; Oncomera femorata 
(F.) (Oedemeridae), near Fontevraud |l’Abbeye, 10.vii.1993, male and female; 
Strangalia aurulenta (F.) (Cerambycidae), La Folatiere, Nanteuil-en-Vallee, 
16.vii.1993. 

HOARE, D. I. B—A selection of scarce ground beetles (Carabidae) taken 
during 1994. Elaphrus uliginosus F., Lower Test Marshes, S. Hants, 2.iv. 1994, under 
log; Bembidion bipunctatum (L.), Loch-na-Chait, Inv., 27.v.1994, under stone; B. 
pallidipenne (Ill.), Constantine Bay, W. Corn., 6.vii.1994, on sand; Pterostichus 
kugelanni (Panz.) (Plate II, Fig. 12), Bicton Common, S. Devon, 28.iv.1994, under 
stone; Platyderus ruficollis (Marsh.), Fleet, N. Hants, 5.iii.1994, under log; 
Agonum ericeti (Panz.), Rothiemurchus, Inv., 23.v.1994 on track; Stenolophus 
teutonus (Schr.), Milford-on-Sea, S. Hants, 15.vii.1994, under stone near cliff trickle; 
Oodes helopioides (F.), Emer Bog, S. Hants, 19.11.1994, hibernating in rotten 
wood. 

HopGE, P. J—A selection of notable Coleoptera taken during 1994 including two 
species new to Somerset and one species new to Sussex (*). Agonum sexpunctatum 
(L.) (Carabidae). Chailey Common, E. Sussex, TQ 3720, 1.vi.1994; Panagaeus 
cruxmajor (L.) (Carabidae), Lough Mask, Co. Galway, M 0966, 20.v.1994, under 
stone; Helophorus longitarsis Wolls. (Hydrophilidae), Lewes, E. Sussex, TQ 4211, 
6.x.1994, abundant in clay-bottomed dew-pond; Ochthebius pusillus Steph. 
(Hydraenidae), Lewes, E. Sussex, TQ 4211, 15.x.1994, in clay-bottomed dew-pond; 
Hydnobius punctatus (Sturm) (Leiodidae), The Coombe, Lewes, E. Sussex, TQ 4310, 
15.x.1994, several swept from chalk grassland; Rugilus subtilis (Er.) (Staphylinidae), 
The Coombe, Lewes, E. Sussex, TQ 4210, 30.iv.1994, one swept from chalk 
grassland; Philonthus rubripennis Steph. (Staphylinidae), River Barle near Dulverton, 
S. Som., SS 8730, 16.vi.1994, on shingle bank; *Gyrophaena angustata (Steph.) 
(Staphylinidae), Barle Valley near Dulverton, S. Som., SS 8730, 16.vi.1994, in fungus 
on old ash stump; *Bolitochara mulsanti Sharp (Staphylinidae), Barle Valley near 
Dulverton, S. Som., SS 8730, 16.vi.1994, in fungus on old ash stump; Selatosomus 
bipustulatus (L.) (Elateridae), Barle Valley near Dulverton, S. Som., SS 8730, 
15.vi.1994, one beaten from blackthorn; *Meligethes viduatus (Heer) (Nitidulidae), 
Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve, W. Sussex, TQ 0516, 20.vii.1994, plentiful on 
flowers of Galeopsis tetrahit L.; Lilioceris lilii (Scop.) (Chrysomelidae), Ringmer, E. 
Sussex, TQ 4412, 3.vii.1994, on Lilium pyrenaicum Gouan; Chrysolina fastuosa 
(Scop.) (Chrysomelidae), Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve, W. Sussex, TQ 0516, 
20.v11.1994, plentiful on Galeopsis tetrahit, Choragus sheppardi Kirby (Anthribidae), 
The Coombe, Lewes, E. Sussex, TQ 4210, 16.vii.1994, one swept from chalk 
grassland; Apion genistae Kirby (Apionidae), Chailey Common, E. Sussex, TQ 3720, 
1.vi.1994; several swept off Genista anglica L.; Tropiphorus terricola (Newm.) 
(Curculionidae), yateley Common, N. Hants, SU 8159, one swept from long grass; 
Hypera meles (F.) (Curculionidae), Bramshill Park, N. Hants, SU 7660, 21.vi.1994, 
one swept off heathy grassland; Liparus germanus (L.) (Curculionidae), Hinxhill, E. 
Kent, TR 0543, 21.vii.1994, at roots of Heracleum sphondylium L. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 205 


KNILL-JONES, S. A.—A specimen of Dytiscus marginalis L. (Dytiscidae), taken in 
a m.v. light trap at Freshwater, I.o.W. on 25.vii.1994. 

Lott, D. A.—Some beetles from mountain areas in Europe. (1) Massif Central, 
France. Bembidion ascendens Daniel (Carabidae), Neobisnius procerulus (Grav.) 
(Staphylinidae), River Sioule, Chouvigny, Puy de Dome, 11.vii.1986; Bembidion 
azurescens Wagner (Carabidae), Tachys sexstriatus (Dufts.) (Carabidae), Lionychus 
quadrillum (Dufts.) (Carabidae), Carpelimus nitidus Baudi (Staphylinidae), C. obesus 
(Kiesenw.), C. pusillus (Kiesenw.), Paederus balcanicus Korge (Staphylinidae), 
Philonthus rufimanus Er. (Staphylinidae), River Allier, Maringues, Puy de Dome, 
13.vii.1986; | Lesteva monticola  Kiesenw. (Staphylinidae),  Psephidonus 
(= Goedromicus) kunzei (Heer) (Staphylinidae), Stnus fossulatus R. (Staphylinidae), 
Quedius dubius (Heer) (Staphylinidae), La Grande Cascade, Mont Dore, Puy de 
Dome, 29.vi.1992. 

(2) Savoy Alps, France. Nebria jockischi Sturm (Carabidae), N. castanea Bon., 
Membidion bipunctatum (L.) (Carabidae), recorded at 2630 m, Pterostichus multi- 
punctatus (Dej.) (Carabidae), Trichotichnus laevipennis (Dufts.) (Carabidae), 
Cymindis humeralis (Fourc.) (Carabidae), Deliphrum tectum (Payk.) (Staphylinidae), 
Psephidonus (=Geodromicus) kunzei (Heer) (Staphylinidae), Omalium ferrugineum 
Kraatz (Staphylinidae), Ochthephilus longipennis (Fairm.) (Staphylinidae), Philonthus 
montivagus Heer (Staphylinidae), Ocypus chevrolati Baudi (Staphylinidae), O. 
picipennis (Er.), Quedius punctatellus (Heer) (Staphylinidae), Q. dubius (Heer), Q. 
obscuripennis Bernh., Liogluta nitidiuscula (Sharp) (Staphylinidae), Val d’Isere, 
Savoie, 29.vili.1993 to 3.ix.1993; Olophrum alpinum Er. (Staphylinidae), Anthophagus 
alpinus (F.) (Staphylinidae), Hygrogeus aemulus (Rosen.) (Staphylinidae), Bonneval 
sur Arc, Savoie, 2530 m, 30.viii.1993. 

(3) Cantabrian Mountains, Spain. Lathrobium angustatum Boisd. & Lac. 
(Staphylinidae), Peurto de Piedrasluengas, Palencia, 8.vi.1990; Philonthus coerules- 
cens (Boisd. & Lac.) (Staphylinidae), Ischnopoda (= Tachyusa) balteata (Er.), Rio 
Torio, Felmin, Leon, 9.vi.1990; Gabrius nigrituloides Coif., Valporquero, Leon, 
9.vi.1990; Philonthus confinis Strand, A. (Staphylinidae), Puerto de Palombero, 
Cantabnia, 11.vi.1990. 

(4) Sierra de Albarracin, Spain. Chaetarthria similis Woll. (Hydrophilidae), 
Gabrius tirolensis (Luze) (Staphylinidae), Euryalea ?decumana (Er.) (Staphylinidae), 
Rio Guadalavair, Albarracin, Teruel, 19.v.1994. 

(5) Pyrenees, Spain. Actidium aterrimum (Mots.) (Ptilidae), Boreaphilus velox 
(Heer) (Staphylinidae), Neobisnius prolixus (Er.) (Staphylinidae), Philonthus 
coerulescens (Boisd. & Lac.) (Staphylinidae), Torrent Capistol, Martinet, Lerida, 
15.v.1994. 

(6) Peurtos de Beceite, Spain. Carpelimus obesus (Kiesenw.) (Staphylinidae), 
C. pusillus (Grav.), Lathrobium angustatum Boisd. & Lac. (Staphylinidae), Medon 
ripicola (Kraatz) (Staphylinidae), Scopaeus gracilis (Sperk) (Staphylinidae), S. 
laevigatus (Gyll.), Erichsonius signaticornis (Muls. & Rey) (Staphylinidae), Gabrius 
pisciformis Fauv. (Staphylinidae), Barranco de feu, Castellon, 17.v.1994; Stenus 
canescens Rosen. (Staphylinidae), Philonthus palustris Bris. (Staphylinidae), 
rrimus (Herbst) (Staphylinidae), Herbes, Teruel, 18.v.1994. 

(7) Black Forest, Germany. Pterostichus pumilio (Dej.) (Carabidae), Micropeplus 
marietti Duval (Staphylinidae), Otiorhynchus scaber (L.) (Curculionidae), 
Dachsberg, 21—25.vii.1988; Gabrius astutus (Er.) (Staphylinidae), Gaurotes virginea 
(L.), (Staphylinidae), Ibach, 27.vii.1988. 

(8) Karkonosze, Poland. Quedius punctatellus (Heer) (Staphylinidae), Gnypeta 
caerulea Sahl. (Staphylinidae), Szrenica, 13.viii.1994. 


206 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Morris, M. G.—(1) The British species of Cathormiocerus Schoen. (Coleoptera, 
Curculionidae, Entiminae), mostly recent captures. The genus has a very restricted 
range, western Europe only. Cathormiocerus attaphilus Bris., Stoke Point, S. Devon, 
26.vii.1993 and 1.viii.1994, RDB1, known only from here and The Lizard, Com., in 
the British Isles, C. britannicus Blair, Rinsey, Corn., 25.vii.1993 and Furzebrook, 
Dorset, 13.v.1994, RDB1, the Dorset captures represent a considerable extension of 
known range for this species, which is endemic to the British Isles, C. maritimus Rye, 
Lizard, Corn., 19.v.1993, RDB3, although more widely distributed than most of the 
other species, it seems to be less common; C. myrmecophilus (Seidlitz), Cathole, S. 
Devon, 17.x.1987, and Stoke Point, S. Devon, 23 & 26.vii.1993, RDB3; C. socius 
Boh., near Ventnor, I.o.W., 13.iv.1977, and near Sandown, I.o.W., 15.v.1968, RDB2, 
confined to the Isle of Wight in the British Isles. 

(2) Cathormiocerus maritimus and C. myrmecophilus from Pointe du Raz, 
Finistere, Britanny, France, 21.iv.1994, found on maritime cliffs in situations very 
similar to those in Cornwall and S. Devon. 

(3) A selection of interesting weevils from the Canary Islands, where about 75% of 
the species are endemic; Tenerife, March 1993 (T), and Gran Canaria, March 1994 
(GC); Auletobius convexifrons (Woll.) (Attelabidae), (T), quite common by beating, 
especially Rubus; A. cylindricollis (Woll.), (T), fairly common; Perapion neofallax 
Warner (Apionidae), (T) and (GC), particularly on Emex spinosa, closely related to 
the European P. violaceum Kirby; Rhissotrichum tubuliferum (Woll.) (Apionidae), 
(GC) (and not found on (T), despite searching), a miniature version of the common 
Mediterranean P. tubiferum, on Cistus monspeliensis; Kalcapion fortunatum 
(Roudier) (Apionidae), (T) and (GC), on Mercurialis annua, L. generally common; 
Taeniapion atlanticum (Uyttenboogaart) (Apionidae), (T), on Urtica spp.; T. 
delicatulum (Woll.), (T), on Parietaria spp.; Lapidapion canariense (Wagner) 
(Apionidae), (T), abundant on shrubby legumes, particularly Lygos monosperma; 
Holotrichapion wollastoni (Chev.) (=rotundipenne Woll.) (Apionidae), (T) and 
(GC), by sweeping Vicia spp.; Laparocerus excavatus Woll. and L. ellipticus Woll. 
(Curculionidae), two representative species of this species-rich genus, which is 
confined to the Canaries and Madeira; Sitona latipennis Gyll. (Curculionidae), (T) 
and (GC), very common and widely distributed, on various shrubby legumes; Cionus 
variegatus (Brulle) (Curculionidae), (T), on Scrophularia spp., a species little known 
to wingelmueller, the monographer of the genus (1937), pairs from two populations 
contrasting in the degree of black coloration were shown; Stenopelmus rufinasus Gyll. 
(Curculionidae), (GC), beaten from Pinus canariensis. The exhibitor could find no 
previous record of this North American, Azolla-feeding species in the Canaries; 
Smicronyx pauperculus Woll. (Curculionidae), (T), on Cuscuta sp.; Hesperorhynchus 
hesperus (Woll.) (Curculionidae), (T), associated with Crassulaceae, a particularly 
interesting genus endemic to the Canaries and Madeira, with five flightless species, of 
which this is the commonest; Mogulones biondii Colonnelli (Curculionidae), (GC), 
known on few specimens, described in 1990 as a subspecies of M. pseudopollinarius 
(Harald Lindberg) and raised to specific rank by Colonnelli (1992); M. 
pseudopollinarius (Harald Lindberg), (T), associated with Echium ssp., also known 
from La Palma; Parethelcus nesicola Colonnelli (Curculionidae), (T), allied to our P. 
pollinarius (Forst.) and like that species, feeding on Urtica spp.; Sirocalodes 
nigroterminatus (Woll.) (Curculionidae), (T) and (GC), the Canarian equivalent of 
our S. mixtus (Muls. & Rey), and, like it, feeding on Fumaria ssp.; Macrobrachonyx 
gounellei Pic (Curculionidae), (T), associated with Pinus canariensis, Canarian 
endemic anthonomine, generally scarce and occurring as isolated individuals; 
Tychius colonnellii Caldara (Curculionidae), (T), associated with Lotus glaucus, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 207 


described in 1991, specimens were from the type locality where the species is quite 
common. 

PORTER, D. A.—Twelve species of Coleoptera collected between 1992 and 1994. 
Bembidion quadripustulatum Serv. (Carabidae), Powdermill Reservoir, E. Sussex, 
28.vi.1992; Haliphus obliguus (F.) (Haliplidae), Heron Lake, Staines, Middx, 
13.vii.1994; H. variegatus Sturm, East Guldeford, E. Sussex, 20.x.1993; Xantholinus 
longiventris Heer (Staphylinidae), Rye Harbour, E. Sussex, 10.v.1992; Trichophya 
pilicornis (Gyll.), Drawsteignton, S. Devon, 21.iv.1992; Zyras humeralis (Grav.) 
(Staphylinidae), Drawsteignton, S. Devon, 21.iv.1992; Metoecus paradoxus (L.) 
(Rhipiphoridae), East Runton, E. Norfolk, 18.viii.1994; Grammoptera variegata 
(Germ.) (Cerambycidae), Lyndhurst, S. Hants, 2.vi.1994; Mesosa nebulosa (F.) 
(Cerambycidae), Brockenhurst, S. Hants, 28.v.1992; Altica brevicollis Foud. 
(Chrysomelidae), Troytown, Dorset, 3.ix.1993; Apion stolidum Germ. (Apionidae), 
Crewkerne, S. Som., 19.iv.1992; Mecinus collaris Germ. (Curculionidae), Grange- 
over-Sands, Westmor., 10.vili.1992. 


HEMIPTERA 


ALEXANDER, K. N. A. & FOSTER, A. P.—A selection of the more interesting bugs 
found during the work of the National Trust’s Biological Survey in 1994: Liorhyssus 
hyalinus (F.), coastal heath, St David’s Head, Pemb., 16.vi.1994; Pionosomus varius 
(Wolff, J. F.), Nicholaston & Penmaen Burrows, Gower, W. Glam., 19.vii.1994; 
Trapezonotus ullrichi (Fieber), second Welsh record, St David’s, Pemb., 23.vi.1994; 
Lasiacantha capucina Germ., under thyme on seacliff, Holestrow, Kynance, Corn., 
v.1994. 

EVERSHAM, B. C. & TELFER, M. G.—Some interesting bugs from Breckland road 
verges: Thyreocoris scarabaeoides (L.), Podops inuncta (F.), Chorosoma schillingi 
(Schummel), Syromastus rhombeus (L.), Alydus calcaratus (L.), Neides tipularius (L.), 
Coranus woodroffei. 

HopGE, P. J—Two species of bugs: Physatocheila smreczynskii China (Tingidae), 
New Forest, S. Hants, SU 1908, 18.ix.1994, on old crab apple tree (Malus sylvestris 
Miller); Microvelia pygmaea (Dufour) (Veliidae), Chailey Common, E. Sussex, 
TQ 3821, 24.ix.1994, in shaded pond. 


HYMENOPTERA 


ALEXANDER, K. N. A. & FOSTER, A. P—Two uncommon ants found in 1994 
during the National Trust’s biological survey. Leptothorax tuberum (F.), 22 and 
29.vii on limestone sea cliffs at Paviland and Pennard Cliffs, Gower, Glam.; 
Myrmecina graminicola (Lat.), 29.vi at Good Hope Farm, Strumble Head, Pemb. 

BoyD, G.—A selection of spider wasps and solitary wasps taken in 1994. Cerceris 
rybyensis (L.) and Ectemnius continuus (F.), both 20.vii at Cambridge; Argogorytes 
mystaceus (L.), flying over raspberry flowers 11.vi, Frithsden Beeches, Ashridge, 
Herts.; Ectemnius cavifrons (Thom.) and Dipogon subintermedius (Magretti), on 
rotten oak, 2.vii at Croxton Park, Leics.; Cerceris arenaria (L.), male and female in 
cop on flower of Reseda lutea L., 9.vii; Ammophila sabulosa (L.), 6.viii; Episyron 
rufipes (L.), on a loose sandy bank, 1.vii; Ectemnius continuus (F.), 27.viii, the last 
four species taken in relic areas of Breckland heath, 1-3 miles south of Brandon, W. 
Suff. 


208 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


BOWDREY, J. P.—A cynipid gall wasp new to Britain. Examples of galls found on 
prickly sowthistle, Sonchus asper (L.) at Fingringhoe, near Colchester, Essex, on 
19.viii.93. Adults emerged in July 1994 and were subsequently identified by Dr J. L. 
Nieves-Aldrey of Madrid as Aulacidea follioti Barbotin. 

BROocK, J. P—A display of ichneumonid parasites in the subfamilies Pimplinae 
and Xoridinae from Ashtead Common, Surrey and other sites around London. The 
species displayed were associated with both dead and live trees, and have as host 
insects various cerambycid beetle larvae, wood-nesting aculeate Hymenoptera and 
some wood-boring lepidopterous larvae. Malaise trapping has shown that some 
species thought to be rare are fairly common in some localities, where they may serve 
as indicators of good quality ancient woodland. 

COLLINS, G. A.—The bee wolf, Philanthus triangulum (F.) taken 30.vii.94 at 
Frensham Heights, Surrey. This formerly scarce sphecid wasp has recently become 
widespread in southern England. 

HALSTEAD, A. J—Some local sawflies taken in 1994 except where stated 
otherwise. Female Janus femoratus (Curt.), male Dolerus bimaculatus (Geoff.) and 
female Eutomostethus gagathinus (Klug), all swept from a boggy area of Chobham 
Common NNR, Surrey, 5.vi; female Rhogogaster genista (Benson), numerous on 
broom, 5.vi, Chobham Common NNR, Surrey; female Cimbex femoratus (L.) bred 
25.iv from a larva found on birch 20.vi.93, Chobham Common NNR, Surrey; female 
Heterarthrus nemoratus (Fall.), swept from birch, 15.vi, Chobham Common NNR, 
Surrey; female Athalia cornubiae Benson, col. C. W. Plant in a malaise trap in a 
garden, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts., vi.93; male and female Rhogogaster chambersi 
Benson, swept from chalk grassland and female Pareophora pruni (L.) on blackthorn 
flowers, both 15.v at the Sheepleas, near West Horsley, Surrey; male Hoplocampa 
testudinea (Klug), on apple blossom, RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, 29.iv; female 
Nematus capreae (L.) netted by R. A. Jones and male Macrophya rufipes (L.), swept 
from long grass 9.vii at Nunhead Cemetery, SE15. 

HARVEY, P. R.—Some interesting records from Mill Wood Pit, part of the 
Chafford Hundred and Lakeside development area at Thurrock, S. Essex. The 


PLATE Ill. ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1994 

1: Diarsia mendica, Geddington Chase, Northants, 20.vi1988, J. W. Ward. 2: 
Amphipyra berbera, Blandon Heath, Oxon, 22.vii1993, M. F. V. Corley. 3: 
Discestra trifolii, Wroughton, Wilts., 9.viii1992, D. J. Brotheridge. 4: Evergestis 
limbata, Chale Green, |l.oW., 23.vii1994, S. Colenutt (S. A. Knill-Jones). 5: 
Meganola albula, Dungeness, Kent, 15.vii1994, S. P. Clancy. 6: Homoeosoma 
sinuella, Torquay, Devon, 20.vii1994, A. H. Dobson. 7: Mussidia nigrivenella, 
Dungeness, 12.viii1994, S. P. Clancy. 8: Agriphila inquinatella, Dungeness, 
Kent, 27.vii1994, S. P. Clancy. 9: Agrotis cinerea, mixed gynandromorph, 
Swanage, Dorset, J. Clarke. 10: Drymonia dodonaea, Ashtead, Surrey, 
26.vi.1994, J. T. Scanes. 11: Mythimna conigera, Inverness-shire, 21.vii1990, A. 
G. J. Butcher. 12: Cucullia scrophulariae, Swanage, Dorset, 18.v1994, J. Clarke. 
13: Hoplodrina alsines, albino male, Dungeness, Kent, 8.vii1994, B. Skinner. 14: 
Odontoptera bidentata, Hampstead, 12.v1994, A. G. J. Butcher. 15—18: Luperina 
nickerlii, male (15) and female (16) nominotypical form, Prague, 
Czechoslovakia, and male (17) and female (18) undescribed subspecies, 
Essex, B. Goater. 19: Baorisa hieroglyphica, Nepal,.T. W. Harman. 20: 
Dichomeris juniperella, Achlean Cairngorms, vi.1977, M. J. & P. H. Sterling. 21: 
Cochylis molliculana, Portsmouth, Hants, bred, 20. viii1994, J. R. Langmaid. 22: 
Caryocolum blandelloides, Loch Fleet, Sutherland, 23.vii1994, R. J. B. Hoare. 
23: Teliodes alburnella, Kincraig, Inv.,17.vii1994, M. W. Harper. 


Photo: D.E. Wilson. 


Plate Il. ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1994 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 209 


exhibitor has surveyed this site, part of which has planning permission for housing, 
since September 1993. Over 40 nationally scarce, rare or vulnerable species have 
been recorded including the blue carpenter bee, Ceratina cyanea (Kirby) and Stelis 
ornatula (Klug). Both appear to be the only Essex records for many years. Other 
species exhibited included the chrysid wasp Hedychrum niemelai Linsenmaier and 
its host Cerceris quinquefasciata (Rossius), the bee wolf, Philanthus triangulum 
(F.); the solitary bees Andrena florea F., A. proxima (Kirby) and Nomada 
fulvicornis F. 

HopcE, P. J—Three uncommon solitary bees taken in 1994. Male Andrena 
proxima (Kirby), 20.v on flowers of alexanders, Smyrnium olusatrum L., at 
Ranscombe Lane, Glynde, E. Sussex; female Stelis ornatula (Klug) taken on the 
wing, 20.vii, at Yateley Common, N. Hants; female Stelis punctulatissima (Kirby) on 
flowers of ragwort, Senecio jacobaea L., 22.viii, at Chailey Common, E. Sussex. 

Howton, D. H.—Workers of the social wasp Dolichovespula media (Retz.) taken 
at Weston Favell, Northants, 21.v.93. This is a first county record for a wasp that has 
now colonized much of England, including several counties further north, such as 
Cambs., Warks. and Leics. in 1991-92. 

PORTER, D. A.—A specimen of the melittid bee, Macropis europaea Warncke, 
taken on Lysimachia vulgaris L. flowers at Sheffield Park, E. Sussex, 6.vii.94. This 
may be a new vice-county record. 

ROBBINS, J.—A herbarium of mined leaves of various plants, some of which had 
been mined by the larvae of sawflies. 

ROBERTS, S. P. M.—Some scarce aculeate Hymenoptera taken in south east 
Dorset in 1991-94. Chrysididae: Elampus panzeri (F.), 10.vii.94, Great Ovens Heath; 
Hedychridium ardens (Latr. in Coquebert), 13.vii.94, Sandford; H. roseum (Rossius), 
10.vii.94, Great Ovens Heath. Tiphiidae: Myrmosa atra Panz., male, 13.vii.94, 
Sandford and female 29.vii.94, Holton Heath (Defence Research Agency). 
Mutillidae: Mutilla europaea L., male and female, 13.vii.94, Sandford and on 
6.viii.94 at Holton Heath NNR; Smicromyrme rufipes (F.), male and female, 
13.vii.94, Sandford. Eumenidae: Pseudepipona herrichii (Saussure), male and female, 
14.vii.91, Godlingston Heath NNR (possibly its only remaining British locality); 
Symmorphus crassicornis (Panz.), female, 13.vii.94, Sandford (first Dorset record 
since 1945). Sphecidae: Astata boops (Schr.), female with prey and male, Mimesa 
bruxellensis (Bond.), male and female, and Diodontus minutus Spooner, male and 
female, all 25.vii.94 at Kingsbridge Lakes; Nysson dimidiatus Jurine, female, 
13.vii.94, Sandford; Philanthus triangulum (F.), two females, one with Apis mellifera 
L. prey and a male, 6.viii.94 Holton Heath NNR (not previously recorded in Dorset 
since 1829); Passaloecus eremita Kohl, female, 10.vii.94, Gore Heath (new to Dorset, 
nests found by M. Edwards, G. R. Else and the exhibitor). Apidae-Andreninae: 
Andrena denticulata (Kirby), male, 30.vi.94, Corfe Bluff and female, 25.vii.94, 
Northport. Apidae-Halictinae: Sphecodes ephippius (L.), male; S. geoffrellus (Kirby), 
male, S. puncticeps Thomson, two males, one melanic, S. reticulatus Thomson, all 
3.vili.94 on flowers of creeping thistle, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. at Sandford. 
Apidae-Melittinae: Macropis europaea Warnke, male, 25.vii.94, Kingsbridge Lakes, 
female, 14.vii.92, Uddens, female, 4.viii.92, Tadnoll Lane, all on flowers of 
Lysimachia vulgaris L.; Dasypoda altercator (Harris), male, 29.vii.94, Wareham 
meadows, female 3.viii.94, Sandford. Apidae-Megachilinae: Stelis ornatula (Klug), 
female, 13.vii.94, Sandford, female, 29.vii.94, Holton Heath NNR; Megachile 
leachella Curt., male and female, 30.vi.94, Newton Gulley. 

A nest of the social wasp, Dolichovespula media (Retz.) from a maple tree in a 
garden in West Moors, Dorset, in 1991. This was the first nest of this species 


a) Hi J, BINT, NAT, HIST, & 1995 


recorded in Dorset, Included with the exhibit was 4 series of distribution maps drawn 
on DMAP showing how this wasp has colonized Dorset during 1991-94, 

Urvin, &. W. J.-Some solitary bees and wasps new or jocally rare in Herts., 
Hieds,, Hucks, and Hesex taken in 1994 except where stated otherwise, Ammophila 
sabulosa (L,,), seen Ovi and Lix, Colney Heath sand pit, Herts; Philanthus 
triangulum (V.) viievili at Colney Heath sand pit and at Amwell Quarry in dumped 
sand, Hoddeston sand pit; Gorytes bicinetus (Mossius), |.viii, Colney Heath sand pit; 
Nysson trimaculatus (ossius), 9.viil, Colney Heath sand pit; Cerceris arenaria (L,), 
22.vi, Vanshanger Park, Hertlord; Mnatomognathus brevis (Vander Linden) on 
Heracleum flowers, 24.vii, Panshanger Park and #.vii, Progmore Lakes, St Albans, 
Herts,, Crossocerus distinguendus (Morawitz), 16.vii, High Down House, Pirton, 
Herts, and 7.vii, Daneshury, Welwyn, Herts.; Pen bruxellensis (Hon,), 5,viii,94, Old 
Parkbury Vit, Park Street; Tachysphex pompiliformis (Panz,), 10,vi, Colney Heath 
sand pit, 29.vi, Patmore Heath, also seen at Panshanger Park in July; Hpisyron rufipes 
(L,) nesting in dumped sand and attracted to Daucus flowers, 16,vill, Amwell gravel 
quarry, Passaloecus eremita Zou 24.vi, Hatlield Porest, Ussex, nesting in beetle holes 
in dead Sambucus, Melitta haemorrhoidalis (V.), 25.vii, females in SW corner of 
Church Hill, Therfield Heath, Herts, and males, 14,viii at Deacon Hill, Pegsdon, 
Heds., on flowers of harebell and other Campanula spp.; M. tricineta (Kirby), 40.vii, 
in field margin below Aldbury Nowers SSSI, Tring, Herts., on Odontites flowers; 
Hylaeus cormutus Curt, Wvi on Heracleum flowers by footpath at Colney 
Heath sandpit; Lasioglossum malachurus (Kirby), male 21.vin, Colney Heath and 
Aix, Colney Heath sand pit Coelioxys elongata Lep., 40.vi at colony of Megachile 
willughbiella (Kirby) in plant nursery in Hishops Stortford, Ussex; Steliy punetula- 
lissima (Kirby) on Inula hirta flower in garden, #.vii, Welwyn; Colletes similis 
Sehenck, 19.vii, Colney Heath sand pit} C. daviesanus Smith, 40.vi, on Achillea 
filipendulina lowers in nursery, Hishops Stortford; C. succinetus (L,) and Andrena 
Juscipes (Kirby), both females, 2.14, Hlack Park, Langley, Hucks.; Sphecodes longulus 
von Hag., 10.vii, Colney Heath sand pit; Andrena bucephala Steph, 4.v, Whippendell 
Wood, Watlord, Herts 

Watson, C.--A male Philanthus triangulum (V.) taken at Mushey Mead Nature 
teserve, near Hishop's Stortford, N. Ussex (no date), This spheeid wasp, which 
stocks its Hest with honey bees, has expanded its range in recent years and is seattered 
along the Thames estuary in Pasex 


ODONATA 


Poriint, J.-A specimen of the highland darter, Sympetrum nigrescens Lucas, 
15.viii.94, at Glen Lonan, Argyll 


ORTHOPTERA AND DERMAPTERA 


HvinksiAM, H.C. & Tatrnk, M, Ga survey of inseets folind in roadside 
grassland during March October 1994 and 94 near Lakenheath Warren, Suffolk, 
‘These included the stripe-winged grasshopper, Stenobothrus lineatus (Panz,) and the 
short-winged conehead, Conocephalus dorsalis (Lat.), The lesser earwig, Labia minor 
(L.) appears to be associated with rabbit droppings and dead vegetation at the atudy 
aile, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 211 


NEUROPTERA AND MECOPTERA 


CoLLINns, G. A.—Some local species taken in Surrey. Neuroptera: Psectra diptera 
(Burmeister) 4.viii.90, S. Croydon; Hemerobius atrifrons McLach., 14.iv.90, Netley 
Heath; Micromus angulatus (Steph.), 6.x1i.93, Banstead. Mecoptera: Panorpa cognata 
Ramb., 25.vii.94, Westcott. The last two species were collected by R. D. Hawkins. 

PLANT, C. W.—An ant-lion, Euroleon nostras (Fourc.) (Neuroptera: Myrmeleon- 
tidae): a species and family of insects possibly overlooked in Britain. Until this year 
this ant-lion was unknown in the British Isles apart from Jersey, although it is 
widespread elsewhere in Europe. During 1994 three adults were captured in a locality 
in E. Suff. (Mendel in press). The exhibitor showed two examples taken in Hungary, 
together with some British insects which might be confused with ant-lions. The giant 
lacewing, Osmylus fulvicephalus (Scop.) has similarly blotched wings but is mainly 
found near fast-moving streams and it has longer, simple filamentous antennae. FE. 
nostras is likely to be found in areas where there is warm, loose dry sand, and it has 
shorter, stouter clubbed antennae. Some ant-lions do not have spotted wings. An 
example is Myrmeleon formicarius L. which was allegedly recorded at Gorleston, E. 
Suff., in 1931. It is possible that such ant-lions could be confused with certain teneral 
dragonflies and damselflies. These may fly in a similar manner to ant-lions. The 
antennae of dragonflies and damselflies are very short and thin, and easily 
distinguished from the stouter, club-tipped antennae of antlions. Examples of a 
damselfly, Coenagrion puella (L.) and a dragonfly, Sympetrum striolatum (Charp.) 
were displayed to show this difference. Larval pits are more likely to be encountered 
than adult ant-lions. They are constructed in soft dry sand, often at the edge of fields, 
but also at the side of sandy tracks and other areas that are subjected to trampling. 
Pits should be sampled by quickly penetrating the sand to a depth of about two 
inches with a one inch wide glass tube, used as a core sampler. The sand can be gently 
poured out until the larva is seen. Pupation occurs in the sand, in a circular silk 
cocoon to which sand grains adhere. An example of a cocoon with the translucent 
white pupal exuvium of F. nostras protruding was exhibited. 


SIPHONAPTERA 


GEORGE, R. S.—Some charts showing the distribution of fleas in Scotland, 
Yorkshire and Lancashire + Cheshire. The Scottish chart indicated all the species, 
sub-species and hybrids on the British list (except the doubtfully British Monopsyllus 
anisus Roth.) and the numbers of forms recorded in each of the old counties of 
Scotland. Only the rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale) has been found in every 
county. The chart showed a record of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis Bouche 
in the Orkneys. This is a new, unpublished record and is the most northerly in the 
British Isles. The other two charts for Yorkshire and Lancashire + Cheshire showed 
which 10-km squares have had fleas recorded and the numbers of flea forms in these 
squares. They indicated the paucity of recording and the need for more specimens to 
be submitted to the exhibitor for identification. Some species cards relating to 
Yorkshire were shown, indicating in which 10-km squares each species has been 
found. 

The exhibitor made available some information sheets on flea collection methods. 
This was illustrated with a display of flea collecting from birds’ nests, which is mainly 
done in winter when nests are not in use. A tube of 5081 fleas in alcohol was shown 
that had been collected from a house martin’s nest from Stogursey, Som. the 
dominant species in the nest was Ceratophyllus hirundinis (Curt.), with C. farreni 


212 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


farreni Roth. and C. rusticus Wagner also present in substantial but smaller numbers; 
farreni and rusticus vary considerably in their relative proportions of the nest 
populations. In the past rusticus was considered quite rare but now it is more 
frequent than farreni. 


ARACHNIDA 


HACKETT, D.—A female specimen of the spider Segestria florentina (Rossi) 
(Araneae: Segestriidae) found 17.x.94 at Thames Road, London W4. This large 
Mediterranean segestrid spider occurs at a few sea ports around Britain and was 
known by W. S. Bristowe to occur in the old walls of Westminster School, London, 
in the 1930s. This year Edward Milner, spider recorder in the LNHS, discovered it at 
Charterhouse, Cripplegate, the City. The specimen exhibited came from the Kew 
area, West London, so its true distribution in London is yet to be clarified. The web 
is funnel shaped, with cartwheel-like spokes radiating across the substrate (tree crack 
or wall crevice), this web type being characteristic of segestrids. This spider’s clearest 
identifying feature is the metallic bottle-green fangs. In the field the spider can 
usually be tempted out to get a glimpse of the fangs by tickling the outer part of the 
web with a twig or other slender object. 

PLANT, C. W.—A specimen of the scorpion, Euscorpius carpathicus (L.) ssp 
candiota Birula (Chactidae) collected on the Mediterranean island of Gozo, April 
1994. This small scorpion is frequent on Gozo and was found in groups of four or 
five individuals under boulders where the soil was damp. They seemed reluctant to 
move when uncovered and remained tightly pressed into soil crevices. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


CLARKE, J. H.—Bembecia chrysidiformis (Es.), captive breeding from ovum to 
imago in one year. Last year the exhibitor showed a poster illustrating the mating of 
this species in captivity with photographs of the calling female, a pair in copula, the 
female ovipositing and the one newly hatched larva that was observed. Further 
photographs illustrated his recent results. Most of the ova did hatch (as evidenced by 
their empty egg shells) but larvae were not seen. Presumably they hatched at night 
and made their way straight down to the rootstock. The project was expected to take 
two years but the exhibitor was able to report back in just one year. 

Initially the plants showed no outward signs of infestation. They were put in a 
shady corner of the garden and essentially ignored for the winter. During March 
inspection showed the docks in a very poor state indeed. On pulling off the crown of 
dead leaves from the most moribund plant (which showed no signs of life 
whatsoever) the exhibitor was amazed to see a fully grown sesiid larva staring up 
from the top of the rootstock. Dissection of this rootstock produced no less than 15 
fully grown larvae some of which were making their cocoons or silken emergence 
tubes; the root was totally replaced with tight packed grass and no viable portions 
remained. Other roots also contained larvae but not as many. Larvae were relocated 
into other docks and in due course emerged as adults. These were taken back to their 
original locality and released. One larva remained and as yet showed no signs of 
forming its emergence tube or cocoon; it would probably emerge in 1995. 

It seems that given sufficient food the species will preferentially keep to a one-year 
lifecycle but a small proportion will take two years. In the wild more may keep to a 
two-year cycle especially if feeding on a small shrivelled sorrel rather than a large 
lush great water dock. Having a lifecycle of variable length is an advantage in 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 213 


providing a buffer against adverse environmental factors which could seriously affect 
the reproductive success of a population in one season. 

HACKETT, D.—Photographs of the spider Segestria florentina (Rossi), to 
accompany a dead specimen. 

HARLEY, B. H.—Colour photocopies of the colour plates (1-9) of Yponomeu- 
tidae, Epermeniidae, Schreckensteiniidae, Coleophoridae and Elachistidae for 
volume 3 of the moths and butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland from drawings 
by Richard Lewington, with some monochrome drawings of coleophorid cases by 
the same artist. The work is to be published in 1995. 

HENWOOD, B. P.—Photographs of the larvae of Eupithecia virgaureata Doubl., a 
wild first brood larva found feeding on the leaves of grey willow (Salix cinerea L.) 
near Newton Abbot, Devon, and a wild second brood larva feeding on flowers of 
golden rod (Solidago virgaurea L.) at St Agnes Cornwall. The first brood larva is 
virtually unknown in the wild. 

PICKLES, A. J——Photographs of Microlepidoptera. Larva of Udea decreptialis 
(H. & S.) photographed in mid-August feeding under a slight web on the underside 
of a frond of lemon-scented fern Oreopteris limbosperma (All.) Larvae were found 
sparingly, on this species of fern only, at a locality which was close to a loch in 
central Scotland. The larva would not accept Dryopteris or other Oreopteris species 
in captivity. Larva, pupa and adult of Cnaemidophorus rhododactyla (D. & S.). The 
larva, which was just visible inside the characteristic slight spinning it had 
constructed around a flower bud, was feeding on Rosa canina (L.) and was 
photographed on 18.vi.1994 at an Essex locality. Larvae and pupae were found at 
about head height on all sides of the bushes. A pupa found at the same time was 
concealed in a similar spinning. 

SOKOLOFF, P.—A photograph of an unusual aberration of the red admiral, 
Vanessa atlanta L. The butterfly was characterized by bright orange suffusion from 
the fore- and hind-wing bands, covering the basal areas of all wings, and extending to 
the thorax and abdomen. The coloration resembled that of ab eos Fritsch, but was 
much more extensive. The marginal white spots on the fore and hind wings were also 
much enlarged. The insect was photographed at Hinksey Hill Top, Oxfordshire on 
27.viii.1994. 

WARING, P.—A display of photographs illustrating some of the field meetings of 
the Society during 1994 and the notable moths recorded. Ranging from Abernethy 
Forest, Inverness-shire, south to Whiteparish Common, Wiltshire, from the 
Mawddach Valley woodlands, Merionethshire, and Welshbury Hill, Gloucestershire 
in the west to Cantley Marshes and Catfield Fen in Norfolk, and including the home 
of the Society’s building and collections, Dinton Pastures, Berkshire. 


CORRIGENDUM TO 1992 ANNUAL EXHIBITION 


Since it would have constituted the first Irish record, Dr M. C. D. Speight has 
rightly queried the ‘Orthonevra brevicornis Loew’ from Co. Fermanagh, that was 
exhibited at the 1992 BENHS Annual Exhibiton (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 1993; 6: 70). 
Dr Speight, to whom I am grateful, has subsequently examined the specimen and 
shown it to be Portvenia maculata (Fallen).—A. P. Foster, The National Trust, 33 
Sheep Street, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 1QW. 


214 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


BENHS FIELD MEETINGS 


Powerstock Common, Dorset, 11 June 1994 


Leader: Mick Parker. Seven members arrived for the daytime meeting to be met 
with warm and sunny conditions. An area near to the car park was the first to receive 
attention; part of this area, a birch and sallow copse had recently been cleared and 
the resulting logs had been left in piles. These logs showed extensive workings of the 
lunar hornet clearwing Sesia bembeciformis Hiibner and it is obvious that this species 
although rarely seen is common here. 

The group moved south into the wooded part of the reserve and through various 
clearings and rides and here amongst fourteen species of butterfly occurred four local 
species the marsh fritillary Eurodryas aurinia Rottemberg, the Duke of Burgundy 
fritillary, Hamearis lucina L., the small pearl-bordered fritillary, Boloria selene D. & 
S., and the wood white, Leptidea sinapis L. Two day-flying moths were also noted, 
the burnet companion, Euclidia glyphica L. and the small purple-barred, Phytometra 
viridaria Clerck. All these species were to be encountered in greater numbers along 
the disused railway embankment which borders the reserve. The group then made 
their way along the southern edge of this embankment which becomes increasingly 
wooded and turned east and then north through damp oak woodland and continued 
through mixed woodland back to the car park. Over ninety species of Diptera were 
recorded, although most were common species the best record being the conopid 
Thecophora atra F. Twenty-eight species of Hymenoptera were also noted of which 
most were sawflies. Small numbers of Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Odonata, Neuroptera 
and Mecoptera were also added to the days list which now totalled one hundred and 
fifty one species, before the day ended several roe deer were seen and a stoat made an 
appearance. The moth trapping session began with a group of ten. Most of the group 
considered the embankment area the best option, and six of the eight traps were 
situated here. Unfortunately a clear sky and a falling temperature ensured the moth 
catch was low. All the species recorded were common and did little to excite although 
the privet hawk Sphinx ligustri L. made a spectacular entrance, despite the falling 
temperature. I was determined to stay to the bitter end, and bitter was the word; 
nevertheless the moth list reached sixty one species to make a grand total of two 
hundred and twelve insect species listed, thanks are due to the Dorset Wildlife Trust 
for permission to hold the field meeting and to the recorders who made it such a 
successful meeting. A full list has been forwarded to the D.W.T. and other interested 
groups. 


Catfield Fen Butterfly Conservation Reserve, Norfolk, 16 July 1994 


Leader: Paul Waring. This joint BENHS/Butterfly Conservation meeting at the 
Butterfly Conservation reserve at Catfield Fen, Norfolk, on 16 July, set out to see if 
the small dotted footman Pelosia obtusa could be found in the more accessible parts 
of the fen which are currently being cleared of scrub and are now largely open reed 
and sedge-beds, some of which had been cut before the field meeting. This meeting 
was particularly well attended, with 35 people, including a contingent from the 
Norfolk Moth Group. 23 light traps were operated on the fen and moths seen 
included the reed leopard Phragmataecia castanea (only by Ken Saul’s group), dotted 
footman Pelosia muscerda, dentated pug Anticollix sparsata (a worn singleton near 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 215 


the Hubbard’s Marsh ligger), dotted fanfoot Macrochilo cribrumalis, cream-bordered 
green pea Earias clorana and a host of wainscots including the striped Mythimna 
pudorina, southern M. straminea, fen Arenostola phragmitidis, mere Photedes fluxa, 
Fenn’s P. brevilinea and brown-veined Archanara dissoluta. Other moths of intereest 
included the oak eggar Lasiocampa quercus (a female), lesser cream wave Scopula 
immutata, blue-bordered carpet Plemyria rubiginata, dingy shell Euchoeca nebulata, 
privet hawk-moth Sphinx ligustri, round-winged muslin Thumatha senex, suspected 
Parastichtis suspecta, Haworth’s minor Celaena haworthii, crescent Celaena 
leucostigma, small rufous Coenobia rufa, silver hook Eustrotia uncula, Lempke’s 
gold spot Plusia putnami and the pyralids Chilo phragmitella, Schoenobius gigantella, 
Dioryctria abietella (det. J. Clarke) and several of the common china-mark moth 
species. Several fully grown larvae of the emperor moth Pavonia pavonia were found 
feeding on the leaves of alder buckthorn Frangula alnus. No small dotted footman 
were seen, even though 13 males and 2 females were seen at a nearby site on 15 July 
(Brian Elliot) and 10 males at the same site on 17 July. The small dotted footman 
were in an uncut reedbed, with thick reed litter lying like straw. Fenn’s wainscot was 
the commonest moth here with about ten per trap on the latter night when the 
weather was indifferent and the temperature was 9° C (B. Skinner). Only one or two 
Fenn’s wainscot were seen per trap at Catfield Fen BC reserve, suggesting that the 
habitat is much less suitable for both moths. However, there are other parts of the 
BC reserve, currently accessible only by boat, which still need investigation. The 
small dotted footman was also found in a thick reedbed with much standing litter on 
the nearby Catfield Fen National Nature Reserve on 21 July 1994 by Julian Clarke, 
when five adults were seen. 

During the daytime part of the meeting we were shown some small larvae of the 
swallowtail butterfly Papilio machaon by Vic Stares who is studying them on the fen 
as part of her research project at the University of East Anglia. One of the larvae was 
still at the stage where it resembled a bird-dropping; another had reached 3 cm in 
length. Other butterflies seen included adults of the large skipper Ochlodes venata, 
green-veined white Pieris napi, gate-keeper Pyronia tithonus, meadow brown Maniola 
Jurtina, ringlet Aphantopus hyperanthus, a full-grown larva of the peacock butterfly 
Inachis io, and, at 07.00 hrs the following morning, while those of us who had slept in 
our cars had breakfast on site, a painted lady Cynthia cardui basked in the sun on the 
edge of the car-park. 

Other observations during the day-time part of the meeting included the royal fern 
Osmunda regalis and cowbane Cicuta virosa along dyke edges on the eastern 
boundary of the reserve and the plume moth Adaina microdactyla which is dependent 
on hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum. A larval case of the common bag-worm 
Psyche casta was noted on a common reed Phragmites australis. A few of the 
common darter dragonfly Sympetrum striolatum and the blue-tailed damselfly 
ischnura elegans were on the wing. A marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus flew overhead 
at one point and a male grasshopper warbler Locustella naevia was singing busily in 
Hubbard’s Marsh. Four species of flies were identified, by Gavin Boyd, including the 
syrphids Pyrophaena rosarum, Episyrphus balteatus and Xylota segnis and the 
stratiomyid Chloromyia formosa, all of which would be expected from the habitats 
present on the reserve. 

Records of over 130 species of moths were collected for this reserve as a result of 
this field meeting and the good coverage with light traps helped to give an indication 
of the distribution of species on the reserve. A copy of the full species list for all 
groups has been sent to Roland Rogers, organizer for the Norfolk Branch of 
Butterfly Conservation, who manage the reserve, and attention has been drawn to 


216 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


the requirements of the small dotted footman and the general wildlife value of 
derelict reedbeds thick with reed-litter so that examples of this habitat can be 
conserved on this interesting and diverse fen. The data have also been entered in full 
into the national data-base for the rarer British macro-moths and the Invertebrate 
Site Register (supported by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee). 

I would like to thank Roland Rogers and the Norfolk Branch of Butterfly 
Conservation for their help and interest during the organisation of this field meeting 
and all the entomologists who attended and helped to make it such an enjoyable 
event. 


BOOK REVIEW 


New life for old woods, the Land Rover woodlands campaign information pack run 
by Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Branch, £3.95.—The information pack is a 
glossy A4 folder with a poster guide of butterflies showing 16 species, a seven-page 
woodland management booklet relating to butterflies, a four-page woodland 
management leaflet relating to moths and 15 cards describing a mixture of common 
and scarce butterflies. 

The publication starts with a foreword on the inside cover which describes how 
our butterfly fauna has been disappearing over only a few decades and gives 
percentage figures of decline for 10 species. It goes into how numerous insects have 
been decimated by changing woodland management especially coppicing, which has 
virtually stopped in the 20th century, and how most butterflies have disappeared 
because they cannot tolerate heavy shade. It concludes by saying that the priority is 
to restore open areas by re-coppicing and to encourage an uneven age structure 
within our woodlands. 

The poster guide gives brief details of how to recognize the various families of 
butterflies; there are line drawings of the seven main groups with the names of the 
various species within each group and brief details of what each family looks like. 
The inside pages have sixteen photographs of butterflies which look as though they 
have been taken in the field; in the main, these are of excellent quality. 

The booklet, on woodland management for butterflies, describes how various 
butterflies need different types of habitat and emphasizes the fact that an uneven 
structure would be best for all the species that live in our woods. It considers ‘why 
manage for butterflies’, and examines the historical link with coppicing, before 
contemplating various managements for coppices, high forest and woodland rides. In 
all it is quite an informative part of the package and is interspersed with further 
photographs. 

The four page leaflet on woodland management for moths is less colourful but 
nevertheless it has similar objectives concerning the management of the woodland 
environment for moths. 

The fifteen cards describing the butterflies are in the last section. Each has a 
distribution map which compares historic and present day locations together with 
foodplant and species information, what habitats are required and how to recognize 
and to conserve the insects with line drawings of butterflies and foodplants. This 
informative package should be recommended reading for anyone interested in 
woodland management and its natural history. The hope is that the recommenda- 
tions are actively taken. 


Roy McCorMIck 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 217 


THE 1994 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PART 1 REPORT 


PAUL WARING 
Windmill View, 1366 Lincoln Road, Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6LS. 


Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a great pleasure to be President of this Society 
during its 122nd year. The Society’s Pelham-Clinton Building at Dinton Pastures is 
now very much up and running and much less of Council’s time this year has needed 
to be spent on issues related to its construction and management. Although there are 
still jobs carrying over from the move, and there has been a continuing saga of minor 
problems with the air conditioning system which has never completely settled down to 
smooth running, the Building is largely fulfilling our hopes for it and is very much an 
asset rather than seeming a liability. In a large measure this is due to the efficient way 
that Peter Baker, as Buildings Manager, and Peter Chandler, as Curator, have dealt 
with the matters of running and maintenance as they have arisen. I would very much 
like to thank these two gentlemen for their efforts on behalf of the Society. They are 
just two examples of the devoted and conscientious work put in by the officers and 
members of Council to ensure the smooth running of the Society’s affairs. Our Society 
is fortunate in having a very strong team on Council, with each person working hard 
so that the Society can continue to provide and develop the services offered to the 
membership and to facilitate activities and projects which members wish to advance. 
You have heard the Officers’ reports and I would like to thank each and every one for 
their efforts on behalf of the Society. Their work has made my job as President feel 
like driving a well maintained luxury car rather than the humbler vehicle in which I 
arrive at field meetings! My year as President has very much involved working with a 
responsive Council and I have been able to see a number of my contributions 
encouraged and developed. The chairing of the Council meetings at Baden-Powell 
House and the Society’s indoor meetings at the Royal Entomological Society has been 
a stimulating and enjoyable experience and it has been an honour to write and sign 
letters and papers on behalf of the Society and to address the Society at the Annual 
Exhibition and Dinner at Imperial College, London. 

Our officers have reported some of the high-lights and features of the 1994/5 term 
in their reports. I was pleased to see the results of the Society’s growing body of 
fieldwork at Dinton Pastures reviewed to the end of 1993 by Peter Chandler and 
published in our Journal during 1994 (7: 118-126). The paper contains a detailed 
map of the site to aid future recording work. 

The Society’s role in invertebrate conservation has been actively discussed 
throughout the year and continues to develop. A review by Stephen Miles of the 
outcome of a special meeting on the subject in 1992 was published in our Journal in 
January 1995 (8: 19-26) and Council is resolved to assist in the advancement of 
conservation objectives throughout the various activities of the Society. 

The Society’s position on collecting and exhibition of threatened and scarce species 
was discussed and re-emphasized in the Journal (7: 141-144), and an up-dated list of 
“Red data book” macro-moths was included. 

Inter-relations with other entomological societies have been developed during the 
year, including a number of joint field meetings with Butterfly Conservation, about 
which more later, and the Society’s activities have been promoted in more general, as 
well as entomological, publications. 

During the year the Diptera Recording Schemes set up a Dipterists’ Forum to 
provide a new administrative structure for production of news-sheets, bulletins and the 
Dipterists’ Digest and to continue to promote the study of flies and the mapping of 


218 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


their distributions throughout the British Isles. The group approached our society with 
a view to affiliation and to obtain financial help in getting started, mainly for small 
loans to make advance payments that would be recouped from, sales and membership 
subscriptions. The affiliation has proceeded and similar arrangements are likely to be 
considered to assist and develop other special interest groups within entomology. 

Investment of the Society in a computer this year opens the way for improved 
indexing of the Library and Collections and much greater use of the data we hold, as 
well as enabling new activities. The purchase of the Recorder data-base will enable 
full species lists from field meetings and other work to be annotated and produced by 
and for members for recording schemes, land-owners and personal use, so don’t miss 
the demonstration of this program at the workshop meeting on 8 April. 

At the end of 1994 I proposed to Council the idea of mounting a BENHS 
Expedition, which, if well-received, might become a regular event and an addition to 
the Society’s activities. The idea is to visit British and former British dependent 
territories with a strong invertebrate conservation aim in mind and I shall expand on 
this in Part 2 of this Address. Council have approved this idea in principle and a 
notice to members will appear in the next issue of the Journal. 

I have also suggested the development of a BENHS “logo” to be attached to 
certain products of the Society for greater recognition of the Society’s activities. Our 
member Rob Dyke is currently working on some designs to be put before Council. I 
hope the logo will take its place among those of other organisations and may be seen 
on the covers of the Surrey Invertebrate Atlases and similar projects which the 
Society is supporting. I trust this will not be seen by any members as an undesirable 
concession to the late 20th century but rather as part of a noble tradition extending 
back to heraldic crests and coats of arms, if you would prefer! 

Two problems with wide-reaching implications for field entomologists were 
reported by members during my term of office and I have responded to each on 
behalf of the Society. The first concerns a member who was recording moths at a 
light trap in good faith in a province of Spain, having a permit for a neighbouring 
province but having been previously informed that none was necessary for the area in 
which he was then working. This year he was charged for having contravened recent 
Spanish legislation which is said to prohibit capture of insects, even in live traps from 
which they are released after recording. A large fine was threatened. The gentleman 
in question has no connections with any trade in insects and has done a large amount 
of moth recording both in Britain and in Continental Europe which has been of 
direct benefit to nature conservation, including valuable surveys of nature reserves. 
Furthermore he does not take long series of any species from a site. He is well-known 
to me and I had no hesitation in providing a character reference. On behalf of this 
Society I wrote a very full letter to the Spanish authorities, which was kindly 
translated by a Spanish member of Societas europaea Lepidopterologica, explaining 
the valuable contribution that is being made by volunteer moth recorders including 
this man. I have also requested details of the legislation in question and addresses of 
the offices to which one must apply for any necessary permission so that we can 
advise our members of the correct procedure and facilitate their recording activity. I 
am pleased to report that all charges against the individual in question have been 
dropped. However, at the time of writing I have not received details of the contact 
points for permits. I hope this issue will be resolved shortly. 

The second worrying development occurred when another well-respected member 
of this Society applied to renew his natural history permit for 1995 for Forestry 
Commission sites in the South Downs District of Forest Enterprise, where he has 
already done agreat deal of recording work, the results of which he has written up 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 219 


and supplied freely to the district office. He was informed that from 1 January 1995 
an administrative charge would be levied by this Forest Enterprise District to deal 
with such permits and he was asked to pay £10, which, under protest, he duly did, at 
the same time reporting this matter to our Society and to his MP. Gravely concerned, 
I immediately contacted several members of the Forestry Commission and have 
established that this move is not a national ruling and is peculiar to South Downs 
District who originated the idea. My FC contacts were as concerned as I and were 
largely unaware of this insensitive development. It seemed quite ridiculous when at 
the same time other parts of the organization are offering grants to cover the travel 
costs of naturalists to encourage biological recording on FC holdings. Charging for 
natural history permits would severely undermine the credibility of the pro- 
conservation stance the FC has been endeavouring to develop and promote in recent 
years. At the time of writing, I have received an assurance from a senior officer (Mr 
R. Leslie, Regional Environmental Manager for Forest Enterprise South and West, 
Avon Fields House, Somerdale, Keysham, Bristol, BS18 2BD) within the FC that 
this matter will be cleared up and that it will not be necessary to pay for permits for 
genuine natural history recording. He has promised to see that our member receives 
a refund and a £50 grant for 1995. If any other members find themselves being asked 
to pay for such permissions, (please contact the regional environmental manager). I 
will be pleased to provide details of this FC contact so that he can investigate. 

During the year seven of our members have passed away, including several 
particularly well-known figures within this Society. 

Gaston Prior died on 1 April, after a protracted illness. He was a past President of 
this Society (1978), held posts on Council and was a frequent attender of indoor 
meetings and the Annual Exhibition. Gaston’s great love was the larvae of pug 
moths Eupithecia spp. and he was engaged in a joint work on this group with Adrian 
Riley until Gaston’s illness made further contribution impossible. Many members 
will recall his London days but it was on his retirement to Woodstock in 
Oxfordshire, that I first got to know Gaston. Following the move he immediately 
became involved with the Oxford University Entomological Society, Woodstock 
Museum and the Hope Collections, engaging in many days of voluntary curation 
work at the latter. During the late 1970s and mid 1980s I went beating larvae with 
Gaston on a number of occasions. He would always turn up with one of his proud 
possessions, an old beating tray that had once belonged to the late Baron Charles de 
Worms, for whom he held a great respect. Many times I would give him lifts back 
from Oxford to Woodstock and he would sit cursing, in his inimitable way, the local 
bus company for not operating a late service to get him back from evening meetings. 
Gaston would often refer to entomological work done in the forties and it was some 
time before I realized that he was talking about the 1840s! I would like to thank you 
Gaston, above all, for imparting to me a proper sense of historical perspective! 

Basil MacNulty died suddenly on 12 April, aged seventy nine, at his home in 
Rhossili, on the Gower Peninsula. Basil was an honorary member of the BENHS, a 
long-standing member of Council, Secretary between 1961 and 1968 and President in 
1970. He was perhaps best known to many current members as organizer of the 
Annual Dinner and proposer of the toast to ““The Founding Fathers’’. Basil worked 
for many years as a research chemist in various parts of Britain, and, between 1952 
and 1958, in Nigeria, which enabled him to form a large collection of West African 
insects, especially Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. He later published many of the 
entomological results of his time in Africa. At the time of his death he was working 
on the larvae of African lasiocampid moths to complement his earlier work on 
African lymantriids and I often used to meet him at the Natural History Museum 


220 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


amongst cabinets of furry caterpillars. He also had a substantial involvement with 
the forthcoming volumes on geometrid moths for the series Moths and Butterflies of 
Great Britain and Ireland (Heath and Emmet, 1976 onwards), 

Ian (R.I.) Lorimer died suddenly on 31 May, aged seventy four, at his home in 
Orkney. Ian was perhaps best known to many as the author of The Lepidoptera of the 
Orkney Islands, published in 1983. He also wrote many of the sections on noctuid 
moths in volumes 9 and 10 of the Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Ian started his involvement with Orkney long before he moved there permanently 
from London. He is fondly remembered for being tremendously helpful to other 
lepidopterists and welcomed visitors to Orkney. He wrote many detailed and helpful 
letters and sent lists of records to myself and others and did a great deal to promote 
the study of Lepidoptera in the northern Isles. 

Jack Newton died on 6 July, aged eighty-seven, after extended illness. Jack was 
probably best known to members as the author, with Guy Meredith, of the 
Macrolepidoptera of Gloucestershire, published in 1984 by the Cotteswold 
Naturalists’ Field Club. The following year his supplement to Clutterbuck and 
Bainbridge-Fletcher’s Microlepidoptera of Gloucestershire was published by the 
same Society. Jack was equally adept with both macro- and micro-moths and was 
the county moth recorder for Gloucestershire. He regularly attended our Annual 
Exhibitions, at which he presented some notable exhibits. I came to know Jack late 
in his life but enjoyed several long telephone conversations with him on various 
subjects and it was as a result of Jack’s work that I discovered the colony of 
barberry carpet moths Pareulype berberata in Gloucestershire (Ent. Rec. 103: 287— 
292). Jack leaves behind an extensive body of data from many years of industrious 
recording in the county. His fine collection has been left to the Reading Museum 
and Art Gallery. 

Ian Guy Farwell died on 26 August aged seventy-four. He joined this Society in 
1947 and was a devotee of the Annual Exhibition. He was for many years a stalwart 
of the Lymington Natural History Society, leading many field trips to the local 
marshes, the Isle of Wight and his beloved New Forest and Communicating his 
enthusiasm to others. Ian was a general naturalist with a particular interest in 
butterflies and the larger moths, and he collected a number of striking aberrations 
including two halved gynandromorph silver-washed Fritillaries Argynnis paphia 
taken in the New Forest in 1939. 

Bill (W. E.) Minnion died in early September after an unsuccessful heart by-pass 
operation. Bill was a good friend of the late Bernard Goodban and together they 
were perhaps best known for the discovery of the balsam carpet moth Xanthorhoe 
biriviata in Britain. I first came across Bill as the author of a note he wrote in 1952 on 
the discoveries being made with the new mercury light traps (Ent. Rec. 64: 182). Bill 
was active in the Ruislip Natural History Society and gathered an impressive list of 
macro- and micro-lepidoptera for the area. 

Robert St Leger OBE died at the end of the year, aged sixty-eight. He had a long 
career in the Colonial Service where he gained a reputation as incorruptible and 
unflappable. He was a passionate lepidopterist and his postings enabled him to 
collect widely in the tropics. He amassed a huge collection of butterflies and moths— 
one of the largest in private hands in Britain—and this has been left to the Natural 
History Museum, London. His specialism was the butterflies of West Africa and the 
Caribbean and he discovered several new species and subspecies. Charaxes legeri was 
named after him and Liptena priscilla after his wife. 

The Society is always sad to lose members, for whatever reason, and some of the 
above were leading lights. We have already stood in memory of these people at 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 221 


previous meetings so I shall not ask you to do so now. At the same time it is 
encouraging that a steady stream of new members are coming into the Society and 
we hope that they will enjoy long membership and be able to make valuable 
contributions. 


BOOK REVIEW 


The butterflies and moths of Berkshire by B. R. Baker. Hedera Press, 1994, 
xxxi + 368 pp, 3 monochrome plates, 2 maps, A5, hardback, £25.—It would be hard 
to find another entomologist with credentials as impressive as those of Brian Baker 
to compile a new county list for the Lepidoptera of Berkshire (Watsonian vice- 
county 22), a venture originally inspired by the author’s curatorial work on Reading 
Museum’s Lepidoptera collections. A native of the county, he has served as Deputy 
Director of Reading Museum, President of the Reading and District Natural History 
Society, President of the British Entomological and Natural History Society as well 
as being involved in the founding of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and 
Oxfordshire Naturalists’ Trust. 

The book’s cover profile of the author states that “‘the field, laboratory and library 
studies resulting in his writing of The butterflies and moths of Berkshire have been the 
culmination of a life-time’s work and dedication.” There can be little argument with 
that nor with the superb quality of the end product. 

The foundation document for this new list is The Victoria county history of 
Berkshire published in 1906, which credited Berkshire with 1261 species of 
Lepidoptera. The subsequent addition of just over 400 species, bringing the total 
to a figure which represents almost two-thirds of the species-total for the British Isles, 
illustrates the entomological significance of the county. 

Deliberately intended as a companion volume to Barry Goater’s The butterflies 
and moths of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (1974), the format follows that of the 
earlier work. A welcome addition is the use of Bradley and Fletcher log-book 
numbers in the list of records and in the indexes, facilitating easy reference to species. 

The brief introductory chapters include notes on the geology and habitat-range of 
the county, comments on the assessment and presentation of the records and a 
bibliography. Especially enjoyable in this section are the cameos of early Berkshire 
lepidopterists. We see the remarkable dedication and expertise of these early 
collectors, who worked without the aid of high-tech equipment and ease of transport 
available to the modern entomologist. 

Some local lists are rather like telephone directories to use—name, location, 
number—and are about as interesting to read. Here however we have a wealth of 
data, exhaustively researched and meticulously presented, giving us a summary of 
both the historical and the current status and distribution. Presentation of data is 
locality-based (so much more interesting than dots in squares!) and an index of place 
names giving four-figure grid references is provided. As well as localities, dates 
recorded and recorders’ names are listed. Occasional annotations to the records give 
comments on doubtful records, reasons for a species’ decline or anticipation of 
possible wider distribution of a species in VC22. 

The author’s own superb colour photographs of Apatura iris (L.), which adorn the 
book’s covers, set the seal on a wonderfully impressive work of reference. 
Unquestionably the standard by which all other local lists should be judged. 


STEPHEN PITTIS 


222 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


DISTRIBUTION OF THE SOCIETY’S JOURNAL 


DAvID YOUNG, Distribution Secretary 
9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire RG3 6FB 


Copies of this journal are distributed on publication to all members whose 
subscriptions are not in arrears. 

Approximately every 2 years the Society publishes a membership list which shows 
the names and addresses of all members resident in the United Kingdom and 
throughout the world, the list also giving brief details of their principal areas of 
interest or study. What the membership list does not show are the considerable 
numbers of universities, libraries, entomological and other organizations which also 
receive copies of the Journal. Taken together it can be seen that original papers 
published in the Journal are received by most of the principal scientific and academic 
institutions in the United Kingdom, Western Europe and North America in addition 
to some in the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. 

Under the Copyright Act 1911 publishers have an obligation to deposit one 
copy of each publication with the Legal Deposit Office of The British Library. Five 
other libraries: Bodleian Library, Oxford; Cambridge University Library; National 
Library of Scotland; Trinity College, Dublin, and National Library of Wales are also 
entitled to receive copies of publications under the terms of the same Copyright Act. 
For reasons which elude me this society deals directly with the National Library of 
Wales but uses the good services of the Copyright Libraries Agency (Mr A. T. Smail) 
for depositing copies with the other libraries mentioned. 

In a small number of cases the Society has exchange agreements with other natural 
history societies under which publications are exchanged without payment of annual 
subscriptions or cover charges. Such agreements are approved by Council and 
reviewed periodically by our Hon. Librarian. Copies of publications received are 
deposited in our Library at the Pelham-Clinton Building at Dinton Pastures. 

In other cases organizations pay for their copies of the Journal and are invoiced 
directly, or via their subscription agent, by our Hon. Sales Secretary. 

As none of the names of these organizations are listed in the biennial membership 
list, it may be of interest to members and authors to list them here. 


UNIVERSITIES 


Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin, Berlin, 
Germany. 
Leicester University, Leicester, England. 
Memorial University of Newfoundland, 
Newfoundland, Canada. 
Michigan State University, Michigan, 
USA. 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, 
Harvard University, USA. 
North Carolina State University, 
Raleigh, USA. 
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 
USA. 
Trinity College, Dublin, Eire. 


Universita Cattolica, Piacenza, Italy. 

Universita di Bari, Bari, Italy. 

Universita di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 

Universita degli Studi Di Roma, Roma, 
Italy. 

Universitats und Stadtbibliothek Koln, 
Germany. 

Universitetets Zoologisk Museum, 
Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Selangor, 
Malaysia. 

University of California, Berkeley, 
California, USA. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


University of Cambridge, Cambridge, 
England. 

University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 
USA. 

University of Minnesota, St. Paul, 
Minnesota, USA. 


223 


University of Oxford, Oxford, England. 

University of Toronto, Toronto, 
Ontario, Canada. 

Yale University, New Haven, 
Connecticut, USA. 


LIBRARIES 


Albert R. Mann Library, Ithaca, New 
York, USA. 

British Library, Legal Deposit Office, 
W. Yorks. 

National Library of Scotland, 
Edinburgh, Scotland. 


National Library of Wales, 
Aberystwyth, Wales. 

Senckenbergische Bibliothek, Frankfurt, 
Germany. 

USDA National Agriculture Library, 
Beltsville, USA. 


MUSEUMS 


American Museum of Natural History, 
New York, USA. 

British Museum (Natural History), 
London, England. 

City Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, 
England. 

Colchester & Essex Museum Resource 
Centre, Colchester, Essex, England. 

Dundee Museum, Dundee, Scotland. 

Field Museum of Natural History, 
Chicago, USA. 

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, 
Coventry, England. 

Hope Department of Entomology, 
University Museum, Oxford, 
England. 

Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, 
London, England. 

Museo Civico di Storia Natural, Genoa, 
Italy. 

Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, 
Madrid, Spain. 


National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 
Eire. 

National Museums of Scotland, 
Edinburgh, Scotland. 

National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, 
Wales. 

Naturhistorisch Museum, Wien, 
Austria. 

Naturhistorisk Museum, Aarhus, 
Denmark. 

North Herts Museums Service, Hitchin, 
Herts., England. 

Royal Albert Museum, Exeter, Devon, 
England. 

Staatliches Museum fiir Naturkunde, 
Stuttgart, Germany. 

Staatliches Museum fiir Tierkunde, 
Dresden, Germany. 

United States National Museum, 
Washington D.C. USA. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETIES 


Alexanor, Saint-Cyr-la-Riviére, France. 

Amateur Entomologists Society, 
Orpington, Kent, England. 

American Entomological Society, 
Philadelphia, USA. 

Associone Romana di Entomologia, 
Roma, Italy. 

Balfour-Browne Club, Ayr, Scotland. 

Butterfly Conservation, Wareham, 
Dorset, England 


Derbyshire Entomological Society, 
Newhall, Burton-upon-Trent, 
Staffordshire, England. 

Entomological Society of Ontario, 
Ontario, Canada. 

Entomologische Gesellschaft, Miinchen, 
Germany. 

Entomologische Verein Apollo, 
Kelkheim, Germany. 


224 


Lancashire & Cheshire Entomological 
Society, Liverpool, England. 

Lepidopterists’ Society, Los Angeles, 
USA. 

Linneana Belgica, Vilvoorde, Belgium. 

Nederlandische Entomologische 
Vereinigung, Amsterdam, Holland. 

Royal Entomological Society of 
London, London, England. 

Sociedad Entomologia Aragonesa, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 


Zaragoza, Spain. 

Societas Entomologica Fennica, 
Helsinki, Finland. 

Société Entomologique de France, Paris, 
France. 

Tauschstelle Entomofauna, Miinchen, 
Germany. 

Vlaamse Vereniging voor Entomologie, 
Antwerpen, Belgium. 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETIES 


Birmingham Natural History Society, 
Birmingham, England. 

Croydon Natural History Society, South 
Croydon, Surrey, England. 

Dorset Natural History Society, 
Dorchester, Dorset, England. 

Essex Field Club, Chelmsford, Essex, 
England. 

Hastings & East Sussex Natural History 
Society, Hastings, England. 

Leicester Literary & Philosophical 
Society, Leicester, England. 


London Natural History Society, 
London, England. 

Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists’ Society, 
Norwich, Norfolk, England. 

Société Jersiaise, St Helier, Jersey, 
Channel Isles. 

Societe Linneenne de Lyon, Lyon, 
France. 

Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, Ipswich, 
Suffolk, England. 


OTHER ORGANIZATIONS 


Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada. 

Biosis UK, York, England. 

C.A.B. International, Ascot, Berkshire, 
England. 

Countryside Council for Wales, Bangor, 
Wales. 

C.S.I.R.O., Canberra, Australia. 

Departimento di Entomologia e 
Zoologia Agraria, Portici, Italy. 

English Nature, Peterborough, England. 

Florida Department of Agriculture & 
Consumer Services, Gainesville, 
Florida, USA. 

IB Norgaard, Lyngby, Denmark. 

Institut fiir Pflanzenschutzforschung, 
Berlin, Germany. 

Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de 
Belgique, Bruxelles, Belgium. 


Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Monks 
Wood, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, 
England. 

Landessammlungen fiir Naturkunde, 
Karlsruhe, Germany. 

M.A.F.F., Harpenden, Hertfordshire, 
England. 

Mount Albert Research Centre, 
Auckland, New Zealand. 

Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, Eire. 

Swets Subscription Service, Abingdon, 
Oxfordshire, England. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington D.C. USA. 

Zoological Society of London, London, 
England. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 


I am grateful for the help and assistance given by Roger Hawkins, Hon. Sales 
Secretary, in the preparation of this short article. 


INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS 


General. Contributions must be typed double-spaced on one side only on A4 paper with 3-cm 
margins either side to facilitate marking up. Layout should follow that of the Journal, but apart 
from underlining scientific names, no marks should be made to define typeface. 

Two copies of typescripts and figures are required, the second copy can be a photocopy. 
Authors who have prepared their article on word processor are invited to supply a disk also. 

Nomenclature. Use the most up-to-date nomenclature available. After first use of a specific 
Latin name give the author’s name; use parentheses only if required according to the rules of 
nomenclature. This should apply not only to insect names, but also to the names of plants, non- 
insect invertebrates and other animals. 

Figures and tables. Line figures and half-tones are accepted. Size of lettering, thickness of 
lines and density of shading, stippling and hatching must take into account likely reduction in 
size to fit appropriately into the journal page size. Illustrations must be of good quality, 
however lettering can be typeset if necessary; indicate requirements on a duplicate figure. 
Colour illustrations may be available, please contact the Editor. Tables should be prepared on 
separate sheets; avoid vertical rules, use horizontal rules sparingly. 

References. In the text, references should give author and year, (e.g. Allan, 1947); multiple 
references (e.g. Kendall, 1982; Smith, 1989; Baker, 1994) should be listed in date order. But 
references should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the article. Book titles take only an 
initial capital letter. Journal titles are abbreviated in the style of the World List, but with each 
word taking an initial capital. Examples: 


Allan, P. B. M. 1947. A moth-hunter’s gossip. 2nd edn, Watkins and Doncaster, London, p. 149. 

Baker, P. 1994. The modified status of Strymonidia w-album (Knoch) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in 
north west Surrey. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 25-26. 

Jones, R. A. 1994. [Bilobed inflorescences of Plantago lanceolata L. Exhibit at BEHNS Annual 
Exhibition 1993.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 179. 

Kendall, P. 1982. Bromius obscurus (L.) in Britain (Col., Chrysomelidae). Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 
117 (1981): 233-234. 

Pratt, C. R. & Emmet, A. M. 1989. Polygonia. In: Emmet, A. M. & Heath, J. (Eds). The moths and 
butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester, Vol.7, Part 1, pp.212-215. 

Smith, K. G. V. 1989. An introduction to the immature stages of British flies: Diptera larvae, with 
notes on eggs, puparia and pupae. Handbk Ident. Br. Insects 10(14): 1—280. 

Stubbs, A. E. 1987. Oxycera dives. In: Shirt, D. B. (Ed.). British red data books: 2. Insects. Nature 
Conservancy Council, Peterborough, pp. 304-305. 

Stubbs, A. E. & Falk, S. J. 1983. British hoverflies: an illustrated identification guide. BEHNS, 
London, pp. 191-192. 

West, B. K. 1994. The time of appearance of Lancanobia oleracea L. (Lep.:Noctuidae) in the British 
Isles. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 106: 81-84. 


Offprints. Authors of main articles qualify for 25 free offprints taken directly from the 
Journal. These may contain extraneous matter such as short communications or book reviews 
used as ‘fillers’. Extra copies must be ordered when proofs are returned. 


NEW PUBLICATIONS FROM THE AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS’ SOCIETY 
A COLEOPTERIST’S HANDBOOK (3rd Edition—1991) 


A completely new publication to which leading British coleopterists have contributed 
chapters. Part I deals with the practical aspects of collecting, curating and studying beetles. Part 
II consists of chapters on each of the beetle families prepared by experts in each group. Part III 
considers beetle associations—with plants, ants and stored foodstuffs. Beetle larvae are dealt 
with in Part IV which describes and illustrates the morphology of family types, their habitats 
and methods of rearing. Part V gives advice on recording methods and on the conservation of 
Coleoptera. There is a detailed glossary and an index of genera referred to in the text. Each 
chapter has details of appropriate books and papers of reference. Hardback, 294 pp. Price £14 
including postage and packing. To order please send cheque or postal order made payable to 
“AES Publications” at The Hawthorns, Frating Road, Great Bromley, COLCHESTER CO7 7JN. 
Tel 0206 251600. 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
VOLUME 8, PART 4, OCTOBER 1995 


ARTICLES 
Panoquina panoquinoides eugeon Skinner (Lepidoptera: Hespiridae) from the Windward 
Islands, Lesser Antilles. D. CORKE 


The effects of cattle poaching on insects living at the margin of the River Itchen, Hampshire. 
C. M. DRAKE 


A correction to Butterfly Conservation’s claimed attitudes in invertebrate conservation. 
A. E. STUBBS 


Distribution of the Society’s journal. D. YOUNG 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 

BENHS workshop 

Obituary of Basil Joseph MacNulty. A. J. PICKLES 

1994 Annual Exhibition, Imperial College, London SW7—22 October 1994 


British butterflies Odonata 
British Macrolepidoptera Dermaptera 
British Microlepidoptera Neuroptera 
Foreign Lepidoptera Mecoptera 
Diptera Siphonaptera 
Coleoptera Arachnida 
Hemiptera Illustrations 
Hymenoptera 


Corrigendum to 1992 Annual Exhibition report 
BENHS field meetings 
The 1994 Presidential Address—Part 1. Report. P. WARING 


LETTER TO THE EDITOR 
County names. J. MORGAN 


BOOK REVIEWS 
New life for old woods, by Butterfly Conservation. R. F. MCCORMICK 
The butterflies and moths of Berkshire by B. R. Baker. S. PitTIs 


ANNOUNCEMENT 
A national pyralid recording scheme 


Vol. 9, Part 1 


ISSN 0952-7583 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 
ENTOMOLOGY 
AND NATURAL HISTORY 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
Published by the British Entomological and Natural History Society 
and incorporating its Proceedings and Transactions 


Editor: . 


Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F.L.S. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


Rev. D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D. T. G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. I. F. G. McLean, Ph.D: F-R-ES 

P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.1.Biol. T. R. E. Southwood, K. B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F. R. ELS: 

R. D. Hawkins, M.A. B. K. West, B.Ed 


P. J. Hodge 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological and 
Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, Berkshire 
RG10 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


© 1996 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal Entomological 
Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL EXHIBITION is 
planned for a Saturday in October 1996 at Imperial College, London SW7. Frequent Field 
Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome at all meetings. The current 
Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, R. F. McCormick, at the address 
given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, which 
are open to members on various advertised days each month, telephone 01734-321402 for the 
latest meeting news. 

Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 


Subscriptions and changes of address to the Assistant Treasurer: M. G. Telfer, 12 Jasmine Close, 
Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7NE. 


Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of the 
Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, Reading, 
Berkshire RG3 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: R. D. 
Hawkins, 30d Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 


General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, Devon 
TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. 


Cover illustration: The forest bug, Pentatoma rufipes (L.), on an oak leaf. Photo: R. A. Jones. 


NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs for black and white reproduction on the 
front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on aesthetic value 
rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or black and white 
prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 l 


EMIT HSONTZE 


E SOCIETY’S ‘NEW’ LOGO 


RICHARD A. JONES 
Bellf~ood Road, Nunhead, London SE15 3DE. 


FEB 21 19% 
13 


It will not be long before members begin to notice a strange 
device adorning BENHS letterheads, notices, books, and yes, 
even the front cover of the Society’s journal. At first sight it 
may appear vaguely familiar, but at the same time it will seem 
different and new. A few words of explanation are perhaps in 
order, for current members and hopefully, those in the future 
reading through their back issues trying to get a flavour of the 
history of the Society as it was towards the end of the 
twentieth century. 

At a recent Council meeting, it was suggested that the 
Society ought to have a readily recognized logo* which could appear on its 
letterheads, on official documents, on promotional material, on its publications or 
those from other organizations which it supported, on its journal, or even, and this 
was quite a radical suggestion, on tee-shirts, sweatshirts or other ephemera. Other 
entomological and natural history societies have their own emblems so why not the 
BENHS? 

There were various suggestions, but it was immediately pointed out that the 
Society already had a logo of sorts—the peculiar beast woven into the Society’s 
official tie. However, this design lacked the name of the Society. After much debate 
and discussion on how to proceed it was decided to incorporate the insect in question 
with a typographic representation of the Society’s name in some compact form. 
Having come to the Society’s aid previously for designs of Christmas cards, cover 
illustrations for the journal and the like, Rob Dyke volunteered to draw up some 
design suggestions. In the mean time, I tried to do some research on a question that 
had long been at the back of my mind—what animal is it anyway? 

At first glance, the long-tailed moth-like insect is obviously a member of the exotic 
neuropteran family, Nemopteridae. These relatives of lacewings and ant-lions are 
characterized by broad forewings, long narrow hindwings and a lazy flapping flight. 
None occurs in Britain, so how could such a curious creature have been adopted by a 
‘British’ society? The exact answer is still lost in time, but a few details quickly 
emerged even though they were contradictory. 

The BENHS ties first appeared in the early 1960s when the Society was still the old 
‘South London’. Barry Goater was a Council member at the time and remembers 
Arthur Smith being asked to come up with a design for the tie. The design was done, 
the ties made and we still have them today. According to Barry the question of the 
beast’s identity was regularly asked at the time and Smith would earnestly reply that 
it was merely a stylized insect and was not meant to represent any particular species, 
from overseas, from Britain or even from South London. 


*The word logo is an abbreviation of logotype. In the days of hand typesetting, when each 
metal letter was laboriously selected from trays of type and laid out to form words, sentences 
and ultimately pages, only a limited number of typefaces was available. If a publisher wished to 
have a specially designed typeface for a particular trademark or colophon it was separately cast 
in metal as a complete word; this small, often decorative, word-block was called a logotype, 
from the Greek /ogos meaning word and typos meaning impression. 


2 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


However, John Bradley, who knew Smith well, could not imagine him drawing 
anything other than the precise anatomically perfect pictures for which he was well 
known, and is certain that it must have been a painstaking study of an individual 
taxon. At first, it was supposed that the insect in question Was the Iberian species 
Nemoptera bipennis which appears in European field guides. But that species has a 
significantly different wing shape as do others in the family. 

Smith is no longer with us and any original sketches or drawings are gone. In order 
to create a new logo a new drawing must be made, but the mystery surrounding the 
exact nature of the insect still remains; a compromise must be made. 

The result, a new stylized version drawn by Rob Dyke, is an echo of Arthur 
Smith’s original design, as it appears on the Society’s ties, and also from a menu of 
the 1972 annual dinner—the Society’s centenary. 

The logo will start to appear on documents, publications and wherever the Society 
has an input and by its very nature it will increase awareness of the Society in this 
visual age. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


The thanks of the Society are due to Rob Dyke who drew the design and Shirley 
Wheeler a typographer and graphic artist who set the lettering. My thanks are due to 
Barry Goater and John Bradley for their help in trying to track down the memory of 
Arthur Smith. 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


A second record of Ctenophora flaveolata (F.) (Diptera: Tipulidae) in Gloucester- 
shire.—On the morning of 9.v.1994 a single male of this species was swept from the 
edge of pasture woodland at Overtown, near Cranham Common in the Cotswolds, 
East Gloucestershire (VC33), grid reference SO900122. This represents the second 
record for this rare species in the county following its discovery at Cirencester Park 
Woods on 6.v.1990, also in VC33 but located approximately 10 km to the south-east 
of Overtown (Alexander, 1991). Godfrey (1994) has also reported the recent 
occurrence of this species from the neighbouring county of Oxfordshire. 

C. flaveolata appears to be associated with large over-mature trees, especially 
beech (Stubbs, 1987). Although the woodland at Overtown was dominated by a 
growth of fairly young sycamore with very little dead timber, apart from a few small 
branches, a few mature beech and ash trees were present together with some old moss 
covered stumps located in partial shade. It seems likely that these old rotten stumps 
will have provided suitable habitat for the larval development of C. flaveolata—A. P. 
FOSTER, The National Trust, 33 Sheep Street, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 1QW. 


REFERENCES 


Alexander, K. N. A. 1991. Ctenophora flaveolata (F.) (Diptera: Tipulidae) new to 
Gloucestershire. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 4: 64. 

Godfrey, A. 1994. Ctenophora flaveolata (F.) (Diptera: Tipulidae) from the Warburg Reserve, 
Oxon. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 26. 

Stubbs, A. E. 1987. In: Shirt, D. B. (Ed.) British red data books: 2. Insects. Nature Conservancy 
Council, Peterborough, p. 296. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 3 


HETEROPTERA RECORDING IN WALES DURING 1993 AND 1994 


KEITH N. A. ALEXANDER AND ANDREW P. FOSTER 
The National Trust, 33 Sheep Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 10W. 


The work of the National Trust’s Biological Survey Team took us to a wide variety 
of properties scattered across Wales for much of the 1993 and 1994 field seasons. 
During this time we found a good selection of the local specialities as well as some 
surprises. 

The following lists give details of the localities, and, where appropriate, additional 
comments on the distribution and habitat associations. Three species, Trapezonotus 
ullrichi (Fieb.), Pachybrachius luridus (Hahn) and Pionosomus varius (Wolff, J. F.), 
are of British Red Data Book status (Kirby, 1992a). 


SOUTH-WESTERN SPECIALITIES 


Enoplops scapha (F.) (Coreidae). An adult plus numerous nymphs were found on a 
clump of sea mayweed growing on the face of head cliffs at Porthysgo on Lly¥n, 
Caernarvonshire (SH208264), 15.vii.1993. We are aware of no published records for 
this species from North Wales. However, there are two specimens from the region in 
the collections at Leicester Museum: Porth Ceiriad, Llyn (SH307248), 19.viii.1985, 
J. H. Matthias, and ‘cliffs opposite S. Stack’, Anglesey, 21.ix.1980, P. Lucas. It was 
also seen in S. Wales during 1994 where it is well known. 

Dicranocephalus agilis (Scop.) (Stenocephalidae). Adults found on the very small 
area of sand dune behind Traeth Penbryn, Cardiganshire (SN293524), 30.vi.1994—it 
is not listed for the county in Kirby & Lambert (1990). Nymphs were also found on 
Euphorbia paralias L. growing on head cliff at Deep Slade, Pwlldhu Head, Gower, 
Glamorganshire (SS562869), 25.vii.1994. it is best known in Cornwall and Devon, 
but with a good scatter of records from West Wales, especially the dunes of the 
Castlemartin Peninsula, Pembrokeshire (Kirby, 1992b), Carmarthenshire and 
Caernarvonshire (Kirby, 1991). 

Trapezonotus ullrichi (Fieb.) (Lygaeidae). This species was discovered new to 
Wales by P. Kirby & S. Lambert on 25.vi.1990 along the south coast of the St 
David’s Peninsula at Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, SM760253 (Kirby, 1992b). Kirby 
(pers. comm.) has subsequently found it on Pendine Cliffs, Carmarthenshire 
(SN233078), a single male on an ox-eye daisy flower beside cliff path, 15.vi.1993. A 
single adult was found by K.N.A.A. also on an ox-eye daisy flower in an area of 
notably flowery maritime grassland on Porthlysgi Cliffs at SM735235, 23.vi.1994. 
The association with ox-eye daisy appears to be characteristic (Alexander & Grove, 
1991). 


COASTAL AND HEATHLAND SPECIALITIES 


Corizus hyoscyami (L.) (Rhopalidae). Well known from sand dunes in Pembroke- 
shire, but a small colony was found on dry seacliff grassland ae the Trapezonotus at 
Porthlysgi Cliffs. These were similarly found on ox-eye daisy 'flowerheads. 

Liorhyssus hyalinus (F.) (Rhopalidae). One taken on coastal heath, St David’s 
Head (SM733280), 16.vi.1994; found in Pembrokeshire only once before, by S. Judd 


in 1985/86 (in Kirby, 1992b). 


4 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Pionosomus varius (Wolff, J. F.) (Lygaeidae). A speciality of the coastal sandhills 
of Kent, Pembrokeshire and Gower. Previous Gower records relate to Pennard, 
Llangennith and Whiteford Burrows (Kirby, 1992a) and Three Cliffs Bay (Kirby, 
1993, in Fowles, 1995). The last locality is rather imprecise, ‘but the grid reference 
given, SS538877, indicates the Pennard Burrows side of the bay. We can now add 
Nicholaston and Penmaen Burrows (SS523879 and 535881, respectively) on the 
western side of the bay, leaving very few of Gower’s dune systems where it has not 
been recorded. 

Plinthisus brevipennis (Latr.) (Lygaeidae). A single adult was found in open 
western gorse and bell heather heathland at Mynydd y Graig, Llyn, Caernarvonshire 
(SH225265), 16.vii.1993. Although a common and widespread species of dry sandy 
heaths across the southern half of England, this appears to be scarce in Wales. The 
only other modern record in the north also comes from Llyn: Mynydd Cilan, 1992, 
A. P. Fowles; otherwise there are only a few very old records from Anglesey and 
Denbighshire (M. J. Morgan, pers. comm.). Even in Pembrokeshire there is only one 
record (Kirby, 1992b). 


WETLAND SPECIALITIES 


Pachybrachius luridus (Hahn) (Lygaeidae). A single specimen of this Red Data 
Book (Kirby, 1992a) bug was taken by sweep-netting in an area of grazed mire at 
Bryn-y-Bont, Nantmor, Caernarvonshire (SH598461), 29.vi.1993. This area is at the 
uppermost end of the Glaslyn Marshes and is underlain by shallow peats and 
estuarine silts, formerly part of the estuary, but long-since drained and brought into 
agricultural use. Good quality acid mires persist here however, and are rich in both 
characteristic mire plants and invertebrates. P. /uridus is mainly a New Forest species 
in Britain but has been found at a handful of other sites, including one other Welsh 
locality, Ynys-hir, Ceredigion. The Ynys-hir record was first published by Kirby 
(1992a) but without the details. It was actually found by A. E. Stubbs as long ago as 
September 1972 close to the RSPB Reserve Warden’s house (SN678961). The two 
localities appear to be very similar in character, being mires on estuarine silts, Ynys- 
hir being on the Dovey Estuary. 

Capsodes gothicus (L.) (Miridae). This bug was discovered in Pembrokeshire only 
as recently as 1988, at Cwm Dewi, Dinas (Alexander & Hawkins, 1993). We found it 
at two further sites along the north coast: Gernos (SN122484) and Treseissyllt 
(SM886363) Cliffs. It was also taken in Ceredigion at Mynachdy’r-Graig 
(SN554742), on Lotus uliginosus Schkuhr on clifftop, 28.vi.1994. 


PASTURE-WOODLANDS 


Xylocoris cursitans (Fallén) (Anthocoridae). Adults were found beneath bark on 
the stump of a recently felled ash, within pasture-woodland, Berth-lwyd Farm, 
Breconshire, (SN915134), 27.vii.1994; also seen at Dolmelynllyn, Merioneth 
(SH7222) and Erddig Park, Denbighshire (SJ326482). It has a thinly scattered and 
localized distribution throughout Wales, and is a good indicator of long-established 
pasture-woodland sites and ancient woodlands. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


Our thanks to: Pete Kirby for his help in compiling this article and for permission 
to publish his record for Trapezonotus ullrichi; to Adrian Fowles and Joan Morgan 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 5 


for additional information on North Wales records, and Derek Lott for information 
on the Enoplops species held at Leicester Museum. 


REFERENCES 


Alexander, K. N. A. & Grove, S. J. 1991. Heteroptera recording in Cornwall and Devon during 
1989 and 1990. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 4: 119-121. 

Alexander, K. N. A. & Hawkins, R. D. 1993. Additions to the list of Pembrokeshire 
Heteroptera. Dyfed Invertebrate Group Newsletter No. 27: 5—6. 

Fowles, A. P. 1995. Records of Red Data Book invertebrates in Wales—1993. In: Welsh 
Invertebrate Review—1993. Countryside Council for Wales, Bangor. 

Kirby, P. 1991. A provisional list of the Heteroptera of Carmarthenshire (VC44). Dyfed 
Invertebrate Group Newsletter No. 23: 6-17. 

Kirby, P. 1992a. A review of the scarce and threatened Hemiptera of Great Britain. UK Nature 
Conservation No. 2, JNCC, Peterborough. 

Kirby, P. 1992b. A provisional list of the Heteroptera of Pembrokeshire (VC 45). Dyfed 
Invertebrate Group Newsletter No. 25: 20-33. 

Kirby, P. & Lambert, S. J. 1990. A provisional list of the Heteroptera of Ceredigion (VC 46). 
Dyfed Invertebrate Group Newsletter No. 17: 1-9. 


BOOK REVIEW 


The Dryinidae and Embolemidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea) of Fennoscandia and 
Denmark, by M. Olmi. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 30, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 
1994, 100 pp (including 38 colour plates), hardback, NLG 100, about £42.—This 
book deals with one species of Embolemidae, which has never been reared, and 34 
species of Dryinidae in four subfamilies, all parasitoids of Homoptera: Auchenor- 
rhyncha (various groups of Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha). Professor 
Massimo Olmi’s work has transformed the classification and species-level taxonomy 
of these two families over the past 15—20 years and he is widely respected as the world 
authority. As is usual for the Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica series, the work 
focuses strongly on the fauna of Fennoscandia and Denmark, but there is a large 
overlap with the British fauna, and it is plainly indicated in the section on 
distributional records that all but six of the treated species are recorded from the 
British Isles. Unfortunately it is not possible to tell that only five British species 
(Anteon pseudohilare Burn, Anteon reticulatum Kieffer, Anteon scapulare (Haliday), 
Mystrophorus formicaeformis Ruthe and the more doubtful Dryinus collaris (L.)) are 
not included: a shame, perhaps for all users, that this faunal summary, so clearly 
showing which Fennoscandian or Danish species occur in Germany and the British 
Isles, does not extend to indicating which species known in those neighbouring 
countries have yet to be found in the area of focus. 

Following a short history of work on the two families in north-west Europe, there 
is a brief section on the classification of Chrysidoidea, and a more thorough 
treatment of morphology (well illustrated by line drawings and SEMs) and 
comparative biology that culminates in an interesting section suggesting the 
evolutionary ecology behind the extreme morphological specializations in the front 
legs of female Dryinidae (except Aphelopus) in relation to host capture. Then come 
the keys and species level treatments, in which line drawings of female chelae (except, 
of course, Aphelopus in which the structure is absent) and male genitalia are given for 
each species and whole insect drawings are supplied of several. A separate listing of 
host-parasitoid records is unfortunately presented bald, with no indication of origin, 


6 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


repetition of occurrence, or any level of verification that may (or not) have been 
applied, leaving the reliability and significance of the recorded associations poorly 
guaranteed. Thirty-eight very space-consumptive colour plates comprising six good 
photos depicting life history and 30 whole (plus a few paft) insect drawings of 
pleasing quality, a summary chart of distribution records for each included species 
by province within the four countries with records also indicated for Germany and 
Great Britain, and a bibliography of 150 references complete the work. 

Despite considerable earlier input from British workers into knowledge of their 
biology and systematics, these insects have not been winning the hearts and minds of 
most aculeate hymenopterists in Britain in recent years. Of course, they are small and 
inconspicuous, but there have been other reasons: except for Aphelopinae and 
notwithstanding Olmi’s comprehensive but relatively scarce work on the world fauna 
published in 1984 and 1989 (from which progress can in fact be made), our 1978 
checklist and the previously existing British identification literature (e.g. Perkins, 
1976, Handbk Ident. Br. Insects 6 (3a), which is not easy to use with confidence) 
contain some pretty bad muddles, in Anteoninae especially. Olmi is a lumper rather 
than a splitter, and his classification sinks a number of generic names (in Dryininae 
and Gonatopodinae) based on differences appreciable only in the female sex, and the 
British list has also been affected by the sinking of several species-level nominal taxa, 
as well as unexplained new records of Aphelopus querceus Olmi and Anteon exiguum 
(Haupt) from Britain in the present work (see Burn, 1995, Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 
131: 139-140). To the British worker especially, a check-list of species in which the 
full synonymy was reconciled at a glance would have been a very helpful addition, 
though to be fair perhaps the Fennoscandians and Danes don’t need the 
unscrambling so badly. The keys seem reliable and this mostly excellent and 
authoritative book should surely provide a good basis for hauling this interesting and 
bizarre group of parasitoids back into strong focus for British hymenopterists. 


MARK R. SHAW 


BOOK REVIEW 


Scuttle flies, the Phoridae, by R. H. I. Disney. London, Chapman & Hall, 1994, 
xii +468 pp, hardback, £67.50—Regular readers of this journal will have noticed 
several papers over the years by Henry Disney, on a group of small, easily 
overlooked, hunchbacked flies, the phorids. With the same author’s two Royal Ent. 
Soc. handbooks on the family already published, it might be wondered what more 
this prodigious entomologist could find to say about these diminutive creatures. The 
answer is “quite a lot”. In contrast to Spartan descriptive keys, his new book offers 
an in-depth biological study to “‘a family of flies whose diversity of larval lifestyles is 
apparently without rival among insect families’. There are parasites, parasitoids, 
predators and saprophage scavengers; some are potential biological control agents, 
others are pests; they are aquatic, terrestrial and there is at least one intertidal 
species. After an extensive analysis of different lifestyles, habits and general biology, 
there are two huge keys and identification notes to 229 world genera. More than half 
of these genera are still known from only one sex, so many will turn out to be the 
“missing” sex of a previously described genus. The book concludes with a short 
methods chapter on collecting and preserving and 50 pages of references. This is a 
book for the specialist rather than the general entomologist, but such a detailed 
treatment will mean that if you ever want to know anything about phorids, you will 
know where to go in the library. 


R. A. JONES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 7 


ON A COLLECTION OF BOMBUS AND PSITHYRUS PRINCIPALLY 
FROM SUTHERLAND, WITH NOTES ON THE NOMENCLATURE 
OR STATUS OF THREE SPECIES (HYMENOPTERA, APOIDEA) 


D. B. BAKER 
Hope Entomological Collections, University Museum, Oxford OX1 3PW. 


INTRODUCTION 


A small collection of Bombus and Psithyrus was made by the present author and 
Mrs M. W. Baker at Inchnadamph, Sutherland, between 29 September and 2 
October 1964. The majority of the specimens were collected from Centaurea on 
meadowland near the SE corner of Loch Assynt (grid ref. NC 253218) [abbreviated 
below to Inchnadamph A] and along the path following the stream, Allt Poll an 
Droighinn, running down from Beinn Uidhe, at an altitude of c.500-1250ft 
[Inchnadamph B]. A few specimens were collected in the Inchnadamph National 
Nature Reserve (where it had been intended to collect, but where few plants were still 
in flower), in Gleann Dubh, c. 750 ft (NC 276205) [Inchnadamph C]. For specimens 
collected elsewhere, full data are given. Despite the late date, 79 specimens 
representing seven species were taken. It was noted that workers of several species of 
Bombus remained active until well after sunset in spite of the cold: Freuchen & 
Salomonsen (1959: 193) record that in the Arctic, in June, Bombus species, which 
here fly even in rain and fog, ‘fly the twenty-four hours of the day, although about 
midnight the number diminishes for a few hours’ (see for more detailed observations 
on arctic Bombus, and further references, Friese, 1908). 

The opportunity has been taken of recording also the Bombus and Psithyrus taken 
by the late C.H. Jowett, Esq., and Miss P.H. Jowett on Mull and Iona in 1962 and 
1963. These records are enclosed in square brackets. 


SPECIES TREATMENTS 
Bombus (Megabombus) hortorum (L., 1761) 


Material: Sutherland, Inchnadamph (A), 30.ix.1964, 1¢; 1.x.1964, 1¢. 

[Mull, Ross of Mull: Uisken, 2.ix.1962, at mallow, 3¢; Uisken, 2 miles S. of 
Bunessan, 14.1x.1962, 1¢ (all C.H. & P.H. Jowett); Uisken, 10.ix.1963, 3g 19 (C.H. 
Jowett); Ardfenaig, 2 miles W. of Bunessan, 10.ix.1962, 2g (C.H. & P.H. Jowett); 
Ardfenaig, 5.ix.1963, 2g (C.H. Jowett). Iona, 5.ix.1963, at Centaurea nigra L., 13 
(C.H. Jowett).] 


Bombus (Thoracobombus) pascuorum septentrionalis Vogt, 1909 


Apis pascuorum Scop. 1763; 306; Carniolia [for the locality see Baker, 1994: 289, 
note (1) under Scopoli]. 

Apis agrorum F., 1787: 301; [2]; in Europae. Junior primary homonym of Apis 
agrorum Schrank, 1781. 

Bombus agrorum f. septentrionalis Vogt, 1909: 64, 75; Nordwest schottland. No 
type designated: proposed for a form of unspecified status (‘In der Farbung 
steht dieser Gruppe [‘frey-gessneriformen’ of agrorum] nahe: septentrionalis m. Wie 
valesianus .. .’). 

Bombus agrorum [Rasse] septentrionalis Kriiger, 1958: 338. 


8 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Material: Sutherland, Inchnadamph (A), 29.ix.1964, 1g 2); 30.ix.1964, 1¢ 49; 
1.x.1964, 2g 2; 2.x.1964, 2. 

[Mull: Ross of Mull, Uisken, 2.ix.1962, at mallow, 4¢ 19; Uisken, 2 miles S. of 
Bunessan, 14.ix.1962, 1g (all C.H. & P.H. Jowett); Uisken, 10.ix.1963, 1g 39 (C.H. 
Jowett); Kintra, 1.5 miles N.W. of Fionnphort, 10.ix.1962, 1g (C.H. & P.H. Jowett); 
Kintra, 6.ix.1963, on Centaurea nigra L., 23 19 (C.H. Jowett); Ardfenaig, 2 miles W. 
of Bunessan, 10.ix.1962, 22 (C.H. & P.H. Jowett).]. 


Bombus (Thoracobombus) ruderarius ruderarius (Miller, 1776) 


Material: (Mull, Ross of Mull, Uisken, 10.ix.1963, 12 (C.H. Jowett). Iona, 
5.1x.1963, at Centaurea nigra L., 11g (C.H. Jowett).] 


Bombus (Thoracobombus) laevis sladeni (Vogt, 1911) 


Bombus muscorum auctt. nec (L.) [The lectotype of Apis muscorum L., designated 
by Day (1979: 68), belongs to the species variously known under such names as 
cognatus Steph. (Saunders, 1884), venustus Smith (Saunders, 1896), solstitialis Panz. 
(Richards, 1927), variabilis Schmiedeknecht (1930), humilis Ill. (Bischoff & Hedicke, 
1931), or helferanus Seidl (Pittioni, 1939). It is regrettable that Loken (1973: 146), 
although 19th century Scandinavian authors had correctly identified Linnaeus’s 
species, elected to follow the misapplication of Linnaeus’s name.] 

Bombus muscorum f. laevis Vogt, 1909: 63; Kleinasien. 

Bombus smithianus ‘var., or race,’ pallidus Evans, 1901: 47; 3; [Scotland:] ‘taken by 
myself near Kingussie (Inverness-shire), Aberfoyle (S. W. Perthshire), and Elvanfoot 
(Lanarkshire), and also specimens from the Perth district, Dumbartonshire and 
Kirkcudbrightshire, kindly sent me by Messrs. Rodger, Malloch, and Service’. 
Invalid junior homonym of Bombus pallidus Cresson, 1863 [=Bombus 
(Fervidobombus) pennsylvanicus (Degeer, 1773)]. 

Lectotype, by present designation, g, labelled ‘Elvanfoot/18.9.00’ (endorsed 
‘“Bombus/smithianus 3°, the ‘smithianus’ overwritten on ‘venustus’) and “‘W. Evans 
RSM/1971.5S’ [print], in Department of Natural History, National Museums of 
Scotland. Paralectotypes, in same collection: 11 ¢d, Scotland: Lanarkshire, 
Elvanfoot, 5.ix.1900 (3), 11.ix.1900 (1), 12.1x.1900 (2), 18.ix.1900 (1), ix.1900 (3) 
(all W. Evans); Dumbartonshire, Bonhill, 15.ix.1900 (J. R. Malloch); Kirkcudbright- 
shire, Southerness, viii.1895 (R. Service). 

Agrobombus muscorum .. . var. geogr. nov. sladeni Vogt, 1911:52; sex?; Stideng- 
land. 

Bombus muscorum celticus Yarrow, 1978: 15; nom.noy. for ‘Bombus muscorum 
pallidus Evans (Bombus smithianus var. pallidus Evans, 1901)’. Yarrow failed to 
designate a lectotype for Evans’s taxon. Since ce/ticus was proposed as a replacement 
name, it has no independent type. 


Nomenclature: The name laevis was proposed by Vogt for a form of unspecified 
status! from Anatolia: ‘An Muscorumformen finden wir in Kleinasien einen ganz 
kurzhaarigen Vertreter /aevis m.: wie muscorum gefarbt = typicus, die Orangefarbe 
des Thorax auf einen runden Fleck beschrankt—ab. /aesoides m.’. The taxon was 
later recognized by Richards (1935a: 79) as a subspecies of what he also knew as 
muscorum. That the nominotypical subspecies is not identical with the presumed 
Stammform is perhaps unfortunate, but by no means an uncommon accident of 
nomenclature. 

Bombus laevis exists in two groups of colour-forms, of erratic distribution, treated 
as species by some authors. Dark forms have been referred to ‘smithianus’ [smithianus 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 9 


auctt. nec White]’, pale to ‘muscorum’ [muscorum auctt. nec (L.)]. There are, however, 
no significant structural differences between the two groups, and no apparent 
ecological or biological differences. Both groups are represented in the British Isles, 
each by several forms now treated as subspecies of /aevis. The names allenellus, 
scyllonius and liepetterseni (the last a misapplication)? have been applied to dark 
forms occurring on islands off the British and Irish coasts, the names (pallidus =) 
celticus, sladeni and orcadensis to pale forms inhabiting the British and Irish 
mainlands and (orcadensis) the Orkneys. 

The name pallidus was proposed by Evans for ‘the variety having the hairs on the 
underside of the body, and on the legs, pale yellow instead of black’. Evans’s 
description must be taken as referring exclusively to the male because, although he 
had material of both sexes, he was unable to distinguish the queens and workers from 
his ‘venustus’ (pale forms of muscorum and ? pascuorum): “Besides these males I have 
females and workers from the same and other localities, which I cannot but regard as 
belonging to the same form, though the absence of any known structural differences 
between 2 and @ of Smithianus and those of venustus precludes . . . absolute 
certainty of identification’. Dr M. R. Shaw sent for examination the series from 
Evans’s collection standing as pallidus in the National Museums of Scotland. The 
series comprises 14 males, of which two are without data and are not accepted as 
syntypes, 8 queens and 6 workers. A lectotype has been selected as noted above and 
11 other males labelled as paralectotypes: since Evans did not identify any queens or 
workers as definitely belonging to pallidus, it would seem illogical to recognize any 
queen or worker pallidus in his series as syntypes. 

The name s/adeni was proposed by Vogt for a variety with the ‘Behaarung deutlich 
struppiger als die des typicus, weniger struppig als die von pallidus. Farbung die des 
typicus, aber Thoraxdorsum vorne und hinten ausgesprochen hellgelb behaart 
(Annaherung an die Farbung fulvofasciatus Friese meines muscorum laevis)’. 

Richards (1935a: 77) noted that pallidus (celticus) was doubtfully distinct from 
sladeni, and celticus and sladeni appear in fact to represent a north-south cline in 
coat and colour characters: the British mainland and Irish mainland /aevis should be 
known as sladeni. The occurrence of Bombus laevis sladeni has been linked with 
marshy and similar habitats, but this is by no means always so: at Seaford, Sussex, 
for example, sladeni occurs on chalk downland in association with, among others, 
the deceptively similar muscorum anglicus [Bombus humilis anglicus Yarrow, 1978}. 

A summary of the British and Irish forms of /aevis is given at Appendix 1. 


Material: Sutherland: Inchnadamph (A), 29.ix.1964, 12 19; 30.ix.1964, 23 2; 
1.x.1964, 2. 

[Mull, Ross of Mull, Uisken, 2.ix.1962, at mallow, 2¢ 19; Uisken, 2 miles S. of 
Bunessan, 14.ix.1962, 19 (all C.H. & P.H. Jowett).] 


Bombus (Kallobombus) cardui cardui (Miller, 1776) 


Apis cardui Miller, 1776: 165; no locality specified [Denmark or Norway]. 
Apis soroeensis F., [1777]: 246; Habitat in Daniae nemoribus. Lectotype 9, 
Denmark: Sjaelland, designated by Loken (1966: 200). 


Nomenclature: Apis cardui was described by Miller in the following terms: ‘1929. 
Ap. Cardui hirsuta nigra, ano albo. * +’ (signature a4: ‘. . . signo+a me, detectae 
indicantur’). 

Von Dalla Torre (1896: 549) gave cardui as a junior synonym of soroeensis, but 
Miiller’s work (title page dated 1776, preface dated 31 March 1776, addenda 


10 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


dated 18 June 1776) appeared before Fabricius’s (title page not dated, preface dated 
26 December 1776). The Scottish and Fennoscandian cardui belong to the 
nominotypical, white-tailed, form of the species. To be more exact, both Miiller’s 
(‘hirsuta nigra, ano albo’) and Fabricius’s (‘Apis hirsuta atra, aho albo . . . tota atra, 
solo ano nigro’: lectotype designated by Loken, 1966) descriptions chanced to be 
based on the same melanic, white-tailed variant, although the ranges of both the N. 
W. European white-tailed* and the more widely distributed red-tailed (proteus 
Gerstacker, 1869) subspecies of cardui overlap in Denmark with the presence of all 
grades of intermediates as well as melanic forms (Loken, 1973: 32). 


Material: Sutherland, Inchnadamph: (A), 30.ix.1964, 2g; 1.x.1964, 19; (B), 
1.x.1964, 19. 

(Mull, Ross of Mull: Uisken, 2.ix.1962, at mallow, 1g; Uisken, 2 miles S. of 
Bunessan, 14.ix.1962, 19 (both C.H. & P.H. Jowett); Uisken, 10.ix.1963, 3; Kintra, 
6.ix.1963, at Centaurea nigra L., 2$ (all C.H. Jowett); Kintra, 1.5 miles N.W. 
Fionnphort, 10.ix.1962, 2? (C.H. & P.H. Jowett).] 


Bombus (Bombus) magnus (Vogt, 1911) 


Terrestribombus lucorum f. magnus Vogt, 1911: 56; 92 Nordschottland 
und... Orkneyinseln. 


