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INDEX. lii

INDEX TO VOLUME 64

Aberrations of Aphantopus hyperantus.
N. C. Pilleau, 69; Arctia villica. E.
A. Cockayne, 3, 301; Argynnis aglaia.
S. H. Kershaw, 69; British Geometri-
dae. EF. A. Cockayne, 65, 237; British
Macrolepidoptera. F. A. Cockayne,
33, 129, 189; by A. Richardson, 269;
Coenonympha tullia. N. C. Pilleau,
69: Gonodontis bidentata. E. A.
Cockayne, 334; Lysandra_ coridon
and L. bellargus. E. A. Cockayne,
157; New Melanic, 273; Saturnia
pavonia, E. A. Cockayne, 97; Selenia
bilunaria. EE. S. A. Baynes, 5.

Aberrations, the Collecting of, 137.

Abraxas grossulariata, foodplant of in
the Hebrides. J. W. Heslop Harri-
son, 349.

Abraxas sylvata in Derbyshire. J. H.
Johnson, 80; Note on. Pvt: As.
Cockayne, 20.

Abrostola tripartita, early emergence
of. F. H. Lyon, 218; by J. L. Camp-
bell, 287.

Actaea spicata, distribution of in Eng-
land, 105.

Adoxophyes orana in Kent.
Jacobs, 86.

Aglais urticae, aberrations of in Bucks.
S. H. Kershaw, 326.

Allophyes alfaroi, A New Noctuid de-
scribed, 214.
Anadolua, the Genus.
Anatolia. Field Notes from.

309.

Ancylolomia tentaculella in Kent. T.
G. Edwards and S. Wakely, 273.
Anthocaris cardamines, Second Brood

of. T. G. Edwards, 288.

Apatele euphorbiae ssp. myricae in the
Hebrides. J. W. Heslop Harrison,
348.

Apatele rumicis f. salicis in Kent. J.
M. Chalmers-Hunt, 149.

SNe AS

M. Burr, 359.
M. Burr,

Apatura iris, Second Brood of. F. W.
Byers, 347.

Aphantopus hyperantus, Three New
Forms of. WN. C. Pilleau, 69.

Aphodius Genus in Cumberland. F. H.
Day, 12%.

Apion difficile in Surrey and Hants. A.
A. Allen, 294.

Arctia villica, Aberrations of. E. A.
Cockayne, 3, 301; ab. wardi, Genetics
of. E. A. Cockayne, 1: ab. ursula
and ab. kettlewelli. E. A. Cockayne,
302.

Argynnis aglaia, Two Aberrations of.
S. H. Kershaw, 69.
Asilidae, Notes on the.

229, 263, 295.

Asthena albulata, Second Brood of. J.

M. Chalmers-Hunt, 349.

L. Parmenter,

Athous campyloides in Sussex. A. A.

Allen, 294.
Aviemore in 1952. C. Craufurd, 280, 326.

Bena fagana, foodplants of. R. J. R.
Levett, 254.

‘Blues’, foodplants for. R. C. Dyson,
194.

Bombus smithianus visits Hebridean
sea-rocket. J. W. Heslop Harrison,
356.

Bupalus piniaria, gynandromorph of.

E. S. A, Baynes, 290.

Butterflies in Coastal Region of North
Wales. J. A. Thompson, 161, 261; by
S. Gordon Smith, 221, 325; in North
Africa. C. G. Lipscomb, 136, 168; in
Wales; “AS Mo Re VHerons 5; 10a.
Hampshire Garden. P. H. Holloway,
317: in Ireland. A. M. R. Heron, 47;
on Wet Mud, 21, 22, 87, 218 (see also
Pieris napi): Spread of into suitable
localities, 31, 63.

Campaea margaritata, Second Brood of.
J. M. Chalmers-Hunt, 54.

Carterocephalus palaemon
shire, 151, 215, 216, 259.

in Hamp-

Celerio lineata livornica in England,
148, 358.
Cheshire, Microlepidoptera in. H. N.

Michaelis, 12, 178.

Chilo cicatricellus as
Chalmers-Hunt, 160.

Churches, Entomological Care of. P. C.
Hawker, 356.

Coenonympha tullia, New Form of. N.
C. Pilleau, 69.

Coleoptera at Knole Park. A. A. Allen,
224: Notes on, 30, 31, 93, 126, 187, 22S,
263, 294: of a Suburban Garden. A.
A. Allen, 61, 92.

Colias calida, correct Name. £. A.
Cockayne, 166.

Colias croceus in 1952, 288, 289, 323; ab.
duplex. E. A. Cockayne, 193.

Colias heldreichi taken by Miss Foun-
taine, 94.

Collecting Notes, 1952. W. Reid, 205, 339.

Colletes daviesana in the Hebrides. J.
W. Heslop Harrison, 356.

Colouration of Insects, Experiments on.
M. Burr, 353.

Coscinia cribraria, Breeding. H. B. D.
Kettlewell, 106.

British J. M.

Cossus cossus, Pupation Site of. R. F.
Birchenough, 55.

Cranbourne Chase, Larvae in. H.
Symes, 204.

Cucullia absinthii in Yorkshire. T. WH.
Ford, 289.

Cucullia asteris in Essex. C. Craufurd,

323; in Suffolk. D. A. Ashwell, 323.
Current Literature, 32, 64, 95, 128, 188,
235, 267, 330, 362.

1V INDEX.

Dale, C. W., reference to, 24.

Danaus plexippus in Kent. J. L. Atkin-
SOn, 322.

Dasychira fascelina,
Symes, 42.

Deilephila elpenor, Notes on Larvae cf.
D. F. Owen, 20: by J. H. Johnson,
145, 350.

Deuteronomos ainiaria,
E. S. A. Baynes, 24.

Deuteronomos erosaria, Late Dates for.
F. H. Lyon, 349.

Devon, A Note from South. F. H. Lees,
358.

Diary, on Keeping A. An Old Moth-
Hunter, 342.

Diptera attracted by a Cossus-infested
oak. E. C. M. @WA.-Fonseca, 360:
visiting Fungi. J. Edwards, 123.

Dorset Lepidoptera in 1951. F. M. B.
Carr, 111; Larvae in. H. Symes, 204;
Noten eLromes | Ae SYUmMmes Stine
Machaon in. H. C. Huggins, 28.

Dorytomus validirostris in Kent. A. A.
Allen, 30.

Dysstroma truncata in Kerry. E. S. A.
Baynes, 351.

Embia, A Note on. MW. Burr, 292.

Erannis leucophaearia in December. TW.
E. Minnion, 53.

on Breeding. H.

aberration of.

Essex, Notes from East. A. J. Dewick,
152.
Eublemma parva in Somerset. A. H.

Turner, 290.

Eupista erigerella in Surrey. S.
ly, 54.

Eupithecia actaeata, A Search for. F.
A. Cockayne, 11, 104.

Eupithecia immundata, A Search for.
E. A. Cockayne, 11, 104.
Eupithecia intricata ssp. arceuthata in
Hants. J. M. Chalmers-Hunt, 53.
Eupithecia millefoliata, An Early Re-
Corde Ca Ga MENde WOLmssip3:

Euplagia quadripunctaria in Devon in
1952. J. L. Atkinson, 322.

Everes argiades in Dorset.
255.

Field Notes, 248, 284.

Fifty Years Ago, 31, 63, 94, 127, 155, 188.
234, 266, 300, 329, 361.

Flying Insects and Wind Currents. P.
Siviter Smith, 49.

Folkestone, A Moth-trap in. A. M. Mor-
ley, 170.

French Method of Collecting Butterflies.
P. C. Hawker, 355.

Fungi, Diptera visiting. J. Edwards, 123.

Gall Midges, Retarded ‘Emergences of.
M. Niblett, 327.

Gastropacha quercifolia, Second Brood
of. F. W. Byers, 347.

Genitalia, A Method of Mounting.
McE. Kevan, 195.

Geometridae, aberrations of British. £.
A. Cockayne, 65, 237.

Wake-

H. Symes,

Ded’:

Glanvile, Mrs. and her Fritillary. P. B.
M. Allan, 17.

Gonepteryx rhamni, attitude of Larva.
D. Lanktree, 78.

Gonodontis bidentata, New Melanic
Mutation in. E£. A. Cockayne, 334.
Gymnoscelis pumilata, Early Appear-
ance of, 121, 152, 179, 324; whether a

migrant. H. M. Darlow, 254.

Hadena andalusica (barrettii) in West
Country. J. O. T. Howard, 87; by H.
M. Edelsten, 147.

Hadena blenna in England.
Moth-Hiunter, 174.

Hadena bombycina (glauca) in Somer-
set. C. S. H. Blathwayt, 218.

Hadena caesia on the Isle of Canna, 348;
on the Isle of Rhum. J. W. Heslop
Harrison, 348.

Hairstreak pupae, stridulation of. W.
An CO iCOTRbCr ae:

Hampshire, Butterflies in. P. H. Hollo-
way, 48; 198, 317; by F. M. B. Carr,
1411: in Hampshire Woods. P. H..
Holloway, 115; early spring Moths
in. A. C. R. Redgrave, 147.

Hand-pairing of P. machaon.
Clarke, 98.

Harpalus anxius in London. A. A. Allen,
263.

Harpyia hermelina in April. P. J. Gent,
148.

Hemaris fuciformis and H. tityus, dis-
tribution of, 188.

Hemistola immaculata, beating for, 155.

Hepialus lupulina, swarming of, 266.

Herse convolvuli, on Rearing D. G.
Sevastopulo, 14; in Dorset. V. W’.
Philpott, 288.

Hesperia comma, Note on the Larva of.
E. A. Cockayne, 182.

Heterogena asella in Kent. J. M.
Chalmers-Hunt, 218: by EF. H. Wild,
262.

Hipparchia semele, two New Subspecies
OfmuG, Ge Lattin. 335:

Holiday Diversion. A. M. R. Heron, 13.

Horisme ayguata as a British Insect. eZ.
A COCKQYNE, 73:

Horisme vitalbata two years in Pupa.
N. T. Faston, 324.

Hydraecia nordstroemi, Note on, 213.

Hydraecia petasitis in Herts. A. L.
Goodson, 348.

Hydriomena ruberata, on Rearing. T.
D. Fearnehough, 8°.

Hydrophilus piceus at electric light, 64,
228.

Hymenia recurvalis in Britain. F. H.
Lees, 70; A Note on. E. A. Cockayne,
71; in Surrey, 121; a Note on. D. G.
Sevastopulo, 182.

Ireland, Butterflies seen in. A. M. R.
Heron, 47.

Isle of Man, Collecting in.
“Shaw, 44.

An Old

Cs A:

S.A. Ker:

INDEX. Md

Ivy-bloom, Diptera at, 90.

Jaspidia deceptoria in Sussex. E. H.
Wild, 262.

Journal of a Victorian, Notes from the.
S. G, Castle Russell, 243.

Kendal District, Autumn Notes from.
N. L. Birkett, 109.

Kent, Notes from West. G. V. Bull, 350.

Killing Agents, Suitable. P. Siviter

Smith, 89; by S. G. Castle Russell, 150.

Killing Specimens for the Cabinet. 7.
C. Huggins, 222.

Knole Park, Coleoptera at.
224.

Lampides boeticus in Surrey. L. dH. S.
Chevallier, 274; in Isle of Wight, J.
Lobb, 322.

Lancashire, Microlepidoptera in. dH. N.
Michaelis, 178.

_Laothoe populi, possible Sex-linkage in.
E. A. Cockayne, 221.

Larva-rearing, a hint for. pacar
Cockayne, 149.

Lasiocampa@ quercus ab. olivaceo-fasciata

A. A. Allen,

and the Melanic Larva. EB. A:
Cockayne, 306; Variations in the
Life-cycle of f. callunae. H. Symes,

258.

Latin Names and the Young Collector.
Pe sipitern smith, 207.

Latinizing of Proper Names, 90, 150, 222.

Latium, Scarcity of Insects in 1951. L.
Romei, 8.

Leopoldius signatus near Bristol. E. C.
M. d’A.-Fonseca, 186.

Leucania favicolor, Chromosome Num-
ber of. E. A. Cockayne, 220, 257.
Leucania l-album, Life-cycle of. F. H.

Lees, 101. 2
Leucania loreyi
Cockayne, 255.
Leucania pallens, Life-cycle of. F. dH.
Lees, 101; number of Broods in
Herts. R. A. French, 277; Whether
double-brooded. J. C. Hartley, 180;
Chromosome number of. Be Ag
Cockayne, 220, 257.
Leucania vitellina, Life-cycle of. F. H.
Lees, 101; breeding in England. E.
E
A

im” ireland: 9. VA.

Barton White, 180; in Surrey. W.

Minnion, 57.

Leucodonta bicoloria in Hampshire.

H. Sperring, 214; by H. Symes, 215.
Life-histories, Notes on, 20, 51.
Lithophane lapidea in Britain, 86. —
‘Lithophane semibrunnea and the m.v.

lamp. W. E. Minnion, 57.
Longicorns from Hertfordshire.

Ferry, 29.

Loxostege Genus, prolonged larval dia-

pause in. £. A. Cockayne, 324.
Tuceria virens, on Rearing. Bee Je

Lempke, 72.

Lycaena dispar, On. S, G. Castle Rus-

Sell, 315,

EO ES:,

Lycaena phiaeas, White and Pale Forms
of. A. L. Goodson, 23; by P. Siviter
Smith, 134, 184; supposed Third
Brood of. S. G. Castle Russell, 148;
by P. Siviter Smith, 289.

Lycaenidae of Hampshire Chalk Downs.
P. H. Holloway, 198.

Lysandra bellargus, Aberrations of. EF.
A. Cockayne, 157.

Lysandra coridon, Aberrations of. E. A.
Cockayne, 157.

Macroglossum stellatarum in 1952, 217,
Pappy Pee ayPI) BATE

Macrothylacia rubi, Notes on.
Johnson, 22.

Malacosoma neustria, Notes on. OD.
Wright, 172; by P. H. Holloway, 217.

Malta, V. cardui and Migrants in. A.
Valletta, 279.

Melanic Aberrations, New, 273.

Mercury Vapour lamp, Notes on, 182,
O5Gh 21 ae Oe

Metoecus paradoxrus in
Wakely, 98.

Microlepidoptera, Notes on. H.C. Hug-
gins, 2, 50, 84, 120; 144, 177, 214, 250,
285, 319, 345: in Cheshire. Hea NG
Michaelis, 12. 178; in Lancashire. #.
N. Michaelis, 178; Records from the
N.W. N. L. Birkett, 82.

Mildew and P.D.B., 55, 183; prevention
of. D. G. Sevastoputlo, 325.

Miltochrista miniata in Kent. J. M.
Chalmers-Hunt, 254.

Minucia lunaris, possible record of. £.
A. Cockayne, 54.

Moths and Wasps. JN. L. Birkett, 242.

Nephrocerus flavicornis, Records of. B.
Re LGUurence, 23:

New Forest in the Nineties. S. G. Castle
Russell, 138.

Norfolk, Collecting in. S. Wakely, 113.

North Africa, Butterflies of. C. G, Lips-
comb, 136, 168.

North Wales, Butterflies in. H aubiawnes Us
Thompson, 161.

Nymphalis polychloros in Kent.
Chalmers-Hunt, 121.

Obituary : Donovan, C., 32; Morley, C.,
oe

Odontosia carmelita, Incidence of. A. C.
R. Redgrave, 218; in Scotland. G. W.
Harper, 262; Observations on. dH.
Symes, 337. —

Operophtera brumata in the Hebrides.
J. W. Heslop Harrison, 348.

Opistograptis luteolata ab. ruficosta in
Herts. A. LZ. Goodson, 326.

Oressigena, a Nomen Nudum. By Ae
Cockayne, 291; by P. Siviter Smith,
304.

Oria musculosa in Wilts.
107.

Otiorrhyncus raucus in Kent.
Allen, 30.

otal 2

Surrey. Ss

J. M.

R.A. Jackson,

Abs AX

vil INDEX.

Ova, This Matter of. An Old Moth-
Hunter, 15.

Oxyna parietina, Note on. L. Parmen-
ter, 58. :

P.D.B. and Mould, 55. 183.

Pairing P. machaon by hand. C. A.
Clarke, 98.

Pallopteridae, Note on.
Fonseca, 91.

Panolis flammea in January.
Holloway. 53.

Papilio machaon, Hand-pairing of. C.
A. Clarke, 98; in Dorset. H. C. Hug-
gins, 23; Note on Breeding. J. New-
ton, 54.

Pararge aegeria, Habitats of. D. F.
Owen, 149; by R. Cheeseman, 289.

Pieris napi, nomenclature of Yellow
Forms. J. A. Thompson, 75, 150, 290;
on Wet Mud, 21, 22, 87.

Plasted, Dealer, 53.

Plusia confusa (gutta) in England. B.
J. Lempke, 86.

Plusia ni in March.

Plusia variabilis,
Chalmers-Hunt, 52:
Allan, 53, 218.

Polyommatus icarus, On Breeding. R.

C. Dyson, 194.

Practical Hints, 26, 251, 286, 320, 346.

Prionus coriarius, Notes on. H. Symes,
153.

Procus versicolor in
Cockayne, 347.
Pseudoips bicolorana in London. S:
Wakely, 21: by W. E. Minnion, 86.

Pupal Activity. P. B. M. Allan, 37.

Pupating Sites. D. Wright, 40.

Repairing broken Specimens. D. K. McE.
Kevan, 56.

Sapromyzidae, Notes on.
ence, 29.

Saturnia pavonia, Aberrations of. E.
A. Cockayne, 97.

Scarcity of Insects in S. Latium. L.
Romei, 8; of Butterflies on the Con-

PC A Mey aA

PPA:

F. H. Lees, 146.

Notes on. Tee Vie
Tony IPS BS) AML.

ireland 6 AG

B. Rk. Laur:

tinent. P. C. Hawker, 88; of Rhopa-
locera in 1951. S. G. Castle Russell,
100.

Sedina buetineri and Collectors. N. D.
Riley, 152. :

Selenia bilunaria, New Form of. E£. S.

A. Baynes, 5; ab. eblanaria, Genetics
of. E. A. Cockayne, 6; ab. nigrata
in Lincs. R. Prichard, 185.

Setting Lepidoptera. P. Siviter Smith,
56; by An Old Moth-Hunter, 208, 357;
Criticism of the Block Method. W.
E. Minnion, 184, 247; by R. F. Bre-
therton, 2614; by W. Bowater, 325.

Somerset, Light-trap Records from. A.
He eLUrner Asb= 293:

Spanish Ports, Butterflies in. F. M. G.
Stammers, 327.

Sphinx ligustri, Second Brood of. N. T.
Easton, 324; aberrational Larva of.
N. T. Easton, 324.

Spilosoma lutea female attracting Are-
tia caja. D. Wright, 24.

Spurn, Lepidoptera at. H. N. Michaelis,
359.

Staphylinus spp., Records of.
Allen, 126; by F. H. Day, 187.

Sterrha aversata, Notes on. C. N. Haw-
kins, 133.

Sterrha seriata, Flight Time of. J. M.
Chalmers-Hunt, 349.

Surrey Trypetidae. M. Niblett, 27.

Tathorhyncus exsiccata in Devon. F.
HI. Eees, 131; A New British Noctuid.
E. A. Cockayne, 132; Further Note
on. E£. A. Cockayne, 151; Foodplant
of. EH. A. Cockayne, 217.

Tetbury, Lepidoptera at. J. Newton, 58.

Thalera fimbrialis in Kent. J. M.
Chalmers-Hunt, 10.

Thecla betulae, Note on. C. B. Antram,
350.

Thunderstorms and Variation.
Castle Russell, 199.

Triphaena pronuba in March. T. G.
Howarth, 148.

Tropics, storing set Lepidoptera in. T.
Maessen, 118.

Trypetidae in Surrey. M. Niblett, 27.

Unexpected, The. Viscount Bolingbroke,
245.

Vanessa cardui in the Channel Is. L.
W. Newman, 252; in Czechoslovakia.
J. Smethaus, 321; in England in
March, 122, 123, 146, 147; in Germany,
253, 288,:321; in Italy. R. Verity, 252:
in Malta. A. Valletta, 252; in Malta
in 1952. A. Valletta, 279; in Turkey.
M. Burr, 216.

Varieties of British Lepidoptera. A.
Richardson, 269.

Volucella inanis at Blackheath. A. A.
Allen, 299.

Volucella zonaria at Bournemouth. H.

ATA:

SoG:

Symes, 234; in Kent. J. F. Burton,
i[5ya}.
Wales, North, Butterflies of. J. A.

Thompson, 161.

Wasps attacking P. brassicae.
Gardiner, 355.

Wasps and Moths. N. L. Birkett, 2492.

West Africa, storing specimens in. T.
Maessen, 118.
Weston-super-Mare, Lepidoptera at. C.
S. H. Blathwayt, 56, 121, 218, 359.
Westmorland: Notes from Kendal. N.
L. Birkett, 109.

Wiltshire: Oria musculosa in.
Jackson, 107.

Wind Currents and Flying Insects. P.
Siviter Smith, 49.

Xylocampa areola ab. rosea, Note on.
J. Newton, 181.

Ba Ot

ROA.

INDEX. Vil

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS.

falan, PB. M., 17,.37,, 53, 55,, 122, 151,
223, 259, 260.

Allen, A. A., 31, 61, 92, 127, 224, 263, 294,
295, 300, 364.

Amman. Cz B., 350:

Ashwell, D. A., 323.

Atkinson, J. L., 322.

Barrons B.C. 122322.

Baynes, E. S. A., 5, 25, 290, 351.

Birchenough, R. F., 55.

Birkett, N. L., 82, 109, 122, 242.

BiatiwawteOr s: El. 57, 121, 152; 218. 359.

Bliss, A., 147.

Bolingbroke, Viscount, 245.

Bowater, W., 326.

Bretherton, R. F., 260.

Bull, G. V.,-57, 185, 350.

Burr, M., 217, 309, 353, 359.

Burton, J. F., 153.

Byers, F. W., 121, 347.

Campbell, J. L., 287.

Canrob M. B., 144) 146.

GaAmier WA. C4 soe. 200;
Chalmers-Hunt, J. M., 10, 52, 53, 54, 89,
121, 149, 160, 203, 218, 254, 288, 349.

Cheeseman, R., 289.

Chevallier, L. H. S., 274.

Clarke, C. A., 98.

Cockayne, B.. A., 1, 3, 6, 11, 20, 33, 54, 6,
feadia up tee 129) 132. 150; toe aby, 166,
183, 189, 193, 21'7, 221, 287, 256, 292, 301,
302, 306, 324, 334, 347, 353, 362, 364.

Craufurd, C., 217, 224, 280, 289, 323, 326.

Cretschmar, M., 19, 322.

Darlow, H. M., 254.

Day, F. H., 125, 187.
Demuth, R. P., 256.
Dewick, A. J., 55, 153.
Dyson, R. C., 194.
Easton, N. T., 87, 324.
Edelsten, H. M., 147, 259.
Edwards, J., 123.
Edwards, T. G., 273, 288.
Evans, L. J., 86.
Fearnehough, T. D., 88.
Herry, R. S., 29.
Fonseca, E. C. M. @’A.-,
Ford, T. H., 289.
Brench, R. A., 277:
Gardiner, B. O., C., 355.
Gente P.. J., 128.
Goodson, A. L., 23, 290,
Gummer, C. M., 26.
Harper, G. W., 262.
Harrison, J. W. Heslop, 348, 349, 356.
maartley, J. C., 480.

Hawker, P. C., 89, 215, 216, 355, 356.
Hawkins, C. N., 133.

Haynes, ‘R. G., %3.

Hayward, EK. J., 184, 220.

Heron, A. M. R., 13, 58.

Hesselbarth, G., 19, 253.

Hewson, F., 22, 148.

Hobby, B. M., 216.

92, 187, 360.

326, 348.

s

Holloway: Po He, 4851545 115) 1231985 217,
ade

Howard, J. O. T., &7

Howarth, T. G., 148, 181.

Huggins, H. C., 24, 25, 50, 84, 120, 144, 177,
AN POS IR Oss Oy SOs wits

Hyde, G. E., 22.

Jackson; R. A., 107.

Jacobs; S. N:. As, -87:

Johnson, J. H., 23, 80, 145, 2416, 351, 352.

Kershaw, S. H., 44, 69, 89, 255, 326.

Kettlewell, H. B. D., 106.

Kevan, D. K. McE., 56, 90, 150, 195, 223,
261.

Lanktree, D. ‘A. P., 78

Lattin, G. de, 288, 335.

Laurence, B. R., 28, 29, 90.

Juees; BY HE, 70, 104), 131, 146, 358.

Lempke, B. J., 72, 86.

Levett, R. J: R-, 254:

Lipscomb, C. G., 136, 168.

Lobb, J., 323.

Lyon, F. H., 218, 349.

Maessen, T., 118.

Manley, G. E. L., 148.

Michaelis, H. N., 12, 178, 359.

Minnion, W. E., 53, 57, 86, 87, 181, 182,
185, 247.

Morley, A. M., 170, 180.

Newman, LL. H., 252:

Newton, J., 55, 58, 181.

Niblett, M., 27, 327.

Old Moth-Hunter, An, 15, 174,
ood

Owen, D. F , 21, 149, 363.

Parmenter, L., 58, 91, 229, 263, 295.

Philpott, V. W., 181, 288.

Pilleau, N. C., 69.

IPricharda heel Sie

Redgrave, A. C. R.,

Reid, W., 205, 339.

Richardson, A., 269.

Riley, N. D., 152

Romei, L., 8.

Russell, S. G. Castle, 100, 188, 149, 151,
199, 243, 315

Sevastopulo, D. G., 41, 182, 325.

Smelhaus, J., 321.

Smith, S. Gordon, 27, 222, 224, 325.

Smith, P. Siviter, 49, 56, 89, 134, 184, 207,
290.

Sperring, A: H., 245, 216, 258.

Stammers. F. M. G., 327

Stone, F. J:, 7.

Struthers, F. MEE eine

Symes, H., 29, 12, (ay, ViWAS Oily ORY Dats.
259, 327, 337, 347.

Tatchell, L. H., 90, 146, 183, 289.

Thompson, J. A., 75, 150, 161, 182, 261, 291.

Thorpe, J. E., 254.

Tremewan, W. G., 289.

Turner, A. H., 186, 290, 293.

Feu eiay enn ee 1 Oo

Valletta, A., 279.

208, 342.

147, 218.

Vill INDEX.

Verity, R., 252. Wild; E. H., 262.
Wakely, S., 21, 54, 94, 113; 123, 273. Worms, Baron de, 53.
White, E. Barton, 180- Wright, D., 24, 40, 172.
PLATES. ¢
I. Genetics and Aberrations of Arctia villica Linn. ae ... face page Q
Il. Aberrations of British Macrolepidoptera A x 34
III. Aberrations of British Geometridae ts 3% 66

Tv. Aberrations of Saturnia pavonia Linn. .. fae ae a oe a 98

Vv. Aberrations of British Macrolepidoptera ... ee a 130
VI. Aberrations of Lysandra coridon Poda .. Ay a 158
VII. Aberrations of Lysandra bellargus Rott. .. ae a6 159

VIII. Aberrations of British Macrolepidoptera . Bl ay Eee Be a 190

IX. The Block Method of Setting Lepidoptera A = Poi of 210

X. Aberrations of British Geometridae a ih ae ABE oe $3 238
XI. New Varieties of British Lepidoptera wan on i, a ahs 270
XII. Aberrations of Arctia villica Linn. ... ra Ne ae ae of sy 302

XIII. Scenery in Anatolia au ane ag a3 ee eau < Se 310

XIV. Gonodontis bidentata ah. bowateri a: as: rae aoe . : : 334

SPECIAL INDEX.
VOL. 64, 1952.

PAGE
COLEOPTERA

adspersus (Phytonomus) .................. 114
aeneocephalus (Ocypus) ..... 126, 187, 188
EMCI ARIE), occ cncneescaeiasirasaotrncoasenn> 62
POT E TI SM UELUIST AUIS) 0 occ lactis op esses ceensctses 263
ACSMVALIS: (ADNOGIMS) . 50.) .0.c2cnseceeornnes 125
POSEN CANITOU)) ccc sccvasossercoesoreysesencs 61
PECAN ENTEIOLEGC GES) 0 eos: joteccsconssostuetsccsreccone 226
IMM EMEA ENTOM) © ....00..cccspestccsconaee Q27
POPU ANS SW TICIILA) © .nansascccovetosssasess 227
AMPA (NEUTADIES) .....cnc0.00s005-r500 225
DIVEST CED AMAVANNES) © oo cc. cccrenercoecennpeenncnne 263
SHUR Sie pk) C100) 1) | re 61
IME CNTIUALA) .,oscynsnosennesesenssccanens 225
PEAGSEACTHES (OPHOMIUS) ..icccc.vscesecscrsssces 294
SINS Q (GL) eee eee 30
armigera (Magdalis) ...............cccccceeee 93
eS MTINES PUN TEOU) 85 coccckcecasacnsoncesveckascons 61
assimilis (Ceuthorhynchus) .............. 63
PUR ET e (ADDIMOGINES) 25s ccscscssscaecesegese ne ADT
Pa OME UEAT SIS): ouccctascecuscssnhavsse votes 228
EP ONer E PTOI GINS) ca. cc neccnessnseecons 227, 294
atomarius (Mycetophagus) ................ Q27
PACUARUEMS (EIAYPAIIS) ......5000500-0nesseae 263
barbicorms (Maedalis), \is...s0.24..00ec805 93
calor, (Taphrorychus): o....032...00dseasee 228
bidentatus (Meligethes) ..................08 294
Bitasciatum, (RHALIUM) © .iccdcscevestsecnees 29
bifasciatus (Lathridius) .................... 226
RPG AGA (CPOMORKIA) o...cccevsveessereanavers 93
ara MaGIs (CUS) loess esc becbek Rebeeones 227
“ELEC 0S) ga EAST ee Q27
eres!) CAPMOGIUS) © .........c.0s.cd.cceerseeee 126
BCISOWE WCEP LENTCIUIMN) | oo) feel. ccds obecsceone 295
MuMetin (COON) |. 3. 25.5...0..ckebeee cen eoee 225
brunnipes (Staphylinus) ............ 127, 188
buprestoides (Melasis) ..................00 226
calcarata (Leiodes) ............ccc cesses 225
campyloides (Athous) ..................00. 294
earhonaria (Magdalis) .......2.....0....000: 93
earcharias (Saperda) *2....2..0....c....00c00- 29
Farinitrons (TYIKXAGUS) © 6.0.2. ....-coccesee 226
Serer UND EOL OTUS)) Ss. wsc .ccosssececenccccus 93
eeccinea (Pyrochroa) °.2.)............6000- 227
cochleariae (Ceuthorhynchus) ......... 63
connne (Enophryum) .30.2.iisic.....028 93
Bonuexus (Litargus) .2.1800...0......0.0005 227
conspurcatus (Aphodius) .................. 126
Constans (APHOIUS) ....0.........0c.... cece eee 125

contaminatus (Aphodius) .......... 126, 227

PAGE
coriarius (Prionus) ...:.......... 2s ABB 927]
CTH ENING I Heb al (I BUNTON AYE) Sh eaaedeaanme aa seseneanenedader 227
CRUCIGA PUI | (CAQUOI) Ue scsemiasasesesesce coseoe: 228
EEY PECAN (CAMO LIES) \ocsc oe cssecesd- sek tcensuens 115
GUPLEUS, CMA BINEMS | esc. cahteevesacaeens 115
cupreus (Staphylinus) ...................... 127
CRELELLOSUEG oe (AITO) tee oseec: sere eee eaece 62
curtula (Aleochara)'' .nsiAth... is. 226
cylindricum (Sinodendron) ............. 227
Cylindrus: (Platypus) ose ec cee ose ee 228
dentatus (Cryptophagus) ............0.... 226
depressus. (Aphodius) si228.:56.. 03.0: 126
destructor, (Scolytus)irsks ss eeece eee 93
ALEHroOlM, (Apion) iss. see eet ee eae 61
@imiener (A PlOm) psec scree se eee 294
@iirormis.. (ATHOUS) 22h bee Ne eee 294
dissectus (Plegaderus) ©..............c.c.008 226
aistincius, (Aphodius) wees eee 126
GuUpomMbil (PALPIECTUS) sees hese eee ereee 226
edwardsi (Phloeophilus) ................... 226
elongata (COrtiGarial pines see Q27
elongatulus (Neuraphes) ................... 225
equestris: \(Amara)). i ss.).eceraeeacee eee gees 225
equestris (Aphodius) ...............c00sc0ce0ee 227
equiseti (Cardiophorus) ...................05 115
erraticus (ADDOGIUS) (2. .dodcu cece dats 125
erratus- (Calathus)):: ciccctesessvees: eters 115
erysimi (Ceuthorhyncus) .................. 92
erythropterus (Staphylinus) ..... 127, 187
fabery (StrophOsoOmiauS)ipasadeeso sce eee 228
PASI (COE VMOU) ee he eee eee eee cae Q27
fasciatus (Malthinus) ......:...........0.0.+ ot
femorata (Oncomera) ..............c.ccceeeee 294
ferrugineus (Laemophloeus) ............. 226
ferrugineus (Pocadius) .................... 226
fimetarius (Aphodius) ......................85 125
AAVESECTISH (SiON) gece socsesseaeccee cbascesee. 63
flavicornis (Micromalus) ................... 226
flavicornis (Longitarsus) ................... 228
HAVA ES! VAT OM) iis cyas see cece ee eee 61
floralis (Ceuthorhynchus) ................. 92
foetens” (ApPWOGvUS) 053 ch c.cocteobues. hes eus 125
foetidus (ADHOGIUS) © ..1..0 0.02... cbse toee cee 126
TOSSOR” (ATMO OES)! foc oes creer oooceesceeysse 125, 294
CPA CER VACSIMUS)) cat soin.Jeghuas secabenieowi 93
PSI MOSS “CY DIM occ i.e <eswdasceeseseee 294
fultva-.(Rhagcenycha)e so oe 294
fulvipes (Staphylinus)’ ..............0....... 187
fuscatus (Staphylinus) ............... 127, 188
erdo} Citra elon Roy SSR. ee ie ed ae 115
Slobosus + (ADPACUS)) 25.502. ee. 226

2 SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
globulifer (Staphylinus) ............ 188, 225
granarius (Aphodius) ...................0068. 125
SraANGicollis, (CatOpPs)), sei--c.s-sseesew sso oes 225
Srisea: (SOLroOnia)y ese eesore neces eeaee ces eee toe 226
euitatar (Ee pUuraca) cer. spesecscedeeceadade--=-as 226
haematodes (Apion) ...................05+ 61, 228
haemorrhoidalis (Aphodius) ............. 125
haemorrhous (Amalus) ...................06 93
niasta ty Uae Pia ees cces oe caecetcecmeene ceceescese 294
TN TeU IS (VNTTNODIS)) hg ascncasonsaccocoucbadese soe socse 31
hisprdulus (Sitoma)) 0..2...--:2--.sseeese sce 63
NISPTOUS (CUS hee evan as e eec eaten ees Q27
hispidus (Pogonocherus) .................+ 30
NUS Gs Ove (BAIN CYT) aes eee aoe e ee eee ne ee 226
hookert) | (APIOM) wwe ese sesoseorcessnacenes 62
horbensis) (LATO GON)) 2oisecse se ccsteee= se seeeeee - 226
humator (Necrophorus) .............. 225, 294
nM ey (ATOM) sees. cove caneonene-vee ee eeeeie 62
hypochaeridis (Cryptocephalus) ....... 31
immaculatus (Conosomus) ................ 226
inquinatus (Aphodius) ...................... 126
investigator (Necrophorus) ......... 225, 294
fopiera. (Phy llodrepa), .<..-cccasdee ons oneeenee 225
italicum (Omalium) ...................0.....: 225
junceus (Anchomenus) ...................00. 235
kiesenwetteri (Apion) ..................0. 294
kunzel s(Euplectus)). .2.5.680ii1tie..sssatees 226
labiatus (Cryptocephalus) ................ 31
lapponum (Aphodius) ................0.0.... 126
tatara(Aleochara) os.25..0 5 Be ke 226
latebricola (Staphylinus) .................. 126
HE pLAUS A SubOna) ets ee eS ae 63

limeatus(Sitona) ea ee 63

hithoralisss (NeCrodes) ae cee 294
iiinra(Ceuthorbynehus) 3.2252 92
HIVES (ACOMUIM)) 45. ee 126
Hiwadar(heptirra;) e058 SON aa) OTA 29
meica “(Bolitochara)’ Ase) 226
tavida; (Anaspis): cAI 31
fharidasa(@Ocdemera) 0. ee 31
taridus (Aphodius) See oe 126
lycoperdi (Cryptophagus) ................. 226
maculata (Stranealya) 30
TAA VAC WGADVOIN) © mors se eee lie cece ae 61

marchicum~ (APTOM)) encase eos 228

marginalis (Dytiscus) ...............c..00000. 228
MUATAG Wa (CICIMOCIA) |. oc codessoec-zcessozss 114
melancholicus, (Harpalis), .........c... 263
melantra (Stramecalia):. \.2...-2-.-..5 5m... 30
melolontha (Melolontha) .................. 294
merdarius (Aphodius) ....................... 126
meridianus (Stenocorus) ................... 29
ATAU, VAL OMY et ees cea eee a 61
mrinior | (OMOLOrCHUS) ie.csc- cs. 4-sneenee os eoce 29
mopsus (Gymnopleurus) ................... 312
AROMA: CRASH) os acl dewan veeceeee sce 29

MMOSEMa tea (ATOMNIA) fee soc eee ah 30

mimes (OrtHOPELPUS) | s.4..c.co6--ssasecvdocss Q25
manus ((Buplectas) ios: ae Alt 226
nebulosus (Leiopus) | ........2...0..0.0...c000.- 30
nigricornis (Corymbites) ................... 126
nigrirostris (Phytonomus) ................ 63
mieritarse ((AWLOM): ©. 4: care ee bedi 61

PAGE
MitiadwiMsss (ANOS)! \ <2 e-ccee eee eee 125
TOWING DIS {(OTISS) SARs coesandeteradaacadeonsceonecbasobe Q27
obliteratus (Aphodius) ................ 126, 227
pallida. (Caenoscelis) ...........:ee-2----4-e 226
paradoxus (Metoecus) .................. 93, 94
parumtomentosus (Staphylinus) 127, 187
parvulus (Longitarsus) ....................5 228
DaLvalis (Pisyllotmis)> 2eseeecesee eee eee 62
Daucieiay .CAmMaray)e sees .c cess eeee eee eee ee 225
pedator (Staphylinus) ....................... 127
pellucidus (Barypithes) ............... 62, 228
perforatus (Rhizophagus) ................. 226
pericarpius (Rhinoncus) ................... 93
piceus) (Calathus) eyes. eee eee 225
DICEUST (EUPTECUUIS) bese 226
piceus (Hydrophilus) ............ 64, 228, 294
picipes (Otiorrhynchus) 22..-.2)..2..)..2-- 62
PICLFOStLIS! (Py CNtUS) vec ee ee 63
plagiatus (Philopedon) ...................... 115
pleurostigma (Ceuthorhynchus) ....... 92
pomorum (Anthonomus) ................... 63 |
populnea’ (Saperday+2 oe eee 30
POLCUS (ADH OGIUS) hese eee 126
Draeustay (METEOMS) eos. eeeee eee 30
PUMA ae ASOT) hee ee 63
prodromus (Aphodius) ...................... 126
OTCUE TA (MES CaaS) eee ee ee eee eee 93
pubescens] (A pIOM) yee eee 62
pubescens (Cryptophagus) ................ 226
pubescens (Pityophthorus) ............... 228
pubescens (Staphylinus) ............ 126, 187
pUlicanmiays (Aas pIS) i ee eee 31
DUMIGAtIS) (Stomis)y 2... eee 1145
pumilas \(Maithodes)" =.=... eee Q27
punctatissima (Soronia) 2. 2 226
punctiger (Ceuthorhynchus) ............ 92
pusilla (Bpumraea) (ec ee eee 2296
puUsillus? (Aphogiws)” <2) .f2 eee eee 126
putridus.. (Aphodius) ©!) Bae 227
pygmaea (Xylophila) ................05..... 227
pyri. «(Phy llobius) "ys... ee ae 62

pyrrhorhynchus (Ceuthorhynchus) .. 92

quadridens (Ceuthorhynchus)
quadrifasciata (Strangalia) .............. 29
gquadrimaculatus (Ceuthorhynchus) .. 92
quattuorguttatus (Librodor)
quattuorpustulatum (Lissodema) ..... 227
quisquilius (Crypticus)
radiolus (Apion)
raucus (Otiorrhynchus) 22:20). 30

roberti (Ceuthorhynchus) ................. 92
rubi (Anthonomus) (2...) 5 eee 63
rubiginosus (Longitarsus) ................ 228
rubripes (Harpalusyae....¢.s ae 263
rufescens (Aphoditis)ac....90 16 ee 126
BUGCOMIS (SUIS) \.42.. 2 eee 1145
Tuficornis (Grammoptera) ................ 29
ruficornis (Magdalis);ine ee Ase 93
rufipes. (Aphodius); (242. aa 126
rufipes: (Bruchys)) .ofesernin) eee 228
rufipes (Phiocoteyayaces:. oe ee 297
rufipes (Pseudophonus) ..................... 204

rufitarsis (Harpalus)

SPECIAL INDEX. 3

PAGE
BUPWLOSUS (SCOLYVGUS) ......20.cisccse ede cees. 93
Games, o(PRytOMOMIUS) © ....¢.;..5......5....- 3
rumeicotan (HoOmaloplia) | si... .ccc-kesseeedes 4115
MuISpator (NECrOpNOrus) | .......c.2...56605 225
SOMES (QUICOIIUIS)) 2. sscc.cgocscaceseececscenseeses Q25
MVS (I SCOLYGUS)) <..2c.secccascrseee scenes 93
SGOMRUNMA eCAMINATIEES) 8s. sco ccicecaeaeeraccy ss 93
Remuelatae UCD EUIA) .....ccccacsce-srerce+se- 228
Pembalavius, (ApNOdiUS) :.............-..+--6 125
seninulum (Agathidium) .................- 225
semistriatus (Saprinus) ................0.. 4145
semisulcatus (Dytiscus) ..............::0.8e 294
septempunctata (Coccinella) ............ 294
Seiti@rere | (CHS 6acee ise eee reer eeoeees 227
setulosus (Cryptophagus) .................. 226
sexpustulatus (Carpophilus) ............ 226
SHED MS BACYICELIWS)) ie jesedacctecnses ences 294
Serie Cie cued in 126
SUDAN) (SUC) i ee re 3
Simbhis (StAapWVIIMUS).- ....2.25..s.-000 127, 187
singularis (Otiorrhynchus) ............... 62
sinuatus (Thanatophilus) ................. 225
SOUGIGHS CAPNOGIUS), 9) ev ekoeeeccnncsscneecense 126
spnacelatus (Aphodius). .......:.2:....0c.0. 126
stercorarius (Staphylinus) ......... 126, 187
SHUGOLGUST (CAPIMOGIUIS))), (acei.cacresaseeses00rec 227
EU (OEM OLALCIA))-..ceccscennadiencersee 226
SA UOSTIS | CE CIINITS) 0 55 sicsicqcecoeee-acasde-e2s 227
subterraneus (Aphodius) .................. 125
Subtestacea (ANASPIS) .......0cccsccsseceesees 31
sulcatus (Otiorrhynchus) ...........:..-... 62
SUMLGICONMS “CRPICHONYEX) <.2ss0c2cseecms-coss 226
suturalis (Pseudotriphyllus) ............ 227

/
iabacicolor, (Alosterna) © ...0.....02...e0c006- 29
(GWEC HDG! 9 ( (15 I Trg 02 9 0 0) Je 263
PEMELIUIS WADROGIUS) 6.0. 5..00.0..c cee desceees 227
terminatus (Cerapheles) .................... 114
tessulatus (Aphodius) .................cc00085 126
Be SHINEE SOUND A) 2 oc... 5.6elsecesyocegencescee 31
HESTACEUSI) CEMVIGMMNUIS) keke 226
RIOT MCV) RN See eee 61
troglodytes (Ceuthorhynchus) .......... 93
iyphoeus (Ty pPhaeus) i... ce cceae Q27
“DINGESe (UN CT ONE) eae eres eee nD 61
unidentatus (Silvanus) ...........0.000.0. 226
validirostris (Dorytomus) ................. 30
meaMmIGeA tus. (CICONES)» ci: ssscdeeessosclecsese 227
PR IPLTT ES wi (AN 0110051 0) a ee 61
wernNalis (GeOOUrUPES): .2.s...is.sceecsseceseavee 2207
BSTC GOr as (Maytital)) 243253 icseSscks acco cete oot 95
vestigator (Necrophorus) .................. 4115
villosoviridescens (Agapanthia) ....... 30
mertoOss (ATHOUS) = 0.5.) iene s.cescocendac 226
Ramer eeu = (ATOM): 4 5...g8ey. 5s! Aton de aceon es 62
viridiaeris (Phyllobius) ..........:.......... 62
Peimakerle (APRONS) yk 227
DERMAPTERA

Pazzi (ROPCIPUIA) —.... tntsi eles 89
“ST g ish iat 73 0) 16 1 2) Ry ee a a 312

PAGE

DIPTERA
AMIS, | (CEISLOMNY ZA)! coccccssccesceneceteseeocs ene 361
ASS” (PlAtYPalDUS) sic-sssectcosneecssne roses 90

230, 231, 232,
234, 296, 297

albiceps (Philonicus) ...

albipes (Paralietonvay so. ici i cosescrsccoc 296
albolineata (Pseudomorellia) ........... 91
aimibwStave (Pa Oplera) i e.secccces eee eee 91
AIOE (OMUOMEY TA onc ccre ee cnet 124
AMIS ON UMOCKCM A tase eens <casetee esac saeee 124
aM aban CERMERC Via) cease cee ecs lessee: 115
antennata (Agathomyia) .................. 124
arvoentella, (APE VFA) <.scsescneaeenes-cneexs 115
artemisiae (Dasyneura) ..................00- 328
AEEUTRAGCUS. (CEDILEIPUUS) &.ecsceu seen. scene 230
SvSSrlia nT TSN (AY RISTIME))) E ance eeene ddasondeuonsece 361
atricapilla (Dioctria) .......... 230, 231, 296
atricapillus (Machimus) ..... 230; 232:
283, 296, 298
aLEICOFDIS 2 (AMODINVV a) at.ss. 20... ences ce 124
AUG ULI TN A LTS ao OVIUTS © 23) arrestee ae 91
AUULT COMTS oa (Sys US) geen eee eee ee 91
balteatus. (Sy vphus) ease ee 91
hardanae. (Rephrihisy 23sec eee 28
bicolor ((Helomiyza)) <3. 24eee ee 124
DILOTMIS <. (CLICOLODUS)), vesackhe cee eee 124
bipunctata (Geomyza) ............c.ccce000 124
bovrealiss (Sericomyta)) | v.s..sct .<nseee 91
brevirostris (Isopogon) ....... 230, 264, 296
bryoniae (Dasyneura) ................s.ee00 328
buceata.,(Oedoparca) i). tc nctthee 115
Caesar abe ria) e222. e he Pee ee aN! 361
ealcitvans:(Stomoxys):|nciht).. 22k, 298
camicmiaris \(Pannia) fecbchi eee 361
capitatar) (Ceratitis); 2... eee ee 60
carbonara’: (Sciara) eevee Lee so: 90
écarmaiia. (Sarcophaga)ie cite. 8 90
emeta. GEN AOMIA) ype aie eal op rane 360
cinctus (Lasiopogon) .......... 230, 231, 296
Cimerea (Bolifophila)y as ee ae 124
cingulatus (Epitriptus) ............... 230, 298
GOS Tatas \ (A CTOIAy aed hyyeremnenyt SS akceal Q7
cornutay \(Ceriogera)in fice) Sie t Q7
COMMIT CED LEip TUS) peter t Peer dies 298
eoxata, (OPACITrONS) ya esto ae “als 361

crabroniformis (Asilus) ... 29, 230, 231,
232, 264, 266, 295, 297

crataega. (Dasyneura) Seen il eres! 328
cuprea (Ferdinandea) ........2........2..... 361
curvipes (Sphaerocera) ..................... 115

cyanurus (Neoitamus) ... 230, 231, 232,
264, 296, 297, 298
Cylindrican. (uerale . pitt eee oes 124

cylindrica (Leptogaster) 230, 231,
263, 265, 296
detrita:. (Mygdaea) ia. esiek spi he 361
dia phanas (Arar ea). eavissered). Weise 115
Giie lis. (Mannia)e fide. eel. een 361
dimidiata (Rondaniella) ............ 124, 125
elongata, (Paroxynay) pcos fl! 28
ecrans (PNAomia) 2. teu tere EE 5 a8 124
exratica. (PHaonia)),.imeretn a eed: 361
erronea (PRaA0TIA). 5... (cae! Sey 124

4 SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
erythrocephala (Calliphora) ............. 91
fasenata yn (Clyne tas eee eee aes 124
febrLis, (WTO pMUS) vic eee. s ae ccsece 90, 914
Res ers Wel (4 brs Ye aM ATE) Waban es Maas oe on aan Ane Nae 91
firmetarius (Stratioborborus) .......... 124
LD Viana LUT Teay) Me ae eek teste Hye ee ae 124
dd arvictes (Hea Dae) eee eee eee 230, 231, 296
MAviCOl are (DE VOMIy Zale occa rcsesese ee tes 941
flavicornis (Nephrocerus) .................. 28
AVANT CSoe (OS CLA) aerate woken sla weeaceeisetin seee 124
florea ((MyatNEODA) sisccs.c50c ess ake 91, 115
TOMMVOS A eo CIM ONROMMYAA) ays-. sees eee 296
hravernay | MiGelopiila)! ses e.-cccsscse nee 124
HIS Ga Ales CO Milia)) ues saat denen tno ene 360
fuscicorne (Dynatosoma) .................. 124
ATS EULA CO Mea)) Seeees seer ene e ee eee oe 361
germanationis (Opomyza) ................. 115
germanicus (Pamponerus) ................ 232
gilva (Laphria) ...... 230, 281, 233, 296, 297
SraMaUiarsa(CheiloOsra): Woy cesses ee 115
griseipennis (Dolichopus) .................. 145
guttiventris (Leptogaster) ................. 296
helianthemi (Contarinia) <.............:-.- 328
neTraeleia (EMO phyla see nee Q7
hypochoeridis (Contarinia) .............. 328
LMSW ANISS (OVOID(CETIIE B88 nclaacsatsmes sh atemeenee 299
TOOTSIE abe USANGUAUIEH ine ae sennaedeaaeeuuaeseee 361
MEM abaya (Cliytinial)i eee ee ee 124
imomata (Diastata)ie Vise 124
PNR UGA Tai (ui teirayiec ee eens 4115
OU Stiaes (GIN Cir) coeeeeen eee ee ate 29
Haceana: (Urophora) ee et ek 59, 60
Waietia(PHaomia)). seo eee ee ee 360
Iaetabiliss. (Phaonia) iy eee ee ee 360
lardaria,, (Polietes)) eee ats 91, 361
MNase (HA TANIA.) case Se ee ae 361
lmeola. (Mycetophila) (2h. o554 124
latinas a (Pep LOm 7a) yy eee ee oe 29
loewiana (DaSymeura) ........cccc.cec0.0004: 328
loricata, (Chactorella)i2 Q7
intaria (Scatophaga)al cape Ae 91
marginata (Laphria) ........... 230, 231, 297
maura. Mycomyia) 3.) 5a eee 124
medicaginis. (Contarinia)y 2 a 328

medicaginis (Jaapiella) 829

Ce ie

meridiana (Mesembrina) ................... 91
minwis(Platypaplus). oo. eee 91
misella (Paroxyna) ..... RR OBER OD fase 59
modesta (Clythia) 20s. ee 124
Mmyopinag. (Metanops)ie-seew eee e eee 115
MUAGICOLIS (ACHeMmia) 2 Fee 124
nitidula (Nemopoda) ................c0..0..08 124
etic: ASCALGUSE). ..2.bscckccss hee ees ee 91
g0scura.. (Drosophila). seen es 361
oclandica(Dioctria) Lies... 2: 230, 296
CLETACCA TACT DULA) perce ee eae ee 91
Pabulorum, (Muscina). e209) ee 361
maida: (EAM). ee eee 124, 361
Palpata...(Phaonig)) 3.20 ee ee 361
Rardatina | (Piezard) iii ee eee 361
Baretta: (Oxy na) Lee ee 28, 58
parva, ..(Hydrotaca) |)... Aiea ae 361
perunax /(Eristalis):. 2. Gt en 91
micea (Scatopse) 4.2.../ fee ee 91

PAGE
DIcta, ACiy RIG) ie so eee ee eee 124
pictipennis (Neoempheria) ................ 124
pimpinellae (Kiefferia) ................. 329
pipiens: A(Syalita) aac ee eee ees 91, 296
pluivialis (AmiMOMTy1a)- 22. S eee 124
pratoruml (Meron y7a)).-5---se-ssceeeeeeee 415
jE SY) BI COYSe2 Wan Cl Dies a0 IES) Je meer errr Se Te 361
pupilata (Beplochacta) ~. -.-cs-..eee 27
pustulams (Dasymeura) <.:c2-5--sss-esesecees 328
reciprocum (Dynatosoma) ................ 124
PIDESI (SVE MUS): sc.c.c25c6s0 3 eee eee 91
fivosa (Peadetay is... .. 2s cece seen 283
TOLIGa “ey CLella)y fe ss.stes-e eee cere 29
OSA Tee (Wi Clbl nella) sae eeaee seat eneeenee 329
ruUGis: (Bolleniay ie) lois. eee eee G1
rufibarbis (Eutolmus) ................ 232, 298
ruficornis (Ferdinandea) ................... 361
LUAPES> (DIOCETIA) Vee 230, 231, 296
ralis” (EbyiGxr Oph Ow a)h ee eee eee 361
Scalaris) (Hanmi) ese ore etnaa sae eee 361
schlechtendaliana (Contarinia) ........ 328
SClta:) (ErOpGiay ci... cee ee eee eee 11a),
seminationis (Platystoma) ................ 29
serena: (Bannia) 22235. coe eee 91
SiOMabay a AO MH a) te... eee eee nee nee 361
signatoides (Mycetophila) ................ 124
signatus (Leopoldius) .................. 91, 186
Solan (CONGATINTA) yas eee eee 328
stachydis (Wachtliella) ..................... 329
Stein a(Combariniyy see eee eee 328
Silat: (ayaa). sec ee eee eee 28
stercoraria (Scatophaga) ............ 91, 297
stercorarium (Scopeuma) .................: 90
Strenua, > (Eaydemiyga)) 12 eee 361
Stylatal (UPrOpnOrd) see eee 115
subincana (Apoliphthisa) ................. 124
Ssudeticus, (Labanus) i222 3 2.0 283
tena (EMCIStalis) je 5.2-< eae ee 91, 297
iierina! (Caricea) 422). eee 415
torvus: (Syrphus) ........4i¢.eee eee 91
imiconus, (Dysmachus)) -5333)= 230, 297
trinotata (Mycetophila) ................... 124
iristis:: (Drosophila) 2...) eee 361
tussHlacimis .(frypeta) =e eee Q7
umbellatarum (Palloptera) .............. 91
umbratica (Hebecnema) ................... 361
urticae (Dasymeura) >...) eee 329
ustwlata’ (Ralloptera) 2s. ee eee 91
variabilis (Rhadiurgus) ............. 230, 232
Valiaaital. (Eby lenniyal) io... See ee emer 124
varie@ata. (Helomyza) He oes eee 124
variezata \(Phaonita) 0.6... 4 91
Variesaiay (PhoOrtica)® is. .iA eee 361
veronicae (Jaapiella) ................. 328, 329
vespertina (Tephritis). 2/2 s wee 115
vomitoria (Calliphora)) \.2322. 42 91
Vinlgaris: (Phiryxe)- 2.0.) eens 91
202 AS DUO TADVA) jcc sds sec ak eee Q7
roOnaric. (Wolucella) .......s:.t.dscneok 153, 234

EMBIOPTERA

rami u \(aploembia)) .usces lee eens 292
tartara. (Embia) 2.0. S eee eee 292
faurica’ (Haploembia)( (22222 2.5.8 292

SPECIAL INDEX. 5

PAGE
HEMIPTERA
aemmmmnatar (ACA) si. .lcsssdebaddececsieeexds 115
montana, (CUCAGettA)) \ 056! 5. csccklsts cso Se 28
rhombeus (Syromastus) ................0.. 115
MAPAPES) (CMC ALONIA) o czdee.s. $0 dasaceses andes 294
HYMENOPTERA
2 Tose d (EC S502) A ae 115
(CIEL OTE ON (AES 172) RR 294, 314, 360
Gawaesaia (COMELES) oo)... s.ccvessenrssacnese- 356
Slone@ata (COCMORYVS) isic.cccssesssssoscoscss 115
PeCMMAMIGHS COLEUS) . 2... .6.cc..cncccoaseneon 41415
AAT CBAITIUVA)) © che. cocccss oheencteeass igazsnsecevs 115
Mmareolatd CATANIA): |... ...-.25.cceeecceasesare 115
misroaenear (AMATENA) .......:6c0sc0e.ssonace 115
GILNEAS] MOVIES)! cack: ocosacsccondsscaspesese 314
pompiliformis (Tachysphex) ............ ie
sabuloasa, (Ammophila) ..........ccc.cecces 115
SCIAV mS MeDINGHICL ED) 1 i oe ee ea lk 4115
STMtmiamies —GBOMDUS) | ...c.5....c5..cccccsse. 356
WGC I. (02-070 2) 12) eee 115
VATA TETSy. (CYCTST 0 7H 1) a oe Q42
SAREHOMINS {TICHMEUMON) | <..s.ce00c0.-.<0-+- 115
LEPIDOPTERA

abbreviata (Eupithecia) ................... 204
abietella (Dioryctria) ........... 82, 177, 346
ayeetam (MAIMNESUPA)! Lees coi ececdecccecseoes 329
abruptaria (Hemerophila) ......... 181, 186
absinthiata (Eupithecia) ..........0.000... 287
DO SIM en (GUCUUITA) ool. dceccecec ene 113, 289
acanthodactyla (Amblyptilia) .......... 213
actaeata (Eupithecia) .......... 11, 104, 105
ANDI ee (AW ONNTMIUS ows icccccscessccedecncdex cds 259
ADGUSTA mCP MOM ITS) ei ete 283, 33
ZCTPSUT) Si CS Ot LE | i ee an Re 186
Saver MOPROSIA),. .cn0... ctl 181, 205
BOOLVCHO MOE OMTECIS)) LOT GA me clk 28 Myles 217
Advenaria. (Cepphis). 2.208 i cae 362
advenella (Eurhodope) .....................- 178

aegeria (Pararge) ... 46, 47, 48, 57, 101,

147, 161, 162, 165, 183, 185, 186, 224,
289, 317, 327

aegestis (Aricia) ...... 45, 161, 164, 198,

aescularia (Alsophila) ... 26, 121, 122,
VAT AS) 1852 205

Benmops, (Erebia) i: 6s. 281, 326
2ST 0S UGS 8 Re ee 293
memnis (GeleCHia) 262...) edee: . 859
nna Ha, (PWalOnia)).) 42. .8kh Lae 359
affinitata (Perizoma) .......... 252, 293, 339
aenthinas (Amatines)) 2. 2th. 359

aglaia (Argynnis) ... 19, 45, 66, 69, 70,

89, 101, 139, 142, 280, 281, 331
*alba (C. linearia ab. nov.) ........ mee 66
*albescens (O. gothica ab. nov.) .. 34, 36

*albescens (O. munda ab. nov.) ... 34, 37
*albescens (O. stabilis ab. nov.) ....... 36
*albescens (T. comes ab. nov.) ...
albicolon (Heliophobus) .......
*albida (A. castanea ab. nov.) ......... 129

PAGE
*albida (L. fimbriata ab. nov.) ......... 33
alibinmacuilay | (Elaidenia))) 25. 2. & esses eee 171

*albinotica (A. c-nigrum ab. nov.) ... 130
albipuncta (C. leucostigma ab.) ....... 109
albipuncta (Leucania) ................. SHES aural
albipunctata (Cosymbia)
*albissima (C. clathrata ab. nov.) ... 241
*albofasciata (A. parthenias ab. nov.)

65, 66
*albofasciata (M. virgata ab. nov.)

237, 238
*albomarginata (O. gothica ab. nov.) 36
*alboradiata (A. irregularis) ..... Be So
alu ae a INOW) soe cate eeee tee 113, 182, 350
alo uilata sCAStMena ith nse ourle hace sesso 349
alchemillata (Perizoma) ............ 293, 340
alehymuista, (Catepbia) sc neteiccscte).naedee ByA
GL LEGTIENSIS ) (COMMAS) bisc. 262 wetsoce 166, 167
alitamoi CAVTODWIWES) i ce scscakest yoncceatt cea snec! 214
Rylesirciircre he (GB hija hoe We LmIG) yen Rees seas ewe 336
ASM nae (Ea Omnia es aedesanceaes ceca 25
alni (Apatele) (Acronycta) ... 41, 112,

207, 224, 248, 249, 256, 293, 337
alniaria (Deuteronomos) ... 24, 25, 70,
240, 293, 294, 341
alpicola (Amathes ssp. alpina) ... 130,
270, 272, 280, 282
alternaria (Deuteronomos) ............... 171
alternata (Epirrhoe) ... 186, 199, 281,

283, 342
amata~(Calothysanis)! 3.00) b tents 67
ambigua (Caradrina) ......... 1i3e TT SIS
AMM OUMAMSs (SCOMARIA ere ceeses eee eee 12
anatipennella (Coleophora) ............... 83
ancepss(AMalmMmea)iv anil sete eden cose 171
anceps (Notodonta) ................... 112, 224
andalusica (Hademna) .................. 87, 147
andereggiella (Argyresthia) ............. 83
andrenaeformis (Sesia) .................068. 127
angelicella (Depressaria) ................... 114
anglica (C. paludata ssp.) ......... 66, 68
anmulata | (COSymDTa)) eve 66, 67
annulatella (Coleophora) ................. 179
*anomala (A. villica ab. nov.) ......... OMe
anonialax (SGilntal ee ads eee etree 15
anteubercalida (Colias) ..2.......0..00.000.. 167
antiopa (Nymphalis) (Euvanessa)
45, 49, 162, 217, 245, 246, 329
atau (Oreyia)ie ieee eee 55, 57, 361
apilormise (Sesia) 2.0 R eee eae 114
applana (Depressaria) ............... 185, 186
*approximata (E. quercinaria ab.
MOVA) See tr ete iE) eld 238, 240

*approximata (S. aversata ab. nov.) 68
*approximata (S. inornata ab. nov.) 68

aprilina (Gryposia) ...............000.. 56, 359
aouata: (HORISIME): ys oi: agen: WS ites 5
Aq UU; (usa) HOG Pac Lay ae ES 8 58
HORI AIH UC (10% CECT) Ay oe aN ee arene 58
arceuthata (E. intricata ssp.) ... 53,
118, 287
*arcufera (C. linearia ab. nov.) ....... 66
arenaria (C. cribraria ssp.) ............. 107
arenella (Depressaria) ...............e.0008. 186

6 SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
areola (Xylocampa) ... 41, 58, 147, 153,
181, 186, 206
area (Melanareiay iiss. od eee 8
argiades (Everes) ..............cc0..c008 Q4, 255
argiolus (Celastrina) ... 45, 47, 49, 89,
96, 140, 153, 165, 186
argus (Plebeius) 101, 164, 222, 255, 331
*argyrozona (B. fagana ab. nov.) 270, 271
eheoral. (Wie YeU bare) — Shsheeconadoodoegnesuaepaouce 284
artaxerxes (A. agestis var.) ...... 164, 280
artemisiella (Coleophora) .................. 13
artemisiella (Eucosma) ..................... 285
arundinatella (Aristotelia) ............... 114
asella (Heterogena) ..................... 218, 262
ashworthii (Amathes) ...2..............:..... 340
asmalis \(Miy.cing) tessa s sn oer 293
asteriss (Cucuilliia) eee eee eee 171, 322
astrarche (Polyommatus) (Aricia) 73, 161
atalanta (Vanessa) (Pyrameis) ... 46,
47, 48, 49, 57, 89, 95, 110, 136, 169,
183, 217, 222, 224, 289, 318, 350
athalia (Melitaea) ...... 17, 18, 19. 138, 244
atomaria, (Mmaturga) sence. eceos ee 206
aimatas (OGE7IA) aoe coco n ui teeeeee e 281, 340
ariplicis (@rachea) ice. sees 215, 284
atropos (Acherontia) .................. 246. 350
*attenuata (T. pronuba ab. nov.) 33, 34
augur (Graphiphora) ................. 282, 339
aUEagou (TMNIACea)) Ae eee bec 110, 342
aurana (Laspeyresia) .............c......000. §3
*aurana (S. revayana ab. nov.) 270, 273
*aurantia (H. lepida ab. nov.) ......... 35
*aurantia (H. micacea ab. nov.) 270, 272
aurantia (Z. filipendulae ab.) ............ AEF
aurantiaria (Erannis) ... 26, 171, 204, |
239, 318
*aurantior (A. villica ab. nov.) ......... 3
auricoma (Apatele) ..................... 171, 284
aurinia (Melitaea) (Euphydryas) .....
19, 47, 49, 101, 188, 163, 198, 224, 287, 331
australis -(CoVias)) <2 4) :bncsss 166, 167, 168
quiumnalis (Colias) wes ose. eee 167
autumnana (Peronea) ...............2.6.00- 84
autumnata (Oporinia) (Oporabia)
57, 58, 221
aversata (Sterrha) (Ptychopodia)
66, 68, 133, 340
badiana’ (Phalonia))) ......32 224 250, 359
badiata (Earophila) .... 117, 147, 153,
181, 186, 205
baia + (Amathes) ee SL fee 282
bankesiella (Dioryctria) .................... 212
barrettii (H. andalusica) .:........ 147, 342
*basirubra (C. porata ab. nov.) ... 66, 67
basaltinella (Gelechia) ...................... 359
batavus (L. dispar ssp.) ............... 96, 315
batis (Thyatira) ... 112, 113, 171, 223,
224, 282
baumanniana (Conchylis) °................. 178
DeiaR(EuCH Oe) | 2. c.c eee ee 327
bellana. (Cnephasia))! 2936.24.08 8 83
bellargus (Polyommatus) (Lycaena)

31, 63, 64, 119, 157, 158, 159, 198, 202, 331

PAGE
*berylaria (C. cinctaria ab. nov.) ...
269, 270
betularia (Biston) .............. 116, 206, 362
betulae“(Lhecla) = 28.254 eee 349
bicolorana (Pseudoips) ... 21, 86, 112, 293
*hbicolorata (M. virgata ab. nov.) 237, 238
bicolorata, (Plemiy@a)c:cceesceee eee 293
bicoloria (Leucodonta) ... 32, 151, 214, 215
VON Grete erie (8 Feo (e301) aeeoneeeecsoeessesues = scadode 35
bicuspis (Harpyia) ...... 249, 320, 343, 346
bidentata (Gonodontis) ... 181, 206, 334, 362
hitaseianay (SertCoOris)) seccesseee eee 145
bifasciata (Perizoma) .................. EY ab7
Otdae (HEME ima) [ye essere eee 251
bigenerata (P. machaon aD.) ............ 23
*bilinea (B. fagana ab. nov.) ... 270, 271
*bilineata (A. segetum ab. nov.) ...... 189
bilineata (Haphyday ei ocean 281
bilunaria (Selenia) ... 5, 6, 7, 44, 147,
153, 185, 186, 206
binaevella (Homoeosoma) ................. 82
binarias (Mrepana) wee ees sak, TAL
*hbiobsoleta (C. pendularia ab. nov.) 66
bipunctaria (Ortholitha) .................. 171
bistortata (Ectropis) ... 117, 147, 206,
268, 362
bistriga (Cryptoblabes) ............... 82, 250
hivittava. (Co cribraria: ssp)pe eee 107
blanda: (Caradrina) ieee 340
blandiata (Perizonia)). 43,2. eee ee 281
blenna (Hadena) ......... 174, 175, 176, 177
boeticus (Lampides) ............ Te 2iGwe?
bombycina (Hadena) ...... 34, 35, 206, 218
borealis” (Lannaea) i: 28s. at oe 280
boreata (Operophtera) ................. Ba, De
boscana’ (Peronea)) -. eee 203
*bowateri (G. bidentata ab. nov.) ... 334
*bowesi (C. cinctaria ssp. nov.) 269, 270
bracteas (PIMSTa) hres eee 282, 329
brassicae (Barathra) (Mamestra) 35, 340
brassicae (Pieris) ... 49, 57, 89, 96, 165,
186, 224, 235, 279, 280, 350, 355
brevilinea (Arenostola) ..............,...... 330
*brevipennis (P. typica ab. nov.) ...... 34
*pbrevipennis (S. imitaria ab. nov.) ... 67
briseis) (Say 1s), e22........ 223 ees 314
brumata (Operophtera) ... 26, 57, 116,
185. 204, 348
breinnea a(Diarsiay 22.3... eee 283, 340
brunnearia (S. bilunaria) .................. 7
*brunneata (E. autumnaria) .... 239, 240
brunneata (Itame) .............0....... 280, 281
orunnescens (A. villicaab)) .. 2a: 1,4
bruyanti (A. villica var.) ... 304, 302, 205
bryoniae (Pieris) eee 4a er en 267
bucephala (Phalera) .................. 242, 293
buetinerio(Sedina)ic: i> ae eae 152
burrenensis (A. gilvaria ssp.) ............ 14
*caecimaculata (A. hyperantus ab.
TOW) Peorcddecs oko ee cee 69
caernensis (P. argus ssp.) ......... 164, 325
caeruleocephala (Episema) ............... 204
eaesiata., (Entephria)i227 a) eee 281
Caesia, (Hadena) 2 sen eee 44, 46, 348

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE

caia (Arctia) ... 24, 86, 128, 159, 243, 341,
c-album (Polygonia) ... 49, 89, 110, 152,

163, 170,
166,

calida (Colias)
callunae (L. quercus var.)
camilla (Limenitis) 48, 49, 87, 89,
AAO ALD ALS. 202)" Qh:

a4 l7/

canella (Gymnancyla)
candidulana (Eucosma)
candrena (Diathria)
capsophila (Dianthoecia)
capsophila (H. lepida form)
carbonana (E. fuligana)
carbonaria (B. betularia ab.)
cardamines (Anthocharis) (Euchloe) ..
44, 45, 48, 49, 128, 183, 186, 288,
cardui (Pyrameis) (Vanessa) ... 8, 46,
Leones. Aga.. 130. 146. 147,
152, 168, 169, 170, 180, 183, 186, 216,
217, 223, 246, 252, 253, 255, 279, 280,
281, 288, 289, 313, 315, 318, 321,

carniolica (Zygaena)
carphodactylus (Oidematophora)
carpinata (Trichopteryx)
cassiope (Erebia) Hipparchia) ...
castanea (Amathes) 129,
castigata (Eupithecia) ...............
centaureata (Eupithecia)
*centripetala (S. lunaria ab. nov.) ...
cerinus (Z. filipendulae ab.)
cerusella (Elachista)
cespitis (Tholera)

see e eens

es

es

ee ee errs

chamomillae (Cucullia) ............... 46,
Siete POE YTAOMIA) | 2c. 20 .ic ee .teceeeesc
characterea (Apamea) ................ 217

charlotta (A. aglaia ab.)
carmelita (Odontosia) ...

218, 249, 262,
337, 338,
GSiivae

chenopodiata (Ortholitha)
chenopodii (H. trifolii)
chlorosata (Lithina)
christyi (Oporinia)
chryseis (Lycaena)
chrysippus (Danaus)
EhaysitisSe(PITsia): 236. skh
chrysorrhoea (Euproctis)
mecapricellus: (Chilo) © 23)...
cidarella (Bucculatrix)
ciliella (Depressaria)
cinctaria (Cleora)
panera. (NErobisy 226 ALL hye
cinerosella (Euzophera)
cinxia (Melitaea)
LESS ISE EB gat CG) BQN ale iia ee
circellaris (Agrochola) ...... AAO Se
*circumnotata (A. sylvata ab. nov.)
238,
270, 271, 281,
340,

Sry

Peete ee eee eee eee ewww nee
eee eee eee ee eee eee tee esses
ee ee rey

Dee ewe eee ees eees

citrata (Dysstroma) .....
*citrina (D. erosaria ab. nov.)
*citrina (T. comes ab. nov.)
citronea (P. napi var.)

sete eee eeseee

364

239

a

PAGE
chp /(Amtity pe) ih GP snd \eabieal ae . es 341
*clara (A. melanopa ab. MOV) ae 34
*clara (E. autumnaria ab. OVA) Epes 239
*clarensis (A. semele ssp. AVOVs) eno 335
clathrata (Chiasmia) .......... 192, 238, 241
*clausa (O. mucronata ssp. scotica
Bree SHOU ete eT eens Teer 66, 68
clavipalpis (Caradrina) ....... 55, 326, 340
cleopatra (G. rhamni ssp.) ......... 169, 327
enicans (Phalontay: echt ae 178
enignum (Amatnes) 0 te ne 130, 283
*coarctata (C. paludata ab. Nov.) 66, 68
*coarctata (O. chenopodiata ab. nov.) 68
coerulata (Hydriomena) .................. 206
COSA CRUCEA) Foo. eae et 281
comes (Triphaena) ... 33, 34, 130, 131;
294, 340
comifatal (Pelareay yy.) oe 243
comma, (Hesperia) 228.05 22-0 182, 183
comma (Leucania) ...... 282, 283, 293, 340
complana (Eilema) (Lithosia) ... 113, 300
compte ” (Wadena) 20s ce 170
concinnata (Dysstroma) ............ 291, 354
concolor (D. alniaria ab.) ................ 25
contivens) (A. villica abs) ...)3.... 301, 302
*confluens (H. bombycina ab. nov.)
af, 85)
confluentissima (A. villica ablyrtks 301
contusa, (Plnsia)aiee tol. 25) a) 86, 318
confusalis’ \(Celanra)) aiviyni 0 ee 113
congellatella (Exapate) ............... 83, 185
conicolana (Laspeyresia) .................. 51
coniferana (Laspeyresia) ................... 346
*conjuncta (D. lacertinaria ab. nov.) 270
consonaria (Ectropis) ......... 111, 223, 234
conspersa (Hadena) ...)))4.05).).. 287, 342
conspicillaris (Xylomiges) ... 186, 248, 256
contigua (Hadena) 2.2... 113, 282, 283
contracta -(Acyvillica.ab!) iie2)) 2a 102
*costijuncta (O. umbrifera ab. nov.) 270
convolvuli (Herse) (Agrius) ... 41, 42,
117, 280, 288, 294, 321, 324
cordigera (Anarta) 0R0Gol cy slice 96
coridon (Polyommatus) (Lysandra)
31, 101, 157, 158, 159, 198, 199, 202,
316, 331
coronata .(Phiyctaenia)eis es 340
corylata (Electrophaes) ...... 281, 340, 342
corylt (Calocasia)y 2c ee 112, 186, 286
cosmodactyla (A. punctidactyla) ...... 213
cosmophorana (Laspeyresia) ............ 346
ECOSSHSCHCOSSHIS) ie 2 10) wal at oe ye nib Ly 48, 55
costalas) (Pyralis\ 23 essay Soh 82, 319
*cotangens (P. pruinata ab. nov.) ... 66
craccae (Lygephila) (Toxocampa) ... 133
Crakaest \(APOrialie <5 het ih rca y) eres 259
erataegi (Trichiura)) ..:....::.... 26, 282, 294
crenata (Apamea) ............... 281, 282, 283
crepuscularia (Ectropis) ............ 268, 362
cribraria (Coscinia) ..... 106, 107, 112, 113
Eri relian NMEVELOIS) oe eset syne 50
CULOTAHE(C. SCLLE ATIC) eee ee ie 112
GMISEANA ss (PCTONEA) joo. cx. ccesepacKouces teses 286
crocealis (Phlyctaenia) ...... 178, 293, 359

8 SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
croceus (Colias) ... 46, 49, 57, 96, 101,
112, 136, 166, 169, 193, 246, 267, 279,
288, 289, 310, 318, 314, 315, 322, 327,

329, 350
cruda (Orthosia) ...... 36, 117, 147, 153, 186
*cruda (O. stabilis ab. nov.) ... 34, 36, 204
cucubalin(adema)) oo ......wesctskineceesesene- 339
eucullata (Euphyia) (Nola) ... 112, 204, 340
GUN CLIOTMISH (ACRE A) | kocssccs casee cases ane 346
Cuibtransiay aD CI aia) ees eer ce aaen-encceeec 251
CULINCay (CEy NAM ANA) oe) ees oecten wee se se piee es 318

*cuprea (A. parthenias ab. nov.) 65, 66

*cuprina (A. notha ab. nov.) ............. 65
CUESOLA o (ISU OA ic wre o.oo aeruonsy cot asccee 215
CUM ETSIIe Ls COMMS As) costacasnueeenec core sae 33
GUE AA OLOSTORA) ie issn cttanseaees an 181, 251

*curvilineata (E. marginaria ab.
TRON) Rae tan a ia eerie eee a ceeee haat, 238, 242

cydippe (Argynnis) ... 45, 187, 139, 142,
143, 163, 202

cypriensis (H. pellucida ssp.) ............ 336
Gytiseilan (PaltOdOra) \sec.c.cceceee setae 114
Gailine (Miansia)) 2s... RES 341
daplidice (Pontia) ...... 8, 49, 136, 169,
279, 314, 3

debrunneata (S. liturata ab.) .......... 336
deceptoria, (JaSPIdIA) <..2..2c.5.3éceesecses ee 262
*decolorata (C. annulata ab. nov.) ... 67
defessaria (E. bistortata) w............. 362
deflexa (S. pavonia ab.) ......c.c 97

defoliaria (Erannis) ... 26, 57, 116, 204,
269, 270, 318, 362

delamerensis (E. crepuscularia) ....... 362
dentalis (Cynaeda) ................00.. Qe
Gentinia, (Hel smManal) | are PY oye ee ote 218
deplana \EANOSIG) (eee pee 273
depressa (Eilema). ..........c..ccccccccceeeeeeee 273

*deprivata (T. comes ab. nov.) ... 33, 34
depuncta (Amathes) (Noctua) ... 129,

130, 329
derasa (Habrosyne) (Thyatira) ... 171,

192, 293
desertella (Mniophaga) (Gelechia)

114, 359
designata (Xanthorhoe) ........ 51, 281, 282
dictynna (Melitaea) ...............c eee 19
didyma (Melitaea) ........c.cccccc le ccesecs sees 8
didymata (Calostygia) .........0..... 109, 341
ditinis, (Gelechia): .......ccinccRlale: 83, 115
*diffluens (B. brassicae ab. nov.) ...... 35

*diffusa (O. populeti ab. nov.) ... 34, 36

cuilucida- (Aqtophila) +c. ee A ee 133
Toilatia (As notha, ab: novi... 208 65
MULT Pats CAS DEVAN a) task: 8s bE 294
*diluta (E. subhastata ab. nov.) ...... 269
dilutata (Oporinia) ..................... 57. 204
dimidiana (Antithesia) ..........0.......... 1'79
dispar (Lycaena) ........... 96, 315, 316, 317
qispan, (Lymantria)iest Sela 268
aissoluta “(NONASEIA) ee 113
Giscams (Oxy pels) or a 25
ditrapezium (Amathes) ............c...0.. 340

dodonaea (Drymonia) ... 207, 224, 249, 337
dolabraria (Plagodis) ... 112, 171, 207, 293

PAGE

(Callimorpha) (Panaxia)
19, 43, 117, 198, 364
doubledayaria (B. betularia var.) ... 116

dominula

dromedarius (Notodonta) ... 112, 181,
205, 206
*drumensis (P. aegeria ab. nov.) .... 162
duplaris a(Tethea) Aek.<.9.2..4.2s.-0-s-be 283, 340
dysodea (Hadena) ..............c0ccseeesezeeee 284

*eblanaria (S. bilunaria ab. nov.) 5, 6, 9

eburnaita. (Sterna), (2)... sseetacsseeeeeeee 340
CAUSA: (Cz JELOCEUS) i e82. 2 <.cctisdeereeeeseeee 329
efformata (Anaitis) ......... 66, 68, 171, 279
*effusa (A. prasina ab. nov.) ............ 130
egerides (P. aegeria SSD.) ...............0- 162
elinguaria (Crocallis) ......... 204, 243, 344
elpenor (Deilephila) ...... 20, 145, 146,
339, 344, 350, 351
ely (ATEN OStOla) ce nsoicesecescunesteere 340
EMAL uMaay (Swe) ae ceeceke eee 340
emutavia, “(Scopula) sore meee 113, 359
eraanes GRIGIS)\\ ee eae ovece ates eee 8
CLICHE a (ORGVIG hi sce eaccmesa teen eee 361
eriverclla (Eapista) 2h. se eee eee 54
erosaria (Deuteronomos) ... 240, 293,
340, 341, 342, 349
euphorbiae (Apatele) ...............0..00... 348
euphorbiae (Celerio) ............. 37, 38, 280

euphrosyne (Argynnis) (Brenthis)
31, 45, 100, 138, 142, 163, 223, 224, 317, 318

exanthemata (Cabera) ....... 238, 239, 281
excessa (M. tithonus ab.) .................. 48
exclamationis (Agrotis) ...... 170, 181,

243, 283, 339
exigua (Laphygma) ... 70, 71, 132, 133,
147, 279, 290, 294, 358
*exquisita (H. furcata ab. nov.) ...:.. 270
*exsiccata (T. althorhyncus ab. nov.)
131, 132. dole Ql7

exsoleta -(Calocampa) « ...:2...c.0s.2--50e seeeee 321
extimalis (Evergestis) .......)....4iie. 171
exulis (Cry modes)!\f.0i511.:)... 3a eee 256
fagana (Bena) ............. 206, 254, 270, 271
fagaria, (Dyscia): 2.28 eee eee 340
fagata (Operophtera) .................. 26, 57
fagella,)(Diurmea)) 7.3422 eee 186
fagi (Stauropus) ..... 41, 111, 118, 224, 957
falcataria (Drepana) 171, 181, 206,
251, 293, 326
fascelina (Dasychira) .................. 42, 43
fascialis’: (Aymenia) +i. 4h eee 71
fasciarial \(BUOpia)y eee. cee 184, 239, 281
*fasciaria (P. pedaria ab. nov.) 269, 270
fasciata (A. villica. ab.) i Ase2hoeee 1

*fasciata (E. tritici ab. nov.) ... 270, 272
*fasciata (O. lignata ab. nov.) ... 270, 271
fasciata (P. versicolor ab:) 1.0:.376/. 348
fasciuncula (Procus) 113, 171, 326, 339
favicolor (Leucania) . 220, 221, 257, 258

fereunicolor (A. villica ab.) .............. 304
ferrugalis “(Harpalia) Pere ais 250
ferrugana: ‘(Peronea) 23 eee 84
ferrugana (Phlyctaenia) .................. 279
ferrupinella ‘(Monopis))29)....220e+ 84

festiva (Diarsia) .... 109, 129, 130, 326, 329

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
festucae (Plusia) ................. 281, 282, 340
fibrosa (C. leucostigma ab.) ............. 109
filigrammaria (Oporinia) .......... 110, 341
filipendulae (Zygaena) ............... 117, 198
MIMD RIAN Se CEHAIGLA). |. a0. 0cecss oaceeeessceene. 10
fimbriana (Pammene) .................. 84, 85
fimbriata (Lampra) ...... $3, 171, 293, 359
fimbriata (Tryphaena) ............... 43, 340
THAT ONS tee © (CLEL OVS) 1) 113, 281
fiammea (Panolis) ... 53, 147, 181, 205,
286, 317
flammeolaria (Hydrelia) .................. 293
Daw apeee VETISCOIA AD.) <....0.c020ccaseneer-- 113
Gh), (24 10) oS eee eee 16,1, “18
Ava LZ. tlpenagulac AD.) . ....cs<..0..0« 117
AGO MA GROUND) Ricicadiaeeine se aoges ads o<s0s(00% 342
HAvIei nea HANTEYIDC)s <.0-s<000+0- se ies 95H

flavicornis (Achlya) 147, 204, 205,

206, 270, 273, 326
flavidorsana (Hemimene) .................. 25

*flavoabdominalis (A. villica ab.
SLE) ow A sashes ae eee eae aa 4
fiavofasciata (Perizoma) ............ 252, 340
Davosiomata (A. CAIA VAP) ..cc.c...<h2008- 128
flexula (Laspeyria) ............. q1S.. Wiis, 29a
MOSIACTATA (SCOPULA)") | n..sccencsnesccevesnsee 340
fiachwata UXANTHOTNOE), .....c..r0.cecssa0s- 224
HLITGUMOSA NEU GA) Soh. vaccacacsoe caceceaceavss 224
forficellus (Schoenobius) ............ 82, 114
RTs pM OTANI A) ele acces escesdseensacee 172
frustalis (Loxostege) ..............ccecceee eee 324
fuciformis (Hemaris) ......... 188, 223, 224
fulieanas(Pndothenta) ois. cil..acsecasees 85
fuliernaria ((Parascotica) ..:5..........s.«. 127
fuliginosa (Phragmatobia) ......... 86, 170
fulliolus (L. phlaeas ssp.) ................. 135
flv (Oy vAGVENATIA- AD.) ....c.c.cc0000cse. 362
ANUS ee AMM APUD) Os os cc ucaccouts coaasnens 340
fulviguttella (Cataplectica) ............... 83
*fumosa (T. comes ab. nov.) ...... $B, StA
dineomas {h. piltaria AD.) *..........0..... 362
furcata (Hydriomena) ... 109, 270, 326, 341
furcifera (Graptolitha) .......0.0..... 284, 343

furcula (Harpyia) (Cerura) ... 249, 251,
; 266, 294, 326
HLCM UID ETOCS) eo .ie. 182i o.c ee 08k as 282, 341
fev (ApPamea)) 408.0653 2. eee 282, 283
MISGAN(S. DAVONTA, AD.) siescesseltk. eee 98

fuscantaria (Deuteronomus) ..... 110,
293, 294

*fuscolimbata (D. festiva ab. nov.)
129, 130
fusconebulosa (Hepialus) .......... 281, 282
' fuscovenosa (Sterrha) ...........c ee 359

galathea (Melanargia) .. 31, 48, 89, 138,
198, 300, 317, 318, 331

gamma (Plusia) ... 9, 70, 110, 121, 171,
181, 243, 253, 279, 282, 318, 329
geminipuncta (Nonagria) .................. 113
gentianana (Endothenia) .................. 84
Servo. (PLOCTIS) |: cobressdeect ot sessesheceses 198
gilvago (Cirrhia) ......... 110, 251, 339, 342
Svaria (Aspirtates)i i ois ee, 14
glandifera (Bryophila) | .vi.............. 234

PAGE
glareosa (Amathes) .................04 181, 341
slauca..(H> bombycina), -..5.. 4.204.252 218
Slaucata ls (Cixi coset chee peek. caehe 181
wlaucinalis; (Pyralis); -.225...cpetessiedac 319
glaucinella (Argyresthia) ................. 83
elyphica Chmendia) p28 f2e.- 2... akin ives 224
enoma (Pheosia) -......... 171, 205, 206, 281
sonostigma (Orgeyia) » see. ke 361
*eoodsoni (A. hyperantus ab. nov.) .. 69
gothica (Orthosia) (Taeniocampa) ...
33, 35, 36, 113, 147, 153, 185, 186, 204,
205, 256
gracilis (Orthosia) ........ 87, 153, 186, 206
graminis (Cerapteryx) ... 14, 15, 281, 283
erisealis (Zanclognatha) ........... 340, 342
griseola (Eilema) ................ 113, 171, 294
*orisescens {(D. alniaria ab. nov.) ... 240
grossulariata (Abraxas) ... 64, 81, 116,
159, 192, 221, 237, 238, 248, 341, 349
gutta (POPCOMEUSA) |. Le 86, 418
halterata (Lobophora) ....................+. 293
hastata (Ealy pe) seeps eto. eee 224
hastiana: (Peronea)i 2a). ..82: 84, 186
haverkampfi (A. flavicornis ab.) 270, 273
haworthiata (Eupithecia) :::....:..4...- 41
haworthin, (Celaenairrcniscectcccecesccet ee 109
hecta. (Hepialas)eg.55c seo ee eee 341
Iheldrerchial(Colias)) Css... shssssetsateee eee 94
helice (C. croceus aD.) .......... 49, 166, 279
helvola (Anchoscelis) ................ 110, 342
hepatica (A. characterea) ................ U7
hepatiea MPO) sis. 25 battens tietes wet ehes 282
Reran(Calimonrp ina) sess eee een 127
hermelina (Harpyia) (Cerura) ... 147,
207, 251, 293, 342
hermione) (Satyars) ii. eee ae. 95
hexadactyla (Orneodes) ............. 185, 285
Hibernic¢a 20P en apy) ese. eee 77
TMC IGM GEA) ete eee 153, 181, 186
hispidaria (Apocheima) ...... 147, 153, 205
hoegeri (G. quercifolia var.) ............ 347
hoctulata: 1Burrisy para) eerie. eee 345
hostilis (DioryGuria) eee 177, 213
humus (Hepralusy ees iets ceca eee 339
hutchinsoni (P. c-album var.) ......... 164
hyale (Colias) 46, 96, 162, 167, 168, 329
hyperantus (Aphantopus) (Enodia) ...

31, 47, 48, 69, 89, 1389, 148, 318
hypophlaeas (L. phlaeas ssp.) ......... 135
tanta, Ceryphaenay)? ies Rees: 341
icarus (Polyommatus) ... 9, 14, 45, 46,

49, 159, 164; 168, 194, 198, 224, 280, 327
Heteribia, (CITA) ee astecteecccconceesee 110, 341
PAs (PALATE OC) arevsesccss sere eee eek eedeee 8
identata (S. pavonia ab.) ............ 97, 98
iicitolia;s(Epienapteray io42.6623-.4ia3 284
THCISA ERM ECA), sara Aeneas wees 227
*illustris (B. roboraria ab. nov.) 269, 270
piusiris ({P.. VariaDilis)) 0343 scsi 22h 218
imitaria (Scopula) ......... 67, 118, 171, 340
immaculata (Hemistola) 10, 155, 171, 293
immundata (Eupithecia) ...... 11, 104, 105
impura (Leucania) ............. 243, 282, 283
inaequalis (L. phlaeas var.) ............... 135

10

PAGE

incerta (Orthosia) ... 37, 153, 186, 205,
*indistincta (A. vestigialis ab. nov.)
infesta (Apamea)}
*infravirgata (M. virgata ab. nov.)

eee were e eee c cee eececseseesees

237,
*infumata :(A. villica .ab. nov.) .........
infuscata (B.troboraria, als) 6222)...2.%-
rhavOve genie (USIKEIGIAIE)) Sas. sosdenq Soroeeeeacceaueces
*intermedia (A. notha ab. nov.) ......
intermedia (L. phlaeas ab.) ......... 23,
interrogationis (Plusia) ...... 281, 282.

*interrupta (E. fasciaria ab. nov.) ...

intricata (Eupithecia) ................. Bae
inturbata (Eupithecia) .....................
io (Nymphalis) (Inachis) ... 46, 47, 48,
49, 57, 118, 122, 152, 186, 217, 318,
S315:

LOLA CP TUSTAY eee. eerste cae zea seats 293,
ipsilon (Agrotis) .......... THD) QQWe D251"
iris; (ApAatyTa)) | = -5..24.- 45, 89, 139, 141,
irregularis (Anepia) ..................... 34,
jacobaeae (Callimorpha) ............. 48,
jasioneata (Eupithecia) .....................
jasius: (CharaXeS)) 05. ccckbc.seeee scene
quate: (Cleora)! aie Bee eee
juliaria (S. bilunaria var.) ...............
qumiperata, _(Mhevra) |... See eee ee
jurtina (Maniola) ...... 48, 89, 101, 139,
199, 280, 314, 315, 327, 353,

*kettlewelli (A. villica ab. nov.) ......
301, 302,

l-album (Leucania) ...... 101, 102, 103,
lacertinaria (Drepana) .. 171, 181, 270,

lachesis (Melanargia) .................0..0..
lactella (Endrosis)
*lacticiliata (C. clathrata ab. nov.) ..
lacticolor (L. phlaeas var.)
*lacticolor (S. tetralunaria ab. nov.)

238,
*lactimarginata (S. lunaria ab. nov.)
laetus (O. distans form)
lama, (Graptolitiia) ign s ens.
lanceolata (A. hyperantus var.)
lanestris (Eriogaster)
lapella (Metzneria) ....................ceeeueee
lapidea (Lithophane)
lapponaria (Ithysia)

ae eeeee

(Poecilopsis)
127,

eee eww eee eee e ewes esesese

clathrata ab. nov.)

latistrius (Crambus)
*lativirgata (C.

238,
*lativittata (C. exanthemata ab. nov.)

238,
legatella (Chesias) ............c.cc..ccceeeeeeee
lepida: (Hadena) ij gieniekec.: 35, 46,
leporina (Apatele) ... 112, 281, 283, 293,
leucographa (Gypsitia) (Pachnobia)

206,
leucophaea (Pachetra) ....................0
leucophaearia (Erannis) ... 26, 53, 116,

121, 122, 147, 153, 205,

leucostigma (Celaena) ............... 109,
*leucozona (A. prasina ab. nov.) 130,
libatrix (Scoliopteryx) ............... 153.

Q71
190
340

238

242

239
171
171

339

256
284

362
341
131
342

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGY
lichenea (Eumichtis) ...... 41, 170, 350, 359
lienigianus (Oidaematophorus) ........ 114
lignata (Orthonama) ... 270, 271, 281, 282
ligustri (Craniophora) ........ 112, 204, 293
freustrr “(Sphinwx)?s.:-.-...22:-5- 112, 293, 324
limitaca: (Ortholitina) ...-.--coe- sees eee 341
limosipennella (Coleophora) ............. 13
linariata (Eupithecia) ............... 270, 271
linearia, (COsyamlata)) <o).2- se. ..se se eee eeesee 66
lineata livornica (Celerio) ... 147, 279,
280, 321, 358
lithargyria (Leucania) .............. 326, 341
lithoxylea (Apamea) .................. 281, 341
OLAS. (IGCWCAMIA)) | o.7--.0 se ence seeereceeeee 340
liturata -(Semiothisa) 270, 286, 336, 339
liturella (Depressaria) ....................00 359
lividus: ((felexonus)\ o2cc.2.9-- .os-ee eee 219
lomiana™ \(PETOnea)) vcs: .csses coe ee 286
loreya: . (LeUGANTA) oo) 4 cae en eee ee 255
lorquiniana (Peromea) ...................06- 250
Tota (AS Prochola) ison eee 58, 110, 342
loteWa (AMera Stila)» assoc kere eee ae 114
lubricepeda (Spilosoma) ............ 206, 339
lucernea (Ammogrotis) ..................... 340
jucina, (Hamearis), 2............2-203 223, 224
lucipara (Euplexia) ............ 282, 293, 339
luciwatay (Hupp hiya) ce. 172
lunaria (Selenia) ......... 112, 238, 240, 241
hanavis > (Minweia) 5... 4.) ese eee 5A
lunosa (Omphaloscelis) .............. 190, 191
lupulinus (Hepialus) ........... 266, 267, 339
lurideola (Eilema) ............0.00..... 113, 171
lutea. (Citria eee ee cos is nee 110, 342
lutea (Spilosoma) ................0...06 . 24, 340
luteolata (Opisthograptis) ... 186, 204,

: 206, 326
lutosa (Rhizedra) ......... 171, 190, 191, 252
lutulentula (Epunda) (Aporophyla)

329, 330, 342
lychnidis (Agrochola) ......... 110, 191, 342
machaon (Papilio) ... 19, 24, 54, 89, 98,

99, 100, 114, 136, 137, 169, 267, 327
macilenta (Agrochola) ................ 58, 342
macularia (Pseudopanthera) ..... 116, 294
maculea (Phthorimaea) .................... 359
maculipennis (Plutella) ..................... 122
thalvae; (Pyrsus), | 25.8 <a 49, 198
mannii |(Pierisjie eee tl Bee 8
margaritata (Campaea) ............... 54, 281
marginaria (Erannis) ... 26, 121, 122,

153, 205
margaritellus (Crambus) .................. 82
*marginata (A. segetum ab. nov.) ... 190
marginata (Lomaspilis) ............. 171, 206
*marginata (O. cruda ab. nov.) ........ 36
*marginata (O. stabilis ab. nov.) .. 34, 36
maritima (Chilodes) .................. 113, Ay
maritima. (Eucosma), «:.02. 2:8 251
marmorea (Eurrhodope) ................... 82
marmorea (Phthorimaea) ................ 359
martialis (P. ferrugalis) ........00.0.0..... 279
*masseyi (A. prasina ab. nov.) .. 130, 131
matura (Thalpophila) ......... 171, 190, 191

SPECIAL INDEX. Ma

PAGE
meatmrna. (Melitaca) ( 022.)..000...200e. 19
ae (MOTING) 2... 5-2. eeees 48, 109, 294
*mediocuneata (A. segetum ab. nov.)

189, 190

*mediodeleta (A. villica ab. nov.) ...2,4

*mediofusca (T. ocularis ab. nv.)
190, 192

megacephala (Apatele) .............. 170, 206

megera (Pararge) (Dira) ... 8, 45, 47,

48, 57, 101, 168, 224. 237, 331

MII AMOPa (AMATTA)) ......0..200.c..000-casc0ees 34
melanotica (FE. alternata) .................. 273
Meio (Zy¥FACMA)~ ..f..2.0600.00.. F058 cece 141
mielbimata (lyEris) ../...:..052.-. 293, 326, 341
mellonella (Galleria) .....:............. 48, 118
mendica (Cycnia) ......... 153, 181, 186, 206
menyanthidis (Apatele) .................... 206

mercularia (E. leucophaearia ab.) ... 362

meticulosa (Phlogophora) ..... Lene ie
111, 153, 186, 224, 330, 350
metzneriella (Metzneria) ................... 179
Gilt ORAUEGUN ORIG) © ade. ovosd. dross cos eeses cet bes 294
WIEATAD (OHIGVOClySta) - .:6....:5c.cc6..0-.c0s0ee 342

iia le Daley ab
270, 272, 294, 341

micacea (Hydraecia)

MICrOUACiyla (AGAINA)? ...5..0002. bee 285
millefoliata (Eupithecia) ..... 53, 172, 287
miniata (Miltochrista) ....... 113, 254, 293
MMA CP ECTINAMNDA) lice..csccc.csescsss0e 00% 340
minus (Cupido) ........-...-.- 198. 199, 300
muniosa (Orighosia) ......:......-s.s.-- 147, 153
*miranda (T. pyritoides ab. nov.) ...
190, 192
*mitchelli (A. aglaia ab. nov.) ... 66, 70
monacha (Lymantria) ......... 141, 204, 293

moneta (Polychrisia) (Plusia) 48, 127, 340
monodactyla (Emmelina) ......... 219, 240
monoglypha (Apamea) ............... 282, 283
montanata (Xanthorhoe) (Melanippe)
224, 281, 300
monuste (Ascia)
morpheus (Heteropterus) (Caradrina)

19, 339
mucronata (Ortholitha) ... 66, 68, 281, 340
mucronella (Donacaula) ................... 178
multistrigaria (Calostigia) ........ 186, 205
munda (Orthosia) ... 34, 36, 37, 52, 147,

186, 206
mundana (Nudaria) .................. 341, 342
mundella (Mniophaga) ..................... 115

muralis (Cryphia) (Rryophila) ... 113, 234

masewmlosa, (Oria). 20)... gee. 107, 108
myopaeformis (Aegeria) ...............0... 347
myricae (A. euphorbiae ssp.) ............ 348
USTs 2 0st 11S) | 218
nanata (Eupithecia) ............ 206, 281 339

mapaeae (PP napi var.) ....2.A.2.2.....-.- 17
napi (Pieris) (Ganoris) ... 8, 21, 22, 47,
49, 75, 76, 87, 89; 150, 165, 186, 224,
280, 290, 291, 350

Mebulata (Euchoeca) .....cccccccececcseseeees 41192
MEH ULOSA, VOLTA) i SP oe pal tee Oh 340
meslecia (Ac Castamea Var.) ..2.....-:e--s- 359

nemoralis (Zanclognatha) ,,,,,,........... 293

PAGE
NELVOSa. (DEPLESSAT a) eee see 83
mew (We. phlaecaseSsp:)!) 2k acess ase ee 135
neustria (Malacosoma) ... 171, 172, 173,

174, 217
ni (Plusia) ... 134, 132, 133, 146, 147, 290,
358
*nigra (A. hyperantus ab. nov.) ...... 69
nigra (Aporophyla) ............ 112, 342, 359
mora (C. repandaitiay aly) were sees oe eee 362
Micra (Es derohwaria, als) meteecesseee cones 362
nisrallG Abidentata abs)2.is- 2) ca. 362
Micraria.(C.,. Cinctarialalt) ee. 15.22.22. 106
*nigrescens (L. varia ab. nov.) .......... 190
nierella (A. villica ab.) 22.25.22... di @
*nigribasalis (O. lunosa ab. nov.) ...
190, 191
*nigribasalis (T. pronuba ab. nov.) ...
By, ae
MIS TICINS, (PAKOA) estas el rere ee 341
nigricostana (Endothenia) ............ 25, 85
*nigrilinea (O. gothica ab. nov.) ...... 35

*nigrilineata (A. prunaria ab. nov.) 241
*nigrobasalis (D. festiva ab. nov.) ...
129, 130
*nigrociliata (A. villica ab. nov.) 2, 4
*nigrolimbata (A. villica ab. nov.) 2, 4
*nizrosignata (N. sparganii ab. nov.)

190, 192
MIO be (CATS VMS) a4 weeks goad es cope sane ee 19
MLbeMSk (POA Gs 2 yc seweactneee seen Q17
*nivea (T. pronuba ab. nov.) ...... 3B Be
WIEVE AMAL (LCTROMECAN) \Ja.fis: jensseoenacacscesseeses 84

noctuella (Nomophila) ... 70, 71, 113,
13S AVIRA. tose At, ASG. 279

nordstroemi (Hydraecia) .................. 213
NOfhiar (SLEW APIS) oF apeeaeeeees ese ee 65
nubeculosa (Brachionycha) ......... 84, 205
MuIbiceray(HeEMOtMISN Slee a eee 279
Mb UWS (AN AMA) yee eee eee eee oe 113
nupta (Catocala) ...... 58, 113, 251, 294, 342
nymphaeata (Nymphula) .................. 293
obductella (Nephopteryx) ............ sales abrir
obeliscatanGhherai ss ee ae 339, 342
obscura (Agrotis) (Apamea) ...... 329, 339
obscura (A. notha ab. MoOv:)) ..2/-2% 65
obscura (ics testata, aly) (2 ee: eee 362
*obsolescens (A. depuncta ab. nov.) ...
129, 130
*obsolescens (D. capsophila ab. nov.)
270, 271

*obsolescens (D. citrata ab. nov.) 270, 271
*obsolescens (G. pumilata ab. nov.) ...
Q70, 271
*opsoleta (H. paludis ab. nov.) ... 270, 272
obsoleta (Leucania)
*obsoletissima (C. clathrata ab. nov.)
238, 241
i, she aval
279, 358, 359

obstipata (Nycterosia) ...

ocelusa, (Sepavomiamaby)iiite es ).o3 ee 97
OCCUNGA sHEAEGOIS) ees eee eee 281, 282, 283
oceliiaris, (Melina) Site Atets oo. secon ence 127
ocellatan (ym COmmet ray perce. eae ee 281
ocellatus (a) (Smerinthus) ......... i Wiasaianl
acohraceetla, (MOMmphA). .2..2..20..- ccc: -oneer= 83

12

PAGE
ochrearial(Aspitates) phe eae ee 171
*ochreofusa (H. bicruris ab. nov.) ... 35
ochroleuca (Eremobia) ......... 171, 300, 330
ocularis (Tethea) 111, 113, 170, 190, 192,
251, 293
OCmMlea (Eby raGeia) myst oeee eee a 171, 244
oehlImanniella (Lampronia) ............... 84
oldemandiae sCEHErerca)) my ieseeee ee 42
Oleasinay (Syl Cri ie Ces-cheeee ee. ce arace 53
oleracea (Diataraxia) ............ 181, 206, 283
olivacea (L. quercus ab.) ...... 306, 307, 308
olivacella (Coleophora) .........2.........:. 13
olivaceofasciata (L. quercus ab.) ... 306,
307, 308
Olivalisn (Ry TAUSay Wi esau teases: 293
Olivairae(CAlOSt ya) sles sscosscucdersace tence. 326
OOM DAC HC1 a) ieee a eee 262, 329
opacelia (Pachythelia):.............. 144, 145
ophiogramma (Hydraecia) ............... 293
opthalmicana (Eucosma) ............ 83, 250
Ora (Metheal estes sees ee sete conenecenee 251, 288
orana. (Adoxophyes) _.................. 86, 87
orbiculariar(Cosymbia)) 2.5. Sicecerceeeeee 113
OLOTCUVATIG (COSY DIA) Woes eete ee eee eee 66
Orbiter (Ss) pavonial albs)\i-e- eee 97, 98
orbitelia, (Coleophora) “feeee2-e.esc- 13
oressigena (D. truncata ? ssp.) ... 291, 292
OMIA ASCO PULA) Vel wee cases eye eae es enc 171
ornithopus {Graptolitha) ... 112, 153,
y 171, 186, 204
oxyacanthae (Allophyes) (Miselia)
41, 57, 204, 214, 342
padella (Hyponomeuta) ....................- 170
palaemon (Carterocephalus) 151, 215,
216, 259, 260
paleacea (Enargia) .......:....... 292, 339, 342
palealis (Loxostege) 26, 171, 211, 212, 324
pallens (Leucania) ... 101, 102, 103, 104,
ACON) 220221 2434 I 2llay Cane hile ets
282, 283, 340, 350
Pallidan(Scopariay st kets eeeee 42, 211, 359
palidata. (EVersestis)) (eect 30.0.0 tee 293
palpina (Pterostomia).. 2240. c.ecet-seee 293
DAh we away (CASITA) eee secceet ata se hee cee 66, 68
Paludellus,, (Crambus) eevee ec cscs lee 178
paludis (Hydraecia) ............ Aa QiOF Qi!
paludumi(Lrichoptilus) se. ee eeeee ee 212
pamphilus (Coenonympha), ... 45, 48,
101, 224, 280
pandora (AS yMMIS) eee ee 310, 314
paniscus (C. palaemon) (Steropes) .
151, 216, 259
paphia (Argynnis) (Dryas) ... 19, 31,
AD AU, AST AOL A387 A395 Ade A
143, 144, 201, 259, 317, 318
papilionaria (Geometra) (Hipparchus)
113, 326, 340
*paradoxa {A. segetum ab. nov.) ...... 189
paradoxa (S. pavonia ab.) ............ 97, 98
*paradoxa (T. matura ab. nov.) ...
190, 194
paradoxa, (> quercus, abit 308
paripennella (Coleophora) ............... 13

parthenias (Archiearis) (Brephos)
65, 84,

204 | porata (Cosymbia)

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE

parthenie (Melitaea) 4:2 ieee: 89

PALValN (Babb Lemna)! (20.5552. cesar eee 290, 293

pasiphae (Mamniola) ................c.ceceeeees 327
pastinum (Lygephila) (Toxocampa) ...

133, 171

*pauper (A. efformata ab. nov.) ... 66, 68
pavonia (Saturnia) ... 97, 98, 116, 339,

352

pectinataria (Calostygia) ... 199, 281, 340
pedaria (Phygalia) ... 26, 55, 121, 122,

147, 153, 205, 269, 270

pellucida (Hipparchia)~ ..........c......0... 336

peliisera, (Gfeliwothis): (ese 279, 358

pendularias (COSymibia) sis. s eee 66

pennaria (Colotois) ............... 57, 204, 342

PETCOTING. (Hs .DIeENMA). ..2.-525-560- 174, 175
perfuscata (E. quercinaria aD.) ......... 362
Derla (Gry Wiad) ee pcseeec a eee eee 340
perplexella {(Hlachista) o 2225. .2c2-ssee- 12
persicariae (Melanchra) ............0....... 340
petasitis (Hydraecia) ees ss. eae 348

phasianipennella (Gracillaria) (Calop-
GUD Ta) rcsic seen: noscues teen n es 83, 110
philoxenus (C. tullia ssp.)
phlaeas (Lycaena) ... 23, 46, 49, 101,
134, 135, 148, 168, 184, 198, 224, 255,
289, 314, 316, 327

phragmitella (Limmnoecia) .................. 83
phracmitelius (Chilo)s sae 82
phragmitidis (Arenostola) ......... SBI aia
phryganella (Chimabacche) ............... 319
picatay (Huphiysia) es. ss eee 262
DULOSGTIG (= Ded alla))s seen eee ee eee eee 185
UAVS Fil (Eby OLCUS) bere sse ae ee eee 113, 286
pinellrs (Cran ws)) eee eee see eee 293
pinemis -(Huzophera) 2: .<202.-coeeeaeeeeee 293
piniaria (Bupalus) ...... 281, 286, 290,
339, 362
piniperda (Pamouis) 4 :.-::2..:5:c-seeoeeeeee 53

217, 283, 293, 339
224, 269, 270, 341

pisi (Ceramica)
plagiata (Anaitis)

plantaginella (Phthorimaea) ............. 359
plantarinis (Parasemia) «..l..c2eeeee 183
plecta (Ochropleura) ............ 181, 206, 283
plexippus (Danais) .................... 279, 331
*plumbea {O. populeti ab. nov.)

270, 272
*plumbea (O. incerta ab. nov.) ......... 272
plumigera (Ptilophora) ............... 204, 287

*pluriguttata (O. incerta ab. nov.) ... 37
podalirius (Papilio) 19, 118, 310, 314
politella (Gelechia) (Mniophaga)

12a as
polychloros (Nymphalis) (Vanessa) ...
121, 139, 217, 345

pomonariag (ithiysta) ees aces aeee ere. 127
popularis. (Tholera)):.2.0..44-5--ee. loys
pepulaia (LVERIS) ieis3 Ae eee 326, 344
populeti (Orthosia) ... 34, 36, 205, 206,
270, 271

populi (Laothoe) A1, 181, 221, 344
populi (Poecilocampa) 26, 56, 57, 204,

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE

porcellus (Deilephila) ................. 283, 240

porphyrea (Peridroma) ..................... 251

*postalbida (O. incerta ab. nov.) ...... 37

*posticosuffusa (A. villica ab. nov.) .. 2,3

*postnigrescens (O. lunosa ab. nov.) . 191

_ *postradiata (R. lutosa ab. nov.) 190, 191
*postradiata (S. tetralunaria ab.

TIVE NTS) Goch BBE ABESEp AC aE Ane eeeE aaean 238, 241
ponsieria (Phy doria) 4 2.......-.00 6.06.0 116
*praeclara (E. defoliaria ab. nov.) ...