Nomenclature: Saunders (1884; 244; 1896: 378) recognized, under the name 
terrestris L., but a single species of Bombus s. str. in Britain, and treated ‘/ucorum 
Smith’ as a colour variety. Subsequently, two species of Bombus s. str. were 
generally recognized in Britain, B. audax Harris, 1780 [=terrestris auctt.], 
represented by its nominotypical form®, and B. terrestris (L., 1758, nec auctt.) 
(=B.lucorum (L., 1761)), also represented by its nominotypical form. More 
recently a third form, B. magnus Vogt, 1911, described from Britain, has been 
recognized as of specific rank by various authors, e.g., Kriiger (1951-58, passim, 
but especially 1954: 264) and Loken (1973: 46), and this ranking is accepted here. 
B. magnus appears to be, in N. W. Europe, a relict form existing in populations 
peripheral to those of the more or less ubiquitous ‘errestris, and although a 
majority of recent British records, especially those from southern Britain, based on 
unreliable coat-colour characters, are suspect, the identity of the present series is 
unambiguous. B. magnus was ‘described’ by Vogt in the following terms: ‘Das 9 
des Tb. [Terrestribombus] lucorum ist in Nordschottland und auf den Orkneyinseln 
so gross wie das von Tb. terrestris [i.e., audax] (forma nova magnus)’. To this 
meagre description subsequent authors have added various details, but the 
distinctions alleged have not been wholly convincing (Elfving, 1960: 31, was 
unable to separate Finnish magnus from (/ucorum=) terrestris in the presence of 
material determined by Kruseman) and even those made by Loken (1973: 14, key, 
couplet 11 and fig. 13A 14) are not entirely satisfactory’. However, in N. W. 
Scotland, where audax does not occur, magnus is distinguishable from terrestris by 
its larger size, by, in the queen, the colour pattern and especially the pinkish-yellow 
colour of the tail, and, in the male, by the genitalia. 

While the character may not be a practical one for routine determinations, 
differences in the endophalli of magnus, terrestris and audax confirm specific ranking 
of magnus (C. O’Toole: personal communication). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 11 


Material: Sutherland, Inchnadamph: (A), 29.ix.1964, 43; 30.1x.1964, 2¢ 19; 
1.x.1964, 3¢ 29; (B), 1.x.1964, 1g 29 19; Inchnadamph, without exact locality, 29.ix— 
2.x.1964, 63 39 (not now held). 

The genitalia of 12 of the males were extracted and the lengths of the gonocoxites 
measured, taking the reference points indicated by Richards (1927: fig. 61). To ensure 
that the results would be strictly comparable with those published by Richards (1927: 
249), control measurements of series of audax and terrestris from southern England 
were made. The results indicated a population intermediate between the audax and 
terrestris populations sampled by Richards (Fig. 1). 

It is noteworthy that, as the figure indicates, in the series examined and in the series 
recorded by Richards there was no overlap between large examples of terrestris and 
small examples of audax, that the difference between the means for terrestris and 
audax was substantial; and that the mean value for the admittedly small sample of 
magnus (n= 12) fell approximately midway between the mean values for the other 
species and between the upper limit for terrestris and the lower limit for audax. The 
data on which Fig. 1 is based are given in Table 1. 

It may be noted that, for the samples measured in connection with the present 
paper, SD and CV for widely separated populations of audax (Iran, N.W. Europe) 
were quasi-identical, SD 0.0408, 0.0424, CV 1.9, 1.96; for terrestris (all populations) 
were 0.0489, 2.49; and for magnus were 0.0941, 4.6, indicating a higher degree of 
variability in that species—or in that population. A larger sample of the 
Inchnadamph population would be desirable, but no alien component appears to 
be present in the present one, which, apart from some variation in the colour of the 
clypeal hairs, appears homogeneous. Mayr (1969: 170) notes that zones of secondary 
intergradation between subspecies are often characterized by a greatly increased CV; 
and, of course, the boundaries, or areas of overlap, between a relict species surviving 
in populations peripheral to those of an invasive or usurping species (here the nearly 
ubiquitous terrestris), are likely to be shifting ones. 

Among the characters that have conventionally been used to separate males of 
audax and terrestris is the colour of the hairs of the clypeus, vertex, mesosomal 
episterna and pseudosternum, and first metasomal tergum. In audax these hairs are 
usually black, in terrestris yellow. In the present series, of five specimens with 
gonocoxites falling within the range of variation of terrestris, three have the 
coloration of audax while the other two are nearer audax than terrestris; and, of six 
falling within the range of variation of audax, the two largest, nearest the mean for 
audax, are those most resembling terrestris (hairs of the indicated areas 
predominantly pale, although still darker than in that species). This reversal suggests 
that coat pattern in the terrestris complex is an unreliable distinguishing character. 

As to any correlation between size and coat pattern of colour, the present small 
sample is inconclusive. Taking gonocoxite length as a measure of size, and the colour 
of the clypeal hairs as an index of the extent of pale coloration, no strong correlation 
is evident, although there is an apparent tendency for smaller specimens to be darker: 


Gonocoxite length (mm) 

OB eS) e939) EOS 2202 Olle 22205 8 2:09 R 13 pe else 2s Se 
Colour of clypeal hair (b: black, pb: predominantly black, m: mixed, pp: predominantly pale) 
b m b b m m m m pb m pp pp 


Of the 3 queens, two have the tail pinkish-buff and the thoracic collar extending 
well onto the mesepisterna, characters generally regarded as characteristic of magnus. 
The third has the white tail of southern British terrestris and the yellow thoracic 


12 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


AD) owt) oO) oF 


g magnus 
h 
i AGY SSIES PCAN 
j ae eS terrestris 
k 
| 
1.8 Pe 2.0 aol Pisoige Px 3\ 2.4 


millimetres 


Fig. 1. Length of gonocoxite in Bombus (Bombus) species. a: audax dalmatinus D.T., Iran 
(Mazandaran) [includes one ex. det. Yarrow as magnus but which is normal audax] [n= 14). b: 
audax virginalis (Geoffr.), Channel Is. (n=6). c: audax audax (Harris), New Zealand [Nelson 
(Philpott): introduced] (n= 2). d: audax audax (Harris), England (Surrey, Hindhead: atypical, 
hairs of face pale) (n= 2). e: audax (Harris), England (south; Richards 1927: 249, as terrestris) 
(n=49). f: audax (Harris), all populations (n=73). g: magnus Vogt, Scotland (Sutherland, 
Inchnadamph) (n=12). h: terrestris (L.), Austria (Nieder6sterreich, Steiermark, Karnten) 
(n=11). i: terrestris (L.), England (Norfolk, Mundford) (n=3). j: terrestris (L.), Iran 
(Mazandaran) [det. Yarrow as magnus (3) or lucorum (1)] (n=4). k: terrestris (L.), England 
(south; Richards 1927: 249, as /ucorum) (n= 40). |: terrestris (L.), all populations (n= 57). 


collar extending less far onto the mesepisterna. The collar in all three examples is 
paler than in terrestris. 


Bombus (Pyrobombus) jonellus jonellus (Kirby 1802) 


Apis jonella Kirby, 1802: 338; 3; prope Londinum. Holotype ¢ BMNH designated 
by Yarrow (1968: 11). 


Material: Sutherland, Inchnadamph: (A), 30.ix.1964, 2g; 1.x.1964, 23; (B) 
1.x.1964, 1g; (C), 30.ix.1964, 3¢. 

[Mull, Ross of Mull, Uisken, 10.ix.1963, 19 (C.H. Jowett).] 

These examples are referable to f. atrocorbiculosus Vogt, 1911. 


Psithyrus (Ashtonipsithyrus) campestris (Panz., 1800) 


Apis campestris Panz., 1800, 7 (74): pl.11; [9]; in regione sylvarum sabulosa 
[Germany]. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 13 


Psithyrus campestris (Panz.) var. swynnertoni Richards, 1936. 110; 2; Cara Island. 
Type University Museum, Oxford. 


Material: (Mull, Ross of Mull, Kintra, 1.5 miles N.W. of Fionnphort, 10.ix.1962, 
23 (C.H. & P.H. Jowett.] These males are referable to the pale form (paralleling the 
pale form, Bombus pascuorum septentrionalis Vogt, of its host) described by Richards 
from Cara, off the Argyll coast, as swynnertoni. 


Table 1. Length of gonocoxite in Bombus (Bombus) species. 


audax dalmatinus D.T. magnus Vogt 
Iran Inchnadamph 
no. length d d2 3 12938 0.11 0.0121 
4 2.01 0.03 0.0009 
1 PIA 0.06 0.0036 5 7B 0.09 0.0081 
2 2.13 0.02 0.0004 6 DDN 0.17 0.0289 
3 2.09 0.06 0.0036 8 2.01 0.03 0.0009 
5 2.13 0.02 0.0004 10 2u13 0.09 0.0081 
6 2.09 0.06 0.0036 11 2.09 0.05 0.0025 
7 2.13 0.02 0.0004 12 2.05 0.01 0.0001 
8 2.09 0.06 0.0036 13 2.13 0.09 0.0081 
10 2.17 0.02 0.0004 14 1.93 0.11 0.0121 
11 2) 0.02 0.0004 15 1.98 0.06 0.0036 
12 2.17 0.02 0.0004 16 1.93 0.11 0.0121 
13 2.17 0.02 0.0004 = Ee 
14 PET) 0.02 0.0004 mean 2.04 sum 0.0975 
18 PR 0.02 0.0004 =+(n—1) 0.0089 
19 2.2) 0.06 0.0036 SD 0.0941 
sta! CV 4.6 
mean nS sum 0.0216 
+(n—1) 0.0017 
SD 0.0408 
CV 1.9 terrestris (lucorum) 
Austria 
audax, other poplns 1 1.97 0.01 0.0001 
Channel Is. 2 1.97 0.01 0.0001 
1 2.23 0.07 0.0049 3 1.94 0.02 0.0004 
2 2.19 0.03 0.0009 - 2.00 0.04 0.0016 
3 Dalls 0.01 0.0001 5 1.96 0.00 0.0000 
4 PING 0.01 0.0001 6 1.95 0.01 0.0001 
5 2.17 0.01 0.0001 7 1.99 0.03 0.0009 
6 NG) 0.01 0.0001 8 1.96 0.00 0.0000 
New Zealand 9 1:92 0.04 0.0016 
7 SY 0.01 0.0001 10 2.02 0.06 0.0036 
8 2al'S 0.01 0.0001 11 2.02 0.06 0.0036 
Surrey Norfolk 
9 2.09 0.07 0.0049 12 1.83 0.13 0.0169 
10 2.09 0.07 0.0049 13 1.99 0.03 0.0009 
LY 14 1.96 0.00 0.0000 
mean .16 sum 0.0162 Iran 
+(n—1) 0.0018 15 2.01 0.05 0.0025 
SD 0.0424 16 1.87 0.09 0.0081 
CV 1.96 17 1.95 0.01 0.0001 
18 1.97 0.01 0.0001 
audax all populations cats 
mean 215, sum 0.0384 mean 1.96 sum 0.0406 
+ (n—1) 0.0017 + (n—1) 0.0023 
SD 0.0409 SD 0.0489 


CV es) CV 2.49 


14 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Psithyrus (Allopsithyrus) barbutellus (Kirby, 1802) 
Apis barbutella Kirby, 1802: 343; 23; Barhamiz. 


Material: [Mull, Ross of Mull, Uisken, 2.ix.1962, at mallow, 2g (C.H. & P.H. 
Jowett). ] 


Psithyrus (Fernaldaepsithyrus) sylvestris Lepeletier, 1833 


Psithyrus quadricolor ‘sous-var. B.’ sylvestris Lepeletier, 1833: 377; 3; Les Pyrenées 
et les environs de Paris... de la collection de M. Latreille, actuellement en la 
possession de M. le général Dejean. 

Apathus silvestris Thomson, 1872. 


Material: Sutherland, Inchnadamph: 3, white-tailed: (A), 1.x.1964, 1g; 2.x.1964, 
33; (B), 1.x.1964, 13 (somatic mosaic); Allt nan Uamh (NC 254178), 2.x.1964, 1 (f. 
carelicus Richards); $3, yellow-tailed: (A) 29.1x.1964, 23; 30.1x.1964, 13 (f. confinis 
Franklin); 1.x.1964, 34; 2.x.1964, 23; 99 (A), 30.1x.1964, 19; 2.x.1964, 29; Inchnadamph, 
nf. del: 

A mixed population: the females are typical sylvestris as defined by Richards 
(1929: 353), the males a varied series of typical (white-tailed and citrinus (Psithyrus 
quadricolor var. citrinus Schmiedeknecht, 1883) (yellow-tailed) forms. The series 
varies also in the relative proportions of the basal flagellar segments, in the form and 
degree of development of the subapical callus of S7, and in the form of the squama. 
The callus of S7 varies from being broad, weak and regular to being narrow and 
more or less impressed medially, i.e. sub-bituberculate (regarded as the typical 
condition by, e.g., Popov, 1931, Richards, 1929). It was suspected initially that two 
species might be represented, sy/vestris and flavidus (Eversmann, 1852) but there is no 
correlation between the observed variations. Some examples would, however, be 
difficult to separate from flavidus, a probable but insufficiently confirmed parasite of 
B. jonellus. In the palest male, A3 <4; the hairs of the vertex are yellow and black 
mixed, of T1 yellow with a few black medially, of T2 and T3 medially black, of T3—5 
yellow, of T6 (a few black medially) and T7 orange, and the callus of S7 is broad and 
regular: this comes very close to flavidus Eversmann. 

The host of the Inchnadamph series is presumably B. jonellus. 


Psithyrus (Fernaldaepsithyrus) meridionalis Richards, 1929 


This species does not occur in Britain but the opportunity is taken of correcting 
errors in respect of the type locality. Richards (1929: 351) gave the type locality as 
‘Styria, Tragop Oberort’, a misreading of Trag68 (Tragéss) Oberort (Austria, 
Steiermark, N.W. of Bruck an der Mur, at the foot of the Hochschwabgruppe). 
Loken, designating a lectotype (1984: 23), for some inexplicable reason transfers 
Styria to Yugoslavia. 


SUMMARY 


Species of Bombus and Psithyrus collected in Sutherland and on Mull and Iona are 
recorded. Notes on the nomenclature of the British forms of Bombus laevis Vogt, 
1909, on the nomenclature of the species commonly known as B. soroeensis 
(F., [1777]), and on the status of B. magnus Vogt, 1911, are given. The name agricolae 
is proposed for the Hebridean and Shetland form of Bombus laevis Vogt, hitherto 
known mistakenly as smithianus White or liepetterseni Loken. Lectotypes are 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 15 


designated for Bombus ‘Smithianus var., or race, pallidus’ Evans, 1901 [=B. 
muscorum celticus Yarrow, 1978, = B. laevis celticus Yarrow] and Bombus smithianus 
allenellus Stelfox, 1933. Misstatements concerning the type locality of Psithyrus 
meridionalis Richards, 1929, are corrected. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


For permission to collect on the Inchnadamph NNR in 1964 the author is 
indebted to English Nature (formerly the Nature Conservancy Council); for access to 
libraries, to the Librarian, Linnean Society of London (Miss G.L. Douglas), the 
Hope Librarian, University Museum, Oxford (Mrs. S. Newton) and the Librarians 
of the main and departmental libraries of the Natural History Museum, London 
(especially Mrs J. Harvey and Miss L. Mitchell); for the loan of, or access to, type 
material, to the Department of Natural History, National Museums of Scotland 
(Dr M.R. Shaw) and the Department of Entomology, the Natural History Museum, 
London (Mr T. Huddleston); and for information on Stelfox’s type material, to the 
Natural History Division, National Museum of Ireland (Dr J. P. O'Connor). 


NOTES 


'Vogt (1909:11) recognized four infrasubspecific categories: (a) var. geographica, 
equivalent to the modern concept of a subspecies: (b) Rasse, for forms of 
infrasubspecific rank (c.f. 1911: where the term is used for the colour-forms 
occurring within a single nest-colony); and (c) and (d), aberratio and aberratio 
extrema, for individual variations. In addition, he used forma, in an entirely modern 
sense, for forms of uncertain status (1911: 50, footnote 1). As the names /aevis (1909: 
63) and magnus (1911: 56) were proposed for formae, these names, as well as sladeni 
(proposed for a forma geographica, 1911: 52), are valid for subspecies attributed to 
Vogt. 

?The use of the name smithianus for a Shetland insect represents a persistent 
misidentification. White (1852a: 158) proposed smithianus as a nom. nov. for arcticus 
Dahlbom, 1832, nec arcticus Kirby, 1821, as a result of Smith’s having misidentified 
[immediately recognized’] as arcticus Dahlbom specimens taken by White in various 
Shetland localities. Dahlbom’s arcticus is a pascuorum subspecies of Arctic 
Fennoscandia: [B. arcticus Dahlbom, 1832, =B. agrorum erlandssoni Kruseman, 
1950, =]B. pascuorum smithianus White, 1852. 

Loken (1973: 114) treated Apis arctica Quen. in Acerbi, 1802, as a newly described 
species and as a senior synonym of Bombus (Alpinobombus) hyperboreus Sch6én. 1809, 
the latter name being retained and arctica considered a nomen oblitum. Apis arctica, 
however, appears not to have been intended as a new species: Acerbi (p. 250) stated 
‘The following are to be found in the work of Fabricius’ and included in his listing 
(p.252) the three species Apis alpina, A. arctica, and A. lapponica. Apis arctica, 
described by Quenzel on p. 253 and illustrated at fig. 7 on pl.I, should, therefore be 
some Fabrician insect, but whether of O. Fabricius or of J.C. Fabricius is unclear. 
While Apis alpina [Apis alpina L., 1758] does appear in the former’s Fauna Grénlandica 
(1780) and Apis lapponica was described by the latter in the Ent. Syst. (1793), no Apis 
arctica appears to have been described in any work of either author published prior to 
1802. It might be surmised therefore that one or the other Fabricius was in 
communication with either Acerbi or Quenzel and that arctica was a manuscript name 
given by him but not subsequently published (no arctica appears in J.C. Fabricius’s 


16 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Syst. Piez. (1804)). Apis arctica appears, therefore, to have been published by accident 
rather than by design, but is nevertheless a validly proposed name. 

3Bombus laevis liepetterseni [Bombus muscorum liepetterseni Loken, 1973] is 
erroneously included in the Aculeata section of the revised Check List (Fitton et al., 
1978: 140): B. 1. liepetterseni is confined to Norway, where it ocurs in coastal localities 
from 60° northwards. Presumably, the subspecies referred to was the hitherto 
innominate, pale, form of /aevis from the Hebrides and Shetland, i.e., agricolae. 

4Not the only white-tailed form; cf. cardui radoszkowskyi Dalla Torre, 1890 (Bombus 
perplexus Radoszkowsky, 1884, nec Cresson, 1863). This subspecies was found to be 
one of the most abundant montane humble-bees in various localities in the Central 
Alborz (Iran), a single male taken at 1370m on 17.ix.1966, but all other specimens 
taken at between 2150 and 2450m, males from 24.viii to 7.x, females from 5.vii to 
24.viii, workers from 27.vii to 7.x, many at Salvia amasiaca (Freyn & Bornm.) Bornm. 

5Bombus audax audax is principally distinguished from other subspecies by having, 
in the female, a buff rather than a white tail, but buff-tailed examples do occur 
sporadically in continental audax [virginalis (Geoffroy, 1785)] (cf. Vogt, 1911: 39; H. 
Miiller, 1944: 104) and the Sardinian audax sassaricus Tournier, 1890, is 
predominantly buff-tailed. Richards (1978: 417, as terrestris terrestris) notes that 
one Channel Is. (Alderney) female approaches the mainland British form. 

It is perhaps significant that in analysing geographical variation in ‘Terrestri- 
bombus’ species, Kriiger (1958: 294-303) did not attempt to differentiate between the 
males of /ucorum (terrestris), magnus and burjaeticus (burjaeticus Kriiger, 1951: 143, 
1954: 277; from Transbaikal) in his tabulations. The recognition of numerous 
subspecies in terrestris, audax and magnus in the absence of fully adequate criteria for 
species recognition, and the recognition of supposed new species in the terrestris 
group, have been carried to extremes in some recent work. 

7Caius Julius Agricola, whose fleet (first century A.D.) explored the north-east coast 
of Britain as far as the Orkneys. 


REFERENCES 


Acerbi, J. 1802. Travels through Sweden, Finland and Lapland, to the North Cape, in the years 1798 
and 1799, 2. Pp.{iJ-viii, [1}:380, pll. London: J. Mawman [vide pl. facing p. 107. Loken 
erroneously gives Gillet as the publisher: Gillet was the printer]. The insects are contained in 
Section XV, “On the insects and testaceous animals of Lapland”, pp. 245-256, pl. col. I-III. 

Baker, D. B. 1994. On the nomenclature of two sibling species of the Andrena tibialis (Kirby, 
1802) group (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Entomologist’s Gaz. 45: 281-290. 

Bischoff, H. & Hedicke, H. 1931. Ueber einige von Illiger beschriebene Apiden (Hym.). 
Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1931: 385-392. 

Dahlbom, G. 1832. Bombi Scandinavie Monographice Tractati et lonibcus (sic, for Iconibus] 
Illustrati. Specimen Academicum quod, ... subjicit G. Dahlbom . . . Respondente P.W. 
Brandsten . . . Pp.{iJ, [1]-55, 1 pl. col. Londini Gothorum; Typis Berlingianis. 

Dalla Torre K. W. von. 1896. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et 
synonymicus, 10, Apidae (Anthophila). Pp.{iii], [i]-viii, [1]-643. Lipsiae; Guilelmi Engelmann. 

Day, M. C. 1979. The species of Hymenoptera described by Linnaeus in the genera Sphex, 
Chrysis, Vespa, Apis and Mutilla. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 12: 45-84. 

Elfving, R. 1960. Die Hummeln und Schmarotzerhummeln Finnlands. Fauna Fennica 10: 1-43. 

Evans, W. 1901. The pale variety of Bombus smithianus, White, in Scotland. Entomologist's 
Mon. Mag. 37: 47. 

Fabricius, J. C. [1777] Genera Insectorum eorumque characteres naturales secundum numerum, 
figuram, situm et proportionem omnium partium oris adiecta mantissa specierum nuper 
detectarum. Pp.{i-xiv], 1-310. Chilonii; Litteris Mich. Friedr. Bartschii. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 17 


Fabricius, J. C. 1787. Mantissa insectorum sistens eorum species nuper detectas adiectis 
characteribus  genericis, differentiis specificis, emendationibus, observationibus, 1. 
Pp.xx + 348. Hafniae; Proft. 

Fabricius, J. C. 1793. Entomologia systematica emendata et aucta. Secundum classes, ordines, 
genera, species adjectis synonymis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus, 2. Pp.viiit 519. 
Hafniae; Proft. 

Fabricius, J. C. 1804. Systema Piezatorum secundum ordines, genera, species adiectis synonymis, 
locis, observationibus, descriptionibus. Pp.;[i]}-xiv, [15]-439, 1 [Errata], [1]-30 [Index 
alphabeticus], [1—2] [Verzeichniss]. Brunsvigae; Reichard. 

Fabricius, O. 1780. Fauna Groenlandica, systematice sistens Animalia Groenlandiae occidentalis 
hactenus indagata, quoad nomen specificum, triviale, vernaculumque: synonyma auctorum 
plurium, descriptionem, locum, victum, generationem, mores, usum, capturamque singuli, 
prout detegendi occasio fuit, maximaque parte secundum proprias observationes Othonis 
Fabricii. Pp.{i]-xvi, [1]-452, 1 pl. Hafniae & Lipsiae; impensis Ioannis Gottlob Rothe. 

Fitton, M.G., et al. 1978. A check list of British insects. Part 4: Hymenoptera. Handb Ident. Br. 
Insects 11(4): [i]-1x, 1-159. 

Freuchen, P. & Salomonsen, F. 1959. The Arctic year. Pp.[i—viii], [1]-440. London, Jonathan Cape. 

Friese, H. 1908, Ueber die Bienen (Apidae) der Russischen Polarexpedition 1900-1903 und 
einiger anderen arktischen Ausbeuten (Résultats scientifiques de l’Expédition Polaire Russe 
en 1900-1903, sous la direction du Baron E. Toll. Section E: Zoologie. Vol.I, Livr. 13.) 
Mém Acad Imperiale Sci. St-Pétersbourg, VIII Serie, Classe Physico-Mathématique, 18(13): 
[iHii], [1]}-17, [fi], pl. col. I. 

Kirby, W. 1802. Monographia Apum Anglia; or, an attempt to divide into their natural genera and 
families, such species of the Linnean genus Apis as have been discovered in England: with 
descriptions and observations. Vol. 2, Pp.[i], [1]-388, pl. 15—18. Ipswich, J. Raw. 

Kriger, E. 1951-58. Phanoanalytische Studien an einigen Arten der Untergattung Terrestri- 
bombus O. Vogt (Hymen., Bomb.). Tijdsch. Ent. 93: 141-197, fig. 1-22[1951] (Part I) 97: 
263-298, fig. 23[1954] (PartII); 99: 75-105, fig. 24[1956] (PartII, Fortsetzung); 101: 
283-344, fig. 25[1958] (Part III). 

Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, Comte, A. 1833. Observations sur l’ouvrage intitule «Bombi 
Scandinavia Monographice Tractati, etc., a Gustav. Dahlbom. Londini Gothorum, 1832;» 
auxquelles on a joint les caractéres des genres Bombus et Psithyrus, et la description des 
espéces qui appartiennent au dernier. Ann Soc. Ent. France 1: 366-382. 

Loken, A. 1966. Notes on Fabrician species of Bombus Latr. and Psithyrus Lep., with 
designations of lectotypes (Hym., Apidae). Entomologiske Meddelelser 34: 199-206. 

Loken, A. 1973. Studies on Scandinavian bumble bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Norsk Ent. 
Tidssk. 20: [i-iv], [1]-218. 

Loken, A. 1984. Scandinavian species of the genus Psithyrus Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae). 
Ent. Scand. Suppl. 23: [1]}-45 

Mayr, E. 1969. Principles of systematic Zoology. Pp. {i|-xi [i], 1-428. New York, McGraw Hill. 

Miller, H. 1944. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Bienenfauna Sachsens. (Hym. Apid.). Mitt. Deutsch. 
Ent. Gesellsch. E.V. 13: 65-108 

Miller, O.F. 1776. Zoologia Danice prodromus, seu animalium Danie et Norvegie indigenarum 
characteres, nomina, et synonyma imprimis popularium. Pp. {IJ|-XXXII, [1]-274 [275—282, 
Addenda, not seen]. Havniz; Impensis Auctoris. [Preface[vi] dated 31 Mar. 1776, addenda 
(282) 18 Jun.1776] 

Panzer, G.W.F. 1792-1813, Faunae Insectorum Germanicae initia; oder Deutschlands Insecten 
gesammelt und herausgegeben von D. Georg Wolffgang Franz Panzer, Part 74(1800), 
Nurnberg, Felssecker. 

Pittioni, B. 1939. Die Hummeln und Schmarotzerhummeln der Balkan-Halbinsel. II. Spezieller 
Teil. Mitteilungen aus der kéniglichen naturwissenschaftlichen Instituten in Sofia 12. [49]- 
115, [116-121 =pl. 1-6], [122: Inhalts-Ubersicht]. 

Popov, V.V. 1930. Note on Agrobombus smithianus White (Hymenoptera, Bombidae). 
Entomologicheskoye Obozrenie [Revue d’Entomologie de l’URSS] 24: 95-99. 

Popov, V.V. 1931, Zur Kenntnis der palaarktischen Schmarotzerhummeln (Psithyrus Lep.). 
Eos, Madrid 7: 131-209. 


18 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Richards, O.W. 1927. The specific characters of the British humblebees (Hymenoptera). Trans. 
R. Ent. Soc. London 75: 233-268, pl. XXII-XXV. 

Richards, O.W. 1929. A revision of the European bees allied to Psithyrus quadricolor, Lepeletier 
(Hymenoptera, Bombidae). Trans. R. Ent. Soc. London 76: 345-365, pl. XI. 

Richards, O.W. 1935a. Bombus muscorum (Linnaeus) and B. smithianus White (Hym.). Trans., 
Soc. Br. Ent. 2: 73-85. 

Richards, O.W. 1935b. Notes on the nomenclature of the Aculeate Hymenoptera, with special 
reference to British genera and species. Trans. R. Ent. Soc. London 83: 143-176. 

Richards, O.W. 1936. On a collection of humble-bees (Bombus and Psithyrus) from Cara Island, 
Argyllshire. Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 72: 109-111. 

Richards, O.W. 1978. The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the Channel Islands. Rep. Trans. Soc. 
Guern. 1978: 389-424. 

Saunders, E. 1884. Synopsis of British Hymenoptera. Anthophila; part Il, Apide. Trans. Ent. 
Soc. London 1884: 159-250, pl. V—VIII. 

Saunders, E. 1896. The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Islands. A descriptive account of the 
families, genera, and species indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, with notes as to habits, 
localities, habitats, etc. Pp. [i]-xii, [1]}-391, pl.1, 1a, 1b, 2-52. London, L. Reeve & Co. 

Schmiedeknecht, O. 1930. Die Hymenopteren Nord- und Mitteleuropas mit Einschluss von 
England, Stidschweiz, Stidtirol und Ungarn nach ihren Gattungen und zum grossen Teil auch 
nach ihren Arten analytisch bearbeitet. 2nded. Pp. [i]-x, [1]-1062, frontisp., 127 fig. Jena, 
Gustav Fischer. 

Scopoli, J.A. 1763. Entomologia Carniolica exhibens Insecta Carnioliae indigina et distributa in 
Ordines, Genera, Species, Varietates, Methodo Linnaeana. Pp.[xxxvi], 1-420, [421: Notanda, 
Errata; 423: Monitum auctoris], 43 pl. Vindobonae, Trattner. 

Stelfox, A.W. 1933. On the occurrence of a peculiar race of the humble bee, Bombus smithianus 
White, on the Aran Islands, in Western Ireland. Jrish Nat. J. 4: 235-238. 

Stelfox, A.W. 1934. Bombus smithianus allenellus: a correction. Irish Nat. J. 5: 42. 

Vogt, O. 1909. Studien tber das Artproblem. Uber das Variieren der Hummeln. I. 
Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin, Jahrgang 1909: 28-84. 

Vogt, O. 1911. Studien iiber das Artproblem. Uber das Variieren der Hummeln. I. 
Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin, Jahrgang 1911: 
31-74. 

White, A. 1852 (April). Note on the Natural History of Shetland. Proc. Linn. Soc. London 2(47): 
157-158. [This note was reprinted, under the same title, setting unchanged, in October, 
1852—Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 10(58): 294.] 

Yarrow, I.H.H. 1968. Kirby’s species of British bees: designation of holotypes and selection of 
lectotypes. Part 1. Introduction and the species of Apis Linnaeus now included in the 
genera Bombus Latreille and Psithyrus Lepeletier. Proc. R. Eng. Soc. London, Series B 37: 
9-15. 

Yarrow, I.H.H. 1978. Notes on British bumblebees. Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 113: 15-16. 


APPENDIX 1. British and Irish forms of Bombus laevis Vogt 


1. Pale, ‘muscorum’, forms [= muscorum Richards, 1935a, 1935b] 


sladeni (Vogt, 1911): 52 [Ab. [Agrobombus] muscorum var. geogr.]; sex?; Siideng- 
land’. 

pallidus Evans, 1901: 47 [‘B. Smithianus, var., or race, pallidus]; 3; Scotland: 
‘taken by myself near Kingussie (Inverness-shire), Aberfoyle (S.W. Perthshire), and 
Elvanfoot (Lanarkshire), and also . . . from the Perth district, Dumbartonshire and 
Kirkcudbrightshire’. Invalid junior homonym of Bombus pallidus Cresson, 1863 
[= Bombus (Fervidobombus) pennsylvanicus (Degeer, 1773)]. No type designated by 
Evans: for lectotype designation see p. 8. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 19 


celticus Yarrow, 1978: 15 [Bombus muscorum celticus]; nom. nov. for ‘Bombus 
muscorum pallidus Evans (Bombus smithianus var. pallidus Evans, 1901)’. Yarrow 
failed to designate a lectotype for pallidus. 

Distribution: Mainland Britain and Ireland; Mull; Skye. 


orcadensis Richards, 1935a: 78 [Bombus muscorum orcadensis]; 9, “The male and 
worker are not distinguishable from pallidus’; Orkney Is: Holotype 2 (examined), 
labelled ‘Orkney Is. [print], Mainland, Stennes. 15.vi.12 [MS], E.G.B. Meade-Waldo. 
1912-259. [print]’ and ‘B. muscorum orcadensis Rich. Type’ [pencil, Richards], in 
BMNH [not registered]. 

Distribution: Orkney Is. 


2. Dark, ‘smithianus’, forms [=smithianus Richards, 1935a] 


agricolae’ subsp. nov. 

[smithianus auctt., nec White, 1852; misidentification.] 

[smithianus smithianus Richards, 1935a; misidentification.] 

[liepetterseni Fitton et al. (1978) nec Loken, 1973; misidentification.] 

muscorum zetlandicus Yarrow, MS, in BMNH. 

Description; see Richards, 1935a: 79 [as smithianus smithianus]; 923; Shetlands, 
Lewis, Tiree, Coll. 

Holotype: ? labelled ‘*!,,’ [the entry 1851-91 in the British Museum’s accessions 
register, referring to this one specimen, reads ‘Bombus arcticus ... Lerwick... 
Presented by A. White Esq™ . . . the common Bombus of the Mainland of Shetland’], 
‘var. smithianus White. [print], and ‘B. muscorum zetlandicus ssp. n. det. I.H.H. 
Yarrow HOLOTYPE 9’, B.M. Type Hym. 17 b 1276. 

Distribution: Inner and Outer Hebrides; Shetland; ? Ross [the Ross specimen 
recorded by Richards may simply have been a dark example in a s/adeni population]. 

Yarrow’s manuscript name is not adopted since the species has a wider 
distribution than the name implies. It is however given here since it may be 
encountered in other collections. 


allenellus Stelfox, 1933: 235 [Bombus smithianus allenellus]; $92; Ireland: Aran Is., 
Inishmore. Stelfox, 1934: 42. 

Stelfox’s type series comprised 50 specimens, all bearing the National Museum of 
Ireland’s printed label ‘Inishmore/Aran Islands/Co. Galway./C. W. Allen. July 
1932./62—1932.’, standing over his manuscript label’ ‘Bombus Smithianus White, race 
allenellus Stelfox. 50 typical series arranged by A.W.S. 17.2. 1934. Described in I.N.J. 
Nov. 1933. A. W. Stelfox.’. Stelfox did not designate a type but labelled one 2 as 
‘type’, one ¢ and one 9 as ‘cotypes’ (Dr J. P. O'Connor, personal communication). 
Stelfox’s 2 ‘type’ is now designated as lectotype of allenellus, his other syntypes as 
paralectotypes. 

Distribution: Aran Is. 


scyllonius Richards, 1935a: 81 [smithianus scyllonius]; holotype 9 Scilly Is.: St. 
Mary’s, 10.1x.1904 ([Col. J.W.] Yerbury), B.M. Type Hym. 17 b 1214. 

smithianus subsp. innom., Richards, 1935a: 81 (Channel Is.: Alderney). 

Distribution: Scilly Is.: Channel Is. (Richards, 1978: 419—Channel Is. form no 
longer regarded as subspecifically distinct from Scillies form). 


20 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


Rhynchaenus testaceus (Miller) and Anthonomus rufus Gyll. (Coleoptera: Curculio- 
nidae) in Cornwall.—On recently sorting through some Coleoptera captured in 
Cornwall during the 1970s I discovered a specimen of R. testaceus that had been beaten 
from a young alder alongside the River Fal on 12.viii.1978 near Ruan Lanihorne, East 
Cornwall (VC2), grid ref. SW887422. I have been unable to trace any previous records 
for the county, indeed there appear to have been very few recent (post-1970) records for 
the whole of Great Britain: Collier (1989) reports its discovery in an alder plantation 
alongside the Little Ouse River, Norfolk in 1987 and informs me (in Jitt.) that he has 
subsequently recorded it in the Ministry of Defence, Stanford Training Area, Norfolk, 
where it was not uncommon in another small alder plantation during 1988; Morris 
(1993) provides a recent record from Holme Fen, Huntingdonshire, and Hyman & 
Parsons (1992), who assign R. testaceus to Red Data Book (vulnerable) status, also list 
the recent Norfolk and Huntingdonshire records. 

Five small, widely spaced alders were present on the flood plain of the River Fal 
when I revisited the Cornish site on 15.iv.1995—much as I recall the site from 1978. 
All were beaten for R. testaceus without success, although it may have been too early 
in the year for the adult weevil since most of the trees were still in bud and only a few 
leaves were just beginning to open on each tree. Small numbers of adult Galerucella 
lineola (F.) were, however, present. Further south and east along the roadside 
towards Ruan Lanihorne village, more alders, both large and small, were beaten 
without finding R. testaceus, though again adults of G. lineola were present on all the 
trees. K. N. A. Alexander visited the area in early May 1995 but also failed to locate 
R. testaceus. 

During my return visit on 15.iv.1995 to search for R. testaceus another scarce 
weevil, Anthonomus rufus, was discovered when more than a dozen examples were 
beaten from blackthorn bushes adjacent to the bridge at grid ref. SW887421. 
Although A. rufus has previously been recorded in West Cornwall (VC1), where it 
does appear to be very localized; this may represent the first record of this species for 
East Cornwall (VC2). Among previous records for West Cornwall are: Porthcurno 
near Penzance, and Grochall on the Lizard in 1974 (Morris, 1976), on both occasions 
by beating blackthorn prior to flowering, and near Chyvarloe, grid ref. SW647237 on 
3.iv.1983 when I captured two examples, also from blackthorn bushes in bud. It may 
be significant that the Ruan Lanihorne examples were also beaten from blackthorn 
mainly in bud—adjacent bushes in full bloom failed to yield any specimens. 

I thank M. Collier for allowing me to quote his unpublished observation of R. 
testaceus and for a specimen of this species which confirmed the identity of the 
Cornish example, and Prof. M. G. Morris for alerting me to relevant literature.— 
A. P. FOSTER, 61 Pittsfield, Cricklade, Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 6AW. 


REFERENCES 


Collier, M. 1989. Rhynchaenus testaceus Miiller (Col., Curculionidae) in Norfolk. Entomolo- 
gist’s Mon. Mag. 125: 167. 

Hyman, P. S. & Parson, M. S. 1992. A review of the scarce and threatened Coleoptera of Great 
Britain. Part 1. U.K. Nature Conservation No. 3. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 
Peterborough. 

Morris, M. G. 1976. The British species of Anthonomus Germar (Col., Curculionidae). 
Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 112: 19-40. 

Morris, M. G. 1993. A review of the British species of Rhynchaeninae (Col., Curculionidae). 
Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 129: 177-195. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 21 


THE 1994 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PART 2 


FIELD MEETINGS—A CELEBRATION OF SOME PAST 
GLORIES AND THE PRESENT ROLE OF FIELD MEETINGS 
AS AN INCREASINGLY VALUABLE PART OF OUR ACTIVITIES 


PAUL WARING 
Windmill View, 1366 Lincoln Road, Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6LS. 


INTRODUCTION 


In preparing this Presidential Address I first looked back over those of the past 
Presidents I have known. We have enjoyed a great variety of topics and approaches in 
recent years. Some Presidents, like Colin Plant and Paul Sokoloff, delivered fine papers 
on a particular taxonomic group on which they were working. Peter Baker and John 
Owen focused on the insects of a particular site which they had surveyed in detail. Two 
years ago John Muggleton chose a subject dear to my heart (e.g. Waring, 1989a, 1990a, 
1994a) when he shared with us his experiences of light-trapping for moths. Alan Stubbs 
and Ian McLean dealt with insect conservation issues. One topic I considered for my 
Address was the conservation work on some of Britain’s endangered moths, but I have 
already spoken to the Society on this subject. Those who would have liked an update 
may care to refer to Waring (1990b & 1994b) for reviews of this subject and rest assured 
that I will continue to report the latest developments through the bi-monthly reports in 
British Wildlife magazine. Another topic which I know is of interest to many members, 
and with which many are actively involved, is the National Recording Network for the 
Rarer British Macro-moths (Waring, 1991a, 1992a) and the production of an atlas for 
the nationally scarce and threatened species (Waring, 1992a, b & in prep.). However, 
this is the topic for our special workshop meeting at Dinton Pastures on 8 April. 

I have chosen instead to speak here about the field meetings of our Society and to 
use this opportunity, as the Society’s new Field Meetings Secretary, to celebrate some 
past meetings and promote this area of the Society’s activities for the future. One of 
the attractions of this topic is that it involves everybody here and the whole of the 
membership, so I trust it will be of wide interest. My aim is to examine some field 
meetings I have attended, the results they produced and ways in which future 
meetings can be developed and promoted, both as a service to our members and to 
land-owners, managers and the general public. At the same time I hope to provide 
the opportunity for us to recall and re-live fond memories of pleasant days and 
nights in the field and to report on meetings which some may have missed. 

I have always considered the British Entomological and Natural History Society 
as the premier society for field entomology in Britain. The majority of the 
publications of this Society promote and assist the fieldwork of individuals and 
organizations in some way. Our journal is received by every member and for many it 
is the face of the Society and their main contact. Most issues carry one or more 
reports of field meetings. Our Annual Exhibition, the largest event in the Society’s 
calendar, consists largely of exhibits of specimens, photographs and other results of 
recent fieldwork by members on an individual or combined basis. Both the 
Exhibition and the Dinner provide the opportunity to exchange results of fieldwork, 
initiate future plans and commiserate with each other on the appalling weather 
during a key part of the season and the insects and other wildlife we failed to find! 
Our meetings provide the chance for the lone moth trapper to tell of the night he was 


» BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


inundated with unbelievable numbers of rare immigrants on the coast. Another replies 
with his nocturnal encounter with the poacher or the courting couple or tells of the day 
his coleopterist friend found a species of beetle new to Britain in the bride’s wedding 
bouquet! This is what our society is all about in my view, the combination of serious 
scientific research and recreational entomology. Above all, the Society provides 
opportunities to meet with other active field-workers and snare skills. The field meeting 
is an especially characteristic feature of this Society which is worth cherishing. 


THE FIRST FIELD MEETING 


Do you recall your first field meeting with the Society? I trust it left a favourable 
impression and that the leader made you feel welcome. I think the first field meeting I 
attended was one led by the late Gaston Prior, in Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire. 
This was back on 28 July 1984. I remember the excitement of getting the meetings 
card and seeing that there was a meeting arranged in my area and therefore not too 
difficult to get to, so out came the diary. The other exciting part about this particular 
meeting was that it was not a site that one could easily visit as a private individual. At 
the time there was great debate about the footpaths and access in the area or lack of 
them. As a youth I had often cycled past this splendid forest. I had ventured in twice. 
The first time I met no-one, but on the second occasion I had just reached the fish- 
ponds in the centre and was watching a Buzzard Buteo buteo at close quarters when a 
green Mini-moke appeared from over a rise and two large gentlemen with shot-guns 
politely asked me to leave and escorted me back to the entrance. 

Gaston’s meeting was excellent. There was a good turn-out, about a dozen people or 
more, with these entomologists obviously making the most of this rare opportunity to 
see the Forest. The weather was favourable. By this stage I had purchased my first old 
banger and I remember loading it up with every conceivable bit of entomological and 
overnight kit, far too much to actually carry, but to equip me for every eventuality. As 
we gathered at the entrance I recognized John Campbell, whom I already knew as 
Oxfordshire county biological recorder at Woodstock Museum, and one or two other 
familiar local faces, but I got to know several more as a result of the meeting. I 
remember studying the way Charlie Gibson had managed to pack his generator and 
light-trap into a back-pack so that he could get straight onto site with all his kit in one 
go. I recall Gaston pointing out the diagnostic features of certain pug-moth larvae 
(Eupithecia spp.) I had swept. I remember John Campbell showing us the coppicing plot 
he was working on. At night we ran light-traps and I recall the excitement when Charlie 
found a four-spotted footman Lithosia quadra had entered his trap. This was the first 
any of us had seen in the Oxford area and the first I had ever seen. We spent the rest of 
the session speculating as to whether we had discovered an unknown colony, but we 
later found out from the Entomologists’ Record that there had been other records from 
scattered places during this period, suggesting an influx of immigrants. Lastly, I recall 
sleeping in my car and discovering that it was parked in something of a frost hollow. 
The car wouldn’t start in the morning and I remember Patrick Boston giving me a hand 
to push-start it, and the relief when it eventually fired on all cylinders. 

I was fortunate to start off with such a good field meeting, but each one has added 
some useful or pleasant aspect to my experience. 


DISTANT FIELD MEETINGS 


The Wychwood example was local to me but our field meetings programme 
provides the opportunity to visit distant sites, in the knowledge that someone else has 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 23 


made the necessary arrangements at the other end. These long-haul trips can be more 
daunting for some members because of traffic and unfamiliar roads but I hope more 
people will be tempted. In this way the Society will be encouraged to hold a 
proportion of meetings in more remote places, which are less well recorded than the 
places where entomologists are thicker on the ground. A memorable long-haul field 
meeting for me was Dungeness, Kent, on 5 September 1987. This provided an 
opportunity to meet Bernard Skinner for the first time, as he was leading the meeting 
(Skinner, 1988). I saw the handsome caterpillars of the toadflax brocade Calophasia 
iunula for the first time, one of the local specialities of this area and a Red Data Book 
species. I collected one to photograph and rear but was also impressed by the 
restraint on the part of the members who were more experienced on this site. I 
remember someone, I think it was Rob Dyke, explaining to us that this was a 
localized insect, not uncommon on Dungeness but scarce on the surrounding coast. 
As a result we all thought very carefully about collecting any. I confined myself to 
one and I think hardly any others were removed. I remember distinctly us all 
gathering in a group to look at them and then walking away leaving the majority on 
the plants to continue feeding. I remember Bernard being very friendly and 
approachable and meeting a number of the members from the south-east for the first 
time. It was in fact a cold night and moths were few, migrants fewer, so there was 
plenty of time to get to know each other as we walked round the traps. It was also a 
full moon and I remarked that I thought it odd to have such a meeting at this phase 
of the moon and was this significant for movements of migrants, aware that the light 
traps would be less effective at catching them on moonlit nights than on dark ones. 
Bernard wryly remarked that he liked a bit of competition from the elements, but 
then explained that this was the only date offered to him when the programme was 
being organized. The other memory that stands out from this trip was departing 
from the site about 02.00 hrs to drive all the way back to Peterborough because my 
colleague had no sleeping gear and had arranged something for the following day. 
We were on the road at least three hours, perhaps more. I was virtually nodding off 
at the wheel for the last few miles. Fortunately, there was very little on the roads at 
this time but I resoived never to drive such a long way so late at night again. 

As a result of my first Dungeness experience, I decided that on any field meetings 
involving night work that I would lead, I would make arrangements for members to be 
able to sleep in their cars, off road, and where this could be arranged, make it clear in 
advance, so no one would feel the need to drive long distances when they were tired. 
This also means they can leave their traps and generators running all night and stay 
nearby, adding to the amount of data collected, with advantages all round. Staying ina 
local hotel or bed and breakfast is always an option for those able and willing to make 
the necessary arrangements in advance or to arrive on spec, but it is not as convenient 
for all-night trapping. I am also mindful of the fact that some members, particularly the 
younger ones and those that are out of work, may not be able to afford the costs of 
overnight accommodation. Besides, it can be a precious part of the experience to awake 
on site and inspect the traps at first light, with the chance of seeing a fox Vulpes vulpes or 
other wild creature and to enjoy birdsong and the first rays of the sun. 

Incidentally, field meetings at Dungeness have become something of a tradition in 
the Society of late, and you will be pleased to note that there are two in the 1995 
programme. Both are led this year by Sean Clancy, who lives on Dungeness. When I 
contacted him to arrange one he said fine, but please not another one in September, 
what about all the other months! He got his wish, there is a meeting in July this year, 
but, because the September meeting is popular we have retained it as well. Contact 
Sean for overnighting details. 


24 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Now I'll move on to some of the field meetings I have led, partly because I have a 
good overview of what happened on site and, equally importantly, know what 
happened to the results. I can also be critical of any short-comings, knowing that I 
share the responsibility. I shall be illustrating the following aecounts mainly with 
moth examples, because this is my speciality, but please do not take away the 
impression that field meetings are dominated by any particular order; we cover all 
groups of animals and plants and are keen to see all interest groups represented on 
meetings, hence the “natural history” part of the Society’s title. 


FENS AND BRECKLAND IN 1988 


The first BENHS field meetings I led were in 1988 when I organized two. These were 
at Chippenham Fen, Cambridgeshire, on 2 July and Cranwich Plantation, Norfolk, on 
23 July. The chances to visit Fens and Breckland proved popular and both meetings 
were very well attended. Ian McLean led the day-time session at Chippenham Fen and 
was joined by ten members. Many interesting species of flies were noted and we flushed 
two silver-barred moths Deltote bankiana, a speciality of this reserve. Twenty members 
gathered for the night session and, as they did so, there was a heavy rain shower just 
before dusk which I knew would not help the light-trapping. Here was I, leading my first 
meeting, responsible for all these people driving out to this fairly remote site and 
perhaps they weren’t going to see many moths. I expect every leader feels this way on his 
first and even subsequent meetings. On this occasion, I knew the site well from working 
on it throughout the previous year, and I had encountered many interesting species of 
moths. What I wanted to find out from this field meeting was how widely distributed 
they were on the Fen. The meeting offered the chance to disperse lots of light-traps and 
their operators across the Fen and get an overview in one night which would take me 
many nights to build up working on my own and would cover parts of the site I had not 
sampled before. 

Well, the weather literally put a damper on the night and catches in individual 
traps were well down. I did not get the results I had hoped for, with species I knew to 
be widespread and common turning up only in small numbers and sporadically due 
to the small sizes of the samples in the traps. However, twenty-nine lights were 
operated that night and, owing to this large fire power, we ended up accumulating an 
impressive list of species, and most of the specialities were seen at least once. A full 
account was provided for the journal (McLean & Waring, 1989). The meeting 
seemed to be enjoyed by all and was a successful social occasion (Fig. 1) One group 
had come down from Derbyshire and were very pleased to see several wetland species 
and to experience the Fen, so much so that they requested details of the necessary 
contacts so that they could return on future occasions and continue to extend and 
up-date the moth list for the site. Subsequently, a full list of the species we recorded 
was supplied to the site manager and local Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) 
office as it then was, the data were entered onto the Invertebrate Site Register and the 
results were a substantial contribition to an unpublished report by a new member of 
this Society (Howton, 1991), who offered to compile all the records on file for me as a 
result of his interest in the site. 

The Chippenham Fen experience evidently did not deter people from attending 
field meetings led by Waring because several of the same faces turned up again just a 
couple of weeks later at Cranwich Plantation. For this meeting I had asked Gerry 
Haggett if he would join us. Many members will know that Gerry produced the book 
on the larvae of British Lepidoptera not figured by Buckler, which this Society 
published in 1981 but which is no longer available (Haggett, 1981). It is in fact a 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 25 


Fig. 1. One of the lights operated at Chippenham Fen, 2 July 1988. Left to right are: Alison, 
Meral and Allon Jenkins, Andrew Halstead and David Young. 


compilation of eleven illustrated papers published over a number of years in the 
Society’s journal, the result of a life-time’s work on larvae, some of it with the 
guidance of the late A. J. Wightman, who also worked extensively on this subject. Gerry 
and I had got to know each other a year or more previously due to a shared interest in 
the larvae of wainscot moths and were then engaged in what turned out to be an 
unsuccessful search for the viper’s bugloss moth Hadena irregularis in Breckland in 
1988 and 1989, covering all the known sites for the larval food-plant (Waring, 1989b, 
1990b). I felt that the chance to search for moth larvae with Gerry would be a 
considerable draw to the day-time part of the meeting for members. I was disappointed 
therefore when only three members turned up for this part of the meeting. True, the 
weather forecast had been dodgy for the day but, as it turned out conditions were good 
and those of us present had a most enjoyable and productive time examining larvae 
with Gerry. I realized how fast he beats compared to me, which helps to explain why he 
ended up with a longer list of species. Seeing him at work was an insight I would not 
have got from any book. I remember him putting me on the spot when we came across 
the larva of the least black arches Nola confusalis, which I was having trouble 
identifying, and then him explaining the diagnostic features. 

The evening session at Cranwich Plantation was much better attended, rising to 
nine members in addition to the leaders and it was then that I realized how much our 
membership is orientated to light-trapping moths rather than day-time work on 
larvae or on other orders of insects. In discussing the higher attendances at this and 
other light-trapping sessions compared with day-time meetings, I have come to 
realize that other practical considerations are involved as well. For some there are 
family commitments to take into account, Saturday shopping or ferrying youngsters 


26 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


around. There is also the matter of time spent travelling to the venue and 
understandable difficulties in making an early start after a hard week at work and the 
time taken to load the vehicle etc. With this in mind, you will see that some of the 
1995 meetings start after lunch, to give people the chance of a cémfortable drive and 
to reduce the length of the day when light-trapping is involved. Other meetings start 
in the morning because this time is best for encountering some Diptera and other 
insect orders. I have also come to realize, through field meetings, how little nocturnal 
work is undertaken by students of orders other than the Lepidoptera and that there 
can be a sort of day and night shift amongst members, with some turning up only for 
one or the other. Those that attended the night-time session at Cranwich enjoyed 
what many said was the best night of 1988. It was a truly incredible night. The moths 
were so numerous and varied that almost everyone had over a hundred species of 
macro-moths at each light-trap. New species continued to be added steadily 
throughout the warm dry night and virtually everyone stayed on, manning the traps 
until dawn, even if they had not intended to stay so long. A total list of 168 species of 
macro-moths alone was recorded for the night. Apart from manning my light, I spent 
a large part of the night visiting the other members and sweeping larvae with Gerry 
on the way, learning to recognize some of the numerous geometrid larvae on 
bedstraws Galium spp. in the process. The whole meeting was one of the most 
successful and productive I have witnessed and a great source of satisfaction for me. I 
prepared an account for the journal (Haggett & Waring, 1989) and sent the full list to 
the Forestry Commission as an addition to their records for this site and as a 
testimony of the level of interest in what some may regard as a very specialized part 
of the wildlife value of their holdings in Breckland. Gerry had prepared a set of 
management guidelines for these plantations which were established on Breckland 
heaths, and he emphasizes the values of the rides and open spaces as well as the trees 
and shrubs. I would like to feel that the results of our field meeting add to the weight 
of that case and provide a tangible demonstration of it. 


WOODWALTON FEN IN 1989 


Encouraged by the good attendance of my two field meetings in 1988 and the 
results at Cranwich in particular, I arranged two more in 1989. Both of these were at 
Woodwalton Fen, Cambridgeshire (old Huntingdonshire, VC 31). Both had the 
principal aim of locating the marsh moth Athetis pallustris which was a major 
speciality of the Fen in the 1930s through to the 1950s (e.g. Edelsten et al., 1944ab) 
but which has not been recorded from this site since the 1960s, in spite of several 
searches. When I moved to Peterborough in 1987, Woodwalton Fen had been one of 
the local sites I had most wanted to study. I had been there once before but had never 
had a chance to look for moths there. During 1987 I managed to run light-traps there 
during each month from early May to September in spite of a badly fractured arm 
resulting from when a car knocked me from my bike on the way to work, on the 
second week of my new job with the Nature Conservancy Council. I well remember 
carrying and starting generators with my left hand, due to the pain from the 
metalwork I carried around in my right arm until this was taken out in 1988. 

I failed to find the marsh moth at Woodwalton in 1987 and 1988.in spite of using 
all the techniques described by Edelsten and others, including the litter-pile method 
for the larvae, which I have used with success for this moth in Lincolnshire. At 
Woodwalton Fen I searched existing large piles (Fig. 2) of cut litter on the fen and 
arranged small piles at intervals along the droves which I later searched, all to no 
avail. As at Chippenham Fen, a field meeting offered the chance of getting numerous 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 27 


Fig. 2. Bernard Skinner and others lifting litter piles for marsh moth larvae in Lincolnshire, 29 
September 1990. The same method was unsuccessful at Woodwalton Fen in 1987 and 1988. 


light traps out over the Fen and having people walking around with Tilley lamps 
searching for the moth. Now experienced in the ways of the Fen and how it is apt to 
turn very cold and unproductive at night in June, I picked two dates which would 
suit the moth, based on previous records, as an insurance against unfavourable 
weather. Of course Woodwalton Fen has many other attractions and it remains one 
of my favourite local sites for walks at all times of the year. 

Both the field meetings at Woodwalton Fen were well attended; for example we 
had 27 people and 31 lights, including five actinics, on 3 June. Many interesting 
insects were recorded and the meetings provided the opportunity to fill the 
Rothschild Bungalow (Fig. 3) in the centre of the Fen with entomologists regaling 
each other with stories, as in former days during the history of this famous Fen. The 
Bungalow was and is a great place to pass round specimens in pill-boxes and examine 
them without fear of losing them. Some of us spent the night in the Bungalow and 
others in cars at the entrance. Back in the 1980s the Bungalow used to be left open 
and was a welcome retreat from the rain or mosquitoes. There was a visitors’ book 
into which I added the names of the more interesting moths I saw on each visit and I 
think some of us signed it on these field meetings, for posterity. Sadly, the Bungalow 
is now kept locked, following an incident of vandalism. Fortunately, the damage was 
minor and this fine thatched building remains available, by arrangement, for future 
entomological meetings and I hope it will continue to be so used. We did not succeed 
in finding the marsh moth and it has not been reported subsequently. I believe this 
moth is one feature of this Fen which has been lost, possibly as a consequence in some 
way of flooding in the 1960s or the increased wetness and possible over-nutrification of 
the Fen, from water-borne agricultural fertilizers and consequent changes in the 


28 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Fig. 3. The Rothschild Bungalow at Woodwalton Fen. 


vegetation. Comments were collected from those who attended the meeting and had 
known the fen in the past. The field meeting enabled us to make comparisons that 
would be difficult to make on paper and without visiting the site together. It seems 
that places on the Fen where the marsh moth occurred, which had a sparse, dry field- 
margin quality when the Fen was drying out and becoming encroached with scrub in 
the 1950s, are now high luxuriant reed growth Phragmites australis. Other species of 
moth, like some of the reed-dependent wainscot moths, are doing very well as a result 
of present management. The continuing task is to find ways of maintaining all the 
species somewhere on the Fen, so that marsh carpet moths Perizoma sagittata and 
other specialities and their foodplants are not swamped, literally, by wainscot habitat. 

A memorable and welcome feature of these two meetings was the use of an Argo- 
cat, a balloon-tyred semi-amphibious vehicle that I was trained to drive for the 
meetings. We used the Argo-cat to transport generators and other heavy equipment 
to remote parts of the Fen and to collect up tired moth-trappers at the end of the 
session. This greatly improved our coverage of the Fen. We made sure, in particular, 
that the best stands of meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria were light-trapped because 
this was a plant with which the marsh moth had been associated in the past. 

What we did discover as a result of the field meetings at Woodwalton was that the 
distribution of the concolorous moth Photedes extrema varies considerably on the 
Fen. At one time it was common along many of the droves but this was not our 
experience, though it remains widely distributed in small numbers. However, at the 
south-east corner of the reserve there is a field in which the larval foodplant 
Calamagrostis canescens remains abundant. On 17 June twenty-three concolorous 
moths were recorded here at one m.v. light mounted five feet (cl.5m) above ground 
when the moth was only reported in ones and twos elsewhere on the Fen. The 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 29 


concolorous started to arrive as soon as it was dark and continued to come until 
23.50 hrs, while the light was operated until 00.50 hrs (Peter Waite, pers. comm). This 
result, along with a full species list, was sent to the site manager of the reserve and 
attention was drawn to its importance so that it could be taken into account during 
habitat management work. The day-time part of the first of the two meetings was 
covered in our journal (Kirby, 1990). I presented an exhibit of photographs and 
results at our Annual Exhibition and reported the main results of the night work in 
Waring (1989b). I intended to do something more ambitious with the light-trap 
results and write a larger account for this Journal but more pressing matters and 
other work prevented this. I then passed the results to Barry Dickerson, the county 
lepidoptera recorder for vice-county Huntingdonshire, who spent some hours sifting 
them and now has a copy of the data for his own use. Like many other of the field 
meetings of our Society, an account has not yet appeared in the Journal. I take this 
opportunity of reporting the Woodwalton meetings here, belatedly. Being the guilty 
party, perhaps I might be allowed to offer the following advice to other leaders in a 
similar position. No matter what grand plans you may have for the data collected, 
and even if hardly anything was recorded and it rained all day and night, do put a 
few lines together for the journal at the earliest opportunity and mention if further 
material was collected and more results are likely to appear. There is always the 
temptation to wait for the specialist to provide the very last identification, which has 
to be done over the winter when fieldwork is less demanding. I have been waiting just 
over ten years for one hymenopterist to identify a small number of specimens! The 
greater the time that elapses between the field meeting and writing the report, the less 
likely it is to come to fruition. A preliminary report is better than nothing at all and 
gives a lead that can always be followed up in the future if necessary. 


HOLME FEN IN 1992 


Interest in having further field meetings in the Fens resulted in the Holme Fen 
meetings in 1992. This Fen is more a birchwood now, but it still has some wetland 
areas and some interesting dykes. At this stage I had become interested in the status 
of the oak eggar moth Lasiocampa quercus in the Peterborough area because I was 
intrigued to find it occurred in my back garden in Werrington, just north of 
Peterborough (Waring, 1994d). There are old records from Holme Fen but the 
county recorder had not seen the moth there in the many years he had been operating 
and considered it very rare in the county. During the meeting, which was well 
attended and a most enjoyable social occasion, we attempted to assemble males to a 
virgin female brought along for the purpose. We failed, I suspect because we did not 
get the female set up early enough in the afternoon. The moth was given to one of the 
party to try her at Woodwalton Fen, where she succeeded in attracting a mate, 
producing an important record for the county, if not on the field meeting. The best 
laid plans . . . The meeting was reported in full in Waring (1992c). 


BERNWOOD FOREST IN 1993 


On the 1993 field meeting at Bernwood Forest, on the border of Oxfordshire with 
Buckinghamshire, I returned to an old stamping ground in which I used to record 
butterflies during the 1970s and in which I light-trapped extensively during the 1980s 
while conducting the studies for my Ph.D. (Waring, 1990a). The main aim of the 
meeting was to check on the continued presence of as many species of moth as 
possible to get 1990s records and maintain recording activity. The past records for 


30 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


this site date back to the early years of this century and the list and the changes in the 
moth fauna were reviewed by Waring (1988, 1990a, c). The support for the meeting 
was superb and enthusiastic but the weather left a lot to be desired. Nevertheless, two 
new species were added to the historical list as a result of the meeting. One of these, 
the pine hawk-moth Hyloicus pinastri is almost certainly a new arrival to the wood 
since the 1980s. Two came to light in Waterperry Wood, in an area in which I 
frequently trapped during the 1980s. In addition to general coverage of the rest of the 
wood by myself and others at that time, the conifer-dependent species were the 
subject of special study (Hatcher, 1989) but the pine hawk was never found. The 
moth has been recorded in other places in Oxfordshire, in some of which it is 
resident, and now it may have colonized Bernwood at last. The other addition to the 
historical list was the hornet clearwing Sesia apiformis which is now common in some 
of the planted poplars but may have been overlooked for some years. In addition to 
the results given in the field meeting report (Waring, 1993) and submitted to English 
Nature and the Forestry Commission, Peter and Di Sharpe have since found more 
trees tenanted by the hornet clearwing in the wood. This last snippet of information 
was gained in conversation on another field meeting somewhere else! 


SEVEN FIELD MEETINGS IN 1994 


Up to 1993 I had led one or two field meetings a year, much like many other 
leaders. As part of my contribution during my Presidential year I decided to try out 
various other ideas relating to field meetings and ended up leading seven during 1994. 

One statement I had often heard was that you will get good turn-outs if you go to 
famous localities but you won’t be able to get people out to investigate unknown 
sites. Now, of course, lack of records does not mean a poor site and sites without 
records are just the sort that need our attention. I was also interested to use field 
meetings to collect data from sites which are threatened in some way, where 
invertebrate data might help to defend a site against damage but where little 
information is to hand. These were some of the motives behind the meetings at 
Welshbury Wood, Gloucestershire, and Whiteparish Common, Wiltshire. 


WELSHBURY WOOD IN 1994 


Welshbury Hill is nothing if not off the beaten track. There appear to be no moth 
records whatsoever for this wood prior to the field meeting and it is virtually unknown 
entomologically. My wife and I visited this site once, in September 1990, on a holiday in 
Gloucestershire, on the recommendation of Keith Kirby of English Nature’s 
Woodlands section. The woodland on the top of the hill is full of small-leaved lime 
Tilia cordata and there is also an iron-age fort among the trees. No doubt the 
woodland has an interesting history. It is known to have been in existence since 
before 1600 and therefore qualifies as ancient. Recent work suggests that even some 
of the living stools of coppiced lime are much older than this! After our walk round I 
decided that one day I would return to this wood to search for the scarce hook-tip 
moth Sabra harpagula. This moth is currently unknown outside the Wye Valley on 
the nearby border of Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire and is dependent on 
small-leaved lime. In the winter of 1993/94 I wrote to the Forestry Commission who 
manage the site, sent an off-print of the successful field meeting on FC property at 
Bernwood in 1993 and obtained permission for the meeting and a set of keys. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 31 


Iam delighted to report that this meeting was very well attended indeed. Twenty-two 
people turned up and at least 19 lights were operated. We had a wonderful time mothing 
among the limes on this eerie site, to the accompaniment of a long-eared owl chick Asio 
otus calling like a squeaky gate and with the occasional sighting of badgers Meles meles. 
Preliminary reports have appeared in several places already (Brock, 1994; Waring 
1994e, 1995a) and the meeting and results were featured at our Annual Exhibition. The 
big news is that we discovered a colony of the small-leaved lime-dependent pyralid 
moth Salebriopsis albicilla which was not known to be resident outside the Wye Valley. 
Bernard Skinner had tipped us off to look out for this moth and in fact joined us for the 
night, even though he had suffered a stroke only weeks before. The discovery of this 
moth bodes well for the scarce hook-tip. However, we did not find the latter on this 
occasion, or in adjacent Flaxey Wood on the same night, or on return visits which 
Bernard and I made independently in the subsequent days, even though we had 
established that it was flying in the Wye Valley on the night before the field meeting. 

Unbeknown to me when planning the meeting, management of the limes was 
under discussion and debate by various concerned parties, including the Forestry 
Commission. I have since been able to help with advice on the best options for the 
moths, based on the work done and data collected on this field meeting. 


WHITEPARISH COMMON IN 1994 


Whiteparish Common was threatened by a road-building proposal when I 
submitted it for inclusion in the 1994 field meetings programme. I knew of the site 
from a summer spent in south Wiltshire in 1983 when I was surveying nearby Bentley 
Wood and was aware of Roy Pitman’s work in the area in the 1930s and 1940s from 
meeting him and from his records in the Wiltshire county list of Lepidoptera (de 
Worms, 1962). When I checked the Invertebrate Site Register and other files for 
information on the site, I found that there was nothing on the moths of the site since 
the 1950s. During my survey of Bentley Wood (Waring, 1984), I discovered all sorts 
of species that had not been reported from there for years and I felt sure that 
Whiteparish Common would perform likewise, particularly since Norman Hutch- 
inson of Fordingbridge had just succeeded in finding the triangle Heterogenea asella 
there. Norman kindly obtained permission from the private owner for us to hold the 
field meeting, which took place on 2 July. This date was hand-picked for certain 
nationally scarce species which were possibilities given the type of habitat and given 
records from comparable sites in the region. Members of this Society joined members 
of Butterfly Conservation and several local contacts for a day-time walk round the 
site and for light-trapping. Among other important species, we discovered the scarce 
merveille du jour Moma alpium at several places on the site. The presence of this Red 
Data Book species alone greatly strengthens the conservation case for preventing 
damage to these woodlands. A full list of the species we found was supplied to the 
owner and to a local site defence group and the results were quickly published 
(Waring, 1994e, 1995a), and will soon appear in this journal. Fortunately, the road 
proposals which threatened this site have since been dropped, though for reasons other 
than the moths I must admit. Nevertheless we have demonstrated the continuing 
presence of nationally scarce and threatened species at this site and this will have to be 
taken into account if any other proposals arise which threaten this site. 


MEETINGS THROUGHOUT BRITAIN 


Another statement I had heard was that meetings would flop if they were not held 
within easy striking distance of London and the south-east. After all, the Society has 


32 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


only recently grown out of being the old ““South London” Society (back in 1968!). 
Well, if we are truly to be BRITISH, meetings should be held throughout Britain. I 
am sure that we could attract many more members to the Society from northern 
Britain if we were seen to be more active in these areas. 

Few people would disagree that Inverness-shire is hardly within a morning’s drive 
of London, but this is where I arranged one of the field meetings. Actually, I wanted 
to hold it further north still, in East Ross, in some Caledonian pine forest which had 
never been worked for moths before. However, the owner was wary of allowing more 
than a couple of hand-picked and trusted people onto the site so it was clearly not 
appropriate for a field meeting. I arranged to light-trap this site with one other 
person and not to publish the results, so I visited it in advance of the field meeting, 
which I arranged for Abernethy Forest, courtesy of the RSPB. 

Our Society made a £1000 donation to the RSPB from the Hammond fund in 1988 
to help them buy the Abernethy Estate, which includes Caledonian pine forest, with 
capercaillies Tetrao urogallus and ospreys Pandion haliaetus, and heather moorland. 
This was the site about which John Owen gave his Presidential Address (Owen, 
1989). My field meeting provided the opportunity for members to inspect the site and 
see what a worthwhile cause our donation has supported. But who would come? 
Well, several people as it happened. Mr and Mrs Rich Austin came all the way from 
the Channel Islands, but they also happened to have relatives in the area. Mike 
Britton, from Yorkshire, had arranged a holiday at Nethy Bridge and came along. 
Robert Hoare and Gordon Ramel came up from the south (Winchester and Exeter 
respectively). Meanwhile, I took the precaution of inviting the Highland Biological 
Recording Group to add some local support and they fielded three members. I had 
picked the date to coincide with the end of the Scottish Entomologists’ week at the 
Bettyhill Field Station on the north coast of Sutherland, part of which I attended, 
and I hoped that some attenders might have joined us on their journey south. 
However, they were possibly exhausted after some days of fieldwork in Caithness 
and Sutherland and did not swell our numbers on this occasion. One of this group 
remarked that he was surprised to hear that the BENHS was holding a meeting here 
and had not thought to consult his events card! Lest anyone feel that this is in any 
way a criticism of a Scot and not politically correct in some way, I would add that, 
like most of the group I met at Bettyhill, the gent in question was an Englishman, up 
from Hampshire no less! 

The Abernethy meeting was also advertised as part of Butterfly Conservation’s 
Woodland campaign of 1994. We had a productive daytime session in which 
invertebrates of a range of orders were recorded and I was particularly pleased to see 
larvae of the light knotgrass moth Acronicta menyanthidis. We did not see a 
capercaillie, though we encountered an egg-shell of this large game bird. In between 
the afternoon and evening sessions we watched the ospreys around the nest at Loch 
Garten. One species we particularly hoped to see at night was the cousin german 
moth Paradiarsia sobrina. At the request of the RSPB we visited a part of the Estate 
which has been little recorded entomologically and, although it was a cold night, it 
was a delight to see four cousin german moths among the other species at light. A full 
list and account of our results was sent to the RSPB and to the Highland Biological 
Records Centre for their data-bases, to the local Lepidoptera recorder and to the Bug 
Club for their magazine. The meeting was also featured in Butterfly Conservations’s 
Annual Review for 1994 (Waring, 1995a), British Wildlife (Waring, 1994e) and a full 
account can be found in our Journal (Waring, 1995c). 

As I left the RSPB’s lodge on the fine morning of 14 August, the reserve warden, 
Stewart Taylor, said that our Society was very welcome to return to Abernethy and 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 33 


to use the Lodge for overnight accomodation. I would strongly recommend that we 
take up this offer. We could even book for more than one night to give members more 
time on the site. Abernethy is a real Highland experience, fine habitats to explore and the 
Lodge, which is the largest all-timber building in Scotland, has a special character of its 
own and excellent facilities for small parties of entomologists to work and dine in (Fig. 4). 


JOINT FIELD MEETINGS 


Regarding joint meetings, some eyebrows were raised when I suggested I would like 
to hold several joint meetings with Butterfly Conservation. I am pleased to report that 
these went well and there will be more in 1995. Many members of Butterfly 
Conservation are keen on other aspects of natural history apart from butterflies and 
the interest and profile of moths within this society is growing and being developed all 
the time (e.g. Waring, 1991b, c, 1992e, 1994c). There was a very good response to an 
appeal in Butterfly Conservation News for records of certain of the less common day- 
flying moths (Waring, 1991c, 1992f) and I have had a number of letters of support, 
interest and feed-back from each of the other articles. A considerable number of people 
are long-time members both of BENHS and BC, myself included. 

There is a lot to be said for joint meetings with local societies and I am sure there is 
a lot of future potential here. In many ways it should be a courtesy to involve local 
societies if possible, when working in their area. From a purely practical view this is 
also likely to bolster numbers attending in areas where our membership is thin and 
make meetings in such places more viable. The field meetings in the Mawddach 
Valley Woodlands, Abergwynant, Merionethshire (Waring, 1994e), and at Cantley 
Marshes, Norfolk, were good demonstrations of this. 


Fig. 4. The RSPB lodge at Abernethy. 


34 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


At one of my first Council meetings as junior Vice-President of our Society, I drew 
attention to the RSPB’s appeal for the purchase of Cantley Marshes. I had visited 
other sites elsewhere in the Yare Valley and knew them to be excellent for wetland 
insects. I asked Council to consider a donation to this appeal, 6n the understanding 
that our Society would be able to explore the invertebrates of the site. I was delighted 
when the Council voted to back this idea and a donation was made. I then set about 
arranging a field meeting for members to inspect the site that they had helped to buy. 
There was a good turn-out from members, as I had hoped. The members of the 
Norfolk Moth Survey were also invited and turned up in droves! We ended up with 
over thirty people attending and we were able to cover the adjacent Buckenham and 
Strumpshaw Fens as well. Many nationally scarce and local species were recorded. 

A good reason for joint meetings is that it enables both societies to develop closer 
links and learn about each other’s activities. Allies can be useful and I would like to 
think that the membership of many local or regional societies might be interested in 
joining our national society and enjoying the services it can offer. 

The only problem with leading seven field meetings in 1994 is that I ended up with 
the job of Field Meetings Secretary as a result! 


FIELD MEETINGS IN THE FUTURE 


I am sure that the value of field meetings will continue to increase. It sometimes 
seems that in Britain so many people seem to be adopting a passive, stay at home, 
spectator and consumer approach to life, and an increasingly insular one with fewer 
social contacts. Field meetings provide an opportunity to break out of that, to get 
out, meet new people with similar interests and do something that is not man-made, 
charged by the hour and over-prescribed. Also, in a countryside where quality 
habitats are diminishing and permits and paperwork are necessary to visit many of 
the remnants, field meetings are a big help for the member who wishes to explore 
good sites without becoming personally involved in the bureaucracy. 

The need for the data we collect on field meetings has never been greater. The 
ability of this Society to hold successful field meetings which produce useful results 
counts very much in its favour. Such field meetings are one of the activities and 
products of the Society which other organizations and the general public can 
appreciate as being of worth. So the more we promote our work, the greater the 
advantages to the Society and its members. 

I would like to see some field meetings each year developed in various ways. We 
plan to have a proportion of future meetings devoted to sites which are threatened in 
some way or where data are needed to help with habitat management issues. I have 
incorporated these ideas in compiling the 1995 programme. The problem with 
threatened sites is that it can be difficult to obtain permission for the meeting. Four 
sites had to be excluded from the calendar in 1995 because permission could not be 
obtained. The Society needs to consider our course of action when we are concerned 
about a threatened site but cannot obtain permission to explore it. One option may 
be to publish details of the sites where permission has been requested and denied. 
This will at least promote the fact that we are concerned about the wildlife which 
may be at risk. Our informal conservation group, co-ordinated by,Stephen Miles, 
will select some sites for attention each year and any members of the Society are most 
welcome to draw our attention to any others. 

In addition, I wonder if it may be possible to collect quantitative as well as 
qualitative information on some of our meetings. For example, it is sometimes useful 
to compare the numbers of individuals of particular species seen in different habitats. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 35 


There can be very marked differences in numbers (Waring, 1989a; Majerus ef al., 
1994) even though the total species list for both may be similar and this can shed light 
on the effects of different management histories and other factors. Such comparisons 
depend on adopting standard methodology but this can be arranged on site during the 
field meeting. Waring (1989a & in press) provides some suggestions for light-trappers 
for example, and a standard method for beating larvae is discussed and developed in 
Waring (1990a). The accompanying diagram (Fig. 5) shows the results I obtained 
when I ran four identical actinic light traps all night over the same period in four types 
of managed habitat at Woodwalton Fen in 1987. I also replicated the experiment at 
Chippenham Fen at the same time. Both sites produced the same pattern of results. 
All four of the reed-dependent species shown were most abundant in the “tall fen” 


80 


Pyralid 
C. phragmitella 
70 


80 


Fen Wainscot 
A. phragmitidis 
70 


S 


SS 


= 
Sis 


Number of individuals trapped 
s S 


Se 


= 
x 


SNS 
= 


ass 


x 


wae ee 


Carr Tallfen Cut Grazed Carr‘ Tallfen Cut Grazed 


| | Woodwalton Fen 


Obscure Wainscot Silky Wainscot 
M. obsoleta 18 C. maritima 


|| Chippenham Fen 


on 


Number of individuals trapped 
S 


Carr Tallfen Cut Grazed Carr‘ Tallfen Cut Grazed 


Fig. 5. Comparative catches of four fenland moth species at Woodwalton and Chippenham 
Fens in moth traps operated in different habitats. 


36 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


sites and uncommon or absent in the grazed areas, which conforms to expectations 
based on our knowledge of their ecology. Some species appear to be less tolerant of 
invading carr woodland or reed-cutting than others. The differences between catches 
can be very marked and each habitat is likely to have species which are most common 
there. Field meetings with numbers of people on site simultaneously provide an 
opportunity to collect good data about the habitat associations of our invertebrates 
by comparing different parts of the site and this opportunity should be exploited. 


A FEW TIPS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR FIELD MEETING 


(1) Permission.—If you have a site but do not know who to approach for 
permission to hold a field meeting, the owner or manager of the site can usually be 
established by contacting the local office of the appropriate government conservation 
agency (CCW, EN, SNH) or county wildlife trust, each of whom are in the telephone 
directory. In case of difficulty, the Head Office numbers are CCW: 01248 370444; 
EN: 01733 340345; SNH: 0131 4474784. 

(2) Site maps and other background information.—Most sites of obvious wildlife 
interest have some background information available on them which is not difficult to 
obtain. If the site has been notified as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), you are 
home and dry. Vast amounts of work have been done in recent years, at tax-payers’ 
expense, to compile site descriptions and site maps for SSSIs. The SSSI citation for the 
site, which includes a summary of these data, is a public document. The country 
government agencies given in (1) should be able to supply a few photocopies of this and 
the SSSI map. The map will be useful to members to find their way around the site. 
Marking up the map is much the best way to record where invertebrates and other 
wildlife were found. The meeting point and any “‘no-go”’ areas can also be marked. The 
wildlife trusts are often the best bet for information where non-SSSIs are involved. 

(3) Objectives for the meeting —All the meetings I have organized have had 
specific objectives which provided some of the reasons why I organized the meetings 
in the first place. Having one or two specific objectives may help encourage people 
along. Having said that, simply recording as many species as possible is a perfectly 
valid objective, but do at least let people know in advance what habitats to expect. 

(4) Advertising the meeting.—This starts by compiling details for inclusion in the 
field programme. Follow the format in the 1995 programme and you cannot go 
wrong. Post it to the Field Meetings Secretary at any time before the middle of 
January of the year in which the meeting is to take place. We are going to aim to get 
the programme approved at the February council meeting and issued shortly 
afterwards, before people have a chance to book up their diaries with other events! In 
1995 we are also advertising the meetings to the Amateur Entomologists’ Society, 
who do not have a field meetings programme of their own, and some of the meetings 
will be advertised to Butterfly Conservation. Try and get your meeting advertised to 
local naturalists’ groups but be aware that some issue their meetings calendars earlier 
than ours, so make preliminary contact in the autumn if you can. In some cases you 
might be able to get a local expert out on site to say a few words of background 
information and point out some features of the site at the start of the meeting. 

(5) Safety —Field meetings must be undertaken in a responsible fashion and all 
reasonable precautions taken to ensure they proceed safely. Members and guests are 
responsible for their personal safety and equipment. In addition our Society has 
insurance cover*. All fieldworkers would be sensible to have a basic first aid kit in the 
car or with their field equipment, to bandage any cuts etc: These kits can be obtained 


* See announcement in Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 1995; 8(3): inside back cover. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 37 


inexpensively from chemists. It is a good idea for the leader to have one to ensure 
that at least one kit is on site. 

(6) Recording and promotion of the results of the meeting——The main report of 
the meeting is for the Journal. This provides a historical record of the more 
significant results and we have records of these going back to the earliest days of the 
Society. I have often thumbed through old reports for information and with 
computer indexing a real option now at Dinton Pastures, it will become much easier 
to find out if and when the Society has visited the site before and what was found. 
The reports have varied in format over the years and depending on the author. Some 
are no more than a paragraph, others include full species lists and occasionally one 
or more photographs. In general, I think the more information is included the better 
and the inclusion of photographs of the site, people and equipment greatly increases 
the value of the account, particularly when you look back on meetings after a few 
years or decades have elapsed. Off-prints of these reports are most useful for 
distributing to land-owners etc, and can be supplied to leaders. 

(7) Additional promotion of the results —A lot can be done to benefit the Society 
if a short report of the meeting can be prepared the day after the meeting. A brief 
note of the most interesting records of the animals and plants that can be identified 
reliably in the field can be included in the various wildlife reports which appear in the 
bi-monthly British Wildlife (BW) magazine and can reach a wide but discerning 
audience numbering several thousand within eight weeks. Several of our members 
contribute to the reports in BW and may be able to include appropriate records if 
these are sent promptly, while they are topical. I have regularly featured moth 
records from field meetings in the reports I write for BW. Other magazines and 
papers may respond to a short report, which could lead to something more 
substantial on the activities of the society. I have found that coverage in the popular 
press can result in a very poor quality of reporting, and can generate a lot of follow- 
up correspondence which can be time-consuming for little apparent gain to 
entomology, conservation or the Society. However, it does serve to raise and keep 
issues in the public profile. Before embarking on any promotion, it is imperative that 
the person who gave permission for the meeting is consulted. Their views on 
publicity should be sought and appropriate arrangements made when applying for 
access permission if possible. Any publicity about the Society should be cleared in 
advance with Council, and as Field Meetings Secretary I am happy to act as an 
intermediary to Council, with a copy or call to our Secretary in case I am unavailable. 

(8) General responsibilities of the leader—Once a field meeting has been arranged 
and advertised, the leader or a deputy MUST turn up at the appointed time, even if it 
is sheeting down with rain and no one has contacted them to say they are coming! 
There will always be people who come to field meetings at the last minute or who do 
not advise the leader in advance, and the weather may have been fine when they set 
off. Hardy souls are not put off by the weather or are prepared to gamble on an 
improvement later in the day. With modern traffic and delays on the road it can be 
difficult to arrive exactly at the appointed meeting time, particularly if coming from 
any distance. Cautious people will frequently arrive early because they have allowed 
for this, others may be detained, so I generally do not move far from the meeting 
point in the first half hour. The other main job for the leader is to keep a note of who 
attends and to compile the report for the Journal. If you get a list of names rather 
than count heads, you can chase people up for their records if they are tardy in 
sending them! The leader is not expected to be an expert on the site or an expert 
entomologist. Also, while he or she oversees the meeting, the leader is not a 
policeman. It is the responsibility of every person attending to ensure that property is 


38 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


not damaged, that any protected species are not removed or disturbed and that the 
JCCBI codes for collecting and establishment, which the Society endorses, are not 
contravened. It will become difficult for the Society to obtain permission for field 
meetings if large numbers of uncommon species are removed s a result. 


FIELD MEETINGS AND EXPEDITIONS IN OTHER COUNTRIES 


Members of this Society have demonstrated their concern for insects and other 
wildlife in places outside Britian, via exhibits, presentations at our indoor meetings 
and in publications in our Journal. Many past and present members have had the 
opportunity to pursue entomology abroad, particularly in Continental Europe, and 
others would like to have the opportunity in the future. Collectively, members of our 
Society must gather a great deal of potentially useful data from Continental Europe 
but I must admit I have never been clear where to publish mine to make it available to 
others. Rightly or wrongly, I have not considered our Journal to be the right place. I 
have followed a policy of offering reports of my European trips to the Bulletin of the 
Amateur Entomologists’ Society (AES), which has developed this type of report into a 
major feature of the journal. This feature of the AES Bulletin is in a large part due to 
the many examples provided over the years by Peter Cribb and that is where you will 
find mine (e.g. Waring & Thomas 1989, 1990, 1994). As a lepidopterist, I am also 
fortunate in the existence of Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica (SEL), which aims 
to promote the study of Lepidoptera throughout Europe. I have just been elected to 
the Council of SEL and I hope to use this opportunity to bring the BENHS closer 
together with SEL so that we are more aware of each other’s activities and concerns. 
Certainly the Continental lepidopterists I have met are very keen to receive results of 
our trips and many are remarkably interested in what is happening in Britain. In 
addition, a European Society of Entomologists has recently been formed to improve 
communications between entomologists in general and this covers all orders of insects 
and branches of entomology. Lepidopterists and other entomologists in North 
America are also well organized into societies so that they can act collectively. 

What about insects in the tropics and further south? Everyone must now have 
some idea of the damage to tropical habitats and the pressures on those that remain 
and on the wildlife that they support. But what to do about it? An option open to all 
of us is to support organizations such as the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) 
and I trust that all of you are members of WWF. An Association for Tropical 
Lepidoptera has recently been formed, based in the USA and it produces the journal 
Tropical Lepidoptera, which provides reading material and an outlet in which to 
publish results, though authors are charged for each page they publish, which must 
discourage many. What if you wish to take things further, to develop your first-hand 
experience of tropical insects and get involved personally? It strikes me that now that 
the conservation of tropical habitats has become such a pressing concern, and now 
that transport around the world has become so much easier, it is time for our Society 
to offer what help it can. Britain has long had holdings in the tropics and subtropics 
and some of our members, such as the late Robert St Leger, have collected insects in 
these places in the past. British museums, such as the Natural History Museum, 
contain some of the finest collections of specimens, which our members and others 
have left to the nation as reference collections for use in identifying insects and for 
other studies. In examining reports of surveys of threatened habitats in the tropics, I 
am frequently surprised at the failure to include invertebrates in the survey, or the 
failure to identify properly to species any material that was collected. Often this is 
due to lack of time or expertise, or because it is felt that the invertebrates would 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 39 


contribute little extra to the conservation case because so little is known about their 
distribution and habits. We are losing species of invertebrates even before they have 
been described, and more needs to be done. 

In this context our Society surely has something very special if not unique to offer. 
Our membership includes some of the most active field entomologists in Britain. 
Others who may be less able to get out in the field, due to family commitments or 
advancing years, have skills such as sorting and mounting insects, preparation of 
genitalia dissections and experience in using identification guides which they could 
offer. These are just the sorts of skills and capabilities which are often so lacking in 
the tropical countries and which are so costly or time-consuming to develop. I know 
that I am not the only one who feels it almost a duty to extend my personal 
involvement and skills to help in the tropics. Through our Society we may be able to 
accomplish more together than working as individuals. Isn’t that one reason why the 
Society exists in the first place? 

I would like to see this Society assist members to get involved in tropical work in 
the ways outlined. I would like to see more than just a one-off collecting visit by a 
few lucky individuals. If possible, long-term links with particular places should be 
developed so that the Society can contribute cumulatively and see the developing 
results of its involvement. This is easier to achieve as a Society than as an individual. 

One of my last contributions in my presidential year has been to sow the idea of 
mounting expeditions by the Society to current and former British dependent 
territories. As Richard Jones, Editor of our Journal, remarked at a recent Council 
Meeting, it seems rather appropriate that the Field Meetings Secretary should be 
planning an expedition. After all, is it not simply a field meeting in another country? I 
have selected Belize, formerly British Honduras, in Central America, as the destination 
for the Society’s first expedition, and the provisional dates are to be two weeks in 
January—February 1996. Advantages in favour of Belize include political stability, a 
continuing close link with Britain, an economy which depends heavily on the success of 
“green” i.e. eco-friendly tourism, and a will to develop this by taking a strong pro- 
conservation line on development issues. Sadly, these are not features of many 
destinations where our help is needed. The Natural History Museum, London, has 
taken similar issues into consideration and is just completing a field station in Belize to 
facilitate fieldwork and the study of tropical rainforest in the country. It may be 
possible to incorporate this centre as a destination for the present and future 
expeditions by the BENHS to Belize, but the current expedition is not dependent on this 
facility. Dr Malcolm Scoble, our new President for 1995/96, works for the Natural 
History Museum and I know that one of his wishes during his time in post is to bring our 
Society and the Museum into a closer working relationship, because we have so much 
to offer each other. Consequently, I am hopeful not just that the proposed expedition 
will take place but that together we can develop possibilities for the future. 

Malcolm and I are both fortunate in that we have been able to gain some 
experience of pursuing entomology in the tropics and sub-tropics already. I thought I 
would conclude with a few brief illustrations from my own endeavours, to give you a 
flavour of the sort of experiences other members of the society may be able to share if 
my proposals come to fruition, and to rekindle the memories of members who have 
already been to such places. 


SUDAN 


From January 1981 to March 1983 I lived and worked in southern Sudan on 
ecological impact studies of the construction of the Jonglei Canal. Details of the 


40 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


work and the implications of the canal for the people, domestic stock and wildlife 
which inhabit this area can be found in Howell et a/. (1988). While in the Sudan I was 
able to carry out standard butterfly transect walks in the vicinity of our base camp in 
savannah and seasonally flooded grassland every week for over two years, in Jonglei 
Province. This enabled me to record seasonal variations in the species of butterflies 
and their numbers, as well as to collect wet and dry season forms. I also ran a 
Robinson-pattern mercury vapour light-trap every week and recorded moths and 
other insects. Much of this habitat would have changed, for better or worse, had the 
canal been completed. Shortly after we finished our project the civil war broke out 
and it has not been possible to conduct such studies since, not least because some of 
the areas I worked are littered with land-mines. A recent eye-witness tells me that the 
people ate all livestock and much of the wildlife in the area before starving and 
migrating as a consequence of the war. No doubt the vegetation will be changing as a 
result, possibly even improving, at least temporarily, for Lepidoptera, if larval 
hostplants are not being grazed as heavily as before. My standard counts provide a 
base-line and a repetition of them now would enable accurate assessment of any 
changes. 

I spent a few tranquil days motoring around the adjacent swamps in a house- 
boat while I was in Jonglei Province. I used to operate a Robinson trap on the roof 
of the boat while we were moored for the night. Perhaps I am the first to run a 
light-trap in these swamps? I was there to study fish breeding grounds, which were 
likely to be altered when the Canal extracted water from the system. Who knows 
how the moth fauna might have been affected by the canal? My work, taken in 
conjunction with predicted changes in the vegetation zones, might hold some 
clues. 

While in southern Sudan I made trips to the forests of Bangangai, on the border of 
Sudan with Zaire, and the Imatong Mountains, on the border of Sudan with 
Uganda. I reported my experiences of the butterflies and moths of Bangangai in 
Waring (1992d). The opportunity to see trees with huge buttress roots and watch 
large numbers of butterflies feeding at damp mud on the banks of streams in the 
forest was unforgettable. During the civil war from 1956 to 1973 and again during 
the current one, many people have retreated into the forests in this area for refuge, 
others to trade for arms at the border, and the large mammals in the area have been 
extensively hunted for food. Much of the true rainforest has been opened up by 
felling and shifting agriculture, such that species of the drier savannah woodland are 
invading and species dependent on rainforest are threatened. 

The British Overseas Development Administration has supported and operated a 
timber mill in the Imatong Mountains which has contributed to the felling of the 
forests there. The forests are full of exciting butterflies, moths and other insects, 
many of which have not been surveyed. Some special conservation areas were being 
discussed while I was there and I would love to find out what the current situation 
is and to have the opportunity to return and examine the Lepidoptera in more 
detail and contribute to their conservation. At least one species of butterfly I 
found, Pseudacraea acholica, is confined to the Imatongs I believe. On the peaks of 
the highest of the Imatongs, at over 10000 feet, are areas of what can only be 
described as moorland, with giant heathers. Here I saw numbers of the butterfly 
Issoria hanningtoni imatonga, a sub-species of fritillary endemic to the Imatongs. 
This butterfly has other sub-species confined to mountain tops elsewhere in East 
Africa. I also encountered a large lasiocampid larva which I know pleased the late 
Basil MacNulty. He was trying to identify it from my photographs at the time of 
his death. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 41 


HONG KONG 


A brief visit to Hong Kong in April 1993 provided the opportunity for me to get to 
grips with some of the wildlife that occurs in China and south-east Asia. All the large 
mammals and some species of birds have been lost from Hong Kong, but a great deal 
of invertebrate interest remains and it is on these grounds that conservation cases can 
be justifiably made. It was fantastic to run a light-trap in the forests of Tai Po Kau 
and to experience the arrival at the trap of Atlas moths Attacus atlas, Moon moths 
Actias selene and a host of other large moths, most of which I could not identify at 
that time. As each minute went by I had no idea what was going to arrive next; each 
arrival was of great interest, some were breath-taking in their appearance; it was a 
tremendous thrill. My wife and I were only in Hong Kong for three weeks and did 
not operate the light-trap every night. Nevertheless, it has taken me two years to 
identify all the species we recorded, working in my spare time. It would have taken a 
lot longer if I had not had help from various quarters nor access to the collections in 
the Natural History Museum. A paper on the hawk-moths (Sphingidae) we found 
was published in this Journal (Waring et al., 1994) and the results of this trip and 
visits to other countries have been the basis of a number of exhibits at our Annual 
Exhibition. We discovered a hawk-moth new to Hong Kong during our visit and this 
was illustrated in the Exhibition Report (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 145 & Plate 1). A 
second paper reporting all the other moths we saw is in preparation. 

In 1997 the British are due to return Hong Kong to China. What will happen to 
the habitats which have been conserved as national parks and other special areas 
during our lease of the Territory? The vast programme of building construction, the 
bulldozing and the destruction of native habitats now underway across the border in 
China, and the continuing development in parts of Hong Kong, lead to concern. Will 
I be able to go back to the woodlands of Tai Po Kau in a few years time and find the 
moth fauna intact? Will the woodlands still be there or will they have been consumed 
by the concrete and tarmac of the expanding city of Tai Po? I trust the new 
administration will take an enlightened view and value such places and the wildlife 
they support. I am ready to help in their conservation if I can be of any assistance. 


CONCLUDING REMARKS 


I hope this address has revived a few fond memories and that you are all fired with 
enthusiasm to participate in the field meetings programme for 1995. I have put 
together a full and varied programme for this year, twisted the arms of various 
people, gently, into leading meetings on particular sites where information on the 
invertebrates is needed and where it will be used immediately it is gathered. I trust 
that all meetings will be well attended, enjoyable and productive. There are meetings 
on virtually every weekend from May to September so even our old adversary, the 
weather, cannot be bad on them all, can it? 

Finally, if you have any suggestions for sites where you would like to see a field 
meeting held, or would like to lead one, or have any suggestions of ways in which 
these meetings could be improved, do let me know. I am part way through compiling 
the 1996 programme but there are still some weekends available. 

I wish everyone a successful field season in 1995. 


REFERENCES 


Baker, P. J. 1986. Presidential address. Part 2. Changes in the status of the Lepidoptera of a 
north-west Surrey locality. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 19: 33-42. 


42 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Brock, J. 1994. The very scarce hooktip moth. The first report by our new Moths Officer. 
Antennae—the Newsletter of the Gloucestershire Branch of Butterfly Conservation 11: 10-11. 

Chandler, P. 1994. Fieldwork at Dinton Pastures to the end of 1993. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 
118-126. . 

Edelsten, H. M., Fryer, J.C. F. & Robinson, A. 1944a. Hydrillula palustris Huebner in England. 
Entomologist 77: 49-50. 

Edelsten, N. M., Fryer, J. C. F. & Robinson, A. 1944b. Hydrillula palustris Huebner in 
England. Entomologist 77: 65-72. 

Haggett, G. M. 1981. Larvae of British Lepidoptera not figured by Buckler. British 
Entomological and Natural History Society, London. 

Haggett, G. & Waring, P. 1989. Field meeting. Cranwich Heath Plantation near Mundford, 
Norfolk, 23 July 1988. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 2: 157-158. 

Hatcher, P. E. 1989. Host plants and nutrition in conifer-feeding Lepidoptera. PhD thesis, 
unpublished. Oxford Polytechnic. Oxford. 

Howell, P., Lock, M. & Cobb, S. (eds.) 1988. The Jonglei Canel—impact and opportunity. 
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 

Howton, D. H. 1991. Chippenham Fen National Nature Reserve. Provisional list of 
Lepidoptera. Unpublished report to Joint Nature Conservation Committee. 

Kirby, P. 1990. Field meeting report. Woodwalton Fen. Cambs., 3 June 1989. Br. J. Ent. Nat. 
Hist. 3: 126-127. 

Majerus, M., Grigg, A., Jones, C., Salmon, F., Strathdee. A. & Dearnaley N. 1994. Factors 
affecting habitat preferences in the Lepidoptera. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 129-137. 

McLean, I. F. G. 1990. The 1988 Presidential Address. Part 2. What future for our 
entomological heritage? Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 3: 35—54. 

McLean, I. F. G. & Waring, P. 1989. Field meeting. Chippenham Fen National Nature 
Reserve. Cambridgeshire, 2 Juiy 1988. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 2: 156-157. 

Miles, S. R. 1995. Report of the discussion meeting held on 12 May 1992 to consider 
invertebrate conservation in the United Kingdom. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 19-26. 

Owen, J. A. 1989. The 1987 Presidential Address—Part 2. A preliminary account of the beetles 
of the RSPB Loch Garten Reserve. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 2: 17-28. 

Plant, C. W. 1991. The 1990 Presidential Address. Part 2. An introduction to the British wax- 
flies (Neuroptera: Coniopterygidae) with a revised key to British species. Br. J. Ent. Nat. 
Hist. 4: 99-117. 

Skinner, B. F. 1988. Field Meeting report. Dungeness, Kent, 5 September 1987. Br. J. Ent. Nat. 
Hist. 1: 58. 

Sokoloff, P. A. 1985. Presidential Address. Part 2. An introduction to the Gelechiidae. Proc. 
Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 18: 99-106. 

Stubbs, A. E. 1982. Presidential Address. Part 2. Conservation and the future for the field 
entomologist. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 15: 55-66. 

Waring, P. 1984. A survey of the butterflies and moths of Bentley Wood, Wiltshire. 
Unpublished report. Nature Conservancy Council. Newbury. 276pp. 

Waring, P. 1985. News from Bentley Wood, Wilts, 1984. Note for files. Nature Conservancy 
Council. Newbury. 

Waring, P. 1986. Records of butterflies and moths from Bentley Wood, Wilts, 1985. Note for 
file. Nature Conservancy Council. Newbury. Subsequent moth records have appeared in 
Bentley Wood Nature Records 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, a report produced by the 
Bentley Wood Trust. 

Waring, P. 1988. Hell Coppice/Shabbington Wood complex. Bernwood Forest, Buckingham- 
shire including Bernwood Meadows. Provisional annotated list of macromoths including 
all known historical records. Unpublished NCC report. Copies available from author. 

Waring, P. 1989a. Comparison of light trap catches in deciduous and coniferous woodland 
habitats. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 101: 1-10. ; 

Waring, P., 1989b. Wildlife reports: moths. Br. Wildlife 1: 47-48. 

Waring, P. 1990a. Abundance and diversity of moths in woodland habitats. Ph.D. thesis. 
Oxford Polytechnic. 

Waring, P. 1990b. Conserving Britain’s rarest moths. Br. Wildlife 1(5): 266-284. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 4B 


Waring, P. 1990c. The status in Bernwood Forest of moth species which are recognised as 
nationally uncommon. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 102: 233-238. 

Waring, P. 1991a. National review of the recording and conservation of the rarer British macro- 
moths. Entomologist’s Record J. Var. 103: 193-196. 

Waring, P. 1991b. Some thoughts on moths and the BBCS. Br. Butterfly Cons. Soc. News 47: 
19-22. 

Waring, P. 1991c. Watch out for the rarer dayflying moths. Br. Butterfly Cons. Soc. News 48: 52-54. 

Waring, P. 1992a. The spread of the dotted rustic Rhyacia simulans Hufnagel (Lep: Noctuidae) 
in Britain, as reported by the National Network for Recording the Rarer British Macro- 
moths. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 104: 311-314. 

Waring, P. 1992b. Progress on atlas of red data book and nationally scarce macro-moths. 
Antenna 16(4): 136. 

Waring, P. 1992c. Field Meeting report. Holme Fen National Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire, 
25 July 1992. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 178-181. 

Waring, P. 1992d. A butterfly and moth safari to Bangangai Game Reserve on the Sudan/Zaire 
border. Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc. 51: 264-283. 

Waring, P. 1992e. The butterflies and moths of Werrington, Peterborough. Extended and 
revised version. Butterfly Cons. News 51: 59-62, 52: 48-56, 54: 52-61. 

Waring, P. 1992f. Rarer day-flying moths—a thank you note to all recorders. Butterfly Cons. 
News 52: 34-35. 

Waring, P. 1993. Field Meeting report. Bernwood Forest, 31 July 1993. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 6: 
183-188. 

Waring, P. 1994a. Moth traps and their use. Br. Wildlife 5(3): 137-148. 

Waring, P. 1994b. Conserving Britain’s rarest moths. Proceedings of the VIII Congress of 
European Lepidopterology. Helsinki 19-23 April 1992. Nota Lepidopterologica Supplement 
5: 51-64. 

Waring, P. 1994c. Moth projects—some priorities. Butterfly Cons. News 56: 51-60. 

Waring, P. 1994d. Some interesting moth records from the Peterborough area in 1992 and 1993. 
Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 106: 91-100. 

Waring, P. 1994e. Wildlife reports: moths. Br. Wildlife 5: 392-393, 6: 53, 120-122. 

Waring, P. 1995a. The National Moth Conservation Project. Butterfly Cons. Ann. Rev. 1994: 
10-11. 

Waring, P. 1995b. Field meeting report—Dinton Pastures Country Park, Berkshire, 23 April 
1994. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 90-91. 

Waring, P. 1995c. Field meeting report—Abernethy Forest RSPB reserve, Inverness-shire, 13 
August 1994. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 94-96. 

Waring, P. 1995. Field meeting report—Catfield Fen Butterfly Conservation Reserve, Norfolk, 
16 July 1994. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 214-216. 

Waring, P. 1995. Habitat preference in the Lepidoptera and patterns of distribution in tight 
traps. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 155-156. 

Waring, P. in press. Strategic moth recording for conservation purposes. Proceedings of the 
International Congress of Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica. Lednice 4-9 September 
1994. 

Waring, P. in prep. Atlas of the nationally scarce and threatened macro-moths of Great Britain. 
Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Peterborough. 

Waring, P. & Thomas, R. 1989. Butterflies of the Yugoslavian island of Mljet. 19 August—2 
September 1988. Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc. 48: 147-149. 

Waring, P. & Thomas, R. 1990. Butterflies and moths of Northern Spain. August 23—September 
5 1989. Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc. 49: 203-210. 

Waring, P. & Thomas, R. C. 1994. Butterflies and moths of south-east Majorca, 5-11 April 
1991. Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc. 53: 121-125. 

Waring, P., Thomas, R. C. & Li, K. H. K., 1994. Hawk-moths in Hong Kong, April 1993, with 
ecological notes. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 181-191. 

Waring, P. & Thomas, R. C. 1995. Moth recording in the Czech and Slovak Republics, 4-11 
September 1994. Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc. 54: 66-76. 


44 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 
BOOK REVIEW 


The type-material of Diptera (Insecta) described by G. H. Verrall and J. E. Collin by 
Adrian C. Pont. Oxford University Museum Publication 3, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 
1995. £65, 223 pp, hardback.—As stated in the preface to this book, George Verrall 
and his nephew James Collin dominated the study of British Diptera for more than a 
century (from the 1860s to the 1960s). This work was begun to bring order to the 
joint Verrall—Collin collection at Oxford University Museum, and to identify all 
surviving syntypes of the species described by these authors. Few species described 
by them had holotypes designated and there have been few subsequent lectotype 
designations. 

The main part of the text deals in detail with all the specific names they proposed, 
77 by Verrall and 825 by Collin. These are dealt with in alphabetical order of specific 
name under each author, precluding the need for an index, and a full list of names is 
also given in systematic order. More than 10000 specimens are dealt with in the 
species accounts. 

Adrian Pont has listed as syntypic all material established as extant which 
conforms to the distribution stated in the original descriptions, which was sometimes 
vague, necessitating inclusion of all specimens likely to have been examined by the 
author prior to the likely date of submission of the manuscript (rather than the 
publication date). 

The introductory chapters include biographical details of Verrall and Collin, 
which are invaluable in bringing together much information not previously available 
to dipterists. Verrall married into a Newmarket family, later setting up home there. 
Collin was the son of his wife’s sister and became his secretary in the 1890s, at this 
time evidently becoming infected by his uncle’s enthusiasm for the Diptera. Both had 
ample leisure to pursue their studies and Collin’s greater longevity extended the 
influence of this family over British dipterology through the first two-thirds of the 
present century. 

The small selection of photographs are well chosen to illustrate this section, 
although the family photographs are unfortunately undated. The latest photograph 
of Collin with C. N. Colyer, L. Parmenter and C. O. Hammond, three of the best 
known dipterists of his latter years, was taken at Chippenham Fen in the early 1950s 
(Cyril Hammond visited this site only on 1.viii.51 and 2.vi.52 according to his diaries 
held by the Society). These collectors are not otherwise mentioned in the text as they 
did not contribute to the type material discussed. Appendix B does, however, include 
brief biographies of nineteen other dipterists who collaborated with Verrall or Collin, 
with details of the present location of their collections where known. 

The localities of British syntypes are listed in Appendix C, with their vice-counties 
and four-figure grid references. Curiously, Logie (a locality where many species were 
collected by Francis Jenkinson) is misplaced in Fife despite its regular designation of 
‘Logie in Elgin’ at least in the works of F. W. Edwards who referred to much 
Jenkinson material. As confirmed by the many central Highland species recorded 
there, Jenkinson’s Logie is by the River Findhorn (grid ref. NH9646). 

This work was evidently meticulously researched and few errors or discrepancies 
have been noted. The synonymy and current nomenclature stated is based chiefly on 
the Palaearctic catalogue, so the latest accepted name is not always used. For 
example Suillia dumicola Collin is placed in synonymy with S. mikii Pokorny, 
following the catalogue despite Phil Withers’ work (Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. 
Soc. 1987; 20: 91-104) establishing dumicola to be a good species. Some craneflies 
and other species are now placed in different genera from the catalogue. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 45 


Inevitably in such a detailed work there were some loose ends. Two of these can be 
resolved here. Attention is drawn to inaccurate citations of some type localities in the 
Palaearctic catalogue, largely due to the vague statements made in some of Collin’s 
descriptions. However, under Xylota xanthocnema Collin, different localities were 
cited in the catalogue by Peck, said by Pont to be due to ‘some kind of error’. 
Actually the data given by Peck was taken from Coe’s description of the female 
(Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 1939; 75: 224). Under Pipunculus incognitus Verrall, 
reference is made to erroneous records of this species from Britain. The source of 
these records was actually due to Verrall himself (Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 1912; 
48: 190-197) recording incognitus from Britain on the basis of specimens of 
Dorylomorpha beckeri Aczeéel, the correction being made in one of Collin’s 
publications. 

The inclusion of manuscript names overlooked in British check lists adds to the 
completeness of this work and some other previously overlooked names are cited 
such as Psila uniseta Smith, a synonym of Chamaepsila limbatella (Zetterstedt). Some 
longstanding errors are corrected, such as the supposed Irish site for Discocerina 
nectens Collin proving to be Welsh. 

The immense detail of this work ensures that it will remain a valuable source work 
for all future researchers of the Diptera. 

PETER CHANDLER 


Insects and flowers—a biological partnership, by John Brackenbury. Blandford, 
1995, 160 pages, £20, hardback.—Many of the higher plants rely on insects for 
pollination and this is a relationship that has shaped the evolution of both insects 
and plants. In six chapters this largely photographic book explores the way in which 
insects and flowers exploit each other. The majority of the photographs, which are all 
in colour and of superb quality, feature bees and other hymenoptera but flies, beetles, 
lepidoptera, mantids and spiders are also featured. Each chapter begins with a short 
introductory text, followed by the pictures which have descriptive captions. 

The topics covered include flowers as a food source, the competition for pollen, 
flower types and pollination mechanisms, the structure of insect eyes and the way in 
which they see flowers and colours. In the final chapter the author goes further afield 
to consider adaptations of plants and insects to life in desert and semi-arid areas. 

With around 80 per cent of the book taken up with photographs it could fall into 
the ‘coffee table’ category but the text is well written and explains the many 
interactions between insects and flowers. 

A. J. HALSTEAD 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


A courtship phase of Lindenius albilabris (F.) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae).—A pair of 
Lindenius albilabris solitary wasps courted on a buttercup flower on Mardley Heath, 
Hertfordshire on the cold, windy morning of 8.vi.1995. The male sat on the female, 
flicking its overlapped wings like a tephritid fly. The male’s front legs rested on the 
female’s eyes, whilst the middle and hind legs gripped the sides of her thorax. The 
behaviour continued on the flower in a glass tube, but the female did not respond.— 
R. W. J. UFFEN, 4 Mardley Avenue, Welwyn, Herts. AL6 OUD. 


46 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


OBITUARY 


PAUL NEVILLE SIDDONS, 1914-1994 


Paul Siddons died of inoperable cancer at his home in#Perranporth on 30th 
November, 1994. He was well aware of this diagnosis and bore his illness with great 
courage. He was born at Bath, Somerset on Ist August, 1914. Soon afterwards, the 
family moved to Newquay and his interest in natural history began at an early age. 
After education at the then Newquay Boys’ School, he was employed as a clerk to 
the local gas company until 1941. Having volunteered for aircrew at the outbreak of 
war, his call-up into the Royal Air Force was delayed due to lack of training places. 
With posting to 44 Squadron, of Lancaster bombers, he flew 29 sorties over 
Germany and Italy between November, 1942 and April, 1943. On several occasions 
his skill as a navigator under extremely hostile conditions had undoubtedly brought 
aircraft and crew safely home. Following a period of instructing navigators and 
training glider pilots he took part in operations which included those on D-day and 
at Arnhem. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in 1944, and later that 
year attained the rank of Flying Officer. After demobilization in 1946, he and his 
wife, Joan, came to live in Perranporth. As a Wayleave Officer with SW Electricity, 
the work not infrequently took him into otherwise not easily accessible parts of the 
county. He retired in 1979, and sadly, Joan died after a distressing illness in 1981. 

Paul was a most modest, sometimes almost diffident person, as reluctant ever to 
believe that his entomological achievements would be thought worth publishing as he 
was to speak of his wartime experiences. His interests included painting in oils, the 
cultivation of cacti and succulents, and several of the ‘‘other orders”’ of insects; but 
he was at his happiest when netting Microlepidoptera, for which he had the keenest 
eye, preferring this to their rearing. However, the necessary rearing of, for example, 
the Coleophoridae was a challenge he also enjoyed—and certainly overcame. His 
prime interest was in Cornwall, where his particularly thorough investigation of 
certain favourite localities revealed the presence of numerous species not 
previously—and in some cases, not since—recorded in the county. Examples are: 
at Ladock woods, Tischeria dodonaea Staint., Elachista humilis Zell., Teleiodes 
paripunctella (Thunb.), Epinotia fraternana (Haw)., Strophedra nitidana (F.) and 
Pammene germmana (Hiibn.); also Ochropleura leucogaster (Freyer), Radford’s flame 
shoulder, on the same date as one recorded at Swanage, a shared 2nd British record; 
at the Gannel, Newquay, the first mainland example of Nothris congressariella 
(Bru.); at Goss Moor, Biselachista serricornis (Staint.) and Donacaula mucronellus 
(D. & S.); a single Spilosoma urticae (Esp.), the water ermine, taken in 1971, gave 
credence to a likewise solitary specimen reported there in 1936. At Cligga Head on 
2nd July, 1986, within a few hundred yards of his home, he took a pair of Oxyptilus 
laetus (Zell.), with which, as with the /eucogaster, he did allow himself to be 
exceedingly pleased! In 1945 he took 3 bath whites at Newquay while on a few days’ 
leave, which luckily coincided with the ‘“‘great invasion’’. In the early 1950s he bred 
two perfectly halved gyandromorphs of Pavonia pavonia (L.), the emperor moth, 
and, even more striking, a specimen in which the forewings are female and the 
hindwings male. The collection will remain in the county, and access to it can be 
arranged by contacting the Cornish Biological Records Unit at the Institute of 
Cornish Studies in Pool, Redruth. 

Paul’s kindliness, dry sense of humour, knowledge and perhaps most of all, his 
companionship will be very greatly missed by all his friends; and to his daughter, 
Margaret and grandson, Robert, we extend our sincere’sympathy. 

F. H. N. SMITH 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 47 


BENHS INDOOR MEETINGS 
11 April 1995 


The Vice-President, Dr P. WARING showed an exhibit on rearing the oak beauty 
moth, Biston strataria (Hufn.) and the slender-striped rufous, Coenocalpe lapidata 
(Hiiban.) (both Geometridae). A freshly emerged female B. strataria was found at 
15.10 hrs on 26.iii.95 at the base of an oak trunk, clinging to the bark in sun just 
above the grass around the roots, in Windsor Forest and Great Park SSSI, Berks. It 
was placed in a mating cage in his garden at Werrington, Cambs., but no males were 
attracted. On 1.iv she was placed with two males from Bagley Wood and copulation 
was taking place by 23.00hrs, which continued until the following afternoon. They 
separated at about 17.00hrs and the female was placed in a plastic box with 
newspaper and twigs of hawthorn, oak, birch and sallow. At 9.00 hrs on 4.iv the 
female was seen placing turquoise eggs in crevices in the bark on the birch twig. 
Although no other twig was seen to be used for egg laying, when the female died on 
8.iv and the box was emptied, over 100 eggs were found in parallel rows in a long 
strip between the newspaper and the side of the box. 

Two males and females of C. /apidata were found at rest on Juncus on 30.ix.94 at 
Lairg, Sutherland, by searching after dark. Yellow eggs were iaid by both females. 
Those from female A were kept over winter out of doors in an air-tight container. 
Hatched larvae were found when the pot was inspected on 12.11.95. They were given 
buttercup and cultivated clematis leaves and brought indoors. Feeding holes were 
seen in the clematis leaves. Eggs from female B were kept over winter in a jar with 
moss and other vegetation from the Lairg site in case the eggs needed humid 
conditions. Many eggs disappeared, suggesting that the plant material concealed a 
predator, but hatched larvae were seen in mid-March after some buttercup leaves 
had been placed in the container. The larvae fed up rapidly and by 10.iv the largest 
were 25mm long. Although young larvae seem to prefer clematis leaves, the older 
stages fed equally on clematis and meadow buttercup. Feeding takes place after dark. 
Dr Waring showed some slides of the Juncus flush habitat where the adult moths 
were found in Scotland. He also showed some slides of the four-spotted moth Tyta 
fluctuosa (D. & S.), the small eggar Eriogaster lanestris L. and the drab looper Minoa 
murinata (Scop). 

Dr Waring’s final exhibit was a desiccated larva he had found in arid grassland in 
Sudan. It was about 35mm long and 10 mm wide, and densely covered by dark hairs 
on its upper surface. It appeared to be a beetle larva but no one present at the 
meeting was able to state with confidence what family it might belong to. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed specimens of two wood-boring weevils found in a garden 
in Peckham, south-east London (VC17, Surrey) on 30.iii.95. Euophryum confine 
(Broun) is a native of New Zealand and was first recorded in Britain in 1948. For 
several years before that it had been confused with the other species exhibited, 
Pentarthrum huttoni Woll., which was then a very rare species. E. confine has spread 
rapidly and is now widespread throughout England. In London it is one of the most 
common and economically important woodworm beetles, although it only attacks 
wood that is damp and affected by fungal decay. P. huttoni was probably also an 
introduced species; 100 years ago it was only known from a few west-country ports 
where it was associated with wooden casks. It too has spread but not as vigorously as 
E. confine. It remains very local, although its provisional status of ‘notable A’ has not 
been confirmed. 

Mr Jones also showed some colour transparencies taken a few weeks previously in 
Florida, USA. They showed tree bark with many horizontal lines of puncture marks 


48 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


which were oozing sap. They had been made by a type of woodpecker, the yellow- 
bellied sapsucker, which feeds on the sap. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed some colour transparencies of an unidentified moth 
bred from caterpillars boring in the growing corms of Cyclamen coum. Damaged 
corms had been sent to the exhibitor in October 1994 from a nursery near Caistor, 
Lincs. The small pinkish-white larvae were sent to the Natural History Museum, 
where they were tentatively identified as gelechiid larvae. Adults emerged in March 
1995 and these were confirmed as Gelechiidae by Dr K. Sattler but further 
identification has not yet been possible. It is possibly a species orginating from 
Turkey/Greece which had been brought to Britain in imported corms. The 
photographs were provided by the Museum’s photographer. 

Dr P. WARING said that he had not had a formal reply from the Forestry 
Commission over their policy of charging for collecting permits. He understood from 
a contact that two members had had their fees refunded and one had been given a 
small bursary towards travelling costs in connection with recording work. 

Dr I. F. G. MCLEAN reported that on 2 April he had seen brimstone butterflies in 
abundance at Chippenham Fen, Cambs. Dr Waring said it was also numerous at 
Woodwalton Fen. He said that the recent Dinton Pastures workshop on moth 
recording schemes had been attended by about 30 people. 

MIKE EDWARDS spoke on English Nature’s recovery programme for the field 
cricket Gryllus campestris L. This has always been a scarce insect known from 
scattered sites in England but it had declined until it was down to one or two sites in 
Sussex. Before attempts could be made to increase its numbers and make 
introductions to suitably managed sites, it was necessary to investigate its biology. 
This showed that much of the published literature on the cricket’s biology in Britain 
was erroneous. Some of the earlier records of the field cricket’s occurrence and the 
associated biological data may have, in fact, referred to outdoor colonies of the 
house cricket Acheta domesticus (L). 

The speaker’s studies of the field cricket were based on a site in a piece of storm- 
damaged woodland. He found that multiple matings take place and that females are 
often held in the males’ tunnels. The male blocks the entrance with his body and 
males are sometimes found with their abdomens badly chewed where the female had 
tried to escape. Males do not always make burrows in the soil but will sometimes 
make pseudo-tunnels in the base of grass tussocks. Males can be located by tracing 
the sound of their stridulations but this is more difficult if they are not in a soil 
tunnel. The females lay large eggs in the soil surface. The young nymphs are 
gregarious in areas of bare soil and do not move into more vegetated areas until the 
4—Sth instar. The young nymphs are generally free-living on the surface but they can 
make burrows, and may use burrows while they are moulting. The overwintering 
stage is usually the tenth instar nymph which does not diapause but needs cold 
winters to keep its fat reserves up. Poor wintering causes deformed adults with 
females having bent ovipositors and they are generally infertile. Successfully 
overwintered nymphs moult twice more in the spring before becoming adults in 
April and May. 

The field cricket is not, as is often stated, a meadow inhabitant but is an early 
colonist of disturbed ground. Approximately 50% bare ground seems to be ideal and 
cricket numbers decline when the ground becomes fully vegetated. Marking 
experiments show that the field cricket is not territorial and will change burrows 
frequently. A visit to Holland to compare field cricket sites there showed it occupied 
a wider range of habitats, such as grassy dunes, Deschampsia grassland and heather 
heathland. All of these sites have areas of bare soil. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 49 


Breeding colonies of field crickets were established at London Zoo from 
overwintered nymphs. They are being fed on a diet of fish food and bran. Keeping 
the nymphs successfully over the winter is difficult but the success rate is improving. 
In addition to the breeding tanks, an outdoor colony has been set up in an old 
marmot enclosure. Releases of nymphs have been made at some of the cricket’s 
former sites, including Frensham Ponds, Iping Common and Arundel cricket 
ground. The last mentioned is a chalk site whereas most other localities have sandy 
soils. Sand warms up more quickly in the spring and this allows earlier development 
of the adult crickets. At Arundel, steps have been taken to rake out the thatch from 
the grassy slopes around the pitch in order to improve warming of the soil in the 
spring. Active management of cricket release sites is likely to be necessary in order to 
maintain the open ground habitat. This may involve controlled burning, scraping the 
soil or ploughing strips, or removing vegetation with the aid of a forage harvester. 


9 May 1995 


The President, Dr M. SCOBLE showed a pinned specimen of a bizarre wingless 
female moth taken in a pit-fall trap in March in the Kwazulu province of South 
Africa. The large moth is of an unknown family and its body is covered in spiny 
hairs. [See update in report of 13 June meeting.] 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed a specimen of the seven-spot ladybird, Coccinella 7- 
punctata L. found in his garden at Knaphill, Surrey. It had been killed by the 
braconid parasite Perilitus coccinellae (Schr.) which spins its silk cocoon between the 
legs of its host insect. He also exhibited two live insects taken at The Sheepleas SSSI, 
near West Horsley, Surrey. These were a notable B dead-wood-boring beetle, 
Ptinomorphus imperialis (L.) (Anobiidae) and a widespread sawfly, Macrophya 
alboannulata (Costa) (Tenthredinidae); the latter has larvae that feed on the leaves of 
elder Sambucus nigra L. 

The following persons have been elected as members: Gordon J. L. Ramel, 
Bernard S. Nau, Angela Bruce, ‘Ditch’ Townsend, Michael Saynor, Joseph A. 
Ashley, Malcolm W. Storey and Malcolm J. Taylor. The Pamber Forest Manage- 
ment Committee has become a corporate member. 

Dr D. AGAssiz said that he hoped there would be further contact with French 
entomologists with a field meeting taking place in northern France in late May or June. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD reported that on 13.iv.95 at 8 p.m. at the end of a warm sunny 
day he had seen a humming-bird hawkmoth in his garden at Knaphill, Surrey. It had 
flown several times along the west-facing wall of the house, showing an interest in the 
hanging tiles on the wall before flying off over the roof. 

Mr R. D. HAWKINS said that he had recently heard crickets stridulating in a 
garden in Horley, Surrey, and thought they might be house crickets Acheta 
domesticus (L). 

Dr I. F. G. MCLEAN said that a brimstone butterfly had been seen laying eggs on 
alder buckthorn at Chippenham Fen, Cambs on 30.iv.95. 

Dr BRIAN FERRY described the geography and flora of Dungeness, while its insect 
fauna was covered by ROGER Morris. Dungeness is by far the largest shingle beach 
in Britain and is about 2000 ha in area. It consists of a series of shingle ridges which 
have been laid down by the sea over thousands of years. Gravel from the southern 
edge of the beach is washed away by the sea and is deposited on the east coast. The 
ridges are formed when pebbles are piled up by wave action during storms. There is a 
succession of plants which develop on the ridges over a period of time. The first ridge 
closest to the sea on the east coast has a few ephemeral plants of the Chenopodiaceae 


40 BR, J, ENT, NAT, HIST., 9 1996 


family that grow in the strand line. The next two ridges further inland are colonized 
by sea kale Crambe maritima L. and curled dock Rumex crispus L. These plants grow 
in pebbles with no soil and are fully exposed to salt spray. Further inland the ridges 
are dominated by false oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius (L.) Béauy. and sea campion 
Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke, About 14-15 ridges inland the ridges are taken 
over by broom Sarothamnus scoparius (L.) Wimmer. This is an important plant as it 
provides a wider range of habitats for insects, and when the short-lived shrubs die 
they break down and provide an organic soil. Broom-covered ridges can support 
about 50 species of plants, including bryophytes, compared with 6 species on the 
preceding ridges, Shepherd’s cress Teesdalia nudicaulis (L.) R. Br. is an annual that 
grows in bare patches where broom has died and collapsed. Further inland broom 
disappears and the climax vegetation of shingle heath, characterized by grasses, 
mosses and lichens, develops, The principal grass is fine-leaved sheep’s fescue Festuca 
tenuifolia Sibth, and amongst the interesting flowering plants to be found there are 
large stands of sheepsbit Jasione montana L., English stonecrop Sedum anglicum 
Hudson and Nottingham catchfly Silene nutans L. The soil on these old ridges is very 
acid with a pH level of less than 4, a full 5 units lower than the ridges closest to the 
sea, On the eroding southern coast the predominant grass is red fescue Festuca rubra 
L, There are also areas of prostrate blackthorn Prunus spinosa L., with its branches 
almost entirely obscured by epiphytic lichens. 

There are some natural wetlands at Dungeness but there are also pits created by 
gravel extraction, The disturbance of the ground mixes sand with the shingle and 
allows a greater diversity of plants, Ruderal plants such as yellow-horned poppy 
Glaucium flavum Crantz, biting stonecrop Sedum acre L., red valerian Centranthus 
ruber (L.) DC., viper’s bugloss Echium vulgare L. and wild carrot Daucus carota L. 
are frequent in such areas, 

Roger Morris described Dungeness’s resident insects based on experience gained 
during a two-year invertebrate survey he had helped to carry out there. As might be 
expected the insect fauna is closely linked to the vegetation and the coastal ridges are 
species-poor, The beetle Malachius marginellus (Ol.) is frequent on Crambe flowers, 
as are bibionid flies, Many centipedes and spiders were caught in pit-fall traps set in 
the shingle. There is a species of jumping spider that frequents whelk shells and is 
only found at Dungeness in Britain. The grassy ridges support many ant nests and 
several Hadena species of moths are found on sea campion. Broom is the first woody 
plant of any size on the ridges and provides a structure that creates a wider range of 
micro-habitats for insects, There are some dead-wood insects associated with the 
dying plants, which also provide nest sites for solitary wasps. Nottingham catchfly is 
the host plant for the white spot moth Hadena albimacula Borkh, and the case- 
bearing caterpillars of Coleophora otitae Zell. In the disturbed areas, viper’s bugloss 
supports five nationally notable or RDB insects and wild carrot is the host plant 
of the Sussex emerald Thalera fimbrialis Scop. The wetland areas support sallows 

which are important nectar and pollen sources in the spring, Thirteen species of 
bumble-bees have been recorded at Dungeness and the sandy areas are important 
sites for fossorial bees and wasps. Fine sand washed out by gravel extractions has 

reated some areas with dune-like characteristics, The water/sand interface at gravel 
pits 1s an interesting area where several scarce bectles and flies have.been recorded, 


13 June 1995 


The President, Dr M, SCOBLE, announced the death of Stanley Hanson who had 
been a member since 1949, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 51 


The President reported that the bizarre wingless female moth he had shown at the 
previous meeting had been identified by Martin Kruger of the Transvaal Museum as 
Cyrtojana trilineata Auriv. (Eupterotidae). 

Dr I. F. G. MCLEAN showed some empid flies, Dryodromia testacea Rondani, 
found at Ivinghoe Common, Bucks., on the evening of 1.iv.95. Both sexes were taken 
by sweeping flowering hawthorn, with more than 20 individuals being seen in about 
half an hour. This species belongs to the sub-family Hemerodromiinae and is 
unusual in this group by being yellow in colour and occurring in dry habitats, often 
with ancient trees. Most members of this group are dark in colour and are associated 
with fresh water. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed an adult vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (F.). This 
is a widespread and destructive garden pest which has root-feeding larvae. The 
specimen shown was heavily encrusted with phoretic mites, something that is 
frequently seen on dung or carrion beetles but not generally on weevils. The vine 
weevil had been sent to the exhibitor by an organic gardener and it had presumably 
gained its mite passengers from farmyard manure used in the garden. 

The President announced that the Society had taken out a public liability policy 
that gives members cover for claims of up to £2m for losses or injuries sustained by 
third parties while members are engaged in field work. This is necessary as some land 
owners are asking for such cover before giving permission for entomologists to 
collect on their land. A copy of the insurance schedule is on display at the Pelham- 
Clinton building at Dinton Pastures and a note on the insurance will appear in the 
journal. 

Mr R. UFFEN, referring to insurance cover for fieldwork, said that he had been 
asked to sign a piece of paper by the owners of a gravel pit that would have made 
him liable for unlimited damages. He had refused to sign. 

The President also reported that the Charity Commissioners were ready to register 
the Dipterists’ Forum as a subsidiary charity of the BENHS. 

Mr B. DICKERSON, who is Lepidoptera recorder for Huntingdonshire, said that 
one of his recorders had reported to him that a heart and dart moth Agrotis 
exclamationis L. and a spectacle Abrostola triplasia L. taken in a light trap were 
mating. They were found on the previous Saturday and were still together at 
9.30 p.m. on Monday 12.vi.95. 

Dr D. AGAssiIz said that he had found larvae of the gelechiid moth, Neofriseria 
singula (Staud.) at the base of sheeps sorrel, Rumex acetosella L. All of the plants 
with larvae were growing on active ant hills and he suggested that there may be some 
relationship between the moth larvae and ants. 

Dr E. JARZEMBOWSKI spoke on the fossil evidence for the rise and fall of insects. 
Insects are today an extremely successful class of animal; just over half of all 
described animals are insects and when undescribed species are taken into account 
the proportion may be much higher. The fossil record has more insect families than 
any other type of animals or plants. There are over 1200 fossil insect families of 
which about two-thirds are extant. Most fossil insects are found as fragments rather 
than whole insects and they can be overlooked, as fossilized wings can be mistaken 
for leaves. 

The earliest fossil hexapods occurred in the Devonian period and were apterous 
Collembola-type animals. The development of insects from earlier types of 
arthropods, such as the myriapods, is not shown by the fossil record but some people 
believe that a group of animals known as enthycarcinoids may be a link. Similarly the 
fossil record does not show insects in the process of evolving wings, but winged fossil 
insects are found as early as the Carboniferous period. The first winged insects included 


52 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


dragonflies, mayflies, crickets, grasshoppers and cockroaches. The next group 
developed in the Permian period and had more specialized wing structures. These 
included bugs, psocids and thrips. Also developing during the Permian period were the 
more advanced insects which included the Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and 
Hymenoptera. These insects undergo complete metamorphosis and this allows a 
division of feeding strategies between the adult and larval stages. All of the major 
groups of insects known today were in existence before the end of the Palaeozoic era. 

The number of insect orders increased sharply at the beginning of the 
Carboniferous period, reached a peak in the Permian and then fell at the start of 
the Tertiary period. They then steadily increased again. Various theories have been 
put forward to explain the rapid radiation during the Carboniferous period. These 
include an increase in oxygen in the atmosphere and an increase in food sources to 
exploit due to the evolution of new plants. The number of insect families over the 
same period show a similar trend as the number of orders, although the line on a 
graph shows more pronounced fluctuations. There were marked extinctions of some 
families during the Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous periods. The 
rate of extinctions has declined in more recent times. 

Angiosperm plants began to develop rapidly during the Cretaceous period. Many 
insects declined in diversity at the beginning of this period, possibly because their 
food-plants were being displaced by the new flowering plants. Insect numbers later 
increased with bugs and Lepidoptera developing strongly in the Tertiary period, well 
after the angiosperms had become established. The first social insects, the termites, 
developed in the early Cretaceous, with ants appearing towards the end of this 
period. Bees are first found in the Tertiary period. The Tertiary is also an interesting 
time for changes in the geographical ranges of insects. The fossil distribution is often 
very different from the modern locations of extant species. 

Dr Jarzembowski closed his talk with an appeal for entomologists to take more 
interest in the fossil side of their subject. There is a need for people with knowledge of 
insects and insect structures to search for and identify fossil material. 


11 July 1995 


The President, Dr M. SCOBLE announced the death of a member Mr Maurice 
Jackson, who had been Yorkshire Macrolepidoptera recorder for many years. 

Dr I. F. G. MCLEAN exhibited a live adult shore fly, Clanoneurum cimiciforme 
Haliday (Ephydridae), which resembles a plant bug, due to the wings being closely 
adpressed to the abdomen. The insect also progresses via sudden darting, skipping or 
jumping movements, atypical of most two-winged flies. This example was found at 
Holme Dunes NNR, a Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve on the North Norfolk coast, 
on 10.vii.95. It was swept from a sand bank at the rear of saltmarsh. 

Mr G. BoyD exhibited a micro-moth tentatively identified as Ypsolopha 
?parenthesella (L.) (Yponomeutidae). This was beaten from vegetation at dusk in 
Southrey Wood near Bardney, Lincolnshire on 8.vii.95. The specimen does not fully 
conform to the illustrations for this species published by the BENHS some years ago, 
and was brought along to the meeting with the hope that an experienced 
microlepidopterist could confirm the provisional identification. 

The following were announced as new ordinary members: Mr Tony Francis 
Marshall, Mr Adrian Thorne, Mr Ronald Gash, Mike Fox, Mr David G. Green, Ms 
Diane Susan Barker and Mr Stanley Dumican. 

Preliminary reports were received from field meetings held on 17.vi at Dinton 
Pastures and 24.vi at Dawlish Warren. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 53 


Due to the sudden illness of the invited speaker, Mr ROB DRISCOLL of Norwich 
Castle Museum, the President kindly stepped in and prepared an illustrated talk at 
very short notice. Dr M. SCOBLE spoke on the work of the Geometridae Research 
Group at the Natural History Museum. 

Dr Scoble began by introducing the work of the Geometridae Research Group 
which he leads at the Natural History Museum. Taxonomists are increasingly 
working in collaborative groups to tackle projects which require a mixture of skills 
and which would take many years for one specialist to complete. The Geometridae 
Research Group is an example of this approach, which includes taxonomic revisions, 
biological studies and database development within its scope. 

The characters shared by Geometridae were outlined, including the reduction of 
prolegs (resulting in the typical ‘looping’ mode of progression), with the appearance 
of different subfamilies being illustrated with excellent colour slides of living 
individuals and set specimens. Many adult geometrids are drab moths, but there are 
some striking and colourful exceptions from tropical regions and elsewhere. It was 
emphasized that more work is required to resolve the higher classification of the 
Geometridae; it is interesting to note that similar colour patterns are repeated in 
different subfamilies defined by morphological and other characters. Adult 
geometrids possess hearing organs at the base of the abdomen, close to the point 
of attachment to the thorax. These are consistent in structure throughout the family, 
except in some wingless females. 

The emerald moths are well-known because of their striking green coloration 
which gives them their English name. The pigment responsible for this green colour 
has been extracted, and has been called geoverdin. It is a substance degraded by light 
and may be derived from chlorophyll. Sophisticated biochemical techniques are 
increasingly used by taxonomists to generate additional characters for resolving the 
higher classification of many groups. 

Work on Geometridae in Costa Rica was illustrated by slides of the habitats, 
species and field facilities which visiting entomologists use to explore this diverse and 
fascinating fauna. Parataxonomists, who are trained in field and basic laboratory 
techniques, make a great contribution in obtaining material for study, and this 
approach has much potential for improving knowledge of the fauna of countries 
other than Costa Rica where there are shortages of trained entomologists and an 
urgent need for more knowledge of the resident insects. 

In conclusion, the Darwin initiative was introduced. This was established by the 
UK Government following the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992. It has been very 
successful in supporting international collaboration between British and overseas 
workers on biodiversity, and a Darwin fellow is currently investigating the 
Geometridae of Costa Rica. The lecture was followed by questions and discussion 
stimulated by a wide-ranging and stimulating talk. 


13 September 1995 
Joint meeting with the London Natural History Society 


Mr R. SOFTLY, an honorary Vice-President of the London Natural History 
Society, took the chair for the joint meeting held at the Linnean Society’s rooms. Mr 
Softly announced that Mr Plant’s talk would be the first Brad Ashby Memorial 
Lecture. 

The deaths were announced of Frances Murphy, a former BENHS President and 
Secretary, Eric Bradford, an honorary member and former curator of the BENHS 
insect collection, and Hugh Michaelis, a microlepidopterist, who had been a member 
since 1951. 


54 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Mr C. W PLANT showed a selection of the large number of solitary bees and wasps 
with red data book or nationally scarce status that has been recorded at various sites 
along the eastern Thames corridor in Essex and Kent. The significance of this area 
along the River Thames to the east of London for the Hymenoptera—Aculeata has 
only just been realized. The area is blessed with a number of former chalk quarries— 
long neglected and now with ecologically significant floras—and in many places these 
chalk exposures underlie Thanet sand deposits. Additionally there are a number of 
sand and gravel pits present, whilst elsewhere, Quaternary sands and gravels are 
present. Many of the pits on the Kent side of the river, including the famous 
Charlton Sand Pit, are now gone, either partially or totally, but on the Essex side 
many still remain, though almost all are under threat of development. A great many 
rare, vulnerable, endangered and nationally notable species have been discovered to 
breed here making it one of the most important areas of Britain for aculeates. One 
Essex site in particular—Mill House Wood Pit at Grays—has proved to have a 
nationally significant assemblage of bees and wasps, as well as the last remaining 
colony of grayling butterflies Hipparchia semele (L.) in the south-east of England (if 
one ignores the coastal colonies in Suffolk) and a large number of red data book 
Diptera. One hundred and sixty-eight Aculeata are so far recorded here including 38 
red data book or nationally notable species, due largely to the efforts of Peter 
Harvey, the Essex recorder for aculeates. The site is currently being built upon and 
will be obliterated in the next couple of years. It appears that English Nature is either 
unable or unwilling to intervene. Another site, Dolphin Quarry at Purfleet, Essex, 
has been extensively surveyed by the exhibitor and also has many nationally 
significant species. It too is to be developed, though in this case the proposals as they 
stand are compatible with nature conservation. The insects shown, mostly taken in 
1995, were: Aporus unicolor Spin. (Pompilidae), Hedychrum niemelai Linsenmaier 
(Chrysididae), Sphecodes reticulatus Thom. (Halictidae) and Melitta tricincta (Kirby) 
(Melittidae) from Mill House Wood Pit, Grays, Essex; Cerceris quinquefasciata 
(Rossius) (Sphecidae), Philanthus triangulum (F.) (Sphecidae) and Sphecodes niger 
Sichel (Halictidae) from Dolphin Quarry, Purfleet, Essex; Lasioglossum malachurus 
(Kirby) (Halictidae) from Cuxton Chalk Pit, Rochester, Kent; Lasioglossum 
pauperatum (Brullé) (Halictidae) from Rainham Marsh, Essex; Nomada fucata Panz. 
(Anthophoridae) from Richborough, Kent; Hylaeus signatus (Panz.) (Colletidae) 
from Ebbsfleet, Kent. 

Mr Plant also showed a specimen of Nineta inpunctata (Reuter) (Neuroptera: 
Chrysopidae), a lacewing new to Britain. The example shown was a female taken at 
m.v. light on 26.vi.89 at Eastend Wood, Elsenham, North Essex. This species is 
confined to the Western Palaearctic and is only known from 15 sites. All records are 
from light traps and it may be associated with scrub woodland, particularly with 
small oaks. A paper adding Nineta inpunctata to the British list is in press 
(Entomologist’s Gazette) and it is included in the exhibitor’s forthcoming AIDGAP 
key to lacewings, which is currently at the testing stage. 

Mr D. HACKETT showed specimens of the hoverflies XYanthogramma pedissequum 
(Harris) and X. citrofasciatum (Degeer). He had seen the former at three sites in the 
London area—Hampstead Heath, the Gunnersbury Triangle and Crouch End— 
during the summer. The scarcer X. citrofasciatum had been seen twice at one location 
in Tottenham. On one occasion a female was seen investigating an ant hill. 

B. K. WEST showed a series of the marbled carpet, Chloroclysta truncata (Hufn.) 
(Geometridae) illustrating the range of colour forms taken in his garden at m.v. light 
during 1994 and 1995. The forms were nigerrimata Schaw, perfuscata Haw., rufescens 
Strom., mixta Prout and saturata Steph. He also showed an example of f. russata 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 55 


Hiibn., which is common in East Kent and may reappear in the London area as 
melanism declines. 

Mr R. D. HAWKINS showed a live adult specimen of the eared leafhopper, Ledra 
aurita (L.) (Cicadellidae) found at Farthing Downs, Coulsdon, Surrey on 11.ix.95. 
The specimen had been beaten from the new growth of coppiced hawthorn scrub. 

Mr F. ROCKWOOD showed a colour transparency of a moth that had been bred 
from some small caterpillars found on bottlebrush flowers (Callistemon sp.) brought 
into Britain as cut flowers from Western Australia. It appeared to be a Eupithecia sp. 
(Geometridae). 

The following persons have been approved by Council as ordinary members: 
Michael Tickner, James Stollery and Matthew G. Sullivan. 

Mr S. MILEs said that the Wildlife and Countryside Act was undergoing its third 
quinquennial review and comments are required by 30 September. Butterfly 
Conservation wants to increase the protection given to the marsh fritillary, giving 
it full protection instead of restrictions on its sale. 

Dr M. SCOBLE gave details of a course on the biology and taxonomy of parasitic 
Hymenoptera run by the Natural History Museum and Imperial College. It takes 
place at Silwood Park, Berks on 13-20 April 1996. 

Mr D. HACKETT announced that he had recently become recorder for stag beetles 
in the London area and would be pleased to receive records. 

Mr C. W. PLANT spoke on the subject of a red data list of Lepidoptera and other 
invertebrates in the London area. He outlined the history of publications listing 
scarce invertebrates. In 1983 the IUCN produced the first red data book which had 
just eight UK species, with the large blue butterfly being the only insect listed. The 
British red data books: 2. Insects and 3. Other invertebrates were published in 1987 
and 1991. These introduced the categories of endangered (RDB1), vulnerable 
(RDB2), nationally rare (RDB3), out of danger and endemic, with an appendix of 
extinct species. Additional categories of nationally notable A and B have been added 
for species which may be widespread but are known from small numbers of 10-km 
squares. 

Seven hundred and fifteen macrolepidoptera have been recorded in the London 
area. Three are RDB1, five are RDB2, 18 are RDB3, 45 are Notable A and 88 
Notable B, with 10 extinct. Almost 25% of London’s moths come into some sort of 
category. National lists may not serve local needs. Some insects which are nationally 
uncommon may not be under threat in the London area. An example is Roesel’s 
bush-cricket Metrioptera roeselii (Hag.), which nationally has notable B status, but is 
widespread throughout much of London. Some moths are either local or very local 
resident species in London. One hundred and four species are recorded in less than 
10 of London’s 815 tetrads but 81% of these are not RDB or notable category 
species in Britain as a whole. 

Some insect populations have shown considerable fluctuations over the years. The 
royal mantle moth, Catarhoe cuculata (Hufn.) is restricted to chalk areas and is 
currently known from seven tetrads in southern London. In the nineteenth century it 
occurred in four tetrads but during the 1930s it underwent a rapid expansion before 
declining again. The bee wolf, Philanthus triangulum (F.) was once an RDB2 species 
but during the last 10 years has become widespread in southern England. Roesel’s 
bush-cricket is another species currently expanding its range. Should these surges or 
declines in abundance, which may be only temporary, be counted as significant when 
considering distributions? 

Some moths do seem to be genuinely scarce and absent from some apparently 
suitable habitats. The southern wainscot Mythimna straminea (Treit.) is found in the 


56 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


east Thames corridor and Lea Valley but not in reed beds elsewhere in the London 
area. The pinion-streaked snout Schrankia costaestrigalis (Steph.) is currently known 
from seven widely scattered tetrads. The chimney sweeper Odezia atrata (L.) was 
formerly found across London but is now confined to meadow land in NW London. 

There is a need to highlight species and habitats under threat and to establish 
management regimes for these sites. Species assemblages can also be used to identify 
locally important sites. The speaker proposed some additional categories for a 
London RDB list. These are locally notable A—species threatened in the London 
area, having declined in recent years and likely to become extinct unless the reasons 
for the decline are remedied; locally notable B—found in less than 10 tetrads after 
surveys of suitable habitats; locally notable C—found in more than 10 but less than 
30 tetrads after surveys of suitable habitats. The surveys should look for evidence of 
breeding colonies rather than the simple occurrence of adult moths. 

The lecture was followed by a discussion on the desirability and practicalities of 
compiling a local RDB list for the London area. 


BENHS FIELD MEETINGS 
Blackhill Mire, Helensburgh, Dumbartonshire, 20 May 1995 


Leader: Keith Bland. This was a joint field meeting with Butterfly Conservation to 
a fine raised peat-moss on the outskirts of Helensburgh. The moss is under threat 
from the pending extension of the neighbouring golf-course. In spite of the 
unpromising weather forecast five people attended. However the rain held off and 
the sun came out allowing several thriving colonies of Callophrys rubi L. to be 
located. Among the smaller moths Glyphipterix haworthana Steph. and Clepsis 
senecionana Hiibn. were active on the more open areas while Micropterix aureatella 
Scop., Ancylis myrtillana Treit. and A. uncella D. & S. preferred more shelter. Larger 
species were also evident; among the many Ematurga atomaria L. and Neofaculta 
ericetella Geyer that readily took to flight was the occasional Xanthorhoe designata 
Hufn. and X. spadicearia D. & S. Two magnificent male Saturnia pavonia L. were 
seen and a freshly emerged Acronicta menyanthidis scotica Tutt was discovered 
hardening off. Other imagines recorded were Syndemis musculana Hibn., Epinotia 
tetraquetrana Haw., Pieris napi L., Aglais urticae L., Eupithecia nanata Hibn., 
Lomaspilis marginata L. and a single vacated cocoon of Phragmatobia fuliginosa L. 
Larvae of Lampronia rubiella Bjerk., Hydriomena furcata Thunb. and Operophtera 
fagata Scharf. were also noted. 

A drop in temperature at dusk caused a poor response to light with only 
Lampropteryx suffumata D. & S., Selenia dentaria F. and Cerastis rubricosa D. & S. 
revealing themselves. Altogether some 25 species of Lepidoptera were recorded. 


New Forest, Hampshire, 12 August 1995 


Leader: Paul Waring. This was a joint field meeting with Butterfly Conservation 
and was assisted by Hampshire County Council. A total of 63 people attended the 
meeting, including a BBC film crew of eight and the resulting film was broadcast in 
the Nature Detective series on 3 September 1995. Eighteen members and friends 
came for the whole day and the rest turned up for the night work. The main 
objectives were to record whatever species of animals could be found in Frame Wood 
and on the surrounding heathland during the day-time and then in the evening to 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 57 


divide into small teams for wine-roping, sugaring and light-trapping at a number of 
pre-selected places dispersed throughout the Forest, with the primary aim of 
surveying the light and dark crimson underwings Catocala promissa (D. & S.) and C. 
sponsa (L.). 

During the day a number of species of interest were seen on the heathland between 
Frame Wood and Hatchet Pond, including several silver-studded blues Plebejus 
argus (L.) and grayling butterflies Hipparchia semele (L.), several female and some 
worn male bordered grey moths Selidosema brunnearia (Vill.), the beautiful yellow 
underwing Anarta myrtilli (L.), a grass emerald Pseudoterpna pruinata (Hufn.) and a 
larva of the small chocolate-tip Clostera pigra (Hufn.). This larva was about 5mm in 
length when found between two leaves of creeping willow Salix repens L. which it 
had spun together. A few days later the pupa of a parasitoid formed within the larva, 
whose dead skin dried and tightened around it, and on 29 August a single reddish 
adult wasp was found to have emerged and was flying within the plastic box in which 
the larva had been kept alone. The wasp is now with Dr Mark Shaw, at the Royal 
Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, for identification. 

A water rail Rallus aquaticus L. was seen walking over boggy ground by Hatchet 
Pond while the party was looking for Hampshire purslane Ludwigia palustris (L.), 
which was found. Dragonflies included the emperor Anax imperator Leach, the 
common darter Sympetrum striolatum (Charp.) and the common blue damselfly 
Enallagma cyathigerum (Charp.). Several common lizards Lacerta vivipara Jacq. and 
three fledgling nightjars Caprimulgus europaeus L. were seen together on the 
heathland. 

By day in Frame Wood, a large caterpillar of the buff-tip Phalera bucephala (L.) 
was found wandering across a path, a range of larvae was beaten from the oaks 
Quercus robur L., including grey dagger Acronicta psi (L.), light emerald Campaea 
margaritata (L.), scalloped hazel Odontopera bidentata (Clerck) and peppered moth 
Biston betularia (L.) and we were serenaded by the wood crickets Nemobius 
sylvestris (Bosc.) which were moving about amongst the leaf litter. Long-winged 
conehead bush-crickets Conocephalus discolor (Thunb.) were reported by one of the 
paths. 

In the evening session, teams were sent out to six areas of mature oak woodland 
selected and visited the previous day by John Chainey and Paul Waring, each team 
equipped with light and sugar or wine-ropes, and accompanied by, or to be visited 
by, a radio operator from Hampshire County Council. In this way, stands of mature 
oak in the inclosures of Hursthill (H), Whitley Wood (W), Park Hill (P), Ladycross 
(L), New Copse (N) and Frame Wood (F), spread over a distance of some 12 by 
4km, were covered simultaneously. The idea was to have all groups in 
communication by radio and mobile phone and to exchange news as it happened, 
but in the event the radios and phones, which only became available that evening, 
were not powerful enough for everyone to keep in touch, because of the tree cover. 
Only groups close together were able to speak directly to each other. Nevertheless 
this equipment was of some use. 

All groups were in place and sugar and wine-ropes set out before dusk. The BBC 
stayed with the largest group, in Frame Wood, and here a system of infra-red 
illumination coils and a special video camera and monitor were set up by Martin 
Harvey and Mike Bull of the Nature Conservation Bureau to demonstrate the use of 
infra-red radiation in observing moths unawares after dark on the wine-ropes. The 
system is the same as is used by night surveillance firms for security and was very 
successsful in viewing the copper underwings Amphipyra pyramidea (L.) and A. 
berbera Rungs which began to arrive at the bait, as many as a dozen per rope. It was 


58 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


a warm night, 18.5°C at midnight falling to a minimum of 15.5°C, with a very light 
shower of rain just about dusk. 

The light crimson underwing was seen at all sites, the highest total being ten at one 
site (L), and the dark crimson underwing turned up at all but One site (N), as one or 
two individuals at each. This is a very encouraging result because lepidopterists had 
become concerned that the dark crimson underwing in particular had become 
restricted to a single small part of the Forest. The larvae of both species feed on oak 
leaves high in the canopy of big trees and seem to need large stands to support viable 
populations. They have disappeared from woods which have been extensively felled 
and replanted. Both species highlight the value and importance of conserving stands 
and belts of mature oaks, which are needed throughout the Forest if the moths are to 
remain widespread, and the Forestry Commission and English Nature have been 
reminded of this. 

The third of the three Catocala species resident in Britain, the red underwing C. 
nupta (L.) also turned up at sugar during the meeting, at Ladycross and Frame 
Wood. A waved black moth Parascotia fuliginaria (L.) came to sugar among the old 
trees in Frame Wood and an old lady Mormo maura (L.) at New Copse. Other 
noteworthy records included the peacock moth Semiothisa notata (L.) (L,P,F), 
August thorn Ennomos quercinaria (Hufn.) (P,W), oak nycteoline Nycteola revayana 
(Scop.) (L), dotted border wave Jdaea sylvestraria (Hubn.) (L), mocha Cyclophora 
annulata (Schulze) (L), bird’s wing Dypterygia scabriuscula (L.) (F), bordered beauty 
Epione repandaria (Hufn.) (L,P), buff footman Eilema deplana (Esp.) (F) and pine 
hawk-moth Hyloicus pinastri (L.) (F). 

Several species of moth associated with oak were well in evidence at most sites, 
including the black arches Lymantria monacha (L.), maiden’s blush Cyclophora 


Fig. 1. Light crimson underwing Catocala promissa (D. & S.) visiting wine-rope. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 59 


punctaria (L.) and oak hook-tip Drepana binaria (Hufn.) and we found narrow- 
winged pugs Eupithecia nanata (Hubn.) from the heathers came to several of the 
lights. Numbers of moth species and individuals were not high however, the lull in 
numbers which is a feature of mid-August, before the autumn emergences begin, 
being particularly marked in this hot dry summer. 

An active paper nest of the social wasp Dolichovespula media (DeGeer) was found 
about 1.5m above ground in a small bush of common hawthorn Crataegus 
monogyna Jacq. on the edge of the wood at Clayhill Heath and hornets Vespa crabro 
L. were noted in some of the light traps. 

The above results can be compared with a previous meeting held by our Society at 
Frame Heath, New Copse and Ladycross on 10 August 1985 (Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. Soc. 19: 65). That meeting followed several days of wet weather and it was 
cool but dry during the meeting. Three lights were set up and some oak trees were 
sugared. Two pristine light crimson underwings were seen at sugar and a third, a 
perfect male, was found at rest about 30cm above ground on an unsugared trunk. 
No dark crimson underwings were seen and other insects were few. Only 12 other 
species of macro-moths were found. Evidently the season in 1995 was more advanced 
than in 1985 because some of our light crimson underwings were showing signs of 
wear and the later emerging dark crimson underwings were well out. Moths in 
general were undoubtedly a little earlier in emerging in the summer of 1995 than on 
average and readers may recall that the summer of 1985 was characterized by a lot of 
cool wet weather. 

I would like to thank everyone for supporting this field meeting and enabling the 
simultaneous survey of multiple sites in the central and eastern parts of the Forest. I 
would particularly like to thank John Chainey, Tony Dobson and Rob Dyke for 
leading groups on the day, John, his parents and Jenny Spence for their hospitality to 
me, Rachel Thomas and Beth Waring during the reconnaissance and planning the 
day before the meeting, when they accommodated our tents on their lawn, and Peter 
Potts and his colleagues from Hampshire County Council for arranging the 
television and subsequent press coverage and for providing and operating the 
portable radios. I thank English Nature and the Forestry Commission for permission 
to hold this meeting, for providing keys to locked gates, and would like to thank 
Martin Noble and Jonathan Cook from the Forestry Commission for coming along 
to the start of the meeting. Copies of this report and the full list of species are being 
supplied to English Nature, the Forestry Commission and Barry Goater, the 
Hampshire moth recorder. 


Wandsworth Common, Surrey (London), 26 August 1995 


Leader: Colin W. Plant. The prolonged hot and very dry weather contributed little 
to the leader’s expectations of a good ‘tally’ of insects from this particular field trip; 
the realization that the Wandsworth Common authorities had invited the general 
public to attend the meeting did not substantially improve his hopes! Around thirty 
people, including a few entomologists, gathered in the afternoon in the small flower 
garden outside the visitor centre, where Roger Hawkins proceeded to find a number 
of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) including Chrysotoxum festivum (L.) to start the 
ball rolling. Insects were decidedly scarce as we scoured the common in desperation 
before finally resorting to leaf-mines and plant galls as the only hope of raising the 
afternoon list into double figures. A number of common species were found on Salix, 
Betula, Crataegus monogyna and Quercus robur. Graham Collins managed to beat a 
number of Lepidoptera larvae from various trees, including those of Hemithea 
aestivaria (Hibn.), Cyclophora albipunctata (Hufn.) and Cabera pusaria (L.) from 


60 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Betula pendula, of Lomaspilis marginata (L.} and Laothoe populi (L.) from Populus 
tremula, and of Cyclophora punctaria (L.) from a deciduous Quercus—probably Q. 
robur. The leader beat the lacewings Hemerobius humulinus L., Hemerobius micans 
Olivier and Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.)—all from oak foliagé, whilst Dan Hackett 
found a number of beetles (Coleoptera) for people to look at, including the lesser 
stag beetle Dorcus parallelipipedus (L.), Cylindrinotus laevioctostriatus (Goeze) and 
Platypus cylindrus (F.) beaten from a Locust tree Robinia pseudoacacia, seven 
different species of ladybird (Coccinellidae), including the orange ladybird Halyzia 
16-guttata (L.) which is locally common in the London area and associated with 
mature sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus trees and several common ground beetles 
(Carabidae). The remains of a Carabus violaceus L. were also found in an ow! pellet 
and the characteristic tunnelings of the elm bark beetle Scolytus scolytus (F.) were 
also examined. The highlight of the day as far as the Coleoptera were concerned was 
the discovery by Dan of the front leg of a stag beetle Lucanus cervus (L.) under a 
poplar tree. Several local people present reported having seen adults flying in the area 
earlier in the year. 

After a lengthy break for food, the party re-assembled on the common for light- 
trapping. Five m.v. lights were set up by the leader and Graham Collins and the 
party waited anxiously for the first moth to appear. Wandsworth Common is not 
the most floristically diverse site in London, and the combination of this plus the 
prevailing drought conditions led us to think that we were not in for the most 
spectacular of evenings. Our expectations were realized, though we did have a list of 
some 28 macros and 17 micros by the time we had finished, the best of which was 
perhaps the orange sallow Xanthia citrago (L.). A number of other insects also 
entered the traps, including the beetles Heterocerus fenestratus (Thunb.) and 
Anotylus (Oxytelus) rugosus (F.), and the lacewings Hemerobius humulinus L. and 
Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.). 

Though this was certainly not the most thrilling of field meetings the Society has 
organized, it nevertheless was of great interest to the several non-entomologist 
‘guests’ present, and it is earnestly hoped that some of the younger people present, at 
least, will have gained something from the experience. 


Macrolepidoptera dissection workshop held in the Department of Entomology, 
The Natural History Museum, London 
Saturday 16 September 1995 


Leaders: Malcolm Scoble, Martin Honey, David Agassiz, Mark Parsons. Eleven 
members and one non-member made this workshop fully subscribed. The purpose of 
the day was to demonstrate techniques for the dissection and slide-mounting of 
macrolepidopteran genitalia, and to allow participants to put the methods into 
practice. 

Proceedings commenced with a video demonstration by Martin Honey of 
techniques involved in the dissection of male and female moths. Participants were 
then assigned bench space, allocated microscopes and other equipment, and allowed 
to practise techniques for the rest of the day with guidance from the leaders. 

The techniques taught, if put into practice, will result in the production of genitalia 
preparations of high quality and of lasting value to entomological collections. A real 
sense of achievement was evidence by the end of the workshop. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 61 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 


Capital letters for English names.—Following the publication of the letter to the 
editor by Roberts & Else (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 1995; 8: 119-120) and editor’s reply, 
several correspondents have written to add their views to the debate. There are two 
camps—those who would use capitals and those who would not. The following are 
extracts from some of these letters, edited to avoid duplication. The editor would like 
to thank everyone for their comments. 


I was much interested by the letter from S. Roberts and G. Else on this topic and 
by the ‘Reply from the Editor’. I am writing mainly to point out that the former 
misrepresent Dony, Jury & Perring (English names of wild flowers, Edn 2, 1986) by 
omission. These authors recommend that capitals should be used for ‘labels, captions 
to illustrations, notes on individual plants and lists of plants arranged in columns’, 
but go on to write ‘in the text of articles, nature trail guides and lists of plants in 
running order we recommend that, with obvious exceptions, the capital letter should 
be dispensed with’. They then give a sentence containing plant names repeating it 
twice, first using the lower case except for St John’s-wort, and then the upper case, 
stating that the former is better. On comparing the two versions, most naturalists 
would agree. 

The policy recommended by Dony, Jury & Perring is followed by The moths and 
butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland and also by the National Trust in its 
publications. 

I find myself in full agreement with the editor’s reply, though I hesitated for a 
moment over his use of a capital letter for ‘Editor’. 

Incidentally, how does one cite the authorship of the first edition (1974) of English 
names of wild flowers? On the cover one sees ‘Dony, Rob & Perring’ but on the title 
page “Dony, Perring & Rob’. I use alphabetical sequence. However, alphabetical 
priority also creates a problem. Dr J. R. Langmaid and I have just returned from an 
eight-day touring holiday in Ireland, including the northern counties. Together we 
recorded six, I think, species new to Ireland and made just over 300 new county 
records of microlepidoptera, as well as 27 in South Wales and England on our 
outward and return journeys. In a forthcoming paper recounting our achievements, I 
will feature as the senior author since E precedes L, but John, who, though retired, is 
about a quarter of a century younger than I am, has sharper eyes and nimbler feet 
and in consequence more of the records were of his making —A. M. EMMET, Editor, 
The moths and butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland, Labrey Cottage, Victoria 
Gardens, Saffron Walden, Essex CB11 3AF. 


Capital letters should be used only where demanded by custom or common-sense. 
That invaluable publication, Hart’s rules for compositors and readers at the University 
Press, Oxford, sets out very clearly (pp. 55-57) where capital letters or lower-case 
initials should be used, and may be regarded as authoritative. It does not specifically 
deal with the English names of animals and plants, but by exception from the list of 
cases where capital letters should be used implies that these should be spelled with 
lower-case initials. 

Incidentally, and particularly since this is the BRITISH Journal of Entomology and 
natural History and not the Journal of BRITISH Entomology and natural History 
(presumably the title was given by design and not by accident), and therefore 
deliberately addressed to a wider and not necessarily anglophone readership, surely 
the use in print of English names for insects (except those names in everyday use and 


62 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


included in standard dictionaries) should be actively discouraged. Who, in 
conversation, ever refers to a ‘setaceous Hebrew character’ or ‘large garden 
humble-bee’, or indeed uses any of the spurious ‘English’ names that have been 
concocted for species never likely to impinge on public consciousness? 

As to plant names, the position is quite different. Most English plants have 
genuine and long-established English names, and many of these names are in part 
descriptive: ‘round-leaved’, ‘bristly’, ‘barren’. Not to use capitals here would invite 
misunderstanding.—D. B. BAKER, Hope Entomological Collections, University 
Museum, Oxford OX1 3PW. 


Having been writing and to a much lesser extent editing for over 50 years the 
problem of capital letters for common names has been a perennial one. The rule has 
always been to avoid beginning words with capitals as much as possible. Any serious 
editor will I think agree with that. One must admit at once to having been very 
inconsistent and often influenced by the type of publication for which one is writing. 
My own preference has been to avoid capitals even for very precise common 
names—TI would therefore write ‘the lesser spotted mud-streak’. 

I asked our own editor here at Kew to read the letters at my morning coffee session 
and give his views. He thought that genuine common names such as cat, dog, 
cheetah, lion, elephant, bear, albatross, oak, fig should never begin with a capital 
save of course when they begin a sentence or stand alone in lists etc, but that a name 
such as ‘grizzled skipper’ should be spelt with capitals since it was a contrived name. 
‘What about grizzly bear’ I asked but that he thought he would not capitalize, but 
doubt had crept in. Cat can be used as a generic or even family term so occasionally 
we shall need a precise term ‘the domestic cat’ but nothing is going to make me use 
capitals for that although it is as precise as ‘the alternate-leaved golden saxifrage’ or 
‘large garden humble-bee’ (incidentally I have never heard an ordinary person use 
the name humble-bee—always bumble-bee). Yet someone as erudite as Humphrey 
Gilbert Carter could write ‘the Paper Mulberry’ in text but in books where one has 
common names after the Latin ones and also lists it may be tempting to use the same 
rule for the running text as well. In lists one might see ‘Ficus carica L. Common Fig’ 
but in the text I would certainly write ‘common fig’. I do not think even the most 
ardent capitalizer will put ‘Fig’ in his text. 

I really feel one must stick to one rule and not adjust it according to how 
‘common’ the names are. It should I think be emphasized that this is a problem in 
English language and there must be a good deal written about it in language 
literature. This is where one misses such people as the Rev. Prof. L. W. Grensted. It 
will of course rest with editors to strive for uniformity. BERNARD VERDCOURT, 
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB. 


I was interested to read the letter concerning the use of capital letters. My feeling is 
that authors should follow the rules of English grammar, and little can then go 
wrong: a capital letter to begin each sentence, and initial capitals for proper names. 
Since I consider the English names of butterflies, for instance, to constitute proper 
names, I prefer to use initial capitals for these. Thus, the ‘Speckled Wood’ or 
‘Speckled Wood butterfly’ to distinguish it from the speckled wood that a furniture 
maker might use to construct a table top of spotty finish, and from the ornamental 
butterfly a jeweller might shape from similar material—a speckled wood butterfly. 

Where authors wish to style text, for effect, perhaps giving the text as a quotation 
followed by [sic] would be acceptable, for example ‘A breeding experiment with the 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 63 


Small Copper . . . [sic])—LEN WINOKUR, 55 Palmer Park Avenue, Reading, 
Berkshire RG6 1DP. 


We have moved a long way back to the use of English names in our attempt to 
interest people in the study of insects who were previously put off by the use of Latin 
names. It seems essential therefore to make our meanings as clear as possible and if 
capitals help they should be used. I cannot accept the suggestion that they interrupt 
the flow of thought! 

A report from a mainly botanical friend that she had seen several small blue 
butterflies on a flowery bank would have a completely different significance to a 
report of Small Blues by anyone with a knowledge of butterflies. 

I keep the macro-moth records for Cheshire and some of the older ones are 
difficult to confirm. For instance there are two oldish records for ‘Small Emerald’ 
from people no longer with us. We have no wild clematis and my theory is that Little 
Emeralds became little emeralds which then became small emeralds and then 
completed the metamorphosis by becoming Small Emeralds, but of course we can 
never prove this!—C. I. RUTHERFORD, ‘Longridge’, Macclesfield Road, Alderley 
Edge, Cheshire SK9 7BL. 


In response to the letter by Messrs Roberts & Else and the editor’s reply, I 
consulted some twenty books and journal volumes in my library with the result that 
there is no consistency whatsoever in the use of capitals for English names of flora 
and fauna. On the whole entomologists in particular use capitals for all the English 
names of insects, but lower case only for plants and birds, although there are 
exceptions. In recent publications I see, for instance, green-veined white, Green- 
veined white, Green-veined White and (rather over the top!) Green-Veined White. 

Capitalization, or otherwise, is generated and controlled by various sources: (1) 
the author; (2) his/her typist/keyboarder who may well have different ideas; (3) an 
editor; (4) the publisher. Publishers may have a house style which they are strict on or 
they may leave it to the discretion of the editor. The editor may have his own 
idiosyncratic usage and at least be consistent, or he may just not be bothered and 
accept whatever the author, or his typist, has submitted. A 5th possibility is now 
creeping in and that is the use of computers where whether a capital is used or not 
will depend on the initial input onto disc or memory for use in wordchecking or to 
call up whenever they are needed. For instance I have all the English names of species 
mentioned by Tutt in his Practical hints for the field lepidopterist on disc, all in lower 
case (except proper nouns) and there is no way I am going to change it! 

Now from experience I know that manuscripts come in using all sorts of different 
formats and it is up to an editor to standardize usage. This is not always as simple as 
it may seem for how is an editor to know what capitalization was used in a quoted 
article and obscure journal published years ago? Unless he has access to a university 
or the British Library, and is prepared to spend the necessary time going down and 
searching, then he must take on trust the authors’ quote. I believe almost all editors 
of scientific journals do the job on an unpaid voluntary basis and are busy in their 
own right. Just consider the time it may take to be constantly tracking down and 
verifying references. Far better to make up one’s mind and stick to a regular system, 
such as only capitalizing the initial word, or using lower case only (except for proper 
nouns) in an article—BRIAN O. C. GARDINER, 2 Highfield Avenue, Cambridge CB4 
2AL. 


64 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 8: 1995 
CURRENT BENHS PUBLICATIONS 


New British beetles: species not in Joy’s practical handbook, by P. J. Hodge and R. A. Jones, 
1995, 192pp, paperback £18 (£12 to members), +P&P £2 (UK and overseas), hardback £24 
(£16 to members), + P&P £2 (UK and overseas). There are over 650 British beetles not included 
in Norman Joy’s A practical handbook of British beetles. Some of these are new arrivals from the 
Continent or further afield. Others have been confused or overlooked. Many groups have 
undergone revision and species have been ‘split’. In order to make his handbook practical, Joy 
omitted many rare and doubtfully indigenous species. Several formerly rare species have 
recently increased and some doubtful species have been confirmed as occurring, or having once 
occurred in Britain. Many that were regarded as mere varieties or synonyms were also omitted 
by Joy, only to be reinstated later as good species. Many more modern keys have been 
published since Joy’s book, but these are often scattered through sometimes obscure journals. 
New British beetles puts these changes into perspective, and offers the British coleopterist a new 
look at Joy’s book, a reference to the current British fauna and the changes that have taken 
place in the last 63 years. 

For each family, Joy’s book is assessed, the most up-to-date and useful keyworks are listed. 
For each ‘new’ beetle species, a short description and comparison with other species is followed 
by a list of journal and book references where the identification can be made and confirmed. 

A modern taxonomic order of families is followed and the most up-to-date names available 
have been used. A full and comprehensive index allows complete cross-referencing to all specific, 
generic and family names used, including the many synonyms used by Joy and other workers. 


A field guide to the smaller British Lepidoptera, ed. by A. M. Emmet, 2nd edn, revised and 
enlarged, 1988, 288pp, paperback £18 (£/2 to members), +P&P £1.50 (overseas £2.80), 
hardback £22.50 (£15 to members), +P&P £1.80 (overseas £2.80). This book is packed with 
information, much of it previously unpublished. It contains life histories of almost all of the 
1500 ‘micro’ species recorded from the British Isles. There is also an index of foodplants which 
refers the reader to all species known to feed on each plant; this makes it possible quickly to 
identify larvae found or to narrow the choice to a small number of species. 

The second edition follows closely the format of its predecessor. The nomenclature has been 
brought up to date. Over 35 species added to the list since the first edition (1979) are included. 
Much more information about the life histories is incorporated. 


British hoverflies: an illustrated identification guide, by Alan Stubbs, with colour plates by Steven 
Falk, reprinted 1993, 270pp, 12 colour plates, hardback £26 (£18 to members) +P&P £2.80 
(overseas £3.50). This is the most comprehensive book to be published on British hoverflies; 256 
species are described and their identification is made easy by the extensive keys, which 
incorporate over 540 line drawings. The 12 superb colour plates show 263 specimens depicting 
190 different species. Also contains a 16-page supplement which is also available separately at 
£1.50 (£1 to members) +P&P £0.30 (overseas £0.40). 


The new aurelians: a centenary history of the British Entomological and Natural History Society, 
by M. J. James, 1973, 80pp, 4 black and white plates, paperback £1.50 (£1.00 to members) 
+ P&P £0.30 (overseas £0.40). This comprehensive history documents the formation of the then 
South London Entomological and Natural History Society in 1872, and the expansion and 
changes during the next 100 years. 


Natural History of Buckingham Palace Garden, by D. McClintock et al., 1963, Proc. Trans. S. 
Lond. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1963, part 2, 144 pp, 8 b/w plates. Results of a survey of the plants 
and animals of the gardens, 1960-1963, including all orders of insects, and Monochroa hornigi 
discovered there new to Britain. 


Invertebrates in the landscape: invertebrate recording in site evaluation and countryside 
monitoring, ed. P. T. Harding, 1994, Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7 (Suppl. 1), 64pp, paperback £6 
(£4 to members) + P&P £0.30 (overseas £0.80). This special supplement to the journal contains 7 
articles on invertebrate recording, site evaluation, monitoring countryside changes and 
invertebrate recording schemes. 


Past Presidents 


1872-4 J. R. WELLMAN (dec.) 1942 S. WaKELy (dec.) 

1875-6 A. B. Farn, FES. (dec.) 1943 R. J. Burton, L.Ds., R.CS.ENG. (dec.) 

1877 J. P. BarreTT, FES. (dec.) 1944 STANLEY N. A. JAcoss, F.R-ES. (dec.) 

1878 J. T. Witiiams (dec) 1945-6 Capt. R. A. JACKSON, R.N., FR-ES. (dec.) 

1879 R. STANDEN FES. (dec.) 1947 L. T. Forp, B.a. (dec.) 

1880 A. Fick in (dec.) 1948 Col. P. A. Carpew (dec.) 

1881 V.R. Perkins, FES. (dec.) 1949 J. O. T. Howarp, mA. (dec.) 

1882 T. R. Bittups, F.Es. (dec.) 1950 Air-Marshal Sir Rosert SAUNDBY, 

1883 J. R. WELLMAN (dec.) KBE, CB,MC, DFC, AFC, FRES. (dec.) 

1884 W. West, Lops. (dec.) 1951 T. G. Howarth, MBE, FRES., F.ZS 

1885 R. Soutn, FES. (dec.) 1952 E. W. CLAsseY, F.R.ES 

1886-7 R. Apkin, F-Es. (dec.) 1953 F. STaNLEY-SmrTH, F.R.ES. (dec.) 

1888-9 T.R. BivLups, Fes. (dec.) 1954 STANLEY N. A. JAcoss, s.BSTJ., FR.ES. (dec.) 

1890 J. T. CarRINGTON, F.LS. (dec.) 1955 F. D. Buck, AMLPTG.M., F.R-ES. (dec.) 

1891 W. H. TuGwe t, pH. (dec.) 1956 Lt-Col. W. B. L. MANLEY, F.R.ES. (dec.) 

1892 C. G. Barrett, F-Es. (dec.) 1957 B. P. Moore, BSC., D-PHIL., F.R.ES 

1893 J. J. Weir, F.LS., etc. (dec.) 1958 N. E. Hickin, PH.D, BSC., FR.ES (dec.) 

1894 E. Step, F.Ls. (dec.) 1959 F. T. VALLINS, A.C.LL, F.R.ES (dec.) 

1895 T. W. HALL, FEs. (dec.) 1960 R. M. Mere, F RES. (dec.) 

1896 R. South, F.ES. (dec.) 1961 A.M. MASsEE, O.BE., DSC. F.R.ES. (dec.) 

1897 R. Apkm, FES. (dec.) 1962 ALE: GARDNER, FRES (dec.) 

1898 J. W. Tutt, Fs. (dec.) 1963 JOE. MESSENGER, BA., FR.ES. (dec.) 

1899 A. Harrison, F.Ls. (dec.) 1964 C. G. Rocue, F.ca., FRES 

1900 W. J. Lucas, B.A, FES. (dec.) 1965 R. W. J. UFFEN, F.RES 

1901 H. S. FREMLIN, M.RCS., LR.CP., FES. (dec.) 1966 JoA eG GREENWOOD, OBE, FRES (dec.) 

1902 F. Noap Ctark (dec.) 1967 R. F. BRETHERTON, CB. M A F.RES. (dec.) 

1903 E. Step, Fs. (dec.) 1968 B. GoaTER, BSC, F.R.ES 

1904 A. Sicu, FES. (dec.) 1969 Capt. J. ELLERTON, DS.C., RN. (dec.) 

1905 H. Mam, sBsc., FES. (dec.) 1970 B. J. MACNULTY, BSC. PH.D, FRILCS., FR.ES. (dec.) 

1906-7 R. Apxkm, FEs. (dec.) 1971 Col. A. M. Emmet, MBE, TD, M.A. 

1908-9 A. Sicu, Fes. (dec.) 1972 Prof. H. E. Hinton, PHD, BSC., 

1910-1 W.J. Kaye, Fes. (dec.) F.RS., FRES. (dec.) 

1912-3. A. E. Tone, FEs. (dec.) 1973 J. M. CHALMERS-HUunrtT, FRES 

1914-5 B. H. Smrtn, BA, FES. (dec.) 1974 C. MACKECHNIE JARVIS, F.L.S., F.R-ES 

1916-7 Hy. J. Turner, Fes. (dec.) 1975 M. G. Morris, M.A, PH.D., F.R.ES 

1918-9 SraNLtey Epwarps, FLS., ETc. (dec.) 1976 W. G. TREMEWAN, M_LBIOL. 

1920-1 K.G. Brarr, Bsc, FES. (dec.) 1977 R. Tusss, 0.BE., FRIBA, FRES 

1922 E. J. Bunnett, M.A. (dec.) 1978 G. Prior, F.LS., FR.ES (dec.) 

1923-4 _N. D. Rutey, Fzs, FES. (dec.) 1979 Rev. D. J. L. AGassiz, M.A 

1925-6 T.H.L. Grosvenor, FES. (dec.) 1980 R. FairRCLOUGH, F.R.ES 

1927-8 E. A. CockAyYNng, DM., F.R.CP., FES. (dec.) 1981 A. E. Stusss, BSC, F.R-ES 

1929 H. W. Anprews, FES. (dec.) 1982 J. HEATH, F.R.ES. (dec.) 

1930 F. B. Carr (dec.) 1983 B. R. BAKER, BSC, AMA, FRES 

1930 C. N. Hawkins, F.Es. (dec.) 1984 P. A. SOKOLOFF, MSC., MIBIOL., FR.ES 

1931 K. G. Brair, Bsc, FZS. FES. (dec.) 1985 P. J. BAKER, CENG., FR.HS 

1932 3 bbe GRrosvENor, F.ES. (dec.) 1986 J. M. CHALMERS-HUunT, F.R-ES 

1933 C. G. M. De Worms, MA., PH.D, 1987 Prof. J. A. OWEN, M.D, PH.D, FRES 
ALC. FRES., MB.OU. (dec.) 1988 I. F. G. MCLEAN, PH.D, F.R.ES. 

1934 T. R. Eac ies (dec.) 1989 Mrs F. M. Murpny, ssc. (dec.) 

1935 E. E. Syms, F RES. (dec.) 1990 C. W. PLANT, BSC, F.RES 

1936 M. Nistett (dec.) 1991 A. J. HALSTEAD, MSC 

1937 F. J. Coutson (dec.) 1992 J. MUGGLETON, MSC. PH.D. ML. BIOL., F.R.ES 

1938 F. STANLEY-SMITH, F.R.ES. (dec.) 1993 D. LonsDALE, PH.D, BSC 

1939 H. B. WILLIAMs, LL.D, FR.ES. (dec.) 1994 P. M. WarING, M.A, PH.D. F.R-ES. 

1940 E. A. Cockayne, DM, FRCP, FRES. (dec.) 1995 M. J. ScosLe, BSC, MPHIL. PH.D, F.RES 

1941 F. D. Coote, FRES (dec.) 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


Public liability insurance.—It has come to the notice of the Society that some organizations issuing permits 
to enter their land to study insects are now asking that all those issued with such a permit should have public 
liability insurance, typically for two million pounds cover. 

This may at first sight seem a somewhat daunting requirement. The Society has consulted its insurance 
brokers and it emerges that many members who have household insurance may already have public liability 
insurance included. It is suggested that if in doubt the policy document should be consulted. We discovered 
however that for a nominal sum the Society could extend its own public liability insurance to cover members 
of the Society while engaged on entomological pursuits. We have taken this option and are pleased to inform 
all members that they now have public liability cover of two million pounds while engaged on their own field 
work, research and entomological study in addition to such activities arranged by the Society. Typically this 
would give cover against claims by third parties for injury caused in the course of such pursuits. A copy of the 
schedule to the policy is available for inspection at Dinton Pastures.—A. J. Pickles, Hon. Treasurer, 2a Park 
Avenue, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9GX. 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 


VOLUME 9, PART 1, JANUARY 1996 


~~ 
ARTICLES 
The Society’s ‘new’ logo. R. A. JONES 


Heteroptera recording in Wales during 1993 and 1994. K. N. A. ALEXANDER AND A. P. 
FOSTER 


On a collection of Bombus and Psithyrus principally from Sutherland, with notes on the 
nomenclature or status of three species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). D. B. BAKER 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


A second record of Ctenophora flaveolata (F.) (Diptera: Tipulidae) in Gloucestershire. A. P. 
FOSTER 

Rhynchaenus testaceus Miller and Anthonomus rufus Gyll. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in 
Cornwall. A. P. FOSTER 


‘A courtship phase of Lindenius albilabris (F.) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). R. W. J. UFFEN 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 


The 1994 Presidential address—Part 2. Field meetings—a celebration of some past glories and 
the present role of field meetings as an increasingly valuable part of our activities. P. WARING 
Obituary of Paul Neville Siddons, 1914-1994. F. H. N. SMITH 

BENHS indoor meetings, 11 April to 13 September 1995 

BENHS field meetings 

Microlepidoptera dissection workshop 

Current BENHS publications 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 


Capital letters for English names. A. M. EMMET, D. B. BAKER, B. VERDCOURT, L. WINOKUR, 
C. I. RUTHERFORD, B. O. C. GARDINER 


BOOK REVIEWS 


The Dryinidae and Embolemidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea) of Fennoscandia and Denmark 
by M. Olmi. M. R. SHAW 


Scuttle flies, the Phoridae by R. H. I. Disney. R. A. JONEs 


The type material of Diptera (Insecta) described by G. H. Verrall and J. E. Collin by Adrian C. 
Pont. P. CHANDLER 


Insects and flowers—a biological partnership by J. Brackenbury. A. J. HALSTEAD 


APRIL 1996 ISSN 0952-7583 Vol. 9, Part 2 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
Published by the British Entomological and Natural History Society 
and incorporating its Proceedings and Transactions 


Editor: : 


Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F.L.S. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.E.S. T. G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. LF. G. Mckean, PhD: FREES 

P. J. Chandler; B:Sc., F-R-E:S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.I.Biol. P. A. Sokoloff, M.Sc., C.Biol., M.I.Biol., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. T. R. E. Southwood, K. B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. Hawkins, M.A. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

P. J. Hodge B. K. West, B.Ed. 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological and 
Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, Berkshire 
RG10 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


© 1996 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal Entomological 
Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL EXHIBITION is 
planned for Saturday 2 November 1996 at Imperial College, London SW7. Frequent Field 
Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome at all meetings. The current 
Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, R. F. McCormick, at the address 
given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, which 
are open to members on various advertised days each month, telephone 01734-321402 for the 
latest meeting news. 

Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 


Subscriptions and changes of address to the Membership Secretary: R. D. Hawkins, 30d 
Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 


Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of the 
Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, Reading, 
Berkshire RG3 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: G. 
Boyd, 17 Gainsborough Close, Cambridge CB4 ISY. 


General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, Devon 
TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. 


Cover illustration: Pupa of the long-tailed blue, Lampides boeticus (L.) in teased wisteria flower; 
southern France. Photo: J. Feltwell. 


NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs for black and white reproduction on the 
front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on aesthetic value 
rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or black and white 
prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 65 


LADYBIRD POPULATION EXPLOSIONS 


MICHAEL E. N. MAJERUS AND TAMSIN M. O. MAJERUS 
Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH. 


This paper has been prompted by two recurring features of the last ten years, 
during which time we have co-ordinated a nation-wide survey of ladybirds in Britain. 
One involves the phone calls we receive from members of the media, almost every 
year in late July, or early August, asking us to comment on ‘plagues of ladybirds’ 
that have hit such-and-such a place. The second involves the commonest ladybird 
reminiscence of members of the public whom we have met while travelling around 
Britain either looking for, or talking about ladybirds: ‘“‘the year that ladybirds went 
mad”. Almost all are remembering the last ‘great ladybird year’—1976; although a 
few also recall the preceding one, in 1959. Much has been written in the press, both 
local and national, about plagues of ladybirds, their causes and effects. A 
considerable proportion of these column inches is ill-informed. The impression we 
often get when talking to journalists is that their aim is to write something that is 
worth printing, even if it means making a proverbial mountain out of a molehill. In 
our opinion this is something of a shame, as regular and often exaggerated reports of 
natural phenomena, which are a little out of the ordinary, undoubtedly devalue 
reports of truly extraordinary natural phenomena. Ladybird ‘plagues’ provide an 
excellent example, for major ladybird population explosions are truly amazing 
events. 

Ladybird plagues, whether widespread or local, are well-known natural 
phenomena. Records of swarms are scattered widely through the literature over 
the past century. In this paper we give an account of some of the reminiscences of the 
most recent major ladybird population explosion in Britain, that of 1976, put on 
record some of the sightings of ladybird swarms between 1984 and 1995, and 
comment on the causes and consequences of ladybird swarms. 


THE ‘GREAT LADYBIRD YEAR’—1976 


The population explosion of ladybirds in 1976 was truly astounding. It extended 
across more or less the whole of England and Wales, and into some parts of southern 
Scotland. Exceptional numbers of ladybirds were also recorded in many parts of 
north-west Europe. The huge numbers of ladybirds were widely reported in 
newspapers, and on television and radio. In Appendix | are listed a small sample of 
the many reports and reminiscences of the plagues of ladybirds that year. 

Rapid increases in the size of ladybird populations are due to a combination of 
factors rather than a single one. Principal among these are food availability, sunshine 
during the early summer, temperature during the middle of the summer, and the 
mildness of the preceding winter. Other factors, such as the abundance of parasitoids 
of ladybirds, also play a role. The way some of these factors fit together may be 
understood by considering the prevailing conditions prior to the population 
explosion in 1976. 

The summers of both 1975 and 1976 were unusually warm and sunny. Because the 
extent of any change in the size of a population of organismal e extent 


e-mail: menm@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk | MAY 1 0 1996 \ 
\ 
\ LipparicS 


66 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


on the base number of individuals, it is pertinent to start in the summer of 1975. This 
was a long warm summer, not exceptionally dry or hot, but with warmer 
temperatures than average and no significant long periods of bad weather. Both 
aphids, and the ladybirds that fed on them, did well. At least some species of ladybird 
such as the 2-spot Adalia bipunctata (L.), 7-spot Coccinella septempunctata L. and 
10-spot Adalia decempunctata (L.) produced a partial second generation. 
Consequently, by the autumn of 1975, the populations of aphidophagous ladybirds 
that retired to their overwintering refuges were already larger than usual. The 
ensuing winter was remarkably mild, with a result that the winter mortality rate of 
ladybirds, which is usually in excess of 50%, was much lower than this figure, 
thereby increasing the number of ladybirds in the spring of 1976 still further, 
relative to the norm. 

The spring of 1976 was not exceptional. If anything it was wetter and warmer than 
average. Aphid populations did well, reproducing rapidly on the lush plant growth, 
so that when ladybirds began to venture out in search of food, they found plentiful 
supplies. Cloudy weather in April and early May prevented most species from 
indulging in much mating early on, but when the sunny weather began in the middle 
of May, conditions were ideal. The ladybirds began to mate and oviposit at a very 
rapid rate. Larvae found plentiful supplies of aphids and, as temperatures rose to 
record levels, they fed up and completed their development in an abnormally short 
time for Britain. The hot sunny weather continued day after day through the rest of 
May and throughout June. By the end of June, the extent of the increase in ladybird 
numbers, in England, Wales and southern parts of Scotland, was already evident. 
They were everywhere. The species that showed the greatest increases were the 
aphidophagous generalists, such as the 7-spot, 2-spot and 14-spot Propylea 
quattuordecimpunctata (L.), but most other species did better than usual and 10- 
spot, ll-spot Coccinella undecimpunctata L. and cream-spot ladybird Calvia 
quattuordecimguttata (L.) were more abundant than we have seen them since. 

This increase in the number of adult ladybirds, combined with the huge densities 
of ladybird larvae among aphid colonies (and high densities of other aphid predators 
and parasitoids) led to a dramatic crash in aphid numbers. Bluntly, the aphids were 
massacred. Even with their phenomenal reproductive rate, the aphids could not keep 
up with the losses due to predation. Worse still, the plants that the aphids were 
feeding upon were deteriorating rapidly under the scorching heat of that long hot 
summer. 

By the middle of July, the aphids on the ladybirds’ normal host plants had, more 
or less, been eaten out. The ladybirds then began to search for food elsewhere. They 
took to the air in huge numbers, billions upon billions of them. Some found food on 
unusual host plants, but the aphid populations there were soon decimated as well by 
the sheer weight of numbers of hungry ladybirds. Day after day, in the second half of 
July and on into August, the great swarms of ladybirds took to the air as the 
temperatures rose in the mornings. They flew hither and thither, partly being carried 
on the prevailing winds, until they came to the coast. Here they stopped, being 
brought to earth by the air currents at the coast and possibly by a reticence to cross 
wide expanses of water. Vast numbers were reported along all the coasts of England 
and Wales, with the south and east coasts being most affected. 

The numbers of ladybirds were so legion by the end of July, that they drove 
holiday makers from the sea-side resorts. There were many reports of them ‘stinging’ 
or biting humans, although, in truth, all the starving beetles were doing was trying to 
find food. In their desperation, they tested the edibility of anything that might have 
been nutritious to them. They did not find humans palatable, but their attempts to 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 67 


test whether we were edible left many people with little bite bumps as our own 
chemical defences reacted to the minute droplets of pre-digestive enzyme that 
ladybirds inject into their prey when they bite. Untold millions fell into the sea, or 
were washed off the coastal sands, muds and rocks as the tide rose and fell. Many 
were washed back onto the coast by ensuing tides, so that the tide-line appeared to 
comprise little but the corpses of ladybirds. 

We once calculated the approximate number of ladybirds that would have been in 
the tide-lines along the southern and eastern coasts of Britain on a single day in late 
July 1976. Assuming all to have been one of our larger species, the 7-spot (which they 
were not), a conservative estimate gives a figure of some 23 654400000 ladybirds 
(estimated by counting the number of 7-spots in 15 200mm sections of tideline and 
multiplied up by the amount of suitable coastline between Land’s End and the east 
coast border between England and Scotland). This figure is difficult to comprehend, 
but it is about four times the current human population of the Earth and, of course, 
this was just the ladybirds in the tide-lines on a single day. It does not include any of 
those that stayed on land, or those that were washed out to sea, or those that were 
eaten by other starving ladybirds or other predators, or those that were killed on the 
roads or elsewhere by the devices of man. Not surprisingly, a crash in ladybird 
populations followed. 

From this description, it may be seen that a whole sequence of conditions are 
involved in the run up to one of the great ladybird explosions: favourable 
conditions the previous year, a mild winter, plenty of food in the spring, a single 
and synchronized start to the reproductive season brought on by a sharp 
improvement in sunshine hours, and hot and sunny weather in the summer to 
promote mating, egg laying and rapid larval development. It is not often that all 
these conditions fall together, with the result that widespread ladybird explosions 
are rare in Britain, occurring, on average, about once every 15 years. We seem to 
be overdue for one now. 


RECORDS OF LADYBIRD ‘PLAGUES’ IN BRITAIN: 1984-1994 


During the Cambridge Ladybird Survey, we have received many reports of 
abnormal numbers of ladybirds being seen together. A few samples of these records 
are given in Appendix 2, together with notes on the observations culled from the 
reports sent in by recorders. The records come from two main periods of the year: the 
early spring, and what might be termed high summer, covering the last two weeks of 
July and the first two weeks of August. 

The reasons that large numbers of ladybirds tend to be observed together in these 
two periods are different. Many species of ladybird aggregate together to pass the 
winter. Large numbers of individuals may find the same sheltered area out of the 
worst of the winter weather. When these first venture out from their overwintering 
sites they will often do so en masse. On bright spring days, ladybirds will often sun 
themselves to warm up. This means that large numbers will be seen in exposed 
positions sunning themselves before moving off to forage for food. Most of these 
spring records involve the 7-spot ladybird which tends to overwinter close to the 
ground, or occasionally underground, often in large aggregations. On leaving its 
overwintering sites, this species will first climb low spring vegetation to sun itself, to 
drink dew or rain drops to replenish its fluid reserves, and to look for whatever food 
it can find. Here, on low-growing green leaves, it is very obvious and easily seen. 

It is in high summer that the largest numbers of ladybirds come together and 
sometimes form what may realistically be called swarms. At this time of year, the 


68 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


adult population usually reaches its maximum. The new generation of adults has not 
yet begun to diminish because of the perils of life: lack of food, predators, parasites, 
disease, adverse climate or pure accident. The main activity for these young adults is 
to feed up for the winter. In many years, aphid populations"decline dramatically in 
high summer, partly as a result of predation pressure and partly because their host 
plants are deteriorating. The consequence is that in areas where food has become 
scarce, ladybirds will often take to the air on hot summer days, to seek food 
elsewhere. The direction of ladybird flight is not entirely active. While ladybirds can 
fly in a direct way, when they take to the air on hot days their flight is aided by 
thermals. These thermals may take the ladybirds up hundreds, even thousands, of 
metres into the sky. At high altitude, they are then blown by the prevailing winds, 
often for many miles. Due to the nature of thermals in some places, and particularly 
along the coast, large numbers of these high-flying ladybirds may be brought back to 
earth in the same place, producing very high population concentrations. The 
prevailing south-westerly winds are thus responsible for the fact that swarms are 
more often recorded from the east coast of England than any other region. 


THE NECESSITY FOR SYNCHRONIZED REPRODUCTION 


Most of the factors that appear to be prerequisites for ladybird population 
explosions are easily understood. Good climatic conditions and high food 
availability the previous year lead to an increase in the number of ladybirds that 
feed up well prior to overwintering. The high fat reserves of these ladybirds, and/or a 
mild winter, will result in reduced mortality during this critical period. Conditions 
under which aphids flourish in the spring will lead to good supplies of food for the 
ladybirds when they leave their overwinter sites and begin feeding and reproducing. 
Warm sunny weather in late spring and early summer will induce high mating 
frequencies and rapid oviposition. The high aphid density and warm weather will 
allow rapid larval development and reduce the level of larval cannibalism. All this is 
intuitively sensible. However, the reason why a single and synchronized start to the 
ladybird reproductive season is crucial, is not so obvious. It is not easy to see why a 
somewhat staggered start to the reproductive season would not produce even greater 
numbers if the start of the season were extended earlier. Surely, one might expect that 
a staggered start would produce greater numbers because, at least in the early part of 
the season when aphid numbers are just building up, survival of larvae would not be 
reduced too much by competition between them. 

Three factors appear to be important in reducing the benefit of an early and 
staggered start to the ladybird reproductive season. First, any significant predation 
early in the spring may greatly reduce the eventual numbers of aphids produced 
later in the year. Because aphids have such a phenomenal reproductive potential 
within a single year, the death of a single female in April may reduce the July 
population by many millions. Second, as female ladybirds are reluctant to oviposit 
on plants which are already inhabited by ladybird larvae (Hemptinne ef al., 1992), 
stretching the reproductive season will reduce the number of suitable oviposition 
sites for females later in the season. Third, and perhaps most crucially, parasitoids 
of ladybirds may benefit from the presence of immature stages.over a protracted 
period. Monitoring of population demography in 1990 showed the influence that 
predators and parasitoids may have in years when the reproductive period for 
ladybirds is staggered. 

Records in late 1989 indicated that numbers of several of the generalist species of 
ladybird were at their highest levels since 1976. The winter of 1989/90 was 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 69 


exceptionally mild, and winter mortality was low. In East Anglia the 7-spot ladybird 
was about 20 times more common in the spring of 1990 than it had been in the spring 
of 1989. Similar reports of unusually large numbers of ladybirds came in from most 
parts of the country. In May, reports of exceptionally large numbers of aphids were 
published in the national press. Conditions appeared ripe for a major ladybird 
population explosion. However, it never materialized on a wide scale. 

The winter of 1989/1990 was not only mild, it ended early, producing an 
abnormally early spring (for the second year running). Ladybirds of many species, 
including the aphidophagous generalists, began mating and ovipositing more than 
a month earlier than average. The first 7-spot matings were recorded on 26th 
February in 1990, compared to an earliest of 21 April during the years 1985 to 
1988 inclusive. The progeny of this early bout of reproduction hatched, and 
because of the mildness of the winter, they found aphid food as the aphids had also 
begun to reproduce earlier than usual. Larval development was slower than usual 
because of the lower average temperatures during March and April 1990, 
compared to May and June in most years when larvae would normally be feeding 
up. However, the first pupae were recorded in the last week of April 1990, and the 
first newly eclosed adult appeared on 8th May. By this time, eggs and young larvae 
were very plentiful, and conditions for their development appeared ideal as aphid 
population densities were high. 

So why did these good early signs not result in the expected population 
explosion? There were several contributory factors. Some sharp late frosts may 
have caused some mortality: ladybirds are known to be particularly susceptible to 
hard early and late frosts. The dullest June, according to records at Heathrow 
Airport Meteorological Station, since records began there in 1957, must also have 
slowed down the reproductive rate of many ladybirds. But neither of these climatic 
factors could account for the decline in numbers of ladybirds that occurred in late 
June. Surveys at a number of sites in southern England in May and June showed 
egg and larval densities to be very high and aphids to be plentiful still. The density 
of ladybird pupae on nettle-beds at Box Hill, Surrey, in late June, was the highest 
we have ever seen, with almost every nettle leaf having at least one pupa on it. One 
leaf had 13, and one single nettle stem had some 126 final instar larvae, pre-pupae, 
pupae and newly emerged adults upon it. One 550 square metre nettle-bed, in the 
grounds of Juniper Hall, near Dorking, Surrey supported a population of close on 
one hundred thousand 7-spots, 2-spots, 10-spots and 14-spots. By this time there 
were already indications of some cannibalism among the ladybirds as aphid 
populations began to decline under the burden of predation. But the main reason 
for the fact that excessive numbers of adult ladybirds never materialized is that the 
vast majority of pupae never hatched. They were hit by one main predator and two 
species of parasitoid. 

The predator was the bug Deraeocoris ruber (L.). Both the nymphs and adults of 
this bug are predatory, usually feeding on a variety of types of prey. However, in 
June 1990 they appeared to be specializing on ladybird pupae, probably as a result of 
the abundance of the pupae and their relative defencelessness against this predator. 
While it is impossible to give an accurate estimate of the mortality level of ladybird 
pupae due to attacks by this bug, because of the difficulty of detecting attack marks, 
the level in June 1990 was certainly over 10% and may have been much higher. 

The two parasitoids were the phorid flies Phalacrotophora fasciata (Fall.) and P. 
berolinensis Schmitz. These flies attack and kill ladybird pre-pupae and pupae. In 
1990, about 60% of 2-spots and 75% of 7-spots were attacked (Disney et al., 1994). 
These are the highest parasitoid rates of ladybird pupae by phorids that have been 


70 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


recorded anywhere. The reason that the rate was so high in 1990 appears to be that 
the progeny of the ladybirds that bred early (in February, March and April) 
provided the phorids with hosts early in the year, so that they were able to produce 
an extra generation. The phorids that developed inside ladybird pupae in June/July 
in such large numbers were the grand-children of those that had overwintered. 

A staggered reproductive period thus may allow parasitoids of ladybirds to 
increase their numbers by increasing the number of generations, to the eventual 
detriment of their hosts. 

Other predators, including later-developing ladybird larvae and lacewing larvae 
that were running short of aphid food, undoubtedly accounted for still more pupae. 
In the end, given its early promise, 1990 ended up as a very disappointing year for 
ladybirds. 

To our list of conditions for ladybird population explosions, we must then add 
that predators and parasitoids of ladybirds must not be abnormally common. 


WHICH SPECIES OF LADYBIRDS ARE PRONE TO POPULATION EXPLOSIONS? 


The ladybird that is most often recorded in swarms or plagues in Britain is the 7- 
spot ladybird. This is partly because it is a large and obvious species, and so large 
increases in its numbers are very noticeable. The 7-spot is also the most abundant 
British species of ladybird, and so starts from a higher population density base when 
it does increase in number rapidly. However, the 7-spot is not the only British 
ladybird that exhibits very rapid population increases. All the aphidophagous species 
of ladybird that do not exhibit strong host-plant preferences may increase in number 
spectacularly over a single reproductive season. These species include the 7-spot, 2- 
spot, 10-spot, 1l-spot and 14-spot ladybirds, the cream-spot and Adonis’ ladybird 
Adonia variegata (Goeze). All these species exhibit great fluctuations in numbers, 
although the increases in numbers of Adonis’ ladybird and the cream-spot ladybird 
are rarely noticed as their usual densities are relatively low. All seven of these 
species lay eggs in clutches on a wide variety of host plants, as long as suitable 
aphid prey is available. This means that these species can respond to rapid 
increases in aphid numbers. Furthermore, they can also respond to declines in 
aphid colonies, which are notoriously ephemeral, by flying to other plant species to 
seek alternative aphids. 

It is pertinent not only to say which species do show large-scale changes in 
population size, but also to explain why other species do not. In the case of the 
four species of British ladybird that are not predatory, the explanation of their 
relative stability in population size is simply a consequence of a relatively 
consistent food supply. These species, the mildew-feeding 16-spot Tytthaspis 
sedecimpunctata (L.), 22-spot Thea vigintiduopunctata (L.) and orange Halyzia 
sedecimguttata (L.) ladybirds and the leaf-eating 24-spot ladybird Subcoccinella 
vigintiquattuorpunctata (L.), are much less subject to the vagaries of the weather 
than the predatory species. For example, we have monitored orange ladybirds at 
Box Hill each year since 1987. The timing of the first reported mating of the year 
has only varied by eight days (9-16 June) over nine summers (1987—1995). 
Furthermore, the rate of larval development in these species is somewhat slower 
than that of the aphid-eating species, presumably because mildews and leaves are 
less nutritious than aphids. 

The three British coccid-feeding ladybirds, the heather ladybird Chilocorus 
bipustulatus (L.), the kidney-spot ladybird Chilocorus renipustulatus (Scriba), and 
the pine ladybird Exochomus quadripustulatus (L.), do not produce massive 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 71 


population explosions. This is probably a consequence of three factors. First, their 
preferred prey, coccids (scale insects) do not increase their numbers as fast as do 
many species of aphid. Second, there are less species of coccid than aphid, so that 
should one species of coccid-feeding ladybird increase in number so substantially 
that it ate out one species of coccid, it would have less in the way of potential 
alternative types of principal prey (prey that promotes oviposition and allows full 
larval development, Hodek, 1973). Third, and perhaps most significantly, these 
three species of ladybird all lay their eggs in batches of just one to three eggs 
underneath coccids, or adelgids in the case of the pine ladybird, or occasionally in 
bark crevices close to them. Ovipositing in this way, these species do not have the 
scope for reacting to particularly favourable conditions as fast as some of the 
aphid-feeders which may lay batches of several dozen, or in the case of the 7-spot, 
over a hundred eggs in a single clutch if conditions are right. 

Aphidophagous host-plant-specialist ladybirds also rarely produce massive 
population explosions on a wide scale. Here the reason is again probably related to 
a lack of a range of different principal foods that would allow these species to 
maintain a high reproductive output once one prey species began to decline as a result 
of increased ladybird numbers. In addition, several of the host-plant specialists seem 
to show obligate univoltinism. For example, in Britain, both the eyed Anatis ocellata 
(L.) and striped Mysia oblongoguttata (L.) ladybirds apparently have a requirement of 
passing through a dormant period during the winter before they will begin to 
reproduce. 

Having said that species other than the aphidophagous generalists do not produce 
population explosions on a wide scale, we have had records of local explosions for 
several of these species. These records include abnormally high numbers of larch 
ladybirds Aphidecta obliterata (L.) in conifer plantations in Suffolk and Perthshire 
during 1986 and 1989 respectively; very large numbers of pine ladybirds on Scots 
pines, at Lakenheath Warren and the King’s Forest, Suffolk, in both 1985 and 1989; 
and exceptional numbers of hieroglyphic ladybirds Coccinella hieroglyphica L. at 
Chobham Common in 1985 and 1989. In each case the increase in numbers was 
probably a consequence of abnormally high local prey densities. In the cases of the 
increases in larch ladybirds and pine ladybirds, we know this to be the case, high 
numbers of adelgids being reported on conifers in each instance. In the case of the 
increases in hieroglyphic ladybirds, we assume that the heather leaf-beetle Lochmaea 
suturalis (Thomson, C. G.), whose larvae appear to be the main food of the 
hieroglyphic ladybird, must have been having bumper years, although, as we had not 
at that time recognized the association between these two beetles, we were not 
monitoring heather leaf-beetle numbers in 1985 or 1989. 


CONCLUSION 


Dramatic increases in ladybird population numbers are essentially the product of 
the interaction of three groups of organism: aphids, ladybirds, and the predators, 
parasitoids and parasites of ladybirds. These interactions are in turn dependent on 
climatic factors. Relatively minor fluctuations in climate, or in the interactions 
between these groups at one time of year, can have a greatly amplified effect later in 
the season. This means that predicting ladybird population explosions is very 
uncertain, as we found in 1990. However, the past history of reported explosions 
suggests that, although unpredictable, these events do occur with surprising 
regularity. For example, if 1996 does not produce a population explosion, the 
period 1977-1996 will be the longest period without an explosion this century. 


72 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


We wish to acknowledge all the recorders of the Cambridge Ladybird Survey, and 
members of the local and national media who sent in records of ladybird swarms, or 
brought such incidences to our attention in other ways. 


REFERENCES 


Disney, R. H. L., Majerus, M. E. N. & Walpole, M. 1994. Parasitic behaviour of 
Phalacrotophora fasciata and P. berolinensis (Diptera: Phoridae) on coccinellids. 
Entomologist 113: 28-42. 

Hemptinne, J.-L., Dixon, A. F. G. & Coffin, J. 1992. Attack strategy of ladybird beetles 
(Coccinellidae): factors shaping their numerical response. Oecologia 90: 238-245. 

Hodek, I. 1973. Biology of Coccinellidae. Junk, The Hague/Academia, Prague. 


APPENDIX 1. 
ANECDOTAL ACCOUNTS DURING THE LADYBIRD POPULATION EXPLOSION OF 1976 


“In 1976, on a hot summer’s day, I had occasion to visit an area between Elvedon 
and Barnham, about one mile south of Thetford, the exact spot being known as the 
Gorse Trading Estate. I must have been exceptionally lucky, or unlucky, as one of 
these ‘swarms’ had landed on the road passing through the estate, along which I had 
to travel. I can remember very clearly seeing the whole road covered in thousands of 
red ladybirds and the area involved must have been at least 18ft x 20ft. 
Unfortunately, I had to pass over them.” (Jack Easter) 


“In the summer of 1976, my two daughters, who were then 15 and 12 respectively, 
had to curtail one of their usual summer activities, swimming at Ruislip Lido 
(Middlesex), because of ladybirds. They did not like going into the water because the 
surface was covered with millions and millions of ladybirds. The Lido has an 
artificial beach for the bathers, and the sand was often also thick with ladybirds. I do 
not know what type of ladybirds they were. Although my daughters are both grown 
up now, and both have children of their own, I know they still remember 1976, as I 
have heard them tell their children the story of when ‘ladybirds stopped play’!”’ (Sally 
Wheatley) 


“In 1976 we had a plague of ladybirds here in Leeds. They were all over the place, 
on every pavement, and at times it was impossible to take a step without treading on 
them.” (Frank Haiste) 


“During the plague of 1976, while on holiday at Minster, in Sheppey, everywhere 
one put one’s foot, it was thick with ladybirds. The posts along the sea-front holding 
up the chains were completely smothered.” (Brenda Madgwick) 


“TI remember the ladybirds of 1976 well. I then lived on the Norfolk coast, and 
used to take my dog for a walk along the sand each day. In 1976, for what must have 
been about six weeks, we daily had the company of millions and millions of ladybirds 
along the beach. The numbers appeared to fluctuate from day to day, but I guess the 
zenith was about the end of July, or perhaps early August. The numbers on the beach 
were quite extraordinary, and once the day got hot, many thousands were airborne. 
Eventually, we began taking our walk early in the morning so as to avoid the 
ladybirds when they were in flight. Remarkably, after this had been going on for 
many weeks, one day the whole lot just disappeared. I have no idea why, because, as 
far as I could see, the weather had not changed to any appreciable extent. One other 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 73 


thing may be of interest. For most of the period when the ladybirds were about, the 
tide-line was solid with the corpses of dead ladybirds. I presume that these 
unfortunates had just drowned and been washed up.” (John Trent) 


“Beating trees and shrubs for moth larvae became a futile occupation in the latter 
part of the summer in 1976. After just one or two taps, the beating tray contained 
nothing but a seething mass of ladybirds. In Surrey, they were on almost every type 
of tree, with birch, oak, and sallow perhaps being the worst. Several species were 
present. Coccinella septempunctata was by far the most abundant, but several other 
species were also very common. These included Adalia bipunctata, Adalia decem- 
punctata, Propylea quattuordecimpunctata, Coccinella undecimpunctata and Calvia 
quattuordecimguttata which was particularly common on the birches. In over 25 
years of moth collecting I cannot remember anything else like it. For several weeks, I 
have entered in my notebook for 1976, ‘Ladybirds stopped work!’.” (Stephen 
Moore) 


“In the summer of 1976, on a humid and very hot night, I was on duty in the boiler 
house of the Maelor Hospital, Wrexham. The air was heavy with greenfly. A light 
breeze brought them in their millions causing them to sway one way, then the other. 
Huge numbers were drawn into the one boiler that was on stream. With a long brush 
I swept and shovelled them away throughout the night, until a dawn breeze wafted 
them away. The next night, or the one following, the same conditions applied, but 
this time it was the ladybirds that came, again in their millions, covering everything.” 
(anon.) 


“T have just heard you on the radio talking about ladybirds biting people when 
they are starving hungry. I was most interested to hear what you had to say, because 
I can confirm every word from personal experience. It was one year, back in the 
seventies, and from what you say, it sounds like 1976, in the school holidays. I had 
three young boys to amuse for six weeks, and because it was such a nice summer, 
every day seemed to be sunny, I promised the boys that I would take them to the sea- 
side. I guess the first attempt was about the middle of July. We went off to Brighton, 
getting to the beach about 11 o’clock. By ten minutes later we were back in the car. 
Both Robert, my youngest, and I had several little bumps on our arms and legs from 
bites from ladybirds. They were absolutely everywhere, and thousands were in the 
air. They landed on us all the time, and when we got back into the car, we had to 
spend quite a while taking them off each other and out of our hair. 


It was quite possible to feel when one bit us. It was a slight sort of pricking 
sensation, not much more than a light tickle, but after a minute or two, it began to 
sting and itch, so that it was quite unpleasant. We tried to do a few things around 
Brighton, away from the sea-front, which was pretty unpopulated because of the 
ladybird hordes, and ended up going to the pictures in the afternoon. Really a rather 
abortive day, but I do not think I have ever seen so many of one kind of animal 
together as I did that day. 


In the next week, still trying to keep my promise to the boys, we tried again twice, 
once going to a spot near Hastings, and then trying the east coast at Frinton, but it 
was more or less the same story each time. In the end we gave up. I still like ladybirds 
as much as ever, but had long resented the fact that these objects of my affections 
had turned on me that year. Now that I know from your broadcast that they were 
starving to death, I can forgive those that took a bite out of me, and indeed, I feel 
rather sorry for them. It’s a shame that they did not get anything nutritious out of 
me.” (Angela Snow) 


74 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


“The ladybird swarms of 1976 were not confined to the land. On occasion, my 
daughter and her husband reported sailing through seas that were completely 
covered in ladybirds.” (Bridget Chadwick) 


“On 11 July 1976, I was piloting a light aircraft about 20 miles south of 
Manchester at 1500 ft when I flew into a large swarm of ladybirds. It was like flying 
into bird shot. I put down at East Midlands airport to clean the canopy and check 
the air intakes. There were hundreds of the little creatures, alive, crawling all over the 
plane.” (Signature illegible) 


APPENDIX 2. 
SOME OBSERVATIONS OF SWARMS OR EXCEPTIONAL NUMBERS OF LADYBIRDS 
RECORDED DURING THE CAMBRIDGE LADYBIRD SURVEY 


11 June 1984. “‘Very large numbers of many species of ladybird on trees and 
shrubs near Santon Downham. Most were on broom, maple and Scots pine. Species 
included: Anatis ocellata, Exochomus quadripustulatus, Adalia bipunctata, Coccinella 
septempunctata, Adalia decempunctata, Calvia quattuordecimguttata and Harmonia 
quadripunctata, in descending order of abundance. Aphids were very abundant on 
the trees and many of the ladybirds were mating.” (Peter Kearns and Simon 
Albrecht) 


February 1985. ‘““On Lakenheath Warren, exceptional numbers of pine ladybirds 
Exochomus quadripustulatus sunning themselves on pine trees. The majority were 
sitting still on pine cones in the sun. Some pine cones had as many as 30 ladybirds on 
them. Everywhere we looked, the pine trees had these ladybirds. As we walked for 
several miles through pine woods, the number of pine ladybirds must have run into 
many millions.” (Heather Ireland) 


May 1987. “Along the banks of the River Aire, West Yorkshire, thousands and 
thousands of ladybirds on the undergrowth and particularly on nettles.” (Hazel 
Dunning) 


Mid-May 1989. ‘“‘A large drift of ladybirds appeared on a beach at Bude, 
Cornwall.” (lan Cobbledich) 


June 1989. “On the ferry from Harwich to Esjberg, Denmark, the boat was 
covered in thousands of ladybirds. Many of them were dead.” (Mrs G. Stoller) 


4 August 1989. “Between 15.30 and 16.15 hrs a mass migration of Coccinella 
septempunctata took place, flying from east to west at altitudes from ground level 
up to 50-60ft at Little Stambridge Hall, near Rochford, Essex (TQ887919). 
Estimated to have involved many hundreds.’ (Observer—L. Watts, reported by 
Roger Payne) 


An extract from the 1989 Annual report of the Norfolk Ornithologists Association, 
communication by Alan Paine read as follows. ““Ladybird: swarms on 20 July, flying 
east from 11 a.m. to | p.m. and again later in the afternoon”’. 


Three years later I received a pair of linked reports from the same source. The 1992 
Norfolk Ornithologists Association Report, again sent in by Alan Paine, described 
events that took place at Holme, Norfolk. “One of the largest swarms of hoverflies 
that I have ever seen started to arrive on 31 July and continued the next day until 
1.30p.m., in ever-increasing numbers, all flying non-stop down a south-westerly 
wind. Together with ladybirds, the mixed hordes meant a retreat to the HBO Centre 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 75 


with door and windows firmly shut! ‘Hundreds’ even reached North Sea oil-rigs on 
16 August and again 12 September.” 


And later, “Large swarms of 7-spot ladybird downwind (with hoverflies) on 31 
July reaching a peak next day between 2 and 4.30p.m., when flower spikes of 
marram grass were festooned. A few continued to arrive on 2 August and there were 
swarms everywhere. Some were so hungry they were eating hoverflies and their dead 
companions’’. 


“The summer of 1989 was spectacular for ladybirds at Bettystown, near the 
mouth of the river Boyne, on the east coast of Ireland. There were literally 
thousands to be seen each day on the local golf course, and nobody locally could 
remember a more prolific year. In the memories of my children, 1989 will always be 
referred to as the ladybird summer.” (Hugh Leech) 


In the spring of 1990, we received reports of exceptional numbers of ladybirds 
from many parts of Britain. To give just a few examples: F. M. Unsworth reported 
from Hexham, Northumberland, “large numbers of ladybirds on open peat of 
previously burned moorland”; H. Bremner, from Biggin Hill, Kent, “thousands of 
ladybirds in my garden”; L. Owen, from Kirriemuir, Angus, noted “‘a great many 
ladybirds, all 7-spots, on our lawn’’; C. Hurcombe, from Caversham, Berks., “I have 
a plague of ladybirds in my garden”; from Stamford Bridge, H. Goodwin reported 
“large numbers in garden, rose stems encrusted with the beetles, clusters of ladybirds 
hidden just underneath the topsoil throughout the front and back gardens”; and 
from Catherine Brown in Wigan, “last weekend thousands of ladybirds were basking 
in the sunshine of our south facing garden”’. 


17 March 1990. ‘““While on a walk on the North York Moors, I came across a 
swarm of ladybirds. They were in dense clusters all over the ground between low 
stunted heather bushes (Calluna vulgaris) no more than 4ins in height.” (J. Salter) 


17 April 1990. “Astounding numbers of ladybirds all over the garden and 
surrounding area (alt. 750 feet) this spring. Location: Far-Ben, Dunsmore, 
Wendover, Bucks.” (V. Piery) 


Late July 1990. “A large plague of ladybirds, mainly 7-spots, at Weston- 
Super-Mare.” (P. Lenin). This swarm was noteworthy enough to be mentioned 
in the Daily Mail. 


Summer 1991. “Noticed 1000+ 7-spot ladybirds gathering on a concrete wall 
adjacent to the River Thames at Cliffe Marshes, Kent. Many were mating. A kestrel 
was sitting on the wall, possibly eating ladybirds.” (Dr L. Love) 


8.00p.m., 7 August 1991. ““Rushen Gout, North of Aust (ST582906): many 
thousands of 7-spots on the nationally scarce grass Alopecurus bulbosus on 
grazed saltmarsh beside the River Severn.” (M. Kitchen) 


21 April 1992. At Leigh (TQ5646): “Literally hundreds of 2-spot ladybirds in every 
crack and crevice on a telegraph pole, in the middle of a field. They appeared from 
about one foot off the ground, to a height as far as I could observe. One week later 
they had all disappeared.”’ (Vic Measday) 


Several recorders sent me the same cutting from the Eastern Daily Press of 28 July 
1994. Under the headline “Basher barnee bee army breezes in. Holidaymakers took 
to their heels yesterday as a red army blew into town. The Norfolk seaside town of 
Wells was so over-run by an invasion of ladybirds that tourists and locals were 
driven inside to escape. In places the town looked prepared for a royal visit—with an 


76 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


unblemished carpet of red bishee barnee bees (as ladybirds are called locally) 
covering the roads and pavements. Barry Franklin, from Derby, said: ‘I’ve never 
seen anything like it. They’re all over the place, you just can’t escape them. I don’t 
usually mind ladybirds, but this is just making me uncomfortable’. And Jane Hood, 
from Clacton, said: ‘My two young children are sitting in the car because they’re 


SM dy | 


frightened, and we’re about to get away from Wells’. 


Late July-early August 1994. ‘‘2—3 mile stretch on the coast between Heacham and 
Hunstanton. Thousands flying everywhere. On a 16-metre long section of sea wall, 
13000, mainly 7-spots, were counted.” (Richard Rockcliffe) 


5 August 1994. At Hunstanton: “I parked my car near the Old Lighthouse. On the 
ground were very many stationary 7-spot ladybirds (20-40 per square foot of turf or 
tarmac). Later, walking back towards town, I found ladybirds as thick as chipping 
on a newly dressed road. There could have been a million.” (H. Shelton) 


From The Bristol Evening Post, 9 August 1994. “A village near Bristol has been 
invaded by a swarm of ladybirds. The streets of Severn Beach are running red with 
tens of thousands of the insects. Villagers said it is the largest invasion since the 
drought year in 1976.” 


Alan Paine reported reading, on the board of sightings at the Landguard Nature 
Reserve/Bird Observatory for 14 August 1994: “Huge arrival of ladybirds”. No 
indication of numbers or species was given. 


In addition we received these reports of events before the Survey. 


“TI remember visiting our small coastal town of Southwold when I was five years 
old (1964), and the car, us, and all in this one spot by the sea were covered with 
ladybirds.” (Carmela Robinson). 


May/June 1982. “While on holiday in France, at Sables d’Or, Brittany, we saw at 
the edge of the sea, coming in on the tide and walking up the beach, rows and rows of 
ladybirds. They were on the water being washed in, and many had managed to walk 
quite a distance up the beach (opposite to the lemming syndrome).” (Gillian Siddy) 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


Leiophora (Arrhinomyia) innoxia (Meigen) (Diptera: Tachinidae) parasitizing the 
ground-hopper Tetrix undulata (Sowerby) (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae).—I collected an 
adult female Tetrix undulata (Sowerby) and a larva on Arbrook Common, Esher, 
Surrey on 6.v.1992 and retained them isolated in individual containers with a view to 
photography. The female died c. 10.v and a dipterous puparium was noted in the 
container shortly afterwards. A male Leiophora innoxia Meigen emerged 25.v.1992. 
No exit hole was visible; the neck membrane was intact. Presumably the parasite 
emerged from under the pronotal extension above the abdomen. The similarity of 
this structure to a beetle’s elytra may have some bearing on why a parasitoid 
previously recorded from the flea beetles Halticus should attack a ground-hopper.— 
R. W. J. UFFEN, 4 Mardley Avenue, Welwyn, Hertfordshire AL6 OUD. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 77 


KRENOPSECTRA NOHEDENSIS N. SP. AND THE PUPAL EXUVIAE 
OF MICROPSECTRA AUVERGNENSIS REISS (DIPTERA: 
CHIRONOMIDAE) FROM THE EASTERN PYRENEES 


JOEL MOUBAYED 
Les Miriers Bt A, 3 Imp. Enclos de L’Herbette, 34000 Montpellier, France. 


AND PETER H. LANGTON 
3 St Felix Road, Ramsey Forty Foot, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE17 1YH, UK. 


A hydrobiological programme is being undertaken in the natural reserve of 
Nohedes, eastern French Pyrenees: ecosystem analysis and biological quality 
assessment are the main aims. An extensive collection of invertebrates from the 
upper stream of the Nohedes valley has provided two interesting Tanytarsini, one a 
new Krenopsectra, and the other, the unknown pupa of an uncommon montane 
Micropsectra. Both species have been collected in other nearby tributary streams of 
the Tet River. 

Terminology follows that of Seether (1980), except that the flattened setae on the 
pupa are referred to as taeniae (Langton & Armitage, 1995). Abbreviations used: AR 
antennal ratio (ratio of length of apical flagellomere divided by the combined length 
of the more basal flagellomeres); LR leg ratio (ratio of metatarsus length to tibial 
length); BR bristle ratio (ratio of longest seta of tarsal segment 1 divided by the 
minimum width of tarsal segment 1), and VR venarum ratio (ratio of length of Cu to 
length of M). 


Krenopsectra nohedensis n. sp. 


Material: Holotype 1 pharate adult male, 6.vi.1993, upper stream of Nohedes 
valley, eastern French Pyrenees, 1600 m asl. Paratypes 14 males, 12 pharate adult 
males, 6 females, 5 pharate adult females, same data as holotype. Holotype deposited 
in Zoologische Staatssammlung, Munich; paratypes in the authors’ collection. 

Adult male (1 =7), length from anterior margin of thorax to apex of gonocoxites 
3.0-3.25mm. Yellowish, head and scutum slightly greenish, thorax brownish, 
abdominal segments VII and VIII darkened. Scutellum very prominent. 