269, 270
DRACCOR(VACTODIA) 5. cssseescieccslareencas 175, 330
*praerupta (E. linariata ab. nov.) ...
270, 271
prasina (Anaplectoides) ..... iO, alg!
282, 283
Brasmana, (PSCUGOIDS), <...ccce0005ss0esccces 86
ROSITA (Er LARA): 02250820). .s. Leeds 254
proboscidalis (Hypena) ...... 224, 281, 340
progemmaria (E. marginaria) ......... 185
promissa (Catocala) ............ 141, 224, 345
pronuba (Triphaena) ...... SB alse ail |
148, 242, 243, 281, 282, 283, 293, 359
DLO MUM AIAN (ICACOCCIA). °..5...2:2..c0sceeceucs oe 288
DLOSAplatiay (CEMIOPIA), %......0.ccscsaccereen se 293
DEGUES (DEVODOUOGES) ...:...c0.cececeeccceceos 342
DrUInAria(AMNPETONA):....2...0..+-.0--- 241, 293
pruinata (Pseudoterpna) ................... 66
pseudospretella (Hofmannophila) 87
SE VAMAPEIG)” soo. .c.cececoneccsccces 181, 281, 283
DUdiIbUnGA A (DASV CHITA) | ...0.0...2...0<sdeene 206
pudorina (Leucania) .................. 293, 340
pulchella (Utetheisa) .........00...0... 279, 331
pulchrina: CPM SIA)! cisseseieiseeekdeek 282, 339
pulveraria (Anagoga) ................ 112, 293
*pulverata (C. amata. ab. nov.) s...::.. 67
pumilata (Gymmnoscelis) ..... bale ape
179, 186, 254, 270, 271, 324
pri (GESCMES) ooo... ocececeneeeseceses 8
punctaria (Cosymbia) ......... 294, 341, 342
punctidactyla (Amblyptilia) ............. 213
OUMEHUMALIS CB OALTINIA)) ccs scassesse. degaesee 112
punctulata (Aethalura) (Ectropis)
114, 116, 186
PMV HUTT CAV SACIA) .cevcdciencoddedestdonces 8
Mapubbarie (PU COSIMA))..c.2.200024 lose edeccees 285
*pura (A. melanopa ab. nov.) ............ 84
RRC CBIVCEIID) foo. bccosnuevodtbonseeos scad. 145
*purissima (A. sylvata ab. nov.) ...... 238
purpurea (Depressaria) ..................00. 185
EUS Sr (GTS 2 9 ee 339
pustulata (Comibaena) .............0.0... 66
iba GA SPOLIS) le.) cccdecteccedeveese 181, 279
TENTS T1861 8 ee ae ee a 326
Dysmaeana (Acrolepia) ..::::........0...6005 114
pygmaéana (Eucosma) oo... cece 120
pygmina (Arenostola) ............cccceeeeeee 141
Mam rene), NCOSINIA). . .J..20 bts ee 170
pyramidia (Amphipyra) ..... 48, 171,
204, 359
prema (Zeuzera) | ce00 ela 293, 340
pyrentoules (Thyatira) cena). 190, 192
pyronia (M. athalia var.) .................. 138

PAGE
pyrophila (R. simulans) ................00.. 203
quagra,. (Lithosia)wss 2 iit 0:00 171, 318
*quadrilineata (S. aversata ab. nov.)
66, 68
quadripuncta (Oegoconia) ................ 12
quadripunctaria (Callimorpha) (Eu-
DIAZ) /) Aes s.5.b eee eee AZT 322
quercifolia (Gastropacha) .... 43, 112,
170, 246, 247, 293, 344, 347
quercinaria (Ennomos) ...... 238, 240, 362
quercus (Lasiocampa) ... 258, 282, 306, 307
quercus (Thecla) ............ 89, 165, 204, 318
Radiata: (Aq villteavab ies 20.2). eee 301
ramburialis (Diasemia) ............... Ooeae
rapae (Pieris) ... 9, 22, 44, 49, 89, 137,
153, 165, 169, 186, 235, 279, 280, 327, 350
raschkiella (Mompha) ................0...+. 83
PaAvida. (SPACIOUS) .coccchsvsse ots ike 129
rectangulata (Chloroclystis) ............. 186
pectilinea: | CEymIA irons. bo es, 282, 283
recurvalis (Hymenia) .. 66, 70, 71, 121, 182
*renilinea (O. munda ab. nov.) ........ 36
repandata’ (Alcis)) 32 281, 340, 362
resinella, . (EVCtTIA).< 5.2... eee 346
fefusay (Zenobia).>. fies). aaa: 293
revayana (Sarrothripus) 1 Pea Bey
270, 273
rhamni (Gonepteryx) ... 45, 47, 49, 78,
79, 80, 110, 118, 153, 165, 169, 186,
216, 224, 317, 318
rhombella , (Gelechia). ;.fcccccec.:5..dedestexs 179
rhomboidaria (Alcis) .................. 281, 340
ribeata (Deileptemia) o).¢..G..4..scnecSecence 184
ridens-,(Poly ploca)) “0.5 .é:bc.kc 52, 181, 186
Pipa stASPOtisy dese. ys Be. Shien 175, 340
Higcalae, (Per en@e) isso) a2. ae, 206
*robinsoni (S. trifolii ab. nov.) .. 190, 191
*robnora (A. aglaia ab. nov.) ... 66, 69
roboraria (Boarmia) . 112, 141, 269,
270, 362
*rosea (C. pustulata ab. nov.) ........... 66
roseana? | (Phaloniay “"... 0). 2828 kk 84
*roseovirgata (D. festiva ab. nov.) ...
129, 130
Fostralis. (By pmenay:ote sie) JG!) as 112
ruberata (Hydriomena) ..................... 88
rubi (Callophrys) (Thecla) ... 198, 199,
224, 255
Bubr \ (Dia erste) cc cae 129, 282, 283
mb, ((Macrotihyiaciay .ie keine Vac 22
rubicunedus (Zyedenay ite... eels 8
rubidata; (Huphyiaye ciii02...\..8e6is.2 188
rubiginea (Dasycampa) ..............0..... 186
rubricollis, (Gnophria}y ip: fa 273
rubricosa (Cerastis) ..... 117, 147, 153,
186, 205
rubrotibiella (A. tumidana) ............. 320
Tanta (COenelig) iis ost ale hee. bh 359
mbatiak< (PeEronea).=,. 52 hence acter: eyyite 84
Hutatiay MCHESIAS) 3 ee HAM oe dae 270
rufescens (Brachmia) .................. 83, 359
*rufescens (S. inornata ab. nov.) ...... 68
ruficornis (Drymonia) ... 41, 52, 181,
182, 186, 204, 206, 249, 257, 337, 342

14

PAGE
*rufistigma (A. alpicola ab. nov.) .... 130
rufomargo (L. phlaeas ab.)
rumicis (Apatele) ... 147, 170, 181,

24a, ill:
147, 153,

rupicapraria (Theria) ...

sacraria (Rhodometra)

SAS EUAL Ay (PP ELUAOII Ae cee sst at as deeseeeeneee 28
savittigera, (Pachetray) .......2t-s-.scece: 284
salaciella (Opostega) .............:0:e.eeeee es 114
Salicis, (AS rumicis form)! sone... 147
salinellus (Crambus) ...............ssceees-+- 82
salmacis (A. agestiS var.) ................-- 164
sambucaria (Ourapteryx) ...............- 326
SAMO CM TACTISIA) ae nacre ee eneeecc ces cet eases 171
saturnana (Hemimene) ....................+5 Q5
saty rata . (EAMpishecia) ive. Abente eee 186
sannGiey (EE EICUROINED) Saba paeddensesocososceeoocns 9
saucta (P> porphiyrvea)) ieee. seeeseeseee 251
saxonia (E. cardamines ab.) ............. 128
scabriuscula (Dipterygia) ... 171, 217,
223, 224
schmidtii (L. phlaeas ab.) ... 28, 134, 135
Seirp(Mlachista) . -.....cete eee eee 2 13, 359
scolopacina (Apamea) ............... 262, 341
*scotica (A. plagiata ssp. nov.) .. 269, 270
*scotica (C. rufata ab. nov.) ............. 270
scotica (O. mucronata ssp.) ......... 66, 68
secalis (Apamea) .................. 326, 341, 350
segetum (Agrotis) ............... 170, 189, 340
Selasellas=s(Orainn US) eee eee eee 293
selene (Argynnis) (Brenthis) ... 19, 45,
100, 142, 168, 228, 224, 244, 280
semele (Eumenis) (Satyrus) (Hippar-
chia) ... 47, 48, 57, 162, 222, 287, 315,
327, 331, 335, 336
Semiaeo ws UC miriS)) Rese: L.ca.saceteleceeeee 317
semibrunnea (Lithophane) ......... Feel.
*semiconfluens (A. segetum ab. nov.) 189
*semiconfiluens (A. vestigialis ab.
LOKO)\ 75) Ne ones ot Bara rec aced se tmiecoeceereaer eanione 190
*semiconfiuens (S. ravida ab. nov.) .. 129
*semiconfiuens (S. rubi ab. nov.) ..... 129
*seminigra (A. segetum ab. nov.) 189, 190
semirubella (Satebria) ote... 2)). ese 171
*semistriata (C. pendularia ab. nov.) 66
senectella (Gelechia) ............0...6..005 359
sequana (Hemimene) ...................:0006- Q5
Serenar (EVECATErA) Ins .caccssuee cee ee 293
SELa ta (SEERTINA) er case ered cece ee eee seees 349
Seri cealis: (Rivila)- ses eae eee eee 174
sexstrigata (Amathes) 33, 171, 282, 341
shepherdana (Peronea) .................0.+- 114
siciliana (H. algirica ssp.) ................ 336
Sicubania, (AMG YS) coisad eee ceeee ec cenen acta 179
Silaceata (Ecliptopera) ............... 206, 294
SEMIS (EP LroOCetis): S17... ee D1e:
Sumnliss (Gelechiay v.22. senate ee 12
SiMUanNs) (RM AGIA) 2).. Ate ees ce hse 203
Sia ba). (HORA) | h.3 usenet eke ee 300
sinapis (Leptidia)) ...2/0.0.228.....%: 47, 224
sinuata, (Anticlea)N .cnk 2y ors es 300
siterata, (Chioroclysia)ioee ae 112

sobrina (Triphaena) (Noctua) 283,

329 |, testata (Lygris)

SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
socia (Lithophane) ........... 57, 58 112, 359
socielia. (Aphomia)< (i001). eee 345
solidaginis (Lithomoia) ............. 109, 341
sordidanar (Hucosma) .2.7..2sseeereeercee 251
sororcwmlay (hillemva) ie: i22 Seer eee 112
spadicearia (Xanthorhoe) ................. 186
sparganella (Orthotaelia) ................. 83
sparganii (Nonagria) ................. 190, 192
spheciformis (Aegeria) ..................065 345
sphinx (Brachionycha) ............... 56, 170
Spissicelllals)(Phyicitia) occ ce.c-seeee ee eee 250
spissicornis (Coleophora) .................. 83
splendiday (Oreyia)* ses 361
sponsa: (Gatocalla)! +... 20...2%s:teate es 141, 224
stabilis (Orthosia) 336) 147s
186, 204
Stagnata™ (Nyala) sss eee 82
Starilinis, (Satyrs)e eee eee 8
Statirar (AphiriSsa)) tases een eee 219
stellatarum (Macroglossum) ..... 217,
253, 289, 322, 347
stictalis (Loxostege) ............00... 115, 324
Stipella, 7 (Arisvovelia). “5st see 179
Siraminea’ (Teucania). .....05\csseecseeek 113
Sua (VAS svilliGay ap!) cosa eee eee 2
strataria (Biston) ... 117, 122, 147, 153,
182, 186, 204, 205
stratiorata (Nymphula) ....:...0.2.....0.2.. Hits

*striata (A. grossulariata ab. nov.)

237, 238
*striata (A. melanopa ab. nov.) ....... 34
*striata (C. annulata ab. nov.) ... 66, 67
strigilis (Procus) ................. 113, 283, 339
strigilaria. (Perconia) 82 eee 224
Strigosa: H(Apatele) 2 BU eee 284
strobilella (Laspeyresia) ..................- 51
Suasa(Hagena): (ites... eee 113
subbistrigella (Mompha) ................... 12
subfulvata (Eupithecia) ............. 286, 341
*subfuscata (E. quercinaria ab. nov.) 240
subhastata (Hulype)* 7.0). 2) eee 269
subnotata (Bupithecia)’ .2°. eee 53
subrosea (Coenophila) ................6...... 285
Subnusa: (Zenobia)) - 2.2. eee 293, 341
succenturiata (Eupithecia) ............... 287
suffumata (Lampropteryx) ... 207, 293, 342
*suffusa (A. alpicola ab. nov.) .. 270, 272
sulphurea (P. napi ab.) ......... Toes Zila 7s
suspecta (Parastichtis)) 2 eee 341

sylvanus (Pamphilius) (O. venata) ...
: 259, 341

sylvata (Abraxas) 20, 80, 81, 192,
238, 240. 331
Syivestrana(Bvetria)i i): /0 ee 145
, Sylvestris (Thymelicus) ............... 49, 198
| tages (Nisoniades) (Erynnis) .. 31, 165, 198
_ tarsipennalis (Zanclognatha) 293, 340
b temerata, (Bapta) -.........i ee 206, 342
tentaculella (Ancylolomia) ........ 273, 274
tephradactylus (Oidaematophorus) ... 144
. terebrella (Cateremna) ................ OMe
tersata (Horisme) .............0...0..... pb Dass fl
14, 110, 341, 362

SPECIAL INDEX. 15

PAGE
POSEAGCEA oe (PALBEELIA) © -2.2225.0.....220cb.20 seen 341
tetralunaria (Selenia) ... 192, 238, 241,
293
EA LASSH Ae (EMAC CIA) .8 . 525... 05.0025020006205 326
RHeTSAMOny (EYCACTIA) \ | l..sc.566.0. 24. ost. 0dee: 9
pninayaltata (D- ClLraAta Var:)° ...:.)...+: 340
*thornensis (C. tullia ab. nov.) ......... 69
thyone (—%. semele ssp.) .......:....<.. 162, 325
EUS (WY DIL 1S) ee ee ee ee 181
tithonus (Maniola) (Epinephele) .. 45,
47, 48, 101, 162, 169, 318, 331
GUGVUES! CEVCTIVAPIS)) .o:2 050002 005.. 188, 223, 224
tragopogonis (Amphipyra) ...... 282,
294, 341
Eeansalpina (ZYLACNA) - 2.2... 2cceecccossec ace. 8
transversa (Eupsilia) .................. 153, 342
THREW CEVATTEIE (CCS 00012) ee 341
tremula (Pheosia) ... 112, 170, 181, 186,
206
PCDI (Ne SABIE CDS) «200005929 bcdececcuceeazees 112
triangulum (Noctua) {Amathes),
243, 282, 293
BETALOMICAy (PLACHISUA)) 0 jc cceicecnceesee-noseeoe 359
ETM ETISH VAD ALCLC) 6 pic.enpesdecceesioaeses 112, 181
trigrammica (Meristis) ...... 223, 224,
293, 340
trifolii (Scotogramma) ‘Hadena)
190, 191, 341
PEMIOVI (ZY ACIA) .....602.000.- 117, 198, 199
PETHTC He (EGUEROA)y fot. s1-.cessc0cese 15, 58, 270, 272
iIMAcwlan(MFYMONIA) .....c0..ce..0ecseecesee 257
PEAR AN (MCLDEUWSA)> .c.2:bs.cecc-ccsececeess 179

tripartita (Abrostola) ... 181, 186, 218,

triplasia (Abrostola)
truncata (Dysstroma) ...

M2 ASI.
281, 340, 351,

tullia (Coenonympha) ... 69, 162, 163,
tumidana (Acrobasis)
tumidella (Acrobasis)

turbidana (Eucosma)
MET An (MyiG LONNIE): ciccocccccuocdsvsccsecececoncs
turfosalis (Tholomiges)
turionana (Evetria)

ek ry

ee ee er)

eee eee eee meee e ne eene

typhae (Nonagria) ...... 171, 330, 341,
bypled (Phalaena) .........0:..0.05. 34, 326,
MBEEC ALTIMA (COMMAS): 2o28i6o. eee sdevescsc esac
uddmanniana (Notocelia) ..................
ulceratalis (Cornifrons) ....................-
MELEE AUAIIE ANAS) © ooo cdosidecevdeseccvseasscosss
SEOME REE PESMETINV A) 52. ccc istinwcverJevecennccutcnege
mmbratica (Cucwllia) 1.2.2...ccc.52... 282,
umbratica (Rusina) ...... 171, 283, 293,
mmbrifera (Ortholitha) ............... 270,

mirosa, (Amathes) ........<.........0.00.00--
umbrosella (Mniophaga) .....................
unanimis (Apamea)
pnrcolor (A. ViIINGAa aD.) 2... :.sccsesseecesss
*unicolorata (S. litura ab. nov.)
*uniformis (A. alpicola ab. nov.)
*unilineata (A. grossulariata ab.

nov.)

seeeee

Ci ee aed

PAGE

unionalis (Margaronia) (Margar-
OGES)) Tai aye es & meas oe, 26, 212, 359
uMmipuncta, (imeucanila)! - 7. eect eee 256

ursula (A. villica ab.) ... 2, 3, 301, 302,
2 303, 304, 305
urticae (Aglais) (Vanessa) ... 44, 48, 49,

Hie 89.) 96) AHOs 1290 AS82152. $86:
203, 245, 318, 319, 326, 350
urticac \(Spilasomia). j.2cie ios. cate eneese 115
vaccinii (Conistra) ... 57, 147, 153, 186,
205, 342
vaculella (Ochsenheimeria) ............... 13
valezina (A. paphia var.) ......... 139, 142
*valettai (H. algirica ssp. nov.) ...... 336
varia (Lycophotia) ...... 171, 172, 190,
281, 283, 340
variabilis (Plusia) .................. 52, 53, 218
Val Platte | CRETE) ye eee rece a eae 171
Vea UCM CP NUISTA) Mid ine esses oseeese ace 293
venata (Ochlodes) ............ 49, 89, 198, 224
venosata, (Hapitiiecia) \..25s.0.<<.c5sces,donens 339
verbasci (Cucullia) oc. ...2..0c..00c-ou0 186, 322
vernaria (H. (Geometra) immaculata)
155, 156
VEENAlIS (COMMAS) eased tate ee: 167
verrucella (A. tumidamna) .........<........ 320
VETSLCOIOL | (PLOCUS) Gi. sateen eee 347
versicolora (Endromis) ...... 116, 282,
338, 345
vespirormus (ACS era) scgsicssdcenn cleo kde. 346
vestigialis (Agrotis) ................... 188, 190

vetusta (Xylena) (Calocampa) ... 57,
141, 321

ip ay vie aus. ODA,
293, 301, 305

villica (Arctia)

seasee

villosella (Pachithelia) .............. 144, 145
VimMnalis (BOMDY CIA) \oe22.c6c ecb 341
vinctalis (T. exsiccata) ............... 132, 217

*vinicolor (C. porata ab. nov.) ... 66, 67

VERB, (Geruray: | ceo eee eee 40, 186
violanigrescens (E. depressa ab.) ..... 273
virens (Lucerea) ............ (ee aVA, ai 7b Ee)
WinNetata:(ACASIS) i cece fern oak eee 113
*virgata (A. vestigialis ab. nov.) ..... 190
virgata (Mesotype) ........ 171 192, 237, 238
virgaureae (Coleophora) ................... 13
virgaureae (Lycaena)) -.2005-es se 285
ViTGularig; (S~seriata) ack 349
viridaria (Phytometra) ..................... 71
Viridata® (CHlOrissa). 2.2: 2.0c.6. dees 224

vitalbata (Horisme) .......... 7B. Wee TB.
vitellina (Leucania) ... 31, 57, 101, 102,
103, 104, 171, 180, 358

w-album (Strymon) (Strymonidia)
112, 246, 254
w-latinum (Hadena) ................... 170, 171
ward (A. villica. ab) nie... i, OF GY alba)
Willa trite: (Mteen ine) Pek ee ae 326

xanthographa (Amathes)
xanthomista (Antitype)
xerampelina (Atethemia) (Cirrhoedia)
170, 300
xylestella (Ypsolophus)

16 SPECIAL INDEX.

PAGE
yeatiana (Depressaria) ............... 114, 186
ypsilon (Agrotis) (Parastichtis) (Apa-
AVIA) MY ese. eee TORT 293, 341
zebeana’ (Laspeyresia) ............... 120, 124
ziczac (Notodonta) ............... 112, 181, 186
zephyrella (Depressaria) .................08 186
POTANU A VIN SSN Ay eee cee. 3 See tndsdesesensasees 205
NEUROPTERA
abbreviata, (CHPYSODA) occ iccasesonases cos se 115
ODONATA
Palya(Eahbellulaye e088 ihc LR 115
ORTHOPTERA
AAI) A(PTAVICIEIS) — 22.5.2: cchc0coneurnccseesess 314
aurea (Oedipoda) oo... cceceececeeeee wees 312
RITE CAMA MOMTA)) ...2s<c0c0cceausmse onsekesss tee 360
DUNT CINOCAROMES)) /...5-2..50s0eheasaee-Oneseere 314
caerulescens (Oedipoda) ............. Sle Ses
Gavast (ANAC OITA)! oc..Jccc.cscscosseascoccneesss 360
decorus (Oedaleus) ..........cccccececeeeeceees 314
domesticus (GryllUs) ........cccceeceeseeeees 95
griseoaptera (Pholidoptera) ............. 294
heldreichi (Amel€S) .............cccccecesseees 315

PAGE

insubricus (Acrotylus)):::2520:2-23 20.5 315
intermedia (Platycleis) ................-..+- 312
longipes (Acrotylus) ...............:+. 315, 353
meridionalis (Paratettix) ................ 315
miniata (Oedipoda) ............ 314, 315, 353
nebulosus (Sphingonotus) ................- 314
parallelus (Chorthippus) ................. 315
_ pellucens (Oecanthus) ............ccecees sees 315
rammet (Ana dolita).:.. ..... seepeeehe sense 360
TUfpes: .(OMOCESUS) A \s.23: fs ssaccal eee 315
schochi (Oedipoda) .................068 312, 314
schwarz (Ana golly) ok eee eee 360
tenuicercis (Calliptamus) ................. 314
thalassina (Meconema) ..................00 294
theodori (Sphingonotus) ................... 312
turcicus (Sphingonotus) ..................08- 314
ible Er rays (UNCLE ED) eee A 315, 353
viridissima (Tettigonia) ....................- 90

TRICHOPTERA

auricula (Limnephilus) ..................... 186
srandis “(Phryeanea) -). 62s 115
lunatus (Limnephilus) .........002.0..00... 115
pellucidus (Glyphotaelius) ................ 294
permistus (Stenophylax) ........... 186, 294

vibex (StenoOPHylaxX) <....0..cc.csccececoseceses 294

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The Genetics of Arctia villica Linnaeus ab.

wardi Mathew
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

This beautiful aberration with a large apical cream coloured patch
on the forewing was named and figured by Gervase F. Mathew in the
Entomologist, 1914, 47, 118, fig. 2. So far as I am aware it is confined
to an area on the Essex coast near Dovercourt. Mathew writing from
Dovercourt says ‘‘the first example of this striking form was taken here
more than 20 years ago. It was discovered by Colonel A. J. H. Ward,
D.L., V.D., sitting on a bush in his garden. . . . It seems to be a very
uncommon variety, for I have not bred many out of the hundreds of
larvae I have reared year after year.’’ He says later that he bred none
out of 200 larvae reared last’ season.

The aberration varies slightly. The black mark in the cream col-
oured patch at the apex of the forewing may form a complete short
stripe running at right angles to the costa, or may be broken into two
spots, which in the most extreme examples are very small, the anterior
one being separated from the costa. There may be a narrow cream
coloured stripe along the inner margin at the level of the inner row of
cream spots and another, shorter and narrower, at the level of the outer
row near the tornus. Hither of these may be present without the other.
The pattern of the hindwing is characteristic. In wardi there is a short
black stripe near the apex running from the costa, but there is never
a trace of black on the margin of the wing however large the ordinary
black spots may be, whereas even in the most lightly marked examples
of other aberrations there are always one or two black dots or a few
black scales on the margin, though superficially the resemblance of the
apical markings to those of wardi may be close. Occasionally the apex
and the apical part of the fringe of the hindwing may be deep pink of
the same colour as the tip of the abdomen.

Ward: may be found in combination with other aberrations. In the
Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection there is a female combined
with ab. nigrella Fettig (brunnescens Schultz), in which the hindwings
are brown instead of orange. There is also a male combined with ab.
strand: Schultz, in which the central cream spot (spot 3) of the forewing
is missing. Wardi may be combined with ab. contracta Schultz (fasci-
ata Spuler), a form almost confined to the female, in which a black
stripe runs across the middle of the hindwing.

Dr. Kettlewell was very anxious to obtain ab. wardi for his breeding
_ experiments and in an optimistic mood went to Dovercourt in 1945 for
larvae. He had a look round and picked out what he thought was the
most likely place, but found it covered with barbed wire, and was told

2 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

that the mine-field had not been cleared. He discovered that there was
a safe path through it and succeeded in finding 50 larvae near the path.
He was lucky for he bred one male wardi and paired it with three
females. (1) a female from Dovercourt = brood 4/45. (2) a female from
Cranleigh = brood 5/45. (8) a female from Dovercourt = brood 6/45.

Brood 6/45 was infertile. He handed over the eggs of brood 4/45
to me and in 1946 I bred 20 wardi, 8 Sd, 12 99, and 19 normal villaca,
73d,12 29. One female wardi was a good example of ab. contracta
Schultz, with a black stripe across the middle of the hindwing, in two
others the stripe was broken in the middle, and in three the stripe was
still more incomplete. In the 3 villica also the stripe was incomplete.
Counting all these as contracta, and omitting males because it is almost
confined to the female, the ratio was 10 contracta (7 wardi, 3 villica): 11
not contracta (5 wardi, 6 villica). Unfortunately Dr. Kettlewell did
not keep the female parent of the brood and there is no record of the
pattern of its hindwing. Broods have been bred, in which several con-
tracta appeared, but the genetics are still unknown. My moths emerged
early in the year, when the weather was cold and no pairing could be

obtained.
ae AR Sa Ia eee a Ue AOI abate ODN RL el MEST PeaT wn ME nb
EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.

The Genetics of Arctia villica ab. wardi Mathew.

Fig. 1. ab. wardi ¢.

Fig. 2. ab. wardi Q.

Fig. 3. ab. wardi dg.

Fig. 4. ab. wardi g extreme form with two cream marks on inner margin.
Fig. 5. ab. wardi combined with ab. strandi Schultz. ¢.

Fig. 6. ab. wardi combined with ab. contracta Schultz. 9.

Aberrations of Arctia villica Linnaeus.

Fig. 7. ab. posticosuffusa g. Type.
Fig. 8. ab. infumata ¢. Type.

Fig. 9. ab. nigrociliata g. Type.
Fig. 10. ab. nigrolimbata 9. Allotype.
Fig. 11. ab. mediodeleta ¢. Type.
Fig. 12. ab. anomala ¢. Type.

Dr. Kettlewell kept brood 5/45, male wardi x normal female villica
from Cranleigh. All the offspring were normal. Two pairings inter se
were taken, but all the larvae died of virus disease.

In 1946 Dr. Kettlewell went to Dovercourt again and found 148 full
grown larvae, from which he bred 3 wardi. He obtained a pairing wardi
do X wardi 9, the offspring of which were all wardi. In 1947 he ob-
tained two pairings of wardi ¢ x wardi 9, and again the offspring
were all ward. All three broods were very small but at least 16 wardi
were bred.

In 1947 he also paired a wardi ¢ with ab. ursula Schultz 9 of Cran-
leigh origin. This form has the cream coloured spots on the basal half
of the forewing united to form streaks. It appears to be incompletely
dominant in the heterozygous state and, though it appears in a con-
siderable number of males, it very rarely appears in a female. The off-
spring of this brood must all have been heterozygous for wardi, but
exact records were not kept and it is uncertain how many were ee
Two pairings inter se were taken, and one male parent was ursula with
an apical streak, but it is ee eer itne whether the other was ursula or not.

VOL. LXIV ATG I

ABERRATIONS OF ARCTIA VILLICA LINNAEUS (LEP. ARCTIIDAE). 3

He hoped by this cross to obtain the combination of wardi with wrsula,
which does not appear to have been taken wild or bred in captivity.
These broods were both unhealthy and were handed over to me in the
autumn of 1948 before Dr. Kettlewell went to South Africa. A con-
siderable number of both broods hibernated successfully, but all the
members of one brood died before the last change of skin or soon after.
The members of the other brood, which was thought to be the better one,
changed skin and fed very well at first, but when nearly full grown the
majority stopped feeding and remaining motionless gradually dwindled
in size and died. Only six pupated and these produced 1 wardi g and 5
normal villica, 2 dd, 3 9@Q in 1949. None was ursula. The wardi
emerged last and was kept for some days in the hope that there were
some cocoons amongst the dead leaves and that a female would emerge.

The results prove that wardi is recessive to normal villica and is de-
termined by a single autosomal gene. The heterozygote is indistin-
guishable from homozygous normal villica. A summary of the results
is given below.

(1) wardi S X normal villica 2 from Cranleigh gave all normal villica.

(2) villica (heterozygous) x villica (heterozygous) gave 1 wardi ¢:
5 normal villica, which in so small a brood is not far from the
expected ratio At is :

(8) wardi g x villica 2 (presumably heterozygous) from Dovercourt
gave 20 wardi: 19 normal villica, which is as close as possible
to the expected ratio of 1:1.

(4) wardi x wardi (three small broods) gave wardi of both sexes and
no normal villica.

Aberrations of Arctia villica Linnaeus

(Lep. Arctiidae)
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

[The following British aberrations of Arctia villica Linnaeus are in
the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection in the British Museum. ]

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. aurantior ab. nov.
The spots on the forewing are brownish orange SEE of cream
colour ; the hindwing is normal.
i ype Q: Lancing, Sussex, 1916, J. G. S. Bramall. Rothschild coll.
Paratype @: loc. incog. Grater coll.) Oberthur coll.

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. posticosuffusa ab. nov. (Fig. 7).

The black markings of the hindwing have a suffused appearance—
their edges are blurred instead of being sharp. The forewing is normal.
Type ¢: Cranleigh, Surrey, bred vi.1944 by H. B. D. Kettlewell.
Paratype 6: Cranleigh, bred 2.vi.1944 by H. B. D. Kettlewell.

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. infumata ab. nov. (Fig. 8).

The whole insect is suffused with smoky blackish brown. On the
forewing the cream spots are indistinct in outline and dusky; the ground
colour of the hindwing is smoky brown with no trace of orange and the
black markings are large and indistinct. The cream mark on the thorax
is blackish brown and the abdomen is entirely blackish brown.

4 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

Type do: loc. incog. T. W. Johnson’s collection, 1927. R. Adkin
coll. This aberration is quite different from ab. nigreila Fettig ab.
brunnescens Schultz, which has a normal forewing and a brownish hind-
wing showing the orange colour at the base and inner margin.

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. flavoabdominalis ab. nov.

The whole of the abdomen is orange yellow with no trace of the usual
deep pink of the distal half.
Type @: Gosport, 1895, J. H. Larcom. (Massey coll.) Cockayne coll.

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. nigrociliata ab. nov. (Fig. 9).

The hindwing has a narrow black border and the fringe is black; the
forewing is normal.

Type 6: Penarth, 1906. R. Adkin coll.

Paratypes 3 ¢: 1, Folkestone, v.1898, S. G. Hills. Rothschild coll.
1, I. of Wight, bred 1919 by J. Salvage. Rothschild coll. 1, loc. incog.
Rothschild coll.

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. nigrolimbata ab. nov. (Fig. 10).

There is a broad black band along the margin of the hindwing reach-
ing or almost reaching the anal angle. In the type the fringe is black
and in the allotype it is black along the outer half of the wing. The
forewing is normal.

Type ¢: ? Durham, 2.v1i.1891. Rothschild coll.

Allotype 9: Willesden, London N.W., 1889. (Boot coll.) Cockayne
coll.

A female from Breslau is figured by Oberthur (Lép. Comp., 1912, 6,
Pl. 109, Fig. 991).

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. medicdeleta ab. nov. (Fig. 11).

The median area of the forewing is black; four spots are missing but
they are replaced by blackish grey and not by black as intense as that
of the ground; there remain only a small cream basal mark and three
cream spots in the outer part of the wing.

Type d: loc. incog. (F. Bond, S. Webb, Cosmo Melvill coll.) Cockayne
coll.

Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. anomala ab. nov. (Fig. 12).

The forewing is rather broader and less pointed than usual; the pair
of spots at the base are united and form a cream coloured mark broader
and longer than normal and a pointed cream mark joined to the an-
terior part of the basal mark runs outwards close to the costa; the dis-
coidal cream spot is missing, but the spot distal to the discocellular ner-
vure has a pointed extension near the costa which almost reaches the
pointed spot attached to the basal spot; there is only one spot near the
inner margin instead of two; there are two spots joined together near
the termen. This arrangement of spots gives the forewing a most un-
usual appearance. The hindwing has a black mark near the apex, a
black spot near the margin, two black dots in the middle of the wing at
the discocellular nervure i a very small dot on the margin represent-
ing the wedge shaped mark which is often joined to the apical mark.

Type ¢: loc. incog. (Baron Bouck coll.) Cockayne coll.

A NEW FORM OF SELENIA BILUNARIA ESPER. 5

A New Form of Selenia bilunaria Esper

By E. S. A. Baynes.

In July 1947, in my garden at Glenageary, on the south side of
Dublin, I caught a worn female 'S. bilunaria var. juliaria which de-
posited ten eggs. Seven moths of the spring brood were bred in 1948,
four males of a red maroon colour and three females of more or less
normal appearance. A pairing was obtained but the mortality among
the larvae was high. A few moths of the 1948 summer brood were
bred and two pairings were obtained between moths of this brood and
normal var. juliaria from Surrey, the larvae of which had been kindly
supplied by Dr. H. B. Williams. Eggs resulting from a pairing of
Surrey ¢ x Dublin 9 were sent to Dr. Williams while I retained eggs
from a pairing of Dublin ¢ x Surrey @. In the spring of 1949, and
subsequently, both Dr. Williams and I bred maroon-coloured males
together with females of an olive buff colour. I propose to call this
form ab. eblanaria.

In the summer broods the aberration is distinguishable from normal
juliaria but the difference is not so clearly marked. None of the
males bred so far has the deep maroon colour of most of those of the
spring brood, and the females also are closer to the normal form. ‘The
following description, therefore, relates entirely to the spring brood:

Selenia bilunaria ab. eblanaria (ab. nov.).

Male. Upperside of wings varies from pinkish brown to deep maroon
red. Usual markings obscured, to the extent, in some specimens, of
making the insect appear almost unicolorous. In most examples there
is a band of lighter scales along the costa. Undersides much darker
and more obscurely marked than in normal bilwnaria.

Female. Upperside of wings brownish buff through varying shades
of obscure olive buff. Extreme examples have a dark almost leaden
appearance. Some are almost unicolorous. Undersides considerably
duller than in normal bilunaria.

Male holotype. Bred March 1951 by E.S. A. Baynes. British
Museum collection, Tring.

_ Female allotype. Bred March 1951 by E. S. A. Baynes. British
Museum collection, Tring.

Male paratypes. No. 1. Bred March 1951. British Museum collec-

tion, Tring.

No. 2. Bred 7th March 1949. British Museum col-
lection, Tring.

No. 3. Bred March 1948 from wild Dublin female.
British Museum collection, Tring.

No. 4, 5. Bred March 1951. British Museum col-
lection, Tring.

No. 6. Bred March 1951. National Museum collec-
tion, Dublin.

Nos, 7, 8. Bred March 1948 from wild Dublin
female. Collection E. S. A. Baynes.

Nos. 9, 10. Bred March 1951. Collection E. S. A.
Baynes.

6 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. hey f/ 1952

Female paratypes. Nos. 11, 12. Bred March 1951. British Museum col-

lection, Tring.

No. 13. Bred March 1950. British Museum collec-
tion, Tring.

Nos. 14, 15. Bred March 1951. British Museum col-
lection, Tring.

No. 16. Bred March 1951. National Museum col-
lection, Dublin. }

No. 17, 18, 19, 20. Bred March 1951. Collection
E. S. A. Baynes.

The Gencies of Selenia bilunaria ab.

eblanaria Baynes
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

Mr. E. S. A. Baynes bred four males of a maroon red colour, hetero-
zygotes of the aberration he has named eblanaria, and three normal
females from eggs laid by a worn female taken near Dublin in July 1947.
A normal male from Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey, was paired with one
of these normal females and produced normal moths, brood 62/48, but
no pairings of these were taken. All the other broods given in the table
originated from brood 61/48 from a dark male evidently heterozygous
from the eblanaria. gene and a normal Holmbury female. The Holm-
bury stock came from a female taken in the spring of 1947 by Dr. Kettle-
well.

In the summer brood the heterozygote is sometimes difficult or even
impossible to distinguish from normal bilwnaria especially in the female
sex and in the table some moths may have been wrongly allocated. On
the other hand in the spring brood normal males with unusually dark
ground colour on both surfaces appeared in some broods and were not
always easy to distinguish from heterozygotes. Their smooth appear-
ance and a tendency for the white scales along the costa to diminish or
disappear often made the heterozygotes recognisable. Brood 67/49 is
the only complete brood I have seen of which both parents were hetero-
zygotes. In this brood the expectation is a 1:2:1 ratio, homozygous
eblanaria : heterozygotes : normal bilunaria. Two females are defin-
itely darker and more uniform in colour than the other ten and are
almost certainly homozygotes. The males of this brood vary a little in
depth of colour, but I cannot separate them into two: distinct classes.

Recently Mr. Baynes has obtained pairings between two heterozy-
gotes, darker than those bred earlier, and some, if not all, their dark
offspring must be homozygous. Those of the spring brood which I have
seen are considerably darker than the spring homozygotes of brood 67/49
and have a more melanic appearance with less of the maroon hue than
those of earlier generations.

The dark form is determined by a single gene, which is neither reces-
sive nor dominant. The heterozygotes of the second brood may be in-
distinguishable or scarcely distinguishable from homozygous normal
bilunaria whereas those of the first brood may be nearly as dark as
homozygous elbanaria. By selecting the darkest specimens as parents
still darker heterozygotes and homozygotes with a melanic appearance

THE GENETICS OF SELENIA BILUNARIA AB. EBLANARIA BAYNES. 7

have been obtained, showing that in a certain gene complex the gene is
more clearly expressed.

Ab. eblanaria must be distinguished from ab. brummearia Mansbridge
(Ent. Record, 1911, 23, 228), which is uniform dark ferruginous brown.
In the Lepidopterous Fauna of Lancashire and Cheshire by J. W. Ellis,
revised by W. Mansbridge, it is stated that ab. brunnearia appeared in
the fourth generation bred from a wild female taken in Delamere Forest.
Tf so it must be recessive and cannot be the same as ab. eblanaria.

Brood Normal Heterozygous
number. parents. for eblanaria. Doubtful. Normal.
62/48 Holmbury J 142) 5G 599
iB x
Dublin 9
6/49 Dublin origin ¢ all normal
F3 x
Holmbury 9
7/49 : c 48: 283, 29
F3
47/49 a 4 aati GO
F3
heterozygote ¢ heterozygous | doubtful.| normal —
Dublin for eblanaria
x
normal 9
Holmbury
61/48 31: 130, 19° 35: 73,159
F2 ’
2/49 BIS la Wa area 3.2) 19 20: 9g, 119
F3
3/49 Mis Ait, 20 SAGs 10 LO hs 69
4/49 PO ca Cy xt OO 10,3 6 40
8/49 se Yo Ae Tf Seri Oo
74/49 Cee ao Hee ieee: ig 10)
F4
6/50 ex dice dice 2: 26,
74/49
F5
"heterozygote | heterozygous | | normal
x and
heterozygote homozygous

for eblanaria

~ 67/49 ex 2009s 429 Bel oj
2/49 ;
F4
8/50 So eho 19 1: 19
F5
39/50 ex 10: 10d 4: 4d
7/50 5

FOOINOTE It will be noticed that, though the total number of heterozygotes
should be equal to the total number of normal bilunaria in the broods of which
one parent was heterozygous and the other normal, the table shows a deficiency
of heterozygotes. This is due to the fact that about a dozen heterozygotes were
given away and no note of the exact number and sex was kept. Had these been
included the numbers would have been approximately equal. Where the num-
ber of males and females added together is smaller than the total number, the
sex of the others was not noted.

8 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

The Scarcity of Insects in Southern Latium

(Central Italy) in 1951
By Lycarna Romer, M.D., Nat.Se.D.

My grandfather, Orazio Querci, tells me that when he went occa-
sionally to Formia in 1904 he found there such an abundant and in-
teresting insect fauna that he returned there ta collect, together with
his wife and daughter, several times in the following year. [ collected
at Formia in 1938 and again in 1947, on each occasion taking thousands
of insects of many kinds. Afterwards insects became scarce and we
found it more profitable to go and collect on the Apennines; but even
there, in the same localities where in the past insects have been plenti-
ful, we reaped but a poor harvest.

During 1951 I collected at Formia, together with my grandfather
and grandmother, with a view to enquiring into the causes of insect
scarcity. We lived in a country house, so that we could go out and
collect at any time when the weather was not too bad. Winter was
rainy, spring was stormy, but it was never cold. On rare occasions
light snow fell on the high mountains behind the town, but it dis-
appeared rapidly. The outlook seemed to be better than in previous
years, for the earth remained damp until the beginning of July. In
spite of the favourable conditions, however, we often sat on the rocks
in brilliant sunshine and in marvellous surroundings without seeing
anything on the wing other than a few honey-bees and ants.

In April a few common species of Papilionidae and Satyridae were
flying; in May also an occasional Melanargia arge, Gegenes pumilio,
Zygaena rubicundus and Z. transalpina emerged. These species were
formerly abundant and it was easy to take them as they fed on the
flowers; but now, in spite of the immense quantity of wild flowers ail
about one the insects did not stop to feed. They seemed to be restless
and flew erratically. It was difficult to catch them. ©

In June a large number of Pararge ida, P. megera and Vanessa
cardut emerged. Pieris napi, P. manti and P. ergane were very rare;
Pontia daplidice was the most abundant Pierid. We obtained many
egos from two female daplidice: they were orange and very small. The
emergent larvae were put into a glass tube with plenty of fresh food-
plant; we noticed, however, that the number of larvae decreased every
day until only two remained. That night we saw that the bigger larva
was eating the smaller one. The survivor pupated and the butterfly
emerged 24 days after the egg was laid.

In July we found many males of Satyrus statilinus congregated in
the shade of carob trees. In previous years this species has always
emerged in August. Males of Melitaea didyma also were plentiful. A
few worn females of S. statilinus and didyma were seen later, together
with a few specimens of Zygaena carniolica and Z. punctum. By the
end of July only tattered females of statilinus and ida were on the
wing.

We made several trips to the hills round about the town, seeing no
insects other than ants and honey-bees. However, we caught some
butterflies on the wild flowers growing along the short road which leads

THE SCARCITY OF INSECTS IN SOUTHERN LATIUM (CENTRAL ITALY). 9

from our house down to the seashore. My grandmother kept a con-
stant eye open for butterflies, and whenever she saw any from our
windows she went out with a net. She was anxious to take Uharazes
jasius and Lycaena thersamon again—they had put in an appearance in
our garden in 1947; but this time they failed to arrive.

By the 28th July insects of all kinds seemed to have disappeared save
house flies and ants. Even cicadas and crickets were not heard My
grandmother, who has collected since she was a girl, insisted, in spite
of her old age, on climbing up to a woody and damp spot on the Aurunci
Mountains where she often went almost half a century ago. This time
I went with her. When we arrived there all we saw were four very
worn Satyrids. Unfortunately, the climb proved to be too much for
my grandmother and it was just as well that I accompanied her. I
was glad to get her safely home.

At Formia the summer drought usually continues until October; but
in 1951 it rained in September, though afterwards the weather was fine.
Only a few P. rapae and Polyommatus icarus were seen. The only
moths that came to light at night were some Plusia gamma and Peri-
droma saucia, together with many specimens of a big green hemipteron
which stank abominably; so instead of the interesting moths that we
used to get almost every night in past years we were afflicted by a
pest! The large emergence of butterflies that used to occur regularly
in October did not materialize. At least forty species of butterflies
and moths occurring at Formia did not appear at all. Other Orders of
insects were more poorly represented still.

As I have already said, the weather was better than in most other
seasons. Ants certainly found it favourable and may have exercised
some controlling influence over the Lepidoptera in the early stages;
but this is a condition which occurs more or less everywhere in all years.
Besides, butterflies were more common round about our home, an area
which is full of Argentine ants, than on the slopes of the mountains
where that species is absent. This last year there were many Apanteles
glomeratus both in late winter and early spring; later we saw only two
Ichneumonids whereas in 1947 we took about 200 of them. Neither
moisture at a low temperature nor drought with intense heat could
have destroyed developing insects to such an extent. Neither fires
nor floods occurred.

For the last twenty years I have been helping my grandfather in his
entomological work and we have published a good many papers. But
in spite of what we have learned during our collecting visits to many
countries, extensive breeding of larvae, and laboratory experiments we
are unable to offer any hypothesis for the causes of a scarcity of insects
which was apparent, and strikingly apparent, not only in Italy but in
countries where D.D.T. spraying is still unknown. We have read with
great interest what has been printed in this magazine about the scar-
city of Lepidoptera in England and in Europe in 1951. We hope that
other Continental entomologists will relate the conditions which pre-
vailed in their own collecting grounds, since it is only by collating
reports from many different observers and places that we can hope to

‘ solve this problem.
Rome, 31st October 1951.

TO ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

Observations on Thalera fimbrialis Scopoli in Kent

in 1951, with some notes on its early stages
. By J. M. Cuaumers-Hunt, F.R.E.S.

Though once before, in 1945, in France at Epinoy (Pas de Calais)
I noted an imago at rest which I believe to have been this species, it
was not until 1951 that I first had the pleasure of seeing it alive in
Britain. In the locality in Kent where I found it I discovered that
its distribution extends over several miles; but only in one place did
I see it in any numbers. Here it has apparently colonised an area of
about thirty yards square. The moths normally fly at dusk, and later
on at night they sit about on the stems of a large coarse grass. I have
also taken them at light.

I visited its headquarters in the autumn in an endeavour to dis-
cover if possible the young larva and thence perhaps to ascertain its
natural food in this country; but in this I was unsuccessful. How-
ever, this was hardly surprising when one considers, amongst other
things, how small and insignificant the larva is at this time.

A female imago taken in August was put into a glass-bottomed box.
She was rather worn and laid only 31 eggs. Most of these were on
the muslin covering, a few on the cardboard side, and quite a number
on the glass itself. Evidently she had deposited her total complement, —
for a post mortem examination of her abdomen revealed no further
eggs.

The egg when laid is of an apple-green colour. It has a smooth
surface and in shape is ovoid, rather deeply depressed above, and is
normally deposited upright. Length approximately 1 mm. I noticed
that the eggs were delicately scented with a sweet perfume and in this
respect they reminded me somewhat of the eggs of Hemistola 1mmacu-
lata Thunb. When kept at normal room temperature the egg changes to
a brownish colour on the 12th day after being laid. The egg stage lasts
just a fortnight, and the larva becomes visible through the shell about
twelve hours before eclosion. It is interesting to note that after the
change of colour I was no longer able to detect any scent.

The newly hatched larva is ochreous-yellow and measures 1.5 mm.
when fully extended. They were supplied with leaves of Achillea mille-
folium and upon these seemed to thrive, growing rapidly for the first
week of their existence. In habits they are rather lethargic and ap-
pear to have no disposition to wander from the foodplant. I noticed
that when touched the larva immediately contracts itself into the form
of an ionic volute,.in the manner so characteristic of certain other
Geometrid larvae.

When about three weeks old many of the larvae died from a disease
that I was unable to check or to diagnose. They simply fell off the’
foodplant and remained in a static and moribund condition for a
period of two or three days. In view of these symptoms it seems pos-
sible that a virus may have been the cause of the trouble. —

By the end of September only five larvae remained alive. There
were less signs of movement and feeding as the weather became colder,
and by the middle of October they appeared to have entered into a
state of hibernation, resting on the foodplant in a semi-comatose con-

A SHARCH OF LARVAE OF EUPITHECIA ACTAEATA WALDERDORFF. ae

dition. At this stage the larva is approximately 5 mm. long when ex-
tended, of a dull greenish-brown colour, with ae prominences situated
close to the head.

When examined on 23rd November they were all found to be dead.

A Search for Larvae of Eupithecia actaeata
Walderdorff and Eupithecia immundata Zeller

By E. A. Cocxaynz, D.M., F.R.C.P.

During his last visit to England Dr. Skat Hoffmeyer asked whether
Actuea spicata grew in this country, and on being told that it was found
in the North of England and was called the baneberry he said he
thought that one or both the species of Hupithecia peculiar to it might
occur here. These are H. actaeata, a large species, which has a green
larvae with red markings on the dorsum and eats holes in the leaves
towards the end of August and in September, and H. immundata, a
very small species allied to: HE. haworthiata, which has a maggot-like
larva feeding on the interior of the ripe berries. The berries are round
and black and the larva betrays its presence by making a small hole.
Actaea spicata grows freely in many parts of Denmark and the pugs
are found wherever it occurs. The distribution of both species made
it likely that they would be found here, for actaeata is found as far
north as the latitude of Scotland and immundata extends into Iceland.
They might easily have been overlooked by entomologists, and if botan-
ists saw the larvae they would be unlikely to know that they were
peculiar to Actaea.

I thought the matter well worth investigation and it needed little
effort on my part to persuade those enterprising entomologists, EH. W.
Classey and H. S. Robinson, to undertake a careful search. The ex-
pedition was well organized. Dr. Hoffmeyer sent a pressed plant of
Actaea with leaves full of holes eaten by actaeata. The figures of both
larvae in Dietze’s monograph were examined and information about the
distribution of the plant was obtained. They went to Ingleborough on
5th September and stayed in Yorkshire until 10th September and the
weather was fine. A local botanist, Mr..Cheetham of Auswick, who
knows where all the Actaea in a fifty mile radius grows, acted as their
guide, and they visited the two best localities and three subsidiary ones.
The following account is derived from their letters.

The main locality, Coult Park, is incredibly rough and dangerous
country. The plants grow singly and each plant is, on an average,
separated from the next by a distance of at least fifty yards. They are
small and it would be a rare plant that had more than a dozen leaves.
The berries were just fully ripe and there was usually at least one spray
on each plant. The largest plant had three sprays. The leaves and
berries showed no signs of having been eaten by anything save in one
instance where a leaf lying on moss had been nibbled by a slug. Every
plant in the area was carefully examined without success. The second
main locality, Raisgill in Wharfedale, is a very large area and about
three-quarters of it was prospected. The plants are here again separ-
ated by very large distances. They are smaller than at Coult Park and
the berries and leaves were quite intact. Three secondary localities

12 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

were visited; in the first six plants were found, in the second two, and
in the third only one.

Both Classey and Robinson feel confident that, if the insects ever
occurred in this country, they do so no longer.

Notes on Microlepidoptera found in Cheshire in 1951

By H. N. Mice tis.

The year 1951 has, on the whole, been disappointing and only a few
species new to the county records have been taken. In addition, some
useful confirmations of existing records have been received.

Scoparia pallida Steph. There are two records of this insect taken
about thirty years ago, previous records are prior to 1890. A visit to
the mosses at Wilmslow on 14.v11.1951 between 1930-2030 hrs. (B.S.T.)
produced one specimen, disturbed from cotton grass. Half an hour
atter sunset on 17.vu1.1951, Scoparia pallida was flying in numbers in
the area where hard work had produced only two specimens earlier in
the evening. The moths were flying over the open and wet parts of the
moss. Few were taken among the small birches, which surrounded this
area, where Scoparia ambigualis Treits., was flying in abundance.

Gelechia similis Staint. This moth, first recorded for Cheshire in
1949, was disturbed in plenty during the early evening from long grass
growing around birch bushes on a moss at Wilmslow on 14.vii.1951. A
short flight was seen in the sunshine about 2100 hrs. (B.S.T.), the moths
retiring to rest on the grass stems as the sun set.

Gelechia politella Staint. This species has not been recorded from
Cheshire since 1916. A Gelechid in moderate condition was taken on
22.v1.1947, on the moors above Lyme Park, Disley, and Mr. Wm. Mans-
bridge suggested it was this species. On the afternoon of 1.vii.1951 a
single specimen was found near Kettleshulme (1,200 ft.) and a dozen
were taken at dusk on 7.vii.1951 in the Goyt Valley (1,100 ft.). . In con-
trast to the published habitat, ‘‘in dry places’’, I found my specimens,
in each case, on a moorland which was sufficiently damp to support
Juncus communis and Juncus squarrosus. My thanks are due to Mr.
J.D. Bradley of the British Museum who has confirmed the identifica-
tion.

Phthorimaea maculea Haw. Last recorded by the late C. S. Gregson
from the Wirral, Mr. B. B. Snell has bred this species from Stellaria
holostea from the same area in 1950/51.

Oegoconia quadripuncta Haw. Meyrick gives the range of this
species as “‘S. England to Gloucester, Suffolk, Derby’’, and I can find
no record for Cheshire. A single specimen was found on a post at Dela-
mere on 11.vii1.1951.

Mompha subbistrigella Haw. Not previously recorded for Cheshire,
a specimen was taken by Mr. R. Prichard at Bebington, Wirral on
5.v1.1951.

Elachista. perplexella Staint. Although I can find no records, I feel
this species may have been taken by some of the Cheshire falleetoes of
the nineteenth century. In May for the last three years the larvae were
found in plenty near Castle Mill, mining the tips of the leaves of Aira
caespitosa. In 1951 the moth was common at Burton, Wirral. I am

HOLIDAY DIVERSION. 13

again indebted to Mr. Bradley for the identification of this and the
two previously mentioned species.

Elachista scirpi Staint. Not recorded for Cheshire, this moth was
common on 14.vii.1951 flying among Scirpus maritimus between 1930/
2130 hrs. (B.S.T.), on the Dee salt marshes. None was disturbed during
the afternoon.

Coleophora limosipennella Dup. Not recorded for Cheshire. A
whitish-yellow blotch, at the most 4 inch in diameter, showed the pre-
sence of the larvae in their long brown cases on the underside of birch
leaves at Wilmslow in October 1950/51. The larvae, sleeved on birch,
ceased feeding before the end of October and passed the winter attached
to a branch or twig. In late April the larger larvae wandered about the
sleeve and birch twigs but no signs of feeding on the young leaves could
be found. Towards the middle of May, the larvae attached themselves
to twigs for pupation and on 10th June, a larval case was opened and a
pupa was found therein. I have noticed a similar habit of larvae,
active in early spring, pupating without food when breeding Coleophora
paripennella Zell., OC. orbitella Zell., and C. virgawreae Staint. The
larva of CU. limosipennella Dup., needs almost two years to complete its
growth and the smaller larvae found in October 1950 recommenced feed-
ing in the spring of 1951.

Coleophora artemisiella. Scott. Not recorded for Cheshire. A single
case was found on a post on the Burton (Wirral) salt marsh in mid-
May 1951. The larva made no effort to feed but wandered about the
tube in which it was enclosed, at the end of May it finally settled down
to pupate. The moth emerged on 10.vii.1951.

Coleophora olivacella Staint. Not recorded for Cheshire. The larva
was found feeding on Stellaria holostea by Mr. B. B. Snell on the Wir-
ral during 1950/51.

Bucculatriz cidarella Zell. First recorded for Cheshire by Mr. H. I.
Burrows at Cotterill Clough in 1949. A second specimen was taken in
June 1951 by Mr. R. Prichard at Bebington, Wirral. A cocoon found
at the base of an alder at Wilmslow in October 1951 may prove to be
this species.

Ochsenheimeria vacculella F.R. Rarely taken in the county, we have
two recent records: at Lymm in the 1940’s by Mr. S. Charlson and one
by Major A. W. Boyd at Frandley near Great Budworth on 6.viii.1951.

Holiday Diversion
By A. M. R. Heron, M.B., Ch.B.

A few years ago an octogenarian entomologist rekindled the in-
terest of my youth in his hobby. In so doing he rejuvenated himself
to such an extent that he was soon able to dash about in bogs with one
of my nets. Since then I have devoted some of my spare time to the
fascinating study of Lepidoptera—a fine relaxation from long surgeries,
and from form filling.

This summer we planned to go to Northern Tan and later to
the South West of Eire. My friend, Dr. Neville L. Birkett, on hearing
of this, urged me to try to find Dein virens, which eheaid be flying
about the time of my journey South.

14 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

We left ‘‘ the Mountains of Mourne sweeping down to the sea ”’ on
Monday, spent Tuseday night among the beautiful blue mountains of —
Connemara, and on Wednesday afternoon, 16th August, visited the
Burren of Clare to do a reconnaissance for an evening expedition. This
promontory has to be seen to be believed. Connemara is said to con-
tain as many stones as the rest of the world, but I do not think the
Burren was included. The best fields are about 75% slabs of limestone,
of a type I have not seen anywhere else. It looks like large slabs of
toffee cut with a knife, and in between grow stunted shrubs, grass,
bracken, heather and rock plants. The odd cow or donkey wanders about
among these trying to find a morsel to eat. How the inhabitants scrape
a living is incomprehensible.

We toured this forbidding but interesting peninsula on the chance
of finding a likely spot for Luceria virens, but nowhere looked hopeful.
We next looked for a place where we could run the car on to the grass
without ramming our sump. MHaving found this, with difficulty, we
marked a track with stones to help us after dark.

My small son and I did a bit of goat work springing from rock to
rock in the vain chance of finding a Claddagh moth, but without suc-
cess. The sun was shining, at least fitfully. the best one could expect
this last summer, and among the numerous Polyommatus icarus we
“saw, one obligingly spread its wings for a second while resting. To
my great surprise it was half blue and half brown (a bilateral gynan-
dromorph). I called my son to my help and before long we had suc-
cessfully netted it—a perfect specimen. It was interesting to find when
setting it that the body would not stay straight, but assumed an §
bend, but I suppose this is only to be expected under the circumstances.
I find that the one represented in E. B. Ford’s book shows the same
abnormality. We saw little else of interest in the afternoon, although
Peacocks and a fine light type of Grayling were numerous.

We went on to Gort for the most wonderful dinner I have tasted for
years. Feeling well fortified by this we retraced the dusty road to the
Burren. The beautiful sunset on the way was such that we felt the
journey would have been worth while even if no green moths had ap-
peared.

About twilight we arrived at our chosen spot, and I painted .
numerous rocks and patches of heather with very tempting treacle mix-
ture well laced with rum.

While I was arranging sheets in front of my car and selecting boxes,
dusk came quickly, and I saw a green moth flying rapidly into the
gloom. I thought it might be the looked-for prize, but I was disap-
pointed as it had disappeared before I could reach my net. I switched
on my headlights and lit a pressure lamp, but little came for a time.
I felt that this was only to be expected in such a barren windswept spot.
This probably was not near the place where the Classey expedition had
been successful a year before—nobody whom we saw could, or would,
tell us. : i

A few male Cerapteryx graminis and Lygris testata began to appear
and not far behind were Aspitates gilvaria, some of which were ssp.
burrenensis Cockayne ssp. nov. I began to get restless and walked about
among the rocks with my lamp held aloft—no easy matter while carry-
ing a net in the other hand. While I was in a precarious position

THIS MATTER OF OVA. 15

poised on top of a rock something green fluttered by, but took no in-
terest in my light. This at least raised my hopes again, and I con-
tinued to flit about like a troubled spirit looking for a resting place
among the endless rocks. Suddenly the spirit might have been seen to
become frenzied—I had seen another green moth passing quite near
this time, but not going to my light. I darted after it as best I could,
stumbling about as I hurried, but at last I had him in the net—a grand
fresh male Luceria virens! This was the first of about three which I
caught on the wing. A few minutes later I was delighted to find a
fresh female sitting at the top of a grass stem and I boxed it without
difficulty. This led to more successes. I had found the secret now!
The wind was blowing cold, and most of the moths were sitting on the
tops of grass stems in the more sheltered cracks between the rocks. 1
found one Euzoa tritici, one Cerapteryx graminis (female), one Tholera
popularis (2), Stilbia anomala (many) besides several more Luceria virens.

On returning to the car I found my wife with several of the above
kinds in boxes and one treasured Luceria virens—the only one attracted
to light. I now visited the sugar patches for the second time, but not a
single moth was found on either occasion.

We walked along the rocks with diminishing success Sent midnight,
and by that time all good moths had retired to their hiding places away
from the biting wind. We thought it best to follow their example and
returned to Gort, as we had a long journey to Glengariff on the follow-
ing day. In all we had noted 23 different kinds of moths that evening.

Killing Luceria virens so as to keep the colour I found difficult.
Cyanide or fresh crushed laurel shoots were very disappointing. Strong
ammonia used for a short time discoloured them, but within a few
minutes of taking them out the colour returned.

To my surprise a few died naturally the following day and lost their
colour. None produced the hoped for eggs. This may have been be-
cause I did not provide the correct grass and environment for this pur-
pose, owing to travelling difficulties. Several females were kept alive
for 48 hours.

I should be glad to have views of the best killing! and breeding
methods for this species. I was at a disadvantage from a collecting point
of view as I had little time and car space to give to this expedition.

I owe my moderate success to Dr. N. L. Birkett and to the help
obtained from reading the various interesting articles by E. W. Classey,
H. S. Robinson and Dr. E. A. Cockayne in The Entomologist’s Gazette,
April, 1951. Laceria virens was first discovered in Hire in 1941 by Capt.
S. Wright, F.R.E.S.

1[Stupefy with chloroform, set, and put the setting-block or board overnight in
a biscuit tin containing a chloroformed swab.—P.B.M.A.]}

This Matter of Ova

By An Otp Mots-Hun ter.

I have been trying to find out why we lepidopterists alone, in the
_ whole world of Zoology, call the eggs of our quarry ‘ova’, and so far
I have not been successful. The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1949, p.
818) defines ‘ovum’ as ‘“‘Female germ in animals, capable of developing

16 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

into new individual when fertilized by male sperm, egg. esp. of mam-
mals, fish, or insects [L.=egg]’’. Much the same words are used by the
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (p. 1408). Yet this does not satisfy
me, because whereas my brother lepidopterists use it to denote the egg
of a butterfly or moth my brother zoologists and ichthyologists do not
use it to denote the egg of a Spiny Anteater, an Australian duck-mole
or a shark. Nowhere. have I ever read of a crocodile or a turtle deposit-
ing its ‘ova’. Nor, again, do I find the word in any English scientific
work on insects, from the Cambridge Natural History (Dr. Sharp) of
1895 to the modern textbooks of Dr. Imms, Professor Wigglesworth and
others. It was unknown to Kirby and Spence in 1826.

So far as I have been able to discover, however, the term was used
in Victorian times to denote the nucleus (only) of an egg; it does not
seem ever to have been used to signify an egg as an entity. Oddly
enough even those whose hobby is the collecting of eggs, the bird’s-
nesters, do not describe their trophies as ‘ova’. It cannot be a mere
facon de parler with us lepidopterists, for we do not allude to our break-
fast dish as ‘bacon and ova’ nor do we eat a boiled ovum, served in an
ovum-cup and eaten with an ovum-spoon. The unsuccessful batsman
does not score a ‘duck’s ovum’; we do not pelt a poor performer with
rotten ova nor do we teach our grandmothers how to suck them. And
if we were to describe some person of dubious character as a ‘bad
ovum’ I doubt if our hearers would understand what we meant.

Probably the truth of the matter is that the men who collected Lept-
doptera in mid-Victorian times were sciolists—they loved to pretend to
a knowledge of science which in fact they did not possess. And since
it sounds—to the illiterate—very learned indeed to give a Latin name
to a common thing they called the eggs of their quarry ‘ova’ in order
to impress all and sundry with their erudition. Come to think of it,
the lot of the lepidopterist in mid-Victorian times was not altogether
a happy one: to take the field with a butterfly-net was to invite jeers
. and laughter, perhaps even a stone or two from some urchin. Nobody,
not even the professional scientists, took butterfly-collectors very seri-
ously. In sheer self-defence it was necessary for them to pretend to be
scientists, for the word ‘science’ produced awe in the common folk. The
other zoologists, who were able to pursue their hobby unadorned with
net and collecting apparatus, could pass unscathed; so there was no
need for them to seek the protection of Latin words for common every-
day things. Unhappily the lepidopterists in their zeal got hold of the
wrong end of the stick and referred to the whole egg by a term which
the men of science reserved for the germ cell.

So this foolish habit has been handed down from father to son—for
most of us have been initiated into the study of the Lepidoptera by
someone older than ourselves. Perhaps we ought to be thankful that
we do not have to call the wings of our moths ‘pennae’ and their lees
‘crura’ .... But to-day we are old enough to know better. We are
all zoologists sensu lato: the lepidopterist who cannot identify, usually
at a glance, the creatures of the woodlands, moors and fields is a rarity
nowadays. Is it not time we came into line with our brother zoologists
and biologists in this matter? Let us give up using this unscientific
and rather silly archaism and call the eggs of our quarry Eces. It is
only one letter longer, and ink is cheap enough.

MRS. GLANVILE AND HER FRITILLARY: Il. Kz

Mrs Glanvile and Her Fritillary: Il.

By P. B. M. Atuan.
(Continued from Vol. 63, p. 294.)

I have not discovered who gave Mrs. Glanvile’s name to Melitaea
cinzia. It was not Petiver—though he had more reason than anybody
else to commemorate one to whom he was so much indebted on so many
occasions—for in 1717 he calls a fritillary which may have been cinxia
“The White Dullidge Fritillary’’ because it was ‘‘Found in the Wood,
thereabouts [Dulwich] in May’’. Next year he was dead. Not un-
naturally—for the species resemble each other closely—there was con-
fusion, in his day and later, between M. cinzia and athalia. But Peti-
ver may have distinguished them, for of one (which I take to be athalia)
he wrote, in 1704, ‘‘Papilio Lincolniensis Fritillaricus, fasciis subtus
pallidis. The Lincolnshire Fritillary. First observed there, and given
me by Madam Glanvile. The curious Mr. Dandridge hath lately caught
him not far from London.’’ Of the other (usually considered to be
cinzia) he wrote, in 1717, ‘‘Papilio Fritillaria minor, undulata, areis
subtus albis. White Dullidge Fritillary,’’ and adds the words which 1.
have quoted above.

Note that he does not say of the Lincolnshire Fritillary that it was
actually caught by Mrs. Glanvile in Lincolnshire: it was ‘‘first observed
there’’—by whom he does not relate—‘‘and’’ (perhaps a year or more
later) ‘‘given me by Madam Glanvile’’. The donor may have received
it from a friend or correspondent in Lincolnshire and have passed it on
to Petiver with a note as to its provenance. Apparently Mrs. Glanvile
enlisted the aid of others in her quest for insects; for in her letter to
Petiver quoted in the first part of this paper she remarks in a post-
script ‘I am just now making an interest with a young Gentlewoman
that is going to her friends in Virginia, and also a young man of my
acquaintance who is going with the fleet, and two Doctors of Ships .
they promise to send me some fine insects’’.

Yet I am inclined to think that both Petiver’s records—the Lincoln-
shire Fritillary and the White Dullidge Fritillary—refer to the same
species, M. athalia. ’Tis true that of the former he says ‘‘fas"'s subtus
pallidis’’ and of the latter ‘‘areis subtus albis’’?; but this distinction (if
distinction it be) is not very convincing, for cinxia no less than athalia
has ‘pale bands’ on the undersides of the hindwings and both have
‘white areas’. I possess a large fresh female athalia on which these
bands are very pale indeed. We know that in former times athalia
occurred in both Worcestershire and Staffordshire, and it might be
argued that the range of cinzxia too extended farther north in days
gone by. But there is nothing—except Petiver’s ambiguous descrip-
tion—to support such a suggestion and it seems more likely that the
fringe of our southern seaboard has been the northern limit of the
Glanville Fritillary’s range for at least some hundreds of years; for its
continental distribution extends only up to the summer isotherm of our
south coast. Said Donovan in 1798, when the range of the British but-
terflies was much better known, ‘‘This is the rarest of the British Fritil-
lary Butterflies, if we except Papilio Lathonia’’. Writing many years
_ago Dr. T. A. Chapman remarked ‘‘M. cinzia is now and probably has

18 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

always been confined to the south coast’’. Be it noted also that there
was an interval of thirteen years between Petiver’s descriptions. Had
he forgotten, in 1717, all about the description which he had penned
in 1704, and the identical specimen had been put before him again, he
might not have used the same words.

Petiver died in 1718 and three years later Eleazar Albin issued A
Natural History of English Insects; but unhappily he makes no men-
tion of M. cinxia. In 1747 Benjamin Wilkes began the publication of his
The English Butterflies and Moths, and here (perhaps for the first
time) appears ‘‘The Plantain Fritillary Butterfly’. The caterpillar of
this species, says Wilkes, ‘‘feeds on Plantain, Clover and Grass, changes
to a Chrysalis, within a Web of its own spinning, upon the Surface of
the Ground, at the Beginning of May, and the Fly appears fourteen
Days after .... The Butterfly is swift in Flight, but may be taken
if diligently attended to, in Fields of Hay-Grass, at the time above
mentioned.’’ JI do not think there is any doubt that this description
refers to M. cinzia; for athalia is a woodland species.

The next book on the British butterflies to be published in this
country was Moses Harris’s work The Awrelian, which was issued in
1766, and here for the first time—so far as I have been able to discover—
M. cinzia appears under its present English name. MHarris’s words are
not ‘‘T have named this butterfly from the ingenious lady .. .’’ but
“This Fly took its Name from the ingenious Lady .. .’’ It is indeed
a puzzle and since no prior mention of the name ‘Glanville Fritillary’
is known, and no book on the English butterflies was published in Eng-
land between those of Wilkes (1747) and Harris (1766), it seems un-
likely that the puzzle will ever be solved. An old letter or diary writ-
ten by an entomologist which mentions a capture of ‘‘the Glanville
Fritillary’’ between Petiver’s death and the publication of Harris’s
book may of course be brought to light some day; but in default of such
a happy trowvaille we must write off M. cinzia’s English nomenclator
as ‘‘unknown’’. Possibly he was Dru Drury, of whom I have much to.
say in a forthcoming book; for Drury was the first authority on the
English butterflies during the eighteenth century, the first to use
Linné’s Systema Naturae, and an entomologist of European repute.
His splendid collection was arranged for him by Fabricius, who came
to London especially to inspect it. Drury’s influence on the entomo-
logists of his day cannot be overestimated: he both employed and taught
Moses Harris. It may well have been he who thought fit thus to honour
and commemorate one to whom the English lepidopterists—and perhaps
coleopterists too—were indebted for the discovery of so many species
previously unknown.

Harris’s—or Drury’s—name for M. cinria does not seem to have
been immediately adopted. Dr. John Berkenhout, whose Outlines of
the Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland appeared in 1769,
gives Wilkes’s name—the ‘‘Plantain Fritillary’’. Lewin. in 1795, has
both names but gives priority to that used by Wilkes. Donovan (1798)
follows Wilkes and so does Brown (1832). Haworth (1803), Miss Jermyn
(1824) and Wood (1839) use Harris’s appellation and since then most
writers oe the British butterflies have adopted 17. cinzia to commemo-
rate the ‘‘curious Gentlewoman’’? Mrs Elizabeth Glanvile who raised
the Flaming Tris from seed, whose “perticular favorit”? was “Mr. Charl-

CURRENT NOTES. 19

ton’s blistered butterfly’’, and who wished to know the Latin names of
her captures no less than the English ones. |

Current Notes

At another page we print an interesting paper by Dr. Lycaena Romei
(granddaughter of our old contributor Signor Orazio Querci) on the
abnormal scarcity of Lepidoptera—indeed of insects of all Orders—in
Central Italy during 1951. In this connection we have received a
letter from our correspondent in Hannover, Dr. Max CretscHmar of
Celle, which indicates that although the emergences of Lepidoptera were
undoubtedly abnormal in Germany no less than in other parts of Europe
certain broods and certain species do not seem to have been affected ad-
versely. Dr. CretscHMar writes as follows:

‘© Undoubtedly 1951 was decidedly a poor year for butterflies in Ger-
many. The winter of 1950/1, with its high humidity due to the mainly
mild weather, was unfavourable to hibernating larvae and pupae. so
that very few imagines were seen in the spring—which was cold and
wet, though there was a short period of fine warm weather in April.
At Celle the first brood of Papilio machaon was markedly rare, as were
those of all Pierids and Lycaenids. At the end of June a few larvae of
P. machaon were brought to me and these produced imagines of the
second brood, of which I saw only one specimen flying out of doors.
A collector at Dusseldorf reported that he saw scarcely ten specimens
of either brood. On the other hand, a report has reached me that at
Bielefeld (Westphalia) the larvae were so abundant on Daucus from
August to October that one could have collected hundreds. Herr
Hiibner of Bielefeld tells me that the first brood was not rare there
from the middle of May onwards and full-grown larvae were found as
early as Ist July; this of course accounts for the plenitude of the larvae
in the autumn. But Bielefeld is certainly a local exception.

‘The first brood of P. podalirius was strikingly abundant on the
Mosel and in North Bavaria (neighbourhood of Wurzburg). The Melli-
taeas also (awrinia, athalia, dictynna, even the local maturna) appeared
in their normal numbers, in fact they were rather commoner than
usual, as were the Argynnids selene, aglaia, niobe and particularly
paphia. Heteropterus morpheus and Callimorpha dominula also were
plentiful. But these were the exceptions; all other species were much
scarcer than in previous years.’’

In connection with our note on page 169 of last September’s issue
Herr Grruarp HeEsseLBartH writes: ‘ I think the long and abnormally
heavy snowfalls in the alpine regions would have produced a scarcity of
Lepidoptera in those parts, as the avalanches must have destroyed many

of the hibernating pupae and especially larvae. In particular the
populations of slopes facing south, where many larvae and pupae can
always be found, must have suffered in this respect. Moreover, the

melting of the snow occupied a much longer time than usual and this
would have prevented many plants from producing early leaves at the
usual season. In the same way the microclimate conditions deteriorated
during the spring, and the larvae must have been exposed to moisture
and cold much longer than*in normal years. [I agree with your con-

20 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

tention that it is wet and cold which kill so many Lepidoptera in the
larval stage.’’

Notes on Life Histories, etc. ,

In our issue of last December (63: 295) we asked whether any of our
readers has found, in the wild, the cocoon of Abraxas sylvata and
whether there is any truth in the assertion that when full-grown the
larva lowers itself from an outermost branch by means of a silk thread.
Our Editor recalls an experience of his own.

‘“On 6th September 1914,’’ he relates, ‘‘ a sunny day with no wind,
T went with my cousin to beat for larvae of Abraxas sylvata in a wood
near Limber, North Lincolnshire. On the edge of the wood I saw an

isolated wych elm of no great height but with unusually long branches

gcrowing almost horizontally and noticed that its leaves were much eaten.
We went to the tree and saw large numbers of full grown larvae on the
erass scattered over the whole of the area shaded by the branches. Many
larvae were hanging by threads and dropping down on to the grass.
We sat down and began to pick them up, and all the time others kept
dropping. We only moved our seats twice and collected about 500 full
grown larvae, of which not one was parasitized.

‘‘ Here is the other side of the picture. Many of the larvae hanging
by threads were smaller and were trying to climb up again. After
reaching the grass none of the full grown larvae went down further as
if about to enter the earth. Of those I took home the first went into
the earth after 24 hours and the last after five days and some of the
food provided was eaten. It is therefore doubtful whether dropping by
a silk thread is the usual method of reaching the ground to pupate.’’

Notes and Observations

LARVAE OF DEILEPHILA ETLPENOR.—Recent Notes on the effect of crowd-
ing on the colouration of larvae (Ent. Rec., 63: 88, 173, 235) prompt
me to record an observation which many lepidopterists may well have
made thouch apparently it remains unrecorded. After the fifth moult
last instar larvae of D. elpenor are usually dark brown or black; occa-
sionally a magnificent green example will be found only lightly marked
with black. During the first four instars the larvae are green, only
the ‘eye’-markings being approximately of the same colouration as the
adult. However, on rare occasions small black larvae appear, as one
did in September 1948 among thirty-six normal green phase examples
feeding on a surprisingly small clump of Epilobiwm angustifolium, near
London. T had always regarded small dark larvae as rare in this species
until 1948 when I caught a female elpenor in my garden during August.
Subsequently she produced thirtv eggs. These hatched and the young
larva fed up; nothing unusual happened until the third moult, when
most assumed the dark colouration characteristic of adults. Moreover,
the ‘eye’ spots were much redder than any T had seen on ‘wild’ larvae.
Unfortunately IT did not note at the time exactly how many remained
oreen.

These larvae thrived within the limits of my small breeding-cage.

but were much overcrowded when they were full-crown. After the final

——— a

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 21

moult all were dark and normal, but unfortunately the whole brood
died just before pupation was expected, this possibly being indirectly
due to overcrowding.

It is difficult to be certain that crowding was the cause of the larvae
departing from normal and producing unusual colour variations, but
on comparing these notes with those I have for ‘wild’ larvae it is signi-
ficant that on the few occasions when J found small dark larvae they
were feeding semi-gregariously on a small patch of foodplant.

In writing of this species it may be of interest to record that during
1948 I gave some adult larvae to my friend Mr. Derek Goodwin of Vir-
ginia Water. Some of these he gave to his tame jays, Garrulus glan-
darius, which are used to accepting anything offered by him as coi-
pletely edible. The first jay bounded forward and was about to seize
the large larva when it saw the striking ‘eye’ markings and immedi-
ately jumped back in apparent terror. Meanwhile another Jay had
found a larva which had been thrown to the ground and had landed in
such a position as to make the ‘eye’ markings invisible. The bird
snatched it and ate it with relish! By making further offers the jays
became familiar with the ‘eyes’ and eventually ate larvae without hesi-
tation, showing that they are in fact edible. Readers of this magazine
who would be interested in a more detailed account of experiments with
lepidopterous larvae and jays are referred to a paper by D. Goodwin in
the 1951 edition of The Jbis, journal of the British Ornithologists’ Union.
—D. F. Owen, Edward Grey Institute, 91 Banbury Road, Oxford.
29.xi.51.

PsEUDOIPS BICOLORANA FurEsst. IN Lonpon.—A few years ago I re-
corded the capture of a specimen of this moth at rest on an oak trunk
in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, London. During August and Septem-
ber last (1951) I came across seven larvae of this species in Ruskin Park,
Camberwell. This park is quite small, and although less than a mile
from Brockwell Park one would hardly expect to find this showy moth
occurring in such a built-up: district. Another curious point is that in
every case the larvae were on Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris L..). There
are four very large trees of this species in the Park, and the larvae
were taken ascending the huge trunks of these trees. Three were found
on one tree at the same time and rather puzzled me at first. They
were barely a quarter of an inch in length, green in colour, and dotted
with silky hairs. They looked familiar to me, but it was some weeks
before I realised what they were. They fed on the leaves of the Turkey
Oak and have now all changed to a brownish pink colour and are hiber-
nating. Ib might be mentioned that one of these trees is reputed to
be the finest in London, both as regards size and its symmetrical growth.
—S. WakELy, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5.

PIERIS NAPI ON Wet Mup.—TI was interested in the remarks of Dr.
K. Barton White in the November issue of The Entomologist’s Record,
regarding the visits of male Pieris napi Linn. to excavated wet mud.
During the early part of August 1951 I noticed this species visiting
small heaps of wet, charred wood in a Huntingdonshire wood. The rides
in this wood had been ‘brushed’ by the woodman, and the twigs and
smaller branches collected in heaps in the rides and burnt. A shower

22 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

had damped the charred remains of the piles, and these proved very
attractive to both sexes of Pieris napi. The males outnumbered the
females, but sixteen butterflies were settled in close formation on one
patch, and nine on a second patch. There were also one or two Pieris
rapae, and all the butterflies concerned were skittish when approached
closely, although they quickly returned when I walked away. This
happened at, about 4.30 p.m. B.S.T.—Grorer E. Hyp, 20 Woodhouse
Road, Doncaster. 21.xi.51.

PizRIs NAPI ON Wet Mup.—Dr. E. Barton White will find a record
of P. napi observed drinking at the edge of a woodland puddle on Book-
ham Common, Surrey, 11th August 1947, in The Entomologist, 81: 109
(also five P. rapae drinking at wet mud). Scattered through our ento-
mological literature are records of various butterflies feeding on various
kinds of filth—horse, cow and bird-droppings, urine of man, horse, ass
and goat, human perspiration, their own excretion, snail juice (on a
thrush. ‘‘ anvil ’’), decomposed rabbit, manure heaps, salt water from
sand, rotting pears, wet tar, Slime Flux and a gamekeeper’s “ larder ”’
(crow, squirrel and stoat).—F. Hrewson, 23 Thornhill Drive, Gaisby,.
Shipley.

A Note on MacrorHysacia ruBI Linn.—I was very interested in Mr.
T. D. Fearnehough’s Note (Ent. Rec., 63: 115) on M. rubi and its
abundance on the Derbyshire moors and I decided to test its applica-
bility to my district. On 22nd September 1951 I began searching the
moors near Darley. Until I learned the ‘ knack’ I spent one hour
searching the heather and found only seven rubi larvae. I then noticed
that the caterpillar rests on the grass tufts near the heather, so I con-
fined my attention to these. In a few minutes I found twenty more.

In order to check up on the abundance of the species a little more
accurately I moved to another part of the moors and there I searched
a strip 100 yards long and 2 yards wide. In ten minutes I found 55
larvae. The barometer stood at 30.05 in. and the thermometer at
about 50-55° F. The wind was blowing from the south.

On 6th October I returned to the same place. Ignoring the shoot-
ing parties I searched another strip of moor about 200 yards from the
other. In exactly fifteen minutes I found 53 rubi larvae. The tem-
perature was 55-60° F., the wind was south-east, and the barometer
30.44 in. The time of day was the same as before, namely 5.0 p.m.

I moved quickly to another part of the moor and searched a similar
strip but with a more northerly aspect. In thirty minutes I was able
to find only 27 rubiz larvae.

When I housed my larvae on 7th enna I counted 132; but when
I counted them again on 20th October I found that 60 had Pie reee
to ichneumon attacks. There were two kinds of ichneumon cocoons;
unfortunately I do not know their names. On 3rd November I again
counted my larvae and found that 16 more were ichneumoned and 56
still healthy.

I visited the same moors on 10th November and searched for an
hour, but found no larvae of any kind. The wind was cold and sharp,
the barometer was 29.65 in.; perhaps that was the reason why rubi
was absent.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. aS)

I have now housed the surviving 56 larvae in the approved pattern
hibernaculum with a growing clump of heather and am awaiting the
result of the experiment with interest. I hope that I shall succeed in
rearing some through to the perfect insect, but I am worried about
white spots which are appearing on some of them; this may be some
kind of disease. In any case it would seem that at least 50% of M.
rubi are destroyed by hymenopterous parasites.—J. H. Jonwnson, 53
Knighton Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield.

THE WHITE AND Pate YELLOW ForMs or LYCAENA PHLAEAS Linn.—The
white form of Lycaena phlaeas was, until 1906, always referred to as ab.
schmidti Gerhard and still is by many authors. In his British Lepi-
doptera, vol. 8, on page 358, Tutt stated that Gerhard’s figure was not
of the white form but pale cream and that the white one must be named
alba, the name schmidtw being reserved for specimens of a creamy tint
variously described by writers as straw colour, pale yellow or as inter-
mediate between the type form and white. This is a somewhat stagger-
ing conclusion and certainly not what Gerhard intended since it is
obvious that he was dealing with white aberrations from his mention of
the plates in Hiibner and Esper, the former in Eur. Schmett., I, pl.
147, f. 736, in which the black parts are replaced by pure white and the
latter, Hur. Schmett., pl. 40, f. 5, in which the copper ground is re-
placed by pure white. This figure is strongly tinted with blue which
makes it look somewhat more white than Gerhard’s figure.

The figure in Gerhard’s Monographie is of a white insect, the left
wings being whiter than the right which are very slightly more drab;
the figure of the underside also is of the white form. The colouring may
vary in different copies of the work but the fact that Esper’s white in-
sect is referred to is sufficient to establish the fact that the white form
was being named and not the pale yellow variations which Tutt insists
should all come under the name schmidtii.

Specimens with white ground colour are therefore :—
ab. schmidtu Gerhard: Monog. Eur. Schmett., p. 7, pl. 10, f. 3, a-b 1853.
=alba Tutt., Brit. Lep., 8, pp. 353 and 355, 1906.

Tutt is also wrong in his description of the ab. cuprinus of Peyerim-
hoff: Cat. Lép. d’Alsace, 1st ed., p. 138, 1862, in which he gays ‘‘pallide
lutea’’ (pale yellow). If he were right the name would apply to the
straw or pale yellow examples he places under schmidtii, but on looking
up the original description I find that it reads ‘‘elle est d’un jaune de
laiton brillant’, brilliant brassy yellow, and therefore almost certainly
the same as Tutt’s own intermedia (Brit. Butt., p. 153, 1896), which also
has the ground colour brassy.

It would seem therefore that the pale straw or pale yellow examples
are without a name.—A. L. Goopson, 26 Park Road, Tring.

Tue Dorser Swattowrait Burrerriry.—I have read with the great-
est pleasure Mr. R. F. Bretherton’s researches into the subspecific
status of our early British Swallow-tail butterfly records; it is a sub-
ject that has interested me ever since bigenerata was known to occur
here. With regard, however, to Dale’s surviving specimen it would be
interesting to know in whose handwriting the label is ? Tutt pointed
out (Ent. Rec., 19: 193) that many of the labels in the Dale collection

24 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

are in Mr. C. W. Dale’s handwriting, often referring to specimens taken
many years before he was born and that although no doubt he had
materials in his possession to serve as a guide, details like these, added
50-90 years afterwards, could not be put in the same category as labels
placed by the captor on a specimen and preserved in a collection where
the labels could not possibly be shifted.

We now know that Mr. C. W. Dale had his father’s diary to guide
him, but at the same time if the label is in the son’s writing there is no
guarantee that the machaon is correctly identified, especially as J. C.
Dale collected others from Whittlesea and Norfolk. Without looking
at the labels I should in many cases hesitate to identify particular in-
sects of: my own taking from say thirty years ago, let alone those taken
by my father at an earlier date.

It must also be remembered that C. W. Dale was a bit optimistic at
times about records. Amongst other insects he purchased the ‘First
two British Argiades’”’ (figured in Dr. Ford’s Butterflies). Of this pair
Octavius Pickard-Cambridge wrote (Entomologist, 40: 236) that he had
‘had some correspondence with the Rev. J. S. St. John on the subject,
the result of which was his conviction that their origin was Continental
and that when they came into the auction room in London there was
very little faith in them as genuinely British specimens. We all know
these ‘‘fine sporting lots’? that crop up from time to time. C. W. Dale
wanted a British argiades and, like old Javvers with the ‘‘Anomal-
opteryx jejunus’’? in Wells’ yarn, he got it.—H. C. Hueerns, 65 Kast-
wood Boulevard, Westcliffe-on-Sea. 13.x1.51.

[Before accepting anything that emanated from Mr. C. W. Dale our
readers would do well to look up the following references to him in this
magazine:—4: 112, 142, 201, 2938; 5: 115, 150, 176; 6: 208; 8: 105.—
Ep. |

FEMALE SPILOSOMA LUTEA HUFN. ATTRACTING ARcTIA catA L.—On a
night in 1949 I put a virgin Spilosoma lutea Hufn. female in a vauze
covered box in an assembling-trap. Next morning there were 23 S.
lutea males and one Arctia caia male in the trap. There was of course
no light in the trap and I would like to have an opinion on what at-
tracted the caia.—Davin Wricxat, Whitehill House, Bordon, Hants.
Siexnol:

[There are many records showing that among the Arctiinae female
_ scents are sometimes non-specific. See, for example, Hnt. Rec., 54: 62
(May 1942, No. 5).—Ep. |

A Rare ABERRATION or DEUTERONOMOS ALNIARIA Linn.—I am in-
debted to the Rev. K. M. Dunlop for an opportunity of examining a
moth of the genus Deuteronomos in his collection and taken by him near
Athy, Co. Kildare, in 1940. The moth, which is a female, was not
found to correspond exactly with any of the British members of this
genus, its general appearance being that of a female D. alniaria, the
Canary-shouldered Thorn, but with no ‘Canary’ shoulders. The usual
canary yellow colour of the thorax is absent and is replaced by the
normal ochreous colour of the abdomen. The specimen has since been
examined by Mr. W. H. T. Tams, who confirms that it is in fact D.
alniaria. '

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. OFS:

It has now been pointed out to me by Dr. E. A. Cockayne that this
form of D. alniaria, which is evidently extremely rare, has been named
ab. concolor Lempke (Tijdschr. v. Ent., 1951, 94, 291), from a specimen
bred from eggs, among a number of normal ones, in 1907, and recorded
by Oudemans (Tijdschr. v. Ent., 1908, 51, 11i).—E. S. A. Baynzs, 2
Arkendale Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin.

Notes on Microlepidoptera

By H. C. Hueerns.

Roots of tansy dug up in the winter months will usually contain
plenty of Hemimene flavidorsana Knaggs. I have seldom seen even
a garden clump which did not contain this insect. Tansy is usually,
if dug up in the wild, also infested by a number of H. sequana Hub.
and sometimes by H. saturnana Guen. Saturnana, however, is in my
experience much more local than the other two; it is nevertheless, com-
mon in North Essex and Suffolk. The roots should be potted up and
left out of doors till the last week in May.

The larva of Endothenia nigricostana Haw. can be obtained in win-
ter and spring by collecting the lower part of the stems and the top
of the root-stock of Stachys sylvatica. These dead stems may be tied
in bundles and left in the open air till May and do not require potting.
It may be helpful to remember that the stem of Stachys is square in
section and hollow, whilst that of the common nettle, which usually
grows with it, is more or less round and solid.

Dead stems of Alisma plantago should now be collected for the larva
of Phalonia alismana Rag. which winters and pupates in them. I have
found this larva rather difficult to rear as the dead stem in winter is
usually standing in several inches of water, which tends to keep the
cellular pith moist. JI have succeeded pretty well, however, by tying
the stems in bundles, leaving them out of doors, and throwing a bucket
of water over them whenever I remembered.

In his notes on Norfolk collecting in the Record for October 1951
(63: 223) Canon Edwards suggests that he might have taken more
Oxyptilus distans Zell. if he had searched in early July. To save him
and others from future disappointment it may be well to give a few
facts on the dates for this Plume, of which I have had rather an exten-
sive experience. Distans has two broods, which tend to overlap as both
come out over a long period, and occasional specimens may turn up
at any time from the beginning of June till August. My earliest date
is 9th June 1924, when I took 6 perfect ones at Deal, and my latest 20th
August 1951, when I netted and released two slightly worn specimens
on the Breck near Icklingham.

In a normal year I should search for distans from 10th to 17th June,
or the first fortnight in August, to be likely to catch either brood at
its peak. The dates do not seem to vary much in different localities. I
see in my set ‘‘Deal, 9.vi.24’’, ‘‘Deal, 10.vi.28’’, ‘‘Sandwich, 10.vi.30’’,
“Tuddenham, 9.vi.35’’, ‘“‘Tuddenham, 24.vi.34’’, ‘‘Brandon, 6.viii.47’’,
“Brandon, 2.viii.48’’. If possible it is as well to have a go at both
broods as the first is almost entirely the dark form, distans, and the
second the light one, Jaetus. The past season has been so abnormal that

26 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

anything might turn up at any time; but in a normal year the first
and second weeks in July would be between the broods, and only a
straggler or two might be expected.

Practical Hints

By the time these lines appear in print Hrannis leucophaearia will
probably have been reported on the wing. The males prefer fences to
tree trunks as resting places, especially fences which face north and
west and are near oaks, and in its years of plenty some fine forms can
usually be collected during a morning’s walk. January 3rd is the
earliest date for its appearance that has come to our notice so far.

Poecilocampa populi is often to be found on street lamps throughout
January. The earliest date on which we have heard of it being taken
is 23rd October (1950) and it is usually on the wing throughout Novem-
ber and December. In some years there seems to be a pause in
emergence after November until January. Females come to light as
well as males and these will usually yield eggs. We have taken eighteen
in a few minutes from a single street lamp.

January is a good month for egg collecting. A winter’s walk among
birches will usually supply the field lepidopterist with eggs of Trichiura
crataegi—oval and rather large, laid in short ‘ribbons’ of 3 to 8, not
end-to-end but side-by-side. At first they are sparsely covered with
fluff from the female’s anal tuft, but this is soon washed off by rain.
They are laid about six inches from the extremity of the twig, which
they match closely in colour.

Phigalia pedaria usually begins to appear at the end of this month.
Fences, tree trunks, and walls in and about towns are the normal rest-
ing places for the male. It comes readily to light and varies much in
ground colour, from quite a light yellow to almost black. The wingless
females can sometimes be found in the crevices of large oaks and, occa-
sionally, ash. Rarely, the moth emerges in late autumn—a friend has
taken it on 15th November (1948).

Other species to be taken in January are Hrannis aurantiaria, E.
marginaria, E. defoliaria, Theria rupicapraria, Operophtera brumata
and QO. fagata (boreata). These are best collected with a lantern after
dark as they sit (often paired) on the outermost twigs of hedges. E.
defoliaria (in our experience, uncommonly difficult to breed!) occasion-
ally appears in October; marginaria is usually not out until early Feb-
ruary ; our earliest date for T. rupicapraria is 11th January; O. brumata
and fagata, both of which first appear in November, are generally on
the wing throughout winter. Another species, Alsophila aescularia,
is sometimes out early in February—our earliest dates are 8th (1946)
and 9th (1949).

Collecting Notes

MARGARONIA UNIONALIS Hus. AND LOXOSTEGE PALEALIS ScHF. aT DEAL.
—On 9th September 1951 I took a good specimen of this beautiful
Pyralid at buddleia flowers after dusk in my garden here in Deal. On
19th and 22nd August I took two specimens of Lozxostege palealis also
in my garden, one at light and one at buddleia blossom.—Crctr M. Gum-
MER, 14 Manor Road, Deal, Kent. 15.xi.51.

DIPTERA. Se

STERRHA DILUTARIA Hus. IN CAERNARVONSHIRE.—The Rev. E. S.
Lewis and myself were fortunate in discovering a number of this species
in Caernarvonshire in July 1951. I showed my captures to Dr. C. G. M.
de Worms and he took one of them to Mr. D. Fletcher of the British
Museum for examination, and he confirmed its identity. I think this
is the first record of this species for North Wales.—S. Gorpon Suir,
Estyn, Boughton, Chester. 14.x1.51.

Pee Eine Al

Notes on some Surrey Trypetidae
By M. Nistetrt, F.R.E.S.

The following notes refer to further recent attempts to breed Try-
petids from their larvae. .

Philophylla heraclet L.—On 8.vii.51 a few leaves of Apium nodi-
folium mined by the larvae of this species were found at Bookham Com-
mon. The larvae left the mines to pupate in earth, the flies emerging
21.vii and 2.viii.51.

Acidia cognata Wied.:—At Burford Bridge, 12.x.50 J found
numerous mines caused by the larvae of this species in leaves of Peta-
sites vulgaris (Butterbur). The majority of the larvae had left the
mines but a few still remained; flies from these emerged in early June
of the following year.

Spilographa (Trypeta) zoe Mg.:—Mined leaves were found on Senecio
jacobaea at Addington, on Chrysanthemum maximum at Wallington,
and on Senecio squalidus at Epsom Downs, in late June and early July:
flies from these larvae emerged in late July and early August. S. squali-
dus is I believe a new host record for this species.

Chaetorellia loricata Rond.:—Since I recorded breeding this species
from flower-heads of the Large Knapweed (1950), I find that I had al-
ready bred one male, 23.yi.46, from some flower-heads collected near
Headley, 11.vii1.45; one male also emerged 7.vi.51 from a larva col-
lected at Mickleham Downs, 14.ix.50. It is apparently a double-brooded
species and is undoubtedly far from common; the few flies I have bred
have come from several thousands of its host-plant collected from many
localities...

Ceriocera cornuta F.:—Numerous flower-heads of the Large Knap-
weed collected during the last few years have given comparatively few
larvae of this species. I have again found that many of the larvae leave
the heads to pupate in earth, also a few flies have emerged in the first
year, this time in September from larvae collected in mid-July.

Trypeta. (Orellia) tussilaginis F.:—Some years ago I discovered that
the larvae lived in the achenes of Burdock, where they pupated, the
flies emerging in the following year. On 18.vii.50 heads of Arctiwm
majus were collected at Banstead Downs, from these one male tussila-
ginis emerged 14.ix.50; from another series collected at Addington,
25.vi1.50, a male tussilaginis emerged 6.x.50. I have bred this insect in
some numbers over a considerable period but have never before had it
emerge in the first year.

Hoplochaeta (Noeeta) pupillata Fln.:—Flowers of Hieraciwm muro-
rum were found at Walton Heath and Epsom Common in early August,

28 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. . 15/1/1952

swollen by the larvae of this species. Flies from these emerged towards
the end of the month, two also emerging in the following May.

Oxyna parietina L..:—From stems of Artemisia vulgaris collected at
Worms Heath, 31.x.46, two of the larvae ate their way out in the fol-
lowing April and pupated, within a week. From stems collected at Ban-
stead Downs, 30.xi.49, five larvae came out of the stems, again in April,
and pupated shortly after. Flies from both series emerged in the fol-
lowing May, as did flies whose larvae had pupated. in the stems in the
normal manner. I appear to have omitted this species from my list
of Surrey Trypetidae (1947). I have found the larvae also at Epsom
Common and Riddlesdown.

Paroxyna elongatula Lw.:—Numerous flower-heads of Bidens tripar-
tita were found at Epsom Common 6.ix.51, containing the larvae of this
species; the flies emerged at the end of the month. This is a new locality
for the insect. |

Tephritis bardanae Schr.:—A number of flower-heads of Arctium
majus were collected at Addington 25.vii.50, when transferring these
to a container some of the achenes fell out and it was noticed that
among them were several larvae; during the next few days more larvae
were seen. Investigation Stawed that the larvae had been living in the
seeds and when approaching maturity, had eaten their way out to
pupate. These larvae were placed on damp sand which they made no
attempt to enter, pupating on the surface; the remianing larvae pupated
in the normal manner, the puparia forming a compact mass in the
flower-heads. Flies from both series emerged at the end of August.

Trypanea stellata Fuess.:—I have again bred this species; from a
number of flower-heads of Hieraciwm murorum collected at Epsom Com-
mon 10.vi1i.50, a pair of flies emerged 18.viii.50. From a few heads of
Senecio squalidus 21.viii.51, one fly emerged 2.ix.51; this I believe is an
unrecorded host-plant.

REFERENCES.

1947. Niblett, M. A List of Trypetidae (Diptera) from North-east Surrey. Ent.
Rec., 59.
1950. Niblett, M. Some further notes on Trypetidae. Ent. Rec., G2.

REcoRDS oF NEPHROCERUS FLAVICORNIS ZeTr.—Verrall (1901, British
Flies, 8: 78) recorded this large Pipunculid only from the New Forest
and suggested an association with Cicadetta montana Scop. Mr. R. L.
Coe has recorded this species from Ashtead (26.6.32), in Surrey (1932,
Ent. mon. Mag., 68: 203) and there is another specimen from Surrey
in the British Museum Collection (Ewhurst, 3.7.36, coll. A. M. Low).
Mr. J. E. Collin took a male at Chippenham Fen, Cambridgeshire, on
9th July 1928 by sweeping herbage on the borders of the Fen. This
year Mr. ©. N. Colyer found this species in Loxley Wood. Shapwick,
Somerset, on 7th July, and the writer picked up a dead male off some
nettles in Rothamsted Manor Wood, Herts.,in June. These records away
from the New Forest suggest an association with a more widespread,
large Homopteron. The short flight period, end of June to early July,
may account for the species’ apparent rarity.—B. R. Laurence, 31
Sherwood Road, Luton, Beds., 14.xi.51.

[I have enken Giebdorea instante in Endless Wood near Chidding-
fold, Surrey. -—H. A. C.]

COLEOPTERA. - 29

Notes oN SaproMYzIDAE.—The larvae of Sapromyzids are supposed
to develop in decaying vegetable matter. On two occasions in August
1950 a female Peplomyza litura Mg. was found with its ovipositor in-
serted into cracks in the bark of spruce trunks at Rothamsted, Herts.
A male Minettia inusta Mg. and a female Lyciella rorida Fln. were bred
in May 1951 from puparia found beneath bark at Rothamsted. The
puparium of the Minettia was found in an old stump at the edge of a
field, and the Lycieila came from a decayed trunk in a wood.—B. R.
LAURENCE, 31 Sherwood Road, Luton, Beds., 14.x1.51.

Foop or PLATYSTOMA SEMINATIONIS Linn.—A single Platystoma semi-
nationis (sex not recorded) was seen sucking a dead larva of Nymphalis
io L. on nettles at Fancott, Beds., on 12th June 1946.—B. R. Laurence,
31 Sherwood Road, Luton, Beds., 14.xi.51.

ASILUS CRABRONIFORMIS LINN. IN SOMERSET AND WILTSHIRE.—With
reference to Mr. Leonard Tatchell’s recent Note (EHnt., Rec., 63: 256)
on Asilus crabroniformis in East Dorset, I have seen this insect in East
Somerset (Bruton) and South Wilts. (Homington), both places being
close to the Dorset county boundary. In each case the locality was a
dry hillside—H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth.

COLEOPTERA

Longicorns from North Hertfordshire
By R. S. Ferry.

My beetle collecting is principally confined to an area within three
miles of my home at Welwyn, which is situated in the area covered by
Hitchin and District Regional Survey Association. The Natural His-
tory of the Hitchin region, edited by Reginald Hine and published in
1934, records only nine species. Of these [ have not found Molorchus
minor, Rhagium bifasciatum, nor Saperda carcharias. It would appear
that Molorchus minor has been recorded only twice and Saperda car-
charias but once.

My interest in the Coleoptera of this area was first aroused when [
picked up, one evening in July 1944 while on Home Guard duty, a ¢
Prionus coriarius. More specimens could probably be obtained by visit-
ing our local woods in the autumn evenings as its habits are crepuscular.

Rhagium morduz is very common. I have found it in large numbers,
in all stages, during the winter and early spring under the bark of
fallen oaks. Surprisingly few adults have been noted during the sum-
mer months. [I still have to find R. bifasciatum.

Stenocorus meridianus is to be found in June and July of each year
in a mixed hedgerow adjacent to our house’ The type form and the
black aberration are evenly distributed.

Grammoptera ruficornis and Alosterna tabacicolor are common in
my orchard and can be taken by sweeping the herbage. Leptura livida
is abundant in three small areas during June on cow parsnip and ox-eye
daisies.

I first saw Strangalia quadrifasciata flying in a nearby wood in July
1946 and by careful search fuund it in June and July in the following

30 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

two years in a very restricted area on bramble, ragwort, cow parsnip
and thistle. Many colour forms of S. maculata have been taken in this
wood and on wild flowers growing along our lanes. J am indebted to
Mr. Selwood, a local gamekeeper, for bringing me many specimens. S.
melanura is more local but is fairly common in June on bramble blossom.

Aromia moschata has been recorded within six miles of my home.
Personally I have found this species only at one station in thirty years
of general collecting. In this case I was directed by my friend Mr. A. A.
Allen to a Hertfordshire locality some twenty miles from here. In
August 1946 it was abundant on willows and again in August 1948.

I take Clytus arietis each year in my garden and generally in the
district.

Mr. Allen beat a specimen of Pogonocherus hispidus from a nearby
holly tree on the 18th August 1946, and last September a schoolboy
entomologist had the fortune of having one settle on his neck while
walking in my garden! Although I have frequently beaten the holly
and ancient fruit trees in my orchard I have as yet to meet with success.

I have taken only three specimens of Leiopus nebulosus in this dis-
trict. The first two were taken by beating. aspen in June 1946 and
June 1947. The third was taken in flight on a hot day in June 1950
when I took seven different species of Longicorns within two hundred
yards. Saperda populnea has been taken on aspen at one particular
station.

One old hawthorn tree in my garden can generally be counted on to
produce, in June, a small series of Tetrops praeusta.

Agapanthia villosoviridescens is to be found in a local swamp on
Heracleum and on thistle. My wife first took a single specimen on the
5th September 1946. A series, including the black form, was taken on
the Ist July 1950 and this year (1951) a further specimen was taken on
the 15th July.

Two Uncommon WEEVILS IN Kent.—On a trip to the Isle of Grain
(Thames Estuary) towards the end of June 1950, Dr. A. M. Massee
and I had the satisfaction of finding for the first time the very local
Dorytomus validirostris Gyll. The beetle was present in considerable
numbers on some black poplars—most of our specimens, however, being
taken by sweeping the grass beneath the trees—and we each secured
a fine series. On 9th August of that year I turned up an odd example
under a piece of bark near the base of the trunk of a large black
poplar in a field at Ham Street, in the same county, together with its
larger congener D. longimanus Forst. Neither species was to be found
by beating the lower branches of this tree, nor by sweeping under it.
I am not aware of a previous Kent record for D. validirostris, which
though it has occurred in a few places around London, and elsewhere,
seems to have its headquarters in parts of East Anglia. .

On the first occasion mentioned above, a specimen of Otiorrhynchus
raucus F. was found walking up one of the poplar trunks and a second
beaten from the foliage of another tree in the same row. This rather
rare weevil is generally taken at roots of low plants in chalky and
sometimes sandy places, and has been recorded as doing damage to pear
trees-on the Continent; but I know of no previous case of its association
with poplar. Dr. Massee takes it in a sand-pit at Aylesford and more

FIFTY YEARS AGO. dl

sparingly on the downs about Maidstone, and I found two specimens
last August under herbage in a chalk-pit at Darenth (also in Kent).—
A. A. Auten, The Tiled House, 63 Blackheath Park, London, S.E.3.

A Few AspNorMALLY LATE DaTEs For CoLeorTERA, 1951. The follow-
ing were captured from two to six weeks later than I have noted them
in any former year :—

Athous hirtus Hbst.—Sevenoaks, Kent, 22.vii; Cryptocephalus hypo-
chaeridis L. and Oedemera lurida Marsh.—Otford, Kent, 10.1x; Crypto-
cephalus lubiatus L.—Ham Street, Kent, 12.1x; Anaspis pulicaria Costa
—Darenth, Kent, 21.1x; A. lurida Steph. (=subtestacea Steph.)—
Blackheath, London, 18.vili (3); Scraptia testacea Allen—Windsor
Forest, Berks., 28.vii; S. fuscula Mull.—ditto, 2.viu.

With the exception noted all were single females; the last two
beaten (as usual) from old oaks, the rest taken by sweeping. On the
date last mentioned both sexes of Malthinus fasciatus Ol. were still
quite common on oaks, whereas normally a few females alone persist
into early August.—A. A. ALLEN, The Tiled House, 68 Blackheath Park,
London, S.E.3. 18.x1.51.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902).

SPREAD OF BUTTERFLIES INTO SUITABLE LOCALITIES.—It is curious how
butterflies manage to discover for themselves congenial localities. The
hill on which Polyommatus bellargus appeared for the first time in 1899,
and on which it now seems to have established itself, was, when I first
knew it, covered with trees and dense underwood, on the outskirts of
which Brenthis euphrosyne and Enodia hyperanthus used to roam, and
Dryas paphia was occasionally seen. In the seventies the place was
converted into cornland. Then the bad years came and corn was no
longer sown. Other crops were tried but nothing seemed to answer,
and for the last six or seven years the land has been left uncultivated,
and, is covered in some places with heather, but principally with coarse
grasses, bramble, marjoram, thyme, wild strawberry, burnet, ragwort,
and here and there Hippocrepis cumosa. Brenthis euphrosyne, Enodia
hyperanthus and Dryas paphia all disappeared with the woods, and
have not come back, although the two former, at any rate, are common
enough half a mile away. The first local butterfly to colonise the place
was, strangely enough, Nisoniades tages, which must have travelled at
least two miles. In 1899, a single specimen of Polyommatus corydon was
seen, now it is abndant, P. bellargus appeared as above stated in 1900,
and is extending its range. In 1901 the place was prospected by Melan-
argia galathea, and it is to be hoped that it will be found suitable.—
A. W. CLARKE.

AutTuMNAL Work at Boscomspe.—Both sugar and light failed in this
district in the autumn of 1901, and ivy was very little better. The only
good insects I took were four Leucama vitellina and one LD. albipuncta,
two of the former at sugared trees and two at sugared sunflowers. These
latter I find a very attractive bait.—R. B. Roserrson.

32 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. LXIV. 15/1/1952

Current Literature

ATLAS DES Diprmres pE France, Beieique, Suisse. By E. Séguy. 2
Vols. 74 xX 5k ins., with a total of 360 pp., 24 coloured plates
(292 figs.) + 156 black and white text figs. Published by N.
Boubée & Cie., 3 Place Saint-Andre-des-Arts, Paris OT , 1951.
(In French.) Price 750 fr. each Vol.

This work, starting with a very brief introductory instructional
chapter on the collecting, mounting, preservation and study of Diptera,
and followed by a condensed but useful description of the morphology
and biology of the Order, is devoted, in the main, almost entirely to
short descriptions (in many cases all too short), habits, habitats and
distribution of the 448 species figured, which: include 10 species of flea
(Siphonaptera). In addition a general description is given of each |
family, including a brief. life-history of one or more of the typical species,
with special reference to groups of particular economic importance.

Owing to the complete absence of any diagnostic Tables, the value
of such a work to most students of Diptera, whose primary requirement.
is a reliable means of identification of species, is not easy to assess, but
as an adjunct to available systematic works it should nevertheless prove
a useful book of reference. The text figures, in the author’s well-
known style, are excellent, but many of the species depicted in eolour
are less convincing.—E. A. F.

A welcome reprint of one of the rarest British books on Entomology
has been issued by Mr. Eric W. Crassgy: the Propromus Leprporp-
TERORUM BritaNNicorumM of Adrian Hardy Haworth. The sub-title ex-
plains its contents: ‘‘ A Concise Catalogue of British Lepidopterous
Insects, with the Times and Places of Appearance in the Winged State.’
Originally published at Holt, Norfolk, in 1802 this facsimile reprint will
be welcomed by all who are interested in the history of Entomology in
England. The price is 15s. net.

Obituary

We regret to record the death, on 29th October last at Bourton-on-
the-Water, Gloucestershire, of Lieut.-Col. CuHartzes Donovan, Indian
Medical Service (retd.), at the age of 88. He was the first to compile
a critical List of the Lepidoptera of Ireland, rejecting many of the
older dubious records and noting those which required confirmation. A
good field lepidopterist, he succeeded in rediscovering the habitat of the
White Prominent, Leucodonta bicoloria, in County Kerry, whence it
had been recorded by Peter Bouchard in 1859, and by beating birches
secured 18 larvae. .

We also regret to record the death, on 13th November last at Monk’s
Soham, Suffolk, of Mr. CraupE Mortsy at the age of 77. He was in-
terested in all Orders of insects and was secretary of the Suffolk
Naturalists’ Society for many years. For some time he specialised in
the Ichneumonidae and between 1903 and 1914 produced his Ichneu-
monologia Britannica in five volumes, as well as (1910) a Catalogue of
the Chalcididae.

EL, TBROCKENHURST (Bronkonnurs =), in the aay i = :

x —The saan foe ashworthit and local forms of hull
entomoalorists, amid the beauties of North Wales. Easily acces- —
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rochure from Miss BEAZLEY, Bryn Howel Guest House, Trevor,

- Liangollen. _Tel.: SASBeOUE J 2331.

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CONTENTS... 37.

THE GENETICS OF ARCTIA VILLICA L. AB. WARDI MATT. E. A. Cockayne 1
ABERRATIONS OF ARCTIA VILLICA L. E. A. Cockayne Ripe ee oen Se
A NEW FORM OF SELENIA BILUNARIA ESPER. E. S. A. Baynes... 5
_THE GENETICS OF SELENIA BILUNARIA AB. EBLANARIA. E. A. Cockayne 6 ae
THE SCARCITY OF INSECTS IN SOUTHERN LATIUM IN 1951. bie gis q

Romei tp Bag eae
OBSERVATIONS ON THALERA FIMBRIALIS SCOP. IN KENT in 1951. J. M. a
Chalmers-Hunt eet aes - 10 oa
_A SEARCH FOR LARVAE OF EUPITHECIA ACTAEATA “WALD. AND E. ae
IMMUNDATA ZELL. E. A. Cockayne ... .. 1.149 ae
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA FOUND IN CHESHIRE. IN 1951. H. N. cea.
‘Michaelis pare: wad 1. mba gs peat era ape ia Re a sna
MOLIDAY DIVERSION. 4: MW. Herod 4 oe i ae cee
THIS MATTER OF OVA. An Old Moth-Hunter ... ... med. huss ee Ce
MRS GLANVILE AND HER FRITILLARY, II. P. B. M. ation: Eternal,
NOTES ON SOME SURREY TRYPETIDAE. M. Niblett... usa MT
LONGICORNS OF NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE. 8. S. Ferry .. se oe as

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Aberrations of, daitish | Macrolepidoptera
By iE. AnGAORITEE, M., F.R.CP.

[The following aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell
collection in the British Museum. |

Triphaena comes Hibner ab. deprivata ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

Forewing brownish fawn with the markings obsolescent. Hindwing
whitish grey with ill-defined darker border and no lunule closely re-
sembling the hindwing of Amathes sexstrigata.

Type ¢: Perth. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Triphaena comes Hibner ab. citrina ab. nov.

Hindwing lemon yellow.

Type 2: Loc. incog. (Baron Bouck coll.) Cockayne coll.

Recorded in the Young Naturalist, 1888, 121, and in the Entomolo-
gist, 1868, 4, 53, in an account of C. S. Gregson’s collection. The
specunen has no dark lunule.

Triphuena comes Hiibner ab. fumosa ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

Thorax and forewings smoky brown with the usual markings visible.
Hindwings smoky brown with no trace of the usual orange colour,
band black. Abdomen smoky brown. Underside entirely smoky brown.

Type 6: Harpenden, Herts., 5.vi1i.1948, taken in a light trap by

. B. Williams. B.M., 1948, 565.

Specimens of this fe m from the southern counties have been incor-
rectly recorded from time to time as ab. curtisii Newman.

Triphaena pronuba Linnaeus ab. attenuata ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

The usual black band on the hindwing is very narrow and only
marked by a few black scales between nervures 3 and 4.

Type 2: Bexley, 31.vii.1902, J. Greenwood. (Bright coll.) Roths-
child coll.

Triphaena pronuba Linnaeus ab. nivea ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

Head, thorax, abdomen, and forewings whitish with a faint ochreous
tint; reniform dark externally and below, subapical mark small but
black and distinct, there is sparse irroration of darker and greyer scales
on the forewing giving it a hoary appearance. Hindwing; whitish
orange with the usual black band replaced by pale grey.

Type 9: Swansea (C. G. Barrett coll.) Bankes coll.

Triphaena pronuba Linnaeus ab. nigribasalis ab. nov. (Fig. 5).
Forewing—the area between the basal and antemedian line heavily
powdered with black scales and with the lines themselves black; the
marginal area is dark brown and then there is a dark brown band just
internal to the subterminal line; the rest of the ground colour is paler.
Hindwing—normal.
Type 9: Rainham, Essex, 1896, C. R. N. Burrows. B.M., 1949, 586.

Lamprea fimbriata Schreber ab. albida ab. nov.
The ground colour of the thorax and forewing lacks the usual ochre-

34 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

ous or red brown tint. Hindwing—the orange colour is replaced by
very pale cream colour, the black marginal band is normal.
Type ¢: Folkestone, vii.1905. Rothschild coll.

Phalaena (Naenia) typica Linnaeus ad. brevipennis ab. nov.

Fore and hindwings very short and broad with much increased con-
vexity of the termen. Neuration complete. te

Type ¢: Starcross, Devon, bred by G. T. Porritt.

Allotype 9°: same data.

Figured by Barrett, Plate 217, 1d.

Several ab. brevipennis with a much larger number of normal moths
were bred from eggs laid by a normal female captured at Starcross,
S. Devon, by G. T. Porritt. lt is probably recessive.

Anarta melanopa Thunberg ab. clara ab. nov. (Fig. 6).

The ground colour of the forewing is grey; the basal, antemedian,
and postmedian lines are distinct and the subterminal line is normal;
a dark median shade runs through the reniform; the area between the
antemedian line and the median shade is free from markings and the
orbicular indistinct so that a broad clear band of grey crosses the wing.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE Ii.

Fig. 1. Triphaena comes ab. deprivata g. Type.

Fig. 2. Triphaena comes ab. fumosa ¢. Type.

Fig. 3. Triphaena pronuba ab. attenuata OQ. Type.
Fig. 4. Triphaena pronuba ab. nivea 2. Type.

Fig. 5. Triphaena pronuba ab. nigribasalis 9. Type.
Fig. 6. Anarta melanopa ab. clara ¢. Type.

Fig. 7. Anarta melanopa ab. striata Q. Type.

Fig. 8. Hadena bombycina ab. confluens Q. Type.
Fig. 9. Anepia irregularis ab. alboradiata ¢. Type.
Fig. 10. Orthosia gothica ab. albescens S$. Tyne.

Fig. i114. Orthosia stabilis ab. marginata g. Type.
Fig. 12. Orthosia stabilis ab. cruda 9. Type.

Fig. 13. Orthosia populeti ab. diffusa g. Type.
Fig. 14. Orthosia munda ab. albescens ¢. Type.

Type o: Perthshire, 1899, William Reid. (H. B. Williams coll.)
Cockayne coll.
Allotype 9: Rannoch, 22.v.1928, E. A. Cockayne.

The ground colour of the allotype is darker grey, that of the type
being very pale.

Anarta melanopa Thunberg ab. pura ab. nov.