Head. Antenna 870-885 um long; penultimate and ultimate flagellomeres as in Fig. 
1; ultimate flagellomere 163-170 um long, with a wide groove extending to its base, 
bearing at apex sensilla chaetica and 2 setae 54-59 ym long; AR 0.42-0.48. Coronal 
and frontal setae replaced by numerous microtrichia; inner verticals 12-14; outer 
verticals 2-3; postoculars 2—3. Clypeus with 16—18 setae arranged generally in 4 rows. 
Lengths of palp segments: 43, 46, 133, 123, 132 um; sensilla clavata absent. 

Thorax. Halteres transparent, densely covered with microtrichia and bearing 5-6 
short uniserial setae. Scutellum pubescent with 8-10 setae in a single row. 
Antepronotals absent; acrostichals 19-20 (biserial); dorsocentrals 14-15; prealars 
and supraalars 0. Wing length 1.95-2.05 mm; membrane with dense macrotrichia 35— 
37 um long; numerous setae on veins except M which is bare; anal lobe and squama 
absent; 2 sensilla campaniformia; VR = 1.30—1.32. Foreleg LR 1.34-1.38, BR 2.8-3.0. 

Hypopygium as in Fig. 2. Tergite [IX with 1—2 central setae and 12-16 basal setae, 
all subequal in size (18-22 um long). Anal point laterally as in Fig. 3; 32-34 um long, 


78 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Figs 1-4. Krenopsectra nohedensis n.sp. male imago. 1, penultimate and ultimate flagellomeres; 
2, hypopygium in dorsal view; 3, anal point in lateral view; 4, superior volsella. Scale= 0.05 mm. 


31-34 um wide at base; broad and rounded apically and reaching the apex of the 
superior volsella. Superior volsella (Fig. 4), with 4-6 short setae dorsally and 2, rarely 
1, stout setae apically; inner basal margin with | very stout seta 36-40 um long. 
Median volsella 93—98 um long; slightly curved and reaching tip of inferior volsella; 
inner margin with fine setae increasing distally into a brush containing 6—9 inwardly 
directed lamellae. Inferior volsella 94-98 um long, 17-19 um wide; gradually curved 
distally. Gonocoxite with 3-4 setae laterobasally; medially slightly swollen and 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 79 


Figs 5-8. Krenopsectra nohedensis n.sp. female imago. 5, three last flagellomeres; 6, tergite [X in 
dorsal view; 7, genitalia in ventral view; 8, cercus in lateral view. Scales in mm. 


bearing 2-3 (usually 2) setae on inner margin. Gonostylus 144-150 um long; 
moderately narrowed toward tip; internally over apical half with 2 rows of 6—7 
projecting setae. Gonocoxite 0.60—0.65 length of gonostylus. HV (ratio of body 
length measured as above to gonostylus length x 10)=2.05—2.15. 

Adult female (7 = 5). Length 2.9-3.1 mm. Coloration and morphology of thorax as 
in male. 

Head. Inner verticals 14—15; outer verticals 3; postoculars 3; coronals and frontals 
0. Lengths of palp segments: 45, 29, 91, 96, 120 um; sensilla clavata 0. Antenna 348— 
354 um long; AR =0.42—0.44; last 3 flagellomeres as in Fig. 5; ultimate flagellomere 
103-106 um long, with sensilla chaetica and | apical seta 60-63 um long. Clypeus 
with 20-21 setae arranged in general in 5 rows (7, 5, 4, 2, 2). 

Thorax. Antepronotals 0; acrostichals 20-21; dorsocentrals 22—23; prealars 3; 
scutellars 10 in a single row. Halteres transparent, 290-310 um long, with 5 short 
setae. Wing 2.15—2.25mm long; membrane with dense macrotrichia 51—54 um long; 
anal lobe and squama absent; numerous setae on veins except on M;; sensilla 
campaniformia 2; VR = 1.30—1.32. Foreleg LR 1.23—1.28, BR 3.10—3.20. 


80 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


oats 


ay 


1" 0 
iat \ 


Ta at 


Figs 9 & 10. Krenopsectra nohedensis n.sp. female imago. 9, genitalia in lateral view; 10, lobes of 
gonapophysis VIII, dorsomesal and ventrolateral lobes. Scales in mm. 
Fig. 11. Micropsectra auvergnensis Reiss male imago: anal point in lateral view. 


Genitalia (Figs 6, 7 & 9). Tergite [IX as in Fig. 6; semicircular, undivided, and with 
two lateral expansions 7-9 um long; with 31—34 setae. Gonocoxite 56-64 um long, 
with 6—7 setae. Seminal capsule 73—78 um long, 23—25 um wide, pear-shaped. Sternite 
VIII (Fig. 7) with 23—28 setae. Notum 88—96 um long; ramus 29-31 um long; notum 
ratio (length of notum divided by length of ramus) = 1.35—1.7 (m= 1.51, n=5). Lobes 
of gonapophysis VIII as in Fig. 10, clearly divided from each other; dorsomesal lobe 
flat ventrally, hook-like laterally; without differentiated setae at base; ventrolateral 
lobe densely covered with short setae which are longer towards the median margin. 
Cercus in lateral view as in Fig. 8; 53-60 um long, 70—73 um wide. 


Pupa 


Material: 26 pupal exuviae, 6.vi.93, a stream in upper Nohedes valley, 1600 m asl 
(J.M.); 1 pupal exuviae, 12.viii.94, Caranga Torrent, 940 m asl, Prépyréneées (P.H.L.). 

Total length 3.64.1 mm (m=3.89mm, n=27). Cephalothorax*smudged brown, 
wingsheaths margined with brown; abdomen colourless with segments II and VIII 
lightly browned, lateral apodemes golden and anterior median stronger points of IV 
and V highlighted with golden brown; comb brown; IX golden brown. 

Cephalothorax. Frontal setae 141—-240um long (m=194.5, n=17). Frontal 
apotome with incipient granulation. Cephalic tubercles (Fig. 14) broad-based 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 81 


Figs 12-15. Krenopsectra nohedensis n.sp. male pupa. 12, dorsal view of segments II—-V; 13, 
dorsal view of segments VI-IX; 14, appearance of cephalic tubercles on flattened and folded 
frontal apotome; 15, thoracic horn and precorneal setae. Scale =0.1 mm. 


elongate cones 64-130 um high (m=77.1, n= 11). Thoracic horn (Fig. 15) set at right 
angles to basal bulb, 384-576 um long (m= 474.9, n= 24), 3.3-7.0 times as long as 
broad (m= 4.9, n=21), with a broad band of long setae about 7 setae wide from base 
to apex, towards apex the band widening to encompass the horn, longest setae 304— 
450 um long (m= 406.1, n= 24), 0.7—1.2 times horn length (m= 0.83, n= 24). Nose of 
wingsheaths small; pearl row absent. All setae of cephalothorax hair-like, not 
flattened. Lengths of lateral antepronotal setae 70-173 um (104.4, n= 16), median 
antepronotal setae 141—225um (m=196.5, n=15), precorneal setae 1—3 186-272; 
150-208; 112—160 pm (m= 222.9; 184.9; 149.9, n= 15), dorsocentral setae 14 93-154; 
77-173; 102-163; 96-141 um (m=128; 114.3; 138.8; 123.7, n=20), occasionally 
forked. 


82 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Abdomen (Figs 12, 13). Segment I unarmed. Tergite II nearly covered with small 
points that are a little larger posteriorly; the posterior median longitudinal smooth 
space only weakly closed anteriorly, the lateral bands diverging to produce a V- 
shaped median bare patch; hook row 0.31—0.44 segment breadth, of 73-96 hooks 
(n= 10); pedes spurii B well developed. Tergite HI similar to II but lateral point 
patches rectangular with a narrow bare longitudinal band medially; antero-median 
points larger and somewhat darkened. Tergites IV and V as III but antero-median 
larger points more extensive. Tergite VI as V but points sparser laterally and no 
differentiated points anteriorly. Tergite VII with or without a pair of small antero- 
median point patches. Tergite VIII with antero-lateral corners armed with very small 
points. Comb of segment VIII with 4-7 elongate marginal teeth. Sternites, 
paratergites and parasternites unarmed. Tergite IX unarmed; anal lobes truncate 
behind, 0.87—1.19 as long as broad, fringe starting about half-way back. Chaetotaxy: 
(S = taeniae) 


I II II IV Vv VI VII VIII Ix 
dorsal 2 D 5 5 5 5 5 l is 
lateral 0 3 3 3 3 3 
lateral S 4(3) 4 8-13 
ventral 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 l 


Larva unknown. 


Taxonomic remarks 


Two species of Krenopsectra Reiss have been described previously: acuta 
(Goetghebuer, 1934) and fallax Reiss (1969b, 1974). Only fallax hitherto has been 
recorded from rivers in the Alps and Pyrenees (Reiss, 1969b; Serra-Tosio & Laville, 
1991). The adult male of nohedensis can be separated from the other two species by 
the combination of the following characters: anal point uniformly broadened; 
superior volsella large, not so narrowed towards the tip as in both acuta and fallax; 
median volsella bearing 6-9 broad lamellae at tip; basal inner margin of gonocoxite 
swollen medially. 


Key to adult male Krenopsectra 


1 Anal point broadly rounded and swollen medially, with nipple-like apex...... 
SRE L BIT) A ies. 4 ean EY a K. acuta (Goetghebuer) 

— Anal point uniformly broadened to base, not swollen medially ........... 2 
2 Superior volsella gradually narrowed to tip. Median volsella with less than 10 
apicalelamellate setae s!!! 22uqsiOON> 0) BIH ROME AUT ae K. nohedensis n.sp. 
— Superior volsella strongly contracted before tip, the apical part nearly parallel- 
sided. Median volsella with more than 12 apical lamellate setae............ 


The adult female of nohedensis is characterized especially by its low notum ratio, 
the shape of tergite [IX (undivided and bearing lateral expansions), the morphology 
of gonopophysis VIII and particularly by the flattened dorsomesal lobe. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 83 


The pupal exuviae of nohedensis run to Krenopsectra fallax at couplet 125 of the 
key to Tanytarsini in Langton (1991). The pupa of acuta has also been described 
(Reiss, 1969b) and was overlooked in the construction of the West Palaearctic key. 
The three species may be incorporated as follows: 

125 Fringe of anal lobes restricted to the posterior half of the lobes, of 15 taeniae or 
Pee Burg eae A) dotted one & SRR Rie ake Secetalel ty amemene: atts Marlies ie a 125a 
— Fringe of anal lobes complete, usually of many more taeniae......... 126 
125a Thoracic horn extending from the basal bulb, not strongly bent at base .... 
> actrees Rome hetet eerste ae rena, Sepdae ac eee Han Fane Krenopsectra acuta Reiss 
Thoracic horn bent at right angles at attachment to basal bulb....... 125b 
125b Tergites IIJ-V, apart from the smooth median longitudinal band, nearly 
covered with points. Only one dorsal taenia on the anal lobes ........... 
Hence Ay og peweds | 20k ace tes 28 1, eye eae ae ares Krenopsectra nohedensis sp. nov. 
Tergites III-V with the point patches on either side of the smooth midline 
truncated triangular, narrow anteriorly and spreading towards the lateral 
ierimrortne terete Posteriad! 70... ool he. Krenopsectra fallax Reiss 


Micropsectra auvergnensis Reiss 


When M. auvergnensis was described by Reiss (1969a) from the Massif Central, the 
pupa was unknown. A partly eclosed adult male establishes as auvergnensis a new 
pupal form from a stream in the upper Nohedes valley, type locality of Krenopsectra 
nohedensis, and a stream a few kilometres to the west. The lateral view of the male 
anal point (Fig. 11) was not figured in the original description. 

Material: 1 partly eclosed adult male and two damaged pupal exuviae, 6.vi.93, 
stream in upper Nohedes valley, 1600m asl (J.M.); 1 pupal exuviae, 31.v.94 Aude 
stream, 950m asl, Prépyrénées (P.H.L.). 


Description of pupa 


Total length 3.7, 4.2mm. Colourless to faint golden brown anteriorly and 
posteriorly, in addition golden brown smudging of cephalothorax and of tergites 
where the stronger armament is situated; comb golden-brown. 

Cephalothorax. Frontal setae 220-240 um long. Cephalic tubercles very weak. 
Antennal sheath base with weak rounded-conical projection. Thoracic horn (Fig. 18) 
304-384 um long, 38-54 um broad, 5.6—-10 times as long as broad; longest horn setae 
208-230 pm long, 0.68—0.71 times as long as horn. Nose of wingsheaths small; pearl 
row absent. All setae of cephalothorax hair-like, not flattened. Lengths of lateral 
antepronotal setae 90-130 um, median antepronotal setae 150-170 um, precorneal 
setae 1-3 166-192; 90-128; 90-109 um, dorsocentral setae 1-4 80; 64; 96; 77 um. 
Posterior thoracic mound moderately swollen. 

Abdomen (Figs 16 & 17). Segment I unarmed. Tergite II almost covered with 
points; hook row 0.38—0.45 breadth of segment II, of 72-88 hooks. Tergite III with 
the point patch deeply emarginate postero-medially, the points on each side of the 
emargination replaced by spines 51-64 um long. Tergites IV and V with an anterior 
pair of slightly oblique bands of strong points, narrowly separated medially, from the 
lateral ends of which extends a point band which widens posteriad. Tergites VI and 
VII similar to tergites IV and V but the anterior bands progressively weaker, hardly 
recognizable on VII; VII also with the lateral bands ceasing at about level seta DS. 


84 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


TE Nts 


Figs 16-18. Micropsectra auvergnensis Reiss male pupa. 16, dorsal view of segments II-V; 17, 
dorsal view of segments VI-IX; 18, thoracic horn and precorneal setae. Scale=0.1 mm. 


Tergite VIII with a small patch of minute points antero-laterally. Sternites unarmed. 
Paratergites II-VII armed with small points. Comb of segment VIII with 4 or 5 
marginal teeth. Anal lobes rounded, 1.1—1.2 times as long as broad. Pedes spurii B of 
segment II conspicuous. Chaetotaxy (S = taeniae): 


I II Ill IV Vv VI VIL om VIII Ix 
dorsal 2 3 5) 5 5 5 5 1 1S 
lateral 0 3 3 1 
lateral S 2 3 4° 4 5 29-34 
ventral 0 2 3 4 4 4 4 1 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 85 


Taxonomic remarks 


The pupa of M. auvergnensis founders at couplet 126 of the key to Tanytarsini in 
Langton (1991). It has in common with other members of the attenuata group the 
armed paratergites (inaccurately referred to as ‘pleura’ in the key); however, the 
conspicuous anterior point patches of tergites [IV and V would direct the user to a 
point later in the key. M. auvergnensis may be included in the key as follows: 

126 Tergites IV and V nearly covered with strong points, the points of the anterior 
transverse point patches similar in size but more dense than elsewhere on these 
segments and may be rendered conspicuous by a golden or brown colouring of 
the cuticle around them. (Paratergites of mid abdominal segments extensively 


amen With isiallpomtss) Sos Pee, es Pee as 127 
— If tergites IV and V with extensive armament, then the points of the anterior 
point patches much stronger than those behind. ......ss2525. 000. 127a 


127 (unchanged) 

i274 Parater sites TI-ViLarmed with small points be spee eS 
+ lie AGE No Si iE ae eR, Mi a a ee SoA ae a Micropsectra auvergnensis Reiss 

—  Paratergites II-VII unarmed, or rarely with a restricted area of small points . 
ET Reese NEN es fee er Sea, Sat ate eel Se tee 128 


Ecology 


Reiss (1969a) for species of the Micropsectra attenuata group states ‘Although 
larvae are not available, the rearing and collecting conditions of adults give rise to 
the impression that the larvae are cold stenothermic, oxybiontic inhabitants of lenitic 
[sic] areas in springs and upper stream courses’. The fast-flowing montane streams 
that have yielded both Krenopsectra nohedensis and Micropsectra auvergnensis in the 
Pyrenees, fall within this general classification. Their larval habitats within the 
streams are being investigated. 

M. auvergnensis has been previously recorded for the Auvergne in France and 
Westfalen in Germany (Reiss, 1969a). It is unlikely that K. nohedensis is restricted to 
the eastern Pyrenees. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


We wish to thank members and workers of the natural reserve of Nohedes, and 
especially the Director, A. Mangeot, for hospitality and helpful assistance during our 
investigations. 


REFERENCES 


Goetghebuer, M. 1934. Ceratopogonidae et Chironomidae récoltés par M. le Prof. Thienemann 
dans les environs de Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Haute-Baviére) et par M. Geijskes prés de 
Bale, dans le Réserenbach. Bull. Annis Soc. R. Ent. Belg. 74: 334-350. 

Langton, P. H. 1991. A key to pupal exuviae of West Palaearctic Chironomidae. 386 pp. Privately 
published. 

Langton, P. H. & Armitage, P. D. 1995. Rheotanytarsus rioensis (Diptera, Chironomidae), a 
new species of the pentapoda-group from the Canary Islands. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 
11-17. 


86 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Reiss, F. 1969a. Revision der Gattung Micropsectra Kieff., 1909 (Diptera, Chironomidae). 1. 
Die attenuata-gruppe der Gattung Micropsectra. Beschreibung 5 neuer Arten aus 
Mitteleuropa und Nordafrica. Deutsch Ent. Z. 16: 431-449. 

Reiss, F. 1969b. Krenopsectra fallax gen.n. sp.n. (Diptera, Chironomidae) aus den Alpen und 
Pyrenden. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 6: 435-442. 

Reiss, F. 1974. Revision des Typen-Materials einiger Tanytarsini-Arten (Chironomidae, 
Diptera) aus dem Museum Briissel. Ent. Tidskr. 95: 203-211. 

Sether, O. A. 1980. Glossary of chironomid morphology terminology (Diptera: 
Chironomidae). Ent. Scand. Suppl. 14: 1—S1. 

Serra-Tosio, B. & Laville, H. 1991. Liste annotée des Dipteres Chironomidés de France 
continentale et de Corse. Ann/s Limnol. 27(1): 37-74. 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


The occurrence of seaweed flies (Diptera: Coelopidae) on the Isle of Islay—The two 
British species of seaweed fly, Coelopa frigida (F.) and C. pilipes Hal., breed on beds 
of decomposing wrack formed by seaweed deposited on the shore during high tides 
or during storms. An early map describing the distribution of the genus in Britain 
was concerned primarily with mainland shores and therefore largely ignored the 
islands lying off the west coast of Scotland (Dobson, 1974). A more recent map 
(Phillips et al., 1995; primarily from data collected by T. H. Day at the University of 
Nottingham), concerning the wider European distribution of the genus, does signify 
the presence of C. frigida on Uist in the Outer Hebrides but gives no information for 
any of the other Hebridean islands. To augment the knowledge of the distribution of 
the genus in this area, I recently (5.xi.95 to 8.xi.95) sampled four sites on the Isle of 
Islay in the Inner Hebrides. The sites covered the extreme east and west of the island 
and the shores along Loch Indaal in the centre of the island. To sample, I disturbed 
wrack material on the shore and gathered any flies which emerged by ‘aspirating’ 
using a portable car vacuum cleaner (Black & Decker Ltd, Spennymoor, Co. 
Durham). Each sample consisted of the flies collected in a 15-minute period. The flies 
collected are summarized below. 

Machair Bay (NR207630)—C. frigida; males 8, females 17. C. pilipes; 0. 

Bowmore (NR310600)—C. frigida; males 24, females 44. C. pilipes; 0. 

Black Rock (NR305630)—C. frigida; 0. C. pilipes; 0. 

Port Askaig (NR432693)—C. frigida; 0. C. pilipes; 0. 

Although there is some inconsistency, the results confirm the occurrence of 
Coelopa frigida on Islay and provide no evidence of the presence of C. pilipes. This 
data supports Phillips et a/. (1995) who suggested that C. pilipes is relatively scarce in 
the north-west of the British Isles, possibly reaching the edge of its geographic range. 

I wish to thank the Percivals (S. M., T., B. D. & S. D.) for their encouragement 
with this project—S. HODGE, Ecology Centre, University of Sunderland SR1 3SD. 


REFERENCES 


Dobson, T. 1974. Studies on the biology of the kelp-fly Coe/opa in Great Britain. J. Nat. Hist. 8: 
155-177. 

Phillips, D. S., Leggett, M., Wilcockson, R., Day, T. H. & Arthur, W. 1995. Coexistence of 
competing species of seaweed flies: the role of temperature. Ecol. Ent. 20: 65—74. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 87 


THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DROSOPHILA OCCURRENCE 
AND MOULD ABUNDANCE ON ROTTING FRUIT 


SIMON HODGE 
Ecology Centre, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear SRI 3SD. 


Some species of Drosophila belong to a functional guild of species which are 
detritivores of rotting fruit. This guild includes mammals and birds, a variety of 
invertebrates and a number of species of micro-organisms. Therefore, Drosophila 
may have to compete with a number of other species, from a wide range of taxa, for 
access to their resource. These potential competitors include species of mould which 
grow on the surface of the decomposing fruit. Janzen (1977) suggested that some 
characteristic qualities of rotten fruit are a ‘deliberate’ strategy of fungi to make the 
resource unattractive to higher animals, a form of interspecific interference effect. 
Moulds are often a pest of Drosophila cultures in the laboratory and the use of 
fungicides or the maintenance of high larval density are often needed to restrain 
fungal growth (Demerec, 1950; Ashburner & Thompson, 1978). On more natural 
resources the performance of D. immigrans and D. melanogaster has been shown to 
be reduced by the presence of Penicillium on citrus fruits (Atkinson, 1981). 

The aim of this paper is to examine the occurrence of Drosophila and the extent of 
mould growth on pieces of fruit left out in the field. It is hoped that this may give 
some further insight into whether mould/Drosophila interactions are of general 
significance to the structure of the communities in which these taxa occur. 


METHODS 


Association between mould and Drosophila on pieces of fruit 


Experiments were carried out at two field sites. The first site, Hendon (NZ403559), 
an urban district of Sunderland in north east England, consisted of an urban garden 
containing a few herbaceous plants. Populations of Drosophila had been observed in 
the garden in a previous year’s pilot study, centred mainly around a small compost 
heap. The local area consists mainly of urban terraced housing with some nearby 
parkland. 

The second site used was at West Learmouth (NT386638), near to Cornhill-on- 
Tweed on the English-Scottish border. The site consisted of a small patch of 
woodland adjacent to a road verge. The woodland had once been part of a cottage 
garden and contained apple, cherry and elder trees. Thus there were a number of 
naturally occurring breeding resources for Drosophila. 

To examine the distribution of moulds and Drosophila, pieces of banana (~ 20 g) 
were placed in plastic cups (open end 60mm diameter) with screw-on plastic lids. 
Nine holes (4mm) were drilled through the lids to allow entry of flies. The baits were 
left exposed in the field for six days and then returned to the laboratory. The plastic 
cups were then fitted with lids with air-holes covered with fine nylon gauze. The 
pieces of fruit, along with any Drosophila eggs or larvae, were maintained at 25°C in 
an insect room, with relative humidity at 45-55% and a 16/8 hour light/dark cycle. 
The fruit was retained for 21 days and a note was made of whether the growth of 
mould on the fruit covered the entire exposed surface (100% cover). A record was 
also made of which pieces of bait gave rise to emergent adult Drosophila. Eighty 


88 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


pieces of bait were left exposed in the field on each of three occasions: twice at West 
Learmouth (July & August 1993) and once at Hendon (September 1993). 


Effects of the presence of Drosophila larvae upon fungal growth 


In an intensive study of the biogeography of Catalonian Drosophila, Monclus (1964) 
suggested that the coastal basin near to Barcelona is one of the most diverse in terms of 
number of species. Therefore, a more detailed examination of the effects of Drosophila 
larvae on the growth of moulds was performed in Calella del Mar on the northern 
Mediterranean coast of Spain (2° 40’ longitude, 41° 36’ latitude) in May/June 1994. 
Trapping of Drosophila was carried out in a pine woodland, consisting mainly of 
aleppo pines, stone pines and cork oaks, near to the El Faro lighthouse. Strawberries 
which had first been topped were placed into plastic-cup traps (described above) and 
were left exposed in the field for up to 3 weeks. In total 45 traps were used, distributed 
at random throughout a patch of woodland approximately 20 by 20m. 

The traps were examined each day at around 4.00 p.m. and the percentage cover of 
moulds on the surface of the fruit was estimated. The presence or absence of 
Drosophila larvae on each piece of fruit was recorded. Larval identification was carried 
out by comparison with specimens of known taxa and, for further assurance, some 
larvae were allowed to complete their development and the adults identified on 
emergence (from work on adult Drosophila in the same area the most common species 
were D. subobscura Collin, D. immigrans Sturtevant and D. simulans Sturtevant). 


RESULTS 


Association between mould and Drosophila 


The collecting period for this experiment was poor in terms of numbers of 
Drosophila, with Drosophila adults emerging from less than 15% of fruit baits 
(mainly D. subobscura Collin). There were generally more than one species of mould 
present on the fruit, such as Penicillium, Aspergillus and Mucor species. However, for 
the purposes of this investigation moulds were not separated into distinct taxa. The 
classification of fruit pieces was analysed using a chi-square (x7) procedure to 
examine for association (Table 1). The data were validated as suitable for pooling 
and then analysed using Cochrane’s method for calculating y? suitable for data 
which gives rise to some low expected values (Zar, 1984, Table 1d). 

Overall, there was a highly significant negative association between Drosophila 
emergence and complete fungal cover (y.2=217.2, for 1 d.f., P<0.001). When there 
was complete fungal cover of the surface of the fruit there were very few cases of 
Drosophila emergence. Conversely, when the fungal cover was less than 100% 
Drosophila adults emerged in every case. It appeared, therefore, that there was a 
complementary distribution of complete fungal cover of the fruit surface and the 
emergence of Drosophila. 


Effects of the presence of Drosophila larvae upon fungal growth 


The development of fungal growth on the surface of the strawberries is illustrated 
in Figure 1. Again, there was a mixture of fungal species present which were pooled 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 89 


Table 1. Contingency tables for association between Drosophila emergence and complete 
fungal cover of fruit. 


(a) July 1993— Complete fungus (b) August 1993— Complete fungus 


West Learmouth cover West Learmouth cover 
Yes No Yes No 
Drosophila Present 0 8 Drosophila Present 0 16 
Absent 72 0 Absent 64 0 
x7 =79.2, P<0.001. x7 =79.8, P<0.001. 
(c) September 1993— Complete fungus (d) Pooled data Complete fungus 
Hendon, Sunderland cover cover 
Yes No Yes No 
Drosophila Present > 11 Drosophila Present 2 35 
Absent 67 0 Absent 203 0 
x° = 64.9, P<0.001. %2= 217.2, P<0.001. 
100 
wie BO 
BS 
® 60 
> 
° 
re) 
o 40 = — = 
ra —e—no larvae 
5 
oO —o- larvae 
oO re Oe ee 


1 3 5 7 Qe SFA OS Sees ti 7ee Op as 


Figure 1. The pattern of fungal growth on strawberries with and without Drosophila larvae 
(mean+ SE). 


and treated as a single taxon. The data on percentage fungal cover of the fruit pieces 
were analysed using the generalized linear interactive modelling system (GLIM; 
Baker & Nelder, 1978), defining the fungal cover as binomial (i.e. a proportion of 
100%). The ‘repeated measures’ nature of the data was compensated for to some 
extent by including ‘time’ as a factor in the analyses. A significant statistical 
interaction was found to occur between the age of the fruit and the presence of 
Drosophila larvae in their effects on fungal growth (Fy 3g9 = 2.43, P<0.01). 


90 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Fungal cover rapidly increased on all pieces of fruit for the first 4 days. By the fifth 
day the trends for fungal growth on pieces of fruit which contained Drosophila larvae 
and those which were unoccupied began to diverge, the fungal growth on the surface 
of pieces of fruit which contained Drosophila larvae being reduced. At the end of the 
investigation pieces of fruit which had contained Drosophila larvae tended to have no 
fungal cover on the surface whereas fruits which were assumed to have contained no 
larvae had virtually complete cover. 


DISCUSSION 


The complementary distributions of complete fungus cover and Drosophila 
emergence may be taken as evidence for negative interspecific effects; complete 
fungus cover debarring Drosophila development and/or the presence of Drosophila 
larvae in the resource preventing absolute cover by mould. There are potential 
mechanisms which could give rise to these effects. Some fungi produce mycotoxins 
which have a deleterious affect on insect performance (e.g. Keller & Zimmermann, 
1989) and D. melanogaster has been shown to be negatively affected by at least one of 
these mycotoxins (aflatoxin) produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus (Matsumura 
& Knight, 1967). In laboratory cultures mould infection can cause serious reductions 
in Drosophila population size (Demerec, 1950; Ashburner & Thompson, 1978). 
Conversely, some insects are known to feed on the hyphae of fungi growing on the 
shared resource and thus reduce the fungal standing crop (e.g. Wicklow & Yocom, 
1982; Lussenhop & Wicklow, 1985). 

However, there is a danger in using distributional data to infer competitive 
mechanisms (Connell, 1975; Schoener & Adler, 1991; Stone & Roberts, 1992) 
especially when the distributions are biased to certain classes (Wright & Biehl, 1983). 
Differences in qualitative aspects of the habitat may produce complementary 
distributions, regardless of any interactions which may occur. For example, fruit 
suitable for Drosophila emergence may be unsuitable for rapid fungal growth and 
conversely fruit which promotes fungal growth may be unsuitable for Drosophila 
development. Even if negative effects are inferred there is no indication of any causal 
mechanisms. 

However, the data from Calella gives some indication that there is at least one 
negative effect occurring between the two taxa. The growth of mould on the surface 
of the strawberries is reduced if Drosophila larvae are present. There was no 
suggestion that the larvae were feeding on the mould, thus reducing its standing crop 
by trophic means. The mechanism of the fungal reduction appeared to be one of 
physical interference. Larvae were observed feeding on, or just under, the surface of 
the fruit and the movement of the larvae had a mixing effect on the fruit substance. 
This behaviour tended to undermine and churn up the fungal mat so causing a 
decrease in fungal cover. A similar effect has been observed in dung systems where 
fungus-gnat larvae have been observed to have a mixing effect on the substrate and 
decrease the density of fungal hyphae (Lussenhop er al., 1980; Lussenhop & 
Wicklow, 1985). 

As nearly all pieces of rotting fruit will have some mould Srowth then the 
likelihood of Drosophila ever encountering mould-free fruit will be extremely scarce. 
Mould contamination is known to reduce Drosophila populations size in the 
laboratory and the results presented here suggest that mteractions between moulds 
and Drosophila may also be important in determining the local community structure 
of a resource patch in the field. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 91 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I thank Nina Wilson and Sarah Young for assisting with the Spanish fieldwork 
and Steve Percival for reading through an earlier draft. This work was funded partly 
by a NERC studentship (GT4/91/TLS/70). 


REFERENCES 


Ashburner, M. & Thompson, J. N. 1978. The laboratory culture of Drosophila. In: Ashburner, 
M. & Wright, T. R. F. (Eds) The genetics and biology of Drosophila Vol. 2a. Academic 
Press, London. 

Atkinson, W. D. 1981. An ecological interaction between citrus fruit, Penicillium moulds and 
Drosophila immigrans Sturtevant (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Ecol. Ent. 6: 339-344. 

Baker, R. J. & Nelder, J. A. 1978. The GLIM system. Release 3.77. Royal Statistical Society, 
Oxford. 

Connell, J. H. 1975. Some mechanisms producing structure in natural communities. In: Cody, 
M. L. & Diamond, J. M. (Eds) Ecology and evolution of communities. Harvard University 
Press, London. 

Demerec, M. 1950. Biology of Drosophila. Wiley, Chapman & Hall, New York. 

Janzen, D. H. 1977. Why fruits rot, seeds mold and meat spoils. Am. Nat. 111: 691-713. 

Keller, S. & Zimmerman, G 1989. Mycopathogens of soil insects. In: Wilding, N., Collins, 
N. M., Hammond, P. M. & Webber, J. F. (Eds) Insect fungus interactions. Academic Press, 
London. 

Lussenhop, J., Kumar, R., Wicklow, D. T. & Lloyd, J. E. 1980. Insect effects on bacteria and 
fungi in cattle dung. Oikos 34: 54-58. 

Lussenhop, J. & Wicklow, D. T. 1985. Interaction of competing fungi with fly larvae. Microbial 
Ecol. 11: 175-182. 

Matsumura, F. & Knight, S. G. 1967. Toxicity and chemosterilizing activity of aflatoxin against 
insects. J. Econ. Ent. 60: 871-872. 

Monclus, M. 1964. Distribucion y ecologia de drosofilidos en Espana. Génetica Ibérica 16: 143-165. 

Schoener, T. W. & Adler, G. H. 1991. Greater resolution of distributional complementarities by 
controlling for habitat affinities: a study with Bahamian lizards and birds. Am. Nat. 137: 
669-692. 

Stone, L. & Roberts, A. 1992. Competitive exclusion, or species aggregation? Oecologia 91: 
419-424. 

Wicklow, D. T. & Yocum, D. H. 1982. Effect of larval grazing by Lycoriella mal (Diptera: 
Sciaridae) on species abundance of coprophilous fungi. Trans. Br. Mycol. Soc. 78: 29-32 

Wright, S. J. & Biehl, C. C. 1983. Empty sites and the analysis of presence—absence data. Am. 
Nat. 122: 833-834. 

Zar, J. H. (1984) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, London. 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Cicones undata Gueér.-Meén. (Coleoptera: Colydiidae) still common under sycamore 
bark in south-east London.—Since I first found this pretty beetle under sycamore 
bark in Nunhead Cemetery in October 1991 (Jones, 1992, 1993), I have frequently 
examined dead sycamores killed by the sooty bark disease, an ascomycete fungus 
Cryptostroma corticale Ell. & Ev., and I am happy to report that the beetle continues 
to thrive in the area. Nunhead Cemetery (TQ3575; VC17, Surrey) has a large number 
of dead standing sycamore trees and the Cicones is without doubt the commonest 
beetle under their bark. It is often possible to find 10 to 20 specimens within a few 
minutes of searching on each tree. Specimens have been found on several BENHS 
field meetings to the cemetery, and on many other occasions during the last 5 years. 


92 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


The neighbouring Honor Oak Park (One-Tree Hill; TQ3574), also has a considerable 
growth of young sycamores and Cicones undata was plentiful under the bark of cut 
sycamore logs on 25.viii.95 and 4.xi.95, in company with many thousands of Enicmus 
brevicornis (Mannerh.) (Lathridiidae) crawling about the soot-like fungus. 

Another colydiid beetle attached to sycamore, Synchita separanda (Reitt.), is much 
less common than the Cicones, but I found several in the park under bark of 
sycamore logs on 25.viii.95. This beetle seemed less associated with the sooty bark 
and occurred in areas infected with the coral spot fungus Nectria cinnabarina (Tode 
ex Fr.) Fr. Examination of photographs of this beetle when it was first found in 
London (Jones, 1987) show that the sooty sycamore log on which it was found also 
had coral spot, so it may be associated with either of these fungal diseases. 

Several specimens of Diplocoelus fagi Guér.-Men. (Biphyllidae) were also present 
on the sycamore logs in the park on 25.vii.95 and 4.i1x.95. The West Kent/Surrey vice- 
county border passes over Honor Oak Park, but most of the sycamores are on the 
Surrey side. Of the beetles mentioned above, only Diplocoelus fagi occurred in the 
West Kent part of the park. 

Further into West Kent (VC 16), Cicones undata also occurred sparingly under 
bark of dead sycamores in Beckenham Place Park (TQ3870) on 20.ix.95 (in company 
with a few Enicmus brevicornis) and on Blackheath Hill (TQ383766) on 3.x.95. It is 
obviously still a common and widespread species throughout the area—RICHARD 
JONES, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, London SE15 3DE. 


REFERENCES 


Jones, R. A. 1987. Synchita separanda Reitter—a third British locality. Entomologist’s Rec. J. 
Var. 99: 43-44. 

Jones, R. A. 1992. [Exhibit at BENHS meeting, 22nd October 1991.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 29. 

Jones, R. A. 1993. Sycamore: an underrated pabulum for insects and some beetles associated 
with it. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 105: 1-10. 


Large tortoiseshell in East Sussex.—I would like to report the presence of the large 
tortoiseshell, Nymphalis polychloros (L.), in East Sussex in late July 1995. It was seen 
basking on open ground in the parish of Catsfield by Mr D. Goldsmith, a woodsman 
with an excellent working knowledge of butterflies in the field. The last reported 
sighting in the parish, and perhaps in the neighbourhood, was in April 1981 when a 
post-hibernating specimen was photographed basking on an apple tree in my garden 
(Feltwell, 1981). The current locality is about one mile distant from the former site. The 
general area is a rich pattern of semi-natural ancient woodland, improved pastures, 
hedgerows and a few houses. It is incidentally on private land well away from public 
access, and its reported presence ‘in the parish of Catsfield’ is deliberate to protect the 
privacy of the owner and habitat. This current sighting, and those for Essex mentioned 
in Butterfly Conservation’s Conservation News (1995; 60: 16), should be set in the 
context of the large tortoiseshell being ‘thought extinct’ in Britain by about 1980 
(Wynne et al., 1995)—JOHN FELTWELL, Marlham, Henley’s Down, Battle, East 
Sussex TN33 9BN. 


REFERENCES 


Feltwell, J. 1981. The large tortoiseshell in East Sussex. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 94: 237. 

Wynne, G., Avery, M., Campbell, L., Gubbay, S., Hawkswell, S., Juniper, T., King, M., 
Newbery, P., Smart, J., Steel, C., Stones, T., Stubbs, A., Taylor, J., Tydeman, C. & Wynde, 
R. 1995. Biodiversity challenge: an agenda for conservation in the UK. (second edition) 
RSPB, Sandy. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 93 


THE BUTTERFLIES OF STARA PLANINA (SERBIA) 
WITH EMPHASIS ON M. JURTINA LINNAEUS 


R. PARKER 
263 Washington Street, Beck Row, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 SEX, UK. 


AND P. JAKSIC 
Dardania SU-7/7A, 8, 3800 Pristina, Yugoslavia. 


A total of 243 species of butterfly are to be found on the territory of the former 
Yugoslavia (Jaksic, 1988). Early in my stay in Yugoslavia I met Predrag Jaksic, and 
he laughingly said ‘In Britain you only have 66 species. I can take you to Stara 
Planina and you will catch that many in one day!’ In July 1992 I was able to take him 
up on the offer, and I was not disappointed. 

Stara Planina means literally the old mountain, and is the name of a massif running 
across Bulgaria and into south Serbia, with the summit of Midzor at 2169 m, close to 
the border. The whole flora and fauna of the area is rich (Misic et al., 1978; Mesaros et 
al., 1984), as it includes an important relict area focused on the village and valley of 
Topli Do (lit. warm valley). Here a delightful abundance of butterflies is to be found in 
a remote and unspoiled setting. 

What follows includes an account of the species we took together that weekend, 
but is really the result of a much wider exploration by Jaksic during the month of 
July in 1991 and 1992, when he visited localities that span a broader range of 
biotopes than the deciduous foothill and montane woodlands of Topli Do. It 
incorporates observations on the population of M. jurtina L. in that isolated locality. 


BIOMES AND LOCALITIES 


All the collecting localities fell within 3 adjacent UTM grid squares, but the area 
embraced 3 separate biomes between 550 and 1750m: (a) submediterranean oak 
woodlands (oak); (b) southern European; mostly deciduous foothill and montane 
woodlands (S. Eur.), and (c) rocky ground; pasture and woodland on Mediterranean 
mountains (rocky). 

Ten localities were investigated, as shown in Table 1. 


Table 1. Details of localities 1-10. 


Serial Biome Locality Elevn UTM Grid 
Ne S. Eur Temska 550m FN 29 
2. S. Eur Zavoj 650m FN 39 
3h Oak Beside River Temscica 750m FN 29-FN 39 
4. S. Eur Topli Do 750-800 m FN 39-FP 30 
of S. Eur Beside River Toplodolska 800-1000 m FP 30 
6. Oak Kucnicko Krajiste 900-1000 m FN 39 
the Rocky Beside River Rakitska 1350m FP 30 
8. Rocky Beside River Ilijina 1400 m FP 30 
Sh. Rocky Babin Zub 1500 m FP 30 
10. Rocky Zarkova Cuka 1750m FP 30 


94 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Table 2. Results. 


Localities: 
Species 2 3 4 5 6 aI 8 9 10 
HESPERIIDAE 
Pyrgus malvae L. ; “ : : ‘ : is * ; * 


Pyrgus alveus Hiibn. 
Pyrgus sidae Esp. : ‘ 
Spialia orbifer Hiibn. : ‘i 
Carcharodus lavatherae Esp. 

Carcharodus flocciferus Zell. : 
Erynnis tages L. * 3 
Thymelicus flavus Brunnich ; ‘ 
Thymelicus acteon Rott. s ¥ ‘ ha f : , , 
Ochlodes venatus B. & G. ‘ ; . . . , i x 


PAPILIONIDAE 
Iphiclides podalirius L. ; ; H ¢ 3 , * * 
Parnassius apollo L. : , : if 2 


PIERIDAE 

Aporia crataegi L. 

Pieris brassicae L. : : : 
Pieris napi L. ii * ‘ 
Pieris rapae L. 

Pieris mannii Mayer ; ‘ : 
Anthocharis cardamines L. ; ; e 
Colias alfacariensis Berger " 

Colias crocea Geoff. ; 

Gonepteryx rhamni L. m 

Leptidea sinapsis L. a 


LYCAENIDAE 
Lycaena phlaeas L. : : ‘ ; A 
Lycaena candens H. & S. ; ; ‘ ; 5 ; : * 
Heodes virgaureae L. ‘ : . ; : 
Heodes alciphron Rott. : ; : ‘i ss : 53 
Heodes tityrus Poda ; ‘ ? sa ; 

Quercusia quercus L. P : i ; 4 
Nordmannia acaciae F. 

Nordmannia pruni L. ‘ 
Cupido minimus Fuessly - : ‘ ' : 
Cupido argiades Pallas : ; : * 3 : : 
Celastrina argiolus L. : : : : f . = 
Scolitantides orion Pallas 

Glauchopsyche alexis Poda 

Maculinea arion L. 

Maculinea alcon D. & S. ; : 
Plebejus argus L. : z 
Plebejus idas L. 

Plebejus sephirus Friv. : ‘ . : : ‘ ‘ 
Aricia allous Geyer : a4 F : My 2 : i 
Aricia eumedon Esp. . : : : ; ; iE 
Aricia agestis D. & S. ; 5 ; ; : : ; f 
Cyaniris semiargus Rott. ‘ . : ; E 2 - rs . 
Polyommatus ripartii Frey. * 

Polyommatus admetus Esp. . 


+ & % &° 
+t © S BB E* 
REE 8b ihe 
* 


te & &# & HB 
* 
pt. 
* 


7 ae Ge We aes 
* 


e 


Reh 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Table 2 (continued). Results. 


Species 


Polyommatus amandus Schneider 
Meleageria daphnis D. & S. 
Polyommatus icarus Rott. 
Polyommatus thersites Cant. 
Polyommatus eroides Friv. 


SATYRIDAE 

Kanetesia circe F. 

Hipparchia fagi Scop. 
Hipparchia volgensis M.-P. 
Erebia ligea L. 

Erebia euryale Esp. 

Erebia orientalis Elwes 
Erebia aethiops Esp. 

Erebia medusa D. & S. 
Erebia alberganus phorcys Frey. 
Erebia ottomana HS. 

Erebia oeme Hiibn. 
Melanargia galathea L. 
Maniola jurtina L. 
Hyponephele lycaon Kuhn 
Aphantopus hyperantus L. 
Coenonympha pamphilus L. 
Coenonympha rhodopensis Elwes 
Coenonympha leander Esp. 
Coenonympha arcania L. 
Coenonympha glycerion Bork. 
Pararge aegeria L. 
Lasiommata maera L. 


NYMPHALIDAE 
Araschnia levana L. 
TInachis io L. 

Vanessa atalanta L. 
Vanessa cardui L. 
Aglais urticae L. 
Nymphalis polychloros L. 
Polygonia c-album L. 
Argynnis paphia L. 
Argynnis aglaja L. 
Argynnis niobe L. 
Argynnis adippe D. & S. 
Issoria lathonia L. 
Brenthis hecate D. & S. 
Brenthis daphne D. & S. 
Melitaea didyma Esp. 
Melitaea cinxia L. 
Melitaea athalia Rott. 
Apatura ilia D. & S. 
Apatura iris L. 
Limenitis reducta Staud. 
Neptis rivularis Scop. 


Localities: 


1 


2 


3 


Lee H * 


ee Sie 


eX 4 & 


ME i ee OE OK OE KH 


* & He #° 


CS: SEM ie. 2 


* %& & & 


95 


10 


96 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS 


A number of specifically central European species were found. In relation to the 
fauna of the Carpathian, Dinaric and Sar-Pindus mountain systems, they are expressly 
isolated, and their closest connections are with the ancient Bulgarian Rhodopi massif. 
Species: Aricia eumedon Esp., Hipparchia volgensis M.P., Erebia orientalis orientalis 
Elwes, Erebia alberganus phorcys Frey., Coenonympha leander Esp. 

The full results are shown in Table 2 and they make a worthwhile contribution to 
the established faunistic knowledge of this part of Serbia. Many of them are new 
records for these particular UTM squares. 

A number of species are at the edge of their recorded range. Plebejus sephirus 
Frivaldsky is at the northern limit of its range in Yugoslavia. Aricia eumedon Esp. is 
at the most easterly edge of its range in Yugoslavia. Polyommatus ripartii Frey. is at 
the northeastern limit of its range in Yugoslavia. Hipparchia volgensis M.P. is at the 
northern limit of its range in Yugoslavia. Coenonympha rhodopensis Elwes is at the 
northwest limit of its known range. 

Two new records for Yugoslavia have been published separately (Jaksic, 1995)— 
Erebia alberganus phorcys Frey. and Erebia orientalis Elwes. 


Maniola jurtina 


Particular attention was paid to the population structure of Maniola jurtina L. 
Early work by Thomson and others focused on the male genitalia and the number of 


Figure 1. Diagrammatic representation of the two main jurtina valve types, showing terms 
used by Thomson (1987) and measurement parameters. Maniolini male genitalia (Maniola 
jurtina ‘western’ above, ‘eastern’ below). Anatomy and taxonomy of the armature and 
measurement parameters used: 1 tegumen, 2 uncus, 3 gnathos, 4 aedeagus, 5 dorsal process, 
6 distal process, 7 vinculum, 8 valve, 9 saccus, a=dorsal process width, b=dorsal process 
length. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 97 


ocelli on the hind wings of the males. Thomson (1973) identified two distinct types of 
valve in the male genitalia, which he called the eastern and western types. These are 
illustrated in Fig. 1 for reference, although intermediate or transitional forms also 
occur. Thomson went on to correlate valve type with geographic distribution, and his 
map (Fig. 2 Thomson, 1987) shows that Stara Planina lies in an area where the 
eastern valve type is to be expected. 

The valve types found at Topli Do are illustrated at Fig. 3 with examples from the 
wider area of the Balkans shown at Fig. 4. It comes as no surprise to note that they 
are of the eastern type, nonetheless, they are published to assist future research. 

Brakefield’s extensive work (1984) on hindwing eyespot development is 
summarized in Kudrna (1990) and Fig. 5 shows the standard notation used in this 
connection. 

In the sample of 90 males collected in the vicinity of Topli Do, 72 (80%) have two 
spots in the splay configuration (S2 type). This correlates well with a sample of 124 
males collected in the vicinity of Pristina, Jaksic’s home town, amongst which 74 
(60%) were found to be of the S2 type. There was no correlation between the valve 
type and the eyespot pattern in either population. It was judged that the two 
populations are morphologically indistinguishable. 


CONCLUSION 


The ancient relict area of Stara Planina holds an impressive diversity of flora 
and fauna. On this expedition we took a total of 94 species, including no less 


Stara Planina 
(Serbia/Bulgaria border) 


Figure 2. The distribution of valve types in Maniola jurtina, showing distribution of ‘eastern’ 
(A), ‘western’ (@) and ‘transitional’ (©) male genitalia forms. 


98 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Fig. 3. Male genitalia (valva) of Maniola jurtina L. Serbia, Stara Planina: Topli Do, 800m, 11— 
14.vu1.92, all Jaksic leg. 1 prep. no. 1855. 2 prep. no. 1856. 3 prep. no. 1857. 4 prep. no. 1858. 5 
prep. no. 1860. 6 prep. no 1859. 7 prep. no. 1862. 8 prep. no. 1861. 9 prep. no. 1864. 10 prep. no 
1863. 


than 72 at and above Topli Do (localities 4 and 5 in Table 1). These records 
include some species isolated from adjacent mountain systems, and a number 
of more widespread species which are at the edge of their range, as well as 
two that are new for Yugoslavia. The study of Maniola jurtina L. (spotting 
and genitalia) accords well with Thomson (1975, 1987) and suggests that the 
population on Stara Planina is no different to that from the vicinity of 
Pristina. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 99 


Fig. 4. Male genitalia (valva) of Maniola jurtina L. 1 Montenegro, Durmitor: Dobrilovina, 
800 m, 23.vii.91, prep. no. 1791, Jaksic leg. 2 Slovenia, Nanos, 1000 m, 13.viii.87, prep. no. 1797, 
Sukic M. leg. 3 Vojvodina, Sonta, 80m, 11.vi.84, prep. no. 1789, Siladjev S. leg. 4 Serbia 
Kopaonik: Baciste, 1600 m, 3.vili.86, prep. no. 1369, Jaksic leg. 5 Montenegro, Durmitor: Tara- 
Vrelo, 600m, 30.vii.84, prep. no. 1792, Jaksic leg. 6 Montenegro, Durmitor: Tara-Vrelo, 600 m, 
30.vui.84, prep. no. 1368, Jaksic leg. 7 Serbia, Stara Planina: Kaludjerske bare, 1000 m, 9.vii.85, 
prep. no. 1787, Jaksic leg. 8 Serbia, Pristina: Grmiya, 700 m, 4.vii.74, prep. no. 3066, Jaksic leg. 9 
Macedonia, Pletvar, 900m, 20.vii.83, prep. no 1793, Jaksic leg. 10 Greece, Olimp: Litochoron, 
100m, 19.vi.84, prep. no. 1796, Jaksic leg. 


Aside from the scientific observations, memories of Topli Do include Apollos 
floating around open glades, eight silver-washed fritillaries sunning themselves on the 
side of a barn, hundreds of Idas blues assembled drinking at moist patches on the 
path and orange-tips flying inexplicably late in the season. 


100 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


C2 


M3 


Fig. 5. Maniola jurtina hindwing eyespot development (after Kudrna 1990, with minor 
alterations). Diagram of variation in the spot pattern on the ventral surface of the wings of 
Maniola jurtina. Top row: variation in the forewing eyespot (unshaded area is of brighter 
fulvous coloration); left: small black eyespot with single white pupil (characteristic of males); 
middle: larger spot with single pupil (characteristic of females); right: a more extreme female 
phenotype showing a very large eyespot with two pupils (f. bioculata) and with two additional 
spots (f. addenda). Bottom three rows: illustrate nine of the thirteen commonly occurring 
hindwing spot phenotypes: 0 nought spot, C1 costal 1, Al anal 1, C2 costal 2, S2 splay 2, C3 
costal 3, M3 median 3, S4 splay 4 and all 5 spots (not shown: A2, A3, C4 and A4). The nought 
spot specimen illustrates the position of the lighter band within which the spots lie. The 
reference numbers of the spots are indicated. Different sized hindwing spots present an idea of 
changes in relative (not absolute) spot size. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


The authors are indebted to George Thomson for his assistance in putting the 
findings on Maniola jurtina into context and particularly for his authority to reproduce 
Figs | & 2 from his PhD thesis (Thomson, 1987). Otakar Kudrna’s consent to 
reproduce Fig. 5 (after Kudrna, 1990, with minor alterations) is similarly appreciated. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 101 


REFERENCES 


Brakefield, P. M. 1984. The ecological genetics of quantitative characters of Maniola jurtina and 
other butterflies. In: Vane-Wright, R. I. & Ackery, P. R. (Eds) The biology of butterflies, 
Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society number 11, Academic Press, London. 

Jaksic, P. 1988. Provisional distribution maps of the butterflies of Yugoslavia. Jugoslovensko 
entomolosko drustvo ed., Zagreb, pp. 1-215. 

Jaksic, P. 1995. The distribution of certain Erebia species in Serbia. Univerzitetska Misao, 
Pristina. Vol. 2. 

Kudrna, O. 1990. Butterflies of Europe. Vol. 2: Introduction to Lepidopterology. Aula Verlag, 
Wiesbaden, pp. 311-312. 

Mesaros, G. et al. 1984. Fauna Stare Planine: I. Analiza diverziteta. Savez drustava ekologa 
Jugoslavije, Drustvo ekologa Bosne 1 Hercegovine. Bilten. God. II, sv. 2, serija b, p. 331— 
340 Sarajevo. 

Misic, V. et al. 1978. (Plant communities and habitats of the Stara Planina mountains.) The 
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, pp. 1-389. (Serbocroat with English summary.) 

Thomson, G. 1973. Geographical Variation of Maniola jurtina (L.). Tijdschrift voor 
Entomologie 116-12: 185—227. 

Thomson, G. 1975. Les races de Maniola jurtina L. en France et pays voisins. Alexanor 9: 23-32 
and 53-66. 

Thomson, G. 1987. Enzyme variation at morphological boundaries in Maniola and related 
genera (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyridae). PhD Thesis, University of Stirling, Stirling. 


SHORT COMMUNICATION 


Some observations on Agrilus sinuatus (Ol.) and A. pannonicus (Pill. & Mitt.) in 
south-east London.—Previously both regarded as extremely rare insects and accorded 
Red Data Book status 2 “vulnerable” by Levey (1987), these jewel beetles have more 
recently been shown to be quite widespread. Exit holes and larval workings allow 
fairly confident diagnosis of the species, and although their presence does not 
necessarily mean that there is a thriving colony, it is usually fairly obvious how old 
these signs are. Both species have now been “down-graded” to Notable A status 
(Hyman & Parsons, 1992). 

Both of these species have been found widely in north London (Foster, 1987; 
Hackett, 1994), so I was pleased to find them recently in south-east London. On 
6.vi.95, I found A. sinuatus borings under the bark of a dead hawthorn on the eastern 
edge of Beckenham Place Park, between Lewisham and Bromley (TQ 378710; VC 16, 
West Kent). And on 19.vi.95 I discovered exit holes in another dead hawthorn near 
the western boundary of the park (TQ386706). On 4.1x.95 and 10.x.95, I found exit 
holes in several old hawthorn trees just outside the entrance to St Augustine’s 
Church, Honor Oak (TQ358745; also VC16, West Kent). 

On the occasion of 4.xi.95, I also found extensive exit holes of A. pannonicus in the 
stump of a large tree, probably oak, in the grounds of St Augustine’s Church. This 
stump also produced Platypus cylindrus (F.) (Platypodidae), Bitoma crenata (F.) 
(Colydiidae) and a large dead female stag beetle Lucanus cervus (L.) (Lucanidae). 

The twisted tunnels of A. sinuatus have previously been illustrated (Alexander, 
1990), but those that I found in Beckenham Place Park showed a more regular 
sinuous character (Fig. la), which I took to be the initial borings of earlier larval 
instars. The characteristic D-shaped exit holes of the two species are slightly different 
in shape; those of A. sinuatus are broader and flatter and more nearly semi-circular 
(Fig. 1b), while those of A. pannonicus are generally rounder and more highly arched 
(Fig. 2a). It is probably as a consequence of the relative sizes of the respective tree 
species which are burrowed, that whereas exit holes of A. sinuatus occur sparingly in 


102 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Fig. la ( 

6.vi.95. The hawthorn branch is about 125 mm (5 inches) in diameter. Fig. 1b (right). D-shaped 
exit hole of Agrilus sinuatus in a hawthorn branch, Honor Oak 4.ix.95. The hole is about 3.0— 
3.5mm across. 


BR sear 


Fig. 2a (left). D-shaped exit hole of Agrilus pannonicus in an oak stump, Honor Oak, 4.xi.95. 
The hole is about 3.0-3.5mm across. Fig. 2b (right). Seven closely grouped exit holes of Agrilus 
pannonicus in an oak stump, Honor Oak, 4.ix.95. The large stump, 1.3 metre (4 feet) across and 
1 metre (3 feet) high had about 50 exit holes in its sides. 


any one hawthorn branch, the exits of A. pannonicus often occur together in numbers 
(Fig.2b).—RICHARD A. JONES, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, London SE15 3DE. 


REFERENCES 


Alexander, K. N. A. 1990. Agrilus sinuatus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) widespread in 
Gloucestershire, and at a Herefordshire locality. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 3: 31—32. 

Foster, A. P. 1987. Agrilus pannonicus (Piller & Mitterpacher, 1783) (Col.: Buprestidae) and 
other noteworthy insects recorded from Hampstead Heath in 1984. Entomologist’s Rec. J. 
Var. 99: 153-155. 

Hackett, D. 1994 [Exhibit of Agrilus pannonicus and A. sinuatus from various London localities 
at BENHS annual Exhibition, 30 October 1993.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 169. 

Hyman, P. S. & Parsons, M. S. 1992. A review of the scarce and threatened Coleoptera of Great 
Britain. Part 1. UK Nature Conservation no 3. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 
Peterborough, p. 89. 

Levey, B. 1987. Agrilus pannonicus and Agrilus sinuatus. In: Shirt, D. B. (ed.). British red data 
books: 2. Insects. Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough, pp. 183-184. 


NOTE ADDED IN PROOF 


Various London records, including several in south London, have recently been 
published in Hackett, D. S. 1995. The jewel beetle Agrilus pannonicus in the London 
area. London Naturalist 74: 161-164. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 103 


A HAZARD TO MOTHS ON THE LOZERE MASSIF 


JOHN FELTWELL 
Marlham, Henley’s Down, Battle, East Sussex TN33 9BN. 


I would like to report the presence of a gigantic moth trap in the Massif Central in 
France which is presumably having a deleterious effect on moth populations. It is in 
fact a new tourist attraction at a newly constructed ‘aire’, or motorway service 
station—the Aire de Lozére at St Chely d’Apcher, north-west of Mende in the 
department of Lozére. This is on the new A75 autoroute which links Clermont 
Ferrand with (eventually—when more habitat is cleared) Millau, Lodéve and thus to 
Spain. The site has hundreds of lights glaring into the night sky. You don’t have to 
stop to see this spectacle; it’s visible as you pass on the autoroute. And this is in 
addition to the usual lights of any normal service station. Moths which are attracted 
to lights find it irresistible. 

The autoroute authorities obviously thought fit to construct an aire where 
picnickers would get a taste of the historic countryside through which they are 
travelling, and decided to erect 100 granite pillars (each about 3 m tall), geometrically 
laid out in a perfect square—covering about 0.8 ha. The local countryside does have 
plenty of similar-looking prehistoric menhirs, but not in such concentration. Figure 1 
gives an overview of the site. 

Each pillar is illuminated at night by two 70-W tungsten high-energy lamps which 
are sunk in the ground and which point nearly vertically against the pillars. Thus 


Fig. 1. Aire de Lozere granite ‘menhirs’ and lamps. 


104 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


there are 200 lights each pointing upwards into the night sky. The locality is thinly 
forested and is at about 1000m. 

Moths are clearly drawn to this site every night. I was alerted to the presence of 
huge numbers of moths (hawk-moths were described) by frierids who happened to 
stop in mid-August. In early September I stopped there to assess the situation. The 
moth carnage was all too apparent and appalling. Scores of moths and moth remains 
littered the ground. Hawkmoths rested on most of the pillars. They were to be found 
in the grass around each pillar, and were squashed on the drive-in areas. Wings of 
many other moths littered the ground where the local birds had soon learnt that easy 
pickings were to be had every morning. The pillars were pretty unsavoury places to 
picnic around, since each pillar had been used by dogs in lieu of trees, and there was 
a general lack of refuse bins etc. The carnage of moths was not very pleasant either, 
and knowing the disgust that many people have of ‘bugs’, these were pretty 
unsavoury places for tourists. 

A calamity has obviously befallen the resident and itinerant moths of the area. The 
situation of these glaring lights on top of a plateau over which migrants have to pass 
must surely have its effect on luring species which otherwise might have enjoyed a 
few hundred more miles to fly. The sight of so many sphingids being drawn to their 
destruction was distressing. And it clearly is happening every night of the year. 
Moths which arrive during the night remain inactive in the day, if they survive 
predators, man and car, and remain around the lights at dusk when the lights come 
on again. 

The environmental impact of these bright lights has possibly been very severe in 
this first year that the aire was opened (1995). This is because moths will have been 
drawn exhaustively from the local pool of species, apart from drawing on the 


Fig. 2. The Clifden nonpareil, Catocala fraxini. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 105 


migratory stream of moths which pass overhead. In such an interesting part of the 
rural countryside I imagine that the impact on moths will continue, especially on 
migrants. I am not aware of any study on the impact of lights on insects (but would 
be pleased to learn of any); however I did draw attention to powerful arc lights at 
Orly airport and their impact on beetle movement (Feltwell, 1967). 

The main species found on the pillars were the convolulus hawkmoth Agrius 
convolyuli (L.) and the pine hawk-moth Hy/oicus pinastri (L.), copper underwings 
Amphipyra pyramidea (L.) or A. berbera Rungs (specimens were not collected), 
broad-bordered yellow underwings Noctua fimbriata (Schreb.), angle shades 
Phlogophora meticulosa (L.), as well as various prominents, thorns and footmen. 
Perhaps the most interesting moths found during my very short stay were three 
specimens of the Clifden nonpareil Catocala fraxini (L.) which is an increasingly rare 
and localized moth in Europe (Figure 2); it is a scarce immigrant to Britain, several 
having been recorded in 1995. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I would like to thank Jane and Michael Evans for alerting me to this site, and Dr 
Jacques Lhonoreé (Le Mans University) and Dr Paul Waring for their comments. 


REFERENCE 
Feltwell, J. 1967. Bats, beetles and bees. Amat. Entomologist’s Soc. Bull. 26: 13—14. 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Helops caeruleus (L.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in south-east London.—I was 
surprised to come across a single specimen of this local beetle on a wooded bank 
behind some derelict factories on Blackheath Hill (TQ383766; VC 16, West Kent) on 
3.x.95. It was sheltering under the loose bark of a small sycamore branch, less than 
25mm in diameter, about 1.5 metres from the trunk. Although known from some 
urban areas, this beetle is predominantly coastal (Hyman & Parsons, 1992). 

The precipitously steep slope on Blackheath Hill is in danger of collapse and 
several of the sycamore trees lean precariously. A few large logs showed signs of 
beetle larvae boring within them, but whether these trunks were fallen trees or had 
been dumped, together with much other rubbish and spoil, is difficult to determine. It 
is possible that the beetle was introduced to the site if the timber had been tipped 
there. 

I have previously found this Notable-B beetle in sodden drift-wood washed up on 
the Chichester Harbour saltmarsh at West Itchenor, West Sussex (SZ7899), on 
11.11.78 and in a pile of old railway sleepers near the gravel pits at Rye Harbour, East 
Sussex (TQ9419), on 26.vili.81—RuicHarD A. Jones, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, 
London SE15 3DE. 


REFERENCE 


Hyman, P. S. & Parsons, M. S. 1992. A review of the scarce and threatened Coleoptera of Great 
Britain. Part 1. UK Nature Conservation no 3. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 
Peterborough. p. 415. 


106 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Acupalpus exiguus Dejean (Coleoptera: Carabidae) “swarming’”’.—My father, Mr 
A. W. Jones, recently sent me numerous specimens of a small ground beetle which he 
had found on the roof of his car while it was parked at Greatham Bridge, over the 
River Arun, Coldwaltham, West Sussex, on 13.ix.95. They all proved to be 
Acupalpus exiguus. This species is accorded Notable B status by Hyman & Parsons 
(1992). Apparently the roof of the car was dotted with many dozens of the beetles, 
mostly dead. They may have been encouraged to take to the air following a brief 
shower which quickly filled up the dykes which run through the river valley. The 
descent of beetles onto car roofs is an often observed phenomenon and usually 
involves water or dung beetles which presumably imagine the shiny surface to be a 
pond or pat. Being a stream-side mud-inhabiting species, the Acupalpus seemingly 
made the same mistake.—RICHARD A. JONES, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, 
London SE15 3DE. 


REFERENCE 


Hyman, P. S. & Parsons, M. S. 1992. A review of the scarce and threatened Coleoptera of Great 
Britain. Part 1. UK Nature Conservation no 3. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 
Peterborough. p. 100. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Integrated pest management by D. Dent. Chapman & Hall, 1995, 356 pp, hardback 
£45—In the brave new world of the 1950s and 60s a wide range of highly effective 
insecticides, fungicides and herbicides became available which revolutionized 
farming practices. The yield and quality of crops improved as intractable pests, 
diseases and weeds became a thing of the past. This allowed increasingly intensive 
crop production, but before long problems began to appear. Pesticide-resistant 
strains have developed, new pests have been created when their natural enemies were 
wiped out by insecticides, allowing formerly minor pests to breed unchecked, and 
there is growing awareness of the consequences of allowing chemicals to pollute the 
soil and waterways. This has led crop-protection scientists to develop integrated pest 
management (IPM) programmes for some crops with the aim of reducing reliance on 
chemicals. 

This book covers the principles of IPM and the theoretical side of the development 
of infestations and their control, before moving on to the factors to be considered in 
devising an IPM programme. This involves keeping pests below the population levels 
that cause economic damage by using a variety of methods. These include resistant 
or pest-tolerant crop varieties, cultivation techniques that discourage pests, reducing 
chemical use by more accurate application, monitoring of the pest population to 
determine the most effective time for treatment, the use of more selective pesticides, 
and the introduction of natural enemies. Those requiring further reading will find 
that each chapter is supported by several pages of references. The final chapters 
describe some IPM programmes that have been used on olives, wheat, cotton and 
glasshouse crops. These examples are biased towards pest management rather than 
disease or weed control, since that is where IPM programmes have had most success. 
The main readership for this book will be people who are engaged in crop protection 
but anyone who is interested in ‘“‘greener” forms of crop production, and the 
difficulties associated with this, will find something of interest here. 


A. J. HALSTEAD 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 107 


POSSIBLE BREEDING BY THE ROSEMARY BEETLE, 
CHRYSOLINA AMERICANA L. IN BRITAIN 


A. J. HALSTEAD 
RHS Garden, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 


During May and June 1994 specimens of Chrysolina americana L. (Coleoptera: 
Chrysomelidae) were found at the RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey. Despite its specific 
name, this leaf beetle is normally found mainly in the Mediterranean region of 
Europe, north Africa and the Middle East. Its principal food plant is rosemary, 
Rosmarinus officinalis L., but it will also feed on lavender, Lavandula spp. Adult 
beetles emerge in the spring and feed on foliage at the shoot tips. During mid- 
summer they enter a period of aestivation, becoming active again and laying eggs in 
late summer. The brown eggs are deposited singly or in small groups on the 
underside of leaves. The larvae, which are grey in colour, are present during the 
autumn. They feed on the foliage, reducing the leaves to the central vein, and may 
continue feeding into the winter. When fully fed they go down into the soil to pupate 
(Balachowsky, 1963). 

Chrysolina americana has been recorded once before in Britain. On 1.xii.63, six 
adults were found in a house at Disley, Cheshire (Johnson, 1963). The origin of these 
beetles is uncertain. Lavender was growing in the garden of the house just outside the 
room where they were found, although a search for further specimens on the plant 
and in the soil beneath it was unsuccessful. During August 1963 the occupants of the 
house had gone on holiday to Portugal and had brought back four pine cones which 
had been placed in a cupboard in the room where the beetles were subsequently seen. 
It is possible that these cones contained aestivating adults which later emerged in 
December. However the cones were removed from a large conifer and cork oak 
forest and the collectors could not recollect seeing any rosemary or lavender in the 
area. Chrysolina americana is superficially similar to the very scarce British beetle C. 
cerealis (L.); Johnson indicates the distinguishing features in his paper. 

The first beetle to be found at Wisley Garden was discovered by a student 
gardener, Sarah Walton, on 12.v.94. The students are required to make a collection 
of 25 pests during their year at Wisley and so are on the look-out for suitable insects. 
It was spotted on a pot-grown plant of Rosmarinus officinalis in a nursery area 
outside a glasshouse in the propagation department. There were 11 similar plants 
together in the nursery bed and they were carefully examined in the following weeks. 
Two other adults were found singly on 20.v. and 1.vi.94. All were found at the shoot 
tips where they were causing a small amount of feeding damage. The three beetles 
were kept in a container on a rosemary plant. They became dormant in mid-summer 
and settled in close proximity to each other on the stems. Despite their bright 
iridescent colours and 6-7mm length they nestled in the leaf axils and could be 
overlooked without careful searching. In late summer the beetles began moving 
around but they died within a period of 5 days in early September without laying any 
eggs. 

The plants on which the beetles had been found were grown from cuttings taken 
from a plant at Wisley in October 1992. The rooted cuttings over-wintered in a 
glasshouse and were stood outside during 1993. The fact that C. americana had been 
found in Britain on only one previous occasion suggests that it is unlikely to be an 
insect capable of migrating to Britain by its own efforts. The discovery of three 
adults appearing over a 3-week period on a small group of pot-grown plants is 


108 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


strongly indicative of adults emerging from overwintering sites, having developed as 
larvae the previous year. It is not known how the beetle may have arrived at Wisley 
in the first place. No plants from countries where the rosemary beetle occurs had 
been received by the propagation department during the period when the beetles 
were found, or in the preceding months. The Garden is close to the M25 and A3 
roads and it is possible that a beetle may have hopped off a passing lorry. More likely 
perhaps is that the beetle may have arrived amongst plants obtained from elsewhere 
in Europe for the Garden or for its plant sales centre. During the summer of 1994 
plants of rosemary and lavender growing at Wisley Garden were examined for signs 
of feeding, and beaten to try and dislodge aestivating adults, but none was found. It 
would appear that if C. americana did manage to breed at Wisley it had very limited 
success. 

The three specimens of C. americana now reside in the collections of the Natural 
History Museum, London, the BENHS at Dinton Pastures Country Park, Berks, 
and the RHS at Wisley Garden. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I would like to thank Sharon Shute of the Department of Entomology, Natural 
History Museum for confirming the identity of the beetle and directing me to 
references about its biology and previous occurrence in Britain. 


REFERENCES 


Balachowsky, A. S. 1963. Entomologie appliquée a l’agriculture Tome | Coléoptéres, second 
volume. Masson & Co, Paris, pp. 638-639. 

Johnson, C. 1963. Chrysolina americana L. (Col., Chrysomelidae) in Britain. Entomologist's 
Mon. Mag. 99: 228-229. 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Rhopalum coarctatum (Scop.) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) nesting in a case of 
Taleporia tubulosa Retz. (Lepidoptera: Psychidae).—A solitary wasp labelled as 
having been reared 23.vi.1972 from a psychid moth case taken at Pirbright, Surrey, 
was amongst aculeates in the collection of the late E. S. Bradford, now being added 
to the BENHS collections. Eric Bradford was a microlepidopterist. The data label 
queries whether the unexpected emergence betokened unwanted parasitism. The 
psychid case was not retained, so it is not possible to exonerate the wasp, which more 
usually stores its aphid prey in plant stems.—R. W. J. UFFEN, 4 Mardley Avenue, 
Welwyn, Hertfordshire AL6 OUD. 


Early hibernation of a queen wasp?—On 27.vii.95, I unearthed a hibernating queen 
of the social wasp Dolichovespula media (Retz.) from beneath a rotten log in the 
woods of Beckenham Place Park, south-east London (TQ385706; VC 16, West 
Kent). Although this species is known to finish its season early (M. E. Archer, 
personal communication), the end of July seems a particularly early date to find a 
queen ready to ‘“‘overwinter”. Elsewhere in the park, subterranean nests of the 
“common” wasp, Vespula vulgaris (L.) were active well into October 1995.—RIcHARD 
A. Jones, 13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, London SE1I5 3DE. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 109 


SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF PHILANTHUS 
TRIANGULUM (F.) (HYMENOPTERA: SPHECIDAE) 


MICHAEL RUINET 
63 Petersfield Road, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9JH. 


The following observations were made as part of an A-level biology course, to 
examine ways in which a selection of variables affects the behaviour of a chosen 
organism, a species of solitary wasp, Philanthus triangulum. 

P. triangulum is indigenous to hot heathland slopes and sandy banks. It is found 
mainly in central Europe and was, until recently, considered to be a rare species in 
Britain (Falk, 1991), although its numbers have increased dramatically in the past 10 
years and it is now recorded from around one hundred 10-km squares. Its activity can 
be observed from mid to late summer. This wasp appears to prey only on the common 
honeybee, Apis mellifera L., and is sometimes known by the common name of bee wolf. 

A local entomologist reported seeing a colony on Ambersham Common, near 
Midhurst, West Sussex. There was no guarantee that they would be present and, as I 
had only seen evidence of a nest hole once before, I was not entirely sure that I would 
be able to find the colony. All I had to go on was a map reference. 

The land there was a very loose sandy soil containing a great deal of flint deposits. 
The surrounding area is open, dry heathland with bracken and heather. The woods that 
surround the area contain a mixture of pine, birch and a small number of oak saplings. 

The heath is criss-crossed with bridle-paths and access routes for electricity pylons. 
It was along one such bridle-path that I found a long south-facing sandy slope which 
is typical of that used by P. triangulum. 

Nest tunnels were clearly visible because of the huge fans of excavated material 
dug out by the wasps. These lay directly below each nest entrance. The nest holes had 
large D-shaped openings. Around most entrances lay the remains of honeybees. I 
noted that there were two holes to each nest, the second one being to the right of the 
D-shaped one. This smaller hole was the one most used by the wasp and, in some 
cases, the only hole being used. 

I studied the wasps on two consecutive days, on 9 and 10.viii.1995, which were the 
two hottest days and likely to bring results as both bees and wasps would be active. 
Each day I made close observation of the site, temperature, weather conditions and 
detailed behaviour of the wasps for 7 hours. I took temperature readings and made 
notes on the wasps’ movements. 

I started my observations at 8 a.m. each day. Small flies and other insects were 
already active, but I had to wait until 10.30a.m. before P. triangulum first emerged. 
The number of wasps flying in and out of nests increased with the temperature and 
reached its maximum level at 2p.m. when the temperature was around 32°C. At 
higher temperatures the activity of flying wasps declined dramatically to only a few 
departures and arrivals per hour. 

The first behavioural pattern of P. triangulum that I observed was when it first 
appeared at the nest entrance. The wasp did not exit for about 20 to 30 seconds, but 
would sit half emerged from the nest entrance and appear to warm itself. Excavation 
of the burrow then took place as the wasp cleared out material from inside the 
entrance with its hind legs. The debris was cast below the hole in a large fan-shaped 
heap of spoil. Excavation took the wasp 2 or 3 minutes to complete. 

The wasp then sealed up the nest entrance with some of the discarded material, by 
walking backwards to shovel sand over the hole in use. It seems likely that the 


110 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


entrance was concealed as a precaution against intrusion from predatory wasps or 
other insects. This was noted by another researcher who was studying the behaviour 
of P. triangulum on the same days. I could always tell when a wasp was out hunting 
because the hole was concealed so that only a slight depression was visible. When the 
wasp was inside its burrow, the hole was left open. 

After the nest was sealed, the wasp began to fly in a slow circling motion around 
the nest site, as if to acquaint itself with the immediate nest area before flying off in 
search of prey. Often, before a long flight, the wasp would feed on heather, taking 
nectar to provide it with enough energy for its journey across the heathland. 

I observed that when the sun was at less than 195° from magnetic north (before 
2 p.m.) the wasps flew to and from the south. When the sun was at a greater angle, 
the wasp flew out to the north. Because the nesting bank faced almost due south, 
when a wasp flew out from its nest it would always keep the sun to its left side if it 
flew south in the morning and north in the afternoon. I believe it may do this for 
navigational purposes as well as using its polar orientation. This may help prevent 
over-exploitation of a particular hunting area, so the wasp would be able to feed in 
new parts of the heathland without exhausting others. However, this flight behaviour 
may also be brought about by the fact that bees might be feeding in different areas of 
the heathland if nectar flow in the flowers ceased by mid-day because of the heat and 
lack of moisture. 

I next recorded details of the hunting behaviour of P. triangulum. A bee would sit 
on a sprig of heather, collecting its nectar and pollen. P. triangulum would approach 
from down-wind, as if to pin-point the scent. When totally sure of its prey’s position, 
the wasp would pounce on the bee and appeared to sting under the bee’s head to 
immobilize it. The bee was then slung beneath the wasp. This slowed the wasp’s flight 
considerably and made it much easier to spot. 

On returning to its nest site with prey, the wasp would undergo a sweeping flight 
similar to when it left, but this time it swept down to the nest area. It would find the 
burrow, dig through the sealed entrance and drag its prey into the hole. 

On the second day I decided to see how the wasp would react upon returning to its 
nest to find a change in the local landscape. I placed a fist-sized rock just to the right 
of the sealed hole while the wasp was away. When it returned the wasp approached 
the area as expected, but appeared confused and disturbed at the change in 
surroundings since its departure. It began a frantic flight around the area. This 
continued for about 45 seconds but then the wasp flew high over the nest site and 
began a second, more detailed, descent and this time was able to find its nest hole. 
Without this change to its surroundings the wasp would usually take around 10 
seconds to complete this task. When it left again, it took a good reconnaissance flight 
over most of the area as if to ensure that it could record every landmark. 

My conclusions from this study are that the wasps not only have a large hole to the 
nest, but also have a smaller one in constant use to the side of it. They prey entirely on 
honeybees. They use the angle of the sun from magnetic north for navigational 
purposes. On leaving the nest they seal the hole as a precaution against intruders and 
take careful note of the surrounding area so that they can find the nest hole again. Wasp 
activity increases with a rise in temperature, but has its greatest level at around 32°C. 


REFERENCE 


Falk, S. 1991 A review of the scarce and threatened bees, wasps and ants of Great Britain. 
Research and Survey in Nature Conservation No.35. Nature Conservancy Council, 
Peterborough. pp. 138-139. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 111 


THE INSECTS ON A SMALL, ISOLATED, DERELICT 
METALLIFEROUS MINE SITE IN CORNWALL 


E. C.. MM. AEs 
6 Hatch’s Hill, Angarrack, Hayle, Cornwall TR27 SHY. 
AND A. SPALDING 


Cornish Biological Records Unit, Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter, 
Trevenson Road, Pool, Redruth, Cornwall. 


Wheal Johnny is an old mine site at Kehelland in west Cornwall near Camborne, 
about 2 kilometres from the sea at an altitude of 80 metres. It was a small-scale 
copper, silver and lead mine, well-capitalized between 1878 and 1887, and has been 
abandoned for 108 years (Buckley, pers. comm.). It was part of a larger complex of 
mines, to which it would have been connected by tracks or tramways. The mine 
shaft was 60 fathoms, with a pumping engine in site. Wheal Johnny is now an 
ecological island (about 0.7 hectares) in an agricultural landscape, being 
surrounded by fields; access is by a lane from the nearby road. The nearest 
similar habitat is about 200 metres across a field. The old mine has left a 
hummocky terrain around an old shaft. The site has been colonised by Ulex 
europaeus L. scrub, with some Salix cinerea L. and Rubus fruticosus L. agg. in the 
lower areas. Around the shaft there is a considerable amount of bare ground, 
which has been compacted by industrial activity; there is some loose clinker on the 
surface, remnants of slag from smelting. Contamination of the ground in places is 
shown by surface discoloration. Parts of this area have been colonized by Calluna 
vulgaris (L.) Hull, and form relict heathland. Nectar sources for insects are chiefly 
provided by Ulex europaeus and Calluna vulgaris, but there was also Sedum 
anglicum Hudson, Lotus corniculatus L., Hypochaeris radicata L., Digitalis purpurea 
L., Gladiolus byzantinus (Miller) A. P. Hamilton (a garden escape) and some 
Crataegus monogyna Jacquemont. These mine sites have been shown to be 
nationally important for wildlife (e.g. Bradshaw & Chadwick, 1980; Box, 1992; 
D.O.E., 1994), especially in Wales (Johnson, Putwain & Holliday, 1978) and in 
Cornwall (Spalding, 1995). Most survey work on derelict land sites has been done 
on higher and lower plants, mammals and birds, although some work has been 
done on invertebrates (e.g. Coldwell, 1993 and Fowles, 1994). The bryophytes of 
Wheal Johnny have been surveyed (Holyoak, 1995) although nothing of great 
importance was discovered. Despite the small area of the site, it was found to be of 
considerable interest for insects during a special survey in 1994-5. 


METHODS 


This survey formed part of a larger survey of metalliferous mine sites in west 
Cornwall. Wheal Johnny was visited by day on 11 and 23.viii.1994, 24.iv.1995, 
4.v.1995, 6.vi.1995 and 10.viii.1995; no more than | hour was spent on the site at any 
one time. Recording was by observation, sweeping and netting of flying insects. 
There was no trapping by mercury vapour lamp. Difficult species were collected for 
examination at home. Mining bees were identified by Mike Edwards and E.C.M.H. 
Total population counts were made of the grasshopper Myrmeleotettix maculatus 
(Thunb.) on 23.viii.1994 and 10.viii.1995; this was done by collecting all specimens 
seen which were then released unharmed at the end of the count. 


112 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


RESULTS 


Species of insect recorded included 32 Lepidoptera, four Orthoptera, two 
Neuroptera, one Dermaptera, 10 Hemiptera, 16 Hymenoptera, 16 Diptera and four 
Coleoptera. They are listed in the Appendix. 

Of these, six were heathland species and five were bare-ground specialists; some of 
these are sedentary insects almost certainly resident here (Table 1). There were large 
populations of the moth Cydia succedana D.& S. on the gorse bushes, and the moth 
Agonopterix nervosa Haw. was also recorded here. Heathland insects included the 
moth Eupithecia nanata Hibn, the Heteropteran bug Alydus calcaratus (L.) and the 
grasshopper Myrmeleotettix maculatus. The population of Myrmeleotettix macula- 
tus, according to counts in 1994 and 1995, was apparently stable but very small 
(Table 2). Six Tettigonia viridissima L. were found in 1995, although none were seen 
in 1994. 


DISCUSSION 


The insects recorded here can be divided into two classes: resident, sedentary 
species and mobile, adventive species. The presence of resident, sedentary species 
(Table 1) indicates long-term historical continuity. Species such as Myrmeleotettix 
maculatus indicate that the site is of possible high quality for invertebrates and 
should be investigated further (Spalding & Haes, 1995). Myrmeleotettix maculatus 
although winged is not a mobile species. Its presence here indicates that there was 
extensive heathland present when mining activity started here and that a small area 
of heathland has survived here ever since. The same is probably true for A/ydus 
calcaratus. It is one of the fastest flying of all the British Heteroptera (Southwood & 
Leston, 1959), but has a close association with dry heathland. It may also occur on 
the nearby mine site which lies about 200 metres east of Wheal Johnny, but it is 
otherwise now isolated in this vicinity. The same may be true for the two moth 
species in Table 1. 

An interesting find was the nationally rare green variety of the grasshopper 
Chorthippus brunneus (Thunb.). This form has been recorded regularly on the 


Table 1. Resident, sedentary species recorded at Wheal Johnny. 


Alydus calcaratus (Hemiptera, Heteroptera) 
Ematurga atomaria (Lepidoptera) 

Eupithecia nanata (Lepidoptera) 
Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Orthoptera) 

Ulopa reticulata (Hemiptera, Homoptera) 


Table 2. Population of Myrmeleotettix maculatus at Wheal Johnny 1994-5. 


Date of count 23.vili.94 10.vii.95 
Females 6 Th 
Males i i 
Total 13 14 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 113 


calcareous dunes along the nearby coast, but this is the first Cornish inland, non- 
dune record for this distinctive variety. It would be significant if found at other 
metalliferous mine sites, as it could be linked with the presence of normally 
maritime/boreal relict plants such as Armeria maritima (Miller) Willd. and Plantago 
maritima L., which are widespread on larger mine sites in Cornwall (although not 
on this site). 

The large bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima has a minimum 2-winter dormancy in 
the egg stage. It is likely that a small population here produces adults only in odd 
years, which explains why none were seen in 1994. However, as the species is 
widespread on wasteland and in larger gardens and Cornish hedges in the district, the 
specimens seen in 1995 could be the progeny of an itinerant gravid female in 1993. 
This site certainly appears to provide suitable habitat for Tettigonia viridissima, 
which needs scrub as an adult but bare ground for laying and coarse herbage for 
nymphs. 

Bare compacted ground is typical of the contaminated slag heaps at mine sites 
and can be relatively extensive, even around a small isolated site such as Wheal 
Johnny. It can be a significant habitat for invertebrates in its own right. It provides 
two key requirements: warm basking sites, especially for the Orthoptera, diurnal 
Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, and nesting sites particularly for solitary 
Hymenoptera and in consequence a hunting ground for their invertebrate 
predators (Kirby, 1992; Fry & Lonsdale, 1991). During the survey at Wheal 
Johnny insects observed using bare sun-warmed slag for basking included 
Lasiommata megera L., a species noted for perching on bare ground (Thomas, 
1991), and a transient Macroglossum stellatarum L. Hymenoptera clearly associated 
with this habitat at the site were the ant Lasius niger (L.) and the solitary bees 
Andrena haemorrhoa (F.), Lasioglossum smeathmanellum (Kirby) and Panurgus 
banksianus (Kirby) (a locally frequent species around the Cornish coast). A cuckoo 
bee Nomada fabriciana (L.) was probably attracted to the nest burrows of some or 
all of these bees. A widespread solitary wasp Mellinus arvensis (L.) was seen 
nectaring on flowers in the vicinity, although no nest burrows were located; it is 
also a bare-ground nesting species, stocking its nests with hoverflies, some of which 
were numerous here. 

One insect readily using the bare ground for basking was Myrmeleotettix 
maculatus. Although this distinctive grasshopper can be very numerous on 
extensive dune, heath or large mine-tip sites, it is also able to persist in tiny 
populations, so long as the habitat remains suitably open and exposed to the sun 
(Marshall & Haes, 1988). Wheal Johnny supported what was clearly just such a 
small population. The opportunity was therefore taken to estimate the population 
size of this relatively easily studied insect, partly to demonstrate one facet of the 
natural history of this site which could be useful for educational purposes. The 
remarkable closeness in the counts in two successive years (Table 2) indicates a 
very stable population. Future counts of this grasshopper would prove invaluable 
for indicating the general stability of the bare ground and associated heathland at 
this isolated but accessible site. 

Heathland is an important but declining wildlife habitat in Cornwall, as 
elsewhere in north-west Europe. Even a small area, as at Wheal Johnny, justifies 
careful investigation. At this site the dominant plant of the heathland area is 
Calluna vulgaris. This plant is tolerant of metal contamination and grows well on 
toxic compacted ground where other plants cannot survive. Calluna vulgaris is an 
important nectar source in the second half of the summer for a wide variety of 
insects (hence the siting of bee-hives at Wheal Johnny). Six species of bumble-bee, 


114 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


several solitary Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera, and six kinds of hoverfly were 
recorded nectaring on the blossom. Insects recorded here, which depend on 
Calluna vulgaris as a foodplant, include the flightless leafhopper Ulopa reticulata 
(F.), the leaf beetle Lochmaea suturalis (C. G. Thomson) afid the larvae of the 
moths Ematurga atomaria L. and Eupithecia nanata. Myrmeleotettix maculatus 
feeds on the adjacent stunted grasses and A/ydus calcaratus is an active predator 
in this habitat. Unfortunately, part of this small area of heath was landscaped by 
grading and grassing when the mine shafts were capped during winter of 1994/5, 
despite the fact that the importance of the bare ground/heathland area for wildlife 
was emphasized to the district council. No Myrmeleotettix maculatus were seen on 
the “improved” area in 1995. It is still unfortunately true that bare ground is 
considered by many to be inimical to nature conservation. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


The authors wish to thank Allan Buckley for providing information about the 
history of the mine and Mike Edwards for identifying the Nomada species. 


REFERENCES 


Box, J. 1992. Conservation or greening? The challenges of post-industrial landscapes. Br. 
Wildlife 4: 273-279. 

Bradshaw, A. D. & Chadwick, M. J. 1980. The restoration of land: the ecology and reclamation 
of derelict and degraded land. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 

Coldwell, J. D. 1993. Some uncommon insects from two waste ground sites in South Yorkshire. 
Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 6: 11. 

D.O.E. (Minerals Division). 1994. The reclamation and management of metalliferous mining sites 
HMSO, London. 

Fowles, A. 1994. Invertebrates of Wales. JNCC, Peterborough. 

Fry, R. & Lonsdale, D. 1991. Habitat conservation for insects—a neglected green issue. AES, 
Middlesex. 

Johnson, M. S., Putwain, P. D. & Holliday, R. J. 1978. Wildlife conservation value of derelict 
metalliferous mine workings in Wales. Biol. Consery. 14: 131-148. 

Holyoak, D. T. 1995. Botanical survey of bryophytes on Cornish metalliferous sites. Unpublished 
report for English Nature. Cornish Biological Records Unit, Pool. 

Kirby, P. 1992. Habitat management for invertebrates: a practical handbook. RSPB, Sandy. 

Marshall, J. A. & Haes, E. C. M. 1988. Grasshoppers and allied insects of Great Britain and 
Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester. 

Southwood, T. R. E. & Leston, D. 1959. Land and water bugs of the British Isles. Warne, 
London. 

Spalding, A. 1995. The importance of metalliferous mining sites in Cornwall for wildlife (with 
special reference to insects). Cornish Studies (Second Series) 3: 161-175. 

Spalding, A. & Haes, E. C. M. 1995. Contaminated land—a resource for wildlife: a review and 
survey of insects on metalliferous mine sites in Cornwall. Land Contamination and 
Reclamation 3: 24-29. 

Thomas, J. A. 1991. The butterflies of Britain and Ireland. Dorling Kindersley, London. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


APPENDIX. LIST OF INSECTS RECORDED AT WHEAL JOHNNY 1994/1995 


Orthoptera 

Tettigonia viridissima L. 
Chorthippus brunneus (Thunb.) 
Chorthippus parallelus (Zett.) 


Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Thunb.) 


Dermaptera 
Forficula auricularia L. 


Hemiptera Heteroptera 
Piezodorus lituratus (F.) 
Palomena prasina (L.) 
Dolycoris baccarum (L.) 
Alydus calcaratus (L.) 
Nysius thymi (Wolff) 
Nabis rugosus (L.) 
Anthocoris nemorum (L.) 


Hemiptera Homoptera 
Ulopa reticulata (F.) 
Eupteryx sp. 

Philaenus spumarius (L.) 


Neuroptera 
Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.) 


Mecoptera 
Panorpa communis (L.) 


Lepidoptera 


a) Butterflies 

Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda) 
Ochlodes venata (Bremer & Grey) 
Pieris brassicae (L.) 

Pieris rapae (L.) 

Pieris napi (L.) 

Lycaena phlaeas (L.) 
Polyommatus icarus (Rott.) 
Vanessa atalanta (L.) 
Cynthia cardui (L.) 

Aglais urticae (L.) 

TInachis io (L.) 

Pararge aegeria (L.) 
Lasiommata megera (L.) 
Pyronia tithonus (L.) 
Maniola jurtina (L.) 
Coenonympha pamphilus (L.) 
b) moths 

Zygaena filipendulae (L.) 
Agonopterix nervosa (Haw.) 
Eupoecilia angustana (Hibn.) 
Epiphyas postvittana (Walk.) 
Cydia succedana (D.&S.) 


Macrothylacia rubi (L.) 
Euthrix potatoria (L.) 
Eupithecia nanata (Hiibn.) 
Pseudopanthera macularia (L.) 
Ematurga atomaria (L.) 
Macroglossum stellatarum (L.) 
Arctia caja (L.) 

Phragmatobia fuliginosa (L.) 
Tyria jacobaeae (L.) 

Diarsia rubi (Vieweg.) 
Autographa gamma (L.) 


Diptera 

Tipula oleracea L. 

Bibio marci (L.) 

Dilophus febrilis (L.) 
Chloromyia formosa (Scop.) 
Syrphus ribesii (L.) 
Leucozona lucorum (L.) 
Rhingia campestris Meig. 
Episyrphus balteatus (Deg.) 
Merodon equestris F. 
Eristalis tenax (L.) 
Eristalis pertinax (Scop.) 
Eristalis arbustorum (L.) 
Urophora cardui (L.) 
Tachina fera (L.) 
Scathophaga sp. 
Sarcophaga sp. 


Hymenoptera 

Lasius niger (L.) 

Lasius flavus (F.) 

Mellinus arvensis (L.) 
Vespula vulgaris (L.) 

Vespula rufa (L.) 

Andrena haemorrhoa (F.) 
Lasioglossum smeathmanellum (Kirby) 
Panurgus banksianus (Kirby) 
Nomada fabriciana (L.) 

Apis mellifera L. 

Bombus terrestris (L.) 
Bombus lucorum (L.) 
Bombus hortorum (L.) 
Bombus lapidarius (L.) 
Bombus pascuorum (Scop.) 
Bombus pratorum (L.) 


Coleoptera 

Coccinella 7-punctata L. 

Oedemera nobilis (Scop.) 

Lochmaea suturalis (C. G. Thomson) 
Apion ulicis (Forst.) 


115 


116 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 
BENHS INDOOR MEETINGS 
10 October 1995 


The President, Dr M. SCOBLE, announced the death of Mr H. W. Mackworth- 
Praed who had been a member since 1960. His collection and books have been left to 
the Society. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed some larvae of the lesser stag beetle, Dorcus 
parallelipipedus (L.) (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). These were causing damage to some 
logs which had been set into the soil as stepping stones in a garden in Epsom, 
Surrey. 

Mr S. L. MEREDITH showed a twig of sloe, Prunus spinosa L., on which there were 
two eggs of the brown hairstreak. It was one of several that the exhibitor had rescued 
after the sloe bushes had been trimmed by a hedge cutter. He reported that on 
14.vili.95 between 3.30 and 4.30 p.m. at Noar Hill, near Alton, Hants, he had seen at 
least 50 adult brown hairstreaks feeding on hemp agrimony flowers. 

It was announced that Mr Rex Johnson, Dr Chris Tyler-Smith and Mr Vic 
Williams have been approved by Council as ordinary members. 

Mr S. L. MEREDITH said that while on Noar Hill he had found a strange animal 
feeding by grazing the surface of a hawthorn leaf. It had a black slimy appearance 
and he had sent it to the mollusc department at the Natural History Museum. They 
had passed it on to the entomology section where it was identified as the larva of the 
pear and cherry sawfly, Caliroa cerasi (L.) (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae)! This 
species feeds on a wide range of trees and shrubs in the Rosaceae family and is 
sometimes a pest. 

Mr R. J. Kemp said he had seen a male pale or Berger’s clouded yellow butterfly 
at Magdalen Hill Down, Winchester, Hants on 17.vii.95. A Camberwell beauty was 
seen at Grendon Underwood near Aylesbury, Bucks., on 5.vili.95. He also noted 
that in 1994 and 95 in mid-Bucks., the brown argus appears to be spreading. Its 
usual foodplant is absent from that area and so it is possibly using a new food 
plant. 

Mr KEN WILLMOTT spoke on “British hairstreaks and their conservation”. His 
talk was based mainly on observations he had made between 1970 and the mid-80s, 
and many of his photographs had been taken in the field. Hairstreak butterflies 
belong to the Theclinae subfamily and there are over 2000, most of which are New 
World species. Britain has just five species. The most widespread is the green 
hairstreak and in this species there is considerable variation in the extent of the 
hairstreak marking on the hind wings. This may be reduced to a few spots or may be 
completely lost. It has several hostplants, including bird’s foot trefoil, rock-rose and 
gorse. Eggs are often placed on flower buds or leaves at the shoot tips. The first- 
instar larvae are brownish-red but later instars are green with paler stripes. The pupal 
stage is possibly associated with ants. The pupae are able to make a squeaking noise 
and this may be a means of communicating with ants. The green hairstreak is an 
adaptable species that can colonize new sites. The speaker described a meadow near 
Leatherhead, Surrey, where tipping had raised the soil level by several feet. The green 
hairstreak was absent originally but appeared in the meadow once suitable food 
plants became established. 

The brown hairstreak shows variation in the extent of the red patches on the 
female’s forewings. The butterfly is active in mid- to late summer and these red 
patches may give the female some camouflage when sitting on shrubs with red 
berries, such as hawthorn and rose. White eggs are laid on blackthorn twigs, often in 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 117 


the axils of stems. This species seems to suffer from less parasitism of the egg stage 
than other British hairstreaks. The pale green larvae feed initially by grazing the 
underside of leaves but later eat whole portions of leaves. Pupation occurs in the 
hedge bottom. Males hold territories around the tops of trees, especially ash. They 
have been seen with their mouthparts inserted into lenticels in ash bark from which 
they may be able to suck up a sugary sap. The main conservation threats to this 
species are from hedge grubbing and the loss of eggs from blackthorn, when farmers 
and local authorities trim hedges in late summer. 

The purple hairstreak rarely visits flowers but will come down from the tree tops in 
early morning to drink dew. Eggs are laid on the dormant buds of oak, including 
turkey oak. The body markings on the larvae give them good camouflage against the 
remaining bud scales attached to the base of new stems. The mature larvae often 
pupate in ant nests. 

The white-letter hairstreak is associated with elms and it became very uncommon 
after most elm trees were killed by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s. It has made a 
comeback as sucker growth in hedgerows has developed into small trees. Dutch elm 
disease is now again widespread and may send the butterfly back into decline. It lays 
its eggs on English elm stems, especially at the junction of the current year’s growth 
with that of the previous year. The mature larvae turn into hairy pupae which are 
attached to the foliage or twigs. 

The black hairstreak is the most local British species. In 1978 a thriving introduced 
colony was discovered in Surrey by the speaker. Eggs are laid on blackthorn and they 
hatch into larvae that resemble the foodplant’s bud scales. The older larvae are pale 
green and they feed at the shoot tips. The pupae resemble bird droppings and they are 
found on the foliage and twigs. The Surrey colony began to decline and, despite 
management at the site to encourage new blackthorn growth, it has now died out. This 
is probably due to changes in land use outside the site, which included the felling of 
surrounding woodland that provided shelter and other needs of the adult butterflies. 


14 November 1995 


Dr D. J. L. AGASsIz showed a specimen, provisionally identified as Metzneria 
torosulella Rebel, taken at light in his garden at Gravesend, Kent, 18.viii.1995, which 
had at first been misidentified as Sitotroga cerealella (Ol.). This cannot confidently be 
counted as British, since seedheads of thistle were collected in Tenerife in April 1995, 
from which a Metzneria species was bred. In the late summer, date not recorded, 
these seedheads were put on the garden compost heap and it is conceivable this was 
the source of the specimen. 

Mr R. K. MERRIFIELD showed a fossil from Praa Sands, Cornwall, probably the 
cast of a marine tube worm, impregnated with iron ore. It was found at the base of a 
cliff in a dark stratum which was probably estuarine mud, iron ore being in the cliff 
strata above. 

Mr N. A. CALLOW reported that at Smitham Hill, East Harptree, Mendip on 
21.x.95 at 2.30 p.m. over 500 Chloropid flies Chlorops hypostigma Meigen were seen 
in a 12ft vertical column on the sunny side of a telegraph pole. Their activities 
included courtship and attempted mating. 

Mr R. D. HAWKINS announced the publication of the Society’s latest book: New 
British Beetles which was available in paperback at £12 and hardback at £18 to 
members. 


118 BR, J, ENT, NAT, HIST,, 9: 1996 


There then followed a discussion on the Annual Exhibition. 

The President began by thanking and congratulating Mr M. J. Simmons on the 
organization of a successful Exhibition. Mr Simmons reported that both attendance 
by members, and the number of exhibits had remained steady.*There had been fewer 
exhibits of Diptera and Coleoptera than in recent years, but an increase in the 
number of Lepidoptera exhibits. 

The discussion was then followed by members’ slides. Mr R. K. MERRIFIELD 
showed slides of the natural history of the Scilly Isles and Cornwall; Mr N. L. 
SAWYER, of insects in Turkey; and Mr N. A. CALLOw, of insects etc. in Greece and 
the UK. The President thanked members for their contributions. 


BENHS FIELD MEETINGS 


Dawlish Warren, Devon 24 June 1995 


Leader: R. McCormick. The night was reasonably overcast with a very light breeze 
which abated as the night wore on. Thirteen people attended of whom nine were 
from the BENHS and two were members of The Devonshire Association. Two were 
part of the ever-increasing group of people with whom the leader had made contact 
in Devon, and two were wardens from the site. 

After introductions, the leader instructed the members present on the rules of the 
Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve regarding the parking of vehicles and the taking of 
specimens. The assembled entomologists then made their way on to the site to set up 
their equipment. There were about 12 lights in operation. The leader and several of 
the group went on the rounds to see as many of the lights as possible, and a sizeable 
list soon built up. The temperature stayed around the 20°C mark all the time the 
meeting was in progress. Because it was such a good night the meeting did not pack 
up until around 03,00 hours or later, and the general feeling was that of an enjoyable 
field meeting. There were recorders of three orders of insects on site, two 
coleopterists, one hymenopterist and five lepidopterists, with lists of species seen 
from most of the visitors. The lists of Lepidoptera have been amalgamated into a list 
of 159 species; a lot of the Microlepidoptera were identified by Bob Heckford but 
there are still some that have yet to be named. A list of Hymenoptera was also 
produced and provided by A. A. Allen. 

Interesting species that were seen include Pediasia contaminella Hiibn., which is 
relatively new to the Devon list; Anerastia lotella Hibn., this species is restricted to 
sandy localities; Epirrhoe galiata D.& S., galium carpet, a nationally scarce species 
that is found in many localities throughout Devon; Callimorpha dominula L., scarlet 
tiger, which is thought to be restricted but in actual fact is widespread throughout 
Devon; Meganola albula D.& S., Kent black arches, this species is found commonly 
on the Warren and on some other sites; Agrotis ripae Hiibn., sand dart, a species that 
is also restricted to sandy localities which are very few in Devon; Earias clorana L., 
cream-bordered green pea, this species was only found as isolated records until it was 
discovered to be breeding on the Warren. There were five species of parasitic 
Hymenoptera identified, the most important of which seems to be Macrocentrus 
collaris (Spinola), female, a gregarious parasite on noctuid larvae, not seen on the 
Warren before. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 119 
Maidscross Hill, Lakenheath, Suffolk, 15 July 1995 


Leader: David Young. The weather conditions for the field meeting to this well 
known site were not as good as we might have wished, and no doubt partially 
explained the low number of members who turned up for the meeting. On the other 
hand, weather conditions were not as bad as is usually the case when I volunteer to 
lead a field trip. Whilst the morning was pleasantly sunny, a heavy storm in the 
afternoon, combined with a brisk wind throughout the day, effectively reduced insect 
activity during the daylight hours. 

Undaunted by the conditions, searching the site, especially in the more sheltered 
places, gave a promising start to the day’s recording efforts. Thirteen species of 
butterflies were recorded including both Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda) and T. lineola 
(Ochs.), a few Polygonia c-album (L.), fresh males of Hipparchia semele (L.) and 
plenty of Maniola jurtina (L.), the females of which seemed to be more brightly 
marked on the underside than normal. The larva of Tyria jacobaeae (L.) were 
common and many of the campion seed heads contained larvae of Hadena bicruris 
(Hufn.). A large and unidentified ichneumon was seen hunting for these larvae, 
probing her ovipositor deep into the seed heads. Sweeping the low herbage, at least 
until the storm brought an abrupt end to the daytime proceedings, produced a 
variety of larvae, many of which turned out to be Heliothis viriplaca (Hufn.), a 
species later recorded at m.v. light. 

Only a few records of orders other than the Lepidoptera were made. A female 
Sympetrum sanguineum (Miller) (Odonata) was seen. Other records included 
Chloromyia formosa (Scop.) (Diptera), and Crabro cribrarius (L.) and Cerceris 
arenaria (L.) (Hymenoptera). 

Weather conditions improved considerably as dusk approached. The wind 
dropped, cloud cover increased and the temperature, along with our spirits, rose 
steadily. Several m.v. traps were run in sheltered positions with one trap placed well 
out into the exposed part of the site and surrounded by viper’s bugloss. Tony 
Dobson kindly festooned a conveniently situated wire fence with wine ropes which 
duly produced a good number of moths including a few species which were not 
recorded at the m.v. traps. 

The date chosen for this field meeting was too late for such Breckland specialities 
as Lithostege griseata (D. & S.), and was between broods of Scopula rubiginata 
(Hufn.) with only one fresh example being noted. There was no sign of Heliophobus 
reticulata marginosa (Haw.), a species which now seems to be difficult to find, and 
there were no Noctua orbona (Hufn.) amongst a steady trickle of N. comes (Hiibn.). 
However there was much of interest amongst a large number of moths recorded. 
Amongst the Pyralidae were several specimens of Evergestis extimalis (Scop.), and 
Sitochroa palealis (D.& S.) was common. 


120 BR, J, ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


OBITUARY 
FRANCES MARY MURPHY 1926-1995 


Frances was born on 29 April 1926, Her parents were both ipterested in birds and, 
so Frances recalled, probably also in flowers and gardens, and she soon developed a 
keen interest in natural history, Following the death of her mother when she was 
seven, Frances and her younger brother Edward continued to live with their father in 
the Yorkshire countryside, When she returned from boarding school during the 
school holidays she spent much of her time wandering in the surrounding fields. 
Later she recalled that even at this early age she seemed to have long known all the 
common flowers and birds of the area. 

Frances was taken to the Natural History Museum whenever she visited her 
London relatives and was fascinated by the giant skeletons of the giant prehistoric 
saurians, Having read the second chapter of Wells’s History of the world, which 
concerned dinosaurs, she then read the first chapter which gave an outline of 
astronomy. This led to a fascination with the stars which endured throughout her 
life. She once commented that in the early 1940s cosmologists believed the universe 
to be 10 million years old, while geologists put the Earth at about 100 million years 
old, The teenage Frances had considered this “‘an unsatisfactory arrangement”. 

In 1943 Frances went to Bedford College, London University, to read 
mathematics, It was an old-fashioned course, but she enjoyed the freedom of life 
for a year in Cambridge and then in London, In 1945 she became ill with very high 
blood pressure through kidney disease. Frances thought she “had had it’, but luckily 
the trouble only affected the left kidney and after it was removed she recovered. 
Because of her illness, Frances lost a year’s education and finally took her degree in 
1948. She later considered it “not a very good degree’, but it had taken her some 
lime to get over the operation, With hindsight she thought that she should perhaps 
have taken a year off, but in typical positive fashion she wanted to get on with things. 

After graduating Frances went to work at Fairey Aviation in the guided missile 
section, where her mathematical training was put to use calculating stability and 
flight paths, She found the work interesting and progressed well, ultimately having a 
small section to assist her, It was at Fairey’s that she met John Murphy, and they 
were married in December 1949, The accompanying portrait of Frances at 40 was 
painted by Ted Watson, another colleague at the company, 

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Frances suffered from a sort of general blood 
poisoning which left her very tired. It was at this time that Fairey’s was taken over by 
Vickers another aviation company which Frances dryly described as “the merchants 
of death”, She did not get on with the new company and stayed only a year, 

It was at this time that her interest in spiders developed. She joined the forerunner 
of the British Arachnological Society and went on a Field Studies course on spiders 
at Flatford Mill. One of the inspirations for her interest was W. S. Bristowe’s The 
world of spiders. At first she wanted to photograph them because she could not draw 
“for toffee’, and in order to do this she kept many in captivity, rearing them to 
maturity, In this she became quite expert and wrote several small books based on her 
experience, 

Frances was quickly drawn in to the study of spiders and was a member of many 
arachnological groups, She was a founder member of both the British and American 
Arachnological Societies and also belonged to the British Tarantula Society, the 
Spider Club of Southern Africa, the Australasian Arachnological Society, the Centre 
International de Documentation Arachnologique and the Société Européen 
d’Arachnologie. Her wide interest in general natural history enabled her to 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 121 


Frances at 40, painted by Ted Watson, a colleague at Fairey Aviation. 


contribute to the London Wildlife Trust, the Wildlife Society and the London 
Natural History Society. Her childhood fascination with dinosaur bones was repaid 
when she became a founder and committee member of the Friends of the Natural 
History Museum. 

In 1962 Frances joined the BENHS, which was then the “South London’, and 
during her membership she contributed greatly to the Society. During the 1980s 
Frances was Secretary of the Society and in 1989 became President—the first and (so 
far) only woman to be appointed to the position. Later she was one of the BENHS 
representatives on the Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Insects (later 
Invertebrates). It was during her presidency that the Society received news that it would 
have to quit its long-held rooms at the Alpine Club in Mayfair’s South Audley Street, 
and Frances spent much time and effort finding new premises for the Society. 


122 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Frances at the 1989 AES exhibition. 


With a resurgence of her previous kidney problems a few years ago, Frances 
prepared a resumé of her life and sent it to Canon David Agassiz with the request 
that, whenever it might come, he should officiate at her funeral. I have drawn heavily 
on that résumé (and David’s funeral oration) in preparing this notice, and reading 
through it I can still hear Frances’ voice speaking to me. Frances died on 20 July 
1995 and her funeral on the 28th of July was so well attended by family, friends and 
colleagues from the many societies to which she belonged, that there was standing 
room only for many of us. 

Frances will be sadly missed by us all, but in particular by her husband John to 
whom our deepest sympathy is offered. 


A PERSONAL APPRECIATION 


Anyone who met Frances was immediately struck by the strength of her character. 
Some, who knew her less, mistook her outspokenness and hearing her acerbic wit 
failed to appreciate her dry sense of humour—their loss. 

In 1980 when I first attended BENHS indoor meetings in the crusty rooms of the 
Alpine Club, I was immediately aware that the Society still had something of an 
archaic (but charming) atmosphere; at the time I likened it to a Victorian gentlemen’s 
club. And yet here in the middle of the enthusiastic bustling males was a woman, and 
not a woman entomologist but an arachnologist to boot. Despite these ironies, 
Frances was not out of place; she cut a swathe through the Society, held her own on 
all occasions and commanded the respect of others on equal terms. 

Even in the pub after evening meetings, Frances would join us other reprobates for 
a beer before home. When her renal problems reappeared, she was obliged to give up 
her usual half of Guinness, so took to ordering a small brandy instead. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 123 


One of the first things which struck me about Frances was that she and John were 
always zooming off on exotic holidays to strange parts of the globe. On several 
occasions she gave lectures to the Society detailing her adventures and showing 
spectacular slides. These were not at all wholly of spiders and you could always be 
certain that whenever she spoke, Frances would colour her narratives with bizarre 
anecdotes and amusing asides. 

Frances once gave an account of her travels in New Zealand and I tempted my 
partner, Catrina, along to hear it since this was the land of her father. My glowing 
accounts of Frances’ skills as a speaker were rewarded when Catrina later compared 
the measured but enthusiastic delivery to that of Joyce Grenfell. As ever, it was a 
delightful evening. 