Forewing—the antemedian and postmedian lines are distinct and
the subterminal line is present, but the median shade is absent so that
the dark reniform and orbicular stand out clearly in the grey median
area.

Type @: Rannoch, 23.v.1928, E. A. Cockayne.

Anarta melanopa Thunberg ab. striata ab. nov. (Fig. 7).

Three broad dark lines run across the middle of the forewing, the
first just proximal to the orbicular, the second through the orbicular.
and the third and outermost through the reniform. The second and
third appear to be median and postmedian lines shifted towards the
base. The subterminal line is distinct and from it three dark streaks

PLATE IT

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. 30

run inwards to the postmedian, one on the costa, one between nervures
4 and 6, and one along nervure 2 and the space between 2 and 3; the
last two are wedge-shaped.

Type @: Rannoch, 1906, Esson.

Barathra brassicae Linnaeus ab. diffluens ab. nov.

Forewing—the basal line is present, but all the other transverse
markings are absent; the stigmata and the pale submarginal line are
normal. Hindwing—normal.

Type d: Tring, Herts., bred 12.vi.1940 by A. L. Goodson. Cockayne
coll.

Hadena bombycina Hufnagel ab. confluens ab. nov. (Fig. 8).

The orbicular and reniform are united to form one large compound
stigma; the forewing is shorter and broader than usual.

Type 2: Teesdale, bred vi.1896. (Vipan coll.) Cockayne coll.

Hadenu bicruris Hufnagel ab. ochresfusa ab. nov.

Ground colour lighter brown than usual; the pale markings round
the stigmata and all those in the distal half of the forewing are increased
in width especially the submarginal line; fringes largely ochreous, a
few pale brown streaks being present opposite the interneural spaces
of the anterior half of the wing and more definite dark lines opposite
those nearer to the anal angle. Thorax, abdomen, and hindwings paler
than usual.

Type @: Bexley, bred vi.1914 by L. W. Newman. (Bright coll.)
Rothschild coll.

Hudena lepida Esper ab. aurantia ab. nov.

Ground colour orange almost without markings; even the stigmata
are almost invisible. Along the termen there is a row of black wedge-
shaped dots and just outside them in the inner-half of the fringe there
is a row of orange-brown crescents. Hindwing—ochreous with a faint
submarginal band.

Type ¢g: Hants., 30.v.1950, H. S. and P. J. Robinson, no. 2866.
15 JN Eel Sa a

Anepia irregularis Hufnagel ab. alboradiata ab. nov. (Fig. 9).

Forewing—the orbicular stigma runs basad to the basal line but is
cut across by the antemedian line, and is joined to the reniform by a
white line just in front of the median nervure; all the nervures are
white and 2, 3, and 4 run right through the unusually dark subterminal
line. Hindwing—+the border is darker than usual and there is a whiter
wedge-shaped area between 3 and 4 running inwards from it.

Type ¢: Tuddenham, 1913, H. Thornhill. (B. W. Adkin coll.)
Cockayne coll.

Orthosia gothica Linnaeus ab. nigrilinea ab. nov.

Forewing—the postmedian line is black and clearly defined and from
it black scales run outwards along the nervures; the pale ground colour
inside the subterminal line makes the darkened nervures unusually dis-
_ tinct, the antemedian line is also black and clearly defined.

Type do: Aviemore, Inverness-shire, iv.1932, B. H. Armstrong.
Cockayne coll.

36 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

Orthosia gothica Linnaeus ab. albescens ab. nov. (Fig. 10).
Forewing—ground colour whitish with a faint fawn tint; all the

markings pale fawn colour. Hindwing—whitish tinged with greyisa

fawn. Head, including antennae, thorax, and abdomen pale fawn.
Type 6: Loch Laggan, 1896, T. Salvage. Bankes coll.

Orthosia gothica Linnaeus ab. aisomarginata ab. nov.
Forewing—from the subterminal line to the termen the ground colour
is almost white through which slightly darkened nervures run; the
crescentic marginal interneural dots are present. Hindwing—the border
is nearly white between nervures 2 and 3, and only a little darker in the
preceding and following interneural space.
Type 6: Rannoch, iv.1909. R. Adkin coll:

- Orthosia stabilis Schiffermiiller ab. albescens ab. nov.
Forewing—whitish with a slight brown tinge, head and thorax of
the same colour; the markings are just visible in a slightly darker shade
of the same colour. Hindwing and abdomen are whitish grey.
Type ¢: Watergate, Emsworth, Hants., 9.iv.1892, W. M. Christy.
Christy coll.

Orthosia stabilis Schiffermiiller ab. marginata ab. nov. (Hig. 11).
Forewing—dark brown with the area between the pale submarginal
line and the termen pale greyish-brown with whitish nervures running
through it.
Type ¢: Loc. incog., bred 1886, St. John. (Willoughby Ellis coll.)
Cockayne coll.

Orthosia stabilis Schiffermiiller ab. cruda ab. nov. (Fig. 12).

On the forewing the basal, antemedian, and postmedian lines are
blackened and show very distinctly ; the median shade is not pronounced ;
the subterminal line is normal.

Type 2: New Forest, iv.1894. R. Adkin coll.

Orthosia cruda Schiffermiiller ab. marginata ab. nov.

Forewing: the area from the submarginal line to the termen is
whitish with a slight sprinkling of brown scales.

Type 2: Godinton, 15.ii.1898. Rothschild coll.

Orthosia populeti Fabricius ab. diffusa ab. nov. (Fig. 13).

All the usual markings are very indistinct, there is no median shade,
the subterminal line is scarcely visible, and the usual dots, reddish ar
black, are absent; the stigmata are darker than the ground colour sur-
rounding them, but lack the usual pale ring round them; there is a
narrow pale marginal line.

Type 6: Chiddingfold, 14.iv.1934, E. A. Cockayne. Cockayne coll.

Orthosia munda Schiffermiiller ab. renilinea ab. nov.

There is a narrow wedge-shaped streak of dark scales running from
the lower end of the reniform almost as far as the antemedian row of
dots.

Type ¢: Longtown, Cumberland, bred 1917-1918 by J. F. Johnstone.
Cockayne coll.

ON PUPAL ACTIVITY. 76

Orthosia munda Schiffermiiller ab. albescens ab. nov. (ig. 14).

All parts of the moth are whitish with a slight tinge of rufous,
the usual markings are present in a slightly darker shade of the same
colour. This is an albinistic form.

Type ¢: Chislehurst, Kent, 1°02. Cockayne coll.

Orthosia incerta Hufnagel ab. pluriguttata ab. nov.

The ground colour of the forewings is very pale and is_ heavily
sprinkled with dark striae.

Type 2: Kingston, v.1907. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Orthosia incerta Hufnagel ab. postalbida ab. nov.

The ground colour of the forewing is nearly black. The hindwing is
whitish lightly powdered with dark scales; there is a dark discoidal spot
and a dark border; fringes white. Superficially it is more like O. gracilis
than O. meerta.

Type ¢: Panton, Lincs. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

On Pupal Activity
By P. B. M. Atpan.

In May 1951 Mr. BE. P. WiitsHire gave me two pupae of CVelerio
euphorbiae Linn. which he had brought with him from Persia. They
were a male and a female. J placed them in a small pupa-cage which
I keep in my sittingroom.

The male moth emerged on 5th August. I kept it alive for three
days, hoping that the female would hatch in time to provide a pairing
and, subsequently, eggs. For although there is no spurge in my garden
Lhomme (Cat. des Lép. de France et de Belgique, 1923-35, p. 359, quoting
Berthelin and de Vézinnes) asserts that the larva ‘‘ mange en captivité
des feuilles de vigne et méme de jeunes grappes de raisons,’’ and a vine
which yields yellow grapes grows in the conservatory of a nearby friend.

But it was not to be. The days passed and my female ewphorbiae
remained in her pupa-case. I switched on an electric radiator till the
thermometer beside the pupa-cage registered 75 degrees Fahrenheit and
arranged a 150-watt electric globe close to the pupa, hoping to hear,
presently, that gentle crack of the dry case which portends immediate
eclosion. Allin vain. The days passed and no moth appeared. I wrote
to my friend to say that the female ewphorbiae was evidently lying over
until next year, as all pupae will at times.

Then, in the second week of August the pupa began to get lively.
Every evening as I sat reading beside my pupa-cage I could hear my
chrysalis moving about. It jerked its abdominal somites sharply, now
to the left, now to the right; it turned over on to its back, it rolled
over on to its face; it shifted its position all over the floor of the cage.
Every evening for nine days it was on the move. Once or twice [
touched it and every time I did so it twitched. It was a very lively
pupa indeed.

On the evening of 20th August there was silence in the pupa-cage.
I looked at the pupa at eight o’clock and every hour thereafter until
2a.m. Not a movement. And in the morning it was in exactly the

38 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Vou. 64. 15/11/1952

same position as it had been in the night before. This, I thought, was
the end: my female C. euphorbiae had died in the pupa-case as, all too
often, choice things do.

Next evening I placed the pupa in my palm to examine it with a
lens. The first thing I noticed was that the colour of the moth’s wings
was visible through the case. Then I saw that the pupa had a sodden
appearance, as though the case contained fluid. It looked in fact a very
unhealthy pupa. Gently I squeezed it. No movement in reply. I
pressed the abdominal somites to one side. They stayed where I had
put them. I moved them to the other side. They stayed there. Not
the slightest sign of life was present.

Still hoping against hope I placed it in a cardboard box in the
warmest part of the room. But when I looked into the box late that
night the pupa was exactly where I had put it some hours before. There
was no doubt it was dead. I put the lid on the box and during the
succeeding days forgot about it.

On the 29th August, at 4 p.m., while reading, I heard a scratching
noise which was continued until I got up from my chair to investigate.
I looked everywhere except in the cardboard box until it seemed that
this was the source of the noise. So I opened the box, whereupon a
female C. euphorbiae climbed out of it on to my sleeve. It was indeed
a beautiful insect: long graceful snow-white legs, antennae white above
and olive beneath, abdomen beautifully barred with olive and white
and black, her little wings portraying the pattern in miniature. She
was very restless and crawled about actively for eight minutes, when
she came to rest and at once started to pulsate. An hour later her
wings were fully developed.

What is the reason for this pupal activity which takes place with so
many species a week and more before eclosion? And why was this pupa
to all intents and purposes dead for nine days before the moth emerged ?

Why should a developing pupa ‘kick’ in a lively fashion if touched

whereas the same pupa with a fully developed moth inside it should
behave quite differently only a week or more later? The same predator
may be encountered at both periods, and a pupa looks like a pupa
whether the moth inside it is developed or not.

It is possible—indeed I am going to suggest it is probable—that the
reason for both activity and quiescence is not a physiological one but
a biopsychological one. Lloyd Morgan held that ‘‘ there are no affairs
of the body which are not also affairs of the mind’’ and I have else-
where expressed my belief that life is neither more nor less than the
mental element of protoplasm. Bierens called mind in the ‘lower’
animals ‘‘mental life’’?; but I dislike this expression since I hold that
life 7s mental and that therefore ‘‘mental life’ is a tautology. If Lloyd
Morgan was right—and who would be bold enough (and foolish enough)
to say that he was wrong ?—mind no less than body must be subject to
embryological development. Hence it follows logically that the develop-
ment of mind must be synchronous with the development of body.

So in order to examine this matter of pupal behaviour it is neces-
sary to say something first of all about the development of the pupa
itself; for I allege that it is the history of the insect which is responsible
for its pupal activity and subsequent quiescence.

ON PUPAL ACTIVITY. 39

Pupation of course is neither more nor less than a moult. It is the
last larval moult, and ecdysis takes place just as it did in each of the
larva’s previous instars. But the form which the insect presents after
this last moult is so different from that of any of its previous instars
that plainly there has been a ‘jump’ in the process of embryological
development: several stages which formerly intervened must have been
left out. Indeed only persons having some acquaintance with natural
history would know that there was any connection between a caterpillar
and a chrysalis The insect has suddenly developed wings and long legs
and antennae, albeit these are ‘soldered down’. Its structures are alto-
gether different from those of the larva.

Hand some young friend a pupa immediately after the larval skin
has been shed and point out to him the antennae, wings and legs. He
will naturally jump to the conclusion that these appendages are those
of the imago. All that is required now is for the insect to lie inert so
that these structures may ‘grow’ and harden....

That of course is far from the truth. What your young friend is
looking at are the pupal appendages; the appendages of the imago may
not even begin to develop for several months. The pupa can be dis-
sected out of the skin of a mature larva some hours before the occur-
rence of normal pupation and if you do this you will find that the pupal
appendages are not ‘soldered down’ but stand out freely as evident legs,
wings, etc. Nor are these visible pupal appendages mere cases for the
corresponding parts of the imago; the latter are contained within them
for only a very small proportion of the whole pupal period; the pupal
appendages have become modified so that the organs of the imago can,
later, be contained within them; but the pupal organs are not identical,
in form nor structure, with those of the imago.

If your young friend examines the pupa of a female Emperor Moth
he will see that the pupal antennae are quite broad and feathered as in
the male; whereas the antennae of the female moth when it emerges are
small and thread-like. So it is plain that at some remote period in the
ancestry of this species the females had large pectinated antennae even
as the males and that only the pupa retains this form of female antenna.
The pupal proboscis of the Death’s-head Hawkmoth is about 40 mm.
long; that of the imago measures but 14 mm. or 15 mm. Another proof
that the pupa is a definite ancestral form is to be found in those species
(Geometers) of which the females have only the vestiges of wings. The
pupal wings of these females are almost as large as those of the males.

The pupa therefore presents us with a picture of the imago as it was
at some long past age. At that remote period the pupal appendages—
legos, wings, antennae—were freely moveable; moreover, the fact that
the pupa has the scars of external generative organs shows that it was
once capable of reproduction.

Why have the ‘lost stages’? been suppressed? Probably because
when change of function necessitated the continuation of embryological
development it was found that quiescence in the pupal stage made
possible the breaking down and reconstitution of tissue to form the
imago, in a single stadium. Plainly it would be of great importance
to the imago if it could adapt itself to its environment without the need
of introducing the necessary modifications gradually through a number
of previous stadia. So the long developmental span between larva and

40 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

imago was abridged by eliminating certain intervening stages. Thus
to-day we find that while the external characters of the ancestral
imaginal stage persist, beneath the surface there is both a gradual
transition from pupal to imaginal structures and a breaking down of
pupal tissues in order that the ‘germs’ of the imago’s organs (present
throughout all the previous instars) may develop into the structures
of the present imago.

Bearing in mind, then, the fact that the pupa is an icheraeh faith
of the imago, and my loeacal claim (prompted by Lloyd Morgan’s ruling
that ‘‘there are no affairs of the body which are not also affairs of the ©
mind’’) that mind develops concurrently with body, it follows that any
manifestation of mind in the pupal stage must be interpreted in terms
of the pupa’s ancestral condition.

(That sentence is so important to my Aoninbed that if you have
not got it quite clearly please read it again.)

T therefore hold that the onset of activity in the pupa denotes that
the pupa has reached the climax of its ancestral development. It is
now, mutatis mutandis, at exactly the same instant as the butterfly
which cracks its pupa-case and crawls out on to a stem. At this moment,
aeons ago, the insect could crawl about, doubtless very actively. So
its mind, at this critical moment, has reached that stage of develop-
ment when it is in concord with the needs of an actively moving insect.

For a week or ten days—less in some species, more in others—this
mental state continues. And then—dquiescence is resumed because yet
another stage of embryological development has been reached, leading
to the formation of the imago as we know it to-day. Activity would ne
suicidal now, for whereas the ancestral perfect insect (as prefigured by
the present pupa) could run rapidly and crawl under cover, not so the
present imago which relies upon its wings for escape. Until those wings
are expanded the insect is vulnerable indeed; until actually out of the
pupa-case it cannot avoid a predator. Therefore while in the pupa-case
its only hope of safety lies in simulating an inanimate object.

That, at least, is the suggestion which I put forward for your ¢on-
sideration.

Pupating Sites
By Davip Wricar.

One soaking wet night five years ago a Cerura vinula larva, one of
twenty I was rearing, showed signs of being ready to cocoon and, havy-
ing forgotten to provide a suitable piece of wood for the purpose, the
only thing I could offer it was an old 53” setting board. T cut an extra
groove each side of the existing one nd stood it upright in the cage
with the larvae.

The next morning there was a nearly complete cocoon in one of the
grooves and during the next week the remaining nimeteen larvae
cocooned in the same way. Seventeen of the moths emerged the follow-
ing year and three went over for two years.

I cut away the raised parts of the empty cocoons, leaving untouched
the hollowed-out parts, and each year until 1951 my vinula larvae

cocooned on this setting board, frequently using the depressions made
by their predecessors.

NOTES ON REARING HERSE CONVOLVULI L. Al

_

1951 I had no vinula to rear and did not cut away the tops of the
empty cocoons, but they came in useful again, this time as cocooning
sites for Apatele alni.

I had six alni larvae and when they were full grown I put this old

“setting board in their cage. I watched them wander over the board
until each found one of the exit-holes left by the emerging Puss Moths
and in they went. Although I have not opened any of the cocoons |
assume that all is well within.

I decided to extend this idea, and gave an empty Laothoé populi
pupa case with some moss to a full grown Allophyes oxyacanthue larva
and it pupated in the old pupa case. Among other species that have
used old Hawk Moth pupae in which to undergo their own pupation
are Xylocampa areola, Phlogophora meticulosa and Selenia bilunaria.

Out of 95 Stawropus fagi eggs in 1951, 89 larvae reached maturity
and I gave them dried curled-up Beech leaves in which to cocoon, but
every one chose to do so between the fresh leaves of their food, in most
cases quite high up in their cages. Mildew soon appears on these green-
leaf cocoons and they should be kept in well ventilated tins, but not
allowed to become too dry.

Drymonia ruficornis pupates well in nearly dry earth about 1” deep.
The cocoons are fairly strong and can be removed after a few weeks.

The pupating habits of Ewmichtis lichenea are rather puzzling. It
is a common species in Abersoch, N. Wales, and, although I found many
larvae and bred them successfully from eggs, I could not discover for
certain the type of site it normally chooses for pupation. Those I bred
pupated in a cocoon in sand or sandy earth, but it was common to find
full grown larvae crawling up the walls of the house and even indoors,
evidently looking for a place in which to pupate. Twice I found newly
emerged moths in upstairs rooms.

Notes on Rearing Herse convolvuli L.
By D. G. Sevastoruto, F.R.E.S.

{ can add a few remarks to Mr. Philpott’s paper under the above
heading (1951, Entomologist’s Record, 63: 235). During twenty-seven
years’ residence in India and East Africa, I have only come across two
green adult larvae of this species. One was found in Calcutta before
I had started recording descriptions of the larvae that passed through
my hands, and the other was reared in Kampala from a larva found
in the 3rd instar. JI have never searched seriously for larvae of this
species, either in India or East Africa, but casual searching of Con-
volvulus has never produced anything larger than a 3rd instar larva.

My experience also is that the dark form of larva can be differen-
tiated in the 3rd instar. The larvae then begin to develop a broken
purple subdorsal stripe and a lateral series of oblique purple stripes.
These stripes vary both in width and intensity of colour, the ground
colour remaining green. In the 4th instar the stripes are even more
developed, although the ground is still green, and in the 5th (final)
instar the larva. becomes some shade of brown.

The horn of my two green larvae was orange-yellow with a black tip.
and the horn of all my dark larvae has been black in the final instar.

49 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/11/1952

All my dark Indian larvae had the spiracles black, but the paler of
the brown forms in Uganda often have them red-brown with the cen-
tral shit black. The green Kampala larva had the spiracles black, with
a narrow orange rim, and they were set in black spots.

Bell & Scott give fairly detailed descriptions and figure several
forms of Indian larvae in the Fuuna of British India, Moths, _v
(Sphingidae). They describe the dark form as having the horn and
spirac’es black, whilst the green form is described as having the horn
orange with the tip black and the spiracles orange-red edged nar-
rowly with dark green.

The darkening of the newly-hatched larva’s horn from a _ pinkish
colour to black is of fairly frequent occurrence in the Sphingidae. In
many species, also, a similar change of colour occurs after each moult.

So far as I am aware, the cause of dimorphism in Sphingid larvae

as not been discovered. Suggestions have been put forward that it
is tha result of response to environment, larvae that rest on or under
the soil producing the dark forms, whilst those that remain on the
food-plant produce the green. J do not think this is the correct ex-
panation, however. The larvae of the Choerocampinae fall naturally
into three groups, species that are always dark, species that are always
e@reen, and species that are dimorphic. One of the species always pro-
ducing a dark larva is Theretra oldenlandiae F.; the larva turns black
after the first moult, and appears always to rest on the food-plant.

My own opinion is that the dark forms are the result of increased
activity, which in some way alters the composition of the pigment.
This explanation would, I think, account for the fact that larvae kept
in an overcrowded state, and which would indulge in more movement
from mutual interference, tend to produce a high proportion of dark
forms, whilst larvae that wander from their food-plant to rest on or
under the soil by day would also produce dark forms. Larvae reared.
in isolation and larvae which did not wander from the food-plant would,
on the other hand, remain green.

Possibly, also, some genetic factor is involved. It may be that only
larvae that are heterozygous for the dark and green genes have the
power of producing either a dark or a green larva.

-It is a fascinating problem, but one that would require much time
and ingenuity to work out. Breeding Sphingids in large numbers
is not an easy matter as they consume such vast quantities of food.
Mr. Philpott’s sixty odd convelvuli got through a bushel of the food-
plant a day, and with the increased rate of growth in hot countries
this figure would, presumably, be exceeded.

Kampala, 23.x11.51.

Some Notes on Breeding Dasychira fascelina L.
By H. Symes, M.A.

In the December number of the Record last year (63: 278) Mr. K.
C. Greenwood appealed for information to anyone who had succeeded
in rearing Dasychira fascelina L. from the egg. Well, I have twice bred
a small series of fine specimens, so my experiences may be of interest,
and, I hope, of practical value.

SOME NOTES ON BREEDING DASYCHIRA FASCELINA L. 43

On 17th July 1945 I was taken by the Rev. F. M. B. Carr to a
locality at Ashley Heath, near Ringwood, Hampshire, where he had dis-
covered some D. fascelina a few days before. We found eleven females,
all more or less worn specimens, resting on top of the heather. I took a
few of these and obtained two batches of eggs, which began to hatch on
28th July. I kept the larvae for some weeks in metal boxes and fed
them on sallow. When they were large enough to be moved to a cage I
transferred them to a couple of celluloid cylinders. About the end of
September the larvae ceased feeding and collected round the tops of the
cylinders, protecting themselves by spinning a fiimsy web. I was living
in an hotel at the time and kept the cages through the winter on the
window-sill of a cold bedroom near a window that was open day and
night: it faced east, and the cages were placed so as to receive only the
earliest morning sunshine. A third batch of larvae was sleeved out on a
promising sallow bush in the grounds: all went well until February,
when the sallow, sleeve and all, was destroyed by the tidying zeal of
casual labour in the garden.

I have no record of the number of larvae that went into hiberna-
tion, but, speaking from memory, I think there were about three dozen
in the larger cylinder and two dozen in the smaller. Of all these, about
24 survived the winter.

At the earliest possible moment—the date was 24th February—I started
offering them food, which they accepted without hesitation. There is a
species of Prunus (P. cerasifera, I believe) which is sometimes to be
found growing in garden hedges, and in the south of England it has the
admirable habit of breaking out into leaf very early in the year, in
sheltered localities. I found it most useful in feeding hibernated larvae,
such as Gastropacha quercifolia, Panaxia dominula, and Triphaena
fimbriata, and this was what I gave my D. fascelina. In this connection,
if P. cerasifera is not procurable the purple P. pissardii is not to be de-
spised. When the sallows came into leaf I added this to the diet, and
the larvae fed up rapidly and were full-grown a month or six weeks
earlier than wild ones. Seventeen moths emerged, the earliest on 2nd
June, the latest on 26th June 1946. They were all very fine large speci-
mens: the two biggest females had a wing expanse of 56 mm. and the
smallest an expanse of 54 mm., compared with the 51 mm. and 50 mm.
of the two wild parents. The bred males had an average wing expense
of 46 mm.

The second time I bred this species was in 1949-50. I found a female
on a heath near Wareham, Dorset, on 25th July 1949: it was such a small
specimen that I thought it was a male until it laid some eggs, its wing
expanse being only 45 mm. I treated the larvae in their early stages in
the same way as my 1945 brood, but when the time approached for them
to stop feeding I sleeved about two dozen of them on a birch tree in my
garden and left them alone for the winter.

I examined the sleeve on 18th February 1950 and found that nearly
all the larvae were alive but showed no signs of activity. There was a
short cold spell at the end of the month, but early in March the weather
became very mild. I brought the larvae indoors and started feeding
them on Prunus as before. They fed up rapidly, but there were some
unexpected casualties when they were in their last skin. However,
twelve moths emerged, the first on 5th June and the last on 23rd June.
They were fine specimens, almost as large as those I had bred from

44 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

Ashley Heath parents. The largest female had a wing expanse of
54 mm. and the males averaged 44 mm. as compared with the 45 mm. of
their parent.

I have referred in some detail to the size of my bred specimens be-
cause I think it was due partly to bringing them indoors and giving
them food as early as possibie after hibernation, and partly to the fact
that Prunus and sallow are far more nutritious than heather, on which
the Wareham parents must certainly, and the Ashley Heath parents
probably, have fed.

The late Mr. C. Rippon, a most successful rearer of larvae, told me
that to get fine specimens from spring-feeding larvae it was essential to
keep them in an even temperature, protected from any sudden fall such
as is only too frequent in an English spring. A low temperature has a
bad effect on a larva’s appetite and it never recovers the ground it has
lost. I have always tried to follow his advice, and this has paid some
handsome dividends.

Collecting in the Isle of Man
By Colonel S. H. KersHaw.

From October 1940 to February 1943 I was Chief Instructor of an
0.C.T.U. in Douglas, Isle of Man, and one of my, chief duties was to
get the permission of landowners and farmers for our cadets to use
their land for schemes and exercises. I got to know well almost every
tenant south of the road from Douglas to Peel and many to the north
of it. I was given the greatest courtesy and help everywhere, and we
never had the permission to use land for training withdrawn in a single
instance. I thus had unrivalled opportunities of studying localities
and was helped by several keen cadets who reported anything interest-
ing, so that I could slip out and make a further reconnaissance after
working hours. If anyone is tempted by this article to spend a holiday
in Manxland may J stress the great importance of contacting the owner
of land on which he intends to collect and getting permission before he
vanders off the many footpaths. Permission is readily given, but woe
betide the collector who fails in this simple courtesy.

The island contains many interesting moths besides its speciality,
Iladena caesia Schiff., and although the number of butterfly species is
small, there is always the chance of a first-class ‘ var.’

For the first ten days after our arrival a thick sea mist hid even
Douglas Head from our billets and decided the butterflies to go into
winter quarters, but on a sunny day early in March 1941 I took a very
nice var. of Aglais urticae, with dead white replacing all the yellow
and a large part of the red on all four wings. The insect was very
noticeable when on the wing; but would it settle for more than half a
second? Not on your life! It took half an hour to net. This was
at a sharp turn in the steep lane leading from the Nunnery towards
Douglas Head.

Our next piece of luck was the capture of a deep sulphur-coloured
Pieris rapae at Langness by a cadet of the Royal Air Regiment, (then)
P.O. Winnell. I hope he got through safely and still has that, insect.

A remark of a Manx collector, Mr. Will Cowin, that the race of
Anthocaris cardamines near Ballaugh was often yellow (later on he ex-

COLLECTING IN THE ISLE OF MAN. AD5

plained that he was referring to the white areas which are often covered
with yellow scales like the Irish type) sent me off to the Ballaugh Cur-
raghs on the first fing whole holiday in May. Speaking from memory
it was the 16th. I was looking for the primrose-tipped male var., and
I netted two in the lane winding through the Curraghs; next I got an
intermediate, and then—the Museum Piece! A female which had
taken the male colour for the wing-tips but had chosen primrose in-
stead of orange. Three days later I went there with a friend, Mr.
Hedges of Ballavale, and he had the luck to take two more primrose-
tips, both males; I got a second intermediate. After I left the island
I learnt that two more male vars. were taken in 1946, so it is still
there. This A. cardamines race laid its eggs almost entirely on the
pink cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pratensis L.). The larvae did not seem
to be cannibals, perhaps because of the abundance of the foodplant.

In 1942 A. cardamines spread all over the island, as Celastrina
argiolus did last year; I met it on the Douglas esplanade and one
Sunday, when the trains do not run, I followed the Douglas-Peel rail-
way line as far as Crossby and Glenvine looking for more colonies. IL
found several, and at a sharp bend in the railway I found a colony of
P. megera in which several of the females had the median lines filled
in with black, and took a couple of them.

Later on, in August, I followed the lane leading off the Laxey-Bal-
laugh road right through the marsh and found my way to Ballaugh
Station. Thereafter I always used this means of entering the Curraghs
and it was lucky that I did so as I here came across a colony of Pararge
megera which was prolific in extra-spotted forewings, and one lucky
day I picked up a perfect gynandromorph Polyommatus icarus, left
half female, the rest male, making a nice pair with one which my
brother (G.B.K.) caught in North Wales. The road to the Curraghs
passes Ballaugh church and leaves the main road north at the first
turn beyond the churchyard, winding eastward to the north end of the
Curraghs. The colony of P. icarus was at a two-lane meeting, about
half-way to the Curraghs.

For Argynnis agliuia IT found the best spots were in the Sulby Glen
near and below the Rest House at the foot of the Tholt-y-Will hairpin
bend, at the waterfall some distance from and on the opposite side of
the road to the Rest House, and on the sea coast between Port Soderick
and Castletown.

CO. argiolus had disappeared from the Isle of Man list for some fifty
years unti! I reported it as occurring in small numbers on the Laxey
slopes of Snae Fell. Argynnis euphrosyne has similarly been absent for
much the same period but might be found at any time in its old locality
at Maughold Head. I do not think Argynnis selene has ever been re-
ported, and the same is true of Argynnis paphia and Argynnis cydippe.

I found a few Maniola tithonus south-west of Peel and on the sea
margin near Cas-y-Hawn; Apatura iris has been recorded, and an
old friend of mine, Mr. G. Clementson, saw a Nymphalis antiopa flying
on the railway line near Greeba. P. icarus has colonies all round the
coast, but I never saw Aricia agestis. Coenonympha pamphilus is
plentiful and addicted to double-spotting. I saw one Gonepteryx
rhamni flying near Port St. Mary, but it must have been a ‘ come-
over ’—to use a Manx phrase—as there is no buckthorn in the island.

46 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/11/1952

In 1943, after I had left the island, some friends of mine were lucky
enough to watch a large immigration of Vanessa atalanta coming in
over Rue Point for twenty minutes; they spread all over the island,
being reported from the Calf of Man and produced a very large autumn
brood. A few Vanesss cardui—it is not common ever—came with the
atalanta.

Langness is a good spot for Colias croceus and an occasional C.
hyale, and the thistles there serve as a foodplant for V. cardut. I+ is
a good bird locality too.

P. icarus and L. phlaeas occur in small quantities all over the island,
and one colony at the southern tip facing the Calf of Man is worth
watching for Irish-type females of P. icarus, whilst the mayweed Just
above sea-level in the numerous ravine-like coves here will produce the
larva of Cucullia chamomillae. In May-June the sea campion (Silene
maritima I:.), if searched about 8.0 a.m., will yield full-grown larvae
of the dark Manx form, capsophila, of Hadena lepida; as the sun gets
hot they retire under thick vegetation or into the soil.

A friend was on the top of South Barrule one day watching half a
- dozen Nymphalis io flying round and round the topmost pinnacle; they
circled the same rock for ten minutes, and my friend concluded that
five males were pursuing a female. To prove his theory he netted the
leader—a male! The others continued their circling and in turn he
netted five leaders—all males. Tha female was at the tail of the pro-
eession! Had they all got dizzy and the female overtaken the rear-
most without the males noticing?

The flat wind-swept extreme north of the island near Point of Ayr
is extremely interesting country; the shore is frequented by terns, gan-
nets, and oyster-catchers, the land covered with diminutive heather,
broom, gorse and the wild white rose, all dwarfed and rounded into an
uneven carpet of springy growth. It is not very attractive to butter-
flies, possibly because of the fierce winds which sweep the area and stunt
all plants.

I never took Pararge aegeria in the island but believe there are
some in the Manx Museum in Douglas.

The high coastal ridge running S.W. from Peel is worth working
for insects and flowers, but the whole island is well worth study as
within five years two Diptera new to the British Isles have been dis-
covered and there may be other undiscovered insects as well. One of
these Diptera was new to science and one was feeding on a Central
Kuropean Hupithecia! If the ‘ Pug’ turned out to feed on a hitherto
unknown plant Mr. Will Cowin would have brought off a pretty treble.

For bird lovers there are raven, chough, peregrine and many kinds
of duck and petrels. Port St. Mary is probably the best centre for
bird-watching, Peel and Douglas for butterflies, and Douglas for moths.
The authorities at the Manx Museum are always sympathetic and help-
ful, although my old friend the curator, Mr. Curphey, is no more. We
spent many early mornings searching for Hadena caesia larvae on the
cliffs of Buchan Head but without much success; our bag was nearly
all H. capsophila.

Note: In, Mona’s Isle ‘‘ Ballaugh ”’ is pronounced ‘‘ Ballarf ”’ and
‘“Maughold ” is ‘‘ Mackeld.”’

BUTTERFLIES SEEN ON A VISIT TO IRELAND IN AUGUST 1951. 47

Butterflies Seen on a Visit to Ireland in August 1951
By.Al Mi El aron. Meds:

During the last three weeks in August 1951 I toured round a good
part of Northern Ireland and Eire, but the weather was unfavourable
for butterflies. In spite of this I] saw eighteen varieties.

In Co. Fermanagh near Enniskillen I saw a yellow variety of Pieris
napi but failed to catch it as it disappeared over the inevitable high
hedge.

The next opportunity to observe butterflies came on the following
day (15th August) at Innch time near Ballysadare, Co. Sligo. I was
on the look-out for Leptidea sinapis, which I always fail to find. As
usual it did not appear, but J noted a few Pararge aegeria and Aphan-
topus hyperantus. Nymphalis io was plentiful here as in most of the
West and South of Ireland. They seem to become more numerous, as
I have noted them in nearly all the localities in which I have collected
this year, both in Ireland and England, from Witherslack to the
Broads. In contrast with this I have failed to note one Pyrameis
atalanta in either country this last season.

We had just started after lunch near Ballysadare when Argynnis
paphia put in its appearance near a wood. On stopping I was able
to catch a few, but they were all rather ragged as they are wont to be.
I later noted this butterfly in many of the woods in Co. Cork and Co.
Kerry, especially near Lough Curragh, Killarney and Glengariff.

I have already written of my visit to the Burren of Clare where |
found EHumenis semele to be plentiful. I also noted them on many
moors and rocky crags, both by the sea and quite high in the moun-
tains about Killarney, Glengariff, the top of the winding Tim Healey
Pass and about Waterville.

On 18th August, the day after arriving at Glengariff, we visited a
sheltered nook by the sea a few miles to the west and found Epinephele
tithonus in profusion. J saw them in only one other place near Water-
ville. On the same day I saw several Celastrina argiolus round Bantry
Bay. These were also seen about the Lakes of Killarney and Lough
Curragh, flitting among the numerous holly trees, and later at Water-
ville.

A few days later I noted Pararge megera near Bantry, Co. Cork,
and in the next week near Waterville. . In the same places Pararge
aegeria was seen.

After a week in Glengariff we went on to Waterville and my son
and I hunted all the local spots shown in Ford’s book for larvae of
Melitaea aurinia, but without success. On 27th August, when going
from Kilorglin to Killarney in search of Leptidea sinapis, we came on
a field full of scabious and this was covered with the webs of larvae of
Melitaea aurinia. On the following day we again found them in large
numbers on a promontory near Derrynane, Co. Kerry. They were to
be found almost down to the shore. I am attempting to bring some
of these through the winter under different conditions.

We saw or captured Gonepteryx rhamni on our return journey a
few miles out of Limerick, towards Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and later
in the day near Monasterevyin, Co. Kildare, where I once more failed
to find Leptidea sinapis,

48 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

Owing to the shipping strike I was unable to devote any time to
collecting or observing in the Dublin area.

Butterflies in a Hampshire Garden

By Paut H. Hotioway, F.R.E.S.

A country garden under the shelter of trees, mossy paths winding
through the flower-beds, a small pond surrounded by a floral-iridescent
sandstone rockery. An old, hollow apple tree in which numerous birds
have nested; the shrubbery screening the garden from the north wind,
from which many more birds make their vicious onslaught upon my
seedlings, and I let them do it, because they repay me with the dawn
chorus. I still remember the old ocak in the corner which was destroyed
by Cossus cossus, and at that time the nightly visits of Amphipyra pyra-
midea around the decaying bole, a few Mormo maura among them.
Near that spot now the Vanessids swarm over the buddleia. To the
north, a meadow of Lady’s Smock for the spring feast of Anthocharis
cardamines; to the east a field of ragwort for Callimorpha jacobaeae
and, beyond, the shelter of extensive woodlands known as ‘‘Park Hills’
for such lords of the air as Argynnis paphia and Inmenitis camilla. On
the south side an orchard and scattered bee-hives, with that parasite
of the bees the Honeycomb moth (Galleria mellon ela) being a source of
anxiety to my neighbour.

It pleases me to ruminate on the changing beauty of this garden
through the seasons: the vista of sun-drenched apple and pear blossom,
the dim scent of stocks creeping through the dusk, Polychrisia moneta
at the delphiniums at the close of a lovely summer day, the opening of
fiower after flower and the nightly sojourn of so many moths on the wild
eastern bank of nettles and cow-parsley; the ripening fruit and the
arrival of Vanessa atalanta; the rare aroma of autumn bonfires. In
winter, gaunt skeletons of trees against a background of grey skies,
and Aglais urticae and Nymphalis io accepting the hospitality of my
house; the song of thrushes giving promise of yet another spring.

T feel honoured that so many species of butterflies should have been
attracted by the riches of my garden, twenty-six in all, as the following
list indicates :—

Pararge aegeria. A casual appearance throughout each season.

P. megera. Mostly the second brood, especially fond of annual asters.

Melanargia galathea. A very rare visitor from scattered local colonies.

Eumenis semele. One appearance only, in 1942. The nearest known
locality is approximately four miles distant.

Manila tithonus. Quite common; one female ab. excessa appeared in
1941.

Maniola jurtina. A frequent visitor from surrounding pasture land.

Coenonympha pamphilus. Not common, preferring the adjacent
meadow.

Aphantopus hyperantus. Very rarely, from the ‘‘Park Hills’? wood-
lands a few hundred yards distant.

Vanessa atalanta. Loves the juices of autumn fruit and is often seen
in numbers. |

Vanessa cardwi. Sometimes visits the michaelmas daisies.

WIND CURRENTS AND FLYING INSECTS. 49

Aglais urticae. Always common in summer and after hibernation.
Nymphalis io. Seen more frequently after hibernation than in summer.
Polygonia c-album. Plentiful enough in company with V. atalanta on
fallen fruit, although imagines of the first brood are rarely seen.
Limemtis cumillu. A rare but welcome summer visitor from ‘‘ Park

Hills’’.

Polyommatus icarus. Greatly attracted by lavender bloom.

Celastrina argiolus. Occasionally flying around the trees but never
common.

Lycaena phlaeas. Fairly well represented, including the var. caeruleo-
puncta.

Pieris brassicae. The larvae favour foliage of nasturtium and stock.

Pieris rapae. Always common.

Pieris napi. Not as common as P. rapae but a fair number annually.

Anthocharis caurdamimes. Common every season; males always pre-
dominant.

Colias croceus. Pays a frequent visit in suitable seasons, including the
ab. helice.

Gonepteryx rhamni. More after hibernation than in summer.

Pyrgus malvae. Very rarely seen in the garden.

Thymelicus sylvestris. Not common but always occurs.

Ochlodes venata. Quite common every year.

Many years ago I netted a solitary Huphydryas aurinia in my neigh-
_bour’s garden. From whence it came remained a mystery, no locality
being known within several miles.

Every season the arrival of each butterfly is eagerly anticipated, and
I hope still to add to my list. Some glorious summer day I may dis-
cover the intrusion of some rarity like Nymphalis antiopa, or even
Pontia daplidice. But what a welcome intrusion !

Wind Currents and Flying Insects
By P. Srviter Smira.

Recently in these pages there have been a number of notes on the
subject of the effect of wind currents on flying insects and stating,
correctly in my opinion, that a flying insect could not tell the direction
of the air current in which it was flying. Important fundamental
principles are involved in this question, as there are in any matter
that involves action and motion. The mechanics of insect and bird flight
have been very widely misinterpreted for a long period of time and I
believe that, as a result, many misleading theories and speculations
have been advanced which obscure knowledge instead of advancing it.
The problem of insect flight and air currents is closely woven into the
problems posed by migration.

It is not particularly easy to convey clearly to a reader the circum-
stances in which an insect, flying in a wind or air current, is quite
unable to tell the direction in which that air current is moving. This is
nevertheless true, whether the wind is blowing at 10 miles an hour or 60
miles an hour. We ourselves judge that wind from our position, fixed
on the Earth; the wind blows at 60 miles an hour relative to the Earth.
If the insect settled on the Earth it could then tell at once the direction
of the wind and feel its strength. But when it is airborne it cannot do

50 FNTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

so (nor can a bird or airman) unless it could make a comparison by
sight which enables it to see the direction in which it is being blown.
Normally insects cannot do this unless they are very close to the ground,
but even if they could then visually observe their ‘“‘drift’’? they cannot
judge the strength of the wind by ‘‘feel’’.

An air-borne insect is not conscious of the wind and cannot be con-
scious of it; the only ‘‘draught”’ it can feel at all is that occasioned by
its own motion forwards. The nearest analogy that a human can en-
visage is in swimming. Imagine that you were able to swim under
water for very long periods; then imagine yourself miles out to sea,
with nothing in sight and extremely deep water below. Swim well down
under the surface and continue this for some time. You will be con-
scious that you are swimming steadily forwards—you will feel yourself
going directly forwards through the water. Yet in fact the tide may
be taking you directly backwards far faster than you are swimming
forwards; or it may be taking you to the left or to the right, or forwards
at twice the speed you are putting up yourself. But you will not be
able to tell that there even is a tide running, let alone tell its direction.
Just really stop a moment and try and imagine yourself in those condi-
tions; then I believe you will be able to visualise more easily the condi-
tions which determine that an insect is unable to tell the direction of
an air current.

Note that I am not now entering into the finer arguments as to
whether there are ever conditions in which an insect can in fact be
conscious of the wind-direction. J am speaking of the general conditions
of an air-borne insect in free flight well above the ground and I am
offering an analogy which I think makes the situation easier for a human
to grasp.

It must be remembered that we ourselves are in precisely that same
situation. We are not conscious of any movement, but not only are we
revolving—with the EKarth—but we are also travelling round the Sun at
a prodigious rate. We can observe this movement by watching the Sun—
we move relative to the Sun—but we are not conscious of the movement
nor of its direction. As to its speed, we have to be content with the
calculations of the astronomers.

Notes on Microlepidoptera

By H. C. Hueerns.

Myelois cribrella Hub. The stout full-fed larva of this moth can be
found commonly in most districts of south-east England in the dead
stems of thistles in winter or early spring. I find it commonest of all in
Onopordon. The stems, as usual, must be kept out of doors till the end
of May. Cribrella is much commoner than its appearance as a perfect
insect on thistle-flowers, or at light, suggests; frequently every plant of
Onopordon contains half a dozen larvae.

Cateremna terebrella Zinck. The larva of this moth, usually con-
sidered local and scarce, should be looked for in the dwarfed rough-
edged cones of spruce fir in the late winter and spring. These cones fall
in their first year and the scales do not lie smoothly like those of the
mature cone. The larva, which is white and transparent, showing the

NOTES ON LIFE HISTORIES, ETC. 51

central vessel clearly through the skin, feeds for two years, most of
which are usually spent on the ground. It was my custom when breed-
ing it to select the cones which had been on the ground for a year and
were often covered on the underside with white mould; they frequently
also had a small whitish-grey toad-stool or two growing on them. The
newer brighter dwarfed cones usually contained half-grown larvae which
had a year’s feeding before them and were difficult to rear. Terebrella
is another moth that is probably commoner than it is usually considered
to be; it was, I believe, unrecorded for Kent till I turned it up; but I
found it abundantly there in the only two old-established spruce groves
I visited.

Laspeyresia strobilella Linn. This moth can easily be obtained by
collecting the large fallen cones of spruce at the end of the winter. I
should say it is found in nearly all spruce groves and is usually abundant
and easy to rear, as the larva has only a one-year cycle.

Laspeyresia conicolana Heylaerts. The larva of this species is to be
found, often several in one cone, in cones of Scots fir in late winter and
early spring. There is usually no outward appearance of infestation, but
its presence may be inferred by the examination of old cones, when the
emergence holes in these may be detected, or a locality where the moth
has been seen flying may be selected. As conicolana is usually common
where it occurs a random selection of last year’s cones in such a place
is usually successful.

How many of us to-day use a boot-jack? Practically all entomologists
at one time or another use rubber knee-boots and the job of taking these
off, if they fit decently, is considerable; also when covered in mud they
are a pest to the hands in some lonely place when it is desirable to put
on shoes to drive home. My late friend, Mr. W. S. Gilles used to
smother the inside of his boots with tale powder, so that they came off
easily; but this did not obviate the mud difficulty, besides making his
garage smell like a lady’s bathroom. A boot-jack in the boot of the car
saves all this trouble; there is no need to have the silver-gilt one Rawdon
Crawley regretted not ordering when making an inventory of his effects
before Waterloo, and anyone can knock up one from two small pieces
of plank.

Notes on Life Histories, etc.

When are we going to be told the foodplant of that common, and
very lovely, Geometer Xanthorhoe designata Hufn.? In confinement it
can be reared on several plants of the Cruciferae, hence Barrett (Lep.
Br. Is., 8: 155) suggested that ‘‘it lives on those species of ‘cress’ which
are found in damp woods’’. But we have netted the moth outside dry
open woods on hills and its habitats are so diverse as to indicate a food-
plant that grows ‘‘everywhere’’. The Cruciferae are not a large family
and many of its members are very common plants—Tower Mustard,
Thale Cress, Lady’s Smock, Hedge Mustard, Flixweed, Garlic Mustard,
Treacle Mustard, Shepherd’s Purse, Penny Cress: one or more of these
is perhaps the foodplant. There are two broods and the larvae are full
grown normally in the first week of July and first week of September.
Will someone please investigate, in due season, in a place where the
imago was netted previously ?

Or
bo

FNTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 / TI / 1952

We have noticed that the larvae of Polyploca ridens and Drymonia
ruficornis often occur in the same places. Whenever our diaries record
the finding of P. ridens larvae in June they almost invariably record
(. ruficornis as well. Both are easy to find. Ridens construct retreats
by spinning two oak leaves loosely together, usually at the extremity
of an overhanging branch, though sometimes they inhabit the short
shoots that spring from the trunk, and in such situations we have found
them only three feet from the ground. Ruficornis is a lover of shade and
therefore favours the north (and open) side of a tree which stands at the
northern edge of a wood; but on occasion we have found it on trees
facing west and, when in the first instar, also on trunk shoots. Has
anybody else noticed this frequent association of the two species?

Orthosia munda is another species which has a preference for trunk
shoots. Being a cannibal by nature it should not be put in a cage with
other oak-feeding and more desirable species. It is easily identified—
brown with a bright orange head. We have noticed that it is partial
to ‘sugar’.

We need a word to denote the ‘‘activating principle’ of insects.
This double-barrelled expression will not do because the verb ‘to acti-
vate’ is used (teste the Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1949, Addenda, p.
1447) only by physicists and sewage-farmers. Also it is clumsy. ‘‘Life’”’
(defined by the same Dictionary as ‘state of ceaseless change’—which
incidentally might apply to an inanimate substance such as radium)
has too wide a connotation and often contains an element of time.
‘“Psyche’’ conjures up an association with Eros and properly denotes the
soul. ‘‘Psychic attribute’ is as bad as ‘‘activating principle’. ‘‘In-
stinct’’ is an omnibus word most often associated with an action. ‘‘Mind’’
has dozens of meanings, and ‘‘mental life’ is a tautology to the biopsy-
chologist. Perhaps the Latin word ‘‘anima’’, of which the primary
meaning is ‘‘the breath of life’’, is most suitable to our purpose.

Notes and Observations

PLuUsIA vaARIABILIs Pitt. & Mirr. (itLustRis Fas.) FRoM THE H.
Haynes Cortection.—On 28th November 1951, at the saie of the collec-
tion of the late Mr. H. Haynes of Salisbury, two males of Plusia vari-
abilis P. & M. were sold. In view of the extreme rarity of this species
in Great Britain it is I think worth while to give the details such as
are on the labels of these two specimens:—(1) Talsarnau, Merioneth,
Mrs. A. F.' Clarke, 16/8/1892; (2) Salisbury, 1888, W. I. Morgan. Ex
Crewe Collection. Neither example has been recorded to my knowledge.
If genuine they are of course of exceptional interest, and it would be
interesting if this be so, if someone can testify to their authenticity
and perhaps give further details of their history.

The recorded history of P. variabilis in Great Britain can be quite
briefly stated. It was reported to have been taken commonly on Salis-
bury Plain by Mr. Spratt (Stephens’ Haustellata, vol. 3), and E. Dono-
van stated that he took one in South Wales (Haworth’s Lep. Brit.).
All these captures were made prior to 1811. The only other published
record I can find is of a specimen which was taken at Castle Kevin,
Annamore, Co. Wicklow, by Miss Alice Hull in August 1887 (Kane’s |
Lep. of Ireland).—J. M. CHatMers-Huvnt.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 53

[Plusia variabilis may be a casual immigrant to this island but it
certainly has never bred here, since its known foodplants are Aconituni
lycoctonum, A. anthora, and Thalictrum aquilegifolium, none of which
is a British plant. The notorious dealer W. Plasted supplied Dr. Leach,
J. Sparshall, T. Marshall, E. Shepherd, Dr. Abbott, Spratt, and other
contemporary collectors with specimens which he asserted were ‘“‘taken
on Salisbury Plain’’. One of Dr. Leach’s specimens afterwards came
into the cabinet of the Rev. Henry Burney, and others doubtless still
exist. Plasted was an unmitigated nuisance. He supplied his cus-
tomers with LTycaena chryseis, all alleged to have been ‘‘taken in Ash-
down Forest’’, in such abundance that by 1837 a contributor to one of
the magazines wrote ‘‘It is in every collection of importance, sometimes
a whole series . . .. to be purchased abundantly of the dealers’’.
Latham, Humphreys, Seaman, Argent, Tucker, Ardley, Jamrach and
Askew were others who were flooding English cabinets with Continental
specimens at that time, so that a year or two later Edward Newman
suggested that antiopa, lathonia, podalirius and chryseis should be re-
named askewti, jamrachi, argentu and tuckeri ‘‘in compliment to those
distinguished entomologists who supply us with these delicacies on such
liberal terms’’. It is due to Plasted that Synvaleria oleagina still occurs
in our textbooks, although not a single specimen of this insect has ever
been taken in this island.—P.B.M.A. ]

EUPITHECIA INTRICATA ZETT. SPP. ARCEUTHATA FRR. IN Hants.—I have
in my collection two specimens of this species, each labelled ‘‘New
Forest, May 1939, W. H. Jackson’’.—J. M. Cuatmers-Hunt. 17.xii.51.

EUPITHECIA MILLEFOLIATA ROSSLER: AN Earty ReEcorp.—Recently
Mr. D. S. Fletcher of the British Museum, Natural History, kindly
identified for me several specimens of the genus Eupithecia which |
had taken over a number of years. Among them was a large female
which had keen included in a series of H. subnotata. It has turned out
to be FE. millefoliatu. The special interest lies in the fact that I took
it in the woods at Ham Street, Kent, on 7th August 1933, which is six
years before the capture in 1939 by Mr. Austin Richardson of the ex-
ample trom Sandwich which up till now has constituted the first British
record of this Pug. It is very likely that further examples lie hidden
in collections of even earlier date, thus establishing this species as one
of long standing which has been overlooked.—C. G. M. pr Worms.
Three Oaks. Shore’s Road, Woking, 5.xii.51.

Earty APPEARANCE OF HRANNIS LEUCOPHAEFARIA ScHIFF.—A specimen
of this species appeared at Mr. B. S. Goodban’s m.v. light trap at Duns-
fold, Surrey, on 21st December 1951—a somewhat premature ‘Spring
Usher’.—W. E. Minnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middlesex.
alexi coikt ;

[We can find no previous record of this species having been taken
in December. The earliest date recorded in this magazine is 3rd
January.—ED. |

EarLty APPEARANCE OF PANOLIS FLAMMEA ScCHIFF.—On 6th January
1952 a newly emerged ¢ Panolis flammea. Schiff. (piniperda Panz.) was
taken in the New Forest by my friend Mr. P. W. E. Batstone, who
presented me with the living specimen on the following day. It was

54 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 / 11/1952

found resting on a rhododendron leaf in the vicinity of pines.—Paux H.
Hottoway, Warwick House, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hants. 7.1.52.

PROBABLE SECOND Broop or CAMPABKA MARGARITATA LINN. IN 1951.—At
m.v. light at Broad Oak, near Canterbury, Kent, on 2lst September
1951, I noted among other species 8 specimens of Campaea margaritata
L. These consisted of 7 ¢6¢ and 19. I suspect they are second brood
examples, in spite of the fact that they are all rather worn. The alar
expanse is considerably less than that of any in my series of June and
early July specimens taken this year (1951) and in years gone by, the
2 being 36 mm., smallest ¢ 30 mm., and largest ¢ 35 mm. Of the
June and July examples in my series none measures less than 40 mm.
and some females are nearly 50 mm. TI have occasionally read of a
probable second brood with this species but had not previously had ex-
perience of it myself.—J. M. Cuatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue,
West Wickham, Kent. 17.xu.51.

EUPISTA PRIGERELLA (FoRD): ANOTHER SurREY Locatiry.—On page
248 of the November (1951) issue of the Record there is a note by me of
the occurrence of this species at Riddlesdown. These were taken on the
7th October. Later, on 2nd November, I found some larvae at Ran-
more. Walking along a by-road to the south of the downs—near the
Dorking to Guildford railway line—I saw a fine lot of seedheads of
Erigeron acris (Blue Fleabane) growing on the slope to the railway side
of the road. A careful search of these eventually brought to light one
larva (or rather a larval case), and in about half an hour I had found
three in all. Apparently it is not common in Surrey, although in Kent
it is sometimes locally quite common. The moth is rarely seen wild and
would be difficult to recognise even if taken. This, however, applies
to many species of the micros. It seems probable that this species will
be found to occur in other places along the North Downs, although [|
have previously searched for it in vain in the Boxhill district.—S.
WakeEty, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5. 4.1.52.

Were Trey Minvcia LuNARIS ScHirr.?—The following appeared in
The Entomologist’s Record in 1894 (5: 217):—‘‘ The most startling re-
cord of the year thus far, however, is the capture of two larvae of
Catephia alchymista in Abbot’s Wood on July 5th by Mr. H. W. Shep-
heard-Welwyn (misprint for Walwyn). These larvae would undoubtedly
have been objects of interest had they been exhibited at one of the
London Societies’ meetings, but they spun up next day. One would
hardly have expected that any resident British entomologist would
have been able to identify larvae of ('. alchymista off-hand and pro-
bably the record is erroneous. It would also be well to enquire whether
July 5th is at all a likely date for the pupation of larvae of this
species.’’ I can find no record that these larvae produced moths, but
IT think they were much more likely to have been larvae of Muinucia
lunaris than Catephia alchymista.—kK. A. C.

A Norr on Breepine Papinio macHaon L.—On 23rd June I received
two female specimens of this fine butterfly from a friend on holiday in
the Norfolk Broads. The insects arrived alive, but much the worse for
their journey by post, and J had to unwind the proboscis of each with
a needle in order to persuade them to begin feeding on honey and sugar

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 55

solution. They recovered quickly and I put them on carrot leaves in
full sunshine for three days; but no eggs were laid. On 27th June my
friend sent me a few sprays of hog’s fennel (Peucedanum palustre)
from the Broads, and within a couple of hours after replacing the carrot
with this plant eggs began to appear. I left a stem of carrot leaf with
the fennel, but it received no eggs throughout the whole period of lay-
ing, which lasted until lst July, when both insects died. I counted 133
eggs. A number of these failed to hatch. The first larvae appeared on
5th July and I had no trouble in rearing them on garden carrot leaves.
The last pupated on 19th August and [ now have 94 healthy pupae.—
J. Newton, 11 Oxleaze Close, Tetbury, Glos. 31.xii.51.

UnusvuaL Dates or EMERGENCE.—The following late dates may be ut
interest: Orgyia antiqua L. ¢ drying its wings 3rd December; this was
on an apple-tree right out in the open away from any shelter; the
cocoon was on a thin twig and quite exposed to all weather. Two move
Nycterosea obstipata Fab. $d were taken in my light-trap since my
last notes (Hnt. Rec., 63: 281), one on 10th November and one on the
13th. A ¢ Caradrina clavipalpis Scop. in good condition came to my
light on 16th December and also a ¢ Phigalia pedaria Fab. This last
is, | suppose, rather early —A. J. Dewick, Curry Farm, Bradwell-on-
Sea, Essex. 3.1.52.

[There are a good many records of P. peduria emerging in December ;
e.g. Barrett (Lep. Br. Is., 7: 137) mentions specimens taken on 14th
and 15th of that month. The earliest record we know is 15th November
1948 (see page 20: of last month’s issue).—Ep. |

PupaTION SiTp or Cossus cossus L.—Whilst examining a recently
fallen poplar (Populus nigra L.) known to be infested with Cossus cossus
larvae I found several empty cocoons of this species. When the tree
was standing one of these cocoons would have been between twenty-five
and thirty feet from the ground. I have noted empty pupae cases pro-
truding from trees here on several occasions, but in each instance they
have been within five feet of the ground. It would he interesting to
know if C. cossus often pupates high up or if this was an isolated case.
—R. F. Brrcnenoucn, 8 Ravenswood Crescent, West Wickham, Kent.
6:1.52.

P.D.B. anp Movitp.—On returning to a house from which I had been
absent for five years I found in an attic a smali glazed cardboard show-
case, 12 x 8 x 2. Apparently it was empty, but as I had some recol-
lection of filling it with small butterflies before leaving home I examined
it more closely and then found that it was entirely filled, from cork to
glass, with a white mould, the filaments of which almost resembled
cottonwool. Standing beside the case was a bottle of paradichlor-
benzine, and muttering to myself ‘‘no harm in trying it’? I opened the

case and put a lump of p.d.b. in each corner, then replaced the lid and
_ put’ the case back on the shelf. A couple of months later I chanced to
catch sight of this case again and on taking it up saw, to my very great
astonishment, that it contained no mould at all but a series of hair-
streaks which looked as fresh as though they had been set the previous
day. Has anybody had a similar experience? I hesitate to assign such
a ‘miracle’ (as indeed it seemed) to the p.d.b.: the saying post hoc, ergo
propter hoc springs to mind! But if any reader of these lines ever has

56 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

an opportunity to confirm or disprove my ‘experiment’ I hope he wilt
report in this magazine.—P. B. M. Aran.

Reparrinc BrokEN SpeciMeNS.—In some recent correspondence with
a colleague I had occasion to mention a method of repairing broken
specimens which I discovered when a boy. I pass on the methed tor
what it is worth since I do not recall ever having seen 1t suggested in
print, or for that matter hearing of its use by other workers. The
method is simply to use ordinary rubber solution such as is employed
in the mending of bicycle punctures. This substance has the advantage
of a spirit gum in its quickness of drying (it may be assisted to this
end by blowing on it) but also has the added quality of leaving the
union resilient and thus better able to withstand shocks received in
future handling. With practice it soon becomes easy in most instances
to use the solution so that it cannot readily be detected. So far the
method has withstcod the test of time (up to about sixteen years or
more). I have also found the solution useful for mounting certain types
of specimen—either on card or in life history studies—especially where
the specimen is large and has a highly polished surface to which normal
gums do not adhere sufficiently firmly to allow much handling. Natur-
ally the method is not suitable for ail occasions, and of course some
makes of solution are more suitable than others. Those which go red
on drying are usually best avoided.—D. K. McK. Kevan, University
of Nottingham. 30.x11.51.

SETTING SPEED.—£ome years ago, I kept notes over a fairly lengthy
period of the time I spent setting and preparing specimens for the
cabinet. I found that on the average, to set, take off the boards and
label each specimen took 7 minutes. That was allowing for ordinary
good setting, not really special setting, but forelegs out, body sup-
ported, etc.; it covers solely the operations of setting, taking off the
boards and writing in Indian Ink the label, cutting it out and fixing
to the pin. I always assumed I was slow at this work and I imagine
most people could average a lot less time. 7 minutes each for a small
collection of 5,000 insects, on the basis of a 40 hour working week re-
presents 34 months of solid work. Just an idle thought!—P. Stvirrer
SMITH.

[Apparently our correspondent .uses setting-boards with ‘braces’ or
transparent paper strips. Setting-blocks, on which the wings are kept
in position by winding silk or fine cotton round the block, is mwceh the
quicker way.—P.B.M.A. ]

Collecting Notes

LEPIDOPTERA AT WESTON-SUPER-MARE IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER.—
In continuation of my Note in Hint. Rec. last November (63: 252) it may
be of interest to mention that light in my garden during the above
months produced very little. In October the nights were dry but cold
and in November generally very wet. There were several Gripesia
aprilina in October and a few Poecilocampa popula and Brachionycha
sphing in November, but otherwise only a few ordinary species. Ivy on
the other hand during October and early November was rather more
prolific than usual. Several common moths abounded on the blossoms

COLLECTING NOTES. | 57

after dark. Of the better species Lithophane socia was commoner than
in recent years and there were also a few Lithophane semibrunnea. I
was glad to see Xylena vetusta after an absence of some years.—C. S. H.
Bratuwayt, 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. 12.xii.51.

LEUCANIA VITELLINA Hus. IN SurreEy.—The occurrence of Leucania
vitellina Hub. in Surrey must be unusual, so it is interesting to record
the capture of this insect at ivy blossom on 27th October 1951 at Duns-
fold by Mr. B. S. Goodban.—W. E. Mrnnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue,
Pinner, Middlesex. 31.xi1.51.

LITHOPHANE SEMIBRUNNEA Haw. aNnp THE M.V. Lame.—With refer-
ence to the recent Notes on this species (Hnt. Rec., 63: 251, 252, 295,
296) Mr. B. S. Goodban found twelve on one patch of ivy at Dunsfold,
Surrey, between 18th and 27th October 1951, while during the same
period only one appeared at a m.v. lamp trap some 20 yards away at
the other side of a house.—W. E. Mrynion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue,
Pinner, Middlesex. 31.xii.51. .

AuTUMN Spreciges IN Kent.—Insects were so scarce in my neighbour-
hood this last autumn that there was no temptation to go far afield.
Pararge aegeria was seen on 5th October here. I spent ten days at
Broadstairs in mid-October. We had plenty of sunshine, but only a
few Pierids and A. urticae were flying. V. atalanta was seen once on
ivy blossom by day and a few Phlogophora meticulosa at night, no other
moths. Orgyia antiqua 2 on 17th October. On returning home ivy
was past its best and I saw only one Miselia oxyacanthae and one
Conistra vaccinii, no Xanthias. Two Colias croceus were seen here in
October. Later I saw only two Colotois pennaria and two Erannis de-
foliaria, with a few Oporinia dilutata, Operophtera brumata, and O.
boreata (fagata). A fresh P. meticulosa was taken, wings just expanded,
on 23rd November. No Poecilocampa populi have flown in to light.—
G. V. Butt, White Gables, Sandhurst, Kent. 5.1.51.

OcroBeR ButtrerRFLIes.—While spending a long week-end in Wales
in October the weather was very unscttled, with bright intervals dur-
ing the days, and cold nights with temperature about freezing point.
In spite of this I saw a Pieris brassicae and a Pararge megera flying on
the morning of 23rd October in a sheltered valley behind Colwyn Bay.

Monday, 26th, was very cold and I did not expect to see any more
butterflies on the wing. In spite of this, while walking on the Great
Orme on 27th the sun came out and the temperature rose considerably.
T was not altogether surprised to see Aglais urticae and Nymphalis io,
but to my amazement one Humenis semele came and settled just beside
me. It was of course the special type associated with that region, which
is usually earlier on the wing than the larger type. I have previously
seen them there quite early in July. One wonders if this was a member
of a second brood as it was fairly fresh. This seems unlikely in a year
such as we have had.

Although all moths were very scarce, this being particularly notice-
able at ivy bloom, I caught one of particular interest, Oporinia autwm-
nata. I saw several on the west side of the Conway Valley. They rose
‘from the birch trees and were quickly carried aloft by the strong wind.
They simulate Oporinia christyi Prout, but are easily distinguished

58 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/11/1952

when you have them side by side. I took one of the latter at light near
Selby about the beginning of October while successfully inspecting sugar
for Catocala nupta. According to my old edition of ‘South’ there is
only one record of Oporabia autumnata having been found in Wales.—

A. M. R. Heron, M.B., Ch.B., 108 George a Green Road, Wakefield.

FurtHer Notes on LEPIDOPTERA IN THE TETBURY (GLos.) AREA, 1951.
—Since my notes dated 7th October and printed in the November issue
(Ent. Rec., 63: 251) I have only seen, in addition to species already
given, Agrochola macilenta on 13th October, which I find not so com-
mon as A. lota here, and Lithophane socia on 18th October.

On 21st April 1951, I took a female Xylocampa areola at rest on a
tree trunk. I kept it alive until 19th May,-by which time it had laid
387 eggs. On opening the abdomen of the dead moth I found 9 eggs
remaining.

In September a friend who was staying in the Isle of Jura sent me
a series of unset specimens of Huxoa tritici. I have also examined
specimens in other collections and I feel convinced now that all those
I have taken in Tetbury and district are of the form aquilina Hiibner,
which are noticeably larger and of a paler brown.—J. Newton, 11 Ox-
leaze Close, Tetbury, Glos. 31.x11.51. aerate

[Euroa aquilina Schiff. is a species distinct from EH. tritici, but there
is a form of tritici which resembles aquilina and this is thought by some
entomologists to be a third species.—Ep. ]

DIP EE aA

A Note on the Mugwort-stem Fly, Oxyna

parietina Linn.
By L. Parmenter, F.R.E.S.

This fly appears to be known, so far, from few localities in Britain.
Now that we have a colour plate and a brief life history devoted to it
in Colyer and Hammond’s Flies of the British Isles, it is hoped that
further knowledge of the creature will be obtained.

Turning over my notebooks I found that I bred the species in 1947
from pupae gathered under the guidance of Mr. H. Britten, jun., at
Coulsdon, Surrey. The flies emerged in mid-May about the time—22nd
May 1947—when I swept a pair off Umbelliferae at Swanscombe
marshes, Kent. Previously it had been recorded from Kent in June by
H. W. Andrews, and in Yorkshire, 3rd-27th June, by W. D. Hincks.
Mr. Andrews some years ago very kindly gave me a few pairs he had
bred from Eltham, Kent, in May 19438.

Stems of Mugwort, Artemesia vulgaris L., were collected in May after
a stem had been split and had proved to hold dark brown to black
pupae, just under the epidermis. These occupied stems appeared to be
tougher than unoccupied stems and one wondered how the flies emerged.
Examining the split stem it was found that each pupa was tilted towards
a ‘‘ window ’’; the stem had been scraped so thin that light could be
seen through the skin remaining. In a length of stem seven inches long
were 29 pupae varying in colour from brown to black with dark brown
at one end. In some this lighter end was greyish olive. One very dumpy

A NOTE ON THE MUGWORT-STEM FLY, OXYNA PARIETINA L. 59

yellowish white larva was found with mouth hooks well withdrawn and
a rounder shape than the pupae.

On emergence the wings were light golden in colour but soon dar-
kened; the ovipositor of one female turned from light yellow to black
within 15 minutes.

Sluggish at first, they walked about with wings held at an acute angle
from the sides, occasionally flashing them open. The males emerged
first but although a few females were out on the same day they never
became as numerous, males being nearly three times as many as the fe-
males.

To watch them more closely I took my Greenough-type binocular off
its stand and, using it as a field-glass, I turned on a table-lamp. The
light, or its heat, increased the activity of the flies immediately, causing
them to run and to jerk their wings more quickly. Shifting the hght
from one end of the jar to the other brought instant reaction from the
flies. Examining the flies the next day, activity had noticeably de-
creased despite an hour of lamp-light.

Five days after emergence I found that I had unfortunately over-
looked a few of the flies left in a small collecting tube. They had lived
without moisture or food for the full five days!

At the time I was distracted by more exciting field work and now
feel I missed an opportunity to find out more of the fly’s life-history.
Perhaps others will assist in adding details, describing the early stages,
the vice-county distribution, etc. Professor Varley, A. C. Baker, ef al.,
have shown how interesting are the shapes of the eggs of Trypetidae.
Anyone attempting to describe the early stages of parietina would be
well advised to study Professor Varley’s 1937 paper.

Mr. J. EK. Collin has given us a key to the genera of the Trypetidae
and a key to the species of Oxyna, the latter repeated by Mr. H. W.
Andrews in two papers, illustrated in one. These with the plate in
Colyer and Hammond’s book will enable all dipterists in this country to
identify the fly.

An examination of mugwort stems during the months prior to May
would locate the breeding territories. Some attention should be paid
to habitat, for though the plan favours waste ground, not all the affected
plants I have found have been in full shelter from the wind.

Messrs. Niblett and Andrews have quoted the species as being re-
ported to form galls, presumably quotations from Houard or Séguy. I
suspect here a mistaken identity, for Paroryna misella Lw. forms galls
on mugwort and is superficially somewhat similar. Confirmation of the
breeding of parietina from a gall is still desired.

I have not bred any parasites from parietina material although
Chalcidae attacking several species of Trypetidae are present at Couls-
don. When parasitism is discovered it should be borne in mind that Mr.
Niblett has shown with other Trypetidae that parasitism by Chalcidae
may cause premature pupation.

Mr. Collin has suggested that the fiight time of the adult may be
very short. It seems to be so in several other Trypetidae and the flies
may be very restricted in their habitat, being confined to Artemisia for
breeding. Professor Warley estimates the life of Urophora jaceana
Hering as averaging one month in the wild for the species, with a
female living probably not more than one week. In his laboratory breed-
ing experiments he has kept them alive longer by providing sugar food.

60 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

Moreover, he has shown that feeding on sugar increased the fecundity.
This suggests that in the wild, nectar feeding may assist females in erg
production. Therefore, a spell of sunny weather not only keeps the fly
more active but, by keeping flowers open and stimulating nectar fiow,
may result in an abundance of eggs one year with a host of flies the fol-
lowing, year.

Dr. Hanna, however, has demonstrated that cane sugar and nectar
produce only carbohydrates, and females of Ceratitis capitata Wied.
when fed only on cane sugar did not lay their full complement of eggs,
as protein is also required for egg production. But Dr. Hanna found
that when fed on protein only, such as a water solution of egg, the files
lived only seven days and laid no eggs. However, protein plus cane
sugar produced optimum results. The observation of the feeding of
adult parietina flies in the field would, therefore, be worth recording.
My captures of the adults at Swanscombe may have been of flies taking
nectar at the flower table of the umbellifers I swept. Another chance of
useful observation missed !

Although I found pairs of parietina in coitu in my breeding jars I
omitted to time them nor even noted any sign of display prior to
coupling. Dr. Hanna found that Ceratitis capitata mated between
9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and the coupling lasted between 1-3 hours, averaging
2 hours 10 minutes.

Dr. Hanna also observed the attraction to light by the species he
studied and noted that in summer shade was preferred and in winter,
sunny locations. He ured this observation in placing his traps for
C. capitata, the pest of peaches and citrus fruits.

Another point which might be studied is dispersal. Professor Varley,
using ‘‘ Robialine’’ enamel, marked a number of Urophora jaceana,
and 14 days afterwards found that some of the fiies had travelled up to
22 yards. As parietina, at present, is only known to oceur in widely
separated localities, testing its rate of dispersal in its presumably short
flight time, would be interesting.

Contributors to the Ent. Record have already considerably advanced
our knowledge of the distribution and habits of the Trypetidae in
Britain and may, therefore, care to pay some further attention to
parietina.

REFERENCES.

Andrews, H. W. 1940. Oxyna (Tephritis) parietina L., in N. Kent. Ent.
Record, 52: 96-7.

—, 1941. Paroxyna misella, Lw., and Oxyna parietina, L. (Diptera: Trypeti-
dae). Proc. S.L.E. & N.H.S. 1940-81: 36-38.

Baker, A. C., Stone, W. E., Plummer, C. C., and McPhail, M. 1944. A Review of
Studies on the Mexican Fruitfly and reiated Mexican species. U.S.
Dept. of Agriculture Misc. Publ. 531 :1-155.

Collin, J. E. 1915. Variation in the wing-markings of Tephritis (Oxyna) flavi-
pennis Lw. Ent. Record 27: 57.

——, 1947. The British Genera of Trypetidae (Diptera) with notes on a few
species. Ent. Record 59: Suppl. 1-14, Corr. 36.

Colyer, C. N., and Hammond, C. O. 1951. Flies of the British Isles. London 1-383.

Hanna, A. D. 1947. Studies on the Mediterranean Fruit-fly Ceratitis capitata
Wied. Bull. Soc. Fouad. ler Entom. 31: 251-285.

Hincks, W. D. 1946. A Preliminary List of Yorkshire Trypetid Flies. Naturalist.
4946 : 101-107.

Houard, C. 1998-13. Les Zoocécidies des Plantes d’Europe et du bassin de la
Méditerranée. Paris.

THE COLECPTERA OF A SUBURBAN GARDEN. 61

Niblett, M. 1939. Notes on Food-plants of the Larvae of British Trypetidae.
Ent. Record. 51: 69-73.

Séguy, E. 1934. Faune de France: 28 Dipteres (Brachyccres) (Muscidae
Acalypterae et Scatophagidae). Paris. 1-832.

Varley, G. C. 1937. The life history of some Tryjpetid flies, with descriptions of
the early stages (Diptera). Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (A.). 12: 109-122.

——, 1947. The Natural Control of Population Balance in the Knapweed gall-fly
(Urophoru jaceana). J. An. Ecol., 16: 139-187.

COMPO PVE IVA

The Coleoptera of a Suburban Garden

4—Rhynchophora
By A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
(Continued from Vol. 63, page 259.)

CURCULIONIDAB

Apion ulicis Forst.—One specimen by sweeping long grass under
apple trees, 28.v.51; presumably a casual visitor, as there is no Ulex
in the garden or (as far as I know) anywhere near.

Apion malvae F.—An example of this mallow-feeder was taken under
the same conditions as the last, and on the same day; the host-plant,
again, is absent from the garden, and hollyhock—on which it might live
—does not appear to yield the species here.

Apion miniutum Germ.—By sweeping herbage; one specimen only,
6.vi.51. So far not found by searching dock, on which it feeds.

Apion haemutodes Kby.—One swept from coarse grasses in Sept.
1950. Its pabulum here is most likely common sorrel (liumex acetosa),
since R. acetosella probably does not occur.

*Apion varipes Germ.—A specimen was beaten out of old ivy on a
‘wall, where it was evidently hibernating, 11.x1.51. Said to be very
local, but it seems to be found, sparingly, in most districts.

Apion upricans Hbst.—Singly by sweeping in weedy places; very
scarce; first noted 6.vi.51, and a few more subsequently. Like the last
species, associated chiefly with red clover (Trifolium pratense).

Apion assimile Kby.—On species of clover and by sweeping mixed
herbage; taken only sporadically between May and August of the last
three years, though in most places one of the commonest of this group
of the genus.

Apion aestivum Germ. (=trifolii Bach, Fowl.).—As for the preced-
ing species; apparently rare, but quite possibly confused in the past
with ussimile; the sole record seems to be of one specimen, 28.v.51.

Apion dichroum Bed. (=flavipes Payk.).—By general sweeping on
lawns and waste places, from spring to autumn; not abundant, but
easily the commonest of the red- or yellow-legged Apions in the garden.
Odd specimens also found wintering in refuse, under pear log, at grass
roots, and in ivy, holly tree, and hawthorn hedge. Lives mainly on the
white clover (7. repens).

Apion nigritarse Kby.—One example beaten from old ivy on a wall,
together with a few of the last species, 6.xi.51. (Everywhere much less
common than A. dichrowm in my experience.)

62 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 13/11 / 1952

Apion hookeri Kby.—A specimen, probably accidental, was swept off
long grass under apple trees, 5.vi.51. | have not noticed any otf its
foodplants (Matricaria and Anthemis spp.) in the garden, though M.
Chumomilla grows on some of the roadsides nearby. Like A. malvae
above, it may have strayed from the adjoining field.

Apion aeneum F.—On hollyhocks (Althaea rosea) in company with
the next, but usually very sparing or not to be seen at all amongst the
numerous A. radiolus. However, on 15.x.51 it outnumbered the latter,
and a week later the two species were in roughly equal quantity. First
noted 18.v111.51.

Apion radiolus Kby.—In profusion from spring to late autumn on
hollyhocks, to which it does considerable damage; quite the most abun-
dant species of this large genus in the garden. Unlike most of them it
feigns death for some time in the net- Many pairs m cop. observed in
late May and early June.

*A pion pubescens Kby.—This very Iccal species has occurred in some
small numbers at intervals from July to September in the past two
years by sweeping over a lawn, and odd examples shaken off michaelmas
daisy and golden-rod flowers bordering it. Not found in other parts of
the garden. Foodplant very doubtful; possibly here Prunella vulgaris,
which grows on the lawn—as in Cornwall I took it at roots of plants which
usually included thyme, on several occasions; certainly not willow in
this case, there being no Salix anywhere near.

Apion violaceum Kby.—A single specimen swept from. common dock
(Rumex obtusifolius) on a patch of waste ground, 21.v.51.

Apion curtirostre Germ. (=humile Germ.).—By sweeping mixed
vegetation; very infrequent (iv.49, vili.50 (2), 4.v1.51). Feeds on sorrel
and perhaps other species of Rumez.

Otiorrhynchus singularis L. (=picipes F.).—Not uncommon in recent
years in spring and early summer under clods and boards, etc., and at
roots of fruit trees and herbage; occasionally later in the season by
general sweeping (latest date 21.v11.50).

Otiorrhynchus sulcatus F.—In like situations, but more strictly noc-
turnal in habits as I have never taken it by sweeping; found most freely
in spring at roots of grass and in the soil along the base of a fence. One
indoors in radiogramophone (!) in June. Larvae dug up out of. turf,
15.iv.51, adults emerged about a month later. Less common in August;
three under stones, 18.vi11.51. First seen May 1944.

Phyllobius pyri J4.—Unaccountably scarce; two specimens knocked
off Pyracanthus blossom in June 1950 are all that have occurred.

Phyllobius parvulus Ol. (=viridiaeris Fowl.).—One by sweeping cr
beating shrubs (pear foliage?) in the same month as the last. This
genus of mostly common weevils is remarkably poorly represented.

Barypithes pellucidus Boh.—Not rare from about the end of March
to June, after which 1t becomes less frequent; singly at roots of herbage,
and by sweeping grass especially in warm weather after rain, but chiefly
under planks, etc., and pieces of boarding placed on soil near currant
and other bushes as traps. More than four individuals have been found
beneath one such trap, but this is exceptional. Latest date 18.viii.51
(one under stone). First taken 1929. Considered very local, but seems
common enough in the south-east.

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 63

Sitona lineatus L.—By sweeping clover and other low plants, April
to October ; not at all plentiful, but noted at intervals from 1927 onwards.
Our beans and peas seem free from its attentions.

Sitona lepidus Gyll. (=flavescens Marsh.).—As tor the last, except
that it is decidedly more common.

Sitona hispidulus F.—The commonest of the genus in the garden,
though never abundant; found throughout the summer ; several at roots
of clover in April, and two swept off the same plants in mid-October.

Phytonomus rumicis L.—A single example taken from a leaf of dock
in April 1929 (the first I ever found) is still the only record. To me this
species has never been plentiful anywhere.

Phytonomus nigrirostris F.—Has likewise occurred but once, flying
on a hot day in April 1930. (The rarity of this genus in the garden is
strange, seeing that several are clover feeders and generally distributed ;
at least two other species should occur.)

Tychius (Miccotrogus) picirostris F. —Rather common, in summer by
sweeping clover and various weeds, from autumn to spring at roots of
vegetation. Noticed only in recent years, but almost certainly over-
looked earlier.

*Sibinia primita Hbst. (=signata Gyll. nec Joy, arenariae Joy in
error).—This beautiful little weevil has turned up unexpectedly during
the past year by ones and twos on the flowers of golden-rod (Solidago)—
which have proved attractive to beetles—from July to September. Less
than a dozen have been taken so far; two only by general sweeping, the
first off grass beneath fruit trees in June 1950. Foodplant uncertain;
it should be one of the Caryophyllaceae; I thought it might be chick-
weed (Stellaria media), which abounds, but could not find the beetle on
it.

Anthonomus pomorum L.—The ‘Apple weevil’ does not trouble ™s
unduly here, as all I have been able to discover is one specimen, by beat-
ing an apple tree in July 1950.

Anthonomus rubi Hbst.—The only example found hitherta was
brushed from foliage of raspberry and biackberry, 28.v.51.

Ceuthorhynchus assimilis Payk.—By sweeping rank herbage; one,
5.vi1.50. Usually a common species on Cruciferae.

Ceuthorhynchus cochleariae Gyll.—One by general sweeping, 5.vi.51;
another in the same area by shaking dead Alyssum saxutile and Arabis
sp. where the two grow together, 6.xi.51. Its host-plant in the garden
is doubtless one or both of these cultivated Crucifers, as the ordinary
one, Cardamine pratensis, seems absent therefrom.

(To be continued.)

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902)

rovAlt Ele Clarke
in his note in the Hnt. Rec. for January, on the spread of butterflies
into suitable localities, mentions Polyommatus bellargus as one of the
species which has recently arrived at a locality near Marlow. This ‘s
of much interest to us here because the same thing has happened on

64 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

the chalk downs to the south-east and east of Oxford. In former days
all the Reading collectors went to Foikestone when they wanted the
species, as it was utterly unknown in their district. About 1894 or 1895
a hoy* took a specimen at Streatley, and individuals in small numbers
were taken in succeeding years. In August 1899 I was collecting on
the downs between Streatiey and Blewberry when I suddenly came on
P. bellargus flying in abundance and on ground which I used to-visit
regularly without ever seeing the species. Here and there in spots
among the hills I met with them in plenty. Probably in the earlier
days the species existed somewhere on the Berkshire downs, but be-
yond the reach of our visits, and has gradually increased its range until
it now occurs right up to the point where the chalk 1s covered by the
tertiary strata towards Reading, and also at Hardwick, in Oxon, hav-
ing apparently crossed the river. In this way it may have continued
along that side of the river, through Henley to Marlow.—W. Ho.uanp.

ABUNDANCE OF HyYbDROPHILUS PICEUS AT ELEctric Light.—Walking
across the Piazza Reale at Turin on the morning of August 23rd, |
observed on the ground beneath the electric lights, among hundreds
of moths that had met their doom by being attracted to the light dur-
ing the preceding night, a great many large examples of this species,
sometimes five or six specimens under a lamp and rarely less than three
or four. Almost all the squares of the city, which were provided with
lamps that were open below, were similarly bestrewn with the dead
bodies of the beetles. Altogether | must have seen some 40 examples
in only three or four squares, so that the total number attracted in the
city in one night must be enormous.—J. W. Tutt.

[*His initials were P.B.M.A.]

Current Literature

PROCEEDINGS AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE SoutTH LONDON ENTOMOLOGICAL
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The high standard reached in recent years has been fully main-
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before we read it that the pars intercerebralis of the brain and the pro-

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COLLECTING IN THE ISLE OF MAN. Colonel S. H. Kershaw... Mh
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MR SCTON re oe: age wee S ae nS ne 3 cae ce ae
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MUS. COMP. ZOOL.
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Aberrations} of rvapin
Gavel:

By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.
BA ABs BER:

[The following aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell
collection in the British Museum. |

Archiearis parthenias Linnaeus ab. cuprea ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

On the forewing between the basal and antemedian lines the area in
the cell and to a less extent that between the median nervure and ner-
vure 2 is pale copper colour; the area external to the reniform and that
between the postmedian line and the subterminal line are also pale
copper colour and there is a line of the same colour bordering the sub-
terminal externally; the reniform ringed with black stands out very
clearly. The hindwing is normal.

Type 2: Loc. incog. (F. Bond coll.) Cockayne coll.

Paratype 2: Loc. incog. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

+

Archiearis parthenias Linnaeus ab. albofasciata ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

On the forewing the basal line is absent; the antemedian and post-
median lines are very thick and without any of the usual indentations ;
there is a white fascia, sharply defined internally but ill defined exter-
nally, external to the postmedian line. The hindwing is normal.

Type ©: Loc. incog. (F. Bond coll.) Rothschild coll.

Archiearis notha. Hiibner ab. intermedia ab. nov.

The rich orange of the hindwing is replaced by orange yellow or dull
yellow with little trace of orange.

Type ¢: Kingston, Surrey, Percy Richards. (Bright coll.) Roths-
child coll.

Allotype @: Same data.

Paratypes 2 ¢: Worcester, J. Peed. Cockayne coll.

Archiearis notha Hiibner ab. obscura ab. nov.

The forewing is uniformly dark brown with the pattern scarcely
visible and with no white spot on the costa. The hindwing is normal.

Type ¢: E. Suffolk, bred 31.111.1929 by R. Adkin.

Paratypes 4 ¢: 2¢ E. Suffolk, bred 30.1i1.1929 by R. Adkin, 2 3
Raydon, Suffolk, bred iii.1930 by Harwood. Cockayne Coll.

Archiearis notha Hiibner ab. diluta ab. nov.

The forewing has a pale faded appearance due to all the black scales
having been replaced by brownish ones. On the hindwing the black
markings are replaced by grey.

Type 3: Loc. incog. (F. Bond coll.) Rothschild coll.

Archiearis notha Hiibner ab. cuprina ab. nov.
On the forewing the basal area, a median band running through and
including the reniform, and a narrow band along the termen are blackish

66 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/11/1952

brown; all the rest of the wing is pale copper colour and lightly dusted
with blackish brown scales especially along the nervures.
Type ¢: Loc. incog. (F. Bond coll.) Rothschild coll.

Pseudoterpna pruinata Hufnagel ab. cotangens ab nov.

The antemedian and postmedian lines of the forewing are united in
the middle of the interspace between nervures 1 and 2 and remain
united to form a dark triangular mark on the inner margin. Ze

Type 9°: New Forest, 24.vii.1904. (Clark’s sale) Burrows coll.

Comibaena pustulata Hufnagel ab. rosea ab. nov.

The green ground colour is replaced by pink.

Type 2: New Forest, 1907, C. Gulliver. (Bright coll.) Rothschild
coll.

This form has been bred and the change of colour is not caused by
damp or exposure to light.

Cosymbia pendularia Clerck (orbicularia Hiibner) ab. semistriata ab.
NOV... (Bigs 3).
The dots in the row outside the median line on both fore and hind-
wing are elongated to form short streaks. .

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV.

Fig. 1. Archiearis parthenias ab. cuprea. Q. Type.

Fig. 2. Archiearis parthenias ab. albofasciata. Q. Type.

Fig. 3. Cosymbia pendularia (orbicularia) ab. semistriala. 92. Paratype.
Fig. 4. Cosymbia linearia ab. arcuferad. ¢. Type.

Fig. 5. Cosymbia annulata ab. striata. ©Q. Type.

Fig. 6. Cosymbia porata ab. basirubra. 2. Type.

Fig. 7. Cosymbia porata ab. vinicolor. g. Type.

Fig. 8. Sterrha aversata ab. quadrilineata. Q. Type.

Fig. 9. Ortholitha mucronata ssp. scotica ab. clausd. ©. Type.

Fig. 10. Carsia paludata ssp. anglica ab. coarctata. ¢g. Type.
Fig. 11. Anditis efformata ab. pauper. ¢S. Type.

Figs. 12, 13, 14. Hymenia recurvalis.

Fig. 15. Argynnis aglaia ab. robnora. Type.

Fig. 16. Argynnis aglaia ab. mitchelli. Type.

Type 9: New Forest, bred 31.v.1893, by Gulliver. Bankes coll.
Paratypes 2 9: 1 2 New Forest, 1910, Gulliver. R. Adkin coll. 1 9
New Forest, bred 30.v.1910. (Gibbs coll.) Rothschild coll.

Cosymbia pendularia Clerck (orbicularia Hiibner) ab. biobsoleta ab. nov.
There is no ocellus on either fore or hindwing.
Type ¢: Loe. incog. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.
Allotype 9° : New Forest, bred 1909 by A. Horne.. R. Adkin coll.

Cosymbia linearia Hiibner ab. alba ab. nov.

The ground colour of the wings, the head, thorax, abdomen, and all
other parts of the insect are white, the markings on the wings are faint
and grey. .

Type d: Epping Forest, Essex, J. W. Tutt. (Bright coll.) Roths-
child coll.

Cosymbia linearia Hiibner ab. arcufera ab. nov. (Fig. 4).
On the forewing all the lines are displaced towards the base, the
first and second lines are united along the costa and again along the

PAE ae

VOL. 64.

7? :
x
De a
wets

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. 67

subcostal nervyure and nervure 6; the third line is replaced by a row of
black dots which run inwards faintly along the nervures; there are also
faint blackish streaks in all the interneural spaces. On the hindwing
the lines are displaced towards the base; the first and second lines are
fused to form a broad suffused band or shade; the third line is broad,
suffused and broken in the middle, and the nervures running in from
it are powdered with black.

Type ¢: Pelham Wood, Caistor, N. Lincs., G. W. Mason. (B. W.
Adkin coll.) Cockayne coll.

Cosymbia annulata Schulze ab. decolorata ab. nov.

All the markings are buff coloured instead of blackish.

Type 6: Buckerell, Devon, 1906, W. S. Riding. (Bright coll.)
Rothschild coll.

Cosymbia annulata Schulze ab. striata ab. nov. (Fig. 5).

On the forewing the first line is represented by small black dots on
the nervures linked together by a few grey scales; the second and third
lines are represented by a row of neural streaks except on nervure 5
where there is a single black dot. The hindwing is lightly marked but
normal.

Type 9: New Forest, vi.1912, L. W. Newman. (Bright coll.) Roths-
child coll.

Cosymbia porata Linnaeus ab. basirubra ab. nov. (Fig. 6).

On the forewing the ground colour is pale and not speckled; there
is a dark red area running from the first line near the base to a point
just beyond the ocellus and from the submedian nervure to the inner
margin ; the median shade is absent.

Type ©: Eynsford, Kent, vii.1900, J. Greenwood. (Bright coll.)
Rothschild coll.

Cosymbia porata Linnaeus ab. vinicolor ab. nov. (Fig. 7).

The thorax and ground colour of the fore and hindwing are uniform
deep vinous red almost completely concealing the markings and the
speckling, which is of average density.

Type ¢: Oxshott, Surrey, bred vi.1901 by R. Adkin from eggs laid
by a female taken viii.1900.

Calothysanis amata Linnaeus ab. pulverata ab. nov.

Both fore and hindwing are so thickly powdered with dark grey
atoms that they appear to be dark grey; the pink oblique stripe is
normal and the fringes are pink.

Type 3: Mucking, Essex, vi.1906, C. R. N. Burrows.

Scopula imitaria Haworth ab. brevipennis ab. nov.

The fore and hindwing are shorter and broader than usual, the costa
and inner margin being of about the same length; the oblique stripe is
displaced towards the base and almost meets the first line on the inner
margin; the discoidal spot of the forewing les in the oblique stripe. |

Type ¢: Tring, Herts., bred 2.viii.1945 by A. L. Goodson. Cockayne
coll.

68 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/ TIT / 1952

Sterrha aversata Linnaeus ab. quadrilineata ab. nov. (Fig. 8).

On the forewing the submarginal line is very strongly developed
forming a complete line, broader and more distinct than any of the
others; the ground colour is unusually pale and the aberration has no
band.

Type 2: Watergate, Emsworth, Hants., 18.v.1893, W. M. Christy.

Paratypes 2 9: Same data.

Sterrha aversata Linnaeus ab. approximata ab. nov.

On the forewing the middle line is displaced towards the base so that
it approaches the first line very closely.

Type @: Netley, 2.xi.1917, L. B. Prout.

Sterrha inornata Haworth ab. rufescens ab. nov.

There are two distinct forms in England, about equally common, one
with a grey ground, inornata. Haworth, and the other with the ground
tinged with rufous. The latter I name ab. rufescens.

Type ¢: Bexley, 4.vii.1900, W. H. Harwood. Christy coll.

Allotype °: Wimbledon, bred 6.x.1898 by L. B. Prout. Prout coll.

Paratypes 3 6, 3 9: 1 ¢ Huddersfield, bred 12.vii.1902. R. Adkin
coll. 1 ¢ Southgate, Middlesex, bred 28.vi.1920 by J. Bate. B.M.,
1937, 189. 1 3S Wimbledon, 1898, L. B. Prout. R. Adkin coll. 1 9
Wimbledon, bred 3.x.1898 by L. B. Prout. 1 2 Wimbledon, bred
1.x.1898 by L. B. Prout. 1 2 Wimbledon, 1899, Taylor. R. Adkin coll.

Sterrha inornata Haworth ab. approximata ab. nov.

On the forewing the middle line is displaced towards the base so that
it approaches the first line very closely and the discoidal spot les ex-
ternal instead of internal to it.

Type 2: Limpsfield, bred 2.x.1927 by EK. A. Cockayne.

Ortholitha mucronata Scopoli ssp. scotica Cockayne ab. clausa ab. nov.
(Fig. 9).
On the forewing the antemedian and the postmedian lines meet on
the inner margin forming a V.
Fype 2: Loe. incog. Rothschild eoll.

Ortholitha chenopodiata Linnaeus ab. coarctata ab. nov.
The median band of the forewing is about half the normal width.
- Type od: Prestatyn, 3.vu1.1943, H. B. Williams. B.M., 1951, 4.

Anaitis efformata Guenee ab. pauper ab. nov. (Fig. 11).

- On the forewing the antemedian line ?#s narrow and the postmedian
broad, both solid without the usual parallel thread like lines, and both
are more oblique than usual; there are no markings in the marginal
area and the pale submarginal line is absent but there is some darken-
ing of the ground colour towards the margin.

Type d: Box Hill, Surrey, C. H. Williams. Cockayne coll.
Carsia paludata Thunberg ssp. anglica Prout ab. coarctata ab. nov.
(Fig: 10). |
The antemedian line is displaced outwards and the postmedian in-

wards so that they lie close together; the space between them is com-
pletely filled with dark scales. é

Type d: Carlisle, 1.ix.1902. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

THREE FORMS OF APHANTOPUS HYPERANTUS LINNAEUS. 69

Three Forms of Aphantopus hyperantus Linnaeus
and one of Coenonympha tullia Miiller which

may be new to the British List
By N. C. PrILeav.

In amalgamating my own collection of Aphantopus hyperantus Lin-
naeus with that of a friend I have had the assistance of Mr. A. lL. Good-
son at Tring Museum, who very kindly named nearly all of them. There
were, however, three forms which he had not previously seen, and es
they may be new to the British list I have named them and append a
description.

1. Aphantopus hyperantus Linnaeus ab. nigra ab. nov.

The ocelli are normal, but the ground colour of both upper
and undersides is blackish brown.

Type d: West Sussex. (N. C. Pilleau coll.)

Aphantopus hyperantus Linnaeus ab. caecimaculata ab. nov.

The underside has ocelli with no white pupils on both fore
and hindwings.

Type 2: West Sussex. (N. C. Pilleau coll.)

3. Aphantopus hyperantus Linnaeus ab. goodsoni ab. nov.
On the underside the forewings are obsolete, and the lower
wings have four blind ocelli on each wing.
Type 3: West Sussex. (N. C. Pilleau coll.)

In June 1937 at Thorne Moor, Doncaster, I captured a Coenonympha
tullia Miiller which had both bands and spots missing on the underside.
I have named this also and append a description.

4. Coenonympha tullia Miller ab. thornensis ab. nov.
There are no ocelli on the underside of the hindwings and
the transverse band is absent on both fore and hindwings.
Type 2: Thorne Moor, Doncaster, 1937. (N.C. Pilleau coll.)

bo

Two New Aberrations of Argynnis aglaia Linn.
By S. H. KersHaw.
See Plate IIT.

Argynnis aglaia ab. robnora ab. nov. (Plate IIT, fig. 15).

Upper side of forewings. The median black spots are reduced in size
and less boldly marked, whilst in the discoidal cell instead of four black
costal stripes there are only three, the third from the base being absent.
The postmedian black spots are somewhat enlarged, becoming suffused
into a dusky band towards the costa. The outer margins blackened,
enclosing elongated spots of orange brown ground colour giving a rayed
effect.

Upper side of hindwings. All black with the exception of a row of
oval marginal spots of orange brown which become longer and more
ray-like as they reach the apex.

Underside of forewings. As in the normal male but more lightly
spotted.

70 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15 / TIT / 1952

Underside of hindwings. Similar to ab. charlotta Haw., with the
basal spots in the form of three large pear-shaped silver spots and the
margins rayed with silver.

Type do: Isle of Man, 12.vii.1948. (S. H. Kershaw coll.)

Argynnis aglaia ab. mitchelli ab. nov. (Plate III, fig. 16).

Upperside of forewings. The discoidal cell filled in with black from
the second costal stripe to the discocellular vein, leaving only a patch
of normal ground colour between the black area and the first stripe
which is normal as is also the base. The median area of the wings is
blackened uniting with the black of the cell, forming a broad oblique
band, widest in-the centre and narrowest just above the inner margin.
The postmedian spots, less black in colour, are enlarged, some elongated,
and suffused, forming as they approach the. costa a cloudy area. The
outer margins are suffused blackish enclosing a transverse row of orange
brown spots, also suffused.

Upperside of hindwings. All black with the exception of inter-
neural marginal rays of orange brown colour which become longer as
they reach the apex. The black area is dusted with long orange scales
towards the base.

Underside of forewings. Rayed margins with traces of silver. Rest
of wing black.

Underside of hindwings. Similar to ab. charlotta Haw., with the
basal spots in the form of three large pear-shaped spots of silver and
the margins rayed with silver.

~ Type do: Isle of Man, 12.v1i.1948. (S. H. Kershaw coll.)

Hymenia recurvalis Fabricius in Britain
By Frank H. L&Es.

At Maidencombe, on Friday, 7th September, after a cloudy day my
light trap (an old one fitted with an 80 watt M.V. lamp) was shining
out seawards onto, as it were, a veritable screen of mist brought in by
a light south-easterly breeze. Precipitation was only just short of actual
rain and the thermometer reading (inside the first floor window from
which the trap operated) was 65° F. Such conditions usually mean a
rewarding night. Be the reasons what they may, it was no surprise to
me the next morning to find over 200 ‘‘ Macros.’’ and some 40: Pyrales
in the trap. Two small Pyrales reminded me of Diasemia ramburialis
Dup., which I had not seen since 1946, so they were retained. <A cooler
showery night then intervened on 8th September with only 50 insects of
21 species of little interest. Then on Sunday night, 9th September, a
change in the weather came about midnight. A sea mist rolled in from
S.S.E. and the temperature rose several degrees. Very soon afterwards
moths came flying into and around the trap in droves to the gratification
of an attendant escort of bats. The trap’s share, a count taken next
morning, was 432, but of the 40 different species this time Deuteronomos
alniaria was the least familiar, and the most interesting to me one more
problematical ramburialis. There ‘had been little indication here in
early September of any general invasion of migrants other than the
usual Plusia gamma, Nomophila noctuella, and Laphygma exigua. On
9th September gamma reached its peak with 112 specimens, the average
over the previous week having been 13 a night, but the numbers of exigua

A NOTE ON HYMENIA RECURVALIS FABRICIUS. ak

and noctuella were, as they had been throughout the season, insignifi-
cant, rarely exceeding two a night for the Pyrale and a very occasional
exigua.

It was not until much later whén I removed the three insects from
the setting board that I seriously tackled the problem of identification
of the mysterious Pyrales. Comparing them in detail with the figure
of Diasemia ramburialis in Leech’s British Pyrales and my previous
captures in 1946, J felt convinced*that though the latter are correctly
named the newcomers called for further investigation. I submitted
them to our Editor at Tring to whom I now hand over my story.

A Note on Hymenia recurvalis Fabricius
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

The Pyrale taken by Mr. Frank Lees is Hymenia recurvalis Fabricius
(Syst. Hnt., 1775, 644) of which fascialis Stoll in Cramer (Pap. Exot.,
1782, 4, 236, Pl. 398, fig. O) is a synonym. Until this year it had not
been taken in the British Isles, but I am told that it has come to light
at two other widely separated places on the South coast and the dates
were almost exactly the same as those of the captures at Maidencombe
in S. Devon.

I am indebted to Dr. J. D. Bradley of the British Museum (Nat.
Hist.) for much of the information about this species. It is found all
over the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres and ex-
tends to Syria and Cyprus. In the Western Hemisphere the insect has
the black markings more strongly marked. The Maidencombe examples
agree with those from the Eastern Hemisphere. In some places it is a
pest and most of the literature about it is published in journals devoted
to economic entomology. The following summary is from the Bull. U.S.
Agric. Bur. Hnt., 1911, nr. 109, pt. 1, pp. 1-15, figs. 1 and 2. The larva
feeds on the underside of leaves of sugar beets, mangel-wurzels, Amar-
anthus ssp., purslane, cucumbers, chenopodiaceous weeds, and other gar-
den plants. In Hawaii all stages of this species are found throughout
the year. The moth remains concealed during the day, but when dis-
turbed flies readily. It is rarely attracted by lights. Eggs are deposited
on the underside of a leaf singly, in pairs, or in rows of five or more.
The larva usually remains on the under side of the leaf and sometimes
spins a slight web under which it rests. It burrows slightly beneath the
surface to pupate and makes a firm, compact, oblong cocoon of earth.
The larva is pale green until it is ready to pupate and then becomes
reddish pink. In Hawaii there are twelve generations in a year, but in
a less equable temperature there are fewer.

The question that arises is how the Pyrale reached the greater part
of the south coast of England at almost exactly the same date. I think
accidental transportation by ship or aeroplane can be ruled out, and
three possibilities remain. It migrated from the southern shores of the
Mediterranean or from further afield on its own wings or it was lifted
up by an air current, borne northwards, and then dropped again. In
either case many thousands must have reached the south coast. There
1s another possibility. The Pyrale may have established itself in favour-
able localities having arrived in a previous year. This seems to me im-
probable. If that had been the case, earlier broods would have occurred

72 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TIT/1952
Bia:

andes specimens would probably have been captured before September, nor
would all those of the Be ae brood have emerged almost simultane-
ously. |

Apart from the interest of a new addition to the British list the
species may become of economic importance. Fortunately this is un-
likely if one may judge by its distribution and by the fact that it is con-
tinuously brooded, but in the British Museum there is an example from
Nyassaland taken at 3000 feet, so it thay be able to survive in warm and
sheltered places such as the coast of S. Devon and Cornwall. Wild beet,
chenopodium, and atriplex are particularly common on the coast and the
first named plant grows freely along the South Devon coast and estuaries.
It is probable that specimens other than those already known have been
taken this year and the figures on Plate III (figs. 12, 18, 14) will enable
the captors to identify them with ease. JI hope that anyone who has
taken it will send a note to the Record giving the place, date, and the
‘circumstances in which it was caught. It is worth noting that it is said
to come to light rarely.

A Note on Rearing the Larva of Luceria

virens Linn.
By B. J. Lempexe.

The discovery of this fine moth in Western Ireland was no doubt
one of the most fascinating events in the study of the British macro-
lepidoptera during the last few years. The moth is generally distri-
buted in the inland sandy districts of Holland, but very local in the
dunes along the North Sea. It shares this distinctly eastern and
southern distribution in Holland with the great majority of the macros
which are indigenous to Holland but not to England. It is certainly
not too fantastic to suppose that the greater part of these species only
reached the Netherlands after the separation of England from the Con-
tinent. I am therefore convinced that Dr. de Worms’s supposition is
correct when he considers the Irish L. virens to be a very old member
of the favina of that island (1951, Ent. Gazette, 2: 168). The later
virens wave reached the western shores of the Continent too late to
penetrate into England.

Dr. Cockayne’s paper on the breeding of the larva from the egg
(1951, Ent. Rec., 63: 271-273) reminded me of an article by R. Brink-
mann, Zur Oekologie von Luceria virens L. (1934, Int. ent. Z. Guben,
28: 207-210), in which that writer described how larvae of ZL. virens
were reared very successfully by Neumair, but only by neglecting the
larvae more or less. He fed them with the lower parts of Poa stems,
in which the caterpillars disappeared. Every second day he put some
fresh stems on top of the old ones without removing anything. After
some time, when looking carefully among the old material, he saw at
the bottom of the aquarium in which the larvae were kept many tubes
about 3 cm. long composed of grass and frass spun together. In one
such tube he found a larva of about 33 cm. As the bottom layer began
to grow mouldy he threw the whole contents of the aquarium into a
dish and found 17 large strong larvae (from 20 eggs) running about
wildly. After having cleaned the container he put new grass into it.

j
— ee 3 on ay

THE STATUS OF HORISME AQUATA HUBNER AS A BRITISH SPECIES. 73

The caterpillars disappeared at once to the bottom, where each one
made a new tube. The rearing of these larvae was so easy that when
it was impossible to look after them for a few days the aquarium was
filled to the top with grass, completely shut off, and left so for four
days. The ultimate result was 17 strong pupae, no doubt an excellent
success.

So the only reason for Dr. Cockayne’s failure is that he was too
careful ! Oude Yselstraat 12111, Amsterdam-Z.2.

The status of Horisme aquata Hiibner as a British
Species
By EK. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

Interest in Horisme (Phibalapteryx) aquata Hiibner was first aroused
by an article by J. W. Tutt (Ent. Record, 1900,.12: 35) claiming that
it was a native of the British Isles. This was followed by another
article by L. B. Prout (Ent.. Record, 1900, 12: 85) pointing out the
differences between aquata and vitalbata and giving some information
about its distribution on the continent and the foodplants of its larva.
Tutt wrote as follows: ‘‘ Some eighteen years ago when everything was
valuable, and I was eager to fill up my series, I made an exchange with
a Mr. Burkhardt, I believe of Bradford, and in return for some common
southern insects, P. astrarche, if I remember rightly, he sent me some
examples of P. vitalbata that he had obtained in the Lake District—I
believe he said in Cumberland, in 1882. One of them was a remarkably
pale specimen with a white ground colour, and I wrote and told him I
was much interested in the specimen and asked him if he had sufficient ~
to give me more. Another exchange was arranged and he sent me four
pale and three normal vitalbata, the pale being, I believe, all he had. He
also informed me that he took them in the same locality, at the same
time. I showed them to Mr. Tugwell and he thought so little of them
that I did not trouble to give him one, but Mr. Coverdale and Mr. Bower,
to whom I showed them, expressed some interest, and I accordingly gave
them each a specimen. A year or two afterwards I bought Coverdale’s
collection before he went abroad, and so his specimen came back to me.
I have the four specimens now. Mr. Bower spent an evening with me
a little while since, and in the course of our gossip, he told me that
shortly before the death of Mr. S. Stevens he was going through the
latter’s collection, when the latter pointed out a specimen of the pale in-
sect labelled ‘‘unique.’’ Mr. Bower told him that he had a specimen from
me and gave him some details, and states that he then removed the
“unique ’’ from his cabinet. J have since had some correspondence
with Mr. Prout about the insect, and he informs me that there were
two examples sold with the Tugwell collection, one of which was bought
by Dr. Sequeira, but he does not know what became of the other. These
must have been obtained subsequently to my having shown him my speci-
mens, but the locality seems not to be known. I have no doubt there are
other examples in various collections passed over, as mine were for so
many years, as pale forms of vitalbata.’’

J.C. Moberly (Ent. Record, 1900, 12: 82) says he bought Tugwell’s
second specimen.

74 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ TIT/ 1952

Prout accepted Tutt’s specimens as British and says that Rossler and
Hering indicate the larva as feeding on Anemone pulsatilla and A.
ranunculoides, but the former says that in the absence of Anemone it
can easily be reared on Clematis.

Tutt was right in thinking that specimens existed in other collec-
tions. In the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection in the British
Museum there are eight—1, ex coll. Stevens, P. B. Mason, 1905, Bankes
coll. 2, Sherwood Forest taken by Mr. Trueman, coll. S. Stevens, 1900,
P. B. Mason, 1905, Bankes coll. 3, coll. F. Bond, Rothschild coll. 4,
Recd. from York by J. W. Tutt, R. Adkin coll. 5, ex Coll. F. Bond,
Rothschild coll. 6 and 7, Cumberland, /82, J. W. Tutt, Bright coll.,
Rothschild coll. 8, Tutt coll., H. J. Turner coll, B.M., 1951, 599.

None of these appears to have been reset, but the two from the Bond
collection are on short black pins, which look too modern to be the
original ones. The second specimen from the Stevens collection is on a
long thin white pin with a flat head, which looks old.

In the Tutt collection sold at Stevens’s, 19th September 1911, in
lot 178, with other geometers, there were ‘ vitalbata 15, whitish var. ?
Cumberland 3.’’ This lot was bought by P. M. Bright for 11/-, and
passed with the rest of his moths to Lord Rothschild. Of the original
five specimens only three remained in Tutt’s collection, one having been
given to Bower and another to H. J. Turner. All three should have
been in the Rothschild collection, but there are only two there. The
one labelled in neat script ‘‘ Recd. from York by J. W. Tutt ’’ was in the
R. Adkin collection and is probably the one given to Bower.

What then is the status of Horisme aquata as a British species?
There is no other species with any claim to a place in the British list
about which so little is known. There can be no contemporary record
of any of the old specimens, because aquata was not recognized and I
have found no early record of pale vitalbata.. Burkhardt did not label
his insects and evidently did not value them highly. We do not know
when he took his aquata or how much reliance can be placed on his
memory of the locality. Tutt’s statement that Burkhardt informed him
that he took them in the same locality at the same time probably refers
to the pale specimens, the aquata, only and not to the vitalbata. Bar-
rett puts a different interpretation on it and says that ‘‘ P. aquata is
said to have been captured nearly twenty years ago along with vitalbata
in Cumberland and taking into consideration that vitalbata is not, so
far as is yet known, to be taken anywhere within one bundred and fifty
miles of Cumberland and that the foodplants.of both species are absent
from the Flora of that County, it is desirable to wait for more definite
and reliable data before including P. aquata among the inhabitants of
the British Isles.’’ Barrett’s criticism loses much of its point if Tutt
did not intend to include vitalbata, but he is right in saying that the
foodplant of aquata has never been recorded from Cumberland.

After the lapse of eighteen years Tutt’s recollection of what Burk-
hardt told him about insects which he regarded as pale aberrations of
vitalbata may be unreliable and both the Lake District and Cumberland
may be incorrect. His article is full of qualifications and is not written
in his usual confident style. Even after he knew what they were, he did
not label them. None of the labels on them is in his handwriting and
all were labelled after they had passed out of his hands. I do not think

NOMENCLATURE OF THE YELLOW FORMS OF PIERIS NAPI LINNAEUS. 79

he placed the name of the species under them. If he did, why did they
appear in the catalogue of his sale as whitish vitalbata?

I must now deal with the only specimen with a definite locality on
the label. It has two labels, the first saying ‘‘ Sherwood Forest taken
by Mr. Trueman ’’ and the second ‘‘ ex coll. Stevens, P. B. Mason coll.,
1905.”’ Both are modern and are written by E. R. Bankes himself.
Stevens had only one aquata when Mr. Bower visited him shortly before
_ his death in 1900 and I doubt very much whether it was ever in Stevens’s
collection though there is no doubt it was in Mason’s, at whose sale
Bankes bought it. Sherwood Forest is a most unlikely locality and I
place no reliance on either label, though the insect looks like an old
and authentic one.

The fact that there are old specimens of varying age and set low is
in favour of their being genuine British examples. They were mistaken
for Horisme vitalbata and since aquata was not on the British list there
was no incentive to unscrupulous dealers to import continental speci-
mens and sell them as British. Burkhardt’s specimens have a strong
claim to be British even if the locality is uncertain. Since he exchanged
them for comparatively worthless insects he can have had no motive for
perpetrating a fraud.

It seems to me probable that Horisme aquata was a native British
species and the most likely locality is the limestone district in North-east
Yorkshire where Anemone pulsatilla stall grows wild. It may be extinct
or it may still be there awaiting some enterprising entomologist, who is
willing to explore comparatively unworked ground.

Nomenclature of the yellow forms of Pieris napi

Linnaeus. A Plea for Reason
By J. Antony THompson, M.A.

Some confusion has arisen in the nomenclature of the varietal forms
of Pieris napi Is. and one point particularly should have immediate at-
tention. This concerns the correct name for the yellow form originally
established by H. W. Head, which now figures largely in all collec-
tions. In order to determine the correct name for this form two pre-
mises must be accepted, namely :—

1. The purpose of the name is to denote the colour form only. Gene-
tically, any type or series of markings can occur in combination with
any colour, and authors who would assign names to ‘‘combination vars.
would reduce systematics to a farce. There are at least twenty sepa-
rate forms of marking aberrations, and half a dozen or more—or less—
may occur in combination. It is therefore obvious that the number of
possible alternative combinations is astronomical and certain specimens
may show any number of different forms of named variations. The only
exception to this generalization might occur in the case of a certain
local community which was sufficiently differentiated to rank as a sub-
species.

2. So far as our present knowledge extends there are only three
colour forms of napt. These comprise the nominotypical white and
two forms which have been described by almost every name under the
sun but which, for present purposes, I intend to refer to as A and B.
These two are:—

76 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/111 /1952

A. A bright true yellow which is, of course, Head’s form. This
form can be distinguished at once by the fact that the underside of the
discal area of the forewings is yellow whereas in form B it is white.
This form occurs in both sexes and is a simple recessive.

B. A ‘yellow’ form of which nearly all known specimens are actu-
ally buff or coppery. In this form the discal area on the underside of
the forewings is white and never yellow as in form A. I¢ occurs in
the female only and its inheritance might be described as a sex-limited
dominant inasmuch as form B does not appear to be an allelomornh
of the other two colours but can be imposed upon them in the nature
of a suffusion. This suffusion varies in intensity, being apparently
cumulative until, in the case of its superimposition over white butter-
flies, the specimen appears entirely buff on the upperside but is in
fact a white butterfly with a very high dosage of form B genes. It
is noteworthy that however heavily the buff is superimposed on the
yellow form A, the discal area of the underside of the forewings re-
mains yellow, as form B is only effective on the upperside. The cor-
rect name for this form may well be flava Kane 1893, for although Kane
was obviously wrong in confusing it with Schoyen’s sulphuwrea,
his excellent coloured figure of his flava, fig. 6, showing as it does the
white on the underside, leaves no room for doubt that he is referring
to my form B.

It is with the name for form A (Head’s strain) that I am primarily
concerned in’ this paper. Carpenter and Hobby 1937 undertook con-
siderable work on this subject and came to a conclusion against which
I must protest. They make it clear that the earliest name given to a
yellow nupi with, apparently, the discal area of the underside of the
forewings yellow, is sulphurea Schoyen 1885; but at the end of their
article they jettison this name for two reasons neither of which can, in
the light of our present knowledge, be justified. These two reasons
are: (1) Schoyen, in the description of his type, refers to the butter-
fly as being “ su'phur yellow,’ a translation from the Swedish via a
French reprint (jaune soufre) which has been accepted by all entomo-
logists including Carpenter and Hobby. These authors, however, then
decided that Head’s butterflies cannot be described as ‘‘ sulphur ”’
yellow and with this I most strongly disagree. If anyone will compare
the yellow form A either with flowers of sulphur or with block sulphur
he will find that the similarity is immediate and obvious. J can only
imagine that the specimens’ in the Hope collection, to which Carpenter
and Hobby refer, had become either damp on faded, to both of which
mischances this form is particularly subject and reacts violently.

(11) The second reason advanced by Carpenter and Hobby for dis-
carding the name sulphurea is that Schoyen’s type is a butterfly of
what is called the ‘‘ second generation.’’ Jarvis 1943 and others have
shown that there are two forms (not generations) of many butterflies,
one of which is napi, which are inherited. The first of these two forms
are insects which undergo no diapause and which, in suitable environ-
ment, continue to feed and to emerge without cessation all through the
year. The second form undergoes a period of arrested development in
the pupa, and no matter how much this form is forced nothing will in-
duce it to become continuously brooded. Both forms may occur in the
same brood, pupae from spring eggs producing in summer a certain

NOMENCLATURE OF THE YELLOW FORMS OF PIERIS NAPI LINNAEUS. 77

proportion of imagines, the remainder, under similar conditions, over-
wintering as pupae. Alternatively, broods can be composed wholly of
either one of the two forms.

The continuously brooded form produces markings which are bolder
and blacker than those which undergo diapause, and it is interesting
to note that insects with an inherited pupal delay will not emerge until
July or August and will then show markings similar to imagines which
are often referred to as the ‘‘ spring brood.’’ This form is usually
accepted as the nominotypical one and the continuously brooded form
is referred to as var. napweae Esper—though I do not vouch for the
validity of this name.

So unless one is prepared to admit separate varietal names for each
butterfly which shows any one of x combinations of y aberrations or 2
varieties (!) there is no reason why Schoyen’s name should be discarded
on the grounds that it was a specimen of the so-called ‘‘ second brood ”’ ;
for both yellow forms A and B occur indiscriminately in combinations
with both the continuously brooded form and the form with an inherited
diapause. I have not so far been able to inspect Schoyen’s type, but
must point out that adoption by Carpenter and Hobby of the name
hibernica Schmidt 1913 for my form A cannot be accepted for several
reasons. There is, for instance, another name, which Carpenter and
Hobby have overlooked and to which my attention has been drawn by
Mr. A. L. Goodson of Tring, that of flava Cockerell 1889. Mr. Good-
son has sent me a copy of Cockerell’s type which is at Tring, and this
would certainly appear to be the same form as Head’s, because the dis-
eal area of the forewings on the underside is yellow. It would there-
fore seem that if there has been any misunderstanding about Schoyen’s
type the name would be flava Cockerell, which would of course incur
the discovery of a new name for my form B—flava Kane.

Another reason why I consider that the name hibernica Schmidt
cannot be accepted is the account of breeding, experiments with this form
which the author described as having been made by himself. These
experiments show clearly that if Schmidt’s figures of his own experi-
ment are to be believed, the butterflies were of no form of napi which
has ever been discovered before or since. Certainly they could not be
the form under discussion tc which Carpenter and Hobby have given
Schmidt’s name. I can only surmise that there has been some in-
credible mistake in Schmidt’s own figures or else that he was fortunate
enough to have received from Ireland a strain of unique insects!

I therefore consider that in the light of our present knowledge and
until Schoyen’s type has been subjected to a careful scrutiny the name
sulphurea Schoyen is the correct one for the offspring bred for many
years from Head’s original Donegal female and to which I have re-
ferred above as the yellow form A and that the reasons for discarding
this prior name in favour of hibernica Schmidt can in no way hold
good. If we are to insist on genetic proof of the validity of a form
the best name would seem to be citronea Frohawk 1928, which has been
genetically proved. Even if Schoyen’s type—or Cockerell’s—is found
to be phenotypically correct, it is now impossible to prove (especially in
view of the modification of colour to which this form is subject with
the passage of time) whether either of these two butterflies was in fact
the well-known recessive form of to-day or whether it might have been

78 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/ TIT /1952

some other aberration—or even artefact—of which no further captures
have been made.

On the whole I suggest that for the time being these butterflies be
referred to as sulphurea) Schoyen, with flava Cockerell and citronea
Frohawk as synonyms.

REFERENCES.
Schoyen. 1885. Hnt. Tidskr., vi, 139/144.
Cockerell. 1889. Entomologist, xxii, 126.
Kane. 1893. Entomologist, xxvi, 117-121.
Schmidt. 1913. Ent. Zeit., xxvii, 134/5.
Frohawk. 1928. Entomologist, 1xi, 76/77.
Carpenter and Hobby. 1937. Entomologist, 1xx, 181/185, 204/210, 232/238.
Jarvis. 1943. Proc. and Trans. S. Lond. Ent. and Nat. Hist. Soc., 1942/3, Part ii.
Esper. Schmett. Abb., i, 116.

On the possibility of an attitude adopted by Larvae
of the Brimstone Butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni L.)

being one of defence
By DresmMonp LANKTREE, F.R.E.S.

There is an attitude taken up by larvae of the Brimstone butterfly
when not feeding known as the resting position, in which the anterior
portion of the body is held aloof from the object to which the larva clings
with its prolegs. A caterpillar in this well known and frequently
adopted position appears in a photograph by Mr. S. Beaufoy reproduced
on page 116 of his book Butterfly Lives.

There is another pose, however, to which I have seen no reference in
print and which I feel may, even if observed, have escaped comment by
breeders of the larvae, as it is apparently adopted only under certain
conditions which may not normally present themselves in the breeding
cage. That the position is not of freakish occurrence is borne out by the
facts that seven larvae which I had under observation this year (1951)
all adopted the position on different occasions throughout two instars,
and that the position is not only maintained for some time after initial
stimulus, but only, apparently, under some strain by the larva. Ob-
servation, unfortunately, ceased at about the time of the second ecdysis
due to loss of the small brood in an accident..

I first raised a brood of this species from ova to imagines during

1950, and giving only the minimum attention necessary for its welfare
saw nothing of the particular pose with which this paper is concerned.
It is even possible that it may never have been adopted due to the brood
being reared in cages in which, for one thing, the air was comparatively
still.

This year, the larvae were placed on sprays of Rhamnus frangula
which stood in a small jug on the sill of an open window, and they were
thus subjected freely to all changes in conditions affecting the vicinity.
One evening, not long after their emergence from ova, I was surprised
to see two of the larvae adopting an attitude which did not seem at all
natural or in keeping with their kind of physical construction. That two
of them should adopt the attitude on one leaf while the remainder were
in normal positions on other leaves furthered my curiosity, so observa-
tion with a high-powered lens was subsequently kept, and the position
seen to be taken up a number of times by all specimens.

=a

ATTITUDE ADOPTED BY LARVAE OF THE BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY. 19)

In this attitude, the larva retains its hold with the third, fourth,
and fifth proleg-pairs, the third pair being strained forwards from
planta upwards. The first and second pairs of prolegs are flattened
_ against the body which rises steeply for some way from the somite bear-
ing the third pair of claspers. The anterior region of the body is arched
ventrally inwards with the head tucked in against the thoracic legs, all
three pairs of which contact each other. The towering of the body from
the region of the third prolegs does not seem to require undue effort, as
there is little tendency for wavering or dropping in elevation unless in-
tended. That considerable effort is called for to retain the ‘‘ curl,’’ is
suggested by the apparent tendency of the curl to slacken and the larva’s
repeated attempts to increase its tightness.

Having established to my own satisfaction that the posture was one
repeatedly assumed by different specimens, and apparently only with
some effort, I sought for a possible motive.

While certain Geometrid larvae disturbed in motion might ‘‘freeze’’
in a posture approaching the one being discussed, there could be no
reason for emulation of an incidental pose by these G. rhamni larvae,
besides, both Geometrid larvae and those of G. rhamni already derive
power of protection from close resemblance to their individual food-
plants in their respective ways.

The possibility in this abundant and well-known member of the
Pieridae of the arched body assisting in the release of an obnoxious
secretion from some unannounced gland or glands seemed remote, and
in doing so, provided me with the idea which I believe might well be the
reason for the posture.

It occurred to me that such a secretion might not need to take place
if simulation of the actual process as enacted by some other insect were
sufficiently good; and there is, indeed, a striking resemblance between
the G. rhamni posture and that of certain sawfly (Tenthredinidae) larvae.
The late Dr. Imms, in discussing the sawfly larvae of Croesus septen-
trionalis and Claudius viminalis (Insect Natural History, pp. 194-195),
has referred to the unpleasant odour emitted by a glandular secretion;
he described how, in the case of C. septentrionalis, the body is brought
forward over the head when alarméd and the ventral secretory organs
discharge, the resulting disagreeable odour permeating the rest of the
company in this gregarious species. He also referred to the late Sir
Edward B. Poulton’s statement of it acting as an effective protection.
In the same work, opposite page 222, there is a colour plate depicting one
out of five larvae of C. septentrionalis on poplar, supported on its
thoracic legs, its posterior abdominal segments held aloft, in an inverted
‘‘U ”’ position very similar (but, of course, in complete reverse), to the
attitude adopted by the G. rhamni larvae. Further reference to these
defence organs with their varied location may be found in Dr. Imms’
General Textbook of Entomology (p. 568).

Another point which adds to the similarity in postures is that the
G. rhamni larvae, when in this attitude, are capable of taking, and
sometimes do take a backward step now and then, just as sawfly larvae
might quite easily advance on their thoracic legs.

The points of similarity so far discussed between the attitudes of
these two types of insect have been dependent on shape and movement,
but there are other points which do not fit in so well with the sug-
gestion, chiefly in relation to colour.

80 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vob. 64. 15/TIT/ 1952

First of all, there is a tendency for the anal regions of some saw-fly

larvae to be of a lighter or brighter colour than most of the rest of their ©

bodies; in this much only, G. rhamni still manages to achieve further

slight resemblance, even if incidental. The raised anterior portion of .

the body in rhamni would have to correspond to the raised posterior
region of the sawfiy larva, and in rhamni, due to compression by severe
curvature, the blood is forced back to render: the anterior region a
little paler than the rest of the body, which bears slightly increased
blood pressure. After this, colour resemblance largely ceases.

It is characteristic of repellent insects to possess and flaunt a warn-
ing colouration, bright in shade and bold in pattern; to live openly,
often gregariously, and characteristic of mimics to possess similar colours
and habits and often to live with (though in lesser numbers than), their
models. If then these rhamni larvae ape the defensive attitude of an-
other insect, they also lack any warning colouration; that to reveal the
whereabouts of a considerable number on a small buckthorn tree de-
mands the mest systematic searching even from practised eyes, only
testifies to the excellence of the protective colouration.

My own attempts at persuading the larva to take up the position
were unsuccessful. Gentle provocation with a single hair from a camel-
hair brush produced only normal gestures, as of annoyance or irritation.
Considerable variation in blowing on my part likewise failed to pro-
‘duce the desired reaction, and I also noticed that many natural varia-
tions of air movement from wind or breeze produced no visible response
of relevance here. Despite my own failure in the matter, the possibility
of variable air motion being in some way connected with the cause of
response should not, I feel, be altogether ruled out.

The type of stimulus eliciting the reaction described above and its
possible source and manner of production in a state of nature have yet
to be determined, and, though nothing adverse to the possibility is
foreseen, it has not so far been ascertained whether the posture is as-
sumed by the rhamni larvae after the second stadium.

Abraxas sylvata Scop. in Derbyshire

By J. H. JoHNSon.

In the autumn of 1934 an old entomological friend told me of a wood
where I could obtain the pupae of Abraxas sylvata Scop. (ulmata
Fab.). He said that he had found seventy there in the winter of 1933
and indicated the exact place where I should search. On 3rd January
1935 I went there, and, following the instructions of my collecting
manuals began digging at the base of the first tree on the edge of the
wood. My beginner’s luck brought me two sylvata pupae in the first few
minutes, but I found only four more by digging round the bases of the
next twenty trees. I concluded that mice or moles had beaten me to
it and determined to dig earlier the following winter.

I noted that the six pupae which the mice had missed were buried close
to the trunk, about half an inch to one inch below the surface, among the
leaf-mould which they resembled in colour and not in the clay sub-soil. I
then turned my attention to the moss which grew in the trunks of
mature specimens of Ulmus glabra Huds. (montana Stokes), as instructed
by my friend, and in a very short time, by carefully pulling to pieces
and searching every bit of the moss, I found fifteen more sylvata pupae

ae se

ABRAXAS SYLVATA SCOP. IN DERBYSHIRE. 81

nestling in little hollows in the moss, or in crevices in the bark on which
the moss grew. All these pupae were found less than nine inches from
the ground.

The following May the plants under the trees, and even the ground,
were spattered with hundreds of A. sylvata imagines, both pale and dark
varieties, and it was a simple task to select as many as were needed, so
that I was not disappointed to find that all but two of my collected pupae
were victims of a dipterous maggot which issued from a hole in the side
of its host and then constructed a dark reddish brown puparium.

At that time I did not realise I had witnessed one of sylvata’s years
of plenty; I believed that every season the moth could be found in
hundreds; so I dismissed it as extremely common. After the War I
needed sylvata again, so I returned to the same locality in 1947. Every
elm tree was searched thoroughly without success. Throughout the
summer of 1948 I observed only eight imagines at rest in the neighbour-
hood of one elm tree where in 1935 I had seen hundreds. In 1949 and
1950 I saw no more than fifteen and twenty respectively. On 20th June
1951 I observed fifteen imagines, but in September larvae were abundant
on one tree and one tree only. The easiest way to find the larva is to
tap the branch; they then ‘‘ bale out ’’ and are easily seen as they hang
by their threads.

I had now begun to suspect that sylvata is attached to one tree only
in the woods, so the other day, out of curiosity, I began to search the
thick moss growing on a rotting birch branch lying on the ground several
yards away from the trunk of the favoured wych elm tree and in an
area of about two square feet I found four sylvata pupae in little hollows
in the bark under the moss. I dug round the base of this tree and several
neighbouring ones, but found no more pupae.

Although Ulmus glabra Huds. is common in this district, there is no
other colony of sylvata to my knowledge. The ecological limiting fac-
tors of this species might afford a valuable investigation, especially when
contrasted with the abundance and ubiquity of the closely related species
A. grossulariata.

It was interesting to find, in December 1951, in the moss near to the
sylvata pupae a fine large specimen of a hibernating oak shield bug, of
the same species as one which I found there in 1935. In my youthful
enthusiasm I had made a sketch and description of it in my diary.

This locality is an extremely damp and shady one. Alders are inter-
spersed among the elms, oaks and gycamores. Elderberry, hazel,
bramble, honeysuckle, and bracken give a jungle-like appearance. The
flowering plants which flourish round about the favoured tree are mainly
Sanicula europaea L., Lamium galeobdolon Crantz, Lysimachia num-
mularia L. and Anemone nemorosa L. Where the yellow subsoil shows
between these plants mosses, liverworts and “‘ fairy fingers fungus ”’ find
nourishment.

In 1944 I came across a similar locality in a wood near Helmsley,
Yorkshire, and there I found A. sylvata in company with Parasemia
plantaginis L. I was also delighted to find in the same place a few plants
of Paris quadrifolia L. The sight of these three helped to make some
gruelling infantry exercises entertaining. I had no facilities for note-
_ taking, but I believe I could find the spot again. However, I am more
anxious to find another locality within a few miles of the one I already
have under observation, in order to compare them more accurately.

82 ENTOMOLOGIST’ 8 RECORD, von. 64. 15/111 /1952

Some Microlepidoptera Records from the
North-West

By Dr. Nevitze L. BrrKett.

Recently while re-arranging some of my micro-lepidoptera I realised
there was a number of species collected over the last few years which
warranted recording. These species are those usually considered scarce
or even absent in the area. The fauna of an area is not a static entity
and hence what one generation of entomologists considered searce or
absent may: to the next be quite commonplace. With such a thought
as this I believe it makes even the mere recording of species in an area
a worth-while job.

The area at present under consideration may be considered my
‘home ground’ and comprises parts of three counties, viz.:—North
Lancashire, South Westmorland and a small part of South Cumberland.
Much of it has been well-worked but much still remains to be done
especially in the less studied orders.

The nomenclature and order are those of Meyrick’s Revised Hand-
book of British Lepidoptera, 1927. Indications. of scarcity or other-
wise are taken from two principal sources: up to 1939 Ellis’s Lepidop-
terous Fauna of Lancashire and Cheshire revised by Wm. Mansbridge
is reliable and after that date the annual reports issued by the Lanca-
shire and Cheshire Fauna Committee are invaluable.

Dioryctria abietella Fab.: I bred ai specimen of this attractive moth
from Meathop Moss on 8th June 1950.

Homoeosoma binaevella Hiibn.: This has always been considered
scarce or very rare but my experience is that it is widespread though
not common. I have records from Ulverston, Witherslack and Kendal.

Eurrhodope marmorea Haw.: Three specimens came to light at
Witherslack on 5.viii.1950.

Cryptoblabes bistriga Haw.: I have taken single specimens of this
in 1946 and 1947 at Greenodd, N. Lancs.

Crambus margaritellus Hiibn.: Though this species is common on
the moss-lands of this area it is not often seen away from them. I
took a specimen in my light-trap in Kendal on 15.v11.1950.

Crambus salinellus Tutt.: Again wanderers turned up in my garden
on 15.vi1.1950 and 10.vii1.1951. This is some five or six miles from known
habitats on the Kent estuary at the head of Morecambe Bay.

Chilo phragmitellus Hiibn.: This has generally been considered rare
in this district but I have taken it in a number of widely separated
localities: —Greenodd, Holker Moss and Silverdale for example.

Schoenobius forficellus Thunb.: I took a specimen at Bouth near
Greenodd on 14.vii.39. The species is not likely to have been over-
looked and I have never seen it again. .

Nymphula stagnata Don.: This is common in marshy areas of the
Kendal District but absent on the extensive limestone areas of the
district.

Pyralis costalis Fab.: Two specimens taken in my own garden on
12.v11.1951 and’ 17.vii.1951 are a recent acquisition to our fauna, This

species like so many at the present time is vastly extending its known:

range.

SOME MICROLEPIDOPTERA RECORDS FROM THE NORTH-WEST. 83

Ezapate congellatella Clerck.: This species was frequent in late
September and October in my own garden this year. [I have never
taken it in this area before nor can I find any really near local records.

Onephasia bellana Curt.: There have been one or two fairly recent
records of this species from Carboniferous formations in the area so
that I was hardly surprised when J took two specimens at light near
Kendal on 4.viii.1949. (v. L. and C. Fauna Report, No. 26.)

Eucosma ophthalmicana Hiibn.: Aspen is a very local plant in this
district and in consequence the occurrence of this moth is also irre-
gular. I bred a single specimen from the Witherslack area on 23.viii.41.

Laspeyresia aurana Fab.: Not often recorded but the species is
quite frequently to be found sitting on flower heads of Umbelliferae
bordering the moss-lands in mid-July.

Gelechia diffinis Haw.: This species was frequent to light in my
own garden in early July 1951.

Brachmia rufescens Haw.: Not previously reported from the North
Lancashire area; a single specimen came to my lights near Silverdale
or 8.vi1i1.1951.

Iamnoecia phragmitella Stt.: In 1932 the late A. E. Wright of
Grange-over-Sands was able to report having seen typical workings of
this species in Reed-mace at a locality near Silverdale. I do not know
exactly his locality but I took a rather. worn specimen of this moth
near Silverdale on 30.vi11.1951, thus confirming the species’ occurrence.

Mompha raschkiella Zell.: A single specimen at Meathop Moss on
11.vi.1950.

Mompha ochraceella Hiibn.: A specimen of this scarce species came
to light at Kendal on 7.vii1.1950. There are only one or two previous
records for the area.

Depressaria nervosa Haw.: Taken at Kendal on 5.1x.1951.

Elachista cerusella Hiibn.: Common by the river at Newby Bridge.
I have only taken one specimen at Kendal.

Argyresthia andereggiella Dup.: I have only taken one spnecimen of
this species—at Ulverston on 7.v11.1945.

Argyresthia glaucinella Zell.: On 18th June 1946 this species was
abundant running about on the bark of isolated oak trees in part of
Roudsea Wood near Greenodd. There is a record for the Preston Dis-
trict but otherwise I can find no previous record for the area.

Coleophora spissicornis Haw.: Frequent to light in the Witherslack
area in late June or early July.

Coleophora anatipennella Hiibn.: I bred a specimen from a case
found on sallow at Silecroft, Cumberland. So far as I know this con-
stitutes a county record.

Gracilaria phasianpennella Hiibn.: Cones were found commonly on
Polygonum sp. on the edge of Meathop Moss in September 1951. From
these a good series of the moth was bred. :

Cataplecta fulviguttella Zell.: Very common on Umbelliferae by the
side of Windermere in 1949.

Orthotaelia sparganella Thunb.: I took a specimen of this pretty
moth in my Kendal garden on 2.viii.1950. So far as I know there is no
- previous Westmorland record and the nearest other noted occurrence
was at Cark-in-Cartmel in 1937.

84 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TIT/1952

Monopis ferruginella Hiibn.: Not recorded from this area since be-
fore 1890. I was pleased to take a specimen at Witherslack on
1.v11.1950.

Lampronia oehlmanniella Treits.: Usually uncommon. I have speci-
mens from Holker Moss 6.vi.1947, and Winster (Lancs.) 3.v1.1948

Kendal, 6.xi1.1951.

Notes on Microlepidoptera

By H. C. Hvueerns.

‘Collectors working birch trunks at Aviemore and other Scottish
localities for nubeculosa at the end of March and beginning of April
should be on the look-out for hibernated specimens of Peronea niveana
Fab. In 1923 I arranged for the late L. G. Esson, the Scottish profes-
sional collector, to send me alive any Tortrices he found whilst looking for
the Rannoch Sprawler. He sent me about a dozen; these included two
niveana, one rufana Schiff. (awtumnana Hub.) and one hastiana Linn.,
the rest being ferrugana Schiff. Unfortunately both the niveana were
males; the late W. H. B. Fletcher was, however, more lucky about
thirty years before and by sleeving a fertile female on a young birch
tree succeeded in rearing a brood. This must have been of consider-
able size as he had enough to’give to his friends, half a dozen of which
eventually came into my possession.

Teazle ‘heads should now be collected for the larvae of Endothenia
gentianana Hub. and Phalonia roseana Haw. The big white larva of gen-
tianana hollows out the central pith, one in each head, whilst the little
green larva of roseana burrows transversely through the seeds. Both
pupate in the seed-head and are easy to rear if the heads are kept ex-
posed to all weathers. JI have noticed, however, a shght tendency on
the part of roseana larvae to dry up if brought indoors too early, so
recommend they be kept outside till the last week in May. In Kent
j never examined a teazle plant without finding both these species, but
here in Essex they are much more local and only found in a few places.

Pammene fimbriana Haw. is on the wing towards the end of March.
With these spring insects no date is reliable, so that it will perhaps
be best to say it usually occurs at the same time as Brephos parthenas
Linn. The flight of this elusive little moth is entirely dependent on
the weather. Many suggestions have been made for taking it, apart
from breeding it from oak galls, most of which merely prove exasperat-
ing. Beating the lower boughs cf oaks or kicking the trunks of young
trees on a dull day cause it to drop to the ground, but if the small dark
moth is geen falling it is rarely recovered. The late W. G. Sheldon
told me he beat it into an umbrella in Worth Forest, but attempts lL
have made in Kent and Essex have only produced earwigs and other
unwanted trash.

However, on a still sunny day it flies freely amongst young oaks
and is then conspicuous from the white colour of its underwings; but
it is very particular about the exact climatic conditions it requires for
flight.

if bi ——

CURRENT NOTES. 85

On Easter Saturday 1941 I was walking in a wood near here when a
moth buzzed past which I caught in my hat; 1t proved to be fimbriana.
In the course of an hour I saw about a score; I had only one other box
with me, which I filled. The next day I revisited the locality; it was
a still sunny day again, but the temperature had fallen several degrees.
I beat out four, which flew towards the ground, and I caught two.
The next day (Easter Monday) was cold and dull and I saw none and
could not beat any either. Since then I have several times seen it in
woods at Benfleet and Eastwood, but only on still, sunny, and warm
days.

In 1922 I bred an insect from stems of Stachys palustris collected
near Sittingbourne which the late Mr. W. G. Sheldon identified as
Endothenia fuligana Hub. (carbonana Barrett) and I recorded it as
such. Of recent years I have doubted this identification and on look-
ing at it critically I am satisfied it is only an aberration of H. nigri-
costana Haw. in which the usual buff spot is dirty grey. Anyone com-
piling a Kentish list should therefore omit this record. I have never
seen a Kentish fuligana, though I believe Purdey is said to have taken
it.

Current Notes

Locat Lists.—Our readers will have read with interest Mr. Mac-
laurin’s Lepidoptera in Renfrewshire, printed at pages 130-132 of our
last volume. Lists such as this are of considerable value to-day ; for many
lepidopterous habitats were destroyed by the exigencies of the late war;
consequently insect populations, and indeed the actual existence of cer-
tain species in certain districts, are no longer as they were in 1939.
We should welcome similar lists from other Scottish counties. Will our
northern readers please take note?

In our excerpts from the Record of Fifty Years Ago which we
printed at page 64 of our last issue there is a Note by our Founder
-on the numbers of Hydrous piceus I. attracted by the electric street
lamps in Turin. Have any of our readers who use the m.v. lamp for
attracting moths taken this fine beetle by this means?

We are in need of paragraphs for our ‘‘ Practical Hints ’’ page and

would be very grateful if some of our readers who have had many years’
experience in the field would come to our aid. Paragraphs should be
applicable to field work during the thirty days following the 15th of
each month and should be from 50 to 100 words in length. We know
that these paragraphs are much appreciated, especially by our younger
readers.

We shall be glad if the Secretaries of provincial Natural History
Societies will call our attention (by sending reprints or review copies)
to matters of entomological interest which appear in the pages of
their Transactions and Proceedings. These should be sent to Mr. D. F.
‘Owen, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of
Zoological Field Studies, Botanic Garden, Oxford.

86 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/IL1/ 1952

Will those of our supporters who have not yet paid their subscrip-
tions for this year or half-year please do so at once? Thereby they
will save our Treasurer (a) time, (b) clerical assistance, (c) notepaper
and envelopes, (d) postage stamps.

Notes and Observations

PLUSIA CONFUSA STEPHENS 1850 (GuTTA GUENEE 1852) IN ENGLAND.—

The discovery (Ent. Rec., 63: 281) of the first specimen of this species
in England is of much importance, because this moth is clearly extend-
ing its territory in the North-West of Europe. In 1934 the first speci-
men was observed in Holland, followed by two in 1945. In 1949 six
were taken, and in 1950 no less than eighteen. In 1951 it was again
met with though I do not yet know the number, not having received the
immigration schedules. In 1949-1951 Plusia confusa was repeatedly
taken in the same localities, so that very probably it is indigenous there
now. There are three generations a year with us.—B. J. LempxKe, Oude
Yselstraat 12111, Amsterdam—Z.2.

FEMALE ARCTIA CAIA L. ATTRACTING OTHER ARCTIINAE.—The note by
D. Wright in the Hnt. Record (January 1952, p. 24) reminds me of an
occasion when I placed two virgin 9° of Arctia caia L. in a muslin
cage with hopes of attracting ¢d for inspection. Next day I was sur-
prised to find, in addition to several ¢ cata, a 3 Phragmatobia fulig-
inosa LL. clinging to the muslin. The nearest locality for the latter is
Sutton Park, nearly two miles away, where this insect is by no means
common.—L. J. Evans, 73 Warren Hill Road, Birmingham, 23. 25.1.52.

LIitHOPHANE LAPIDEA HUBNER IN Britarin.—A female of Lithophane
lapidea Hibner, taken by Dr. K. G. Blair at electric light at Fresh-
water, Isle of Wight, on 26th October 1951, was shown at a meeting of
the Royal Entomological Society on 27th February 1952. It was in
shghtly worn condition. The species, grey with four thin black longi-
tudinal streaks, is found in S. France, Switzerland, Italy, Crete, the
Balkans, and Spain and as far east as W. Turkestan. The larva, green
with white longitudinal dorsal and subspiracular lines, a white oblique
lateral stripe on each somite, and a red spot surrounding each spiracle,
feeds on Juniperus and Cupressus. This is the first recorded British
specimen.

PsEUDOIPS PRASINANA L. (BICOLORANA F'uESs.) tN Lonpon.—With re-
ference to Mr. WaKE.ty’s Note at page 21 regarding Pseudoips prasinana
L. (bicolorana Fuess.) it is perhaps of interest to record the finding of a
specimen of this moth at light in Regent’s Park Barracks on 10th July
1945 at a spot separated from the Park by two rows of large buildings
and Albany Street.—W. E. Minnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner,
Middx. 14.1.52.

ADOXOPHYES ORANA IN KeEN?T.—I wish to report the presence of this
insect in my garden at Bromley, Kent, which brings its known distri-
bution pretty well up to the London area.

This little Tortricid came to my lighted window during August, to
be ignored as I had too much on hand to take particular note of it.

—— foes

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 87

However, on harvesting my apples, I found ample evidence of larvae in
the characteristic gnawing of the apple peel where two fruits touched
one another. :

While on the subject of apples, it might be of interest to record that
this year, for the first time, I have found larvae of Hofmannophila
(Borkhausenia) pseudospretella also eating apple peel where fruits
stored in the dark touched the shelf. So far this damage has not shown
signs of encouraging decay in the apples as does the eating of A. orana,
but it is probable that if not used as soon as possible, these apples will
vo bad.—S. N. A. Jacoss, 54 Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent.

HapENA ANDALUSICA STAuD. IN THE West CounTRY.—Mr. SavaceE
wrote in last December’s Itecord (63: 302) of finding larvae of this
species in the West Country at the roots of sea campion. At the end of
August 1938, in company with the late John Bowes, I spent several
fruitless hours searching this foodplant at Mullion. I left John there
still searching and moved to Prawle, where the sea campion was
still innocent of andalusica. Presently he followed me in great
glee, with a fine lot of the desired larvae which he had found at the
roots of sea spurrey. Given the right foodplant we were able to find
them readily at Prawle too. Breeding was easy enough; two or three
inches of earth at the bottom of a 7-lb. biscuit tin, with a few good roots
on the surface, and the larvae were very happy. Do they always pre-
fer sea spurrey if they can get it? The only printed mention of it
known to me is in Allan’s Larval Foodplants, 1949.—J. O. T. Howarp,
11 Grafton Street, London, W.1. 18.1.52.

PIERIS NAPI ON Wet Mup.—Several correspondents have recently re-
corded instances of Pieris napi L. drinking at wet mud and it may be of
interest to recall that this habit was recorded nearly fifty years ago by
Dr. G. B. Longstaff. In his book Butterfly Hunting in Many Lands
he writes (page 103): ‘‘ At Mortehoe, on the Ist August 1905, in the
early afternoon, I saw fourteen or fifteen Ganoris nag sitting close
together on wed mut; they were all males.’’ This remark that the speci-
mens were all males bears out Dr. EK. Barton Wuite’s observations ;
Mr. G. E. Hype has also noted the preponderance of males to females ©
in similar circumstances.—NicEL T. Easton, Wisborough Lodge, near
Billingshurst, Sussex. 25.1.52:

BUTTERFLIES ON WET Mup.—The Notes on Pieris napi L. at wet mud
(pages 21, 22) call to mind a note made in July 1945 of Iimenatis camilla
L. in twos and threes on wet mud in an open ride in a wood near here.
The butterfly was plentiful and it was most noticeable that while those
on bramble blossom or at rest on foliage, etc., appeared to be worn,
those on the mud were all fresh. Has this point been mentioned in con-
nection with other species or was it just coincidence ?’—W. E. MInnion,
40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middlesex. 14.1.52.

[The habit of butterflies settling on wet mud and sand has been
recorded by many observers from all parts of the world. For instance,
Alfred Simson in his book Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador, 1886, writes
(p. 117): ‘‘ What most attracted our attention here was the immense
‘numbers of butterflies which flitted and hovered about in the bed of the
river and disported themselves on the sand, sucking the water from it

88 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/11/1952

and shaking their wings. In favourite damp spots on the sand they
would form small gatherings of fifty to a hundred, densely packed
together, so that we could frequently catch fifty or more in the net at
a single blow; most were of the genera Papilio and Callidryas.’’ Again
at page 122 the same author writes: ‘‘ The butterflies on the sands were
so numerous and fearless that we quietly knelt down and took them with
our fingers.’’—ED. |

A Nore on Rearing HyprRIoMENA RUBERATA FREYER.—A female of
this rather uncommon species which was found at rest on a stone wall
on Blackamoor, North Derbyshire, in June 1951 subsequently laid 40
eggs. The eggs were laid on sallow leaves in small batches and were
pale yellow in colour, darkening before they hatched.

The newly hatched larvae were first placed.on a spray of sallow con-
tained in a small cylindrical celluloid cage, but they wandered about
and most of them left the foodplant. They were then transferred to
a glass-topped tin containing a few sallow leaves, and they soon disap-
peared into crevices between leaves that were lying close together. The
larvae were not seen again until the leaves were changed some days
later, but their presence was indicated by thinned patches on the
visible leaf surfaces. Throughout their lives these larvae sought sallow
leaves which were touching, and creeping, between them into the smallest
crannies surrounded themselves with cocoon-like structures of silk.
Within these they remained very sluggish, and fed slowly upon immedi-
ately adjacent foodplant.

‘When about half grown the larvae were reel from glass-topped
tins to a cage made from old photographic half-plates, having a base
with a hole through which the stems of the foodplant could dip into a
jar of water. Sallow sprays were bunched into the cage rather thickly
to give plenty of spinning sites for the larvae. Some of them spun their
‘cocoon-homes’ between sallow leaves and the glass sides of the cage,
thus allowing perfect observation.

The silken structures were oval in shape with an orifice at one end
not much larger than the girth of a larva. The caterpillars remained
curled up in their cocoons all day and emerged only at night to feed.
They did not usually go far but often merely stretched out from their
cocoons to eat any leaf within reach.

Pupation occurred during August. Most of the larvae burrowed
under the one-inch layer of leaf-mould provided and spun substantial
cocoons in the bottom angles of the cage. A few did not go below ground
but spun cocoons in the corners of the cage at various levels. Twenty
pupae were obtained, the losses being due not to deaths but to escapes.
The larvae can creep through the tiniest cracks and appear to have a
flair for finding them.—T. D. FrarnenovucnH, 13 Salisbury Road, Dron-
field, Derbyshire. 9.1.52.

Scarcity oF BUTTERFLIES ON THE CONTINENT IN 1951.—I have been
interested to read of the scarcity of butterflies on the Continent in 1951.

In July I spent my honeymoon at Lustin-sur-Meuse in the Province of”

Namur in the Belgian Ardenne where, as a schoolboy, I had had several
butterfly collecting holidays with very good results. It was therefore
with surprise that I found butterflies so scarce. This I attributed to
the neglect of the woods during the German occupation (von Runstedt’s

“eh

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 89

offensive ended at Celles only a few kilometres away). The woods were
certainly very hard to penetrate, but we found a good spot for Apatura
iris and I captured a few male specimens in a disused pigsty between
Dinant and Celles. Limenitis camilla was also found there. Just before
we left we found a few oak trees on the other side of the Meuse where
Thecla quercus was very plentiful. .On 22nd July I saw one Melitaea
parthenie. The whites, Pieris nam, rapae and brassicae, were reason-
ably common. Vanessa atalanta and A. urticae occurred. Polygonia
c-album was fairly common. The only Lycaenid: seen was Celastrina
argioluws and of Hesperiidae a few specimens of Ochlodes venata. A.
hyperantus occurred but no vars. were taken. M. jurtina was very
common; I also found two isolated specimens of M. galathea. A few
weeks after we had left a Belgian whom we had interested sent us a
fresh specimen of P. machaon, which he had caught at Lustin.—(Rev.)
P C. Hawker, Gautby Rectory, Wragby, Lincs. 19.i.52.

ARGYNNIS AGLAIA IN THE ISLE oF Man.—I have just heard from a
friend in the Isle of Man that Ruy Point—the one bit of sea coast that
I don’t know well—is a new locality for Argynnis aglaia.—S. H. Kerr-
sHAW, Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks. 6.i1.52.

SurraBLte Kitiinc AcEents.—The note by A. M. R. Heron on how to
kill Luceria virens without destroying the colour appeared in the same
issue as the Obituary of my old friend Lt.-Col. Donovan. He taught me
a method which I still use exclusively for all insects, and it does not
harm the colours of any. I insert three or four drops of chloroform into
the pill-box. Then J dip the pin to be used in to a bottle of Formalin
and by drawing it out quickly a large drop or drops is left on the pin.
This Formalin penetrates the thorax with the pin and is quite lethal.

A little practice is needed to judge that most of the liquid has pene-
trated with the pin—sometimes it can be left on the top of the thorax,
especially if it is very hairy, but observation and practice soon make
this a quick and safe method, the best I have tried so far. Formalin
is difficult to get and is very poisonous so care is needed. Occasionally,
if too large a drop is used on the pin, a few crystals are left on the
thorax. These can be brushed off and practice will determine a suitable
quantity to use. Several small droplets up the length of the pin are
better than one large one —P. Srvirer SmirH, 21 Melville Hall, Holly
Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 16.

ACCOUNT OF THE MACROLEPIDOPTERA oF Kent.—I have been at work
for a number of years upon a detailed catalogue of the Macrolepidoptera
of Kent and I should be very glad to hear from collectors who can supply
me with lists of their captures, giving localities and, if possible, dates.
I shall be pleased to send a list for filling in to anyone sending me his
name and address. On publication proper acknowledgment will be given
of the source of all information received.—J. M. CHALMERS-Hunt, 70
Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham, Kent. 21.1.52.

A W. Arrican Earwig in Scorinanp.—My father, D. K. Kevan of Edin-
burgh, recently sent me a specimen of a large species of earwig, remark-
able for its very long forceps, which was found in a log of Nigerian
Abura at Leith in September 1951. It was identified for me by Mr.
W. D. Hincks of the Manchester Museum as Forcipula gariazzi Borelli ‘

90 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/TIT/1952

and he tells me that although he has had it from Abura and Obeche
logs from Nottingham on a previous occasion he knows of no other
record of its importation into this country. Incidentally I might add
here that although Borelli in his original description of the species
(Boll. Mus. Torino, 15: 1 (1900)) uses the trivial name in the form given,
this must, under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature,
be amended to gariazzii, since there is little likelihood of there ever
having been a person by the name of Gariazz, whereas Gariazzi is a
valid Italian proper name.—D. K. McK. Kevan, University of Not-
tingham. 29.x11.51.

[Probably the name was Gariazzi, but unless the author said so no
one is entitled to amend gariazzi to gariazziu. In any case the Inter-
national Rule is a bad one. Proper names. like these do not become
Latin names because they are given a Latin termination. What Latin
word has zz in the middle ?—KEp. |

TETTIGONIA viRipisstMa L. In East Dorsret.—The great green grass-
hopper, Tettigonia viridissima L., was swarming in this part of
Purbeck last September. J have never met with such numbers
before and am wondering if it was equally common all along the
South Coast.—Lronarp TatcHELL, Rockleigh Cottage, Swanage. 3.x.51.

DIPTERA

_ UnusvuaLt SexuaL BEHAVIOUR OF SCIARA CARBONARIA Me.—Males of
this species were common, flying around the tips of branches and land-
ing on leaves, on the sheltered, sunny side of some poplar trees in
Rothamsted Park on 31st May 1951. A black male Dolerus (Hym..,
Tenthredinidae), hanging by a hind leg from a twig, attracted a num-
ber of male S. carbonaria, which were seen to land upon it and to take
up a mating position, the wings raised and the abdomen turned for-
ward ventrally. At one time an almost continuous stream of males
were landing on the sawfly and flying away. Up to four males at a
time were seen running over the thorax and abdomen, but only one
male was seen to attach itself to the hind end of the abdomen. The
sawfly appeared to be dead but actually was alive, although it died
in a tube later.

One male S. carbonaria was seen to attempt copulation with a female
Dilophus febrilis L. (Dipt., Bibionidae) walking along a twig, but this
species is of about the same size, shape and colour as female S. carbon-
aria, whereas the Dolerus was about twice as big, and was motionless.

On the poplars 1 ¢ and 1 @2 S. carbonaria were seen as prey of 2
22 Scopeuma stercorarium L. (Dipt., Cordyluridae), and 3 gd as
prey of 2 63,1 2 Platypalpus agilis Mg. (Dipt., Empididae). Some
Tenthredo spp. were hunting on the leaves but none was seen to cap-
ture prey.

It is probably worth mentioning that the species of Sciara was deter-
mined as carbonaria using Edwards, F. W., 1924, Trans. R. ent. Soc.
Lond. and Frey, R., 1948, Notulae Hntomologicae.—B. R. LavRENCE,
31 Sherwood Road, Luton, Beds., 29.1.52.

Fures at Ivy-BLtoom.—It seemed strange to me to read in Mr.
Holloway’s paper Insects and Ivy-bloom (1951, Ent. Rec. 63: 275-7) of

DIPTERA. 91

the Crane-fly Tipula oleracea L. being ‘‘ prominent ’’ at the flowers of
this plant. Not being addicted to crepuscular or nocturnal wanderings
I have never seen crane. flies imbibing as I infer from Mr Holloway’s
article such must be their habit.

The flower has considerable attraction to the usual diurnal diptera
haunters of yellow flowers being one of the latest to extend a welcome to
the thirsty. Among the usual Syrphidae, Tachinidae, Calliphoridae,
and Muscidae I have seen on its blossoms:—Syrphus [Episyrphus |
auricollis Mg. var. maculicornis Zett., S. [E.] balteatus Deg., S. [Syrph-
idis| ribesii L., S. [S.] torvus O.S., Syritta pipiens L., Eristalis [Tubi-
fera] tenax L., E. [T.] pertinax Scop., Myiatropa florea L., Sericomyra
[Cinzia] borealis Fln. [=silentis Harris], Tachina [Larvaevora] fera
L., Phryzxe vulgaris Fln., Calliphora erythrocephala Mg., C. vomitoria
L., Pollenia rudis F., Sarcophaga carnaria L., Fannia serena Fln.,
Mesembrina meridiana L., Morellia sp. females, Musca autumnalis Deg.,
Phaonia variegata Mg., Polietes lardaria F., Pseudomorellia albolineata
Flin.

Among the less usual have been Scatophaga [Scopewma] lutaria F.,

S. stercoraria L., Dilophus febrilis L., Scatopse notata L. and S. picea
Mg.
- The dung and fungus haunter Dryomyza flaveola F. var. zawadskii
Schum. was quite an unexpected visitor. The small Empid fly Platy-
palpus minutus Mg. was once seen at the nectar instead of running over
the leaves as usual waiting for small insects. The most exciting was my
first capture of the Conopid Leopoldius signatus Wied.

Alas, I have no handy patch to watch. Perhaps some more favoured
person will make further observations, distinguishing between the im-
bibers and the pollen-eaters.—L. ParMENTER, 94, Fairlands Avenue,
Thornton Heath, Surrey. 28.xii.51.

A Note on PALLOPTERA AMBUSTA Mg. AND OTHER SPECIES OF PALLOP-
TERIDAE.—Mr. J. E. Collin, in a recently published paper on the family
Pallopteridae (Hnt. Rec., May 1951, Suppl. 1-6) describes P. ambusta as
rare in Britain, recording it from only Herefordshire, and states that
it appears to be principally confined to mountainous districts on the
Continent. Mr L. Parmenter, in a note on species of this family
(Hnt. Rec. 63: 304-306), does not refer to ambusta at all, which appears
further to substantiate its rarity in this country. It is, therefore, in-
teresting to note that ambusta was, up to eighteen months ago, taken
quite commonly in June and July at Coombe Dingle, near Bristol (Glos.).
Its habitat was a nettle-grown hollow formed by the dry bed of a
diverted stream, and both sexes were to be seen resting on the upper-
most leaves of the nettles growing in the more densely-shaded part of
the hollow. Unfortunately, a major drainage scheme between Henbury
and Sea Mills almost obliterated this particular spot and ambusta was
not seen there in the past two seasons. Although much of the low vege-
tation has re-established itself during the past year, the destruction of
the many trees and shrubs which formed the principal growth at this
spot has resulted, at least temporarily, in the disappearance from the
dell of a number of interesting species.

Parmenter (ibid. p. 305) refers to the occurrence of Palloptera ustu-
lata Fall. on a window, and of both this species and P. umbellatarum F.
on the veranda of his house at Thornton Heath, Surrey. During a

92 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15 / TIT /1952

short stay at a house at Seal (Kent) in August 1950, both sexes of these
two species were noticed in considerable numbers on the windows and
ceiling of my bedroom and good series were taken during the four days
spent there. The appearance of fresh specimens each morning sug-
gested that these two species were breeding inside the house, but all
attempts to discover whether this was actually so were unsuccessful.—
EK. C. M. pv’ Assis-Fonseca, 18, Grange Park, Henleaze, Bristol.

COLEOPTERA

The Coleoptera of a Suburban Garden

4—Rhynchophora
By A. A. Aten, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
(continued from page 63.)

CURCULIONIDAE

Ceuthorhynchus erysimi F.—This bright little species is somewhat
plentiful, especially by sweeping in weedy flower-beds where shepherd’s
purse (Capsella Bursa-pastoris) abounds, through most of the summer ;
several times. found hibernating at roots of mixed herbage, particularly
Arabis and Alyssum (cf. the last species). Some specimens approach the
green ab. chloropterus Steph.

~ Ceuthorhynchus floralis Payk.—Distinctly less common; also very
fond of Capsella, but taken more often than erysimt by sweeping other
vegetation ; not found hibernating, unlike the last-named.

Ceuthorhynchus pyrrhorhynchus Marsh.—Much more seldom met
with; 6.vi.51, 24.vii.51, singly by sweeping low plants. Seems chiefly
attached to hedge-mustard (Sisymbriwm), which does not grow in the
garden.

Ceuthorhynchus quadridens Panz.—A specimen taken crawling up a
cabbage stalk, August 1931; a rather common species on various Cruci-
ferae which one would expect to have recurred.

Ceuthorhynchus plewrostigma Marsh.—One on a cabbage, September
1931; another on golden-rod flowers, July 1949. (This and the preced-
ing species are sometimes injurious to Brassica crops.)

Ceuthorhynchus roberti Gyll. v. alliariae Bris.—One example by
general sweeping, 5.vi.51. The garlic-mustard (Alliaria) grows a little
way outside the garden along a hedge and I have taken the beetle on it
there.

*Ceuthorhynchus punctiger Gyll.—Singly by sweeping dandelions and
allied Compositae on the edges of vegetable plots; very rare (38.vii.50,
10.vi.51).

Ceuthorhynchus quadrimaculatus L.—This ubiquitous nettle-feeder
is not resident, owing to the absence of its host-plant, but a casual
specimen was swept from coarse grass near a fence beyond which is a
rough field (now largely given over to allotments) where the species has
occurred—12.1x.50.

Ceuthorhynchus litura F.—Though there has been no lack of thistles
in the garden of late years, the sole example hitherto found is a male
taken off flowers of golden-rod in July 1949.

THE COLEOPTERA OF A SUBURBAN GARDEN. 93

Ceuthorhynchidius troglodytes F.—By sweeping where there is plan-
tain (Plantago lanceolata); a few specimens during the past summer are
all that have been seen of this very common weevil.

Amalus scortillum Ubst. (=haemorrhous Hbst.).—One swept from
luxuriant kerbage, 28.v.51. The pabulum does not appear to be known.

Rhinoncus pericarpius L.—Found very sparsely by shaking and
sweeping dock in May and June last; I took it many years ago with
Apion miniatum in a lane not far distant. This is the only dock-feeder
of which more than one individual has so far turned up in the garden.

Magdalis cerasi L..—On the foliage of plum, cherry, and apple; scarce
and only found in June 1950 in company with the following. (It 1s
rather curious that 1. cerasi should also live on oak.)

Magdalis ruficornis L. (=pruni L.).—On the same fruit trees as the
latter, with the addition of pear; not common; taken in June 1933 with
the next species, and again sparingly in June 1950.

*Magdalis barbicornis Later.—Exclusively on pear foliage, late May
and June; rare as a rule, but in some small numbers when first found
in 1933 and again in the last two years; in many of the intervening
seasons, though searched for, not seen at all.

Magdalis armigera Geoff.—Several specimens in June 1933 on some
young elms not exceeding ten feet high and long since destroyed. Young
elms now growing at the opposite end of the garden have proved unpro-
ductive. (All our few southern species of this genus have thus occurred
in the garden, except the birch-feeding M. carbonaria L., rare in the
south.)

Euophryum confine Broun.—In some numbers with its early stages
in a piece of rotten wood which was probably once part of a fence, April
1951 and subsequently; odd specimens by sweeping nearby. A native
of New Zealand now firmly established here in the wild. See Hnt. mon.
Mag., 1948, 84: 153, and 1951, 87: 246.

ScCOLYTIDAE

Scolytus scolytus F. (=destructor Ol.).—An example was caught fiy-
ing in the garden many years ago, at a time when there were one or
two large elm logs lying in the field beyond. The species is common in
the bark of felled elms in the district.

Scolytus rugulosus Ratz.—A solitary specimen beaten off a euonymus
hedge, 13.vi1.51. This is the only member of the family likely to be
breeding in the garden; it may have come from some species of Prunus.

Hylesinus fraxini Panz.—One captured on the wing in hot sunshine
in spring or early summer, about 1930 (date uncertain). Otherwise I
have not seen it in this vicinity; ash trees do not abound.

Merorcus paRADOoxus L.—A specimen of this most interesting beetle
was taken at Bookham, Surrey, on 12th August last (1951). It was
found by Mr. P. W. E. Currie, and passed on to me later in the day.
On first seeing it I showed my lack of knowledge by suggesting it was
a sawfly—little knowing that Mr. Currie was an expert on that Order!
The insect was rather lively, displayed a fat yellow body and kept un-
folding its wings in its efforts to escape. Its shape made me think of a
much smaller beetle which I had taken once or twice—Tomazxia biguttata
Gyl., and on reaching home I looked up that insect in Fowler’s Cole-

94 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/111 / 1952

optera to see if there was a species near which in any way resembled this
strange-looking beetle. Its size alone, 10-12 mm., was a valuable clue,
and on reading the name Metoecus paradoxus and its description there
was no doubt in my mind but that this was the name of Mr. Currie’s
find. According to Fowler, the iarva of the beetle feeds on wasp grubs.
The eggs are laid in the autumn in crevices of rotten wood, and it was
thought the larvae hatch in the spring and attach themselves to wasps
visiting posts, etc., to gather material for making their nests and are
thus conveyed to the wasp community. It is most probable that much
more is known of its life history since Fowler wrote his book, and per-
haps some of our readers could enlighten me as to more up-to-date de-
tails of its habits. In early September, I visited Bookham again and
dug out a wasp nest, hoping to find more, but failed to get any, although
numerous diptera larvae present, chiefly in’ the soil immediately under
the nest, may prove interesting 1f I am successful in rearing them. Pre-
sumably the nest must be dug out much earlier. J am sure other readers
besides myself would be interested to know if anyone has found the
larvae in wasp nests, and in what month they might be sought for.—
S. Waxkety, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5. 4.1.82.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of March 1902)

Miss FounrTaIne TAKES COLIAS HELDREICHI.—To the butterfly collector
in Greece Colias heldreichi is the one prize before all others. And this
butterfly I had been given to understand only occurred on the high and
lofty mountains—such as the Parnassus—always above the tree-line, at
an elevation never lower than 7,000 ft. Judge therefore of my surprise
and delight when one day about the middle of June, not more than a
few hundred feet above the village of Soudena, on the lower slopes of
Mount Chelmos, as we were riding steadily on, intending to reach the
summit, I saw a large dark Colias hovering rapidly over the scrub and
brushwood; but as I found on consulting my aneroid that it was only
an elevation of about 4,000 ft. I was not sufficiently sceptical . . . even
then to dismount and catch one, till one of the men who had come up
with the horses and was amusing himself by brandishing about my net,
suddenly brought for my inspection what I saw at a glance was un-
mistakably a magnificent female of Colius heldreichi. I was soon on
my feet and in hot pursuit of every one I saw, which was no easy task
over this rock-strewn mountain-side, but the males of this lovely butter-

fly were flying in every direction, so tlfat I had soon secured several, not.

to mention another fine female. A day like this is a day to be remem-
bered in the life of an entomologist. It is one which stands out quite
distinct, leaving an impression never to be forgotten. The long toilsome
climbs of other and less successful days beneath a blazing sun, the long
hours of thirst and fatigue, which have so often brought in the end little
or no results, are all compensated for in the joys of the one day when
the enthusiastic butterfly hunter meets for the first time a treasure such
as this, flying everywhere in wild reckless profusion. . . . I have since
been told that I am the first British entomologist who has ever taken
Colias heldreichi or seen it alive; and may I add that it is a sight worth
seeing.’’—MARGARET FOUNTAINE.

es | oe

CURRENT LITERATURE. 95

Crrexets rx Coan Mines.—In visiting the coal mines of Mariemont,
in Belgium, at the bottom of the pit, at a depth of 683 metres (about
2,219 ft.) I was very struck to hear the chirp of a cricket. It must have
been Gryllus domesticus. The song was only to be heard close to the
engines near the bottom of the shaft, where they probably collected to
obtain the warmth from the steam. There were no signs of them in the
galleries or at any distance from the engines. . . . The majority of insects
occurring in mines are undoubtedly introduced by the timber ; longicorn
beetles, Sirex gigas, and other wood-borers are not uncommon.—M.
Burr.

SwARMING OF PYRAMEIS ATALANTA.—I find you mention the swarming
habits of Satyrus hermione. Is it generally known that our common
Pyrameis atalanta occasionally acts in precisely the same manner? I
have twice noticed a swarm of these insects roosting on the branches of
an oak-tree. I have never seen this habit of P. atalanta mentioned in
any book on entomology, and should very much like to know the possible
reason for the habit.—G. T. Lyte.

ABUNDANCE OF LYTTA VESICATORIA NEAR DOVER.—When in the country
near Dover last June, I noticed hundreds of examples of L. vesicatoria
flying in the hot sun round and settling on the outer leaves of an ash
tree. The tips of the outer leaflets all round the tree (which was a large
one) were in shreds, eaten by the beetles. The ground underneath the
tree was covered with frass, and the air was impregnated by the odour
emitted by the beetles, and noticeable some yards away. There were
other ash trees in the vicinity, but it was only round this particular one
that the beetles seemed to assemble.—H. D. StrockweEtu.

Current Literature

BEEKEEPING AND AGRICULTURAL SpRAys. By B. A. Cooper (Year-
Book of the Lincolnshire Beekeepers’ Association, 1950-1).—The use of
agricultural spray chemicals for the control of weeds, pests and diseases
is proving harmful to honeybees. Various effects of each chemical are
discussed under a series of headings, and methods to minimise dangers
to bees are suggested. Further research is required in this important
economic problem, and the present paper is a useful guide to both
beekeepers and farmers.

THe CHEMISTRY AND AcTION or INsEcTIcCIDES. By H. H. SHEparp.
New York, 1951. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 59s 6d.—A detailed account
of the properties of insecticides with a descriptive paragraph on each
chemical. Fungicides, rodenticides, and other economic poisons are
discussed in connection with their chemieal and toxicological relation-
ship to insecticides. Not only are important facts and theories con-
tained in this work, but there is also information of historical and com-
mercial value. Many references are quoted and these are given in full
at the end of each chapter.

_ THE JOURNAL OF ANIMAL Ecotocy, 20: 63 (1951) has a paper by D.
and E. Lack on Migration of Insects and Birds through a Pyrenean
Pass. In the autumn of 1950 birds, butterflies, one species of dragonfly

96 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 64. 15/11/1952

and a species of Syrphid were seen migrating through the Pyrenees,
going south and west. Most spectacular was a migration against the
wind through a pass at 7,500 feet, both birds and insects having appar-
ently been deflected from their standard flight-direction by the moun-
tains. An important comparison between the migrations and emigra-
tions of birds and insects is made.

—, 20: 180. Dr. C. B.. Wit1traMs of Rothamsted has a paper on
Seasonal Changes in the Flight Direction of Migrant Butterflies im the
British Isles, an analysis of over a thousand records of directional
flights of butterflies in the British Isles, relating to six species, with
diagrams on a logarithmic scale representing the number of insects in
each flight. Vanessa atalanta, V. urticae, Colias croceus and C. hyale
show a definite northerly movement in the spring and a southerly move-
ment in the autumn, though the same individuals are obviously not in-
volved. With Pyrameis cardui there is a northerly migration in spring,
but autumn records do not show a dominant southerly movement.
Pieris brassicae has two migratory seasons, at the end of May and early
June, and again at the end of July and in early August. The first shows
evidence of a northerly movement when away from the apparently con-
fusing effects of coastlines, but the second does not show a definite
southerly flight. V. urticae had not formerly been considered a regular
migrant, but the recorded directional flights show a northerly move-
ment until July and south again in autumn. This species requires
closer watching as it now seems immigrant as well as resident. Many
further observations of a north and south movement are required as the
continual accumulation of records by the Insect Immigration Committee
support the author’s belief that the migration of butterflies will be
found to be similar to that of birds and not contradict the fundamental
theories of evolution by being unidirectional.

THE ScottisH NATURALIST, 63: 33, contains a paper by K. Top
A New and Unusual Locality for Anarta cordigera Thunb., recent obser-
vations on an isolated colony of Anarta cordigera in Angus with topo-
graphical details. A new foodplant, Vaccinium myrtillus, is recorded.
The colony is the southernmost in Britain and at the lowest altitude
(650-800 feet).

THe Naturarist, No. 839 (Oct.-Dec., 1951), Part VI. Our contribu-
tor Mr. H. N. Micuaeris here prints a comprehensive list of Lepidop-
tera, including micros,. recorded from the Spurn peninsula (Yorkshire).

TRANS. OF THE NORFOLK AND NorwicH NATURALISTS Society, 17: 84, ~—
contains an account, by E. A. Enis, of the introduction of Lycaena
dispar batavus into Norfolk from Woodwalton Fen in 1949, with ecolo- —
gical observations. Sixty butterflies are estimated to have emerged —
naturally in the open during 1950, and details of avian predators are —
given.

Tur Intsp NATURALIST’s JOURNAL, 10: 105, has a paper by P. P.
Graves on The Second Brood of the Holly Blue mn Southern Ireland.
Contrary to the usual statement, Celastrina argiolus is at least partially
double brooded in southern Ireland. It is suggested that only recently
has this species become double brooded here. )

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CONTENTS ae

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. E. A. Cockayne ... 6
THREE FORMS OF APHANTOPUS HYPERANTUS LINNAEUS AND ONE
OF COENONYMPHA TULLIA MULLER WHICH MAY BENEW TO THE

_ BRITISH LIST. N. C. Pilleau ... . ee
TWO NEW ABERRATIONS OF ARGYNNIS AGLAIA LINN. S. H. Kershaw 69 q
HYMENIA RECURVALIS FABRICIUS IN BRITAIN. Frank H. Lees... .. 0 —
A NOTE ON HYMENIA RECURVALIS FABRICIUS. E. A. Cockayne... 71
A NOTE ON REARING THE LARVA OF LUCERIA ‘VIRENS LENN, BAd. 7 a
Lempke > tlhe ae On ee ana
THE STATUS OF HORISME AQUATA HUBNER AS A BRITISH SPECIES, SPRY et
E. A. Cockayne é 13 3
NOMENCLATURE OF THE YELLOW FORMS OF PIERIS NAPI LINNAEUS. ae
A PLEA FOR REASON. J. Anthony Thompson ... _.. om ta

ON THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ATTITUDE ADOPTED BY LARVAE OF THE
BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY (GONEPTERYX RHAMNI L. ) BEING ONE OF

DEFENCE. Desmond Lanktree ae ete paca Mita (i ae i x
ABRAXAS SYLVATA SCOP. IN DERBYSHIRE. J. H. Johnson... 1 SGg)t ona
SOME MICROLEPIDOPTERA RECORDS FROM THE NORTH- WEST. Dr. ots

Neville L. Birkett .. Si. Blo ea ic as iceiee eee ee
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. H.C. “Huggins oy, ; Pate MER lpn Ce te
THE COLEOPTERA OF A SUBURBAN GARDEN (continued). A.A Allen. _ 2 aa

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Aberrations of \Satus#ta2pavoenia Linnaeus
By E. A.Coctlitke SUM1., AR.C.P.
PLATE IV.

[The tollowing aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell
collection in the British Museum. ]

Saturnia pavona Linnaeus ab. identata Schultz. (Ent. Zeitschr., 1909,
23:37) (Fig: 1).

The specimen, locality unknown, from the S. Stevens, B. W. Adkin,
and Cockayne collections agrees with the description given by Sehulese
The festooned lines are straight or nearly straight and the pale area
between them is nearly double the normal width. The ocellus is also
displaced outwards as in ab. deflexa Schultz. I think identata is prob-
ably a misprint for edentata, but the spelling is the same both in the
text and in the index.

Saturma pavonia Linnaeus ab. paradoxa ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

The area from the base to the white area proximal to the ocellus is
dark fuscous on both fore and hindwing; the area between the proximal
festooned line and the submarginal line is also dark fuscous on both
wings; the subterminal line is dusky and the border is dark; thus the
usual pale basal line and the pale festooned line are both Ase and the
pale median area contrasts strongly with the dark area on either side
of it.

Type 2: Sutton near Birmingham, 5.v.1901, Fountain. (J. W.
Grant coll.) Cockayne coll.

Saturnia pavonia Linnaeus ab. orbifer ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

The festooned lines are displaced towards the base on both fore and
hindwing. On the forewing that part of the inner festooned line near
the inner margin approaches the dark transverse band, which lies
internal to the ocellus, as in ab. occlusa Braun. It then turns outwards
from nervure 2 and running towards the apex touches the ocellus, and
then turns inwards between nervures 8 and 9, runs along the costa, and
joins the broad transverse band internal to the ocellus. It thus forms
a complete oval or circle. On each forewing an extra nervure arises
from the posterior end of the discocellular nervure and is a duplication
of 3. Nervure 7 is missing as in normal pavonia. The outer festooned
line runs parallel with the inner as far as the carmine red subapical
mark and ends there. Both festooned lines are broad and the festoons
are less apparent than usual. The ocelli are slightly asymmetrical; both
are very large and irregular in shape. The margin of the wing is pale
and very broad. On the hindwing the inner festooned line merges with
the dark area surrounding the ocellus and swings round towards the
costa to join the curved dark line internal to the ocellus. The outer
festooned line runs parallel with the inner curving inwards along ner-
vure 6. The white area between the festooned lines is very broad especi-
ally towards the costa. The ocelli are asymmetrical and abnormal in
' shape as the figure shows. The marginal band is pale and broad. On
_ the left hindwing nervure 3 branches into two parts.

98 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1V /1952

Type 2: Inverness, v.1926, L. W. Newman. (B. W. Adkin coll.)
Cockayne coll.

Saturnia pavonia Linnaeus ab. fusca ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

The whole of the basal part of the forewing is blackish brown and
merges with the dark transverse band internal to the ocellus. With the
exception of the white area internal and external to the ocellus the whole
of the wing is suffused with fuscous, and the festooned lines are scarcely
visible. The inner part of the border is dusky and the outer part black-
ish brown. With the exception of the white area internal to the ocellus
the whole of the hindwing is suffused with fuscous, but all the markings
are faintly visible. The border resembles that of the fore wing.

Type @: Loc. incog. (Capper coll., Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IV.

Fig. 1. Saturnia pavonia ab. identata Schultz. 9.
Fig. 2. Saturnia pavonia ab. paradoxza. 2. Type.
Fig. 3. Saturnia pavonia ab. orbifer. OQ. Type.
Fig. 4. Saturnia pavonia ab. fusca. 9. Type.

Hand Pairing of Papilio machaon in February
By C. A. Cuarke, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P.

- During the summer of 1951, in a small greenhouse where I had
planted fennel profusely, I obtained three ‘natural’ matings of the
Swallow-tail butterfly (Wicken stock). The operation entailed a good
deal of work and scrupulous attention to detail. (See A.H.S. Bulletin,
February 1952). From the pairings fertile eggs were laid and even-
tually some sixty chrysalids resulted. These are being kept for studies
on pupal coloration.

In December 1951, Mr. Valletta of Malta kindly sent me twenty P.
machaon pupae which he had bred. Without any particular object in
view I put them in my incubator at a temperature of 65° F. to see if
they could be forced. The butterflies started to emerge intermittently
after five weeks and as there was plenty of fresh fennel in the (unheated)
greenhouse I decided to try and effect pairings. After emergence, there-
fore, the butterflies were kept cool in an unheated room until a partner
emerged; in this way the insects remained in perfect condition, motion-
less, for many days without being fed, (the maximum interval was
thirteen days). When a couple was obtained they were put back in the
incubator for half an hour to warm them up before mating.

Technique of Hand-Mating. (1) This was done at any time of the
day in front of a warm fire. The butterflies were held as shown in the
diagrams, the male being easily distinguished by the black-edged
yellow claspers on the last segment.

(2) When the abdomens had been approximated they were rubbed
gently together for a few minutes and this caused the male to open his
claspers slightly. Pressure was then applied to both male and female
abdomens; this makes the claspers of the male open widely and the
female to protrude her genital apparatus. The claspers now embrace
the terminal segment of the female, correct positioning being facilitated
by slight rotatory movements on the part of the operator. After some
minutes ‘locking’ occurs and moderate tension on the abdomens will not

PLATE EV.

VOL. 64.

Oils a Ci

ie
-

ee

2S
ek Ae

io

HAND PAIRING OF PAPILIO MACHAON IN FEBRUARY. 99

then cause separation. Simultaneously the head and thorax of the male
appear to become lifeless.

The butterflies were then put back in the incubator on to fennel
which had been temporarily transplanted and was growing in a bucket
surrounded by a gauze cage 15” x 15” x 15” (see Butterflies by E. B.
Ford, 1945, p. 204, for detailed description of the Shepherd cage). Mat-
ing continued for from 1-14 hours during which time intermittent thrust-
ing movements of the male indicated that insemination was taking

place. Eggs began to be laid after an interval of twenty-four hours and
continued for several days. The first two females each laid about seventy
eggs and the third only a dozen, but in her case the male used was the
same as had been used for number two. Nine-tenths of the eggs were
fertile, hatching in about a week, and within a fortnight I had one
hundred and twenty healthy young machaon larvae which fed up very
rapidly in the incubator. J wish to emphasise once more that the fennel
in the greenhouse was quite fresh although no artificial heat had been
used.

Difficulties. (1) Breaking away a few minutes after an apparently
successful mating sometimes occurred, but re-mating could usually be
effected quite satisfactorily.

(2) The time required for hand-mating was sometimes longer than
a few minutes and the breeder must be prepared to spend a considerable

100 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1V /1952

time on the operation. On one occasion I experienced complete iailure,
the female obviously disliking her partner and the attempt was aban-
doned after one and a half hours.

Conclusions. It is evident that hand mating of P. muchaon is quite
easy and it is hoped that the above account will allow those who wish to
breed this beautiful butterfly during the summer to do so without any
elaborate preparations. The method may also be of use to those carry-
ing out genetic studies. Further work is being done with other species,
but it seems likely that with smaller butterflies the technique may be
much more difficult. I am indebted to Dr. E. B. Ford’s book Butterflies
for bringing the principles of the method to my notice.

The Scarcity of Rhopalocera in 1951

By 8S. G. Castie Russe.

Although exceptionally bad seasons have been experienced in the
past, as will be found recorded in the entomological magazines, 1 do not
remember, nor have I mentioned in my diaries, such a remarkable
scarcity of butterflies, even of the commonest species, in the various
localities that I visited during the season of 1951. Most of my collect-
ing last year was done within a radius of some 30 miles around this
village (Cranleigh, Surrey); but I also made excursions to localities as
far away as Canterbury, Lewes and Winchester.

It would appear that there is evidence of some unusual adverse
influence, which was world-wide. Colonel V. R. Burkhardt, resident
in Hong Kong, tells me that for the first time in his long experience of
China the spring broods failed to appear. Usually there is hardly any
variance in the date of the first emergence of butterflies in that country,
so little in fact that the Chinese calendars contain a fixed date. A
similar failure also occurred in Japan, so I am told by a correspondent
in that country. Here in England I have also noticed a remarkable
scarcity of biting flies in the woods and of house flies. Never before
do I recollect collecting in woods at the appropriate time without my
attention being called to my hand by a sharp dig caused by clegs, of
which sometimes several appeared together. Midges too ceased to
trouble. I cannot say, however, that wasps have been conspicuous by
their absence. There is always a nest somewhere in my garden and the
workers fly in through the kitchen window, bite off small pieces of fish
placed in a saucer for the cats, carry them off (although some require
time to find the exit) and return for more. The treasure trove is
evidently communicated to others, as the numbers increase daily. They
are always friendly and we do not interfere with their activities.

The disappearance of the Argynnidae in the district is extraordinary.
In the woods new areas are constantly opened up by tree felling, and
after a year or two these areas become carpeted with the foodplant
(Viola canina) and other flowers. In the usual way these new areas
would be tenanted by large numbers of A. ewphrosyne and A. selene in
consequence of the migration of both species from their preceding
habitat. I assume that the QQ leave this because it is becoming so
overgrown that sunlight is excluded and the foodplant dies out; there-
fore they range afield and deposit ova in the new area where there is
plenty of food for their larvae. Or it may be that the eggs are laid

THE LIFE-CYCLE OF LEUCANIA VITELLINA HUB. 101

in the old habitat on such foodplant as remains and that as soon as the
imagines emerge they fly off to the new one. Asa rule it is very unusual
to find any appreciable number flying in the old habitat. A search for
eggs in both habitats would probably provide the answer.

During last season I did not see more than half a dozen A. paphia
and even less A. cydippe. A. aglaia has not been met with for some
years, except singly either in the woods or on local downs, where I
remember it being in abundance at one time. Very few were in evidence
in the Shoreham district where it used to be plentiful. M. aurinia has
also become so scarce that I did not meet with a single specimen on the
wing although in most seasons before 1951 many odd specimens were
seen day by day. In one particular area some miles away from here
there were, however, good numbers to be seen on the wing. I did not
personally meet with many specimens of L. camilla, but the larvae were
in good numbers in the spring and even more so in the autumn. P.
megera were in fair numbers in some areas whilst absent in others.
M. jurtina were not plentiful until very late in the season and then
only in comparatively small numbers. M. tithonus and C. pamphilus
were not remarkable for numbers as they often are.

On our local downs where ZL. coridon has never failed to be in con-
siderable abundance I found a great falling off and a similar shortage
of the other ‘Blues’. P. argus which used to swarm in a large heather
covered area near here appeared only singly in 1950 and 1951, and only
small colonies were met with in other areas. DL. phlaeas was only rarely
seen and the railway bank near here where they could always be found
in fair numbers was completely deserted in 1950 and 1951. A walk
alongside the line for over a mile would produce merely a few P. megera
and C. pamphilus. C. croceus I did not see locally but met with about
a dozen oo on downlands, but not a single 9°. P. aegeria, usually
common in the garden, was also not in its usual numbers.

The prospects for the coming season do not seem to be rosy. Re
cently I had a letter from a friend who has to fix the date of his holiday
in the summer, asking what date I would suggest and which area would
be the best for the small fritillaries. I could only give him the Asquithian
advice ‘‘Wait and see!’’ The causes of scarcity and abundance is a
fascinating subject. Only nature knows the answer, and she also knows
how to keep the secret.

The Life-Cycle of Leucania vitellina Hib..,
L. Lalbum Linn. and L. pallens Linn. in Devon

By Frank H. Less, F.R.E.S.

Although I hold authority in deep respect occasions do arise when
I have the temerity to wonder to what extent statements made by the
writers or compilers of our trusted books of reference are based on
established fact or merely deduced by analogy or intelligent assumption.
It would be too much to expect- them to cover every detail at issue
adequately but they should at least. be helpful and not leave the enquirer
in a state of bewilderment. At any rate that was the protest I made,
mentally, when I sought to correlate material relating to Leucania

102 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/TV /1952

vitellina, l-album and pallens, extracted from my notes and diaries, with
the life histories of these species as given in the text-books to which
I was referring.

The incidence of a second brood specimen (or one deduced to be such)
occurs from time to time in many diverse species that are ordinarily
and quite definitely single brooded; it would be interesting to know
more of the why and wherefore of such incidents and their implications;
but my concern now is with the narrower issue of the true status of the
three particular species I have named.

Although Leucania pallens is stated by some authorities to be double
brooded ‘‘on the Continent’’—a singularly unhelpful ‘‘locality’’ whether
considered in terms of latitude or longitude—its life history here, ac-
cording to all the books on British Lepidoptera I have access to, is
assumed to follow the cycle of a single brooded species. Indeed, of all
the British species of Leucania only the new-comer [-album upsets the
alleged uniformity by being obviously and consistently double brooded
even among all the eccentricities of a season like 1951.

My earliest date for it (in 1950) is 8th May, but normally the latter
part of June and early July is the time for the first brood and September-
October for the second. My moth-trap last year (1951) gave me the
following :—Ilst to 12th July, 8 only; 13th July to 9th August, 40; 10th
August to 19th September, none; 20th September to 14th October, 38;
14th October to 11th November, 6.

Now the difficulty about Leucania pallens is that there is no very
obvious gap in a season’s records between early and late appearances,
and yet they are set so far apart from first to last and often, quantita-
tively, the peak period content so closely approximates, that one cannot
but question the conventional life history given by our authorities.
Here are the figures taken from my diary grouped in practically the
same periods as those given for l-album:—28th June to 12th July, 18;
13th July to 7th August, 39; 8th August to 17th August (which included
six ‘‘good’’ nights), none; 18th August to 19th September, 14; 20th
September to 3rd October, 5.

To bring other more normal and prolific years into our comparisons
I will set out the figures for 1949 and 1950 separately. There are slight
variations in the dating of the groups (due to an effort on my part to
minimise fluctuations obviously arising from weather conditions only)
but the over-all picture tells the same story.

In 1949, from 15th June to 12th July, 59 pallens were taken; from
13th July to 24th July, 63; 25th July to 17th August, 9; 18th August to
dist August, 239; lst September to 20th September, 138; 21st September
to 18th October, 22.

In 1950, 19th May to 14th June gave me 48 pallens; 15th June to
12th July, 127; 13th July to 21st July, 50; 22nd July to 23rd August, 56;
24th August to 3lst August, 1 only; Ist September to 20th September,
39; 21st September to 18th October, 5. _

It would appear from these figures that Leucania pallens is, in
educational parlance, a problem child upon whose case our authorities
have turned a blind eye. May I direct attention to it? Apparently
there are two broods; but could it not be that our late summer and
autumnal pallens are the progeny of the late brood of the previous
season and have fulfilled a twelvemonth cycle after all? Yet the larvae

THE LIFE-CYCLE OF LEUCANIA VITELLINA HUB. 103

of pallens and l-album are much alike, though I have to confess that I
have never bred the former. Why should pallens require twelve months
to accomplish what Lalbuwm can do in three? Again, I can only shake
my head. Perchance someone will pity my ignorance and resolve the
problem.

There is another Leucania that appears in Devon from late August
to early October and that is vitellina. Here again our text-books seem
to me to be assuming a great deal and to be dogmatic on the slenderest
evidence regarding its life-history. The South-eastern Union of Scien-
tific Societies in their List of Immigrant Insects still include Leucania
vitellina among their Class ‘‘C’’? vagrants. Newman & Leeds, in their
invaluable and usually accurate text-book and subject to the proviso
“Probably fresh immigrations every few years keep this going in Eng-
land’’, give a circumstantial single brood life history for the species over
here. Scorer, though saying nothing to explain the gap, gives February-
April for the pupal period and August-September for the imago! Bar-
rett on the other hand tells us that ‘‘on the Continent” vitellina is on
the wing from June to August but over here in August and the begin-
ning of September I remember reading in The Entomologist an ac-
count of collecting in Spain recording the capture of vitellina in April
and May, and in the late summer it appears to figure more frequently
in records of captures in southern and south-western France than it
does even in south Devon: it would appear that ‘‘ on the Continent’’
vitellina behaves very much as (by my records) pallens does in Devon.

It may be argued that just as certain species are double brooded
in southern England and single brooded in the north, so vitellina may
be single brooded on our southern shores and double brooded in southern
France and Spain. But what real evidence is there that eggs laid in
the September of one year produce the vitellina taken in the following
September? I am aware that Devonshire lepidopterists like to believe
that vitellina breeds here and that as a rule a Devonshire vitellina
carries rather more red pigment (and frequently more dark grey in
addition) than one finds on those taken elsewhere. Such heavier pig-
mentation may be due to local influences and certainly points to a some-
what prolonged pupal period, but it does not imply a larval period of
seven months or a pupal one of three months. The darkest specimen
in my collection was bred from egg to moth in 88 days against 60 days
for more intensively ‘forced’ decidedly pale insects. Mr Edelsten in
1920-21, practically without any recourse to forcing, wintered a brood
of vitellina in a room only occasionally heated—‘‘the larvae did not
attempt to hibernate’’ and the moths emerged between 18th May and
Sth June. In the Table (4E) of British Immigrant Lepidoptera that
gives the yearly records reported to and compiled by the S.E.U.S.S.,
vitellina appears to be taken pretty consistently, and in the Devonshire
Association’s new list of the Lepidoptera of the county it is stated to
be ‘“‘frequent as an immigrant to the south coast especially that between
Teignmouth and Start Point’. An admirable summary, but it does
not help us to answer the question ‘‘does vitellina breed in Devon?”’
When I came to look up the details of the S.E.U.S.S. records, however,
I found that they included a very few cases of June captures.

Discussing this point with Devon’s veteran entomologist Mr. P. P.
Milman he confirmed this important fact: he had taken vitellina him-

104 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TV /1952

self in June, but such specimens had been poor ones and had never
found their way into his collection. When I said that there did not
appear to be any record of wild larvae ever being found, Mr. Milman
told me that on one occasion only did he or his father find a wild larva
of L. vitellina. It was in a mixed bag that included albipuncta and
l-album taken in July 1907. It was about halfgrown then, and rearing
it with the greatest care they got the moth out in due course. In the
following year (1908) vitellima was more abundant than he has ever
known ‘it before or since. He believes that they took 120 imagines that
August and September. Would vitellina establish itself in Devon? It
looked like it; and then in 1909 only one specimen turned up on their
sugar !

I am afraid that Newman & Leeds’s resident single brooded vitellina
were mere wishful thinking and I suggest that the probabilities all point
to our locally bred vitellina being the year’s second brood from migrant
parents arriving here in early June, themselves the first brood of the
year which as larvae had wintered on sunnier shores than ours. Vitel-
lina larvae are extremely responsive to temperature rises above 60° F.
in captivity and scarcely show any tendency to hibernate. Could one
winter them successfully in the open here? I intend to make the experi-
ment if I get the chance and also to find out a lot more about pallens,
which should not be so difficult a matter.

Maidencombe, Torquay, 1952.

A Search for Larvae of Fupithecia actaeata Wald.

and E.. immundata Zell. A Postscript
By E. A. Cockaynzt, D.M., F.R.C.P.

In the January number of this volume, at page 11, an account was
given of a search in Yorkshire for the larvae of Eupithecia actaeata
Walderdorff and Eupithecia immundata Zeller, which Dr. Sxat Horr-
MEYER had suggested might possibly he inhabitants of this island. The
search was undertaken by Messrs. E. W. Crassry and H. 8S. Rosryson
and, was confined to localities in the West Riding.

The foodplant of these two species, baneberry or herb Christopher
(Actaea spicata Linnaeus) is confined, in this country, to the north of
England—chiefly Yorkshire; but it has also been found in Westmor-
Jand and West Lancashire. It is a plant from one to two feet high.
and grows almost invariably on rough limestone tracts. The plant
flowers in May and June, and both flowers, leaves and berries much
resemble those of elder, the flowers being small and white, with 4
petals, and the berries nearly black. The flowers grow in loose ter-
minal racemes.

Mr. Frank Hewson (who is Recording Secretary of the Bradford
Naturalists’ Society) suggests that the conclusion arrived at by Messrs.
CiassEY and Rosrnson, namely that ‘‘ if the insects ever occurred in
this country, they do so no longer,’’ is somewhat too positive, since
their search was restricted to little more than 20 per cent. of the locali-
ties in which Actaea spicata. grows. These localities (Colt Park,
Southerscales and Raisghyll), to which Mr. C. A. CHEETHAM kindly
conducted them, were the best West Riding localities, and although the

A SEARCH FOR LARVAE OF EUPITHECIA ACTAEATA WALD. 105

conclusion to which the searchers came may well be correct so far as
these particular places are concerned, the possibility that the two in-
sects may occur in other localities cannot yet be ruled out altogether.

Mr. Hewson very kindly sends us the following list of localities
(which he has received from Mr. A. Mattns Smirx, M.A.) in which
Actaea spicata grows. It is to be hoped that our North Country ento-
mologists will take up the search for these two interesting moths again
this year; for until a thorough search of all the known localities has
been made the possibility that Hupithecia actaeata and E. immundata
occur in this country as well as in Denmark remains. A brief account
of the larva and its habits was given in the above-mentioned article

(page 11).

DISTRIBUTION OF ACTAEA SPICATA L. IN ENGLAND.

YORKSHIRE :

WHARFEDALE. Right bank of Wharfe:—Raisgill, Bouther Gill,
Kirk Gil, Firth Gill, west of Kettlewell, below Nether-
side Hall.

Lett bank:—Deepdale, Crayfalls, Buckden, Grass
Wood (Grassington).

Littondale. Between Arncliffe and Kilnsey. Hesleden
Gill, on right bank Litton to Arneliffe, including
Scoska Wood, on Cowside beck between Darnbrook
and Arncliffe.

Lower Wharfedale on Permian limestone. Boston Spa
woods, Thorp Arch woods, Hazelwood, Aberford,
beechwood at Barwick-in-Elmet, Langshaw Wood,
Lowton.

AIREDALE: Limestone pavement between Malham Cove and the
Tarn.

Among shrubs by Malham Cove.

By brook below Malham Cove.

Kirby Malham.

On Permian Limestone:—Woods bordering Kippax

Park.
CALDERDALE: Near Mirfield. This differs from all other localities
in not being on limestone, but coal measures. Pos-

sibly planted.

RIBBLESDALE: Scar near Ribblehead.
Colt Park Wood.

Moor west of Sulber Nick.
Ling Guill.

LunespALE: Chapel-le-dale pastures, limestone pavement be-
tween Chapel-le-dale and Moor Gill, wood near Clap-
ham. Souther Scales Fell, Ingleborough.

Nortu Ripine: ‘‘In the Yore district in Whitfield: Gill, on both sides
of the stream near the waterfall, and about a lime-
kiln near the river at High Mains, near Masham.
About the Magnesian Limestone at Thornton Watlass
and Thorp Arch. In the woods of the slopes of the
eastern calcareous range in numerous stations: Yow-

106 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/1V / 1952

lasdale, Cold Kirkby, Rievaulx, Beckdale, Yedman-
dale, Forge Valley, and in the Howardian tract at
Nunuington, Hovingham, Hildenley, and in Cawklees
Wood.”’ (North Yorkshire, by J. G. Baker, 1906, page
252.)

East Ripping: Near Kirkham Abbey.

West LancasHire: Leck Fell.

WESTMORLAND: ‘‘Between Kendal and Arnside, Lees.’’
Near Arnside, 1905 (W. C. Worsdell: The Flora
of Westmorland).

The Breeding of Coscinia cribraria Linn.
By H. B. D. Kerttewett, M.B., B.Chir.

In June 1928 with the help of the late Percy Bright my mother,
after many fruitless searches, found the locality near Cantord Cliffs
Golf Course, Bournemouth. Unfortunately the only specimen she
secured of the several she saw was a male, but subsequently we took
both males and females. The circumscribed area on which this species
occurred was a stretch of heather growing on tumulus-like mounds
bounded on one side by a pine wood and on the other by marsh. This
spot is of interest also in that I took here at rest on a pine trunk a
typical female Cleora cinctaria Schiff., which I gave to Sir Beckwith
Whitehouse, who bred from it his melanic ab. nigraria Rebel.

My mother found that she could walk up cribraria in the afternoon,
but R. P. Demuth discovered that their normal time of flight was at
dusk, and for about an hour from 10 p.m. (G.m.t.) both sexes could be
taken on the wing, and later as they sat high up on the heather. I
obtained eggs from a female, which were laid in a batch, and from the
extensive menu suggested in the text-books I chose a mixture of heather
and lettuce, both of which they ate readily. Half this brood, which was
a small one of about thirty, was sent to P. P. Milman of Paignton,
Devon. Some of mine died in the first two instars, but about ten suc-
ceeded in hibernating when under half an inch in length. Five of these
fed up the following year extremely slowly and passed a second winter in
hibernation, hatching in the summer of 1930. It is interesting to record
that P. P. Milman’s larvae behaved in the same way, some hatching in
1929 and some in 1930. I am unable to augment the foregoing account
in greater detail as my records for these years are not with me at present.
The number of ecdyses undergone by the two-year larvae was very high,
probably eight.

In June 1931 I obtained a large batch of eggs of cribraria from a
female from the same locality. The young larvae were kept in glass-
topped tins as were the previous brood; but acting on what I had learnt
trom these, from October onwards they were treated entirely differently.
I constructed a case 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 13 feet deep. Three
of its sides had glass windows and the fourth side had fine perforated
zine inserted for ventilation. This was planted out with young healthy
sods of scrub heather, the result of rabbit cropping. The top was
covered with a sheet of glass, the whole outfit being placed on a flat roof,
facing south, where I lived in London. The larvae, about 120, were

SOME NOTES ON ORLA MUSCULOSA HUBNER IN WILTSHIRE. L107

placed in this, and in the autumn the heather was watered from time
to time, but in the winter, except for the glass top being removed occa-
sionally on wet days, it was allowed to remain fairly dry.

Jn early March the larvae recommenced feeding on sunny days and
at this stage I introduced an 80 watt electric light bulb, which was
suspended over the heather and turned on each night from 6 to 10 p.m.
The result was dramatic and each evening, particularly after dull days,
the larvae ascended in a dense mass around the bulb, stripping the
heather, their shining black tuberosities sparkling in the light, a sight
which many entomologists including myself had never seen before. By
moving the position of the electric light bulb daily the heather was
farmed, and by judicious watering the balance between heather and
cribraria was held till the end. More than 100 cribraria pupated in
May and [I shall never forget my return from a hot week-end in June
1932 when over 80 moths had emerged and in spite of all my efforts
London that day received her first influx of C. cribraria. It appears
therefore that this species can be bred without much difficulty in con-
finement. This is of considerable interest in that its variability ranges
from black to white, but for the most part these differences are geo-
graphical races, which Lempke has worked out so thoroughly in Lam-
billionea (1937).

The English race ssp. bivittata South, confined to Dorset and Hamp-
shire, is for the most part darkish, but individuals have from time to
time appeared which are nearly all white, and all gradations appear in
series, so that the position of these English cribraria ssp. bivittata is
probably one where there is considerable variability under multifactorial
genetic control, the extremes very light and very dark being in the
minority.

It is unfortunate that all the specimens, about half a dozen, of the
Dutch race ssp. arenaria Lempke, which have been taken at light in
Kent at Sandwich and Deal, have been males. These are stated to
breed on the sandhills of Holland and have the forewings almost com-
pletely white, comparable to those individuals labelled New Forest,
which occur as rarities in our own native population of cribraria.

It appears to me that this species would provide excellent material
to work on by selecting in two directions, dark and light, from our
indigenous stock.

Some Notes on Oria musculosa Hiner in Wiltshire
Caprain R. A. Jackson, C.B.E., F.R.E.S.

This attractive ‘wainscot’ is still to be found in its old headquarters,
north of Salisbury, but not I think in the numbers in which it occurred
during the war. On the other hand, it may be extending its range, for
this year I found it as far north as Alton Barnes, and another was taken
in a moth trap at Box in the extreme west of the county. It is not by
any means universally distributed and since we moved here in 1948 I
have not been able to find it in great numbers until last year, when
_ winter wheat at Tilshead was really heavily infested.

We were driving home from Alton Barnes on 14th August, when I
saw a binder at work, about one-third of a big field having been cut, so

108 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL.. 64. 15/1V / 1952

I stopped the car and had a look. The musculosa were flying out in
numbers, so I determined to return at dusk to make a further inspec-
tion, getting my friend, Mr. B. W. Weddell from Trowbridge, to come
with me.

We got to the field about 21.30 (B.S.T.) and at once put down our
lamps, mine near the standing corn, Weddell’s amongst the stooks. We
then started to walk along the edge of the standing corn, and found a
few males flying along and over it, but numbers of moths of both sexes
were sitting on the ears. Returning to my lamp about 21.50 I found
that about eight males had come to the sheet, although it was a cold
clear night with a bright moon and a heavy dew (Full moon, 17th
August). No moths came to Weddell’s sheet, which was much further
from the standing corn, and no more had come to my light by 23.00,
when we decided to go home.

All this time, fresh moths were coming up to the ears, both sexes be-
ing represented, with several pairs in cop. There must have been many
hundreds in that one field.

Looking round the grassy edges of the field we could find no insects,
but a few were at rest on the stooks, some of which had been set up,
whilst others were still lying on the ground. We could see no signs
ot any females engaged in egg laying.

On the 16th I determined to visit the area again, when once more it
was extremely cold and clear, the temperature falling to 39° FF. IL
arrived at 20.30 (B.S.T.) in order to watch the first flight, moving to
the next field along the road, where cutting had just been started, as
the first field was, by now, all in stook. I could only find one moth,
a worn female, on the ears by daylight, but at about 21.00, males began
to fly wildly up and down, and over the corn.

As it got darker, I saw the moths begin to flutter up the wheat stems
at about 21.15, coming up from very low down on the stalks, whilst after
dark new arrivals were to be found each time one walked round. No
moths at all came to my lamp.

After this J decided to re-examine the first field, but not a moth was
to be seen, either on the stooks or on the ground, nor were there any on
the coarse grasses at the edges of the field.

O. musculosa is a really beautiful and variable insect, but it must
be very newly emerged to be seen at its best. This is difficult for the
visitor to ensure, however, as it is remarkably variable in the time of
its appearance.

I suppose the very end of July or the first week of August is the
usual time, but in 1949 it was on the wing in mid-July, whereas in
1951 it was emerging on 14th August. Experience in the Salisbury area
shows how susceptible this insect is to good husbandry. There are two
farmers there, who run large flocks of sheep, and who believe firmly in
the old rotation system, only growing wheat every third year in a par-
ticular field.

In 1950 I saw a few musculosa at light close to these fields, but they
must have come from across the road, for when the wheat was cut two
days later not a single insect came out.

Another factor that must re-act heavily against the insect too, I
think, is the increasing use of combine harvesters and the practice of
burning the straw and stubble in dry weather. Although, in years past,

AUTUMN COLLECTING NOTES FROM THE KENDAL DISTRICT, 1951. 109

I have seen the insect along this valley, I have seen none in the last
three years, and it is noteworthy that most of the harvesting is done
- with combines.

The problem still remains as to where the female lays her eggs in the
wild. We know that she lays them in neat rows inside the sheathing of
the straw or stubble, but where does she do this in the open?

T incline to the opinion that she lays low down in the standing corn;
but this will not be easy to determine, as trampling down the corn for
the purpose of observation would hardly be likely to commend itself to
the farmer, who is so tolerant of those of us who ask leave to follow
his machines.

Finally I should like to say that if any of our readers come from a
distance to find the insect, I should be very glad to give them any assist-
ance In my power.

Middle Farm House, Codford St. Mary, Warminster, March 1952.

Autumn Collecting Notes from the Kendal District
195]

By Nevizze L. Brrxett, M.B., B.Ch.

In this northern district the entomologist is even more dependent
on the vagaries of the weather than is his southern confrére so far as
concerns his autumn activities. In 1951 the period under review—from
mid-August to the end of the year—was one of much rain, and oppor-
tunities for active field-work were relatively few.

On the nights of 18th, 19th and 20th August I visited some moor-
land between Kendal and Sedbergh and collected at an altitude of
some 800 feet. On each occasion I sugared some 30 or 40 posts of a fence
running across the moor. J examined heather and grass, while later in
the evenings I had the car headlights directed across the moors. Re-
sults proved quite interesting though the number of species noted was
not great. The commonest species were Calostygia didymata L. and
Hydriomena furcata Thunb.—the latter of a very nice form having large
pale discal spots. At the car lights second brood Diarsia festiva Schiff.
were abundant. This species does not commonly produce a second brood
here. At sugar Inthomoia solidaginis Hiibn. was common and the form
occurring was large and brightly marked. On the three nights I took
a total of two Celaena haworthu Curt. It was a great surprise to take
a single worn Mormo maura I. at sugar. This species is distinctly rare
in this district away from the valley of the River Kent. I presume the
few stunted hawthorn bushes by the roadside had provided larval sus-
tenance.

My next evening outing was on 30th August when I visited an area
of fen in north Lancashire. The great entomological possibilities of
this fenny area have only recently been realised. In company with a
young Kendal collector, John Thorpe, I sugared and worked light. The
total lack of sizable trees and posts necessitated some make-shift and the
sugaring mixture was applied to the broad leaves of the Yellow Flag, so
common in the area. The commonest moth at sugar was Celaena leuco-
stigma Hiibn. The moth occurred as type form, as f. albipuncta Tutt,
and the f. fibrosa Hiibn. The last were very finely marked. Amongst

110 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TV /1952

many commoner species were numerous second-brood Orthonama lignata
Hiibn. in perfect condition.

This same night, 30th August, my trap in Kendal caught a fine
female Drepana. binaria Hufn. This is a rare species in this district
so constitutes a welcome record.

Another trip to the high moorland on 2nd September was meteoro-
logically disappointing—clear, dew and cold at first was followed later
in the evening by cold rain. On the usual forty or so sugared posts the
only insects noted was a pair of Tipula sp. in cop.! However, plenty
_of moths were sitting about on the heather. These were of two species
only—Lygris testata L. and Oporinia filigrammaria-H.-S. Many of the
latter were just emerging and had quite flaccid wings.

On 8th September the trap at Kendal produced a beautiful fresh
Cirrhia gilvago Schiff. which is another good record for this part of the
country.

On the evening of 9th September my wife and I visited the Meathop
Moss Nature Reserve. It was the usual cool evening with dew which
this autumn produced in such quantity, and we were not surprised to
find few insects on the move. On our way back to the main road I
found myself walking through a large patch of Polygonwm sp. and de-
cided to look for cones of Caloptilia phasianipennella Hiibn. These were
quite plentiful and were readily found by placing the lamp on the
ground so that it illuminated the leaves from underneath. Many of the
leaves had two tenanted cones. A good series of moths was bred later
in the month. Soon after collecting my cones I spotted a Citria lutea
Strom. feeding on a grass-head. This chance observation led to the
capture of a nice fresh series of this moth in the next half-hour. We also
found a single fresh Anchoscelis helvola L. and a number of worn Cirrhia
icteritia Hufn.

On 20th September I again visited the fenland haunt in the cus-
tomary clear and cool conditions. Very few insects were in evidence
and I only noted a few Agrochola circellaris Hufn. and Citria lutea
Strom. on the heads of the Common Reed. A single Agrochola lota Cl.
was welcome—it is a species not usually common in this district though
it turned up in October in Kendal quite commonly.

The last few days of September and early October I spent near
Dorking in Surrey. The weather was hot and sunny but the nights
proved cold with occasional mist. Nothing of great note was observed
in the butterfly line—a floral border was well patronized by Gonepteryx
rhamni L., Polygonia c-album L., Aglais urticae L., Vanessa atalanta L.
and a host of Syrphids and Bees. A few Plusia gamma L. were also in
evidence. At night—up to midnight only—I worked a sheet with a 125
watt m.v. lamp as illuminant. This provided a few moths but condi-
tions were not good for night work. With customary irony the next few
nights after my return north were ideal! The commonest species was
Agrochola lychnidis Schiff. which was in nice variety. I was pleased to
take Antitype flavicincta Schiff., a few Tiliacea aurago Schiff. and
Deuteronomos fuscantaria Haw.—all being species I wanted.

Back in the north I did not get another evening collecting until 20th
October, when I searched some of the extensive ivy bloom in the Arnside-
Silverdale area. Though the evening was not cold few moths were in
evidence and the high clouds were seen to be moving in an easterly air-

NOTES ON DORSET AND HAMPSHIRE LEPIDOPTERA IN 1951. Let

stream. A. circellaris Hufn., A. macilenta Hiibn., Phlogophora meti-
culosa L., and Xylena vetusta Hiibn. were the only species noted.

On 25th October I was walking near the top of Wrynose Pass, at
about 1,300 feet altitude, when a whitish moth was disturbed and flew
off. I gave chase and having no net with me had to wait my chance.
After a run of fifty yards I managed to box a perfect specimen of
Arenostola pygmina Haw. This was a great surprise because we usually
take this moth at much lower altitudes in early September. Also the
hills were just clear of snow having been covered for most of the pre-
vious week.

During November and December I worked the trap in my garden
sporadically but nothing of note was taken and no further collecting
trips were undertaken.

It might be pertinent to add a brief note regarding the lack of abun-
dance of Triphaena pronuba IL. in this district. In 1951 the species was
very scarce here compared with its usual super-abundance. Not only
was the scarcity noticed in the captures in my trap but also during
excursions to the surrounding areas. When on holiday at Tenby at the
end of July the species there was scarce, but I have no data for previous
years for that locality to be able to give any opinion of value.

. Kendal, 1/1/1952.

Notes on Dorset and Hampshire Lepidoptera in 1951
By F. M. B. Carr.

From 9th February to 12th April I congratulated myself that I could
hardly have chosen a better time for a sojourn in the ward of a well-
known London hospital. The rain fell almost continuously. It was not
until the middle of May that the weather and J had sufficiently recovered
for me to begin to look around for a promising field of operations within
easy reach of my home. It occurred to me that I had never explored
some patches of woodland within twenty minutes’ walk of Sandbanks
which might possibly be productive of Ectropis consonaria; for on a
near-by light in the previous season T had found a few worn individuals.
On looking up the Dorset list I read that the status of this insect in the
county required confirmation, the compiler going on to say that he had
“‘so far never seen the species in Dorset in any stage’’.

Here was an easily accessible spot for a convalescent to explore.
Between 17th May and 14th June I thoroughly enjoyed myself, for £.
consonaria was there in some strength, and some very -beautiful forms
were taken. I found the insect an interesting study. On some days
the moths were very lethargic and it needed much coaxing to get them
to move. At other times they were just the reverse, being very skittish
and flying off the trees before they could be seen at rest. So far as my
observations went a dull cold day, especially if there was a sprinkle of
rain, induced sluggishness, whilst a warm sunny day made them restless
and also more inclined to settle high up on the trunks.

During five seasons at Sandbanks I have taken Tethea ocularis very
sparingly, never more than two in a season till this year (1951), when
T got six, one at treacle and five at light; three of the latter on Ist July,
all between 11.20 and 11.30 p.m. s.t.

112 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TV /1952

Stauropus fagi is a moth that has hitherto evaded me most success-
fully. This year I took one at light on 21st June. a second on a post
in the New Forest three days later, and a third in the middle of Bourne-
mouth on 27th July. Very few Euphyia cucullata also have come my
way: I beat a beautiful one at Tarrant Gunville on 7th July. Two
full-grown larvae of Notodonta anceps (trepida) fell into my beating-
tray in the New Forest on 14th July. Both pupated shortly afterwards.

Dr. H. King, Mr. H. Symes and I found Coscinia cribraria (cribrum)
in fair numbers in one of its Dorset strongholds on 17th July. On the
same day Colias croceus was seen at Bradbury Rings. During my five
seasons in Dorset this has been the worst for this butterfly, not more
than half a dozen examples being seen. Strymon w-album was fairly
plentiful at the same locality and time. Fortunately for me there was
very little blossom on the bramble just then and all those seen were on
privet—so much safer for one’s net.

Several Apatele leporina were taken in Bournemouth during July,
evidently attracted by the big lamps during the previous evening.

During August and September I devoted some time to beating and
searching for larvae. In the damp mixed woods they were scarce, but
on the chalky hillsides they were much more plentiful. Among the
better species beaten in the New Forest were Pseudoips bicolorana, Sar-
rothripus revayana (also imagines), Chloroclysta siterata, Selenia lunaria
(I had never beaten this curious larva before nor often come across the
species in any stage), Plagodis dolabraria (common), Boarmia roboraria,
B. punctinalis and Cleora jubata. One red-letter day in Dorset Apatele
alni, in the bird’s dirt stage, fell from an oak into my beating-tray.
About three minutes later Mr. H. Symes found a full-grown larva of
the same species beautifully displayed on a hazel leaf. After being fed
on the foodplants on which they were found both larvae went into elder
stems, and we hope for the best.

Though holly is well known as a foodplant of Sphinx ligustri it may
be worth mentioning that I found eight nearly full-grown larvae of this
species on a holly at Sandbanks. All were busily eating. Judging by
the large number of bare stems others had been there and had probably
gone to earth. Whilst on the subject of unusual foodplants I should
like to put on record the finding of six healthy and three parasitized
larvae of Aporophyla nigra in 1950 on Calluna at Studland. The
healthy larvae were fed by me on the same foodplant throughout and
they duly produced moths.

Amongst other larvae obtained in various Dorset localities this last
autumn were Pheosia tremula, Notodonta ziczac, N. dromedarius, Thya-
tira batis, Gastropacha quercifolia, Eilema sororcula, Apatele leporina,
A. tridens (in two localities), Calocasia coryli, Craniophora ligustri (in
four localities and commonly in two of them), Cucullia absinthii (Port-
land, commonly), Euchoeca nebulata, Horisme tersata, Anagoga pul-
veraria (fairly common locally), and Plagodis dolabraria.

Sugaring in the garden at Sandbanks was generally poor, many in-
teresting species previously taken being absent; but perseverance was
more or less rewarded in mid-October by the capture of three Lithophane
semibrunnea and one L. socia. Graptolitha ornithopus and Hypena
rostralis were, I think, the only two species commoner than usual.

COLLECTING IN NORFOLK. 43

I worked my light (not a mercury vapour one) on most suitable nights
and on many apparently unsuitable ones. Good nights were few and far
between, but perhaps the following records may not be without in-
terest :—

Hyloicus pinastri (2), Stauropus fagi (1), Thyatira batis (7), Tethea
ocularis (5), Nola albula (1), Celama confusalis (8), Arctia villica (2),
Coscinia cribraria (1), Hilema griseola (2), ab. flava (2), E. lurideola (7),
FE. complana (11), Miltochrista miniata (5), Cryphia muralis (3), Hadena
suasa (1), H. contigua (1), Nonagria geminipuncta (1), Chilodes mari-
tima (2), Arenostola phragmitidis (8), Leucania straminea (much searcer
than usual), L. obsoleta (1), Caradrina ambigua (8), Orthosia gothica
(mentioned for late date, 12th June), Catocala nupta (mentioned for late
date, 6th November), Laspeyria flerula (5), Tholomiges turfosalis (2),
Hipparchus papilionaria, Scopula emutaria (2), S. wmitaria (common),
Cosymbia orbicularia (1), Acasis viretata (5), Thera firmata (6), Perizoma
bifaciata (2), Eupithecia arceuthata (common), Nycterosea obstipata (2),
Anania nubilalis (a female), Nomophila noctuella (often a pest, only 5
this year).

Of the above the greatest surprise was Nola albula; I do not know
of any records in this corner of the county. The Dorset list mentions
only one, at Weymouth. My visitor appeared on the 9th August. Is
there an undiscovered or a ‘hush-hush’ locality somewhere within reason-
able distance of Sandbanks? Other species new to my light were S. fagi,
CO. cribraria (possibly from Studland or Parkstone golf links), H. con-
tigua, L. obsoleta (not in the Dorset list), T. turfosalis, S. emutaria, P.
bifaciata and Anania nubilalis. With regard to the last-named I also
obtained a female from Parkstone last year.

I have found Sandbanks an interesting place for ‘Wainscots’ and have
had an eye on a neighbouring marsh, not a very pleasant place to nego-
tiate at night. Dr. H. King joined me on two nights this year (1951),
but both turned out cold and windy. However, on the first evening he
took two or three A. phragmitidis and I captured Nonagria dissoluta,
the second taken here by me. This also is a species that does not figure

in the Dorset list.
Collecting in Norfolk

By S. WAKELY.

Several paragraphs have already appeared in the Record by Canon
Edwards and myself of insects taken by us in Norfolk during the last
fortnight in June 1951. There were, however, a number of other species
taken by us during our stay, and these further notes will, it is hoped,
be of interest.

Our headquarters was at West Somerton, and a row of willow trees
on the Horsey road was sugared and visited on most nights. Common
insects, however, were all that appeared, but some of these were quite
good forms and in such grand condition that we never returned with
empty boxes. On one night it would be crowds of Hadena suasa Schiff. ,
while the next night this species would be scarce and Procus fasciuncula
Haw. and P. strigilis Clerck would be on every tree.

Nymphula stratiotata L. we found in plenty in the roadside ditches
after dark, but some skill was required to net them off low water plants

114 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/TV /1952

on which they rested. A slip into one of these watery places would have
been no joke. One specimen of Schoenobius forficellus Thunb. was taken
here.

Various Broads were visited by car. At Wroxham, larvae of Peronea
shepherdana Steph. were found on Spiraea ulmaria and a few moths
bred later. Larvae of Aristotelia arundinetella Staint. feeding in mined
leaves of Carex paludosa were also found in the vicinity, but attempts
to rear them failed. In an alder swamp larvae of Acrolepia pygmaeana
Haw. were common in leaves of Solanum dulcamara and emerged a few
weeks later. One specimen of Aethalura punctulata Schiff. (Grey Birch)
was taken amongst these alders, with no birch to be seen in the vicinity.
Ts it possible that the larvae occasionally feed on alder ?*

Many visits were paid to the sand dunes, principally at Winterton.
Sugaring here, tried one night only, was a complete failure, although
bunched grass tufts and cement tank obstacles were utilised. Anerastia
lotella Hiibn. was the most common moth met with, both by day and at
dusk. Two micros locally common were Mniophaga desertella Doug].
and Opostega salaciella Treits. Plenty of excitement and exercise were
to be had on sunny days by trying to catch the active tiger beetle Cicin-
della maritima Dj., of which about a dozen were taken. Natterjack
toads were seen on most visits to the dunes, crawling about in their
ungainly fashion, and a very large owl we flushed from the ground was
almost certainly the local Short-eared species.

On the main road between Horsey and Waxham the many poplars
by the roadside showed signs of heavy attacks by the larvae of Sesia
apiformis Clerck, but all the workings were old with empty cocoons in
plenty. It is possible they were all killed by the disastrous flooding of
this area when the sea broke through the dunes at Horsey in 1938. One
larva of Paltodora cytisella Curt. was found in a stem of bracken near
the sea and larvae feeding ‘tents’ on Artemesia vulgaris of the local
plume Oidaematophorus lienigianus Zell. were frequently seen, both at
Horsey and Winterton. However, they were all empty, so we concluded
it was too late for the larvae and too early for the perfect insect.

When examining the foliage of Peucedanum palustre for eggs of Pap-
ilio machaon Tann., a number of leaf spinnings containing Depressaria
larvae were found. A very striking red form of D. ciliella Staint. was
bred from these, together with one nice D. yeatiana F. Occasionally a
more bulky bunch of spun leaves was found containing several gregari-
ous larvae, and these proved to he D. angelicella Hiibn. This is prob-
ably a previously unrecorded foodplant for this species. Two specimens
of the rare beetle Cerapheles terminatus Me. were seen on the same
plant, but only one of these was captured. Larvae of the weevil Phyto-
nomus adspersus F. were also taken on this milk parsley, and bred with
no trouble.

Until this holiday the writer had not seen the Swallow-tail butterfly
in its native haunts in Britain, and it was a great thrill one day to dis-
cover a flourishing colony on the Broads. During a burst of sunshine
four were seen at once on a patch of ragged robin flowers a few yards
in extent. Very few of those netted were in perfect condition, but we
found it easy to take them from the net and examine them by holding
the wings together carefully. Those with split wings (usually the only

*Yes, alder is a recorded foodplant.—ED.

IN HAMPSHIRE WOODS. V5

blemish) were then detected and released, whereupon they usually
crawled about on one’s hand and displayed their glorious colours for a
few moments before taking flight.

In addition to the species already mentioned the following insects
were taken :—

OponaTta: A pair of Lnibellula fulva Mueller near Wayford Bridge.

HemreTeRA: Aelia acuminata Li. Locally common, by sweeping grass
at. Winterton.

Nevroprera: Chrysopa abbreviata Curt. Winterton.

TRIcHOPTERA: Phryganea grandis I. and Limnephilus lunatus Curt.
Winterton.

LEPIDOPTERA: Spilosoma urticae Esp. One at light, Martham Broad ;
Mniophaga mundella Del.;: M. umbrosella Zell.; M. politella Staint.—
one only; and Gelechia diffinis Haw. Winterton.

CotrorTERA: Elaphrus cupreus Df., Martham; Stomis pumicatus
Panz., Horsey; Calathus erratus Sahlb., Necrophorus vestigator H1.,
and Saprinus semistriatus Sc., Winterton; Cantharis cryptica Ashe,
Martham; Silis ruficollis F., Wroxham; Phylan gibbus F., Horsey;
Crypticus quisquilius L.., Horsey; Philopedon plagiatus Sl., Horsey and
Winterton.

HYMENOPTERA: Dolerus germanicus F., Wayford Bridge; Athalia
lineolata Lep., Winterton; Empria klugi Steph., Horsey; Selandria

serva F., Martham Broad; Ichnewmon sxanthorius Forst., Hemsby;
- Tachysphex pompiliformis Panz., Ammophila sabulosa ., Martham
Broad; Podalia viatica L., and P. affinis Kirby., Winterton; Andrena
nigroaenea Kirby., Scratby; and Coeliorys elongata Lep., Winterton.

DreterA: Thereva annulata F., Winterton; Dolichopus griseipennis
Stann., W. Somerton; Argyra diaphana F.., Horsey; A. argentella Zett.,
Horsey and W. Somerton; Myathropa florea l., W. Somerton; Tubifera
intricaria V.., Wayford Bridge; Tropidia scita Harris, W. Somerton and
Wayford Bridge; Cheilosia granditarsa Forst., Martham Broad; Teta-
nops myopina Fall., Urophora stylata F., Tephritis vespertina Loew,
Oedoparea buccata Fall., and Opomyza germanationis L., Winterton ;
Sphaerocera curvipes Latr., West Somerton; Meromyza pratorum Meig.,
Winterton; Caricea tigrina F., Wroxham.

Both on the outgoing and homeward journey by car we stopped on
the Breck for lunch, and searched for some of the good species for which
this district is famous. Of Lepidoptera, the only species of note was one
Loxostege sticticalis L., near Brandon. Single specimens of the beetles
Homaloplia ruricola F. and Cardiophorus equiseti Hb. and the Hemip-
teron Syromastus rhombeus I. were also taken, all local and uncommon
species.

In conclusion I should like to thank Dr. K. G. Blair, Capt. L. Par-
menter, Mr. J. W. Saunt, and last but not least various experts at the
British Museum, for their valuable help in determining many of the

species recorded.
In Hampshire Woods

By Pavut H. Hottoway, F.R.E.S.

A thin line of new moon hung over the rim of the south-western
horizon as my friend and I left home for the last moth hunt of the old

116 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TV /1952

year, under a sky washed clear by the torrential rain and wind that had
ploughed through the previous night and morning. It was 3lst Decem-
ber 1951, and as we reached the woods and trudged through the soaked
rides our torches showed Operophtera brwmata hanging motionless like
small dead leaves from innumerable twigs. Although they were so plen-
tiful we found only one pair in cop. and no other species occurred.
Home again, I recalled some of the interesting experiences of the past
season. ;

There was my attempt to breed Endromis versicolora. This will
almost certainly result in ultimate success as I have two dozen cocoons
in cold storage. How many will emerge this year is impossible to esti-
mate as a high percentage usually remains two or even three years in
the dormant state, according to the reports of my colleagues. But
should versicolora disappoint me I shall have had the joy of observing
the progress of the larva: the brightening of colour through each instar,
the increased appetite as larger and larger quantities of birch had to
be gathered daily, the delightful blend of mauve and green immediately
prior to pupation. The only difficulty I had was in transferring them
to fresh food, for they ‘bleed’ at a mere touch, which means handling
only the twigs they rest on and never the larvae themselves. Saturnia
pavonia is equally tantalising in the pupal stage, only two emergences
taking place last year from thirty of the previous season’s cocoons, a
male and a female, and both crippled! Perhaps some of those still in
my pupa-cage will behave in a more seemly manner.