It was through her world travel that Frances was an inspiration to me. A few years 
ago Catrina and I had, as usual, left our holiday planning until the very last minute 
and were at a loss wondering where to go. The destinations we selected were 
impossible to reach, for this was the time of failing travel companies and 
consolidation of many flights meant that package deals and cheap flights were full 
or cancelled. Costa Rica in Central America came into our minds and I remembered 
that Frances had been there a few years before. I telephoned her to ask what she 
thought of the place and her immediate response was to invite us over to her house 
for a private slide show. 

Here we were entertained with as professional a travelogue as we could wish to 
hear anywhere. And afterwards Frances showed us some of her pets, including one 
she just happened to have from Costa Rica—a large amblypygid tailless whip- 
scorpion sitting almost motionless in its case. It was now that Frances admitted she 
had a cunning trick to get through US customs quickly and easily whenever she 
travelled that way. She would inform officials that she was transporting live spiders 
in her baggage. This was not against regulations, but it meant she was ushered 
through a different customs route, one which was inevitably less congested. 

Our holiday in Costa Rica was a spectacular success and one of the most exciting 
moments was peeling back a bit of bark to reveal an amblypygid—just like the one 
Frances had. On BENHS field meetings Frances was sometimes ribbed by the 
discovery that an interesting web was made, not by a moth caterpillar, but by a 
spider—a “‘“Murphy’’—and now I cannot see a spider without thinking fondly of her. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


1966 Dictyna viridissima (Walck.) and Tegenaria agrestis (Walck.) in Middlesex. BSSG Bulletin 
30: 9. 

1966 Spider course at Monks Wood, Huntingdon, in 1966. BSSG Bulletin 34: 7. 

1967 Field meeting at Box Hill. BSSG Bulletin 36: 7. 

1968 Notes on interesting spider species. BSSG Bulletin 37: 4. 

1971 Callilepis nocturna (Linneaus) (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) newly found in Britain. 
Entomologist’s Gaz. 22: 269. 

1973 The spiders of Chobham Common. Surrey Naturalist Report for 1973. 

1974 Occurrence of Tm 4 on Erigone longipalpis. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. 9: 9. 

1974 Two field meetings at Hackhurst Downs, April & November 1972. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 
Newsl. 9: 9. 

1976 (Murphy, J. A. & —) Spider hunting in the United States of America. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 
Newsl. 16: 6. 

1978 (Murphy, J. A. & —) The male of Lycosoides crassipalpis (Denis) (Araneae, Agelenidae). 
Bull. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 4(6). 


124 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


1979 (P. Tongiorgi & —) Arctosa villica (Lucas, 1848): drawings and observations. Bull. Br. 
Arachnol. Soc. 4(9). 

1980 A spider hunting trip to Malaya and Borneo. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. 28/9. 

1980 Keeping spiders, insects and other land invertebrates in captivity. Jahn Bartholomew & Son 
Ltd. 

1981 Council’s report for 1980. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 14: 63-64. 

1982 BAS meeting at Mas Forge Field Centre in France Sth—12th June 1982. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 
Newsl. 35: 1. 

1982 Council’s report for 1981. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 15: 48. 

1983 (Murphy, J. A. & —) More about Portia (Araneae, Salticidae). Bull. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 
6(1). 

1983 (Murphy, J. A. & —) The orb weaver Acusilas (Araneae, Araneidae). Bull. Br. Arachnol. 
Soc. 6(3). 

1983 Council’s report for 1982. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 16: 121. 

1984 (Murphy, J. A. & —) An English collection of Tyrolean spiders (Arachnida, Aranei). Ber. 
Nat. Med. Ver. Innsbruck 71. 

1984 Biology of spiders by Foelix. Book review. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 17: 86. 

1984 Council’s report for 1983. Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 17: 95-96. 

1984 [Photograph of Frances “attracting the unanticipated interest of the residents (a herd of 
cows) of Magor Marsh in her spider photography”’.| Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 
17: 109. 

1988 How to begin the study of spiders by Cloudsley-Thompson. Book review. Br. Arachnol. Soc. 
Newsl. 52: 6. 

1988 The British Tarantula Society. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. Suppl. 52: 11. 

1988 Orb web spiders: two interesting observations in the literature. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Suppl. 
53: iv. 

1989 Pseudoscorpions by Legg & Jones. Book review. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 2: 64. 

1989 [Photograph of Enoplognatha ovata on web built inside trumpet of Sarracenia alata.] Br. J. 
Ent. Nat. Hist. 2: 88. 

1990 Sex determination of immature theraphosid spiders from their cast skins by Hancock & 
Hancock. Book review. Br. Arachnol. Soc. News]. 59: 8. 

1991 How to begin the study of spiders by D. W. Mackie. Book review. Br Arachnol. Soc. News. 
60: 8. 

1991 Baboon spiders, tarantulas of Africa and the Middle East by A. Smith. Book review. Br. 
Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. 62: 1. 

1991 The 1989 Presidential Address—Part 1. Report. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 4: 67-68. 

1991 The 1989 Presidential Address—Part 2. Some interesting European spiders. Br. J. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. 4: 69-82, Plate III. 

1992 British Red Data Books; 3. Invertebrates other than insects edited by Bratton. Book review. 
Br. Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. 63: 7. 

1992 (Miles, S. & —) The Joint Commitee for the Conservation of British Insects. Br. J. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. 5: 24. 

1992 [Photograph of Harpactocrates ravastellus showing peculiar bulbs on the animal’s palps.] 
Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 26. 

1992 Staffhurst Wood, Surrey, 19 May 1991. BENHS Field Meeting. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 
40. 

1992 Stick insects of Britain, Europe and the Mediterranean by Brock. Book review. Br. J. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. 5: 91-92. 

1992 Move from the Alpine Club. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 129-132. 

1992 The care of spiders in captivity. Chiron Publishers, Keighley. 

1992 Keeping spiders in captivity. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Members’ Handbook. 

1993 Martin Lister’s English spiders (1678) edited by Parker & Harley. Book review. Br. J. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. 6: 47. 

1993 Points of view. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. 66: 3. 

1994 [Photographs of BENHS members at Dinton Pastures.] Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 94-95. 

1995 More about Aussie rules. Br. Arachnol. Soc. Newsl. 72: 16. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 125 


OBITUARY 


CHARLES BRADWIN ASHBY 1920-1994 


Charles Bradwin Ashby (known as ‘Brad’ for short) who died on 9 January 1994 
joined the BENHS in 1965, known then as the South London Entomological and 
Natural History Society. Over the years he attended many of the indoor meetings 
and those in the field, when by that time his main interest lay in the Lepidoptera. 

He was born on 13 June 1920 and lived his early years with his parents in West 
London. His father had an electrical business in the King’s Road, Chelsea. At the age 
of ten the family moved to Carshalton, Surrey, and the following year young Brad 
entered the nearby Sutton Grammar School. The author of this obituary was at the 
same school and, though in a form lower, remembers Brad, not as a member of the 
school natural history society, but as a participant of the art group where a fellow 
artist drew the accompanying cartoon. 


nb 
t 
BSN GINPE WING 


Cartoon of Brad Ashby by Snoaden, Art Group, Sutton Grammar School, 1936. 


126 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


On leaving that school in 1937 Brad joined his father’s business, attending night- 
school to obtain the Diploma of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. He took his 
final exams just at the outbreak of World War II. When it was time for him to be 
called for military service, his electrical qualification and experience were considered 
of sufficient consequence for him to be drafted into the services of the Ministry of 
Aircraft Production. At first Brad was based at their headquarters at Millbank on 
the Thames, but for most of the next five years he was sent up and down the country 
examining crashed aircraft. This, at times, became a very harrowing experience for 
him. He had, in each case, to assess what electrical faults, if any, might have 
contributed to the crash. 

Soon after the end of the War in 1945, Brad was released by the Ministry and 
then rejoined his father’s business which was still in the King’s Road. When Ashby 
senior died, Brad took over, first as manager and then later as director of the firm. 
In 1985 he had been considering retirement at the end of that year, but decided to 
stay on until 1988 in order to celebrate the firm’s one hundredth year of 
establishment. 

Brad Ashby first became interested in natural history during World War II and his 
earliest leanings lay towards ornithology. In this connection he joined the London 
Natural History Society, becoming involved on its Ornithology Committee and 
serving on that of the London Bird Report, remaining with it until 1960. After the 
publication in 1957 of that Society’s first edition of The birds of the London area since 
1900, Brad turned his attention towards microscopy, ecology and entomology. To 
satisfy the first mentioned he joined the Quekett Microscopical Club, becoming 
particularly interested in the smaller denizens of pond life. For ecology and 
entomology he transferred his attentions in the LNHS from birds to the section that 
catered for these topics, at the same time seeking membership of the BENHS as has 
already been mentioned. In our Society he became increasingly absorbed in the 
Lepidoptera. With a friend he operated a mercury vapour moth lamp on Bookham 
Common, Surrey intermittently between the years 1965 and 1968. From this study he 
contributed a number of new moth records to Colin Plant’s Larger moths of the 
London area (1993), on the cover of which appears Brad’s colour photograph of the 
elephant hawk-moth. 

Each year Brad and his wife Hilda took their annual holiday in Sweden, partly to 
visit their younger married daughter living there, and then to continue by motoring 
to distant parts of that country, watching birds and butterflies whenever possible. It 
was during one such yearly visit that Brad had the good fortune to be introduced to 
one of Sweden’s leading lepidopterists, Stig Torstenius (also a member of our 
Society). This first meeting blossomed into a real friendship which brought about the 
presentation by Torstenius to the BENHS of a representative of each of Sweden’s 
Lepidoptera from his own collection. At the end of each year’s holiday Brad would 
bring back to England several store boxes of mounted specimens and Stig, when he 
came over here, would bring a similar amount. During the ensuing twelve months 
Brad would find the time to change, where necessary, the staging-pin size (and add 
further specimens mounted from Stig’s papered reserve collection to fill any gaps), so 
that the whole could be re-arranged in Hill cabinet drawers set aside for this purpose 
by our Society’s Council. Anomalies and difficulties in the nomenclature from earlier 
Continental lists were ironed out by Ashby, so that there is now a catalogue prepared 
by him for members subsequently using the collection. One cannot fail to appreciate 
the vast amount of work he put into getting the collection into working order, 
especially when one considers that it involved somewhere between three and four 
thousand specimens. It is an effort for which our Society can be forever grateful. The 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 127 


C. B. Ashby 1920-1994. 


story of this Torstenius collection was fortunately written up and published by 
Ashby in our Journal just before he died (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 7: 37-46, 1994). 

Not only did he work hard on the Torstenius Lepidoptera collection, as has just 
been described, but he also gave considerable attention, when the time came, to 
detailing the arrangements for moving the Society’s collections to Dinton Pastures. 
At our annual exhibition meetings he also gave much unsung assistance in ensuring 
that such functions ran smoothly. It was not unusual for him to turn up early for 
these meetings to help in setting up the tables for the exhibits, and he made certain 
that the slide equipment was in the right place at the right time. Furthermore, in his 
capacity as a member of both our Society and the LNHS, he made certain that 
arrangements for the annual joint meeting between the two organizations were 
satisfactory each year, presiding over several of these events on the appointed 
evening. When Stanley Jacobs died in 1989, Ashby’s name was put forward at a 
BENHS council meeting as a successor trustee, to which post he was duly elected. 
While not carrying any additional work load, a trustee’s rdle has an important 
obligation in the event of a society becoming insolvent. 

Brad always had a particular bent for new gadgetry. The writer of this note recalls 
a delightful piece of Ashby ‘Heath-Robinson’ equipment, consisting of a 
veterinarian’s hypodermic syringe taped to the end of a walking stick with a pull- 
string attached to the head of the plunger! This simple, though effective, piece of 
apparatus allowed samples of pond water to be taken at various depths. He retained 
this same inventive frame of mind to the end, for on 14 December 1993 he exhibited a 
‘home-made’ but highly professional slide-viewer, constructed only a few weeks 


128 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


before he died. With his death the Society has lost a respected member who did much 
on the side-lines of the BENHS—a difficult rdle to refill. The writer of this obituary 
notice misses a valued friend and a worthy field companion. 


ERIC W. GROVES 


EDITORIAL 
MORE ABOUT LOGOS 


Since the appearance of the last issue of the journal, and in particular my 
pontifications on the possible origins of the Society’s logo, I have received various 
communications pointing out alternative identities for this mysterious creature. It 
was a postcard from Tony Irwin, which first alerted me to the possibility that the 
insect was a long-tailed zygaenid moth, possibly Himantopterus fuscinervis Westw. 
This species is depicted (plate 46b) in The dictionary of butterflies and moths in colour 
by Allan Watson and Paul Whalley (1975, Michael Joseph Ltd; reprinted 1983, 
Peerage books) and it certainly looks very like the logo illustration. Himantopterus 1s 
a small genus of Indian and South-East Asian moths, all with very long hind wings; 
H. fuscinervis is recorded from Java and Sumatra. The larvae are reputed to live with 
termites, but otherwise very little is known of this or others in the group. 

A few days later, Mark Parsons thrust a small glass-topped box under my nose. In 
it was another long-tailed zygaenid, a Doratopteryz species, this time from Africa. 
The close resemblance of this moth to the Society logo was noted by Martin Honey 
and, like many great entomological advances, was the result of a conversation during 
a staff coffee break at the Natural History Museum. 

However, further evidence has emerged that the device is indeed Nemoptera. In the 
Council’s report for 1967 (Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1968; 1: 16), when its 
availability was first announced, the tie is described as having “a simple motif, a 
neuropteron”’. 

No matter what the insect is, the question still remains—why should Arthur Smith 
have chosen such an obscure insect to decorate the Society’s tie? Perhaps someone 
out there has an idea. 

It might be worth reporting here that the Society’s council spent some time and 
energy in debating the exact form of the logo. At the time, everyone on council was 
firmly of the opinion that the insect on the tie was a species of Nemoptera, a mainly 
Mediterranean group related to lace-wings. In particular, it was thought to be 
Nemoptera bipennis, the species shown (page 107) in Michael Chinery’s Jnsects of 
Britain and western Europe (1986, Collins). In asking Rob Dyke to redraw, it was 
suggested that the logo should be more life-like, so Rob carefully penned a more 
detailed figure accordingly. 

However, it was only then noticed that Nemoptera had much broader and blunter 
wings than Smith’s tie logo—a completely different design had resulted. What should 
the Society do? There were two alternatives: use Rob’s new ‘more accurate’ depiction 
of Nemoptera or return to a version based on Smith’s ties. The debate was finally 
resolved at the 1995 annual exhibition where a vote to use Smith’s slim-winged insect 
was narrowly passed by the assembled council members. Given the mystery 
surrounding its origins, and argument on the animal’s identity, it is perhaps just as 
well that we have retained Smith’s design more or less unaltered. 


RicHARD A. JONES 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Officers and Council for 1996 


President: 
C. Hart, B.Sc. 
Vice-Presidents: 


M. J. Scoble, B.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D., F.R.E.S. 
D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.E.S. 


Treasurer: Secretary: 
A. J. Pickles, F.C.A., F.R.E.S. R. F. McCormick, F.R.E.S. 
Curator: Librarian: 
P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. I. R. Sims, B.Sc., C.Biol., M.I.Biol. 
Lanternist: Editor: 
I. F. G. McLean, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.E.S. R. A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F.L.S. 


Building Manager: 
P. J. Baker, C.Eng., F.R.H.S 


Ordinary Members of Council: 


M. Barclay A. Jenkins 

G. Boyd D. Lonsdale 
J. Firmin M. S. Parsons 
N. M. Hall S. Pittis 

R. D. Hawkins P. M. Waring 


A NEW REPRINT FROM THE 
AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS’ SOCIETY 


PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE FIELD LEPIDOPTERIST 
by J. W. Tutt 


Written in three parts at the turn of the century, this book has been reprinted because it 
still represents the most comprehensive field guide covering both macro- and micro- 
lepidoptera. Parts I to III all give a month by month guide to which species and stages to 
look for and how to find them. Part III also contains an extensive biological account of the 
early stages and how to keep, rear and describe them. A separate supplement has been 
prepared which cross-references old to current scientific names and the English names of 
the species covered. 


ISBN: 09000-54-59-X 422 pages, hardback, reprinted 1994, £21 


Post is free to UK addresses; outside the UK please add £2.10 for postage by surface mail, 
£6.30 for air mail outside Europe. Please make cheque/postal order payable to ‘““AES 
Publications” and send to: AES Publications, The Hawthorns, Frating Road, Great 
Bromley, Colchester CO7 7JN, UK (Telephone 01206-251600). 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
VOLUME 9, PART 2, APRIL 1996 


ARTICLES 
65 Ladybird population explosions. M. E. N. MAJERUS AND T. M. O. MAJERUS 


77 Krenopsectra nohedensis n. sp. and the pupal exuviae of Micropsectra auvergnensis Reiss 
(Diptera: Chironomidae) from the eastern Pyrenees. J. MOUBAYED AND P. H. LANGTON 


87 The relationship between Drosophila occurrence and mould abundance on rotting fruit. 
S. HODGE 

93 The butterflies of Stara Planina (Serbia) with emphasis on M. jurtina Linnaeus. R. PARKER 
AND P. JAKSIC 


103 A hazard to moths on the Lozere Massif. J. FELTWELL 
107 Possible breeding by the rosemary bettle Chrysolina americana L. in Britain. A. J. HALSTEAD 


109 Some observations on the behaviour of Philanthus triangulum (F.) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). 
M. RUINET 


111 The insects on a small, isolated, derelict metalliferous mine site in Cornwall. E. C. M. HAEs 
AND A. SPALDING 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 

76 Leiophora (Arrhinomyia) innoxia (Meigen) (Diptera: Tachnidae) parasitizing the ground- 
hopper Tetrix undulata (Sowerby) (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae). R. W. J. UFFEN 

86 The occurrence of seaweed flies (Diptera: Coelopidae) on the Isle of Islay. S. HODGE 


91  Cicones undata Guér.-Mén. (Coleoptera: Colydiidae) still common under sycamore bark in 
south-east London. R. A. JONES 


92 Large tortoiseshell in East Sussex. J. FELTWELL 


101 Some observations on Agrilus sinuatus (Ol.) and A. pannonicus (Pill. & Mitt.) in south-east 
London, R. A. JONES 


105 Helops caeruleus (L.) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) in south-east London. R. A. JONES 
106 Acupalpus exiguus Dejean (Coleoptera: Carabidae) “swarming”. R. A. JONES 


108 Rhopalum coarctatum (Scop.) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) nesting in a case of Taleporia 
tubulosa Retz. (Lepidoptera: Psychidae). R. W. J. UFFEN 


108 Early hibernation of a queen wasp? R. A. JONES 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 
116 BENHS Indoor Meetings, 10 October and 14 November 1995 
118 BENHS Field Meetings 
120 Obituary of Frances Mary Murphy 1926-1995. R. A. JONES 
125 Obituary of Charles Bradwin Ashby 1920-1994. E. W. GROVES 
128 Editorial. More about logos. R. A. JONES 


BOOK REVIEW 
Integrated pest management by D. Dent. A. J. HALSTEAD 


ae 

OCTOBER 1996 ISSN 0952-7583 VOL: 9, Part 3 
BS5SAQ 
a ie 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
Published by the British Entomological and Natural History Society 
and incorporating its Proceedings and Transactions 


Editor: 
Richard A. Jones, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F.L.S. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A», Ph.D., F.R.E.S. T.G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 
FRLE:S 


R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. IF. G, Meckean, Pr Db). FoR 

P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.1.Biol. P. A. Sokoloff, M.Sc., C.Biol., M.I.Biol., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. T. R. E. Southwood, K. B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. Hawkins, M.A. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

P. J. Hodge B. K. West, B.Ed. 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological and 
Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, Berkshire 
RGI1O OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 

©) 1996 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 

Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 

Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 

Registered charity number: 213149 
Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal Entomological 
Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL EXHIBITION is 
planned for Saturday 2 November 1996 at Imperial College, London SW7. Frequent Field 
Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome at all meetings. The current 
Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, R. F. McCormick, at the address 
given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, which 
are open to members on various advertised days each month, telephone 01734-321402 for the 
latest meeting news. 

Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 10 Moorlea Drive, 
Baildon, Shipley, West Yorkshire BD17 6QL. 

Subscriptions and changes of address to the Membership Secretary: R. D. Hawkins, 30d 
Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 

Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of the 
Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, Reading, 
Berkshire RG31 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: G. 
Boyd, 17 Gainsborough Close, Cambridge CB4 ISY. 

General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, Devon 
TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543, 


Cover illustration: Purple emperor, Apatura iris (L.) feeding. Canon Al camera, 100 mm macro 
lens. Photo: R. Revels. 

NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs for black and white reproduction on the 
front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on aesthetic value 
rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or black and white 
prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 129 


A. E. WRIGHT’S RECORDS OF HYMENOPTERA ACULEATA 
FOR GRANGE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD, INCLUDING A 
NOTE ABOUT HIS FRIEND J. D. WARD 


NEIL A. ROBINSON 
3 Abbey Drive, Natland, Kendal, Cumbria LAY 7QN 


Albert Edward Wright was a dedicated entomologist who lived at Brunleigh, 
Kents Bank Road, Grange-over-Sands after his retirement in the early 1920s until his 
death at the age of 76 in 1950. During this time he collected, studied and recorded in 
detail the butterflies, moths, hoverflies, bees, wasps, ants and other Hymenoptera of 
the Grange area. He was an active member of the Lancashire and Cheshire 
Entomological Society and Manchester Entomological Society, and was a fellow of 
the Royal Entomological Society of London. His large collection, which was almost 
complete for British moths, has been divided and is lodged in various museums. Of 
his aculeates, 2200 are in the Natural History Museum, London (accession register 
entry: B.M. 1950-558. 2200 British Aculeata. Purchased from Watkins and 
Doncaster. 2.xi. 1950 Coll. by A. E. Wright), and some are at Liverpool Museum. 
His ledger of records and entomological diaries are in the possession of Dr Neville L. 
Birkett, who first visited Wright on 19.viii.1940, but was not living in Grange at that 
time. He kindly made the ledger and diaries available for me to extract the records of 
Hymenoptera. The object was to obtain a picture of the range of species in the only 
intensive collection of aculeates which has been made in South Lakeland, and in 
particular to identify the locations and habitats in which they were collected. It was 
also to provide information for Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, where Steven 
Hewitt, Keeper of Natural History, is compiling records for Cumbria, and for the 
interest of other entomologists because, although the A. E. Wright Collection is 
famous, as far as I am aware there is no published list of his Hymenoptera. His 
obituary in the Annual Report and Proceedings of the Lancashire and Cheshire 
Entomological Society (Mansbridge, 1949/50) states that he contributed a list of the 
Syrphidae and aculeate Hymenoptera to the North Western Naturalist in 1940, but in 
fact this paper only lists Syrphidae (Wright, 1940). As it turned out, the list which I 
compiled, although of interest to the people for whom it was intended, proved to be 
too problematical to be suitable for publication due to subsequent changes in 
nomenclature, revisions of taxa and uncertainties or errors of identification. 
However in the course of this work I discovered a great deal which is of interest 
about Wright himself. Although he was well known as a lepidopterist and dipterist, 
much less seems to have been known about his interest in Hymenoptera. 


WRIGHT’S RECORDS 


The ledger contains his records of butterflies, moths, hoverflies and ants, wasps 
and bees of Grange-over-Sands and surrounding district. To this Neville Birkett has 
added a list of Chironomidae of Kendal District (including parts of Lakeland) but 
these are not his complete records. I have only examined the section on 
Hymenoptera Aculeata. The ledger is oblong in horizontal format with the pages 
ruled into three columns. The first contains a complete list of British aculeates, the 
second contains records from other sources and the third contains his own records. 
In the second column L and C followed by a year simply indicate records for 
Lancashire and Cheshire in the Fauna Committee Report and bear no specific 


130 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


relation to Grange (which was in Lancashire at that time) but it also contains records 
from the 1920s by his friend and close neighbour J. D. Ward. The ledger entries 
usually contain only minimal information about locations, e.g. ‘““Grange-over- 
Sands” or ““Witherslack”’. Although there are some earlier dates in the ledger, the 
majority of the records are for the period 1940 to 1943. The fact that there are no 
entries after 1943, and the discovery of additional species in later diaries, led to the 
slightly disappointing realization that the ledger is not a complete list of Wright’s 
collection. This seems to have been the original purpose of the ledger for all the 
groups which he studied, but evidently he did not keep it up after 1943. Therefore it 
was necessary to search through the post-1943 diaries for additional species. 

The diaries are a single hard-backed exercise book covering 1939 to 1946 and then 
a series of annual large-format ‘Boots scribbling diaries’ for 1947-1950. They contain 
detailed day-to-day accounts of his insect collecting, visitors and correspondence. It 
is evident that he took advantage of every fine day to collect insects in his garden, on 
walks around Grange, or on short excursions further afield. When it rained he 
resorted to picking flies off the windows of his house and even the shelters on the 
Promenade (“Went twice to the Bandstand—a splendid flytrap’’), but he must have 
spent a great deal of time mounting and identifying his specimens—and writing up 
his diaries. He also collected flower heads, buds and blotched or mined leaves to 
breed out the larvae or pupae which they contained. He did not use a light trap, but 
opened his curtains to see what came to his window. 

Moths are recorded by their specific epithets only. Bees and wasps are recorded by 
genera, frequently with bracketed spaces left for the specific names to be added later. 
These however were rarely filled in. In 1941 he was sending aculeates to H. (Harry) 
Britten at Manchester Museum for identification. By 1942 more of the bees were 
identified directly and by 1943 more of the wasps, but there continued to be a great 
many gaps. If these specimens were identified their names are presumably only to be 
found on the data labels. Some of the later entries are corrections by Britten of earlier 
identifications by Wright, which do not seem always to have been altered in the 
ledger, raising further problems about this as a list. In 1946 he was sending specimens 
for identification to, and exchanging specimens with, Dr O. W. Richards at the 
Imperial College of Science, London. He also exchanged specimens and species 
lists with W. D. Cowin at Douglas Museum, Isle of Man. 

The diary entries always record the weather, but there are few observations on 
what the aculeates were doing. There are some exceptions: on 25.v.1945 he records 
watching a Chrysis ignita (L.) enter a hole in a post in his garden provisioned by 
Osmia caerulescens (L.), and on 18.vi.1945 an attempted mating between an O. 
caerulescens and another which might have been the other sex or another species, but 
such instances are few. Generally he only reports what he saw or collected and where. 
Apart from his visitors and occasional excursions with his family, there is in fact very 
little anecdotal information. The outbreak of war against Germany is noted at 
11.00 a.m. on Sunday 3.ix.1939, and later that he could not use a light because of the 
blackout. The all-night air-raid of 4.v.1941 (when according to Lord Haw-Haw the 
“Grange harbour works’’ were bombed—Neville Birkett, pers. comm.), which did 
great damage all over the district including blowing in his front windows, is reported 
in between what he had taken in the garden in the morning and what he bred out 
later, and is not mentioned again. On a lighter note, on 26.vii.1940 he records falling 
into a dyke at Witherslack and losing his kite net. He maintained his diaries until the 
day before he died suddenly on 26 April 1950. His obituary in The Entomologist was 
written by Neville Birkett (Birkett, 1950). Obituariés were also published by the 
Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society (Mansbridge, 1949/50), the Raven 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 131 


Entomological and Natural History Society (Anon., 1950) and the Royal 
Entomological Society (Wigglesworth, 1951). 


LOCATIONS AND HABITATS 


Grange is situated on the carboniferous limestone on the north side of Morecambe 
Bay and its sheltered south-facing situation gives it a very mild climate. Wright was a 
keen gardener. He frequently recorded spending the whole day in the garden, which 
evidently attracted a great number of insects. It had a south-facing limestone rockery 
where he took many bees, and a vegetable garden where he had drilled holes of a 
variety of sizes into the raspberry posts (Neville Birkett, pers. comm.) at which he 
collected twelve species of solitary wasps and six of solitary bees. The overall range of 
bees and wasps (and other insects) which he recorded is quite astounding, 
particularly as this was no ‘country garden’. It was simply the garden of a large 
stone-built house, one of a row in a street in the centre of Grange-over-Sands. 
However Dr R. C. Lowther who also lived nearby in the centre of Grange recorded 
nearly 400 species of Macrolepidoptera in his garden, and Wright caught about two- 
thirds of the then known species of syrphids in or near Grange (Wright, 1940), which 
demonstrates how rich the Grange area is (or was). 

Around Grange his favourite walk was by way of “the Lane and Bee path” to 
Eggerslack, an area of lanes, paths, limestone walls, small fields and woods, and then 
to the open limestone grassland of Hampsfell. He also often walked along the road 
between the golf course and the railway to the embankment of Holme Island 
(SD 423784), from which he worked the seaward side of the railway embankment 
and the saltmarsh. The embankment seems to have been a very good location where 
he took many sphecids, Andrena and Halictus/Lasioglossum, especially on Daucus 
carota L. It was here that he took Melitta haemorrhoidalis (F.) in July 1945 and 1947, 
new to the north of England. Sometimes he went to Eggerslack in the morning and 
the embankment in the afternoon. Unfortunately the embankment and saltmarsh are 
much more heavily grazed now and the rich flora of Wright’s day is no longer present 
(Neville Birkett, pers. comm.). Another place on the outskirts of Grange which he 
sometimes visited, particularly to look for ants, was Yewbarrow (SD 404783), a 
wooded knoll directly above Grange. These places are usually referred to in the 
ledger as ““Grange’’. It was in fields near Yewbarrow that J. D. Ward collected Osmia 
xanthomelana (Kirby) in 1920 and 1924 (Robinson, 1996). Wright did not collect this 
species, but his collection in the Natural History Museum, London, was found to 
contain three males of another nationally rare mason bee: O. parietina Curtis, though 
he had not identified them as such (George Else, pers. comm.). 

His most regular short excursion was by bus to Witherslack, where his favourite 
haunt was “Black Tom’s Lane’’. This is the track between Nichols Moss (SD 430825) 
and the adjacent limestone ridge to the east, giving a nice juxtaposition of mossland 
and limestone habitats. Nichols Moss is an SSSI which at that time would be largely 
devoid of trees; in 1947 he reports thirty or forty men cutting peat (but fortunately 
this only affected a small area). Like most small Cumbrian mosslands it has become 
invaded by pine and birch since the Second World War, but English Nature is 
negotiating with the owners for the removal of the trees and has begun clearing the 
south end. The lane is now much over-shadowed by trees and not the open habitat 
which Wright knew. 

He also went to the SPNR reserve at Meathop Moss, for which he was chairman 
of the management committee. Fifty years later the Cumbria Wildlife Trust is still 
succeeding in keeping the central area free of pine and birch, by constant effort. 


132 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


More often it seems that he went to what he refers to as Witherslack or Whitbarrow 
Moss. The latter seems most likely to be what is marked on Ordnance Survey maps 
as Bellart How Moss (SD 455835), which is continuous with the much more extensive 
Foulshaw Moss (SD 460825), both of which have since been planted with conifers by 
the Forestry Commission. Witherslack Moss may have been the same area, 
approached from the Witherslack end. These coastal raised bogs, which provided 
heather and other mossland habitats within easy reach of Grange, are collectively 
referred to as ““Witherslack”’ in the ledger. 

Further afield he occasionally went west to Cark or east to Arnside which, 
although on the other side of the Kent estuary, is the next stop on the train from 
Grange, but most of his collecting was done at Grange or Witherslack. It seems that 
he collected his insects from flowers, in flight, or by sweeping; he did not seek out 
breeding colonies of aculeates. His only references to nesting sites are the posts in his 
garden and the “bee path” which evidently had good populations of fossorial bees 
and wasps. 


NATIONAL GRID SQUARES, COUNTY AND VICE-COUNTY 


Grange is in SD47 (and so is Arnside). The summit of Hampsfell is actually in 
SD37, but as Wright’s notes seem to refer to the lower slopes which are in SD47, it 
can be assumed that all the records for Grange are in SD47. Witherslack is in SD48. 
Cark and Holker are in SD37. In Wright’s day Grange was in the detached unit of 
North Lancashire, separated from the rest of Lancashire by the southern extremity 
of Westmorland. In 1974 with local government reorganization it was absorbed with 
Westmorland and Cumberland into Cumbria. The position about vice-counties is 
simpler: Grange and all the other locations mentioned are, and always have been, in 
vice-county 69, Westmorland with North Lancashire, which demonstrates the 
benefits of the Watsonian system. 


J. D. WARD 


Although not the main subject of this memoir, James Davis Ward deserves 
mention as the only person, as far as I am aware, who studied Hymenoptera in 
Grange before Wright. Of particular interest are his records of Osmia xanthomelana 
(Kirby), the first and last in north-west England since 1835. Two of his specimens 
dated 5.vi.1920 and 14.vi.1924 are in his collection of 680 Hymenoptera which is in 
the Natural History Museum, London (Accession: B.M. 1935-530. 680 British 
Hymenoptera (all named). Britain: Lancashire. Pres. by F. Mette Esq. 24.xi.35 J. D. 
Ward Collection). This species is now apparently confined to a single coastal location 
on the Isle of Wight (see distribution maps and species account in Falk, 1991) where 
its habitat is an unstable clay cliff, which bears no resemblance to the situation in 
which Ward found it (Robinson, 1996). In 1922 he published a list of records of 
Diptera and Hymenoptera from North Lancashire (Ward, 1922) which however only 
includes 17 Hymenoptera and does not mention O. xanthomelana—evidently it was 
identified later. This list is clearly very incomplete—unfortunately he never up-dated 
it. He was a patient observer with a Fabre-like affection for his subjects and recorded 
his observations in great detail in his diaries, which also are held by Neville Birkett. 
Typical examples are: on 24.v.1924 a bite-by-bite account of a Crossocerus species 
(which he named as Crabro leucostomus) emerging from its cocoon, accompanied by 
a charming illustration, and on 2.vii.1928 a lengthy account of a territorial male 
Anthidium manicatum (L.) attacking and disabling honey bees. He examined eight of 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 133 


its victims and found that in each case the costal nervule of one forewing was broken 
through. Ward lived in Grange all his life and died at the age of 59 on 13 February 
1935. From his obituary by Wright in the Lancashire and Cheshire Naturalist 
(Wright, 1935), it is clear that he was remembered with great affection. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


I am indebted to Neville Birkett of Grange-over-Sands for allowing me to study 
the diaries of Wright and Ward and for providing much additional information. I am 
also grateful to George Else, Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, 
London, for commenting on the original draft and providing helpful suggestions and 
information. 


REFERENCES 


Anon. 1950. Obituary: Albert E. Wright, F.R.E.S. Rep. Raven Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1950: 43. 

Birkett, N. L. 1950. Albert Edward Wright, obituary. Entomologist 83: 167. 

Falk, S. 1991. A review of the scarce and threatened bees, wasps and ants of Great Britain. 
Research and Survey in Nature Conservation No. 35. Nature Conservancy Council, 
Peterborough. 

Fitton, M. G. et al. 1978. Hymenoptera. In: A check list of British insects, 2nd Edition. 
Handbooks for the Indentification of British Insects 11(4). 

Mansbridge, W. 1949/50. Obituary: Albert Edward Wright, F.R.E.S. Ann. Rep. Proc. Lanc. 
Chesh. Ent. Soc. 1949/50: 41-42. 

Robinson, N. A. 1996. J. D. Ward’s records of Osmia xanthomelana (Kirby, 1802) (Hym., 
Megachilidae) at Grange-over-Sands (V.C.69) in 1920 and 1924. Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 
1322722" 

Ward, J. D. 1922. Diptera and Hymenoptera: Records of Diptera and Hymenoptera from 
North Lancashire. Lanc. Chesh. Nat. 14: 52-54. 

Wright, A. E. 1935. James Davis Ward (1876-1935). North Western Naturalist 10: 51—S2. 

Wright A. E. 1940. List of Syrphidae of North Lancashire and South Westmorland. North 
Western Naturalist 15: 242-247. 

Wigglesworth, V. B. 1951. Proc. R. Ent. Soc. Lond. (C) 15: 76. 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


BENHS Honorary Secretary sought.—After several years in the post, Roy 
McCormick wishes to resign as BENHS Honorary Secretary at the 1997 AGM. A 
volunteer is therefore sought to take on this important position. To give an idea of 
the duties involved, Roy has drawn up the following ‘job description’. Anyone 
interested in becoming Honorary Secretary should contact the President, Colin Hart, 
or another member of Council. 


HONORARY SECRETARY—JOB DESCRIPTION 


Attend Council Meetings (the first Thursdays of February, March, May, July, 
September, October and December). Take minutes, circulate minutes to Council 
members (3 weeks after the meeting if possible). Read out the names of prospective 
members for approval by Council. Keep the minute book, draw up agenda for 


134 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Council Meetings. Book room for Council Meetings; present accommodation is at 
Baden Powell House, Queen’s Gate, SW7. 

Attend Indoor Meetings and read out the names of new members (these being 
approved at Council Meetings). Announce the names of those Signing the obligations 
book. (This is a job that I found difficult/impossible to do so the job was carried out 
by the President or another designated person.) 

Prepare Council’s report for the Annual Meeting. This involves looking through 
the year’s minutes, picking out the important events that have happened and writing 
a short report about each subject. 

Attend the Annual Meeting, take minutes of the Annual Meeting (somebody else 
takes the minutes for the Ordinary Meeting). Read out the Council’s report that you 
have prepared. 

Draw-up, print, and deliver to the Distribution Secretary, notices for circulation to 
Members. Annual Meeting notice to be produced 6 weeks before the meeting; 
around early January (Annual Meeting held around the end of February). Annual 
Exhibition and Dinner notice to be produced 6 weeks before the event; around mid- 
September (Annual Exhibition held around the end of October). Try to get these 
notices to the Distribution Secretary in time for a distribution of the journal. The 
programme card and field meetings notices are produced by the members of Council 
responsible for these, i.e. Field Meetings Secretary and Indoor Meetings Secretary; 
the Hon. Secretary has to make sure these are on time. 

Deal with the Society correspondence; mail sent to Dinton Pastures will be given 
to you at Council meetings by a member of Council who visits the Pelham-Clinton 
Building on a regular basis; usually Peter Chandler the Hon. Curator. Bring to the 
attention of Council any items that need a decision/ruling. 

‘Supervise’ the activities of the Assistant Secretaries; most of this section will be 
self-supervisory and will need little effort from the Hon. Secretary. Check each year 
if the co-opted members of Council wish to carry on. These are: Distribution 
Secretary, Membership Secretary, Exhibition Secretary, Sales Secretary (at the 
moment a full member of Council), Conservation representative, Dipterists’ Forum 
representative and Assistant Treasurer (at the moment a full member of Council). 

Arrange Special Meetings as directed by Council or requested by the membership. 

Bring to the attention of the Council, at the December meeting, those members 
who will be eligible for election to special life membership on Ist January of the 
following year. 

Maintain stocks of the Society’s stationery. The President of the year has his own 
headed notepaper with his address printed on the standard A4 paper (200). The 
Indoor Meetings Secretary has his own address printed on Standard A4 (as and 
when required). The Assistant Treasurer and Hon. Editor get their own stocks; 
envelopes are supplied by the Hon. Secretary. Letters to our printer are in the file. 

Advise the Assistant Treasurer about deaths or resignations of members that have 
come to your attention. 

Notices are copied commercially from copy supplied and posted or given to the 
Distribution Secretary; around 700 copies will be needed. If a word processor is used 
notices need only minimal alteration each year. 

At a rough estimate it will taken 3-4 evenings a month (I did.most of my work 
during the day) to compile and produce the minutes, the most time-intensive part of 
the job. The unquantifiable element is dealing with correspondence; a lot of this can 
be passed on to other officers of Council to deal with but some will have to be dealt 
with by the Hon. Secretary. A word processor is a valuable asset for this job. 

Roy McCorMICK 9th May 1996 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 135 


LASIUS BRUNNEUS (LATREILLE) (HYMENOPTERA: 
FORMICIDAE) NEW TO KENT? 


RICHARD A. JONES 
13 Bellwood Road, Nunhead, London SE15 3DE. 


On 27.vii.1995, whilst carrying out a biological survey of Beckenham Place Park in 
south-east London between Lewisham and Bromley, I collected a few ants from wood 
mould in a rotten hollow at the base of a large oak tree (TQ382707). They proved to 
be Lasius brunneus (Lat.). The Park is in vice-county 16 ‘““West Kent”, and it was not 
until several months later that I discovered this to be a supposed new county record. 

In fact Lasius brunneus has been found in the vice-county before. Mr A. A. Allen 
informs me that he found several specimens of this ant at the base of a mature, 
externally sound sallow tree in Maryon-Wilson Park, Charlton (TQ4178), some ten 
years ago, but did not publish the record. 

Lasius brunneus is described as having a “‘curious distribution” (Brian, 1977) in the 
south Midlands. Its stronghold is in the Thames Valley, at the concurrence of 
vice-counties Surrey, North Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire 
and Middlesex (Fig. 1), and its absence from suitable habitat in the New Forest and 
certain southern counties is often commented upon (Falk, 1991). Its occurrence in 
Kent may seem to extend the known distribution of this species greatly, but 
Beckenham Place Park is only a few miles inside the West Kent border and about 15 
miles from the ant’s closest Surrey locality in Esher (Gardner, 1972). Charlton is 
about 4 miles further north-east. 

Beckenham Place Park is now a mixture of woodlands, some moderately ancient 
and some more modern plantations, together with playing fields and a public golf 
course. The golf course is studded with large trees and pollards and, apart from the 


Fig. 1. Provisional distribution of Lasius brunneus to July 1979, reproduced from Barrett 
(1979) with permission. O pre-1961 records, @ records 1961 to 1979, * present Kent records 
from Beckenham (left) and Charlton (right). 


136 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


closely mown fairways and greens, still retains some of its previous parkland 
character. It was in one of these large oaks that Lasius brunneus was found by 
reaching into a small hollow at the base of the tree, between the roots, and scooping 
out handfuls of wood mould and grass. The ants were very plentiful, but none of the 
many recorded myrmecophilous beetles or other insects were found among them. 

Interestingly, there is an old record of Lasius brunneus from Kent, by Smith (1858) 
who reported a single specimen from amongst a number of ants collected at Deal. 
Donisthorpe (1927, p. 249) dismisses this record as almost certainly a misidentifica- 
tion, but then alludes (p. 251) to the possible occurrence of the ant in a small remnant 
of forest at West Wickham, Kent, about 3 miles due south of Beckenham Place Park. 
His reason for this was the discovery there of the false scorpion Allochernes wideri 
(Koch, C.L.), which in Donisthorpe’s experience was unlike other tree species in that 
it always occurred between bark and wood in a space choked with characteristic red 
powdery debris. In Donisthorpe’s opinion this debris suggested the work of ants, and 
in particular Lasius brunneus since he had found the false scorpion associated with 
this ant in its Berkshire sites. 

In fact, the distribution of Allochernes wideri extends beyond that of Lasius 
brunneus (Legg & Jones, 1988), with scattered localities as far north as Wakefield in 
Yorkshire and south and west into the New Forest where Lasius brunneus is, as 
reported above, curiously absent. This suggests that the false scorpion is not such an 
obligate myrmecophile as Donisthorpe supposed. Nevertheless, there is one 
especially tantalizing aspect of the false scorpion’s distribution in that there is a 
record for the same Deal area where Lasius brunneus is reputed to have occurred. 


NOTE ON LASIUS BRUNNEUS RECORDS 


Lasius brunneus is one of the species being targetted by the Bees, Wasps and Ants 
Recording Scheme for mapping in an atlas to be published in 1997/8. Records of this 
species should be sent to: Simon Hoy (PSD), c/o Pest Identification Service, MAFF 
Harpenden Laboratories, Hatching Green, Harpenden, Hertfordshire ALS 2BD. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


The map showing the distribution of Lasius brunneus is reproduced from Barrett (1979), 
with the permission of the Biological Records Centre, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. 


REFERENCES 


Barrett, K. E. J. (Ed.) 1979. Provisional atlas of the insects of the British Isles. Part 5. 
Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Ants. Biological Records Centre, Huntingdon. 

Brian, M. V. 1977. Ants. The New Naturalist. Collins, London, p. 43. 

Donisthorpe, H. St J. K. 1927. British ants: their life-history and classification. George 
Routledge and Sons, London, pp. 247-254 (Acanthomyops brunneus). 

Falk, S. 1991. A review of the scarce and threatened bees, wasps and ants of Great Britain. 
Research and Survey in Nature Conservation No.35. Nature Conservancy Council, 
Peterborough, pp. 34-35. 

Gardner, A. E. 1972. [Report of Lasius brunneus infesting a house in Esher, communication at 
BENHS meeting 14 October 1971.] Proc. Trans. Br. Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 4: 131. 

Legg, G. & Jones, R. E. 1988. Pseudoscorpions (Arthropoda: Arachnida). Synopses of the 
British Fauna (New Series) No. 40. Linnean Society, London, pp. 111-113. 

Smith, F. 1858. Hymenoptera. Notes on aculeate Hymenoptera, with some observations on 
their economy. Entomologist’s Annual 1858: 34—46 (Formica brunnea, p. 39). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 137 


NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION AND 
IDENTIFICATION OF BRITISH REED BEETLES 


IAN S. MENZIES 
Villiers Lodge, 1 Cranes Park, Surbiton, Surrey KTS 8AB 


AND MICHAEL L. Cox 


International Institute of Entomology (an institute of CAB International), 
56 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5JR 


The twenty-one British species contained in the sub-family Donaciinae of the 
Chrysomelidae, often referred to as the ‘reed-beetles’, are distributed within three 
genera: Donacia (15 species), Plateumaris (four species) and Macroplea (two species). 
Most are conspicuous, medium-sized beetles that are to be found resting, often in 
large numbers, on the foliage of water plants at the margins of lakes and rivers 
during the summer months. They attract attention on account of their brilliant 
metallic colours. 

Unfortunately the similarity between some of the species has created problems 
with identification that discourage and confuse. Existing keys frequently use 
characters that are variable and therefore unreliable. Fowler (1890; iv: 266-279) 
gave keys to all species of British Donaciinae, but the characters were not illustrated: 
Plateumaris and Donacia species were dealt with collectively under Donacia, and 
many specific names then employed are not now in current usage. Joy (1932) 
provided a key to all British Donaciinae in the correct genera and with currently 
accepted nomenclature, but his key is very poorly illustrated. 

An account of the habits and distribution of donaciine beetles is presented, 
derived from observations and material collected over many years and deposited 
with the Department of Entomology at the Natural History Museum, South 
Kensington (by a large number of field workers). This is combined with a new key 
supported by colour prints and line drawings, intended to reduce the problems of 
identification. It is regretted that insufficient space was available to detail the large 
number of individual records obtained, but a list of the contributors has been 
included. 


DESCRIPTION OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES, THEIR HABITS AND DISTRIBUTION 


Genus DONACIA 13. Donacia thalassina Germar 
1. Donacia cinerea Herbst 14. Donacia simplex Fabricius 
2. Donacia dentata Hoppe 15. Donacia sparganii Ahrens 
3. Donacia versicolorea (Brahm) 
4. Donacia crassipes Fabricius Genus PLATEUMARIS 
5. Donacia clavipes Fabricius 16. Plateumaris affinis (Kunze) 
6. Donacia vulgaris Zschach 17. Plateumaris braccata (Scopoh) 
7. Donacia aquatica (Linnaeus) 18. Plateumaris discolor (Panzer) 
8. Donacia marginata Hoppe 19. Plateumaris sericea (Linnaeus) 
9. Donacia bicolora Zschach 

10. Donacia obscura Gyllenhal Genus MACROPLEA 

11. Donacia semicuprea Panzer 20. Macroplea appendiculata (Panzer) 


12. Donacia impressa Paykull 21. Macroplea mutica (Fabricius) 


138 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Vice-county maps, with pre- and post-1970 record distributions are given for each 
species. Vice-county numbers (after Watson) and regions (NCC 1985) are interpreted 
on maps given in the appendix. Underlined numbers indicate those vice-counties in 
which a species has been recorded both before and after 1970. 

Status categories assigned are as given in Hyman & Parsons (1992). 


GENUS DONACIA (Greek: Donaz, a reed: referring to affinity for aquatic vegetation) 


1. Donacia cinerea Herbst, 1784 (=hydrochaeridis Fabricius, 1801) 
Status: Notable B 

(Latin: cinerarius, a slave who heated in hot ashes the irons for the hairdresser, 
referring to the ashy-grey dorsal surface pubescence). L=7.5—11.0mm; Plate I, 
Figure 1. 

This species is unique among the group in having a uniform covering of short 
white pubescence which tones the underlying bronze surfaces to an attractively 
glistening silver-grey or pale fawn colour. It has a localized distribution, though 
usually quite plentiful where it occurs. The adults are to be found mainly in May, 
June and early July, usually sitting on the leaves of reedmace (both Typha latifolia L. 
and angustifolia L.) growing in still water at the margin of lakes, ponds and canals 
rather than the running water of rivers and streams. D. cinerea feeds on the leaves of 
Typha, excoriating the upper epidermis, and may be found in company with D. 
vulgaris, as at Bolder Mere, Wisley, Surrey, where the two species share the same 
foodplant. 

Formerly more widespread with pre-1970 records from 20 vice-counties. Post-1970 
records are confined to North East, North West, South, South East England and 
East Midlands, the species appears to have retracted from South Wales, South West 
England and East Anglia. 


1. Donacia cinerea Herbst ff Y VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 20): 
4; 11; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 19; 


22; 23; 25; 27; 28; 31; 38; 41; 
58; 61; 63; 64. 


1970 onwards (= 12): 
12; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 22; 29; 
30; 38; 62; 63. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


2. Donacia dentata Hoppe, 1795 Status: Notable A 

(Latin: dentatus toothed; probably referring to the large metafemoral teeth). 
L=7.0—10.0 mm; Plate I, Figure 2. 

Known now from relatively few localities, this donaciine is usually associated with 
arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia L.). Like D. crassipes and D. versicolorea, it has 
disproportionately long bandy hind legs sporting conspicuous femoral teeth but, 
unlike them, the thorax and elytra in this species are of a brilliant metallic copper- 
rose or copper-green colour with, especially when viewed in sunlight, a sparkling 
frost-like quality due to reflection of light from the strial punctures. Further points of 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 139 


distinction from D. versicolorea are the pale red apical halves of the femora (entirely 
dark in versicolorea), and the hind femoral teeth. In D. dentata, one of the two teeth 
on the ventral surface of the hind femora is smaller and situated slightly anterior to 
the other whereas the male D. versicolorea has two teeth of almost equal length set 
side by side. The female of D. versicolorea has only one very small obtuse femoral 
tooth that is sometimes missing. 

The adults of D. dentata, like those of D. versicolorea and D. sparganii, become 
active during the latter part of the summer, appearing at the end of June and 
becoming most numerous during late July and August. Binoculars are convenient for 
observing the beetles which sun themselves on the leaves of their foodplant, often out 
of reach in the middle of the dykes they inhabit: they are very alert, flying readily to 
avoid capture. The species can be locally plentiful, and characteristic ‘snailtrack’ 
excoriations produced when feeding on the upper surface of arrowhead leaves offer a 
clue to their presence. 

A rare donaciine with recent distribution confined to England. Post-1970 records 
are from East Midlands, East Anglia, and all regions of Southern England. 


2. Donacia dentata Hoppe : a VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 22): 

5; 6; 8; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 19; 
20; 21; 22; 23; 25; 27; 28; 29; 
33; 38; 41; 61; 70. 


1970 onwards (= 8): 
5; 6; 11; 13; 14; 15; 25; 55. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


3. Donacia versicolorea (Brahm, 1791) (=bidens Olivier, 1791) 

(Latin: versicolor, changing in colour, of various colours). L=5.5—9.0 mm; Plate I, 
Figure 3. 

Often a plentiful species inhabiting dykes, ponds, canals, fens, heathland pools and 
moorland rivers colonized by various species of Potamogeton. In common with D. 
crassipes and D. sparganii this species is often found at rest on the floating leaves of 
its foodplant. Like D. crassipes, with which it may be confused, it has rather flattened 
dark-coloured elytra, pin-point reflections of light marking the position of the strial 
punctures; however, it is a smaller species and appears later in the season (July/ 
August) than crassipes (May/June/July). The more local D. dentata may also be 
found during July and August in similar localities but has more elongate less 
flattened elytra, and a brilliant metallic coloration. As with other Donaciinae, D. 
versicolorea is often found on leaves other than those of its true larval foodplant, 
Potamogeton, for example Glyceria, Sagittaria, Sparganium and Nymphaea. 

A local but widespread species with recent records for N.W., S.W. and S.E. 
Scotland, North East England, West and East Midlands and all regions of Southern 
England and Wales. 


140 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 34): 


18; 19; 20; 22; 23; 25; 26; 27; 
29; 32; 33; 34; 38; 41; 46; 48; 
55; 59; 62; 66; 70; 72; 91; 92; 
94; 110. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 29): 
22; 23; 27; 31; 32; 34; 38; 41; 


44; 45; 46; 52; 53; 54; 64; 75; 
80; 98; 104; 108; 110. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


4. Donacia crassipes Fabricius, 1775 Status: Notable B 

(Latin: crassus, thick, gross; pes, a foot, probably referring to the enlarged hind 
legs). L=9.0—11.0 mm; Plate I, Figure 4. 

One of the larger British Donaciinae, this local species is associated with waterlilies 
(both Nymphaea alba L. and Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm.) growing 1n lakes, ponds, rivers 
and canals. The adults, which appear at the end of May, are found mainly during 
June and July basking in the sun on the upper surface of floating lily leaves upon 
which they feed. They are best located with the aid of binoculars since they often 
choose sites well out on the water, and are difficult, at that distance, to distinguish 
from flies, bees and other insects that frequent the same sites. They are very alert and 
not easily approached. The beetle has exceptionally long curved hind legs and, like 
D. versicolorea, the elytra have a dark shiny surface with a slight purple or copper 
reflection. Close examination shows the surface of the elytra to be covered with pin- 
points of light reflected from the strial punctures, giving a ‘starry night’ effect, a 
feature also shared with D. versicolorea. 

D. crassipes may be distinguished from D. dentata and D. versicolorea, which also 
have disproportionately large hind legs, in not having the pronotum strongly rugose 
but microsculptured throughout with fine grooves and reticulations with only sparse 
shallow punctures on the disc. In addition, the hind femora have one obtuse tooth or, 
if two, these are separated by at least twice the length of the anterior tooth. 

A moderately widespread but local species recorded from Scotland, Wales and 
England. Most post-1970 records are from N.W., S.E., S., and S.W. England, Dyfed- 
Powys and North Wales, and N.W. Scotland. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 31): 

5; 9; 11; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 
19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 27; 29; 38; 
43; 49; 55; 58; 61; 62; 64; 67; 
68; 69; 70; 76; 96; 98; 105. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 10): 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 141 


5. Donacia clavipes Fabricius, 1792 (=menyanthis Fabricius, 1801; & menyanthidis 

Gyllenhal, 1813) Status: Notable B 
(Latin: clava, a club, or possibly clave, cloven; pes, a foot; in reference to the 

conspicuously bilobed third tarsal joint). L=7.5-12.0mm; Plate I, Figure 5. 

A large donaciine associated with reed-beds (Phragmites australis (Car.)) growing 
in the water of lakes, ponds, canals and fens. The rather elongated parallel-sided 
elytra of this species are brilliant shining metallic brassy-green or copper, while the 
legs and antennae are of a distinctive orange-red colour. It has a wide distribution, 
often abundant where it is found. 

D. clavipes should be sought in the reed-beds during May, June and July and can 
be detected by knocking the reeds over a beating tray or by searching. The beetles are 
particularly fond of hiding in the basal part of a leaf where it folds around the reed 
stem. As many as eight individuals have been found in a single leaf-fold (Burton 
Mill-pond, W. Sussex, 22.v.95, I.M.). When feeding, the insect penetrates the young 
leaf shoots which later unfold to reveal a transverse series of somewhat irregularly 
elongated holes. Plateumaris braccata, also associated with Phragmites, eats into the 
young shoots in a similar fashion but, in this case, the series of holes produced are 
usually round, not elongated. 

A very widespread locally common species, with post-1970 records for N.W., N.E. 
and S.W. Scotland, N.E. England, East and West Midlands, East Anglia, S.E.and S. 
England, Dyfed-Powys, N. and S. Wales. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (=23): 
11; 14; 15; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 


22; 23; 27; 29; 30; 41; 55; 58; 


61; 62; 63; 64; 69; 70; 85. 


1970 ONWARDS (=23): 

12; 13; 14; 15; 17; 23; 27; 29; 
31; 32; 37; 41; 43; 52; 54; 58; 
72; 73; 75; 89; 92; 96; 103. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


6. Donacia vulgaris Zschach, 1788 (=typhae Ahrens, 1810) 

(Latin: vulgaris, common, ordinary—being one of the most widespread and 
commonly occurring species). L=5.5—10.0mm; Plate I, Figure 6. 

One of the smaller Donaciinae, this species has a wide distribution and is often 
locally abundant. It is associated with bur-reed (Sparganium) and reedmace (Typha) 
growing in rivers, ponds, dykes, canals and fens. The adult beetle is active during 
May, June, July and August, most records being for June. 

D. vulgaris is very similar in shape and size to D. thalassina and simplex but, unlike 
them, has multicoloured elytra, usually with a longitudinal band of metallic blue 
and/or reddish coloration between stria 1 and 5, which contrasts with the pale copper 
background. Occasionally this band is missing, in which case the absence of a 
femoral tooth and the partly reddish antennae and legs will distinguish it from D. 
thalassina. Separation of unicolorous D. vulgaris from D. simplex is more difficult. 


142 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


The posterior extremities of the elytra are truncated in both species, usually being 
square and simple in simplex but concave and emarginate in vulgaris. Examination of 
genital morphology may sometimes be necessary (see Fig. K41). 

A common, widespread species with post-1970 records for N.W. Scotland, and all 
regions of Wales and England except the North East. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 26): 


6; 10; 11; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 


Ui 
19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 26; 27; 
62; 


28; 
29; 33; 34; 41; 52; 61; 62; 64; 


83; 84. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 36): 
3; 4; 5; 6; 8; 9; 11; 12; 13; 14; 


27; 28:29; 31; 32; 33; 38; 39; 
41; 44;51; 52; 53; 55; 64; 70; 
104; 110. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


7. Donacia aquatica (Linnaeus, 1758) (=dentipes Fabricius, 1792) Status: RDB 3 

(Latin: aquatica, of water). L=6.8—9.6 mm; Plate I, Figure 7. 

Uncommon in the UK, this species is found, usually in small numbers, by 
sweeping areas of aquatic vegetation dominated by sedges such as Carex acutiformis 
Ehrh. at the margins of open water (lakes and fens) during May and June. Unlike D. 
thalassina and D. impressa, it does not appear to be attracted to the flowers of sedge. 

Now one of our rarest, this small donaciine is also one of our most beautiful 
species. The undersurface, legs and thorax are of shining gold, while the elytra are 
adorned with a broad reddish-purple longitudinal band of rainbow brilliance, 
commencing light blue between the sutural borders and first stria, then green 
(interstice 2), purple (interstices 3—5), red (interstices 6-7), pale gold (interstice 8), 
green (interstice 9) and finally a pale green-blue up to the lateral elytral borders. 

A widespread but local species with records for N.W., N.E., and S.W. Scotland, N. 
and S. Wales, and most regions of England. Post-1970 records show a considerable 
decline and are from N.W., N.E. and S.E. Scotland, N.W. and S.E. England. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 30): 

3; 4; 8; 9; 11; 13; 14; 17; 18; 
25; 26; 27; 29; 30; 37; 41; 48; 
54; 57; 58; 61; 62; 63; 64; 67; 
68; 70; 72; 96; 98. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 5): 
13; 69; 70; 80; 96. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 143 


8. Donacia marginata Hoppe, 1795 (=limbata Panzer, 1796; lemnae Fabricius, 
1801). 

(Latin: marginata, provided with a border, probably referring to the elytra which 
usually have a reddish-purple lateral border). L=7.5—11.0mm; Plate I, Figure 8. 

This handsome beetle is of a golden-bronze colour with reddish-purple disc- 
patches and lateral borders to the elytra. It is often found in large numbers, resting 
on and eating the upper epidermis from the leaves of the branched bur-reed 
(Sparganium erectum L.) growing at the margins of lakes, ponds, canals and dykes, 
generally with a preference for still water. The adults of this species enjoy a long 
season, first appearing about the middle of May but recorded most frequently in 
June, July and August. 

Although of very similar size and shape to D. bicolora and D. obscura, D. 
marginata can in most cases be differentiated on the basis of coloration. D. bicolora 
is usually of a uniform brilliant golden-green colour; like D. marginata it is associated 
with Sparganium erectum, but prefers plants growing along the margin of running 
water (rivers). D. obscura is of a uniform dull bronze colour, and is associated with 
Carex rather than Sparganium. The coloured dorsal elytral markings of D. marginata 
may occasionally be entirely missing, in which case the strong dorso-lateral and 
lateral pronotal rugosities can be used to separate it from other species such as D. 
bicolora and D. obscura. 

A widespread, locally common species with post-1970 records for S.W. Scotland, 
Dyfed-Powys and S. Wales, E. Midlands and all regions of Southern England. 


8. Donacia marginata Hoppe VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


mm 
PRE 1970 (= 26): 


1; 22; 2 
1; 52; 5 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


9. Donacia bicolora Zschach, 1788. (=sagittariae Fabricius, 1792) Status: RDB 2 

(Latin: bicolor, of two colours, possibly referring to the brassy-green upper body 
surface and silvery lower surface [but see also J. Denton’s observations below)). 
L=8.0—-11.6mm; Plate II, Figure 9. 

This beetle is noted for its magnificent sparkling greenish-gold coloration 
(unfortunately not fully conveyed by Figure 9). It is a local species with restricted 
distribution but may be quite plentiful in favoured localities, for instance the River 
Wey in Surrey and Stour in Hampshire, where it may be found, in company with D. 
simplex, on the leaves of bur-reed (Sparganium erectum) during May, June and July. 
Sometimes the margins of ponds, lakes and canals are chosen though proximity to 
flowing water seems to be preferred. Dr J. Denton, studying this species at Elstead, 
Surrey (May—August 1995), observed that a proportion of the beetles, which are of a 
constant bright gold or greenish-gold colour during May and June, become 


144 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


greenish-blue or even a deep purplish-blue colour at the end of their adult season in 
late July and early August. 

Formerly found in N. and S. Wales, East and West Midlands, N.E., N.W., S., S.E. 
S.W. England and East Anglia, this species 1s now restricted to three vice-counties, 
one in each of S., S.E. and S.W. England. 


9. Donacia bicolora Zschach iS Z $s VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


mm 


PRE 1970 (= 28): 

3; 6; 9; 10; 11; 12; 14; 15; 16; 
17; 18; 21; 23; 25; 26; 27; 29; 
37; 38; 39; 41; 52; 55; 58; 59; 
64; 67; 68. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 3): 
9; 14; 17. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


10. Donacia obscura Gyllenhal, 1813 Status: Notable A 

(Latin: obscura, dark, obscure; referring to the deep bronze dorsal colour of this 
species). L=8.0—10.5 mm; Plate II, Figure 10. 

A uniformly dull chocolate-bronze coloured donaciine with well-marked hind- 
femoral teeth. The elytral impressions are less emphasized than those of D. marginata 
and D. bicolora to which D. obscura is morphologically similar. The adult beetles 
may be found by searching or sweeping vegetation dominated by club-rushes and 
sedges, especially Carex rostrata Stokes, growing in boggy areas alongside lochs, 
lakes and streams from April to July, most records being for June. 

Distributed mainly in the north and west of the British Isles, in recent years this 
species has largely disappeared from the southern counties and East Anglia, 
remaining widespread although local in Wales and Scotland. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 18): 

9; 13; 22; 25; 27; 34; 41; 49; 
58; 70; 72; 73; 77; 95; 96; 98; 
103; 105. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 12): 
17; 38; 43; 44; 49; 69; 70; 73; 
92; 96; 98; 102. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


11. Donacia semicuprea Panzer, 1796 
(Latin: semicupreus, half coppery, pertaining to the elytra which are coppery with 
greenish lateral margins). L=5.5—8.2 mm; Plate II, Figure 11. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 145 


A small, rather convex, donaciine which has an elytral shape approaching that of 
the genus Plateumaris. It is found, often in large numbers, feeding on the leaves of its 
foodplant, the reed meadow-grass Glyceria maxima (Hartm.), during May, June, 
July and early August. Lakes, ponds, canals and dykes supporting an abundant 
growth of Glyceria are favoured. The dorsal surface is of a shiny copper colour, often 
with a greenish reflection on the lateral aspects of the elytra, while the head, legs, 
antennae and underparts, being covered with short white pubescence, appear light 
grey in colour. The presence of a deep midline pit or sulcus on the dorsal surface of 
the posterior pronotum is an important point in identification, unique to this 
donaciine. 

A locally common species with post-1970 records for N.E. and N.W. England, E. 
and W. Midlands, East Anglia and all parts of Southern England, but it is apparently 
unknown in Scotland. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


oO 


6; 
17 
2 

38 


bo Gp les 


WARDS (= 31): 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


12. Donacia impressa Paykull, 1799 Status: Notable A 

(Latin: impressio, distinct impression; probably referring to two deep elytral 
impressions). L=6.5—9.0 mm; Plate II, Figure 12. 

One of the smaller donaciines, this species is very local but may be seen in large 
numbers, especially when feeding on the flowers of the tussock sedge Carex 
paniculata L. and lesser pond sedge Carex acutiformis Ehrh. during May and June, 
and also the flowers of bulrush Scirpus lacustris L. in August and September. The 
adult beetles have been recorded from April until November. 

D. impressa shows many similarities to D. simplex and D. thalassina with which 
some confusion is liable to arise. The impressions on the elytra are usually more 
distinct, and the metallic copper colour more constant in D. impressa than the other 
two species. D. simplex is easily distinguished by having parts of the antennae and 
legs reddish and hind femora without a tooth, and is usually associated with 
Sparganium rather than Carex. Distinction of D. thalassina from D. impressa, which 
have similar ecological requirements, is more difficult. Both have dark antennae and 
legs devoid of reddish coloration, and teeth on the hind femora, though these are 
usually better developed in thalassina, being reduced to a small tooth or knob in 
impressa. The elytra of D. impressa are broader and more rounded posteriorly than 
D. thalassina (and D. simplex) in which the elytra are quite sharply truncated with 
well-defined posterolateral angles. Also, unlike most examples of thalassina, the 
sutural borders of the elytra in impressa are usually raised to form a keel at their 


146 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


posterior extremities. The elytral surface is more shining in D. impressa, being dull or 
‘frosted’ in D. thalassina and simplex due to greater emphasis of strial punctation and 
reticulation. 

A widespread locally common species with post-1970 records for N.W. and S.W. 
Scotland, N.W. England, North Wales and Dyfed-Powys, East and West Midlands, 
East Anglia, and South East England. 


12. Donacia impressa Paykull ete iff VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


mm 


PRE 1970 (= 27): 

5; 9; 11; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 
22; 23; 25; 27; 29; 31; 34; 37; 
38; 39; 45; 48; 49; 57; 61; 63; 
69; 70; 75. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 16): 
13; 14; 23; 24; 28; 30; 32; 37; 
38; 43; 49; 53; 63; 69; 75; 
104. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


13. Donacia thalassina Germar, 1811 Status: Notable B 

(Latin: thalassina, sea green, probably referring to the dorsal coloration of the 
species which may be greenish or brassy-bronze). L=6.5—9.0 mm; Plate II, Figure 13. 

Like D. impressa this is a very local species, also found mainly during May, June 
and early July. During May it is attracted in numbers to the flowers of the lesser 
pond and bottle sedges, Carex acutiformis and rostrata respectively, probably in 
order to feed upon the pollen. After the sedge flowering period is over (for instance 
1.vi.95) the beetles have been observed to eat the leaves of Carex, and later (8.vii.95) 
may vacate Carex for other water plants such as Typha (observations at Bolder 
Mere, Wisley, Surrey; IM). 

Superficially this species is very similar to the ubiquitous D. simplex and, like it, is 
uniformly shining bronze, usually with a distinctly copper tint, but sometimes grey or 
greenish, on the elytral and pronotal surfaces. Absence of red coloration on the 
antennae and legs and the usual presence of a metafemoral tooth serves to 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 25): 

11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 20; 
21; 22; 23; 24; 27; 33; 34; 41; 
46; 49; 52; 53; 69; 70; 73; 
104; 110. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 21): 
1; 6),43; 14; 17; 18; 23; 24; 
; 36; 38; 46; 47; 52; 53; 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 147 


distinguish this species from D. simplex, but separation from D. impressa (to which 
refer for details) is more difficult. 

In view of the ecological similarity of their habitats, it is suprising that D. 
thalassina and D. impressa are so seldom found together: possibly a degree of mutual 
exclusion may exist. 

A local, but widespread species with post-1970 records for N.W. and S.W. 
Scotland, N.W. England, E. and W. Midlands, East Anglia, S.E. and S.W. England, 
Dyfed-Powys and N. Wales. 


14. Donacia simplex Fabricius, 1775; (= linearis Hoppe, 1795). 

(Latin: simplex, probably referring to the simple, untoothed hind femora of this 
species). L=7.0—11.0 mm; Plate II, Figure 14. 

Usually considered to be the most prevalent British donaciine, it is widely 
distributed and found, usually in large numbers, on the leaves of various species of 
bur-reed (Sparganium) growing in a wide variety of habitats, especially at the 
margins of ponds, canals and rivers, from about the middle of May to the beginning 
of August. The adult is usually a frosted metallic copper colour dorsally with a 
silvery undersurface, but the elytra and pronotum may have a uniform reddish, 
greyish or even a greenish tint. The legs and antennae are in part reddish-orange, and 
the hind femora untoothed. 

A common widespread species with post-1970 records for North West and South 
East Scotland, and all regions of Wales and England. 


14. Donacia simplex Fabricius Lg § VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


Pre 1970 (= 46): 
mm 


or 
N 
Vd 
> 
a 
GP 
GS 
«ko 
_ 
—_ 


A; 


le 

IZ Selsls 

[eee ae > | 
S| 


> Mico 
eS 


= 
[J 
bard 
Ey 
co 
mt 
Bry 


| 
> 
IN 
~ 
Seal Co) 


) 


BiB | 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


15. Donacia sparganii Ahrens, 1810 Status: Notable A 

(Latin: sparganium, relating to an affinity for the bur-reed plant). L=6.3—-9.1 mm; 
Plate II, Figure 15. 

A medium-sized species of a uniform metallic copper colour with two teeth, one of 
which is very small, on each hind femora. The elytra have a characteristic ‘oily’ 
shining appearance, with a pinkish or greenish reflection in the sunlight. Absence of 
punctures on the dorsum of the pronotum, which is transversely strigose, is an 
important point of identification. 

This donaciine is known from few sites only, generally in association with species 
of bur-reed (Sparganium). D. sparganii is regarded as one of the rarer British species 
though it may be quite frequent where it is established. Though occasionally found 
on bank vegetation it is much more likely to be seen (with the aid of binoculars) 
resting, out of reach, on the floating leaves of Sparganium trailing in the current of 


148 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


streams and rivers. The adult beetles appear during July and August after the 
Sparganium leaves have grown sufficiently to reach the surface of the deeper water. 

Formerly recorded from many counties in the north, south and east of England, D. 
sparganii has now become a rare species restricted to only a féw localities in Wales, 
the Midlands and Southern England. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 27): 

3; 9; 11; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 
20; 21; 22; 23; 25; 26; 27; 29; 
33; 34; 39; 54; 58; 59; 60; 61; 
63; 64. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 8): 
2; 14; 29; 31; 32; 34; 44; 49. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


GENUS PLATEUMARIS. Very similar to Donacia, but legs stouter and elytra more 
rounded, ‘vaulted’ dorsally, and mandibles protruding. (Greek: platys, broad or flat; 
eumaris, a thick-soled Asiatic slipper. Askevold (1991) considered this to refer to the 
ovipositor of females in this genus. Alternatively Schenkling (1922) interprets 
eumares to mean easily moveable, but is uncertain to what this refers). 


16. Plateumaris affinis (Kunze, 1818) Status: Notable B 
(Latin: affinis; neighbouring). L=5.0—-8.0 (male), 7.7—-9.0 (female); Plate I, 
Figure 16. 


P. affinis is associated with various species of Carex growing at lake margins, 
sharing the same ecological requirements as P. discolor, Donacia impressa, thalassina 
and aquatica, all of which may be found together during May and June as, for 
instance, in vegetation dominated by various species of Carex bordering Burton Mill 
Pond, near Fittleworth, West Sussex. P.affinis, like D. aquatica, 1s not attracted to 
the flowers of Carex as are D. impressa and thalassina, and is usually detected by 
sweeping or searching the leaves and stems of the sedges. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 16): 
14; 12; 13; 15; 16; 17; 18; 20; 
21; 23; 27; 28; 34; 38; 41; 70. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 16): 
8; 14912; 13; 14; 17; 22; 23; 
24; 32; 38; 42; 43; 55; 62; 64. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 149 


In P. affinis the two sexes are distinct in both colour and size, the pronotum and 
elytra of the male being black with a faint purple or violet reflection, but of a pale 
copper colour in the somewhat larger female. The legs are reddish yellow in both 
sexes, with the teeth on the hind femora considerably larger in the male. 

A widespread, locally common species with recent records for Dyfed-Powys, 
North East England, East and West Midlands, South and South Eastern England. 


17. Plateumaris braccata (Scopoli, 1772) (=nigra Fabricius, 1792) 
Status: Notable A 

(Latin: braccata; wearing breeches, possibly referring to the conspicuously orange- 
red legs and ventral abdomen which contrasts with the dark thoracic and elytral 
surfaces). L=8.5—-12.0 mm. 

Both sexes of this large donaciine have black pronotum and elytra with a green or 
violet reflection, and reddish-orange abdomen, antennae and legs. Though this 
species is similar in these respects to the male P. affinis, direct comparison leaves little 
doubt about the identification of P. braccata which is considerably larger and has a 
more obvious blue or greenish metallic reflection. 

The adult beetles are usually found, during May and June, in beds of the reed 
Phragmites australis growing in water at the margins of lakes, canals and in fens. It is 
a local species, well established in the fenlands of East Anglia but also found 
sparingly in Sussex, Kent, and some other southern counties. Like D. clavipes it can 
be found concealed in the Phragmites leaf-folds. When feeding, the beetle penetrates 
the young leaf shoots which later unfold to present a characteristic transverse series 
of round holes. 

A very local species restricted in distribution to Wales (all regions), East and West 
Midlands, East Anglia, and a few scattered sites in Southern England. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 20): 

6; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 
5; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 34; 
4; 55; 61. 


23; 2 
41; 5 
1970 ONWARDS (= 12): 


§; 13; 15; 22; 23; 27; 28; 31; 
37; 41; 44; 48. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


18. Plateumaris discolor (Panzer, 1795) 

(Latin: discolor; of different colours, probably referring to the many different 
colour forms of this species). L=6.5—9.0 mm. 

P. discolor and P. sericea are closely similar in appearance and manifest an 
astonishing variety of spectacular jewel-like colour forms which include shades of 
gold, copper, green, blue, violet, purple, magenta, and sometimes black. The elytra, 
head and thorax are uniformly coloured and the hind femora strongly toothed. P. 
discolor is on average smaller than sericea and, in contrast to P. sericea, the thoracic 
disk is strongly punctured centrally and surrounded by marked strigosity. Though P. 


150 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


discolor usually has shorter antennae than P. sericea, reliance cannot be placed on 
differences in the relative lengths of antennal segments 2, 3 and 4 often quoted (but 
length/width ratios of antennal segment 4 may be more reliable, see Key). The 
proximal portion of the antennal segments, tarsi and tibiae are usually reddish in P. 
discolor but generally dark in sericea. 

P. discolor is widely distributed and, though adults have been recorded from 
March to November, are seen most frequently during June, often in large numbers, 
on vegetation in boggy moorland areas and around ponds, rivers and canals. This 
species is usually associated with Carex. It may sometimes be found on the flowers of 
various plants including Sparganium and Caltha palustris and favours a more acidic 
environment than P. sericea. 

A very widespread, common species with numerous post-1970 records for all 
regions of Scotland, Wales, and England. 


VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (=24) 


49; 61; 62; 70; 73; 92; 96. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 56): 
1; 2; 3; 4; 6; 8; 9; 11; 12; 13; 


31; 33; 36; 38; 40; 41; 42; 43; 
44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 50; 52; 
54; 57; 62; 64; 65; 66; 70; 72; 
73; 79; 80; 81; 83; 87; 88; 95; 
96; 97; 102; 106; 109; 110. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


19. Plateumaris sericea (Linnaeus, 1758) 

(Latin: sericatus; clothed in silken garments, probably referring to the silky-like 
appearance of the pronotum). L=6.5—10.0 mm. 

In most respects similar in appearance and habits to P. discolor. The main points 
of distinction from the latter concern the antennae, which are usually longer and 
narrower, especially in males; although differences in length between antennal 
segments are claimed, 4 being more than twice the length of 2 in P. sericea, this 
distinction may not be reliable (but see Key for length/width ratios of antennal 


19. Plateumaris sericea (Linnaeus) SS oF VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 22): 

11; 13; 14; 15; 17; 18; 20; 22; 
23; 27; 29; 30; 31; 33; 34; 38; 
41; 46; 52; 62; 70; 92. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 50): 

3; 4; 5; 6; 8; 9; 11; 12; 13; 14; 
33; 34; 36; 37; 38; 40; 41; 43; 
44; 46; 47; 49; 50; 52; 53; 55; 
57; 58; 62; 63; 64; 67; 73; 80; 
81; 95; 96; 97; 98; 101; 106. 
107. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 151 


segment 4). The thoracic disk in P. sericea is more finely punctured than P. discolor, 
without surrounding strigosity. The adult beetles have been recorded for every 
month of the year but are most frequently seen during June, usually at rest on 
aquatic vegetation growing in neutral or basic habitats. This species is usually found 
in association with Sparganium species, especially S. erectum, but has also been 
recorded from the flowerheads of Jris, yellow flag. 

A very widespread, common species with numerous post-1970 records from all 
regions of Scotland, Wales and England. 


Note. Askevold (1991) synonymized P. discolor (Panzer) with P. sericea 
(Linnaeus). He considered that the ratio of the antennal segments 2 and 3, and the 
coarseness of pronotal rugosity, variable among donaciines and ‘in many series of 
specimens a complete range of pronotal structure from uniformly alutaceous to 
coarsely rugose on the disc, can be found’. In addition he found no appreciable 
genitalic differences between specimens from geographically divergent areas such as 
Poland, Italy and Japan. However it can be contended that it is not the difference in 
the relative lengths of antennal segments 2 and 3 which is important, but that 
between 3 and 4 in comparison with 2. There is a significant difference in pronotal 
rugosity between the two species with little intraspecific variation, and differences 
between the endophallus of the two species are apparent in his photographs. 
Ecologically the two species occupy different niches, P. discolor in acidic conditions 
and P. sericea in neutral or basic water. 


GENUS MACROPLEA. (Greek; macro, large, and pleon, ‘swimming’). 


20. Macroplea appendiculata (Panzer, 1794) Status: RDB 3 

(Latin: appendicula, a little addition, probably referring to the elytral spine). 
bam 75 mim 

The two British Macroplea differ from Donacia and Plateumaris in being smaller 
and of a dull yellowish coloration with head and elytral striae black. Though fully 
winged, the adult beetles are usually found submerged on the foliage of their 
foodplant in the water of canals, rivers, lakes and dykes from June to September. M. 
appendiculata was found, for instance, on submerged plants of the alternate-flowered 
water milfoil Myriophyllum alterniflorum DC. growing near the margin of Talkin 
Tarn, Brampton, Cumbs. on 6.vi.92, hidden amongst the comb-like leaves. The 
beetles, although quite numerous, were very inconspicuous; whereas about 8 were 


20. Macroplea appendiculata (Panzer). & gf VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


PRE 1970 (= 18): 

41; 15; 22; 23; 24; 29; 39; 56; 
61; 62; 64; 65; 70; 76; 85; 89; 
97; 98. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 5): 
1; 53; 64; 70; 102. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


152 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


initially found with difficulty, 16 more eventually emerged from the vegetation as the 
stems and leaves dried out. Prof. J. A. Owen has found larvae and cocoons of M. 
appendiculata at the roots of Myriophyllum alterniflorum growing in Talkin Tarn 
during the autumn; one adult beetle, observed in captivity, shed its pupal case in the 
autumn and could be seen overwintering within the translucent cocoon, from which 
it eventually emerged in February. Adults have also been found in numbers on 
Potamogeton pectinatus L. at Kidlington, in a tributary of the River Cherwell, during 
June and August. 

A widely distributed though local species. Post-1970 records are from South West 
Scotland, N.E. and N.W. England, E. Midlands and S.W. England. 


21. Macroplea mutica (Fabricius, 1792) [= curtisi (Lacordaire, 1845)] 
Status: Notable A 

(Latin: muticus, spineless, referring to the shorter elytral spines). L=5.0—7.0 mm. 

Very similar to the preceding species, this beetle is also found on the leaves of 
submerged water plants, especially Potamogeton pectinatus and Zostera marina, 
usually in brackish clay pits and dykes near the coast. The main points of difference 
from M. appendiculata are the shorter posterolateral elytral spine, and absence of 
pigmented apices to the femora and tibiae and tarsal joints, though the latter is 
considered an unreliable character. There are some morphological differences in the 
male aedeagus. 

Apparently not so widespread as M. appendiculata. Recent records are from North 
West England, E. and W. Midlands, East Anglia, S.W. and S.E. England, but have 
been chiefly in the east. 


21. Macroplea mutica (Fabricius) : oF VICE-COUNTY DISTRIBUTION. 


mm 


PRE 1970 (= 11): 
14; 15; 16; 19; 25; 27; 28; 61; 
62; 63; 66. 


1970 ONWARDS (= 8): 
6; 14; 15; 16; 27; 54; 63; 64. 


PRE 1970 1970 ONWARDS 


GENERAL COMMENTS 
Alterations in distribution 


Examination of the pre- and post-1970 distribution reveals that some interesting 
changes have taken place. Percentage changes given below are calculated from the 
number of vice-counties in which a species has been recorded before and after 1970. 
Although such records are as much determined by the availability of entomological 
expertise as they are by the incidence of species, the observed increase in distribution 
of D. simplex, D. vulgaris, P. discolor and P. sericea suggests that the marked 
decrease in recorded distribution of at least half of our British donaciine species is a 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 153 


genuine problem which calls for an explanation, and not just the result of a reduction 
in entomological fieldwork. 


A. Post-1970 increase. B. No change ($10%) C. Decrease in post-1970 distribution 


Species % Diff. Name % Diff. Name % Diff. Name % Diff. 
P. discolor +57%  D clavipes +4.4%  D. versicolorea —\5% _ D. impressa —41% 
P. sericea +55%  P. affinis 0.0%  D. thalassina —16% D. dentata — 64% 
D. vulgaris +28%  D.semicuprea —3.1%  M. mutica —27% D2. crassipes —68% 
D. simplex +15% D. obscura —33% D. sparganii —70% 
D. marginata’ —39% M. appendiculata—81% 
D. cinerea —40% D. aquatica —83% 
P. braccata —40% D. bicolora —89% 


Host plants 


The British Donaciinae are associated with the Nymphaeaceae and Haloragaceae 
of the Dicotyledones and with seven families of the Monocotyledones: Alismataceae, 
Typhaceae, Sparganiaceae, Potamogetonaceae, Zosteraceae, Cyperaceae and Gra- 
mineae. To a large extent the host plant on which the adult feeds is the same as that 
on which cocoons have been taken and upon which the larvae feed. Donaciine 
species can be grouped according to their host plant associations. Donacia crassipes 
and Macroplea appendiculata are the only species associated with Dicotyledones, the 
former with yellow and white water lilies (Nuphar and Nymphaea of the 
Nymphaeaceae), and the latter with water milfoil (Myriophyllum of the Halor- 
agaceae). Of the Monocotyledones Sagittaria sagittifolia (Alismataceae) is host to 
Donacia dentata and Potamogeton (Potamogetonaceae) to D. versicolora. Sparga- 
nium of the Typhaceae is the host of D. bicolora, D. simplex, D. sparganii, 
Plateumaris sericea and possibly D. vulgaris, and Typha is host to D. cinerea and also 
D. vulgaris, the first three sometimes occurring in the same locality on Sparganium 
erectum. Of the Cyperaceae Scirpus is a host to D. impressa whilst various species of 
Carex support D. aquatica, D. obscura, D. impressa, D. thalassina, Plateumaris affinis 
and P. discolor, while of the Gramineae G/yceria species are eaten by D. semicuprea 
and Phragmites communis 1s host to D. clavipes and P. braccata. 


Early stages 


Oviposition differs in the British genera, the eggs of Platewmaris being laid on 
foliage above water while those of Donacia are laid, usually in clusters or rows, in 
gelatinous envelopes on the undersides of floating leaves or submerged foliage and 
stems. The life cycle of donaciines appears to be related to the growth habit of their 
host plants and they can be divided on the basis of observed dates of occurrence. 

The first group includes D. thalassina, obscura, clavipes, vulgaris and cinerea, active 
as adults during the spring and early summer, in which the larvae reach maturity and 
pupate by the autumn of the year in which oviposition took place. These soon 
emerge but remain as adults and overwinter within cocoons which apparently 
maintain a connection with intracellular air spaces within the host plant, attached to 
roots and stems in the mud of lakes and streams. 

The second group includes D. dentata, sparganii and versicolorea, which are active 
as adults during the second part of summer and in the autumn. These overwinter as 
larvae which complete their growth and pupate during the first half of the year 
following oviposition, finally emerging around midsummer. Adults of the latter 


154 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


group do not, therefore, overwinter but may sometimes be found around 
midsummer, awaiting emergence fully developed within their cocoons. 

In contrast to foodplants of the first group (Carex, Phragmites, Typha and 
Sparganium erectum), the foliage of plants upon which adult beetles of the second 
group feed (Sagittaria, Potamogeton spp. and Sparganium emersum) does not reach 
full development until after midsummer. 


Collecting techniques 


The simplest and most informative method of detecting and collecting the adult 
beetles is by direct searching of the leaves and flowers of their host plants, especially 
in warm sunshine, during their months of occurrence. Under certain circumstances 
alternative methods may be useful. The use of a sweep-net is useful when the beetles 
are infrequent and hidden in dense foliage such as stands of reeds and sedges; this 
method is especially effective for species such as Donacia aquatica, impressa, 
thalassina, Plateumaris sericea and affinis (pers. observ.). Alternatively plants 
growing together in a dense stand can be tapped with a stick over a beating tray. 
Stainforth (1944) collected D. impressa and clavipes by tapping bulrush (Scirpus 
lacustris) and reeds (Phragmites australis), respectively, watching for the fallen insects 
on the surface of the water. Species like D. crassipes, dentata, versicolorea and 
sparganii that rest on the floating leaves of their foodplants (Nuphar, Sagittaria, 
Potamogeton and Sparganium) may be caught by quickly submerging the leaf with 
the beetle on it. They cannot then take flight, but float to the surface and can then be 
picked off. The use of an extendable ‘clap net’ (see figure) can also be very effective, 
and may be necessary when negotiating an inaccessible environment with deep water 
and mud. Collection of Macroplea species which inhabit submerged water plants 
calls for the use of a water net or rake. 


Extendable clap net. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 155 


According to Stainforth (1944) a further useful method is to search for cocoons 
from late August until the following May or June. September is probably the best 
month since the weather is still warm, the water in ponds and canals at a low level, 
and sufficient time will have elapsed to allow the adults to emerge from the pupae 
and become fully hardened. Apparently some species may remain in such a condition 
within the cocoons for as long as 8 months! Unfortunately this method leads to 
habitat destruction since the foodplants must be pulled up with their roots and 
rhizomes intact, washed free of mud and then carefully searched. It is often difficult 
to pull up aquatic plants by the roots especially if they are matted together as is the 
case with Carex and Scirpus. Stainforth found the cocoons of D. versicolorea difficult 
to collect because the host plant Potamogeton natans grows in deep water and does 
not come up by the roots very readily, and he found that the cocoons of D. clavipes 
were usually buried at a depth of six to eight inches amongst the roots of Phragmites 
growing in water. 


KEYS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF DONACIINE BEETLES BY M. L. Cox 
Subfamily DONACIINAE: key to genera 


1 Dorsally not metallic, usually yellowish with dark brown or black. Tarsi slender, 
subcylindrical, almost glabrous ventrally, segment 3 small, unlobed, segment 5 
longer than 1 to 4* combined (Figs K1,2). Elytra with double rows of punctures 
and with black or dark brown stripes; truncate, unidentate apically (Fig. K4). 
ismalby under water On hostplants.e..00/2.qosterc-osteusecsscteeocscoesonusvanedee Macroplea 

— Dorsally metallic. Tarsi broad, flattened with dense pilosity ventrally, segment 3 
bilobed, segment 5* at most twice as long as 3 (Fig. K3). Elytra metallic, apices 
without tooth (Figs K7,8). Usually on water plants........0...000cccccecceeceeeseeeeees 2 

2 Elytra somewhat flat dorsally (Fig. K5), suture normal, not inverted apically 
(Fig. K7). Mandibles short, not protruding (Figs K37,38). Males sometimes with 
small tooth interoapically on metatibiae. Abdominal ventrite 1 longer than 
toler Combined (BIg .K.10),.....0c...2c20acecspuver<dertovserssooeesecsanaeenentenses Donacia 

— Elytra vaulted dorsally (Fig. K6), suture inverted at apex, so that internal margin 
becomes the external one (Fig. K8). Mandibles protruding (Fig. K9). Males with 
small tooth interoapically on meso- and meta-tibiae. Abdominal ventrite | at 
most as long as following 4* combined (Fig. K11).......0.0..ccceeeeeeeee Plateumaris 


Genus Macroplea Samouelle: key to species 


| Terminal spine of elytra usually more slender, more sharply pointed (Fig. K 12). 
Elytra apically with more transverse emargination (Fig. K12). Males with 
median lobe of aedeagus broader, abruptly narrowed apically, with small median 
lip (Fig. K16); antennae relatively longer, especially apical segment with length/ 
width ratio about 6.6 (Fig. K14). Body usually longer, 6.0-7.5 mm. 

J cocecpie opt siping htgha ie the tR ieredh eRe Se oer Rabies ends: OR aes appendiculata (Panzer) 

— Terminal spine of elytra usually less slender, less sharply pointed (Fig. K13). 
Elytra apically with less transverse emargination (Fig. K13). Males with median 
lobe of aedeagus narrower, more gradually narrowing to a rounded apex which 
lacks a median lip (Fig. K17); antennae relatively shorter, especially apical 
segment with length/width ratio about 5.7 (Fig. K15). Body usually shorter, 
S01 Say BU Gian Re wee ate stan Ne er? PS mutica (Fabricius) 


*Note. Tarsal segment 4 is vestigial and, as in most chrysomelids, is inconspicuous. 


156 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Figs. K1, 2, 4, 12, 14 & 16 Macroplea appendiculata; K13, 15, & 17 Macroplea mutica; K3 & 7 
Donacia crassipes; K5, 10 & 18 Donacia aquatica, K6 Plateumaris affinis; K8 & 11 Plateumaris 
sericea; K9 Plateumaris sp. head dorsal; K19 Donacia sparganii; K20 Donacia marginata; K21, 
23, 24, 27, 29 Donacia impressa,; K25, 26, 28, 30 Donacia thalassina; K31, 33, 34 Donacia 
obscura, K22, 32, 35, 36 Donacia bicolora; K1—3 right metatarsus (K1 & 3 lateral, K2 dorsal); 
K4 left elytron dorsal; K5, 6 right elytron lateral; K7, 8, 12, 13 apex left elytron dorsal; K10, 11 
venter; K14, 15 right antenna; K16, 17, 29, 30 median aedeagal lobe dorsal; K18, 19, 20, 31, 32 
pronotum dorsal; K21, 22 base right elytron; K23—26, 33-36 posterior half right metafemora; 
K27, 28 apex left elytron lateral. Scale line=1 mm. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 157 


Genus Donacia Fabricius: key to species 


Pronotum and elytra pubescent (Plate I, Figure 1). Usually bronze dorsally, 


hatehyrelyira metallic dark Grecian yraiadssacs.ss80isas lis suvebeo sete davaderopes cinerea Herbst 
Pronotum and elytra not pubescent (Plates I & II, Figures 2-15). Variously 
PrN Mra Oe tes ANN occ ein sans An gsta dade peiencdashscck Madisadnaets casing AREORa wat Ce RE 2 
Antennae and legs, including tarsi, entirely reddish brown (Plate 1, Figure 
Lanes gna dead jou CR RCee Cen EOEEy OEE CPOE Sie aR eee ee ee clavipes Fabricius 
Antennae and legs at the most only partly reddish brown (Plate I, Figure 
21) sascha ki SAA Pee cn Mia aceon eee), SS, eS Se 3 
Antennae and legs, except claws, entirely black with indistinct metallic 
reflection, or sometimes legs brightly metallic (Plate 1, Figure 7)...............0.... 4 


Antennae and legs usually partly reddish brown (at least one quarter or 
third of femora) (Plate 1, Figure 2), sometimes the antennae are entirely 


DUT. nesechenacgeee ERA ae caer ae enaepeeiee) “ES LE a ok A EO SERA 9) Sah 10 
Pronotal disc distinctly and coarsely punctured (Fig. K18). Hind femora in both 
mest MeV AW Rate MITe SPITE... 1-2: hoe Meret weane scents sue cienastccnoe QUESSCeDESeaPaaiwc sus vere der 5 


Pronotal disc impunctate or at most with few small indistinct punctures, finely 
transversely rugose (Fig. K19). Hind femora of both sexes usually with two 
spines (one very small); sometimes, in addition, with several very small spines 


j SHOSTLBTIIYS 1 75 ee aR air Rr NE sparganii Ahrens 
Elytra green, bluish-green along suture; interstices 2-6 or 7 reddish (golden, 
coppery, blue or purple in part) (Plate I, Figure 7).............. aquatica (Linnaeus) 
Elytra unicolorous or with interstices 3-5 red, blue or purple in basal 
[i STEPS Ss. SAR UR 6 Sane nee ee, He eens ane See a ee Sn Sae  o ae 6 


Pronotum dorso-laterally and laterally strongly rugose, with a few coarse 
punctures; rugosities are irregular and transversely or obliquely orientated, 
smooth and shiny (Fig. K20). Elytra bronze brown, lateral margin greenish, 
usually with interstices 7-9 and 2-S in basal fifth red, blue or purple (Plate I, 
Figure 8); sometimes all of these markings absent.................... marginata Hoppe 
Pronotum dorso-laterally and laterally not distinctly rugose, sometimes with a 
few fine rugosities, usually very coarsely and densely punctured, punctures 
sometimes confluent. Elytra without red mmarkimes.c.....¢.ssc0. eux weevikhslacdexestacver- 7 
Anterior margin of pronotum almost straight or slightly convex between anterior 
angles in dorsal view (Fig. K19). Abbreviated scutellar stria usually distinct (Fig. 


RY a aad css acess aah cade RR RAR sas en acca jo RE A IEEE ok 8 
Anterior margin of pronotum slightly concave between anterior angles (Fig. 
K32). Abbreviated scutellar stria usually indistinct (Fig. K22)......0..00.ceeee 9 


Hind femora with small usually obtuse tooth, sometimes acute or missing (Figs 
K 23,24). Elytra with suture distinctly raised at apex (Fig. K27). Males with 
median lobe of aedeagus narrower, gradually broadening to apex which narrows 
more gradually and with less distinct median lip (Fig. K29). Usually either deep 
brassy or bronze dorsally (Plate II, Figure 12).......0000c. impressa Paykull 
Hind femora with tooth long and acute, sometimes greatly reduced (Figs 
K 25,26). Elytra usually without suture distinctly raised at apex (Fig. K28). Males 
with median lobe of aedeagus broader, subparallel-sided over much of length, 
gradually narrowed at apex with distinct median lip (Fig. K30). Dorsal colour 
more variable, brassy, bronze, sometimes greenish.................. thalassina Germar 
Dorsal surface and legs dull deep bronze, without green reflection (Plate II, 
Figure 10). Pronotum usually with anterior angles distinct, especially laterally 


158 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Figs. K37 Donacia semicuprea, head and pronotum dorsal; K38 Donacia vulgaris head, dorsal; 
K39-41 Donacia vulgaris; K42-44 Donacia simplex; K45, 49, 50 Donacia dentata; K46-48 
Donacia crassipes; K51—53 Donacia versicolorea; K54, 55, 62, 63, 66 Plateumaris discolor; K56, 
57, 64, 65, 67 Plateumaris sericea; K58, 59, 68, 69 Plateumaris braccatd? K60, 61, 70, 71 
Plateumaris affinis; K39, 42 elytral apex dorsal; K40, 43, 45 pronotum dorsal; K41, 44, 66, 67 
median aedeagal lobe dorsal ; K46, 48, 49, 51, 53 right metafemora lateral; K47, 50, 52 left 
metafemora ventral; K54-61 posterior half right metafemora lateral; K62—65 left antennal 
segments I—5; K68, 70 pronotum dorsal; K69, 71 enlargement of right basal part of pronotum. 
Scale line=1 mm. 


BR 


13 


. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 159 


(Fig. K31). Femoral teeth large in both sexes (Figs K33,34) 

SOeR ree ren te Ra PTeE es Tap zee) L2UES, SEER GALA. GAL See Meaaa bes obscura Gyllenhal 
Dorsal surface and legs bright golden green or darker greenish bronze (Plate II, 
Figure 9); rarely entirely blue. Pronotum usually with anterior angles indistinct, 
especially laterally (Fig. K32). Femoral teeth in both sexes smaller, about half the 


Baer SETI G RIS) ) coe co ocala Pee a cant duccxcadcaannciehioid soesuedudnaageenane bicolora Zschach 
Hind tibiae not usually finely toothed along ventral ridge. Hind femora usually 
MEMS CHIMUONEN BEL ote (ate peer 2 See ee ee dee Act ae celta, 5 SANS sos conds Sgsdaa tte a tine se vgnaaauce Seabaen ds 1] 
Hind tibiae finely toothed (teeth may be acute or obtuse) along ventral ridge. 
lima femora USUallyrelerita ties - Seah A ELIE MIA cs ccacasinecncncetenncns 13 


Disc of pronotum in mid-line with a small shallow anterior and larger, deeper 
posterior fovea, these connected by a narrow longitudinal groove (Plate II, 
Figure 11 and Fig. K37); majority of discal punctures not confluent, interspaces 
smooth and shining. Head without a distinct occipital groove along inner margin 
of eyes, without a longitudinal convexity on each side of median longitudinal 
fronto-vertical groove (Fig. K37). Elytra gently rounded in basal half, slightly 
broadenca tomiddie (Plate I, Figure 11)... .cc.caccasenensencceeeeecs semicuprea Panzer 
Disc of pronotum in mid-line without foveae but sometimes with indistinct fine 
median longitudinal groove; disc with interspaces narrow, usually dull, finely 
microsculptured, punctures often confluent. Head with a distinct occipital groove 
along inner margin of eyes, and with a distinct longitudinal convexity on each 
side of median longitudinal fronto-vertical groove (Fig. K38). Elytra sub-parallel 
in basal half, not broadening to middle (Plate II, Figure 14)........00 12 
Apices of elytra usually distinctly emarginate, rarely straight (Fig. K39). Elytra 
usually red, blue, purple, golden, brassy or a combination of these colours 
between interstices 1-4 or 5, rarely unicolorous dark green (Plate 1, Figure 6). 
Dorsal part of fore-tibiae usually darkened, only partly reddish. Anterior margin 
of pronotum in mid-line usually with a small protuberance (Fig. K40). Males 
with median lobe of aedeagus gradually, sinuately narrowed towards apex, with 
PRA AVEN POMEL OEMS DIAN Oe Sccceaccec ocaccoccestceccooceaetoee oer cenuecuiecene vulgaris Zschach 
Apices of elytra truncate, usually straight or sometimes very indistinctly 
emarginate (Fig. K42). Elytra unicolorous, margin and interstices 1—S or 5 
without contrasting coloration (Plate II, Figure 14). Dorsal part of fore-tibiae 
usually entirely reddish. Anterior margin of pronotum in mid-line usually 
without a small protuberance (Fig. K43). Males with median lobe of aedeagus 
more evenly, abruptly narrowed towards apex, with more rounded, blunt point 
(PUREST c8 22 eel eae ao el aon 2 dte  a  Pa simplex Fabricius 
Pronotum strongly rugose throughout, usually coarsely and densely punctured 
on disc (Fig. K45). Hind femora without or with one or two teeth; when two 
these are situated close together and not more than the length of the anterior 
MENA PAL: CLUES EEO) Onan ee eos erence: eee ee tenant camenteteceenctcatenncttc steer crtetin es 14 
Pronotum not strongly rugose, strongly microsculptured throughout with fine 
grooves and reticulations, disc with indistinct sparse, shallow punctures. Hind 
femora with one obtuse tooth or with two teeth which are more widely separated, 
at least two times the length of the anterior tooth apart (Figs K46-48). 

2S ARE CREO LE tr oe Pera Ol ere aie als en ee crassipes Fabricius 
Elytra with interstices dull, very finely, usually densely and evenly punctured. 
Hind femora in both sexes usually with two teeth, one smaller situated slightly 
anterior to the larger posterior tooth on the ventral surface (Figs K49,50). 
Ventral half of femora usually pale reddish in contrast to dark metallic dorsal 
hall (Pichi KaS 9) sewed L. iengomg. od. ol. ah siintiwks sane a) dentata Hoppe 


160 


i) 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Elytra with interstices shining, very finely and sparsely punctured (almost 
impunctate). Hind femora in males with two teeth set almost side by side and 
subequal in length (Figs K51,52); in females with very small obtuse tooth (Fig. 
K53), sometimes missing. Ventral half of femora usually,almost entirely dark 
(apical two-thirds of femora almost entirely black) (Fig. K51) 

Ea Hc RMI ioe sands od avtenentncaee Rann as a eeta nae tool deme nat mare mee versicolorea (Brahm) 


Genus Plateumaris Thomson: key to species 


Elytra with 2 impressions on each near suture, one about one-third length from 
base, the other one-third length from apex, the latter sometimes indistinct. 
Pronotum glabrous except for a few setae posteriorly. Abdomen concolorous 
with rest of body. Metafemora with strong triangular tooth in both sexes (Figs 


Elytra without impressions. Pronotum very finely pubescent. Abdomen brown or 
reddish, not concolorous with rest of body. Males with strong metafemoral tooth 
(Figs K 58,60), females without a tooth (Fig. K59) or with blunt angulation (Fig. 

3 


Pronotal disc with punctuation distinctly stronger in mid-line, obliquely wrinkled 
throughout. Antennal segments 3 and 4 less elongate (Figs K62,63), males with 
length/width ratio of segment 4 about 2.0. Males with median lobe of aedeagus 
evenly narrowed apically to pointed tip (Fig. K66). Colour variable, metallic 
green, blue. violet or gold; somietumes DIACK.«.......sletns-c8--catee discolor (Panzer) 
Pronotal disc with punctuation equal and fine, smoother, without oblique 
wrinkles. Antennal segments 3 and 4 more elongate (Figs K64,65), males with 
length/width ratio of segment 4 about 2.6. Males with median lobe of aedeagus 
not evenly narrowed apically and with apical median lip (Fig. K67). Colour 
VARIA INS. AS AISCOLON anus ciancsccitiepsgdwgadtuathexerdac oaderu<onrefteaeee am sericea (Linnaeus) 
Pronotum distinctly narrowed posteriorly, with a tuberosity at each side just 
behind the indistinct anterior angle; anterior setiferous pore close to anterior 
margin; posterior setiferous pore not on conical process (Figs K 68,69). Elytral 
interstices strongly cross strigose. Black with a green or violet reflection, 
pronotum often greenish or bluish. Antennae and legs reddish brown. Body 
length usually longer, 8.5-11.5mm. On Phragmites australis 

5 Rabat ea Rete ER cs esau tio sco ok eS Coss Meese ee te TARO TS aE ae braccata (Scopol) 
Pronotum subrectangular, with sides subparallel and without a tuberosity at 
each side behind the anterior angle which is prominent, and anterior setiferous 
pore distant to anterior margin with posterior setiferous pore on conical process 
(Figs K70,71). Antennae and legs orange brown. Males black with a purple or 
violet reflection, sometimes basally reddish brown. Females coppery (Plate II, 
Figure 16). Body length usually shorter, 5.0-9.0mm. Usually on Carex 

aides badion a RASA aul wi cs ae ae nes a Rite ect ee affinis (Kunze) 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


The authors wish to thank the following persons for contributing a large 


proportion of the material and information which enabled the present report on 
distribution of the British Donaciinae to be prepared. They are particularly grateful 


Plate |. BRITISH DONACIIDS 


1. Donacia cinerea Herbst 


4. Donacia crassipes Fabricius 


5. Donacia clavipes Fabricius 6. Donacia vulgaris Zschach 


5 ? = 


7. Donacia aquatica (Linnaeus) 8. Donacia marginata Hoppe 


nacia bicolora Zschach 


< ~ 


11. Donacia semicuprea Pan 


13. Donacia thalassina Germar 


15. Donacia sparganil Ahrens 


Plate Il. BRITISH DONACIIDS 


10. Donacia obscura Gyllenhal 


12. Donacia impressa Paykull 


Po, CATE ER Sanh wee 


rN, 


14. Donacia simplex Fabricius 


16. Plateumaris affinis (Kunze) 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 161 


to Professor J. A. Owen and Mr. M. J. Collier for their advice regarding the 
arrangement of the text. 


Mr G. L. Ackers Dr J. Denton Dr P. S. Hyman Mr P. D. Orton 
Dr K. N. A. Alexander Mr M. L. Denton Mr W. R. B. Hynd Prof. J. A. Owen 
Dr R. B. Anderson Mr C. M. Drake Mr J. B. Jobe Mr J. A. Parry 
Dr R. B. Angus Mr A. B. Drane Dr R. S. Key Mr M. Pavett 
Mr D. B. Atty Mr W. A. Ely Dr P. Kirby Mr E. G. Philp 
Mr E. W. Aubrook Mr M. D. Eyre Mr S. A. Lane Mr J. M. Rayner 
Mr M. E. Bacchus Mr A. P. Foster Mr A. S. Lazenby Mr J. Read 
Dr D. Bilton Dr G. Foster Mr D. A. Lott Mr M. Shardlow 
Dr R. G. Booth Mr W. A. Foster IDYPwal IE. Veh Dr D. A. Sheppard 
Mr J. H. Bratton Mr A. Fowles Dr I. McClenaghan Mr M. Sinclair 
Mr E. Brown Mr S. P. Garland Mr P. M. Miles Mr D. A. Smith 
Mr J. M. Campbell Mr M. P. Gipson Mr I. K. Morgan Mr R. J. Spittle 
Mr L. Clemons Mr S. Grove Mrs M. J. Morgan Mr D. A. Stone 
Mr M. J. Collier Mr P.M. Hammond MrR.K.A. Morris Dr R. T. Thompson 
Mr J. Cooter Mr T. D. Harrison Mr D. T. Murray Mr C. R. Vardy 
Mr N. Cowen Mr P. J. Hodge Mr D. R. Nash Mr P. F. Whitehead 
Mr J. G. M. Cuppen Dr P. R. Holmes Dr J.P. O’Connor Mr C. Wiltshire 
Mr D. Davies 

REFERENCES 


Askevold, I. S. 1990. Reconstructed phylogeny and reclassification of the genera of Donaciinae 
(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae, 26: 601-664. 

Bienkowski, A. G. 1992. New data on morphology and systematics of the larvae of Donaciinae 
(Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) from Palaearctic. Russian Entomological Journal 1(2): 3-15. 

Boving, A. G. 1910. Natural history of the larvae of Donaciinae. Sonderabdruck aus 
Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie 1910: 1-108. 

Cox, M. L. 1994. Egg bursters in the Chrysomelidae, with a review of their occurrence in the 
Chrysomeloidea (Coleoptera). In: Jolivet, P., Cox, M.L. and Petitpierre, E. (Eds). Novel 
aspects of the biology of Chrysomelidae. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The 
Netherlands, pp. 75-110. 

Fowler, W. W. 1890. The Coleoptera of the British Islands. Vol 1V. Lamellicornia-Serricornia- 
Longicornia-Phytophaga. L. Reeve & Co., London. 

Hoffmann, C. E. 1940. Morphology of the immature stages of some northern Michigan 
Donaciini (Chrysomelidae; Coleoptera). Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts 
and Letters 25: 243-290. 

Hyman, P. S. & Parson, M. S. 1992. A review of the Scarce and threatened Coleoptera of Great 
Britain, Part 1. UK Nature Conservation, No. 3., U.K. Joint Nature Conservation 
Committee, Peterborough. 

Joy, N. H. 1932. A practical handbook of British beetles. Volumes 1 & 2. H. F. & 
G. Witherby. 

Mann, J. S. & Crowson, R. A. 1983. Observations on the internal anatomy and classification of 
Donaciinae (Col., Chrysomelidae). Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 119: 17-27. 

Parry, J. A. 1979-1980. Notes on the Donaciini (Col.: Chrysomelidae), with a list of recent East 
Kentish localities known to the author. Entomologist’s Record and Journal of Variation 91: 
323-326, 92: 9-12. 

Stainforth, T. 1944. Reed beetles of the genus Donacia and its allies in Yorkshire. The Naturalist 
810: 81-91, 811: 127-139. 

Stammer, H. J. 1935. Studien an Symbiosen zwischen Kéfern und Mikroorganismen, 1. 
Die Symbiose der Donaciinen. Zeitschrift fiir Morphologie und Okologie der Tiere, 29: 
585-608. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


APPENDIX. INTERPRETATION OF VICE-COUNTY NUMBERS 


1. West Cornwall 30. 

(with Scilly) Sil. 
2. East Cornwall 32. 
3. South Devon 33. 
4. North Devon 34. 
5. South Somerset 35¢ 
6. North Somerset 36. 
7. North Wiltshire 37. 
8. South Wiltshire 38. 
9. Dorset 39. 
10. Isle of Wight 40. 


12. North Hampshire 42. 
13. West Sussex 43. 
14. East Sussex 44 
15. East Kent 45 
16. West Kent 46 
17. Surrey 47 
18. South Essex 48 
19. North Essex 49 
20. Hertfordshire 50 
21. Middlesex 51 
22. Berkshire Sy 
23. Oxfordshire 53: 
24. Buckinghamshire 54. 
25. East Suffolk Spt 
26. West Suffolk 

27. East Norfolk 56. 
28. West Norfolk Sie 
29. Cambridgeshire 58 


. South Hampshire 41. 