Beating Huonymus in my garden in early spring provides literally
hundreds of Abraxas grossulariata and they nearly all result in more
heavily marked moths than those of the type. This dark strain is not
frequently encountered by any means and IJ hope to experiment with it
in future. By transferring these larvae to Ribes sanguinea (Flowering
Currant) I have been able to breed many dwarf specimens, more densely
marked than those of normal size. |

The wooded areas of Hampshire yield a profusion of Geometridae
almost throughout the year, beginning with Hrannis leucophaearia, a
male of which I once secured as early as 5th January, in 1947. I well
remember the abundance of FErannis defoliaria and O. brumata that
came to our light on that occasion, and the surprising appearance, at
the tip of a twig, of an infant larva of Philudoria potatoria. There ap-
pear to be more species of Geometers in the woods in April than in any
other month. During daylight the beating-stick will put them up at
almost every stroke, notably Pseudopanthera macularia, which varies
much in ground colour in this area. Tree trunks, of course, should never
be passed without a close scrutiny, for something is usually thereon, if
only Ectropis punctulata. As a matter of fact I once took an extremely
good variety of this species, completely unspotted. A multitude of
‘Carpets’ and ‘Waves’ are always there in spring and summer, and
Biston betularia is common, the dark var. doubledayaria Mill. occurring
quite freely. The felling of trees and burning of brushwood and bracken
have seriously affected the insect population, and a small copse within
a few hundred yards of my house which was normally very productive
has been felled and cleared for development into pasture land, with the
exception of one tree against which a labourer was crushed and killed
by a farm wagon many years ago. This tree was cut off a few feet from

IN HAMPSHIRE WOODS. ba

the base, above a deeply carved cross, and still stands as a memorial.
In this thick and protective copse primroses used to bloom in profusion,
and Biston strataria and Ectropis bistortata emerge therein in early
March. :

Other woods in the vicinity were equally rich in moths. I recall
visiting Stoke Park a few years ago in April, before the massed tree-
felling began, when a small party of us worked with light far into the
night and were visited by scores of Urthosia cruda and Earophila badiata
and several Cerastis rubricosa. The approach to the woods was patheti-
cally unforgettable. Woolly clouds of fog hung over the meadows and
thrushes sang in the diminishing daylight. We detected an unfamiliai
sound: the hoarse croak of a heron flying high above the adjoining
heath. A shot rang out; the great bird fell silent and lifeless. I could
have echoed the words of Mark Twain as he described his emotions after
shooting a sparrow: ‘‘and.... I couldn’t see nothin’ for tears’’.

Following the river-path from Shawford Downs, habitat of so many
Lycaenidae, to the water-meadows at Bishopstoke is something to de-
light the heart of every country-lover. The shimmering silver of minia-
ture waterfalls; the agitated chatter of sedge-warblers in the low over-
hanging willows; an occasional metallic flash of a kingfisher; dragonflies
hovering and hawking over the marshes. In April larvae of Callimorpha
dominula are to be found in abundance in comfrey and stinging-nettles,
and in places where these foodplants are non-existent I have often found
them feeding on thistle. Rustic bridges cross the winding river, and the
tow-path narrows alarmingly under the low dark railway bridge. In
winter, gulls and lapwings feed in large companies; rooks and jackdaws
leave these feeding-grounds at almost the same time each afternoon,
flying high and eastward to the tree-tops of Park Hills.

Shawford Downs have a magnetic influence on me every summer; it
is not only the abundance of ‘Blues’ in this chalky paradise but the
eternal hope of some really good Zygaenids. Z. trifolia is not common
nor is it variable in the least and the only two unusual specimens I
have secured here have had forewings asymmetrical in size. Z. filipen-
dulae positively abounds and it is an easy and pleasant occupation to
collect handfuls of cocoons; the unwanted imagines are restored to their
breeding-ground later. Again, variation is negligible, not a single con-
fluent-spotted specimen ever emerging; but on one occasion I discovered
a perfect example of the yellow ab. flava Robson (cerinus Robson and
Gardner) at rest on a grass stem. The following year (1948) out of 508
typical specimens I had one ab. aurantia Tutt. Over two hundred
cocoons were collected in 1949, and I was again rewarded with one ab.
flava, the remainder, all typical excepting a few dwarfs, being duly re-
leased.

The co-operation of so many non-entomological acquaintances pleases
me immensely. Their offerings are often quite useless, but I always try
to maintain their enthusiasm and sometimes they are a real asset,
especially in a setting so rural where water still has to be drawn from a
well (what cool clear water!) and paraffin lamps filled before tea. I
remember the girl who brought me a tattered Smerinthus ocellatus,
apologising for its useless cabinet condition. How right she was, but
what a lovely batch of eggs I found next morning! They all mean well:
the schoolboy who contributed a live Herse convolvuli in a matchbox:

118 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ LV / 1952

the lady who sent me, from Paris, a few crumpled and disintegrated
Vanessa io and Papilio podalirius in a box that had once contained, ac-
cording to the cover, the most succulent sweetmeats !

With the help of my very good neighbour who is an ardent beekeeper
I have been enabled to make some interesting observations on the life-
history ot Galleria mellonella, the Honeycomb Moth. The product oi
a single hive can be entirely destroyed by its larvae. As sections of comb
were removed in September, each cell was found to contain either a
larva or pupa, and adults were emerging at the same time that larvae
were feeding in adjacent cells. It would appear that this bee-parasite
cannot be counter-parasitized by any other insect, as the cells in which
the larvae feed are thinly sealed until emergence. The bees show little
sign of aggression and willingly forsake their homes in favour of mel- .
lonella.

We are all inclined to regard spring, summer and autumn as ‘“‘the
season’’, which, in effect, is incorrect. Winter is productive, too, though
in a lesser degree, and there is field work to be done until we reach
another entomological stage, heralded by the sight of the first Gonepteryx
rhamm awakened from its long sleep—the sign that spring is almost .
here. We shall see it any day now; perhaps some of us have seen it
already. The sallows will be blossoming presently ....

February 1952.

How I kept my Butterfly Collection in West Africa

By Father TH. MagsseEn.

[By the kind permission of De Heer B. J. Lempke and of its Author
we reprint the following interesting paper from the Entomologische
Berichten of 1st December 1951 (No. 318, p. 379).]

It may be useful for butterfly collectors in tropical countries with
a damp climate to know that it is possible, with very little trouble, to
set one’s butterflies on the day you catch them and to keep them in
perfect condition, as set, for an unlimited time. Before I went to the
Gold Coast (notorious for its damp climate) I was told by several famous
collectors, and read in several books and magazine articles, that it was
impossible to keep a collection of butterflies in a damp climate in the
tropics. Not knowing any better, I believed them. According to them
the only way to keep butterflies was to dry them in the sun, put them
in papers, and store them in airtight tins.

However, after having done this for a year I thought it was very
dull compared with the way in which we collect at home; so I decided
to try if I could form a collection of butterflies set there and then.
I got an African negro to make me some glass-covered cases; they
were not badly made but not of course so good as the ones which one
buys in Europe from dealers in entomological apparatus. So I set to
work to improve them. First I took the glass out, put some very
soft mastic in the rebate, and then put the glass back in its place. By
pressing the glass slowly and evenly the mastic smoothed out every
irregularity in the wood and made a perfectly airtight joint. The
superfluous mastic was pared off with a knife. Then I replaced the
small slats which held the glass in position.

HOW I KEPT MY BUTTERFLY COLLECTION IN WEST AFRICA. 119

Having no pith or anything soft enough to take pins, with which
to line the case, I bought some sheets of cork such as are used for
engine gaskets, cut them into strips, and glued them to the bottom
of the case. J then covered them with a sheet of paper and the case

was ready.
At first I had a lot of trouble with ants but above all with mould,
which sometimes destroyed the entire contents of a case. Then I

changed my tactics. I bought some paradichlorbenzine and a bottle
of carbolic acid (phenol): I took all the butterflies out of the case on
a hot dry day and dried both butterflies and cases thoroughly. (You
musn’t put the case directly in the sun or the wood will split) This
done, I put the specimens back in the cases, added some paradichlor-
benzine and a small piece of cottonwool, soaked with phenol, on a pin,
and at once sealed the lid to the case with melted beeswax, taking care
that not the tiniest chink was overlooked. I kept one case apart,
binding the lid to thé case with adhesive tape; this case was reserved
for all the material caught and set after the other cases were sealed.
As soon as it was full I waited for a dry day, opened the other cases,
put in the fresh specimens in their proper places, according to my
classification, left the cases open for half an hour or so to dry them
again completely, then closed them and re-sealed them with wax as
before.

Since I have adopted this method not a single specimen has been
lost or spoiled, and they have kept as fresh as if they had just been
taken off the setting-board. I kept them like this for over four years
tall I went on leave to Europe and I am definitely sure that I could
have kept them in this manner for ten years or more.

It is very much nicer and adds greatly to the pleasure of one’s hobby
if you can set your specimens at once and have them ready to hand for
study and classification. Moreover, butterflies are much more easily
set when they are fresh than if they are dried and have to be relaxed
first of all. This does not apply so much to the wings but to the smaller
details such as palpi, antennae, legs, and particularly the tiny but
long tails of the African Lycaenidae. Once these become dried
crookedly it is exceedingly difficult to get them in a nice position again.
Also by having your captures before you in glazed cases you can com-
pare specimens, note small variations, sex distinctions, aberrations,
even new species which at first sight looked the same as others.

Tt is not so difficult to take the cases home when you go on leave
as might be expected. I transported mine in wooden boxes, in which
I put the cases on edge (as one puts books on a shelf) with a sheet of
brown paper between them in case a glass might break and being par-
ticularly careful that the cases could not move or vibrate. On my
arrival in Holland I found that not a single specimen was damaged,
not even an antenna was broken; they were all quite perfect.

I should add that the cases made for me in Africa were of ant-proot
‘Odum’ wood.

Catholic Mission, Kpandu, Gold Coast,
January 1951.

[No doubt Messrs. J. J. Hill & Son, the well-known firm of entomo-
logical cabinet-makers, could contrive glazed cases of hard wood (treated

120 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1V /1952

with some insect-deterrent such as ‘ Cuprinol’) with airtight lids. If
the wood were varnished it should be possible to ensure an airtight
joint between lid and case by the use of a rubber-dressed insulating tape
pressed very hard with a small photographer’s squeegee having a box-
wood roller. Presumably this tape also would have to be treated with
an insect-deterrent, un.ess of course the cases could be kept in a tin-
lined box. Perhaps small lumps of solid formaldehyde pinned inside
the cases would be a better precaution against mould than liquid
phenol.—P.B.M.A. ]

Notes on Maicrolepidoptera

By H. C. Hueers.

Oidaematophorus carphodactylus Hiibn. In mid-April the larva ot
the first brood of this ‘plume’ may be found in the crown of the big
rosette of leaves of the Ploughman’s Spikenard (Inula conyza), feeding
on the beginning of the flower-stem. It is a curious little creature,
white with blackish plates all down the back, and 1s quite easy to rear,
although an internal feeder, if given sufficient care. I used to turn
mine out directly the plant began to become withered, and cut sections
of the flower stems springing up on non-infested plants.

These were slightly split and the larva introduced to the opening.
It rapidly burrowed into the new juicy stem and fed up very quickly.
By this means I reared very much larger specimens than any wild ones
[ have ever seen. The legs of the larva in the last skin are quite inade-
quate for any extensive locomotion so in nature it is confined to the
original plant, in which the damaged stem is usually aborted and
withered and does not provide the rich feeding given by removal to a
new one. The little yellow pupa should be carefully removed from the
larval habitation, which tends to become mouldy, and placed in a glass-
lidded metal box on cotton wool, with a small piece of damp sponge to
_ prevent undue dryness.

Eucosma pygmaeana Hiibn. may be taken flying in sunshine round
spruces in the last week in April. Where these are grown close together
so that green boughs only occur high up it is difficult to obtain, as it
frequents the living foliage, but where the spruces are grown singly or
on the outside of a wood it is easy enough to get on a warm day, as,
even it not flying, it may be beaten out and does not drop in the after-
noon. The biggest bag I ever made of this moth was at Stockbury near
Sittingbourne in Kent, when an isolated spruce grove was felled and
about four o’clock on a sunny afternoon in April the moths were flying
over the felled trees by dozens as they had no living ones to go to, and
were of course easy to net. I+ is still common in the Breck in the
peculiar hedges made on some estates by stunting the spruces by cutting
them back, and in 1949 J beat several from a row of Scots firs. These
had probably wandered from a neighbouring spruce.

The pupa of Laspeyresia zebeana should be looked for in the Breck
(possibly now elsewhere) in the last week in April. It feeds in a large
resin-gall it makes on the side branches of the larch, usually at a fork
a foot or so from the tip. This moth has a two-year life cycle so only
the large galls, often an inch across, should be taken, as the smaller ones

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. LAS

will contain young larvae with nearly a year to feed. Although the moth
has a two-year cycle pupae occur every year, and not every other year
2s in some biennial species. The cut boughs may be shortened to a few
inches long and placed in damp sand, and the perfect insects will emerge
with no further attention in the second and third weeks in May. This
moth does not appear to do any sericus damage, as it only appears to
attack the side shoots, which it does not kill, and these are in any case
trimmed off when the tree is felled. JI have not noticed any attacked
boughs more than ten feet from the ground, most being from five to
eight feet up. Zebeana seems to be plentiful in many larch groves be-
tween Thetford and Mildenhall.

Notes and Observations

LEPIDOPTERA AT WESTON-SUPER-MarE.—On 16th December a freshly
emerged specimen of Plusia gamma LL. came to light in my garden,
which seems to be rather a late date. As regards the common early
species, the following are the dates when [J first noticed them during the
last few weeks:—Phigalia pedaria Fab., 24th December; Theria rupi-
capraria Schf., 19th January; Erannis leucophaearia Schf., 2nd Feb-
ruary; Hrannis marginaria Fab., 19th February; Alsophila aescularia
Schf., 19th February. All these dates are I think average ones with the
exception of Phigalia pedaria, which is rather earlier than usual.—
C. S. H. BratHwayt, 27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare. 25.11.52.

GYMNOSCELIS PUMILATA Hvs. IN FrEsrRuary.—On 13th February I
caught a specimen of this ‘Pug’ in my house. Is not this an unusually
early date for the species?—F. W. Byrrs, 59 Gurney Court Road, St.
Albans, Herts. 25.11.52.

[I feel sure that G. pwmilata Hub. has been recorded in February at
least once, but cannot remember the reference. I think I saw one sit-
ting on a door in Westbourne Terrace, London, in February some years

ago.—E.A.C. ]

HYMENIA RECURVALIS IN SuRREY.—In a letter to The Times on 15th
March Mr. E. W. Classey reported that a specimen of this moth was
taken at light by Mr. Robin Mere at Haslemere, Surrey, on 6th Sep-
tember 1951.

DECREASE oF NYMPHALIS PoLYcHLOROS L. rin Kentr.—The Large Tor-
toiseshell butterfly was reported more frequently in 1946, 1947, and 1948
from Kent than it had been for over 40 years. However, in 1949 there
was a noticeable decrease in the number of reports for the county, and
in 1950 there were fewer still. By 1951 it had become decidedly rare in
Kent, and I am only aware of a single specimen being observed that
year—this was at Sandwich in early September, but the specimen was
not taken. My thanks are due to Mr. D. Batchelor for kindly supplying
me with this sole record of the existence of N. polychloros in Kent in
1951. It will be interesting to hear if there are any reports of its ap-
pearance in Kent in 1952.—J. M. Cuoatmers-Hvunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue,

West Wickham, Kent. 9.iii.52.

122 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vol. 64. 15/TV /1952

Earty OccurRRENCE oF IMMIGRANTS IN 1952.—During the last fort-
night or so the weather in the Kendal district has been one of mild
days with a south-westerly air stream. My mercury vapour moth-trap
has been operated sporadically just to ascertain what species were about.
All the expected species have been noted:—Theria rupicapraria Schiff.,
Erannis leucophaearia Schiff. (very common and variable), Hrannis
marginaria Borkh. (scarcer than usual), Alsophila aescularia Schiff.,
Phigalia pedaria Fab., and Biston strataria Hufn.

On the evening of 3rd March my trap was in operation from dusk
until 11 p.m. There were few moths about so it was surprising to find
the biggest haul was of Plutella maculipennis Curt. Of this species
there was about a dozen specimens. On the night of 8th March another
notable migrant put in an appearance in the form of two specimens of
Nomophila noctuella Schiff.

There are odd records of early occurrences of both these species (as
summarised in the paper by Williams et al. in Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond.,
Vol. 92), but I know of no records from this district of such early occur-
rences. Perhaps observers better placed than myself will have observed
these two migrants on the move and may also have noted other migrant
species.—Dr. Nevitte L. Brrxett, 3 Thorny Hills, Kendal. 11.111.52.

VANESSA CARDUI I.. In Marcu.—On 2nd March, a warm sunny day, 1
found a newly emerged male Vanessa cardui L. resting on an apple-tree
in my garden. It allowed several minutes of close observation before
taking wing. On 4th March a V. cardui was seen in flight in the same
place.

To-day, 10th March, it has been very warm and sunny, and several
V. cardui have been sunning themselves on the rockery and visiting
shrubs of Daphne mezereum in competition with a few hibernated Nym-
phalis io and Aglais urticae. All the V. cardwi appear to be small; two
measured were both 56 mm. from tip to tip and all appear newly emerged.
Is not this a very unusual time of the year for the appearance of this
butterfly P—B. C. Barton, Castle Mead, Highcliffe, Christchurch, Hants.
10.111.52.

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN Marcu.—During yesterday, 4th March, my
wife saw a specimen of V. cardui flying slowing round the garden. It
came to rest on her clothing, ‘sunning’ itself for a few moments before
flying away, thus identification was unmistakable. The incident was
forgotten until next day, 5th March, when I also saw a specimen of V.
cardui flying slowly along Sea Road, Boscombe. Is this an unusually
early date? Is it possible that they have hibernated here or are they
early immigrants? V. cardui was not very common in this area during
1951.—H. J. Turner, 33 Pine Avenue, West Southbourne, Hampshire.
GAD:

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN MarcH.—This morning, 12th March, a rather
faded Vanessa cardui was flying about in my garden here in Hertford-
shire.—P. B. M. Atran, 4 Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 12.11.52.

VANESSA CARDUI L. In Marcu.—You may be interested to know I
took a specimen of Vanessa cardui L. at rest on the trunk of a tree at
Effingham, Surrey, yesterday (15th March). My friend J. W. Saunt

DIPTERA. 123

writes me from the Isle of Wight that he saw one on 5th March and has
seen eight in all. Several other people in the Island reported having
seen specimens, and one person said he had seen over a hundred !—
S. Wakety, 26 Finsen Road, Ruskin Park, London, S.E.5. 16.111.52.

EARLY IMMIGRATION OF VANESSA CARDUI L.—There is a strong indica-
tion that this will be a peak year for Vanessa cardui. Several have
already been reported from the New Forest area and one was taken here
- by Miss A. Philpott on 15th March in the somewhat colourless condition
peculiar to most butterflies after migratory flight.—Patt H. Hottoway,
Warwick House, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hants. 18.111.52.

[There have been several other early records of V. cardui this year.
Mr. Gerard Marillier saw one near Petworth, Sussex, on 11th March and
writes (in lit.) that it was ‘‘bright coloured but rather torn—both wing-
tips had gone—flying beside a wall on which it settled, giving me a
good view of it.’’ A correspondent of The Times (13th March) reported
one seen at Wareham, Dorset, on 5th March ‘‘flying in a northerly
direction, at a point not more than four miles from the sea’’. On 2nd
March one was seen at Plymouth and on the 3rd March others at Hast-
ings, Fairlight, and three near Sittingbourne, Kent. On 4th March
one was noticed at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, and one at Stodmarsh,
Kent.

A further Note in The Times on 21st March reported that up to
March 12th no less than 187 specimens, ‘‘spread all along the coasts
from Essex to County Cork’’, had been notified to the Secretary of the
S.E.U.S.S. Other reports had been received from Penn, Buckingham-
shire (8th March), Brockenhurst and near Fordingbridge, Hampshire
(10th March), Esher, Surrey, Findon, Sussex, and near Aberystwyth,
Cardiganshire (llth March), Bognor Regis, Sussex, and Cranborne,
Fareham, Ringwood, and Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire (12th March).

Williams, Cockbill, Gibbs and Downs (Studies in the Migration
of Lepidoptera, Trans. R. ent. Soc., 1942; 92: I: 101-283) give in their
Table 3: ‘‘Monthly total records . . . of British Immigrants, 1824-1939’
(page 109) the following figures for Vanessa cardui Li. in the early
months of the year:—January, 4; February, 10; March, 119. At page
114 these writers state: ‘‘It has occurred . . . in every month of the
year . .. There are, however, very few records during the winter
months December to February. The grand total of records was 41,535
insects, and of these only 18 were reported in the winter months, in 11
out of 115 vears.’’—Eb. ]

DIPTERA
Autumn Diptera visiting Fungi

By James EHpwarps, B.Sc.

In the autumn of 1951 when collecting in Dimmingsdale, North Staf-
fordshire, I noticed that the fly population on and around quantities
of Polystictus versicolor Fr. growing on tree-stumps outnumbered those
visiting similarly-placed groups of a Russula species. For further obser-
vation two tree-stumps were chosen; one, beech, bearing both the Poly-

124 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/TV /1952

stictus and Russula, and the other, an oak stump, bearing only Poly-
stictus.

Between 19th September and 20th October visits were made to these
stumps in fine weather during which flies visiting the fungi were col-
lected, each stump being under observation for a total time of between
six and seven hours.

Flies taken on the Polystictus on the oak stump were all Clythiidae : —

19.ix.51. 1 $ Callomyia amoena Mg.,1 9 Agathomyia antennata Zit.,
7 2 Clythia modesta Ztt., 2 9 Clythia fasciata Mg.

6. x.51. 1 9 Agathomyia antennata Ztt., 1 29 Clythia infumata Hal.,
2 2 Clythia picta Mg.

7.x.51. 1 2 Clythia picta Mg.

19. x.51. 1 9 Agathomyia antennata Ztt., 1 9 Clythia picta Mg.

The flies visiting the stump bearing both Polystictus and Russula
were a more numerous and varied population with a preponderance of
Mycetophilidae. The following species were taken :—

On Polystictus.
19.ix.51. 4 92 Bolitophila -inerea Meg., 1 6 Mycomyia maura WIik.,
1 2 Neoempheria pictipennis Hal., 1 § Acnemia natidicollis
Mg., 1 @ Apoliphthisa subincana Curt., 1 2 Rondaniella
dimidiata Mg., 1 & Dynatosoma reciprocum Wlk., 2 2 Myce-
tophila signatoides Dz., 1 2 Mycetophila trinotata Staeg.,
1 6 Sciara autumnalis Winn.
94.1x.51. 1 ¢ Cricotopus biformis Edw.
3. x.51. 2 9 Mycetophila trinotata Staeg.
_ 6. x.51. 1 9 Rondaniella dimidiata Mg., 1 @ Leia cylindrica Winn.,
3 6 Dynatosoma fuscicorne Mg., 1 S Mycetophila lineola
Mg., 1 6 Mycetophila fraterna Winn., 1 pair Sciara flavipes
Mg. (in cop.). 7
19. x.51. 1 9 Apoliphthisa subincana Curt., 1 9 Rondaniella dimidiata
Mg., 1 ¢ Dynatosoma reciprocum Wk.

On Russula.

19.ix.51. 1%, 1 9 Nemopoda nitidula Fln., 1 3 Helomyza variegata
Lw., 2 ¢ Helomyza bicolor Ztt., 1. ¢, 1 9 Allophyla atricornis
Lw., 1 29 Anthomyia pluvialis L.

24.ix.51. 1 3 Stratioborborus fimetarius Mg., 1 2 Phaonia erronea
Schnbl., 1 © Phaonia errans Mg., 1 9° Hylemya variata Fin.

3.x.51. 1 9 Geomyza bipunctata Fln., 1 9 Phaonia pallida F.

6.x.51. 1 ¢ Neuwroctena anilis Fln., 1 9 Helomyza variegata Lw.,
2 3 Helomyza bicolor Ztt., 1 S Clusia flava Mg., 1 6,1 @
Diastata inornata Tw.

19. x.51. 1 9 Geomyza bipunctata Fln.

When observation began on 19th September the Russula fungus was
already beginning to decompose. In this state it is unattractive to
Fungus-gnats for oviposition which explains why no Mycetophilidae were
found on it then or later.

I can suggest no reason why the Polystictus on oak was preferred by
the Clythiidae unless these flies favoured the much drier and warmer
conditions afforded by the position of that particular oak stump.

A GENUS APHODIUS ILL. IN CUMBERLAND. 135

Rondamiella dimidiata Mg. has not been found in Staffordshire pre-
viously; one of the females taken has been presented to the British
Museum (Nat. Hist.).

81 Hassam Parade, Newcastle, Staffs.

. COLEOPTERA
The Genus Aphodius Ill. in Cumberland

By i He Day, BR ELS:

This genus of the Scarabaeidae is a well-defined one and for the most
part the numerous species are readily separated from one another. They
agree im one respect in that all are dung-feeders, especially favouring
the droppings of horses, cattle, sheep and, where present, of deer. A
heap of fresh manure has a great attraction for them and they may
sometimes be seen in great numbers on country roads flying to heaps
freshly dropped by passing animals. Exceptionally one or two species
may be found in decaying fungi, and light and the lepidopterist’s sugar
patches are sometimes attractive to others. The genus is an extensive
one; in Britain forty species are recognized, of which twenty-nine have
been found in Cumberland. Because of their feeding habits it is well
to wash the specimens in clean water before mounting them on card.
Below I list the species found in this county, following the nomenclature
of A Check List of British Insects by Kloet and Hincks, 1945.

Aphodius erraticus (L.).—A fairly large and distinct species which
I have only found sparingly near Carlisle, Keswick, and in the valley
of the River Eden.

A. subterraneus (l..).—A species which is little known in the north
of England. I have not met with it myself in Cumberland, but it was
recorded from Rockcliffe Marsh on the Solway Firth by T. C. Heysham
in Stephen’s Illustrations, vol. 3, Mandibulata, p. 188.

A. fossor (L.).—Fairly common in pasture fields in the districts round
Carlisle, Penrith, Brampton, and elsewhere.

A. haemorrhoidalis (l.).—Decidedly scarcer, my only record is from
the Eden Valley.

A. aestivalis Steph. (nec foetens auct.).—Not at all scarce in Cumber-
land, but must be looked for carefully in the swarms of the next species
which occur everywhere.

A. fimetarius (L.).—Very common, ranging to the tops of the highest
mountains.

A. scybalarius (F.).—A local species which I have only found on the
coast at Seascale in dry cow plats.

A. ater (DeG.).—Common, especially in the Pennines and Lake Dis-
trict in sheep droppings.

A. constans (Duft.).—A single example in my garden in Carlisle prob-
ably introduced in manure.

A. granarius (l..).—Another species little known in the north of
England, our only record for Cumberland being one by Heysham in
Stephen’s Illustrations, vol. 3, p. 198.

A. nitidulus (F.).—Fowler says this species does not occur in the
‘north of England, but I have taken it rather freely on the sandhills at
Drigg in dry cow-dung.

126 FNTOMOLOGIST § RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1V / 1952

A. sordidus (F.).—Another species recorded by T. C. Heysham which
has not occurred again. Locality, Rockcliffe.

A. rufescens F.—Local, but common at times. I have taken it in
localities on the coast, near Carlisle and in the Eden Valley.

A. lapponum Gyll—Abundant in sheep-droppings in mountain re-
gions such as are provided by the Pennines and the Lake District, where
it is the dominant Aphodius.

A. foetidus (F.).—Scarce, but I once took a number in sheep-dung
in Sty Head Pass in the Lake District.

A. porcus (F.).—Also scarce, a few singly on the wing.

A. pusillus (Hbst.).—Not very frequent, but has occurred near Carl-
isle, Brampton and in the Eden Valley.

A. merdarius (F.).—Common and widely distributed, sometimes in
great numbers on country roads in dung.

A. distinctws (Muell.) = inquinatus (Hbst.).—Moderately common
near Carlisle, on the coast and the lower part of the eastern fells, often
in flood refuse in the river valleys.

A. tessulatus (Pk.).—Occurs in sheep-dung in late autumn and winte1
on Wan Fell and near Talkintarn under the Pennines.

A. conspurcatus (l.).—Scarce, usually found singly in flood refuse
by the rivers Eden and Petteril.

A. sphacelatus (Pz.).—Quite the most abundant Aphodius in Cum-
berland.

A. prodromus (Brahm).—Also common.

_A. contaminatus (Hbst.).—Fairly common.

A. obliteratus Pz.—Local in the Eden and Caldew valleys.

A. luridus (F.).—Frequent at Keswick, Silloth and elsewhere in cow-
dung usually; black specimens sometimes occur.

A. rufipes (L.).—Often taken on the wing at light; generally distri-
buted.

A. depressus (Kug.).—Not uncommon at Seascale, Talkin, High Pike
and other places.

A. borealis (Gyll.).—Silloth, scarce in decaying seaweed.

Blackwell Lodge West, Carlisle. 12.11.52.

RecorpDs oF STapHyLINus spp.—Although none of the following
species of large ‘rove-beetles’ are great rarities, they are perhaps un-
common enough to warrant a note of their capture. All records are of
single specimens unless otherwise indicated.

Staphylmus pubescens Deg.—Darenth Wood, beaten off a bush in
hot sunshine, vii.47 (the only record in the Victoria County History of
Kent, 1908, 1s ‘Blackheath’); Oxshott, Surrey, in half-dry horse-dung
in pinewoods, x.50; near Bayford, Herts., under dry horse-dung, 17.11.45.
It seems to occur very sparingly in the south-east; in earlier years I
took it twice in Surrey, on the chalk, in carrion and cow-dung. .

S. stercorarius Ol.—The Lizard, Cornwall (on the cliffs above
Kynance Cove, a few with S. (Ocypus) aeneocephalus Deg. and siculus
Stierl.), ix.51. Despite its name, it does not frequent dung.

S. latebricola Grav.—Ham Street Woods, Kent, in wet moss at edge
of pond with Agonum livens Gyll. and Corymbites nigricornis Panz.,
v.50; Otford Downs, Kent, running on path, v.50. I took it earlier in
Surrey and Sussex on the chalk (see Hnt. mon. May., 1946, 82: 100).

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 12g

S. parumtomentosus Stein.—Totland Bay, I.o.W., running at foot
of cliff, v.48; Oxshott, under stone in gravel pit, v.51. Always a rarity
to me; I took two in North Somerset years ago.

S. erythropterus L.—New Forest, Hants., running on a bog, vili.49.
Not uncommon farther north, but apparently rare or very local in the
south.

S. (Ocypus) similis F.—Westhumble, Surrey, in hilly pasture on
ee v.48; Otford Downs, running on chalky path, v.50.

(O.) fuscatus Grav.—Port Victoria (Thames-Medway estuary),
eit running on concrete in hot sun, 30.v.48; the pay example I have
so far encountered.

S. (O.) cupreus Rossi.—Tubney, Berks., 2 in sandy field, v1.44.

S. (O.) brunnipes F.—Galley Hill and Waltham Abbey, Essex, spar-
ingly under stones, at roots of trees, etc., in spring, 1941 and subse-
quently ; and in some numbers beneath willow bark, 111.48. I have also
taken it singly in Kent and Inverness-shire.

S. (O.) pedator Grav.—Arundel Park, Sussex, in moss on chalk, and
Goodwood, Sussex, 3 under roadside stones, v1i.45; Darenth, Kent, un-
der stone in chalk pit, v1.49.

A. A. ALLEN,
The Tiled House, 63 Blackheath Park, London, S8.E.8. 13.11.1952.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902)

Of recent importations (apparently) which have successfully estab-
lished themselves, two or three deserve mention. Callimorpha hera, or
as we shall unfortunately henceforth have to call it, C. quadripunctaria
Poda—is still spreading in Devonshire, and there seems now a good
chance of getting a series almost anywhere between Dawlish and Exeter,
and perhaps, also, in other parts of the county. Plusia moneta is also
extending its range in various directions, and one or two of us have had
the pleasure of welcoming it to our suburban gardens. Whether Ithysiu
(Nyssia) lapponaria ought to be referred to under this heading, and if
so, how its importation came about, I do not know; it is, of course,
possible that it has been very much overlooked. At any rate, it is in-
teresting to learn (Entom., xxxiv, p. 255) that Mr. Cockayne, of Shef-
field, has found out how to work for its larvae in Perthshire, thus
following up the success which Mr. W. M. Christy achieved a few years
ago. The insect is sometimes regarded as a boreal variety or race (or
‘‘ Darwinian species’’) of the I. pomonaria of central and southern
Kurope, but I am not in a position to express any critical opinion on
the subject ....

Apparently, still rarer species with us are Mellinia ocellaris, of which
our member, Mr. Burrows, has taken and shown us a specimen; Sesia
(Aegeria) andreniformis, taken by Mr. Huggins at Gravesend on July
17th; and Parascotia (Boletobia) fuliginaria, captured by my friend
Mr. R. W. Robbins, at Walthamstow, on July 29th. Probably we have
still a great deal to learn concerning the habits of these three species;
possibly, also, we do not show sufficient zeal in examining ‘‘the old
rotten woodwork in the cellars and other structures along the banks

128 ENTOMOLOGISE S RECORD, VOL. G4. 15/1V/ 1982

of the Thames’’ to secure good series oi the last-named, these being the
favourite haunts of the fungus-ieeding larvae of this interesting species.
Mr. Robbins’ specimen, howeyer, was taken out-of-doors, flitting round
a sugared post in the evening; and on the Continent I believe its octur-
rence in the open is quite usual. Is this really another migrant, intro-
duced from time to time by shipping, and only able to thrive when
protected from our climate within walls .... ?—Lovis B. Prout.

Current Literature

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95 line drawings; pp. 351. London: Frederick Warne & Co., Lid.
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This most readable account of the animals and plants lying in
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series of volumes on Natural History. It should be in the library of
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Some of the scientific names will be unfamiliar but happily the older
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The text is followed by an Appendix on Hydrogen ion concentration
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Bibliography.

An excellent index completes the volume.

I.R.H.A.

A Necessary Correction.—In the Catalogus Lepidopterorum, 1982,
Pars 53, p. 312, by G. Talbot under Huchloé cardamines L. appears the
entry ab. flavosignata Closs., Int. Ent. Z., Guben, 15, p. 83 (1921) =
saxonia Her. Roger Verity in his new book, Le Farfalle Diurne d’Italia
also gives flavosignata Closs as an aberration of Euchloé cardamines L.
Actually it is an aberration of Arctia caja L.

The editor of the journal must bear some of the responsibility for
this error, because he has not made the transition from cardamines
to caja clearer, but most of the blame must be borne by Talbot and
Verity. As both the Catalogus and the Farfalle are important works of
reference the mistake cannot be allowed to stand uncorrected.

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EXCHANGES

_—

Subscr thers mey Have Lists of Duplicates and Desiderata inserted free. of. charge.
They should be sent to F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road, St. Albans, Herts.

Urgently required. —One copy of January 1951 issue of ‘‘ The Entomologist’s
Record.’”—L. G. F. Waddington, 8 Lawn Avenue, Doncaster.

Wanted.—Records of Nymphdalis polychloros in Kent, both old and recent, especi-
ally regarding colonies and numbers. Full acknowledgment will be made.— ~
J. M. Chalmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham, Kent.

Wanted on lodn for critical examination: all available British and Irish mate-
rial of Tetrix (Acrydium) vittata and bipunctata (Orthoptera).—D. K. McE. A“
Kevan, School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough. iG ai,

Wanted.—Any interesting British or Exotic ova, larvae, or pupae. For disposal.
Ova of P. populi, B. strataria, N. anceps (trepida), M. tiliae—T. H. Fox,
28 Boxwell Road, Berkhamsted, Herts. ; ;

CONTENTS :

ABERRATIONS OF SATURNIA PAVONIA L. E. A. Cockayne... .. ... 97
HAND PAIRING OF PAPILIO MACHAON. C. A. Clarke... ... ... «9B
THE SCARCITY OF RHOPALOCERA IN 1951. S. G. Castle Russell . A ae |, ole
LIFE-CYCLE OF LEUCANIA VITELLINA, L. L-ALBUM, AND L. PALLENS.

PH Lees aie a
A SEARCH FOR LARVAE OF EUPITHECIA ACTAEATA AND - E. IMMUN-

DATA. E. A. Cockayne ... ee pas hae ee ene
THE BREEDING OF COSCINIA CRIBRARIA Deeea | oe een yy Kettlewell . OG eee
SOME NOTES ON ORIA MUSCULOSA IN WILTSHIRE. R. A. Jackson... 107
AUTUMN COLLECTING NOTES FROM THE KENDAL DISTRIC SP SNe DUNE) ce eae

L. Birkett 3 SS eee ae LOD eae
NOTES ON DORSET AND HAMPSHIRE LEPIDOPTERA. DB CUTT eee add te
COLLECTING: IN: NORPRO /S? Wakely.) et Sah es Se Ge ee eae
IN HAMPSHIRE WOODS. Paul H. Holloway ae st catty ae

HOW I KEPT MY BUTTERFLY COLLECTION IN WEST “AFRICA. Father ae
Th. Maessen

AUTUMN DIPTERA VISITING FUNGI. James junoeras, Sy apes tae the as ee
THE GENUS APHODIUS IN CUMBERLAND. F. H. Day 2h Sie ah a ea

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Aberrations of British Mbcrolepidoptera
By E. |A. daégtewt] YD MI] F.R.C.P.

[The follow.ng aberrations are in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell
collection in the British Museum. |

129

Spaelotis ravida Schiffermiiller ab. semiconfuens ab. nov.
The orbicular and reniiorm stigmata are united.
Type ¢: Rainham, issex, 1894, Burrows.

Diarsia festiva Hiibner ab. reseovirgata ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

The ground colour of the forewing is greyish ochreous with few mark-
ings; there is a conspicuous transverse band, greyish hlac with a tinge
- of pink, between the outer of the two blackish lines bounding the median
area and the pale line external to the subterminal. The hindwing ‘s
normal.

Type ¢: Rannoch, vii.1900, E. A. Cockayne.

Diarsia festiva Hiibner ab. fusceiimbata ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

The ground colour of the forewing is pale brownish ochreous and is
dusted with black scales from the external of the two lines bounding the
median area to the termen; the normal markings are visible; there is
also slight dusting with blackish scales between the basal and ante-
median lines.

Type 6: Rannoch, 1937, H. B. D. Kettlewell.

Tiarsia festiva Hiibner ab. nigrobasalis ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

The area on the forewing between the basal and antemedian lines
is powdered with black scales and the anterior half of the lines them-
selves is thick and black.

Type ¢: Rannoch, vui.1903, E. A. Cockayne.

Diarsia rubi Vieweg ab. semiconfluens ab. nov.

The posterior or inner marginal ends of the orbicular and reniform
are united.
Type 6: Rannoch, 1937, H. B. D. Kettlewell.

Amathes castanea Esper ab. albida ab nov.

_- The forewing is greyish white entirely without markings, the reni-
form is only just visible and without the usual dark mark in the pos-
terior or basal part.

Type 9: Aberdeen, F. W. Buchan. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Amathes depuncta Linnaeus ab. obsolescens ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

_.. Forewing—pale greyish ochreous, the two black dots at the base and
the three bordering the antemedian line present; the reniform and
orbicular faintly marked and with no dark mark between them; the
median shade and postmedian line absent; the subterminal line present
and the row of dots internal to it, from these dots to the termen the
nervures are darkened.
- Type ¢: Loc. incog. 23.vi1.1895, Warren. Burrows coll. -

130 ENTOMOLOGIST S§ RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V/1952

Amathes c-nigrum Linnaeus ab. albinetica ab. nov. (Fig. 5).

Head, thorax, and abdomen very pale grey; forewing pale blue grey,
in the male flushed with a slight rosy hue in the median area, along the
costa, and in the posterior half of the wing; the stigmata and the usual
conspicuous black mark touching them are absent. Hindwing—greyish
white.

Type ¢: Alton, Hants:.722.v11. 1949. (mo) 27017) He Ss. and: 2 Je
Robinson. B.M., 1951-3. ae

Allotype @: Alton, Hants., 14.v111.1949, H. S. Robinson. (Classey
coll.) Cockayne coll.

These two remarkable albinos were taken in the U-V light trap with
many thousands of normal specimens. A similar albino is recorded,
taken in Wicken Fen, 21.vii1.1946, by J. A. Walker (Proc. S. Lond. Ent.
and N.H. Soc., 1946-1947, 46).

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V.

Fig. 1. Diarsia festiva ab. roseovirgala. g. Type.

Fig. 2. Diarsia festiva ab.fuscolimbata. 3. Type.

Fig. 3. Diarsia festiva ab. nigrobasalis. ¢. Type.

Fig. 4. Amathes depuncia ab. obsolescens. ¢G. Type.

Fig. 5. Amathes c-nigrum ab. albinotica. &. Type.

Fig. 6. Amathes alpicola ssp. alpina ab. rufistigma. 92. Type.
Fig. 7. Anaplectoides prasina ab. effusa. <. Type.

Fig. 8. Anaplectoides prasind ab. leucozona. ¢. Type.

Fig. 9. Anaplectoides prasina ab. masseyi. C. Type.

Fig. 10. Triphaena comes ab. albescens. [. Type.

Be

Amathes alpicola Zetterstedt ab. uniformis ab. nov.

There is a complete absence of the usual black or blackish brown
markings on the forewing. These are replaced by rufous or in some
examples the rufous scales are mixed with dark brown ones; the row
of black marginal dots remains. The allotype and one other have con-
fluent stigmata.

Type o6: Rannoch, 1916, A. Horne. Cockayne coll.

Allotype @: Rannoch, 1892, G. Clarke. Christy coll.

Paratypes: 3 dd, 3 929: 2 $66 Rannoch, A. Horne. Cockayne
coll.; 1 § Rannoch, 1888, W. M. Reid. Cockayne coll.; 1 9 Rannoch,
vii.1912, bred by L. W. Newman (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.; 2 9°
Rannoch, 1916, A. Horne. Cockayne coll.

Amathes alpicola Zetterstedt ssp. alpina Stephens ab. rufistigma ab.
nov. (Fig. 6).

The ground colour of the forewing is a uniform blackish brown with
the following markings visible, blackish postmedian and subterminal
lines, a black mark between the reniform and orbicular, two oblique
black lines internal to the orbicular, and a broad black stripe running
from the base to the termen and lving just below the median nervure
and nervure 2; the reniform and orbicular stigmata are pale rust colour
and contrast strongly with the dark ground.

Type 2: Rannoch, Clark. Bought at Stevens, 1889. Sydney Webb
coll. Rothschild coll.

Anaplectoides prasina Schiffermiiller ab. effusa ab. nov. (Fig. 7). s

Forewing—ground colour green; none of the usual markings are
sharply defined; the stigmata both lack the usual sharp black outline
and all blackish transverse lines are obsolete or nearly so except the

VOL 64. EVATE Ve

TATHORHYNCUS EXSICCATA LEDERER IN SOUTH DEVON. 131

subterminal, which is present; the nervures running from the row of
black dots to the subterminal are marked with blackish scales.
Type 2: Bude, Cornwall, 6.vi1.1907, L. A. E. Sabine. Rothschild

coll.

Anaplectoides prasina Schiffermiiller ab. leucozona ab. nov. (Fig. 8).

Forewing—ground colour green; basal area dark brownish green;
ante- and postmedian lines absent; a narrow dark green line runs from
the costa to the orbicular and another from the reniform to the inner
margin; the orbicular has a narrow black ring round it and a greenish
central spot surrounded by whitish; the reniform has a very narrow
black ring round it, narrowest on the distal side, and one greenish dot
in the upper and another in the lower part; the subterminal line is
dark green with a blackish spot between 4 and 5; the subcostal and
median nervures are white; nervures 3 and 4 are white and the space
between them white or whitish as far out as the outer row of black dots
internal to the subterminal line; the ground between the dark basal
area and the inner row of black specks external to the reniform is whitish
green. The pale area in the middle of the wing and the absence of black
scales in and around the stigmata give it a most unusual appearance
and it appears to have a broad whitish transverse band proximal to the
orbicular and another distal to the reniform.

Type 2: N. Cornwall, vi.1904, F. C. Woodforde. Bankes coll.

Anaplectoides prasina Sch:ffermiiller ab. masseyi ab. nov. (Fig. 9).

Forewing—ground colour brownish green with the usual lines dis-
tinct; the orbicular and reniform are indistinct, but between them is a
black mark; the distal side of the reniform is whitish with a tinge of
ochreous in the middle and the outer limit of the usual pale area exter-
nal to the reniform is of the same colour forming a whitish ochreous
line; the space between these two lines is black crossed by two parallel
whitish ochreous longitudinal lines with a much narrower white one
above and below. The insect has an unusual mottled appearance and
the wings are rather shorter than usual.

Type 2: Abbot’s Wood, Sussex, 1892. (Massey coll.) Cockayne coll.

Triphaena co.:nes Hiibner ab. albescens ab. nov. (Fig. 10).

Head, thorax, and forewings whitish fawn with a pinkish tint; stig-
mata and subterminal line just visible being of the same colour but
slightly darker. Hindwing—whitish with a very faint yellow tint; the
usual black band replaced by very pale grey. Abdomen very pale. This
is a remarkable albinistic form.

Type 9°: Dover, bred 20.vi1.1898 by H. D. Stockwell. Bankes coll.

Tathorhyncus exsiccata Lederer in South Devon
By Frank H. Lers.

The night of 20th March was exceptionally mild in Maidencombe.
During the early part of the evening it almost looked as though the
light in my porch (just below the window in which J fix my moth-trap)
‘ was drawing insects away from the latter. To open one’s front door at
8.15 p.m. on a March evening and pick off the porch walls a Plusia ni 9

132 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V/1952 |

and 4 Laphygma exigua is an experience that would surprise most lepi-
dopterists. At 10.0 p.m. when I switched off the porch light the thermo-
meter indicated 55° F. and by morning there was a goodly assembly in
the trap. I counted 278 of 19 species which included another Plusia ni
2, 2 more Laphygma exigua and a stranger that baffled me completely.
At rest it suggested a sort of negative Leucania l-album at first, but on
setting it, misled by
its slender build, I
thought it might be a
pyrale! Unfortunate-
ly, in setting it, I
damaged one of the
underwings—a trace of
Plusia ni’s honey and
water on my forceps
came in contact as I
was drawing out a leg,
and that was that.
Mr. A. lL. Goodson
identified the species
[enlarged : the alar expanse of this specimen is as Tathorhyncus CXS1C-

32 mm. | cata from a drawing I
sent him and has now examined the insect itself. Owing to difficulties
in lighting the object, the photograph shows the heavy marginal shade
unequally on the right and left sides, but I think the picture will enable
anyone to identify the species if they have had the good fortune to take it.

Tathorhyncus exsiccata Lederer—a Noctuid new

to the British List
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

After examining the sketch of the moth taken by Mr. Frank Lees
in his light trap on the night of 20th March 1952 and regarded by him
as a Pyrale, Mr. Dowsett said he did not think there was any Palaearctic
Pyrale which resembled the picture. Mr. A. L. Goodson said he thought
it was a Noctuid and after a brief pause added the genus is Tatho-
rhyncus. Comparison with the figure of Tathorhyncus exsiccata Lederer
in Seitz and the short series in the Tring Museum left us in no doubt
that he was right. This species, not recorded before from Britain and
originally described from a Syrian specimen, is

Tathorhyncus exsiccatu Lederer (Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wren, 1855, 5:
204, Pl. 2, fig. 12) = vinctalis Walker.

It occurs in Italy, Cyprus, Syria, Algeria, Egypt, Aden, the Canary
Isles, and throughout India, and appears to be continuously brooded,
for Tring specimens are labelled February, March, April, May, June,
July, and November. The larva is said to be unknown, but the species
of Autophila its nearest allies have slender larvae which feed on various
papilionaceous plants.

The photograph reproduced above shows the appearance of the upper
side. The colour of the forewings is greyish brown; the orbicular and
reniform stigmata are small and paler than the ground with a conspicu-

STERRHA AVERSATA L. 133

ous black streak joining them and a small black dot just external to the
reniform ; there is another black streak at the base and a broad blackish
brown border. The hindwing is paler with a broad blackish brown
border which does not reach the anal angle. The under side is whitish
with a conspicuous blackish brown border on both fore and hindwing
and no other marking. Its closest ally is Autophila dilucida Hiibner,
which has a very similar under side. In the British list it would precede
Lygephila (Toxocampa) pastinum Tr. and craccae Fab.

Its capture in the moth trap with two Plusia ni Hiibner at the time
when a large immigration of Vanessa cardui Linnaeus, Laphygma exigua
Hitibner, and Plusia ni Hiibner was taking place makes it almost cer-
tain that it formed part of the same migration and was not imported by
human agency.

Sterrha aversata L.: Some further notes on the
genetic relationship of the plain and banded forms
By C. N. Hawkins, F.R.E.S.

In The Entomologist for February 1937 (Vol. 70: 25) under the name
Ptychopoda aversata L. I gave some account of the breeding and genetics
of this species and stated some reasons for believing that the factor for
banding was a simple dominant, but that owing to failure of suitable
emergences it had up to then been impossible to obtain a Spring pairing
between a bred banded male and a bred banded female as I had hoped
to do. I also mentioned that from a pairing obtained on 28th May
1936 between a bred male and a bred female of the plain form 64 imagines
were bred by Dr. E. A. Cockayne and myself in August and September,
all of the plain form, and that some 30 larvae insisted on hibernating
but that it was not proposed to proceed any further with these hiber-
nators as they seemed unlikely to affect the results already obtained.
As a matter of fact the hibernators were kept, but little or no attention
was paid to them till the following Spring when it was found that two
only had survived, of which 1 failed to pupate properly and died and
the other pupated in May 1937 and produced a female of the plain form
in June 1937, so the final result of that brood was 65 imagines, all of
the plain form. This ended that experiment. However, on the 5th July
1938 a banded female was taken at Wimbledon which had evidently
already paired with an unknown male and she laid a batch of eggs
which were again shared between Dr. Cockayne and myself. From them
we bred 43 (20 ¢ and 23 9) of the banded form and 12 (5 6 and 7 9)
of the plain form. Two pairings were obtained in June 1939 between
bred banded males and females and both pairings resulted in due course
in reasonable broods of larvae, though T have no information now as to
the actual numbers of ova laid. One brood I called ‘‘X’’ and the other
“yy”, ¥? consisted of 72 larvae of which some 50 survived on 28th
April 1940 and ‘“‘Y’’ had 70 larvae of which some 48 survived on 28th
April 1940. Brood ‘‘X”’ eventually gave 47 imagines (25 ¢ and 22 9)
all banded, and brood ‘‘Y’’ gave 46 imagines (21 ¢ and 25 Q) all banded.
Presumably therefore the banded female taken on 5th July 1938 was a
heterozygote which had paired with a heterozygous male and the F2

134 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 1b] V (1952

generation (Broods ‘‘X’’ and “‘Y’’) were either DD x DR or DD x DD.
These results confirm the assumption that the banded form is dominant,
and should have been published long ago but were delayed by the war
and then overlooked. I have to thank Dr. Cockayne for reminding me
of the matter.

The White and Pale Forms of Lycaena phlaeas L.

By P. Srviter SMITH.

IT am afraid that I cannot agree with Mr. Goodson (Ent. Rec., 64:
23) that var. cuprinus Peyer., can be regarded as the same as var. inter-
media Tutt, even in view of the additional words—“‘brilliant brassy
yellow’’ which have come to light. In the first place, the difference in
Tutt’s quotation seems to have arisen because he referred to the 2nd
Edition of Peyerimhoff’s Catalogue. Tutt’s extract is correct for that
Edition but apparently not for the First Edition, although he gives the
reference to the latter, quoting the date 1871 whereas Mr. Goodson
quotes it as 1862.

However, Tutt’s intermedia is described (Brit. Butt., 1896, p. 153)
as follows:—‘‘2. Ground colour, brassy = ab. intermedia n. ab.’’, and
he was dealing primarily with British specimens. Now the average
British specimen that is intermediate between the ordinary red and the
cream or white forms is quite an uninteresting one, lacking brilliance on
the whole and frequently even lacking ‘‘shine’’. They are indeed inter-
mediate and the name should stand for them.

Nevertheless, there is a much rarer form found that could be de-
scribed as ‘‘brilliant brassy yellow’’. It is usually referred to as the
‘‘oolden’’ form. These are quite different from the ordinary intermedia
and are much more striking looking insects. (See Tutt, Brit. Lep., 8,
p. 359 (top) re these). To these the name cuprinus Peyer. should be
applied.

A great many changes will be needed in the varieties and also in some
of the races of phlaeas as there are a lot of errors of one sort or another.
There are also a great many names and synonyms, and a “‘bit by bit’’
examination of these will lead to a greater confusion. It is probable
that in the corrections, quite a number of the existing names (e.g. cup-
rinus above) can be utilised without the need to create more. Thus a
wholesale revision is desirable if this can be done. There are at least
eight other major varieties of phlaeas where correction or modification
are needed—some of them being well-known ones—but it is difficult to
do this without a full survey with a great deal of material in the way of
specimens to judge from. My revision on this species is being carried
out with about ten thousand specimens available in my own collection,
from almost every part of the world. There is considerable muddle and
confusion and it is really better if no additional names can be given
until more data is published. For instance, in the pale forms of phlaeas,
there are no less than nine quite separate forms of ‘‘paleness’’ all of
which could be named if this was thought useful. There are also existing
names which, when correctly applied (again e.g. cuprinus) may cover
an appropriate gap. It takes a long time to do this work thoroughly.

The point Mr. Goodson makes about var. alba Tutt and var. schmidtii
Gerh. is interesting. It could also, I suspect, be a matter on which one

THE WHITE AND PALE FORMS OF LYCAENA PHLAEAS L. 159

could argue. It is possible that Mr. Goodson’s conclusion 1s the correct
one, but presumably Tutt could have argued that if Gerhard’s figure
was of a cream insect (as indeed Tutt specificially says it is) then his
description must refer to the cream form.

It will be a great pity, in my opinion, if the name alba Tutt has to
disappear. I would like to see Tutt’s opinion given the benefit of the
doubt. For one thing, a number of other names have been created, all
linked to alba. This natural linkage wiil disappear if alba gives way to
schmidtw. Similarly there is a linkage with schmidti which will be put
“out of tune” by the change. Assuming we change over, the ‘‘whites’’
will be schmidtii so we shall get the following group: schmidti Gerh.
(all white); dextroalba Tutt, posteroalba Tutt, anteroalba Tutt, semialba
Strd., distalba Kuwayama (various parts white), alba-caudata Tutt (as
schmidtu Gerh. (!) but tailed). At the same time we may have a new
name for the cream form, yet when we get that we shall still have Tutt’s
schmidtii-caudata which cannot be upset by the change! Look at the
chief ones then, assuming the hypothetical new name as lacticolor for
the purpose of illustration only :—

White form = schmidtu Gerh.

White tailed form = alba-caudata Tutt.
Cream form = lacticolor.

Cream tailed form = schmidti-caudata Tutt.

Surely confusion of this type should be avoided. In view of Tutt’s
statement that Gerhard’s figure was cream (and perhaps it was), is it
reasonable to add further upheavals to a species that already is confused
and difficult? I believe we should strain at the gnat of Tutt’s view, as
I object to swallowing the camel of confusion as instanced by the inset
panel above.

In addition, there are other names for ‘‘yellow’’ and ‘‘white’’ speci-
mens of phlaeas that have been given in America. These have been
apphed, of course, to specimens that are of the American subspecies
hypophlaeas. In view of the fact that they have been so applied to a
subspecies, how do they fit into the picture? Can they be treated as
being equivalent to a varietal name given to L. phlaeas of Europe?
There is fulliolus Hulst (1886) for instance, applied to yellowish forms.
Would it be correct to use this name for some of our specimens here,
instead of making new ones? Another one is neui Rummel and there
are others. Must they be used solely for specimens of ssp. hypophlaeas
or can they be fitted in to the pattern of our requirements? All this
should be done in one complete effort if possible, to avoid further names
being created, that are not needed or which do not harmonise with
those existing.

If Mr. Goodson’s view is correct, and the pale straw or pale yellow
examples are without a name, will that gap not have been already filled
by Leeds, who has given the names antilacticolor, lacticolor for these
forms? It is one of the confusions that exist that Leeds’ Catalogue of
Names is not fully acceptable as a whole, yet it seems to me that where
he has given a name to a form not previously named (e.g. rufomargo,
maequalis) those particular names should stand as valid. Ts this correct ?

[Gerhard’s insect was not cream-coloured. Since dertroalba, postero-
alba, ete., are quite unrelated to schmidtu = alba Tutt, it is an advan-

136 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V /1952

tage to have this made clear. The names given by Leeds are valid if he
has specified that they occur in phlaeas and have priority.—ED. |

Familiar Butterflies in North Africa
By Brigadier C. G. Liescoms.

Towards the end of October last year I found myself posted to North
Africa at short notice and the limitations of air transport made it im-
possible for me to travel with my normal collecting equipment. My
observations, which cover in the main the coastal areas of Tripolitania
and Cyrenaica, are therefore based on what I have seen but have not
been able to verify by capture. A brass hat has its uses but 1t was not
designed for catching butterflies !

My Headquarters during November was in Tripoli where the weather
was still warm enough to bathe, but butterflies were remarkable by their
almost complete absence as only the odd battered Vanessa cardui L. was
in evidence. In December I moved to Cyrenaica, first to Tobruk and
then to Derna, a hundred miles to the westward, at the foot of the Jebel.
However the story was still the same with the exception that in the
middle of the month when I paid a hurried visit to Malta I saw a single
fresh Colias croceus flying over a flower bed in the centre of the town.

The New Year started well with a very big emergence of V. cardwi on
January Ist. Their numbers increased throughout the month and I
was able to confirm that they were equally abundant over the whole area.
I have seldom before seen a butterfly in such profusion and in this case
my observations covered a thousand miles of coast line. It will be in-
teresting to see, later on, whether these butterflies are the forerunners
of a big emigration movement to Europe or the British Isles. Thistles
of various kinds appear after the winter rains throughout the area
under observation and no doubt form the fcodplant of the larvae,
although I have not so far succeeded in verifying this.

In the third week in January I was again in the Tripoli area and on
the-23rd, while visiting the very fine Roman city of Leptis Magna, I
saw several specimens of both C. croceus and V. atalanta flying about
the ruins in company with numbers of V. cardui. C. croceus wasn’t
seen again till a month later when I saw a single 9 flying in the Wadi
Derna and a few days later I noted several fresh V. atalanta on the
wing in the vicinity of my Mess.

On February 5th the first Pontia daplidice appeared in my garden
and I was able to identify it when it eventually settled on a flower-head.
By the middle of the month they were flying locally in some numbers
and seemed to favour localities where a certain aromatic shrub grew,
and where this occurs one can count on seeing P. daplidice on the wing.

I think this butterfly probably flies in very reduced numbers through-
out the winter as I have seen single white butterflies at odd intervals
from December onwards but have not been able to identify them for
certain.

On February 26th I saw the first Papilio machaon at Derna flying
swiftly over rocks and shrubs near the seashore—others have appeared
since but it seems local and is so far restricted to one locality a mile or
so east of the town. It is difficult to determine what can be its foodplant
in this arid land, but I noted a Q fluttering over a patch of Camel Thorn

THE COLLECTING OF ABERRATIONS. 137

although subsequent examination failed to locate any eggs. The
machaon, as far as I can tell, are of the normal HKuropean form and it
has proved a pleasant surprise to see them on the wing in this unlikely
spot.

On March 3rd I saw my first Pierts rapae, a 2, sunning itself on a
leaf in my garden in Derna. It proved similar in every way to our
normal Spring form.

From the foregoing brief notes it will be realised that this part of
Africa is hardly an entomologist’s paradise; but the appearance of these
familiar faces has done much to add interest to one’s journeys and walks.

The Collecting of Aberrations

We have received the following Note from a correspondent: —‘‘ In
a copy of The Lepidopterist’s Register published in 1868 by J. T. Car-
rington (at one time editor of The Entomologist) I found a hand written
reference to the collection of S. J. Capper of Liverpool in which the
following occurs: —‘ The late Alfred Owen of Liverpool was Mr. Cap-
per’s most intimate friend and died in 1874. Mr. Owen was one of the
first who made the collecting of varieties a speciality. At that time few
entomologists valued these as much as the type: this gave him the oppor-
tunity of making a very grand collection . . . he possessed a wonderfully
keen eye for aberrations, which placed him in the fortunate position of
having a collection of varieties that was celebrated throughout the
country.’ .

‘ This statement claiming that Owen was the first, or one of the first,
to collect aberrations (or ‘varieties’ as they were called in those days)
is interesting. In my copy of Mosley’s Illustrations of British Lepi-
doptera, which dates from 1878, there are hundreds of figures of aber-
rations, of both butterflies and moths, which are fully as extreme as
anything bred or caught nowadays. Many of the specimens figured were
from old collections—Bond, Samuel Stevens and others—which were
taken in the ’sixties. One specimen of a 2 Argynnis paphia, with very
large black blotches on the forewings, taken in 1804, is figured as from
Sam Stevens’s collection. It was in perfectly good condition and origin-
ally belonged to Donovan (1768-1837).

‘From the data given by Mosley it seems that the collecting of
aberrations dates from a long time prior to 1860 and the names of many
’ collectors are mentioned in the book as well as Owen’s. Edward New-
man’s Illustrated Natural. History of British Butterflies, first published
in 1871, figures many ‘varieties’. In quite recent years I have heard
collectors say that they discarded aberrations as being unfit for the cabi-
net; but [ am afraid these statements must be taken ‘cum grano’. I
do know that in the early ’nineties the New Forest was alive with
collectors on the look-out for aberrations and T went there on the same
quest myself, but fruitlessly. I saw a melanic specimen of Argynnis
cydippe caught by Ashmead, a dealer who had a shop in Bishopsgate
Street, London. In a previous season the late A. B. Farn acquired an
almost completely black 2 Argynnis paphia, which was brought to him
by a small boy, a woodcutter’s son who, Farn told me, was more than
satisfied with a gift of sixpence. This episode is noted on the label

138 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V /1952

pinned beneath the insect. At the sale of Farn’s collection in 1922 this
specimen was bought for £12.”

Edward Newman certainly fostered, if he did not originate, the col-
lecting of aberrations. In the advertisement on the cover of No. 89 of
The Entomologist (April 1871) announcing his above-mentioned book
appear the words ‘‘ With Life-size Figures of each species and of the
more striking Varieties’, and in the following January (No. 99) he
began to illustrate, in his magazine, new ‘varieties’ of butterflies as
they were brought to his notice. Several aberrations are depicted by
Humphreys and Westwood in their beautifully illustrated book British
Butterflies and their Transformations, 1841; for example, on Plate 3,
Melitaea athalia, described in the text as ‘‘ Melitaea Pyronia (a variety
of M. Athalia)’’: this specimen was ‘‘taken by Mr. Howard at Peckham
in June 1803’’. Plate 9 has ‘‘A dark variety of M. Euphrosyne’’; Plate
13 an extreme aberration of Aglais urticae; Plate 17 an aberration of
Melanargia galathea. Duncan’s Natural History of British Butterflies,
1835, depicts an aberration of Melitaea aurinia (Plate 14, fig. 2)—which
he mistook for M. cinxia—and two other aberrations of aurinia were
figured by J. C. Dale in Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History in 1834.
But none of these aberrations was nained (except when, as in Hum-
phreys and Westwood’s book, they were considered by some entomo-
logists to be specifically distinct). It seems clear that although extreme
aberrations were sometimes kept and pinned in cabinets long before
1860 as our correspondent suggests, they were regarded merely as curio-
sities, and no value, scientific or otherwise, was attached to them.

The New Forest in the ‘Nineties and After

By S. G. CastLeE RUSSELL.

The times of good Queen Victoria may have seemed humdrum to
some people but not so to the entomologist, for they were very favour-
able to insect life, and probably the most popular locality and the one
most frequented by collectors was the New Forest. In those days and
up to the advent of the World War in 1939 the Forest was far more
wild and primitive than it has been since. J think I am right in stating
that the total number of keepers did not exceed 17, with about three
times that number of woodmen to cover the whole area of some 60 en-
closures apart from the woods. These enclosures varied from a hundred
to a thousand acres in extent; most of the better known ones averaged
500 acres. Oakley was one of the extra large ones, comprising some
1,000 acres and extending to about 2 miles in length. Consequently it
was only possible to trim the rides at long intervals, and the bramble
bushes on which the many species of butterflies fed became very luxuri-
ous in growth and size. There were numerous rides in the enclosures
all lined with bramble, each side getting its full share of sunshine in
the morning, afternoon and evening. At the cross rides on which the
sun shone from sunrise till sunset the bramble blossoms were crowded
with insects of all kinds. :

My first visit to the Forest was in July 1892 and this happened to be
one of the seasons of phenomenal abundance which used to occur in the
Forest from time to time. T entered by the gate leading from Holland
wood into the ride in Ramunor Enclosure just as the sun became for a

THE NEW FOREST IN THE ’NINETIES AND AFTER. 139

time obscured. As I walked slowly along, butterflies alarmed by my
approach arose in immense numbers to take refuge in the trees above.
They were so thick that I could hardly see ahead and indeed resembled
a fall of brown leaves. As soon as the sun came out again they descended
from the trees and resumed feeding on the bramble blossoms. The day
was very hot, sunny and a little hazy, and the butterflies were unusually
tame and open for examination. The predominating species was Argyn-
ms paphia, closely followed by Aphantopus hyperantus, Iamenitis camilla
and Maniola jurtina. In one particular ride I found A. cydippe and
A. aglaia almost as numerous as the other species, which was unusual
as these two species prefer more open areas such as felled copses, etc.

I covered most of the rides in Ramnor Enclosure, during which I met
with two small colonies of Nymphalis polychloros and a 92 A. tris drink-
ing on the damp ground near a stream. I have no note of having seen
other iris, but I was not particularly looking for them. They were by
no means uncommon in those days. I then investigated the rides in the
adjoining enclosures of Parkhill and Pignal, and there I found the same
abundance of butterflies. I now decided to return to the cross rides in
Ramnor where I had had my lunch and where, under a culvert, I had
hidden my tea basket. Unluckily I failed to find the particular cross
ride and got completely lost, and only by good luck found myself at the
edge of the Forest near Balmer Lawn and in time to catch the 6.30
train. The remains of my tea are possibly still there to-day. Many
collectors have lost their way in the Forest as all the cross rides are
exactly alike. After this experience I used to blaze my trail. It was
quite hopeless to expect to meet anyone to ask for guidance. During
the whole day, although on the qui vive, I did not meet with an aber-
ration of any kind and the only out of the way insects I took were five
specimens of ab. valezina, which in those times was considered a good
bag. It was in later years that this form became so common and in
certain enclosures outnumbered the typical 9 ©.

I did not visit the Forest in 1893, which was a remarkable year for
the very early dates of emergence of butterflies, some being nearly a
month ahead of their normal time of appearance. JZ. camilla was fully
out in early June and most of the other species were worn by July. This
was due to the fact that the year was an exceptionally fine one—in fact
from early March to August there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky.
It was preceded by one of the most severe winters on record when large
blocks of ice were to be seen drifting under London Bridge. In this
season considerable numbers of A. paphia were marked with white
stripes or spots on the upper wings, but no other variation was recorded.

After that, owing to the fact that I was living at Woking, I made
periodical visits to the Forest. The railway company issued a day ticket
which was available by the 6.30 a.m. train from Woking, arriving at
Brockenhurst at 8.30, which enabled one to be in the Forest soon after
nine o’clock. One could return on any train after 5 o’clock and there
was a convenient fast one at 6.380. In the morning there was a con-
necting train to Holmsley on the Lymington line, and I frequently
went to Holmsley and Wilverley enclosures as a change from Brocken-
hurst. Very often one area was far more prolific in numbers than the
other.

140 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/V /1952

In those days it was not only the Lepidoptera that were abundant.
A fly resembling the common house fly was in clouds and followed one
in a dense stream. Immediately you stopped or sat down to pin a
specimen they settled on you in a mass, and it was quite impossible to
do anything unless you had a pipe in your mouth or had previously
deluged yourself with citronella or other oil, which however only lasts
a few seconds. There was another species, the gd red and the 2 2
green (or vice versa), which bit viciously like the clegs, several of which
were usually to be found on your hands. The only effective way of
dealing with these pests was to cover one’s hands and neck and ears
with the rank nicotine juice obtained from an uncleaned pipe. There
was also a very large horse fly, probably a Tabanus species. A collec-
tor named Burton, on hearing it booming round him for the first time,
exclaimed ‘‘ Why, here’s a blooming brass band!’’, by which name it
afterwards became known among us. In some of the enclosures, but
not in all, there was sometimes a plague of midges and one could deal
with them only by continuous cigarette smoking or using a chiffon veil.
Otherwise they crowded into your eyes and ears and mouth. During
one season a small colony of nudists arrived to stay in the Forest for
a week or so. It happened that. the flies were particularly bad at that
time, especially the biting kinds, and they thoroughly enjoyed the visit
of the nudists. The colony departed next day, which made me feel
quite grateful to the Diptera.

On a visit in May 1900 fi found Celastrina argiolus flying around the
holly trees in the Holmsley district in immense numbers. A similar
abundance occurred in August 1922 in an enclosure in the northern
area. This enclosure was surrounded by common land with a large
number of holly trees and was a favourite spot for this species. All
the rides in the enclosure were full of them—a most unusual experi-
ence for me.

The year 1904 was a very poor one—so often the result of a fine
and dry summer previously. But 1905 was another remarkably fine
and hot summer during which a record for summer sunshine was
reached. It was preceded by an exceptionally hard and severe winter
during which, as in 1892, immense slabs of ice could be seen passing
to and fro under London Bridge. In the Forest, butterflies became
abundant again, but not much variation was noticed; in the following
season, 1906, however, large numbers of aberrations of many species
were recorded, specially of LZ. camilla and among the Argynnidae. In
the subsequent years until 1918 I did not meet with anything remark-
able in the way of variation, though usually each season produced in-
sects in plenty.

About this time the Forest was attracting considerable numbers ot
collectors and there were two resident professionals, Tate and Morris,
who would undertake to act as guides to entomologists unacquainted
with the locality. There were also the well-known and efficient Gulliver
_ brothers, all of whom were keepers and lived in the midst of the Forest,
as well as another keeper whose name J have forgotten. Charles and
George Gulliver were keen hunters and netted many very fine and ex-
treme aberrations of all species, especially of the large and small fritil-
laries and L. camilla. They had of course exceptional opportunities.
Every collection of note at that time, and in fact at the present day,

THE NEW FOREST IN THE ’NINETIES AND AFTER. 141

contains fine examples of aberrations bearing the name of one or other
of the brothers on the label. George was especially fortunate, and he
continued to collect long after he had retired from the Crown service.
Whenever I paid him a visit he invariably had a good stock of A. iris
larvae which he would sell at 1s. each and large numbers of other
lepidopterous larvae. Either of the brothers would always take you
out to look for iris larvae, with successful results.

The great majority of the collectors who visited the Forest were
interested chiefly in the Heterocera, of which the Forest contained a
very comprehensive fauna. The two Catocala, sponsa and promissa,
were always in great request, and there were numerous species that
were difficult to obtain or did not occur elsewhere. There were favourite
rides for sugaring, notably in Wilverley and Burley, and insects were
usually to be found in plenty at night on the sugar patches, some-
times in great abundance. The collectors used to sugar a ride and then
attach a visiting-card to a tree in it, hoping that the ‘ beat’ would be
regarded as private property. After a time objections were made by
certain individuals who considered the treacle patches unsightly. As
a result, although the Forest Authorities did not actually prohibit
sugaring (possibly they had not the power to do so as the public then
had certain rights in the Forest), they instructed the keepers to cover
the freshly put on sugar with earth. I do not think, however, that
this practice was continued for very long.

In the daytime many hours could be spent examining the tree
trunks for moths, which were many and varied. Boarmia roboraria
and Lymantria monacha could always be found in numbers, and Geo-
meters were plentiful. Zygaena meliloti, the New Forest burnet, oc-
curred along the railway bank at Wood Fidley and was persecuted by
collectors and dealers for years, when not unnaturally it became ex-
tinct. No other spot was known for it.

In 1917 there was a season of abundance without notable variation;
but 1918 was a year of phenomenal abundance of all species and pro-
duced large numbers of aberrations. The insects were in amazing quan-
tities not only in all the enclosures but in open places wherever bramble
blossom occurred, some miles outside the Forest boundaries. I spent
most of that July in the North, but on my return towards the end of
the month I paid several visits to the Forest and caught several nice
aberrations of A. paphia. Many extreme forms were taken by collec-
tors, and the late Sir Vauncy Harpur Crewe (who was staying in the
Forest together with his assistants) caught, and later exhibited at the
Entomological Society, over 50 extreme aberrations of paphia and
many melanic forms of ZL. camilla.

In 1919 this phenomenal abundance occurred again and I spent the
whole month of July in the Forest. The numbers of butterflies. were so
great that the large bramble bushes would each have from 30 to 50 feed-
ing on them at a time during the favourable hours, namely, during the
_ late afternoon and in the evening up to 7.30 p.m. (not summer time).
I usually arrived in the Forest rides at about nine o’clock, and if the sun
was in evidence all the paphia would be seen sitting on the ferns warm-
ing themselves ; but they were wary and easily alarmed. Within an hour
all were on the wing, flying about rapidly, the ¢¢ hunting for 9 9,
and some of both sexes feeding. At about midday large numbers of pairs

142 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 / V /1952

in copulation were to be seen flying slowly together from bushes to trees,
the 29 carrying the dd. This midday pairing occurred regularly
every day until about the 24th of the month, by which time the bulk of
the emergence was over. Every day I caught some pairs and marked
the © 9, which later on and during the mating period I found again
paired. This indicates that the 9 copulates more than once, but whether
this results in additional eggs can be only surmised. :

From one o’clock until about 4.30 the paphia were mostly in the
interior of the woods, when they began to come out into the open rides
and commence the feeding which lasted until late in the evening. I
used to take advantage of this lull to visit the open spaces where A.
cydippe and A. aglaia were to be found. Both these species produced
aberrations but not so extreme nor in such numbers as occurred amongst
the paphia. Strange to say the area in which I was working, which con-
sisted of three large enclosures, produced only one melanic specimen of
L. camilla during the whole month although numbers were taken in the
Brockenhurst area. (In later years these enclosures were more prolific
as regards the numbers of melanic camilla). By 5 o’clock the paphia
began to be abundant, feeding on the bramble blossoms on the sunny
side of the ride, and when the sun gradually passed over to the other
side of the ride the butterflies followed it. One could traverse miles of
rides lined with large bramble bushes each covered with butterflies in
unbelievable numbers. During these seasons which were so productive
of aberrations of the July species the smaller fritillaries A. euphrosyne
and A. selene also provided considerable numbers of aberrational forms.

On several occasions during my visits to the Forest the paphia be-
haved in a most unusual manner. Instead of frequenting the bramble
blossoms during the day and evening, even whilst the sun was shining
in full, they remained on the tree tops, where they could be seen flying
about. I can only account for this by surmising that the honeydew on
the oak leaves was more attractive than the honey in the blossoms. For-
tunately, however, it was a very rare occurrence.

To return to 1919, I saw no sign of A. iris; but I was not interested
in looking for it. Nearly all the days were fine and usually sunny and
I netted a considerable number of extreme confluent and melanic paphia,
all very luckily in good condition. My best prize was a fine almost en-
tirely black example of A. paphia ab. valezina, which I met coming down
the ride, freshly emerged. J missed it and it made off inside the wood,
and as I put my foot on the farther side of the usual ditch I escaped
treading on it by only an inch or so. It got up and flew out into the ride
and up into a lofty oak tree. The day then turned very dull, and after
sitting under the tree for half an hour hoping that the sun would come
out again, which it did not, I decided to move on. I thought, however,
that I would pay a final visit to a very large bramble bush situated at
a cross ride which I had inspected just before I had seen my ‘var.’ To
my delight, there was my black valezina quietly feeding upon it! This
time I did not miss.

In 1920 I again spent a holiday in the Forest; but it turned out to
be a very poor year, with continual rain, and butterflies were conspicu-
ous by their absence. I met with no variation in the area I was staying
in, but round about the Lyndhurst Road area many melanic aberrations
of L. camilla were taken.

THE NEW FOREST IN THE ’NINETIES AND AFTER. 143

In 1922 there was a considerable improvement in the numbers of all
species in the Forest, and in certain areas A. paphia could be found
swarming in a few favoured rides but not generally distributed. How-
ever, there was little or nothing in the way of variation among the
fritillaries though there were more than the usual number of A. hyper-
antus var. lanceolata, and some fine examples of these were met with.
During the next season, 1923, paphia was again prominent in large
numbers and in this particular area a few extreme melanic aberrations
were netted; but so far as my information went unusual forms were not
met with in the Forest generally.

From this date there were no periods of special abundance until 1940,
when there occurred a season of great abundance—not, however, marked
by any variation—in a limited number of the northern and central en-
closures. In the following year, 1941, aberrations of all kinds occurred
amongst the paphia, but not amongst the large number of A. cydippe.
Melanic forms of LZ. camilla were frequent, but A. hyperantus was not
producing var. lanceolata. So far as aberrations of paphia are con-
cerned this season must have been the most prolific ever recorded and
the number of aberrations taken in the limited number of enclosures
affected was considerable. It was not a season of phenomenal abundance
similar to the 1918-1919 period, as then the abundance occurred over the
whole Forest area and in all the enclosures. Jn 1942 the plenitude was
less but the species continued to produce numbers of aberrations although
far less than in the previous year. In 1943 the populations of all species
were enormously reduced; one could walk for several miles through
enclosures which had teemed with butterflies the previous season and
meet with not more than a few dozen of each kind. This extreme scar-
city has continued until the present day and it is the longest interval
between abundance and scarcity that I have ever recorded.

It should be noted here that the above remarks are gleaned from my
entomological diary aided by my memory, and other collectors may have
had quite different experiences as regards numbers and variation in
areas which I did not visit.

The scarcity now prevailing may be partly due to the devastation
caused by the War and the operations of the Forestry Commission; but
there must be other causes as well; for although there are still parts of
the Forest which have not been interfered with and are in the same con-
dition as they were in before the War, when they swarmed with insects.
they are now as bare of butterflies as the rest of the Forest.

Tt is doubtful if the Forest will ever resume its old aspect of wild and
primitive conditions. J.arge areas have been cleared and planted with
conifers. As they grow up these plantations darken the area and no
plants will grow within them; in time the Forest will be of the same
type as the Black Forest in Germany which, from all I hear, is not a
good collecting ground for the butterfly hunter. It is a great pity that
this once noble forest: has been lost to the public. On more than one
oceasion the Military Authorities endeavoured to obtain the use of it
for training operations; happily such an outcry was made that they were
forced to abandon the idea. Owing, however, to the War the Forest has
- now been to all intents and purposes ‘‘natisnalised’”’ and entirely altered
in character. ;

144 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vow. 64. 15/V/1952

It is interesting to note that the periods in which large numbers of
insects and aberrations occurred have had long intervals between and
have lasted for two seasons, the third year being one of phenomenal
scarcity. Between 1896-7 and 1918-19 was an interval of 21 years, and
between 1918-19 and 1941 one of 22 years. Thus it would appear that
there is an interval of some twenty years between these seasons of ex-
treme abundance and large numbers of aberrations, the variation end-
ing in the third year, and then very small numbers with complete
absence of aberrations.

Usually aberrations of A. paphia are very rare in the Forest in
‘ordinary’ years. I knew a collector who lived at Brockenhurst for some
20 years without capturing a single example and another usually very
successful entomclogist who netted only one during 15 annual visits to
the Forest. However, both these collectors caught many fine aberrations
in 1941 and 1942.

Notes on Microlepidoptera

By H. C. Hueers.

Oidaematophorus tephradactylus Treits. The larva of this ‘ plume’
may be found feeding on the large bottom leaves of the golden-rod in
many woods, before the flower-stem begins to rise. It is pale green in
colour with numerous whitish hairs and feeds up very quickly, almost
skeletonising the leaves. It can usually be reared with little difficulty.

The cases of Pachythelia villosella Ochs. should be looked for in its
restricted localities (Hampshire and Dorset) in the first week in May.
The early date is necessary as the male cases are nearly always fixed
on the heather twigs, and are quickly covered by the new shoots and are
then difficult to find. The larger cases containing the pupae of the
wingless female, a fat white legless mouthless bag of eggs, are usually
fixed much higher up and can be found on fences, tree trunks, etc.,
at a height of two or three feet right into June. In mid-June 1935 |
found over fifty high cases in the New Forest and of these only two
were males, which can easily be dist‘nguished by their smaller size and
the silken bag at the lower end through which the moth emerges (the
females do not leave the case although they push half-way out when
‘ calling ’).

Villosella is rather difficult to rear when collected in May; the male
pupae are apt to get too dry and although they push their way out of
the bag and hang from it by their posterior hooks they fail to break
the pupal shell in many cases. The very few I have found in mid-June
have always emerged without difficulty in a few days.

The female is best preserved ‘‘ blown ’’ like a larva. Mr. R. L. E.
Ford kindly blew females of this insect and opacella for me, and they
are much more lifelike than the miserable dried mummies I previously
possessed.

The cases of Pachythelia opacella H.-S. may be found in similar
places to those of villosella, preferably about a foot from the ground and
in the grassier parts of the heaths they both inhabit. I have never suc-
ceeded in finding the case of the male of opacella. One year I collected
over a dozen cases on posts and fir-trees, but although some were only

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 145

a few inches from the ground all were females. I fancy the male case
must be affixed to grass-stems near the root in the South of England.
In Scotland it has been found attached to stones. Opacella, though a
much scarcer insect, has a very wide distribution in this country, un-
like villosella, which is confined to the extreme south.

The larva of Evetria purdeyi Durr. may be found in May feeding
on the flowers of Austrian pine and Scots fir, and reared without diffi-
culty. It is almost certainly this larva which is referred to on page
49 of Tutt’s Practical Hints, Vol. I, where it is mentioned as feeding
with Sericoris bifasciana on flowers of Scots fir. I found these two
species feeding tegether on Scots fir at Hartlip in Kent, and on Aus-
trian pine at St. Margaret’s Bay.

Tutt gives the correct habitat of sylvestrana, shoots of stone pine,
on pp. 18 and 20 of the same volume.

Notes and Observations

Larval CoLoRaTIoN oF DEILEPHILA ELPENOR.—In view of the theories
of Mr. D. G. Sevastopulo (Ent. Rec., 63: 211; 64: 41) on the larval
coloration of the Sphingidae the following observations may be of in-
terest. If this problem of variation is to be solved it will be done only
by very carefully rearing and counting large numbers of whole broods
of caterpillars under varying conditions, and with the requisite controls,
and then carefully analysing the evidence obtained. It is obviously the
work of many hands, and heads, in close co-operation. The results oi
one experiment, such as I give here, do not signify much until they are
fitted in with other results to complete the picture (I assume that there
is a picture to be completed). One piece of apparatus which is required,
but which is difficult to obtain, is a standard colour chart. It seems to
be a necessity for accurate measurement of variation of imagines as well
as of larvae.

In 1951 I reared a batch of Deilephila elpenor larvae, and attempted
to tabulate their colour changes. I obtained 122 eggs from one female,
reared from a larva found in 1950. They were laid between llth and
15th July, respective daily totals being 6, 12, 69, 26, 9. All the eggs
were fertile. The first two hatched on 20th July, the last on 3rd August.
On this date I had 122 green larvae of various sizes, but several died
later. It is possible that those which died were the ones which would
have been green in the final instar. I reared 104 to the final stage and
all were of a brownish colour—not the same colour by any means but one
shade or another of a range of browns between burnt sienna and raw
umber. In the absence of a standard colour chart it is difficult to
measure and record these subtle variations. In the earlier stages I dis-
tinguish between pale green and dark green, but the former seemed tc
be only a temporary phase immediately following the moult.

The larvae were fed in airy cages measuring 18” x 12” x 12”, about
20 to each cage, under natural conditions of temperature, pressure and
humidity. Virus disease killed 5 full grown larvae; the other casualties
were drowned or refused to eat in the first week.

The ratio of green to brown elpenor larvae in the wild state is very
small. In 1950 I collected 35 elpenor larvae altogether and of these only

146 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V/1952

one was green. In 1951 I collected 242, of which only 6 were green. A
fine bright green one was found on the same stem as an equally large
brown one. I saw the brown one first and I almost missed the green
one although it was a sunny afternoon and I was looking for green ones!
It may be that I find the brown ones more easily than the green; so I
will not attempt to draw any conclusions.—J. H. Jounson, 53 Knighton
Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 20.31.52.

i 2ors 4th Instar 5th Instar %, :
Green | Pale G. | Dark G.; Brown | Green { Brown | Green

Aug. 3rd. 122 100
Aug. 5th. 107 sdyaceGolo, anelgealen ances 04
Aug. 8th 18 56 3 SC lpreagistt: ene
Aug. 12th. Je 0 ge weiago ae 31 42
lee eS 1 0 Pile scl Q* Ti 7
fae 23rd. } 104 pea

Table showing numbers of brown and green forms of elpenor larvae
at different dates and stages of growth.

*For the first few hours after ecdysis many larvae remain green but
cradually assume some shade of brown.

CapTURP OF Piusia NI Hiss. In Msarcu.—On 20th March I took a
specimen of Plusia ni Hiib. in the porch of my house and, later, one in
my moth-trap. Both were 29 and between them they have laid more
than 150 eggs. They were in perfect condition on arrival, but egg-
laying has occasioned considerable damage to their fringes. They are
very pale compared with the two specimens I have in my collection dated
29nd August 1945 and 9th October 1947, both taken here in Maiden-
combe.—F Rank H. Lens, The Gables, Maidencombe, Torquay, Devon.
JAN D 2:

[We hear that during March other specimens of this moth were taken
at Hastings, Bexley, and Salisbury.—Ep. ]

VANESSA CARDUI L. 1n Marcu.—On the morning of 3rd March a V.
cardui flew past me in a northerly direction. On the 10th I again saw
this species quite close at hand, and to-day (24th March) I saw a third.
All three were flying in the neighbourhood of Christchurch.—F. M. B.
Carr, Martin’s Close, Mudeford, Christchurch, Hants. 24.111.52.

Earty APPEARANCE OF VANESSA CARDUI L. IN THE ISLE oF PURBECK.—
Going through the burial ground at Godlingstone, one and a half miles
from Swanage, on 12th March I saw 20 to 25 V. cardui flying over and
alighting on the heather blooms. Two pairs were in cop.; also I noticed
that a few seemed undersized and worn, while others were quite fresh.

+ was a cloudless day with an easterly wind, the time 2.30. On the 13th

I went there again, but it was cloudy and only four specimens were ob-
served. Mr. Dru-Drury, who lives at Corfe Castle, told me that he
saw 7 there on March 6th. Imagines of this species were plentiful in
this district during last autumn, so perhaps there is a possibility that
it survived the mild winter in the pupal stage.—Leronarp TATCHELL,
Rockleigh Cottage, Swanage, Dorset. 15.111.52.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 147

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN DEvon.—On 10th March I saw a’ specimen of
V. cardui in my garden. On the following day I saw a second specimen
in the next village (Musbury). A third came in to light on 22nd March.
Surely these dates are extremely unusual. [I believe there is no record
of this insect hibernating, or going through the winter as a pupa, in
this country; and the spring immigrants do not normally arrive before
May or June.—Artuur Buss, Golden Mist, Whitford, near Axminster,
S.E. Devon. 28.111.52.

HADENA ANDALUSICA STAUD. (BARRETTIIZ DousL.).—With reference to
Mr. Howard’s note in Ent. Rec., 64: 87, if he will refer to Proc. Ent.
Soc. Lond., October 5, 1919, xlv-xlii, he will find a reference to ‘‘Rock
spurrey’’ as the principal foodplant of the above insect. Jt is also men-
tioned in the revised edition of The Moths of the British Isles by R.
South, published in 1939.—H. M. Eprtsten, Bramble Hill, Balcombe,
Sussex. 21.111.52.

Karty Serine Morus my South Hamrsuire.—By 8th March, after a
short spell of warm dry weather with day temperatures as high as 60° F.,
many of the early Spring moths were out. That evening I took my m.yv.
lamp to a small wood on the outskirts of the New Forest. The first
arrival was Hrannis leucophaearia Schf. within a moment or two of
switching on. Other species noted were Theria rupicapraria Scht.,
Phigalia pedaria Fab., Apocheima hispidaria Schf., Alsophila aescularia
Schf., and Orthosia cruda Schf., Achlya flavicornis L. and Biston strat-
aria Hufn. in some numbers, while Conistra vaccinii L. was plentiful.
I was very surprised to see numbers of the migrant Nomophila noctuella
Schf. appearing throughout the evening and I took some half a dozen
specimens to confirm their identity. All were in perfect condition.

By the 10th of the month A. flavicornis was at its peak; Xylocampa
areola Esp. was noted for the first time this year and a singleton of an-
other migrant Laphygma exigua Hiib. was taken. A week later B.
strataria was particularly abundant and dozens of specimens in fine con-
dition were seen on street lamps, sometimes three, four and even five on
one lamp. It does not seem to have been so common here since the War.
Other species noted on this date included Cerastis rubricosa Schf., Or-
thosia stabis Scht., Earophila badiata Schf. and Ectropis bistortata
Goze.

On the 19th T worked the m.v. lamp in a pine wood and species not
already mentioned included Orthosia gothica L. in numbers, O. munda
Schf. and Panolis flammea Schf. Further single specimens of N. noc-
tuella and L. exigua were taken and a fine specimen of Plusia ni Hiib.

A visit to a coastal locality on the 25th March in the hope of seeing
something more of the migrant species produced nothing new excep
four or five specimens of Selenia bilunaria Esp.

There followed almost at once the cold spell with much snow and very
cold N.E. winds which put a stop to further collecting until the begin-
ning of April when the first Orthosia miniosa Schf. were noted.

Tt will be interesting to see if any of the progeny of the remarkable
migration of early March survive the cold spell and make the summer
“as rewarding as the spring.—A. C. R. Reperave, 14a The Broadway,
Portswood, Southampton. 6.iv.52.

148 _ ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V/1952

EARLY EMERGENCE OF HARPYIA HERMELINA GOzE.—On 13th April, I
found a ¢ specimen of the ‘Poplar Kitten’ at my house in Welling-
borough. It was resting on a wall within the influence of the light from
my m.v. light trap, which had been on all the night before. In the same
situation last year I took go on the 8th and 14th July—but 1951 was,
of course, generally speaking, a late season all round.—P. J. GeEn7,
3 Irthlingborough Road, Wellingborough, Northants. 13.iv.52.

CELERIO LINEATA LIVORNICA Esp. IN Sussex.—While wandering at
dusk in my garden here on 11th April I took a very fresh male C. lineata
livornica (the Striped Hawk) hovering in front of narcissi. This appears
to be a very early date for this migrant.—G. E. L. Mantry, Whales
Farm, West Chiltington, Pulborough, Sussex. 23.1v.52.

CELERIO LINEATA LIVORNiICA IN YORKSHIRE.—At a meeting of the
Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union Hnt. Section on March 27th, 1952, Mr.
C. A. Cheetham, F.R.E.S., exhibited an imago of the Striped Hawk-
moth which had been taken alive at Mewith, Bentham, north-west
Yorkshire, on March 19th. The specimen is in perfect condition, which
proves either (a) that it was newly-emerged and had never flown, or
(b) that it had flown over from the continent, these alternatives accord-
ing to which school of thought you prefer to follow. Mr. Cheetham had
thoroughly investigated the occurrence, thinking that perhaps the pupa
had come over with some cattie-fodder, but could find no explanation.
The appearance is at least two months earlier than one might expect.
—F. Hewson, Rec. Sec., Bradford Naturalists’ Society, 23 Thornhill
Drive, Shipley.

TRIPHAENA PRONUBA L. IN Marcu.—It might be worth recording for
those interested in early dates the fact that I took a perfect Triphaena
pronuba L. in my M.V. trap at Arkley, Herts, during the evening of
the 19th March.

The sudden and unexpectedly early arrival of migrants in the
southern half of England during the early part of this month makes me
wonder if this specimen could possibly have been a migrant as it is
sometimes. To offset this conjecture no other migrants have been seen
in this neighbourhood and this species was exceedingly common in the
trap last summer.

Another possible explanation may be that a young larva, having
found a warm corner in a greenhouse somewhere nearby, pupated in
the late winter and the resulting imago was tempted to emerge during
the recent warm weather. It would be interesting to hear if any other
reader has an equally early record.—T. G. Howarru, Brit. Mus. (Nat.
Hist.).

Tue Supposep ‘ Tutrp Broop’ or LycaENA PHLAEAS Linn.—Con-
tinuously, every year since 1920, I have bred large numbers of this
species from ova laid by wild 9@ taken in late May and June. In
1926, stimulated by an article by Dr. H. B. Williams in one of the
journals, I turned my attention to the possibility of rearing in confine-
ment the third brood said to occur by certain authors, but I never suc-
ceeded until two seasons ago.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 149

Now, these late broods which occasionally appear in the wild in
great, numbers in September and October have almost invariably ap-
peared after very hot and sunny summers such as 1911 and 1921. In
both these years dense numbers appeared not only in the country but
in the London suburbs. In 1911 the flowers on the platforms of the
railway station at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, were covered with
tha butterflies and J used to arrive at the station on my way to the
‘City a quarter of an hour earlier than I need have done, to examine
them.

In this district (Cranleigh) after the fine summer in 1947 an abun-
dant hrood was on the wing in August and September and October.
In 1950 the iatter part of the summer was very fine and hot and I ex-
pected to find a strong emergence of imagines; but such did not even-
tuate. Very much to my surprise, however, I reared a large brood in
confinement, 300 larvae producing 280 odd imagines in September and
October. I had never before reared more than 5% of the large num-
bers of larvae I had, nearly all of them preferring to enter into hiber-
nation, and ultimately to die. Thus my theory expressed in an article
I contributed to The Entomologist’s Record in January 1938 (50: 1)
that the so-called third brood was merely a mass feeding up of larvae
laid hy late June 2 9 and tempted by the fine and hot weather in June
and July to feed up and produce imagines instead of hibernating as
usual, was confirmed. In 1941 Mr. Siviter Smith, who specializes on
this species, expressed a doubt as to the occurrence of a third brood.

I can give no explanation of this unusual emergence as I bred the
insects in the way I have done in former years, in an unheated glass-
house, which although above normal temperature does not unduly force
the emergence—in fact, I have never found the species respond to forc-
ing, and they eventually die.-—S. G. Castite Russeiz, Stokesay, Bridge
Road, Cranleigh, Surrey. 25.11.52.

APATELE RUMICIS L. F. saLicts Curt. In Kent.—I took three speci-
mens of this dark form at light in the woods near Ham Street during
the last ten days of July 1951. I am not aware that f. salicis has pre-
viously been recorded from Kent. During the same period at this
locality the normal form was fairly common, which in my experience is
usually the case at Ham Street with the second generation of this in-

sect.—J. M. Cuatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham,
Kent. —

THe Hapirat or PararcGe AEGERIA L.—I am collecting data on the
types of habitat frequented by this butterfly and would be grateful if
lepidopterists would send me details of any colonies they may encounter
this season. Notes cn butterflies away from the typical habitat (damp
shady woods) are very desirable especially if these give topographical
details and dates. Full acknowledgment will be made for any material
used in a publication on this subject.—D. F. Owen, Edward Grey Insti-
tute, Dept. Zoological Field Studies, Botanic Garden, Oxford. 10.iv.52.

A Hint ror BREEDING Youne LarvaE.—Many losses of young larvae
bred from the egg take place because the leaves kept in glass-topped tins
become too dry. If the number of larvae is very small and one of the
smallest tins is used drying of the leaves takes place very rapidly. A

150 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V/1952

long time ago I discovered a simple way of avoiding this. If the small
tin is placed inside a larger one and fresh leaves or a piece of damp
sponge or cotton wool is put into the outer tin, there is no loss of mois-
ture from the inner tin, because the air in the outer tin is as moist as
that in the small inner tin, and the leaves remain fresh and soft. The
method is particularly useful if one wishes to segregate one or two larvae
in order to count the number of changes of skin and the length of each
instar.—H. A. Cockayne, 8 High Street, Tring.

LAvinizinc oF Proper Names.—The inference by the Editor (Hn.
Rec., 64: 90) that the termination ‘‘-i1’’ attempts to Latinize the name
Gariazzi is not correct (although it would be so in the case of the impos-
sible name Gariazz) since it ee complies with the International Code
by adding the termination ‘‘-i”’ to the pr Hi name, irrespective of its
spelling. Personal names aie hin in ‘‘-1 peeione lead to con-
fusion of this kind and it was to introduce some standard of uniformity
that the International Congress of Zoology approved, in 1948, that cor-
rections should be made where necessary. Since there is an obvicus case
for correction here (irrespective of whether or not Borelli mentioned the
name of the person in whose honour the species was described) I merely
comply with the expressed majority opinion which is to be incorporated
into the new edition of the Code. Both the Secretary to the Interna-
ional Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, Mr. Francis Hemming,
and our leading Dermapterist, Mr. W. D. Hincks, agree that the cor-
rection is in order and should be made. I might add that the opinion
of an individual concerning the virtue or otherwise of a rule is not a
valid reason for putting it aside——D. K. McE. Kevan, University of
Nottingham. 265.111.1952.

[If an author names an insect aureli after. Aurel Stein, may not
someone, thinking of Marcus Aurelius, alter it to aurelai? <A reviser
does not always know what is in the mind of the author and his altera-
tion is not necessarily correct. This is not so‘serious as the fact that it
causes instability in nomenclature. The International Committee says
that stability is desirable, but this is mere lip-service, for 1t frames rules
that must create instability.—KEb. |

YELLOW Forms oF PIERIS NAPI.—ln my paper on the nomenclature
of these forms which appeared in the March issue (Ent. Rec., 64: 75)
two words omitted from line 6 on page 77 may cause misunderstanding.
This line should read: ‘‘. . . insects with an exceptionally strong in-
herited pupal delay will not emerge until July or August.’’—J. ANTONY
THOMPSON.

Surraste Kit~ine Acents.—I read with much interest Mr. Siviter
Smith’s note advocating the use of formalin as a killing agent. I tried
this some years ago, and found that an insect killed or treated with for-
malin became so rigid that it was not possible to relax it in the ordinary
water-damped relaxing tin. This is a decided drawback as it so fre-
quently becomes necessary to re-pin or relax a specu. Possibly Mr.
Siviter Smith has a formula for relaxation.

Personally T use a saturated liquid solution of oxalic acid which kills
instantly and leaves the insect in perfect setting condition. When deal-

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 151

ing with large species such as the hawk-moths, the addition of a small
amount of pure nicotine is an advantage, although I have not myself
found it necessary. The method J use is somewhat similar to that de-
scribed by Mr. Siviter Smith and was first demonstrated to me by the
late F. W. Frohawk in 1887, and 1 have used it ever since with unquali-
fied success. It has certain advantages over any other method of killing
and after some practice becomes practically automatic and quick.

I have at one time or other tried every known and recommended form
of killing insects, and found each one wanting in some way or other.—
S. G. Castine Russert, Stokesay, Bridge Road, Cranleigh, Surrey.
Pa AMZ.

A HampsHire REcoRD OF CARTEROCEPHALUS PALAEMON PatiAs.—Ap-
pendix IV of The New Forest by John R. Wise (London, 1863) comprises
a list of the Lepidoptera of the New Forest compiled by Richard Baker
of Brockenhurst ‘‘who possesses one of the finest collections of Lepi-
doptera in the district . . . and the whole list has, to ensure the greatest
accuracy, been revised by F. Bond, Esq., F.Z.S.’’ As the Preface of this
book is dated ‘‘November, 1862,’’ presumably this list was compiled
during that year. Tt contains Steropes paniscus, the former generic and
specific names of Carterocephalus palaemon.

Can any reader of this magazine enlighten me about this reported
occurrence of this insect in the New Forest? I+ is not included in Fass-
nidge’s List of the Macro-lepidoptera of Hampshire and the Isle of
Wight, printed as a supplement to this magazine in 1923 and 1924, al-
though that list contains some remarkable entries, such as Leucodonta
bicoloria Schiff. (the White Prominent) bred from larvae ‘‘found on
maple’? on Hayling Island! Frederick Bond (1810-1889) was one of the
most knowledgeable and famous collectors of the nineteenth century and
it seems unlikely that he would have acquiesced in such a record unless
he had known it to be true. Barrett (Lep. Br. Is., I (1893), p. 303) re-
marks of this species ‘‘Probably, at one time, much more widely distri-
buted’? and instances ‘‘once from Netley near Southampton, and, by
Mr. Moncreaff, at Southwick, Hants.”’

Who was ‘‘Mr. Moncreaff’??? His name does not occur in Stainton’s
List of Entomologists (1860), and this can hardly have been a lapsws
calami for Sir Thomas Moncrieff (1822-1879), a Perthshire baronet whose
entomological activities appear to have been confined to his native county
(see obit. in Hntom., xii, 232). Southwick is in the south-east of Hamp-
shire, some distance from the New Forest. And whence did Barrett ob-
tain his information about the Netley capture? These ‘‘Antient Mys-
teries’”’ are perplexing indeed !—P. B. M. ALian.

A FurtHer Note on TATHORHYNCUS EXsIccATA LEDERER.—Most of
the books I consulted were old ones so J asked M. Charles Boursin whether
anything had been discovered about the larva more recently. He has
asked two colleagues in Morocco and Tunisia, where the species is
extremely common, and neither knows where the larva lives or what it
feeds on. M. Soures in his last work on harmful Lepidoptera does not
mention it. M. Rungs of Rabat, who knows the Noctuae of North Africa
very well, says he believes the larva feeds on dried substances, but he is
not sure. EK. P. Wiltshire in the Lepidoptera of the Kingdom of Egypt,

152 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/V /1952

1948, p. 249, says ‘‘ phenology and biology obscure.’ It is stated that
in India it feeds on indigo, Indigofera tinctoria, a papilionaceous plant.
—E. A. Cockayn®, 8 High Street, Tring.

GYMNOSCELIS PUMILATA Hus. In FEBRuARY.—With reference to the
Note by Mr. F. W. Byers relating to the above on page 121 of the April
number of the Record, it may be of interest to mention that I took a
specimen of G. pumilata on February 7th, 1949, and this is, in fact, re-
ferred to in a note in Volume Ixi. of the Record, page 57. I have, how-
ever, never seen this moth in February apart from this one instance
mentioned above.—C. S. H. BuatHwayt, 27 South Road, Weston-super-
Mare. 18.iv.52.

SEDINA BUETTNERI HER. AND CoLLEcToRS.—The Protection Committee
of the Royal Entomological Society of London has learnt with consider-
able regret that in spite of its earnest appeals to Lepidopterists to
refrain from collecting any Sedina buettneri in the Isle of Wight last
year, quite a number of collectors visited the locality, and did, in fact,
collect the species. Ordinary commonsense would indicate that the
activities of the local District Council in the area must have so
jeopardised the existence of this species in the marsh that its population
must have sunk already to the danger level. If it is to continue to
flourish there the very greatest restraint is necessary on the part of
collectors. JI am instructed by the Committee to appeal to collectors
to leave this insect alone, otherwise some greedy entomologist will cer-
tainly be in a position soon to say proudly ‘‘ I took the last.’’—N. D.
RILEY.

[I do not think the Protection Committee need be afraid that col-
lectors will exterminate Sedina buettneri. No one yet knows how to find
the larva or pupa and very few females are taken. The great majority
of those caught are slightly worn males, which have paired and, as it is
probable that one male can fertilize two or three females, their capture
is not likely to do any harm. It is a pity the Committee did not suc-
ceed in preventing in the first place the draining of the marsh and, later
on, the cutting and burning of the reeds and sedge. Dr. Blair by his
personal intervention succeeded in preventing part of the breeding
ground from being cut and burnt and thereby did more to preserve
buettneri than all the efforts of the Protection Committee had achieved.
If the food-plant is destroyed buettneri will disappear. If it remains
collectors will not endanger it. I hope the Protection Committee will
do its utmost to prevent further damage to the marsh.—Ep. ].

Notes From East Essex.—Although East Essex seems to have missed
the bulk of the March immigrants, three migrants and a probable
migrant, Agrotis ipsilon Hufn., have appeared earlier than ever before.
The light-trap was operated on some likely nights in February and
then nightly from 1st March. Daytime observations have been made
whenever possible. e

Several specimens of A. ipsilon occurred during early March, the first
of them on the 3rd. On the 4th, a poor night, there was only one moth
in the trap, a fresh female of Laphygma exigua. Next day V. cardui
was seen flying N.E. and settled long enough for positive identification.
A. urticae was first seen on 11th March; P. c-albwm on 17th; five N. 20

COLEOPTERA. 153
on 21st; a female G. rhamni on 11th April; P. rapae on 14th, and C.
argiolus on the 16th. A further migrant, N. noctuella, a worn male,
was taken at light on 15th April.

Numbers of moths at light have been small until 13th-16th April,
when the night’s catch was 150 or more. The most abundant species
have been C. rubricosa, O. gothica and O. cruda. Other species recorded
to 16th April with date of first appearance, are as follows: —H#. lanestris
22.111.; S. revayana 13.iv.; C. mendica 14.iv.; P. meticulosa 11.iv.; C.
rubricosa 13.111.; O. gothica 8.i11.; O. miniosa 15.iv.; O. cruda 20.111.;
O. stabiles 25.111.; O. wncerta 21.111.; O. gracilis 13.iv.; C. vacernie 4.i11.;
E. transversa 9.i11.; G. ornitopus 5.iv.; X. areola 23.i11.; S. libatriz
15.iv.; A. aescularia 14.11.; H. badiata 8.iv.; T. rupicapraria 14.11.; H.
marginaria 15.11.; EH. leucophaearia 14.11.; S. bilunaria 10.iv.; C. pedaria
1.iul.; A. hispidaria 16.111.; DL. hirtaria 14.1v.; and B. strataria 10.iii.—
A. J. Dewicx, Curry Farm, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex. 16.iv.52.

DPPLrER A

VOLUCELLA ZONARIA Popa IN N.W. Kent.—In order to help in forming
as complete a picture as possible of the spread and increase of this species
in S.E. England, I feel it worth while placing my own notes on record.
They are as follows :—

9.vii.1950. 1 2 visiting Umbelliferae flowers at Stone Marshes, near
Dartford.

Aug. 1950. 1 9 in my garden at Charlton.

8.x.1950. 1 which flew on to the end of a pier in the Thames Estuary
near St. Mary’s Bay has already been reported (Entom.,
84: 161).

18.viii.1951. 1 g¢ in Greenwich Park.

19.viii.1951. 1 2 on Buddleia flowers in a built-up area at Lewisham.
Mr. D. F. Owen subsequently took 3 more females at this
same Buddleia on 23.viii.51. From then onwards he re-
corded zonaria daily, sometimes as many as a dozen, at this
bush and on vine leaves until the end of August. During
the latter part of the same month he noted a few more on
Buddleia elsewhere in Lewisham and at Blackheath, but the
exact dates were not recorded.

4.1x.1951. 1 @Q settled on a rose-leaf in my garden at Charlton.—J. F.

| Burton, 43 Eversley Road, London, S.E.7. 17.iv.52.

COLEOPTERA

Some Notes on Prionus coriarius Linn.
By H. Symus, M.A.

This fine insect seems to have been strangely neglected: indeed, as
far as I am aware, it has not even been given an English name. Yet it
is the largest and much the most substantial of our native Longicorns
and, to my mind, it bears little resemblance to other members of that
family, which are mainly long, slender beetles. In the female, at any
_ rate, its antennae are not conspicuous for their length. Its uniform
chestnut-brown colour, and the shiny, polished surface of the thorax and

154 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/V/1952

elytra, give it a very neat and attractive appearance. In size it is sur-
passed only by the famous Stag Beetle, Lwcanus cervus, among British
land Coleoptera, and it may be longer even than some individuals of that
species. JI have a female that measures 43 mm. in length, as compared
with a very small male ZL. cervus that is only 33 mm. long (excluding
the mandibles) and a female 36 mm. in length. Other P. coriarws 2 @
measure 39.5, 38 and 37 mm. respectively, but the head and thorax of
this species are not nearly as stout as those of L. cervus. The

I first met P. coriarius when [ was a schoolboy, living in West Kent,
and I was naturally impressed by its size. But I had some difficulty in
identifying it. It was not mentioned in popular works dealing with
insects, such as Rev. J. G. Wood’s Common Objects of the Country,
Rev. W. Houghton’s Sketches of British Insects, and EK. F. Staveley’s
British Insects. Even to-day, it has not found a place in Dr. A. D.
Imms’ delightful volume in the New Naturalist series. Eventually I
ran it to earth with the aid of Hofmann-Kirby’s Young Beetle Collec-
tor’s Handbook, but the illustration given there does not do justice to
the size of the insect, and its colour is described as ‘pitch-black’.

My first specimen was found in the dog kennel. The lawful inhabi-
tant, Jack, pugnacious Irish terrier, had presumably killed it with his
paw, without doing it much damage (I have it still). Though Jack
feared neither dog nor man, he was probably scared stiff. He always
accompanied my father and me on our entomological expeditions, and
I well remember the suspicious look with which he regarded any crawling
beetle.
My next specimen was brought in by the milkman, but not in the
milk (this was before the days of sealed bottles). Then I found one my-
self, crawling round the base of an old beech tree in our garden. Two
more came my way, and at last, several years later, when investigating
the rotten stump of a fallen birch tree in our garden, I found a huge
dirty-white larva. My eyes and nose told me at once that it was not a
Goat Moth caterpillar, but J had no idea what it was. However, I kept
it carefully. It must have been full-fed, for it soon changed into a
queer-looking pupa, and after a few weeks a P. coriarius emerged. I
never obtained more than a single specimen in any one year, and they
were all females, though I did not know this at the time.

It was not until nearly thirty years later that I saw the male of this
species. On 21st July, 1938, I took it on the wing, as it was flying over
some flowers at dusk, looking like a large moth, in a hotel garden in the
New Forest. I also found, about the same time, a crushed female lying
on the garden path. It had invaded the kitchen, where it caused a
panic among the domestic staff, had been stamped on by the most cour-
ageous member, and defenestrated.

The male P. coriarius is much smaller than the female, if my speci-
men, which is 29 mm. long, and is the only one I have ever seen, is of
normal size. It is proportionately more slender than the female, but has
a fine, substantial pair of antennae.

I do not know the distribution of this species, which I have not met
anywhere except in West Kent and the New Forest. I collected insects
for a good many years in East Somerset and North Berkshire, but never
saw it in either county, although it has been taken in Tubney Wood,
near Oxford. It does not seem to be very plentiful where it occurs: dur-

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 15a

ing seven years’ residence in the New Forest I saw only the two that have
been mentioned. The female lays a large number of eggs, if one can
judge by the mass of them that I saw in the body of the crushed speci-
men I found. No doubt many of the larvae are devoured in the New
Forest by woodpeckers, which are so common there, but we never saw a
woodpecker in our garden in Kent.

The perfect insect appears at the end of July: I remember that my
Kentish specimens were all found very soon after I had returned from
school for the summer holidays. The larva, by all accounts, feeds only
in dead or decaying trees, so this beetle cannot be classed as a pest: if
it were, we should undoubtedly hear more about it.

52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth.

[This fine insect has an English name—the Tanner beetle (from its
leathery elytra, reflected also in its Latin name)—but it certainly seems
little used, for the insect is not very common. It is our sole member of
the mainly tropical subfamily Prioninae, which is made up of very
broad robust but not brightly coloured Longicorns including some of the
largest known beetles; hence its unique aspect in the British fauna.

In these Islands, as far as records go, the species is confined to Eng-
land and East Wales. It occurs locally from Norfolk and Kent to Corn-
wall and from the Severn Valley to Lancashire—its northern limit. July
to September are the months in which it is chiefly seen. Among the
localities where it has been observed or taken in numbers at times are
the New Forest, Epping Forest, Knole Park at Sevenoaks, Kent, and
near Haslemere, Surrey; but it is by no means frequent as a rule and
is mostly found by odd specimens. It is well known to fly, occasionally
in swarms, on sultry evenings and nights, and has been attracted to
light and also to lepidopterists’ ‘sugar’. By day it rests on tree trunks,
or about their roots. It stridulates loudly when disturbed. Though of
sluggish habits, the males fight fiercely amongst themselves. Fowler
records the capture of a female containing 162 eggs, but this may be
exceptional.

The larva feeds mainly in the roots of a great variety of dead or de-
caying trees, mostly deciduous but including pine. Oak, beech and birch
are among the more usual, and it appears to favour those growing in
rather damp situations in light soil on the edges of woods. For this
reason, as Mr. Symes says, the species is not regarded as a pest; yet I
have seen a notice of its having caused damage to telegraph poles in
Suffolk. These larvae pupate in earthen cocoons as large as hens’ eggs
a few inches deep in the soil against the roots in which they have fed.
The emergent adults leave conspicuous holes in the earth, about an
inch across. |

A very full account of the biology, etc., of this species has been pub-
lished by Mr. E. A. J. Duffy, F.R.E.S., in 1946, Trans. R. ent. Soc.
Lond., 97 (17): 419-442, with illustrations.—A. A. ALLEN. |

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902)

BEatInG FoR THE ‘ SmatL Emeratp’ (Hemistola immaculata Thun.,
vernaria Hb.).—Three visits to the South Downs to beat the bushes

156 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ V {1952

of Clematis vitalba for Geometra vernaria, respectively paid on the 9th,
19th and 20th of the month (April) resulted in the obtaining of only a
fair number, which were still very small, and in the dark skin of
hibernation, for the leaf-buds had only just commenced to appear on .the
bushes. Subsequent experience, at a later date, proved that it is a
mistake to beat for this larva too early in the season, as many things
militate against success. In the first place the larva is so small, is so
rigid and quiet in the tray, and so exactly resembles the immense mass
of rubbish which falls with it, that searching is a most trying ordeal in
the cold windy weather. Again, this quantity of rubbish which literally
falis in heaps, so evidently injures many specimens, by the mortality
shown later, that the net results are not adequate to the labour and dis-
comfort involved. If operations can be deferred a few weeks later in
the season, the rain and wind wiil have cleared the bushes naturally,
and the beater has the pleasure of seeing the graceful, tapering, larva
drop in his tray, made only too evident by its brilliant green appear-
ance. With regard to the mechanical operation of the beating of this
particular growth, I think it will be found that to insert the stick into
the bush, and hustle it about, will yield a more satisfactory bag than to
flog the delicate climber with the usual downward strong stroke. It
is certainly more agreeable to the feelings of some to find that such a
graceful object is not hopelessly ruined in appearance when we have
worked our will upon it. Moreover, the larvae obtained by this pro-
cedure will not be injured nearly so frequently as by harsher methods,
nor will they be shot into the air to fall anywhere but into the tray
itself, for this larva falls readily with a sudden movement of its food-
plant, and will respond quite freely to the sharp tapping hustle, as it
really does not require a heavy blow to dislodge it, even if the bush would
stand such treatment. I hope I shall be forgiven for dwelling on this
matter, for I really think it is a point we should take into our con-
sideration. It is not a pretty sight to see a mangled, broken bush or
tree with a dense litter on the ground beneath, and it is one which may
prejudice outsiders, or owners of localities, from sympathy with the
pursuit, and, in the latter case, may lead to our exclusion on other occa-
sions.—J. C. DoLLMAN.

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ewe we SE ae Ww Wie

Aberrations ) A a ¢oridon Poda and

L. bellargus Rott. ) the causation factors?
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

Tl am indebted to Mr. A. L. Goodson for the names of the aberrations
shown on Plates VI and VII. All these names are valid, and it will be
noticed that they differ from those given by Bright and Leeds. In
many cases these authors disregarded the law of priority and did not
always adhere to the definition of a form given by the author, sometimes
giving the same name to an aberration of the upper side and a totally
different aberration of the under side. This is unfortunate, because
their nomenclature has been used so much during the last few years.

The nature of these aberrations, however, is of greater importance
than the technicalities of nomenclature, and ot this we know very little.
We still know nothing about the causation of the form with reduction
in the size and number of the spots on the under side or of those showing
radiation and confluence. There are three ways by which something
could be learnt. One of these is possible for anyone who lives near a
locality, in which coridon is common. If the percentage of a common
form such as ab. arcuata, using this name to cover the numerous named
forms into which Leeds has subdivided members of the arcuata group,
was determined by means of an accurate count in a given place each
year for a number of years, we could make a useful deduction. The
investigation would be laborious and all specimens caught would have
to be marked in some way to avoid the risk of counting them twice. <A
uniform percentage of the aberration each year would be strong evidence
that it was genetic, but a significant fluctuation in the percentage from
year to year would almost certainly mean that it was environmental or
in part environmental and in part genetic.

To prove the causation of a rare form like ab. cinnus or the radiated
forms direct breeding experiments would be necessary. I am told that
neither coridon nor bellargus is difficult to breed in captivity and that
pairings can be obtained, but breeding for at least two successive years
would be necessary and brother-sister matings would be needed to give
an F2 generation. If cinnus or a radiated form like the original parent
appeared in the ratio of approximately 1:3 in the F2 generation it
would prove that the form concerned was recessive. A great risk in
breeding coridon would be the introduction of eggs from a wild female
with the food-plant, but with bellargus, a better species to use because
it is double brooded, this risk could be avoided by obtaining the food,
Hippocrepis comosa, from a place where bellargus did not occur. In
the case of coridon it would be necessary to pot all the plants a year
before using them to feed the larvae. The difficulty with such rare
forms would be to get the original parent. Few entomologists would
be willing to sacrifice a perfect example of a rare aberration, but they
might be willing to obtain eggs.from a badly damaged one.

The third method would be to carry out temperature experiments,
but the need for thermostatically controlled temperatures would make
‘this impossible for most amateurs. One would naturally start by using
shock temperatures, which have been so successful with Vanessids.
There would be difficulty in getting enough larvae. It is easy with those

158 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ V1I/ 1952

Vanessids that have gregarious larvae, to take a brood and divide it
into two portions, breeding half as a control at a normal temperature
and subjecting the other half to a high temperature just below the lethal
level. Unfortunately larvae of coridon and bellargus are not gregarious
and larvae collected wild would not be members of the same brood. If
there were a number of major aberrations in the portion subjected to a
high temperature and none in the other portion, it would suggest cause
and effect, but confirmation would be required using larvae belonging
to the same brood, and the experiment would have to be repeated. It is
comparatively easy to choose larvae of a Vanessid which are about to
pupate and subject them to a high temperature at the critical period,
but 1t would be very difficult in the case of coridon or bellargus, which
like to pupate under rubbish or just below the surface of the earth. The

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI.
Lysandra coridon Poda.

Fig. Ab. antiradiata B. & L. + ab. cosluextrema B. & T..

Fig. 2. Ab. radiata B. & L. + ab. anticentr fe B. & L. + ab. addenda Tutt.
Figured Bright and Leeds, Pl. 18, fig. 1

Figs 3) Cited ‘as “abi Verirema. Be vé& as van” Sn Pl. 18, fig. 9, but is more
extreme than the type, figured Pl. 10, fig. 4, and does not show the
same kind of striation. The striation in the type is formed by the
fusion of tumerous dots and runs outwards towards the margin,
whereas this specimen has striations with sharp edges, cach filling the
whole of an interneural space, and they run inwards towards the base.

Fig. 4. Trans. ad ab. radiaia B. & L.

Fig. 5. Ab. radiata B. & L. + ab. costajuncta Tutt + ab. bibasijuncta B. & L.

6. Ab. radiata B. & L. + ab. addenda Tutt + ab. elongata Tutt + ab.

posttrielongata B. & L.

Fig. 7 Ab. radiata B. & L. + ab. bilineata Tutt + ab. posttrielongala B. & L.
Figured Bright and Leeds, Pl. 18, fig. 24.

Fig. 8. Ab. antiradiata B. & L. + ab. extensadiscoidalis Tutt + ab. costajuncta
Tutt on the right side. Figured Bright and Leeds, Pl. 18, fig. 8.

Fig. 9. Ab. sagittata B. & L. + ab. obsoleta Tutt.

Fig. 10. Ab. sagittata B. & L. + ab. anticoobsoleta Tutt + ab. posiovsoleta B. &
~L. + ab. limbojuncta Courvoisier.

Fig. 11. Ab. discreta Tutt + ab. impuncta Courvoisicr + ab. posiobsoleta B. & L.

Fig. 12. Ab. cinnus Hiibner (caeca Courv.) + ab. sagittata B. & L. Figured
Bright and Leeds, Pl. 18, fig. 417

Fig. 13. Ab. anticoobsoleta Tutt + ab. postobsolela 3. & L.

Fig. 14. Ab. cinnus Hiibner + ab. pallida Tutt.

—

critical period, if there is one at all, is unknown in these blues. It seems
to me very unlikely that Lycaenid pupae under natural conditions would
be subjected to shock temperatures and [I do not think that the rare
aberrations are produced in this way. Unlike the naked and exposed
pupae of Vanessids the pupae of coridon would scarcely ever be exposed
to the high temperature necessary, and if such aberrations are caused
by the combined action of an environmental and a genetic factor the
chance would be still less.

With regard to the radiated forms and the various forms with union
between the spots nothing is known. We do not even know whether the
forms in which only two spots are united, such as arcuata, costajuncta,
busijuncta, and limbojuncta, are genetic nor do we know whether forms
which are combinations of two of these are determined by two genes or
by a single gene, assuming that they are genetic at all, still less do we
know about the complex combinations like those figured on the plates.

WI

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ABERRATIONS OF LYSANDRA CORIDON PODA AND L. BELLARGUS ROTT. 159

It would not be very difficult to carry out breeding experiments with
the simple forms of union and prove whether they are genetic. When
the cause of these has been elucidated it will be time to experiment with
the rarer combinations. It ‘s possible that minor aberrations may be
produced by degrees of cold or heat far short of those nearly lethal
temperatures that are necessary to produce the Vanessid aberraticns.
A German has claimed that reduction in the size and number of spots
has been produced in this way. Attempts have been made recently to
prove that these are genetic. R. E. Parsons (Hnt., 1950, 83: 224)
obtained eggs from two females of coridon with completely obsolete hind
wings and bred 62, none of which had any spots absent. H. J. Turner
(Fint., 1950, 83: 266) obtained eggs from a few females of bellargus ab.
postobsoleta and one caeca, mixed the broods, and got 150 pupae, but
bred no obsoleta and no caeca. He does not state how many were bred.
I contrast with these negative results those of G. Shepherd (Hnt., 1948,

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII.
Lysandra bellargus Rottemburg.

Fig. 1. Trans. ad ab. conjuncta Tuit.

Fig. 2. Trans. ad ab. conjuncta Tutt on forewings only.

Fig. 3. Ab. anticoobsoleta Tutt + ab. conjuncta Tutt on hindwings only.

Fig. 4. Ab. subtuspartimradiata Oberthur. with junction of submedian and

marginal spots on hindwings named ab. limbojuncta in other species.
Fig. 5. Trans. ad ab. conjuncta Tutt (asymmetrical).
Fig. 6. Ab. striata Tutt on forewings and ab. conjuncta Tutt on hindwings.
Fig. 7. Ab. striata Tutt (extrema Courvoisier).
Fig. 8. Ab. atrescens Tutt + ab. obsoleta Tutt.
Fig. 9. Ab. krodeli Gillmer (caeca Courvoisier), with white ground colour.
Fig. 10. Ab. parvipuncta Tutt.
Fig. 11. Ab. nov. No marginal chevrons on forewings + ab. conjuncta Tutt on
hindwings.
Polyommatus icarus Rottemburg.
Fig. 12. Ab. radiata Courvoisier + ab. elongata Tutt on forewings. all spots
elongated on hindwings which is not named.
Fig. 13. Ab. radiata Courvoisier on left side and normal on right side.
Fig. 14. Ab. radiata Courvoisier.
Fig. 15. Trans. ad ab. radiata Courvoisier.
Fig. 16. Ab. obsoleta Gillmer.

212) who from two females of coridow with no spots on the hindwing
and some missing from the forewing bred 103, of which 9 were obsolet«
and the rest normal. Thus there are two negative results, one in coridon
and one in bellargus, and one positive one in coridon with a ratio of
approximately 1:11, far below that of a simple mendelian one. None
of the experiments was carried beyond the F1 generation. The results
suggest incomplete dominance or imperfect penetrance or the action of
an environmental factor in addition to a genetic one. Using broods
from obsoleta females and dividing them into two parts and subjecting
the pupae of each to moderate heat or cold might throw hght on this
obscure problem. F2 generations should also be bred, and treated in
the same way.

In Lycaenids, especially coridon and bellargus, asymmetry is rela-
tively common. An example in bellargus is given on Plate VII, fig. 13.
Many of these asymmetrical examples are to some extend crippled, and
the same is true of asymmetrical specimens of Abraxas grossulariata
and Arctia caja, but we have no idea how the unusual distribution of

160 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V1/1952

pigment and pattern is brought about. Some of these asymmetrical
insects, especially the perfect ones, may be somatic mosaics caused by
the loss of an autosomal chromosome or originating from a binucleate
egg, just as gynandromorphs may be caused by loss of an X-chromosome
or by the fertilisation of both nuclei of a binucleate egg. The number
of asymmetrical Lycaenidae, however, seems unduly high for this to be
the sole cause. Another suggestion has been offered, namely that if a
pupa has been subjected to greater heat or cold on one side than on
the other the two sides may differ greatly, but there is no evidence to
support this hypothesis.

We are indebted to Mr. S. G. Castle Russell for generously defraying
the cost of the two plates of aberrations, all of which are in his own
wonderful collection.

Chilo cicatricellus Hiibner confirmed as British
By J. M. Cuatmers-Hont, F.R.E.S.

This fine species, included in our fauna on the authority of a single
specimen, exhibited by Edwin Shepherd at the meeting of the Entomo-
logical Society of London in September 1852, has long since been
relegated to the list of doubtful British Lepidoptera. It must, however,
be reinstated, as I captured a single imago in Kent in 1951. My

example, a female in

fine condition, was
taken at light. Shep-
herd’s specimen is
stated to have been
taken near Dover. It

was ultimately acquired
by - Drs; Pa, Bay Meson:
but its present where-
abouts is not known.

Barrett (Lepidoptera
of the British Islands,
1905,. - Vol... pp: 127-
128) and Meyrick (Ie-
vised Handbook of Brit-
ish Lepidoptera, 1927) each give a brief description of C. cicatricellus
Hib.

Wing expanse 27 to 38 min., with broad, retuse, light to dark brown
forewings, having a broad white or yellowish-white stripe along the
costa: and the hindwings white.

In my specimen the wing expanse is 38 mm. The costal stripe is
yellowish-white. Forewings are of the dark brown form: and in this
respect the moth resembles those examples from the Zeller Collection
in the British Museum (S. Kensington), with which it has been com-
pared.

During the present year, one hopes to be able to work for the species,
and thereby gain some idea of its status in this country.

Abroad, cicatricellus inhabits Central Europe and South-East Russia.
Tt is stated that the larva feeds in the stems of Scirpus lacustris. I
should add that my specimen has been submitted to the scrutiny of the

[Enlarged: the alar expanse of this specimen
is 38 mn.]

BUTTERFLIES IN THE COASTAL REGION OF NORTH WALES. 161

following specialists: —Messrs. H. C. Huggins, L. T. Ford, S. N. A.
Jacobs, and J. D. Bradley, all of whom agree to this determination.

[In the Rothschild Collection at Tring there is a specimen of this
insect, which came from the Bright Collection. This may be the Mason
Coll. specimen. The species is figured in Leech’s British Pyrales, Pl. 7,
fig. 3.

According to Lhomme (Cat. des Lép. de France et de Belgique, 2:
85) this species is ‘‘ peu frequent ’’ in France and is an inhabitant of
mountain regions, especially in the south (Midi). The imago is on the
wing (in France) from May to July. All the French localities which
Lhomme gives are south of Lat. 46° N. except Vendée, where he him-
self had taken it. The larva feeds and pupates in the stems of bulrush
(Scirpus lacustris lu.) and has been found up to July (zhomme quoting
Lafaury).—ED. |

Butterflies in the Coastal Region of North Wales

By J. Antony THompson, M.A.

During the last seventy years there have been published at least
three ‘Lists’ of Lepidoptera which include the coastal strip of North
Wales, and also certain supplements thereto. All three of these have
been compiled by entomologists of considerable repute. The process
was begun by Alfred Walker in 1885; this publication was revised by
George Day in 1903 and finally we have Mr. Gordon Smith’s beautifully
produced work of 1948. All these were published in the Proceedings of
the Chester Society of Natural Science, etc.; yet these works, although
they have obviously entailed considerable labour and great care, do not
attempt to deal with the ecological aspect or (except in a very few
instances) with any forms or variation peculiar to the district. More-
over, these three publications are based, largely, on information sup-
pled by visitors a point which is well illustrated by two references to
Pararge aegeria I.., Day describing this butterfly as occurring ‘‘only
very sparingly generally’’ and Gordon Smith only admitting that the
species ‘‘ appears to have become locally common’’. In fact, aegeria
is one of the most abundant species in the district, occurring almost
everywhere. even on the tops of the mountains at altitudes of a thousand
feet and more. Except, however, in very forward seasons, it is not out
at Easter and, as a rule, there are not many to be seen in August, the
second and later broods, as with all butterflies in this area, never pro-
ducing many insects. There are many instances of this kind, particu-
larly with regard to Anglesey, because of conventional holidays.

Another handicap under which these Lists have been compiled is the
restriction to county boundaries, usually political divisions with no
scientific significance whatsoever. It is indeed a pity that so much
valuable time and effort should be spent on ‘‘county lists’? instead of on
zoogeographical zones. <A third disadvantage is the inclusion of so many
isolated localities based on records from collectors who have visited only
one village in the district. An outstanding example of this is provided
by Day’s treatment of Aricia agestis Schiff. (astrache Bergstr.), re-
peated by Gordon Smith. Agestis occurs on all the limestone hills in
the district but is single brooded in many areas and occurs in June and
early July, during which months there are few visitors in North Wales.

162 FNTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V1I/1952

I lived in the district for twelve years and although scholastic duties
claimed a great part of my time several phenomena of ecology and varia-
tion came to my notice. The whole area needs a much fuller investiga-
tion by lepidopterists than has so far been attempted. The same 43
species are listed by Day and Gordon Smith, one of which, antiopa, is
of no local significance and another, hyale (of which there is one record
only), seems to lack relevance. J have had personal knowledge of 37 of
these species (including antiopa!)—a useful total for a district in what
might be described as the North Midlands and which has a very short
summer, butterflies (except for the Nymphalinae) being to all intents
and purposes finished by the end of July. I feel sure that more concen-
trated work in this area would be well worth while. Local phenomena
which particularly interested me concerned the following species.

Pararge aegeria I. ssp. egerides Stdgr. This butterfly is one of the
most interesting in North Wales and one of the most ubiquitous, occur-
ring in every conceivable type of locality, even by the seashore. Although
I have collected over the whole of Great Britain for a good many years
I have never seen aegeria so consistently present everywhere one went.
There is a very interesting aberration or race which occurs towards the
top of the mountains that form the hinterland on the south-west side
of the River Conway; here aegeria is single brooded, occurring in June,
and of a size considerably larger even than isolated giants which I have
found in other localities. The light markings are more prominent than
usual and pale. JI name this form drumensis ab. nov. I cannot, at
the moment, designate the type and alletype specimens as my series was
lost at the end of the War. As soon as circumstances permit I intend
to obtain some of these insects for the National Collection and will pub-
lish a short intimation of this when it has been done.

While on the subject of this highland race of aegeria I should like
to say how interesting it is to set out on foot from one of the riverside
villages and walk up the mountains towards Snowdonia. The lanes are
full of aegeria, the incidence of broods decreasing as the higher alti-
tudes are reached until, when the lane has turned into a bare mountain
track with few trees in sight, this large single brood is found. Thus we
have a cline from the usual form with its many broods to the large pale
race with its solitary summer flight on the bare mountain side.

Eumenis semele Hiibner. In this district semele can be found show-
ing every divergence of form except that with the brilliant white bands
on the underside of the hindwings which one gets on the chalk. On the
Flintshire hills, for instance, semele is large and brilliant with the pale
areas on the upper side of a remarkably bright orange; on the sandhills
there occurs a large dull form whose only peculiarity is the lack of any-
thing exciting! On the Great Orme’s Head is the subspecies thyone
Thompson, which occurs in immense profusion and provides Uae a
number of obsolete forms.

Manila tithonus L. This pretty little butterfly is very common in
all suitable places and I only mention it here because of the prevalence
of extreme extra-spotted forms in one or two localities. Let those who
will go to Tavistock !

Coenonympha tullia Miiller. If one goes to Arenig at the suitable
season one will be interested to observe a large number of collectors
gathered in close proximity in a very small area, certainly much less

BUTTERFLIES IN THE COASTAL REGION OF NORTH WALES. 163

than one square mile, many of whom have come considerable distances
for this butterfly. The fact is that tullia occurs commonly along the
whole Vale of Ffestiniog and thence, less commonly, towards the coast,
reaching localities within 20 miles of the popular holiday resorts. It
shows tremendous variation, specimens as heavily spotted as some of the
best philoxenus turning up at one end of the cline, together with in-
dividuals which might have come in kilt and sporran; admittedly ex-
treme forms are rare and the majority are of the form C. tullia tullia,*
but there is no doubt that if some gentleman chose to take the trouble
he could, in a comparatively short time, display in his cabinet three
series labelled respectively Rannoch, Arenig and Whixall Moss without
causing any suspicion to arise in the breast of a beholder who trusted
his fellow man. I must crave indulgence for including this species in
an article dealing with the coastal area, but it approaches within 20
miles of the sea and is a most interesting butterfly. There are a num-
ber of localities for tullia in Caernarvonshire, which county is
omitted from Gordon Smith’s List in connection with this species.

Brenthis selene Schiff. and B. euphrosyne L. The only point worth
mentioning about these species in North Wales is their abundance on
rough ground and in marshes on the mountains, with scarcely a tree in
sight, both near the coast and inland, at elevations up to a thousand
feet at least and possibly still higher. Several southern collectors have
remarked to me on the vividness of the colouration on the underside of
the hindwings of ewphrosyne compared with those in other places, but
this never struck me as being sufficiently conspicuous to justify the in-
dulgence of new nomenclature; whether they are similar to the Scots-
men, which I believe are brilliantly coloured, I cannot say as I have
had no opportunity of inspecting enough Scottish specimens. There
is a strong tendency in selene towards a reduction, both in size and in
number, of the black spots on the upper side and I have taken some
very nice aberrant forms of this kind in the mountain marshes above
700 feet, but never on the low ground. Aberration towards increase of
markings or black specimens is, to the best of my knowledge, unknown
in the district.

Argynnis cydippe L. The only Caernarvonshire locality mentioned
by Gordon Smith is Portmadoc, so perhaps it is worth mentioning that
the butterfly is locally common in many suitable woodland localities in
the same county, especially in the Conway Valley.

Euphydryas aurinia Rott. Again the only Caernarvonshire speci-
mens mentioned by Gordon Smith are two isolated examples, so it may
be as well to record the presence of more than one large colony on the
higher slopes of the hills south-west of the Conway River. These Welsh
colonies seem to have more than the usual propensity to move en bloc
and one can never be quite sure, to within a mile or so, where they
will be found the following season. Some day I hope to be able to return
to this district for a short time ‘and to try to find out when and why
aurinia has so strong a nomadic habit in this particular area.

Polygonia c-album L. One often sees references to the days when
c-album was scarce and allegedly confined to one or two favoured areas
in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. In fact, this

. *Nominotypical tullia does not occur in the British Tsles Polydama ‘Haworth
is the correct name.—ED.

164 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/VI/1952

butterfly was quite common in the coastal areas of South Denbighshire
and Caernarvonshire throughout the whole of that period, which I be-
lieve is unknown to most entomologists. The var. hutchinsoni is extremely
rare, although the nominotypical form is now one of the commonest
butterflies in the district. which accounts, I suppose, for the fact that
second brood specimens are very seldom seen.

Plebejus argus lu. The chief interest of this little butterfly is found
in my subspecies caernensis which I described in a privately published
booklet about fifteen years ago. (I have still plenty of these booklets
if anyone would care to have a copy). The biological significance of this
race has subsequently been dealt with by Dr. E. B. Ford in his book
Butterflies (London, 1945). It is worth recording here that Mr. A. J.
Merchant, with my agreement, made an attempt to establish caernensis
in the Dulas Valley in 1943 and 1944. Both he and I left Wales soon
after this and neither of us has been able to revisit the spot to see what
has become of the attempt. Mr. Austin Richardson (Hntom., 84: 153)
records another interesting race which he discovered in Caernarvon-
shire, but his note is so brief that 1t is impossible to tell either the pre-
cise nature of this form or whether it occurs sufficiently near to the
coast to come within the scope of this article.

Ariia agestis Schiff. This butterfly provides one of the most in-
teresting distributional problems of the district. Over the greater part
of the area it is single brooded, but in certain favoured spots in the
more southern parts the usual two broods occur. In all districts, though
more especially where it is single brooded, it produces a form which is
transitional to insects found in the extreme North of England having
the orange marginal spots on the upperside much reduced in size and
number especially in the male, which often lacks any orange on the
forewings, that on the hindwings being reduced to a few small spots only.

In Day’s List a specimen of agestis is recorded by Imms which is
obviously of the common form which has the discal spot ringed with
white. Day, however, makes the extraordinary blunder of adding a
footnote saying ‘‘This is apparently the variety artaxerxzes F.”’ No
specimen with the white spot of artaxerxes has, as far as I am aware,
ever been taken in North Wales. There is a corresponding reduction
of the black centres to the underside spots, thus producing a resemblance
to the form which is sometimes referred to as ‘‘salmacis’’. This would
seem to be some kind of link in the cline from the typical South of
England examples to the northern artaxerres; but the ecological pro-
blem is complicated by the fact that the cline is broken by gaps both in
the north and in the south and that this Welsh form is a western out-
crop from the direct line of distribution.

Polyommatus icarus Rott. This is another species in which ten-
dencies are developed which one would expect to find only further north
or further west. In the more northern parts of the district under dis-
cussion 7curus is single-brooded and nowhere is the second brood strong.
On the sandhills is to be found a large form, transitional to clara Tutt,
which produces many beautiful blue females, some of which might have
come from the Scottish forms of this variety though none is as extreme
as the Irish. Further inland, however, the butterflies cease to show this
tendency to clara and hecome more like the ordinary English insect.

BUTTERFLIES IN THE COASTAL REGION OF NORTH WALES. 165

Celastrina argiolus L. The only point of interest about this species
is that it is, as a rule, single-brooded and usually larger than most Eng-
lish examples. | have once seen a specimen which was apparently a
second brood insect, flying in the town of Conway in August; but this
of course might only have been a case of delayed emergence. It is
curious that the first and only brood should occur at the very beginning
of the season, earlier than in many southern English localities. This
early emergence of insects is a feature of the district, most of the spring
butterflies, such as aegeria, rapae, etc., appearing usually a week or two
before the earliest English records which | have seen published in inmost
magazines.

Thecla quercus L. This butterfly, which is rather local in the dis-
trict, presents no noteworthy form and [ mention it here only for the
sake of recording an interesting fact which T discovered when collecting
in some woods in the Conway Valley. I had. spent the best part of the
afternoon in securing one or two specimens by means of a net slung on
to the end of a twenty foot pole and was very dissatisfied with my
efforts when I noticed that the butterflies were beginning to come lower
of their own accord. As I watched, I discovered that they were follow-
ing the line of the sun, which was now beginning to set, and when even-
tually the sun reached the horizon, quercus was flying in numbers round
the lowest branch of the oak. I was able, without difficulty, to dispense
with my pole and to secure as many specimens as I wanted. It seems
particularly fond of resting on the branches of ash, though whether
this is due to its preference for that particular tree or to the fact that
ash is abundant in suitable localities I know not.

Pieris brassicae L. There is nothing of interest locally about this
butterfly, but the banded form of the female figured by Gordon Smith
as having been taken by him near Chester is not uncommon throughout
the North Welsh area. Gordon Smith includes no note to this effect
and, by omission, might give one the impression that this form has been
found only in @heshire:

P. napi L. The only thing to record about this butterfly is my dis-
appointment when I found that on the higher mountains, where [I had
hoped to take some interesting forms, nap: produced nothing whatever
out of the ordinary. One of my pupils took a very nice female gynan-
dromorph in the School garden at Prestatyn in April 1948, but despite
much search and the breeding from many other females from the same
garden we never found another.

Gonepteryx rhamni L. Although there are several records of this
butterfly in Day’s List, from which it would appear to be fairly common,
J never saw it, despite a particularly intensive search in all the locali-
ties given by Day, until 1940, when one or two odd specimens turned up.
Jt continued to increase in numbers each year and by 1943 was not un-
common throughout the district. In 1945 there was not one to be found
anywhere and at the end of that vear I left North Wales. This pheno-
menon of sudden appearance and disappearance is, I believe, not un-
known in rhamnt but is still probably an event worth recording. [
might mention that the foodplant is plentiful everywhere.

Erynnis tages L. This butterfly occurs very commonly throughout
the area in an exceedingly large and bright form which several southern
collectors when visiting me have spoken of as heing very interesting.

166 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/V1/1952

Merchant took, in 1941, at an altitude of eight hundred feet on Drum,
a very beautiful aberration in which the ground colour of most of the
insect was precisely the shade of creamy milk, with the markings in-
distinct.

Colias calida Verity : the correct name for the
butterfly lately added to the British list

By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P.

There still seems to be some difference of opinion about the correct
name for the new species of Cvlias, of which the larva feeds exclusively
on LHippocrepts comosa. Berger and Fontaine use the name alfacari-
ensis Ribbe (1905) in their paper (Lambillionea, 1947, 47, 91; 1948, 48,
12, 21, 90), but Berger says the description is unsatisfactory. In addi-
tion to the nominotypical form he recognizes two subspecies, australis
Verity and calida Verity. Actually Ribbe (Soc. Ent., 1905, 20, 137)
gives a very clear description saying that the upper side of the female
is greenish-white like that of Colias croceus ab. helice Hubner and that
the under side is lke that of helice. In the Rothschild collection at
Tring there was one of the original specimens taken by Ribbe himself
and a long series of males and females in perfect condition from the
same locality. The upper and under side of the female agrees with
Ribbe’s description and the under side of the male is browner than that
of hyale Linnaeus. Alfacariensis was taken in the Sierra de Alfacar,
N. Granada, Spain, at an elevation of 1800 metres and the specimens
of Colias taken by him at lower levels in the same district are hyale
ssp. australis Verity. I think some of these are the insects Berger saw
in the Oberthur collection and in the Paris Museum and mistook for
alfacuriensis. Tf so, his confusion as to the appearance and distribu-
tion of alfacariensis is understandable. Alfacariensis Ribbe is pro-
bably a distinct species differing from hoth hyale and the new species.

Hemming (Lambillionea, 1950, 50. 2) has shown that in any case
alfacariensis is not the correct name for the new species because it was
only raised from infra-subspecific to specific rank by Berger in 1948
and Berger agrees with this decision and with its consequences that
australis Verity becomes the correct name for the new species and that
calida Verity is a subspecies of it.

Verity (Rhopuloceru Palaearctica, 1911, 347) says that in Andalusia,
Spain, there flies a beautiful race, very distinct ou account of the yellow
colour, the males being extremely bright especially on the under side,
a high proportion of the females being yellow, and there being a great
reduction in the extent of the black markings. He names this australis
and since he calls it a race it ranks as a subspecies. He gives no figure
and treats it as a race of hyale Linn. There is nothing in this descrip-
tion to convince anyone that australis is the new species. In fact, the
high proportion of yellow females is against it, for females of the new
species are purer white than those of hyale and yellow females are rarer
than in that species. As I have said before the specimens from Granada
and Andalusia in the Tring Museum have the facies of hyale. When
Verity described and named calida he did not compare it with australis
and surely he would have done so if it had had any resemblance other

COLIAS CALIDA VERITY. 167

than the rich yellow ground colour and reduced black markings. Berger
brings forward no satisfactory evidence that australis is the new species
and his bald statement to that effect is not acceptable. Hemming
merely gave an opinion on the nomenclature and his decision that
australis has priority over alfacariensis cannot be regarded as support
for Berger’s conclusion that it is the correct name for the new species.
He was only giving an interpretation of how the new rules affected the
names, which Berger placed before him, and not deciding which was
the true name for the species.

Having discarded both alfacariensis and australis the only names to
be considered are vernalis Verity (Ithup. Pal., 1909, 222, pl. 47, fig.
32) and calida Verity (Ent. Record, 1916, 28, 99).

Verity (1909) gives the nanie vernalis gen. vern to the first genera-
tion of hyale and says it differs from the summer generation by its
smaller size, the pale ground colour, sulphur or canary yellow; the
shape of the wings is distinctly rounded at the apex and the termen
is more or less convex; the black bands are reduced and often com-
pletely absent on the hindwings; finally on the under side the row of
antemarginal spots is much accentuated and the green scales are a little
more abundant. This description clearly refers to the new species
and the figure is characteristic of it. If there were any doubt about
this, it would be set at rest by his treatment of vernalis in his Farfalle,
where he makes it gen. vern of race calida.

In the Entomologist’s Record, 1916, he says the beautiful and very
brightly coloured summer generation of Southern Europe = calida and
cites as cotypes a male and female from Tuscany figured (Rhop. Pal..
1909, pl. 40, figs. 31 and 36). Both figures represent the new species.
In Le Farfalle Diurne @Ttalia, 1947, 3, 258, 266, he says a giant ‘“‘sotto-
razza’’? ubercalida occurs in the south of France and names the first
generation of this aiteuwbercalida (Pl. 35, fig. 8) and the second and
third generations wbhercalida (Pl. 35, figs. 9, 10). These also belong to
the new species.

Vernalis Verity (1909) appears to be the first name which without
doubt belongs to the new species. but it was given to a seasonal form
and under the new rules of nomenclature it is of infra-subspecific rank.
The same remark applies to calida Verity (1916), which was given to
the second and third generations. Calida, however, was raised to sub-
specific rank by Verity himself (Hnt. Record, 1923, 35, Suppl. (15).).
There is no proof whatever that ssp. australis Verity is the new species
and a good deal of evidence that it is a subspecies of hyale Linn., but
there is definite proof that calida Verity is the new species.

The synonymy is:—Colias calida Verity (1923).

vernalis Verity (1909) gen. 1.

calida Verity (1916) gen. 2 and gen. 3.

autumnalis Rocci (Atti Soc. Ligust. Sc. Nat., 1920, 30, 28)
gen. 4.

ssp. ubercalida Verity (1947).

anteubercalida Verity (1947) gen. 1.

wbercalida Verity (1947) gen. 2 and gen. 3.

Specimens taken in England are nominotypical calida Verity and
it is to be hoped that entomologists will use this name in future for the

168 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V1/ 1952

Colias with a larva that feeds exclusively on Hippocrepis comosa, They
will find a useful summary of the differences in appearance and habits
between it and hyale illustrated by figures of egg, imago, larva and
pupa in a paper by Vallins, Dewick, and Harbottle (Hnt. Gazette,
1950, 1, 113), though the name australis is used instead of calida.

A good coloured figure of a male is given in South’s Butterflies of
the Barviish,, Lslesy Pl... 2) fie, fl

Familiar butterflies in North Africa I].
By Brigadier C. G. Lirpscoms, D.S.O.

My former notes (Hnt. Rec., 64: 136) on familiar butterflies in Libya
brought the record of my observations up to the beginning of March
this year and there I had intended to leave it. However, further dis-
coveries and observations have been so interesting and unexpected that
I feel compelled to continue the story. My observations are still based
on what I have seen rather than captured as I had no collecting appar-
atus with me, but I am satisfied that they are none the less accurate.

Vanessa cardut continues to be by far the commonest butterfly,
particularly in the neighbourhood of Tripoli, where I was for a few days
at the beginning of April. South of the town and stretching for some
20 to 30 miles inland is a vast plain, part cultivated and part sandy
semi-desert country. Here caurdui swarmed in countless thousands in
all stages of development. Apart from the butterflies themselves every
thistle had its quota of caterpillars while others were crawling about
the ground searching for their foodplant. It was indeed a remarkable
sight. I mentioned what I had seen to an entomological friend in the
town and he told me that about the middle of March he had seen what
he described as a great cloud of these butterflies flying northwards over
the town and out to sea. Perhaps this early migration accounts for the
appearance of this butterfly in England during March, as has been
reported in this magazine, ;

On 15th April I visited Ain Mara, a valley 20 miles west of Derna,
in the heart of the Jebel and some 1,200 feet above sea level. As its
Arabic name implies there is a spring here and a very restricted area
remains green throughout the year with short grass, trefoils of various
kinds and docks all in evidence. The first butterfly I noticed was a
blue which, when it settled, I was able to identify as a ¢ Polyommatus
icarus. This was the only specimen of its kind that I saw, but shortly
afterwards I spotted a copper on the wing which proved to be Lycaena
phlaeas, of which further specimens were observed during the course of
my search. Both these butterflies were identical in every way with
British specimens.

All the year round surface water is almost unknown in this part
of the world and Ain Mara with its green meadows is unique in this
respect. Asa result I am fairly confident that these two butterflies will.
not be found anywhere else in Libya.

On two occasions during April I have seen single specimens of
Purarge megera, one at Ain Mara and the other in a wadi a few miles
to the west of it. Apart from a slight darkening of the undersides of
the hindwings both butterflies were identical in habits of flight and
markings with one of our home specimens.

FAMILIAR BUTTERFLIES IN NORTH AFRICA II. 169

On 26th April I was motoring from Benghazi to Derna and stopped
to eat my lunch at the top of the Tocea Pass where the road from the
Benghazi plain climbs up on to the Jebel near Barce. As I was munch-
ing my sandwiches TI saw a small brown butterfly fluttering round a bush
and when it eventually settled with expanded wings it proved to be a
3S Maniola tithonus indistinguishable from a British specimen except
for a slight increase in the light markings of the underside of the hind-
wings. Further search produced three more specimens including two
2°, so there was no doubt about their identity. To the best of my
knowledge none of these last four butterflies is migratory and the
interesting question remains as to how they originally got to this out
of the way corner of Africa.

The Jebel el Acbar, to give it its full name, is a mountain mass of
limestone stretching along the coast of Africa for 200 miles between
Benghazi and Derna and at its widest point perhaps 30 miles deep. It
is bounded on the landward side by desert conditions and is nowhere
less than 1,000 feet high rising in parts to 2,500 feet. Bushes of various
sorts grow thickly on the rugged hillsides and among them juniper, red
arbutus and rosemary would be familiar to those at home.

In common with the rest of the country it suffers a six to eight
months’ drought each year, but because of its elevation remains com-
paratively cool. During the wet winter season lasting till March
flowers of all kinds grow in the greatest abundance and variety. Such
then is the Jebel and it is the home of three common European birds,
the wren, the blue tit, and the chaffinch. The first two are rare and
very local while the chaffinch is widespread. The collecting of specimens
of these birds has recently been one of the main aims of an expedition
sponsored by the British Museum ot Natural History. All three are
non-migratory and resident all the year round. It is considered that
they have survived since the days when Africa was joined to southern
Europe, gradually adapting themselves to changing conditions. It
seems reasonable to suppose that these non-migratory butterflies that
I have described are survivals from the same period. Perhaps others
who read these notes and are better informed than I am will be able
to enlarge on this theory.

A fifth butterfly, which could almost be included in the above cate-
gory, is the South European form, cleopatra, of Gonepteryr rhamni.
T have seen it commonly in April near Cirene, the ancient Roman settle-
ment on the Jebel. The pink suffusion on the forewings of the ¢d
being most noticeable when in flight.

Of the other migrant butterflies described in my former notes Pontia
daplidice was still very common at the end of April, but Pieris rapae
has remained scarce and J have seen no further specimens of Vanessa
atalanta or Papilio machaon. Colias croceus has never appeared in any
numbers but single specimens are liable to turn up anywhere.

Tt would in consequence seem that with the exception of P. daplidice
and V. cardui the other migrant butterflies noted are strays whose head-
quarters are probably further west in Tunisia and Morocco where
conditions are less arid and their foodplants in consequence more
abundant.

[The swarms of V. cardui seen by Brigadier Lipscomb in January
and February would account for the migration which arrived in this

170 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Vou. 64. 15/VI/ 1952

country in early March. The ‘‘ great cloud ”’ of this butterfly which
he mentions must have been a much later migration, which never
reached us perhaps because of the cold weather all over Northern and
Central Europe. V. cardwi flies at 12-16 miles an hour at the most.—

Ep. ]
A Moth-Trap in Folkestone in 195]
By A. M. Mortey.

From towards the end of June | was fortunate in having the loan
of Dr. Riddell’s m.v. moth-trap for a good many weeks on condition
that we shared the captures. The arrangement was particularly wel-
come in a season when I had to spend most of my time in bed. The
list that follows of some of the species taken may be of interest, partly
as showing what a number of moths occur in a part of Folkestone which
1 had come to regard as a poor hunting ground, but mainly as an
indication of the distance to which moths appear to travel under certain
conditions.

The houses from which we worked the lamp are situated on the
northern side of Folkestone not far from the golf course, through
which runs a small stream with reeds along part of its course. The
sea 1s a mile away as the crow flies and the Downs nearly as far in the
opposite direction, while it is a mile and a half to the nearest part of
the Warren. There is a small wood on the Downs about a mile and a
half away to the north-east, but the nearest large woods are Reinden
Wood to the north, Asholt Wood to the west, and the Hythe Woods to
the south-west, each about two and a half miles away.

The trap was placed either on the lawn at the back of my house cr
in a glazed porch. In the former position it produced about twice as
many moths as in the latter; on the other hand some species and a good
many individuals did not enter the trap at all but were found on the
walls of the porch. In all I used the trap 58 times, but the last six
times, in November, were entirely unproductive.

In the notes which follow I have given two dates, that of the night
when the trap was set and that of the morning when it was emptied,
since it is not possible to tell whether a moth arrived before or after
midnight.

1. The commonest two species were Agrotis exrclamationis and
Amathes e-nigrum. (second brood), each of which persisted over a long
period. Of the former 125 came on the night 14th-15th July; of the
latter 302 on 10th-11th September, and the last on 6th-7th November.
On the other hand Agrotis segetuwm, which often abounds in the second
brood, was relatively scarce, only nine being taken. For two nights
there was a plague of Hyponomeuta padella. On the morning of 4th
August T estimated that there were 700 in the trap and the porch.

If. The following may well have bred in Folkestone though they
have been either rare or not recorded in the town since I came here in
1927:—Pheosia tremula. Brachionycha sphinx (1). Tethea ocularis
(5). Not known to occure in the district till one was taken in 1950.
Gastropacha quercifolia (8 3). Cosmia pyralina (1, Dr. Riddell).
Phragmatobia fuliginosa (2, in August). Apatele megacephala (1).
Apatele rumicis (1). Atethmia xrerampelina (1). Hadena w-latinum
(Dr. Riddell took about 20 in June). ITadena compta (1, 18th-19th

A MOTH-TRAP IN FOLKESTONE IN 1951. hf a!

July). The first apparently to be taken in Folkestone. Horisme ter-
sata (1). Chesias legatella (25, all 6S, 29th-30th October). Thera
cariata (1, 30th-31st October). Ennomos autumnaria (1). Apparently
now much rarer in the town than it used to be.

The comparatively large numbers of A. w-latinum and (. legatella
may be due to the fact that not long ago a small area of the golf course
was planted with broom, either to brighten its appearance or to make
the game more difficult.

Tlf. The following appear to belong to the Downs (and the Warren)
rather than to the town:—Dvuacrisia. sannio (1). Phytometra viridaria
(1). Agrotis cinerea (2, Dr. Riddell). Scopula ornata (1). Hadena
lepida (1). Anaitis efformata (1). Tholera popularis (1). Tholera ces-
pitis (1). Ortholitha bipunctaria (1). Eremobia ochroleuca (3; Dr.
Riddell also took several). Thalpophila matura (1). Ortholitha cheno-
podiata (2).Procus fasciunculus (8). Rivula sericealis (2). Perizoma
bifaciata (1). Loxostege palealis (1). Salebria semirubella (3). Neph-
opteryx obductella (1).

IV. T should have looked for the following in the Warren or near
the sea:—EKuproctis chrysorrhoea (12). Hemistola immaculata (1).
Malacosoma neustria (1). Mesotype virgata (1). Eilema lurideola (3).
Aspitates ochrearia (1). Hadena albimacula (1). Eumichtis lichenea
(3; Dr. Riddell took a good many more). Apamea anceps (1). Ever-
gestis extimalis (2). Lygephila pastinum (1).

V. Among species one finds as a rule in woodland areas were:—
Pheosia gnoma (1; Dr. Riddell took 2). Habrosyne derasa (6). Thya-
tira batis (1). Drepana binaria (3). Drepana falcataria (1). Drepana
lacertinaria (1). Apatele auricoma (1, 6th-7th August). Triphaena
fimbriata (6). Dipterygia scabriuscula. (5). Rusina umbratica (1).
Amphipyra pyramidea (1). Graptolitha ornithopus (1). Cucullia
asteris (1). Laspeyria flerula (1). Scopula imitaria (1). Cosymbia
punctaria (17). Cosymbia albipunctata (2). Lomaspilis marginata (1).
Semiothisa alternaria (2). Deuteronomos alniaria (4). Plagodis dola-
braria (1, Dr. Riddell).

VI. Marsh species: —Kilema griseola (8). Chilodes maritima (1,
Dr. Riddell). Amathes sexstrigata (1). Arenostola phragmitidis (3).
Hydraecia oculea (1). Hydraecia paludis (1, Dr. Riddell). Hydraecia
micacea (7). Rhizedra lutosa (1; Dr. Riddell took several). Nonagria
typhae (1).

No doubt some of the above came from the golf course, but it is
difficult to believe that they all did. It seems pretty certain that the N.
typhae came from the brickworks, about three-quarters of a mile away.

VII. Immigrants or reported immigrants:—TLithosia quadra (1 6,
30th-31st July, and another 9 3rd-4th August). Leucania vitellina (Dr.
Riddell took one 29th-30th September). Leucania albipuncta (A).
Laphygma exigua (1, 4th-5th September). Caradrina ambigua (59 in
all, 20 on 5th-6th September). Plusia gamma (126, 10th-11th Septem-
ber, otherwise in small numbers; the last was taken on 30th-3lst Octo-
ber). Nycterosea obstipata (1, 5th-6th November). Nomophila noctu-
ella (only 9 in all). Anania nubilalis (9. This species seems now to be

established in S.E. Kent).

VITf. Species which so far as I know had not previously been re-
corded from the Folkestone-Romney Marsh district :—ZLycophotia varia

Ve ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL, 64. 15/V1/1952

(1, 26th-27th July). Abrostola triplasia (2, Dr. Riddell). Euphyia luc-
tuata (1, Ist-2nd August). Eupithecia millefoliata (8. Larvae were
found in the district in 1950). Hulia formosana (1, 26th-27th July, and
another 30th-31st July).

Evidently there are in the town, at any rate under certain condi-
tions, many more individual moths and more species of moths than
have been revealed by traditional methods of collecting. If it is true
that the effective range of a m.-v. lamp is about 50 yards, it would
appear, in a built-up area like this, that all the moths taken in or near
the trap had been flying over a space of rather less than an acre. Are
these to be regarded as a fair sample of what occurs throughout the
town, or do they represent a concentration of moths in a particular
small area? On the former supposition one might he inclined to mul-
tiply the number taken on one night by some such figure as 1,600 to
obtain the totals for the whole town, but such arithmetic would | fear
produce misleading and, in respect of the less common species, absurd
results. Moths do of course congregate in places where there are
natural attractions and there are such places in Folkestone, but these
gardens are not among them. One has to assume therefore either that
the m.v. lamp has some unknown if not magical power of attraction or
else that the moths are passing by on their way to somewhere else.

Of the species listed above for which I have suggested localities at
some distance from my house it would be absurd to claim that none
could have originated in the parks and gardens of the town. It would
be equally absurd to assume that all had. The accumulative evidence
is that many had travelled at least a mile from their places of origin.
Birch trees in Folkestone are few and far between and oak is almost
absent. So it is not unreasonable to suppose that some moths had come
from the woods two and a half miles away. The Lycophotia varia may
even have come from the nearest patch I know of native heather, which
is 54 miles away. Such distances need surprise no one who considers
the numbers of moths normally resident in the Weald that have been
taken at Dungeness and near Littlestone. Why moths should leave
their natural haunts and come to Folkestone is a riddle yet to be solved.
Perhaps they are making for a well-lghted area; or perhaps they are
suffering from undirected wanderlust.

Notes on Malacosoma neustria Linn.
By Davin WricuHrT

During, a stay of five years in the Lleyn Peninsula (Caernarvon) |
had ample opportunity to collect and observe the Lackey Moth in all
its stages. It is one of the commonest moths in the area and I found
the larvae in abundance from the seashore to’ the hilltops on sallows,
hawthorn, sloe, elm, hazel, alder, apple, plum, pear, bramble and rasp-
berry. On an isolated hawthorn a few yards from the shore I noted
five nests of half-grown larvae and a similar number on a stunted haw-
thorn and two dwarf sallows near the top of a hill 1,000 feet ahove sea-
level.

On fruit trees it sometimes hecame a pest. I regularly sugared my
landlady’s apple trees, and the appearance of swarms of neustria larvae
on the same trees one year caused a little tension between us. T ex-

NOTES ON MALACOSOMA NEUSTRIA LINN. 173

plained that there is no connection between sugar and Lackeys, par-
ticularly the larvae, but T don’t think she believed me. Her distrust
was heightened shortly afterwards when she leaned against a sugared
tree, stuck to it, and was stung twice by wasps that were feeding at
the patch. The larvae certainly made a disgusting mess of whole
branches of the trees and I removed two butterfly-nets full of them to
hawthorns some distance away.

It is difficult to say at what stage they are most heavily parasitized.
From the hawthorn near the shore mentioned above I took 100 halt-
grown larvae and exactly half were stung. the rest producing perfect
moths.

They are very easy to deal with if taken when half-grown or larger,
but IT had no luck in rearing them from the eggs in cages. Probably a
eregarious life within their web is essential to the young larvae and
this web can be usefully constructed only on growing trees or bushes.

Each year | was able to keep one or two nests under observation
and found them very interesting to watch. [t may be fancy on my
part, but I think that some form of sentry-posting operates in these
nests of young neustria. In sunny weather there are usually as many
larvae feeding and resting outside the nest as there are inside, but on
cloudy, chilly days I found that all but one, or sometimes two, retired
within. These solitary individuals left outside seemed to me to have
the job of warning the community inside the nest of any approaching
danger. They were always alert and a shght movement or noise near-
by agitated them at once and this disturbance was immediately com-
municated to the rest of the herd. They all became active and a gene-
tal state of alarm could be seen through the semi-transparent sides ot
the web.

That they are extremely sensitive as a community can he tested by
anyone who happens to find one of these families on the move from an
eaten-out site to a new one. Whether the new site is predetermined
among the larvae I know not, but they all set off in the same direction
along a branch, or two parallel ones, and it was while watching one of
these short migrations that I tried a simple experiment. There was a
long line of larvae travelling in single file along a thin branch of haw-
thorn, and to see what would happen if this movement was interrupted
I held a twig between two larvae in the middle of the line. Those
approaching the obstruction stopped as was to be expected, but the be-
haviour of those in front of it interested me. The larva immediately
in front of my twig went ahead for about an inch and then, evidently
aware that he was no longer being followed, stopped. He raised his
head, waved it from side to side and turned about, uneasily as T
thought, to see what was going on behind. The two larvae that had
preceded him along the branch followed suit and something very like a
conference took place between the three. Meanwhile I continued to
hold back those behind the twig and after a short while the three, evi-
dently deciding that there was nothing to be done about the rest of the
family, so strangely prevented from following, resumed their original
positions and hastened after the leaders.

[ tried this on another occasion with similar results. In both cases
there was no doubt in my mind that those larvae already past the

174 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 64. 15/V1/1952

obstruction and physically unaffected by it were just as disturbed as
those following. ;

This community feeling—for want of a better phrase—leaves them
atter their penultimate moult, when the unsightly web is abandoned
and each larva wanders off to complete its growth in solitude. At this
time [ think they travel considerable distances, because | have found
single final-instar larvae far from any webs. —

The cocoons were spun up almost anywhere off the ground, most com-
monly on the undersides of the larger leaves of sloe. My eyes fre-
quently suffered a short, sharp irritation from the bright yellow powder
in the cocoons.

The pupa is peculiarly sensitive to sounds. I kept fifty in a venti-
lated glass-topped wooden box by an open window, and one day, lean-
ing over this box to whistle the dog in, J noticed a movement among
the pupae. I whistled again, louder this time, and nearly all the pupae
wriggled their ‘ tails... I went on with this, making various noises, hut
a sharp whistle always produced the most violent reaction. A move-
ment nearby, or a tap on the side of the box, had the same effect.

The vellow powder in the cocoon falls out and floats about at the
slightest touch, and assuming that its purpose is to be obnoxious to
birds it seems likely that this violent wriggling on the part of the pupa
is a protective device, disturbing the powder into the air at the ap-
proach of a bird.

Variation in the moths was about the same in both sexes, the males
having slightly the greater range of colour. The distance between the
cross-lines on the forewings varied somewhat.

Although M. neustria is undoubtedly a pest in some years in that
part of North Wales I got to like it very much and found it a very in-
teresting species to rear and to observe. )

Hadena blenna Hiibner in England

By AN Otp Mors-Hounter.

Now that certain moths seem to be extending their range north-
wards, both within our island and into our island from the Continent,
it is worth while having a look at some of the ‘possibles’. Take, for
instance, Hadena. blenna Hiib., formerly known as peregrina Treitschke.
Tt is in all our modern books and lists, or most of them, because once
upon a time three specimens were caught at sugar in the Isle of Wight.
But that was ninety years ago, and not since then, so far as [ am
aware, has H. blenna been recorded from our coasts. Our book-makers
have even given it an English name, ‘The Stranger’, which of course
is a translation of Treitschke’s Latin specific one.

Yet in spite of this coyness in patronizing our sugar and our latest
m.v. lamps I have an idea that Hadena blenna may not only occur on
our coasts much more frequently than people think but that it may
even be an old inhabitant of our island.

The three recorded specimens were all taken at the same place, to
wit Freshwater, which seems to me, who am not given to stretching
‘the long arm of coincidence’ unduly, to indicate that all three had
emerged from the pupa at Freshwater. If you are going to suggest
that three French blenna in three different years alit at an identical

HADENA BLENNA HUBNER IN ENGLAND. 175

spot in the Isle of Wight after crossing at least sixty miles of sea you
and I must agree to differ. Things don’t happen lke that, not even
in books. Had only two specimens been taken in succeeding years so
very close together—‘‘within’’, says Barrett, ‘‘a few yards of the same
spot’’—I should still be chary of suggesting immigration; three speci-
mens in as many years all in the same spot rules out immigration
altogether. These three Freshwater blenna emerged from the chrysalis
at Freshwater, of that I have no doubt at all. They may of course have
been liberated at Freshwater, close to the spot where they were found,
by some lepidopterist who had brought or obtained them, as eggs, larvae
or pupae, from France. That is another matter altogether and in
default of any knowledge either pro or con it is fatuous to express any
opinion. Quot homines, tot sententiae. You can have it whichever
way you like. No one can contradict you.

At all events I think it is possible that Hadena blenna may he a
British insect—and by ‘British’ I mean either an autochthon or a suc-
cessful colonist, not just a visitor. My reasons are these.

In the first place it is a species which, even in its favoured haunts
in France, has a low survival density. It is rarely if ever taken by the
marauding lepidopterist who chances to visit its haunts, though it.is
not uncommon with those who know where it exists and how to find it.
It is a strictly maritime insect and the larva feeds on salt-loving plants
which grow in the mud or sandy mud of seashore, estuary and saltings.
Hence larval populations must be largely reduced (as they are in the
cases of Actebia praecor, Agrotis ripae, and other seashore inhabiting
species) by gulls and maritime and aquatic birds of various kinds.
Plainly the larva does not burrow in the mud by day but relies upon
procrypsis for its protection; for it has a bright yellow spiracular line
and I know of no lepidopterous larva having a bright yellow spiracular
line which burrows in the earth or sand to escape its predators. Nor,
reader, do you. The bright yellow lateral stripe plays a very definite
part in procrypsis, as of course you have discovered long ago. Hence
blenna is not a species which one could expect to find in large numbers
anywhere.

Secondly the imago is rather an insignificant moth and when only
shghtly worn can very easily be mistaken for half a dozen common
things. On the sugar patch a worn specimen would quite likely—especi-
ally by an inexperienced moth-hunter—hbe passed by as one of its con-
_geners. | think Allan was quite right when he wrote (Talking of Moths,
1943, p. 274) ‘“‘Peregrina has always seemed to me to be one of those
moths which may repose in cabinets unnoticed .. . . it may be that there
are more peregrina in this country than the pundits think’’.

Thirdly the foodplant. All the books, the Continental books, which
I have consulted aver that blenna feeds on Atriplex (the maritime
species), Suaeda, Glaux, Salsola, Hryngiwm, Cakile and all the rest
of the usual littoral and halophile foodplants eaten by lepidopterous
larvae. Perhaps it does—on occasion. But that excellent entomo-
logist Monsieur G. Durand, in a paper on the saltings species of Western
France which he contributed to Lambillionea in 1937, asserted that
although the books list a number of foodplants for blenna he had every
reason to believe that so far as western France was concerned the
presence of the moth was linked with the presence of Beta maritima Ih.

176 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 64. 15/VI/1952

—Wild Beet. ‘‘ Even if,’’? says he, ‘‘ this is not the only foodplant,
it is most certainly the one preferred.”’

Fourthly the habits of the imago. It does not seem to fly very far
and, says M. Durand, ‘‘is easily overlooked’. Perhaps the reason why
it is a stay-at-home is that Beta maritima is not a widespread plant and
crows only in a saline medium. Also blenna is very local; even when
you have found a habitat of the foodplant it does not by any means
follow that the moth will be there also. With all his experience of the
right kind of place to search M. Durand remarks ‘‘| am far from hay-
‘ing found it in all the suitable localities wherein | have looked for it”’.
Yet blenna occurs all the way along the Bay of Biscay from the Pyrenees
to Finisterre. The moth comes to sugar—the three Freshwater speci-
mens were captured by this means—and may come to light.

Now a word or two about the foodplant. The older floras rated Beta
a very common seaside plant in England, inhabiting sea-beaches, muddy
shores, and salt-marshes, extending for some distance up estuaries hut
erowing only where it could ‘‘partake of the saltness of the sea’’. It
has a tall succulent stem often two feet high, and its leaves, which are
thick, succulent, glossy and waved, are a rich deep green in summer
turning to crimson and purple in autumn. The lower leaves are stalked,
the upper ones spring from the flowering stem. The flowers are not
attractive being small and green, arranged in pairs. The plant is in
flower from June to September. According to Bentham & Hooker
(revised by Rendle, 1924) Bet«u grows in muddy sands by the seashore in
Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, extending northwards to
the Baltic. ‘‘ Not uncommon,’’ they say, ‘‘ on the British coasts, south
of Fife and Argyll.’’

My own impression is that Beta is by no means a generally common
plant though one comes across small colonies of it, more often individual
plants, here and there; usually, in my limited experience, by the sides
of a mudflat. I seem to remember seeing it in the neighbourhood of
Falmouth many years ago—was it up the estuary of the river Fal? If
it does grow there to-day, that is the first place I should go to in my
search for blenna. For blenna is a western species, and Falmouth has
a mild winter climate not unlike that of the Bay of Biscay. So I
should sugar near the foodplant, as near to it as possible, during the
first fortnight of June, and again in the last week of August and first
week of September. (There are two broods in France; in England
perhaps only the second one occurs: the three Freshwater specimens
were all taken at the end of August.) I should also try the m.v. lamp—
but with a black glass shade; for there is much coming and going of
ships at Falmouth... .

Now for the larval habits. Here is what M. Durand writes (I take
the liberty of translating): ‘‘ Thanks to the generosity of my colleague
M. Dan Lucas, who sent me a small batch of eggs laid by a female caught
on the island of Aix, I was able to rear the species from the egg on
garden beet. The larvae grew rapidly; they hatched from the egg on
20th August and most of them were full-grown between the 12th and
18th September. Those which [I did not ‘blow’ pupated before the end
of that month—about a month after they hatched. Moths emerged at
the end of May and in June. Thus there are two broods in Western
France, May-June and August-September.”’

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. Ley

He then goes on to describe the larva, and as he remarks that it is a
handsome larva and that the figure in Spuler’s book (vol. 4, fig. 9,
Nachtrag, pl. 3) is very poor (his words are “‘imparfaitement recon-
naissable’’) and Barrett says ‘larva apparently not very fully de-
scribed’’, it is as well to translate this also: —‘‘Ground colour yellowish,
the tergum covered with a multitude of greenish-black dots which, to
the naked eye, appear to be joined. With a lens, however, one can see
that they form a fine network of dots and olive lines; in the middle of
the reticulations there are whitish-yellow spots. On each somite there
are four dots which are blacker and more distinct. Spiracular line
bright yellow, surmounted by a blackish line which is clearly darker
than the dorsal tint. Round each spiracle there is a spot of bright
yellow, often almost orange, and above it, on the darker line, there
is a more conspicuous blackish spot. The dorsal line is thin and whitish,
more or less broken and of varying distinctness; also, on the last ab-
dominal somite there is a more distinct perpendicular line marking the
suranal plate. The abdominal feet are yellowish, as is the whole ventral
surface. The head is light brown speckled with darker dots on the
vertex.’’

Does Beta grow at Freshwater, near the historic spot where Frederick
Bond took the first recorded specimen in 1858? Does it grow on the
southern or western seaboard of Ireland? Or on Lundy Island (blenna
occurs on at least one small island off the Breton coast)? Keep an eye
open for it when you go on holiday next summer; for wherever you find
Beta maritima it may be worth your while to have a look at its leaves
for the larval trademark. You never know... .

P.S.—Don’t forget that in its first two instars you are more likely
to find the larva up among the florets on the flowering spike.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hueers.

The female of Dioryctria hostilis Steph. lays eggs readily if enclosed
in a glass-lidded metal box with fresh aspen leaves. I gave a worn,
damaged one I took at Ham Street in June to my late friend, W. S.
Gilles, and she laid a few eggs almost immediately (she died a day later)
from which he reared half a dozen moths by sleeving on aspen.

Dioryctria alietella Fabr. is very fond of sitting on fir trees which
have been killed by fire two or three years previously. It is almost
impossible to see the grey barred moth on these charred silvery trunks.
It flies off readily if the trunk be smartly tapped and comes to the
ground in a series of wild zigzags, usually settling a dozen yards off. It
is rather difficult either to net or mark down, and a partnership in which
one collector taps and the other stands well back with the net is very
productive. On one occasion, however, I did succeed in netting over a
dozen in one morning off burnt pines at Matley Gap in the New Forest,
but abietella was very common that day, and I only succeeded in catch-
ing about one in three. The moth is on the wing from late May until
mid-July, but IT have found it at its best in mid-June.

The larva of Nephopterix obductella F.-R. may be found on marjoram
in mid-June. It bites through the main stem and spins the dying
central leaves into a conspicuous black mass, in which it lives in a tube

178 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15) V Ej 1952

by day, emerging to feed on living leaves at night. It 1s greyish black
in colour with lighter longitudinal striations, and feeds up readily in a
flower-pot, leaving its tube when full-fed to pupate in a small tight
cocoon in moss. It is curious how this insect has spread in this country.
When I found it in some numbers in the Margate area in 1928 there
were only two undoubted British specimens known, though Mr. H. W.
Daltry had taken two others the year before near Deal which had not
then been recorded, and its life-history here was not known till I worked
it out the following year. Since then it has turned up all over Kent
and in other parts of South-East England. I cannot understand why
it failed to make a settlement earlier, as it can stand great extremes of
cold, and Purdey had taken it in East Kent many years before.

The larva of Crambus paludellus Hubn. should be collected in early
June when it is full-fed. It inhabits the previous year’s stems of Typha,
preferably latifolia. These are usually by this time reduced to thick
stumps, which should be cut through below the surface of the water.
It is frequently common where it occurs at all and several may be found
in one stump. When I was collecting the larva a few years ago to
send to Dr. Beirne to be figured I found no less than six in one thick
stump of 7. latifolia. Paludellus seems at its best in the Norfolk Broads,
where it has a very wide range of variation. Out of roughly 40 taken
at Barton I have had a range from silvery white to dull leaden, but
near here, where in the course of a few years I have seen literally
hundreds, it only appears in a few shades of grey, and specimens from
Sussex shown me by Mr. L. T. Ford were of a similar dull tinge.

Further Notes on Microlepidoptera from
Lancashire and Cheshire, 195]

By H. N. MicwHaegtis.

A few new records have been received since my notes in the January
number of the present volume (page 12). The winter months have given
time to examine material collected earlier and have produced some con-
firmations of old records-

Eurhodope advenella Zinck. Another specimen has been found at
Bromborough, Cheshire, by Mr. Snell in 1951.

Donacaula mucronella Schiff. Two specimens were taken at Dela-
mere on 21/22.vii.51 by Mr. Snell. Our only other record was from
Wirral in 1926.

Phlyctuenta crocealis Hubn. Always a local insect in Cheshire. <A
few larvae were found on Inula at Wilmslow in late June 1951.

Crambus latistrius Haw. Though fairly common in the sandhill
areas in both counties this species was taken at an inland locality at
Whitegate near Delamere, Cheshire, in 1951 by Mr. H. L. Burrows.

Phalonia cnicana Doubl. Not often recorded from Cheshire, this
moth was found in numbers at Burton on 14.vi1.51. It was flying low
among mixed herbage, often settling on nettle and thistle, about 2130
hours, B.S.T., on a warm sunny evening.

Cochylis baumanniana Schiff. Recorded prior to 1890 from North
Lancashire, Mr. H. W. Wilson found this pretty moth in some num-
bers at Formby on 1.vi.51.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 179

Evetria turionana Hubn. Not previously recorded from Lanca-
shire, a single specimen was beaten from pine at Formby on 11.v1.51.

Ancylis siculana Hubn. Considered a local species in Cheshire, a
number have been taken among Rhamnus frangula at Wilmslow in late
May and early June 1949/51.

Metzneria metzneriella Staint. and Aristotelia stipella Hubn. The
former was recorded for the first time for Cheshire when two speci-
mens were taken at Gatley in July 1949. A large number of seed-heads
of Uentaurea nigra were gathered in early November 1950 and kept in
a box out of doors. Large numbers of moths were bred in July 1951,
while a search on the ground produced one specimen on 16.v11.51.
Aristotelia stipella Hubn. is considered scarce in Lancashire and ex-
cept for a single specimen at Didsbury on 26.iv.51 I can find no pub-
lished record since 1890. In September and early October 1951 the red-
lined, pale yellow larvae were plentiful mining the leaves of Cheno-
podium in the Didsbury district. The moths are emerging at present
(April-May), usually between 1700-2000 hours., B.s.t., though three have
been seen drying their wings about 0830 hours. Here we have two in-
stances of insects regarded as locally scarce in the field owing to their
secretive habits, when search for their earlier stages has proved both
species to be, at least, locally common.

Telphusa triparella Zell. Not recorded for Cheshire until 1945 when
Major A. W. Boyd found the moth at Arley, | feel this insect has
been overlooked as it has since been found in several parts of the
county. On 31.vi.47 | took several flving among sweet gale (Myricu)
in the evening at Delamere. Associating the moth with Myrica J did
not recognize the species and sent them to Mr. Mansbridge for identi-
fication. The matter was allowed to rest as the accepted food, oak, was
present, though | still thought my specimens were linked with Myrica.
In early September 1950 Mr. B. Snell and I took a large number of
larvae in spun shoots of Myrica on a moor above Loch Ness. Many
were Antithesia dimidiana Sodof., but a large number made a skeleton
of the top shoots and in May 1951 many Telphusa triparella Gell.
emerged. From these the Rev. D. P. Murray kindly made a mount
and a drawing of the genitalia, which agreed with the plate in Pierce
and Metcalfe’s work. In September 1952 similar spun shoots were seen
at Delamere and have recently produced the moth. I cannot find
Myricu given as a food in any book in my possession.

Gelechia rhombella Schiff. A specimen was taken by Mr. Snell in
his garden at Bromborough on 19.vii.47 which, no doubt, fed on apple
in his orchard. This is a new record for Cheshire.

Coleophora annulatella Tengst. A specimen was taken at Didsbury
near Manchester in the same field which produced Aristotelia stipella
Hubn. In April 1952 a larval case which approximates to the descrip-
tion of C. annulatella Tengst. was found among Chenopodium gathered
last year. The larva wanders over the seeds and dead leaves but shows
no signs of feeding.

Notes and Observations

Harty APPEARANCES OF GYMNOSCELIS PUMILATA Hiip.—Mr. Byers’s
note on the capture of this insect in February is interesting as it rarely

180 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/V1I/ 1952

appears betore late March or early April. One was taken in Folkestone
on 13th February 1948 and, what is more surprising, one at Roehamp-
ton on 4th January 1928. In the latter year I took two in France, at
Pau, on 16th and 17th February. No doubt, like some other early
species, it is ready to emerge from the pupa after a very short spell of
warmer weather.—A. M. Morisy, 9 Radnor Park West, Folkestone.
IPawro2:

«

Ts LeucaNnta PALLENS L. Dovusi® BroopEep In Brirary ?—After reading
Mr. Lees article in the April number (pages 101-104) I feel I can help
a little. I was working a mercury vapour light-trap from 20th May
until 24th September last year. The accompanying graph shows the
numbers ot DL. pallens taken on each night. Kach moth was marked
before release, but it was tound that no moths returned. The breaks
in the base line of the graph indicate that there was no operating on
that night.

L. pallens, day /moth

te

rly 1937)!

I see no reason why eggs laid by the early July imagines should not
give rise to the September group. There is such a marked gap between
the two groups that it would seem unlikely that they are progeny of
late moths of the previous year.—J. Corin Hartiey, The Poplars, Ful-
bourn, Cambs. 15.iv.52.

As

(¢ 24
June

(8 28 7 17 2
Aug ust Septen ber

L&UCANIA VITELLINA HUBN. BREEDING IN ENGLAND.—With reference
to the question of Leucaunia vitellinu breeding in this country (Hnt.
Rec., 64: 103) I have looked up my diary for 1933, where, on the 26th
and 27th of August, IT have entered that a friend and J took thirty-one
vitellina at sugar in a small bay behind a stretch of sandhills on the
North coast of Cornwall. We commented on the freshness and perfect
condition of every specimeu—to which their present appearance in the
cabinet bears witness—and on the morning following capture we noticed
that more than one had deposited some cream-coloured meconium on
the glass of their pill boxes.—E. Barron Wuite, St. Merryn, Braunton,
N. Devon. 10.v.52

IMMIGRATION OF VANESSA CARDUL IN DorsET.—A second influx of V.
cardut is here. It is on a much smaller seale than the first and those
imagines that I have seen at close quarters have been a little larger

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 181

and More orange in hue than the March immigrants. Descendants of
the first influx (which I am rearing in captivity as a control) are only
just in the third larval skin. The imagines which have just arrived
here must therefore have emanated from a race whose life cycle is ‘‘out
of phase’’ with the life cycle of the early migrants. Alternatively, the
present imagines may have secured some ‘‘phase advance’”’ by breeding
at an intermediate point and in a correspondingly warmer climate.—
V. W. Puteotr, 67 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Radipole, Weymouth,
Dorset. 1.v.52.

First APPEARANCES IN 1952.—For lepidopterists, first. appearances
whether early or late in any year are always of some interest and the
following is a list of species and their respective dates that have come
to my m.v. light-trap at Arkley, S. Herts. This year the trap has been
in use every suitable evening since mid-March, and the observations so
far tend to show the general forwardness of the season.

22nd March: HKurophila badiata Schiff.; 23rd: Orthosia advenu
Schiff.; 12th April: Cyenia mendica Cl., Xylocampa areola Esp., Lycia
hirtaria Cl.; 17th: Polyploca ridens Fab.; 19th: Panolis flammea
Schiff.; 26th: Drymonia ruficornis Hufn., Hemerophila abruptaria
Thun.; 28th: Notodonta dromedarius L., Gonodontis bidentata Cl.;
30th: Pheosia tremula Cl., Notodonta ziczac L., Cilix glaucata Scop.,
Apatele rumicis ., Ochropleura plecta V.; 1st May: Lophopterysr
capucina L., Drepana lacertinaria L., Agrotis puta Hub.; 3rd: Laothoe
popult L.; Sth: Clostera curtula L.; 6th: Mimas tiliae L.; 7th: Drepana
faleataria L.; 8th: Plusia gamma L.:; 12th: Agrotis exclamationis L.,
Abrostola triplasia L.—T. G. Howarrtn, British Museum (Natural His-
tory), S. Kensington, London.

EARLY EMERGENCES IN 1952.—The following species taken locally this
vear appear to be rather earlier than usual. Drepana falcatania Ta. and
D). lacertinaria . on 19th April. Apatele psi Tu. on Ist May. Diatar-
axia oleracea L. and Abrostola tripartita Hufn. on 2nd May.—W. FE.
Minnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middx. 6.v.52.

A Note oN XYLOCAMPA AREOLA Esp. AB. ROSEA TutTTt.—Last year I bred
from eggs a large brood of this species and in March-April of this year,
when the moths appeared, I was surprised to note that nearly all of
them are tinted with pink, particularly the males which are paler. Tutt
called this form ‘‘ var. rosea.’ It is said to be the predominant form in
Gloucestershire. The colour is most noticeable when the insects first
emerge and tends to deteriorate after a few days. Tutt also said that
many other species of ‘‘ this peculiar ashy ground-colour ’’ exhibit this
pink tendency, and quoted A. tridens Schf. and A. glareosa Esp. I have
never bred the latter, but I have bred a large number of the former and
saw no signs of pink in any of them. It would be interesting to learn
of the experiences of others on this point. Perhaps it would help to
determine whether this pink form is local and, therefore, an inherited
factor.—J. Newton, 11 Oxleaze Close, Tetbury, Glos. 11.v.52.

[The only A. tridens I bred from 8. Devon was tinted with pink,
but of more than 200 bred from E. Anglia none was pink. Pink A.
glareosa are commoner in some places than in others, and in my ex-
‘perience are never found in EK. Aberdeenshire. Mr. Newton is prohably
right in thinking that they are genetic.—Ep. |

182 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 64. 15/V1I/1952

Nota ALBULA SCHIFF. IN Dorset.—I was interested to see the Note
from the Reverend F. M. B. Carr (Ent. Record., 64: 113) regarding the
occurrence of Nola albula Schiff. in Dorset. Last summer this moth
came commonly to the lighted windows of a bungalow between Ware-
ham and Swanage, where I was staying during the last fortnight of
July.—J. Antony THomrson, Milton Lodge School, Wells, Somerset.
9.7.52.

DISCLOSURES MADE BY THE M.V. Lamp.—Anyone using a m.y. light
for the first time must be impressed by the numbers of examples of
supposedly uncommon species which turn up. To quote two instances:
—By ‘orthodox’ methods of collecting I have found about ten speci-
mens of Biston straturia Hufn. in about six years. A m.v. lamp in
the same locality produced over 100 in two hours. Drymonia ruficornis
Hufn. I had never found until using the m.v. when 36 arrived on the
first night and many more subsequently.

This prompts the question, ‘‘Where have these moths been pre-
viously ?’’? I do not imagine the cases cited to be due to sudden increases
in numbers. Is it that the bulk of our moths fly too high, say tree-top
level, where the paraffin lamp would not affect them and that they have
therefore remained almost unnoticed until the advent of m.v.?—W. E.
Minnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middx. 6.v.52.

A Note on HyMENIA RECURVALIS Fas.—TI have had very considerable
experience of this insect both in India and in East Africa, where it is
a common species, and my observations lead me to disagree with one of
the remarks quoted by Dr. Cockayne in his paper at page 71 of the
March issue, namely, that it is rarely attracted by lights. On the con-
trary, both in India and East Africa I have found it to be one of the
commonest Pyrales coming to ordinary electric light, and on one occa-
sion when passing through the Suez Canal at night it swarmed at the
deck lights of my ship.

1 am inclined to agree that this species is unlikely to establish itself
as a pest in Britain. I very much doubt its ability to stand tempera-
tures much below 60° F. Here in Kampala, at 3,500 feet, it is con-
tinuously brooded, and I have records of its occurrence in Calcutta in
every month of the year.—D. G. Srvastoputo, Kampala, Uganda.
30.1V.52.

Tur LARVA or Hesperia comma LInN.—Have any of our readers
come across the larva of Hesperia comma Ls. in its native haunts?
Many years ago I determined to find this larva in its natural habitat
and in August 1925 noted where the butterfly was commonest, the
cround nearly level, and the turf very short. It was at the top of the
Sheep Leas, Horsley. On 27th June 1926 I went with the late Mr.
Worsley Wood taking with me a square piece of thick mackintosh to
kneel on. Moving foot by foot, kneeling or lying down, and almost
every time T moved putting my hand or leg on a plant of thistle, Car-
duus acaulis, T separated the tufts of sheep’s fescue grass, Festuca —
ovina. Mr. Wood did the same thing, but after a short time he gave
up and sat smoking his pipe and making caustic remarks. Fairly soon
T found a tent-like house between two tufts of grass, the floor hare
ground and the walls and roof formed of the fine hair like blades held

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 183

together by strands of silk. On the floor was a cast skin. Eventually
after five hours searching I found about two dozen houses, all very
similar, some with a little moss on the floor and sides, others with the
floor of bare earth and the sides grass only. Most of them were un-
tenanted, some had a cast skin at the bottom, and four contained a
larva of H. comma. One of these was in its last instar, two were about
to change skin for the last time, and one was in the penultimate instar.
The larvae were brown, not so black as Frohawk’s picture, and their
heads were black. JT could find nothing to indicate the presence of a
house and all were found by patiently separating tuft after tuft of
grass. With an aching back, prickled all over my hands, wrists, and
legs, and very thirsty I felt I had earned my tea.

T dug up a piece of turf and potted it at home, and placed it in a
large glass bell jar. I often looked at it, but never saw a larva exposed
by day and only once at night. They became full grown between 7th
and 13th July.—E. A. Cockayne, 8 High Street, Tring.

PARASEMIA PLANTAGINIS LL. av Swanace.—Walking on the Purbecks
last week I came across a large concentration of P. plantaginis larvae.
There were thousands of them in the space of about half a mile by two
hundred yards; it was not possible to tread without squashing some.
T collected a quantity and let them loose on the Downs near my cottage,
in the hope that the species may establish itself there.

There are still many Vanessa cardut and V. atalanta about, although
somewhat worn. Purarge aegeria and Euchloe cardamines are very
plentiful.—Lronarp TatcHELL. Swanage, Dorset. 2.v.52.

PARADICHLORBENZINE AND Mounip.—In a note at page 55 of the
February number (Ent. Rec., 64: 55) Mr. P. B. M. Allan asks whether
the addition of a small quantity of P.D.B. to a box “‘ filled, from cork
to glass’ with mould could have caused the latter to completely dis-
appear.

It has been my misfortune for the last thirty years to have had to
contend continually with mould and insect parasites in collections I
have had under my care, both private and public. In this country
(Argentina) we have not yet reached that stage where our museums are
air- and temperature-conditioned, and for the most part the collections
are housed in standard Deyrolle boxes which do not afford the same
protection as cabinets.

Over this period T have found that given equal conditions, boxes in
which there is P.D.B. are more susceptible to mould than those without
this product. This has been confirmed by our mycologists, who about a
year ago consulted me on this subject, complaining that they were being
troubled by mould in those cardboard boxes in which they had placed
P.D.B. as a deterrent to parasitic insects:

On the other hand I have never found mould in boxes in which a
small quantity of flake naphthalene has been placed, and in those cases
where mould-infected insects have been cleaned, no matter how intense
the attack, and then placed in boxes with flake naphthalene, there has
been no recurrence of the mould, even though the original boxes have
been re-employed. Unfortunately, naphthalene does not normally kill
‘insect parasites so a certain amount of P.D.B. must essentially be em-
ployed from time to time.

184 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 64. 15/V1/1952

The moulds that attack stored insects are mostly species of
Aspergillaceae, though at times species of other families or even Orders
are involved.

It would have been interesting to have known what species was con-
cerned in the case of Mr. Allan’s hairstreaks or the containing box,
since it might have been possible by experiment to decide whether this
species was susceptible to the emanations of P.D.B. As to the total
disappearance of the dead growth, for Mr. Allan’s note seems to indi-
cate that no signs of any mould remained in his box, that is something
for which IT can offer no explanation.—KennetH J. Haywarp, Institute
of Entomology, Tucuman University, Argentina.

WHITE AND PAL ForMs or LYCAENA PHLAEAS J..—I am concerned at
the Editorial footnote to my paper in the May issue of the Record.
The second sentence of this footnote seems to be quite incorrect, possibly
through a misunderstanding. The sentence says that the names dertro-
alba, ete., are ‘quite unrelated to schmidti = alba Tutt’’ but they are
in fact directly related to albu Tutt. alba Tutt was described by him
on p. 355 of Brit. Lep., vol. 8. A single long paragraph follows his
description, from p. 356 to almost the end of p. 357. Just over half-
way down he describes the following forms:—deztroalba, anteroalba,
posteroalba. Thus they are aberrations described by Tutt and must be
connected directly with his main ab. alba. He follows up by next de-
scribing another one linked with alba, namely albacaudata and then
goes on to other pale forms.

The other authors T have quoted have also clearly used ab. alba
as the basic form to describe their abs. which are of partial whiteness.
I quoted the authors’ names of those six abs. specially to make that
point clear.

It occurs to me that a misunderstanding has arisen and that it was
assumed that dextroulba, etc., were some of Leeds’s names; if they
were, then [I would agree they would have no very special connection.
But they are not Leeds’s names, because I have given his names (anti-
lacticolor, lacticolor) below. Thus the second sentence is not correct
and will be most confusing to everyone.—P. SiviTER SMITH.

[The second sentence is quite correct. The partially white phlaeas
are pathological and in no way related to ab. schmidtit = alba Tutt.
which is probably genetic. Tutt linked them together wrongly because
they were partly white and alba was completely white.—}Ep. ]

MetHops or Setting LeprpopTtera.—In an Editorial Note to Mr.
Siviter Smith’s comment on time taken in setting (Ent. Rec., 64: 56)
it is stated that setting on blocks using silk or cotton wound round is
much the quicker method than using boards and transparent strips.
This note surprised me as in my ignorance I thought the cotton method
had died out years ago and I wondered if the note might be a bait to
arouse controversy over setting methods.

It would perhaps ‘be interesting to know kow many blocks are a
sufficient stock if one uses this method, how they are stored and also
the exact procedure employed. How do loosely scaled insects such as
Deileptenia ribeata Cl. and Ellopia fasciaria J.. react to such treatment,
as it is difficult to avoid marking these insects using the board and
strip method ?

COLLECTING NOTES. 185

Setting styles and methods are a matter of personal preference
though certain conventions have become general. Whenever I see a
series of insects taken and set by different workers I always wish that
our practice was more uniform. Pins at varying angles and of different
lengths, insects at odd heights on the pins, wings flat or sloping, fore-
wings set at different angles, etc., make such series untidy and while
the insects themselves are the important item uniform treatment im-
proves the appearance of a cabinet drawer immensely.

My own preference is tor vertical pins, the insect fairly high so that
the label is readable and wings horizontal with the inner margins of
the forewings at right angles to the body. The fore legs are extended
at least in the larger moths, but I wonder why we do this especially as
in the case of the smaller insects or some obstinate ones the process can
use up a lot of time and patience and if one leg is accidentally removed,
a not uncommon occurrence, the resulting appearance of the specimen
is very unsatisfactory.—W. E. Minnion, 40 Cannonbury Avenue, Pin-
ner, Middx. 6.v.52.

[ We hope to print an article on this subject in our next issue.—Ep. |

Collecting Notes

SELENIA BILUNARIA Esp. AB. NIGRATA GoRDON SmitH.—On 12th April
one moth of this dark chocolate aberration, which has no white mark-
ings, was attracted to my light near Gainsborough, Lines. Several other
specimens which were also taken were much darker than the type.
R. Pricuarp, Woodcroft Lane, Bebington, Cheshire. 25.iv.52.

Norges FRoM West Kent.—I have been unable to do much collecting
even on my own sallows: they have been wet on so many evenings and
very little came off when I did shake them. The only insect that flew
in, in quantity and then only a few, was Selenia bilunaria, and it oc-
curred to me to wonder if possibly they are getting darker down south.
Other opinions on this might be of interest. I took one specimen of
Orthosia gothica with a well marked pale narrow band inside the outer
margin of the fore wings, never seen by me before, except that it is just
traceable on one other specimen in my series.. At the S.E.U.S.S. Con-
gress at Eastbourne on 24-28 April, admittedly rather early, few insects
were seen, but Parurge aegeria was on the wing at Chailey on 27th
April.—G. V. Buti, White Gables, Sandhurst, Kent. 5.v.52.

Licgut-trar RECORDS IN SOMERSET, JANUARY TO APRIL.—/Jaunuury.—
The weather throughout was about average, both for rainfall and tem-
perature. Operophtera brumata continued until 6th, and a solitary
Exapate congelatella came along on 5th. Depressaria ciliella on 6th and
15th, but D. purpurea and Theria rupicapraria were very common from
5th onwards.

February.—The month was about average for temperature, but was
decidedly dry with rainfall only 37% of the normal. TT. rupicapraria
continued until 19th. One specimen only of the usually common
Depressaria applana on 6th. Phigalia pilosaria, Erannis progemmaria,
Orneodes heradactyla and Alsuphila aescularia were first taken on 16th,
17th, 19th and 20th respectively and were subsequently common.

186 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/VI/1952

March.—In spite of the cold snap of the last few days the tempera-
ture was much above the normal, whilst the rainfall was slightly above.
With the exception of D. applana, the February moths continued well
into mid-March; the Orthosias were much commoner than _ usual,
especially gothicu, gracilis, ancerta, cruda, and stabilis. Xylocampa
areola was very common after 14th, and included some beautiful rosy
forms. Cualostigia multistrigaria and Biston strataria were first seen
on 16th, but numbers have been below average. Earophila badiata,
Selenia bilunaria, and Diurneuw fagella abundant after 18th. Gymnoscelis
pumilata on 21st completes the list of moths for the month. Early
butterflies seen—Aglais urticae and Gonepteryx rhamni (8th), Nymphalis
io (11th), and Vanessa cardwi (24th).

April.—Both rainfall and temperature about average, but there was
far too much wind for the time of year. Depressaria yeatiana came as a
straggler on lst; Depressaria zephyrella and Peronea hastiana on 3rd.
Fortunately. the best nights of the month were the Saturdays, 12th and
26th. On 12th the ‘ bag’ included Hemerophila abruptaria (abundant
since), Colocasia coryli, Orthosia munda, Dasycampa rubiginea, Cerastis
rubricosa, Hupithecia satyrata, Ectropis punctulata and the immigrant
Nomophila noctuella (my earliest record for this species).

Phlogophora meticulosa (16th), Lycia hirtaria (19th), and Trichop-
teryx carpinatu (17th) were late. A single specimen of the usually
abundant Depressaria arenella on 18th—the only one seen this year.
NXanthorhoe spadicearia (20th) and Opisthograptis luteolata (25th) were
about average, but Abrostola tripartita on 27th is remarkably early date.

The second good Saturday (26th) produced the first specimens of
the following: —Drymonia ruficornis, Cerura vinula, Pheosia tremula,
Notodonta ziczac, Graptolitha ornitopus, Polyploca ridens (the first I
have taken here), Conistra vaccini, Xylomyges conspicillaris, Chloro-
clystis rectangulata, Eupithecia castigata and Ligdia adustata. A male
Cycnia mendica on 28th, and on 30th the first capture in the trap of
Cucullia verbasci, plus one Epirrhoe alternata.

The first dates for the Spring butterflies are: —Pararye uegeria and
Pieris brassicae (16th), Euchloe cardamines and Celastrinw argiolus
(18th), Pieris rapae (19th), and P. napr (25th).

Of the other Orders, only the Trichopterons Stenophylax permistus
and Limnephilus auricula have appeared, but both species have been
very common, the first dates being 26th March and 18th April respec-
tively.—A. H. Turner, Bickenhall Somerset. 5.v.52.

DIPTERA

LEOPOLDIUS SIGNATUS WIED. (CONOPIDAE) NEAR Briston (GLOS.).—
On 30th September 1951 a male and three females of this apparently
rare Conopid were taken at Henbury, near Bristol (Glos.). The species
was seen in some numbers sitting on bramble leaves, in the character-
istic Conops attitude with wings well extended, immediately below a
quantity of ivy blossom, but due to their being mistaken for the com-
mon Conops quadrifasciatu. Deg., to which species they bear a very
remarkable resemblance, only four specimens were taken. Unfortun-
ately a chance to revisit the same spot came only after the weather had
turned much colder and no specimens of Leopoldiws were seen on this
occasion.

COLEOPTERA. 1&7

From a preliminary examination it was thought that these four
specimens were all males and therefore represented two distinct species,
but Mr. J. E. Collin, who very kindly examined them, identified them
as belonging to the two sexes of signutus. The ventral process, or
theka, generally present on the fifth sternite in females of this family,
is quite inconspicuous in the case of the female of J. signatus, so that
it is not easy to decide to which sex a specimen ot this species may be-
long without a knowledge of other structural differences in the two
sexes. A good sexual character will be found in the structure of the
tarsi; 1n the male the tarsi are almost as long as the corresponding
tibiae and the tarsal segments are very clearly separated from one
another; in the case of the female, on the other hand, the tarsal seg-
ments which are rather broader appear to be ‘crowded’ together so
that the separation between them is not easily visible, and the tarsi are
only about two-thirds the length of tibiae.

Although all the specimens seen were resting not far from the ivy,
none was observed actually to visit the flowers. Ivy blossom appears,
however, to have a certain attraction for the species as evidenced by
the record of capture of signatws on these flowers in Hertfordshire at
end of September (see Colyer and Hammond, Flies of the British Isles,
p. 179). Existing records appear to show that where this species occurs
it is usually confined to a very restricted area. Wainwright’s records
(Ent. mon. Mag., 71: pp. 179-181, 1935, and 74: pp. 85-89, 1938) from
a single locality on Abberley Hill (Wores.), in 1933 and in each of the
subsequent four years, suggest that here was a well established colony of
the species which had not strayed from its habitat for at least five years.
It is hoped that the Henbury specimens may prove to be members of a
similar colony.—E. C. M. p’Assis-Fonseca, 18 Grange Park, Henleaze,
Bristol.

COLEOPTERA

Recorps oF StTapHyLinus Spp.—Mr. Allen’s records of these species
(Hut. Rec., 64: 126) in the southern counties induce me to send a tew
notes on these insects from Cumberland by way of comparison.

Staphylinus pubescens Deg. Generally common in spring and early
summer. On one occasion T saw a large number sitting on heaps of dry
horse droppings in a pasture field, the colour of the beetles remarkab!y
similar to the dung, making them difficult to detect until they moved.

S. stercorarius Ol. Uncommon in Cumberland but widely distr:-
buted. On the coast sandhills I have taken it several times in rabbit
hurrows among the rodents’ excrement.

S. parumtomentosus Stein. Apparently rare, taken on one occasion
only. This was a specimen on the wing on the outskirts of Carlisle one
sunny day in August 1931.

S. erythropterus L. Taken in numerous places in the county under
stones in grassy places, at tree roots, and frequently running on roads.

S. fulvipes Scop. Another rarity, one specimen among wood ants
near Keswick many years ago.

S. (Ocypus) olens Mill. Generally common in gardens, often to be
seen running on roads and paths with tail erect.

S. (O.) similis F. Not very frequent near Carlisle in decayed garden
rubbish.

188 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/V1/1952

S. (O.) fuscatus Grev. Uncommon, several near Carlisle over a long
period of years, always under stones, one high up in the Pennines and
pa es on the coast at Silloth.

(O.) globulifer Fourc. Fairly common in dec aying vegetation in
gar den near Carlisle and on the coast.

(O.)aeneocephalus Deg. Common under stones, in flood refuse,
pers Heats of cut grass.

S. (O.) brunnipes F. Of frequent occurrence in moss, heaps of edee
clippings, and under haystacks.—F. H. Day. Binckwell Lodge West,

Carlisle. 20.1v.52.
Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902)

DISTRIBUTION OF HEMARIS FUCIFORMIS AND H. tITyus.—Possibly the
continuous change in the synonymy of these species has had something
to do with the doubt attaching to some of the recorded localities for
these insects. First as to H. fucitformis (the honeysuckle species),
Meyrick says, ‘‘ Britain to Sutherland, rather common.’’ This in my
experience is nonsense, possibly Mr. Meyrick will answer that this
Opinion is simply due to my ignorance, which is probably the correct
explanation of my present position. The only Scotch records I can un-
earth, however, are the following: Dumfries (Lennon), Renfrew, very
rare (Paisley Nat. Hist. Soc. Record Book), Roxburgh, Hawick dist.,
rare—Goldielands (Guthrie), and |! suspect not one of these records
refers to our fuciformis. There are two records from Cumberland—
Orton, Salkeld, common (Wilkinson); and one from Cheshire—Bidston,
scarce (Brockholes). Do these refer to fuciformis? Otherwise Yorks,
Lincoln, Northampton, Notts, Leicester and Warwick form the northern
boundaries of this species in the British Islands, which appears also to
he unrecorded from Jreland. Second, as to H. tityus (the scabious
species), Meyrick says. ‘‘ Britain to the Clyde, Aberdeen, Ireland,
rather common.’ We have records, not only from Aberdeen, but trom
Argyle, Nairn, Perth, Stirling, as well as Wigton, Roxburgh and Ren-
frew. Strangely, only three Welsh counties, Glamorgan, Merioneth
and Montgomery, give us records, yet one suspects that it is widely
distributed there. There are now so many excellent lepidopterists in
Scotland that one ought to have little difficulty in getting the neces-
sary evidence as to the occurrence of H. fuwciformis in the recorded
localities, whilst the north of England lepidopterists should be able at
onee to say whether Cheshire and Cumberland do really produce, or
have produced, H. fuciformis.—J. W. Torr.

Current Literature

Trans. Herts. Nar. Hist. Soc. anp Firitp Crus, 23: 230: Report
on Lepidoptera Observed in Hertfordshire in 1948 and 1949, by P. J.
Bell. This is a summary of observations on Hertforshire Lepidoptera
compiled from notes sent in by ten observers during the years stated.
Three new species were added to the county list: Agrotis vestigialis
(1948), Huyhyia rubidata (1948) and Raphia frater (1949). The latter
is a Noctuid new to Britain.

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189

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Aberrations of ‘British acrolepidopter
By Ei x GocksyNp, DNs bee ee
PLATE VIIL.

[The aberrations described and named in this paper are in the
Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection in the British Museum. }

AGROTIDAE.
Agrotis segetum Schiffermiiller ab. paradoxa ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

In well marked specimens of segetwm there are two narrow dark
parallel transverse lines external to the basal area and two others
internal to the claviform. In this aberration the area between the outer
line of the first pair and the inner line of the second pair is darkened;
there is also an indistinct transverse line just external to the post-median
and the area between this and the margin is also darkened. There is a
strong contrast between the pale median area and these two dark areas.

Type 3d: Loc. incog. (F. Bond coll.) R. Adkin coll.

Agrotis segetum Schiffermiiller ab. bilineata ab. nov.

The antemedian and postmedian lines are very well marked; there
are no other markings except the reniform, the faintly outlined orbi-
cular, dark dots on the costa, and two incomplete lines at the base. The
ground colour is pale.

Type 6: Loc. incog. F. J. Hanbury coll. B.M., 1938, 683.

The specimen is figured by Barrett, Pl. 125, fig. 1b, but the ground
colour is rather too dark, the orbicular too distinct, and the claviform
too long.

Agrotis segetum Schiffermiiller ab. seminigra ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

The whole of the forewing from the base to the outer border of the
reniform is heavily suffused with black and the costa as far out as the
subterminal line is blackish; the rest of the wing is pale and normal.
The thorax is pale.

Type ¢: Felixstowe, vii.1901, A. E. Gibbs. Rothschild coll.

Agrotis segetum Schiffermiiller ab. mediocuneata ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

Forewing—ground colour pale; reniform and orbicular pale filled in
the centre with blackish brown; there is a streak of blackish brown run-
ning from the antemedian line to the orbicular, broadening and filling
the space between the orbicular and reniform, and continuing as a still
broader stripe to the postmedian line forming a roughly pear-shaped
dark area in which the stigmata stand out conspicuously; there is also
a narrow blackish band along the termen; the rest of the wing from the
base to the postmedian is faintly irrorated, the transverse lines indis-
tinct and the area outside the postmedian is almost clear.

Type 2: Sandown, Isle of Wight, 3.x.1907, J. Taylor. Bankes coll.

Agrotis segetum Schiffermiiller ab. semiconfluens ab. nov.

The reniform and orbicular are united by a narrow isthmus.

Type ¢: Tring, Herts., bred 21.vi.1939 by A. L. Goodson. Cockayne
coll.

Paratype ¢ : Rannoch, vi.1906, L. G. Esson. (Gibbs coll.) Rothschild
coll.

190 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/VIL/ 1952

Agrotis segetum Schiffermiiller ab. marginata ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

The ground colour of the forewing is blackish brown as far as the
subterminal line, from this to the termen it 1s pale with a row of mar-
ginal interneural black dots and a faint shading outside the subterminal
line. 7

Type 9°: Gullane, 1907, W. Renton. (Massey coll.) Cockayne coll.

Agrotis vestigialis Hufnagel ab. semiconfluens ab. nov.
There is a narrow union between the orbicular and reniform.

Type do: Felixstowe, vii.1901, A. E. Gibbs. Rothschild coll.
Allotype @: Camber, Sussex, 13.vili.1938, G. V. Bull. Cockayne
coll.

Agrotis vestigialis Hufnagel ab. virgata ab. nov. (Fig. 5).

The whole of the forewing between the antemedian and postmedian
lines is filled in with blackish brown to form a broad median band, in
which the pale orbicular and the pale outline of the reniform stand out
conspicuously ; there is no white along the median nervure.

Type 9: Porthcawl, 2.ix.1911, H.W. (H. T. G. Watkins coll.) B.M.,
1926, 209. .

EXPLANATION OF PLATE VIII.

Fig. Agrotis segetum ab. paradoxa. _g. Type
Fig Agrotis segetum ab. seminigra. ¢. Type
Fig. Agrotis segetum ab. mediocuneata. Q. Type.

Agrotis segetum ab. marginata. Q. Type.
Agrotis vesligialis ab. virgata. Q. Type.
Lycophotia varia ab. nigrescens. Q. Type.
Scotogramma trifolii ab. robinsoni. gG. Type.
Omphaloscelis lunosa ab. nigribasalis. ¢. Type.
Fig. 9. Thalpophila matura ab. paradoxa. ©Q. Type.
Fig. 10. Rhizedra lutosa ab. postradiata. Q. Type.

Fig. 11. Nonagria sparganti ab. nigrosignata. ¢. Tyne.
Fig. 12. Thyatira pyritoides ab. miranda. Q. Type.

Fig. 13. Tethea ocularis ab. mediofusca. Q. Type.

0g
Oe cea oe a

Agrotis vestigialis Hufnagel ab. indistincta ab. nov.

In the male the ground colour of the forewing is very pale and all _
the dark markings are replaced by pale brownish grey; the hindwing is
whitish with or without a pale brown. border. The thorax is pale with
the usual dark markings replaced by pale brown and the abdomen is
very pale brownish white.

The female is similar but slightly darker.

Type 6: Sandwich, 27.vi.1936, A. J. Bowes. B.M., 1943, 58.

Allotype 9: Sligo, 1892, P. Russ. F. J. Hanbury coll. B.M., 1938,
683.

Paratypes 2 ¢6¢,192: 1o¢ Felixstowe, vii.1901, A. E. Gibbs. Roths-
child coll. 1 ¢ Caistor-on-Sea, Norfolk, 14-20.viii.1920, W. J. Brockle-
hurst. Cockayne coll. 1 9 Sligo, 1892, P. Russ. F. J. Hanbury coll.
B.M., 1938, 683.

Lycophotia varia de Villers ab. nigrescens ab. nov. (Fig. 6).

Forewing—ground colour deep purplish black with the basal, ante-
and postmedian lines pale purplish; subterminal line reduced to a row

VOL. 64. PLATE VIII.

aiid

;

eons ee

Note: The moths are reproduced slightly smaller than the
natural size.

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. 191

of small dots very little paler than the ground colour; orbicular absent,
reniform white and conspicuous.

Hindwing: dark brown, paler towards base.

Type 2: Devon, McArthur (Bright’s sale, 1900). Christy coll.

Scotogramma trifolu Hufnagel ab. robinsoni ab. nov. (Fig. 7).

On the forewing the basal area is darkened with wavy transverse lines
and clouding; the inner part of the median area is whitish grey with
the orbicular stigma paler; there is a blackish transverse band occupy-
ing the outer part of the median area, wide at the costa and including
the reniform, but narrower between the reniform and the inner margin,
bounded externally by the postmedian line; the whole of the marginal
area external to the postmedian is dark grey with the subterminal line
represented by a row of black wedges. On the hindwing the basal area
is whitish grey, the postmedian line is represented by a row of blackish
dots on the nervures and the nervures themselves are blackish.

Type 6: Lymington, Hants., 17.vii.1951. H.S. and P. J. Robin-
son. Cockayne coll.

Omphaloscelis lunosa Haworth ab. nigribasalis ab. nov. (Fig. 8).

The area on the forewing from the basal line to the antemedian line
is filled with black scales as in Agrochola lychnidis Schiffermiiller ab.
mgribasalis Cockayne; the area between the postmedian and subter-
minal lines is darker than the rest of the wing.

Type 6: Arkley, Herts., 20.ix.1951, at light. T. G. Howarth. B.M.,
1951, 622.

Omphaloscelis lunosa Haworth ab. postnigrescens ab. nov.

The forewing is normal in colour; the hindwing is to a very great
extent covered with black scales, but the nervures remain pale and there
are a variable number of pale scales in some of the interneural spaces.

Type Q: Arkley, Herts., 11.ix.1951, at light. T. G. Howarth. B.M.,
1951, 622.

Thalpophila matura Hufnagel ab. paradoxa ab. nov. (Fig. 9).

On the forewing the basal area is pale; the area between the basal
line and the antemedian line is unicolorous dark chocolate brown; the
inner part of the median area is pale, but that part external to the
orbicular and claviform stigmata and the whole of the marginal area is
unicolorous dark chocolate brown. The hindwing has the usual straw
coloured basal and dark brown marginal portions.

Type 2: Purley, Surrey. Wallis Norton. Cockayne coll.

Rhizedra lutosa Hiibner ab. postradiata ab. nov. (Fig. 10).

On the forewing there is a broad black subcostal streak running out-
wards from the base and another black streak running along the median
nervure and extending on either side of it; from both these streaks thin
black lines run on each side of the nervures out to the termen; there
is a third shorter and broader black streak not so well defined running
along nervure 1. The hindwing with the exception of the basal area is
thickly powdered with black scales and the nervures are very black
leaving the interneural spaces pale and giving a radiated appearance.
‘The abdomen is powdered with black scales except along the posterior
edge of each somite.

192 | ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII/1952

Type 2: Freshwater, Isle of Wight, 4-11.x.1951. E. W. Classey and
H. S. Robinson. Cockayne coll.

Nonagria sparganiu Esper ab. nigrosignata ab. nov. (Fig. 11).

On the forewing there is a short black streak at the base running
along the median nervure; there is a black spot between 2 and 3, and
another occupying the lower end of the reniform; there is an oval black
spot in the upper or costal part of the reniform, the external outline
forming the external border of the stigma, and there are scattered
black scales uniting this with the black spot in the lower part; along the
termen there is a row of black interneural dots, from each of which dark
scales run out into the inner half of the fringe.

Type 6: Isle of Wight, vili.1919. Haynes coll. Cockayne coll.

THYATIRIDAE.
Thyatira pyritoides Hufnagel (derasa Linnaeus) ab. miranda ab. nov.
(ie sar):

On the forewing the basal area is normal, and there is the usual
oblique white stripe running from the costa to the inner margin and
the dark band just external to it running to a point just internal to the
orbicular; the white band along the costa is present but it is broken by
a thin dark brown line and another less dark just external to it, both of
which run obliquely up from the reniform; between the oblique white
stripe, the white band along the costa and the white loops distal to the
median area the space is filled with dark brown tinted with orange
especially towards the inner margin; externally this ends in three dark
brown spikes pointing towards the termen, limited by two thin blackish
brown lines, which are the normal markings greatly accentuated; near
the tornus there is a dark mark bounded internally and externally with
white; the oblique white stripe near the termen is less sharply defined
than usual and is slightly deflected on reaching the dark mark at the
tornus; the white loops along the termen are accentuated. The hind-
wing has the dark band across the middle more distinct than usual, but
the marginal dark band is paler than normal.

Type. 2: Scarborough, bred vi.1934 by H. W. Head from eggs sup-
plied by A. Smith. B.M., 1951, 268.

The wings on the left side and the abdomen are stained.

Tethea ocularis Linnaeus ab. mediofusca ab. nov. (Fig. 138).

Normally the median area is bounded on each side by two thin
parallel lines, but in this aberration it is bounded by a single thicker
line on each side; in the median area there is a fuscous band which in-
cludes the reniform and orbicular stigmata but which becomes narrower
towards the inner margin; parallel with the antemedian line but nearer
to the base is a broad fuscous line and between it and the antemedian is
a distinct pale band; there is a similar pale band external to the post-
median line bounded externally by a broad fuscous line; in other respects
the wing is normal. The hindwing is normal.

Type @: Cranleigh, Surrey, Leslie Weller. Cockayne coll.

In our September number Dr. Cockayne will describe, name and
illustrate some further Aberrations of British Geometridae, including
Mesotype virgata, Chiasmia clathrata, Abraxas sylvata, A. grossulari-
ata, and Selenia tetralunaria.

COLIAS CROCEUS FOURCROY AB. DUPLEX COCKERELL. 193

Colias croceus Fourcroy ab. duplex Cockerell
The story of a fraud

By EK. A. Cockayne, DOM., FRCP:

Cockerell (Entomologist, 1889, 22, 6) describes ab. duplex as ‘‘upper
wings like helice, lower typical; or left typical, and right like helice’’,
and cites The Entomologist, 11, 52, and August 1876. I cannot trace
the second reference, but the first refers to a paper by Edward A. Fitch
(Entomologist, 1878, 11, 52, Pl. 1). On the coloured plate, fig. 5, has the
forewings helice and the hindwings croceus and is Mr. P. H. Harper’s
female variety taken near Enfield, Middlesex, in 1877, and fig. 11 has
the left side crocews female and the right side helice, and is Mr. W. P.
Weston’s curious specimen taken at Finchley, Middlesex, 7th August
1876.

Two similar specimens are figured by Frohawk (Varieties of British
Butterflies, 1938, Pl. 3, figs. 2 and 3). Fig. 2 is described as ‘‘Herma-
phrodite captured at Finchley, Middlesex, 7.8.1876. R. side ab. pallida,
L. side croceus. Rothschild collection’’. Fig. 3 is described as ‘‘cap-
tured by H. Edwards, 7.2.1878, in the W. of England. Purchased by
W. P. Weston. Upper wings ab. pallida, hindwings croceus. Roths-
child collection’’. Both specimens are at Tring and when [ first saw
them they were set high on continental pins. The specimen with the
right side helice and the left side croceus has a label saying ‘‘Weston’s
coll. Finchley, Middlesex, 7.8.1876’’, and this agrees with the data
given by Fitch for the one on his Pl. 1, fig. 11, but I do not think it is
the original label. It is female on both sides and Frohawk’s description
of it as hermaphrodite is incorrect. When Mr. A. L. Goodson re-set
it in English style it fell into two parts in the relaxing tin. The fraud
had been carried out very cleverly; a cut had been made through the
thorax of a helice and a croceus in such a way that the two parts fitted
exactly when gummed together

The specimen with the forewings helice and the hindwings croceus
has a label on it signed by W. Hawker Smith saying that when it was
re-set it was found to be artificial and that it was examined by Dr.
Jordan. There are two other labels, one in copper-plate handwriting
says ‘‘W. of England, 1877’’, the other says ‘‘West of England, 1877.
Purchased W. P. Weston of H. Edwards, Feb. 7, 1878’’.

If Frohawk had read the labels he would have learnt that it was a
fraud and would not have figured it. Apart from this he has copied
the one label incorrectly. It was bought in February and not caught at
that time of year. The locality on both labels is different from that
given by Fitch for the specimen figured by him PI. 1, fig. 5, and Fitch
does not say that it was bought by W. P. Weston from H. Edwards in
February 1878. The one he figured was in W. H. Harper’s collection
and the Harper collection was not sold until 1884. When Mr. Goodson
relaxed it in order to re-set it it fell into two parts again.

It seems to me unlikely that the specimens figured by Fitch were
frauds. According to him one was caught in 1876 and the other in 1877.
If the labels are correct there was little time for fraud before they were
figured in 1878, and they were at that time in different collections. It
is, however, possible that someone manufactured the two insects and

194 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII /1952

sold each to a different collector after having supplied it with a fictitious
data label, but it is more probable that someone perpetrated the frauds
at a later date and copied Fitch’s plate. If so it is surprising that the
label on one agrees with that given by Fitch, whereas that on the other
does not agree.

If the specimens figured by Fitch were genuine and these in the
Rothschild collection are copies of them, the genuine ones may still exist
in some collection. If anyone has seen them and knows where they are,
I should like to be informed. There seems to be no hope of solving the
mystery in any other way.

Notes on breeding Polyommatus icarus Rott.

and Foodplants for Blues
By R. C. Dyson.

Dr. Cockayne’s leading article (Hnt. Rec., 64, 157) on the causation
factors of aberrations in Blues, has prompted me to record the results
of breeding a small batch of P. icarws in 1951. I obtained ova from a
P. warus ab. arcuata, this female was rather small and the arcuate form
was more pronounced on one side. I regret that the larvae were rather
neglected owing to pressure of work, and adequate foodplant was not
provided; consequently the resulting brood were not very large in size.

_ I did not count the ova or how many hatched, but 41 larvae pupated,
4 of which failed to produce an imago. 19 males and 18 females emerged
and can be classified as follows : —

MALES FEMALES
14 normal 6 normal
1 spots enlarged, tending towards’ 1 semi-arcuata—one side
arcuata 1 arcuata one side
1 semi-arcuata 3 arcuata—both sides
1 arcuata 2 arcuata with baswyuncta one side
1 arcuata-basyjuncta 3 arcuata-basijuncta
1 basijuneta 1 arcuata one side, basiuncta
both sides

1 bt Inigrum-basyuncta

It is possible that the parent had basijuncta tendencies, but I did
not notice this, or it may have paired with a basijuncta male.

Unfortunately I had not the commonsense to pair two arcuata forms
to produce an F2 generation, but I will most certainly attempt it at
the first opportunity.

Foodplants. I came to the conclusion in 1951 that it is impossible
to breed the Blues successfully without adequate supplies of established
foodplants growing in flower-pots. This can be attained in two ways,
firstly, by digging up the plants in the wild, which is a difficult matter
with the Horse-shoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa), owing to its long tap
root, and as Dr. Cockayne says, the disadvantage of a probable intro-
duction of eggs from a wild female. Seedling plants can sometimes be
found on steep banks which do establish themselves much better than
the older plants. In the case of Bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
it is really only practical to dig up the plants in the early spring before

A METHOD OF MOUNTING GENITALIA. 195

much growth is made, and it is then difficult to differentiate the true
plant from Hop trefoil.

The second method, and in my opinion the best, is to collect seed
and raise the plants at home.

In 1951 I collected seeds of H. comosa, L. corniculatus and Anthyllis
vulneraria. The seed was sown in October in gentle heat, pricked out
into seed boxes, potted into small pots in early spring, and placed in a
cool frame. I now have nice plants of each, approximately five inches
across, H. comosa is much slower growing than the other two and will
probably take another season to produce large plants with plenty of
foliage. .

Heat is only a luxury, the seed will germinate outside in spring
but naturally it will take longer to obtain large plants. Four or fie
plants can then be transferred to a large pot when required without
fear of the plants wilting or dying. As in so many things in this life,
successful breeding of lepidoptera can only be accomplished by careful
planning and preparation, two or even three years ahead.

[This is a valuable contribution. If we take insects approaching
arcuata or arcuata on one side and include bi Inigrum. as a form deter-
mined by the same gene, the ratio of normal to arcuata is 21:16, which
is close to the 1:1 ratio expected if arcuata is dominant. I am assum-
ing that the unknown male parent was normal. Alternatively the
figures would fit those expected of a recessive if the male parent were
heterozygous for the arcuata gene. If it had been possible to obtain a
pairing of arcuata x arcuata this could have been decided. If arcuata
is dominant the pairing should have given 1 normal: 2 heterozygous
arcuata: 1 homozygous arcuata, and we should have learnt what homo-
zygous arcuata looks like. Basijuncta is presumably independent of
arcuata and the ratio of normal to basijuncta is 28:9, which is very
close to the 3:1 ratio expected if basijuncta is recessive, assuming again
that the male parent was normal.

It is to be hoped that other entomologists will repeat the experi-
ment and, if possible, obtain an F2 generation by pairing arcuata x
arcuata.—ED. |

A Method of Mounting Genitalia, etc. for

incorporation into collections of pinned insects
By D. Keita McK. Kevan.

In many groups of insects, it is necessary to examine microscopic-
ally various structures not readily seen without dissection. These in-
clude such things as mouthparts, etc., and especially the male (and
sometimes female) genitalia.

Four methods of preserving these structures are commonly in use :—
(1) By keeping the material in preservative in small tubes or vials.

(2) By making conventional microscope slides of the dissected parts.

(3) By mounting the objects dry on cards which are pinned with the
insects or which are the same as those on which the insects
themselves are mounted.

(4) By sealing the objects with some form of mounting medium between
a strip of thin celluloid or other transparent plastic sheet and
a small coverslip (cf. Britten in Eltringham, 1930: 102-3).

196 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16 / VIT/1952

Methods 1 and 2 suffer from the disadvantage that it is impossible
to keep together, in a convenient manner, the original specimen from
which the object came and the part dissected out. Some method of
cross-check and reference numbers is thus needed between the collec-
tion of whole mounts and the dissected parts, leading to errors even
on the part of the original worker, not to mention the possibility that
the two collections may become separated with the passage of time!
It may be possible to pin fluid-preserved material with the original
specimens, by means of the cork of the tube, but the preservative will
evaporate sooner or later and will constantly have to be replaced un-
less some special sealing material (which must be replaced every ime
the object is examined) is used.

Method 3 gets over the main objection to.methods 1 and 2 but has
several distinct disadvantages otherwise. Shrivelling and distortion
may occur, the object, being exposed, is liable to become damaged or
displaced and, most important, it is impossible to examine the object
by transmitted light.

Method 4 is the most satisfactory and is probably ideal for certain
purposes, especially in connexion with minute insects, but it has one
major drawback (also shared by certain types of microscope slide pre-
paration) and that is that the object becomes flattened, often losing its
original shape, and the relationship of the various parts may become
distorted (cf. Eltringham, I.c.: 37). Cooper (1947) suggests using cello-
phane as a substitute for a coverslip (although he considers that the
latter is probably the more satisfactory) and, since this material is
flexible, the same degree of distortion does not result. But for rather
larger or thicker objects than those with which he was concerned, the
resultant irregular surface of the cellophane would be far from satis-
factory.

It would doubtless be possible to modify Britten’s method by means
of a ‘ring’ of celluloid separating the main strip from the coverslip,
but, although I have not used this method, I am of the opinion that it
would be very time-consuming. As an alternative, I suggest the fol-
lowing method of making ‘ cells’? from Bristol board: —

The board is cut into normal mounting strips—say 2” x 3”—and
then, by means of an ordinary office letter punch*, a circular hole a
fraction less than a quarter of an inch in diameter is made at one end
of each strip and over this hole is fixed (by means of whatever mount-
ing medium is preferred for the completed preparation) a quarter-inch
square coverslip. The coverslips may either be cut from standard sizes
by means of a writing-diamond or may be ordered cut to size. A stock
of these cells is prepared, allowed to dry off and stored ready for use.

When it is desired to make a permanent mount, a cell is placed
cover-slip down and a small drop of mounting medium is put in the
cavity (7.e. on the coverslip). The object is then arranged in the
mountant (after such preliminaries as would be needed for the prepara-
tion of a microscope slide or one of Britten’s mounts) and a second
coverslip (of the same size as the first and also preferably with a very
small drop of the mountant upon it) is carefully placed over the object
which is thus sealed in a cavity of a depth fae to the thickness of the

*Small punches which make only a single hole are also available.

A METHOD OF MOUNTING GENITALIA. 197

Bristol board. Data are then written on the strip and a pin put
through the ‘solid’ part of the completed mount which is allowed to
dry off before being transferred to its final position below the speci-
men from which the object was dissected. The complete preparation
is both neat and convenient.