Bedfordshire 
Huntingdonshire 
Northamptonshire 
East Gloucestershire 


West Gloucestershire 


Monmouthshire 
Herefordshire 
Worcestershire 
Warwickshire 
Staffordshire 
Shropshire (Salop) 
Glamorgan 
Breconshire 
Radnorshire 


. Carmarthenshire 
. Pembrokeshire 

. Cardiganshire 

. Montgomeryshire 
. Merionethshire 

. Caenarvonshire 

. Denbighshire 

. Flintshire 

. Anglesey 


South Lincolnshire 
North Lincolnshire 
Leicestershire 
(with Rutland) 
Nottinghamshire 
Derbyshire 
Cheshire 


ae 


VICE-COUNTIES ° 


(After Watson) 


ae), 
60. 
61. 
62. 
63. 
64. 
65. 
66. 
67. 
68. 


69. 


70. 
Te 
1X: 
1B: 
74. 
Is: 
76. 
aT. 
78. 
Ts). 
80. 
81. 
82. 


85. 


South Lancashire 
West Lancshire 
South-east Yorkshire * 
North-east Yorkshire 
South-west Yorkshire 
Mid-west Yorkshire 
North-west Yorkshire 
Durham 

S. Northumberland 
North Northumberland 
(Cheviot) 
Westmorland 

(with N. Lancashire) 
Cumberland 

Isle of Man 
Dumfriesshire 
Kirkcudbrightshire 
Wigtownshire 
Ayrshire 
Renfrewshire 
Lanarkshire 
Peeblesshire 
Selkirkshire 
Roxburghshire 
Berwickshire 

East Lothian 
(Haddington) 


. Midlothian (Edinburgh) 
. West Lothian (Linlithgow) 112. 


Fifeshire 


REGIONS * 


(NCC 1985) 


NORTH WEST 
SCOTLAND 


NORTH EAST 
SCOTLAND 


NORTH EAST 


86. Stirlingshire 
87. West Perthshire 
(with Clackmannan) 

88. Mid Perthshire 

89. East Perthshire 

90. Angus (Forfar) 

. Kincardineshire 

. S. Aberdeenshire 

. N. Aberdeenshire 

. Banffshire 

. Moray (Elgin) 

. East. Inverness 
(with Nairn) 

. West Inverness 

. Argyll Main 

. Dunbartonshire 

Clyde Islands 

Kintyre 

. South Ebudes 

. Mid Ebudes 

. North Ebudes 

. West Ross 

East Ross 

East Sutherland 

. West Sutherland 

. Caithness 

. Outer Hebrides 

111. Orkney Islands 

Shetland Islands 

(Zetland) 

113. Channel Islands 


EAST ANGLIA 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 163 
LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


Scottish populations of Pararge aegeria~—We were most interested to read of 
Leonard Winokur’s work on the speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria but did not 
recognize his discussion concerning the Scottish populations. He states that “‘P. a. 
tircis appears to be extending its range down the Great Glen from deciduous forest in 
the north-east to cooler pine forests more south-west”. This seems to be more or less 
the reverse of the true situation. 

P. a. tircis was present in south-east Scotland (and perhaps the south-west) in the 
mid 1800s, extending up to Perth and Angus. (The Aberdeen record is of two 
specimens found on the edge of the city but there is real doubt about the validity of 
these.) A decline began to affect the species about 1850, although it may have hung 
on in the Perth area until 1921 (Thomson, 1980, The butterflies of Scotland, Croom 
Helm). Meanwhile P. a. oblita was found in the western coastal area, centred around 
Oban but ranging well north and south of there. In the 1950s this subspecies spread 
north-eastwards to the Inverness area, colonizing the Black Isle in the 1960s and 
subsequently spreading both northwards to East Sutherland and eastwards along the 
Moray Coast (Barbour, 1986, Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 98: 98-105). In 1991 Roy 
Leverton confirmed that it had reached north-east Aberdeenshire. Specimens from 
all of these areas have the morphological characteristics of P. a. oblita. 

Although there are some gaps in the linking area between Loch Ness-side and the 
west coast populations, it seems most likely that the north-eastern populations were 
derived from those on the west coast. The nearest P. a. tircis are well south in 
England. We know of no other authors who suggest that the ‘Inverness’ populations 
are P. a. tircis, for example Shreeve and Emmet (1989, Moths and butterflies of Great 
Britain and Ireland, Vol7, pt 1, Harley Books) specifically include the Moray Coast 
populations within P. a. oblita, and so we believe that Winokur’s analysis of the 
Scottish situation needs re-consideration—DAVID BARBOUR, 125a High St, 
Aberlour, Banffshire; CLIFFORD EDWARDS, Swiss Cottage, Benvoulin Rd, Oban, 
Argyll; MARK YOUNG, Culterty Field Station, Aberdeen University, Newburgh, 
Aberdeenshire. 


Reply by the author.—My study of the speckled wood butterfly primarily 
compared N. Wales and S. England subspecies fircis with a sample population of 
subspecies oblita from the Appin area. The more extensive consideration of P. a. 
oblita in my 1995 paper (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 102-112) was based on previous 
literature. My misinterpretation of the speckled wood’s history in Scotland may have 
arisen from the concomitant treatment of the two subspecies by Thomson (1980) and 
my unfamiliarity with the detailed political geography referred to by Barbour (1986). 
At this point I should add that the S. England site described in my paper should read 
‘east’ of Salisbury Plain—it is in west Hampshire. 

If I understand correctly, subspecies tircis died out from north-east Scotland in the 
early 1920s, whereas subspecies oblita has been extending its range since the 1950s 
north-eastwards along the Great Glen as far as the Moray Firth, where it occupies 
cooler pine forests than it does further south-west. Hence examination of responses 
along this cline to particular climatic regimes can still help us understand whether 
there is rapid adaptation in subspecies oblita alone to minor climatic shifts. 

A high incidence of pattern abnormalities thereby disclosing nuclear/cytoplasmic 
incompatibilities, could nevertheless help predict the outcomes in other species where 
a mixing of locally adapted races might occur. For instance, when Purefoy released 
English brimstone butterflies, Gonepteryx rhamni, at Tipperary, Ireland, they became 


164 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


fully established and integrated with local populations of subspecies gravesi (Dennis, 
R. L. H. 1977. The British butterflies. E. W. Classey). Similarly, more general 
arguments concerning the processes by which evolutionary shifts might be effected, 
e.g. gene amplification, remain valid——LEN WINOKUR, School of Animal and 
Microbial Sciences, Reading University, PO Box 228, Reading RG6 2AJ. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Butterflies of Surrey by Graham A. Collins, 87 pp, 16 colour plates, published by 
the Surrey Wildlife Trust, School Lane, Pirbright, Woking, Surrey, GU24 OJN, 
£12.—-Surrey has been the target of a number of local lists in the past forty years or 
so. The previous lists have covered several different parts of Surrey, but this is the 
first to deal with the whole of the county since the Victoria County History in 1902. 
The introduction has an interesting, though rather short, account of the geology 
showing how both soil type and aspect affect species like the silver-spotted skipper, 
while others such as the speckled wood and peacock are present in almost all 
habitats. The change from traditional to modern agricultural methods, myxomatosis, 
coniferization and Dutch elm disease have all had a profound effect in the last half- 
century and are mentioned briefly. 

The species accounts are highly informative but concise. The comments offered 
clearly show that the author has a thorough knowledge of the literature which he 
combines with a sensible and well-balanced view of more dubious records. At the 
start of each species account there is a list showing the status, preferred habitats, 
voltinism and period of flight. The foodplants listed are only those on which the 
species has been recorded in Surrey and are further broken down into confirmed, 
likely (e.g. a pupa dug up from the base of the plant) and old (not recorded on the 
plant for many years). A rare insight is shown into the habits of both the adults and 
early stages which has enabled the author to extend the known range of a number of 
species, and also greatly enhanced the value of the book. Clear, tetrad-based 
distribution maps and a dated list of records are given for most species. 

The sixteen pages of colour illustrations are by a variety of photographers and are 
for the most part excellent. The picture of the dingy skipper is particularly clear, 
whilst one of the two pictures of the silver-studded blue is of little use, as two of the 
wings are in shadow and angled sharply towards the photographer. Each colour 
plate contains four pictures laid out in a unique zig-zag pattern which, although not 
unattractive, leaves about one-third of the plate as white space. Colour printing is 
expensive and I would have preferred to see this space used to show more pictures of 
the early stages, eggs of the black and purple hairstreaks, and a small larva of the 
white admiral, for example, would show new recorders exactly what the early stages 
of these insects look like. 

The proof-reading and checking are excellent. One curio is the use of 
‘broodedness’ on page 15, when the phrase ‘number of broods’ would have done a 
better job. On a more serious note I am disappointed to see that the Amateur 
Entomologists’ Society has been omitted from the list of societies in Appendix 3. 
Overall, this is a well-balanced, informative book at a good price. I look forward 
eagerly to the next volume. 


COLIN HART 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 165 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Morophaga choragella ({D. & S.]) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae) in Windsor Forest and 
Great Park and other records from southern England—In my note reporting the 
presence of this moth on Snelsmore Common, Berkshire (Alexander, 1995) I 
commented on the surprising absence of records from Windsor. Mark Shaw has 
subsequently informed me that he has reared it from a piece of the bracket fungus 
Inonotus cuticularis (Bull. ex Fr.) P. Karsten given to him by John Owen. The fungus 
was collected from beech logs in the deer enclosure of Windsor Great Park in 1992. I 
have also now reared it myself during 1995 from some J. cuticularis bracket growing 
high up on the trunk of an over-mature beech in the High Standing Hill (SU930740) 
area of Windsor Forest. Baker (1994) lists just five scattered records from Berkshire, 
suggesting that the species is not common in the county. One of these is from 
Silwood Park, 1971, which is close to the south-west of Windsor Great Park. 

Pelham-Clinton (1985) states that the larvae feed in galleries in various bracket 
fungi (Laetiporus, Phellinus, Piptoporus etc.), or perhaps in rotten wood. He gives no 
indication of the relative frequency with which the moth has been reared from these 
fungal fruiting bodies. My experience suggests that Jnonotus brackets are a favoured 
breeding medium for this moth—I have also successfully reared it from J. dryadeus 
(Pers. ex Fr.) Murrill in Hailey Wood, Gloucestershire (Alexander, 1990) and 
Staverton Park, Suffolk (TM353513) (unpublished). At the latter site the bracket was 
found very typically at the base of an old parkland oak, 15.ix.1994. In each case the 
host tree was alive and healthy—ZJnonotus dryadeus only hollows oaks, its presence 
does not imply the tree is dying. I have never found the moth in either Laetiporus 
sulphureus (Bull. ex Fr.) Murr. or Piptoporus betulinus (Bull. ex Fr.) Karst. despite 
regularly rearing Coleoptera from brackets of these fungi. 

In contrast, Andy Foster (pers. comm.) knows it from beech stumps: (i) six freshly 
emerged adults on a beech stump on Hampstead Heath (TQ262866), 14.vii.1984—he 
had noted exuviae on fungi there previously, 7.vii.1984—large clumps of a small 
bracket fungus were noted, possibly Coriolus versicolor (L. ex Fr.) Quel.; (ii) freshly 
emerged adults on large beech stump at Rainbow Wood Farm, Claverton Down, 
Bath (ST772628), N. Somerset, 3.vii.1995; apparently a new county record. 

Although M. choragella is not currently regarded as ‘nationally scarce’, i.e. 
believed to be confined to fewer than 100 of the 10-km squares of the OS National 
Grid, Mark Parsons informs me that the species is borderline in this respect and such 
status is under consideration. Whatever the final decision, as a characteristic species 
of ancient pasture woodlands it is certainly of special conservation interest and 
concern. 

My thanks to A. P. Foster, E. E. Green, J. A. Owen, M. S. Parsons and M. R. 
Shaw for their help with this note—K. N. A. ALEXANDER, 14 Partridge Way, 
Cirencester, Glos. GL7 1BQ. 


REFERENCES 


Alexander, K. N. A. 1990. Morophaga choragella D. & S. (Lep.: Tineidae) and Ditomyia 
fasciata (Mg.) (Dipt.: Mycetophilidae) new to Gloucestershire. Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var. 
102: 190 

Alexander, K. N. A. 1995. An interesting saproxylic fauna at Snelsmore Common, Berkshire. 
Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 74 

Baker, B. R. 1994. The butterflies and moths of Berkshire. Hedera Press, Uffington, 368pp. 

Pelham-Clinton, E. C. 1985. Tineidae. In: Heath, J. & Emmett, A. M. (Eds) The moths and 
butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester, Vol. 2, pp. 152-207. 


166 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Xiphydria longicollis (Geoffroy in Fourcroy) (Hymenoptera: Xiphydriidae) in 
Maidenhead, Berkshire.—On 8.vii.1995 on grass beneath a lavender bush I noticed 
a large female hymenopteran about an inch long which I had never previously 
encountered. I strongly dislike killing things and this looked so distinctive I thought 
it would be extremely easy to name and contented myself in making fairly detailed 
notes. The woodwasp genus Xiphydria came to mind although it is over half a 
century since I recorded Y. camelus (L.) and X. prolongata (Geoff. in Fourc.) from 
Bedfordshire (Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 1944; 80: 87). When it was clear from 
Benson’s 1951 key (Handb. Ident. Br. Insects V1 2a: 17) that there was no other 
species recorded at that time I turned to Schmiedeknecht (1930; Hym. Nord- und 
Mitteleuropas ed. 2) only to find that he does not key out the European species. I 
wondered, perhaps, if it were an ichneumon but could find nothing like it in the 
collection at Dinton Pastures. Its identity continued to puzzle me and I sent my 
description ‘six lateral white spots on black abdomen the final posterior spot the 
largest, relatively short wings and antennae, white spots and stripes on black head, 
white bands on otherwise dark legs and total length about 2.5cm’ to Mark Shaw at 
the Royal Scottish Museum. He suggested that my immediate identification as a 
Xiphydria was almost certainly correct and drew my attention to his paper 
concerning X. /ongicollis being new to Great Britain and recorded by J. A. Owen 
from nearby Windsor Great Park (Entomologist’s Gaz. 1985; 36: 233-235). I checked 
the very sparse and ancient material in the Natural History Museum and there is no 
doubt that the insect I saw was this species. Dr Shaw mentioned the possibility of it 
being associated with diseased sycamores and there are some quite close to where the 
woodwasp was found. I am delighted to have seen all three British species, despite 
the 52 years it has taken.—BERNARD VERDCOURT, Spring Cottage, Kimbers Lane, 
Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 2QP. 


Editorial note on Xiphydria longicollis.—The association with sycamore is reported 
by Malumphy (1993; Entomologist’s Gaz. 44: 10) when numerous specimens emerged 
from cut sycamore logs in a Hertfordshire house. A specimen found on a moribund 
oak at the RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, by Halstead (1992; Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 5: 
23) is figured in the 1991 BENHS Annual Exhibition report (1992; Br. J. Ent. Nat. 
Hist. 5: 79, plate I, figure 10)—RICHARD A. JONES. 


BOOK REVIEW 


Dragonflies, by Peter L. Miller, Naturalists’ Handbooks 7, second edition, revised, 
Richmond Publishing, Slough, 1995, 118 pages, hardback £16, paperback £8.95.— 
This is not just an updated reprint of a popular handbook; with half as many pages 
again, it is a completely revised work. Since the first edition in 1987, much new 
information has come to light on all aspects of dragonfly ecology, behaviour, biology 
and distribution, and this has been incorporated in the new book. Although the keys 
to adults and larvae are more or less the same (Coenagrion lunulatum is now 
included), the coloured plates are completely different, showing 23 species painted by 
R. R. Askew and previously published in The dragonflies of Europe, by Harley Books 
in 1988. Every section of the text is greatly enlarged and there are some additional 
line illustrations. 

RICHARD A. JONES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 167 


BENHS INDOOR MEETINGS 


12 December 1995 


The President Dr M. SCOBLE announced the death of Dr P. J. L. Roche, a 
special life member, who joined the Society in 1942. 

Mr R. I. VANE-WRIGHT showed a specimen of David’s tiger butterfly, Parantica 
davidii Schréder. This example of a milkweed butterfly is confined to a single volcano 
in the central Phillipines where it is threatened by deforestation. 

Mr R. HAWKINS showed three female sawflies: Phymatocera aterrima (Klug), 
which is normally a garden insect associated with Solomon’s seal, taken 2.vi.95 on 
West Wickham Common, Kent; Athalia rosae (L.), an uncommon species which 
occasionally comes to Britain as a migrant and is sometimes a pest of turnips and 
other cruciferous plants, found 9.vili.95 at Riddlesdown, Surrey; Birka cinereipes 
(Klug), which was taken with the preceding species. 

Mr R. W. J. UFFEN showed two conopid flies collected by Charles Watson to 
show similarities in the field and separation characters of male and female Conops 
quadrifasciatus Deg. and Leopoldius brevirostris (Germar). Attention was drawn to 
the failure of keys to mention that males, as well as females, have a theca on the fifth 
abdominal sternite, and that there is no simple way of separating males in order to 
use the keys. The specimens shown were: L. brevirostris, male taken in a garden, 
vili.1995 at Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.; a female taken 29.vii.1995 at Sawbridgeworth 
Marsh, Herts.; a male C. quadrifasciatus, taken vii.1995 at Rushy Mead, Bishop’s 
Stortford, Essex; a female taken by the exhibitor on 15.viii.93 at Bricket Wood 
Common, Herts. 

Mr D. HACKETT showed two beetles found under sycamore bark at Strand on 
the Green, Kew, Surrey on 5.xii.95. These were larvae of Ctesias serra (F.) 
(Dermestidae) found with spiders’ egg masses under a loose flake of bark. This is 
a notable B species in Hyman and Parsons and a grade 3 ancient pasture 
woodland indicator species in Harding and Rose. The exhibitor had found larvae 
in several places around London in 1995, some way from its supposed habitat 
type. The other beetle, Aplocnemus pini Redt. (Melyridae), has a similar status 
and was found with the preceding species. The exhibitor had previously found 
this beetle under oak bark and in an old beefsteak fungus on the ground under 
old oak trees. 

Mr M. BARCLAY said that he had found larvae of Ctesias serra under the bark of 
sycamores and London plane trees in Chelsea and Fulham. Its status as an 
uncommon beetle indicative of ancient trees needs reviewing. 

Mr M. BARCLAY showed a live example of the cellar beetle Blaps mucronata Latr. 
(Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) found under the floorboards of his house at Fulham. 
He also showed a pinned specimen of a longhorn beetle, Morimus funereus Muls. 
(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) found crawling around on an aeroplane travelling 
between Budapest, Hungary and Heathrow on 20.v.94. It had been mistaken by 
other passengers for a spider. It is associated with beech stumps and the adult fed on 
beech shoots for a while before it died. 

Dr D. LONSDALE noted that the late Eric Bradford had reared a Blaps beetle that 
had lived for ten years. Dr Lonsdale had himself kept a carabid beetle, Laemostenus 
terricola (Herbst), for 18 months before it escaped. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed a clump of coral fungus, Ramaria sp. possibly R. 
botrytis. It was one of several dozen clumps of this basidiomycete fungus found at 


168 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey. It was growing on the ground under some beech and 
holly trees in a flower bed which had been mulched with horse dung and wood 
shavings compost. This was the second successive year that the fungus had appeared 
in that place. It develops in September and persists into the winter, surviving several 
degrees of frost. 

Mr K. MERRIFIELD referred to the fossilized worm holes he had exhibited at the 
previous meeting. He said that it had been suggested to him afterwards that they 
might be modern worm holes which had become lined with ferric salts. 

The following persons have been approved by Council as ordinary members: 
Geoffrey Howard Trevis, Matthew Smith, Jon Nicholls, A. G. J. Butcher, David 
Richard Nellist, Martin Roy Honey, A. M. Davies, David Anthony Newman, Lee 
Brady and Harry Wooltorton. The Suffolk branch of Butterfly Conservation has 
become a corporate member. 

Miss R. DAy announced the publication of a new book by the London Natural 
History Society. Birdwatching in London is a paperback by E. M. Nicholson and 
costs £8.95. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD reported seeing a worker bumblebee of either Bombus 
terrestris or lucorum visiting the flowers of white dead-nettle at Royston, Herts., on 
25.x1.95. Its pollen baskets were full, possibly indicating that brood was still being 
raised in the nest—a very late date for either of these species. 

DiIcK VANE-WRIGHT spoke on ‘Opportunity or design—which is best for 
conserving biodiversity?’ He outlined the reasons for conserving the world’s 
biodiversity and described some of the steps that can be taken to try and ensure 
that the limited funds available for this purpose are used to preserve the 
maximum biodiversity in situ in the short to medium term. The biodiversity of 
animal and plant life is spread unevenly over land and sea. It is necessary to 
select sites or areas which, taken together, will give the widest representation of 
the fauna and flora. The speaker illustrated this with a metaphor: the names of 
eminent entomologists that had been selected to ensure that they covered all 26 
letters in the alphabet. To conserve all 26 letters (or species) some names (or sites) 
must be protected as they include one or more unique letters not found in other 
names. When these names have been set aside, other names can be selected to 
give the best complementary selection of letters. The longest name may contain 
the widest range of letters but the next best choice may not be the second longest 
name, as it may simply duplicate many of the letters in the first choice. Computer 
programs have been developed to analyse the various choices and make the best 
selection. 

Further examples of this process were given to illustrate site selection for 
conserving the biodiversity of butterflies and breeding birds in Britain. Other 
programmes have been devised for owls, hawkmoths and milkweed butterflies in 
other parts of the world. The development of such programmes is continuing and 
they will become increasingly sophisticated tools for guiding conservation 
planning. Britain is fortunate in having a great deal of information available on 
the distribution of plants and animals. This information needs to be brought 
together and analysed to identify and prioritize conservation needs. At present 
conservation aid is not necessarily dealing with the threat to wildlife. Much of the 
money goes to wilderness areas which are of little economic value and are not 
under immediate threat. There may also be much duplication in the habitats of 
nature reserves and they will not be the right mixture of sites to maximize 
biodiversity. The lecture was followed by a demonstration of the capabilities of the 
world map computer system. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 169 
15 January 1996 


The President Dr M. SCOBLE announced the death of a former member, Howard 
G. Phelps. 

Mr R. SOFTLY showed two live specimens of the chestnut moth, Conistra vaccinii 
(L.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). They were taken in an actinic trap near a railway 
embankment in Hampstead. The daytime temperature had been 12°C but fell to 5°C 
by the following morning. Conistra vaccinii is the most active of the winter 
hibernator moths and the exhibitor wondered why they bothered to fly at a time of 
year when nourishment is unlikely to be available to them. 

Dr B. EVERSHAM showed some examples of seed-feeding carabid beetles of the 
genera Harpalus and Amara found in Breckland grassland, together with some other 
species of scarce carabids found in that area. 

Mr R. HAWKINS announced that he was handing over the sale of the Society’s 
publications to Gavin Boyd. Sales of the recently published ‘New British Beetles’ 
were going well with more than 150 copies sold. He noted that the printers had 
dispatched the books in boxes labelled ‘Beatles’. 

Mr A. J. HALSTEAD, noting that January was a quiet time for insects, gave a 
communication dating from February 1907. He read from a gardening magazine, 
The Garden, p.84, 16.11.1907, in which it was reported that gardeners at Wargrave 
Manor had on 6.11.1907 found 265 queen wasps hibernating in rolled-up lath blinds 
on greenhouses at the Manor. The owner of the property had shown the wasps alive 
at a meeting of the Wargrave Gardeners’ Association, whose members thanked him 
for ‘ridding the district of so many of the noxious insects’! 

Dr B. EVERSHAM spoke on the ecology of ground beetles. The Carabidae is a 
very successful family with around 50000 species in the world and it is the third 
largest beetle family in Britain. Carabids can be found from the tropics to arctic 
regions, and from sea shores to mountain tops. Carabids vary in size from 
around 2mm to 35mm long but show little variation in their body shape. The 
main variations concern the length and stoutness of the legs, and the shape of the 
head and mandibles which are related to the feeding habits of the beetles. Some 
have flattened bodies which enable them to crawl under bark, while other species 
have shortened wing-cases. Carabid beetles are easily sampled by using pit-fall 
traps and so much has been learnt about their distribution and_ habitat 
preferences. 

Dr Eversham showed examples of some of the more interesting species associated 
with the sandy heathland of the Breck, the peat bogs of Thorne Moors NNR, the 
clay cliffs at Spurn Point, and the grazing marshes at Rainham Marsh. The richest 
areas of the Breck are often the field margins, particularly for the seed-feeding 
species. The fenland areas of the Breck also have some scarce species but coniferized 
areas have a carabid fauna similar to arable fields. 

The part of Thorne Moors that has survived commercial peat cutting has an 
exceptionally rich carabid fauna with 260 species recorded. One reason for the 
abundance is the diversity of habitats within the national nature reserve. This 
includes an area of salt-marsh 45 miles inland due to saline water which is pumped 
out of mine workings. A key feature of sites with high carabid biodiversity seems to 
be the occurrence of all the successional stages from disturbed ground to mature 
habitat. Not all of man’s activities are harmful to ground beetles—some man-made 
features such as quarries, sand pits, reservoirs, hedges and colliery spoil heaps can 
provide analogues of natural habitats and may be colonized by species needing these 
conditions. 


170 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


27 February 1996 


The President Dr M. SCOBLE announced the deaths of Mr H. R. Last, who had 
been a special life member since 1991, and Mr L. F. Ferguson, who had been a 
member for nearly 50 years. 

Mr R. A. JONES showed some specimens of the ant Lasius brunneus (Latr.) found 
at Beckenham Place Park in south-east London, some three miles inside the West 
Kent boundary. The ants were found in wood mould in a small hollow between roots 
at the base of a large oak tree. Lasius brunneus is found mainly in Surrey, Berks. and 
Bucks. Beckenham Place Park is about 15 miles from the ant’s nearest Surrey 
locality. 

Mr C. W. PLANT showed two rare parasitic tachinid flies. Gymnosoma nitens Meig. 
is an RDBI species previously known only from Box Hill, Surrey in July 1956. The 
specimen exhibited was taken on 3.viii.95 at Mill Wood Pit, Grays, S. Essex, which is 
a site of national significance for its aculeate Hymenoptera. A second specimen was 
taken at the same site by Peter Harvey, while another was taken by the exhibitor on 
2.vul.95 at Richborough Power Station, near Sandwich, Kent. Elsewhere in Europe 
this fly is known to parasitize the pentatomid bugs Sciocoris cursitans (F.) and S. 
helferi—the latter does not occur in Britain. An RDB3 species, Subclytia 
rotundiventris (Fallen) was taken 18.vi.94 at the Essex Wildlife Trust’s reserve at 
Rushy Mead, near Bishop’s Stortford, and is a new record for the county. Its larvae 
are parasitoids of the shield bugs Elasmostethus interstinctus (L.) and Elasmucha 
grisea (L.). 

Mr Plant also showed some pieces of apple branches showing extensive tunnelling 
by caterpillars of the clearwing moth, Synanthedon myopaeformis Borkh. They came 
from a group of four or five apple trees at Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. which are a relic 
of a former orchard now largely replaced by housing. The exhibitor had been aware 
of the presence of the moth on these trees for several years. When he learned that the 
local council considered the trees dangerous and intended to fell them he notified the 
council of the entomological interest. As a result the council agreed to retain the trees 
and limit the work to pruning out dangerous branches. Mr Plant was permitted to 
supervise the work and remove the tunnelled branches to his garden from where they 
will be dispersed to other suitable sites in the locality. Mr Plant emphasized the 
importance of communicating with local authorities and other land owners when 
vulnerable wildlife habitats are identified. Land owners cannot be blamed for 
destroying scarce insects if they are unaware of their existence. 

Mr I. Sims showed male and female examples of the psychid moth, Luffia lapidella 
(Goeze), and females of L. ferchaultella (Steph.), together with their larval bags in 
which pupation occurs. There is some uncertainty as to whether they are separate 
species or forms of a single species. Luffia lapidella reproduces sexually and the 
females are 3—4 times larger than those of ferchaultella; it also has 4 tarsal and 14 
antennal segments, with ferchaultella there are usually 3 tarsal and 12 antennal 
segments although there can be some variation. Luffia lapidella occurs in Cornwall 
and its larvae feed on algae on rocks. Luffia ferchaultella is a parthenogenic species 
found throughout southern England and is associated with lichen on trees and 
fences. The exhibitor has successfully reared /apidella larvae on tree lichen and 
ferchaultella on rock lichen without any adverse effects on the moths. 

Mr R. W. J. UFFEN showed a live specimen of the diamond back moth, Plutella 
xylostella (L.). This had been reared from larvae found on imported broccoli heads. 
The exhibitor noted that although this world-wide brassica pest was a frequent 
migrant to Britain it was unusual to find larvae on cabbages being grown in gardens. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 171 


Mr A. J. HALSTEAD showed a Gary Larson ‘Far Side’ cartoon that illustrated the 
perils of exhibiting specimens at entomological meetings. 

Dr P. WARING showed some colour transparencies taken during the Society’s 
recent three-man expedition to Belize. They had been recording moths and butterflies 
using mainly actinic lights and bait traps. A full report on the expedition will be 
published in the journal. 

The following persons have been approved by Council as ordinary members: 
Dr Andrew W. Ewing, Mr Alan Deacon, Mr David J. Fee, Dr K. M. Veronica 
Bennett, Mr Stephen P. Bolchover, Dr Malcolm J. Smart, Mr Jeremy R. Board, 
Mr Paul A. Winstanley, Dr Brian H. Orr, Mr Ashley P. Leftwich, Mr James Newton, 
C. M. Raper, Mr John Radford, Mr Nigel St John Cuming, Mr Dawson, Ms 
Jennifer M. Spence, Mr Darren J. Mann and Mr John Tennant. 

The ordinary meeting then closed and was followed by the Annual General 
Meeting and Presidential Address. 


Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Society held at the Royal Entomological 
Society of London’s rooms at 6.30 pm on 27 February 1996 


Chairman: The President, Dr M. SCOBLE. Present: 31 members. 

Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting were read and signed. 

The Secretary read the Council’s report, followed by the Treasurer who read his 
report. The Treasurer then invited questions on his report. Mr Stubbs asked 
questions about the accounts and Mr Pickles answered to Mr Stubbs satisfaction. 
The Editor, Librarian and Curator then read their reports and Dr Scoble read the 
report of the Hering Memorial Fund. The President proposed the adoption of the 
reports, this was seconded by Dr I. F. G. McLean and passed unopposed. 

The President then read the names of the Officers and Members of Council 
recommended by the Council for 1996/97 and, as no other names had been 
submitted, he declared the following duly elected: President C. Hart, Vice-presidents 
M. J. Scoble and D. J. L. Agassiz, Treasurer A. J. Pickles, Secretary R. F. 
McCormick, Editor R. A. Jones, Curator P. J. Chandler, Librarian I. R. Simms, 
Lanternist I. McLean, Building Manager P. J. Baker, Ordinary Members of the 
Council D. Lonsdale, M. Parsons, A. Jenkins, C. Firmin, M. Barclay, N. Hall, G. 
Boyd, P. M. Waring, R. Hawkins and S. Pittis. 

The Secretary then read bye-law 26(d) and invited motions or questions. There 
was none. 

The President then read his report and gave his address. 

The President then installed the new President, Mr C. Hart. 

The President proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring President, and this was 
seconded by Dr Waring. The President asked for permission to publish the 
Presidential address, and this was given. 

Mr C. W. PLANT gave a vote of thanks to the retiring Officers and Council. 

The President proposed the election of Mr R. A. Bell and Mr D. O’Keeffe as 
auditors for the coming year with Council being empowered to appoint registered 
auditors under the Charities Act if necessary. This was seconded by Mr I. Sims and 
Mr Plant and passed unopposed. 


172 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


BENHS FIELD MEETINGS 


Snelsmore Common, Berkshire, 5 August 1995 


Leaders: Martin Harvey and Brian Baker. Snelsmore Common forms one of 
the largest remaining areas of open heathland in Berkshire, and also contains 
some interesting valley mire habitats and some old woodland around its edges. 
The Common has been much in the news over the last few years because it is 
one of the sites on the route of the Newbury bypass; although the bypass route 
misses the heathland, it has resulted in the removal of some old trees at the site’s 
south-east corner, and what effect the road construction will have on the 
hydrology of the mires remains to be seen. 

Fourteen members and friends joined us for this field meeting, from as far afield as 
Somerset and Yorkshire. A variety of insect groups (over 230 species in all) was 
recorded during a very hot day, but one focus turned out to be leaf-mining insects. 
With the expert help of John Robbins, we compiled an impressive list of some 30 
lepidopterous, coleopterous and hymenopterous leaf-mines. By this time in August, 
the hot dry weather seemed to have been too much for day-flying insects, but 
noteworthy Diptera included the hoverflies Helophilus hybridus Loew and Eumerus 
ornatus Meig., the snail-killing fly E/giva cucularia (L.), the parasitic conopid flies 
Sicus ferrugineus (L.) and Conops ceriaeformis Meig. The aquatic life in some of 
Snelsmore’s ponds was sampled by John Bratton, who recorded several water beetles 
including the nationally scarce species Hydroporus longulus Muls. and Helochares 
lividus (Forst). 

Returning to the search for larvae and feeding damage, Andrew Halstead found 
evidence of the sawfly Pristiphora geniculata (Hartig), with characteristic feeding 
damage on rowan Sorbus aucuparia (L.). This local sawfly is considered to be of 
provisional Red Data Book 3 (rare) status. The few other Hymenoptera species seen 
included the delightfully named mournful wasp Pemphredon lugubris (F.), a black 
wasp which nests in rotten wood. Diversion was provided by Malcolm Storey’s 
discovery of a lobster moth Stauropus fagi (L.) larva, sitting on a rose stem next to 
the path (presumably having fallen from the trees above). 

Eight MV lamps were in operation for the evening session, producing a good moth 
list with several characteristic heathland species including the gelechiid micro-moth 
Aristotelia ericinella Zell., the birch mocha Cyclophora albipunctata (Hufn.), the ling 
pug Eupithecia goossensiata Mab. and the true-lover’s knot Lycophotia porphyria 
(D. & S.). As well as the moths, some other interesting species turned up. Martin 
Albertini spotted a dusky cockroach Ectobius lapponicus (L.) close to his m.v. trap, a 
species probably near the north-west edge of its range here at Snelsmore. The 
longhorn beetle Arhopalus rusticus (L.) was once confined to Scottish pine forests, 
but has spread or been introduced into the south of England. One adult came to 
light. The mayfly Ephemera lineata Eaton is currently classified provisionally as a 
Red Data Book 2 (vulnerable) species, but as Brian Baker has reported in this 
journal (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 1995; 8: 75-76) it seems to have increased in numbers 
in recent years, and has been seen quite frequently along the Thames in Berkshire 
and Oxfordshire at least. A specimen turned up at Snelsmore on this occasion, some 
ten miles from the Thames, so was perhaps a refugee from the nearby Kennet Valley. 
Similarly some distance from its usual reedbed habitat was the twin-spotted wainscot 
Archanara geminipunctata (Haw.) found by Tony Dobson. Perhaps the hot summer 
weather had encouraged these species to emigrate and look for fresh breeding 
territory. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 173 
Decoy Heath and Silchester Common, Berkshire, 19 August 1995 


Leaders: Martin Harvey and Stephen Miles for the BENHS Conservation Working 
Group. Eight members of BENHS and Butterfly Conservation were present to visit 
these two very different heathland sites. Decoy Heath is regenerated heathland on a 
small former landfill site, with Ca//luna and Erica plants re-established on infertile 
gravelly soil. A number of ponds and boggy areas are present, and 25 species of 
Odonata have been recorded. The site is now a nature reserve for BBONT, the local 
Wildlife Trust. Silchester Common is a larger, longer-established and drier sandy 
heathland, managed by the local parish council and commoners. It is adjacent to 
Pamber Forest (Hampshire), and a number of rare and characteristic heathland 
invertebrates have been recorded over the years. 

Despite Decoy Heath’s chequered past (the landfill pits were filled in about 
25 years ago), during our morning visit Stephen Miles and Raymond Uffen 
were pleased to find that some heathland species of Hymenoptera had survived 
on the site (or perhaps had recolonized from nearby). These included the bees 
Colletes succinctus (L.), Andrena fuscipes (Kirby), Lasioglossum malachura 
(Kirby), Melitta tricincta (Kirby) and Megachile versicolor Smith. In addition, 
the median wasp Dolichovespula media (Retz.), which has colonized the UK 
since 1980, was recorded. Among the Orthoptera, it was pleasing to see both 
short-winged and long-winged coneheads Conocephalus dorsalis (Latr.) and C. 
discolor (Thunb.); the former has been found in Berkshire for some time now, 
but the latter is a recent arrival since 1994. We were able to view the 25th 
dragonfly species to be added to the reserve’s list: at least four of the migratory 
yellow-winged darter Sympetrum flaveolum (L.), which arrived in the UK in 
large numbers in 1995, were seen during the morning. Brian Baker 
demonstrated how to go about looking for clearwing moth larvae in birch 
stumps, and had soon found a larva of the large red-belted clearwing 
Synanthedon culiciformis L. 

At Silchester Common in the afternoon we saw evidence of recent fires on the 
heathland. Luckily these seemed to have been contained in quite small areas, and 
may even be beneficial in allowing some heathland regeneration. Certainly the burnt 
areas had attracted the pyralid moth Pyla fusca (Haw.), a heather-feeding species 
which is frequently associated with burnt heathland. Insect activity seemed low 
during the hot afternoon, and some areas that are normally quite wet even in summer 
were very dry, with a lack of their usual flowering plants. However, heathland 
Hymenoptera were still in evidence, including the potter wasp Eumenes coarctatus 
(L.), a local species typical of heathlands but not present on all. Other characteristic 
species included the predatory bug Alydus calcaratus (L.), the gelechiid micro-moth 
Aristotelia ericinella Zell. (a Calluna feeder) and the ladybird Coccinella hieroglyphica 
L. Birch stumps again yielded evidence of Synanthedon culiciformis (L.) and also 
white-barred clearwing S. spheciformis (D. & S.) Diptera of note were Chorisops 
nagatomii Rozk. and Micropeza lateralis Meig., the latter found in its characteristic 
boggy habitat. 

Three of us stayed on to run an m.v. lamp at Decoy Heath in the evening. Again, 
flight activity seemed low after the huge numbers of moths that had swarmed round 
m.v. lights in July. A reasonable number of mostly common species were recorded, 
including bulrush wainscot Nonagria typhae (Thunb.) and the hemlock-feeding 
oecophorid micro-moth Agonopterix alstroemeriana Clerck. However, as well as the 
moths perhaps the highlight of the m.v. session was a lesser earwig Labia minor (L.), 
spotted among the moths by Malcolm Storey. 


174 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


In all, over 100 species were recorded throughout the day, including several 
classified on the “recorder” database as nationally scarce. The BENHS Conservation 
Working Group is compiling a report for the managers of these sites, giving full 
details of species recorded and suggested habitat requirements. 


Stowe Landscape Gardens NT, Buckinghamshire, 18 May 1996 


Leaders: Frances and George Higgs. The meeting took place on an overcast 
evening with a very strong east wind and temperature of 42°F (6°C). My wife and I 
were joined by eight stalwart friends from BENHS and Milton Keynes Natural 
History Society. Those attending were Martin Albertini, David Manning, Peter and 
Diane Sharpe, Mike Killeby, Jean Varley, Christine and David Roberts. 

Sites were chosen with difficulty owing to the weather conditions. Five m.v. lights 
plus one actinic were run for just over an hour in which time no moths were 
recorded. Our only records came from a search made before lighting up when D. 
Manning went looking for leaf-mining species. He noted workings and case of 
Coleophora laricella (Hiibn), vacant mines of Stigmella aurella (F.) on bramble. Also 
a larva of Operophtera brumata (L.) on hornbeam. M. Albertini boxed a micro moth 
which D. Manning identified as Elachista rufocinerea (Haw.). 

With conditions as they were and the participants very cold we abandoned our 
attempts to record and managed to retrieve all equipment just before the arrival of 
heavy rain. 

Our grateful thanks to the National Trust and to the Estate Manager Mr Frank 
Thomson for his most valuable help. 

Stowe is a large and interesting site from which there are few records. A great pity 
we were unable to sample its potential. Warm thanks to the hardy people who 
supported the event. 


OFFICERS’ REPORTS FOR 1995 


COUNCIL’S REPORT 


The Society’s membership stood at 741 at the end of the year, a small increase on 
the numbers for the previous year; 42 new members were elected during the year, 22 
were struck off for non-payment and 4 members resigned. There are 4 members who 
have served 50 years in the Society and are now special life members. Eleven deaths 
were reported to the Society during 1995. 

The Council met 7 times during 1995 and, on average, 15 members attended each 
meeting. Less of the Council’s time was taken up discussing Dinton Pastures (the 
Pelham-Clinton Building) but there are still ongoing problems with the air 
conditioning and alarm systems although a new alarm system has recently been 
fitted which is working at the moment. The Council members who have taken the 
brunt of attending for engineers’ visits have been our Curator, Mr»Peter Chandler; 
our Building Manager, Mr Peter Baker; our Distribution Secretary, Mr Young and 
Dr Muggleton. Our thanks go to these hard-working members of Council, and to 
any other members who have helped with this work. Other things that have taken up 
the Council’s time were producing a revised membership application form; finalizing 
the affiliation of the Dipterist’s Forum and paving the way for the affiliation of the 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 175 


Bees Wasps and Ants Recording scheme; discussions on whether the BENHS could 
help produce new Royal Entomological Society handbooks and deliberations about 
the number of trees that had been felled in Windsor Great Park. Letters were written 
to the Estates Office by your President and I am pleased to say that the felling has 
stopped and extensive re-planting has taken place. Further environmental issues 
have included the production of a conservation questionnaire which was distributed 
to the membership; this attracted 135 replies with over 100 giving a positive response. 
An additional item is the possible inclusion of several species of invertebrates 
including three new species of macromoth to the fully protected list; your Council 
has argued the case for these species to go onto a less restrictive listing. 

There were 11 indoor meetings held at the rooms of the Royal Entomological 
Society and a joint meeting with the London Natural History Society at the Linnean 
Society’s rooms in Piccadilly. In general, attendances at indoor meetings were 
improved with around 25 or more people coming to each meeting; this was probably 
because of the hard work put in by our Indoor Meetings Secretary, Dr McLean, in 
arranging speakers for these events. Six workshops were arranged at the Pelham- 
Clinton Building and one at the Natural History Museum; they proved to be very 
popular. Along with these, three moth-trapping evenings at Dinton Pastures were 
carried out in order to enlarge our knowledge of the Lepidoptera of the area. The 
Pelham-Clinton Building was opened on a weekend, either Saturday or Sunday, 16 
times during 1994/95. It was decided to try opening on both days of the weekend in 
order to encourage better attendances and, in the main, this strategy worked well 
with more people attending. The interest of the membership in the organized events 
makes it rewarding for the hard-working Council Members involved and our 
premises at Dinton Pastures a success. A full programme of meetings and events is 
being prepared for 1996/97. 

The Society continued to represent members’ interests in the field of conservation 
and Mr S. R. Miles has taken an active part as the Society’s representative on the 
Joint Committee for Conservation of British Invertebrates. Because of the death of 
Mrs Frances Murphy before September of this year, Mr Miles is the lone 
representative until a replacement can be found. 

Twenty-nine Field Meetings were held at wide-ranging areas of the countryside, 
including the moth-trapping events at Dinton Pastures Country Park. Attendance at these 
varied widely. We would like to thank our new Field Meetings Secretary, Dr Paul Waring, 
for all his hard work in arranging these meetings; a full programme of Field Meetings is 
already in hand for 1996, with a central theme ‘National Trust sites’; this was sent out with 
Vol. 9, Part 1. A special field expedition to Belize was agreed and partly funded by the 
Society; this is hoped to be the first of many and a full report about this will be in the 
journal. One of the field meetings to the New Forest was the subject of a television 
programme shown on national television—a first for the BENHS. 

A successful Annual Exhibition was organized by Mr Michael Simmons and was 
attended by 250 members and 100 visitors, an increase in the numbers who attended 
the previous year. There were around 190 exhibits with the usual slant on the 
Lepidoptera but with a slight decrease in the other orders. The Council reinforced its 
guidelines to stop controversial exhibits from being shown at our Exhibition. The 
aim is to stop long series of any species from one locality, unless for a special reason, 
from being shown. Mr Michael Simmons organized the Annual Dinner for the 
second time and made a great success of a job that was thrust upon him in 1994; a 
similar number to last year, of members and companions sat down to a meal that 
was enjoyed by all. 

Roy McCorRMICK 


176 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


TREASURER’S REPORT 


The strong recovery in the stock exchange in the final period of 1995 has meant 
that we have finished the year with a net worth, including investments at market 
value that has risen from some £380000 to nearly £405 000. Since the balance sheet 
date that upwards trend has continued. 

It is of course comforting to know that this financial strength underpins the 
stability of the society, but it was our intention that the costs of running the society 
and providing the journal free to members should be met from current income, and 
in this we have not succeeded. There is a deficit on membership of £3000 compared to 
£1800 in 1994. 

In getting to these figures the significant items are curation costs of £5000; grant of 
£1500 on the Society’s expedition to Belize; purchase of a printer for £700 and a 
grant of £600 towards the publishing costs of The butterflies of Surrey. Curation costs 
were largely offset in the year by receipts from the sale of old cabinets. It is hoped 
that by assisting the Surrey Trust with their publishing costs we will effectively be 
supporting a planned series of books on the insects of Surrey which will be financed 
in turn from the proceeds of the earlier publications. 

Costs of providing services to the Pelham-Clinton Building remain high, although 
steps have been taken this year to change the security and air conditioning arrange- 
ments which should lead to reductions, but this remains an area of concern to Council. 

The special publications fund has shown an increase this year from £31 000 to just 
under £43 000 which requires comment. For many years this fund was only credited 
with surpluses on sales of the society’s publications. This surplus is not immediately 
reinvested in publications, but remains for some time in liquid assets and it is 
therefore felt that the fund should be credited with its share of investment income. 
This has been done this year, and an additional sum of £2000 has been credited in 
some compensation for previous years. Some stocks of books and plates which 
escaped inclusion last year are valued in these accounts. 

Roger Hawkins leaves the Sales Secretary’s position with this fund in good heart 
and well able to finance an ambitious programme of publications. 

Transfers out of the Bequest Fund this year are £1000 to help with the cost of the 
coloured plates in the journal, and just under £16000 to maintain the value of the 
General Fund. 

At market value the Hering fund stands at over £13000, and is well able to 
maintain the present level of grants. 

It was announced in the last edition of the journal that we had obtained third party 
insurance cover of £2000 000 for all members when engaged in entomological pursuits 
and this is offered as an additional benefit of membership as an increasing number of 
agencies issuing permits require this cover. We were able to obtain this at nominal cost. 
My thanks to Dennis O’Keeffe and our long serving joint auditor Reg Bell who have 
audited our books once again and have also audited the books of The Dipterists’ Forum. 

My thanks also to Mark Telfer who took on the onerous task of Assistant 
Treasurer at the beginning of 1994 and has done splendid work in re-organizing the 
computer system on to a modern PC. Unfortunately pressure of studies has meant 
his giving up this post after two years. It was particularly encouraging to have one of 
our younger members volunteering for a position like this and it is.to be hoped that 
he will reappear on Council at an appropriate time, and that other younger members 
will follow his example. I look forward to working with Roger Hawkins who has 
taken over this role. 


A. J. PICKLES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Income and expenditure account 
year to 31 December 1995 


General account 

Subscriptions 

Interest and dividends 

Redemption surplus 

Donations and bequests 

Surplus on Christmas cards 
Surplus on cabinets and collections 


Total income 

Headquarters services 

Insurance 

Headquarters security and maintenance 

Council rooms and expenses 

Equipment 

Members meetings and exhibitions 

Administration 

Library 

Curation costs 

Subscriptions and donations to other 
societies 

Grant to The butterflies of Surrey 

Cost of dinner 

Belize expedition 


Cost of running society 


Publications account (free to members) 
Sales 

Bequest fund grant for plates 
Production of journal 

Distribution costs 


Net cost of journal 


Deficit (surplus) on membership 


Special publications (for sale) 
Sales 

Opening stock 

Publication costs 

Distribution and general costs 
Closing stock 


Surplus on sale of special publications 


Transferred to Hering fund 
Transferred to bequest fund 
Transferred to general fund 
Transferred to special publications fund 


1995 
8,641 
11,374 
123 
234 
102 
4,027 
(24,501) 
4,540 
941 
2,111 
2,100 
700 
1,722 
1,626 
258 
5,038 
130 
600 
69 
1,500 
21,335 
(3,166) 
(1,935) 
(1,000) 
7,681 
1,507 
6,253 
3,087 
(6,840) 
5,021 
3,762 
676 
(11,660) 
(9,041) 
(5,954) 
699 
9,285 
(15,806) 
11,776 


5,954 


177 
1994 
10,249 
10,181 
1,339 
130 
23 
(21,922) 
4,811 
935 
1,807 
1,981 
2,328 
2,345 
2,534 
960 
173 
181 
18,055 
(3,867) 
(1,267) 
(1,000) 
6,402 
1,572 
5,707 
1,840 
(6,128) 
9,088 
128 
871 
(5,021) 
(1,062) 
778 
643 
8,170 
(11,242) 


1,651 


(778) 


178 


BR. J. ENT. 


Balance sheet as at 31st December 1995 


Employment of capital 
Leasehold property 
Opening amortization 
Amortization 


Quoted investments 
General fund 
Hering fund 
Investment bonds 


Current assets 

Special publications 

Christmas cards 

Sundry debtors and payments in advance 
Bank capital reserve account 

Eurocheque account 

Bank societies reserve account 

Bank current account 


Current liabilities 
Sundry creditors and accrued expenses 


New current assets 


Capital employed 

General fund 

Opening balance 

Transfer from bequest fund 

Transfer from income and expenditure 
account 


Housing fund 
Amortization 


Special publications fund 
Opening balance 
Surplus from sales and investment income 


Bequest fund 
Opening balance 
Income 

Grants & expenditure 


1995 


11,660 
332 
4,678 
20,002 
320 
4,643 
IWS iVA7I 


43,012 


7,635 
(7,635) 


39,587 
15,804 
(15,804) 


150,316 
(2,210) 


31,146 
11,776 


122519 
9,285 
(16,804) 


154,736 
(4,420) 
(2,210) 


148,106 


24,276 
3,540 
139,000 


Sp} o/ I) 


350,299 


39,587 


148,106 


42,922 


114,600 


1994 


39,589 
11,242 
(11,242) 


152,526 
(2,210) 


29,495 
1,651 


126,191 
8,170 


(12,242) 


NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


154,736 
(2,210) 


(2,210) 


150,316 


28,036 
3,540 
139,000 


27,263 


348,155 


39,589 


150,316 


31,146 


122,119 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 179 


Balance sheet as at 31st December 1995 


1995 1994 
Hering memorial fund 
Opening balance 4,985 4,942 
Income 699 643 
Expenditure (600) (600) 
5,084 4,985 
350,299 348,155 


Accounting policies 


(a) The accounts are prepared under the historical cost convention. 

(b) The costs of building and equipping leasehold premises at Dinton Pastures Park 
have been capitalized. The total cost of these premises which were completed 
during the year to 31st December 1993 are being amortized over the term of the 
lease. The first amortization charge was made in 1993. 

(c) The value of the library, collections, ties, back numbers of proceedings and 
journals and the computer system is not included in these accounts. Current 
expenditure on such items is written off to the income and expenditure account. 

(d) Donations and legacies are brought into account when they are received by the 
society. 

(e) Surpluses (or deficits) arising on the special publications fund which accounts for 
publications primarily for sale are transferred to that fund to finance future 


publications. 

Investments Book value at cost Market 
value 

General & Hering 

bequest memorial 
1230 Shell T&T 25p Ord. 477.79 771.83 10356 
750 Unilever 5p Ord. 248.45 10320 
6272 M&G Charifund Units 19091.17 1147.24 62720 
2450.90 Treas. 9 1/2% 1999 VU 22 1621.21 2653 
3863.71 Treas. 8 3/4% 1997 3687.94 4018 
24276.57 3540.28 90067 

Investment bonds Total 

Hendersons $8000.00 55320 
Sun Life 56000.00 53748 
Barings 25000.00 22948 


139000.00 131016 


Fund movements 


Amortization on the leasehold premises at Dinton Pastures has been charged to the 
housing fund. A grant has been made from the bequest fund towards the cost of 
coloured plates published in the journal and towards the general running expenses of 
the Society. 


180 


Housing fund 
Leasehold premises 


Special publications 
Stock 

Cash deposits 
Hendersons bond 
Barings bond 


Hering fund 
Investments 
Cash deposits 


Bequest fund 
Hendersons bond 
Sun Life bond 
Barings bond 
Cash deposits 


General fund 
Barings bond 
Investments 
Current assets 


Net worth 


Make up of funds 


The funds are represented by the following assets: 


148,106 


At cost 


10,400 
28,036 
I slsy| 


39,587 


350,299 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


148,106 


At mar- 
Ket value 


11,660 
17,262 
9,538 
3,672 


42,132 


11,705 
1,544 


13,249 


45,782 
52,748 
9,730 


~ 108,260 


9,546 
82,122 
1,151 


92,819 


404,566 


Report of the auditors to the members 


We have examined the financial statements attached which have been prepared in 


accordance with the recommendations of SORP2. 


We have audited the financial statements annexed in accordance with approved 


auditing standards. 


In our opinion the financial statements which have been prepared under the 
historical cost convention give a true and fair view of the state of the Society’s affairs 
at 3lst December 1995 and of its Income and Expenditure for the year then 


ended. 


D. O’KEEFFE 
R. A. BELL 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 181 


PROFESSOR HERING MEMORIAL RESEARCH FUND 


The Committee supported two of the five applications made to the Fund for 1996. 

Dr Alan Gange, from Royal Holloway College, was granted £450 to extend his 
work on the effect of endophytic fungi on the performance of the thistle gall fly— 
Urophora cardui (Tephritidae). Earlier work demonstrated that reducing mycorrhizal 
infection of the foodplant, Cirsium arvense, had the effect of increasing gall weight 
and the number of live larvae per gall. The new work will concentrate on the effects 
of endophytic fungi on the fly. 

Dr Rimantes Puplesis was awarded £200 towards the cost of consumables and 
travel for collecting lepidopteran leaf miners in the far east of Siberia. 

A report has been received from Dr Sergej Sinev (Russian Academy of Sciences, St 
Petersburg), who received a Hering award last year, on the results of his visit to the 
Russian Far East. Dr Sinev collected some 5500 specimens of microlepidopterans 
from an area near Ussuzijsk and from a reserve in the most southern part of the 
Primorye area. Over 600 species are represented in this material (mainly of the 
families Cosmopterigidae, Chrysopeleiidae, Stathmopodidae, Blastobasidae, 
Agonoxenidae, Scythrididae and Elachistidae), of which at least 15 are new. In 
addition, about 350 larvae were collected, representing around 35 species, of 
gelechioids mining herbaceous plants. Several papers based on this material are being 
written. The Committee is delighted to be able to help our colleagues in eastern 
Europe to collect from such interesting areas. 

An award enabled Mr Roland Johansson, from V4xj6, Sweden, well known for his 
colour paintings of microlepidopterans, to visit the Natural History Museum, 
London, to illustrate types of some Australian Nepticulidae. This work forms part of 
a collaborative study with colleagues from institutes in Canberra and Leiden. It was 
clear from the results of Mr Johansson’s work by the time he left the Natural History 
Museum that the visit was a considerable success. 

Although the sum of £600 is not large, I continue to be impressed by the value of 
the work it facilitates year after year. 

As always, I am grateful to the other members of the Hering Fund Committee for 
their efforts. 

MALCOLM J. SCOBLE 


LIBRARIAN’S REPORT 


1995 has been a year of transition in the stewardship of your library. Firstly, I 
must thank Mr Stephen Miles, your librarian for the past 12 years, for the invaluable 
support he has lent to “the new boy’, especially where the computerized library 
database is concerned. This now holds a listing of all books on our shelves and an up 
to date record of book loans and returns. 

With the agreement of council, two journal exchanges and a purchase have been 
arranged. Our journals have reached the point where another back-number binding 
exercise would be advantageous. Consequently, I have approached the firm of Riley, 
Dunn and Wilson regarding this and the restoration of several old books that are 
deteriorating. I hope to be in a position to authorize this work in the Spring of 1996. 

On the subject of old books, I am pleased to communicate that Council has 
decided not to dispose of these. Both Stephen and myself thought that the loss of 
these items would have detracted from the cultural and historical interest not only of 
your library but of your Society as a whole. 


182 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Sadly, due to the circumstances leading to these events, the library has benefited 
from two large bequests of books this year. The first was received from the estate of 
Eric Bradford and the second from that of Humphrey Mackworth-Praed. These 
items will be made available to members in due course. " 

I must give special thanks to John Muggleton who has looked after receipt and 
arrangement of journals, an onerous task because of the numbers of items involved. 
Thanks are also due to Graham Collins, Peter Chandler and Alan Stubbs for 
donations of books to the library this year. Andrew Halstead has made progress in 
arranging the collection of slides, a welcome move that should greatly facilitate their 
access to members. Melvin Crow lent valuable assistance in co-ordinating access to 
Eric Bradford’s books and Tony and Dorothy Harman assisted with their 
transportation to Dinton Pastures. I extend my thanks to them all for their help 
in these matters. 

Finally, I wish to add that I have enjoyed my first year as your librarian and hope 
that those of you who have availed yourselves of the library have not found it 
wanting. I have learnt a lot concerning the ways that the library and Society function 
and I am looking to the future with interest. 


I. SIMS 


CURATOR’S REPORT 


The principal event in the last year has been the arrival at Dinton Pastures of the 
collections of Eric Bradford, who was my predecessor as Curator and these have now 
become a most valuable addition to the Society’s assets. 

Eric was primarily a microlepidopterist and was responsible for the layout of our 
“micro” collection. His beautifully displayed collection of these insects has thus been 
a significant acquisition. However, he collected all orders of insects in his woodland 
reserve at Child’s Forstal, Blean in Kent and also from his personally created habitat 
behind his garden at Pean Hill, Whitstable. We also received from him a large 
collection of leaf mines, a new area for our collections. 

Eric’s main collection of “micros’’, including his Kent material was arranged in 
four Hill units and laid out according to Bradley & Fletcher. There was also a 16- 
drawer cabinet, containing a previous arrangement and largely from Hertfordshire. 
The latter have now been incorporated into the Hill units and these named 
collections together contain 970 species, of which no less than 56 are additions to the 
Society’s collection, bringing the number of British Lepidoptera that we lack below 
200. Along with the “micros” came a large number of genitalia preparations on 
microscope slides, which are separate from the collection and yet to be collated with 
it. There are also about 50 small boxes containing unnamed ‘“‘micros’’, most of them 
sorted to family—these await examination! 

Another 40 boxes contained unnamed “‘macros” or other orders. I have sorted the 
latter into orders and major groups and progress is already being made on their 
identification. I am grateful to Raymond Uffen for naming the Aculeate 
Hymenoptera, Andrew Halstead the sawflies and Alan Stubbs the craneflies. Roger 
Hawkins and Bernard Nau have also assisted on the Heteroptera. Eventually it is 
hoped that a full record can be compiled of the insects that Eric collected in his 
wood. The other orders are being incorporated into the Society’s existing collections 
but the Lepidoptera will remain separate. 

The leaf mines include more than 1000 named ones’ which comprise about 100 
species of “micros”. There are also 1300 packets of unnamed mines, the plants also 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 183 


requiring to be identified. Plastic boxes have been provided for the storage of the 
leaf mines and it is hoped that they can be identified and catalogued in due 
course. 

I am indebted to Eric’s family for the opportunity for Stephen Miles and myself to 
visit his home to assess his library and collections. Our thanks must also be extended 
to Melvin Crow for facilitating our visit and for making the necessary preparation 
for transport, and to Tony Harman for bringing the effects to Dinton Pastures. 

Having just completed the reorganization necessary to accommodate Eric 
Bradford’s collection, we were sad to hear that Humphrey Mackworth-Praed had 
also died; his father’s collection of British ““macros” came to us only four years ago 
after the death of his mother. Humphrey specialized in the European Lepidoptera 
and the opportunity was provided by his son Mark for again Stephen Miles and 
myself to visit his home. We agreed then to accept all the European collections, 
which included eight assorted cabinets of butterflies, 40 large store boxes of moths 
(comprising about 1000 species) and a few boxes of other insects, mainly Orthoptera 
but also a few Neuroptera, among them Nemoptera bipennis which was until recently 
thought to have been the model for the Society’s emblem. A local Surrey collection 
and a collection of African butterflies were considered less appropriate for the 
Society to accept and alternative arrangements for these were suggested. The 
transport of the collections as well as some books is to be arranged shortly and Tony 
Harman has again offered to carry this out. 

The acquisition of these European collections will provide the impetus to begin the 
rearrangement of the European Lepidoptera and this will happen as time allows. 

As reported last year, a start has been made on the reorganization of the British 
“macro” moths and this is being carried out by David Moore. He is following the 
order of Bradley & Fletcher and is now progressing through the geometrids. As 
drawers are cleared, these are being repapered by Peter Baker to facilitate the 
process. 

A 40-drawer and two 20-drawer cabinets have been sold and these have been 
replaced by the purchase of four 15-drawer cabinets from Stephenson Blake. These 
will be used to begin the layout of some of the smaller orders such as Neuroptera and 
Trichoptera, followed by the reorganization of the Diptera and Hymenoptera in due 
course. 

As the new layout of moths proceeds, other cabinets will become available for sale 
and further new cabinets will be obtained to continue the arrangement of the other 
orders. 

Andrew Halstead has donated some further sawflies and the strength of the 
Society’s collections of these insects continues to grow with about 220 species now 
represented. 

The reference to a collections policy in last year’s report brought one response, 
which suggested that we ought to offer duplicates from new acquisitions to local 
museums in the collector’s area. This will be considered, but will of course depend on 
the extent to which the museum concerned is thriving. 

The collections have been well used at workshops and on open days during the 
year. With the new arrivals this year, space is at a premium and the type of 
rationalization that I have described will of necessity continue. This will be essential 
to facilitate access especially at the better attended workshops. We hope of course 
that there will be a respite from major bequests for a while, to enable another period 
of consolidation to develop. 


P. J. CHANDLER 


184 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 
EDITOR’S REPORT 


Some years ago, a previous editor of this journal bemoaned the fact that he heard 
so little from the Society’s members, regarding its content and*style, that he doubted 
whether many of them valued the publication at all. I have to say that I have been 
more encouraged by readers and I sometimes wonder why this should be so. 

Possibly it is because members are becoming more vociferous, airing their opinions 
more readily. Several articles, as well as “‘letters to the editor’, have been in direct 
response to previously published notes, creating an atmosphere of earnest discussion. 
It also seems that members are now more readily prepared to report the results of 
their entomological work. Whereas at one time many members of the society were 
content to be simply readers, absorbing what was presented for their own personal 
and individual interest, today we are a much more interactive and communicative 
bunch and the journal benefits from this increased activity. 

The car, telephone, fax, e-mail and the other adjuncts of modern living have made 
communication easier and speedier, but I believe there is also an underlying change 
in the collective psyche of the Society. It appears to me that the field entomologists 
who dominate the membership are becoming more involved in some of the practical 
aspects of invertebrate recording and as a result are more actively reporting what is 
going on in the British countryside. A quick look through the contents of the journal 
shows that during the year there were two articles on special interest groups, two 
local surveys, three papers on distributions of individual species and one on land 
management, together with the usual mix of articles on taxonomy, behaviour, 
genetics and specific notable finds. For too long, the field naturalist has remained 
quiet; I see this recent trend towards a greater voice as a welcome sea change that will 
benefit the Society, its journal and its readers. 

I hope that the continuing enthusiasm for the journal also has something to do 
with the recent improvement in the quality of the paper and the two-colour cover. It 
may also have something to do with the fact that the journal is often able to offer 
rapid publication. I recently accepted a paper within days of its arrival on my 
doorstep; it fitted perfectly into the schedule, I needed a few more notes to complete 
an issue and I now hope it will be in print within 2 months of being written. Certain 
other entomological journals have a waiting time of 2 years! 

On the other hand, I have recently received certain longer articles, and although I would 
have liked to publish them sooner, I have been constrained by the number of pages the 
journal can sensibly publish. To alleviate some of the pressure, the journal published 224 
pages in 1995, 32 more than the year before, and I am pleased to announce that following 
discussion with the Society’s treasurer, the journal will publish even more pages in 1996. 
Only two colour plates were published in 1995, but four were printed—the two remaining 
are to be held over until 1996 to illustrate a paper on the aquatic leaf beetles Donacia, 
Plateumaris and Macroplea, which is in preparation at the moment. 

Although I have commented on my perceived changes in the reported interests of 
the society’s members, the content of the journal is still a matter of some bemusement 
to myself and others. For the most part it is outside of my control and rests entirely 
with the desires and energies of the authors and contributors “out there” who submit 
their notes and papers on whatever they see fit. Although all papers are refereed by 
members of the editorial committee, refusal is uncommon and more often than not 
helpful notes on revision are offered to the authors with final publication being to 
everyone’s general agreement and approval. 

I cannot influence what is submitted to the journal, all I can do is try and achieve a 
certain balance of longer versus shorter articles, technical papers versus anecdotal 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 185 


reports. Some very specialist articles may seem a bit indigestible to those without a 
detailed knowledge of the insects involved, but they remain, nevertheless, important 
papers which give authority and prestige to the journal. A glance at David Young’s 
paper, published at the end of the year, shows just how many of the world’s premier 
academic institutions consider the journal worthy of a subscription. I hope that 
combination of these important scientific articles with more general and lightweight 
papers gives each issue an interest for everyone. 

As ever, I need to thank all those who have helped me with the journal in 1995, 
and in particular the members of the Editorial Committee. Sadly, this Committee is 
now two members short following the deaths of Frances Murphy and Eric Bradford. 
They will be sadly missed and obituaries will be published in the journal in 1996. 

The journal has not been the only publication by the Society in 1995, a year which 
also saw the final appearance of the book by Peter Hodge and myself—New British 
beetles: species not in Joy’s practical handbook. Five hundred copies of this book were 
printed and, to date, sales are approaching 150 copies, mainly of the hardback 
apparently. Initial enthusiasm has been encouraging and we await reviews in the 
entomological literature with interest. 

Other of the Society’s publications continue to sell well, in particular British 
hoverflies by Alan Stubbs and Steven Falk, which sold out yet again at the end of the 
year. To cope with the on-going demand for this excellent identification guide, a 
further 500 copies have been reprinted. This has given the book a final print run of 
3000 copies, a far greater number than was first envisaged when the book was written 
in 1983. 

No doubt the availability of such a useful publication has served to increase the 
interest in this group of attractive flies. Since its first publication 15 new species have 
been discovered in Britain and knowledge of hoverfly biology has increased 
dramatically. Although a small appendix was added to the book in 1986, so much 
new information has since come to light that a much larger “‘second”’ supplement has 
been prepared by Alan Stubbs. It is being typeset at the moment and should be 
available in a few weeks. The Society is further indebted to Alan for his continued 
support and also to Roger Hawkins who has been the mainstay of the Society’s sales 
drive. Roger has now passed this duty over to Gavin Boyd and although I wish the 
Society’s books to sell well, I hope he is not too swamped by all this recent publishing 
activity. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


BOOK REVIEW 


Longhorn beetles: illustrated key to the Cerambycidae and Vesperidae of Europe by 
Ulrich Bense. Margraf Verlag, Weikersheim, Germany, 1995, 512pp, softback 
DM 90, hardback DM 126.—This is a basic key to the identification of European 
longhorns; it is not a monograph. The book is intended to be used to identify to 
species level all of the longhorn beetles currently known from Europe, with the 
exception only of the Dorcadionini, and excluding the European parts of the former 
Soviet Union and Turkey. The keys are the major part of the book and follow some 
short introductory sections on classification, development, feeding, reproduction, 
defence mechanisms, economic importance and nature conservation. 


186 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


All of the species on the British checklist are covered, including established non- 
natives, although Grammoptera holomelina is treated as part of G. ruficornis. The 
nomenclature is of course Continental, and not entirely consistent with Bily & Mehl’s 
book in the Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica series (22, 4989), so some of the 
generic names used may not be familiar to British coleopterists. The specific names of 
all bar one are however the same and so it shouldn’t prove too much of a problem. 
The exception is Grammoptera variegata which is here named G. abdominalis. 

The keys are in both German and English, with the equivalent text sections facing 
each other on each two-page spread and the illustrations in between. The layout is 
particularly good for English readers as the English is on the right-hand side. As a 
working key the paperback would have been better to have been comb or spiral- 
bound to enable it to be used open flat while examining specimens. 

The illustrations used in the keys are line drawings. They mostly lie alongside the 
relevant couplets and are generally very clear. The absence of colour illustrations is a 
great pity, but has presumably kept the price down. A few colour photographs are 
included in the introductory text, but these are surprisingly not cross-referenced in 
the keys. 

I tried out the keys using my British reference material as well as about 30 
longhorns collected in either the French Pyrenees or in Crete, and invariably arrived 
at a conclusion. Confirmatory features are provided for each species, as well as basic 
information on habitat and season, and a distribution map. My British material was 
identified correctly and I was reasonably content with the identifications of the 
non-British. A few of the couplets are difficult when examining single specimens in 
isolation, but that is true of many keys. It is a general principle that anyone hoping to 
correctly identify specimens in isolation should always be very wary of accepting 
such identifications uncritically. Confirmation by subsequent comparison with a 
good reference collection is always to be recommended. One particular problem in 
the keys is the scutellar character used for separating Pseudovadonia (Pseudoalosterna 
in Bily & Mehl) from Vadonia. The relevant features can be very difficult to see and 
perhaps should not have been left to stand alone. 

The couplet numbering system has a few problems. I noted two mistakes: 15 for 
16 and 24 for 25 in the English version, although both are correct in the German 
version. Figures 653 and 654 are transposed. 

The distribution maps are very interesting in their own right, although the source 
material is unbalanced according to the country involved. The sources are fully 
referenced and this is an excellent feature, a good primer for getting to know the 
literature of other European countries. The source for British Isles distribution is 
primarily Kaufmann’s series of papers in the Entomologist’s Record (1985-90), and 
so the author has missed published records which up-date those papers. Thus Tetrops 
starkii is not recognized as occurring 1n Britain (Harrison, Entomologist’s Mon. Mag. 
1992; 128: 181-183). Surprisingly neither is Leiopus nebulosus! The maps suggest that 
Britain is not an important area for European longhorns—we do not contribute 
significant proportions of the distribution of any species, and all of our species are 
widespread in Europe. Of course, this is only distribution, and information is really 
needed on relative abundance before we can properly assess the significance of our 
fauna. 

Overall the keys seem reliable and this book provides an excellent basis for 
venturing into the European fauna. It is to be hoped that volumes covering further 
families will be forthcoming. 


KEITH N. A. ALEXANDER 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 187 


OBITUARY 


ERIC BRADFORD 1921-1995 


Eric Bradford was born in Holloway, north London, on 11 May 1921, the second 
of seven children. He was early recognized as a good artist when he went to school in 
Upper Hornsey Road. Although he left school aged 14 and went to work for Messrs 
Starky of Warren Street as a sign writer, he continued his education at the Hornsey 
School of Arts and Crafts in the evenings. 

In 1940, aged 19, he joined the RAF and served at Brize Norton and Market 
Stainton before being sent to North Africa. On his return to England, he was based 
at Lydd, where he narrowly escaped bombing by a V-1 doodle-bug. 

After the war he worked in Upper Street, Islington as a free-lance illustrator, and 
in about 1961 joined ATV as a graphic designer. He stayed with the company until 
his retirement, which he took early. 

Eric joined the BENHS in 1960, but his interest in natural history had been with 
him from boyhood. He never forgot that when he was about 13 he took his first 
yellow shell, Camptogramma bilineata (L.), off the lime trees (now alas gone) in 
Upper Holloway Road. Having assisted the curator Eric Gardner for several years, 
particularly with the microlepidoptera, Eric succeeded him as curator on his death in 
1976. He held the post for 10 years, a busy period with many important acquisitions 
to the collections. He led an active curatorial team, in which Bill Parker and the late 
Bob Weal had prominent roles. Eric stood down in 1986 when his increasing 
commitments in Kent made attendance at meetings more difficult. He also served the 
Society in many ways behind the scenes, helping out with the BENHS stand at the 
AES exhibition and at our own annual exhibition and he often used his graphics 


Eric Bradford, 1921-1995, seen here making notes at the BENHS annual exhibition, 27 October 
1990. 


188 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


you CAN SEE mE OBvIlUS 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE 
OF THESE THREE UORNS ER..-~ €n.... En.- 


Eric’s wry observation of the ‘South London” as it then was, one of several cartoons which he 
gathered together under the heading Bradford’s book for buggers! For more recent members of 
the Society, the “worm” on the left is the late Baron de Worms. 


skills to produce signs and displays. For many years he was recorder for the 
illustration exhibits at the annual exhibitions. In recognition of his work for the 
Society, he was elected an honorary member in 1985. 

Eric moved to Kent in the 1970s and to his house, Brooklands of Pean Hill, in the 
early 1980s. He had previously bought 15 acres of Blean Woods at Child’s Forstal, a 
reserve he always wanted for nature conservation, and later bought a 4'%-acre plot at 
the back of his house as another reserve. Here he had a large pond dug out and it 
soon became home to a great deal of wildlife including great crested newts, water 
voles, sedge and reed warblers. He was a regular exhibitor at BENHS indoor 
meetings, producing a wide variety of rare and interesting creatures from his two 
personal reserves. Although primarily a microlepidopterist, he had very broad 
interests and was deeply involved in local natural history societies and nature 
conservation in general. 

Eric was a very skilled artist and to many he will be most remembered for his 
exquisite water-colours. Under a magnifying glass it was often possible to guess at 
each individual scale of the moth he had painted so painstakingly. His latest pictures 
in this journal illustrated the British Gelechiidae, accompanying a series of papers in 
collaboration with Paul Sokoloff. 

Eric’s collections have been bequeathed to the Society, but his nature reserves are 
left to the Kent Trust for Nature Conservation. The Trust, however, decided that the 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 189 


site adjoining his house was a bit small for them to administer properly so the 
Whitstable Natural History Society (of which Eric was an active member) are going 
to manage it. This has delighted Eric’s family who know how he tried to manage it 
himself and what he intended doing in the future. The WNHS are also putting up an 
observation hide and a seat, by the pond, as a memorial. 

Eric had an infectious enthusiasm and natural sense of humour and he was not 
above poking fun even at the then “South London” society he held dear, as the 
accompanying cartoon shows. 

Eric died in a road accident on 12 August 1995 and perhaps the greatest sadness is 
the loss of the potential he still possessed. He was very recently working on further 
colour plates for the journal and it is hoped that they can be published as a 
posthumous memorial. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


BOOK REVIEW 


Keys to the insects of the European part of the USSR, Volume 3, Hymenoptera, Part 
4. Science Publishers, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA, 1995, xvi+883 pages, 
hardback, US $147.50.—This is an English language translation of a substantial 
compilation, covering all of the Braconidae except Optinae, Alysiinae and 
Aphidiinae (which are all dealt with in Part 5) and including 1723 species in 165 
genera, originally published in the Russian language in 1986. It has been produced 
without an added preface and, amazingly, the date of the original appears not to be 
given anywhere in this translated version (even in the footnote where explanation is 
given for the indicated pagination relationship to the Russian original), despite its 
overwhelming significance for the nomenclatural status of the 123 proposed new 
species (i.e. whose correct dates of publication are 1986 not 1995), and a number of 
lectotype designations that are also made. This is a serious omission that the 
publishers should seek to rectify in future projects of this kind. 

The aim of the work in 1986 was to provide a ‘useful’ guide, based on keys, to 
the braconid fauna of the European part of the former USSR (somewhat vaguely 
defined, despite the included map). With this in mind, species from the surrounding 
areas of western Europe, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and the former Soviet Central 
Asia are given generous, though by no means exhaustive, inclusion even if they had 
not yet been found in the area of focus. The synonymy given is also not exhaustive, 
and it pays attention mainly to names that have been used in the Soviet literature. 
One result is that some of the names that have been used (and indeed are still being 
used in a few cases) in western Europe do not appear, even though the taxon itself 
may do so. In an ideal world this would of course be a considerable disadvantage, 
but even for the relatively well-known western European fauna the world of 
braconid taxonomy is very far from ideal, and it is probably more appropriate to 
direct criticism towards the lack of expressed justification for the synonmy that is 
proposed, as it is very rarely clear whether this has been based on an examination 
of types. Indeed, the whole work is heavily derivative and most sections 
(subfamilies or genera) start with references to keys, often from western Europe, 
on which the treatment has been based, but unfortunately it is rarely evident which 
keys are basically lifted, which are cobbled together from a more scattered 
literature, and which have the added value of a more critical revisionary approach. 


190 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


There is extensive re-use of figures (acknowledged to authors, rather than being 
exactly sourced but even then not always unambiguously): perhaps the Soviet 
Union’s not being party to the copyright laws that operated in the West has 
legitimately laundered those of them that were originally published in Europe for 
unrestricted reissue, though that would seem an unlikely loophole given the extent 
of current copyright law, so maybe it is just a good risk taken as nobody is likely 
to object. A more practical difficulty stemming from re-using other people’s figures 
is that some keys have ended up being illustrated in two or more styles, with 
considerable loss of clarity. Given an access to the pre-existing western literature, 
for western Europeans the most directly useful sections of this work may prove to 
be those covering groups on which V. I. Tobias, who is the sole author of most of 
the keys, had previously worked most, and some parts that have also been enriched 
by collaborators: S. A. Belokobilskij for Doryctinae sensu lato (but relatively early 
on in his strong involvement with that group), and A. G. Kotenko who assumed 
responsibility for the majority of ‘Apanteles’ (sensu lato). The first few pages of the 
addenda (pp. 869-883) inserted immediately before publication in 1986 should not 
be overlooked as they bring some important late updates to notice. 

Inevitably some of the information given is unreliable or misleading—the host 
data, for example, are at least partly just reiterations of the usual unintelligible 
jumble of accumulated and unsourced truth, half-truth and fantasy, and it is high 
time (even in 1986) that taxonomic works on parasitoids try to do better than this. A 
possible source of confusion rather more exclusive to the work is that the very short- 
lived application of the name Microgaster to the genus otherwise known as 
Microplitis, and replacement of Microgaster in its more familiar sense by the name 
Lissogaster, that was fleetingly in vogue 1n the mid 1980s has of course persisted into 
the translated version, long after it has reverted elsewhere. A few translation errors 
and misprints also exist: my favourite is a reference on page x to a work by Tobias 
(1976) on Braconids of Canada {as opposed to the Caucasus], but users should be 
alert to the possibility of others that may be more troublesome, especially if they 
would elude a spell-check programme. 

On the whole, though, this is a good translation and anyone with an interest in 
European Braconidae whose English is better than their Russian will warmly 
welcome it, as the original is an important work. The real value of the translation is 
not so much that at last it gives English-speaking punters a comprehensive set of 
easily used and wholly reliable keys, because not surprisingly it doesn’t, but rather 
that we in the West now have a better means to appreciate the extent of the faunal 
overlap between West/Central Europe and the western part of the former USSR 
and—especially—that this translation gives us some help in reducing the divergence 
in taxonomy and classification between the West and East of which there has been a 
tendency. Not, then, the panacea for all our problems, but certainly a means to 
understand them better. The price of the work is high and its specialized nature will 
mean that few individuals will buy it. But, provided institutions take the saving of 
staff time into account, anywhere where English is spoken that has more than a 
fleeting involvement with Braconidae should see it as an absolute bargain. 


MARK R. SHAW 


BR: J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 191 
OBITUARY 


H. N. MICHAELIS 1904-1995 


Hugh Michaelis was brought up in Manchester where his family was involved in 
the cotton trade. In his early days he spent summer holidays with his grandparents, 
who lived at Deganwy, and came to love this area of North Wales. During the First 
World War his brothers, who were considerably older, were away in the army and 
Hugh spent much of his summer wandering round the dunes of Deganway and 
Conway, learning all the wild flowers with the aid of Wild flowers shown to the 
children. The companion book, Moths and butterflies shown to the children, then led 
him on to an interest which was to last all his life. 

He attended Manchester Grammar School where G. S. Kloet was a fellow pupil 
and together they would explore the countryside for specimens. Later, Kloet 
acquired a small motor bike and, with Hugh on the parcel rack, they were able to 
venture further afield. Membership of the flourishing Manchester Entomological 
Society opened the door to a wider circle of other entomologists, like William 
Mansbridge who encouraged the young man to study micros. Even nowadays many 
Lepidopterists shy away from this large group of species; how much more difficult it 
must have been then with few illustrations for comparison and much scantier 
literature to be consulted. 

During the Second World War he served in the army as company sergeant major 
in the Intelligence Corps and spent over 3% years in India with no home leave. After 
the war, as a manager of the Westminster Bank in Manchester, he came to know 
entomologists at the nearby university and at the Manchester Museum. As a member 
of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society he became a friend of S. 
Gordon Smith and the thriving group of entomologists in the north west, joining 
them in many field outings over the years. He took part in the extensive survey of the 
fauna of the Spurn Peninsula carried out by members of the Entomological Section 
of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. Over 40 years later he still recalled those days 
with pleasure and referred to specimens collected there. 

On retiring to Glan Conway in 1964 he donated his Lepidoptera collection to 
Manchester Museum. But it was not long before he began to investigate the fauna of 
Denbighshire and beyond, and to build up a new collection containing many bred 
species, some new to Wales and some new to Britain. One of the highlights of each 
year was a visit to the ‘South London’ exhibition with a box of recently collected 
Lepidoptera and the opportunity to meet and chat with fellow enthusiasts. Old 
friends may remember him better as ‘Jim’, but on moving to Wales he reverted to his 
given name of ‘Hugh’. 

He joined the North Wales Naturalists’ Trust and took a particular interest in the 
Trust’s nature reserves in the Conway Valley as well as carrying out surveys of 
several NNRs for the Nature Conservancy Council further afield. He was a welcome 
companion at field meetings, always adding a good list of species to the records for 
the day. Children would cluster round him with their finds or enjoy an evening’s light 
trapping in his company, and many have been inspired by his enthusiasm and 
encouraged to retain an interest for life in natural history. After serving on the 
Council of the NWNT, including a term as treasurer, he was made a vice-president in 
recognition of his services for conservation. 

During his thirty-year residence in Glan Conway he published numerous scientific 
papers and articles on the North Wales moths and butterflies, and was respected for 


192 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


his wealth of knowledge on the subject. It was only during the last few years that 
failing health curtailed his activities, but he was always interested to hear what others 
were recording, or give an opinion on the identification of a difficult species. Shortly 
before he died he gave his collection of mainly North Wales Lepidoptera into my safe 
keeping. 

It was a great sadness to him when his wife Maude died suddenly ten years ago, 
but he took over the house-keeping, became an excellent cook and always welcomed 
visitors from near or far. We all miss him greatly but are glad that we had the 
privilege of knowing him for so long. 

M. JOAN MORGAN 


PUBLICATIONS BY H. N. MICHAELIS 


A published list of many of his articles is to be found in Chalmers-Hunt, J. M. 
1989. Local lists of Lepidoptera. Hedera Press, items 2082—2109a. Other articles are 
listed below. 


Proc. Chester Nat. Sci. Lit. Art, ed. S. Gordon Smith, Natural History Vols IT, 
III, IV, V, 1948-1953, 1953/4, 1954/5. All contain numerous records from 
Cheshire and Welsh counties by H. N. M. 

1952 Ent. Rec. J. Var. 64: 359, Lepidoptera at Spurn, Yorks. 

1957 Rep. Lancs. Chesh. Fauna Committee 31: 72-76, Lepidoptera for 1954-56. 

1957 Raven Ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 3-38, The Lepidoptera of Formby, M. J. Leach & 
H. N. Michaelis. 

1958 Ent. Rec. J. Var. 70: 305—6, Gelechia boreella Douglas in England. 

1962 Lancs. Chesh. Fauna Committee Lepidoptera Report, 1957-1961. 

1963 Entomologist 96: 11-14, Microlepidoptera on Vaccinium  vitis-idaea L. 
(Ericaceae). 

1969 Ent. Gazette 20: 261-262, Some notes on the occurrence of Amphipyra 
pyramidea (L.) and A. berbera Rungs (Lep. Noctuidae), H. N. Michaelis & 
M. J. Morgan. 

1973 Ent. Rec. J. Var. 85: 226-227, Hyles galii and other Lepidoptera in North 
Wales. 

1977 Ent. Rec. J. Var. 89: 183-185, The history and present status of Luperina 
nickerlii gueneei Doubleday in Britain. 

1990 North Wales Wildlife Trust Newsletter 79, Spring 1990, Butterflies of the Great 
Orme, Llandudno. 

1990 North Wales Invertebrate Group Newsletter no. 2, Microlepidoptera in North 
Wales. 


LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


The Society’s logo.—In your recent notes on the Society’s new logo (Br. J. Ent. 
Nat. Hist. 1996; 9: 1-2, 128), you refer to the strange beast as probably being a 
member of the Nemopteridae. I am sure you are correct. I thought that it might be of 
interest to members to report that two species, Halter halteratus and a Dielocroce are 
illustrated in colour in Jnsects of Eastern Arabia (D. H. Walker & A. R. Pittaway, 
illustrations by A. J. Walker, Macmillan Publishers, pp. 44-45). Both of these insects 
have narrow wings, more closely resembling the logo than the broader-winged 
Mediterranean species. A copy of this book is in the Society’s library—DON 
WALKER, ‘Bellargus’, 9 Elmfield Way, Sanderstead, Surrey CR2 0EG. 


BENHS SUBSCRIPTION ANNOUNCEMENTS 


Junior members and students—The current annual subscription is £12.50 for 
ordinary members and £4.00 for junior members who are defined as those who have 
not reached their eighteenth birthday on Ist January. We have very few junior 
members and Council has decided that it would like to extend the benefit of the lower 
subscription rate to all those in full-time education. This change will require 
amendment to the bye laws, but because of the cost of doing so I wish to defer such 
action until some time in the future when we will require further changes. 

So that effect may be given to Council’s decision in the shorter term however, use 
of bye law 13e will be made. This gives Council power to remit wholly or in part a 
subscription due from any member should some special circumstances appear to 
warrant such action. 

I would therefore like to inform members that Council will look favourably on any 
application from students to remit the annual subscription to £4.00. 

Non-student members who find difficulty in paying the ordinary subscription may 
also apply to Council under this bye law. 

A. J. PICKLES, Treasurer 


Life membership——Some years ago the Society was homeless. The library and 
collections were in store and unavailable to members. The cost of renting rooms in 
central London was prohibitively expensive and the Society faced an uncertain 
future, at least in financial terms. One of the lesser decisions taken to resolve this 
situation was to raise the life membership rate to a comparatively high level, but 
instead of bringing in much-needed funds, the effect has been to restrict the number 
of new life members coming forward. We are however most grateful to the generous 
souls who have taken out life membership during the last few years. 

The present Council takes the view that life membership should positively be 
encouraged and have determined that the rate should in future be set at 20 times the 
annual rate for ordinary members. The new life member’s rate will therefore be £250, 
and this will be available from Ist January 1997. 

Life membership can be of mutual benefit to the Society and to the member, 
although it does of course assume that the member is committed to the study of 
entomology and to the Society, and will remain so. The sum paid is invested and the 
income therefrom goes to fund our activities. The annual routine of reminders and 
payments is avoided, with all the complications arising from late payments, double 
payments, payments at old subscription rates and complete failure to pay. The life 
member is also protected from any increases in subscription rates. Above all, in these 
days when all employment is uncertain, taking out life membership avoids the 
unpleasant decision to cancel Society membership when hard times come. The 
purchase of the necessary equipment and books, with a few life memberships, makes 
entomology into a cheap and pleasant pastime with which to occupy the years of 
retirement. 

R. D. HAWKINS, Assistant Treasurer 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
VOLUME 9, PART 3, SEPTEMBER 1996 


129 


135 
137 


165 


166 


166 


133 
167 
172 
174 


187 
191 


164 
166 
185 


189 


163 
163 
192 


ARTICLES 


A. E. Wright’s records of Hymenoptera Aculeata for Grange and neighbourhood, including a 
note about his friend J. D. Ward. N. A. ROBINSON 


Lasius brunneus (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) new to Kent? R. A. JONES 


Notes on the natural history, distribution and identification of British reed beetles. I. S. 
MENZIES AND M. L. Cox 


SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 


Morophaga choragella ({D. & S.]) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae) in Windsor Forest and Great Park 
and other records from southern England. K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


Xiphydria longicollis (Geoffroy in Fourcroy) (Hymenoptera: Xiphydriidae) in Maidenhead, 
Berkshire. B. VERDCOURT 


Editorial note on Xiphydria longicollis. R. A. JONES 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 

Announcement. BENHS Honorary Secretary sought 

BENHS indoor meetings, 12 December 1995 to 27 February 1996 
BENHS field meetings 


Officers’ reports for 1995 

174 Council’s report 181 Librarian’s report 
176 Treasurer’s report 182 Curator’s report 
181 Prof. Hering fund report 184 Editor’s report 


Obituary of Eric Bradford. R. A. JONES 
Obituary of H. N. Michaelis. M. J. MORGAN 


BOOK REVIEWS 
Butterflies of Surrey by G. A. Collins. C HART 
Dragonflies by P. L. Miller. R. A. JONES 


Longhorn beetles: illustrated key to the Cerambycidae and Vesperidae of Europe by U. Bense. 
K. N. A. ALEXANDER 


Keys to the insects of the European part of the USSR, Volume 3, Hymenoptera, Part 4. M. R. 
SHAW 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 

Scottish populations of Pararge aegeria. D. BARBOUR, C. EDWARDS AND M. YOUNG 
Reply by the author. L. WINOKUR 

The Society’s logo. D. WALKER 


QH ER 1996 ISSN 0952-7583 Vol. 9, Part 4 


{ 
B8S2) 
CRIT. 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF 


ENTOMOLOGY 


AND NATURAL HISTORY 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
Published by the British Entomological and Natural History Society 
and incorporating its Proceedings and Transactions 


Editor: 


Richard A. Jones, B.Sc:, F:R-E:S., F.E.S. 
13 Bellwood Road 
Nunhead 
London SE15 3DE 
(Tel: 0171 732 2440) 
(Fax: 0171 277 8725) 


Editorial Committee: 


D. J. L. Agassiz, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.E.S. T.G. Howarth, B.E.M., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. G. Barrington, B.Sc. I. F. G. McLean, Ph.D:, F.R.E.S 

P. J. Chandler, B.Sc., F.R.E.S. M. J. Simmons, M.Sc. 

B. Goater, B.Sc., M.1.Biol. P. A. Sokoloff, M.Sc., C.Biol., M.I.Biol., F.R.E.S. 
A. J. Halstead, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. T. R. E. Southwood, K. B., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

R. D. Hawkins, M.A. R. W. J. Uffen, M.Sc., F.R.E.S. 

P. J. Hodge B. K. West, B.Ed. 


British Journal of Entomology and Natural History is published by the British Entomological and 
Natural History Society, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading, Berkshire 
RG10 OTH, UK. Tel: 01734-321402. 

The Journal is distributed free to BENHS members. 


© 1996 British Entomological and Natural History Society. 


Typeset by Dobbie Typesetting Limited, Tavistock, Devon. 
Printed in England by Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset. 


BRITISH ENTOMOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 
Registered charity number: 213149 


Meetings of the Society are held regularly in London, at the rooms of the Royal Entomological 
Society, 41 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 and the well-known ANNUAL EXHIBITION is 
planned for a Saturday in October 1997 at Imperial College, London SW7. Frequent Field 
Meetings are held at weekends in the summer. Visitors are welcome at all meetings. The current 
Programme Card can be had on application to the Secretary, R. F. McCormick, at the address 
given below. 

The Society maintains a library, and collections at its headquarters in Dinton Pastures, which 
are open to members on various advertised days each month, telephone 01734-321402 for the 
latest meeting news. 

Applications for membership to the Membership Secretary: A. Godfrey, 90 Bence Lane, Darton, 
Barnsley, South Yorkshire S75 SDA. 


Subscriptions and changes of address to the Membership Secretary: R. D. Hawkins, 30d 
Meadowcroft Close, Horley, Surrey RH6 9EL. 


Non-arrival of the Journal, faulty copies or other problems arising from distribution of the 
Journal or notices to the Distribution Secretary: D. Young, 9 Marten Place, Tilehurst, Reading, 
Berkshire RG31 6FB. 

Orders for books and back numbers of the Journal and Proceedings to the Sales Secretary: G. 
Boyd, 17 Gainsborough Close, Cambridge CB4 ISY. 


General Enquiries to the Secretary: R. F. McCormick, 36 Paradise Road, Teignmouth, Devon 
TQ14 8NR. Tel: 01626-779543. 


Cover illustration: Larvae of the stag beetle Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus). 


NOTE: The Editor invites submission of photographs for black and white reproduction on the 
front covers of the journal. The subject matter is open, with an emphasis on aesthetic value 
rather than scientific novelty. Submissions can be in the form of colour or black and white 
prints or colour transparencies. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 193 


WING HOMOEOSIS IN PARARGE AEGER 
(LEPIDOPTERA: SATYRIDAE) 


LEONARD WINOKUR 
55 Palmer Park Avenue, Reading, Berkshire RG6 1DP% 


A female speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria L. subspecies oblita Harrison, 
emerged 2.x.1995 among a bred stock derived from two females collected at Glen 
Lonan, east of Oban, Argyll, 18—25.vili.1993 (56° 24’ N, 5° 22’ W). Pattern typical of 
left hindwing underside spaces 2 and 3 (s2 and s3) was reproduced at corresponding 
positions in left forewing underside s2 and s3 (Fig. 1). There was no corresponding 
pattern transformation on the right forewing underside nor on the upper surface. 

Homoeosis refers to the development of tissue typical of one part of an organism 
at a position typical of another tissue type. In Lepidoptera this is typically recognized 
by an area on one wing showing the pattern of another wing. Homoeosis is rare in 
Lepidoptera (Ford, 1957) but has been reported in several families including the 
Satyridae. 

Insect forewings belong to the middle thoracic segment or mesothorax, and the 
hindwings to the hind thoracic segment or metathorax. The incidence of different 
types of homoeotic transformation in Lepidoptera, has revealed also that each wing 
is divided further into anterior and posterior developmental units or ‘compartments’, 
along a baso-distal axis that borders s5 and s6 (Sibatani, 1980). In the following 
discussion, sl] to s5 on the forewing and sl to s4 on the hindwing represent the 
‘posterior’ of the respective wing, while the forewing area between s6 and the costa 
and the hindwing area between s5 and the costa represent the ‘anterior’ of the 
respective wing. 

The most common type of homoeosis in Satyridae concerns the presence within 
the underside posterior hindwing of the underside posterior forewing pattern. The 
present case is unusual therefore in demonstrating the presence within the under- 
side posterior forewing of underside posterior hindwing pattern, analogous to 


194 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


contra-bithorax transformations in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster L. (in which 
the posterior section of the middle thoracic segment shows features of the posterior 
section of the hind thoracic segment) (Sibatani, 1980). 

Insect homoeoses and segmentation abnormalities are informative because they 
provide insights into the development and evolution of biological patterns (Sibatani, 
1980; Ho, 1989). In Lepidoptera, each wing develops from a group of primordial 
cells known as an imaginal disc (Ford, 1957). The presence of homoeosis on one 
surface only is typical of homoeotic transformations in Lepidoptera, and points to 
the establishment, very early in development, of independence between upperside 
and underside compartments within each wing disc. As homoeosis can involve an 
area of forewing pattern appearing on the hindwing, independence between forewing 
and hindwing discs must therefore be established later, and consequently homoeotic 
transformations on one surface between fore- and hind-wing are commoner than 
transformations between the two surfaces. 

In the present case, the transformation involved corresponding compartments 
(namely posterior compartments, these include s2 and s3) within each respective wing 
disc. This suggests that prior to the establishment of independence between fore- and 
hind-wing, the anterior compartments of both wings function collectively as one 
developmental unit and the posterior compartments as another (cf. Ho, 1989). 

Hence symmetry with left/right independence is the first distinction to be 
established, and in multicellular animals occurs in early egg development (Goodwin, 
1984; Sibatani, 1980). This is followed by upperside/underside independence, then 
corresponding (and likely coordinated) anterio-posterior distinctions within each disc 
(cf. Ho, 1989). Lastly forewing/hindwing independence is established (Sibatani, 1980). 

The cause of homoeotic transformation in the present P. aegeria oblita has yet to 
be firmly established. Ford (1957) suggested that homoeosis in Lepidoptera might 
result from genetic mutation. However, a mutant gene could be expected to affect 
both sides similarly because each gene is copied during embryonic cell division into 
every cell of a given individual, and no deviations from left/right symmetry (other 
than minor, random discrepancies resulting from developmental disturbances) are 
known in Lepidoptera (Winokur & White, in prep.). In Drosophila, chemical agents 
can produce effects that mimic, i.e. ‘phenocopy’, the effects of genetic homoeotic 
mutants. However, contra-bithorax phenocopies are produced more readily in 
Drosophila by the short-term application of high temperatures or ‘heat shock’ than 
by exposing immature stages to organic compounds such as ether (Sibatani, 1980). 
The comparable transformation in P. aegeria oblita therefore, might similarly 
represent an effect of unusually high temperature. 

The stock was reared outdoors on cultivated wood false brome grass, 
Brachypodium sylvaticum L., at Worksop, Nottinghamshire (53° 19’ N, 1° 7’ W) 
until 25.viii.1995 when the stock was divided and the rearing of a sample was 
continued similarly at Reading, Berkshire (51° 27’ N, 0° 56’ W). Though tempera- 
tures were not recorded, ongoing temperatures in S. England during July and August 
1995, when the affected individual would have been a larva or young pupa, were 
reported by the Meteorological Office (via the media) to have been the hottest for 
many years. Moreover, since annual July and August temperatures are generally 
higher in S. England than in N.W. Scotland where the stock originated, P. aegeria 
oblita is expected to be less well suited to developing under such temperatures than S. 
England P. a. tircis Butler (Winokur, 1995). 

A further factor affecting developmental stability in the species is inbreeding 
(Oliver, 1981). The stock was originated in August 1993, the F, emerged in July 1994 
and the F, in September, and the F; started to emerge in July 1995; the present 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 195 


individual (emerging October 1995) thus represents an Fy. Oliver (1981) found that 
inbreeding depression in P. aegeria (as evidenced by the percentage of fertilized eggs 
failing to hatch) increased with inbreeding, and suggested that inbreeding in the 
species may reduce the genetic balance of individuals and consequently develop- 
mental stability. However, further investigation will be required before firm 
conclusions can be drawn, and the stock is being continued in the hope that it 
might yield further insights into the nature of wing homoeosis in Pararge aegeria. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 


I thank Martin C. White of Worksop for assistance with maintaining the stock 
from which the present study arose. 


REFERENCES 


Ford, E. B. 1957. Butterflies. 3rd edn, Collins, London. 

Goodwin, B. C. 1984. A relational or field theory of reproduction and its evolutionary 
implications. In: Ho, M.-W. & Saunders, P. T. (Eds). Beyond neo-Darwinism—an 
introduction to the new evolutionary paradigm. Academic Press, London, pp. 219-241. 

Ho, M.-W. 1989. Development, rational taxonomy and systematics. Paper presented at the 
International Conference on Problems in Evolutionary Biology in Moscow, April 1989. 

Oliver, C. G. 1981. A preliminary investigation of embryonic inbreeding depression in twelve 
species of Lepidoptera. J. Lepid. Soc. 35: 51-60. 

Sibatani, A. 1980. Wing homoeosis in Lepidoptera: a survey. Dev. Biol. 79: 1-18. 

Winokur, L. & White, R. J. (in prep.). Wing pattern variation in Pararge aegeria L. 
(Lepidoptera: Satyridae): natural selection or constructive reciprocity? 

Winokur, L. 1995. Understanding size and pattern variation in mainland Britain Pararge 
aegeria L. (Lepidoptera: Satyridae). Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 102-112. 


BOOK REVIEWS 


Collins field guide. Spiders of Britain and northern Europe by Michael J. Roberts. 
London, HarperCollins, 1995, 384pp, 32 colour plates, hardback, £14.99-—The 
book reckons to cover over 450 species, all but the very difficult black ‘money’ 
spiders, a few far northern endemics and southern rarities. Of these 247 are 
illustrated in colour. A tightly packed introduction on spiders and how to study them 
is followed by the main text. Within this are keys to families and genera. Each species 
has brief description and notes on habitat and distribution and every entry has a very 
detailed drawing of male palp and female epigyne. As a popular field guide, this book 
is probably one of the most important to be published in recent years since it 
suddenly brings serious arachnology within reach of so many people. Roberts’ 
previous book, The spiders of Great Britain and Ireland published by Harley Books in 
1985-7, became the great authoritative work on these creatures, but its price and 
complexity put it beyond the reach of many, especially the more casual observers 
who ought to buy the Collins guide. My only gripe is with the colour figures, where 
every plate has spiders painted similar sizes, even though they may be of completely 
different sizes in life. Thus, for example, we have Scytodes thoracica (3-5 mm) shown 
larger than and right next door to Pholcus phalangioides (8-10 mm). Although the 
plate captions give dimensions in millimetres, this is nothing compared to the visual 
reference of a life-size silhouette or size-range bars. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


196 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


The butterflies of Wiltshire by Michael Fuller. Pisces Publications, 1995, 
xiit+196pp, 77 colour photographs, 65 maps, 40 figures and 38 flight period 
diagrams, hardback, £22.50.—Duing the past few years I have read several books 
dealing with the butterflies of a single county, but none which has treated the subject 
so fully or brought me as much pleasure. 

The book draws on historical records from the last 150 years and on records from 
the Wiltshire Butterfly Mapping Scheme to present an authoritative account of the 
changing fortunes of the 48 butterfly species found in the county. Distribution maps 
are provided for each species and diagrams showing typical flight periods and results 
of transect counts are also included for many species. It often seems that illustrations 
in such books are superfluous, there being so many butterfly books, but the 
photographs here, although of variable quality, are for the most part fresh and 
informative. Many aspects of butterfly behaviour are shown including courtship, 
pairing and egg-laying; all the species are illustrated, often with two photographs, 
and these are for the most part adequate as an identification guide. A number of 
Wiltshire habitats are also shown. Most of these photographs have been contributed 
by members of the county recording scheme. 

Beatrice Gillam, who edited the book, has contributed a chapter on Wiltshire’s 
butterfly habitats and this is illustrated with a topographical and a geological map. A 
further chapter is provided on the history of butterfly recording in the county from 
1900 to 1994 which mentions most of the well-known lepidopterists who have been 
associated with Wiltshire over this period. Short chapters are included on the 
butterfly recording scheme and the status of butterflies in the county. 

Michael Fuller is the county butterfly recorder and established the Wiltshire 
Butterfly Mapping Scheme in 1982. He professes a boyhood love of butterflies 
rekindled when he and his family moved to the county in 1978. It is in the treatment 
of each species, which forms the main section of the work, that he has been able to 
communicate his enthusiasm for his subject through the little touches of personal 
observation that he has included. The general layout of each species review is to 
firstly consider the history of the butterfly’s name, to discuss the flight period in the 
county, the status before and after 1982 and to conclude with future prospects. 
Within this format Dr Fuller treats each species more or less fully, as they deserve 
and includes detailed comments on aspects of the butterfly’s life history, food plants 
and matters pertinent to the distribution within the county. To quote from those for 
the Adonis blue; ““Males spend much of their flying time searching for emerging 
females. After mating, the females rest in hot depressions among the short chalk or 
limestone grassland until their eggs are ready to be laid’. He finds plenty of 
opportunity to include anecdotes such as J. E. Green’s story of picking up a purple 
emperor feeding on dry deer dung and stroking it in an attempt to persuade it to 
open its wings. 

The book concludes with indices of abundance, and a section on rare, extinct and 
exotic species. There is also a useful bibliography. Pisces Publications is the imprint 
of the Nature Conservation Bureau Limited and the project has been grant-aided by 
English Nature. The book is well produced on good quality paper at a price which 
must be considered fair. The butterflies of Wiltshire is recommended not only for 
those with an especial interest in the county but also for anyone interested in 
butterflies. 


A. J. PICKLES 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 197 


THE BENHS EXPEDITION TO BELIZE, JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1996 


PAUL WARING, GRAHAM COLLINS AND ADRIAN SPALDING 


The BENHS expedition to Belize (proposed in Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 72) 
departed from Britain on 18 January 1996 with the following aims. 

(i) To begin an investigation of the Lepidoptera, particularly the macro-moths, of 
Belize (formerly British Honduras) in Central America, by commencing inventories 
for sites and establishing habitat associations in different types of forest and 
cultivated areas where the owners are interested in management for nature 
conservation. 

(ii) To raise the profile of Belizean Lepidoptera and conservation issues. 

(iii) To provide BENHS members with an opportunity to contribute to the study 
and conservation of wildlife in Belize and gain experience of the neotropics. 

(iv) To establish contacts with landowners and conservation organizations and to 
investigate potential bases for future expeditions so that the BENHS can continue to 
contribute skills and expertise. 

(v) To raise the profile of the BENHS and demonstrate our concern for the 
conservation of invertebrates in the tropics. 

We are delighted to report that the expedition has been successful in fulfilling all its 
objectives. A workshop on the planning of this and other expeditions and on our 
results and future plans will be held at Dinton Pastures on 14 December 1996. The 
purpose of this note is simply to provide a brief overview of what took place on the 
expedition. 

The expedition comprised three men (the authors—PW, AS & GC) plus all our 
equipment, making a comfortable car-load. The main part of the expedition 
consisted of two weeks spent at ““Tamandua”’ nature reserve and organic fruit farm 
situated in the centre of Belize, south-east of the village of St Margarets, along a 
track from Over-The-Top on the Hummingbird Highway, adjacent to the Five Blue 
Lakes National Park and about 17 miles south-east of Belmopan, the new capital 
city of Belize. 

Tamandua is owned and managed by Janet and Bernard Dempsey. The site name 
comes from the scientific name for the Lesser Anteater Tamandua mexicana, which 
still occurs in the area. Janet and Bernard own 170 acres which consist of a 
smallholding surrounded by the majestic limestone outcrops of the foothills of the 
Mayan Mountains. The annual rainfall varies from 80 to 120 inches per annum and 
the whole area was formerly covered by tropical moist broadleaved forest. Much of 
this “jungle” currently survives on the steeper slopes and in the valleys remote from 
roads, as at Tamandua. However, along the main roads, including plots near to 
Tamandua, the accessible forest has been or is being cleared rapidly for intensive 
growing of citrus crops, particularly oranges, grapefruit and limes. This is being 
practised on a large scale, using a regime of chemical herbicides and insecticides. All 
woody plants are cleared from the orchard area and herbaceous plants around the 
base of the trees are sprayed out. Consequently, the jungle components and humid 
micro-climate are completely lost from the farmed area. The only exception is along 
the edge of watercourses where government regulations require that a border of 
woody vegetation is retained to protect the banks from erosion. Unfortunately, not 
all landowners comply. 

In contrast to their near neighbours, the Dempseys are experimenting with less 
intensive organic methods on their farm, to grow a greater variety of fruit and 


198 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


vegetables in a more sustainable and less environmentally damaging way than 
elsewhere in this region. They have retained belts of jungle along watercourses and 
across the farmed area to act as refuges and corridors for wildlife and are retaining 
the surrounding forest as an attraction for tourists interested in Viewing animal and 
plant life. They have built three comfortable thatched “cabanas” with beds and 
washing facilities and offer full board including three-course evening meals of Janet’s 
first-class home cooking. As with a number of other ventures in Belize, the intention 
is that the increasing interest in wildlife tourism will help produce a revenue from the 
forest without destroying it. 

Janet and Bernard kindly offered the expedition special rates in return for helping 
them to find out which butterflies and moths occur on their property and the impact 
and benefits of their land management methods. To do this we operated four low 
bulk, high volume actinic light traps simultaneously from before dusk till after dawn 
on a total of nine nights at Tamandua. Two of the light traps were set up within the 
forest and two on the edge of the orchards, by wildlife corridors, to compare and 
contrast the catches. Figure | shows one of these traps, which were operated from 


Fig. 1. Actinic trap. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 199 


12V car batteries recharged after every three nights of use. The light traps were 
supplemented by four bait traps (Fig. 2) operated day and night throughout our time 
at Tamandua, two in the forest and two by the wildlife corridors, attracting both 
butterflies and moths. In addition, hand-netting of butterflies in both habitats was 
carried out on several days. Occasionally, it was possible to run a blended 160 W 
mercury vapour bulb in front of a sheet to supplement the insects recorded by other 
means. 

The results of our work will be presented in subsequent articles, once the 
specimens have been identified and the data analysed. 

A variety of other wildlife was also recorded. GC made a small collection of 
dragonflies (Odonata) and AS studied the behaviour of the Ithomiid butterflies. 
Mammals seen included the four-eyed possum P. possum, coati Nasua narica and 
kinkajou Potos flavus. Snakes included the fer-de-lance Bothrops asper, spotted rat- 
snake Spilotes pullatus mexicanus and the black water-snake Tretanorhinus 
nigroluteus. A large number of birds were seen, including the keel-billed toucan 
Ramphastos sulfuratus, collared aracari Pteroglossus torquatus and mealy parrots 
Amazona farinosa guatemalae. Whip-scorpions (amblypygids) and bats were 
observed in a cave in the limestone outcrops above the farm. 


Fig. 2. Bait trap. 


200 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


We were able to assist the members of another expedition from Britain by loaning 
them our light-traps and bait-traps when we departed for the UK so that one of their 
number, Philip Gould, an AES member of some years, could collect moths over a 
four-week period after we had left. Philip was the entomological member of the Five 
Blues expedition, a four-person private expedition of recent graduates from 
Southampton University who also studied the birds and bats. 

It will be fascinating and necessary to return to Tamandua to collect at other times 
of the year, to extend the coverage of the Lepidoptera at this interesting site. 

Also with a view to setting up further expeditions, PW stayed on in Belize for two 
weeks after GC and AS returned to the UK with the specimens collected at 
Tamandua. During this time contacts were developed and logistics explored at three 
potential bases for subsequent BENHS expeditions. These are as follows. 

(i) The Programme for Belize Research Centre in the Rio Bravo Special 
Conservation Area in the north of Belize, near Blue Creek Village. This offers the 
opportunity to investigate a variety of forest types in a lower rainfall area, with on- 
site accommodation, catering and other facilities supplied. The Centre is visited by a 
range of other people with natural history interests and we could assist with 
demonstrations of light-trapping and slide presentations on the interest and value of 
Lepidoptera and other invertebrates. During this visit an impromptu display of 
mercury vapour light-trapping was provided for a visiting group of wildlife 
enthusiasts from the USA. 

(ii) The Fallen Stones Butterfly Ranch near the Mayan ruins of Lubaantun in the 
south of Belize. The Ranch is concerned with the captive breeding of various species 
of butterfly for exhibition in the butterfly houses of Europe, where they act as 
ambassadors to raise awareness and interest in tropical Lepidoptera and their 
threatened habitats. The Ranch provides employment and interest for local people 
and is also involved in conserving and creating butterfly-rich habitat and providing 
facilities for tourists to come and visit. 

(iii) The Seven Hills area of coastal mangrove swamp and forest, 20 minutes by 
boat from Punta Gorda in the south. This area is being investigated as a potential 
nature reserve and the various zones of vegetation are already being mapped and 
studied. Any useful data on the Lepidoptera and other invertebrates will be greatly 
welcomed. The Belize Centre for Environmental Studies (BCES) arranged my visit, 
which was hosted by John Spang, Tanya Russ and family who own part of the area 
and provided generous hospitality, accommodation and the use of a generator. The 
BCES already organize events for local communities, including schoolchildren, and 
would be delighted to have participation from the BENHS. 

As at Tamandua, all three of the above bases were extremely keen to host BENHS 
expeditions in appreciation of the useful survey results we can produce, and all 
offered very favourable rates to encourage us. Light traps were operated on all nights 
at each base to demonstrate the techniques and provide some data as a result of these 
initial visits. 

It is clear from this first expedition to Belize, and the contacts made, that the 
country has a great deal to offer the entomologist and that the results of 
entomological survey work will be useful in helping to develop effective conservation 
measures to the benefit of people and wildlife. It is also worth mentioning that at the 
time of this visit the national postage stamps were featuring a range of Belizean 
insects from several orders, which must surely be helpful in drawing attention to the 
diversity of the local invertebrates. On the negative side, Malaysian forestry 
companies have recently obtained licences for logging some of the remaining climax 
rainforest in the south of the country. This is causing great concern among the 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 201 


Belizean conservation non-government organizations and the local Mayan commu- 
nities who are fearful of the effects the logging may have on the environment, the 
roads, the water supplies and the local wildlife, particularly in view of the poor track 
record of these companies elsewhere in the world. In addition, we saw the forests in 


Fig. 3. G. Collins and A. Spalding at Tamandua. 


Fig. 4. P. Waring securing a Saturniid. 


202 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Fig. 5. Cabin at Tamandua. 


the north of Belize being cleared for agriculture right up to the boundaries of the 
areas owned and protected by Programme for Belize. There can be no stronger 
testimony to the value of the work of Programme for Belize. 

Our expedition was successful in its aims and also extremely enjoyable, without 
any illness or mishaps. It is hoped that further expeditions can be planned. The 
current proposal is for visits of two weeks duration, taking in two of the above bases; 
the Society to assist with administration and entomological equipment. Participating 
members would need to find the costs of their air fares, insurance and basic 
subsistence. Members who would like to be considered for an expedition in 1997 are 
invited to advise the Field Meetings Secretary, Dr Paul Waring, 1366 Lincoln Road, 
Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6LS. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


We would also like to thank: 

Mr and Mrs Collins for allowing us to use their home in Croydon as a meeting-up 
point and base from which to launch the expedition; 

Tom Hughes, of the former Entech Services, and Bob George, of Marris House 
Nets, for making up the light-trapping and bait-trapping equipment specially for the 
expedition; 

Rex Johnson for obtaining the blended m.v. bulbs; 

Janet and Bernard Dempsey of ‘““‘Tamandua’’, St Margarets, for hosting the major 
part of the expedition and providing excellent food, accommodation and company, 
for obtaining four 12V car batteries on our behalf and for the detailed 
correspondence involving in setting up the expedition; 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 203 


Bart Romero and his staff at the Rio Bravo Research Station of Programme for 
Belize, and Audrey Wallace, Senior Project Co-ordinator at the Belize City 
headquarters for demonstrating the facilities available and the opportunities for 
expeditions to the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area; 

Charles Wright, Will Hayman and Will Mahwe of the Belize Centre for 
Environmental Studies for inviting us down to Punta Gorda and for arranging 
our visit to John Spang and family in the mangroves at Seven Hills; 

John, Nathaniel and Lyra Spang and Tanya Russ for their kind invitation to the 
expedition and their hospitality in looking after us at Seven Hills; 

Ray and Elsie Harberd for their welcome and accommodation at Fallen Stones 
Butterfly Ranch and Agapita Requena for guiding us through the climax rainforest 
there; 

Jan Meerman, Charles Wright and Ray Harberd for their advance information on 
the Lepidoptera of Belize, and Val Gwynn and Chris Lyal for advice on logistics; 

Valerie Giles of Programme for Belize for a most interesting discussion on bait- 
trapping for butterflies and moths; 

Lauren of KNL Products Int. for charging our 12 V batteries, without which our 
programme of light trapping would not have been possible; 

Thomas Sandoval for help with tree identifications; 

Martin Honey and the staff at the Natural History Museum, London, for help 
with postal boxes and access to the national Lepidoptera collections. 

The expedition was assisted by a grant from the BENHS towards the costs of some 
of the equipment, its transport, and of travel within Belize. 


BOOK REVIEWS 


Alien empire by Christopher O’Toole. BBC Books, 1995, 224pp, hardback, 
£17.99.—You have watched the television series, now read the book. Covering the 
same themes as the BBC series, the book looks at the diverse structure of insects, 
how they perceive their world, insect flight and walking, feeding strategies, 
camouflage and protection against would-be predators, mating and reproduction, 
social behaviour, and the relationship between insects and Man. Using the world’s 
insect fauna as examples, the book makes a good case for showing some respect to 
animals that most people regard as pests, or at best as animals of little consequence. 
Any human inventions, from chastity belts to microcomputers, are it seems already 
in use in the insect world. The book is illustrated throughout with colour 
photographs, which tend to be of some of the more spectacularly coloured species, 
rather than the small drab types that make up most of the world’s insect fauna. 
Disappointingly the book does not have an illustration of the frustrated Australian 
jewel beetles attempting to copulate with a certain design of beer bottle that triggers 
their mating instincts! 

The text is full of facts to show why the class Insecta has been so successful in 
occupying almost every conceivable habitat. It is also useful propaganda in favour of 
insects, showing their essential role in food chains, as pollinators, as recyclers of dead 
animals and plant material, and as predators and parasitoids of insects and other 
invertebrates that might damage cultivated plants. It will be interesting to see if this 
book, or more realistically the television series, does have any impact on the way the 
general public regards insects. 


ANDREW HALSTEAD 


204 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


Hymenopteres Sphecidae d’Europe Occidentale. Volume 1. Géeneralites—Crabroninae 
by J. Bitsch and J. Leclercq. Faune de France 79, 1993, 325 pp, 59 figures, 98 maps, A5, 
softcover, £55.—The sphecid subfamily Crabroninae contains a diverse assemblage of 
solitary wasps, ranging in size from very small to medium species (body length 
4-17mm). Some are entirely black, whereas others are black and yellow. They nest in 
burrows excavated in the soil or in dead wood and plant stems. Depending on the 
species of wasp, the cells are provisioned with paralysed Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera, 
Psocoptera, Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Diptera (as with the majority of species), 
Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. 

The crabronine wasps of the British Isles have been most recently described in 
detail by O. W. Richards in his 1980 Royal Entomological Society of London’s 
handbook (Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 6, Pt 3(b)), and by 
P. F. Yeo and S. A. Corbet’s handbook (Solitary wasps, Naturalists’ Handbooks 3, 
Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd, revised edition, 1994). The list of crabronines 
reported from the British Isles totals 45 species placed in 8 genera, compared to 88 
species in 9 genera in France. All species found in Britain and Ireland are included in 
this French monograph. 

The book has the usual sections that one would expect to find in a work of this 
kind: morphology, classification, phylogeny, biology and distribution, together with 
illustrated keys to all western European sphecid genera. There are keys and 
descriptions to each crabronine genus and subgenus, and separate keys to both sexes 
of all the species found in western Europe (not just France, though the work is 
obviously heavily biased towards that country). There are succinct notes for each 
species, including synonymies, literature references, detailed descriptions of each sex, 
information on the species’ biology and world distribution (with separate details of 
the French range). The species notes are further complemented with distribution 
maps for the 95 French Departments, including Corsica. The book concludes with a 
bibliography, two appendices (one on recent nomenclatorial changes, the other 
listing flowers visited by these wasps), and the index. 

This work has been written by the two leading authorities on Palaearctic 
Crabroninae. It is a book I can recommend to all hymenopterists, though the high 
price may be beyond the means of many amateurs. The obvious advantage over a 
handbook concerned with purely the British crabronines, is that it may be possible to 
identify species new to the British list, which, using a provincial key (such as the two 
listed above), would either not run to any species in that publication, or would lead 
to a misidentification based on a species already known from the British Isles. 


GEORGE ELSE 


ANNOUNCEMENT 


Fourth International Congress of Dipterology 1998.—The Fourth International 
Congress of Dipterology will be held in Oxford, UK, 6-13 September 1998. 
Chairman: Dr R. P. Lane, Department of Entomology, The Natural History 
Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK (fax: +44-171-938-8937; email: 
R.Lane@nhm.ac.uk). Secretary: Dr A. C. Pont, Hope Entomological Collections, 
University Museum, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK (fax: +44 1491 873749). 
To register your interest or for further information, please contact: Oxford 
International, ICD4, Summertown Pavilion, Middle Way, Oxford OX2 7LG, UK 
(fax: + 44-1865-511570; email: 101475.1765@compuserv.com). 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 205 


LETTER TO THE EDITOR 


Butterfly conservation, post-1925.—Alan Stubbs’ article on Butterfly Conservation 
in this journal serves admirably to highlight the striking lead taken by the society in 
butterfly conservation in the United Kingdom (Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 171-174), a 
most remarkable achievement for any conservation body, in fact better than many 
others who specifically target butterflies. 

Since Alan Stubbs widens the consideration of butterfly conservation by 
discussing the shortcomings of other entomological societies in influencing 
conservation, I feel obliged to comment that he has omitted mention of some of 
the rich days of butterfly conservation in the 50 years before Butterfly Conservation 
emerged as a force. 

He curiously glosses over these 50 years as if they did not contribute anything to 
the subject. To imply that conservation is only of recent origin is a serious omission. 
And to state that the three leading entomological societies made little headway in 
influencing conservation is to ignore the facts. 

A lot of foundation work on the ecology and conservation of butterflies was 
done since at least 1925 by many notable entomologists, including L. H. Newman 
and E. B. Ford. In fact it was on the 25th September 1925 that the Committee for 
the Protection of British Lepidoptera was set up under the aegis of Lord Rothschild, 
H. M. Edelsten, J. C. F. Fryer, N. D. Riley and W. G. Sheldon. We have just passed 
its 70th anniversary with hardly a hint of a mention. Credit must be given to all those 
members of at least a dozen committees which considered the increasingly threatened 
state of butterflies from these early years to the present (Feltwell, J. 1995. The 
conservation of butterflies in Britain, past and present). 

Some of this historic conservation work has been overlooked in more recent 
research. Not that the official conservation of butterflies as effected by the Nature 
Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy Council (for whom Alan Stubbs worked) 
has always been effective. It carries the spectre of extinctions and controversy over 
methods of conserving species and habitats. 

Alan Stubbs is right that the Royal Entomological Society of London ‘has tended 
to duck potentially controversial issues’, but they were heavily involved in 
conservation in the 1920s subsidizing their own nature reserve for the large blue. 
Lobbying government did not come easily to them, and their role in conservation 
cooled off significantly. 

The secrecy which surrounds the work of the Large Blue Committee, in the world 
of British butterfly conservation, does not help their scientific case when their main 
means of promulgating successes is via the media. It is fair enough having secret large 
blue sites where successful Swedish large blues emerge, but as for their annals, there 
is little accountability for this uni-directional and blinkered form of butterfly 
conservation. 

English Nature has honed down insect conservation (let alone butterfly 
conservation in the great world of insect biodiversity) to a few easily-marketed, 
eye-catching species to which funds can be directed. But then what is new; have we 
made progress? Lord Rothschild’s first meeting in 1925 to protect butterflies focused 
attention on seven threatened or extinct species, the large blue, the heath fritillary, 
the marsh fritillary, the black-veined white, wood white, large copper and the 
mazarine blue, rather more than the single species which is currently core-funded by 
English Nature in their Species Recovery Programme (the swallowtail was on the 
programme, but is not now, and both the high brown fritillary and the large copper 
receive 50% grants). 


206 BR. J, ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


An enthusiasm for a more habitat-based conservation strategy is always difficult to 
effect when faced with an endangered species which always needs special attention. 
However there have been people who have tried to have a habitat-based conservation 
strategy in the UK in the past, but their ideas have never prevailed. 

Overall, the track record of conserving butterflies in Britain has not been terribly 
successful, nothing that lepidopterists, statutory conservation bodies, ‘secret’ 
conservation societies or individuals can be very proud of. Great progress has been 
made since 1975 through Butterfly Conservation, but there were significant moves in 
the conservation process for the 50 years before. That most conservation bodies can 
come together and talk via Wildlife Link is to be applauded. 

As for conserving Britain’s butterflies, the theory can be easy—-and has been well 
spelt out over 70 years—but getting it right can be very confusing and controversial, 
with a lot of duplication of research.._JOHN FELTWELL, ‘Marlham’, Henley’s Down, 
Battle, East Sussex TN33 9BN. 


A response to the letter by John Feltwell.._My note was clearly addressing the era 
of which Butterfly Conservation has been a part, and with a concern that the various 
societies should take a constructive view for the future, | am, therefore, pleased to see 
that John Feltwell endorses the positive role Butterfly Conservation has played. 

It is disappointing that John has been so negative in much of his letter, with 
aspersions liberally cast. As a historian he must surely be aware of the pitfalls of 
injecting bias and failing to balance the facts. 

| am aware of the historical context and the lessons to be learnt, one of which is 
that success in preventing decline in butterflies and other invertebrates takes far more 
detailed knowledge of species ecology than was earlier realized. More broadly, the 
historic perspective includes the rapid land-use changes since the Second World War 
and the limited resources for invertebrate conservation. A further historic lesson is 
that whilst there have been plenty of moaners about the lack of action to halt the 
decline in butterflies and other insects, relatively few entomologists made a personal 
commitment to take constructive action themselves. Let’s be positive and recognize 
that a great deal has been achieved in recent years and that there has been a 
considerable turn-round in the willingness to be constructive within the agencies, 
many of the societies and the entomological community as a whole—and everyone is 
on a learning curve. 

Some of John’s statements, direct and implied, are patently untrue if applied to 
the agencies. For instance, the criticism that species conservation has become 
predominant over habitat conservation, and that past concerns for habitat 
conservation have not prevailed, flies in the face of reality. The predominant effort 
over the last 20 years has been habitat-based. This is the only way of catering for 
30000 species of invertebrates and most of the conservation network is site-based, 
including site management. 

It is entirely healthy that organizations, particularly government ones, should be 
held accountable for their policies and practice. In NC I was Deputy Head of 
Geology and Physiography with no locus in entomology; in 1974 I joined the Chief 
Scientist's Team of NCC with the remit to develop an invertebrate conservation 
strategy. | am happy to be held accountable for matters that were urfder my control. 
Regrettably, the nature of John’s letter risks cultivating myths about the agencies 
that will not serve future historians.ALAN STUBBS, I81 Broadway, Peterborough 
PEI! 4DS. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 207 


1995 ANNUAL EXHIBITION 
Imperial College, London SW7—28 October 1995 


The following account of exhibits has been compiled by R. D. G. Barrington 
(British butterflies), B. Elliott (British Macrolepidoptera), J. M. Chalmers-Hunt 
(British Microlepidoptera), B. Goater (Foreign Lepidoptera), P. J. Chandler 
(Diptera), P. J. Hodge (Coleoptera and Hemiptera), A. J. Halstead (Hymenoptera 
and other orders), and R. Dyke (illustrations). The photographs for the two colour 
plates were taken by D. E. Wilson and the cost of printing these plates was met by a 
grant from the Hammond Memorial Fund. 


BRITISH BUTTERFLIES 


BARRINGTON, R. D. G.—(1) Series of Maniola jurtina L. ssp. cassiteridum Graves 
and Pararge aegeria L. ssp. insula How. from the Isles of Scilly, vii.1995. The M. 
jurtina were very variable, some having extensive upperside fulvous in both sexes and 
with the pattern of the underside hindwings sharply defined and with a “grainy” 
effect—the described characteristics of this subspecies. However, other examples 
were little different from mainland insects. Its status as a genuine subspecies has been 
questioned. The P. aegeria were more consistent, with the upperside pale spots often 
very orange (as in the European race) and with extensive pale markings at the base of 
the forewings on the underside. This seems to be a distinct subspecies. Both species 
were found commonly on several islands, with aegeria occupying more open, and less 
shaded, habitats than on the mainland. Two female examples of jurtina ab. fracta 
Zweiglt from St Mary’s Island. 

(2) Three female and one male Pieris napi L. showing homoeosis. This consisted of 
streaks of underside hindwing coloration reproduced on the underside on one or 
both forewings. They were reared in an F, brood of 150 adults from an Oxford 
female showing ab. fasciata Kautz. About 15% of the brood showed homoeosis of 
this kind. Pairings were taken between type females and homoeotic males. Large 
numbers of eggs were laid but survival of eggs and larvae was very poor and an F, 
of only 21 adults was achieved. This included 3 males with minor homoeosis. 
Homoeosis would appear to be an inherited form with a significant weakening effect. 

(3) An extreme male example of Pyronia tithonus L. ab. multiocellata Ober. from 
Devon, vili.1995 (Plate III, Fig. 6). This had two very large, pupilled, extra forewing 
spots and four spots on the upperside of each hindwing. From the same location a 
male ab. suwbalbida Verity with dirty cream replacing the usual fulvous coloration. 
A female M. jurtina from Dorset, vii.1995, showing brown streaks of homoeosis 
on the underside of the right hindwing. A heavily marked Aglais urticae L. ab. 
pseudoconnexa Cab. bred from Gloucestershire larvae. A female Lysandra coridon 
Poda ab. discreta Coury. with all forewing spots pushed outwards to touch the 
lunules. Two pairs of Lycaena phlaeas L. ab. extensa Tutt showing inward streaking 
of the forewing spots, two on the upperside and two on the underside (in each case 
the opposing surface showed typical spotting) from a large third brood in Dorset, 
1x.1995. Also a female ab. obsoleta Tutt with black hindwings. 

(4) Two pairs of Pararge aegeria L. ab. cockaynei Goodson bred F, from typical 
Wiltshire stock in the spring of 1995. These emerged from larvae which completed 
their development unusually early, as is always the case with this environmental 
aberration. 

COLLINS, G. A.—A female Hipparchia semele L. ab. monocellata Lempke and a 
female with an extra spot below the lower forewing eyespot. A pretty male Lysandra 


208 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


coridon Poda ab. margino-fowleri South and a female ab. punctata B. & L., 
transitional to fow/eri. All Dorset, vii.1995. Pyrgus malvae L. ab. taras Bergstr. from 
the Sussex Coast, v.1995. 

DENNIS, R. C.—Several male Lysandra coridon Poda with the blue upperside 
scaling mixed in with darker scales, giving a curious, rough appearance. These 
examples were fresh (and one incorporated ab. fow/eri South). Probably this 
coloration was due to the effect of the heat wave during the period of pupation. A 
bred male Quercusia quercus L. with uneven distribution of purple scaling, probably 
a scale defect. Three pairs of Pararge aegeria L. ab. saturatior Crombrugghe and an 
extreme male of the form, all taken by Reg Griffiths in the third brood during the 
1970s and 80s. 

GARDNER, A.—Aglais urticae L. ab. semiichneusoides Pronin, taken 16.viii.1995, 
Charlecote. 

HARMER, A. S.—Three very fine and extreme examples of Aphantopus hyperantus 
L. ab. lanceolata Shipp, taken in a restricted location in Sussex, 13—14.vii.1995 (Plate 
III, Fig. 7). Eggs have been obtained. 

HART, C.—A melanic example of Polygonia c-album L. approaching ab. suffusa 
Frohawk, taken in the exhibitor’s garden at Buckland, Reigate, Surrey on 16.vii.1995. 

JONES, A. M.—(1) Two interesting breeding experiments with analagous 
aberrations in two Lycaenids. Aricia agestis ab. pallidior Oberthur has the normal 
orange lunules replaced by yellowish coloration. The F, generation from a female 
example (taken 27.viii.1994) contained only typical examples. The F,, which emerged 
in xi/x11.1994, contained 48 specimens of pallidior (23% of the brood). Breeding from 
a female Strymonidia w-album L. (which emerged from wild-collected ova) with the 
hindwing orange bands replaced with yellow yielded similar results—a typical F, and 
exactly 25% of the F, being aberrant (these examples also showed a dark, slatey 
ground colour). Both aberrations are clearly recessive. 

(2) A bred female Quercusia quercus L. ab. obsoleta Tutt with virtually no purple 
on the upperside, and a good, bred male example of ab. /atefasciata Coury. having 
strong white bands on the underside hindwings and darkly suffused forewings. 

(3) An unusual aberration of Aphantopus hyperantus L. with no rings on the 
underside forewings but with a light ochre suffusion. A bilateral gynandromorph of 
Argynnis paphia L. (left side male) which was captured a week after it was originally 
seen. It appeared not to have suffered great damage in the intervening period. A 
bilateral gynandromorph of Pyronia tithonus L. (left side male) bred in a brood of 
seven specimens from a small spotted female (Plate III, Fig. 5). There are very few 
recorded gynandromorphs in this species and at least one of these has been shown to 
be a fake. A pair of Eurodryas aurinia Rott. ab. virgata Tutt bred in the F,; generation 
from virgata parents. This is a multifactorial aberration. 

KENDRICK, R. C.—An example of Argynnis lathonia L. found dead in a pitfall 
trap set on 1.1x.1995 and checked on 16.1x.1995 at Minsmere Nature Reserve, 
Westleton, Suffolk. At least three other examples of the species were seen in Suffolk 
in vill.1995 (Scots Hall Cottages, Minsmere, 6.vili; Holbrook, Shotley, 12.viii and 
Bradfield Woods Nature Reserve, Felsham, 21.vili) and one other in September 
(Westwood Marshes, Walberswick, 10.x). 

KNILL-JONES, S. A.—A specimen of the Phalanta phalantha Drury (the leopard 
butterfly) captured at Spinfish, Freshwater, Isle of Wight on 29.vi.1995. Probably an 
escape from Butterfly World, Wootton, about 14 miles away. 

MEREDITH, S.—Photographs of Thecla betulae L. from, Noar Hill Nature Reserve, 
Hants in vili/ix 1995; 6-10 adults may usually be seen at this location in a day of 
searching, and occasionally males may be seen feeding from hemp agrimony. 


Ss ah 
: _ =a 
ne ee So el edo 
; wa [ : nae ‘ 4 ae ; 


t 
va a Poet aie 
bad >| 


a ’ iy) “i an i 4 ; ie 
ot | ol Maw, VL icibh ay Atal WW, 


ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1995 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 209 


However in 1995 50 adults were seen on 14.viii (all but one on hemp agrimony and 
all but 4 or 5 were male). On average, from 7.viii to 21.ix, up to 30 adults could be 
seen per day. The reason for the high numbers of adults of this normally secretive 
species being seen feeding at flowers might be because the honeydew high up on oak 
and ash trees dried up in the heat of this exceptional summer, or perhaps because 
aphid numbers were low due to heavy wasp predation. 

PAYNE, J. H.—A photograph of a strong example of Coenonympha pamphilus 
ab. excessa Leeds (Northants, 1960) and an extreme form of Cynthia cardui L. ab. 
rogeri Meilhan, with very dark hindwings (Plate III, Fig. 8). This striking aberration 
emerged from a temperature-shocked pupa. 

PORTER, J.—Selected specimens of races of Pieris napi L. from southern England, 
north Wales, central Scotland and western Ireland. One female from the single- 
brooded Scottish form was quite yellow and two female specimens of the Spring 
brood from western Ireland were very dusky. The English and Irish races of Leptidea 
sinapis L. were compared. The Irish race (ssp. juvernica Williams) is strongly 
coloured on the underside of the hindwings. An extreme Pyrgus malvae L. ab. taras 
Bergstr. from East Sussex, 21.v.1995. A fine Coenonympha pamphilus L. ab. caeca 
Oberthur from Fanore, Co. Clare, 5.vi.1995 and a female Argynnis aglaja L. bred 
from a Fanore larva which showed the dusky markings of ssp. scotica Watkins. A 
male Anthocharis cardamines L. ab. parvipuncta Turci, having the discal spot almost 
absent, from Downside, Surrey, 2.v.1995. 

REVELS, R. C.—(1) Three bred generations from a wild female Po/yommatus 
icarus Rott. taken in viii.1994. This showed ab. discoelongata B. & L. on the 
forewings but had typical hindwing spotting. The F, of about 50 insects contained 10 
examples of discoleongata, mainly affecting the forewings. Several of these were 
paired together. An F, of about 250 adults emerged in vii.1995. 15 were good ab. 
radiata Coury. and 40 were of the transitional form, ab. discoelongata. The 
remainder were typical. Ab. radiata adults were paired together. The F; of 243 adults 
emerged in vili/ix.1995. This contained about 100 radiata, some being fine examples 
with streaked spotting on all wings. Most of the remainder were discoelongata with 
only 14 typical insects. Four of the radiata adults were also ab. costaextrema, one 
male was ab. antialba B. & L. and several combined radiata with ab. confluens B. & 
L. (Plate III, Fig. 2). Discoelongata/radiata is a multifactorial form. 


PLATE III. ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1995 

1: Polyommatus icarus ab. radiata, and ab. basielongata, bred, 1995, 
L. D. Young. 2: Polyommatus icarus, ab. confluens and ab. radiata, 
bred, 1995, R. C. Revels. 3: Aricia agestis ab. glomerata, North- 
ants, viil.1995, P. Tebbutt. 4: Pyronia tithonus ab. lugens, bred, 
1995, R. C. Revels. 5: Pyronia tithonus gynandromorph, bred, 
1995, A. M. Jones. 6: Pyronia tithonus ab. multiocellata, Devon, 
vill.1995, R. D. G. Barrington. 7: Aphantopus hyperantus ab. 
lanceolata, Sussex, 13—14.vii.1995, A. S. Harmer. 8: Cynthia cardui 
ab. rogeri, bred, 1995, temperature shock, J. H. Payne. 9: Apatura 
iris ab. lugenda, Northants, 14.vii.1995, D. Stokes. 10: Chrysopilus 
erythrophthalmus, Lanark, 15.vii.1995, P. J. Chandler. 11: Eristalis 
cryptarum, male, Dartmoor, 13.vili.1995, M. J. Parker. 12: Eristalis 
cryptarum, female, Dartmoor, 20.vili.1995, M. J. Parker. 


210 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


(2) A brood of Pyronia tithonus L. ab. lugens Oberthur from a strain that has been 
maintained for several years. It has been shown to be a fully dominant form. Some of 
these were extreme examples of this very rare aberration including a male with the 
forewing dark borders extending across the apical spot (which lacked the pupil). The 
remaining fulvous of the forewings was suffused and the upperside hindwings lacked 
fulvous coloration altogether (Plate III, Fig 4). 

SOFTLY, R. A.—The hairstreak Deudorix anatalus Hopffer reared from ““Kenyan 
beans” purchased from a Hampstead corner shop on 15.viii.1995. Larva fed on 
packeted frozen runner beans, pupated 26.vii and emerged 8.1x. 

STANDING, P. A.—Aberrant examples of Melitaea cinxia L. bred in 1995 from 
stock that has been inbred for 4 years. These included ab. wittei Geest and others 
lacking some markings from the underside of the hindwings. 

STOKES, D.—A beautiful male example of Apatura iris L. ab. lugenda Cabeau, 
captured in Northants on 14.vii.1995 (Plate III, Fig. 9). This rare insect had the white 
bands of the forewings almost entirely absent and was in perfect condition. An 
accompanying photograph showed the equally extreme underside. 

TEBBUTT, P.—An Aphantopus hyperantus L. underside with the yellow rings 
replaced by red. Other markings were normal. A male Polygonia c-album L. ab. 
suffusa Frohawk and a female Limenitis camilla L. ab. obliterae Robson & Gardner 
(these two were taken within 30 yards of each other). 

An interesting series of Aricia agestis D. & S. ab. glomerata Tutt. (Plate III, Fig. 3). 
One example was captured at this locality in 1994. A population of 150-200 adults in 
vili.1995 produced 15 aberrations. Two weeks later, in a population of 50 adults, a 
further 5 aberrations were seen. Most examples seen were male. In some of these 
aberrations some of the spots were missing—a character which appears to be part of 
the expression of glomerata. This is a very rare aberration in this species. 

Two bred gynandromorphs of Pieris rapae L. From 50 pupae one emerged in a 
late third brood (1x.1994). This had a few small areas of male scaling on the left side 
of an otherwise female insect. A bilateral gynandromorph emerged from the same 
stock in the spring of 1995. 

Various nymphalid aberrations reared from temperature-shocked pupae, including 
Vanessa atalanta L. ab. klymene Fischer (the only aberration from over 70 treated 
pupae), Cynthia cardui L. abs. varini Meilhan and emielymi Verity, Aglais urticae L. 
ab. lucia Derenne, Polygonia c-album L. ab. obscura Closs and Inachis io L. ab. semi- 
ocellata Frohawk and belisaria Oberthur. 

Tusss, R. S.—The results of breeding from Melanargia galathea L. ab. craskei 
Tubbs, 1974-1978. In this aberration the central black costal blotch of the forewings 
is extended outwards to join the sub-apical bar. The original live females were given 
to the exhibitor by R. M. Craske, for whom the form was named. The aberration 
occurred in the F, generation in approximately equal numbers to type, suggesting 
that it is a dominant form. More extreme examples occurred in the F, generation 
which were probably homozygotes. 

WINOKUR, L.—A female Pararge aegeria L. ssp. oblita Harrison showing homoeosis. 
This emerged on 2.x.1995 from females taken at Glen Lonan, east of Oban, Argyll 
(18—25.viii.1993). This shows an area of patterning from the underside of the left 
hindwing (in spaces 2 and 3) reproduced on the underside of the left.forewing. 

YOUNG, L. D.—The results of crossing the exhibitor’s well-known strain of 
Polyommatus icarus Rott. abs. basielongata B. & L. + discoelongata B. & L. with the 
ab. radiata Coury. strain bred by R. C. Revels. Amongst the progeny were some fine 
specimens combining radiata on all wings with basie/ongata (Plate III, Fig. 1). An 
unusual male showed ab. anticaeca B. & L. and postradiata Courv. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 211 
BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA 


BRITTON, M. R.—A specimen of Eulithis testata (L.) taken 17.vii.1995 at 
Skipwith Common showing a complete absence of hindwings. 

BROTHERIDGE, D. J.—An exhibit of a dark almost unicolorous Charanyca 
trigrammica (Hufn.). A dark broad-winged form of Lacanobia oleracea (L.), a yellow 
form of Miltochrista miniata (Forst.) and an Agrius convolvuli (L.) from near 
Swindon, Wilts. 

BROWN, D. C. G.—From Malham Tarn, Yorks., four specimens of the 
Continental form of Eurois occulta (L.) taken 5.vili.1995. Four bred specimens of 
Xylena exsoleta (L.) from a Scottish female taken iv.1995. Also a selection of 
migrants caught on the Lizard, Cornwall. 8-18.x.1995, consisting of: Chrysodeixis 
acuta (Walker) (Plate IV, Fig. 8), Spodoptera cilium (Gueneé) (Plate IV, Fig. 1), 
Spodoptera exigua (Hibn.), Utetheisa pulchella (L.), Trichoplusia ni (Hibn.), 
Eublemma parva (Hiibn.) and ostrina (Hiibn.), Rhodometra sacraria (L.) and 
Orthonama obstipata (F.). 

CLANCY, S. P—An exhibit consisting of interesting migrant species and unusual 
aberrations from the Dungeness area of Kent. The migrants were: Acherontia atropos 
(L.) 10.x.1995, Nola aerugula (Hiibn.) 12.vu.1995, Coscinia cribraria arenaria 
(Lempke) 26.vii.1995, Eublemma parva (Hibn.) 28.vi.1995 and the first British 
record of Herminia plumigeralis ({[D. & S.]), Greatstone, Kent, 12.x.1995 (Plate IV, 
Fig. 6). The aberrations consisted of /daea biselata (Hufn.) a suffused example 
from Ham Street, Kent, Mimas tiliae ab. brunnea Tutt from Folkestone, Kent, 
Spilosoma lutea (Hufn.), 11.vii.1995, Hadena albimacula (Borkh.) with reduced white 
scaling (Plate IV, Fig. 7), Eupithecia phoeneciata (Ramb.) a banded specimen from 
Greatstone, Kent, and an Orthosia gothica (L.) with asymmetrical scaling (Plate IV, 
Fig. 3). 

Also a separate exhibit showed an example of Trichoplusia vittata (Wall.) taken at 
Rye Harbour, E. Sussex by D. Funnell on 31.vii.1995 (Plate IV, Fig, 11) along with a 
specimen for comparison from the Natural History Museum, Kensington (Plate IV, 
Fig.) 12): 

CLANCY, S. P., HONEY, M. R. AND SKINNER, B. F.—For comparison, with T. 
vittata (Wall.), mentioned above, specimens of Trichoplusia albostriata (Br. & Grey) 
from Asia and T. oxygramma (Geyer) from America, its close relatives. Also to 
accompany Sean Clancy’s exhibit of Herminea plumigeralis, four other European 
hermiinid species. Also a drawer of historic Eublemma parva (Hiibn.) and its close 
allies from the national collection. Finally in this series of exhibits, a drawer of 
European Cucullia also from the national collection along with a specimen taken at 
Portland, Dorset by Bernard Skinner recently and tentatively identified as a possible 
Cucullia umbratica (L.). 

CLARKE, DR J.—An exhibit of larvae of Anarta cordigera (Thunb.) The following 
migrants: Nola aerugula (Hiibn.) (2) from Winterton Dunes, Norfolk 11.vui.1995; 
Cyclophora puppillaria (Hiibn.), 16.x.1995, to m.v., East Grinstead, West Sussex; 
Clostera anachoreta ({D. & S.]) 5.vii.1995, Folkestone, and Utetheisa pulchella (L.), 
19.x.1995, Prawle Point, South Devon. The rest of the exhibit consisted of: Sabra 
harpagula (Esp.) Tintern; Rheumaptera hastata (L.) Shaftesbury, Dorset; Coenocalpe 
lapidata (Hiibn.); Semiothisa carbonaria (Clerck), Newtonmore, flying in good 
numbers 28.v.1995; Phragmatobia fuliginosa (L.), an abnormally pale example from 
Holme next the Sea, Norfolk; Electrophaes corylata (Thunb.) ab. albocrenata Curtis, 
from Newtonmore; Xy/ena vetusta (Htibn.) and exsoleta (L.) both species at sugar, 
Rannoch; Autographa jota (L.) ab. percontationis Ochs.; Apamea lithoxylea ({D. & 


212 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


S.]), a dwarf example; Agrotis exclamationis (L.) an asymmetrical example from East 
Grinstead and an ab. p/aga Tutt from Lingfield, Surrey; Agrotis puta (Hiibn.), a 
mixed gynandromorph; Spilosoma lubricipeda (L.) from Tintern, Wye Valley; one 
specimen of Chilodes maritimus (Tausch.), with conjoined stigmata from Holme next 
the sea, along with Cosmia trapezina (L.) from the same locality; two pale examples 
plus typical ones of Agrotis vestigialis (Hufn.) were shown from Winterton Dunes 
plus a similar exhibit of unicolorous Euxoa tritici (L.). Finally, a small series of 
Horisme vitalbata ({D. & S.]) demonstrated a possible autosomal recessive trait. 

COLLINS, G. A.—An exhibit consisting of Lepidoptera from Co. Clare, Eire, 
during a visit in vi.1995: Odontognophos dumetata hibernica Forder, Semiothisa 
clathrata hugginsi (Baynes), Hadena caesia mananii (Gregs.) Hadena_ perplexa 
capsophila (Dup.) Photedes captiuncula tincta (Kane) and Zygaena_ purpuralis 
sabulosa Trem. 

COLENUTT, S.—An exhibit of Euplagia quadripunctaria (Poda) ab. lutescens 
(Stdgr), 11.vii.1995 and Sti/bia anomala (Haw.) 19.ix.1994, both from Chale Green, 
Isle of White. 

Cook, R. R.—An exhibit of moths from several visits to Scotland: Coenocalpe 
lapidata (Hiibn.) from Trinafour, and Xy/ena vetusta (Hiibn.) and exsoleta (Linn.), 
Rannoch, Perthshire; from Inverness-shire, specimens of Enargia paleacea (Esp.), 
Aporophila lueneburgensis (Frey.), Celaena leucostigma scotica Cock. and haworthii 
(Curtis), Eugnorisma depuncta (L.), Stilbia anomala (Haw.), Chloroclysta citrata (L.) 
and Euxoa nigricans (L.). From other localities: Eupithecia egenaria (H.-S.), from 
Tintern, Wye Valley; Euphia biangulata (Haw.), from Bere Forest, Dorset; Tyta 
luctuosa ({D. & S.]) from Portland, Dorset, 5.viii.1995. Finally, jointly with P. R. 
Cook, Archearias notha (Htibn.) from Merrytown Heath, Dorset, iv.1995. 

CORLEY, M. F. V.—Some unusual second broods of the following species: 
Eupithecia pygmaeata (Hiibn.), Gozzards Ford, Abingdon, 31.vi1.1995; Lobophora 
halterata (Hufn.) Gozzards Ford, 31.vii.1995 and Laspeyria flexula ({D. & S.]), 
Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, 31.viii.1995. 

CRONIN, A. R.—A specimen of Eupithecia phoeneciata (Rambur), to light, 
16.vili.1995, Portslade, Sussex. Also, two imagines of Panaxia dominula (L.) ab. 
bimacula Cockayne which were bred in 1995. 

DAVEY, P. AND STERLING, P.—Migrant or vagrant Lepidoptera taken in Dorset 
in 1995: Cyclophora puppillaria (Hibn.), Parkstone, 12.x, A. Bromby; Scopula 
nigropunctata (Goeze), Arne, 26.vii, B. Pickess; Hy/es gallii (Rott.), Chalbury, 20.vin, 
S. Amos; Pelosia muscerda (Hufn.), Woolgarston, 12.vii, D. Birt; Cryphia algae (F.), 
Weymouth, 10.viii, P. Sterling; Trachea atriplicis (L.), Christchurch, 31.vii, M. Jeffes; 
Spodoptera cilium (Guen.), West Bexington, 14.x, R. Eden; Heliothis viriplaca 
(Hufn.), Ashmore, 9.vii, P. Davey; Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esp.), West Bexington, 
10.x, R. Eden, and Hypena obsitalis (Hiibn.), Christchurch, 2.v, M. Jeffes. 

DICKERSON, B.—An unusual exhibit of a male Agrotis exclamationis (L.) in copula 
with a female Abrostola triplasia (L.), found in a moth trap at Old Fletton, 
Peterborough, 10.vi.1995. It was not possible to separate them without injuring 
them. 

Dosson, A. E.—An exhibit of Acasis viretata (Hiibn.), from Health End 
Farnham, Surrey, 31.vii.1995. A dark imago of Agrotis ripae (Htibn.)efrom Dawlish 
Warren, Devon. A Heliothis viriplaca (Hufn.), Maidscross Hill, Suffolk and a female 
specimen with increased black clouding on the hindwing bred from larvae obtained 
from a variety of plants in that area. Finally a single example of Parascotia 
fuliginaria (L.) in a Rothamstead light trap at Starcross, S. Devon, 14—-17.vii.1995, a 
first county record. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 213 


ELLIOTT, B.—An imago of Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esp.), bred from a larva in a 
bunch of flowers, 1.1994, Mansfield, Notts.; Spodoptera littoralis (Biosd.), bred from 
a number of larvae found in a consignment of plants from Israel in a heated 
greenhouse in Spalding, Lincs., xi.1994; Agrotis crassa (Htibn.), to m.v., St Mary’s, 
Isles of Scilly, 24.viii.1995; Eurois occulta (L.), to m.v., Allerthorpe Common, 
Yorks., one of two seen in this locality within days of each other; also, a bred series 
of Idaea sylvestraria (Hiibn.) from Strensall Common, Yorks. 

EMMET, A. M.—An aberrant example of Xanthorhoe fluctuata (L.) to m.v., 
Yealand Conyers, North Lanes., 26.v.1995. A Eupithecia species provisionally 
identified as insigniata (Hiibn.), taken at m.v., in the same place on 22.v.1995S. If it 
proves to be that species, then this will be an extension of its range in north-west 
England. Also a Pelosia muscerda (Hufn.), taken at m.v., at Saffron Walden, Essex 
on 1|1.viii.1995. This is assumed to be a migrant from the Continent and a first record 
for North Essex [VC 19]. 

EZARD, A. S.—The following migrants at Rudston East Yorks.: Catocala fraxini 
(L.) and Agrius convolvuli (L.), both to m.v. on 19.1x.1995; Heliothis peltigera ({D. & 
S.]), m.v., 13.x.1995; Eurois occulta (L.), m.v., 2 on 6.vili.1995, 1 on 12.viii.1995. 
Other records from E. Yorks.: at Rudston, Lithophane leautieri hesperica Bours.; at 
Bridlington, Eupithecia intricata arceuthata (Freyer) on 20.vi.1995 and 21.vi.1995 
(K. Barrow); Lomographa bimaculata (F.) to m.v., Northcliffe Wood, 16.vi.1995; 
also in the same wood, Dypterygia scabriuscula (L.) on 13.vi.1995. The following 
moths were taken on 1.vii.1995 on Crowle Moor: /daea muricata (Hufn.), Mythimna 
pudorina ({D. & S.]), Cybosia mesomella (L.), Dypterygia scabriuscula (L.) and 
Lygephila pastinum (Treits.). 

FOSTER, A. P.—Two examples of Photodes captiuncula ssp. expolita (Staint.) from 
Cowside, between Malham and Arncliffe, Mid-West Yorks. Also single examples of 
three immigrant noctuids from the Dorset coast: Mythimna vitellina (Hiibn.), to m.v., 
11.x.1995, Abbotsbury; Trigonophora flammea (Esp.), to m.v., 14.x.1995, Portland; 
Heliothis armigera (Hiibn.), to m.v., 14.x.1995, Portland. 

GARDNER, A.—Six bred examples of Trigonophora flammea (Esp.). Also, from the 
Burren, Co’s Clare and Galway: Zygaena purpuralis sabulosa Trem. (4), Semiothisa 
clathrata hugginsi (Baynes) (2), Photodes captiuncula tincta (Kane) (2), Setina 
irrorella (L.) (4), Odontognophos dumetata hibernica Forder. 

HALL, N.—A bred series of Conistra rubiginea ({D. & S.]) from Reading, Berks.; 
Eublemma parva (Hiibn.) and Spodoptera exigua (Hitibn.) from Portland, Dorset 
taken 15—16.x.1995. Also a dark specimen of Lithophane socia (Hufn.) from 
Sandford, Wareham, Dorset 22.ix.1995. 

HART, C.—An almost immaculate form of Spilosoma lutea (Hufn.) to light, 
Dawlish Warren, Devon, vi.1995. Also exhibited were an adult and a pupa of Agrius 
convolvuli (L.); the former came to m.y., at Buckland, Surrey and the latter was 
found as a larva at Bass Point, Lizard, Cornwall, 18.ix.1995. 

HAYWARD, R.—Some interesting species from the m.v. trap or bred from the 
garden, Slough, Bucks.: Aplocera efformata (Guen.), to m.v., 24.v.1995, with 
obsolete markings; Noctua fimbriata (Schreber), a possible ab. nigrescens Busse, with 
a typical specimen for comparison; Archanara sparganii (Esp.), to m.v., 29.vii.1995. 

HENWOOD, DR. B. P.—Two migrant species from Abbotskerswell, South Devon: 
Heliothis armigera (Hiibn.), 13.x.1995 and Cyclophora pupillaria (Hibn.), 19.x.1995. 

HiGccs, G. E.—Aberration of Abraxas grossulariata (L.) which was taken at light 
by M. Killeby, Stony Stratford, North Bucks., 12.vi.1995. 

JENKINS, A. E.—Eurois occulta (L.), taken at light Rannoch, Perthshire; 
Heterogenea asella ({D. & S.]) taken at Ham Street, Kent; Biston betularia (L.), an 


214 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


ab. taken at Loch Rannoch; Cosmorhoe ocellata (L.), an ab. taken at Chardstock, 
Devon (Plate IV, Fig. 16); Tetheella fluctuosa (Hiibn.), an ab. taken at Chiddingfold, 
West Sussex; Psodos coracina (Esp.), taken at Coire Chuirn, Inverness-shire. 

KENDRICK, R. C.—An interesting exhibit of Thaumetopoea*processionea (L.). 
This appears to be one of three records from the Landguard Bird Observatory, 
Felixstowe, Suffolk. The specimen exhibited was taken by Mr M. Marsh on 
4. viii.1995. Also exhibited was an example of Scopula rubiginata (Hufn.), to m.v., 
19.vii.1995, Woodbridge, Suffolk; an example of Eurois occulta (L.) at light, 
22.viii.1995, Minsmere Suffolk; an example of Euphyia biangulata (Haw.), to m.v., 
27.vi.1995, Ryton Wood, War. This specimen was taken by the Ryton Wood Moth 
Recording Group. 

KNILL-JONES, S. A.—An extensive exhibit of macrolepidoptera largely from 
Freshwater, Isle of Wight (unless otherwise stated). Dryobotodes eremita (F.), a dark 
black form, 11.x.1995, Cranmore; Archearias parthenias (L.), 8.1v.1995, Whitefield 
Woods, Ryde; Idaea biselata (Hufn.), 4.viii.1995; Schrankia taenialis (Htbn.), 25.vii 
and 3.viii.1995; Epirrhoe rivata (Hiibn.), 11.vii.1995; Hoplodrina ambigua ((D. & S.]) 
ab. taken 22.viii.1995; Ourapteryx sambucaria (L.), a late date 2.xi.1994, wingspan 
only 32mm; Colotois pennaria (L.), one light and one dark form; Mythimna pallens 
(L.), dwarf example, wingspan ony 23 mm; Opisthograptis luteolata (L.), an ab. with 
a white head: Tholera cespitis ([D. & S.]); Thera cupressata (Geyer), 20.x.1994 and 
13.x.1995: Stauropus fagi f. obscura (Rebel); a bred series of Rhodometra sacraria 
(L.), bred ix.1995; Euplagia quadripunctaria (Poda), 16 and 30.viii.1995; Heliothis 
armigera (Hiibn.), bred from a larva in imported tomatoes, 1.i1.1995; Hadena lepida 
(Esp.), a very pale form 8.v.1995; Trigonophora flammea (Esp.), 18.x.1995; Drepana 
cultraria (F.), Shalcombe Down, I.0.W.; Chilodes maritimus (Tausch.) ab. bipunctata 
(Haw.), 1.ix.1995; Mythimna unipuncta (Haw.), 27.xi.1994; Scoliopteryx  libatrix 
(L.), 5.iv.1995; Agrotis exclamationis (L.), unnamed ab., 2.vii.1995; Agrotis ipsilon 
(Hufn.), 2 unnamed abs, 24.xi and 13.xii.1995; Mythimna vitellina (Hiibn.), 6 and 
7.x.1995: Spilosoma lubricipeda (L.), 29.xi.1994; Hada nana (Hufn.), ab., 30.v.1995; 
Zygaena lonicerae (Schev.) ssp. latomarginata Tutt, from Malvern, Worcs., vii.1995; 
Orthosia opima (Hiibn.), 9.v.1995 and at Cranmore, I.o.W., 8.iv.1995; Ennomos 
fuscantaria (Haw.), a bred series emerged vii.1995; Conistra rubiginea ({D. & S.]), 
three bred from Cranmore, I.o.W., 1x.1995. 

Koay, A—An exhibit of moths from Co. Clare, v.1995: Odontognophos dumetata 
hibernica Forder, bred from larvae and Hadena caesia manani (Gregs.) with 
Eupithecia venosata plumbea Huggins from Doolin. Also, Thaumetopoea processionea 
(L.) and Eurois occulta (L.) from Sea Palling, Norfolk, 12.viii.1995; Archanara algae 
(Esp.) and sparganii (Esp.), bred from Ansty, East Sussex, 6.viii.1995; Cabera 
exanthemata (Scop.), ab. and a type specimen shown for comparison. Finally, 
Adscita globulariae (Hiibn.), to m.v., Tilshead, Wilts, 1.vii.1995. 

LANGMAID, Dr. J.—Eupithecia ultimaria (Boisd.) (Plate IV, Fig. 17), two taken at 
m.v. light; larvae found on 30.vii.1995 and two bred from Tamarix gallica, larvae 
found 4.viii.1995 and emerged late ix/early x.1995. Opisthographtis luteolata (L.) f. 
albescens Cockerell, taken at m.v., Thornton, Northumbs., 14.vi.1995; Cryphia algae 
(F.), a specimen to m.v., Southsea, Hants., 26.vii.1995 (Plate IV, Fig. 10). 

OweEN, D. F.—An exhibit demonstrating the rise and fall of melanism in Biston 
betularia (L.) to stimulate interest in this phenomenon and an appeal for recording 
information in 1996. 

McCormick, R.—Malacosoma castrensis (L.), examples from Axmouth, S. 
Devon where it was caught commonly at light on 31.vii.1995. Kent examples were 
shown for comparison. Lampropteryx suffumata ({D. & S.]), two extreme variations 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 215 


of this species from Feshiebridge Inverness-shire, late v.1995. Lampropteryx otregiata 
Metc., a bred specimen, Holne, Chase, Dartmoor, Devon. Thera obeliscata (Hiibn.), 
m.v., garden, Exmouth, South Devon, 31.vili.1995. Hydriomena ruberata (Freyer), 
bred specimens shown from larvae found at Trinafour, Perthshire, ix.1994. 
Eupithecia abietaria (Goeze), after specimens noted in a local collection captured 
in the mid-eighties, a follow-up resulted in a worn specimen from Bellever Forest on 
Dartmoor, 18.vii.1995. Hydrelia sylvata ({D. & S.]), examples from Dartmoor, 1995. 
Trichopteryx carpinata (Borkh.), bred from Feshiebridge, Inverness-shire, 1994. 
Semiothisa carbonaria (Clerck.), examples captured on Granish Moor, near 
Aviemore, 28.v.1995. Hyles galli (Rott.), taken at Prawle Point, South Devon, 
12.vili.1995. Agrotis ripae (Hiibn.), a well-marked specimen taken, unusually at 
Hartland Point, North Devon, 1.vii.1995. Anarta melanopa (Thunb.), seen 
commonly at Lecht, Aberdeenshire. Hadena confusa (Hufn.), two dark specimens, 
reminiscent of the Shetlands ab. obliterae Robson. Enargia paleacea (Esp.), examples 
from Budby Heath, Notts., taken at light, 19-22.vii.1995. Macdunnoughia confusa 
(Steph.), a specimen which laid infertile ova, from a light trap in Plymouth, 
10.vii.1995. Also an oversized Agrotis segetum ({D. & S.]) from Teignmouth, Devon, 
taken 8.x.1994, measuring 46mm across the wings, and in contrast a diminutive 
Agrotis ipsilon (Hufn.) from Prawle Point measuring only 34mm across the wings, 
taken 29.1x.1995. 

PHILLIPS, J. W.—Heliothis viriplaca (Hufn.), bred female from Maidscross Hill, 
Suffolk, 1995. Arctia villica ab. flavo-abdominalis Cock., bred from a larva found on 
Sinah Common, Hayling Island, Hants., 1993. Egira conspicillaris (L.), bred female 
from Kynaston Common, Herefordshire, 1994. Mythimna turca (L.), Richmond 
Park, Surrey, 1995. Cyclophora linearia (Hiibn.), bred female, Tintern, Mon., 1994. 
Elaphria venustula (Hiibn.), from Tugley Wood, Chiddingfold, Surrey, 1995. Senta 
flammea (Curtis), from Wicken Fen N.N.R., Cambs. Lithomoia solidaginis (Hiibn.), 
from Drumguish, Inverness-shire, 1995. Aporophyla lutulenta lunebergensis (Freyer), 
also from Drumguish, 1995. 

PICKLES, A. J. AND C.—Hadena caesia ssp. mananii (Gregs.), two specimens bred 
from the Isle of Skye. Also a long series of Hadena confusa (Hufn.) from a range of 
localities including Kent, Surrey, South and North Cornwall, North Devon, West 
Argyll, Skye and Unst (Shetland). It showed darker and more obscure forms to 
predominate in Shetland and North Devon. 

PLANT, C. —An exhibit of scarce immigrants recorded in the Bishop’s Stortford area 
in 1995: Eurois occulta (Linn.), from Parndon Wood Nature Reserve, 19.vili.1995, a 
much later date than others recorded and having the facies of a freshly emerged 
specimen; Trachea atriplicis (L.) 10.vili.1995, this is an extinct British breeding 
species, last recorded as having bred here in 1915, it is a common species in Europe; 
Macdunnoughia confusa (Steph.), 30.viii.1995, a westward spreading Palaearctic 
species which has started appearing in Britain since 1951. 

REID, J. W.—The following migrants were exhibited: Thaumetopoea processionea 
(L.), one male to light, Meldreth, Cambs., 13.viii.1995; Agrotis crassa, (Hiibn.), 
Chesterford Park, Saffron Walden, Essex, 13.viii.1995, a single female which laid a 
few ova from which a dozen or so larvae were feeding; Rhodometra sacraria (L.), one, 
13.x.1995, a buff coloured specimen possibly indicating that it had bred here. 

REVELL, R. J.—The following macrolepidoptera were exhibited, all from 
Cambridge, unless stated otherwise: Xanthorhoe fluctuata (L.), lacking a median 
fascia; Colostygia olivata ({D. & S.]) from Porlock, Som.; Apamea scolopacina (Esp.), 
26.vili.1995, (first county record); Protoschinia scutosa ({[D. & S.]), 2.viii.1995; 
Heliothis viriplaca (Hufn.), 2.viti.1995. 


216 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


SHARPE, S.—The following moths taken or found as larvae at Carrbridge, 
Inverness-shire, 1—6.iv.1995: Xylena vetusta (Hiibn.) and exsoleta (L.), Brachionycha 
nubeculosa (Hufn.), Dasypolia templi (Thunb.), Cryphia domestica (Hufn.), 
Phragmatobia fuliginosa ssp. borealis (Stdgr), Achlya flavicornis ssp. scotica Tutt, 
Ellopia fasciaria (L.) and Xanthorhoe fluctuata (L.). 

Sims, I.—An exhibit of the following moths taken at Medmenham, Bucks., unless 
otherwise stated: Catarhoe cuculata (Hufn.), m.v., Warberg, Bix, Oxon., 21.vii.1995; 
Discoloxia blomeri (Curt.), Homefield Wood, 10.vi.1995; Abraxas sylvata (Scop.), 
m.v., Homefield Wood, 7.vii.1995; Semiothisa liturata (Clerck), Bernwood Forest, 
Oxon., 23.v.1995: Deileptenia ribeata (Clerck), m.v., Homefield Wood, 7.vii.1995; 
Cucullia lychnitis (Rambur), larvae, vii.1994 and verbasci (L.), larvae, on 
Scrophularia sp., vi.1994; Xanthia aurago ({D. & S.]), to m.v., 25.1x.1994; Apamea 
sublustris (Esp.), to m.v., Homefield Wood, 10.vi.1995; Colocasia coryli (Hufn.), 
adults from Hambleden, larvae bred on Fagus, emerged 21.11.1992, also bred from 
Henley-Hill Wood, em. 8.iii.1989; Polychrysia moneta (F.), Rothamstead light trap, 
Chigwell Row, Essex, 25~-27.vi.1982; Lygephila pastinum (Treits.), m.v., Homefield 
Wood, 10.vi.1995; Hypena rostralis (L.), m.v., Knowl Hill, Berks, 1.v.1994. 

SKINNER, B. F.—A male Luperina dumerilii (Dup.), from the Lizard, Cornwall, 
7.1x.1983 (Plate IV, Fig. 2). Also the following aberrant examples of macro- 
lepidoptera taken or bred in 1995: Tetheella fluctuosa (Hiibn.) f. albilinea Cockayne, 
Loch Arkaig, Argyllshire, 26.vi.1995; melanistic Eilema deplana (Esp.), Windsor 
Forest, Berks., 28.vii.1995 (Plate IV, Fig. 4); a heavily banded form of Semiothisa 
liturata (Clerck), Windsor Forest, 28.vii.1995 (Plate IV, Fig. 13); a weakly marked 
Eupithecia pulchellata (Steph.), Loch Arkaig, 26.vi.1995; a pale Peribatodes 
rhomboidaria ({[D. & S.]), Sandwich, Kent, 12.vili.1995. Specimens of Entephria 
flavicinctata (Hiibn.), bred from larvae collected in Co. Antrim, N. Ireland, v.1995, 
together with examples of the paler ssp. flavicinctata (Hiibn.), from Yorks. and the 
darker ssp. ruficinctata (Guenée). 

On behalf of Lynn Hirst, a male Thaumetopoea processionea (L.), a male taken in 
her garden light trap at Sholden, Kent, 10.viii.1995. 

SKINNER, B. F. AND CLANCY, S.—A joint exhibit of Peribatodes manuelaria 
(H.-S.), from a female taken at Lydd, Kent, on 4.viii.1994 by K. Redshaw. They 
emerged both in 1994 and 1995. The display also included photographs of the larvae 
in different instars, the pupa and the living adult. 

SMITH, E. G. AND M. H.—An exhibit of some interesting macrolepidoptera from 
Wilts.: Meganola strigula ([D. & S.]), one to m.v., Great Wood, 12.vii.1994, rare 
in Wilts.; Meganola albula ({[D. & S.]), one to m.v., Bullen Hill Farm, VC 8, 
26.vii.1995, new Wilts. record. 

WARING, P.—News from some projects on British moths in 1995 in conjunction 
with JNCC, CCW, EN, SNH, Butterfly Conservation and BENHS. Eriopygodes 
imbecilla (F.), was investigated in its haunts in Wales, a project commissioned by the 
Countryside Council for Wales. It was found to be more widespread than previously 
thought. Coenocalpe lapidata (Hiibn.) was studied in its rushy haunts by a Scottish 
National Heritage project and an account given of its rearing in captivity. It was not 
thought to be much more widespread than previous records suggested. Siona lineata 
(Scop.): English Nature’s Species Recovery Programme worked upon athird locality 
for this moth which was found in 1995. Acosmetia caliginosa (Hiibn.) was also a 
subject of the recovery programme and flew again on mainland Britain in 1995 for 
the first time since the early 60s. 

As part of his exhibit, the following were also shown: Dyscia fagaria (Thunb.), 
recorded at two sites in Monmouthshire in 1995, first records for the county 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 217 


(G. A. N. Horton, pers. comm.); a variant Agrotis exclamationis (L.), an unusual 
specimen taken at m.v., Helpston, Northants, 19.vii.1995 by Malcolm Hillier; 
Thaumetopoea processionea (L.), taken at m.v., Helpston, Northants, by M. Hillier. 

WARD, J.—An ab. of Camptogramma bilineata (L.), bred from Newton, 
Northants. 

WARNE, B. J.—An exhibit of moths taken in the recorder’s garden at Ryde, Isle of 
Wight, unless otherwise stated: Meganola strigula ({D. & S.]), to m.v., first in 6 years, 
5.v.1995: Cyclophora punctaria (L.), a black and grey streaked ab., 18.viii.1995; 
Agrotis vestigialis (Hufn.), 21.vi.1995; Hypena crassalis (F.), to m.v., first in 6 years, 
9.vii.1995; Rheumaptera undulata (L.), 29.vi.1995, only the second record for the 
garden; Hypena rostralis (L.), taken at Ryde by Mr D. Peach, first autumn record; 
Cosmia affinis (L.), to m.v., 4.vili.1995, first record for garden; Agrotis clavis (Hufn.), 
to m.v., a very dark form, 5.vii.1995; Spodoptera exigua (Hiibn.), to m.v. on 6.vill 
and 9.ix.1995; Archiearis parthenias (L.), netted by day, Whitefield Woods, Ryde, 
20.iii.1995: Chloroclysta truncata (Hufn.), ab., 11.x.1995; Heliothis armigera (Hibn.), 
seven specimens in all between 12 and 27.x.1995; Rhodometra sacraria (L.), a normal 
and a pink specimen, 11 and 21.x.1995. 

WEDD, D.—Macrolepidoptera captured or bred in 1995: Agrotis ripae (Hiibn.), 
contrasting forms from Devon, Essex and S. E. Ireland; Agrotis vestigialis (Hufn.), a 
strongly marked form from Findhorn, Morayshire; Paradiarsia glareosa (Esp.), from 
Melvich, Sutherland, with a specimen approaching form edda (Staint.); Zygaena 
purpuralis ssp. sabulosa Trem. from Co. Clare, showing the typical coastal form and a 
small inland ‘“‘montane” form from Aglish; Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esp.), bred from 
female taken West Wittering, Sussex, 11.viti.1995; Spodoptera exigua (Hiibn.),? new 
to Henley-on-Thames, Oxon; Thera britannica (Turn.), extreme ab. from Melvich, 
Sutherland, taken on 2.vili.1995 (Plate IV, Fig. 15), on sand dunes, an improbable 
place and date; Agrochola haematidea (Dup.), bred from Sussex ova, emerged 
29.v.1995; Luperina nickerlii demuthii Goater & Skinner, from Essex showing heavily 
suffused hindwings (the majority of specimens seen were like this and may have been 
due to the hot summer); Hadena caesia ssp. mananii (Gregs.), from the Flaggy Shore, 
Co. Clare, a new locality; Hypena obsitalis (Htibn.), a short series from a new locality 
in Dorset; Gortina borellii lunata (Freyer), bred on celeriac, from an Essex locality; 
Gnophos group was illustrated with obfuscatus ({D. & S.]), from Scottish and Irish 
localities to show distinct differences and also Odontognophos dumetata hibernica 
Forder from Co. Clare bred 1995; Lymantria monacha (L.), a range of specimens bred 
over three years, originally from Bockmer End, Marlow, these demonstrated the 
rapidity of change in a species; Noctua comes (Hiibn.), a colour range of specimens 
taken or bred in 1994—5, from Findhorn, Morayshire (e.g. Plate IV, Fig. 5). 

YOUNG, D.—The following specimens were exhibited: Synanthedon myopaeformis 
(Borkh.), larvae of all sizes were collected from ornamental cherry trees from a 
suburban road in West London, showing a preference for those with dark red 
flowers, larvae collected iv.1995 and emerged 6.v—24.vi.1995; a series of Chloroclysta 
citrata (Linn.) from Inverness-shire showing an incredible amount of variation 
and markings; Eugnorisma depuncta (L.), fairly common at sugar and m.yv., 
12-18.viii.1995, in the Aviemore and Kingussie areas; Paradiarsia sobrina (Dup.), 
not uncommon in the Aviemore and Kingussie areas in vill.1995; Apamea oblonga 
(Haw.), two specimens from Keyhaven, Hants., to m.v., 8.vi.1995; Aplocera 
plagiata scotica Rich., two specimens taken at m.v., Drumguish, near Kingussie, 
vili.1995; Scopula ornata (Scop.), three specimens from the North Downs, Surrey, 
23.v.1993 and 25.vii.1995; Archanara neurica (Hiibn.), Walberswick, Suffolk, 
27.vii.1995; fairly common at m.v., Aporophyla lutulenta luenebergensis (Freyer), 


218 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


specimens from Drumguish, Inverness-shire, vili.1995; Antitype chi (L.), also a series 
from Drumguish, vili.1995. 


BRITISH MICROLEPIDOPTERA 


AGASSIZ, D.—Monopis monachella Hiibn., Sandwich, Kent, 12.viti.1995, new 
county record; Cydia medicaginis Kuznetsov, Gravesend, Kent, 27.vi.1995, new 
county record; Eccopisa effractella Zeller (Pyralidae), Buckingham Palace Gardens, 
13.vii.1995, new to Britain (Plate IV, Fig. 20). 

BEAUMONT, H. E.—Calybites phasianipennella Htibn., West Melton, Rotherham, 
S. Yorks., VC63, 28.vii.1995, there are only two previous Yorkshire localities, both in 
VC63; Depressaria weirella Staint., West Melton, Rotherham, S. Yorks., VC63, 
several vii.1995, Blastobasis decolorella Woll., West Melton, Rotherham, S. Yorks., 
VC63, 25.vi.1995; B. lignea Wals., West Melton, Rotherham, S. Yorks., VC63, 
3.vill.1995; Stenolechia gemmella L., West Melton, Rotherham, S. Yorks., VC63, 
23.vili.1995, apparently the first Yorkshire record for 50 years; Mompha subbistrigella 
Haw., West Melton, Rotherham, S. Yorks., VC63, 15.vi.1995; Piercea vectisana H. & 
W., Conheath, Glencaple, Dumfries, VC72, several on R. Nith banks, first Scottish 
record?; P. alismana Rag., Rushy Moor, Askern, S. Yorks., VC63, pupae in stems of 
water plantain, 23.iv.1995, moths reared in May, first Yorkshire record; Epinotia 
demarniana F. v R., Treeton Dyke, Rotherham, VC63, 4.vi.1995, Crowle, Moors, 
Lines., VC63, 1|.vii.1995; Margaritia sticticalis L., Hooton Roberts, Rotherham, S. 
Yorks., VC63, 18.viii.1995; Leioptilus lienigianus Zell., West Melton, Rotherham, S. 
Yorks, VC63, 31.viii.1995. 

BLAND, K. P.—Caloptilia leucapennella Steph., Mailermore Wood, Glen Artney, 
Perths., VC88, 5.viti.1995, NN7518, Laggan Wood, Comrie, Perths., VC88, 
16.ix.1995, NN7623, Campsie Hill Wood, Perths., VC89, 31.viii.1995; Eutromula 
diana Hiibn., still present in Glen Affric, E. Inverness-shire, VC96, several seen there 
16.vii.1995; Elachista bedellella Sirc., reared from mines in Helictotrichon grass 
collected Linkim Bay, Berwickshire, NT9265, VC81 on 15.vi.1995, imago emerged 
9.vii.1995; E. regificella Sirc., a very scarce species in S. E. Scotland with only four 
known localities; this specimen reared from mines in Luzula sylvatica collected in 
Dura Den, Fifeshire, NO4115, VC85, 10.vi.1995, imago emerged 16.vii.1995; 
Schiffermuelleria similella Hiibn., Glendoll, Lodge, Angus, NO2776, VC90, 
9.vii.1995; S. subaquilea Staint., Craigmead, Lomond Hills, Fife, VC85, 
10.vi.1995, NO2205, Craig Melton, Glen Doll, Augus, VC90, 9.vii.1995; Reuttia 
subocellea Steph., Linkim Bay, Berwickshire, NT9265, VC81, many imagines flying 
around wild thyme, 15.vi.1995, larval cases feeding on thyme at same site 
22.vili.1995, this appears to be a new food plant for the species in Britain; Ancylis 
tineana Hiibn., larval workings in Betula pubescens now discovered, heavily grazed 
dwarf birches are chosen, the larva makes rough spinnings of leaves and lives in a 
frass-coated silk tube within the spinning, see Ent. Gaz. (in press) for details, larva 
collected at Struan Wood, Perthshire, NN7965, VC88, on 4.ix.1994, imago emerged 
15.v.1995. 

BRITTON, M. R.—A year for Yorkshire ancylids: Ancylis geminana Don., 
Bridestones Moor, N. Yorks. Moors, larva 30.viii.1994, adult 23.v.1995, Jugger 
Howe Bec, Scarborough, 23.v.1995; A. uncella D. & S., Jugger Howe Beck, 
Scarborough, 23.v.1995; A. upupana Treits., Skipwith Common, Selby, beaten from 
birch 31.v.1995, apparently new to Yorkshire. 

BROTHERIDGE, D. J.—The following from Wiltshire: Oegoconia deauratella H.-S., 
Wroughton, 21.vii.1994, 13.vii.1995, 30.vii.1995, 12.viti.1995; Blastobasis decolorella 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 219 


Woll., Swindon, 10.vii.1995; Epiphyas postvittana Walk., Wroughton, 30.viii.1995; 
Eucosma_ conterminana H.-S., Wroughton, 20.vii.1993, 4.vii.1994, 11 .vii.1995, 
L.viii.1995; Alucita hexadactyla L., Wroughton, 22.vu.1995, Swindon, 9.viii.1994; 
Pyrausta cespitalis D. & S., a small brightly marked form, Beckhampton, 18.viii.1990; 
Margaritia sticticalis L., Wroughton, 10.viii.1995, 22.viti.1995. 

Brown, D. C. G.—A selection of migrants caught on the Lizard, Cornwall: 
Hymenia recurvalis F., 17.x.1995; Hellula undalis F., 9.x.1995; Euchromius ocellea 
Haw., 14.x.1995; Uresiphita polygonalis D. & S., 17.x.1995. 

CARTER, D.—Moths from Buckingham Palace Gardens in the National 
Collection: a drawer showing some of the pyralid moths collected over a period of 
more than 30 years. In 1995 a further 10 species were added to the already impressive 
list of 600 species of Lepidoptera from the gardens. Amongst this year’s new 
additions is the pyralid moth Eccopisa effractella Zell., a species new to the British 
list (see D. Agassiz, above). 

CLANCY, S. P.—A few species of Pyralidae including three migrant species and 
two scarce resident species. The migrants comprised specimens of Antigastra 
catalaunalis Dup. from Dungeness, 12.x.1995; Euchromius ocellea Haw. from 
Dungeness, 27.vii.1995; and Hellula undalis F., from Lydd, Kent on 14.1x.1995. 
The residents included examples of Microstega pandalis Hiibn. from Kent and 
Homoeosoma nebulella D. & S., from Suffolk. 

COLENUTT, S.—Evergestis limbata L., Chale Green, Isle of Wight, 14.vii.1995; 
Margaritia sticticalis L., Chale Green, Isle of Wight, 11.vii.1995; Homoeosoma 
sinuella F. ab. from St Catherines, Isle of Wight, 19.vii1.1995. 

CoRLEY, M. F. V.—Pediasia aridella Thunb., Redlynch Common, Wilts., VC8, 
7.vu.1995, normally a coastal species. Species refound in VC22: Aethes francillana F., 
Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, 17.vui.1995, previous VC records 1899 and 1901; 
Cochylis hybridella Hibn., Gozzards Ford, Abingdon, last recorded 1913; 
Ectoedemia atrifrontella Staint., Bagley Wood, 2.vili.1995, last recorded 1920; 
Biselachista utonella Frey, Gozzards Ford, Abingdon, 31.vu.1995, last recorded 
before 1929; Cydia gallicana Guenée, Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, 27.vii.1995, also 
seen in 1994, previous record before 1929. Uncommon VC22 species: Aethes 
dilucidana Steph., Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, 31.viii.1995; Calamotropha paludella 
Hiibn., Gozzards Ford, Abingdon, 31.vii.1995; Caryocolum proximum Haw., 
Pucketty Farm, Faringdon, bred 3.vu.1995 from Stellaria media; Pammene 
aurantiana Staud., Pucketty Farm, 2.vili.1995. 

CRAMP, P. J.—Stenoptilia lunaedactyla L., |.vii.1995, Blackgang, Isle of Wight; 
Ypsolopha_ sequella Clerck, 19.viii.1995, Parkhurst, Isle of Wight; Eurrhypara 
perlucidalis Hiibn., 27.vu.1995, Godshill, Isle of Wight, new VC record; Ephestia 
figulilella Greg., x.1991, Godshill, Isle of Wight, new VC record. 

CRONIN, A. R.—Evergestis limbata L., Portslade, Sussex, 11.1x.1995, one at light 
in garden. 

DICKERSON, B.—Ectoedemia amani Svensson, discovered in Waresley Wood, 
Hunts. (VC31) on 12.vii.1994. A photograph of the genitalia dissection of the first F. 
amani found in Britain was shown, along with a reduced copy of the plate from 
Johansson et al., Fauna Ent. Scand. 23. Also shown were three examples of E. amani 
taken in Waresley Wood on 10.vii.1995. 

Dosson, A. H.—Blastobasis decolorella Woll., North Baddesley, Hants, 9.vi.1995, 
one at m.v. light, third county record of this rapidly spreading species; Epiphyas 
postvittana Walker, Basingstoke, 8.x.1995, at m.v. light, the furthest inland Hants 
record; Pseudargyrotoza conwagana F., a dark form, Bartley Heath Reserve, Hants; 
Pediasia contaminella Hiibn., Dawlish Warren, Devon, 25.vii..1960 and P. aridella 


220 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


Thunb., Dawlish Warren, 24.vii.1968, the first Devon 20th century specimens of both 
species; Evergestis extimalis Scop. and Sitochroa palealis D. & S., both species at 
Maidscross Hill, Suffolk field meeting, 15.vii.1995; Margaritia sticticalis L., 
Starcross, Devon, 4-6 and 8.vili.1995, two specimens of this migrant at Rothamsted 
light trap; Phlyctaenia perlucidalis Hibn., Abbotsworthy, Hants, 5.vi.1995, disturbed 
in a water meadow, a new locality. 

ELLIoTT, B.—Caloptilia leucapennella Steph., bred from leaf cones on Quercus ilex, 
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, x.1994; Crocidosema plebejana Zell., bred from stems of Lavatera 
arborea St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, x.1994; Nothris congressariella Bruand, bred from 
spun leaves of Scrophularia nodosa, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, x.1995; Margaritia sticticalis 
Boisd., Allerthorpe Common, Yorks., 3.viti.1995, four others seen at same locality a 
few days earlier by N. Gill. Subsequently, further imagines were seen at Portland and 
Winchester a week later; the Portland specimen laid and the progeny were hibernating 
as full grown larvea. Leioptilus chrysocomae Rag., Blean Woods, Kent, bred Solidago 
stems vili.1995; Piercea alismana Rag., Hilton, Derbyshire, bred stems of Alisma 
plantago aquatica, 6.viil.1995; Aethes beatricella Wals., Sawley Derbys., bred from old 
Conium stems vii.1995; Lampronia rubiella Bjerk., Linacre, Derbyshire, vi.1995; 
Exapate congelatella Cl., Beeley Moor, Derbys., very common, 3.x1.1995. 

EMMET, A. M.—Coleophora salicorniae Wocke, taken at m.v. light at Saffron 
Walden, Essex on 26.vii.1995, about 40 miles from its salt-marsh breeding ground; 
Apotomis lineana D. & S., Saffron Walden, Essex, taken at m.v., 11.viti.1995, a rare 
species in Essex. 

Foster, A. P.—Ochsenheimeria vacculella (F. v. R.), Great Coxwell, Berks., VC22, 
7.viil.1995, adults found congregating in rot holes of ash and oak trees: Crocidosema 
plebejana Zell., Church Ope Cove, Portland, Dorset, VC9, 14.x.1995; Sitochroa palealis 
D. & S., Cricklade, N. Wilts., VC7, at m.v., 27.vi1.1995; Callamotropha paludella Htbn.., 
Cricklade, N. Wilts., VC7, at m.v., 6.vili.1995, possibly the first county record. 

HALL, N.—Numonia suavella Zinck., Earley, Reading, Berks., bred 1995 from 
Cotoneaster; apparently a new food plant. 

HART, C.—Platyptilia tesseradactyla L., a short series mostly reared from two sites 
in the Burren, County Clare: the exhibitor went at the end of May for the adults but 
found the season so late most individuals were still in pupa. The larva feeds on the 
rootstock and developing leaves of Antennaria dioica and the pupa is hidden in the 
cavity formed by a newly opening leaf as it grows away from the main rosette. 
The larva secures the leaf in place with silk to prevent the leaf opening further and 
the pupa being exposed. Agdistis bennetii Curtis, a single example which came to a 
garden trap at Buckland near Reigate, Surrey on 20.viii.1995. This coastal plume 
which feeds on sea lavender, is well known as a wanderer on warm nights and can 
turn up at light many miles from the sea. Members may recall a specimen exhibited 
by G. Higgs in 1994, which was caught at Willen near Milton Keynes. 

HARVEY, M.—Choreutis pariana Clerck, Homefield Wood, BBONT Reserve, 
Bucks., 25.ix.1994; Argyresthia semifusca Haw., Upper Basildon, Berks., 27.vii.1995; 
Ypsolopha alpella D. & S., 3.viii.1995, Upper Basildon, Berks.; Depressaria badiella 
Hiibn., Thatcham Reedbeds, Berks., 28.vii.1995; Pancalia leuwenhoekella L., Hurley 
Chalk Pit, BBONT Reserve, Berks., 2.v.1994, Homefield Wood, BBONT Reserve, 
Bucks., 15.v.1994; Margaritia sticticalis L., Upper Basildon, Berks.)3.viii.1995, at 
m.v., one of two seen; Phlyctaenia perlucidalis Htibn., Parsonage Moor, BBONT 
Reserve, Berks., 10.vi.1995; Mecyna flavalis flaviculalis Caradja, Hartslock Nature 
Reserve, BBONT, Oxon, 10.vii.1995. 

HENWOOD, B. P.—Photograph of Phyllonorycter mines on Trifolium repens; they 
appear to be those of P. nigrescentella Log., which has not been previously recorded 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 221 


on Trifolium in this country. They were found in a garden at Abbotskerswell, 
Devon. 

KENDRICK, R. C.—Opostega crepusculella Zell., Ryton Wood, War., second 
county record; Blastobasis decolorella Woll., Cheylesmore, Coventry, War., this 
species is now common in Coventry, occurring in some abundance for several years; 
B. lignea Wals., Coventry, War., 1994, 1995; Epagoge grotiana F., Ryton Wood, 
War., third county record; Eudemis profundana D. & S., Cheylesmore, Coventry, 
War., 18.viii.1993, Ryton Wood, War.; Pseudosciaphila branderiana L., Ryton 
Wood, War., 8.vii.1993 at m.v.; Ancylis upupupana Treits., Ryton Wood, War., at 
m.v., 8.vil.1993, second county record; Agriphila latistria Haw., Ryton Wood, War., 
at m.v., 29.vi1.1993; Agriphila selasella Hiibn., Ryton Wood, War., 21.vii.1993, at 
m.v.; Margaritia sticticalis L., Minsmere NR, Westleton, East Suffolk, 2.viti.1995, 
at light; Phycitodes saxicola Vaughan, Cheylesmore, Coventry, War., 15.vi.1995, at 
m.v., second county record (det. B. Skinner). The high number of unusual records in 
one night at Ryton Wood, Warwickshire shows the degree of under-recording of 
smaller moths. This wood was considered to be well recorded, but only a small 
amount of the area had been regularly worked, thus on 8.vii.1993, when a previously 
unworked part of the reserve was monitored, that so many ‘unusual’ records 
occurred should not be a surprise. 

KNILL-JONES, S. A.—AIll the following recorded from the Isle of Wight: Tortricodes 
alternella D. & S., Binstead, 7.11.1995; Acleris cristana D. & S., Whitefield Woods, 
28.1v.1995; Ptychloma lecheana L., The Causeway, Freshwater, 30.v.1995; Dichomeris 
marginella F., Freshwater, 12.vui.1995; Anacampsis blattariella Hiibn., Ryde, 
28.1v.1995; Depressaria pastinacella Dup., Shalcombe Down, 9.vili.1995; Ypsolopha 
parenthesella L., Shalcombe Down, 9.viti.1995; Udea fulvalis Hibn., Freshwater, 11 and 
17.vui.1995; Plodia interpunctella Hibn., Freshwater, 22.v.1995; Scoparia pyralella D. & 
S., ab., Tennyson Down, 4.vi.1995; Hellinsia (Leioptilus) carphodactyla Hiibn., High 
Down, Freshwater, 25.vii.1995; Heterographis oblitella Zell., Freshwater, 21 and 
22.vil.1995; Acleris emargana F., Fort Victoria, three; Epinotia solandriana L., 
Freshwater, 2.vii.1995; Pyrausta cingulata L., High Down, Freshwater, 25 and 
31.vu.1995; Epiblema foenella L., Cranmore, 2.vii.1995; Hedya salicella L., Freshwater, 
26.vii.1995; Crocidosema plebejana Zell., Freshwater, 23.x.1995. 

LANGMAID, J. R.—Coleophora currucipennella Zell., Ham Street, Kent, 14.vii.1995, 
two at m.v.; Bisigna procerella D. & S., Ham Street, Kent, 14.vu.1995; Sitotroga 
cerealella Ol., Southsea, Hants, one taken at m.v., 28.vi1.1995, new to Hampshire; 
Neofriseria singula Staud., a series of four bred from Rumex acetosella, Enfield, Middx, 
larvae found 8.vi.1995, emerged 2—22.vi1.1995; Caryocolum proximum Haw., two bred 
from Stellaria media, Petts Wood, Kent, larvae found 18.v.1995, emerged 24.vi.1995; 
Cochylis molliculana Zell., Thorney Island, Sussex, one bred from Picris echioides, larva 
found 11.ix.1994, emerged 18.vi.1995, new to Sussex; Acleris logiana Clerck, Botley 
Wood, Hants, one bred from Betula pubescens, larva found 17.1x.1994, 
emerged 15.x.1994; Apotomis semifasciana Haw., Botley Wood, Hants, two bred 
from Salix cinerea, larvae found 19.v.1995, emerged 29-30.vi.1995; Epinotia 
fraternana Haw., a particularly boldly marked specimen beaten from Abies grandis 
at Charterhall Wood, Berwickshire, 13.vi.1995; Eucosma tripoliana Barr., Farlington 
Marshes, Portsmouth, Hants; a unicolorous specimen, 10.vili.1995 (Plate IV, Fig, 18) 
Cryptophlebia leucotreta (Meyr.), Southsea, Hant, 11.viti.1995, a perfect male 
specimen taken at m.v.; Acrobasis tumidana D. & S., a single specimen taken at m.v. 
at Southsea, Hants, 30.vi1.1995, second authenticated VC11 record. 

McCormick, R.—Agapeta zoegana L. f. ferrugana Haw., Great Haldon, Devon, 
10.vui.1995; Aphelia viburnana D. & S., Hartland Point, Devon and Hurley near 


222 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


Fernworthy Reservoir, Dartmoor, all in 1995; A. paleana Hiibn., Hartland Point, 
Devon and Hurley, Dartmoor, all in 1995. A. unitana Hiibn., Hartland Point, at 
light, 1995, det. subject to confirmation; Eudonia alpina Curtis, Grannish Moor, 
Aviemore, several 28.v.1995; Eurrhypara terrealis Treits., abundant at light, 
Hartland Point and Shipload Bay, North Devon, 1.vii.1995; Udea decrepitalis 
H.-S., in several locations along the coast of Loch Arkaig, 30 and 31.v.1995; 
Platyptilia calodactyla D. & S., larvae at one location in North Devon, moths at light 
at another also in North Devon; Hellinsia (Leioptilus) tephradactyla Hibn., larvae at 
one location in North Devon, moths at light at another location again in North 
Devon, all in 1995. 

O’KEEFFE, D.—From Kent: Caryocolum proximum Haw., Petts Wood, bred from 
Stellaria media, vii.1995; Gelechia senticetella Staud., Petts Wood at m.v., now 
established in the area; Monochroa niphognatha Gozm., Stodmarsh, at m.v., 
20.vi.1995; M. elongella Hein., Stodmarsh, at m.v., 20.vi.1995; Coleophora 
currucipennella Zell., usually a scarce species, but common at Ham Street, at m.v., 
11.vu.1995; Cosmopterix zieglerella Hibn., from a new colony at Swanley 3.vu.1995; 
Phalonidia curvistrigana Staint., ex Solidago, Ham Street, vu.1994; Eucosma 
aemulana Schlag., ex Solidago, Ham Street and Thornden Wood, vii.1995; Hellinsia 
(Leioptilus) chrysocomae Rag., ex Solidago, Thornden Wood, vii.1995. From 
Scotland: Aethes rutilana Hiibn., bred ex Juniperus communis nana, Beinn Eighe, 
Wester Ross, vi.1995; Swammerdamia compunctella H.-S., bred ex Sorbus aucuparia, 
Beinn Eighe, Wester Ross, vi.1995; Archinemapogon yildizae Kogak, bred ex 
Piptoporus, Forres Inshriac and Alvie, Inverness, 5.viii.1995. From Kent: Caloptilia 
falconipennella Hiibn., typical form bred x.1993 and at m.v. iv.1995, with f. oneratella 
taken at m.v. vii/vili.1993-95, first records of the summer generation f. oneratella in 
Britain, all from Petts Wood. From Hampshire: Psammotis pulveralis Hiibn., Matley 
Bog, female, taken by day 1995. 

PARSONS, M. S.—A selection of species recorded in 1994-1995 including: 
Margaritia sticticalis L., Richmond Park, Surrey, 11.vi.1995; Pammene inquilina 
Fletch., Richmond Park, 17.iv—l.v.1995; Tinea columbariella Wocke, bred from 
larvae feeding on dead insects killed by an Insect-o-Cutor, Richmond Park, viii.1994, 
and Raynes Park, Surrey, 29.vii.1995; Monopis fenestratella Heyd., Richmond Park, 
20.vi.1995 (Plate IV, Fig. 19); Niditinea piercella Bentinck, Richmond Park, 
18.vi.1995; Aroga velocella Zeller, Richmond Park, 22.vii—26.vii.1995; Apomyelois 
bistriatella neophanes Durr., Raynes Park, 14.viii.1995; Euzophera cinerosella Zell., 
Raynes Park, 3.vii.1995; Platyedra subcinerea Haw., Richmond Park, 6.v.1995; 
Gelechia senticetella Staud., Raynes Park, 31.viu—16.viu.1995; Caloptilia populetorum 
Zell., Raynes Park, 20.vii.1995; Ancylosis oblitella Zell., Sandwich Bay, Kent, 
12.viii.1995; Scoparia ambigualis Treits, dark almost unicolorous form, Malham 
Tarn, Yorks., 29.vi.1995; Olethreutes palustrana L. & Z., Malham Tarn, 29.vi.1995; 
Sitochroa palealis D. & S., Thorney Island, Sussex, larvae 11.1x.1994; Scoparia 
pyralella f. alba Tutt, Holywell, Sussex, 11.vi.1995; Eudonia lineola Curt., Cow Gap, 
Sussex, 26.vil.1995; Acleris logiana Clerck, Havant Thicket, Hants. 2.1v.1995; Cydia 
succedana f. asseclana, Glen More, Easterness, 26.vi..1995; Eudarcia richardsoni 
Wals., Church Ope Cove, Portland, Dorset, larvae 28.11.1995; Telephila schmidtiellus 
Heyd., Rodborough Common, W. Glos., larvae 20.v.1995 and Eastbourne, larva 
v.1995; Elachista subocellea Steph., Barnsley Warren, Glos., 20.v.1995 and 
Eastbourne, E. Sussex, 27.v.1995. 

Sims, I.—Eriocrania haworthi Bradley, Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., 7.1v.1995; 
E. sangii Wood, Bear Wood, Wokingham, Berks, 2.iv.1995; E. semipurpurella 
Steph., Bramshill Plantation, Bramshill, Hants, 14.1v.1995; Ectoedemia argyropeza 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 223 


Zell., Hainault Forest, Chigwell Row, Essex, in aspen, 6.xi.1992, bred 4.v.1993; E. 
atricollis Staint., adults and cocoons in crab apple, Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks, 
19.x.1994, bred 12.v.1995; E. occultella L., Burnham Beeches, adults and cocoons in 
birch, 31.x.1994, bred 5.v.1995; E. subbimaculella Haw., adults and cocoons, in oak 
(Quercus robor), Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., 31.x.1994, bred 21.iv.1995; E. 
heringi Toll, Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 23.x.1994, bred 2.v.1995; Stigmella 
floslactella Haw., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., in hazel, 6.x.1994, bred 1.iv.1995; 
S. basiguttella Haw., Winnersh Triangle, Reading, Berks., 24.x.1994, adults and 
cocoons in oak, bred 22.iv.1995; S. malella Staint., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., 
in apple cultivar (Malus sp.), 26.x.1994, bred 27.iv.1995; S. regiella H.-S., 
Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., adults and cocoons, 8.x.1994, bred 1.v.1995; S. 
microtheriella Staint., Pheasant Wood, Hambleden, Marlow, Bucks., mine in oak, 
19.x.1994, bred 9.v.1995; S. alnetella Staint., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., adults 
and cocoons in alder (Alnus glutinosa), 10.x.1994, bred 19.v.1995; Tischeria 
ekebladella Bjerk., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., adults and mine with pupal 
exuvae, in oak 3.x1.1994, bred 28.iv.1995; 7. angusticolella Dup., Hainault Forest, 
Chigwell Row, Essex, adults and mine with pupal exuvae, in dog-rose 6.xi.1992, 
bred 12.11.1993; Incurvaria pectinea Haw., Bramshill Plantation, Bramshill, Hants., 
14.iv.1995; Nemophora metallica Poda, Homefield Wood, Medmenham, Marlow, 
Bucks., 26.vii.1995; Warburg Wood, Bix, Oxon, 21.vii.1995 and Hambleden, 
Marlow, Bucks., 30.vii.1995, all netted at flowers of Knautia arvensis; N. rufimitrella 
Scop., Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 20.v.1994; Taleporia tubulosa Retz., Bear 
Wood, Wokingham, Berks., 2.iv.1995, bred 27.iv.1995 and Winnersh Triangle, 
Reading, Berks., 5.v.1990, bred 19.v.1990; Luffia lapidella Goeze, male and female 
cases from its Cornish locality, already emerged 15.viii.1995; Bacotia sepium Spey.. 
Bramshill, Plantation, Bramshill, Hants., 14.iv.1995, parasite and case, hatched 
22.iv.1995, host larva alive when found; Jnfurcitinea argentimaculella Staint., 
Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., old wall, adults and larval tube, 31.iii.1995, hatched 
7.v.1995; Nemapogon clematella F., Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., adults and larval 
working mining in the fungus Diatrype disciformis and dead hazel from old coppice, 
2.v.1995, hatched 15.v, 22.v, 23.v and 15.vii.1995; Tinea semifulvella Haw., Warburg 
Wood, Bix, Oxon, 21.vii.1995, in m.v. trap; Leucoptera laburnella Staint., 
Hambleden, Marlow, Bucks., on Laburnum anagyroides, 22.vi.1995, hatched 
3.vii.1995; L. spartifoliella Hiibn., Lower Earley, Berks., on Sarothamnus scoparius, 
cocoons, bred 28.v.1995; Calybites auroguttella Steph., Lower Earley, Reading, 
larval folds and cocoons on Hypericum perforatum, 16.ix.1992, bred 1.xii.1992; 
Phyllonorycter platani Stdgr, South Kensington, London, adults and mine in plane 
(Platanus acerifolia), 22.x.1994, hatched 22.11.1995; P. lantanella Schr., Homefield 
Wood, Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., in Vibernum lantana, mines in stunted bushes, 
low down amongst grasses, 17.ix.1995, hatched 21.x.1995. 

C. falconipennella Hiibn., summer adults: alder, Medmenham, Marlow, Bucks., 
21.vi.1995, hatched 10.vii.1995 and Lower Earley, Reading, Berks., 26.vi.1994, 
hatched 4.vii.1994. Folds and cocoon: Medmenham, Marlow, 21.vi.1995. Autumn 
adult: Medmenham, Marlow, 23.x.1995, hatched 25.x.1995, intermediate form 
between oneratella and typical autumn form. Field work and rearing experiments 
have shown this species has two generations in southern England, as is the situation 
in Europe. The summer generation is quite unlike the autumn generation (this is also 
true of the first generation in Europe) and is referable to oneratella. Denis O’Keeffe 
and David Agassiz have examined specimens of both generations microscopically 
and found no structural differences between them. The apparent sudden extention of 
this species’ range in the UK (four new county records last year, VCs 12, 22, 23 and 


224 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


24) and now this oddity make it worthy of further study. Perhaps this is more 
evidence of a warming of climate. 

Argyresthia brockeella Hibn., Burnham Beeches, Slough, Bucks., larvae descend- 
ing from birch 12.11.1995, hatched 19.iv.1995. ’ 

SKINNER, B.—Malham Tarn, Yorks., Scoparia ambigualis Treits., 29.vi.1995, 
specimens of the dark form; Dioryctria mutatella Fuchs, Windsor Forest, two 
melanic examples, 21.vii.1995; Phlyctaenia stachydalis Germ., bred specimens from 
larvae collected in Devon together with photographs of half grown and full grown 
larvae. 

SMITH, E. G. AND M. R.—Some interesting Wiltshire Lepidoptera: Telephila 
schmidtiellus Heyd., series bred from Origanum vulgare, collected, Ford (VC7), 
8.vi.1995, moths emerged 7.vii.1995, new for Wilts., Coleophora onosmella Brahm, 
series bred from cases collected Echium vulgare, Shrewton Folly (VC7), 5.v.1995, first 
time the cases have been found in Wilts.; Monochroa hornigi Staud., Savernake 
(VC7), one taken m.v., 29.vi.1994, gen. det., new for Wilts.; Reuttia subocellea 
Steph., Ford (VC7), larvae on Origanum vulgare, 31.x.1994, bred 17.vii.1995; 
Coleophora virgaureae Staint., Bentley Wood (VC8), cases on Solidago virgaurea, 
moths bred; Depressaria chaerophylli Zell., Ashton Common, series bred from 
Chaerophyllum temulentum collected 20.vi.1994, moths emerged 5.viii.1994, new for 
Wilts.; Aplota palpella Haw., Redlynch (VC8), at m.v., 16.vii.1994; Coleophora 
therinella Tengst., Savernake (VC7), one at m.v., 29.vi.1994, gen. det., new for Wilts.; 
Hellinsia (Leioptilus) carphodactyla Hiibn., Ford (VC7), 21.vi.1994, new VC record; 
Pterophorus baliodactylus Zell., Ford (VC7), 17.vii.1994, new VC record; Coleophora 
limosipennella Dup., Ashton Common (VC8), moths emerged second half of June 
1994; showing the early stages of larval case and example of final case, new for Wilts. 

STERLING, P. H. AND M. J.—Stigmella acetosae Staint., Portland, bred from mines 
on Rumex acetosa collected 7.vi.1995 by MJS; Lampronia fuscatella Tengst., Higher 
Hyde Nature Reserve, Dorset, at m.v., 15.vi.1995 by PHS; Pachythelia villosella Ochs., 
a male from one of many cases found in 1994 and 1995 at Haymoor Bottom, Poole, 
VC9, by PHS. In the past few years cases have been found on other VC9 heaths 
including Arne, Creech, Gore, Holt, Studland and Turners Puddle, as well as 
Merritown Heath and Town Common, both in VC11. The species continues to occur 
throughout the Dorset heaths, occasionally in local abundance. Eudarcia richardsoni 
Wals., Punfield Cove, Swanage, Dorset, VC9; one case of several found in 11.1995 by 
PHS, M. Parsons et al. It was last seen at this site in the 1890s; elsewhere it is only 
known from Portland (British endemic). Nemapogon variatella Clem., Stoke Common, 
Bucks., VC24, bred from Piptoporus betulinus collected in winter 1994 by MJS; 
Epermenia insecurella Staint., Portland, Dorset, VC9, bred from larvae on Thesium 
humifusum, collected 9.vi.1995 by MJS; Biselachista serricornis Staint., Studland 
National Reserve, Dorset, VC9, collected by day 24.v.1995 by PHS; Monochroa 
suffusella Doug., Studland National Nature Reserve, Dorset, VC9, by day on 24.v.1995 
by PHS, new VC record; Cosmopterix lienigiella L. & Z., Holton Heath National 
Nature Reserve, Dorset, VC9, bred from mines on Phragmites collected 14.x.1994 by 
PHS; Piercea luridana Greg., Portland, bred from larva on Bartsia odontites collected 
12.viii.1994 by PHS; Cydia prunivorana Rag., Weymouth, Dorset, VC9, at m.v., 
10.vii.1995 by PHS, new VC record; C. cosmophorana Treits., Warmwell Heath, 
Dorset, by day on 30.v1995 by PHS; Homoeosoma nebulella D. & S., Frome St Quintin, 
Dorset, at m.v. on 20.vili.1995 by PHS. 

STERLING, P. AND DAvey, P.—Potential Immigrant Lepidoptera to Dorset 
caught by Dorset Moth Project contributors during 1995: Hellula undalis F., Gaunts 
Common, 11.x.1995 (P. Davey); Margaritia sticticalis L., Gaunts Common, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 225 


5.vili.1995 (P. Davey); Psammotis pulveralis Hiibn., Sixpenny Handley, 28.vii.1995 
(P. Davey); Antigastria catalaunalis Dup., Gaunts Common, 11.x.1995 (P. Davey); 
Hymenia recurvalis F., Portland, 11.x.1995 (M. Cade); Etiella zinckenella 
(Sodoffsky), Christchurch, 11.vi1.1995 (M. Jeffs); Ancylosis oblitella Zell., Hartland 
Moor, 6.viii.1995 (P. Davey). 

WARNE, B. J.—Sitochroa palealis L., netted by day at Newtown rifle ranges, Isle of 
Wight, 20.vu.1995, nectaring on a saw-wort flower; Ostrinia nubilalis Hibn., 
Binstead, Ryde, Isle of Wight, at m.v., 23.vi.1995(2), 25.viti.1995(1); Margaritia 
sticticalis L., at m.v., Binstead, Ryde, Isle of Wight, 7.viii.1995, 21.vili.1995; 
Ancylosis oblitella Zell., Binstead, Ryde, Isle of Wight, at m.v., 15.vili.1995. 

WebDD, D.—Ancylosis oblitella Zell., Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, 21.viii.1995; 
Sclerocona acutellus Evers., 20.vi.1995, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon. 

WOOLDRIDGE, D. B.—Schoenobius gigantella D. & S., The Causeway, Freshwater, 
Isle of Wight, 1.viii.1995. 


FOREIGN LEPIDOPTERA 


CorRLEY, M. F. V.—(1) Pterophoridae from Portugal, 22 out of a total of 35 species 
recorded for Portugal: Agdistis tamaricis Zell., A. satanas Mill., A meridionalis Zell., A. 
frankeniae Zell., A. heydeni Zell., A bifurcata Agenjo, Crombrugghia laeta Zell., C. 
distans Zell., Stangeia siceliota Zell., Marasmarcha lunaedactyla Haw., Amblyptilia 
punctidactyla Haw., Stenoptilodes taprobanes Felder & Rogenhofer, Stenoptilia 
zophodactyla Dup., Tabulaephorus punctinervis Const., Calyciphora adamas Const., 
Merrifieldia leucodactyla Hibn., M. malacodactyla Zell., Gypsochares baptodactylus 
Zell., Pterphorus olbiadactylus Mill., Emmelina monodactyla Linn., Hellinsia inulae Zell. 
and H. osteodactyla Zell. 

(2) Geometridae, Ennominae from Portugal, 45 out of the 111 species recorded in 
the country. These were all collected in the southern half of Portugal, mostly in the 
Algarve, but a few in Alentejo. The northern half of the country has a greater 
number of species in this subfamily, because the majority of them occur in 
woodland, particularly deciduous woodland. In the southern half of Portugal, nearly 
all the woodland is evergreen. Here, a number of species are associated with shrubs 
such as Cistus, Erica and Juniperus; others feed on lichens and a few on herbaceous 
plants. The species exhibited were Stegania trimaculata Vill. in two strikingly 
different forms, /tame vincularia Hiibn., Tephrina inconspicuaria Hiibn., Enconista 
miniosaria Dup., Gnopharmia stevenaria Boisd., Rhoptria asperaria Hiibn., Meno- 
phra abruptaria Thunb., M. japygiaria Costa, a very variable species, Afriberina 
terraria Bang-Haas, Calamodes occitanaria Dup., Peribatodes abstersaria Boisd., P. 
rhomboidaria D. & S., P. manuelaria H.-S., another variable species, Selidosemia 
brunnearia subsp. olivierata Mab., possibly an endemic Portuguese subspecies, S. 
taeniolaria Hiibn., Ekboarmia atlanticaria Stdgr, Hypomecis punctinalis Scop., 
Adactylotis gesticularia Hiibn., Tephronia cineraria D. & S., Lycia hirtaria Cl., 
Aleucis distinctata H.-S., Campaea honoraria D. & S., C. margaritata Linn., 
Petrophora chlorosata Scop., P. narbonea Linn., P. convergata Vill., Pachycnemia 
hippocastanaria Hiibn., Sthanalia tibiaria Ramb., Opisthograptis luteolata Linn., 
Pseudopanthera macularia Linn., Toulgoetia cauteriata Stdgr, Selenia lunularia 
Hiibn., Ennomos fuscantaria Steph., Crocallis elinguaria Linn., C. dardoinaria 
Donzel, Gnophos perspersatus Treits., G. mucidarius Hiibn., G. variegatus Dup., G. 
predotae Schawerda, G. obscuratus D. & S., Aspitates ochrearia Rossi, Iberafrina 
penulataria Hiibn., Dyscia distinctaria Bang-Hass, Onychora agaritharia Dardoin 
and Compsoptera opacaria Hiibn.. 


226 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


Dosson, A. H.—(1) Rhopalocera from the coast of Corfu between Nissaki Beach 
Hotel and Agni, 16—22.1x.1995: Gegenes pumilio Hoffmsg, Muschampia proto Ochs., 
Gonepteryx cleopatra L., Artogeia krueperi Stdgr, Melitaea didyma Esp., Hipparchia 
aristaeus senthes Fruh., and H. syriaca Stdgr, which was the commonest species in 
flight at the time, unusually late, probably because of inclement weather that had 
prevailed during August. 

(2) Heterocera: a sample of species occurring at the Nissaki Beach Hotel lights 
during the same period, with indication of their relative frequency. Pyralidae: 
Duponchelia fovealis Zell. (c.), Hydriris ornatalis Dup. (f.c.), Antigastra catalaunalis 
Dup. (sc.), Endotricha flammealis D. & S. (f.c.), Herculia incarnatalis Zell. (sc.), 
Lamoria anella D. & S. (c). Geometridae: Xenochlorodes beryllaria Warr. (sc.), Idaea 
filicata Hibn. (f.c.), Scopula minorata ochroleucaria H.-S. (c.), Menophra japygiaria 
Costa (sc.), Nychiodes dalmatina Wagner (sc.), Gnophos sartatus Treits. (c.), Aspitates 
ochrearia Rossi (sc). Thaumetopoeidae: Thaumetopoea solitaria Freyer (f.c.). 
Ctenuchidae: Dysauxes famula Frey. (v.c.). Arctiidae: Cymbalophora pudica Esp. 
(sc.), Eilema caniola Hiibn. (v.c.). Noctuidae: Agrotis crassa Hiibn. (sc.), Mythimna 
prominens Walk. (sc.), M. putrescens Hiibn. (sc.), M. loreyi Dup. (sc.), Mniotype 
solieri Boisd. (sc.), Dysgonia algira L. (sc.), Orectis proboscidata H.-S. (sc.), 
Pechipogo plumigeralis Hibn. (sc.). 

(3) Heterocera from Cyprus, 8—14.xi1.1994. A sample from Paphos streetlights. 
Pyralidae: Evergestis isatidalis Dup. (f.c.). Geometridae: Larentia clavaria Haw. (c.), 
Dasycephala modesta Stdgr (sc.). Arctiidae: Ocnogyna loewii Zell. (c.). Noctuidae: 
Cucullia chamomillae D. & S., genit. det. (c.), Mniotype leuconota H.-S. (f.c.), 
Aporophyla australis ingenua Freyer (sc.), A. canescens Dup. (f.c.), A. nigra Haw. 
(v.c.), Xylena exsoleta L. (sc.), Platysenta viscosa Freyer, (sc.). From Agios 
Neophytes Monastery. Pyralidae: Hellula undalis F., Antigastra catalaunalis Dup. 
Noctuidae: Spodoptera cilium Guen. From Kykkou Monastery. Noctuidae: 
Polymixis flavicincta D. & S. From Polis. Pyralidae: Duponchelia fovealis Zell. 

EDWARDS, DR. P. J.—A collection of moths, and one butterfly, from Prov. 
Gerona, Spain, caught 11—23.ix.1995. The butterfly was an extreme aberration of 
Syntarucus pirithous L., plain buff-brown without any markings; a typical male was 
shown for comparison. All the moths were taken in an m.v. trap; they included 
Cucullia argentea Hufn., two of which had been caught in the same area in 
September 1986, and which has been shown only recently to be very local in this 
restricted part of Spain; Parascotia nisseni Turati, a rare south-European species 
which resembles a small P. fuliginaria L.; Hydraecia osseola hucherardi Mab., very 
local in S. W. Europe, its distribution being dependent, as in Britain, on the presence 
of the food plant, marsh mallow (A/thaea); Ochropleura leucogaster Freyer, a very 
rare immigrant to Britain which bears a strong resemblance to the common O. plecta 
L., and others such as Eublemma ostrina Hiibn. and Protoschinia scutosa D. & S. 

GOATER, B.—A selection of Heterocera taken in Bulgaria 12—26.1x.1995. (1) 
Melnik, S. W. Bulgaria. Noctuidae: Eugnorisma pontica Stdgr, common at sugar and 
light; Xestia cohaesa H.-S., also seen commonly in the East Rhodopi mountains; 
Autophila ligaminosa Evers., three specimens found in a cave. (2) Kresna Gorge, 
S. W. Bulgaria. This famous locality produced a wealth of species unknown in 
western Europe. Geometridae: Nychiodes dalmatina Wagner. Aretiidae Eilema 
morosina, H.-S. Noctuidae: Divaena haywardi Tams, Polyphaenis subsericata H.-S. 
and Praestilbia armeniaca Stdgr, as well as the more widespread Atethmia ambusta 
D. & S., Cryphaea ochsi Boursin, C. rectilinea Warren and Abrostola agnorista 
Dufay. (3) East Rhodopi Mountains, S.E. Bulgaria. Pyralidae: Agriphila dalmatinella 
Hamps., Pediasia matricella Treits., Evergestis serratalis Stdgr, all common. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 227 


Lemoniidae: Lemonia balcanica H.-S., males only, at light. Thaumetopoeidae: 
Thaumetopoea solitaria Freyer, males common at light. Geometridae: Scopula 
ochraceata Stdgr, Eupithecia ericeata Rambur, the beautiful south-east European 
“thorn” Eumera regina Stdgr, Nychiodes waltheri Wagner, Peribatodes correptaria 
Zell., Gnophos sartatus Treits. Noctuidae: two specimens of the rare Leucania herrichi 
H.-S., Episema tersa D. & S., E. lederi Christ., E. korsakovi Christ., Aporophyla 
canescens Dup., Polymixis serpentina Treits., Agrochola osthelderi Boursin, Cryphaea 
seladona Christ. subsp. burgeffi Draudt, C. amasina Draudt, strongly-marked 
Luperina dumerilii Dup., Acontia urania Friv., Euchalcia consona F. and Orectis 
proboscidata H.-S. (4) Black Sea coast, including the famous ‘‘Silberkiiste’’ near 
Balchik. Pyralidae: Euchromius ocellea Haw., Spermatophthora hornigi Led. 
Geometridae: Eupithecia variostrigata Alph., Dyscia sicanaria Zell. Noctuidae: 
Mycteroplus puniceago Boisd., found rather commonly inside a hotel and a super- 
market, whence specimens had been attracted to light, and dark specimens of 
Luperina rubella Dup. 

HALL, N.—(1) Cucullia reisseri Boursin, C. verbasci L. and C. lychnitis Ramb., bred 
from larvae found feeding together on hoary mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum), 
Arlanzon, Prov. Burgos, Spain. The species could be separated easily as larvae, 
though two of the C. reisseri were very different from the others, and it was hoped that 
they would produce a fourth species, C. thapsiphaga Treits. Each species was 
displayed in two columns separated on the basis of hindwing colour, females having 
darker hindwings than males. One underside of each species was also shown. The 
cocoons were overwintered outdoors in a meat safe (never getting wet). When brought 
indoors in May, all the pupae were cut out of their cocoons, even though this is 
considered inadvisable, not least because Cucullia pupae often lie over for two or 
more winters. However, 30 out of 32 emerged, none of the adults was deformed and 
no parasites were obtained. The two remaining pupae had died. 

(2) Bred Macrothylacia digramma Meade-Waldo, from eggs obtained in Portugal 
by a friend. Gomez Bustillo & Fernandez-Rubio, Mariposas de la Peninsula Iherica, 
treat M. digramma as a subspecies of M. rubi L., and state that the larva feeds again 
in March and April, after hibernation. De Freina & Witt, Bombyces und Sphingides 
der Westpalaearktis, give M. digramma as a separate species, with subspecies 
alfacaria Ribbe occurring in Portugal, but give no information at all about the 
larvae. The exhibitor was therefore uncertain how the larvae would behave when 
they approached full growth. Three larvae were put into separate boxes in the 
refrigerator after they had finished feeding in the autumn. In January they were 
removed and offered evergreen oak (Quercus ilex) and subjected to an 18-hour per 
day light cycle. After a week they had not eaten anything or pupated, so they were 
returned to the refrigerator for a further two weeks. On removal, they spun up 
immediately without feeding, producing the three moths displayed. An attempt was 
made to overwinter the rest of the larvae in a large tray of peat with evergreen oak, 
replaced regularly, laid on top. Half the tray was exposed to the weather. Larvae 
were observed wandering about a month or two, but more and more mouldy larvae 
were found until it was supposed that all had died. However, further investigation 
revealed that eight larvae had buried themselves in the peat and that six of them had 
not yet turned mouldy. Eventually, three survived the winter buried in the peat. Of 
these, one spun up and died as a pupa, one pupated without spinning up and then 
died, and one emerged properly. 

(3) Bred Clostera anastomosis L. A female of this species was caught at light in the 
Marais de Chautagne, Savoie, Central France, on 20.vi.1995, and obliged with eggs. 
The larvae fed communally on poplar, with a near 100% survival rate, spun up in the 


228 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


poplar leaves, and produced a second generation of moths in late July and August. 
Specimens of the other three European Clostera species, C. curtula L., C. anachoreta 
D. & S. and C. pigra Hufn. were shown for comparison. 

(4) An unidentified hadenid aberration from Ile d’Olonne, Vendée, France. 

(5) Idaea saleri Dominguez & Baixeras compared with J. carvalhoi Herbulot. 
Specimens of the recently described J. saleri (1992, Nota Lepid. 15 (2): 102-105) were 
exhibited from Cullera, Prov. Valencia, Spain, June and August 1994 and El Fangar, 
Ebro Delta, Prov. Tarragona, Spain, 7.1x.1995, and of J. carvalhoi from Caniles, 
Prov. Granada, Spain, June 1994. Both species are very dark, blackish, in colour, 
with unusually elongated wings, but those of J. carvalhoi are distinctly longer and the 
bases of the antennae and frons are shining white, whereas in /. sa/eri these parts are 
concolorous with the rest of the insect. Dominguez & Baixeras state that /. saleri is 
known from a single locality, El Saler, south of Valencia. The Cullera locality is only 
about 15km south of El Saler, but the Ebro Delta is some 200 km further north. 

(6) Moths from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, December 1944. All were collected 
from lights around the hotel in Jandia 17—31.x1.1994. The lights were all fitted with 
“low energy” bulbs which seem quite attractive to moths. The following were exhibited. 
Pyralidae: Ancylosis convexella Led., Cornifrons ulceratalis Led., Pseudarenipses 
insularum Speidel & Schmitz. Noctuidae: Tathorhynchus exsiccata Led., Earias insulana 
Boisd., Agrotis herzogi Rebel. 