Variation of the ‘ ply’ of the Bristol board selected for the cells
regulates the depth of the cavity according to requirements. The dia-
meter of the cavity is probably sufficiently large for most purposes hut
where larger objects are to be mounted, the size of the card strip and
the hole punched in it would, of course, need to be increased, using a
different type of punch (or a cork-borer) for the latter. The size of the
coverslip would also be increased so as to be just sufficiently large to
overlap the margins of the hole.

The mountant used depends largely on individual preference, the
type of object and degree of transparency required. Personally, I
use a chloral gum in most instances for the genitalia of Orthoptera
since obiects may usually be placed in it with a thinimum of preliminary
treatment, clearing being largely automatic and not excessive. Other
workers may prefer Euparal, polyvinyl aleohols or Canada balsam. The
amount of mounting medium to be used in the cavity will be judged by
experience, but the droplet should cover about two-thirds of the area
of the lower coverslip and the meniscus should be distinctly visible when
the cell is viewed horizontally.

A somewhat similar method to the above, using standard coverslips,
has long been known (cf. Britten, l.c.) but it has been used mainly for
larger objects, being too cumbersome for most genitalia. Rehn (1948)
describes a modification which he finds useful for the mounting of the
wings of cockroaches and similar objects. His method is to cut one end
of a Bristol board strip (of fairly large size) to a U-shape, the distance
between the arms being appropriate to the size of the object it is wished
to mount. The square coverslips, of conventional standard sizes, are
affixed in the same way as in the method described above but one edge
is free, corresponding to the edge of the Bristol board strip which has
been cut away. The advantage of this method for larger objects is
that it makes allowances for the contraction of the larger quantities of
mounting medium involved by permitting additional amounts of the
medium to be added, if necessary, by way of the ‘ open’ edge.

I have to thank my father, Mr. D. K. Kevan, of Edinburgh, for
suggesting the above method.

REFERENCES.

Cooper, B. A. 1947. Carded Beetles with Balsam-mounted Genitalia. Amat. ent.
Soc. Leajfl., 19: 2 pp.

Eltringham, H. 1930. Histological and Illustrative methods for Entomologists.
Oxford. xii + 139 pp. + 1 pl.

Rehn, J. W. G. 1948. Permanent Mounts of Dissections to be Kept with Pinned
Specimens. Ent. News, Philad., 59: 242-243.

Waat Were THey ?—‘‘ Our road was in some places filled with an
exceedingly beautiful insect, in form something like a caterpillar, but
shorter and thicker, and covered with a fur-like velvet of the brightest
scarlet’? (from Life in Abyssinia, by Mansfield Parkyns, 1853. Vol.
I, page 138).

198 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/V1IL/1952

The Lycaenidae of Hampshire Chalk Downs

By Pavut H. Hottoway, F.R.E.S.

The distance between St. Catherine’s Hill, Winchester, and Shaw-
ford Downs, my nearest chalk localities, is approximately three miles.
The biological and botanical conditions are almost identical, yet there
is some contrast in the insect population. Of the Lycaenidae, the family
attracting our greatest attention, only two species appear in roughly
the same numbers, namely, Polyommatus icarus Rott. and Lycaena
phlaeas Linn. It may be of interest to record here the incidence of the
remaining species : —

St. Catherine’s Hill. Shawford Downs.
Cupido minimus Fuessl. Fairly common.: Abundant.
Aricia agestis Schiff. Abundant. Scarce.
Lysandra coridon Poda. Common. Abundant.
Lysandra bellargus Rott. Abundant. Formerly common,
now rarely seen.
Callophrys rubi Linn. Common. Scarce.

The ‘Skippers’ Hrynnis tages Linn., Pyrgus malvae Linn., Thymeli-
cus sylvestris Poda and Ochlodes venata Br. & Grey are common gener-
ally ; Melanargia galathea Linn. abounds at Shawford but is less common
on the Hill. Noteworthy among the Heterocera are Zygaena filipendulae
Linn. and Z. trifolii Esp., and on the southern slopes of St. Catherine’s
Hill a fair number of Procris geryon Hb.

The impression of the Hill from the west was, until this year, a sheer,
gleaming chalk face, devoid of all vegetation; the slope bordering the
by-pass has now been made less steep and turfed over to prevent minia-
ture chalkslides, which once occurred with alarming regularity to the
danger of passing traffic.

At the end of the long grass valley dividing the Hill from Hockley,
rough hedgerows of white hawthorn, splashed with pink, and various
shrubs rise in a straggling mass, bordered with nettles and lank grass,
and it is here that C. rwbi is found in plenty, basking in the sunshine
far out of reach of the net! In the valley itself a small colony of Huphy-
dryas aurinia Rott. exists and C. rubi flies around solitary bushes.

The distribution of all species of ‘Blues’ is fairly even from the flat-
ness of the valley to the highest ridge, where grass meets sky. On the
southern and western sides the Hill is so precipitous that ascent is
difficult even on the few beaten tracks, but on the far sides only a
gradual slope is encountered, and butterflies are infrequent. Similarly,
few insects are to be found on the highest point, a flat expanse sur-
rounding a central tree-clump of majestic height.

The scenery from the hill-top is delightful: the whole panorama of
the city to the north; the grey tower of the cathedral rising stately and
serene amid the conglomeration of roofs; a small church spire on a hill,
and distant white specks of stone manifesting invisible tumuli; the
quiet river below where Panazxia dommula Linn. reaches the limit of its
local distribution; buttercup meadows beyond and, stretching up to the
western horizon, a vast counterpane of green sward and tilled earth.
Sedge warblers chatter in the shrubs on the eastern boundary every
spring, hundreds of yards from water.

THE INFLUENCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON VARIATION OF LEPIDOPTERA. 199

The weather was perfect for our first visit this season, on 18th May;
a blue roof of sky and the whisper of warm wind rippling the grass.
C. rubt and C. minimus were already well represented and pairing. A
week later the weather was unchanged, C. minimus was now common
and the first two A. agestis appeared. The slug-like cocoons of Z.
trifolu were conspicuous, several larvae spinning up and one imago in
flight. Each time the sun was drowned by a greying cloud the wind-
borne butterflies disappeared, but Epirrhoe alternata Mull. continu-
ally took flight from the hawthorn clumps.

Deterioration of weather lessened activities considerably until 5th
June, when conditions became more settled and warm; sunny, with
high-piled clouds. The Shawford locality is mainly flat, sloping only
on the east side and down to the railway. On this slope C. minimus
abounded but was found in less numbers on the high level, most speci-
mens now showing signs of wear. Calostigia pectinataria Knoch was in
its usual profusion round the cluster of trees on the station corner. At
the south end of the downs a gravel road under the railway bridge leads
to the river Itchen. Along its banks numerous Demoiselles (Agrion
splendens) made brief flights. A pied wagtail was seen attacking A.
splendens in flight, the Zygopterid successfully evading its attacker
until the fourth onslaught.

On St. Catherine’s Hill LZ. bellargus and A. agestis were well out and
in fine condition with a predominance of about ten 3 ¢ to every 9°;
C. minvmus was still flying but, as already observed, in bad shape.
Scores of Zygaenid cocoons were to be found on grass stems, some white
and semi-transparent, others quite yellow. Full-grown larvae were also
seen at the grass-tips, preparing to spin.

The first Maniola jurtina Linn. $ was put up at Shawford on the
grey morning of 8th June. A thin veil of rain came. We took the river
path toward Winchester; swallows, swifts and pied wagtails were fly-
catching within inches of the water’s surface. The rain became more
intense and our activities were abandoned.

With some reluctance we watch the fading out of the spring broods,
but with what alacrity we return, when L. coridon is emergent and L.
bellargus and A. agestis make their second appearance! J. coridon
is by far the most abundant of the Lycaenidae and in these localities
quite variant.

Perhaps of all forms of collecting the ‘Blues’ afford the greatest joy:
the frequency of aberrations and the conditions under which we are
often privileged to work.

The Influence of Thunderstorms on Variation of
Lepidoptera
By S. G. Castite RusseELu.

Several instances ot the emergence of extreme aberrations of various
species of butterflies immediately after an unusually violent thunder-
storm have convinced me that the alteration in colour and form was the
result of the atmospheric change caused by the lightning; but there are
"so many factors to consider, and no facilities for experiments, that it
can never be more than a matter of conjecture.

200 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII /1952

Many years ago a Lightning Research Committee investigating the
methods of protection pointed out that lightning discharges are of two
distinct characters called the ‘A’ and ‘B’ flash respectively. The ‘A’
flash is of simple type. Its violence is diminished by the silent discharge
which goes on during a storm from the various points of a structure that
are more or less in contact with the earth, such as a building or tree,
etc. Its path is more or less prepared beforehand by ordinary electro-
static conditions.

The ‘B’ flash is a disruptive discharge of much greater suddenness
and violence which falls on a structure without electrostatic prepara-
tion. It may strike in several places at once and a column of hot air
is the path most favoured by this kind of strike. I have had many
opportunities of investigating the damage caused by ‘B’ flashes some of
which were interesting and curious. Jn one particular instance I was
asked to call and see the result of a ‘B’ flash in the house of a wealthy
man in the West End of London whose hobby was collecting rare pewter.
In this case the flash entered the room by a steel pipe carrying electric
wires, close to the fireplace. From this it jumped to a large collection
of pewter pots, etc., housed on a long mantelboard. These were all
reduced to melted metal, and the room was full of small round metal
balls which must have emanated from them. The owner was very much
concerned, as many of the items were unique and therefore irreplaceable.

Anyone who has seen the effect of a strike of the ‘B’ type on a large
oak tree several hundred years old and its condition after will realise
the immense power of the strike. There used to be one in Pamber
Forest, the large trunk being entirely split from top to bottom and the
interior burnt out.

I remember also an incident in the Cotswolds when collecting with
the Rev. W. O. W. Edwards and Mr. C. Dixon of Micheldever. We were
in the latter’s car and had to pull up owing to a sudden and very violent
storm, the rain being so heavy that we could not see ahead. A flash
struck so close to a front mudguard that we were all momentarily
‘blacked out’, and the atmosphere became very sultry with a sulphurous
smell. ‘

The late F. W. Frohawk in his Varieties of British Butterflies opined
that certain natural forces may influence the production of varieties
and aberrations and that the chief one, so far as is known, is climatic.
Great changes of temperature, sudden extremes of light rays penetrat-
ing foliage during stages of development, shock caused by concussion, a
sudden heat, may bring about aberration. Now Frohawk was a field
collector of very long experience and gifted with keen observational
powers as is evidenced by his well known publications, and his con-
clusions are entitled to consideration. Certainly the conditions
envisaged by his expressed opinion would apply in the case of a thunder-
storm.

It would seem that a pupa on the point of eclosion which would
happen to be sited in the vicinity of the point or points of the flash
would be affected, but as regards the extent of the area affected it is
impossible even to guess. During a violent storm ‘ B’ flashes may
occur in numbers of points widely distributed in such an area as the
New Forest for instance, where several of the instances I witnessed oc-
curred. These instances are as follows.

THE INFLUENCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON VARIATION OF LEPIDOPTERA. 201

In-1919 I was collecting in an enclosure in the north of the Forest
with my wife. The day up to 4 p.m. had been dull and the Argynnis
paphia, which we were examining, scarce, most of them being high
up in the trees. Suddenly a tery violent storm came on and lasted for
about half an hour. When it had passed over a short spell of very hot
and sunny weather occurred. The paphia, which were very abundant
that year, came down to the bramble very quickly, and I at once netted
a 2 with pale straw hindwings and my wife a form with heavy black
blotches on the forewings. Both had undoubtedly very recently emerged
as their flight was very weak although each insect was perfectly formed.
As they appeared a little limp we put them in large chip boxes before
killing them in the cyanide bottle. These were two of the only three
aberrations we saw in that particular enclosure until a fortnight later.
This particular year, it should be stated, was one of the great ‘ var.’
seasons in the Forest, and although aberrations were uncommon in the
enclosure referred to, in other enclosures about a fortnight later they
were seen in considerable numbers. J was told by a keeper that the
soil (top) was gravel instead of clay as in other enclosures. This may
have influenced the production of aberrations. In my experience aber-
rations are more likely to appear on clay soil than on chalk, gravel,
or sand.

In this same enclosure in early July 1940 I was collecting with the
late Ernest Joy. The sun was shining when we arrived and we wan-
dered a short distance from the car to note that the paphia were ap-
parently just emerging, being mostly ¢d in small numbers. We were
then driven into my car by the advent of a particularly violent storm
which after about half an hour passed over and sunshine resumed its
sway for the rest of the day. As soon as the rain ceased J walked along
a ride quite close to the car and saw in the distance what appeared to
be a large dark butterfly journeying across from the dark side to a
large bramble bush on the other and sunny side. When I arrived at
the bush I saw an almost entirely black ¢ paphia in such a limp condi-
tion that I could have taken the insect in my fingers. Preferring the
use of the net, however, I waited until the insect got into a position
where there would be a chance of successfully netting it; but I was in
too much of a hurry and did not exercise my usual patience, with the
result that I missed the insect and it must have fallen quietly into the
bush and on to the ground as is usual with paphia, and crept away.
The bush covered a large area and was quite inaccessible at the bottom,
and although Joy and I spent the rest of the day hoping that it would
turn up again as paphia often do if not alarmed, we did not meet with
it. It was probably frightened and on emerging from the bush moved
away to a safer area. Although we paid other visits to the enclosure
in succeeding days during the season we never met with an aberration
of any kind.

In certain enclosures all the large, fritillaries were abundant in that
year 1940, but aberrations were not in evidence. It was in the follow-
ing year 194] that aberrations of paphia occurred in considerable num-
bers in certain of the enclesures but not in all, and it was in this year
that the third incident occurred. Early in July Colonel Burkhardt and
-I were collecting in an enclosure in the north of the Forest where the
soil was clay. Paphia were just beginning to appear in small numbers,

202 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VIT/ 1952

mostly ¢¢. There were two other well-known collectors in adjoining
enclosures. Up to the 10th July, although both sexes were then in
numbers, including Limenitis camilla and A. cydippe, none of us met
with any. out-of-the-way forms. On the llth and 12th July two very
violent storms occurred in the morning, and later on in the day each
of us began to meet with various aberrational forms, all quite fresh
and evidently recent emergences. From then until the 24th of the
month aberrations continued to emerge, but after this date only worn
examples were met with notwithstanding that typical specimens con-
tinued to emerge until well into August. No other storms occurred in
the area. This season was very remarkable for the large numbers of
aberrations of various species met with in a limited number of en-
closures and not like 1918-19 when practically all of the 55 odd en-
closures swarmed with insects and aberrations were in good numbers.
In each case at the end of the two-year period all the species became
exceedingly scarce, except in one or two enclosures where the abundance
continued for several years but without any variation.

Another incident occurred in 1936 when Mr. Clifford Wells, my wife
and myself were collecting daily on one of the Winchester downs (now,
alas, ploughed up). During the first week of August all the 29
Lycaena coridon were of the typical brown form and none had wing
areas of blue, as often occurs. This species was fully out, both sexes.
At the end of the week our car was held up within a mile or two of
the down by a violent thunderstorm with unpleasant flashes of
lightning which were unpleasantly near. This passed over and when we
reached the downs we quite expected to find the coridon half drowned
in the wet and sodden long grass; but to our surprise they were flying
about in the sun just as usual and in the same large numbers. On the
short grass breeding area where we found fresh numbers each day we
began to meet with the blue © 9 for the first time. On the succeeding
day neither of us met with a freshly-emerged blue example and although
a certain number were met with on the wing these gradually died out
and no more were seen during the rest of the month. This incident
was to us most convincing and happening to mention it to the late
L. W. Newman he said that exactly similar experiences had happened
to him during his monthly stays at Folkestone, especially amongst. the
L. bellargus.

Of course this idea of mine relative to the effect of thunderstorms
is little more than a guess and is open to all sorts of objection. There
seems no reason why our budding entomologists should not. record the
dates of thunderstorms in localities they frequent with a view to noting
if such have any effects on the fauna.

I have culled the following notes from copies of the Record, The
Entomologist and Proceedings of the South London Society as bearing
on the subject. Of course it is well known that high temperature will
produce aberrations especially amongst the fritillaries, but they are
mostly cripples and of unnatural appearance—really perfect forms of
full size being rare, but I have no experience of the process. :

Proc. South Lond. Ent. Soc., 1919-1920: extract from a paper read
by H. J. Turner on the variation of Aglais urticae. ‘‘ As showing to
what a considerable extent heat will affect this insect (prior to emerg-

THE INFLUENCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON VARIATION OF LEPIDOPTERA. 203

ence) I was examining some specimens in the Bond Coll. in which there
were two short series of urticae from the same brood, one lot showing
emergence before a storm and one after it. One takes it that the dit-
ference in colouration, i.e. one series being lighter than the other, would
be due to the considerable differences in the temperature before and
after the storms.”’ The Bond Coll. was formed I fancy long before
1860 and prior to the Standfuss experiments. In the same Proceedings
1942 part 2 there is a coloured plate showing two melanic forms of A.
urticae which emerged during a heavy thunderstorm at 2 p.m. In the
accompanying note Mr. F. V. L. Jarvis wrote as follows :—

‘On the 5th July 1941 14 young larvae of A. wurticae were collected
from a web and reared on nettle under normal conditions. Pupation
took place between the 20th and 25th July. Emergence began on the
14th: the first seven insects were dark orange red with heavy mark-
ings. On the 7th at 2 p.m. the two melanic aberrations appeared. A
heavy thunderstorm was in progress but no significance was attached
to this fact. The remaining five pupae failed to emerge. A suggestion
is made that these five carried lethal forms, but Mr. J. Newton of Sun-
derland does not support this view and gives a verdict of death owing
to injuries that occurred to the pupae when he had to remove them
to take away with him on vacation.”’

From the description of the first seven insects that emerged J fancy
they were of the polaris form which appears frequently when breeding
large numbers of the species, but I may of course be wrong not having
seen the insects.

I remember a somewhat similar experience being reported to me by
Mr. C. W. Sperring but I have no detailed note of it. This article may
produce other incidents bearing on the subject. Of course thunder-
storms in the New Forest and elsewhere are not unusual during normal
summers, but the exceptionally heavy type which would produce the
conditions requisite to affect pupae are in my experience very rare and
I do not personally remember I have had to experience unpleasant
feeling owing to the nearness of flashes of the ‘ B’ type in England.

[Three of these are figured (Proc. 8S. Lond. Ent. and Nat. Hist.
Soc., 1941-1942, Pl. 8). Qne is polaris, the other two are called by
Jarvis ichnusoides de Selys and nigra Tutt.—Hp. ]

[We have enjoyed reading Mr. Castle Russell’s attractive paper and
have no doubt that our readers will be equally interested; but on
physiological grounds we must need dissent from his major premise, that
thunderstorms can cause aberrations. The wing pattern of butterflies is
determined at an early period of the pupal stage and all aberrations
are either genetic or pathological. Some aberrations which are genetic
are only expressed under special environmental conditions. The appear-
ance of aberrations immediately following a thunderstorm can, there-
fore, be no more than a coincidence.—Ep. |

RHYACIA SIMULANS HUFN. (PYROPHILA SCHIFF.) IN SuRREY.—I was
shown recently an imago of this species which was taken on 4th July
1949 at Ewell by Mr. H. Tunstall. He took it in his garden off Bud-
dleia blossom. I know of no other record of simulans for Surrey.—J. M.
CHaALMERS-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham, Kent. 5.vi.52.

204 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII /1952

Spring Larvae in Cranborne Chase
By H. Symes, M.A.

The memory of a very successful day’s larva-beating in Cranborne
Chase last September (Ent. Rec., 63: 277) made me look forward eagerly
to a visit to this locality in the spring. Towards the end of May I went
there twice. On the 23rd Dr. H. King and I concentrated our efforts on
some old well-grown maple trees from which we had beaten four larvae
of Ptilophora plumigera Schiff. and a much larger number of Eupithecia
inturbata Hiib. last year. This time we obtained eight P. plumigera
and 24 EH. mturbata. These two species seem to be confined to a very
restricted area, and neither of them was to be found on other maples
within easy reach. We also obtained two larvae of Poecilocampa populi
L., which I have never found on maple before: incidentally it is not
given as a foodplant for this species in A. G. Scorer’s Entomologist’s
Log Book.

On 28th May the Rev. F. M. B. Carr and I visited the area where
we had been most successful last autumn, but larvae were far from
plentiful. We beat various trees, mainly ash, birch, hawthorn and
maple. There was a fair variety of larvae, but few were at all common,
and several were represented only by singletons. Maple yielded one
P. populi, birch one Brephos parthenias L., and two or three small
Achlya flavicornis L., hawthorn one Nola cucullatella L., one Allophyes
oxyacanthae L., and one Opisthograptis luteolata L. Ash and privet
were most unproductive: the former gave us one small Orthosia gothica
L. and the latter a very small Amphipyra pyramidea L. The only larvae
at all plentiful were Operophtera brumata L., Oporima dilutata Schiff.
and Orthosia stabilis Schiff. Others that we noted were Colotois pen-
narnia L. and Erannis aurantiaria Hib.

After lunch we moved to another locality about a mile and a half
away. Here the vegetation was somewhat different, with oak and birch
predominating. Larvae were more plentiful. At the entrance to the
wood some hoary old hawthorns yielded four fat Episema caeruleocephala.
L. and a couple of A. oxyacanthae. From the birches came half-a-dozen
A. flavicornis and as many B. parthenias, both species being in their
last skin. Full-grown Thecla quercus Ih. were abundant on. the oaks,
and there were plenty of O. stabilis, O. cruda, and Eupithecia abbreviata
Steph., as well as O. brumata and O. dilutata. Strangely enough we
saw but one Hrannis defoliaria Cl., and other singletons were N. cucul-
latella and Crocallis elinguaria L. on hawthorn, and Drymonia. ruficornis
Hufn., Lymantria monacha L. and Graptolitha ornithopus Hufn. on
oak. There were also a few Biston strataria Hufn. and A. pyramidea:
one of the latter spun up on the following day.

Future prospects in Cranborne Chase seem rather dubious. The area
under pigs is being steadily extended, and the animals appear to be
leading a happy life. But many young ash trees which supported
Craniophera ligustri Schiff. last September either were destroyed dur-
ing the winter, or were enclosed in ‘barbed-wire compounds. Elsewhere
some magnificent beeches were felled. But the buzzards are still there,
and I hope and believe that it will be many years before they and en-
tomologists are driven away from the Chase.

COLLECTING NOTES, 1952. 205

Collecting Notes, 1952

By W. Ret.

The season in Sheffield has been, as elsewhere, very much earlier
than last year, although nightly frosts were experienced until the 16th
of February, on which night, after a warm day, Theria ruptcapraria
Schiff. were in abundance on the hedges. Phigalia pedaria Fab.,
Erannis marginaria Fab., E. leucophaearia Schiff. and Alsophila aescu-
laria Schiff. appeared on the 19th, with the temperature round about
45 degrees F. The evenings about this time were spent in setting the
large numbers of Orthosia advenu Schiff. and Poecilopsis lapponariu
Schiff. which were emerging from the pupae resulting from my visits
to Wallasey and Struan last year. As usual, many of the lapponaria
have decided to go over for another year. Of the advena, about 50%
are of the dark form, the others being of the grey banded form. De-
layed emergences have been numerous in my pupae-boxes this year,
all the following coming out from larvae collected in 1949:—Achlya
flavicorms L., Notodonta dromedarius L., Pheosia gnoma Fab., and
Lophopteryxz capucina I. About the end of February I had a female
each of P. lapponaria and Nyssia zonaria Schiff., both fresh in a mat-
ing-cage, and on introducing a male lapponaria he paired with the 9
zonaria. The resulting larvae are progressing favourably and are now
near the pupating stage.

On the 8th March I met Mr. Gordon Smith at Delamere Forest,
and the white m.v. lamp brought in many Apocheima hispidaria Schitt.,
and other Lepidoptera included A. flavicornis, Orthosia gothica L., P.
pedaria (all type form), HL. leucophaearia and A. aescularia.

Orthosia incerta Hufn. appeared in Sheffield, together with A. flavi-
cornis, on 17th March, the former fully a month earlier than in 1951;
Biston strataria Hufn. on the 18th; Cerastis rubricosa Schiff. on the
19th; O. gothica and O. stabilis Schiff. on the 20th. A spell of cold
weather then set in, which lasted until 3rd April, when I left for Avie-
more, to try to take Brachionycha nubeculosa Esp., picking up Dr.
Neville Birkett of Kendal and a young friend of his on the way. Stop-
ping for a short time at Struan we found P. lapponaria common on
the railway posts. The night of 4th April was the only night fit to use
the mercury vapour lamp, and only one specimen of the sought-after
insect appeared, but the lovely Scottish form of flavicornis was plenti-
ful, with O. incerta, O. gothica and Calostigia multistrigaria Haw. also
appearing. For the next two days we experienced the usual Avie-
more early spring weather, snow and sleet broken by bursts of bright
sunshine. Only by hard searching did we find ten nubeculosa in all and
my six cost me just about 18 hours, or one every three man-hours. But
I think the main emergence had not taken place, and our females pro-
vided us with eggs.

G. multistrigaria and Earophila badiata Schiff. appeared in Sheffield
on the 9th. On the 10th my son and I went to a common near Gains-
borough where we took a short series of Orthosia populeti Fab. and we
noted B. strataria, C. rubricosa, Panolis flammea Schiff., O. incerta,
O. stabilis, and Conistra vaccinii LL. on the sheet. We also took the

206 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII /1952

Scottish form of flavicornis which had obviously crept into my bag at
Aviemore and had only just found its way out.

On 12th April we visited Bishop’s Wood to find that all the young
sallows along the edges of the main road through the wood had been
cut down by the woodmen. Only two Gypsitea leucographa Schiff. put
in an appearance and at the headlights of the car after we had packed
‘up our gear to return to Sheffield. This absence of sallows was a pity
as I am sure it pays to have the lamp within reasonable distance of the
blooms, as the scent draws the insects within the range of the light.
A further visit on the 13th in company with the Baron de Worms was
even less successful, he taking only one lewcographa; but the weather
was not very favourable. We anticipated a good night in Sheffield on
the 14th, as that day was much warmer; but the evening was com-
pletely spoilt by a very severe and wet thunderstorm about 7 p.m. Hardly
an insect was seen.

Orthosia gracilis came to the light in Sheffield on the 18th, and on
the 19th, again at Bishop’s Wood with Mr. Pilcher of Boston, Xylo-
campa areola Esp., O. munda Schiff., O. populeti, a few G. leucographu
and some very dark forms of Selenia bilunaria Esp. were taken.

About this time the progeny of the female Apatele menyanthidis
View. var. suffusa were coming out in my pupa-box (see Ent. Rec., 63:
268). All have turned out to be var. suffusa but about 25% have not de-
veloped their wings normally: ali have fully expanded but in unusual
-_positions—the lower wings over the upper, and even those which are
normal, although they are fine large insects, seem to be weak. They
were certainly not capable of sustained flight. The parent was, of
course, taken wild, and the stock in the place where we took her may
be much inbred, and if the same weakness occurs in the wild this may
be a reason why we find so few of the var. suffusa on the walls when
the type is relatively common.

Pheosia gnoma Fab. appeared in the Seah on 4th May; Cucullia
chamomillae Schiff. on the 12th; and I did not know that Drymoma
ruficornmis Hufn. occurred in Sheffield until four came to the sheet in
the garden on 14th May. On this date I also took the very light form
of Ectropis bistortata Goze, the first I have seen amongst dozens of
the dark northern form.

On the 16th ten ‘“ first 1952 appearances ”’ occurred :—Spilosoma
lubricipeda L., Cycnia mendica Cl., Apatele rumicis L., Ochropleura
plecta L., Abrostola triplasia L., Bena fagana Fab., Opisthograptis
luteolata L., Lomaspilis marginata L., Biston betularia L., Gonodontis
bidentata Cl. On the 18th twelve more were amongst the thirty-three
species on the sheet :—Notodonta dromedarius L., N. ziczac L., Lophop-
teryx capucina L., Pheosia tremula Cl., Dasychira pudibunda L., Dre-
pana falcataria L., Apatele megacephala Schiff., Diataraxia oleracea
L., Hadena bombycina Hufn., Epirrhoe rivata Hub., Bapta temerata
Schiff., and Heliptopera silaceata Schiff. On this date also the first A.
menyanthidis and H. bombycina were found on the walls on the moor
together with Hupithecia nanata Hiitb. Ematurga atomaria L. was
also flying freely. On 22nd May the melanic form of G. bidentata ap-
peared at the sheet in the garden, several more being seen during the
next few days. Hydriomena coerulata Fab., the black form indistin-
guishable from those at Formby, also arrived.

HOW OAN THE YOUNG COLLECTOR LEARN THE LATIN NAMES? 207

The 23rd May was a warm overcast day and the evening proved to

be a good one for light, forty-six species coming to the sheet in the

garden. First appearances amongst this lot were three Apatele alm

L., two of which were melanic, and all males, Harpyia hermelina Goze and

Lampropteryx suffumata Schiff., the latter two being the first I have

seen in Sheffield. The 24th May was very much cooler, but a visit to

Sherwood Forest in company of Mr. T. D. Fearnehough of Dronfield

resulted in a short series of Drymonia dodonaea Schf. and a singleton
of Plugodis dolabraria L., among the few other species on the sheet.

(To be continued)

How can the Young Collector learn the Latin

Names ?
By P. Stvirer Smite.

When I started collecting at around the age of seven, it was all
fnglish names. So they remained until I was about twelve, when I was
given a copy of ‘South’ and I noticed they had other names—Latin ones.
I ignored these and happily and effectively used the Knglish ones. At
about the age of fourteen my interest became closer and copies of other
books were bought and series of the entomological magazines too, from
which I hoped to learn where to go and how to find the rarities. Then
the trouble started. Latin names only! What searching there was
and what wasted time and how cussed I thought the scientific people
were! I solved it, quite quickly in the end, in this manner—but first,
a digression.

There have been endless arguments about the use of English names
for our butterflies and moths. I’m not going into that. Let the young
collector accept the fact now that Latin names are essential and should
be used—he will find out later why this is the case, so just let him
accept it for the moment. Therefore he must also accept that he should
learn and use these Latin names as early as he can.

However, he need surely have no inferiority complex about using the
English ones while he learns the others. Here I am bound to say that
there is too often a superiority complex displayed by many older col-
lectors. I see no justification for this whatever but it certainly exists—
go to any Society Meeting where there are plenty of Olders and Youngers
and it will be there all right. That’s not fair; after all, even the most
illustrious Older started off with Puff-Puff, graduated to Puffer-Train,
then advanced to Engine and may now say Locomotive, whereas the
Younger may clearly understand one of the modern organic chemistry
formulae which could still be ‘‘Greek’’ to the Older!

So we’ve all had our problems, human and obvious ones too, and a
gracious understanding of a youngster’s position is what is wanted to
bring support and brain into our hobby or life’s work, whichever it may
be. Our ranks want enlarging and young people who are interested
don’t want to feel they are being kept out of a Secret Society by ritual
magic.

But before we forget—my solution to the problem. It was this. In
' my collection itself I put only the Latin names and never had an English
name among the specimens. As the young collector does, I used to gloat

208 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/V1I1/1952

over my captures very frequently, and by having nothing but the Latin
names below the specimens I learnt them quickly and accurately. The
earlier you start the easier it is, as you have fewer specimens. Thus
you learn an extra one each time you catch a new species. You probably
name it first from ‘South’ and you look up among the English names:
but—write your label in full in Latin only and it won’t be long before
you’re quite at home with them all. It’s the simplest solution Pve come
across so far.
And if you still forget one?—look it up, like everyone else does!

Thoughts on Setting Lepidoptera

By An Onp MorH-HuntErR.

Setting is an appalling waste of time; therefore the minimum amount
of time should be spent upon it. From the point of view of pure science
it matters not at all whether a lepidopteron be ‘‘ well set ’’ or “* badly
set ’?: all that the entomologist requires is that the body, wings and
appendages of a dried specimen shall be displayed in such a way as
enables him to examine them to best advantage. He must be able to
handle the specimen: therefore there must be a sufficient length of pin,
above and below, for him to hold the specimen, surely and conveniently,
by fingers or forceps. Each of the four wings must be spread out, flat,
in such a way that every part of each wing may be readily and con-
veniently examined, above and below, with a magnifying glass. The
whole of the body—head, thorax, abdomen—must be fully exposed,
above and below and, so far as is possible, on each side. The antennae
must be porrected, and in the same plane as the wings. The underside
of the head must not be masked by one or both of the fore legs. The
legs must not be adpressed to the body but must stand out from the
thorax sufficiently for all the surfaces of at least one of each of the
three pairs of legs to be examined with a lens.

A counsel of perfection? Doubtless; but perfection should be the
aim of everyone who practises an art or a craft or, if he be a scientist,
a method. I don’t know what is the experience of the museum men
but in all the private collections of British Lepidoptera which I have
seen all the above canons have been observed, closely in some, with
laxity in others; I have rarely seen a cabinet specimen which could not
be examined with sufficient thoroughness to satisfy the demands of
science. The reason is, of course, that we all set out our moths, at
least as regards wings and antennae, the same way. That some col-
lectors set the forewings so far forward as would result in a tearing of
the alar muscles in the living insect, while others align the costae of
both forewings, does not matter at all: both methods facilitate examina-
tion by the scientist. The outward appearance of the set specimen is
a matter of aesthetics: a sense of the ‘ fitness of things ’ deters us from
setting one forewing noticeably farther forward than the other, one
antenna aligned with the body and the other with the costa of a fore-
Wing: specimens set like this we should call ‘ cock-eyed,’ a term of dis-
approval.

Yet I am not one of those who hold that setting is not of any im-
portance, that so long as the canons listed in my first paragraph are
observed it does not matter at all how a moth or a butterfly is set.

THOUGHTS ON SETTING LEPIDOPTERA. 209

In common with the great majority of my fellow men I hold that
‘“ what’s worth doing is worth doing well.’’ Slovenly work is the hall-
mark of the sloven. If we cannot set our captures well, that is to say
if practice does not make us perfect setters, we ought to employ adven-
titious aids, such as ruling fine black lines, three-sixteenths of an inch
or so apart, transversely across our setting-boards; painting our set-
ting-boards black or green; and so on. For nobody will dispute the
assertion that so far as a collection qua collection is concerned perfect
uniformity in the setting of each series goes a long way towards earn-
ing praise by beholders. It is only a collection of perfect specimens per-
fectly set that can earn the encomium ‘‘ splendid ’’?; and which of us
would not lke our collection to be called that?

Now this preamble has been evoked by Mr. W. E. Mrynion’s note
in our last issue (page 184) in which he queried the use of setting-blocks
as opposed to the common-or-garden setting-board. Never in my life
have I used setting-boards so I know none of their virtues; but I have
often watched my entomological friends setting insects upon them. A
cumbrous, tedious, time-wasting job it has always seemed to me. If
there are twelve specimens on a board the first one set will have been
endangered twelve times—a careless movement of the hand, a brush
of the sleeve—by the time that the last specimen has been set. And
what an unwieldy thing is a piece of board with twelve insects upon
it. And how accuracy must be jeopardised by generations of pin-
pricks in the cork of an old setting-board. And what splendid hidey-
holes for mites does each pin-prick become. Every time one of the
twelve insects is removed all the others are in peril. It has always
been a marvel to me why such a primitive method has survived.

With the block method of setting there is none of these disadvan-
tages; setting is as simple as can be; only one insect is endangered at
any time; and, best of all, double the number of specimens can be set
in an hour. If you want to show a specimen to a friend, only that par-
ticular specimen need be taken in hand—and how much safer to handle
a single block than a cumbrous piece of board a foot and more long
with a lot of insects on it and pins sticking about all over the top side.
If you want to exhibit a rarity recently set to your local nat. hist.
soc. you can wedge the block into a pocket-box and transport it with
complete safety. Would you dare to do this with a setting-board hav-
ing a dozen insects on it? Drying is more rapid since the wings are
not covered with waterproof paper or cardboard braces; there are no
pin-pricks in the blocks; the blocks last for ever and not having any
paper on them never need repapering or cleaning. And since one
makes the blocks oneself out of any old wood that comes in handy they
cost practically nothing at all. The time wasted in picking out, from
a mixed bag taken at sugar, twelve insects the same size so that one can
fill one board at a time does not occur with blocks: at one’s side stands
a box with divisions in it, each division containing blocks of a certain
size, so that one can set a ‘ Pug’ immediately after setting a Clifden
Nonpareil. I know of no single advantage which the setting-board has
over the setting-block, but a good many which the block has over the
board.

The blocks are quite simple to make. Suppose you want to make
- 40 blocks of a size suitable for species ranging from Polyommatus icarus

210 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VIT/1952

to Antitype flavicincta. Take a length of wood 4 ft. 7 in. long, measur-
ing 23 x Zin. Plane it down to2 in. x 3 in. With a grooving plane
cut a slot along it 4 in. wide and 3 in. deep. Then cut the length up,
with tenon saw or circular saw, into 18 in. blocks. Cut strips of cork
from table mats or sheet cork and glue these strips on to the bottom
of the slots. Sandpaper to make all smooth.

One can use any common wood—deal, white pine, etc., or one of
the many foreign woods used nowadays for crates and stout packing-
cases.

For ‘ Pugs’ and Micros I cut 11 in. blocks from a strip of oak 13
in. wide x #2 in. thick. The slot should not be more than 3/32 in.
wide. Blocks smaller than this would, in my hands, be unsafe. If
made of a softer wood than oak they would be apt to break in half at
the slot: of oak they are everlasting, and their weight adds stability.

For the material which one winds round the blocks to keep the wings
in position I always use a soft silk-and-wool mixture called Paton’s
‘ Haleyon’ Knitting, 3-ply. One can obtain it at any wool shop. For
‘Pugs’ and other small fry a reel of sewing silk, such as Dewhurst’s

EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX.
A. End view of block, showing cork (black) in slot, and notches for holding

free end of wool.
B. The same, showing how wool is fixed to block and how the first turn should

be made.

C. Underside of block, showing notch and hole for fixing wool to block.

D. Upperside of block, showing notches at either side of the slot to keep first
two turns of wool in position (see Fig. E).

E. The same, showing first two turns of wool over wings, also how abdomen is
supported.

F. Completed setting. Note how free end of wool is fastened at bottom right-
hand side.

G.

Setting-house, showing perforated zinc on door and at back, and method of
supporting trays. At the back of the third and bottom tray can be seen
the rim to prevent blocks from falling off when trays are pulled out.
Note the ‘feet’? under bottom of setting-house.

‘Sylko’ Three Shells Silk Substitute Machine Twist 40, is perfection.
Cut a notch in one of the bottom edges of the block, below and a little
to one side of the cork, as shown in Figs. A and C, and with a bradawl
make a shallow hole on the underside of the block where the notch ends,
as in Fig. C. Make a knot in one end of your wool and press the knot
into the hole. Then take 6 turns of the wool round the right-hand side
of the bleck and 6 turns round the left-hand side, and break off the
wool. That’s all there is to it: the accompanying illustrations explain
everything else.

With butterflies and Geometers one can blow the wings flat on to the
block ; then wind a single turn of wool round them, and with a setting-
needle in one hand raise the wool while, with a similar tool in the
other, you push the wings into the required position. Wind the wool
lightly: if it is at all tight it will leave a mark on the wing: with
‘Halcyon’ knitting wool the lightest of winding is sufficient to keep
the wings in position. Don’t use reel-cotton: modern processing
methods make it much too hard for our purpose. If you have +o set
Drinkers and Oak Eggars before you have become proficient put a piece

xX

PLATE I

64.

VOL.

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 211

of paper over the wings when they are in position and wind the wool
over that.

Support the abdomen with a small strip of white pasteboard (old
postcards are just the thing) transfixed by a pin, as shown in Fig. E.
To do this, slide the pasteboard strip on to the cork under the abdo-
men. Transfix it with a pin. Then with your flat-nosed forceps push
the pasteboard up the pin.

I used to make these blocks during the winter and had about a
thousand at one time, in the never-to-be-forgotten days when I went
sugaring and pupa-digging and kept some thirty larva-cages in com-
mission. If you prefer the wings of your specimens to have a slight
camber (as I do) you must plane the length to the required camber
before you cut it up into blocks.

The blocks with insects on them are stored in ‘ setting-houses,’ one
of which is shown in Fig. G. These are wooden boxes of a convenient
size which you have obtained from your grocer. They are stood on end
and the lids are hinged. These lids (which thus become doors) must
consist largely of perforated zinc. The backs also (original bottoms)
each have a central strip, an inch wide, of perf. zinc from top to foot.
In Fig. G I have removed some of the trays to show this. Thin strips
of wood are tacked across the sides, as shown in the picture, to sup-
port trays of 3-ply or other thin wood (I made mine from old orange-
boxes).

The back of each tray must have a rim tacked along it; otherwise
the blocks may fall off when you pull out the tray.

Any questions?

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

Scoparia pallida Schiff. does not seem to be taken much to-day:
several advanced collectors have recently told me they cannot get it. I
have, however, found it almost everywhere I have collected where there
is a fresh water swamp. It is almost impossible to take in the daytime,
but at late dusk it flies low over wet ground where there is a short
growth of sedges, wild mint, etc., and later it will come to a strong
hight. J took it at Gravesend, Sittingbourne, Faversham, and Deal
when collecting there; it is also found in the Southend district, and is
common in Broadland. At Barton I took a form I have never seen else-
where, with radiated dark markings all over the forewings, like the
underside of L. palealis.

Cynaeda dentalis Schiff. is of rather secretive habits in the daytime
and may easily be overlooked, as except for an odd specimen it is diffi-
cult to disturb before late dusk. When I lived at Faversham there was
one locality which I never worked late owing to transport difficulties,
which was filled with Viper’s Bugloss. Although I worked this place
regularly I never saw dentalis there until I had been visiting it for four
years, when on a hot thundery evering the moth decided to fiy furiously.
- I caught about a score and could have taken many more had I wished
but never saw it there again until I visited the place at night by car,

212 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/VIT/1952

when I saw it on top of the flowers about an hour after dark. Dentalis
can always be found where it occurs by looking at the Echiwm flowers
with a torch after dark, when it looks conspicuously pale. I fancy it
is found everywhere in Kent where Echium grows; I have seen it on
the North Downs at Cuxton and Snodland, and also at Sittingbourne,
Faversham, Whitstable, Margate, Deal, Sandwich and Dymchurch, and
think it is generally distributed also in East Anglia.

Dioryctria bankesiella Rich. is difficult to net by day, as it sits near
the edge of the cliffs on which its foodplant grows and has an aggravat-
ing habit of dropping over when disturbed and alighting lower down.
However, it flies naturally at early dusk and is then easy to get by
climbing to a safe grassy ledge and waiting for it to buzz along, when
it may be netted and boxed. It is pretty common where it occurs; I
took a score in one evening on a ledge on the Dorset coast in 1936. It
was rather eerie work as beyond the ledge, which was wide and easily
accessible, there was a straight drop of over a hundred feet into deep
water, at the same time it was very interesting to see the puffins going
in and out over the sea below. I suggest wives are best left at home on
such an expedition, though a street crossing is probably more dangerous.

The first week in July is the best date in a normal year for the first
brood of Trichoptilus paludum Zell. This delicate insect is probably
found on most boggy heaths in Southern England where sundew grows,
although it is often overlooked. It seldom flies by day but may easily
be disturbed in the early evening when it requires a sharp eye to dis-
tinguish it from gnats. It rises two or three feet, flits a yard or so,
and drops back to settle on a grass stem or sedge. In addition to the
Surrey localities it is to be found in suitable places throughout the
New Forest, on the Studland peninsula, and in Dorset generally.

Margarodes unionalis Hiib. comes to light occasionally in August.
and September. A female will probably lay readily in confinement and
the resulting brood can be reared, if kept warm, on jasmine. The female
can easily be distinguished from the male by the absence of the large
tuft of white scales at the end of the abdomen.

The larva of Loxostege palealis Schf. can be found from the middle
to the end of August nearly full grown in the umbels of Daucus carota.
The moth has now been established for many years in South Kent and
around Southend (Benfleet, etc.), where it is possibly reinforced by
migration. Geta large flower-pot, a foot across if possible, put in good
drainage and several inches of light soil, put the umbels in, tie a piece
of cloth over the top, and leave out in all weather in the open. By
this method about 100 per cent. will be bred. If brought into the house
or put under cover for the winter nearly the same percentage will die.
Palealis is said to go over more than one winter on occasion as a full
grown larva, being thus eighteen months in a cocoon in the larval stage
before pupation. Probably this is unusual from unnatural conditions
in captivity. I have never had it happen with over 100 larvae.

The larva of Gymnancycla canella Hiib. can be found in late August
on Prickly Saltwort (Salsola kali) and can very easily be reared by grow-

CURRENT NOTES. 243

ing the plant in a pot or tub full of sand. When full grown the larva
goes just below the surface of the sand and spins a cocoon where it
pupates at once, remaining as a pupa till the following July. The
pupae may be collected from the pot at the end of September and kept
in a tin box in a cool place till the following June with perfect safety.

The dates given in Tutt’s Practical Hints for Dioryctria hostilis
Steph. are too late. The larva may be found in a rolled leaf of aspen,
or sometimes two or three in a small bunch of leaves, from the middle
to the end of August. As it is easy to rear, it is better to go in the
third week and take it small, as in an early year it is sometimes gone
at the end of the month. It spins readily in moss and pupates at once
and can be kept without difficulty through the winter. This moth,
though its numbers vary from year to year, is much more generally
distributed than is usually supposed. It is probably to be found in
every aspen wood of size in mid and East Kent, and in several places
in South Essex.

The second brood larvae of Amblyptilia punctidactyla Haw. (? cos-
modactylus Hiib.) should be worked for on Stachys sylvatica in the last
week of August. Numbers of A. acanthodactyla will probably be found
at the same time, but it is my experience that the earlier larvae, where
both are found, will have a higher percentage of punctidactyla. Larvae
taken at Seaton and Yarmouth, I. of W., in mid September contained
two punctidactyla each in batches of forty from each place, whilst a
batch of 30 from Devon taken in mid August were all punctidactyla.
The larva and pupa are not very easy to see as their pink and green
colours harmonize well with the flowers and stem of the Stachys.

Current Notes

In Entomologisk Tidskrift (1952, 73: 18, text figs.) Arvid Horke
describes a new noctuid, Hydraecia nordstroemi, which he has taken at
light in the island of Oeland, S. Sweden. It resembles H. micacea Esper
very closely, but is on the average smaller and the shadow inside the
elbowed line is dark chocolate brown, not reddish. Its date of appear-
ance, the middle of July to the beginning of September, is earlier than
that of micacea. In Oeland the latest date for nordstroemi is 4th Sep-
tember and for micacea the earliest is 8rd September. He also describes
a melanic form, ab. fuscata.

The genitalia show constant differences in both sexes, and by brush-
ing off some hairs the males can be distinguished easily from those of
micacea. The cucullus in micacea is furnished with a distinct corona
and the strongly chitinised harpe is turned backwards and crosses the
lower angle of the cucullus; in nordstroemi the corona is lacking and
the harpe is separated from the cucullus, parallel with its posterior edge
and projecting at right angles beyond the lower edge of the valve. The
chief difference in the aedoeagus is that in micacea there is a bulbous
cornutus, which is absent in nordstroemt.

Since these two species have been confused up to the present time the
_ distribution of nordstroemi is not yet known and it is possible that it
occurs in the British Isles. I have examined the few specimens of micacea

214 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/V11T/1952

ab. brunnea Tutt in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell collection, but
they are all true micacea.

Another new noctuid, Allophyes alfaroi Agenjo, which is found all
over the Iberian Peninsula, is described by R. Agenjo in Hos, 1951, 27:
410-414; Pl. 6, fig. 1; Pl. 7, figs. 3, 6, 7, 8. It bears a close resemblance
to Allophyes oxyacanthae, with which it has been confused hitherto. It
is a little smaller than oxyacanthae, more variegated, and has the white
mark near the inner margin broader and more conspicuous, and the
antenna of the male has shorter pectinations. The male genitalia
_are much less asymmetrical in alfaroi than in oxyacanthae, the bifid
uncus is much smaller, and the shape and size of almost every structure
differs. The bursa copulatrix of alfaroi is nearly twice as long as that
of oxyacanthae. Prunus spinosa is the food-plant. It is unlikely to
occur in the British Isles, but, if it is found, the South of Ireland is the
most likely. locality. .

A meeting was held at the rooms of the Royal Entomological Society
of London, on Wednesday, 12th March (see Proceedings C, Vol. 17,
No. 2, 4th March), at which, in response to a request from Professor
Grassé and others, the proposal to form a British branch of the
U.1.E.I.S. (Union Internationale pour |’Etude des Insectes Sociaux)
was discussed. J have agreed to act provisionally as Secretary, and
would be glad to hear from any British biologist who would like to join
such an organisation. If the necessary response is received, steps will
be taken to put the organisation on a permanent basis and to nominate
Officers.—J. D. CartHy, Queen Mary College, Mile End Road, London,

K.1. .

Will those of our subscribers who take in the Record on a half-yearly
basis please send their subscriptions for July-December (ten shillings) to
our Treasurer now—thereby saving him the irouble, and postage, of
sending out ‘reminders’? An Order Form is enclosed with this issue.

Notes and Observations

ALLEGED CAPTURE OF LEUCODONTA BICOLORIA SCHIFF. IN HAMPSHIRE.—
In the Note on page 151 of this volume of the Record there is a passing
reference to the capture of ZL. bicoloria on Hayling Island. Probably
this was a case of mistaken identity. Some years ago I had brought to
me a specimen of Huproctis similis Fues., proudly exhibited as bicoloria,
and was unable to convince the captor of his error. The Portsmouth
district has been well worked for many years by three active entomo-
logists, and none of us has ever seen bicoloria, though that proves
nothing. I saw a specimen of ZL. bicoloria in an old collection made at
Gosport many years ago and was informed it was a genuine English
specimen. I believe it is still in existence. But so many old collections
contain queer things. Newman either did not know of the Hayling
Island bicoloria or did not accept the ‘record’, as there is no mention
of it in his work British Moths, pp. 227-228.

I think it should be a rule among entomologists that no record should
stand unless the insect has been seen by at least two entomologists cr
the captured specimen has heen exhibited. This, I am given to under-

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 215

stand, is the rule in the world of ornithologists. Otherwise I might be
tempted to divulge an almost certain new locality for Trachea atriplicis
I.., but the specimen eluded me, though I had it in view for at least ten
minutes !

Finally, with reference to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight List cf
Macro-lepidoptera, Huxoa cursoria Hufn. should be deleted as occurring
on Hayling Island. The author of the ‘record’ has since admitted it was
a case of mistaken identity.—A. H. Sprrrine, Bae Fifth Avenue,
Warblington, Havant, Hants. 28.v.52.

ReEcorDs oF LEUCODONTA BICOLORIA ScHIFF.—With reference to the
reported occurrence of this species on Hayling Island (Ent. Rec., 64:
151) the following notes may be of interest. (1) A live specimen was
brought to Mr. W. Edwards at Malvern: it had been found at the New
Pool, a large pond surrounded by alders. This is recorded in the Vic-
toria County History of Worcestershire and must have been subsequent
to 1899 as it is not mentioned in the local list of Malvern Lepidoptera
compiled by W. Edwards and R. F. Towndrow and published in that
year. (2) About fifteen years ago I was told by an entomologist in the
New Forest that when he and a friend were out collecting on the East
Dorset heaths they had been accosted by a working man who offered
them a box containing an assortment of about 200 pupae for half-a-
crown. He said he had dug them locally himself. Rather reluctantly,
and chiefly because the man seemed really hard up, they made the pur-
chase and divided the pupae between them, thinking they had picked up
a lot of rubbish. To a very large extent this was true, but among the
insects that emerged was one Leucodonta bicoloria. (3) Six years ago
I was shown a small box of insects mainly in poor condition at Brocken-
hurst and this contained one L. bicoloria. I was assured that it was a
genuine British specimen, a statement that I] have no reason to doubt,
but unfortunately there were no data with it.—H. Symes, 52 Lowther
Road, Bournemouth. 15.v.52.

CARTEROCEPHALUS PALAEMON Pal. IN HampsHire.—Mr. Allan’s note
on C. palaemon (Ent. Rec., 64: 151) made me look up some records
which I made in 1934-5 when at school at Winchester College :—‘‘This
insect has occurred in the New Forest but does not now. Its chief
localities are in the Midlands. They were taken by Mr. Johns (of
Winton House, Winchester) near Lyndhurst many years’ago. I have
seen the specimens and know that they are palaemon, but I am certain
it does not occur at Lyndhurst now.’’

So far as J remember, Winton House was a prep school near Win-
chester, and I have quite forgotten Mr. Johns. I did not know him
well but I do remember calling one day and being shown the specimens
of C. palaemon and being told where they came from.—(Rev.) P. C.
Hawker, Gautby Rectory, Wragby, Lincs. 15.v.52.

CARTEROCEPHALUS PALAEMON PaLL. IN HAMPSHIRE.—With reference
to the query (Hnt. Rec., 64: 151) regarding the capture of C. palaemon
by Mr. Moncreaff at Southwick, Hants, I send you the following in-
formation. Moncreaff was a well-known Portsmouth naturalist and
specialised in Botany and Entomology. He was a prominent member cf
the late Portsmouth and Gosport Natural Science Society, but I cannot

216 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VIT/ 1952

trace that any of his collected material is still in existence, if indeed
he ever made a collection. He was always regarded as an accurate
observer, and it is most improbable that he ever had foreign insects as
his work was connected with the Portsmouth district. If therefore his
identity with the ‘‘Mr. Moncreaff’’ who is said to have taken C. palae-
mon at Southwick is correct, the specimen was probably genuine.—A. H.
SPERRING, Slindon, Fifth Avenue, Warblington, Havant, Hants. 28.v.52.

CaRTEROCEPHALUS PALAEMON PaLL. IN HAampsHirE.—With regard to
Mr. Allan’s query in Ent. Rec., 64: 151, Steropes paniscus [palaemon |
was recorded by R. Harvey in 1857 in Ent. Weekly Intel., 2: 117. Itis
definitely Netley in Hampshire and not the one in Shropshire associated
with the founder of the Hope Department. Henry Moncreaff lived in
the High Street, Portsmouth (see 1881, Ent. mon. Mag., 18: 56). See
also Notes by him in Entomologist, vols. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. There is also a
note in the Zoologist about this period.—B. M. Hossy, 7 Thorncliffe
Road, Oxford. 20.v.52. .

[Much obliged to our correspondents for their information. Henry
Moncreaff contributed to Entomologist between 1867 (when he gave his
address as ‘‘Southsea’’) and 1874, when he was living at ‘145 High
Street, Portsmouth’’. Robert Harvey is in the list of British Entomo-
logists printed by. H. T. Stainton in The Entomologist’s Annual for 1860,
his address being there given as ‘‘5, Portland Terrace, Southampton’’.
I do not possess a copy of The Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligencer,
vol. 2, and have been unable to borrow one in time for this note. If any
reader has that volume I should be grateful for a copy of the entry
quoted by Dr. Hobby, also for any further information about Robert
Harvey. Does anybody know more about Mr. Johns of Winton House,
Winchester, and what became of his collection?—P.B.M.A. |

VANESSA CARDUI L. In LINcOLNSHIRE.—On 8th May I saw a very worn
specimen of V. cardui in our churchyard here. A strong East wind was
blowing at the time. The first specimen of Gonepteryx rhamni L. that
I saw this year was on Easter Day (13th April), which leads me to be-
lieve that all butterflies are much later here than in the south.—The
Rev. P. C. Hawker, Gautby Rectory, Wragby, Lancs. 15.v.52.

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN DERBYSHIRE.—On 10th May I was pleased to
see a small pale specimen of Vanessa cardui L. in flight over the stone
walls which border Long Lane, Stonedge, about 3 miles S.W. of Chester-
field. It was a male in good condition. Long Lane is 900 feet above
sea-level and quite unsheltered. I have found V. cardwi in the same
spot in other years.—J. H. Jounson, 53 Knighton Street, Hepthorne
Lane, Chesterfield. 19.v.52.

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN TuRKEY.—It was with great interest that I
read Brigadier Lipscomb’s account of the emergence on a grand scale
of Vanessa cardw in North Africa, in which he shrewdly foretold a big
emigration to England. Apart from the entomological papers, there
have been numerous letters in The Field, and perhaps other papers, re-
porting very early occurrences of V. cardwi in different parts of south
England.

The emergence and movement must certainly have been on a vast
front, for they came up through the Bosphorus too. We had a very

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. val wd

erratic spring and early summer here, a few hot spells interlarded in a
long cold term that lasted—to our misery—to the end of May. The
storks arrived in arctic weather in mid-March, but a mild day on the
14th produced Vanessa io and on the 24th V. polychloros and V. antiopa,
which is not a very familiar species here. After another bleak spell
V’. cardui put in its appearance in my little garden at Bebek on 5th
April, stunted and very weather-beaten. In spite of icy winds out of
Russia, chilled by the melting ice, V. cardui continued to pass through,
but most were so worn and bleached that they were hardly recognizable
on the wing. This must be all part of the same movement, but they
seem to have been later here than in the west.—Matcoitm Burr, D.Sc.,
Aynalicesme caddesi 51/2, Istanbul. 7.v1.52.

Notes FROM HERTFORDSHIRE.—Some at least of the Vanessa cardui
recorded in March and April survived the cold spell which followed their
immigration. I noted specimens at valerian here in my garden on 23rd
May and 18th June, others in the neighbourhood on 16th and 22nd
June. One was seen in the New Forest on 3rd June. On 13th June I
found a newly emerged larva here on Onopordon acanthium. V. atalanta
was in my garden on 19th and 23rd June, and in Sussex one was seen on
27th May.

Sugar has not yet been productive, the most noteworthy species
being Ceramica pisi, Dypterygia scabriuscula, Apamea characterea
(hepatica) and several Polia nitens (advena).—C. Craururp, Denny,
Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 27.vi.52.

A Nore on Maracosoma NEustRIA L.—I should like to add a post-
script to Mr. David Wright’s very interesting notes on Malacosoma
neustria Linn. (Ent. Rec., 64: 172). In 1950 I obtained a web of larvae.
During the first week of July nine 6d and thirty 92 emerged, the
remaining cocoons being placed in the garden as sufficient imagines
had been secured. The interesting point is that every emergence oc-
curred betwen 3.30 and 5.30 p.m. G.M.T.—Pavut H. Hottoway, War-
wick House, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hants. 18.vi.52.

Macroeciossum STELLATARUM L. IN HeErRTFORDSHIRE.—In the after-
noon of 18th June a Macroglossum stellatarum Linnaeus spent ten
minutes feeding at the flowers of sweet william in my garden. I watched
it from a distance of two feet and noticed that it was faded and the anal
tufts were imperfect.—E. A. Cockayne, 8 High Street, Tring.

[One was also seen feeding at sweet william in my garden at Bishop’s
Stortford on 19th June. Mr. C. Craufurd of this town saw specimens at
valerian in his garden on June 17th, 18th and 23rd. We shall be glad
to receive records of this insect from other parts of the country.—

P.B.M.A. |

ANOTHER FoopPLANT OF TATHORHYNCUS EXSICCATA LEDERER.—Dr. J.
Sneyd Taylor has written to say that he bred a specimen of Tathorhyncus
ersiccata in January 1942. The larva was found feeding on lucerne,
Medicago sativa, at Graaf-Reinet, Cape Province, and the cocoon was
formed among leaves and debris at the base of the food-plant. The
adult was determined by Dr. A. J. T. Janse as Tathorhyncus vinctalis
Walker, a synonym of ezxsiccata Lederer, and a note was published in
the Entomoiogist’s Record, 1942, 54: 112.—E. A. Cockayne.

218 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VIL / 1952

INCIDENCE OF ODONTOSIA CARMELITA EXsp.—lI was interested to read (in
your letter) that you consider 0. curmelita a scarce insect, because Mr.
Goater and I have taken it for the last three years, and more this year
than before. But we have thought it very aptly named, as although it
occurs in many places near here we have never taken more than two
specimens in one night and in all not more than a dozen. It appears to
fiy in bad weather, for we have taken it in the pouring rain and when
there has been a ground frost sufficient to prevent most other things
from flying.—A. C. R. Reperave, 14a The Broadway, Portswood,
_ Southampton. 4.v.52.

HETEROGENA ASELLA SCHIFF. IN Kent.—The late A. J. L. Bowes noted
two males of ‘‘The Triangle’’ (#7. asella) at light at Ham Street; one on
18th June 1934 (lost), the other on 30th June 1935 (taken). At Ham
Street in 1951 three were seen by me at light and were taken. The dates
upon which they occurred are as tollows:—25th July (¢), 30th July
(2), 3lst July (¢). So tar as I am aware these constitute the only re-
cords of asella for Kent.—J. M. Caatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue,
West Wickham, Kent. 5.v1.52.

PLUSIA VARIABILIS Pinu. & Mitr. (ILLusTRIS Fas.) FROM THE HAYNES
CoLLEcTION.—With reference to my note in Ent. Rec., 64: 52, I wish to

say that I have received no confirmation of the authenticity of the two >

specimens there menticned and which were purchased by Mr. H. D.
Bessemer at the Haynes sale-—J. M. Cuatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut
Avenue, West Wickham, Kent. 5.vi.52.

Earty EMERGENCE OF ABROSTOLA TRIPARTITA Hurn.—A specimen of
Abrostola tripartita Hufn. visited my lght-trap on the night of Ist-2nd
May. South (Moths of the Br. Is., 2: 75) gives ‘‘June, sometimes late
May, and, when there is a second emergence, in August’”’. Newman &
Leeds give June and July. I have bred it from late Summer larvae
several times and have never had an emergence before 15th June, most
being in the last days of June and early July. In 1947, however, in
Essex, I obtained larvae in late June which produced moths on
17th July and 20th July; this suggests that there were early emergences
in that year.—F. H. Lyon, Sampford Peverell, Tiverton, Devon. 17.v.52.

HADENA BOMBYCINA HUFN. (GLAUCA Hts.) at WESTON-SUPER-MARE.—
It may be of interest to record the capture of a specimen of the above
species in my garden at light on the 23rd May last. Another specimen
was taken on the following day and a third specimen a few days later.
On looking through my series of Hadena nana Hufn. (dentina Esp.) I
find that there is a specimen of H. bombycina among them taken in
May 1933 by my father in this garden. Weston-super-Mare seems to
be rather a strange locality for this species which generally occurs in
the north of England in mountainous areas. I have, however, heard
indirectly that at least one other specimen of H. bombycina has been
taken in Somerset this year by another collector.—C. S. H. Biatnwayrt,
27 South Road, Weston-super-Mare. 11.vi.52.

BUTTERFLIES ON Wet Grounp.—-In Ent. Rec., 64: 87, two short notes
appeared relating to butterflies observed on wet mud. In the tropics
and subtropical regions, this is, of course, a normal occurrence on warm

ay} |

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 219

days, especially around noon and during the earlier hours of tle atter-
noon.

A large number of species have this habit, but in this country
(Argentina) as a rule the great bulk of these assemblies are composed
of Papilios (especially the black and yellew species of the Papilionint
and often large groups of the beautiful white semi-transparent species
of Lampropterini), species of Phoebis and Aphrissa statira, of the
Dioninae subfamily of the Heliconiids, Diaethria candrena and a few
species of Hesperiidae, especially Pyrgus and in the afternoons Téle-
gonus lividus and certain Phocides.

These assemblies as a rule consist of from a few individuals to per-
haps a hundred or so, but I shall never forget one I was privileged to
see afternoon after afternoon when collecting some years ago alongside
the river Uruguayi in the virgin forest behind Puerto Bemberg in
Misiones. Here an intake was being constructed in connection with a
new water service for Bemberg and a small earthern ramp had been
built to hold back the water from the excavations. This ramp was
quite small, perhaps a dozen yards long by one wide, and as it had been
trodden hard by constant use and was only a few inches above water
level, it was always damp and an ideal place for these drinking butter-
flies. Furthermore it was probably the only damp mud anywhere in
the neighbourhood as the river banks were of rock, and it lay in a
veritable suntrap and was easily accessible by way of the river, here
some eighty yards wide. In this spot the butterflies assembled daily
in such incredible numbers that if I were to suggest a total of around
ten thousand, I do not think I should be in any way exaggerating.
The photographs I took, though poor, give some idea of this great con-
centration. A large kite net swept over them as they rose, trapped
anything up to thirty or forty or even more specimens as I more than
once proved, liberating the catch after they had been counted. These
butterflies were mostly of the species J have already mentioned, but
there were always about a dozen others represented in smaller numbers.

A curious thing about these assemblies is that under normal cond1-
tions all the specimens will be found to be males. Writers have occasion-
ally recorded seeing females, generally not in excess of two or three per
thousand, but I suspect that their presence was accidental, nor do the
authors state whether these specimens were actually engaged in drink-
ing. Except in the case of a few Ascia monuste females noted drink-
ing at roadside and street puddles when they came down to feed dur-
ing the prolonged migratory flight of this species that took place dur-
ing the past summer and which lasted for well over two months (and
which will be dealt with in another place), I have never found females
attending these Drinkfeste, although I have searched for them many
times. In the case of di- or polymorphic species, their absence or
presence can easily be noted by glancing over the groups, but to deter-
mine the presence or not of females in species where the two sexes do
not differ, I have on many occasions sat down by side of an assembly,
and picking up the specimens one by one with a pair of forceps, satis-
fied myself as to their sex.

They rise when alarmed, but if one remains quiet or even sits down
in the spot where they have assembled, they settle again and return
to their drinking within a very few minutes..

220 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/VIT/1952

Another peculiarity is that when any considerable number of a
given species is present, these will form compact communal groups by
themselves, and when there are several such groups they will remain
slightly apart and the species with few representatives will be found
widely scattered on the outskirts of the main concentration. They re-
main almost motionless for long periods, sucking up the moisture and
every few minutes discharging a large drop of fluid. They sometimes
bunch together so closely that their raised wings almost touch those
of their neighbours.

There is a theory that butterflies are only found on damp sand or
soil where this has been contaminated by human or animal discharge
or sweat. It is a theory difficult to prove or disprove, since it is often
quite impossible to say that such and such a spot has never, within a
reasonable period, been soiled, or that some animal has not recently
lain there. Urine or fecal discharge, although all trace has long since
vanished, may leave some residue in the soil that for a very long period
afterwards will affect the spot where it has taken place when this be-
comes moist. With respect to dung, I may add that in the forest this
generally disappears completely overnight, carried away during the
hours of darkness by beetles, so that no trace remains the following
day.

In support of this theory I may add that I have never seen butter-
flies on wet ground in any place where I could state categorically that
ho contamination could have ever taken place, and that it has been
my experience that the largest concentrations and the most frequently
selected sites have always been those spots where contamination is evi-
dent or where no doubt exists as to its having occurred within a reason-
able time of the place being made use of by the butterflies. I have
seen butterflies collected together on sweaty clothes thrown over a bush
to dry, on the handles of the paddles of native dugouts, on spilt fer-
menting substances where boats have been unloaded on the river banks,
and often when sitting quietly by some forest stream watching one ot
these assemblies, butterflies have left the wet sand to settle on my
perspiring hands and face.—Kennetu J. Haywarp, Institute of Ento-
mology, Tucuman University, Argentina.

THE CHROMOSOME NUMBER OF LEUCANIA FAVICOLOR BARRETT AND LEU-
CANIA PALLENS LINNAEUS.—The late Sir John Fryer, believing as I
do, that these are distinct species, thought they might have different
chromosome numbers and decided to try to find out. I went with him
to stay for a week-end with his sister at Margaretting and at night we
went to Creeksea. Favicolor was common and we both kept females
and obtained eggs. Fryer had obtained eggs of pallens already. Testes
of both species from larvae in the last instar were fixed and sections cut
by a skilled technician in his laboratory at Harpenden. When these
were ready I went to stay with him for a week-end at Harpenden and
under an oil immersion lens each of us counted the chromosomes of both
species independently. Both of us found the number to be 31 in the
great majority of counts in both species. Both had counts of 30 in two
or three cases probably owing to the two chromosomes touching one
another having been counted as one, and there were one or two counts
of 29 and 32, but we felt satisfied that the number is the same in both

Oe ae

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 221

species. The result was disappointing, but this negative result does
not prove that favicolor and pallens are the same species. Many of the
large hawk-moths have the same chromosome number. Fryer intended
to publish the result, but pressure of work prevented him, and I think
the time has come when it should be recorded.—E. A. Cockayne, 8 High
Street, Tring.

PossisLtE SEX-LINKAGE IN LaotHor poputt Linnageus.—In Laothoé
populi there is a whitish grey form often with a faint yellowish tinge,
usually with ill-defined markings, ab. pallida Tutt. If I have identified
Tutt’s form correctly the females are much yellower than the males
and are a pale putty colour. There is also a pale pink form with mark-
ings more or less indistinct, but darker pink or, as Tutt puts it, pale
foxy red. These are named according to the depth of colour, ab. rufo-
diluta Tutt, ab. rufa Gillmer, and ab. fuchsi Bartel. I have seen large
numbers of these pale putty coloured and pink forms and apart from
some bred by L. W. Newman all have been females.

Newman for some years had a very inbred strain, which produced
gvynandromorphs and many beautiful pale forms, those belonging to the
pink forms being especially beautiful. Most of them were female, but
he also bred a small number of males and obtained some unusual modi-
fications without markings or with only the slightest trace of them. IL
collected all the males I could find in various collections and a few I
had bred myself from pupae supplied by Newman, and have 10 pale
grey males, 10 pale pink males, and 4 with a slight pink tinge. I have
also 3 ¢ and 2 @ of the modification without markings. All these were
bred by Newman or from pupae obtained from him. It seems to me
very probable that all these forms are sex-linked recessives and that
two main genes are concerned.

All the specimens I have seen, whether captured, bred from wild
larvae, or in the Fl generation are female, and the great majority of
those that appeared in Newman’s inbred strain also are females. In
contrast with this very few males are known, and those I have seen all
originated from Newman’s inbred strain. The occurrence of two or
three gynandromorphs, grey on the male side and pink on the female
side, is quite compatible with sex-linkage, and the other facts I have
given strongly suggest that both ab. pallida and the pink forms are
determined by recessive sex-linked genes. This can only be decided by
exper'mental breeding, and ab. pallida should not be difficult to obtain,
though there might be difficulty in procuring the pink forms. It is de-
sirable that the work should be done, because sex-linked forms are rare
in Macrolepidoptera, the best known being the classical case of Abraxas
grossulariata ab. dohrnii Koenig (lacticolor Raynor), which is recessive,
ronodontis bidentata ab. mediorufa Cockayne, suspected but not yet
proved, and Oporinia autumnata ab. latifasciata Harrison, which is sex-
linked and partially dominant.—E. A. Cockayns, 8 High Street, Tring.

A Nore on ‘‘BUTTERFLIES IN THE Coastal REGION or NortH WALES’’.
—With regard to Mr. Thompson’s article in the June issue of the
Record (64: 161), he makes a few observations on the volume which I
compiled at the request of the Chester Society of Natural Science,
Literature and Art, namely ‘‘the Butterflies and Moths found in the
Counties of Cheshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire, Angle-

222 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/V1I1/1952

sea and Merionethshire’’. Records from over 130 entomologists were
included in that volume and many contributors went to considerable
trouble to give information.

Mr. Thompson was requested to give his records, but apart from
writing that Humenis semele Hiibn. subspecies thyone and Plebejus
argus L. subspecies caernensis occur above the Old Abbey Hotel facing
Penmaenbach Point and that I was to be sure to give his name as the
authority for these names, I received no assistance from him. If he had
given the information, the lack of which he now criticizes, his few
observations would have been considered and some included.

Vol. 3, 1949, and Vol. 4, 1950, of the Proceedings published by the
above Society include supplements with additional records.

The list of Recorders has now grown to over 200, but it is not in-
tended to do more than touch on the ecological aspect, neither are
zoogeographical zones to be considered. The ordinary ordnance maps
are satisfactory to the bulk of entomologists.—S. Gorpon Situ, Estyn,
Boughton, Chester. 18.vi.52.

Kiting SPECIMENS FOR THE CaBINET.—A little while ago the Editor,
very properly, stated his objections to a mass murder of captured insects,
and thence deduced an objection to my favourite killing agent, ammonia.

This corollary need not necessarily be drawn. TI kill practically
everything with ammonia and also kill nothing I do not want. I use
ordinary glass-bottomed boxes, which have been varnished with shellac
and have each had a hole bored through the lid. On returning home
I put a drop of chloroform through each hole with a camel-hair brush
and can then examine the bag; those that are not wanted revive in a
short time and are released ; the remainder are stacked in the boxes in a
biscuit tin, a few drops of ammonia are poured on a piece of blotting-
paper on the bottom, and the lid put on, and all are dead and ready
to set in the morning. As it is my general rule to set everything I kill
and not to go out again until the previous day’s bag is set ammonia
suits me perfectly.

~ The shellac on the boxes requires renewing every two or three years;
if this precaution is observed they will last practically for ever and I am
still using boxes given me when I was a schoolboy fifty years ago. I
do not know who invented the shellacing dodge, so necessary to preserve
the boxes from the ammonia fumes, but it was told me by my entomo-
logical mentor, the late Rev. C. R. N. Burrows of Mucking, in 1900.—
H. C. Hucerns, 65 Eastwood Boulevard, Westcliff-on-Sea.

THE Usr or THE TERMINAL ‘I’.—I have no wish to promote any
acrimonious discussion since I have insufficiently strong views on the
matter but I feel that the Editor’s choice of a hypothetical case to sup-
port his argument (Hnt. Rec., 64: 150) is a poor one. The name aureli
could never be derived from Aurelius since the latter would give rise
either to aurelii (if a figure of antiquity were concerned) or aureliusi (if
a modern person were intended) and in no way could produce auwreli
which can only be formed from Aurel. No reviser could legitimately alter
aureli to aureli unless there were some undoubted typographical or
similar error or the reviser had a really sound reason to believe that a
third person by the name of Aureli were concerned. Had the case been
put the other way round, however, the name in the original descrip-

COLLECTING NOTES. 223

tion being aurelii, it would have been more convincing since there would
then have been the possible ambiguity suggested. The name Aureli is,
however, doubtless not altogether unlikely so that I should agree with
the Editor that a reviser would have insufficient grounds for making
the change. I must give the Editor best, however, since right at the
very end of Borelli’s paper referred to previously (Ent. Rec., 64: 90)
is a mention on one Pietro Gariazzo and my amendment should thus
have been to Forcipula gariazzoi (and not to F. gariazzi) after all!
This, however, does not affect the above hypothetical case.—D. K. McE.
Kevan, University of Nottingham. 2.vii.1952.

Auiax’s ‘ LaRvAL Fooprriants.’—A number of contributors write to
say that they are using the generic and specific names given in my book
Larval Foodplants. Unhappily there are certain mistakes and mis-
spellings among these names, as follows. Of their charity, will those
who use the book make the necessary corrections with pen or pencil?

Page 24. For Chaonia ruficornis read Drymoma ruficornis.

,, 389. For Coenophila read Caenophila.

,» 96. For Brachyonycha read Brachionycha.

.. 61. For Anchocelis (twice) read Anchosceélis.
,, 62. For ACRONYCTINAE read ACRONICTINAE.

., 65. For tragopogonis read tragopoginis.

» 66. For lithorylaea read lithozylea.

,, 68. For ypsillon read ypsilon.

84. For Jodis lactaearia read Jodis lactearta.
,, 86. For holosericeata read holosericata.

5, 90. For quadrifasiata read quadrifasciata.

,, 92. For Colostygia (four times) read Calostigia.
.. 93. For Colostygia read Calostigia.

» 117. For Chiasma read Chiasmia.

PSB ME Agran. Deyo.

Collecting Notes

A Nore From tHE New Forest.—On Friday, 30th May, a visit was
paid to the New Forest. On most days until the 3rd June there were
two or three hours of sunshine in the morning or afternoon alternated
with rain. The evenings were dry. The usual butterflies were in evi-
dence but no great number of any species. Argynnis euwphrosyne was
going over but A. selene was very fresh. Hemaris fuciformis and H.
tityus were flying at the ragged robin and meadow plume thistle (Cnicus
pratensis). Some Melitaea cinxia were seen along the railway bank.
This species has spread northwards from Sway where Mr. Antram intro-
duced it a few years ago. A few Vanessa cardui were sunning them-
selves on the meadow plume thistles and one Hamearis lucina was
noticed. The other butterflies and moths were those usually seen at the
beginning of June but the numbers were not much in advance of those
seen in 1951.

At sugar, which was tried, though rather early in the year, Dyptery-
gia scabriuscula was taken on Friday and again on Saturday (3lst May);
it was the only insect to arrive. On Sunday night, however, 2 Thyatira
batis in fresh condition were taken with 1 Meristis trigrammica and 1

224 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII / 1952

Ectropis consonaria. On Monday night (2nd June) twelve insects came
to the sugar: 4 T. batis, 1 M. trigrammica, 1 E. consonaria, 1 D. scab-
riuscula, 2 Phlogophora meticulosa, 1 Agrotis ipsilon, 1 Apatele rwmicis
and 1 Hypena proboscidals.

I beat the oaks for larvae of Catocala sponsu and C. promissa but was
apparently rather late as I obtained only a full-grown sponsa. This hes
since produced a number of ichneumon cocoons.

Those who are interested in nature generally will like to know that
the common buzzard was seen and that it is increasing its numbers in
the New Forest, also that the bastard balm (Melittis melissophyllum L.)
is still there but is now growing two miles away from its former haunt.
Only about a dozen of its handsome spikes were seen.—C. CRAUFURD,
Denny, Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 19.vi.52.

[Melittis was not uncommon in a remote part of Ocknell Plain in
the ’nineties. J. R. Wise (The New Forest, 1863) recorded it as ‘‘Very
plentiful on the outer bank of Wootton Enclosure, looking westward’’.—
P.B.M.A.]

CoLLECTING IN WEst SussEx.—On 27th May I went with a young
friend down to West Sussex for the day. He has been collecting locaily
for two or three years and he had a very good day, as he obtained five
butterflies and six moths which were new to him. Leptidia sinapis was
going over and Euphydryas aurinia though plentiful was past its first
freshness as was Argynnis ewphrosyne, but A. selene was in good condi-
tion. The following were also seen but none of them was common :—
P. aegeria, V. atalanta, O. venata, L. phlaeas, P. icarus, P. brassicae,
P.napi, G. rhamni, C. rubi and H. lucina. Good numbers of P. megaera
and CU. pamphilus were flying.

At the flowers of ragged robin Hemaris fuciformis and H. tityus
were seen and several Arctia villica were disturbed. FE. hastata, P.
strigillaria, P. macularia, A. plagiata, C. viridata, E. mi, E. glyphica,
X. montanata, X. fluctuata and L. chlorosata. were seen or captured.
The beginner has all the fun!—C. Crivururp, Denny, Galloway Road,
Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 10.vi.52. —

Captures IN NortH WatLeEs.—During a visit to North Wales from
the 23rd to the 27th of May last the following species and many others
were attracted to light. Caernarvonshire: 8 Tethea fluctuosa Hiib.—
this appears to be a new record for the county; Notodonta anceps Goze
and Drymonia dodonaea Schiff. were very common. A few Stauropus
fagi L. and two Apatele alni L. were also attracted. In Merionethshire,
with the exception of 7. fluctuosa, all the above appeared.—S. Gorpon
SmitH, Estyn, Boughton, Chester. 2.vi.52.

COLEOPTERA

Coleoptera at Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent
By A. A. Atzten, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.

The following short list comprises the more noteworthy species so far
encountered in a few exploratory visits, during the last two years, to
this attractive locality—together with a few taken there by other col-
lectors but not yet by the writer. Knole Park (in which stands the

COLEOPTERA. 225

historic house of that name) is a large area on the greensand, hilly and
varied in aspect, having a wealth of fine and ancient timber amongst
which oak, beech, ash and hawthorn predominate. Dead and dying
trees, stumps, and fallen trunks and branches—in every stage of decay—
abound. Considering its promising appearance, one’s first impression
of the Coleoptera is perhaps a little disappointing, but continued efforts
bring to ight a number of notable and interesting species and there is
no doubt that thorough and systematic work over a long period would
reveal a rich fauna with many rarities and additions to the recorded
beetles of Kent. As yet only small portions of the area have been in-
vestigated at all, and that more or less superficially ; so the present. list
(which omits species that are quite generally distributed and everywhere
common in the south-eastern districts) is purely preliminary and cap-
able of great extension. Of the localities in Kent which have been
worked for Coleoptera, Knole Park is faunistically nearest to Cobham
Park in the Rochester area, though that is partly on the chalk.

I have seen no published records of beetles from Knole Park, but
the late W. G. Blatch did some collecting there as shown by the data
on certain specimens in his collection. Mcreover, several of the species
recorded from Sevenoaks by Fowler were most probably taken in the
Park—some of which, marked (S) in the list, have been found there
recently.

Species not included in the Victoria County History of Kent (Fowler,
1908) are marked (NK). It must not, of course, be assumed that all such
species are necessarily new for the county; some of them may have been
already recorded since the above date. Species which are either scarce
or highly localized in Pritain as a whole are asterisked. The remainder
are more or less local but widespread at least in southern England.
Where there is no reference to frequency, a single specimen is to be
understood. Roman figures relate as usual to months of capture.

CaRaBipsr. Amara apricaria Payk.: under stone on hillside, viii.
*A.-equestris Duft. (=patricia Duft.): ditto. Calathus piceus Marsh. :
sparingly under stones and other cover.

StrpHipar. Necrophorus investigator Zett. (=ruspator Er.): in
long-dead rabbit with N. hwmator Gled. and Thanatophilus sinuatus F..,
vill.

CHOLEVIDAE. Cutops grandicollis Er.: with the last. Colon brun-
neum Latr.: swept off grass under beeches towards evening, vii. (S).

Letopipark. Leiodes calcarata Er.: in one restricted area by evening
sweeping under beeches, not common; vi, vil. L. litura Steph.: male
swept under lime trees in afternoon, x. Agathidium seminulum L.:
two in old rotten beech log, x. (S).

ScypMAENIDAE. Neuraphes angulatus Miill.: evening sweeping un-
der mixed trees, x. N. elongatulus Miill.: ditto, vi.

ORTHOPERIDAE. Orthoperus mundus Matth.: several under bark of
recently fallen oak bough, x. (NK).

Prinimpar. *Ptenidium brisouti Matth.: one, situation uncertain,
vili. (Hnt. mon. Mag., 1952, 88: 95). (NK).

STAPHYLINIDAE. Phyllodrepa ioptera Steph.: in wood-mould of old
beech trunk, x. Omalium italicwm Bernh.: evening sweeping in spin-
ney, x. Staphylinus globulifer Fourec.: under loose bark, ix. *Quedius

226 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VIT/ 1952

scitus Grav.: ditto. Conosomus immaculatus Steph.: sweeping, vi.
Bolitochara lucida Grav.: in fungoid wood of beech, x. Aleochara latu
Grav.: with A. curtula Goeze in carrion, a few, vill.

PsELAPHIDAE. *T'richonyx sulcicollis Rehb.: one in Blatech coll.
labelled as from this locality. *EHuplectus duponti Aubé (=kunzei
Fowl.): swept from grass under oak, vi. (S). *E. afer Reit. v. infirmus
Raf.: apparently this species, ditto. (NK). FE. piceus Mots.: a number
in rotten beech stump, vii. EH. nanws Rehb.: with the last; and under
decayed beech bark, x.

HisteripazE. *Plegaderus dissectus Er.: in wood-mould of old beech
log, x. (NK). Abraeus glebosus Hoffm.: not rare in similar habitats.
Micromalus flavicornis Hbst. ditto. and rather frequent under bark.

PHLOEOPHILIDAE. *Phloeophilus edwardsi Steph.: twice singly by
evening sweeping in spinney, ix, x. (My first capture of this interesting
insect.)

ELATERIDAE. Only a tew common species hitherto met with, but
larvae of *Athous villosus Fourc. (rare in Kent) have occurred under
beech bark.

Trixacipar. Triczugus curinifrons Bonv.: not rare by evening sweep-
ing, V-ix.

EvucneMipsE. Melausis buprestoides L.: a dead male in spider’s web
on beech trunk and remains of others in their burrows, vi. (S).

-NirmuLipaE. *Carpophilus sexpustulatus F.: under sappy bark ct
freshly fallen oak branch, x. (New to West Kent; see Ent. mon. Mag.,
1951, 87: 7.) *Epuraea guttata Ol. (=10-guttata F.): male at Cossus-
infested poplar, v. EH. pusilla Ill.: with the last. (Often considered
generally distributed, but in reality quite local.) Soronia punctatissima
Jll.: with the last. S. grisea L.: several from sap of oak and poplar
infested with Cossus, v, vil. Cryptarcha strigata F.: ditto. Librodor
(=I ps auct.) 4-guttatus F.: at Cossus poplar, and in plenty under sappy
beech bark, vi-vili. (NK). JL. hortensis Fourc. (=4-punctatus Ol. nec
L.): not uncommon at Cossus sap, v-vii; one under thick elm bark, x.
(NK). The absence of previous Kent records for these two widespread
species, as Fowler remarks, is curious. Rhizophagus perforatus Er.:
three by evening sweeping under elm and oak, vi. Pocadius ferrugineus
F.: swept up under lime trees, x.

Cucusmpar. Laemophloeus ferrugineus Steph.: under bark of large
limb of oak, ix. Silvanus unidentatus Ol.: sometimes in numbers under
bark.

CRYPTOPHAGIDAE. Cryptophagus pubescens Stm.: evening sweeping,
villi, x. C. dentatus Hbst.: two or three times under bark (the usual
habitat of this species). CC. lycoperdi Scop.: in profusion in puffballs
(Lycoperdon sp.), vill. C. setulosus Stm.: swept at dusk under oaks, vu.
*Caenoscelis pallida Woll.: an example of this rarity by sweeping under
trees after sunset when the grass was very wet, 22.vi11.51.

LATHRIDIDAE. *Lathridius bifasciatus Reit.: two beaten off mixed
hedge in evening, same date; twice singly by sweeping grass under trees
at twilight, ix and x. (NK). (An Australian species naturalized here
in the open; see Ent. mon. Mag., 1951, 87: 216, 287.) Enicmus histrio
Joy: one with the last, x. *H. testaceuws Steph.: about a dozen in and

COLEOPTERA. DOE

especially under a powdery fungus (Reticularia sp.) on trunk of dead
standing ash, v. Corticaria elongata Gyll.: evening sweeping, 1x.
(Much less generally common than usually represented.)

MyceTopHaGipAk. Litargus connexus Fourc.: not rare under beech
bark. Mycetophagus atomarius F.: on several occasions under rather
dry fungoid beech bark. (S). Pseudotriphyllus suturalis F.: in Poly-
porus on beech, x. )

COLYDIIDAE. *Synchita angularis Abeille: one standing over the
name juglandis F. in coll. W. G. Blatch, labelled ‘In beech stump,
Knole Park, Sevenoaks, 27.7.82’. I took a specimen on my first visit
to the locality, 25.vi.50, under a piece of loose bark on a sound prostrate
beech trunk. (NK). (The species is not yet recognized as British, but
I have it also from Windsor Forest and Park. A full account will ap-
pear shortly in the Ent. mon. Mag.) *Cicones variegatus Hellw.: under
dry beech bark, vil. Bitoma crenata F.: fairly common under bark.
*Cerylon fagi Bris.: in wood of old Cossus-infested poplar, viii.

Cimage. Cis setiger Mell.: in bracket fungi on old log, with C. boleti
Scop., rare, x. C. hispidus Payk.: scarce, ditto. C. bilamellatus Fowl.,
a few with the last. C. mtidus F.: plentiful in hard tinder-bracket
(Fomes) on dead beech. Ennearthron affine Gyll.: in numbers with
Cis spp. and Octotemnus, as above.

CanTHARIDAE. Malthodes pumilus Bréb.: by sweeping at nightfall, vi.

PrinipaE. *Ptinus subpilosus Stm.: male swept off grass under old
trees, v.

PytHipaE. Lissodema 4-pustulatum Marsh.: by sweeping under old
ash trees, viil.

PyrocHroiwazE. Pyrochroa coccinea L.: only larvae of this splendid
species have been found, under bark of beech and oak.

XYLOPHILIDAE. Xylophila pygmaea Deg.: beaten from foliage of
partly decayed oak, vi.

SERROPALPIDAE (=MELANDRYIDAE). *Phloeotryu rufipes Gyll.: on or
under bark of beech log, vii. (A. M. Massee).

ALLECULIDAE (=CISTELIDAE). Prionychus ater F.: under loose bark

on old oak, vi; larvae on several occasions in mould of hollow or dead
trees.

ScARABAEIDAE. Geotrupes vernalis L.: Dr. Massee used to take it
some years ago on and under deer dung in a particular area, in late
August, but though the conditions seem unchanged we have failed to
find it recently. (Typhaeus typhoeus L. is common; I have seen no Geo-
trupes.) *Aphodius zenkeri Germ.: common in deer dung, also taken
by evening sweeping; vi-vili, especially vii. (S). A. equestris Panz.
(=sticticus Panz. nec L.): occasional, but in numbers when found, in
horse dung, vil. *A. tenellus Say (=putridus auct. Brit.): in deer
dung, especially with A. ater Deg., not very scarce; v-ix. A. obliteratus
Panz.: in cow and other dung, rather common in autumn with A. con-
taminatus Hbst. which it much resembles; ix, x.

LucanrpagE. Sinodendron cylindricum L.: in rotten trunks, chiefly
ash, local, v. (I believe it can be found, like Dorcus throughout the year.)

CERAMBYCIDAE. Prionus coriarius L. Knole Park appears to be best
known to Kent collectors as a locality for this imposing species, and I

228 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/VII/ 1952

am told that during its late evening flights it has sometimes been caught
in numbers. Dr. Massee and I find odd specimens on the trunks or roots
of trees (oak, beech, ash) on sultry evenings, but have not yet seen it in
flight; end of vii to ix. (S). *Leptura scutellata F.: on or in beech,
vil. (A. M. Massee).

CHRYSOMELIDAE. Longitarsus rubiginosus Foud. (=flavicornis All.):
rather freely on Convolvulus sepium in hedge, vii and ix. (NK). Lf.
parvulus Payk. (=ater auct. Brit.): abundant by beating and sweeping
in autumn, and probably also throughout the summer.

BrucHipsr. Bruchus rufipes Hbst.: by general sweeping, ix.

CURCULIONIDAE. Apion haematodes Kby., cruentutum Whltn., and
marchicum Hbst.: not uncommon on Rumezx acetosella, v-x. Stropho-
somus faber Hbst.: three in and about rabbit burrows in very sandy
ground, x. Barypithes pellucidus Boh.: scarce by sweeping, vi. (Com-
mon in many places near London.)

ScotytTipaE. *Taphrorychus bicolor Hbst.: common in the bark of
fallen beech, v-x; see Hnt. mon. Mag., 1951, 87: 31. This rarely re-
corded species is probably much overlooked. Pityophthorus pubescens
Marsh.: by beating dead twigs of Scots pine, x. Platypus cylindrus
F.: plentiful on and boring into beech logs, vil. (NK). Not rare in
Kent, despite the seeming lack of records.

HyprRopuHitus piceus L. at Licgut.—In the Record, vol. 64, page 64, .
is reprinted a Note by the late J. W. Tutt on the numbers of H. piceus
found dead under the electric lights at Turin in August, and on page 84
of the same volume readers are asked if any specimens of this ee
have been captured at the mercury vapour lamp.

Mr. D. More has recently been using an ordinary circular m.v. moth-
trap in his garden at Hockley near Southend (Essex) and in the first
week of May he asked me what a very large oval black beetle was that
had come to the trap on the previous night. From his description it
appeared to be H. piceus but I asked him to save me the next that came
and on 17th May he caught another which was sent to me alive and
proved to be a fine piceus. The following night he took four more, which
were released in the garden

The most interesting fact about these captures is that so far he has
taken no specimen of any species of Dytiscus, although these are much
commoner locally than H. piceus. There is little water near Mr. More’s
house and it seems probable that these examples of H. piceus have
come some distance. Piceus was to be found, but rather uncommonly, on
the Leigh marshes when I first came to the district some twenty years
ago; since then, however, it has been extensively sought after by pro-
fessionals to supply aquarists and now appears to be very scarce indeed.
My friend Mr. Lionel Day wanted a specimen or two to photograph two
or three years ago and he informs me that of the larger water beetles
he obtained with a dredge only about two in a hundred were piceus, the
remainder being all Dytiscus, mostly marginalis with a very few punc-
tulatus.

Tt would therefore appear that H. piceus is much more strongly at-
tracted by light and probably a greater wanderer than members of the
genus Dytiscus.—H. C. Hucerns, 65 Eastwood Boulevard, Westcliff-on-
Sea.

DIPTERA. 229

DEPIERA
Notes on the Asilidae (Robber Flies)

By L. PARMENTER.

Visiting sandy heathland such as Oxshott, on a sunny day in mid-
April, one may find the first Asilid of the year. Mid-May will see the
appearance of other species inland, in varied habitats, and though
these will have disappeared during the summer, others take their place.
By the end of September, however, only two species will remain.

This family of Diptera, of which some 27 species are known from
Britain, can therefore be studied for 5 months of the year. It is neces-
sary to travel from North to South, and from West to East, to meet all
the species; for several are very local. A few are confined to Scotland,
a few to Wales, others to southern England and one to East Anglia.

They live as hunters, the only family of flies in this country restricted
to this habit. Other families possess species that hunt insects but they
also suck plant juices.

They are to be recognised by their wing venation, coupled with the
pointed proboscis with its long hairs overhanging the mouth edge—
the so-called face beard. The legs and body are very bristly. The
bristles of the legs are especially to be noted, for their use in holding
and capturing their prey is of great importance. The head is very
mobile—a useful attribute in a hunter. The wings are narrow for
speedy flight. Their strength must be considerable for they can fly
with heavy booty. Their size, as flies go, is medium to large—elsewhere
in the world they include the largest flies known. Their long bodies
help them to balance themselves in flight when carrying prey. The
legs are long, strong, and well armed.

They appear studious, mostly sitting watching for likely victims.
They are brave in their attacks on strong predatory and armoured
beetles, well-armed wasps, and even dragonflies.

Males and females are alike in colour but the females are often
larger than the males and can be recognised by their ovipositors whilst
the males have claspers that are always visible.

DISTRIBUTION.

First to find them. Verrall had at least one species in his garden
at Denmark Hill. <A few species occur in our inner area* at Hampstead,
Bowes Park, Richmond and Mitcham and may well occur closer to the
centre of the metropolis. They are not town lovers, however, but it
would be interesting to know how near they approach to the City; and
especially whether they colonise new ground in London or are relicts
6f the old days of spacious meadows, marshes and woods.

As with all insects, the greater part of their life is spent in the
immature stage. The light soils which are also the dry and warmer
soils such as the sands, chalk and valley alluvial, are apparently pre-
ferred.

*This refers to the central portion of the London Area as studied by the London
Natural History Society, to whom this paper was read.

930 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 16/VIT/ 1952

The numbers of individuals and species to be found on clay might
well be studied and compared with the distribution on the light soils.
Tt must be remembered that clay need not be a deterrent if covered by
a lighter soil in the form of a loam with a reasonable depth, i.e. suffi-
cient for the immature stages—a few inches in most cases.

Their habitat preferences are still comparatively little studied but
already certain species are known to be very restricted in distribution.
On the coastal dunes, Philonicus albiceps is to be found in the sunny
places to the leeward, almost invariably on the blown sand, particularly
of tracks and small areas of open sand with marram grass tufts within
9-3 feet. As the dune becomes fixed and the moss and flower carpet
begins to cover the sand, Dysmachus trigonus appears. At times I have
found it overflowing on to the blown sand areas. Dysmachus is also
widely distributed inland, showing a preference for scrub country, with
its varied bushes and high grass—open to the sun and not shaded by
large trees.

The dune carpet, of rabbit-nibbled moss and grass turf with its
thyme-covered hillocks, is a haunt of Epitriptus cingulatwus, a species
also to be found in hedgerows. Further inland, where meadows and
long grass appear, species of Dioctria such as rufipes and atricapilla
and Leptogaster cylindrica are to be seen hunting. Machimus atricapil-
lus occurs on the hedge banks, fences and posts of the fields.

In the open deciduous wood Dioctria oelandica will seek its prey in
the low, partially shaded vegetation, whilst Neoitamus cyanurus prefers
the higher layer of vegetation—the tops of the bracken and the canopy
of the trees where, at the wood edge, it hunts with Machimus atricapil-
lus. Laphria marginata is a species of the deciduous woodland in this
country and is tolerant of areas with less ground. vegetation; hunting
from tree trunk, stump, felled log, as well as ground vegetation, stones
and lower branches of trees.

The pines of the north give cover to Laphria flava, our most robust
Asilid, and those of the south may prove to be the home of Laphria
gilva, a species first taken in this country in Windsor Forest and which
I was lucky enough to find at Oxshott. Larvae of this species have also
been reported in Surrey at Ash Vale and it may prove to be spreading.

Near the pines, in the sparsely heather-covered sandy heaths in the
south, Lasiopogon cinctus occurs, with Rhadiurgus variabilis taking
its place in Scotland. Epitriptus arthriticus seems restricted to the
steppe-like brecklands. The rising downlands are haunted by Isopogon
brevirostris and here, on the turf paths and sheep tracks, Asilus crab-
roniformis, in gold and black velvet, our most beautiful Asilid, hunts
grasshoppers and other large prey.

From the evolution and natural selection points of view, the family’s
use of habitats is most interesting, for here we are dealing with crea-
tures which where they overlap are deadly competitors. Not only will
species attack and kill other species of Asilidae but I have found in-
dividuals of the same species killed by their own kind. Only jungle
fighters of the toughest calibre survive. Though food is generally in
abundance, an increase over a certain density by any Asilid species
would therefore result in an automatic check by this cannibalistic habit.

Like dragonflies they are very susceptible to sunshine and abhor
the dark forest and, I should imagine, those readers who have been

DIPTERA. Dou

in the tropics will not have found them in the rain forests. As I shall
later show they cannot emulate species like the Hover-flies who can
exist at tree-top level at all stages of their existence. All Asilidae (here
as throughout this paper I am concerned with those found in Britain)
are earth-bound in their early stages with the exception of the Laph-
rinae.

Eees.

The diptera form a highly developed order of insects and the Asilidae
—as hunters—one would expect to be of the highest development within
the order. This is evident even from the eggs. These vary in shape,
size, and hardness in the family but seem adapted to their needs. The
soft, more or less lengthened eggs of Dysmachus, Eutolmus, and Neoi-
tamus are laid on plants whilst those laid on or in the ground by Lepto-
gaster, Dicctria, and Laphria are round or broadly oval generally with
hard shells. Again, the hidden eggs of Machimus, Neoitamus, Asilus,
Dysmachus are white and those laid in the open such as Leptogaster,
Dioctria, Laphria and Rhadiurgus are yellow to brown in colour.

The numbers laid vary from at least 60 to over 400 per individual.
No definite figures can be laid down since it is difficult to follow one
individual right through its egg deposition period except in captivity,
where conditions are so abnormal that results may deviate widely from
a natural performance.

Their size varies from 0.43 x 0.36 mm. in Leptogaster cylindrica to
1.3 x 0.55 mm. of Asilus crabroniformis. Bumps and ridges are present
on some eggs but they lack the fine sculptures found on ova of Lepi-
doptera.

OVIPOSITION.

Before considering egg deposition habits, the ovipositors of the
imagines should be reviewed. They vary in shape from the abrupt
blunt end, almost lack of ovipositor, of Leptogaster and Duioctria to
the longer, narrow ovipositors of the Asilinae, with the longest being
found in Neowtamus cyanurus. Philonicus albiceps has a noticeable
difference, namely, a row of long up-turned spines at the apex.

~The female Leptogaster cylindrica lays her eggs by jerking them
from her as she rests on a grass stem, dropping an egg at a time on to
the ground amongst the herbage. Hard, dark, round balls that are left
uncovered—open to the world. Dioctria rufipes and atricapilla drop
their eggs similarly, one at a time from their perch on a grass stem or
leaf of some herb, moving away after laying each egg. Thus the blunt
‘ends to the ovipositors are sufficient for the purpose. Lasiopogon
cinctus lays her eggs in sand. Her ovipositor has a group of spines
that are shaped like a shovel at the apex well suited to the task.

Laphria females have short conical ovipositors and lay their eggs
in cracks on tree stumps, and amongst pine needles and tree débris on
the ground. Laphria gilva was seen by Melin to lay 3 eggs at a time,
placing them between bark and soil at the base of a pine stump, and
also in the ground near to the stump. Laphria marginata is recorded to
lay eges not only on and around tree stumps, but also on pieces of wood
lying on the ground. The female Laphria flava confines herself to tree
stumps—pines, and probably birches and other trees that may be in
the neighbourhood. In the Laphrinae the ninth segmental plate covers
the ovipositor and thereby strengthens it for insertion into hard places.

232 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. | 16/ VIT/1952

Philonicus albiceps haunts the coastal dunes. Here, the prevailing
wind is generally from the sea, and is very strong at times. This species
prefers the leeward side of the dunes thus securing its comfort and
protecting the egg from being desiccated by exposure to sun and wind
owing to the covering of sand being blown off. The fly alights on the
sand, feels with her ovipositor and lays her egg, by thrusting as
much as half her abdomen into the sand. Afterwards she sweeps
sand over the hole, raking it with the long upturned spines that are
at the apex of her body. This habit has also been noted in America
In connection with other species. That it is instinctive is proved by
the fact that it has been observed where the eggs have been laid in
loose running sand which had already covered the hole as the ovipositor
was withdrawn.

Several female Pamponerus germanicus, lovers of sandy areas, were
observed on several occasions by Melin to release 3 eggs at a time to fall
to the ground whilst they were seated on a stem in a grass tuft.

Both Melin and Xambeau record oviposition by Asilus crabronifor-
mis In cow-dung.

Rhadiurgus variabilis has a broad truncate ovipositor which is suit-
able for its purpose, for the eggs are laid singly at the side of the tips
of moss stems and pine needles that have fallen on to the ground.

Dysmachus has a more pointed ovipositor and the eggs are laid by
the insertion of the apex of the abdomen into the flowers of various
erasses. The female invariably sits with her head down and curves her
abdomen over. On one occasion, Melin, who spent eight whole summers ~
studying the daily habits of Asilidae, saw what he considered to be an
intelligent action. A female alighted on a grass head which was weaker
than usual and bent under her weight. She as usual was also head
down, and curving her abdomen tried to lay her egg without success.
After several attempts she turned round and curved her abdomen again,
and, being now suitably placed, was able to thrust the tip of her ab-
domen into the interior of the spikelet.

Eutolmus rufibarbis has a broad-ended ovipositor with a very es
tip. This is used to slit the skin of a blade of grass into which the eggs
are laid. As many as 1] at a time were found by Melin.

Machimus atricapillus is recorded as laying eggs in flower-heads,
whilst Epitriptus cingulatus lays her eggs in the recesses of leaves.

The female Neoitamus cyanurus, when gravid, haunts the tips of
the lower branches of trees where, with her long narrow abdomen, she
lays her eggs amongst the bunched buds and small leaves at the tips
of the twigs. The eggs are therefore left several feet above ground.

LARVAE.

On hatching, the Neoitamus larvae drop to the ground and burrow
into the soil. They would quickly die if they remained on the tree for
long, for their skin is not tough and is susceptible to lack of moisture.
Their descent to the ground, although abrupt, is probably hardly felt,
for they are tiny, light, and at their initial stage provided with very
long bristles which must serve partly as a parachute and partly as a
cushion on alighting.

The larvae of Laphria species quickly make their way to trees and
live in the stumps or rotting branches lying on the ground, ete. They
have strong neck muscles, apparently adapted to a tough existence

DIPTERA. 233

wich, according to Melin, is often evident from the worn appearance
of the larval mandible on examination. Duffy, when searching for
beetle larvue, found four larvae of Luphriu gilva in the bark of pine
stumps.

The ground dwelling:Asilid larvae have been reared almost without
exception from sandy soils. Whether this is because these soils are
easier for observation or whether the species prefer the light soils re-
mains to be proved. Personally I believe that heavy clay soils are un-
likely to be attractive to these larvae. Observations on this point are
needed. Even records of the presence of adults in clay areas would be
useful, particularly if a comparison of density on clay and sandy areas
were made.

Leptogaster larvae have often been found by observers to be bent
in V-shape. It has been suggested that this is because they proceed
through the ground in jerks. Most ground dwellers, of other families
of Diptera as well as Asilidae, wriggle along despite lack of legs, often
using their mouth-hooks as grappling irons.

The larvae are whitish in colour with dark brown head capsules.
Those of Laphria have bumps like warts on their backs and other Asili-
dae have lateral ridges. They possess no legs but have swellings which
can be contracted at will. Each species can be differentiated, accord-
ing to Melin, who also states that they change very little during growth.
The old skins are sloughed off in pieces rather than the clean total
change made by the larvae of other orders.

There has been much discussion of the food of Asilid larvae. The
adults suck animal juices and the larvae were expected to be carnivor-
ous. Although there are several records of the larvae of Laphria at-
tacking and sucking beetle larvae, the bulk of the evidence suggests
that the Asilid larvae are plant feeders but able to deal with any animals
found in their passage through wood or soil. The worn mandibles of
Laphria already mentioned suggest hard work chewing wood rather
than sucking insect juices.

Melin tells an amusing story of an experiment in which he placed
a beetle larva known to be a wood-eater in a tube with a Laphria larva
to see the latter’s attack. On the contrary, the attacker was the
beetle grub and it quickly killed the immature Asilid!

Laphria and Dioctria larvae hatch through circular holes they make
in their eggs. The Asilinae larvae make irregular holes to venture into
the world. They are very tiny, 1-2 mm. long, and make for the earth
to escape drying. Laphria larvae often have to travel quite a distance to
the stumps in which they will develop. Their sensitiveness to moisture and
to dryness will cause the ground dwellers to migrate to depths of a foot:
and a half, but normally they are found at a short distance below the
surface. Towards the time for pupation, they move nearer the surface
ready for the final emergence as adults. The larva has a dormant period
in which the pupa gradually forms—this is visible through the almost
transparent skin. The pupal period lasts from two to six weeks. Larvae
may take as long as three years before pupating. The number of times
they slough their skins is difficult to observe and is not really known.

PUPAE.
The pupae of all Asilidae show wing-cases and budding legs. They
carry hooks on most segments with bristles varying in length and

234 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 16/ VII /1952

strength. Those of Leptogaster have long feathery bristles. Both ends
of the pupa have strong horns, the shape of which vary according to
the species. The pupa moves to the surface, ready for the imago to
emerge, by a rotary motion in which the spiny hooks must play a useful
part. The emergence of the adult takes place through a T-shape slit.

The newly hatched fly is light in colour, and the wings develop, in
about ten minutes, but the leg colours may take several hours. When
the fly has recovered from its exertions of emergence, it deposits a
whitish excretion. As soon as the wings are dry, and the fly is strong
enough for prolonged flight, it is ready for mating, which takes place
within a short time.

The adult probably lives 2-6 weeks in nature. Certainly one finds
specimens very worn and torn. Often in dune areas, the same patch
of blown sand will be frequented for several days on end by a Philonicus
albiceps which appears to be the same individual.

CouRTSHIP.

There appears to be little epigamic display in the Asilidae—at least
of those found in Britain. It is recorded only for the genus of Dioctria.
Courtship display of the males of this:genus is confined to the hovering
close to resting females. The male swings from side to side, moving in
an are. When the female moves off he follows and commences his
swinging flight as soon as she comes to rest once more. The shiny
pleural stripes must flash in the sunlight and may attract the female,
but it is to be noted that both female as well as male are decorated in
this way. Sometimes the females have been found to be in positions
which would have kept them hidden from the dancing males, so that
it would appear that their location is ascertained by the males by scent.
This is a particularly interesting point for it would account for the
overlapping of the species in ecological and geographical distribution
without any interbreeding.

(To be continued.)

VoOLUCELLA ZONARIA Popa IN BouRNEMOUTH.—This species seems to
be well established here. I took one in my garden in August 1950, and
last summer two or three specimens appeared regularly for several days
at the end of August. They visited the flowers of hemp agrimony,
golden-rod and michaelmas daisies. One of them had a slight deformity
and J had no difficulty in recognising it.—H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road,
Bournemouth. 15.v.52.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902)

LARVAE OF BRYOPHILA MURALIS (GLANDIFERA).—I have never seen the
larvae of this reported as feeding on lichens on trees, but always on
walls, and have often wondered why it should not do so. JI have often
searched but without result, until last week, at Folkestone, I found on
a tree-trunk, a cocoon containing a full-fed larva, ready for pupation,
and on two other trees I found two more larvae feeding on the lichens,
near their cocoons, to which they retire when not feeding. These trees

CURRENT LITERATURE. 235

were a long way from any walls. Can you tell me why this insect is
never found more than about ten miles inland, whereas B. perla, occurs
in almost every town inland, even as near London as Dulwich, where |
took them last year ?>—C. W. CoLTHRUP.

DiscHARGE BY ANCHOMENUS JUNCEUS.—A few days ago I pillboxed
five specimens of Anchomenus junceus when collecting in Whitley Wood
in the New Forest. On returning home I noticed such a curious occur-
rence in respect to one of them, that it seems worth recording. On
turning one of them out of the pillbox, and touching it with a piece cf
cardboard dipped in chloroform to quiet it, it immediately sent out,
from both sides of its abdomen, jets of dense white vapour; on touching
it a second time it repeated this. The vapour was very dense, and did
not condense for some time. On returning it to the box and opening the
box shortly after, I found the box full of white vapour, so it must have
let off the steam a third time. I know that the bombardier beetle does |
something of this sort on a small scale, also I know a South American
beetle that does this, and that the vapour leaves a mark like caustic on
the fingers, but this is the first decided instance of the sort I have met
with in England.—B. Pirrarp.

Current Literature

THE Hastines anp East Sussex Naturatist, 8: 3—A survey of the

Sphingidae and Notodontidae of the Hastings District, by M. J. Mow-
bray. Sixteen species of Sphingidae and seventeen Notodontidae are
considered, with details of abundance and times of appearance in this
locality. An interesting comparison is made with the old published
records available for this area.
8: 24—Notes on Local Fauna and Flora for 1951: Lepidoptera.
By N. F. Ticehurst. This consists of notes on the distribution of butter-
flies in 1951 with first and last dates for a number of moths in the area.
Some numerical and directional details of migrating Pieris brassicae
and P. rupae are given.

Lunpy Vreip Society: Firra Annuaut Report, 1951. This contains
brief notes on thirteen species of Lepidoptera observed on Lundy Island
during 1951. A new Island record was that of the sawfly Athala
scutellariae Cameron.

A PossiBLe GENETIC EXPLANATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF MIGRATION
or Continuous Broopep Insects. H. B. D. Kerttewew. Nature,
1952; Vols 169, No. 4307, p. 832:

Dr. Kettlewell advances the hypothesis that ‘‘there is a gene, M,
for increased metabolic rate giving an insect capacity for increased
activity and migration. Insects constituted MM are essential migra-
tors, those constituted mm are unable to migrate (possibly due to
absence of fat body). The heterozygotes, Mm, when conditions are dis-
advantageous would all migrate, but when advantageous would all
remain; decreased heat and drought would tend to keep back the
heterozygotes from migrating’’. His suggestion that there is no fat
body in insects constituted mm is unlikely, but could be proved or dis-
proved without much difficulty. He says that at the end of summer

236 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. | 16/VIL/ 1952

the offspring of migrators, JM, would return to the starting point and
gives as his most important evidence observations by Lack, who observed
a flight south over a high pass in the Pyrenees in two successive years.
Several well known migratory species of butterfly, and dragonfly, and
a Dipteron took part in the movement, and he gives a list including
Sympetrum striolatum (misprinted Sympetrium striolatium) and Epi-.
syrphus (which is rendered Hpisryphus). There is some further evidence
of a southward fiight, but there is no evidence available yet that they
ever reach the place from which the migration started. Unless the
_iatio of those that get back to the non-migrators they find at their
destination is about the same as the ratio of migrators to non-migrators
at the time and place where the migration originated the hypothesis
falls to the ground. A serious deficiency of migrators returning would
lead in time to the formation of a non-migratory population. The fact
that heterozygotes have an advantage over both the homozygotes, be-
cause they can migrate or remain according to circumstances does not
affect the argument.

Kettlewell then goes on to say that other theories of migration, i.e.
that it is due to environmental causes such as overcrowding or drought,
cannot be true for the two following reasons, ‘‘(1) that there are always
individuals left behind that do not migrate, (2) that subsequent gener-
ations from initial migrants, though bred in an entirely different en-
vironment continue to migrate’. With regard to (1) most migrations
take place from a large tract of country and there will not be sufficient
overcrowding in every part of the area to cause migration assuming
that overcrowding is the cause. If drought is the cause it will not be
so uniform and severe throughout the area as to make every insect
migrate. Locusts migrate because the migratory phase only develops
where the concentration of hoppers reaches a certain level, and this does
not occur all over the breeding area so that there is always a stock of
locusts in the solitary phase left hehind. As to (2) I think the state-
ment is incorrect, and I do not believe that the homozygous offspring of
migrators continue to migrate. The author makes the statement but
gives no evidence to support it.

Even if all the assumptions made are in fact true it would not prove
that there is genetic control of migration in insects. It seems more
probable that the cause is environmental as in locusts. Kettlewell’s
hypothesis may be correct, but he has not proved it nor do I see how he
can ever do so. :

Towards the end of his letter he advances a supplementary hypo-
thesis that it is possible that ‘‘the same gene which controls metabolism
and migration might also control metabolism of pupal hatching and
diapause’’. .

He concludes by saying ‘‘Proof of this hypothesis, still unconfirmed,
might lead to its application in the realm of pest-control in the follow- |
ing ways—(1) by attacking returning individuals outside their reservoir
of breeding thereby eliminating those homozygote (sic) to migration
(MM). (2) by encouraging those individuals with the formula mm (non-
migratory); great damage might in fact be done by elimination or
reduction of these’’ . Well! Well!