(7) Moths from France and Switzerland incorporated into exhibits of species which 
may be of interest to British collectors, as follows. France, June 1995: (i) Bois de 
Merles, Meuse, 15—16.vi: Herminia tarsipennalis Treits., Pechipogo strigilata L.., 
Photedes extrema Hiibn., Leucodonta bicoloria D. & S., Salebriopsis albicilla H.-S., 
Sciota hostilis Steph. (11) Marais de Cormoranche, Ain, 17, 18 and 21.vi: Siona lineata 
Scop., Pechipogo strigilata L., Hypena rostralis L., Lygephila viciae Htbn., Lithacodia 
deceptoria Scop., Paradiarsia punicea Hiibn. (111) Marais de Chautagne, Savoie, 19 and 
22.vi: Trisateles emortualis D. & S., Paracolax tristalis F., Macrochilo cribrumalis 
Hiibn., Eucarta amethystina Hiibn. (iv) Chapelle des Bois, Doubs, 25.vi: Plagodis 
pulveraria Linn., Fagivorina arenaria Hufn., Hyppa rectilinea Esp. (v) Boujailles, 
Doubs, 26 and 27.vi: Thera stragulata Hiibn., Ecliptopera capitata H.-S., Hypena 
crassalis F., Catephia alchymista D. & S., Acronicta strigosa D. & S., Cucullia lactucae 
D. & S., Xestia collina Boisd. 

France, July/August 1995: (1) Col de la Lébe, Ain, 27.vii: Peribatodes secundaria 
Esp., Phlogophora scita Hiibn. (ii) Marais de Chautagne, 29 and 31.vii: Drepana 
curvatula Borkh., Polypogon gryphalis H.-S., Herminia tarsicrinalis Knoch, H. 
tenuialis Rebel, Deltotes candidula D. & S. (iii) Montclergeon, Haute-Savoie, 30.vii: 
Schrankia taenialis Htibn., Amphipyra perflua F. (iv) Forét de Tavel, Gard, 2 and 
4.viil: Dysauxes famula Freyer, Eublemma suava Hibn. (v) Boujailles, 13.vii: Ephesia 
fulminea Scop. 

Switzerland, August 1995: (i) Pfynwald, Valais, 7 and 9.vii: Dysauxes ancilla L., 
Pelosia muscerda Hufn., f. umbrata Urbahn, Herminia lunalis Scop., H. tarsipennalis 
Treits., Athetis gluteosa Treits., Hypena rostralis L., Calamia tridens Hufn. (i1) 
Zeneggen, Valais, 8.viii: Lymantria monacha L., Hypena obesalis Treits., Xestia 
speciosa Htibn. 

Mr Hall also presented an annotated display illustrating problems of identification 
of European Eilema species and of Cyclophorinae, and in differentiating Semiothisa 
notata L. from S. alternaria Hiibn. 

KENDRICK, R. C.—A presentation of Lepidoptera collected in Hong Kong 
between 22.vii and 6.ix.1994, being part of an undergraduate project on habitat 
preference of moth species. About 150 species were shown, including about 21 which 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 229 


were thought to be undescribed and a number new to Hong Kong. Most collecting 
was done at night, but during the daytime, many photographs were taken of 
habitats, butterflies and of moth species being encountered at night. The folder 
containing the report was placed nearby, and visitors to the Exhibition were invited 
to peruse it. A graceful acknowledgement to those who had helped him was included. 

PARKER, R.—An exhibit of butterflies (Rhopalocera) encountered during a single 
weekend in Serbia, from the ancient relict area of Topli Do, a warm valley, and the 
Stara Planina massif on the border between Serbia and Bulgaria, altitude between 
750 and 1000m. Seventy species were seen; a voucher specimen of every species 
encountered was retained, and the exhibit comprised 47 of these. Some of the others 
were on loan, others had been retained by a colleague, Pedrag Jaksic, who had 
conducted the exhibitor to the localities, and a few common species were not shown. 
A joint paper covering a wider range of localities in the same area is planned for the 
near future. 

WAITE, P.—An extreme and beautiful male underside aberration of Plebicula 
dorylas Higgins taken on 6.vii.1986 on Mont Sirac, Valgaudemar, Hautes Alpes, 
France, compared with a normal underside, 19.vii.1987, from Biescas, Prov. Huesca, 
Spain. 

WARING, P.—Some photographs of moths seen on a recording expedition to 
Poland, including a larva of Hadena irregularis Hufn. on Silene otites from sandy 
fringes of the Biebrza Marshes, and a specimen of Catocala pacta Linn. feeding at a 
wine rope set out in the Marshes. Photographs of the habitat were also shown. 

WINTER, P. Q.—A selection of macrolepidoptera taken 13—19.v.1995 in a locality 
near Nevers, France, including second generation specimens of Melitaea cinxia L., 
bred from ova laid in Yorkshire, which had emerged in late August. Also Erynnis 
tages L., Quercusia quercus L. bred from a larva beaten from oak, Scopula floslactata 
Haw., Paradarisa similaria Hufn. (=extersaria Hiibn.), a large form of Ematurga 
atomaria Hiibn., Hemaris fuciformis L., Peridea anceps Goeze and Craniophora 
ligustri D. & S., all of which are widespread in Britain. The hawkmoth, Proserpinus 
proserpina Pall., of which there is a single British record. Several species which are 
local, rare migrants, or extinct in Britain: Drepana curvatula Borkh., Sabra harpagula 
Esp., Lithosia quadra L. from a larva beaten from oak, Actinotia polyodon Cl., Egira 
conspicillaris L., Moma alpium Osbeck, Acronicta auricoma D. & S. and Trachea 
atriplicis L. Species hitherto unrecorded from Britain were Boloria dia L., Cerura 
erminea Esp. and Ochrostigma melagona Borkh. 


DIPTERA 


This year Myopites inulaedyssentericae Blot took over as the most frequently 
exhibited tephritid. As usual a good range of Syrphidae and ‘“‘larger Brachycera” 
were exhibited and Conopidae appear to have had a good year (13 species by 5 
exhibitors). While some sun-loving species had evidently benefited from the weather 
conditions in 1995 it was a rather poor year for the more moisture-oriented groups of 
flies. Four species new to the British list were exhibited, three of them by Peter 
Hodge; all had been found in earlier years but only recently identified. 

ALEXANDER, K. N. A. AND FOSTER, A. P.—Flies found in 1995 by the National 
Trust’s Biological Survey: Dictenidia bimaculata (L.) (Tipulidae), Fallowlees Burn, 
Northumberland, 20.vii; Oxycera dives Loew (Stratiomyidae), same site, 21.vii; O. 
morrisii Curt., Thoragill Beck, Yorkshire Dales, 13.vi1; O. pardalina (Meig.), Pipers 
Grove, Glos., 29.vi; Stratiomys potamida (Meig.) (Stratiomyidae), Cambo Quarry, 
Northumberland, 19.vii; Symphoromyia crassicornis (Panz.) (Rhagionidae), Cowside 


230 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


Beck, Yorkshire Dales, 13.vii; Acrocera orbicula (F.) (Acroceridae), Fallowlees Burn, 
Northumberland, 21.vii; Brachyopa scutellaris R.-D. (Syrphidae), Alder Bed, Golden 
Cap, Dorset, 18.v. 

CHANDLER, P. J.—(1) Chrysopilus erythrophthalmus Loew (Rhagionidae) (Plate 
III, Fig. 10), second Scottish and fifth British record: cattle-grazed field by River 
Mouse Water near Lanark, 15.vii.1995, a female like all other British records; a 
female of the common species C. cristatus (F.) was also exhibited for comparison. 

(2) Nanna multisetosa Hackman (Scathophagidae), male from Woodwalton 
Fen, Cambs., 24.v.1980. New to Britain; recently recorded from Ireland (Speight, 
M. C. D., 1995, Ir. Nat’s J., 25: 113-115). This has been confused with N. flavipes 
(Fall.), exhibited for comparison, which is frequent in the south of England, but all 
Irish records have proved to be N. multisetosa, which may have a more northerly 
distribution in Britain. 

(3) A selection of flies collected in North America in 1994: the three eastern 
Nearctic species of Keroplatus (Keroplatidae)—K. carbonarius Bosc, Coote’s 
Paradise, Ontario, 20.viii (collected by A. E. Stubbs); K. militaris Joh., Hunter’s 
Point, Michigan, 2.1x; K. clausus Coq., Catfish Creek, Ontario, 10.ix and Coote’s 
Paradise, Ontario, 20.vi; Palloptera superba (Loew) (Pallopteridae), Elora Gorge, 
Ontario, 22.viii; Chymomyza amoena (Loew) (Drosophilidae), Spencer’s Gorge, 
Ontario, 20.vili, on rotten apples (this species has been introduced into central 
Europe, where it develops in chestnuts as well as apples); Sphyracephala brevicornis 
(Say) (Diopsidae), Coote’s Paradise, Ontariio, 20.vii and near Arkell, Ontario, 23.viii 
(the only North American stalk-eyed fly, which has rather short broad stalks); 
Lepidophora species (Bombyliidae), Algonquin Park, Ontario, 29.viii; Bombyliopsis 
(= Hystricia) abrupta (Wied.) (Tachinidae), Stonington, Michigan, 2.viii and Catfish 
Creek, Ontario, 10.ix; Spilomyia species (Syrphidae), showing mimicry of a 
Dolichovespula species (Vespidae), also exhibited, both at Solidago flowers, 
Algonquin Park, Ontario, 29.viii (both have the abdomen black on more than the 
basal half with narrow yellow markings on the remainder). 

(4) Calotarsa pallipes (Loew) (Platypezidae), male from Old Nairn road, Ontario, 
31.viii and females from Algonquin Park, Ontario, 28.vili on the honey fungus 
Armillaria mellea, the food plant; with drawings of the male hind-tarsal structure of 
this and the other four species of the genus (all North American); the male of each 
species has specific silver and black flag-like structures on the hind tarsi, which are 
used in aerial courtship displays. 

HACKETT, D.—Syrphidae collected in 1995: Xanthogramma citrofasciatum (De 
Geer) at anthill, Tottenham Triangle railway land, London, 22.v; Sphaerophoria 
rueppellii (Wied.), Alexandra Park, Haringey, London, 13.vi; Parhelophilus versicolor 
(F.) on Typha at Gunnersbury Triangle, N.R., Middx.; Mallota cimbiciformis (Fall.) 
at Viburnum flowers, same site, 21.vi; Criorhina floccosa (Meig.) at sap run on Fagus, 
Sandy Heath, Hampstead, Middx.; Sericomyia silentis (Harris) at Hedera flowers, 
Grafham, West Sussex, 3.ix. 

HALSTEAD, A. H.—Some local flies collected in 1995: Limnophila pulchella (Meig.) 
(Limoniidae), north end of Mortimer’s Meadows, Dinton Pastures, Berks., 8.iv; 
Eutolmus rufibarbis (Meig.) (Asilidae), reared from larva in soil, Brookwood, Surrey, 
emerged 7.vi; Nephrocerus flavicornis Zett. (Pipunculidae), near Raver Loddon, 
Dinton Pastures, Berks.; Microdon analis Macq. (=eggeri Mik) (Syrphidae), swept 
from heather, Whitmoor Common, Surrey, |1.vi; Xy/ota tarda (Meig.) (Syrphidae), 
Loch Libo, Renfrewshire, 8.vii; Myopa fasciata (Meig.) (Conopidae), wet grassland 
at Worts Gutter, New Forest, Hants, 12.viii; M. tessellatipennis Mots. (Conopidae), 
north end of Mortimer’s Meadows, Dinton Pastures, Berks., 8.1v; Euphranta 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 231 


toxoneura (Loew) (Tephritidae), on Salix near Baders Way, Dinton Pastures, 20.v; 
Myopites inulaedyssentericae Blot (Tephritidae), on Pulicaria dysenterica, Chobham 
Common, Surrey, 22.viii; Micropeza lateralis (Meig.) (Micropezidae), Silchester 
Common, Hants, 19.viti; Braula coeca Nitzsch (Braulidae), on queen honeybee Apis 
mellifera L., RHS Garden, Wisley, Surrey, 15.ix. 

HAWKINS, R. D.—A selection of the Syrphidae and all species of Conopidae 
found in 1995 on W. Kent (Spring Park and West Wickham) and Surrey (other 4 
sites) commons owned and managed by the Corporation of London: Rhingia 
rostrata (L.), West Wickham Common, 2.viil; Pipiza austriaca (Meig.), Spring Park, 
6.v1; Helophilus trivittatus (F.), Farthing Downs, 8 and 10.vili; Volucella inanis (L.), 
Riddlesdown, 17.vu; Epistrophe diaphana (Zett.), Riddlesdown, 9.vili; Thecophora 
atra (F.), Riddlesdown, 16.vi and West Wickham Common, 5.ix; Physocephala 
rufipes (F.), Farthing Downs, 3l.vii and Kenley Common, 3.viii; Sicus ferrugineus 
(L.), Spring Park, 28.vi and Kenley Common, 3.viii; Conops ceriaeformis (Meig.), 
West Wickham Common, 2.vii and Spring Park, 18.viii; C. quadrifasciatus De Geer, 
West Wickham Common, 2.vii, Spring Park, 18.viii, Kenley Common, 25.vii and 
Coulsdon Common, 21.viti; Conops flavipes L., Spring Park, 1|.viii. 

HopcE, P. J.—Eight species of Diptera including three representing the first 
British records: Stratiomys longicornis (Scop.) (Stratiomyidae), Oxey Marsh, 
Lymington, Hants, 29.vi.1995 and Cooling Marsh, Kent, 16.vii.1995; Haematopota 
subcylindrica Pand. (Tabanidae), new to Britain, one female swept from dyke near 
Camber Castle, Rye, E. Sussex, 28.vi.1995 (another female had been swept from lake 
margin on Pett Level, E. Sussex, 6.vii.1987); Hercostomus verbekei Pollet 
(Dolichopodidae), sandy shore on bank of River Lark, Barton Mills, W. Suffolk, 
17.vii.1987 (this species was first recognized by Marc Pollet, 1993, Zoologica Scripta 
22: 101—109 and closely resembles H. plagiatus (Loew), with which it may previously 
have been confused); Syntormon silvianus Parvu (Dolichopodidae), new to Britain 
from Petworth Park, W. Sussex, 8.vi.1988 and Martins Wood, Ightham Mote, W. 
Kent, 13.vi.1990 (this resembles S. monilis (Hal.) and is mixed with it in British 
collections); Myolepta luteola (Gmelin) (Syrphidae), Hythe End, Bucks., 29.vii.1995; 
Brachypalpus laphriformis (Fall.) (Syrphidae), on old oak stump, Buxted Park, E. 
Sussex, 20.vi.1995; Conops vesicularis L. (Conopidae), on disused railway embank- 
ment at Lewes, E. Sussex, 10.v.1995; Myopites inulaedyssentericae Blot (Tephritidae), 
Hythe End, Bucks., 28.vii.1995. 

MCLEAN, I. F. G—Flies from Cromer Cliffs, Norfolk in August 1995 (the cliffs are 
characterized by seepages and active erosion, and include both herb-rich grassland 
and dense scrub, surrounding wet glades dominated by horsetails): Oxycera morrissii 
Curt. (Stratiomyidae) on seepages; Chrysotus suavis (Loew) (Dolichopodidae); 
Trichopsomyia flavitarsis (Meig.) (Syrphidae); Myopites inulaedyssentericae Blot 
(Tephritidae); Helicophagella melanura (Meig.) (Sarcophagidae). 

PARKER, M.—A selection of flies collected in recent years, including the following: 
Phthiria pulicaria (Mikan) (Bombyliidae), swept from fixed sand at Stokeford Heath, 
Dorset, 25.vi.1995; Thereva valida (Loew) (Therevidae), Speybridge, Morayshire, 
3.vu; 7. inornata Verrall (Therevidae), Culbin Forest, Nairns, 4.vii.1994; Asilus 
crabroniformis L. (Asilidae), female caught in flight at Keysworth Farm, Wareham, 
Dorset, 6.viii.1994; Pamponerus germanicus (L.) (Asilidae), at umbels, Shewalton 
sands, Irvine, Ayrshire, 7.vii.1995; Cheilosia species B of Stubbs & Falk (Syrphidae), 
second British record from Dollarbeg, Clackmannan, 14.vi.1992; C. uviformis 
(Becker), first Scottish record from Dundonnell, Wester Ross, 18.vii.1991; C. 
mutabilis (Fall.), Culbin Forest, Nairns, on Conopodium majus flower, 26.vii.1995; 
Eristalis cryptarum (F.) (Syrphidae), male (Plate III, Fig. 11) hovering above 


232 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


Sphagnum moss, Pizwell Farm, Dartmoor, Devon, 13.viii.1995 and female (Plate III, 
Fig. 12) flying over riverside vegetation, Pudsham Down, Dartmoor, Devon, 
20.vili.1995; Didea erratica (L.) (Syrphidae), male on low-growing composites at 
Rothiemurchus Forest, Easter Ness, 25.vii.1995; Eupeodes nitens (Zett.) (Syrphidae), 
male at Allium ursinum flowers, Delcombe Wood, Dorset, 2.v.1995 and female at 
Euphorbia amygdaloides flowers, Cranbourne Chase, Dorset, 1.v.1995; Xylota tarda 
(Meig.) (Syrphidae) on bracken at Speybridge, Morayshire, 6.vu1.1994; Anasimyia 
lunulata (Meig.) (Syrphidae), Pizwell Farm, Devon, 13.viii.1995; Microdon mutabilis 
(L.) (Syrphidae), Oakers Wood, Dorset, 17.vi.1995 (new to Oakers Wood, syrphid 
list now at 115 species); Myopa extricata Collin (Conopidae), male at A//ium ursinum, 
Powerstock village, Dorset, 11.iv.1995; Physocephala nigra (De Geer) (Conopidae), 
male hovering close to thistle at Stinchar Bridge, Carrick Forest, Ayrshire, 8.vii.1995; 
Icterica westermanni (Meig.) (Tephritidae), on Senecio jacobaea on coastal wetland at 
Hythe, Hants, 22.vii.1995; Psacadina vittigera (Schiner) (Sciomyzidae), same site at 
Hythe, Hants, 30.vii.1995. 

PERRY, I.—A selection of uncommon flies found in 1995: Tabanus glaucopis 
(Meig.) (Tabanidae), Farley Mount Country Park, Hants, 19.vii (several females 
attracted to the collector in a short spell of hot sultry weather); Dioctria cothurnata 
(Meig.) (Asilidae), Mark Ash, New Forest, 18.vii, a female resting on Juncus in a 
woodland bog; Ogcodes pallipes Latreille (Acroceridae), Martin Down, Hants, swept 
from an isolated birch tree along with several Acrocera orbicula F.; Platypalpus 
leucothrix (Strobl) (Hybotidae), in chalk grassland at Farley Mount Country Park, 
19.vii; Rhamphomyia physoprocta Frey (Empididae), Foulden Common, Norfolk, 
4.vii and Holmsley Bog, New Forest, Hants, 15.vii; Dolichopus agilis (Meig.) 
(Dolichopodidae), in chalk grassland beneath pines at The Devil’s Ditch, Cambs., 
2.vill; D. plumitarsis Fall., Pashford Fen, Suffolk, 4.vii; Hercostomus fulvicaudis 
(Hal.) (Dolichopodidae), same site, 29.vi1; Callicera aurata (Rossi) (Syrphidae), 
Farley Mount Country Park, Hants, 19.vii, several females on Rubus flowers; 
Acrometopia wahlbergi (Zett.) (Chamaemyiidae), Holmsley Bog, New Forest, 15.vu; 
Gasterophilus nasalis (L.) (Gasterophilidae), same site and date, two males flying 
back and forth about a metre from ground; Phasia hemiptera (F.) (Tachinidae), 
Wandlebury, Cambs., 14.ix, male at Hedera flowers, unusually late record and 
probably first for the county. 

PLANT, A.—Meligramma triangulifera (Zett.) (Syrphidae), third Dorset record 
from a Malaise trap, Arne RSPB Reserve, 9—24.v.1995. 

SIMMONS, M. J.—A collection of hoverflies (Syrphidae) from Crowborough, East 
Sussex, including examples of more than 90 species (not fully determined) found 
either in the exhibitor’s garden or in an area of mixed woodland and grassland 
directly opposite his house; the latter area (of which photographs were shown) has 
been scheduled for housing development after an unsuccessful campaign to save it 
lasting seven years: the species shown were mostly common but included Didea 
fasciata Macq., Brachypalpoides lentus (Meig.) and Chalcosyrphus nemorum (F.). It 
was stated that about 50 species of sawfly and 22 species of butterfly had been 
recorded, while 420 species of macromoth had been recorded in the garden. 

Wass, S.—Odontomyia angulata (Pz.) (Stratiomyidae), pingos at Upton Fen, 
Norfolk, 5.vii.1993; Atylotus latistriatus Brauer (Tabanidae), Titehwell, Marsh, 
Norfolk, 7.vii.1993; Bombylius minor L. (Bombyliidae), hovering above heather, 
Stokeford Heath, Dorset, 19.vii.1995; Meligramma guttata (Fall.) (Syrphidae), at 
umbels, Shewalton sandpits, Irvine, Ayrshire, 7.vii.1995; Pelecocera tricincta (Meig.) 
(Syrphidae), Stokeford Heath, Dorset, 15.vii.1995; Eumerus sabulonum Fall. 
(Syrphidae), flying low over fixed sand, Shewalton sandpits, 3.vii.1995; Myolepta 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 233 


luteola (Gmelin) (Syrphidae), third Dorset record, on umbels, Langton Matravers, 
12.vi.1993; Zodion notatum (Meig.) (Conopidae), swept from Senecio jacobaea, 
Tadnoll Heath, Dorset, 30.vii.1995; Leopoldius brevirostris (Germ.) (Conopidae), 
West Bexington, Dorset, 19.vii.1993, new county record. 


COLEOPTERA 


ALEXANDER, K. N. A. AND FOSTER, A. P.—A selection of noteworthy species 
found during the National Trust’s Biological Survey in 1995: Agonum ericeti 
(Panz.) (Carabidae), Greenleighton bog, Wallington, Northumberland, pitfall trap, 
18—20.vii.1995; Harpalus ardosiacus Luts. (Carabidae), near West Bexington, Dorset, 
(not NT property), m.v. light, 18.vii.1995; Harpalus dimidiatus (Rossi) (Carabidae), 
Spyway Farm, Dorset, 16.v.1995; Harpalus azureus (F.) (Carabidae), Spyway Farm, 
Dorset, 16.v.1995; Tachys bistriatus (Duft.) (Carabidae), Cogden, Dorset, 23.v.1995; 
Stictotarsus multilineatus Falkenstro6m (= Potamonectes  griseostriatus (Deg.)) 
(Dytiscidae), Fountains Fell Tarn, 13.vii.1995; Onthophagus vacca (L.) (Scarabaei- 
dae), Spyway Farm, Dorset, 16.v.1995; Agrilus sinuatus (Ol.) (Buprestidae), Coleshill 
Estate, Oxon, 8.viti.1995; Selatosomus bipustulatus (L.) (Elateridae), Cloutsham Ball, 
Somerset, 6.vi.1995; Globicornis nigriceps (F.) (Dermestidae), Worcs., 12.vi.1995; 
Thymalus limbatus (F.) (Peltidae), Stourhead Park, Wilts, 4.vu.1995; Tillus elongatus 
(L.) (Cleridae), Pipers Grove, Glos, 29.vi.1995; Pseudocistela ceramboides (L.) 
(Tenebrionidae), Pipers Grove, Glos, 29.vi.1995; Abdera flexuosa (Payk.) (Melan- 
dryidae), Newlands Batch, Dorset, 25.v.1995; Anisoxya fuscula (Ill.) (Melandryidae), 
Buscot and Coleshill Estate, Oxon, 8.vili.1995; Conopalpus testaceus (Ol.) (Melan- 
dryidae), Stourhead Park, Wilts, 4.vii.1995 and Rainbow Wood Farm, Somerset, 
3.vii.1995; Mordellistena variegata (F.) (Mordellidae), Buscot and Coleshill Estate, 
Oxon, vili.1995 and Rainbow Wood Farm, Somerset, 3.vii.1995; Calomicrus 
circumfuscus (Marsh.) (Chrysomelidae), Crook Peak, Somerset, 7.vi.1995; Batophila 
rubi (Payk.) (Chrysomelidae), Wavering Down, Somerset, 9.vi.1995; Mantura 
matthewsi (Curt.) (Chrysomelidae), Wavering Down, Somerset, 9.vi.1995; Rhynchaenus 
testaceus (Miller, O. F.) (Curculionidae), Ruan Lanihorne, Cornwall, 12.vii.1978, off 
alder, (not NT property). 

HACKETT, D.—Laemostenus terricola (Herbst) (Carabidae), Hampstead Heath, 
Middx, 1.vi.1994, under log; Platyderus ruficollis (Marsh.) (Carabidae), milk depot, 
Parkland Walk, Haringey, Middx, TQ 293878, 14.111.1994, Highgate Wood, Middx, 
28.iv.1995, Hanger Hill, Ealing, Middx, TQ 187820, 14.vi.1995, and Hampstead 
Heath, Middx, 16.vi.1995; Agonum assimile (Payk.) (Carabidae), Hampstead Heath, 
Middx, 19.11.1995, in fallen branch; Amara convexiuscula (Marsh.) (Carabidae), The 
Paddock, Tottenham, Middx, TQ 349895, 19.vii.1995, under spoils; Dendrophilus 
punctatus (Herbst) (Histeridae), Grove Lodge, Alexandra Park, Middx, 13.vii.1995, 
in old elm; Stenus fulvicornis Steph. (Staphylinidae), The Grove, Alexandra Park, 
Middx, 24.vii.1995, on bracket fungus; Sinodendron cylindricum (L.) (Lucanidae), 
Graffham, W. Sussex, 3.1x.1995, in birch log and beside R. Kent below 
Kendal, Westmorland, 22.x.1995, elytron in elm; Elodes marginata (F.) (Scirtidae), 
near Kenwood Ponds outflow, Hampstead Heath, Middx, 26.v.1995; Trixagus 
dermestoides (L.) (Throscidae), near Kenwood Ponds outflow, Hampstead Heath, 
Middx, 26.v.1995; Ampedus cardinalis (Schiddte), Kensington Gardens, Middx, 
12.vii.1995, in detritus under Sweet Chestnut; Athous campyloides Newman, 
Alexandra Park, Middx, TQ 303903, 30.vii.1994, in web, and Grove Park, Middx, 
TQ 200772, 14.vii.1995, under stone in churchyard; Malthinus flaveolus (Herbst) 
(Cantharidae), Queens Wood, Middx, 4.vii.1993; Malthinus seriepunctatus Kiesenw. 


234 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


(Cantharidae), Queens Wood, Middx, 4.vii.1993; Ochina_ ptinoides (Marsh.) 
(Anobtidae), Gunnersbury Triangle NR, Middx, TQ 202787, 21.vi.1995, on dead ivy; 
Hemicoelus fulvicornis (Sturm) (Anobtidae), Alexandra Park, Middx, 27.vi.1995, on 
dead ivy; Dorcatoma chrysomelina Sturm (Anobiidae), Priory Park, Haringey, Middx, 
TQ 300890, on Robinia trunk; Lymexylon navale (L.) (Lymexylidae), Richmond Park, 
Surrey, 22.vii.1995, on newly cut oak log (coll. G. Collins); Soronia grisea (L.) 
(Nitidulidae), Alexandra Park, Middx, 14.vii.1995, at sugar on oak; Cryptarcha strigata 
(F.) (Nitidulidae), Highgate Wood, Middx, 28.iv.1995, in oak log; Antherophagus 
nigricornis (F.) (Cryptophagidae), Gunnersbury Triangle NR, Middx, 21.vi.1995, swept 
off grass; Enicmus brevicornis (Mannerh.) (Lathridiidae), Queens Wood, Middx, 
4.vii.1995; Tomoxia bucephala Costa (Mordellidae), Wimbledon Common, Surrey, 
5.vii.1995, on fallen beech; Synchita separanda (Reitt.) (Colydiidae), The Decoy, 
Hendon, Middx, TQ 240888, 18.vii.1995, under dead sycamore bark; Cicones undatus 
Gue.-Men. (Colydiidae), Nunhead Cemetery, Surrey, 10.vi.1995, under dead sycamore 
bark, Wooded Walk, Queens Wood, Haringey, Middx, TQ 291884, 4.vii.1995, on ivy- 
covered stump and The Decoy, Hendon, Middx, 18.vii.1995, under dead sycamore 
bark; Lagria hirta (L.) (Tenebrionidae), Tottenham Green Churchyard, Middx, TQ 
337894, 8.vii.1995, on nettle; Prionychus ater (F.) (Tenebrionidae), by A406 Hanger 
Lane, Acton, Middx, TQ 194788, 23.vi.1995, in heart rot on Robinia trunk; [somira 
murina (L.) (Tenebrionidae), Alexandra Park, Middx, 13.vi.1995, beaten off elder: 
Nacerdes melanura (L.) (Oedemeridae), New Kings Road, London, Middx, 12.vi.1995, 
dead on pavement (coll. M. Barclay); /schnomera sanguinicollis (F.) (Oedemeridae), 
Oxwich Point Woods, Glamorgan, 21.v.1995, on herbage. 

HALSTEAD, A. J.—Some local Coleoptera taken in 1995: Agonum muelleri 
(Herbst) (Carabidae), Afton Water, S. of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, 4.vi.1995, on 
river shingle; Agonum sexpunctatum (L.) (Carabidae), Whitmoor Common, Surrey, 
21.v.1995, under burnt log; Opilo mollis (L.) (Cleridae), Queen Elizabeth Plantation, 
Richmond Park SSSI, Surrey, 22.vii.1995, on oak trunk; Malthodes guttifer 
Kiessenw. (Cantharidae), W. of Catrine, Ayrshire, 3.vi.1995, swept; Megatoma 
undata (L.) (Dermestidae), Three Counties Show Ground, near Malvern Wells, 
Worcs., 7.v.1995, on trunk of old crack willow Salix fragilis (L.); Ctesias serra (F.) 
(Dermestidae), Three Counties Show Ground, near Malvern Wells, Worcs., emerged 
7.v.1995, bred from larva found under loose bark of old crack willow Salix fragilis 
(L.); Ptinomorphus imperialis (L.) (Anobiidae), The Sheepleas SSSI, near West 
Horsley, Surrey, 9.v.1995, swept; Lymexylon navale (L.) (Lymexylidae), Sidmouth 
Wood, Richmond Park SSSI, Surrey, 22.vii.1995, ovipositing in cracks in cut end of 
fallen oak trunk; Phloiotrya vaudoueri Muls. (Melandryidae), Queen Elizabeth 
Plantation, Richmond Park SSSI, Surrey, 22.vi.1995, on dead tree stump; 
Hydrothassa glabra (Herbst) (Chrysomelidae), W. of Catrine, Ayrshire, 13.vii.1995, 
swept; Coeliodes erythroleucus (Gmel.) (Curculionidae), Three Counties Show 
Ground, near Malvern Wells, Worcs., 7.v.1995, swept. 

Lott, D. A.—Leicestershire Red Data Book of Beetles published in 1995 
containing 342 species of recognized conservation interest which have been recorded 
in Leicestershire and Rutland since 1970. Some of the species included were exhibited 
in groups associated with habitats of particular conservation value in Leicestershire. 

(1) Dead wood. Abraeus granulum Er. (Histeridae), Barkby Holt, 12.11.1995; 
Microscydmus minimus (Chaud.) (Scydmaenidae), Donington Park, 4.x.1991; 
Euplectus bonvouloiri Raff. (Pselaphidae), Burley Wood, 6.v.1990; Plectophloeus 
nitidus Fairm. (Pselaphidae), Bradgate Park, 30.vi.1989; Batrisodes venustus Reichenb. 
(Pselaphidae), Shacklewell Hollow, 26.ix.1990; Notolaemus unifasciatus (Latr.) 
(Cucujidae), Bradgate Park, 1.v.1990; Corticaria alleni Johnson (Lathridiidae), 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 235 


Croxton Park, 17.1x.1994; Ischnomera cinerascens Pand. (Oedemeridae), Burley 
Wood, 6.v.1990; Dryocoetinus alni (Georg) (Scolytidae), Swithland Wood, 
30.11.1993; Ernoporus caucasicus Lind. (Scolytidae), Buddon Wood, 29.v.1995. 

(2) Disturbed sites. Harpalus obscurus (F.) (Carabidae), Geeston Quarry, 26.vi.1995, 
in pitfall trap (coll. I. Philips); Haliplus mucronatus Steph. (Haliplidae), disused railway 
line, Thorpe Satchville, 19.vii.1989; Lamprinodes saginatus (Grav.) (Staphylinidae), 
High Sharpley, v.1992, pitfall trap; A/aobia scapularis (Sahl.) (Staphylinidae), Geeston 
Quarry, 20.v.1987; Ocyusa nitidiventris (Fag.) (Staphylinidae), Rawdykes Power 
Station, Leicester, v.1992, pitfall trap; Oxypoda lurida Woll. (Staphylinidae), Rawdykes 
Power Station, Leicester, v.1992, pitfall trap; Chrysolina sanguinolenta (L.) (Chryso- 
melidae), Essendine Railway Sidings, 30.v.1987; Squamapion cineraceum Wencker 
(Brentidae), North Luffenham Quarry, vili.1992, pitfall trap; Caenopsis fissirostris 
(Walton) (Curculionidae), High Sharpley, vi.1992, pitfall trap; Tychius lineatulus Steph. 
(Curculionidae), King Luds Entrenchments, v.1992, pitfall trap. 

(3) Undisturbed wetlands (fen and carr). Badister dilatatus Chaud. (Carabidae), 
Gravel Hole Spinney, 10.vi.1994; Oxytelus fulvipes Er. (Staphylinidae), Narborough 
Bog, 24.iv.1993; Aloconota languida (Er.) (Staphylinidae), Pond Spinney, Aston 
Flamville, 29.1v.1993; Atheta difficilis (Bris.) (Staphylinidae), Saddington Reservoir, 
10.vi.1993; Calodera nigrita Mannerh. (Staphylinidae), R. Eye, Ham Bridge, 21.xi.1986; 
Calodera riparia Er. (Staphylinidae), Newtown Burgoland Marsh, 4.v.1993; Calodera 
uliginosa Er. (Staphylinidae), Loughborough Big Meadow, 9.iv.1991; Oxypoda 
nigrocincta Muls. & Rey (Staphylinidae), Narborough Bog, 28.iv.1993; Selatosomus 
nigricornis (Panz.) (Elateridae), Loughborough Big Meadow, 16.vi.1991; Donacia 
impressa Payk. (Chrysomelidae), R. Eye, Melton, 7.iv.1989. 

(4) Rivers and streams. Bembidion fluviatile (Dej.) (Carabidae), R. Trent, Sawley, 
24.v.1992; Ptenidium brenskei Flach (Ptiliidae), R. Lin, Bradgate Park, 4.v.1990; 
Lesteva hanseni Lohse (Staphylinidae), Grace Dieu Brook, Whitwick, 29.v.1994; 
Carpelimus lindrothi Palm (Staphylinidae), R. Soar, Lockington, 19.v.1992; Carpelimus 
obesus (Kiesenw.) (Staphylinidae), R. Soar, Lockington, 13.v.1990; Carpelimus subtilis 
(Er.) (Staphylinidae), Cribbs Meadow, 6.vili.1994; Lathrobium pallidum von Nord 
(Staphylinidae), R. Soar, Loughborough, vii.1994, pitfall trap; Atheta nanion Joy 
(Staphylinidae), R. Soar, Lockington, 12.1.1986; Atheta obfuscata (Grav.) (Staphy- 
linidae), R. Soar, Loughborough, 13.v.1990; Baris lepidii Germ. (Curculionidae), R. 
Eye, Melton, 10.11.1990. 

(5) Undisturbed grassland. Trachys scrobiculatus Kiesenw. (Buprestidae), King 
Luds Entrenchments, v.1992, pitfall trap; Fleutiauxellus quadripustulatus (F.) 
(Elateridae), Stonesby Quarry, vii.1994, pitfall trap; Chrysolina violacea (Miiller, 
O. F.) (Chrysomelidae), The Drift, viti.1992, pitfall trap; Aphthona nigriceps (Redt.) 
(Chrysomelidae), Misterton, 1.1x.1984; Omiamima mollina (Boh.) (Staphylinidae), 
Harby Hills, v.1992, pitfall trap. 

(6) Underground fungi. Hydnobius punctatus Sturm (Leiodidae), North Luffenham 
Quarry, ix.1992, pitfall trap; Leiodes macropus (Rye) (Leiodidae), North Luffenham 
Quarry, vili.1992, pitfall trap; Leiodes rugosa Steph. (Leiodidae), North Luffenham 
Quarry, ix.1992, pitfall trap. 

(7) Mammal nests. Catops longulus Kellner (Leiodidae), Bradgate Park, 11.ix.1989; 
Phyllodrepa puberula Bernh. (Staphylinidae), Ashby de la Zouche, 22.x.1987, badger 
sett; Anotylus saulcyi (Pand.) (Staphylinidae), Ketton Quarry, 10.xi.1988, badger sett; 
Liogluta pagana (Er.) (Staphylinidae), Lount Meadow, ix.1992, pitfall trap; Oxypoda 
spectabilis Mark. (Staphylinidae), Newfield Colliery, v.1992, pitfall trap. 

PARSONS, M. S.—A small selection of Coleoptera recorded at light traps operated 
in Richmond Park, Surrey during 1994-5; Bembidion varium (Ol.) (Carabidae), 


236 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


Copelatus haemorrhoidalis (F.) (Dytiscidae), I/ybius ater (Deg.) (Dytiscidae), Trox 
scaber (L.) (Trogidae), Aphodius zenkeri Germ. (Scarabaeidae), Amphimallon 
solstitialis (L.) (Scarabaeidae), Heterocerus fenestratus (Thunb.) (Heteroceridae), 
Stenagostus villosus (Fourc.) (Elateridae), Dermestes peruvianus Laporte de 
Castelnau (Dermestidae), Necrobia violacea (L.) (Cleridae), Myzia oblongoguttata 
(L.) (Coccinellidae), Tenebrio molitor (L.) (Tenebrionidae), Prionychus ater (F.) 
(Tenebrionidae), Curculio glandium Marsh. (Curculionidae), Scolytus intricatus 
(Ratz.) (Scolytidae). 


HEMIPTERA 


PARSONS, M. S.—Hemiptera recorded at light traps operated in Richmond Park, 
Surrey during 1994-5: Reduvius personatus (L.) (Reduviidae). 


HYMENOPTERA 


ALEXANDER, K.N.A. AND FOSTER, A. P.—Two noteworthy species found during 
the National Trust’s biological survey in 1995: Formicoxena nitidulus (Nylander) 
(Formicidae) at Staward Gorge, Northumberland, 19.vii.95, from a Formica lugubris 
Zett. nest and possibly the first record for the county; Eucera longicornis (L.) 
(Apidae: Eucerinae), at St Gabriel’s, Golden Cap Estate, Dorset, 25.v.1995, a single 
male visiting Vicia sp. flowers. 

ARCHER, M. E.—Some uncommon bees and wasps taken in recent years, 
including a number of new county records. Vespidae: Dolichovespula media (Retz.), 
queens at Nicholas St, York, 12.vii.1995; Thixendale, Wolds, 18.viii.1995; Horse 
Dale, Wolds, 31.11.1995; worker at Sherburn, Malton, 1995. This species was first 
recorded in Yorkshire in 1994. Sphecidae: male Cerceris quinquefasciata (Rossius), 
Roydon Common, Norf. 12.viii.1995; female C. arenaria (L.), Rossington Bridge, S. 
Yorks., 19.vu.1994 (new to Yorks in 1993); female Argogorytes fargeii (Shuck.), 
Stutton, Yorks., 23.vii.1994; female Oxybelus argentatus Curt., Hartlebury 
Common, Worcs., 5.vii.1994 and at Devil’s Spittleful Nature Reserve, Worcs., 
12.vii.1994; female Philanthus triangulum (F.), Hartlebury Common, Worcs., 
10.vil.1995—this record greatly extends the range of this species from south-east 
England. Apidae: Andreninae; female Andrena alfkenella Perkins, Sark, Chan. Is., 
3.vii.1994, a new species for the Channel Islands; male and female A. ocreata 
(Christ), Gundale, N. Yorks., 5.vi.1994; male A. synadelpha Perkins, Gibraltar Point, 
Lincs., 1.v.1994, new to Lincolnshire. Apidae: Halictinae; male Sphecodes niger 
Sichel, Herm, Chan. Is., 25.vii.1994, new to Channel Islands; female Lasioglossum 
brevicorne (Schenck), Thetford Warren Lodge, Norf., 24.v.1992 and at Hartlebury 
Common, Worcs., 27.v.1991. Apidae: Colletinae; male and female Colletes floralis 
Evers., Sandscale Haws, Cumbria, 18.vii.1994, new to England. Apidae: Nomadinae; 
female Nomada pleurostricta H.-S., Hartlebury Common, Worcs., 20.vi.1994. 

HALSTEAD, A. J.—Some local sawflies taken in 1995. Cimbicidae: female 
Trichiosoma sorbi Hartig, swept south-east of Brown Carrick Hill, Ayr., 6.vii.1995; 
female Cimbex femoratus (L.), swept Wood of Cree RSPB reserve, near Newton 
Stewart, Kirk., 7.vii.1995. Tenthredinidae: male Strongylogaster lineata (Christ), 
swept from bracken, Sidmouth Wood, Richmond Park, Surrey, 22.vii.1995—males 
are very scarce in this common species; female Apethymus braccata (Gmel.), swept 
from oak, near Furzey Lodge, New Forest, Hants, 12.yiii.1995; male and female 
Tenthredo moniliata Klug, swept from bog bean, Little Loch, S.E. of Newton 
Mearns, Renf., 8.vii.1995; a dark colour form of female Tenthredo olivacea Klug, 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 237 


Wood of Cree RSPB reserve, near Newton Stewart, Kirk., 7.vii.1995; female 
Amauronematus sagmarius Konow, swept from sallows, N. end of Mortimer’s 
Meadow, Dinton Pastures County Park, Winnersh, Berks., 8.iv.1995; female 
Nematinus acuminatus (Thomson), swept, Failford Wood, Failford, Ayr., 
3.vii.1995; female Nematus fahraei Thomson, swept High Wood, Woodley, Berks., 
171995: 

HARMAN, T. W.—A hornet, Vespa crabro L. taken 13.ix.1995, feeding on ripe 
apples at Turville Heath Farm, Bucks. This is believed to be the first record for this 
locality. 

HopcE, P. J.— Twenty-five species of aculeate bees and wasps taken in 1995, anda 
parasitic wasp. Ichneumonidae: Metopius dentatus (F.), det. Dr M. R. Shaw, bred 
from a pupa of Lasiocampa callunae Palm (Lep.: Lasiocampidae), reared by 
Rosalind Hodge from larvae collected at Rannoch, mid Perth. in July 1994 by Rev. 
A. H. H. Harbottle. Pompilidae: Anoplius concinnus (Dahlbom), near the exposed 
root plate of a fallen lime tree, Buxted Park, E. Sussex, 20.vi1.1995; Eumenidae: 
Eumenes coarctatus (L.), a female at Pulicaria dysenterica flower in a marshy 
meadow near a marina at Hermitage, W. Sussex, 12.vili.1995; female Odynerus 
melanocephalus (Gmel.), flying over sparsely vegetated sand, Midhurst Common 
sandpit, 12.vi.1995. Vespidae: female Vespula austriaca (Panz.) at Vaccinium 
myrtillus flower on moorland near Aughavannagh, Co. Wick., Ireland, 16.v.1995. 
Sphecidae: male Crossocerus distinguendus (Morawitz), swept Tilbury, S. Essex, 
19.vi.1995, and a male on exposed lime tree root plate at Buxted Park, E. Sussex, 
20.vii.1995; male C. vagabundus (Panz.), swept at Mottisfont, S. Hants, 16.vi.1995; 
male C. walkeri (Shuck.), beaten from oak, Dunbridge, S. Hants, 14.vi.1995; female 
Mimumesa unicolor (Vander Linden) and Psenulus schencki (Tourn.) on Heracleum 
sphondylium flower, Cooling Marsh, W. Kent, 19.vii.1995; female Gorytes bicinctus 
(Rossius) and Passaloecus clypealis Faester, swept, the latter from Phragmites in 
dyke at Horsham Marsh, E. Kent, 23.vu.1995. Apidae: Andreninae; Andrena 
bucephala Steph., basking on sycamore leaves, Arundel Park, W. Sussex, 1.v.1995; 
female A. congruens Schmiedeknecht on Heracleum sphondylium flowers, Basing Fen, 
N. Hants, 13.vu.1995; female A. nigriceps (Kirby), entering burrow on south-facing 
sandy bank, Pennington Marsh, S. Hants., 30.vi.1995; female A. varians (Rossius), 
on bramble leaf, south margin of wood, Lewes, E. Sussex, 10.v.1995. Apidae: 
Halictinae; male Halictus confusus Smith, swept Lakenheath Airfield, W. Suff., 
8.vill.1995; Lasioglossum pauxillum Schenck at Dunbridge, S. Hants, 14.vi.1995 and 
The Salterns, Lymington, S. Hants, 30.vi.1995; male Sphecodes reticulatus Thomson, 
near cliff top at Short Cliff, Cuckmere Haven, E. Sussex, 26.v.1995. Apidae: 
Nomadinae; female Nomada hirtipes Perez, basking on sycamore leaves, Arundel 
Park, W. Sussex, 1.v.1995; N. sheppardana (Kirby) numerous on exposed root plates 
of fallen lime trees, Buxted Park, E. Sussex, 5.v.1995. Apidae: Eucerinae; Eucera 
longicornis (L.), a colony nesting in a steep south-facing bank, bank of River Bewl, E. 
Sussex, 21.vi.1995. Apidae: Anthophorinae; female Anthophora quadrimaculata 
(Panz.) visiting Nepeta flowers in a garden at Harvard Road, Ringmer, E. Sussex, 
20.vu1.1995. Apidae: Ceratininae; Ceratina cyanea (Kirby), numerous females visiting 
bramble flowers and evidently nesting in nearby cut Buddleja stems, Lewes, E. 
Sussex, 27.v.1995 (new to E. Sussex). Apidae: Bombinae; queen Bombus monticola 
Smith, at Vaccinium myrtillus flowers on moorland at Aughavannagh, Co. Wick., 
Ireland, 16.v.1995. 

ILEY, M.—An exhibit showing two generations of the sphecid wasp Ectemnius 
cavifrons (Thomson) bred in a garden at Great Missenden, Bucks. in 1994 and 1995. 
Also reared from the same nest were a single female of E. sexcinctus (F.). 


238 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


MANN, D. J., PAVETT, M. AND SLADE, D. J.—A selection of insects recorded by 
the Welsh Insect Survey. This included the sawfly Sterictiphora angelicae (Panz.), 
syn. furcata, swept at Newbridge-on-Wye, Breck., 1.vii.1995, a new record for Wales. 

MCLEAN, I. F. G—The bee wolf, Philanthus triangulum (F.) (Sphecidae), 
4.vili.1995, from the cliffs at the east end of Cromer, Norf. This formerly scarce 
species is continuing to spread through East Anglia and elsewhere. 

PLANT, C. W.—A bilateral gynandromorph of an undetermined Sphecodes sp. 
(Apidae: Halictinae) taken at Sawbridgeworth Marsh Nature Reserve, Herts on 
11.viii.1995. The specimen showed variation in the density and form of the silvery 
hairs on the left and right halves of the face. The left antenna was shorter than the 
right but had longer basal segments. The genitalia consisted of both a sting and 
modified male structures. There were also other smaller differences which terminated 
abruptly at the mid-body line. 

ROBERTS, S. P. M.—A selection of aculeate hymenoptera which are target species 
for the first provisional atlas. Mutillidae: Mutilla europaea L. male and female from 
Sandford, Dorset 13.vii.1994 and male and female from Holton Heath NNR, 
Dorset, 6.viii.1994. Pompilidae: Cryptocheilus notatus (Rossius) female Great Ovens 
Heath, Dorset, 10.vii.1994. Vespidae: Vespa crabro L. queen, Dean’s Grove House, 
Wimborne, Dorset, 20.v.1992, worker at ivy flowers Denny Wood, New Forest, 
Hants, 24.x.1989; Dolichovespula media (Retz.) queen, Felbridge near East 
Grinstead, Sussex, 26.viii.1990, worker, Furzebrook, Dorset, July 1994, male Deeves 
Hall, Ridge, Herts, July 1994. Eumenidae: Symmorphus crassicornis (Panz.) female 
Sandford, Dorset, 13.vii.1994; S. gracilis (Brulle) male Holt Heath NNR, Dorset, 
24.vi.1990 and female Dean’s Grove House, Wimborne, Dorset, 3.viii.1990. 
Sphecidae: Crabro cribarius (L.) male and female Sandford, Dorset, 3.viii.1994; C. 
scutellatus (Scheven) female Crock Hill, New Forest, Hants, 4.vii.1991; Ectemnius 
cavifrons (Thomson) female White Barrow, Tilshead, Wilts, 26.viii.1991; Oxybelus 
argentatus Curtis male and female Sinah Common, Hayling Island, Hants, 
12.vii.1994; O. uniglumis (L.) male and female Sandford, Dorset, 13.vii.1994, female 
Kingsbridge Lakes, Dorset, 6.viii.1994; Ammophila sabulosa (L.) male Sandford, 
Dorset, 13.vii.1994 and female Godlingston Heath NNR, Dorset, 14.vii.1991; A. 
pubescens Curt. male and female Morden Bog NNR, Dorset, 14.vii.1994; Podalonia 
hirsuta (Scop.) male Studland Heath NNR, 20.vii.1989 and female Godlingston 
Heath NNR, Dorset, 14.vii.1991; Cerceris arenaria (L.) male Sandy Point, Hayling 
Island, Hants 24.vii.1991 and female Sandford, Dorset 3.viii.1994; C. ruficornis (F.) 
male Godlingston Heath NNR, Dorset, 14.vii.1991 and female Sandy Point, Hayling 
Island, Hants, 24.viii.1991; C. rybyensis (L.) male Durlston Head, Dorset, 14.vii.1991 
and female Sandford, Dorset 3.viii.1994; Philanthus triangulum (F.) male and two 
females, one with Apis mellifera worker prey, Holton Heath NNR, Dorset, 
6.viii.1994. Apidae, Xylocopinae: Ceratina cyanea (L.) male and female Oxenbourne 
Down, Hants, 11.x.1987. Apidae, Megachilinae: Anthidium manicatum (L.) male 
Wareham Meadows, Dorset, 29.vii.1994 and female Dibden Marshes, Hants, 
22.vii.1995. 

UFFEN, R. W. J.—Some new or locally rare species of bees and wasps recorded in 
Hertfordshire in 1995, with three others recorded elsewhere. Hertfordshire records: 
Andrena cineraria (L.) (Apidae: Andreninae) and Nomada lathburiana (Kirby) (Apidae: 
Nomadinae) from the Ashridge area. The Andrena nests in sand bunker walls on 
Ashridge golf course and on turfed knolls of powdery clay soil on Berkhamsted golf 
course. Male A. cineraria were flying round oaks on Gustard Wood Common golf 
course, 23.v.1995. N. lathburiana was first taken on Berkhamsted Common by David 
Marshall on flowers of American bramble, Rubus pergratus; Nomada fucata Panz. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 239 


found at the only locality in the county for its host bee, Andrena flavipes Panz. at 
Tyttenhanger sandpits, Colney Heath, spring brood female 12.iv.1995 and summer 
brood male 19.vii.1995; Andrena helvola (L.) female at Bricket Wood, 29.v.1995 and 
Frogmore Lakes, St. Albans, 1.v.1995; two female Nomada panzeri (Lepeletier) at 
Marshall’s Heath, Wheathampstead, 22.v.1995—this is the first record amongst many 
N. flava Panz. examined in Herts.; Hoplitis spinulosa (Kirby) (Apidae: Megachilinae), a 
male at Pitstone Quarry, 16.vili.1995 and a female at Therfield Heath, Royston, 
10.viii.1995. These records are at opposite ends of the Chilterns in Herts; Ectemnius 
rubicola (Dufour & Perris) (Sphecidae), on Torilis japonica flowers, Mardley Heath, 
31.vii.1995; E. sexcinctus (F.) male on Heracleum flowers, River Lee at Wormley, 
5.viil.1995; female Gortyes tumidus (Panz.), by a farm track at Tewin, 30.vi.1995; 
Episyron rufipes (L.) (Pompilidae), female at Tyttenhanger sandpits, 19.vii.1995; 
Caliadurgus fasciatellus (Spin.), female fluttering its wings erect as it moved in hedgerow 
at Tyttenhanger sandpits, 21.v.1995; Ageniodeus cinctellus (Spin.), females entering bee 
burrows, one collecting soil pellets and fragments of grass of similar length to the spider 
wasp for packing the burrow, in hedgerows at Tyttenhanger sandpits, 27.vi.1995; male 
Arachnospila spissa (Schiodte) at Marshall’s Heath, Wheathampstead, 25.v.1995; 
female Chrysogona gracillima (Forster) (Chrysididae), on fence post in hedgerow at 
Tyttenhanger sandpits, Colney Heath, 19.vii.1995. Other counties: Sphecodes niger 
Sichel (Apidae: Halictinae) and Gorytes bicinctus (Rossius) (Sphecidae), both males, at 
Dinton Pastures Country Park, Winnersh, Berks, 29.vii.1995; female Heriades 
truncorum (L.) (Apidae: Megachilinae) on ragwort flower, Fulmer, Bucks., 3.viii.1995. 


ODONATA 


PORTER, J.—Two migratory dragonfly species taken in 1995. A pair of the yellow- 
winged darter, Sympetrum flaveolum (L.) and a single vagrant darter, S. vulgatum 
(L.), both at Dungeness, Kent, 9.vili.1995. 


MANTODEA 


BROTHERIDGE, D. J.—Four unidentified mantids from Tenerife, Majorca and 
Grete: 


NEUROPTERA 


HARMAN, T. W.—A specimen of the local lacewing Drepanepteryx phalaenoides 
(L.) taken at m.v. light in a beech wood, Turville Heath Farm, Bucks, 30.vii.1995. 


ORTHOPTERA 


MANN, D. J. , PAVETT, M. AND SLADE, D. J.—Grey bush cricket Platycleis 
albopunctata (Goeze) (Tettigoniidae), recorded at Oxwich Burrows, Glam. during the 
1995 Welsh Insect Survey. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


HALSTEAD, A. J.—A Scots pine log cut from a four-foot-high trunk after the tree 
had been hacked down by vandals earlier in the summer. The stump had produced 
copious quantities of resin from under the damaged bark and in the subsequent 
weeks this had trapped a variety of invertebrates, including beetles, aphids, ants, 


240 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 


flies, a parasitic wasp, mites and spiders. The specimen was collected in September 
from Whitmoor Common, near Guildford, Surrey. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


HAWKINS, R. D. AND Scott, A. N.—A photograph of Dascillus cervinus (L.) 
(Dascillidae) pollinating the common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii (Druce), 
taken at Kenley Common, Surrey, in June 1994. The beetle inserted its head into 
each flower and was apparently feeding. It climbed to the top of the flower spike and 
was photographed, showing three orchid pollinia attached to its face. 

HENDERSON, M.—A small selection of stamps featuring insects and other 
arthropods. Also a copy of the catalogue Collect butterflies and other insects on 
stamps by A. Coles and T. Phipps, published in 1991 by Stanley Gibbons and 
available at their shop on the Strand at a reduced price. Thematic collecting of insects 
on stamps could be considered as an adjunct to collecting, or to familiarize oneself 
with a popular major group, perhaps because one’s opportunities for collecting actual 
specimens is limited. Many families of insects are now represented on stamps, but 
there is a heavy bias towards large colourful insects, thus the Lepidoptera and 
Coleoptera are more usual subjects than the Diptera or even the Hymenoptera. 

HENWOOD, DR B. P.—Photograph of a larva of Eupithecia abietaria (Goeze). 

Hopkins, G. W.—A display showing the range and abundance of birch aphids. 
Fourteen species of aphid feed on birch in Britain, the greatest number of any 
deciduous tree. Photographs of nine of the eleven species were shown including the 
rare Monaphis artennata, Callipterinella minutissima and C. tuberculata. 

PAYNE, JA photograph of Coenonympha pamphilus (L.) ab. antiexessa Leeds. 
An accompanying letter from Mr David Carter verified this extremely scarce form 
taken in Northants in 1960. 


PLATE IV. ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1995 

1: Spodoptera cilium, Lizard, Cornwall, 8.x.1995, D. C. G. Brown. 2: 
Luperina dumerilii, Lizard, Cornwall, 7.ix.1983, B. F. Skinner. 3: 
Orthosia gothica, Dungeness, Kent, 24.iii.1995, S. P. Clancy. 4: Eilema 
deplana, Windsor Forest, Berks., 28.vii.1995, B. F. Skinner. 5: Noctua 
comes, bred, 1994, D. Wedd. 6: Herminia plumigeralis, Greatstone, 
Kent, 12.x.1995, S. P. Clancy. 7: Hadena albimacula, Dungeness, 
Kent, 5.vi.1995, S. P. Clancy. 8: Chrysodeixis acuta, Lizard, Cornwall, 
14.x.1995, D. C. G. Brown. 9: Chrysodeixis chalcites, Norfolk, bred 
1992. 10: Cryphia algae, Southsea, Hants, 26.vii.1995, J. Langmaid. 
11: Trichoplusia vittata, Rye Harbour, Sussex, 31.vii.1995, D. Funnell 
(S. P. Clancy). 12: Trichoplusia vittata, Tanzania, Pringle coll., 
BM(NH) (S. P. Clancy). 13: Semiothisa liturata, Windsor Forest, 
Berks., 28.vii.1995, B. Skinner. 14: Peribatodes manuelaria, bred, New 
Romney, Kent, 1994, B. F. Skinner and S. P. Clancy. 15: Thera 
britannica, Melvich, Sutherland, 2.viii.1995, D. Wedd. 16: Cosmorhoe 
ocellata, Chardstock, Devon, 24.viii.1995, A. E. Jenkins. 17: 
Eupithecia ultimaria, Hants, 30.vii.1995, J. Langmaid. 18: Eucosma 
tripoliana, Portsmouth, Hants, 10.viii.1995, J. Langmaid. 19: Monopis 
fenestratella, Richmond Park, Surrey, 20.vi.1995, M. S. Parsons. 20: 
Eccopisa effractella, Buckingham Palace, London, 13.vii.1995, D. 
Agassiz. 21: Eccopisa effractella, Continental specimen. 


ANNUAL EXHIBITION 1995 


. 
y = 
“ 
4 
' 
i 
, 
} « 
$ * 
a 
A 
‘ 
» 
@ a 
*) 
‘ 
* 


wrt: 


ine 7 
ae 
@ 


(at hee tee ROE at Tule a 
telat) it, say ae ee ce 


sale 5 
‘oe a 


a 
’ ne 
. «4 
a] Ni 
Ns . 
‘ 
‘ 
* 
‘ 
, 
4 
* 
by b 
i 
; 
r 
. 
eit 
< 
. 
ie 
4 La cMiAA } 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 1: 1996 241 


REVELS, R.—Photographs of 24 species of British ladybird, including life cycles and 
parasites of some species. Also shown were birds, butterflies, dragonflies, hoverflies, 
spiders, wasps and other subjects from his extensive photo library of natural history 
subjects. 

ROBERTS, S. P. M.—Maps of aculeate Hymenoptera for inclusion in the first 
provisional atlas. These were up-to-date drafts of the 55 distribution maps that are to 
be included in the BRC/BWARS provisional atlas due for publication early in 1996. 
The maps have been drawn using the DMAP mapping package. 

THOMAS, R. C.—Entitled “Entomology and English Heritage”, the display 
consisted of a map showing locations of English Heritage properties, some photo- 
graphs of selected sites, and an account of the work which English Heritage is doing 
to collate entomological information about its sites. They are keen for entomologists 
to visit and collect records on their sites. Please contact Dr R. C. Thomas, Senior 
Ecologist, English Heritage, 429 Oxford Street, London WIR 2HD to arrange visits. 

WARING, P.—A photograph showing larvae of Chloroclystis chloerata (Mabille), 
feeding on Blackthorn blossom. This is one of the species dropped from the atlas of 
the rarer macro-moths because it is now known from more than 100 of the 10-km 
squares in Britain. The distribution map is the first to be prepared for this species and 
will be published in the entomological press, along with those of other species 
demoted from the atlas, so that the information is readily available. 

Crimson underwing survey. A survey of the light and dark crimson underwings, 
Catocala promissa (D. & 8.) and C. sponsa (L.) took place on 12.viii.1995 in the New 
Forest, Hampshire, as part of a joint field meeting between the British Entomological 
and Natural History Society and Butterfly Conservation. The exhibitor was 
delighted to find both species at five different places in the central and eastern 
parts of the Forest, and the light crimson underwing at a sixth. Previously there had 
been concerns that the dark crimson underwing in particular had become much more 
localized within the Forest. The meeting was filmed by a crew from the BBC and 
shown on 3 September as part of the ‘Nature Detectives” series. 

Atlas of the scarce and threatened macro-moths of Great Britain. This project was 
started in the winter of 1992-93, following formation of a national recording 
network for the rarer moths in 1991. The first draft of maps was issued to all county 
recorders and record centres in 1992, since when many further records and much new 
information has been added. The text and maps are continually being updated on 
computer and accounts of individual species are frequently being sent to 
lepidopterists and conservation organizations. Editing for publication is due to take 
place during the winter of 1995/6 with publication by the Joint Nature Conservation 
Committee (JNCC) in 1996. The recording network will continue to be serviced and 
the computer data-base kept up to date as part of a joint project between BC and 
JNCC. Up-to-date national distribution maps of 14 species which have been 
demoted from the atlas because, fortunately, they have been found to be too 
widespread and common to qualify, are being submitted for publication in a paper 
for the Entomologists’ Record. For some of these species, such as the sloe pug 
Chloroclystis chloerata (Mabille), there are no previous published maps. For others it 
is interesting to compare the results with previous versions. While recording has 
improved in some areas, it is clear that there have also been real changes in moth 
distribution in the last two decades, with increases as well as declines. 


242 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


THE 1995 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PART 1 REPORT 


MALCOLM J. SCOBLE 


Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD. 


The British are well known both for their enthusiasm for natural history and their 
love of societies. It has been my great privilege for the last year to have been 
President of this long-established organization—one occupying a special niche in 
British natural history. Founded in 1872, as the South London Entomological and 
Natural History Society, the British Entomological and Natural History Society 
seems to be thriving by combining its great strength—an emphasis on practical 
entomology, field studies in particular—with a growing determination to use its 
collective knowledge in matters relating to invertebrate conservation. I shall have 
more to say about this latter issue in a moment. 

I am a relative newcomer to Council, although I have been a member of the 
Society for 22 years. But from sitting around the Council table over the last two 
years, I have been struck greatly by the enormous level of experience that exists and 
that is put towards running the BENHS. The purpose of our Society is stated in the 
bye-laws to be the ‘promotion and advancement of research in biology, especially 
entomology, and its diffusion. ..’. But to achieve that purpose involves organization: 
holding Council meetings; taking minutes; arranging and leading field meetings, 
lecture meetings, workshops and open days; curating the collections; managing the 
finances; dealing with the membership; handling sales of various goods produced by 
the Society; editing the journal; distributing the journal and other information about 
the Society; arranging the annual exhibition and dinner; and managing the Society’s 
headquarters—the Pelham—Clinton Building at Dinton Pastures. It is the officers and 
ordinary members of Council on whom these tasks fall chiefly. You have just heard 
about some of their activities over the past 12 months from the reports. Previous 
Presidents have noted that while the incumbent of the office is required to chair 
meetings and act as a facilitator, most of the hard labour is shouldered by the officers 
and ordinary members of Council. I agree with that observation. So I am delighted 
to take this opportunity to thank formally all these people—they have made my 
presidential year interesting, and provided great support based on their extensive, 
collective experience. 

Let me mention three of them. Our Sales Secretary, Roger Hawkins, retired from 
the position at the end of last year, as did the Assistant Treasurer, Mark Telfer, from 
his post. May I thank them, on behalf of Council and the membership, for their 
service to the Society in these important jobs. A long-standing member retiring from 
Council this year is John Muggleton. I make special mention of him, not just for his 
many years service to the Society, but also because of his invaluable ability to 
interpret proposals that arise in Council in the light of the bye-laws. I feel sure that 
the Society will benefit from his advice again in a formal capacity soon. 

During the course of the year it has been my sorry duty to announce the deaths of 
11 members, several who had been prominent in the Society. 

Mr Stanley Maurice Hanson, from West Sussex, died on 18 March 1995. He had 
been a member of the Society since 1949 and was interested in Lepidoptera. 

Dr Patrick J. L. Roche died in March 1995. He was a special life member having 
joined the Society in 1942. His special interest was in Hemiptera, in particular 
Pentatomidae. Patrick Roche was a medical doctor and pathologist whose career 
took him to Pentonville Prison, West Africa, Sabah, and the Seychelles. He retired to 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 243 


Andorra where he was involved in preparing a list of Andorran insects. He made a 
representative collection of Andorran insects and a trust for the study of Andorran 
natural history was formed at his behest. He was a knight of St Sebastian. 

Mr Horace Last died on 4 April aged 87. He was elected a special life member of 
the Society in 1991 having joined in 1941. By profession, he was a tea taster. His 
entomological interest was in the Coleoptera, particularly Staphylinidae. Horace 
Last published papers on British and Channel Island Staphylinidae, and also on 
tropical myrmecophilous staphylinids, particularly those of Africa. 

Mr S. Maurice Jackson died in late May 1995. He had been a member since 1989 
and was Yorkshire Macrolepidoptera Recorder for many years. 

Mr Bruce Burns, who died on | June 1995, joined the Society in 1944, but was no 
longer a member at the time of his death. His main interest was in the 
Macrolepidoptera, particularly of Hampshire. Before his work took him to the 
North, he regularly exhibited specimens at the Annual Exhibition of the Society. 

Mr Hugh N. Michaelis died on 29 July 1995. He joined the Society in 1951 and 
was interested in Lepidoptera, particularly Microlepidoptera, and also sawflies. 
Much of his work was carried out in Lancashire; he was a prominent member of the 
Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society. In later years he worked extensively 
on Microlepidoptera of north Wales and did much to encourage many collectors. 

Mrs Frances Mary Murphy died on 20 July 1995. She joined the Society in 1962 
and became an active member. She served as Secretary during the 1980s and became 
President in 1989—the first and, so far, only woman to occupy the position. She 
specialized in spiders and was known for her work on the group internationally. She 
travelled widely, collected specimens from many countries, and was a capable and 
enthusiastic photographer of these animals. Several of her many publications were 
printed in the Society’s journal. 

Mr Eric Bradford died, in a road accident, on 12 August 1995. He had been a 
member since 1960 and, in recognition of his work for the Society, was elected an 
honorary member in 1985. He served the Society in many ways behind the scenes, 
frequently using his professional graphics skills to produce signs and displays. That 
he was a talented illustrator is well known to all those familiar with his paintings of 
Microlepidoptera published in our journal. He was the Society’s curator for 10 years. 
Although his special interests were in Microlepidoptera, he was involved in natural 
history broadly, even to the extent of buying two pieces of land on which he created 
nature reserves. His collections have been bequeathed to the Society. 

Mr Howard G. Phelps died in the summer of 1995 while on holiday in Spain. He 
lived in Wiltshire and joined the Society in 1976 although he was no longer a member 
at the time of his death. He was respected as a good all round naturalist and had 
developed a special interest in Spanish butterflies, of which he had a collection. 

Mr Humphrey W. Mackworth-Praed died on 13 September 1995. He had been a 
member since 1960 and had a special interest in Lepidoptera—particularly European 
butterflies—and was a general natural historian of note. His autobiography, entitled 
Conservation pieces, was published in 1991. He was an active member of the National 
Trust and the Surrey Wildlife Trust. His considerable collection, chiefly of butterflies 
and natural history books, was bequeathed to the Society. 

Mr Leonard Francis Ferguson died on 19 November 1995. He had been a member 
since 1936 and would have become an Honorary Life Member this year. He was born 
in 1910 and developed an interest in natural history in childhood. He qualified as a 
dental surgeon, served in the Royal Dental Corps during the war and, subsequently, 
practised in Teddington, Middlesex. During his active retirement in Devon he was a 
keen observer of wildlife and an enthusiastic gardener. 


244 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


We have stood already in memory of these members at previous meetings. 

Over recent years, Council has been considering the future of the BENHS. This 
year there has been further discussion on developing the activities of the Society. In 
1994, a paper was put before Council expressing some concern that the BENHS 
might to some extent lose its role and value if members were increasingly to see their 
interests being served principally by specialist groups outside the Society. The writers 
of this paper had in mind, particularly, special interest groups involving Diptera, 
Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. 

By the spring of 1994, Council had agreed unanimously the affiliation with the 
BENHS of the Dipterists’ Forum, a group founded in 1994. The mechanics of this 
process enabled the affiliation to take place in 1995. Discussions over affiliation of 
the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme (BWARS) are still in progress. The 
idea of the BENHS acting as an umbrella organization to which such organizations 
are affiliated is surely a good one, although not without organizational implications. 

Further development has occurred on the Society’s role in invertebrate 
conservation. The idea of the BENHS having a greater impact in this field was 
suggested in 1993, and proposals were put in place later that year and in 1994. The 
aim of the initiative was to promote invertebrate conservation and to encourage 
members of the Society to apply their expertise to this end. Among the seven 
objectives of the proposal was one on promoting ‘the validity of invertebrate 
collecting as a legitimate means of gaining knowledge for science and conservation’. 

Members of the Society will be aware of a growing hostility towards collecting in 
certain quarters, much of it poorly considered. The BENHS is a Society that 
supports responsible collecting, and disassociates itself from irresponsible collecting. 
Plainly, what constitutes responsible and irresponsible collecting is a matter of 
judgement. But that the Society is open to discussion of collecting issues can be seen 
from the publication of recent articles on the subject in its journal (Miles, 1995; 
Stubbs, 1995). The matter was also considered in the 1988 Presidential Address 
(McLean, 1990). Debate about collecting insects is essential if prejudices and 
entrenched positions about the subject are to be avoided. What unquestionably is 
true, is that a great swathe of knowledge about natural history has resulted from 
collecting and the study of collections. Also, it is the case that collections have an 
enormous role yet to play in the study of natural history. The amount of revisionary 
taxonomy still needed on invertebrates, an undertaking based substantially on 
collections, is immense. And good revisions form, in my view, a critical basis for 
conservation biology, rich, as the good ones are, in compilation and interpretation. I 
can vouch for the value of collections with some confidence after spending my entire 
research career to date working in three different natural history museums almost 
entirely on preserved material. Moreover, significant parts of these collections were 
built up by people who collected for a hobby; those who argue that collecting can be 
justified only for specific scientific or conservation purposes should consider this 
point carefully. 

As with nearly all issues in a complex social setting, the answer lies in compromise 
and will be achieved best by careful thought. What increasingly is of concern is the 
effect of inadequately drafted legislation intended for environmental or species 
protection that threatens to restrict or ban collecting. Paradoxically,"such an action 
may have the effect of restricting research of environmental value if sampling of 
organisms is required to achieve results. 

The BENHS, as an important society for fieldwork in Britain, has much that it can 
do to help encourage a balanced approach to collecting, particularly in the context of 
the complex relationship that exists between collecting and conservation. Although a 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 245 


natural history society exists primarily, and rightly, for the benefit of its members, 
the activities of our Society are likely to be scrutinized when activities have an 
effect within the public domain. The pressures on collecting are almost certain to 
increase and this Society, and other societies or institutions, can expect to have to 
deal increasingly with objections on moral and legal grounds. If some kind of co- 
ordinated effort is not made fairly soon by societies like the BENHS to address this 
issue, insect collecting may start to become viewed with the same general distaste as 
exists for birds’ eggs collecting. The impact of amendments to the Lacey Act in the 
United States on collecting has been considerable. Collecting insects in certain 
countries of the European Union is becoming increasingly difficult. How long will 
it be before European Community legislation incorporates measures similar to 
those in the USA? 

Although fieldwork by the BENHS is essentially British, I am delighted here to 
mention the recent expedition involving three members of the Society to Belize. 
Context in natural history studies adds a further dimension to interpretation, so it is 
surely a healthy sign for the Society to look beyond British shores. Paul Waring, who 
led the expedition, and his colleagues, should be congratulated for their initiative. 
With the threat to biodiversity in the tropics, collecting expertise can be put to use in 
such areas contributing to the pool of specimens on which taxonomic research can be 
undertaken. Besides this particular expedition by the Society, members have ever 
more connection with their Continental European colleagues. I sincerely hope that 
these associations will increase; it can only benefit entomology if we work together 
and so increase our effectiveness in the field of natural history. 

Finally in this report, let me turn to the way in which I see the more general role of 
the BENHS. At times in which we are all exhorted to have mission statements, roles, 
aims and objectives, perhaps the first purpose of the BENHS is simply to have fun 
to enjoy natural history. Enjoyment and enthusiasm for something are qualities 
prerequisite for real achievement. 

That being said, perhaps the most important broader role of the BENHS is to 
contribute to knowledge of the natural history of invertebrates, particularly insects, of 
Britain in a Continental European context. By way of field meetings, indoor meetings 
and workshops in particular, experience is passed between members of different ages 
and different interests. This Society has a special role to play in acting as a conduit for 
the common stream of knowledge of insect natural history in Britain. This may not 
sound very dynamic; yet the effect of such a flow of information is enormous. 

But while a sense of continuity is the background against which the lives and work 
of most of us are lived, evolution is also a part of any society. So in the late 20th 
century, what should be the orientation of the BENHS? I have no definite answers, 
but put forward three main areas on which members of the Society may care to 
reflect. Whatever the answers are, I think that at a time of considerable change, 
institutions that thrive are likely to be those with a keen sense of identity. 

The first lies in the role of the Society in the field of invertebrate biodiversity. The 
word biodiversity is one that has become very much a part of the language of 
environmental politics. Members of the BENHS may feel, reasonably enough, that 
the study of biodiversity is precisely that in which the Society has been engaged since 
its very foundation. But although it is sometimes tempting to shrink from concepts 
that have become fashionable, the threat to biodiversity is also a threat to the 
purpose of any society involved in its study. Therefore, it can be no bad thing if we 
can have a role in its preservation. 

What kind of role might the BENHS play in this area? Some societies are mainly 
pressure groups; some adopt a more fact-based, advisory role; others lie somewhere 


246 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


between. The BENHS is quintessentially a factual/knowledge-based society, so the 
advisory end of the spectrum is, in my view, where it is likely to be most effective. 

The second point is related to the one I made earlier about helping to maintain the 
common stream of natural history knowledge. It is important that we should be fully 
aware of this role, which, broadly speaking, is educational, and build on it. Field 
meetings, workshops, open days, indoor meetings and publications are the main 
practical ways in which this important role is fulfilled. The programme of activities 
over the last year is something of which the Society can be justly proud. 

The third and final point concerns the relationship between the Society and other 
organizations, and the relationship between amateurs and professionals. The fact 
that so many members of the BENHS belong to other natural history or biological 
societies demonstrates that extensive contacts do exist. The seamless professional/ 
amateur interaction that occurs within our Society is a great strength, for the 
knowledge of amateurs and professionals within the BENHS is of a highly 
complementary nature. Given the evident need for keys and guides to the British 
invertebrate fauna, there is much more that could be done if efforts were to be 
combined to specific ends. The Department of Entomology at The Natural History 
Museum is in the process of expanding its role in work on the British insect fauna, 
particularly in the fields of taxonomy, nomenclature and putting taxa in a broader 
geographical perspective—particularly Palaearctic. There are great opportunities for 
collaborative work between members of the BENHS and the Museum relating to this 
initiative. 

The Society will gain a further opportunity in its broadly educational role through 
interested members becoming increasingly involved in collaboration to produce yet 
more publications on the British invertebrate fauna. 


REFERENCES 


McLean, I. F. G. 1990. The 1988 Presidential Address—Part 2. What future for our 
entomological heritage? Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 3: 35—54. 

Miles, S. 1995. Report of the discussion meeting held on 12 May 1992 to consider invertebrate 
conservation in the United Kingdom. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 19-26. 

Stubbs, A. E. 1995. A correction to Butterfly Conservation’s claimed attitudes in invertebrate 
conservation. Br. J. Ent. Nat. Hist. 8: 171-174. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 247 


THE 1995 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS—PART 2 
NATURAL HISTORY: SOCIETIES AND MUSEUMS 


MALCOLM J. SCOBLE 
Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 SBD. 


In Part 2 of this address I intend to expand on the relationship between natural 
history societies (especially the British Entomological and Natural History Society) 
and natural history museums, using illustrations from work on the Lepidoptera. 

In my President’s Report, emphasis was placed on the relevance of the Society’s 
traditional type of knowledge and skills to natural history studies in the modern 
world. The setting is ideal for these words given that the society I address (the 
BENHS), the society in the rooms of which this meeting is being held (the Royal 
Entomological Society), and the Natural History Museum, from which I have just 
come, were all established through Victorian energy and vision and are bound by the 
concept of natural history. 

Yet, despite their similarities, each of these organizations has a different character. 
Go to their meetings, and while one will find overlap among them, one will also 
experience somewhat different flavours. This observation underlines the point that 
natural history is many sided—a pluralistic concept finding its way, to a greater or 
lesser extent, into many organizations. There are natural history museums, national 
natural history societies (here and abroad), local natural history societies, and even 
government departments with some element of natural history as part of their brief 
(for example, the Department of the Environment and its Darwin Initiative). 

This pluralism makes natural history difficult to define. Perhaps the enduring 
characteristic of the very best natural history is that it involves using detail and 
information from particular disciplines to tell bigger stories. Probably, natural 
history is better described by examining the temperaments or types of people 
associated with the subject. I have identified three or four key types or temperaments 
involved in natural history. These categories are by no means mutually exclusive: 
they may be visualized as a series of overlapping sets (Fig. 1), for there exist many 
examples of people who fall into more than one of these categories. There are various 
ways of arranging the circles in the figure. 

The first category is the naturalist—exemplified by Charles Darwin and Alfred 
Russell Wallace. Naturalists exhibit the capacity to make a wide variety of detailed 
observations. Admittedly, some, notably Darwin and Wallace, have had the ability 
to make quite exceptional connections between their observations and to perceive 
process behind pattern with an impact probably never equalled by other 
naturalists—at least in terms of social and scientific effects. But this spirit of 
observation and recording is typical of members of natural history societies now and 
in the past. 

The second type is the natural philosopher/synthesizer—the scientist interested in 
broad phylogenetic patterns, groundplans and the like. Typically, such individuals 
observe more at the museum or laboratory bench by dissecting specimens from the 
collections and looking down the microscope than from tramping the field. A classic 
British example of the synthesizer is T. H. Huxley. (There have been more from 
continental Europe—Ernst Haekel and Karl Ernst von Baer, for example.) While 
natural historians are often naturalists and synthesizers, there is a tendency for 
individuals to exhibit the temperament of one more than the other. The examples I 
have chosen to illustrate the naturalist and the synthesizer throw the categories into 


248 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


PROCESS ANALYST NATURAL 
(e.g. ecologist, ethologist, NATURALIST PHILOSOPHER! 
population geneticist) interested in detail SYNTHESIZER 
observer and/or (pattern) seeks broad historical 


experimentalist pattern (and process) 


ENVIRONMENTALIST 
politically driven 


Fig. 1. A concept of natural history defined by different kinds of contributors to the subject. 


sharp perspective. The differences in approach between Darwin and Huxley are 
brilliantly portrayed in two recent biographies of the two men (Desmond & Moore, 
1991: Desmond, 1994). But Huxley’s own words, written in 1889 for his 
autobiography, sum up the position of the synthesizer perfectly: 


.. .. am afraid there is very little of the genuine naturalist in me . . . species work 
was always a burden to me; what I cared for was the architecture and engineering 
part of the business, the working out of the wonderful unity of plan in the 
thousands and thousands of diverse living constructions, and the modifications of 
similar apparatuses to serve diverse ends. (Huxley in de Beer, 1983) 


While museum systematists are, of course, very often concerned with species work, 
it is in museums that the natural history synthesizers tend to be found. They occur 
also in research institutes and universities, but there are many fewer involved with 
species taxonomy or higher classification in the universities now than in the past (at 
least in Britain). 

My third type of natural historian, the process analyst, who is involved more with 
studying natural process than pattern, is usually found in a university or applied 
research institute. The discipline involved primarily is ecology, but behaviour and 
population genetics fall into this grouping. Ecologists have a profound influence in 
the way we view processes in the natural world. Like many other fields of research 
there is considerable subdivision within the subject and much overlap with other 
subdisciplines of biology. 

Experimental approaches to ecology, and mathematical modelling of interactions 
between natural processes, are in the ascendant today. Rather less evident, although 
still very important, is field-based, observational ecology. Within natural history, 
experimentalists have had considerable impact in the fields of population genetics, 
embryology and speciation mechanisms. Molecular techniques are becoming 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 249 


increasingly important in all these fields. Experimentation facilitates manipulation of 
the environment so that the role of particular natural processes can be understood 
better. 

I am doubtful that environmentalists should be included in natural history as a 
fourth type. They are often more part of politics, so perhaps it is best to say that the 
results of work in the arena of natural history should find their way into 
environmentalism rather than the other way around. 

This scheme is a broad one; but the method of perceiving the subject of natural 
history in such a way seems preferable to my attempting a strict definition. Natural 
history attracts such a variety of temperaments and working styles—naturalists, 
scholars, scientists of various disciplines, archaeologists, historians interested in man 
and the natural world, and, these days, economists (who are trying to value the 
environment) and lawyers (who write and interpret legislation as it affects nature). 

The purpose of this preamble is to make the point that societies such as the 
BENHS are likely to flourish by being conscious of their identity but, at the same 
time, sensitive to the complex situation in which they exist in the general biological 
arena of today. 

For the entomological substance of this address I will illustrate the sort of work 
that has been carried out typically in natural history museums—mainly because it 
lends itself to facilities uniquely available in these institutions: namely collections of 
specimens, libraries (collections of literature), and facilities for studying anatomy. I 
hasten to add that this is not the only research undertaken at museums; much else is 
done. But it is the kind of work that provides a platform for discussing the second of 
the types of natural historian—the synthesizer. 

Professional taxonomists spend some of their research time investigating the 
systematic relationships of particular taxa. These days, for taxonomic papers to be 
acceptable to most journals, providing taxonomic context is very important—and 
rightly so. Over several years, I have worked on certain species of Lepidoptera, or 
groups of species, that affect our understanding of phylogenetic relationships within 
particular areas of the lepidopteran phylogenetic tree. The species in question are not 
British; but because so many families of this order of insects are distributed globally, 
or across more than one zoogeographical region, the implications for our 
understanding of the groups in question apply to higher taxa found in Britain. 

The general point I hope to illustrate is that the study of a relatively few species 
can alter our perceptions about areas of higher classification. The preliminary stage 
of such a research process is actually finding the species that provide this kind of 
added value. 

The Lepidoptera fall into a number of broad groupings—not necessarily 
monophyletic. These are: primitive Lepidoptera; lower Ditrysia; and higher Ditrysia 
(mainly macrolepidopterans). 

The most striking anatomical variation in adult Lepidoptera occurs within just 1% 
of all species (e.g. Kristensen, 1984). For example, within the primitive Lepidoptera 
there occurs a change from moths with chewing mandibles to those with a sucking 
proboscis formed from the galeae of the maxillae. The earliest proboscis is moved by 
extrinsic muscles and lacks intrinsic musculature—that is, musculature within the 
lumen of the proboscis. But even among this primitive 1% of the order, intrinsic 
musculature, which occurs throughout the rest of the order, has developed. The 
larvae of Micropterigidae, arguably the most primitive family of Lepidoptera, are 
free-living and the cuticle is highly modified. They differ markedly from the larvae of 
the next most primitive family, Heterobathmiidae, from tropical South America, 
which are leaf-miners and lack the modified cuticle. 


250 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


NEPTICULIDAE: PYGMY MOTHS 


Among the primitive Lepidoptera belongs a family of very small moths (with a 
wing-span sometimes under 6 mm) belonging to the family Nepticulidae—pygmy 
moths. The larvae of most species are leaf-miners; some tunnel in thin bark, others in 
the petioles and midribs of leaves, and a few in the seed capsule or wings of winged 
seeds of Acer. Nepticulids are predominantly temperate, but many subtropical and 
tropical species exist. There are about 600 described species and many still to be 
described. For example, only a few of the many Australian species already collected 
have been named. 

Some years ago, I worked on the Nepticulidae in South Africa. Given the 
widespread distribution of the family, it was necessary to examine examples from as 
wide a geographical range as possible (globally in this case) to examine critically the 
higher classification of the family (that is, from the genus upwards). Material was 
borrowed, virtually all of it unstudied, from the Australian National Insect 
Collection in Canberra. 

The male genitalia of all Nepticulidae examined to that time had a valva of the 
kind illustrated in Fig. 2. Although there is some variation in shape, most nepticulid 
valvae are approximately triangular. Modifications exist in some species, but this 
shape is widespread. By contrast, in Opostegidae (see Davis, 1989), the family 
considered to be the closest relatives of Nepticulidae, a more strongly modified valva 
occurs (e.g. as in Fig. 5). In particular, opostegids have on the valva a series of peg- 
like sensilla termed a ‘pectinifer’. The opostegid pectinifer occurs on a stalk. Among 
the Australian nepticulid material were many species with peg-like sensilla on their 
valvae (Scoble, 1982), as in Figs 3 and 4. Although not borne on a stalk, these sensilla 
occur in the usual comb-like arrangement. In species with a rounded apex to the 
valva (e.g. Fig. 3), they are positioned around the apex. 

Pectinifers are found in other monotrysian Lepidoptera. Indeed, Janse coined the 
term pectinifer for the comb-teeth in certain Incurvarioidea and restricted its use to 
the situation where it was borne on a stalk. The structure of these sensilla is similar 
under the light microscope. The presence of comb-teeth in Opostegidae and 
Incurvarioidea led Kristensen and Nielsen (1980) to suggest that, although there was 
evidence that Nepticulidae and Opostegidae were sister-groups (closest relatives to 
each other) because of the presence of ‘eye-caps’ (expanded antennal scapes), that 
observation should be weighed against the possible sister-group relationship between 
Opostegidae and Incurvarioidea as a result of their sharing the presence of 
pectinifers. 

The discovery of these unusual pectinifers in Nepticulidae removes the argument 
for treating Opostegidae as the closest relatives of Incurvarioidea. Indeed, given the 
similarities between the two families, one wonders if there is anything useful to be 
served by treating Nepticulidae and Opostegidae as separate families rather than as 
subfamilies Nepticulinae and Oposteginae of the family Nepticulidae. 


BUCCULATRIX (LEUCOEDEMIA) INGENS 


My second example (Scoble & Scholtz, 1984) falls within the lower Ditrysia. (The 
Ditrysia are those Lepidoptera in which the female has two reproductive pores—one 
for egg laying and the other for mating. They contrast with those monotrysian 
species, relatively few in number, in which there is a single pore. This division is a 
fundamental one in lepidopteran classification and was adopted by Borner in 1925.) 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 251 


3 


Figs 2-S. Valvae of male genitalia of Nepticuloidea. 2, Stigmella (Nepticulidae); 3,4, 
Pectinivalva (Nepticulidae); 5, Notiopostega (Opostegidae) (after Davis, 1989). pr, pectinifer. 


The genera Bucculatrix and Leucoptera will be known to all British lepidopterists, 
especially those interested in leaf-miners. Until fairly recently, both genera were 
placed in the Lyonetiidae but in separate subfamilies—Bucculatricinae and 
Cemiostominae respectively. Externally, the wing colour and pattern of these small 
moths look very different. 

From galls on the stems of Ozoroa paniculosa (Anacardiaceae) from South Africa 
emerged a series of moths that looked like a large species of Leucoptera (Plate V, Fig. 
1). The wings are glossy white with darker markings near and at their tips. Moreover, 
the scape of the antenna is expanded into an ‘eye-cap’, and the scales are appressed to 
the head (smooth-scaled condition). Certainly the moth hardly resembles typical 
Bucculatrix species with their rather drab wings. 

The habit of living in galls is not typical either of Bucculatrix or of Leucoptera 
species. What was peculiar was the appearance of the cocoon, which was ribbed and 


252 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


strong, resembling the typical Bucculatrix cocoon rather than the delicate, white 
fusiform cocoon spun by larvae of Leucoptera. 

A study of the literature revealed that there is a group of species in North America 
with their larvae living in stem galls or simply stems of Compositae (Braun, 1963). So 
stem/gall feeding in Bucculatrix does exist. Also, examination of the larvae showed 
that setae LI and L2 on abdominal segments 1—8 were well separated, unlike the 
situation in Cemiostominae. Although scales are frequently appressed to the head in 
Cemiostominae, this is by no means always the case. An expanded scape is perhaps 
more visible in the Cemiostominae, but it occurs also in Bucculatrix. Even the glossy 
white of the wings is not universal in Cemiostominae. The apparent similarities 
between ingens and Cemiostominae are not demonstrably shared specializations. 

The suggestion that ingens should be assigned to Bucculatrix rather than 
Cemiostominae was the presence of its ribbed cocoon and of a pupa with 
appendages free from, not fused to, the body. In the Cemiostominae, the appendages 
of the pupa are firmly fixed to the body. This latter pupal condition is almost 
certainly the specialized state, so while its absence in ingens does not indicate a 
relationship with Bucculatrix, it is a reason for excluding the species from 
Cemiostominae. 

The discovery of ingens adds another dimension to the genus Bucculatrix, for it 
now includes a species of moth with glossy white wings and prominent ‘eye-caps’. An 
important point to note is that without a study of the immature stages, ingens would 
probably have been assigned to the Cemiostominae. 

Differences obviously exist between most species of Bucculatrix and ingens. For 
this reason, a new subgenus was created for ingens. The South African species was 
deliberately kept within Bucculatrix to emphasize the similarities rather than the 
differences. 

The phylogenetic distinction between Lyonetiidae and Bucculatricidae is, it would 
appear, far greater than expected for it was argued by Kyrki (1984) that the groups 
actually belong to separate superfamilies. 


BUTTERFLIES 


What talk on Lepidoptera could possibly fail to mention the butterflies—the 
honorary birds of the insect world. Fortunately I have an illustration in connection 
with butterfly taxonomy for my third example. The eminent Japanese lepidopterist 
Professor Hiroshi Inoue was once asked by the late Emperor of Japan, who was 
greatly interested in natural history, a question that probably everyone in this room 
has been confronted with at one time or another. That is: what is the difference 
between butterflies and moths? Professor Inoue answered that the difference exists 
only in our minds. 

Among the Geometridae (the moths with ‘looper’ caterpillars), in the subfamily 
Oenochrominae, were placed a series of rather delicate-winged, slender-bodied 
species from tropical America (Plate V, Figs 2-4) (Scoble, 1986; Scoble & Aiello, 
1990). The oldest available generic name was Macrosoma. At first glance, these 
insects do indeed look like Geometridae. However, they lack abdominal tympanal 


Plate V. 1, Bucculatrix (Leucoedemia ) ingens Scoble & Scholtz (Bucculatricidae); 2-4, Macrosoma 
species (Hedylidae)—2, M. semiermis (Prout); 3, M. subornata (Warren); 4, M. lucivittata 
(Walker); 5-6, Hypsidia (Drepanidae)—5, H. erythropsalis Rothschild; 6, H. niphosema (Lower). 
(1,5,6 prepared by Phil Hurst of The Natural History Museum Photographic Unit.) 


1995 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. M.J. SCOBLE 


1. Bucculatrix (Leucoedemia) ingens 2. Macrosoma semiermis 


3. Macrosoma subornata 4. Macrosoma lucivittata 


TTT 


5. Hypsidia erythropsalis 6. Hypsidia niphosema 


Susy « hiaciiedine oer Ele isi - 


ao Wee 4 ee 
a ee ae ae 


im——Ce-e iy hs eae 


\ 
in C =a = 
. 
: ’ 
° 
mG 
= 
7 
a 4 
ei 
£ 
1 £5 
- wf * 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 253 


organs. Apart from females of wingless or wing-reduced Geometridae, all geometrids 
have tympanal hearing organs located at the base of the abdomen. Although just a 
small proportion of lepidopteran families have tympanal organs (although not 
always located in the base of the abdomen), those families that do have these 
structures include those with very high numbers of species—Pyralidae, Geometridae, 
Noctuidae (and all the other noctuoid families). This means that most species of 
Lepidoptera do have tympanal organs. 

The structure of lepidopteran tympanal organs varies in structure and position. In 
the Geometridae their anatomy is unique. In particular, there is a sclerite that curves 
over the tympanum and it is from this sclerite that the receptor is attached to the 
tympanic membrane. This sclerite is called the ansa, or tympanic handle. Macrosoma 
and its relatives lack any sign of an abdominal tympanal organ. Nor were some other 
features of Macrosoma adults typical of Geometridae. The wing venation is unlike 
that in Geometridae: the veins in the forewing are not fused in Macrosoma, but 
appear more simple than in Geometridae. Another peculiarity was the reduction (by 
fusion) in the number of the tarsomeres in the foreleg of males from five to two. The 
overall length of the foretarsi is not reduced—in fact the forelegs are sometimes very 
long. In addition, the pretarsus is reduced. A further character not shared by 
Macrosoma and Geometridae is the pouched condition in Macrosoma of the first 
abdominal tergum. 

While examining the accessions, I came across a specimen with pupal exuviae 
attached to the pin. This remarkable specimen showed the presence of a silken girdle 
across the base of the abdomen (the first abdominal segment). It was after examining 
adult material, and the pupal shell just mentioned, that a last instar larva was 
received from Mr Roy Kendall, who had collected specimens feeding on Byttneria 
aculiata (Steruliaceae) in Mexico (Kendall, 1976). 

A prominent feature in the larva of all of the few species of Macrosoma for 
which material is available, is the presence of a full set of prolegs. In Geometridae, 
typically, the larval prolegs are reduced in number to a pair on abdominal 
segment 6 and a pair on segment 10. In Macrosoma, as in macrolepidopterans 
generally, there is a pair on each of abdominal segments 3-6 and a pair on 
segment 10. In some geometers, additional prolegs are present in, for example, 
Archiearinae, some true Oenochrominae and some Ennominae. But usually these 
are reduced in number or in size. Prominent among the other features of the larva 
is the pair of cephalic processes (“horns”) and the extension of the anal plate into a 
pair of furcae. 

After receiving larval material, eggs of the same species were supplied by Dr 
Annette Aiello, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro 
Colorado Island in Panama. These eggs resemble in general shape and, to a lesser 
extent, ribbing, those found in the butterfly family Pieridae and certain 
Nymphalidae. Since the study of these eggs, those of the type species of Macrosoma 
(M. tipulata) have been examined. Although not as elongated, they are of the same 
general shape and also are ribbed in the same way. 

To which group of Lepidoptera is Macrosoma related? For the reasons discussed it 
is not a geometrid. Neither does it belong to any of the other families of 
macrolepidopterans with abdominal tympanal organs: Pyraloidea, Uraniidae, 
Drepanidae, Thyatiridae. The genus lacks thoracic tympanal organs, structures that 
delimit the Noctuoidea (e.g. Noctuidae, Lymantriidae, Arctiidae). 

Although Macrosoma looks moth-like in general appearance (filiform or even 
bipectinate antennae; drab wings; typically with a frenulum/retinaculum wing- 
coupling apparatus; and collected mainly at night at light), some features are 


254 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


extremely similar to those found within butterflies. Some are fairly easily visible: the 
girdled pupa; the ‘pouched’ condition of the base of the abdomen in the adult insect; 
the downcurved state of the abdomen, particularly in males; the upright, fusiform 
egg; the fusion of most of the tarsomeres and the reduced pretarsus. Other features 
include: the close resemblance of the male genitalia to those of some Pieridae; the 
absence of fusion of the R veins in the forewing; the presence of small chambers, 
almost certainly tympanal organs, at the base of the forewing, and the appearance of 
the horned larva, which resembles those of apaturine nymphalid butterflies. 

L. B. Prout noted the similarity of certain species of Hedylidae (what he called 
‘Hedylicae’) with some butterflies. But he considered the butterfly-like characters as 
convergent and never really questioned that these Lepidoptera belonged to the 
Geometridae. 

The problem with accepting many of these butterfly-like characters as evidence for 
a close relationship between Macrosoma and butterflies, is that some of them occur 
only in particular subgroups of butterflies. There is no acceptable reason to assume 
that some of the characters in question (e.g. the alar tympanal organs, horned 
condition of the larva, reduced forelegs) are shared by Macrosoma and the most 
primitive butterflies. We simply do not know if there existed an ancestor of 
Macrosoma and the butterflies that shared these characters. There is, however, one 
character that possibly is shared uniquely between Macrosoma and the butterflies in 
general. This is the pouching of the first abdominal tergum. A girdled pupa is a 
feature shared by Macrosoma and true butterflies, but not skipper butterflies. 

The first suggestion of the butterfly affinity of Macrosoma made in 1986 (Scoble, 
1986) resulted in considerable interest. The eggs of Macrosoma were studied later 
(Scoble & Aiello, 1990). Recently, two papers dealing with, amongst other issues, the 
relationship between Macrosoma and butterflies have been written. One of these 
involved the cladistic analysis of a large dataset of morphological characters (de Jong 
et al., 1996). The other (Weller & Pashley, 1995), although making use of 
morphological characters, has been innovative by applying molecular techniques 
in the search for butterfly origins. 

The methods of both studies will doubtless be examined critically. But the results 
of the studies, with regard to the relationships of Macrosoma, leave us little closer to 
determining the exact relationship of Macrosoma to the butterflies. The study using 
morphological data suggested that Macrosoma and Urania (Uraniidae) vie for being 
the closest relatives of the butterflies. The study involving a combination of 
morphological and molecular data lent added support to the close association of 
Macrosoma with Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea. 

One message I gain from this interesting episode, as it relates to natural history, is 
that often high levels of taxonomic resolution can be achieved with a good collection, 
a microscope and carefully planned fieldwork. My impression is that substantially 
greater resolution is by no means certain in analyses with large morphological 
datasets or with molecular data. This comment should not be taken as a general 
attack on these procedures, for they are useful in refining classifications or providing 
confirmation. Rather, my aim is to emphasize the value of what can be achieved 
using well tried techniques. 


DREPANIDAE 


The final example involves three superfamilies: Pyraloidea, Noctuoidea and 
Drepanoidea but just six species of moths. All the species are from Australia, but, 
again, all three superfamilies are represented in Britain. 


BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 255 


The study was carried out in collaboration with Mr Ted Edwards at the Australian 
National Insect Collection in Canberra (Scoble & Edwards, 1988). The genus 
Hypsidia was originally described for a single species as a pyralid by Lord Rothschild 
(Rothschild, 1896). More recently, another species was described. Both species are 
brightly coloured moths (Plate V, Figs 5 & 6) that live in the rainforest of 
northeastern Australia. 

In a review of pyralid classification, Dr Eugene Munroe had noted (Munroe, 1972) 
that Hypsidia lacked a scaled base to the proboscis. In fact, the true relationship of 
the species is clear if the tympanal organs are studied. Hypsidia, like many other 
moths, has abdominal tympanal organs. But, as I mentioned before, the anatomy of 
abdominal tympanal organs differs between different families. In Hypsidia, the 
tympanal organs are typical of those of the families Drepanidae (the hooktips) and 
Thyatiridae (in Britain represented by the peach-blossom moth, Thyatira batis). The 
characteristics of the drepanid/thyatirid tympanal organs were first described in 
detail by Kennel & Eggers (1933). These structures include components from both 
sternal and pleural regions. Each tympanal organ is composed of two interconnect- 
ing chambers—a small one and a large one. The tympanic membrane is unique in 
being situated within the sternal component of the organ between the small and large 
chambers. The pleural element includes a distinctive three-armed sclerite. 

This story has another element of interest. The male and female genitalia of these 
species are distinctive. In the male a pair of comb-bearing arms arise from the 
gnathos region, and in the female the ductus bursae takes the form of a spiral—in 
some species with a sclerite running through it. The Australian lepidopterist A. J. 
Turner described a genus Baryphanes for a greyish species of moth from 
southwestern Australia and placed it in the Noctuidae. Although it was later 
realized that Baryphanes was not a noctuid (Common, 1969), no other family was 
found for it. Actually, as a result of a study of its tympanal organs, the German 
entomologist Sick (1938) had already placed a related species in the drepanid 
complex (as Cymatophorinae), but under a different generic name. 

During the course of his work on checklisting the Australian Lepidoptera, Ted 
Edwards came across four other species with genitalia similar to those structures in 
this group. All were collected from the sclerophyll forests of southwestern Australia. 
The typical comb-bearing arms in the male and the spiral ductus in the female show 
that these moths are closely related to the two brightly coloured species from the rain 
forest in northeastern Australia. Because the species all shared these characters, we 
included them in Hypsidia. 

The first point to arise from this study is that the English-speaking world did not 
seem to be aware of the implications of the anatomical work on tympanal organs by 
the German morphologists. The relationships of Hypsidia, and indeed the 
delimitation of several families of Lepidoptera, are revealed by the structure of 
these organs. Second, and as with Hedylidae, structural study reveals relationship 
much better than more superficial examination. 


CONCLUDING THOUGHTS 


The studies described above were selected to illustrate a synthetic approach to 
systematics. There are many other examples that could have been selected. The first 
point to emphasize in the context of this address is that the studies in question, and 
any general results derived from them, depended particularly on access to carefully 
curated collections. The second is that in two of the four studies explored, crucial 
material and information was received from the amateur community. 


256 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 9: 1996 


My final thought is that most systematists today would consider that their work 
should make some contribution towards the great biodiversity debate. Much of this 
effort is put into studying species richness. Our understanding of biological diversity 
is enhanced, however, by appreciating the breadth of structural diversity that exists, 
and the phylogenetic context into which it fits. 


REFERENCES 


Borner, C. 1925. Lepidoptera, Schmetterlinge. In: Brohmer, P. (Ed.) Fauna aus Deutschland, 
pp. 358-387. 

Braun, A. F. 1963. The genus Bucculatrix in America north of Mexico (Microlepidoptera). 
Mem. Am. Ent. Soc. 13: 110 pp.+ 26 pls. 

Common, I. F. B. 1969. A wing-locking or stridulatory device in Lepidoptera. J. Aust. Ent. Soc. 
8: 121-125. 

Davis, D. R. 1989. Generic revision of the Opostegidae with a synoptic catalog of the world’s 
species (Lepidoptera: Nepticuloidea). Smithson. Contr. Zool. 478: 97 pp. 

de Beer, G. 1983. Charles Darwin and T. H. Huxley: Autobiographies. Oxford University Press, 
xxvi+ 123 pp. 

de Jong, R., Vane-Wright, R. I. & Ackery, P. R. 1996. The higher classification of the butterflies 
(Lepidoptera): problems and prospects. Ent. Scand. 27: 1-37. 

Desmond, A. 1994. Huxley: the devil’s disciple. Michael Joseph, London, xvii + 475 pp. 

Desmond, A. & Moore, J. 1991. Darwin. Michael Joseph, Oxford, xxi+ 808 pp. 

Kendall, R. O. 1976. Larval foodplants and life history notes for eight moths from Texas and 
Mexico. J. Lepid. Soc. 30: 264-271. 

Kennel, J. & Eggers, F. 1933. Die abdominalen Tympanalorgane der Lepidopteren. Zool. Jb. 
(Anat.) 57: 1-104+6 pls. 

Kristensen, N. P. & Nielsen, E. S. 1980. The ventral diaphragm of primitive (non-ditrysian) 
Lepidoptera. A morphological and phylogenetic study. Z. Zool. Syst. Evol. Forschung 18: 
123-146. 

Kristensen, N. P. 1984. Studies on the morphology and systematics of primitive Lepidoptera 
(Insecta). Steenstrupia 10: 141-191. 

Kyrki, J. 1984. The Yponomeutoidea: a reassessment of the superfamily and its suprageneric 
groups (Lepidoptera). Ent. Scand. 15: 71-84. 

Munroe, E. 1972-{4]. Pyraloidea: Pyralidae (in part). In: Dominick, R. B., et al. (Eds) The moths 
of America north of Mexico. E. W. Classey and the Wedge Entomological Research 
Foundation, London, 13(1): xvii+78 pp.+ 12 pls. 

Rothschild, W. 1896. Descriptions of some new species of Lepidoptera, with remarks on some 
previously described forms. Novit. Zool. 3: 602-603. 

Scoble, M. J. 1982. A pectinifer in the Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) and its phylogenetic 
implications. Ann. Transv. Mus. 33: 123-129. 

Scoble, M. J. 1986. The structure and affinities of the Hedyloidea: a new concept of the 
butterflies. Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) (Ent.). 

Scoble, M. J. & Aiello, A. 1990. Moth-like butterflies (Hedylidae: Lepidoptera): a summary, 
with comments on the egg. J. Nat. Hist. 24: 159-164. 

Scoble, M. J. & Edwards, E. D. 1988. Hypsidia Rothschild: a review and a reassessment 
(Lepidoptera: Drepanoidea, Drepanidae). Ent. Scand. 18: 333-353. 

Scoble, M. J. & Scholtz, C. H. 1984. A new gall-feeding moth (Lyonetiidae: Bucculatricinae) 
from South Africa with comments on larval habits and phylogenetic relationships. Syst. 
Ent. 9: 83-94. 

Sick, H. 1938. Zwei neue Lepidopteren-Gattungen von Australien. Senckenbergiana 20: 
231-236. 

Weller, S. J. & Pashley, D. P. 1995. In search of butterfly origins. Molec. Phyl. Evol. 4: 235-246. 


EDITORIAL 


NEW EDITOR SOUGHT 


Having edited this journal for 10 years, I am now seeking to hand over the post of 
Honorary Editor to someone else. I give the position its full title because it has been an 
honour to do the work, continuing a publishing tradition which the Society has carried on 
for more than a century. I have learned a great deal of entomology and of entomologists 
during those years and have enjoyed every minute of it. 

What then are the qualifications for a successor? A certain level of entomological 
knowledge is an advantage, but with the help of an editorial board, one does not need to 
be a specialist in every (or indeed in any) particular insect group. Any knowledge of 
typesetting or printing is useful, but the journal more or less runs itself when it comes to 
the technicalities of applying ink to paper. More important is the enthusiasm and 
orderliness to co-ordinate the various routines of acknowledging receipt of papers, getting 
them refereed, sending them for typesetting and then for proof-reading and finally 
constructing an issue and getting it off to the printers. This does take a bit of time, but the 
rewards are worth it. The satisfaction of seeing an issue, individually crafted and 
moulded, produced four times a year, offers a real sense of creativity and achievement. 

I do not want to drop a new-comer straight into the middle of what might be seen by 
some as a daunting office, and I will be available to assist with a smooth transition and on 
hand to advise for as long as is necessary for the take-over to be complete. If anyone out 
there thinks that they could offer the Society the time and energy to take its journal into 
the twenty-first century, please contact me and I will be happy to fill in the details of 
exactly what is entailed. 


RICHARD A. JONES 


NEW from the Amateur Entomologists’ Society 


A guide to moth traps and their use by Reg Fry and Paul Waring, 60 pages, card covers, 
ISBN 0-900054-61-1, £5. Contents: A brief history of light trapping; Measurement and 
properties of light; Types of lamp available; Different trap designs (including useful circuit 
and cut-away diagrams); Operating light traps (tips on weather, site selection and relative 
performances of different traps); Other lures (wine ropes and bait traps); References, Lists 
of suppliers; Component lists. 


Other recent publications include: 

Practical hints for the field Lepidopterist, by J. W. Tutt, (reprinted 1994) 422 pp, 
hardback, £21. Written in three parts at the turn of the century, this book still represents 
the most comprehensive field guide covering both macros and micros. A month-by-month 
guide to which species and stages to look out for and how to find them. There are also 
extensive notes on early stages and how to keep and rear them. A special supplement 
cross-references old to current names, both English and Latin. 

A coleopterist’s handbook, edited by J. Cooter et al., (3rd edn, revised, 1991), 300 pp, 
hardback, illustrated, £15.50. Part I: practical aspects of collecting, curating and studying 
beetles. Part II: chapters on each beetle family prepared by experts in the groups. Part III: 
beetle associations—with plants, ants and stored products. Part IV: beetle larvae—their 
morphology, habits and rearing methods. Part V: recording methods and conservation. A 
supplement on Host plants of British beetles available separately, 24 pp, card covers, £2. 

For all these titles, UK post is included. Overseas add 10% for surface and 30% for air 
mail. 

Send cheque made out to ‘AES Publications’ with your order to AES Publications, The 
Hawthorns, Frating Road, Great Bromley, Colchester CO7 7JN. (Tel: 01206-251600). 


BRITISH JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 
VOLUME 9, PART 4, DECEMBER 1996 


ARTICLE 
Wing homoeosis in Pararge aegeria L. (Lepidoptera: Satyridae). L. WINOKUR 


PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS 
The BENHS expedition to Belize, January-February 1996. P. WARING, G. COLLINS 
AND A. SPALDING 


1995 Annual Exhibition, Imperial College, London SW7—28 October 1995 
207 British butterflies Hymenoptera 

211 British Macrolepidoptera Odonata 

218 British Microlepidoptera Mantodea 

225 Foreign Lepidoptera Neuroptera 

229 Diptera Orthoptera 

233 Coleoptera Miscellaneous 

236 Hemiptera Illustrations 


The 1995 presidential address—Part 1. Report. M. J. SCOBLE 
The 1995 presidential address—Part 2. Natural history: societies and museums. M. J. SCOBLE 


BOOK REVIEWS 

Collins field guide. Spiders of Britain and northern Europe by M. J. Roberts. R. A. JONES 
The butterflies of Wiltshire by M. Fuller. A. J. PICKLES 

Alien empire by C. O. Toole. A. HALSTEAD 


Hyménopteéres Sphecidae d’Europe Occidentale. Volume |. Genéralites—Crabroninae by 
J. Bitsch and J. Leclerq. G. ELSE 


ANNOUNCEMENT 
Fourth International Congress of Dipterology 1998. 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
Butterfly conservation post-1925. J. FELTWELL 
A response to the letter by John Feltwell. A. E. STuBBs 


ON i 
, 
1 


> 


une 


i ) AL Cis 
Whi y* ali vi ) 
i! 7 


be ut 
i uy LN ui * ~ } 
Ml ae tou 


vA i 
noo 


wy) 
af t ea t 
A Dh Pe A EN 
at hi sven, me ‘ity Hi ison 


nine ne AY een q nt . 


er Nan wiaied 


i a Hts 


ie Ms ¥ a) 


i" j 
Pave 


tO a 


3 peer’ 


ete 
Seek ysenge 


LAGS 
apes OMY 
Reet 
Tear errer Se Wt 3 
mae Y oer . 
SS raenerw marvEN MY PS 
ene 
; parecer 
ate 


pS 


NYA 


Te hie 4 
Pe ae ee et 


Spee ney 
- were