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THE MICROSCOPICAL STAIN PEOPLE

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

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E:S.
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FONSECA, F.R.E.S. Business: P. SIVITER SMITH, F.R.E:S.
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CONTENTS

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH MACROLEPIDOPTERA. E. A. Cockayne ... 189
COLIAS CROCEUS FOURC. AB. DUPLEX COCKERELL: THE STORY OF

A FRAUD. E. A.-Cockayne ..: . 193
NOTES ON BREEDING POLYOMMATUS ICARUS ROTT. R. C. Den 194
A METHOD OF MOUNTING GENITALIA. D. K. McE. Kevan... ....... 195 —
THE LYCAENIDAE OF HAMPSHIRE CHALK DOWNS. P. H. Holloway ... 198
THE INFLUENCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON VARIATION OF LEPIDOP-

TERA @SoeG: “COSTE ZRUSSELL, 08 a Re ae x aie SOD.
SPRING LARVAE IN CRANBORNE CHASE. J. ae Comme chgprne ss te 2?
COLLECTING NOTES, 1959 W. Reid. 20) Soaeee : 90s
HOW CAN THE YOUNG COLLECTOR LEARN THE LATIN NAMES? P.

Siviter Smith ee ets ee 1 7/
THOUGHTS ON SETTING LEPIDOPTERA. An Old Moth-Hunter ... ... 208
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA.- H. C. Huggins ... ©... 0. ewe A
COLEOPTERA AT KNOWLE PARK, SEVENOAKS. A. A. Allen... ... 224

NOTES ON THE ASILIDAE. L. Parmenter Eas at ae aa hee saa eee

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MUS. COMP. 20
Aberrations of British Geometridae LIBRARY
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.C.P. OCT 8 195
Plate X. i

[The following aberrations are all in the Rothschild-Cockayne-Kettlewell 225
collection in the British Museum. ] ee

Mesotype virgata Hutnagel ab. bicolorata ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

The ground colour of the forewing is pure white; the basal and
median areas are dark grey bounded by thick black antemedian and
postmedian lines, a second black line running parallel to and just inter-
nal to the postmedian ; the marginal area is white and without markings
and the border is greyish. On the hindwing the basal half of the wing
is dark grey bordered externally by a blackish line; there is another
blackish line parallel and just internal to this; the marginal area is
whitish becoming slightly darker at the margin itself.

Type @: Chute, Wilts., 1.vi.1942, W. L. Freer. Cockayne coll.

Mesotype virgata Hufnagel ab. infravirgata ab. nov. (Fig. 2).

On the forewing the basal line and the bands bounding the median
area are blackish; the median area is partly filled in with blackish; the
marginal area is dark; there is a broad white band between the median
and marginal areas. The hindwing is whitish with a broad blackish
band across the middle and no other markings.

Type 2: Arundel, Sussex, 1911, Pennington. Cockayne coll.

Mesotype virgata Hufnagel ab. albofasciata ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

On the forewing the basal and median areas are dark grey; the basal
and antemedian lines are broad and blackish; bounding the median area
externally is a very broad blackish band; the marginal area is dark grey;
on each side of the median area is a conspicuous broad white stripe.
On the hindwing the basal area is greyish, the post median band is dark
with a dark line just internal to it; the marginal area is dark and
separated from the postmedian band by a broad white stripe.

Type 2: Dawlish, Devon, 27.viii.1897. Bankes coll.

Abraxas grossulariata Linnaeus ab. striata ab. nov. (Fig. 13).

This is a combination of ab. dohrnii Koenig (lacticolor Raynor) and
ab. aberdoniensis Raynor, and since both these aberrations occur to-
gether in Aberdeen it may be taken wild.

On the forewing a heavy peppering of black scales along the median
nervure from the base to the discoidal spot represents the strong black
line found in ab. nigrolineata and in all aberdoniensis, and in some
cases there is a similar peppering along other nervures and along the
costa. From the black marginal spots on the termen black interneural
streaks with ill-defined edges run to the black spots of the outer trans-
verse fascia, and when the streaks are incomplete there are scattered
black scales in the intervening spaces; these represent the solid black
streaks seen in the radiated forms of aberdoniensis and are determined
by one of the recessive genes of this multifactorial complex. On the
‘hindwing none of the markings are sharply defined except the discoidal
spot and the wedge shaped marginal spots are bordered by a powdering

238 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1X/1952

of black scales. Ab. striata may be combined with ab. supralutea Raynor
or ab. lutea. Raynor, which was introduced into the stock from Lanca-
shire. I believe that ab. lactea-nigra Raynor is a combination of ab.
dohrnui and ab. nigrosparsata Porritt, but the best example I have seen,
labelled by Raynor himself is ab. striata. combined with ab. nigrosparsata.

Type ¢: Sudbury, 1920, Harwood. (Baldock coll.) Cockayne coll.

Allotype 9: Lanes. ex. 23/26, bred 20.v1.1927. Raynor. Levick coll.
B.M., 1941, 83.

-Paratypes 6 gd: Lancs. ex. 16/26, bred 12.vi. 1927. Raynor. Levick
coll.; Lanes. ex. 29/25, bred 7.vi.1926. Raynor. Levick coll.; Lancs.
ex. 29/25, bred 5.v1.1926. Raynor. Levick coll.; Lancs. ex. 36/25, bred
7.v1.1926. Raynor. Rothschild coll.; Yorks. ex. 29/24, bred 7.v1.1925.
Raynor. Cockayne coll.; 120/11, H. iOnclon: B.M., 1948, 282.

The origin of the donna was Lancs. or Yorks. and of the aberdoni-
ensis Aberdeen.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE X.

Fig. 1. Mesotype virgata ab. bicoloraita. 9. Type.

Fig. 2. Mesotype virgata ab. infravirgata. 92. Tyne.
Fig. 3. Mesotype virgata ab. albofasciata. ©. Type.
Fig. 4. Ennomos quercinaria ab. approximata. ¢g. Type.
Fig. 5.. Selenia lunaria ab. ceniripetala. ¢. Type.

Fig. 6. Erannis marginaria ab. curvilineata. ¢. Type.
Fig. 7. Cabera exanthemata ab. lativittata. ¢. Type.
Fig. 8. Chiasmia clathrata ab. obsoletissima. Q. Type.
Fig. 9. Chiasmia clathrata ab. lativirgata. ¢. Type.
Fig. 10. Abraxas sylvata ab. purissima. Q. Type.

Fig. 11. Abraxas sylvata ab. circumnotata. ¢. Type.
Fig. 12. Selenia tetralunaria ab. postradiata. 92. Type.
Fig. 13. Abraxas grossulariata ab. striata. ¢. Paratype.
Fig. 14. Abraxas grossulariata ab. unilineaia. Q. Type.
Fig. 15. Selenia tetralunaria ab. lacticolor. Q. Type.

Abraxas grossulariata Linnaeus ab. unilineata ab. nov. (Fig. 14).

The forewing is normal except that in the interneural space between
4 and 5 the black spot of the outer black transverse fascia is united to
the marginal black spot forming a conspicuous streak. The hindwing
is normal. The black streak is present on the under side of the fore-
wing.

Type @: N. London, C. W. Simmons. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Abraxas sylvata Scopoli ab. purissima ab. nov. (Fig. 10).

On both fore and hindwing the transverse fascia is entirely absent ;
the only markings on the forewing are the basal blotch, a pear shaped
leaden coloured mark at the discoidal cell, a dot on the costa towards
the apex, the blotch with a bluish centre near the anal angle with an
oblique brown streak running upwards and outwards from it, and small
dark marks on the middle of the termen. On the hindwing the fascia
is absent, the only markings being the discoidal spot, the dark blotch
near the afl angle with a short streak running = om it, HG three very
narrow marginal marks.

Type 2: Chalfont Road, Bucks., 28.v.1908. ean coll.

The aberration differs from ab. pantaroides Spitz in which the fascia
consists of a row of short narrow streaks, more marked on the under
than on the upper side.

VOL. 64.

PLATE

oa

=

aohy

e

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH GEOMETRIDAE. 239

Abraxas sylvata Scopoli ab. circumnotata ab. nov. (Fig. 11).

On both fore and hindwing the transverse fascia is displaced out-
wards and lies close to the margin. On the forewing the basal mark is
normal, there is a circular discoidal spot, and two small marks on the
termen.

Type 3: Loc. incog. (J. A. Clark sale, Feb. 1910). Gibbs coll.
Rothschild coll.

Cabera exanthemata Scopoli ab. tativittata ab. nov. (Fig. 7).

The second transverse line, the median, is very much thickened and.
darkened forming a conspicuous band on both fore and hindwing; the
third line, the postmedian is also very thick and dark.

Type ¢: Scarborough (Stevens coll., 1900) Rothschild coll.

Paratype ¢: Loc. incog. (T. Wilkinson coll., 1876) Rothschild coll.

Elloma fasciaria Linnaeus ab. interrupta ab. nov.

On the forewing the postmedian line is displaced towards the base
and broken into two parts; there is a costal part extending to the
median nervure where it turns to join the broken antemedian line and
an inner marginal part extending to a point just above nervure 1 where
it also turns basad to join the antemedian line; the two areas between
the remains of the antemedian and postmedian lines are darker than
the ground and are the only remnants of the median area. On the
hindwing the transverse line is displaced towards the base.

Type ¢: Lake Katrine, viii.1928, B. H. Smith. Cockayne coll.

Ennomos autumnaria Werneburg ab. clara ab. nov.

The usual speckles on both fore and hindwing are almost entirely
absent, but the transverse lines are present.

Type do: Dover, 1902, bred by J. Henderson, eggs from L. W.
Newman. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll.

Allotype 2: Ramsgate, eggs from Colthrup, bred 10.ix.1903. Roths-
child coll.

The type is also ab. triangularis Cockayne with the antemedian and
postmedian lines meeting on the inner margin.

Ennomos autumnaria Werneburg ab. brunneata ab. nov.

The head, thorax, abdomen, and wings are brown with no trace of
the normal orange, the brown becoming darker towards the apex of the
forewing and the margin of the hindwing; the antemedian and _ post-
median lines are plainly visible on the forewing and the discoidal spot
is present. The under side is entirely brown.

Type ¢: Sussex, 1x.1951, bred by L. Hugh Newman.

Paratype c: Saris data.

The form appeared in a stock which had been inbred for some year's
and in which only normal specimens had occurred previously. The
parents were both normal. The aberration is recessive.

It differs from ab: schultzi Siebert, which has an orange head and
thorax, a variable amount of orange on the abdomen, orange at the
base is the forewing, and in some cases orange on the costa and along
the inner margin of the forewing. In ab. schultzi the hindwing also is
orange along the costa and some of the nervures are orange, and the

240 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1X/1952

underside is dark brown with the exception of the inner margin of both
the fore and hindwing which is orange.

Ennomos quercinaria Hufnagel ab. approximata ab. nov. (Fig. 4).
On the forewing the antemedian and postmedian lines are abnormally
close: together.
Type ¢: Epping Forest, L. B. Prout. Prout coll.

Ennomos quercinaria. Hufnagel ab. brunneata ab. nov.

The ground colour is dark brown with the transverse lines showing
very clearly as two dark lines on the forewing and one on the hindwing.

Type ¢: Newcastle-on-Tyne, taken by G. Wailes. (Mason coll.,
Vauncey Harpur Crewe coll.) Rothschild coll. °

Ennomos quercinaria Hufnagel ab. gubfuscata ab. nov.

The ground colour is infuscated as in ab. perfuscata Prout, but with
two clear yellow transverse lines on the forewing instead of very indis-
tinct ones or none at all.

Type od: Lec. incog. S. Webb coll. Figured Barrett, Pl. 292, fig. If.

Allotype 9°: Kensington Gardens, London, 1872, H. P. Stocks.
Cockayne coll.

Paratypes 3 99: 1 9 Kingsbury, 17.vii.1865. (Bright coll.) Roths-
child coll.; 1 Q Loc. incog. Rothschild coll.; 1 @ Loc. incog. (J. R.
Wellman coll.) R. Adkin coll.

Prout describes perfuscata as entirely infuscated and this is the
usual melanic form obtained in this century. It is recessive to normal
quercinaria. Swbfuscata was represented in some of the old collections,
but does not appear to have been taken since 1880.

Deuteronomos alniaria Linnaeus ab. grisescens ab. nov.

The whole surface of both fore and hindwing is suffused with greyish
brown, the same colour as the speckles of a normal female.

Type ¢: Forres, bred ix.1915, Yates. (A. Horne, Willoughby Ellis
coll.) Cockayne coll. |

Deuteronomos erosaria Schiffermiiller ab. citrina ab. nov.

The ground colour is citron or lemon yellow.

Type o: Sussex, bred viii.1904, E. Miller. (Bright coll.) Rothschild
coll.

Allotype 9: N. Kent, bred 1912, Horne. Cockayne coll.

Paratypes 1 6, 4 99: 16, Bexley, viii.1902. B.M., 1937-45; 1 9,
Yorks., bred 1891. R. Adkin coll.; 1 9, York, bred 1895, R. Dutton.
Cockayne coll.; 1 9, Bedford, W. S. Brocklehurst. Cockayne coll.; 1 @,
Watergate, Emsworth, Hants., 1893. Christy coll.

Selenia lunaria Schiffermiiller ab. lactimarginata ab. nov.

The ground colour is pale, so that the transverse lines show very
clearly; the whole area of both fore and hindwing outside the transverse
lines is cream coloured with the exception of the apical mark.

Type ¢: Chattenden, Kent, bred from 9 taken 30.v.1892, stock
from B. Bower. Bankes coll.

ABERRATIONS OF BRITISH GEOMETRIDAE. QAl

Selenta lunaria Schiffermiiller ab. centripetala ab. nov. (Fig. 5).

On the forewing the outermost transverse line is displaced inwards
towards the base especially at the costa and lies about 1.5 mm. internal
to the discocellular nervure, the discoidal lunule is absent. On the hind-
wing both lines are displaced towards the base and the outer one lies
internal to the discoidal lunule, which is unusually small.

Type ¢: Loughton, Essex, 30.v.1909. (Gibbs coll.) Rothschild coll.

Selenia tetralunaria Hufnagel ab. postradiata ab. nov. (Fig. 12).
On the hindwing there are whitish rays along the nervures, particu-
larly conspicuous along nervures 3 and 4.

Type ©: Tring, Herts., bred 5.v.1946, by A. L. Goodson. Cockayne
coll.

Selenia tetralunaria Hufnagel ab. lacticolor ab. nov. (Fig. 15).

The ground colour is very pale, cream coloured and slightly smoky,
so that the transverse lines and the dark longitudinal line along the
median nervure stand out very distinctly.

Type ¢: Leicester, bred 11.iv.1948, by D. Watson. Cockayne coll.

Paratype 2: Same data.

Angerona prunaria Linnaeus ab. nigrilineata ab. nov.

On the forewing there is a black streak in the cell running from the
discoidal cell spot towards the base.

Type o: N. Kent, vii.1907, L. W. Newman. (Bright coll.) Roths-
child coll.

Allotype @: Loe. incog. Bred vii.1909. (Bright coll.) Rothschild
coll.

Paratypes 3 6d: 1 6, bred vii.1909. (Bright coll.) Rothschild coll. ;
1 ¢, Epping Forest, bred 1905 by L. W. Newman. Cockayne coll.; 1 <,
Epping x Oxshott, 12.vi.1906, J. Greenwood. (Willoughby Ellis coll.)
Cockayne coll.

Chiasmia clathrata Linnaeus ab. obsoletissima ab. nov. (Fig. 8).
There are no dark markings, the transverse lines are indicated by a
slight darkening of the ground colour, which is pale orange or ochreous.
Type d: Wilts., 1901, Philbrick. (B. W. Adkin coll.) Cockayne coll.
Allotype 2: Wells, Norfolk, 22.viii.1950, R. G. Todd. Cockayne coll.

Chiasmia clathrata Linnaeus ab. albissima ab. nov.

The whole of both fore and hindwing is pure white with no trace cf
markings; only the nervures are visible.
Type 2: Wilts., 1909, Philbrick. (B. W. Adkin coll.) Cockayne coll.

Chiasmia clathrata Linnaeus ab. lacticiliata ab. nov.

The fringes are the same colour as the ground colour of the wings;
- the usual chequering is absent.
Type d: Chattenden, 12.vii.1895, Cockayne coll.

242 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15 / TX 11952

Chiasmia clathrata Linnaeus ab. lativirgata ab. nov. (Fig. 9).
There is a broad blackish brown band across the forewing, which in-
cludes the first, second, and third lines; the subterminal line is very
much broader than usual. On the hindwing there is a very broad trans-
verse band and a broad subterminal line like that of the forewing.
Type 3: Loe. incog. Rothschild coll.
Paratype ¢: Loc. incog. Rothschild coll.

Erannis marginaria Fabricius ab. curvilineata ab. nov. (Fig. 6).

On the forewing the basal line is present, but the antemedian line
is absent; the postmedian line runs obliquely inwards as far as nervure
2 and then curves sharply outwards to the inner margin. On the hind-
wing the transverse band is unusually distinct. The alteration in the
direction of the postmedian line alters the whole appearance of the in-
sect.

Type 6: Wimbledon Common, Surrey, 20.111.1926, taken by E. A.
Cockayne.

Moths and Wasps

By Dr. Nevit_e L. Birkett.

The presence in my moth-trap of numerous moth wings unattached to
their erstwhile bodies has for some time been a problem only partially
explained and then only by a process of guess-work. Birds, especially
sparrows, are active predators in the neighbourhood of my trap, numer-
ous spiders find their way into the container and eke out a satisfactory
living from the abundant insects there, burying beetles (Necrophorus
spp.) are often present, while last, but by no means least, there are
those banes of a well-known writer on Lepidoptera—earwigs. It was
thought, not unnaturally perhaps, that the presence of these predatory
creatures was quite adequate to explain the presence of all the wings
there might be in the trap. The occasional T. pronuba had been noted
as an object of gastronomic interest to a Necrophorus sp. Sparrows are
often seen on the superstructure of the trap and have often been seen
capturing insects escaping. Some of the wings of these insects drop into
the collecting cone and find their way into the container by gravity or
draught. But these kinds of rarish incidents apart, the evidence was
almost all circumstantial. There were the wings, there were the pre-
dators ) 7.

On July 24th, however, further evidence was forthcoming and a
culprit was found flagrante delicto. The culprit on this occasion was a
common wasp—Vespula vulgaris L. On lifting the cone from the con-
tainer to inspect the night’s captures I noticed a wasp flying round the
inside of the trap and apparently inspecting the various moths at rest
on the sides (I use no anaesthétic in the trap so all were alive). Sud-
denly the wasp pounced on a nice specimen of Phalera bucephala L.,
grasping it by the jaws in the mid-abdominal region dorsally. Whether
or not there was any attempt at stinging of the Buff-tip I do not know
because the sequence of events was too fast to. follow clearly. Both
insects dropped to the floor of the trap where the moth put up a violent
struggle. After about a minute the Buff-tip escaped from the clutches

MOTHS AND WASPS. 943

of the wasp and flew up to the opening of the trap. It was closely fol-
lowed by the wasp which continued to make darting attacks at the moth
in flight. These were not successful and as soon as the moth was clear
of the trap the wasp gave up the chase and returned to exploring the
sides of the trap.

The next victim fared less happily. This time a fine specimen of
Pelurga comitata L. was inspected and suddenly pounced upon. Again
a struggle ensued, but this time there was no doubt about the result
and after a few seconds only the moth was on the floor of the cage
motionless. Then the wasp methodically bit off the wings to their bases,
grasped the body with mouth and legs, and flew rather slowly and with
some difficulty out of the trap and away. It is a pity to have to report
that I could not stay in the neighbourhood of the trap for the next hour
or so'to see if any further such activity occurred. It would have been
interesting to see if the wasp returned and when it returned. Did other
wasps come? (marking experiments would have been interesting), and
many other questions come to mind in connection with the activity.

The next morning a similar scene was witnessed. Again a wasp was
in the trap when J took the cone off and it was busy inspecting and
attacking various moths. This time its activities did not meet with
success while I had the creature under observation. Various species
were attacked and all managed to escape by flight and all were attacked
again while actually flying to their freedom. Among those seen to be
attacked were:—P. populi, C. elinguaria, DL. pallens, DL. wmpura, N.
triangulum and T. pronuba. One pronuba was attacked several times-
before getting out of the cage to safety. Numerous A. caja were seen to
be inspected but none was attacked. Inspection consisted of the wasp
hovering about an inch away from the victim without necessarily pounc-
ing.

Of wings noted detached from their owners the following may be
mentioned without necessarily claiming that they are all the result of
wasp activity:—A. grossulariata, A. exclamationis, P. gamma and
numerous of the smaller Geometers of ‘Carpet’ size. From my few
observations it would seem that a big moth if attacked would get away
fairly easily. Small moths readily fall victim to attack.

There are obviously many observations that should be made concern-
ing this wasp activity and I hope I may get the opportunity of this in
the next few weeks. The object of this note is to draw attention to the
subject in the hope that anyone else noting similar behaviour will put

his observations on record.
Kendal. 2.viii.52.

Notes from the Journal of a Victorian
By S. G. Castie RussExu.

I well remember my first visit to the famous Abbot’s Wood near
Eastbourne which some time before had been discovered by J. T. Car-
rington, sometimes editor of The Entomologist, which he claimed to
possess more species of Lepidoptera than the New Forest. In conse-
quence the Wood became well frequented by entomologists.

My first visit was the week-end of 4th-6th June 1892. J stayed at
the Junction Hotel opposite the station and walked along the road to

244 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/TX/1952

Hailsham for some twenty minutes and turned into a lane which _bor-
dered the famous Whitefield, which was an open expanse of rough grass
and scrub and formed a meeting-house for all the species of butterflies
that occurred in the wood at the appropriate times. Later on I found
there was a path across a meadow which considerably reduced the dis-
tance; but it was usually inhabited by a huge white bull which was fond
of ambling after anyone passing along the path, and more than once lL
have had to sprint when he suddenly appeared from nowhere. The
owner of the animal was a farmer named Elphick who was a friend of
the proprietor of the hotel and was a powerful man who could throw a
bull for ringing purposes single-handed. He and another well-known
local farmer used to turn up on Saturday evening and play cards with
myself, the landlord and the friend who invariably accompanied me.
Of course, if the bull was anywhere in the vicinity of the path it was
best to go the long way round—at least I thought so.

On the 4th June, on entering the Whitefield, I found it full of
Argynnis euphrosyne, A. selene and M. athalia. I almost immediately
netted a good form of selene and then entered a narrow ride which at
the entrance was thick with euphrosyne but then led through a long
distance in the shade. Just before emerging into the sunlight I saw
something very dark fluttering which I secured and which turned out
to be a euphrosyne S with the upper side practically all black and a
nice under side with streaks of pearl. This I placed in the cyanide
bottle and then observed two collectors busy in a small marsh area ex-
amining selene. These two turned out to be W. H. Tugwell and G. T.
Porritt, two very well-known middle aged collectors. I at once proudly
showed them my catch. Nothing encouraging was said and I think they
thought some specimens with a small area of white on the wings were
much more desirable. One of them, I think it was Tugwell, pointed out
that the insect was still alive in the bottle, but as it had been there for
only a minute or so and the cyanide was not very strong the fact was
not surprising, but his tone imphed censure—at least I took it as such.
There was also a mumble about the luck of beginners . . . Later on 1
showed these two aberrations at the South London Society and there
arose a discussion as to whether the second insect was euphrosyne or
selene. Both were on the wing in abundance at the time. Frohawk
considered the specimen to be euwphrosyne and of course this caused
Tutt to say it was selene, as he was always ‘‘ up against ’’ Frohawk.
Later Tutt had the two insects figured in the Record. Why there was
ever any question as to the identity of the specimen I cannot imagine
as there cannot be the least doubt about it being euphrosyne.

At this date JM. athalia could be met with in odd corners all over
the Wood but only in numbers in a copse adjoining the Whitefield. Ii
did not survive very long and during the following years was met with
only occasionally and finally it disappeared, the chief reason to my
mind being the failure to clear the wood and in consequence the dis-
appearance of the foodplant, cow wheat. There is no doubt that at
one time the species was as abundant there as in the Canterbury dis-
trict. The copses in the latter district are cut down regularly to supply
the sticks for chestnut fencing and in consequence cow wheat grows
very thickly. There is here an alternative foodplant which the larvae
will eat if deprived of cow wheat—I do not remember its name but the

THE UNEXPECTED. 245

late L. W. Newman pointed it out to me and J fancy it was Germander
Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys). Mr. P. B. M. Allan’s useful little
book also includes wood sage, two species of plantain, and foxglove.
These are readily eaten in confinement, but personally I have never
found the larvae except on cow wheat and that was the only plant I
ever found them on in Abbot’s Wood.

The Unexpected

By Tue Viscount BOLINGBROKE.

Although LIimenitis camilla L. is the only species of British butterfly
I have ever seen fly through a thorn hedge and emerge the other side
apparently unharmed, to associate it with a doormat would seem an
absurdity. Yet such was once the case at my home in Wiltshire, when,
on opening a side door of the house, I was astonished to see, crawling
on a fibre mat inside, a specimen of ZL. camilla. Despite the late date
(27th July) the butterfly was in fairly good condition. The strange
factor in the case was that the immediate locality was presumably
totally unsuited to the requirements of the insect in any of its stages,
since the surrounding woodlands consisted of beech, elm and chestnut
with here and there a sycamore, a few ash, a Scots pine or two and an
odd holly. The undergrowth was made up of box, elder, butcher’s
broom and clumps of laurel. Of honeysuckle there was none; neither
was there any bramble. Surely a most unlikely habitat for L. camilla.

Aglais urticae L. is such a ‘‘domestic’’ butterfly that its somewhat
sluggish appearance one late winter’s day in the centre of a Cotswold
town might well have been due to the spring cleaning activities of some
housewife. What attracted my attention to the butterfly, however, was
the behaviour of a tabby cat which was chasing the insect along the
length of the pavement in the warm sunshine, aiming a blow at it when-
ever it dipped to within reach. Fortunately, the butterfly deftly
avoided every prod by the cat until puss tired of the chase.

To be afforded the opportunity of even a glimpse of Nymphalis
antiopa LL. on the wing in this country is not easily forgotten, but to
be favoured with its elegant presence on the wall of one’s house is an
event indeed. Such an occurrence happened to a friend of mine in
South Hampshire three years ago. The butterfly, according to my
friend, was in a restless frame of mind, flitting round his greenhouse,
thence to encircle his house and back to the greenhouse again. Finally
it settled high out of reach on a wall of his house. My friend being a
collector, little imagination is required to appreciate his possessive
desire in such a situation or his anxiety in contriving to secure the-
specimen in the shortest possible time. The butterfly was well up out
of reach being, in fact, just under an upper storey window, and was
hardly likely to tolerate for long the evil attention of this menacing
human.

Unable to resist a closer view of the prize and possibly a lightning
stroke with his net in the bargain, my friend rushed indoors and,
bounding upstairs, came to a dead stop in front of the open window of
his bedroom. Inch by inch he moved his head through the window.
Yes, it was still there, the ‘‘Beauty’’, a yard or so beneath the ledge!
But it would be madness to aim at it in such a situation, even if he

246 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 /1TX /1952

could have got the net forward enough unseen to make a shot. There
was nothing for it but to withdraw his head equally slowly, dash down-
stairs—in which process he was almost flung headlong by getting
entangled with the family cat which had followed him half-way up—
and seize a ladder.

This he did and, with the utmost care, wiggled the ladder gently
and defily into position against the wall. The insect obligingly re-
mained. Rejecting an impulse to fix anything longer than a six feet
beanstick to his net on grounds of control, my friend mounted the first
five rungs of the ladder, a perfect study in slow motion. The seventh
rung, he told himself, and the ambition of a lifetime would be within
his grasp. With eyes fixed on the coveted objective, now only some
eight feet above him, his foot uplifted feelingly in contact with the
sixth rung, when, horror of horrors! a dark cloud loomed up and in
seconds the light was dulled.

It was now or nothing. With one foot on the seventh rung he
glanced down at his net which had become caught by a splinter in the
side of the ladder. And then as he levered himself on the final rung,
hardly daring to bring the net into striking position, he looked up.
Where the butterfly had been, there was now a blank on the wall....
Antiopa had gone for ever.

The extensive immigration of Vanessa cardwi L. early this year just
before snow came to South-West England reminded me of an occasion,
this time late in the year, also just before a cold spell, though lacking
the snow, when I noticed a solitary V. cardui imbibing at the flowers
of a winter jasmine. This occurred on 17th November 1948, a fine
sunny day.

An insect. whose habits and numbers have provided me with surprises
in the past is Strymonidia w-album Kn. On a sunny afternoon during
the first of three summers in which I had this butterfly under observa-
tion in North Wilts., I counted no fewer than fifty-four, all on the
flowerheads of garden daisies. The second year only a very few
appeared. In fact I saw no more than a dozen, and these were spread
wide apart on delphinium and jacob’s ladder.

During the third year, there was hardly one in the garden, but to
my surprise I found that they had taken more or less to life on the
ground, for on several occasions they were seen crawling on paths and
about the drive in bright sunshine. They were quite numerous and at
first I almost trod on individuals before realizing what they were. One
specimen I found crawling up a window pane indoors.

Quite the most delightfully enticing as well as conveniently situated
var. in a mild state was an occasion when, in looking out of my cottage
on to a small bed of Cosmos, I noticed what turned out to be a bi-
coloured Colias croceus Foure. In this example the right forewing was
white, the left primrose. The orange spot on the right hindwing being
broken up: that on the left entire. Of the antennae, the right, though
clubbed, was only half the length of the left, which was normal.

Another surprise, J remember, which was positively inviting capture
was a fine Acherontia atropos Il. 2 ensconced on the top of a gatepost
in the Isle of Wight in broad daylight.

The most amusing incident involving a lepidopterous insect I have
ever known was the part played by a certain Gastropacha quercifolia L.

THE ‘‘BLOCK’’ METHOD OF SETTING: A CRITICISM. 247

The moth, in some way, had attached itself to the lapel of a woman’s
coat, and all unknown to the wearer was treated to a sixpenny bus ride
to a small market town.

After a round of shopping the ‘‘hostess’’ went into the post office,
where G. quercifolia, still firmly established, attracted the notice of a
clerk on the other side of the grille. As the young woman looked, the
“leaves”? apparently moved, so she ventured to draw the customer’s
attention to her queer looking ornament which appeared to be alive.

Locking down, the wearer threw up her hands in dismay. ‘‘Ugh’’,
she exclaimed, ‘‘whatever is it?’’.

Quercifolia moved again.

“Oh, I hate these creepy things’’, she went on; ‘‘wherever did it
come from ?”’’,

The clerk disappeared, to return in no time with the inevitable
matchbox into which the offending object, on being roughly unseated,
was duly and unceremoniously bundled.

With that the woman vanished, the onlookers went their ways, and
normal business was resumed.

The “Block” Method of Setting :
A. Criticism
By W. E. Mixnion.

Firstly let me say that I am in agreement with the preamble in the
Old Moth-Hunter’s article of the July-August issue entitled ‘‘Thoughts
on Setting Lepidoptera’’ with the exception that while setting takes
a lot of time I doubt if it is a waste of time. In fact, the time taken
is probably of value as a deterrent to the mass slaughter of insects;
and to a youngster starting our hobby—usually as a collector pure and
simple—the care and trouble expended in setting is excellent ground-
ing for careful work in all phases of entomological research when
collecting solely as collecting has given way to a definite and scientific
investigation.

When it comes to method, however, the arguments put forward
against the use of setting boards are not convincing nor do I find those
in favour of blocks any stronger. The danger to insects already on the
board, if it really exists, is exaggerated. The insects are usually those
farthest from the worker and careless movements of the hand, etc.—
while they should have no place in our technique—seem just as likely
to knock a few blocks on to the fioor as to damage set specimens on a
board. Generations of pin holes should never accumulate on the setting
boards of careful men. Repapering is so easy in the slack winter months
and if the mite problem is present, what about the pinholes in the
groove in the blocks?

When insects are removed from the setting boards I assume most
people remove a whole boardful at once, not odd insects, so the danger
on this account is negatived.

The saving of time by using the individual blocks is emphasised
though I am sceptical on this issue and even if it is established that
the block method of setting is faster the advantage must be more than
offset by the enormous loss of time that surely results from having to
unwind each insect separately, remove it from the block and then wind

248 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/1TX /1952

up the wool again for storage as compared with removing a number of
insects from a board—and how much more convenient it would be for
labelling to have a board of insects all taken at the same time and place
all available together! In connection with the removal of insects after
setting it would appear that pectinated antennae would be in some
danger of being removed accidentally by reason of their getting caught
in the wool if one uses the block method. 1

If one wished to exhibit a rarity surely one would wait until it was
off the board and could be seen to advantage rather than to show it
wrapped up in wool or covered with paper strips. If, however, it is
regarded as essential that the insect should be exhibited earlier, trans-
parent paper or cellophane strip on a setting board would enable the
insect to be seen far better than would be possible if it were on a block
with the wool wrapping.

Why should drying be more rapid on blocks than on boards? The
body of an insect dries last and this is equally exposed to the air in
elther method.

No time need be wasted in sorting insects into sizes before setting
on boards. It is a wise precaution to pin all insects first and when
this is done they can be grouped into sizes at the same time. Further,
it is then possible to set the smaller or more fiddley insects first when
the worker is fresh leaving the larger and easier ones till last when he
is perhaps tiring a little, and he is not faced with having to pick out
the appropriate size of block for each insect.

The following possible disadvantages of the block system are sug-
gcested. It takes up more space. Twelve blocks each 12” long for species
ranging from Polyommatus icarus to Antitype flavicincta occupy a
length of 163”. These same insects would oecupy no more than 12” of
a setting board.

The blocks would be much less steady to work on than a board and
while both hands are occupied with setting needles it would be necessary
for them to be steadying the block as well. There is no difficulty on
this account with boards as the hand holding the strip can easily steady
the board at the same time.

The blocks would not be as convenient for storage, especially on
holiday, when a setting case with boards is so handy.

The method of construction is a bit tedious and after all boards
can be manufactured just as easily, without the need for notches, etc.,
but setting boards are not costly and, with ordinary care, last a life-
time so why not buy them.

Finally the Old Moth-Hunter asks ‘‘any questions ?”’

Why do about 99% of present day lepidopterists use setting boards?

Field Notes

What a revolution the mercury vapour lamp has brought about in
our knowledge of the dispersal and frequency of our ‘rarer’ Lepidoptera !
Species hitherto regarded as unlikely ever to grace our cabinets to a
ereater extent than an odd specimen or possibily two are now known
to be widespread and actually common. Acronicta alni is taken in
suburban gardens. Xylomiges conspicillaris has turned up as commonly

FIELD NOTES. QA49

as an Orthosia. Of the ‘Scarce’ Prominent a correspondent has taken
a couple of dozen in two nights; and so on and so forth. Presently in
the auction-rooms Harpyia bicuspis will be rated no higher than a
furcula.

A number of reasons have been suggested for our failure to discover
these ‘rarities’ by ordinary field work but none of them is satisfactory.
The larvae of alnit, carmelita, ruficornis, dodonaea, do not escape our
observation by feeding high up on the foodplant: they normally inhabit
the lowest boughs where of course they are least likely to incur injury
in strong winds. Every competent field worker with thirty and more
years of experience to his credit has found them by searching. The
fact that the imagines of these species eschew the petrol lamp cannot
be a reason because many of the best and most successful field workers
never used a lamp of any kind in their lives.

There are a great many species which the field worker has never, in
the course of a long lifetime, found in the imaginal stage in the wild by
searching. Such species pass the daylight hours among the debris at the
roots of a hedge and in similar places impossible to search. But their
larvae are often as well known to the field worker as his hat; and so,
quite often, are their pupae. Obviously no one can expect to find the
pupa of alni or of any other species which pupates inside a woody stem
or tree-trunk; but in one stage or another each of these ‘rarities’ has
always been available to the field lepidopterist. How, then, are we to
account for this sudden revelation of their frequency and dispersal ?

The fact of the matter seems to be this: that none of these ‘rarities’
ever was rare and could always be taken by the adept field worker—the
man who never uses a beating-tray or a petrol lamp because he is more
successful with his eyes and hands, the man who has the god-given gift
of observation. Yet observation by itself cannot make a great field
naturalist. It can make an astronomer, a geologist, a taxonomist, a
physician, a Sherlock Holmes if you like; but without an additional
something it cannot achieve supreme success (though it may beget pro-
ficiency) in the field. That ‘something’ is a flair for wild animals. In
every generation, among lepidopterists in this country, there are a few
such men, but always they are to be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Richard Weaver was such a man (said Stainton of him ‘‘his captures

. mark an era in the Entomology of this country’’) and so were
Charles Stuart Gregson and Harpur Crewe. To men such as these the
‘rarities’ are not uncommon.

So the m.v. lamp has done no more than show up our own short-
comings as field workers. If butterfly-nets and beating-trays and petrol
lamps were prohibited we should learn a deal more about the life-
histories of the moths we hunt, and thereby we should become more
proficient collectors. It is a sad thought; few of us are ‘‘gentlemen
of leisure’ and so we must needs fill our cabinets and store-boxes in the
most expeditious way. Perhaps the m.v. lamp may prove to be an even
greater blessing than we account it at present: our lepidopterists will
’ fill their cabinets so quickly that from sheer ennui they will turn to the
study of some of the less well-known Orders. .... .

250 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/1TX/1952

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

Cryptoblabes bistriga Haw. The larva of this delicate little species
may be found feeding between two united oak leaves in September,
being full-grown about the end of the month. It is rather like a very
small and slender larva of Phycita spissicella Fabr. but of a more
elegant shape, with a better proportioned head. The sides are pale
with a wide brown dorsal marking. It spins, as a rule, in captivity
between two leaves and pupates at once. This little moth varies con-
siderably in colour and markings; the white bands are sometimes almost
suppressed. Those I bred from near Faversham were of a purplish-
brown hue whilst others, bred from Bexley larvae sent me by Mr. L. T.
Ford, were much blacker in tone.

Harpalia ferrugalis Hiibn. may be found in September at ivy bloom
and occasionally at sugar. Its numbers vary greatly from year to year
and it is almost certainly largely reinforced by immigration, if not en-
tirely a migrant. In 1947 I disturbed a great number from a stubble-
field in Essex when taking Rhodometra sacraria L., which it appeared
to have accompanied to this country.

Phalonia badiana Hiibn. Seed-heads of burdock should now be
collected for the nearly full-grown larva of this Tortrix. They should
be kept in a bag in the open air, as the insect does not pupate till May
and will spin up without difficulty either between the seed-heads or,
more rarely, in the larval habitation. The bag may be emptied into a
breeding-cage at the end of May and the moths will emerge in the next
month.

The second brood of Peronea lorquiniana Dup. comes freely to light
towards the end of the month in its chosen haunts, the Broads, Wicken,
etc. The moth may also be bred from flower-shoots of Lythrum salicaria
collected in the second week in August. The late Mr. W. G. Sheldon
in his masterly paper on the Peroneas stated that in his experience
the form with the conspicuous black dot on the forewings chiefly be-
longed to the second brood. This does not agree with my own observa-
tions, every specimen I have taken of the spotted form has belonged
to the July brood and I have taken no other at this time whilst the
second brood examples have been exclusively of the plain form, with a
sprinkling of the rare one with the diagonal brown line across the wing.
My experience agrees with that of my old friend the late Mr. B. A.
Bower, who also first drew my attention to the curious parallel in
variation between this moth and Chilodes maritima Tausch; both have
plain types, a form with a heavy spot (double—bipunctata—in mari-
tima) and a banded one (wismariensis in the noctuid).

Eucosma ophthalmicana Hiibn. may be beaten from aspens or, better,
found sitting on the trunks of the younger trees, towards the end of
the month. It is rather skittish and difficult to box and I have found
that the easiest way to catch it is to hold the net near it and just below,
and give the back of the tree a sharp tap, when the moth will usually
jump straight into the net.

PRACTICAL HINTS. 251

Eucosma sordidana Hiibn. may be keaten freely from alders in many.
places towards the end of the month and in early October. This insect
is much more generally distributed than is usually supposed, as collec-
tors often make the mistake of looking for it too early. It flies freely
when disturbed on a warm day.

Eucosma maritima Westw. (candidulana Nolck.). The little spotted
larva of this moth may sometimes be found freely on Artemisia maritima
towards the end of September, spinning in the seed-heads. It does not
pupate till the spring sc must be kept out of doors through the winter.
Some old stems and dead leaves of the foodplant should be put in the
bottom of the bag for it to spin in. It appears to prefer the plants
growing on the higher parts of the sea walls on saltings.

Practical Hints

Now is the time to beat oak and beech for larvae of the Hook-tips—
Drepana binaria and D. cultraria. They are easily collected from the
lower branches on the south and west sides. The birch-eating one,
D. falcataria, should always be obtained by searching. The larva loops
up the edges of a birch leaf to form a gulley, in which it reposes by day,
so is quite easily seen.

Cirrhia gilvago is usually accounted a local species though often
abundant where it occurs, and certainly it ‘‘has its years’’. One such
year, in Hertfordshire, was 1938, when it appeared at our sugar during
September in scores nightly, having been absent for fifteen years pre-
viously. On 20th September that year—a warm night with slight
drizzle—it kept on arriving at sugared posts beneath a row of elms
from dusk to midnight. We could have taken a hundred.

That year, 1938, was a good year also in our district for Peridroma
porphyrea (saucia), Agrotis ipsilon (suffusa) and Antitype flavicincta,
which came nightly to sugar, during late September, in quantities. A.
flavicincta has been quite a rarity ever since, though it is common
enough elsewhere. To our mind, sugaring in September is more profit-
able than in any other month of the year, at least in the southern half
of England.

A few years ago Catocala nupta started to extend its range north-
wards and westwards. Collectors who live in the Midlands and West
Country and have not yet taken this fine moth should spread their sugar
on pollard willows in watermeadows and on other low-lying ground.
Emergence is usually spread over two months and we have frequently
seen freshly emerged specimens in the last week of September. This
species seems to have an unusually keen nose for sugar: we have found
it in numbers on sugared firtrees on the top of a ridge a hundred feet
above, and nearly half a mile from, watermeadows.

September is a very profitable time to search aspen. The second
broods of Populus-eating Prominents are to be had, as well as Clostera
curtula (which one finds between closely-spun leaves), Tethea or and
‘T. ocularis (ditto), and Harpyia hermelina (bifida), which rests on the
upper side of the leaf. Small bushes of small-leaved sallows should be

252 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/TX/1952

searched for H. furcula. This larva is usually near the top of the bushes
and is not too easily seen—at first. It feeds by day so is most likely to
be found on the edge of a leaf. Often little bushes growing out in the
open in waste places are favoured by the female moth, sometimes sallows
in hedges.

That fine moth Rhizedra (formerly Calamia) lutosa comes readily to
light in September, though we have never seen it at sugar. It has a
fondness for street lamps in small towns and villages where there is
swampy ground in the neighbourhood and can also be found shortly
after dusk by searching the reeds in ditches. The moth seems to rest
on the reeds until rather late at night, when it takes wing—often for
the nearest lamp.

Before the third week of September the seed-pods of red campion

(Lychnis dioica), growing preferably in and on the fringes of woods, ~

should be gathered for larvae of Perizoma affinitata. P. flavofasciata
may be taken at the same time.

Notes and Observations

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN THE CHANNEL IsLANDS.—The remarkable
migration of Vanessa cardwi this year has already been recorded in this
journal and elsewhere and I can add one other record. While on holi-
day in Jersey in early May I visited Mont Orgueil castle and remarked
to the caretaker on the number of Painted Lady butterflies flying in the
grounds. She was a naturalist and knew the English butterflies well
and at once told me that this butterfly had been very numerous at the
end of February, the earliest she had ever seen them in the Island and
she had assumed an early migration but had not realised its significance.
IT myself like to think of the Channel Islands as ‘‘stepping stones’’
(rather large ones I admit!) for migrant butterflies on their journey to
our shores. When I lived on Sark for nine months in 1931 I was able
to write and tell my father about certain of the migrant butterflies
that I had seen, and often they were not reported in England until a
week or two later.—L. Huen Newman, the Butterfly Farm, Bexley,
Kent.

VANESSA CARDUI IN ITALY.—The appearance of V. cardwi followed its
usual course here this year and their numbers, as compared with the
great scarcity of butterflies of all sorts, were rather large, but not un-
usually so. There was a first arrival about the middle of April, and a
second one at the beginning of June, belonging respectively, so far as
T know, to the second and third generation in North Africa. Some of
these here evidently rested a bit, but they soon proceeded northward.
A few, as usual, settled down and I saw them every day for some time
in my artichoke fields and in other localities. The offspring, freshly
emerged, pink and crimson, made their first appearance at the begin-
ning of July, and there are a few in my garden, evidently intending to
stop. Every day they get more and more discoloured.—RocER VERITY,
Caldine, Firenze. 26.v1i.52.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 2538

VANESSA cARDUI L. IN HANNovER.—Vanessa cardui has been much
commoner here than in previous years, even than in 1946 when I saw
it for the first time in this district. The first specimens I could identify
were noted on 17th May, in worn condition. On 13th June I noted one
in the town, flying rapidly to the north. About six to eight specimens
were seen .in the fields on 17th June, all in very poor condition, but
apparently not migrating. On 5th July we found the first fresh speci-
men and a friend of mine detected a nearly full-fed larva on thistle.
Another fresh cardui was seen in the fields on 26th July, and on the
following days I observed many more, but in all cases single specimens.

The Diepholz district seems unfavourable for migrators as the sur-
roundings are moors and fens. On the whole, we have had a bad sum-
mer, with a few hot days followed by longer spells of cold and wet
weather. Even Plusia. gamma L. has not been common up till now. As
of course you know, Diepholz is a small town between Bremen and
Osnabrtick.—GERHARD HerssELBARTH, Romlingstrasse 8, Diepholz, Han-
nover.

[Vanessa cardui L. seems to have reached the Continent somewhat
later than England this year. A correspondent in the South of France
reports ‘‘many thousands’? on the Mediterranean seaboard and also
‘some thousands’’ going through the streets at Genoa, being seen later
in the Arquata Scrivia valley north of that town. All these were after
the invasion of England. Hence it would appear that the first migra-
tion from North Africa reported by Brigadier C. G. Lipscoms (Ent.
Rec., 64: 168) followed a westerly route, 1.e. across Spain.—Ep. |

MacroGLossuM STELLATARUM L. IN 1952.—This moth was seen at
Plympton, South Devon, on 8th June, 9th June (2), 10th June, 12th
June and 19th June. While at Ventnor, Isle of Wight, from 21st June,
it was common at valerian.—R. G. Haynes, 5 Lucas Lane, Plympton,
near Plymouth, S. Devon. 5.viii.52.

MaAcroGLossuM SsTELLATARUM LL. IN BEDFORDSHIRE.—With reference
to the report of Macroglossum stellatarum (Ent. Rec., 64: 217) I saw
this insect, on 15th July, at Yelden in the extreme N.E. corner of
Bedfordshire and a few miles S.E. of Rushden. It was hovering over
a large patch of the common blue vetch. I had no opportunity of
examining it but my impression is that it had seen better days.—Major
W. A. C. Carrer, R.A., Briarfields, Sandels Way, Beaconsfield, Bucks.
3.V111.52.

MACROGLOSSUM STELLATARUM L. IN NortH SomMERsET.—In response to
the Editor’s request in Ent. Rec., 64: 217, my observations of Macro-
glossum stellatarum L. in the neighbourhood of Bath may be of interest.
The first of the season was observed hovering over catmint (Nepeta)
about 4 p.m. on 20th June. <A second was seen feeding at the same
border on the 21st, and five more on the 26th. The species was then
seen at least once daily until the end of June, and it was still frequent
on rockeries and herbaceous borders until mid-July. On 23rd July a
worn @ was observed hovering close to several clumps of Galiwm grow-
ing on a wall, and was noticed to be ovipositing. Four eggs were laid,
_ two of which were on the wall. By further searching seven more eggs
were found, two more of which were on the stone. Of these eleven I

254 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TX /1952

retained five, one of which failed to hatch, the others hatching, one
on 26th July and three on the 27th. The larvae are now in their fourth
instar; three are of a very dark olive green in ground colour, while one
is still a bright leaf-green.—J. E. Tuorpr, 20 Kendal Green, Kendal,
Westmorland. 12.v1ii.52.

MILTOCHRISTA MINIATA Forst. AB. CROCEA Bien. IN Kent.—Of this
rare form in which the normal pink is replaced by yellow I took a male
specimen in fine condition at light at Ham Street on the night of 27th
June 1952. This form has been recorded from the New Forest at least
twice, but so far as I am aware not previously from Kent.—J. M.
CHALMERS-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham, Kent. 10.vii.52.

FoOoDPLANTS OF BENA FAGANA FaB. (PRASINANA L.).—During the course
of beating operations this year I have taken larvae of the ‘Green Silver-
lines’ from lime, elm, and blackthorn (one from each). Has anyone else
found the larva of this species on these plants, as they are not given as
foodplants in South’s British Moths? I don’t suppose the species is a
general feeder, but perhaps it 1s extending its range of foods.—R. J. R.
Leverr, Netheroak, Stockcroft Road, Balcombe, Sussex. 31.vii.52.

Is GyMNoscELIS PUMILATA Hts. a Micgranr?—With reference to
recent notes (Hnt. Rec., 64: 121, 152, 179) on the early appearances
of Gymnoscelis pumilata Hitib. may I be so bold as to suggest that this
is a migrant species? My reasons for suggesting this are:—(1) It is
continuous brooded in the Mediterranean region, as are the majority
of our migrant species. (2) I have taken it on two occasions in the
middle of the Mediterranean Sea in company with other migrant
species. (38) The larva is markedly polyphagous, a character it shares
with many migrant species, and which is of decided advantage to
travellers whether lepidopterous or lepidopterist. (4) Though normally
nocturnal, it is perfectly capable of flying in bright sun-light, under
which circumstances I have taken it on several occasions, including the
two captures at sea. This capacity to fly by day and night is essential
to trans-oceanic migrants and has been observed in many migrant
species. (5) It 1s of wide distribution in the Western Palaearctic and,
as far as I am aware, forms no subspecies in Europe or North Africa,
and a few specimens I have from the Middle Kast show no marked
differences from their western brethren. This character it also shares
with established migrants.

The above behaviour pattern, plus a few characters of lesser moment,
are common to at least the majority of our migrants, as well as to several
other species which may well be migrants. I suggest G. pumilata is at
least a reinforcing migrant.—H. M. Dartow. 26.71.52.

STRIDULATION OF HAIRSTREAK PupaE.—The other day I noticed a dis-
tinct sound which appeared to come from some pupae of Strymon
w-album Knoch which I had in a cage. I can best describe the sound
as low-pitched, rasping and scratchy. The cage contained nothing ex-
cept 24 w-album pupae resting on crumbled peat. The pupae them-
selves were either on withered leaves of the food-plant or in the angle
at the top or bottom of glass-topped tins.

T tried hard to see which pupa was making the noise, but 1 was
quite unable to do so. Moreover, I failed to make out what stimulus

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 255

was required to induce the noise. I think that the initial stimulus
was caused merely by removing the lid of the cage, but no amount of
subsequent movement of the lid, shaking the cage or other disturb-
ance had any effect. JI tried breathing on the pupae and stroking
them with a camel-hair brush with no audible result.

I should, perhaps, emphasize that there was nothing else in the
cage apart from the pupae which were in the process of ‘ hatching.’
Several imagines had already emerged, some pupae had turned black
and the butterflies came out during the following 24 hours; yet others
did not hatch for several days.

Myself, I have no doubt that the noise was made by the pupae. I
suspect that it was caused by a slight sideways movement of the abdo-
men, enough to cause the bristly hairs to scratch over the surface on
which the pupa was lying. It may well be a defensive mechanism be-
cause the noise was quite loud enough to deter a bird on the look-out
for a snack.—W'. A. C. Carter, Briarfields, Sandels Way, Beaconsfield,
Bucks. 26.vi.52.

[Stridulation by pupae of this Family has long been known. There
was a Note on the subject in the Ent. mon. Mag. so long ago as 1877
(14: 137), to which the Editors appended a further note showing that
stridulation by the pupa of Thecla rubi L. had been pointed out by
Kleeman of Nuremberg in 1774.—Ep. |

A Meranic Lycarna PHLAEAS Linn.—I took a very nice melanic L.
phlaeas ¢ last week, forewings almost entirely intense black, and hope
to show it at the South London exhibition in October. Moths have come
to hght well, and Vanessa cardui is widely distributed over this whole
avea.—S. H. Kersuaw, Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley,
Bueks. 5.vi1i.52.

EVERES ARGIADES Paty. IN DorseT.—On 2nd July, when the Rev. F.
M. B. Carr and I were searching for varieties of Plebejus argus Li. on
the Purbeck coast, I had the good fortune to take a female Everes
argiades. Jt has a chip out of the left hindwing, but apart from that,
it 1s in good condition and somewhat larger than the figures in ‘South’
and ‘Frohawk’. An interesting point about this capture is that it was
made only about a dozen miles in a direct line from the locality where
the original ‘‘Bloxworth Blues’? were taken in 1885.—H. Symes, 52
Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 4.viii.52.

LEuCANIA LOREYI DuPONCHEL IN [RELAND.—In the Donovan collection,
recently acquired by the British Museum, there is a specimen of Lew-
cania loreyi labelled Ummera, Co. Cork, 9.xii.1945, Donovan. It is
worn and the right hindwing is split. This is the second Irish example
to be recorded. The first was taken at ivy bloom, 6.x.1910 near Queens-
town, Co. Cork, by Captain Rupert Gwatkin-Williams, R.N., and
recorded by Gervase F. Mathew (Entomologist, 1910, 43: 351). Austin
Richardson (Entomologist, 1946, 79: 19) records the capture of four
Leucania loreyi in Cornwall in September 1945. This Irish loreyi taken
in the same year shows that there must have been a migration on a
large scale in 1945. The absence of visitors and the scarcity of resident
collectors accounts for the paucity of records of Irish migrants in the
late autumn. It will be remembered that the great migration of

256 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15 /1TX /1952

Leucania unipuncta Haworth in 1929 was only known through the
capture of 52 specimens at Ummera by Mrs. Lucas, Miss B. Donovan’s
twin sister.—E. A. Cockayne, 8 High Street, Tring.

DISCLOSURES MADE By THE M.V. Lamp.—Most entomologists who
have used a mercury vapour lamp can match Mr. Minnion’s experi-
ences recorded in the June issue (64: 182). The following instances of
insects supposed to be rare and being in fact proved to be common are
of interest.

Xylomiges conspicillaris. During the two previous early summers
I have looked for this insect on fences or orchard tree trunks but have
never seen one in this district. This year I used a m.v. trap in my
garden for the first time. In the second fortnight of April conspicillaris
was consistently the second commonest insect in the trap; only Taenio-
campa gothica was in greater numbers. They were all ab. melaleuca
View.

Acronicta alni. I have from time to time found a few larvae in the
New Forest but never have I obtained this insect at a petrol vapour
lamp in spite of having used the lamp in those areas of the Forest where
I know the larvae to be found. On May 24th this year, in a wood near
Stroud (Glos.), I took ten at a m.v. lamp. Two nights later, at the
same place, Mr. Austin Richardson took thirty-two.

Crymodes exulis var. assimilis. I had made several expeditions to
the Highlands after this insect with meagre results. An occasional one
at a petrol vapour light, an occasional one at sugar, pointed to some
scarcity even in its correct habitat. On August Ist, 1950, I used a
m.v. lamp for the first time on the moors of Inverness-shire. This and
the two following nights were windy and as a result I did not use a
sheet, boxing the moths out of the heather among which they fluttered.
The flight is a short one, 11.0 to 11.20, and in that time I could not
cope with all the assimilis that arrived. I boxed about 100 in the three
nights and probably an equal number came to the light and were blown
away again in the strong wind. This particular moor has no merit over
hundreds of square miles of similar high peaty country except for a
motor road which crosses it, and I have no doubt that over all of it
assimilis is not scarce but abundant.

Pachnobia leucographa. Here the boot is on the other foot. I
normally collect with a m.v. lamp on a tripod over a sheet with a petrol
vapour lamp on the sheet below. Leucographa is fairly common in the
Forest of Dean but none came to the m.v. light. On turning off the
m.v. but leaving the petrol vapour lamp burning, leucographa at once
started to appear. :

Surely the explanation is that in areas where they exist, most of the
so-called scarce moths are generally common but until the advent of the
m.v. lamp no method was available for their capture. These are the
insects that come freely to m.v. lamps but succeed in avoiding approach-
ing less brilliant lights and so are seldom seen. Other moths come
freely to any sort of light and have consequently always been considered
common but are in fact no commoner than the so-called scarce moths
mentioned above. Yet another group settle down to rest on the peri-
meter of the brightly illuminated area, which with a petrol lamp is close
to the collector and they consequently attract his attention but with a
m.v. lamp may be 50 yards away and they so escape detection. If all

lard

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 257

collectors work with m.v. lamps and ignore the use of petrol vapour
lamps, these species will soon become the rarities of the next generation
of entomologists !—R. P. Demutu, Hardwicke, Gloucester. 7.vii.52.

DiscLosuRES MADE By THE M.V. Lamp.—I have read with interest
Mr. Minnion’s remarks (Ent. Rec., 64: 182) regarding the attractive
properties of m.v. light on hitherto uncommon species. I, also, have
been impressed by the large numbers of Drymonia ruficornis and D.
trimacula which have turned up at my portable m.v. set this year in
several different localities in this neighbourhood. As I had only once
before taken ruficornis and had never even seen trimacula they were
very welcome additions. Among the ruficornis one very fine aberration
came to my light while collecting with Mr. J. Knight at Ross-on-Wye
at Easter. The central portion of the forewings is entirely devoid of
the usual cross shades and the crescent shows up like a moon in a cloud-
less sky!* By way of contrast another variety which has also come my
way this year is a specimen with the crescent entirely missing.

Amongst the many ‘good things’ that have been attracted to my lamp
recently I cannot refrain from mentioning Stawropus fagi which since
the 10th of last month (June) has unfailingly turned up every time I
have gone out collecting. As with the Drymonias, however, only the
males visit me. The females are conspicuous by their absence—and yet
I am no misogynist !—F. J. Stone, 79 Reedley Road, Westbury-on-Trym,
Bristol. ...5.v1.52.

[*A photograph of this fine aberration which our correspondent
kindly sends shows it to be ab. albisignata Lenz. The use of the mer-
cury vapour lamp has brought about the second revolution in collecting,
the first being the discovery of sugaring by Doubleday.—HEb. |

Tur CHRomosomMe NuMBER oF LEUCANIA FAVICOLOR BARRETT AND L.
PALLENS Linn.—Dr. Cockayne’s Note on the chromosome number in L.
favicolor and L. pallens (Ent. Rec., 64: 220) prompts me to send the
following remarks on the two species, which I have had under observa-
tion for some years.

When I first took favicolor the usual place was a dry sea bank or
sandhill and so very few were captured. But in June 1949 a Hampshire
salting was visited and favicolor found to be quite common, This salting
is intersected by numerous deep creeks and is none too pleasant a place
to work after dark. Whether it is under water at abnormally high
tides has not yet been ascertained. The vegetation is mainly short
grasses including patches of Spartina, Statices and Armeria. maritima.
The ground is muddy and rarely dries out.

Of the pairs taken all but one were ¢ favicolor x @ favicolor, the
odd one being ¢ pallens x @ favicolor.

I was unable to visit the ground in 1950, and on the 23rd June 1951
I could find only one favicolor, it being a very wild night when entomo-
logical work was almost impossible. I found the sea wall broken and
much cf the area flooded. On the 28th June 1951 on the same ground
I found favicolor only and two days later male favicolor flying and
three pairs of favicolor and one female on grass stems. The species was
still on the wing on 21st July 1951, but males only and worn.

' J intended searching the spot for wild larvae this year but was un-
able to do so until the 17th May, which date I thought would be too

258 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/1TX/1952

late. I obtained only five larvae, one of which I sent to Dr. Cockayne
who informed me that he thought it was pallens. (He subsequently
proved to be right as he bred a pallens). Of the remaining four larvae
one produced a pallens and the other three favicolor. Dr. Cockayne
also informs me that he cannot with certainty distinguish between the
larvae of pallens and favicolor. It is hoped that a more intensive hunt
next year will produce greater numbers of larvae.

As regards there being two species I have always been in doubt.
There are undoubtedly two forms and the fact that favicolor is not
found away from the sea but pallens is certainly suggests two species.
Cross pairings, it should be noted, are very rare. JI think favicolor
could at least be raised to sub-specific rank. JI have no accurate record
of the relative numbers of the two species on. the marsh mentioned but
think it to be in the region of 5 or 6 favicolor to 1 pallens. My notes
on the dissections of the two species were destroyed during the last war
but I could find no distinct differences except that, speaking from
memory, the cornuti were more numerous in: favicolor than in pallens.

There is one other point of interest. LL. favicolor flies immediately
after dark and pairs are not usually taken until about an hour after.
Flight normally continues until 1 a.m. B.s.t. and possibly after, but
I did not stay later. This year, on the 29th June, not one moth was
seen after 11.45 p.m. B.s.t. in spite of a very warm night. If any
entomologist is interested in the further investigation of this species
T shall be glad to show him the ground. There must be many similar
areas in the immediate neighbourhood.—A. H. SperRine, Slindon, Fifth
Avenue, Warblington, Hants. 4.viii.52.

VARIATIONS IN THE Lire CycLe or LASIOCAMPA QuEeRCUS L. VAR.
CALLUNAE PaLMER.—The normal life cycle of Lasiocampa quercus Li. in
the South of England is twelve months and that of var. callunae in
Scotland and the North of two years. The ‘‘Northern Eggar’’ is also
found in North Devon, and in an article in the Record for November
1951 (63: 234-5) Dr. Barton White ended an account of his experiences
with this variety with the words ‘‘The larval and pupal periods have
not so far been investigated’’.

On 3rd July 1949 I picked up a very dilapidated callunae @ at
Aviemore. Two days earlier I had taken a male in fresh condition.
I should think this is rather a late date for this insect. The wings of
the female were torn to shreds and the state of its body showed that
it had laid most of its eggs, but before dying of old age it obliged me
with a batch of sixteen. One might. have expected that the larvae
resulting from these eggs would have lacked vigour, but such was far
from being the case. The eggs hatched on 25th July and the larvae
went ahead steadily until the time for hibernation. They started feed-
ing again towards the end of February 1950 and grew rapidly: a few
died, but ten pupated at the beginning of June. The first moth, a
male, emerged on 25th June: no more appeared until 15th July, but
on the 16th a male and a female emerged and paired up. Eggs were
laid during the next two days, and four more moths emerged by 22nd
July, making eight in all, of which six were males. I kept the remaining
two cocoons in case the pupae might go over for a second year, but on
opening them twelve months later J found one dead female moth and

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 259

one dried up larva. Thus the first generation of these callunae brought
down to the South of England all adopted a twelve months’ life cycle.

The eggs of the second generation hatched on 9th August 1950.
I kept thirty larvae, which duly went into hibernation and survived
the winter without loss, but after they had resumed feeding there were
a good many deaths towards the end of March. The survivors fed up
rapidly in April and changed into their last skin early in May, but after
that things did not go so well. Some died off and others fed very slowly.
One formed a cocoon by the end of May, but others lingered on until
the middle of July, and in the end only eight cocoons were formed.
From the first, a fine male emerged on 30th July. No more moths
appeared in 1951, but in June 1952 four moths emerged, two of each
sex, having reverted to the normal two-year life cycle of var. callunae.
—H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 4.viii.52.

CorRECTIONS IN ALLAN’s Larvat Fooprriants.—Referring to your
corrections in Hnt. Rec., 64: 223, of some of the printing errors in
Larval Foodplants, we use Chaonia for ruficorms Hufn. as Mr. Tams
says the genitalia differ from Drymonia. Colostygia Hiibn. is the
original spelling and is correct as printed on page 92. Calostigia Htibn.
was used later. On page 82 Schranckia (twice) should be Schrankia.—
H. M. Eve.stren, British Museum (Natural History), London, 7.vii.52.

[Oh these names! My amendments of Chaonia and Colostygia were
given with the intention of bringing the names in my little book into
line with those in the work of Messrs. Kloet and Hincks, A Check Inst
of British Insects, 1945, a work which seems to be regarded by most
lepidopterists as the “‘ standard ’’ one on nomenclature. But I am
none the less grateful to Mr. Edelsten, as well as for his correction of
Schrankia, which I had overlooked.—P. B. M. Atan. ]

CARTEROCEPHALUS PALAEMON Patt. IN HampsHire.—The entry (or
rather entries, for there are two of them) in The Entomologist’s Weekly
Intelligencer (vol. 2, p. 117) referred to in my Note on page 216 of the
last issue reads as follows:—‘‘ Captures at Lyndhurst.—As we have
now been here some time, and as it is probable that some other ento-
mologists may pay a visit to this locality, we have thought it worth our
while to send you a list of our captures: —June 26. Went to a heath
on the south side of the road between Lyndhurst and the railway
station, where we took Aporia Crataegi, Argynnis Paphia, A. Adippe
and P. Sylvanus in abundance, and a few 'S. Paniscus. June 27. Went
again to the same place, where we caught A. Crataegi, though not quite
so plentifully as on the preceding day; also A. Paphia, Adippe and
Selene abundantly, and one solitary Arge Galathea. July 1. No more
Crataegi to be seen; but, on crossing to a wood on the north side of
the road, we took about twenty specimens of Limenitis Sibilla, which
was literally swarming, and about a dozen Hipparchia Hyperanthus,
together with more Paphia, Adippe, Selene, and an innumerable quan-
tity of Skippers.—Rozsert and ALEexanpEeR S. Harvey, 4 Sussex Place,
Southampton; July 4.”

‘““ Steropes Paniscus.—I have great pleasure in announcing that this
year I have taken this rare insect at Netley Abbey, in this neighbour-
-hood, where I have also taken one A. Crataegi and (last year) Thecla
Betulae.—Rosert Harvey, 4 Sussex Place, Southampton. July 4,”

260 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TX/1952

These entries appear to indicate that C. palaemon did actually occur,
as late as 1857, on the heath on the south side of the road between Lynd-
hurst and Lyndhurst Road station and that it was taken outside the
Forest at Netley Abbey. But in the course of many years’ reading of
English entomological literature I have come across so many cases of
mistaken identity, and unfortunately not a few instances of purposive
incorrect attribution for the sake of gain, that a doubt still lingers in
my mind. June 26th is a very late date for C. palaemon—it is usually
‘over’ by mid-June. A further note by Robert Harvey in the same
volume of the Intelligencer, in which he offers to exchange certain
duplicates and asks for ‘‘ FE. cassiope, C. porcellus, M. stellatarum or
E. versicolora,’’? indicates that he ‘‘ swopped ”’ specimens with other
collectors.

We have Mr. Hawker’s testimony that there were specimens of C.
palaemon in the collection of Mr. E. F. Johns of Winton House, Win-
chester, and that these specimens were alleged to have been caught
‘“near Lyndhurst.’’ But unfortunately we do not know whether they
were actually netted by Mr. Johns himself or whether they had been
acquired from the Harvey brothers some years previously. Mr. EK. F.
Johns was a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a note by him record-
ing the capture of Hyloicus pinastri L. at Winchester in 1902 will be
found in vol. 14, p. 248, of the Record (also Entomologist, 35: 219).

Pending further information I suggest that judgment on these
Hampshire palaemon be deferred.—P. B. M. Aan.

Buiocks Versvts Boarps.—I started setting, in the 1919-1921 period,
in the belief that blocks were best and boards the instruments of the
ignorant; but I have now for many years practised both religions
simultaneously. I agree with ‘‘An Old Moth-Hunter’’ that blocks have
much advantage of speed and handiness, provided that one is dealing
with small numbers of insects of differing spans and body-widths; and
consequently most of the daily selections from my garden light-trap and
breeding cages go that way. But I have found that blocks are definitely
slower than boards when one has to deal with long series of insects of
similar size and type, and are also less conducive to uniform setting.
Further, since each insect must usually have a block to itself, they take
up more room on blocks than on boards and so aggravate the storage
problem in one’s drying houses at the height of the season. But the
worst weakness is that I have never been able to devise a safe way of
transporting blocks with set insects on them. The vital centre pin
lacks the protection of the ‘‘hedge-hog’’ of side pins, which it has on
a setting board, and blocks are also liable to come loose however care-
fully they are packed. So, when I am travelling, I always use boards,
secured in cardboard boxes which are less heavy and bulky than the
orthodox setting-house. But I am sure that a judicious use of both
methods has advantages over a strict adherence to either one alone.

I should perhaps add that J paper my blocks, to give a smoother sur-
face than planed wood; and I generally wind all but the inmost strands
of silk over strips of cellaphane. This reduces the risk of marking the
wings and also prevents the curling of the wing-tips which may occur
if the wings are held flat only by the strands. If the initial notches in
the block are cut with a fine knife or razor blade, they will hold the

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 961

silk firmly without any need for knotting the end, which is a further
saving of time. When the time comes to remove the insect from the
block, there is of course no need to unwind the strands: they can be
simply cut by drawing a sharp blade across the back of the block.—R. F.
BRETHERTON, Ottershaw Cottage, Ottershaw, Surrey. 11.viii.52.

A Nota on ‘‘ BurTERFLIES IN THE CoastTaL Recion or NortH WALEs.”’
—I am extremely sorry if I have hurt Mr. Gordon Smith’s feelings,
both from the point of view of seniority and from personal regard, the
more so as [ felt that I had dealt kindly with his book. Moreover, I
should not wish to waste space in the Record with personal affairs were
it not for two points in Mr. Smith’s note (Ent. Rec., 64: 221) which
give quite an incorrect impression of what actually occurred.

Firstly, when Mr. Smith wrote to me on the subject I offered to
give him any assistance in my power and he asked me for details about
the subspecies on the Great Orme to which he refers in his note. I
made it quite clear that any information which I could give him, on
any point, was always at his disposal.

Secondly, I must protest at his reference to giving my name as the
authority for caernensis and thyone. Mr. Smith had apparently not
heard of these subspecies at this time and, in pointing out to him that
I had described them, I merely wished to guard against the publication
of further synonyms.

Finally, may I say that Mr. Smith’s own words (Hnt. Rec., 64: 222)

. 1t is not intended to do more than touch on the ecological aspect,
neither are zoogeographical zones to be considered ’’ show that the re-
sults of my own work would hardly have been the type for the kind of
book he was producing. I am reminded of the worthy Doctor who,
when compiling a list of Lepidoptera of one of our home. counties,
waited a considerable time for a Comma to fly over a hedge so that he
might include it as a ‘‘ county record.”’

I trust that this clarification of the facts will obtain for me Mr.
Smith’s forgiveness. My offer of any help I can give is still, as always,
open to him.—J. Antony THompson, Milton Lodge School, Wells,
Somerset. 4.vili.52.

cc

Wuat Were THEY?—With regard to the query in respect of
Parkyns’ ‘‘ exceedingly beautiful insect ’’ (Ent. Rec., 64: 197) might I
suggest that these were possibly Trombiculid mites? Everything in the
quotation points to this solution, except perhaps the reference to cater-
pillars. To the eyes of an entomologist it might perhaps seem far-
fetched to describe a Trombiculid as ‘‘ something like a caterpillar ”’
but they are certainly ‘‘ shorter and thicker, and covered with a fur-
like velvet of the brightest scarlet.’’ To those familiar with the ordin-
ary European ‘ harvest-mites’ and their slightly larger adult stages,
size alone might be expected to rule them out; but some of the East
African species are very large and may be a quarter of an inch
in length, exclusive of legs. They are also sometimes very numerous,
although in the parts of Ethiopia with which I am familiar (the semi-
desert Ogaden) I do not remember observing any very large or very
- numerous species. Parkyns’ part of Ethiopia, however, is as different
as chalk from cheese from the Ogaden. I assume that Parkyns, by

262 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/TX/1952

‘“ something like a caterpillar,’’ merely means that they were wingless
‘‘ insects.”’—D. K. McE. Kevan, University of Nottingham. 4.v11.52.

Will Subscribers please note the New Appress of our Treasurer,
Me. A. C. R. Reperave? It is now ‘‘ Hartsdown, Glenfield Avenue,
Bitterne, Southampton’’.

The Annual Exhibition of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society will
be held on Saturday, 27th September, at Buckingham Gate Central
Schools, Wilfred Street, Westminster, from 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. Ad-
mission will be free. The Hall will be open from 10 a.m. for the receipt
of Members’ exhibits. During the afternuon there will be talks by Dr.
C. B. Witiiams on “ Insect Migration,’ by Mr. W. H. T. Tams on
‘“ Uses and Abuses of Entomological Nanies and Terms,’’ and by Mr.
EK. E. Syms on “‘ Burying Beetles.’? Offers of help and enquiries should
be sent to Mr. K. H. Boss, 19 Hengist Road, London 8.E.12.

Collecting Notes

ODONTOSIA CARMELITA Esp. IN ScotnAnp.—This fine species is well
known to occur in the birch woodlands of the Highlands, so when I
came to live on Speyside in Inverness-shire last November I hoped to
make the acquaintance of it this spring. I was, however, delighted to
find the ‘Scarce Prominent’ having a good year in 1952, almost belying
its name. Between 21st. April, when the first male visited the m.v.
trap in my garden, and 13th May no less than 49 individuals were
counted, a fine series being selected. Most of them occurred on two
consecutive warm nights, the 5th and 6th May, in a certain wood when
14 came to a portable m.v. lamp and sheet the first night and 15 on the
second. The remainder were single specimens at the trap in my garden
or found sitting by day on fences.—Commander G. W. Harper, R.N.,
Neadaich, Newtonmore, Inverness-shire. 2.vili.52.

HETEROGENA ASELLA SCHIFF. IN Kent?.—With reference to the note
on this species in Hnt. Rec., 64: 218, a further specimen of this insect
was taken by me at m.v. light at Ham Street on 27th June this year.—
EK. H. Witp, 112 Foxearth Road, Selsdon, Surrey. 5.vili.52.

JASPIDIA DECEPTORIA Scop. In N.E. Sussex.—While collecting with
“Dr. McNulty on the night of 13th June this year a very fresh ¢ of this
‘Species came to the m.v. lamp at 11.30 p.m. (B.s.t.). The specimen is
now in Dr. ‘McNulty’s collection.—E. H. REED, 112 Foxearth Road,
Selsdon, Surrey. 5.viii.52. : ;

An OssecTIon To THE Usr or M.V. Lamps witH ‘4 SHEET. —Many
entomologists have advanced weighty objections to m.v. lamps and to
these I can now add one other. This year we have spread the sheet .
on Chobham Common on a number of occasions with considerable success
(PD. 00;,M. turca, A. scolopacina, HE. picata, etc.). On the 26th July,
however, the sting (paradoxically) was taken out of collecting by the
arrival of a number of hornets between 10 p.m. and midnight. Now,
I for one don’t mind TJ. pronuba down my neck, but Vespa crabro is
another matter. There was nothing like that in my young days with

DIPTERA, 263

a petrol lamp. The effect of m.v. light on a nest of hornets deprived
of their sleep is terrible to contemplate.—E. H. Witp, 112 Foxearth
Road, Selsdon, Surrey. 5.viii.52.

COLEOPFERA

HarpaLus ANxIus Durts. (CARABIDAE) IN SouTH-EAST LONDON.—This
species, locally abundant on our south coast sandhills, is recorded from
a few places inland where conditions are suitable. Such are the Breck
district of Kast Anglia and the faunistically similar sandy area at Tub-
ney (Berks.) near Oxford; it is common also at Oxshott and probably
on other heaths in Surrey. It does not, however, seem to have been
noted in West Kent or on the eastern fringes of London, so it may be
worth reporting the capture of a singie specimen together with other
Harpali (H. aeneus F., rubripes Dufts., attenuatus Steph., tardus Panz.
and rufitarsis Dufts., the last common over a wide area) at roots of
herbage on sandy ground at Bostall Heath, Woolwich, 29.iv.52.

Fowler (Victoria County History of Kent, 1908, p. 126) records an
example of H. melancholicus De}. as taken by himself at Plumstead. In
view of the above captures, which suggest that the locality is especially
suited to this group of the genus, it is reasonable to suppose that the
latter rare species still survives in the district—Woolwich and Plum-
stead being but a few miles apart.—A. A. ALLEN, The Tiled House, 63
Blackheath Park, S.E.3. 3.vii.52.

DIPTERA
Notes on the Asilidae (Robber Flies)

By L. PARMENTER.
(Continued from page 234.)

ParIrRInNc. — i

Coupling therefore appears to lack all finesse in mést species in the
family, unlike the behaviour found with many Dolichopodidae and
Empididae. ike the plebian Bluebottles, the male grabs the female
and fertilisation takes place.

The males of each species have strong claspers, and the anus of both
male and female is kept free, permitting easy coition ‘without loss of
sperma. In most cases, males alight on the thorax of the females. Some
remain in this position when linked, but after the union, in the
majority of species, the male turns and faces the opposite direction so
that the pair form a more or less straight line. They will fly whilst so
coupled, with both individuals using their wings as if in a tug of war.
The female, almost invariably the larger of the two, decides the direction
of flight. In the larger species such as Asilus, Laphria, etc., this joint
flight is made with a pronounced buzzing easily distinguished from the
normal flight buzz of the species concerned.

Leptogaster cylindrica males are smaller than the females and it is
possible at times to find a pair coupled with the male merely hanging
from the abdomen of the female without further support from grass
stem, etc.

Dioctria and Laphria species, when coupled, face opposite directions
and I have seen the pairs fly, still joined in this fashion.

264 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, von. 64. 15/TX /1952

In Asilus, however, the male remains on the female’s thorax unless
disturbed by flight, when he trails along, remaining joined throughout
the flight, and climbs back again on alighting. Dysmachus, Epitriptus
and Machimuws act similarly.

With Neoitamus cyanurus, the male remains on the female’s thorax,
but she will tilt her abdomen upwards permitting the male to climb high
on to the thorax, often resting his fore legs on her eyes.

Coition will last many minutes—at least 15 minutes. In fact per-
sonally I have never seen a paired couple separate except on being
disturbed.

There are a few records of the females of coupled flies sucking insects
during the act of coition. There are also several records of Asilids
killing their own kind. I have not been able to find, however, any record
of a female killing a male after copulation. In this matter, their habits
seem a little more civilised than those of Spiders.

The recognition of a female by a male is a problem worth attention.
The speed of the coupling makes observation difficult. An American
theory has been put forward that the recognition is by a scent which
may be restricted to the breeding season of the individual concerned.
This theory is upheld by Melin.

As mating takes place in most cases soon after emergence and prior
to feeding, it must be controlled by a powerful instinct. It is danger-
ous to compare insect responses with those of other animals, but one
remembers that scent evokes instant responses in the young of mam-
mals. The assembling of moths also lends support to the hypothesis,
In Muscidae some species have been found with no less than 3,500 sense
organs on the antennae. The bot flies have over 6,000 each. Correla-
tion has been proved between the number and the olfactory require-
ments of the insects in feeding.

GENERAL BEHAVIOUR.

The Asilidae are, generally speaking, strong flyers. Leptogaster
is the weakest of the British genera. Although examples of the family
have not been taken in the traps suspended from kites and high aerial
towers, suggesting that they do not rise very much from the ground,
I have found [sopogon. brevirostris, in a stiff wind, some distance from
hills from which it was likely to have been blown. .In the smaller
species the flight, to our ears at least, is silent; but the larger species,
especially Asilus crabroniformis, have a distinct buzz. The sound
changes when a capture is made whether in coupling or in the capture
of prey.

Like dragonflies they are sunlovers. They creep out of sight in dull
and windy weather. In the sunshine species like Machimus love to lie
on one side as if to toast one side of the body at a time. Whether this
is an attitude adopted for basking I cannot say, but it may be that
such an attitude enables concentration to be made on a possible victim
flying by. With one eye turned to the leaf or tree trunk the other
would be free to watch for any passing object.

ENEMIES.
Red mites are sometimes seen on, species of Dioctria but not often
on other species. Probably the abundant bristles enable the Asilidae
to keep themselves comparatively clean,

DIPTERA. 265

Spiders and dragonflies are their known enemies and birds probably
also capture them. Unfortunately, so few people record their observa-
tions of feeding habits. Single observations may seem unimportant but
collected together enable us to appreciate the inter-relations within an
animal community and to examine the mimicry theories so assiduously
studied at Oxford University. All who study animals in the field should
pass on all information regarding insects as food of insects and other
animals. The Russians and Dutch have special traps for collecting food
taken by Starlings and Great Tits for their young. I see no reason why
a few of our enterprising dipterists should not follow their Jead and
study this aspect in this country. The birds will feed on different in-
sects in varied habitats so that as wide a range as possible in the dis-
tribution of observers is needed.

FEEDING.

The chief interest of the Asilidae, it will probably be agreed, is in
their especial habit of feeding on other insects. The majority of species
capture their prey by making a dart at a flying insect. The weaker
species such as Leptogaster cylindrica will take inactive creatures, even
small spiders, possibly as they dangle from their threads.

Leptogaster and Dioctria fly along when hunting, with their hind-
legs trailing downwards, forelegs drawn forward ready to grab the in-
sect flying in front.

Machimus, Laphria, etc., dart from their observation post on a leaf,
fence, tree trunk, stone, etc. The prey is taken in flight and unless
the prey was just about to alight the captor generally returns with the
booty to its original vantage point. The position adopted for the watch-
ing and eating is, as far as I have noticed, always in the sunshine.

PoIsoNING.

Death of the victim is usually immediate or very rapid. This sug-
gests that a poison is used. As no fly possesses a stinging apparatus in
its tail it is obvious that the mouth parts must be the instrument.
The lancet used for killing is the hypopharynx. The poison flows
through the keel of the hypopharynx and kills the prey very quickly,
leaving it relaxed. The powerful salivary juices flow along the bed of
the labium and may even act as a lubricant for the action of the hypo-
pharynx.

The effect of the poison seems to be lessened in cold and rainy
weather according to Melin, which suggests that in Sweden Asilids are
about in worse weather than here. I have never watched these flies in
such weather myself, except to see them hide away. We know, however,
that with a drop in temperature, the metabolism of Diptera slows down
considerably. Possibly the action of the poison is delayed by a notable
reduction in the speed taking it through the body of the prey besides
any chemical action delayed or altered by a fall in body heat. That it
is a poison that is used was shown by Le Conte in 1849. This American
experimented by piercing various insects with pins, and failed in every
attempt to secure speedy death or a relaxed condition, despite great
care in selection of the nerve ganglia and other vital parts.

The Asilidae are deft killers, catching their prey with their fore
legs. The victim is carried to some perch and the proboscis pressed to
the back of the prey, generally the back of the head or dorsum. The

266 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/1TX /1952

hypopharynx is extruded and the prey dies quickly and seemingly pain-
lessly. Remembering Fabre’s experiment with the scorpion, it might
be worth while trying a similar experiment with a solution of various
parts of Asilidae. Fabre found that a solution of any part of the scor-
pion proved fatal and death was not due to a special poison secreted
by a particular sac or gland. In the case of the Asilidae we know that
labial glands are present, but no one as far as I know has examined the
action of the secretion, except by inference from the results of the
action of the hypopharynx.

The probosces of the various species vary in length, size, and shapes
of the parts. Of the species found in Britain, Leptogaster has the
weakest and Asilus crabroniformis the strongest proboscis. The barbs
on the hypopharynx of Leptogaster are long and few, whilst on the
hypopharynx of Asilus, which is actually and proportionately longer,
the barbs are short and numerous, stretching for a long distance back-
wards from near the tip. Another case of adaptation.

The saliva dissolves the interior of the prey and the solution is
pumped into the Asilid’s oesophagus by a simple pump action. The
enlarged funnel at the root of the proboscis is opened by retracting
muscles drawing in the solution. A sac further along the alimentary
canal is opened and the entrant funnel is squeezed, forcing the food or
should we say drink along the tube. With the funnel closed, the sac is
next squeezed and away goes the fluid along the alimentary canal.

(To be continued.)

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902)

PartiaAL SECOND Broop oF DICRANURA FURCULA IN Brirarn.—Last
June I found a larva of Dicranura furcula on a sallow growing in one
of our hedges. About the second week of July it formed a cocoon,
which seems to me to be constructed in an unusual position, and is made
so as to resemble a sallow gall. From it a male emerged yesterday even-
ing, August 14th. I think this is worth noting, as I see in The Lepi-
doptera of the British Islands that Mr. Barrett mentions that a solitary
instance of a second emergence in the year, in this country, was ob-
served by the Hon. F. Thellusson, in 1893.—J. F. Brrp.

SWARMING OF HEPIALUS LUPULINUS.—On the evening of July 11th,
in my garden at Hale End, Walthamstow, I noticed a number of Hepia-
lus lupulinus flying round a vegetable-marrow plant. They were all
males, and evidently assembling, but on a careful search for the @ I
failed to discover her. Their attention was chiefly devoted to the top-
most leaf, which had been caught by the frost two nights before, and
was discoloured and drooping, though the stalk was rigid. There must
have been 30 or 40 H. lupulinus flying round and swarming over this
leaf, in a very excited state, with upward-curved abdomina. I cut off
the leaf and examined it. It had a faint hay-like odour, and there
was nothing to be seen on it. J stuck it in the ground some distance
away from the marrow plant, and the H. lupulinus at once swarmed
round it again, having left the plant, and I boxed eleven of them at
three attempts. Towards the end of the time of flight I moved it again

CURRENT LITERATURE. 267

to the other end of the garden. There were no A. lupulinus in sight
here, but in two minutes there were a dozen or more round the leaf.
This case seems to show plainly that, with these species at any rate,
the attraction 1s exercised through the sense of smell, and not by any
mysterious ‘ 6th sense’ unknown to man.—R. W. Rossins.

Current Literature

Dim SCHMETTERLINGE MiITTELEUROPAS by Dr. W. Forster and Prof.
Dr. Th. A. Wohlfahrt. Franckh’sche Verlagshandlung Stuttgart.—
The author says in the preface that there has been no book on the
Lepidoptera of Middle Europe published during the last forty years and
that many discoveries and changes in nomenclature are incorporated in
the new work. It will be issued in five volumes dealing with all middle
European species and including a short account of the egg, larva, and
pupa, and will be illustrated by coloured plates.

Vol. 1 will deal with development, ecology, parasites and diseases,
genetics, systematics and nomenclature, and geographical range (256
pp.). Vol. 2. Butterflies (128 pp., 27 pl.). Vols 1 and 2 will be com-
pleted in 1952 and 1953 at a cost of DM. 76. Vol. 3. Hawkmoths and
Bombyces in the wide sense (260 pp. 30 pl.) will be completed in 1954.
Vol. 4. Noctuidae (400 pp. 30 pl.) will be completed in 1956. Vol. 5.
Geometridae (320 pp., 30 pl.) will be completed in 1958.

We have received for review parts of vol. 1 and 2. One section is
devoted to methods of collecting and apparatus, most of it quite ortho-
dox. The value of U-V light is recognized, but there is no description
of a modern light trap. For beating larvae a modified umbrella is
recommended, and it is remarkable that this antiquated implement has
not been superseded by the convenient and efficient Bignell’s beating
tray.

Vol. 2 begins with Papilionidae followed by the Pieridae and Satyri-
dae, and text figures of the neuration of each genus are given. The
scope of the work is much more limited than that of Spuler and Berge
and it will be correspondingly less useful to lepidopterists in this
country, though there is no doubt that it will be of value to those in-
terested in the palaearctic fauna. Only those species and subspecies
found in central Kurope are mentioned and only one or: two aberrations
such as Colias croceus ab. helice Hiibner. It is a pity there is no map
showing the limits of the area included by the authors under Mittel-
europas. Papilio machaon ssp. bigeneratus is still called gorganus and
the new Colias is called australis Verity instead of calida. Pieris
bryoniae O. is regarded as a species distinct from napi, which is the
view of many lepidopterists, but by no means all. It will be interesting
to ‘see what generic names the authors use for the fritillaries.

The coloured plates are adequate, but do not reach the high standard
claimed by the authors. The real test of their value will come when the
volume on the Noctuidae is published.

Genetics, PALEONTOLOGY, AND EvvotuTIon. Princeton, N.J. 1949.
Edited by G. L. Jepsen, Ernst Mayr, and G. G. Simpson.—In this book,
which is not accessible: to. many of our readers, there are two notes by
E. B. Ford on pages 310, 311.

268 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/1TX / 1952

1. Ectropis crepuscularia Hiibner ab. nigra Thierry-Mieg. E. B.
Ford bred from a Berkshire female 73 F1 and 164 F2 specimens and
found that ab. nigra behaved as a complete recessive to normal crepus-
cularia. When he crossed ab. nigra with a normal Irish crepuscularia
the F1 generation was darker than either normal Berkshire or Irish
crepuscularia and the F2 generation varied from moths indistinguish-
able from normal homozygous crepuscularia to darker ones, some nearly
as dark as nigra, but easily separable from that form. Ford accepts
Donovan’s statement that bistortata does not occur in Ireland, but
Huggins and I have seen this species from southern Ireland, and one
wonders whether Ford’s intermediate specimens were hybrids.

2. Coenonympha tullia Muller. E. B. Ford crossed males from
Merioneth with females from Scotland and obtained three broods; the
first consisted of 25 normal males, 15 normal females and 4 female inter-
sexes, the second 8 normal males, 9 normal females and 1 female inter-
sex, and the third 12 normal males and 7 normal females. In all there
were 45 males, 31 females and 5 female intersexes. The intersexes had
patches of the darker coloration of the male on the pale wings of the
female, the prothoracic legs were intermediate in structure between
those of normal males and females, and the internal and external geni-
talia were imperfectly developed, but female in character. Only one
successful pairing was obtained between a Scottish male and a Merioneth
female, but the larvae were not reared. This shows that tullia from
the opposite ends of a long cline differ in sex valency, and the inter-
sexes are comparable with some of those obtained by Goldschmidt by
crossing different races of Lymantiia dispar.

Cappis, by Norman E. Hickin. (No. 5 of the Field Study Books,
edited by Dr. E. A. R. Ennion.) 8% x 63 ins. 4 Plates in colour, 47
Figures in the text; pp. x + 50. Methuen, 1952. Price, 9s 6d.

In writing this most readable account of the Trichoptera, profusely
illustrated with excellent drawings from his scientific papers, the
Author has successfully fulfilled the purpose of the Field Study Books
—the bridging of the gap between the textbook and the superficial
account.

Chapters are devoted to the larval, pupal and imaginal stages (with
a note on the single parasitic Hymenopteron), also one on collecting,
rearing and preservation. The final chapter is a short guide to further
research on the biology of Caddis—‘‘ only some thirty-five immature
stages of the (189) British species have so far been described... ”’

Identification keys to the Families of the adult flies, the larvae (both
by their body-structure and by their cases, tunnels or nests), and the
pupae, are accompanied by numerous drawings of the various types of
the structures used in identification.

The end-papers are in the form of a laboratory notebook in which
the drawings depict all the scientific terms used in the text.

There are two Appendices, the first containing a short hipliee gia,
on the adult and immature stages of Caddis flies and the second a list
of the British species.

The amount of information contained in this well-produced little
book is out of all proportion to its small cost, and it will form a valu-
able introduction to the study of this interesting Order of Insects.

pies: Fees Cee

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269

New Varieties of,,British| Lepidoptera
By nen RIDER SON M.A.
7 po

Gn the advice of Dr. Cockayne I venture with some diffidence to list
and name some new varieties. With two exceptions, as specified, the
types are all in my collection.

Boarmia roboraria Schiffermuller ab. illustris ab. nov. (Fig. 1).

All markings strongly pronounced. MHindwings strikingly banded
by a broadening of the antemedian and postmedian lines.

Type 3: Newent, Glos., 3.vi.46, A.R.

Cleora cinctaria Schiffermuller ssp. bowesi ssp. nov. (Figs. 2, 7).

This race has a silvery white ground and blackish grey markings,
with the addition of a few brown scales in the male. It differs from the
English and Irish forms by the almost complete absence of brown in the
ground and markings. The moths sit about on rocks, posts and tree-
trunks on Scottish moorlands and were discovered in Perthshire in April
1938 by the late Pulot Officer A. J. L. Bowes and J. O. T. Howard,
though Barrett mentions as doubtful an old record from Dalmally,
Argyllshire. It has since been found in Inverness-shire.

Type ¢: Struan, Perthshire, 20.iv.43, A.R.

Allotype 9: Struan, Perthshire, 20.iv.45, A.R.

Paratype dQ: Struan, Perthshire, iv.46, E. A. Cockayne.
Cockayne coll.

Cleora cinctaria Schiffermuller ab. berylaria ab. nov. (Fig. 3).

Ground colour uniform pinkish-grey. Two cross lines and subter-
minal blotches clearly defined but reduced to a minimum, giving a
sharply etched effect.

Type ¢: Struan, Perthshire, 19.iv.46, Mrs. A. Richardson.

Phigalia pedaria Fabricius ab. fasciaria ab. nov. (Fig. 6).
The space between the second and third lines on forewings is filled

in to form a broad median band.
Type do: Forest of Dean, Glos., 4.11.39, A.R.

Anaitis plagiata Linnaeus ssp. scotica ssp. nov. (Fig. 18).

This Scottish race, widely distributed in the Highlands, differs
markedly from southern specimens by its blue-grey colouring. It varies
within the usual limits.

Type 3: Dalwhinnie, Inverness., viii.46, A.R.

Erannis defoliaria Clerck ab. praeciara ab. nov. (Fig. 4).

Ground colour of forewings bright orange-brown. Upper third of
dark subterminal] band obsolete.
Type ¢: Stroud dt., Glos., xii.47, A.R.

| Eulype subhastata Nolcken ab. diluta ab. nov.

Forewings: terminal quarter, thin parallel dark markings along
nervures, apical blotch and subapical band lightly defined; basal area

270 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 157 X1952
3

marked by blackish clouding extending outwards along the costal and
subcostal veins-and the inner margin. Hindwings: parallel dark mark-
ings along nervures in terminal third, blackish clouding in basal third.
Thinly scaled. .

Type 2: Bred, Dalwhinnie, Inverness., iv.49, A.R. It is figured
in Proc. S. London Ent. and N.H. Soc., 1949-50, Pl. iii, fig. D.

Semiothisa liturata Clerck ab. unicolorata ab. nov. (Fig. 15).

Orange markings completely absent, replaced by normal ground
colour. Subapical blotch strongly defined.

Type 6: Newent, Glos., 1.vii.46, A.R.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.

Fig. 1. Boarmia roboraria ab. illustris. ¢. Type.
Fig. 2. Cleora cinctaria ssp. bowesi. ¢. Type.
Fig. 3. Cleora cinctaria ab. berylaria. ¢g. Type.
Fig. 4. Erannis defoliaria ab. praeclara. ¢. Type.
Fig. 5. Ortholitha umobrifera ab. costijuncta. Q. Type.
Fig. 6. Phigalia pedaria ab. fasciaria. ¢g. Type.
Fig. 7. Cleora cinctaria ssp. bowesi. 9. Allotype.
Fig. 8. Dysstroma citrata ab. obsolescens. ¢. Type.
9.

s Gymnoscelis pumilata ab. obsolescens. Q. Type.

Fig. 10. Eupithecia linariata ab. praerupia. Q. Allotype.
Fig. 114. Orthonama lignata ab. fasciata.. ¢. Type.

Fig. 12. Sarrothripus revayana ab. aurana. ¢. Type.

Fig. 13. Dianthoecia capsophila ab. obsolescens. Q. Type.
Fig. 14. Hydriomena furcata ab. exquisita. Q. Type.

Fig. 15. Semiothisa liturata ab. unicoloruta. ¢. Type.

Fig. 16. Chesias rufata ssp. scolica. Q. Type.

Fig. 17. Drepana lacertinaria ab. conjuncta. Q. Type.

Fig. 18. Anaitis plagiata ssp. scotica. ¢. Type.

Fig. 19. Hydraecia paludis ab. obsoleta. Q. Type.

Fig. 20. Hydraecia micacea ab. aurantia. ¢. Type.

Fig. 21. Orthosia populeti ab. plumbea. ©. ‘Type.

Fig. 22. Amathes alpicola ab. suffusa. Q. Type.

Fig. 23. Euxoa tritici ab. fasciata. ¢. Type.

Fig. 24. Achlya flavicornis ab. haverkampfi. <.

Fig. %. Bena fagana ssp. britannica ab. argyrozona. Q. Type.
Fig. 26. Bena fagana ssp. britannica ab. bilinea. Q. Allotype.

Ortholitha umbrifera Prout ab. costijuncta ab. nov. (Fig. 5).

Basal and antemedian lines combining in the costal half of the fore-
wings to form a thick cloudy line in which short pale lines can be seen
along the costal nervures: interval almost normal at the inner margin.

Type 9: Newent, Glos., bred x1:.46, A.R.

Hydriomena furcata Thunberg ab. exquisita ab. nov. (Fig. 14).

Forewings crossed by four thick light greenish-brown lines situated
in terminal, postmedian, submedian and subbasal areas. The. two
median lines are joined by a short bar at the inner margin but are
wide apart at the costa, just before which they are angulated. The
space between them is coloured pale greenish-yellow, in which a darker
discal mark is visible. The subterminal area and the space between
subbasal and submedian lines are greenish-white. The basal area is
greenish-yellow, darkened by indistinct basal markings.

Type 2: Rannoch, Perthshire, 8.vi1i.38, A.R.

octet

Left: IL to 8.

~ Middle: 9 to 17.

Right:

PLATE XI.

18 to 26.

NEW VARIETIES OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 271

Chesias rufata Fabricius ssp. scotica ssp. nov. (Fig. 16).

In this Scottish race the ground colour is of a deeper bluish-grey
than in the southern form.

Type 9: Aviemore, Inverness., bred vi.47, A.R.

Dysstroma citrata Linnaeus ab. obsolescens ab. nov. (Fig. 8).

The dark markings in the apical area and the subterminal line of
white dots remain but the rest of the forewing is coloured pink, in which
can be seen a faint dark subbasal cross line, dark markings along the
nervures, black discal marks and a paler patch between discal and
apical areas. The left forewing has a black bar -4” long running parallel
with the costa above the discal mark.

Type ¢: Aviemore, Inverness., viii.43, A.R.

Eupithecia linariata Schiffermuller ab. praerupta ab. nov. (Fig. 10).

The black central band on forewings is broken up into a short curved
bar and two minute dots.

Type 3: Boscastle, Cornwall, bred vii.47, A.R.

Allotype @: same oe

Gymnoscelis pumilata Hiibner ab. obsolescens ab. nov. (Fig. 9).
The basal two-thirds of all four wings almost devoid of markings.
Postmedian band and terminal markings strongly pronounced. Ground

colour rather darker than normal.
Type 2: Stroud dt., Glos., vii.49, A.R.

Orthonama lignata Hiibner ab. fasciata ab. nov. (Fig. 11).

Antemedian and postmedian lines strongly pronounced, the latter
curved inwards as it meets the costa. The intervening area darkened
in colour to form a pronounced band across the wing.

Type ¢: Witherslack, Westmorland, 6.viii.38, A.R.

Bena fagana Fabricius ssp. britannica Warren ab. bilinea ab. nov.
(Fig. 26). ;
The forewings are crossed by two sharply defined antemedian and
postmedian lines only, of which the first does not quite reach the costa.
Ground colour smooth green without clouding. It is noteworthy that
both type and allotype specimens were taken unusually late in the year.
Type 3: Bentley Wood, Suffolk, 14.viii.97, C. R. N. Burrows.
(Burrows coll.) B.M., 1949, 586. ee
Allotype ©: Ham Street, Kent, 8.1x.49, A.R.

Bena fagana Fabricius ssp. britannica Warren ab. argyrozona ab. nov.
(Fig. 25).

Forewings crossed by a broad silvery-white band in which traces of
green are visible at the upper and lower ends. This band is formed by
a fusion of the first and second white cross lines which are otherwise
absent. The third line is present and is especially pronounced at its
‘upper end.

Type 9: Forest of Dean, Glos., v1.32, A.R.

272 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/28) W952

Dianthoecia capsophila Duponchel ab. obsolescens ab. nov. (Fig. 13).
Forewings uniform greyish-black, in which pale reniform and orbicu-
lar stigmata and a pale terminal line are faintly visible.
Type 9: Kinsale, Cork, bred 18.vi.38, A.R.

Orthosia populeti Fabricius ab. plumbea ab. nov. (Fig. 21).

Forewings uniform leaden grey-brown in which the paler orbicular
stigma and subterminal lines are barely distinguishable. Usual dots
just inside subterminal lines almost invisible. Hindwings pale grey-
brown. .

Type 9: Aviemore, Inverness., 7.iv.36, A.R.

Orthosia incerta Hufnagel ab. plumbea ab. nov.

Forewings uniform leaden grey-brown, in which the paler reniform
and orbicular stigmata and the subterminal line are barely distinguish-
able. An extremely faint reddish clouding can also be seen in the
median and subterminal areas. Otherwise this specimen closely
resembles the preceding one (VU. populeti) except in shape which is more
typical of O. incerta.

Type ¢: Stroud dt., Glos., 21.11.49, A.R.

Hydraecia paludis Tutt ab. obsoleta ab. nov. (Fig. 19).

Forewings of a deep brownish colour as in var. brunnea Tutt but the
orbicular is absent and the reniform markedly restricted and of the
same colour as the rest of the wing.

Type @: Stroud dt., Glos., 27.viui.49, A.R.

Hydraecia micacea Esper ab. aurantia ab. nov. (Fig. 20).
Forewings bright orange-red, markings normal.
Type ¢: Forres, Moray, 19.viii.38, A.R.

Amathes alpicola Zetterstedt ssp. alpina Stephens ab. suffusa ab. nov.
(Fig. 22).

Forewings, hindwings, thorax and abdomen all coloured blackish-
brown through which the usual markings are faintly visible on the fore-
wings, especially the pale antemedian and postmedian lines, a row of
marginal white dots, and a basal line extending across the costal half
of the wing. The dark colour has faded considerably since emergence.

Type 9: Aviemore, Inverness., bred vi.46, A.R.

Euzoa tritici Linnaeus ab. fasciata ab. nov. (Fig. 23).

Median areas of forewings darkened to form a pronounced band.
The darkening is especially noticeable in the very distinct submedian
and postmedian lines, in a thick line running below the pale costal
streak and containing the reniform and orbicular, and in two short
horizontal bars situated below the orbicular, the lower being the clavi-
form.

Type do: Stroud dt., Glos., vii.45, A.R.

Drepana lacertinaria Linnaeus ab. conjuncta ab. nov. (Fig. 17).

The antemedian and postmedian lines are approximated to form a
pronounced band and are joined by a short bar at the costa. Basal area
pale.

Type 2: Aviemore, Inverness., bred 111.43, A. R.

rey

ANCYLOLOMIA TENTACULELLA HUBN. IN KENT. 273

Sarrothripus revayana Scopoli ab. aurana ab. nov. (Fig. 12).

Markedly distinguishable from normal ab. fusculana Schmid, which
it otherwise resembles, by its very pronounced orange-brown colouring.
Only a faint trace of the normal purple remains, in the postdiscal area.

Type ¢: Cirencester, Glos., 4.xii.40, A.R.

Achlya flavicornis Linnaeus ab. haverkampfi Lambillion. (Fig. 24).

Dr. Cockayne has suggested that I should include in the plate a
specimen of this scarce aberration, in which the transverse lines are
obsolete. I took it at light at Newent, Glos., 12.iv.48. There is no
representative at Tring but there is a specimen, without data, in the
Hope Department at Oxford. A somewhat similar variety, having one
subterminal line only, and hindwings white except for a dark terminal
band, has been named ab. unilinea by S. Gordon Smith and is figured
in Proc. Chester Soc. Nat. Hist. Lit. and Art, 1947, plate facing p. 71,
fig. 2.

New Melanic Aberrations

Epirrhoé alternata Miiller ab. melanotica Horhammer. Ent. Z.,
1952, 62, 37. The upper side is altogether black with the exception
of a trace of the white ground colour in the median band, which is
brownish black. The under side is unicolorous black. The sex and
locality are not given. Hoérhammer took another specimen, which on
the forewing was black except a narrow white stripe on each side of
the median band; the outer part of the wing was blue-grey with a white
subterminal line; the hindwind was altogether blackish grey with a
narrow white median band showing through. In the Ent. Record,
1928, 40, 18, pl. 3, fig. 2, a specimen is described and figured with the
wings on the right side completely black and those on the left normal
except for a few black flecks near the inner margin of the forewing
and numerous black marks all over the white parts of the hindwing.
This may be a somatic mosaic with one half and parts of the other ab.
melanotica Hérhammer.

Eilema depressa Esper (Lithosia deplana Esper) ab. violagrisescens
Daniel. Nachrichtenblatt Bayerischen Entomologen, 1952, 1, 2. The
ground colour of the forewing is uniformly blackish grey with a slight
violet sheen; the base, costa, and a short streak along the inner third
of the subcostal nervure and the fringes are shining dark-brown; the
hindwing is dark grey. The under side is like the upper but duller in
tone. The head, thorax, and antennae are dark brown, the shoulder
straps blackish grey, and the abdomen dark grey. It is very like
Gnophria rubricollis but lacks the red collar. One male was taken in
mixed woodland where normal specimens are common. The area is
free from industrial contamination.

Ancylolomia tentaculella Hiibn. in Kent
By Canon T. G. Epwarps and S. WAKELY.

Among many interesting captures of Lepidoptera made while on a
short holiday at Dymchurch, Kent, this summer was a specimen of

274 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15) X/1952

the above-named moth. It was taken at light on the 5th of July last,
and the species has not been previously recorded for Britain. We were
using a Phillips blended lamp bulb suspended over a sheet in the gar-
den, and weather conditions were ideal.

Mr. S. N. A. Jacobs named it from Continental specimens in his
fine collection, and the identification was afterwards confirmed by Mr.
EK. L. Martin at the British Museum.

=

a
-

UM UL S38 Vip
Degg") kage yp

; ae; x2

According to Spuler this is a South European species, and the same
authority states that the larva is unknown. However, Mr. Martin was
able to find a reference to the larva by L. Lhomme in his Cat. des Lép.
de France et de Belgique, II, 87 (1935), a translation of which runs as
follows :—

‘“The larva lives in a tunnel about 3 or 4 centimetres long, situ-
ated vertically at the base of the stalks of various grasses, chiefly Dacty-
lis glomerata L. Sept.-June (P. Chrétien).’’

It is quite possible that the Dymchurch specimen emerged locally
and that other records may follow.

From the accompanying illustration, kindly drawn by Mr. Jacobs,
it will be seen that A. tentaculella is a striking insect, with a wing
expanse of 31 mm. It is placed at the end of the Crambidae immedi-
ately after the genus Chilo. For an English name the ‘“‘ Large Grass-
veneer ’’ might seem appropriate.

We should like to thank Mr. Jacobs for his excellent illustration
and also Mr. Martin for supplying the larval reference.

Lampides boeticus Linn. in Surrey
By L. H. 8. CHevaxier.

At mid-day on 6th July 1952, in bright sunshine, a female Lampides
boeticus L. was captured while flying about a clump of Everlasting Pea
(Lathyrus latifolius) outside the Post Office at Ranmore Common, near
Dorking, Surrey. Ranmore Common is 600 feet above sea-level. The
insect was worn and discoloured, one wing being badly damaged, and
I did not immediately recognise it as a female L. boeticus. ~The sex
was established by Mr. Laurence Christie and on 12th July he accom-
panied me to Dorking to examine the food plant for eggs.

In a two-hour search we found twenty-six, most of which had been
deposited on the outside of the calyx, though several were on spray

v=

LAMPIDES BOETICUS LINN. IN SUEERY. 275

stems and on the lip of the flower. In practically every case the eggs
were on different sprays and those selected bore flowers likely to come
into bloom about the time the larvae would be due to emerge.

We removed all sprays on which there were eggs and, as I had to be
away from home for the following week, Christie took charge of 21
egos and I retained 5 only. I left the sprays in my wife’s care to be
kept in water until I returned.

On 2ist July I examined the flower heads, which were then begin-
ning to drop, and found larvae inside the calyces of five of them. I
could detect no evidence as to whether entry had been effected by boring
through from the outside of the calyx or crawling between the lips of
the flower. As nearly all the flowers were dead and I had been unable
to locate any Everlasting Pea near home, I had no choice but no ex-
periment with other food plants.

On 22nd July I placed each of the flower heads containing ae larvae
inside a bladder-senna pod ((olutea sp.). The pods were then put in
separate boxes with a double layer of nylon covering. After a day
or so the larvae crawled into the pods from which they presumably de-
rived some nourishment though the peas inside the Dads seemed to be
left untouched.

On 23rd July I tried freshly picked sweet pea ars (Lathyrus odo-
ratus) broken in half and inserted in the senna pods. They created
some interest but progress at this stage was very slow. Runner beans
(Phaseolus multiflorus) and garden peas (Pisum sativum) were ignored.

I was unlucky in losing two larvae about this time. One was almost
certainly eaten by an insect (species unidentified) that I failed to ob-
serve on a sweet pea flower introduced into one of the boxes. The
other was apparently the victim of the cannibalistic propensities of one
of its companions with which it was inadvertently boxed. ;

On 24th July I made another attempt to interest the three remain-
ing larvae in garden peas. They showed no inclination to bore through
the pods but made inroads into soft peas placed inside the senna pods.
The latter had been replaced by fresh ones every other day.

From 25th to 30th July progress was much more rapid and the in-
sides of garden peas were chewed up with great avidity. The larvae
were generally content to remain in the senna pods and spun threads
across the entrances. Occasionally they emerged to explore peas and
pea pods in the boxes.

By the morning of 30th July the larvae appeared to be fully fed and
had assumed a russet colour. To encourage pupation I placed some
dried sweet pea leaves in the boxes.

During the evening of 30th July I found there had been a concerted
escape, presumably planned by telepathy! All three larvae had eaten
through the nylon covering of their separate boxes and vanished. They
were retrieved after a lengthy search, one from between a double thick-
ness of cardboard which formed the side of a’ box on an old gateleg
table where they were kept. The other two had cunningly concealed
themselves in crevices on the underside of the table, one hidden away
‘in a small recess behind the hinge of the table leg where it was practic-

aily imvisible.

276 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/X/1952

Although they seemed about to pupate I could not risk leaving them
in these places and I put them all together in a tin with the dried sweet
pea leaves and a few garden peas. Two of them resumed eating and
exhibited restlessness for the next two days. The other one did not
look in very good shape.

On the evening of Ist August, as they showed no sign of settling
down to pupate on the sweet pea leaves or on dried senna pods, I gave
them a few withered and curled-up leaves closely resembling them in
colour. This had an immediate effect as two of the larvae promptly
disappeared inside the leaves and the other (the seedy one) took up a
position on the outside. None of them spun any kind of cocoon and the
transition period occupied about four days, the change being very
gradual. The pupae were very lightly attached to the leaves by a
single thread. Initially their ground colour was light and they were
heavily blotched with brown. They remained unchanged in appearance
until about 13th August, when they became noticeably darker about
the eyes and head.

On 18th August one of the two pupae inside the leaves became de-
tached. By this time the blue colouring of the undeveloped wings was
conspicuous and the tail end had become more or less opaque.

By the morning of 20th August the wings of one of the insects had
expanded quite considerably and the whole shape was clearly visible.
At this stage a muslin cage was inverted over the open tin and kept in
darkness during the daytime in case the insects emerged and damaged
themselves by fluttering about the cage during my absence.

On 21st August, between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., the most advanced
insect—a female—emerged under electric light. The wings expanded
and dried surprisingly quickly and the insect was fluttering round the
cage before 11.30 p.m. .

On 23rd August a male boeticus emerged in daylight between 6 p.m.
and 9 p.m. and on Sunday, 24th August, the last remaining insect came
out at about 11 a.m. This was a male from the larva that had looked
rather sickly prior to pupation. It was of normal size but badly
rubbed. Before it emerged the pupa had taken on a dried-up appear-
ance and some of the blue colouring had faded. Probably emergence
had been delayed overlong and the insect had damaged itself inside the
pupa-case.

Wing span was 36 mm. for the two females and 34 mm. for the male.
The ‘tails’ of the female were of normal length but were very inconspicu-
ous in the case of the male.

Of the 21 larvae retained by Mr. Christie, 2 died and 3 pupae dried
up. An experiment was made after the insects emerged to pair off two
males and two females but without success. Of the remaining 12 insects,
set in good condition, 7 were females and 5 males.

It is of interest to note that the first of his insects emerged on 9th
August and all of them had appeared some days before the first of
mine came out on 21st August. I attribute this to the fact that he was
able to procure a regular supply of Everlasting Pea and that the larval
stage proceeded more smoothly and more rapidly than in my case.

On 2nd August I went down to Dorking and removed the entire
clump of Everlasting Pea which, at my request, had not been tampered
with and which had then ceased flowering. There were numerous

THE NUMBER OF BROODS OF LEUCANIA PALLENS L. IN HERTFORDSHIRE. 277

spiders on the plant and on the wall behind it but no other sign of in-
sect life. The plant was spread out in a closed room at home and on
the morning of 22nd August a female LD. boeticus that had almost cer-
tainly emerged the previous day was found on the window-sill. It was
perfectly formed but very undersized, wing span being only 27 mm.
[t seems probable that premature removal of the plant deprived the
larvae of a certain amount of nourishment and it pupated before fully
grown. Had the other eggs not been taken and the food plant been
left undisturbed, the normal cycle might well have occurred under
natural conditions. The fact that no other insects emerged from the
plant after it was retrieved from Dorking may well be due to the
thorough search to which it was subjected on 12th July.

The Number of Broods of Leucania pallens L.

in Hertfordshire
By R. A. FrencH, B.Sc.

Two references have been made recently in the current volume of
The Entomologist’s Record to the apparent double-brooded life-cycle of
Leucama pallens and in an attempt to shed further light on this pro-
blem the accompanying diagram has been constructed. This shows the
distribution of the capture of LZ. pallens taken in a standard ‘‘Rotham-
sted’’ type light trap using a 150 watt clear bulb for two periods of
four years, 1933-36, and 1946-49. The trap was operating every night
from half-an-hour after sunset to half-an-hour before sunrise. In the
diagram the number of individuals taken per night is shown vertically
and the date of capture horizontally.

The trap was situated on the edge of one of the classical experi-
mental fields at Rothamsted, in what can be regarded as particularly
stable agricultural surroundings and the same position was occupied
for the whole of the eight years. All the pallens caught in this trap
were anaesthetised and killed by tetrachlorethane and there was, there-
fore, no possibility of recapture.

The year 1933 shows a number of isolated single captures occurring
spasmodically throughout June, July and early August, followed by a
large rise in the catch in late August and early September. The early
captures are too split up to be able to demonstrate a separation into
broods. In 1934, however, there is very definite evidence of two broods
with a gap between them of 30 days (22 July-21 August) during which
no captures were made. 1935 shows a similar picture with a gap of 30
days’ duration, occurring a few days later in the season (6 August-5
September). During 1936 only five individuals were captured and
hence no use can be made of this evidence. Jn 1946 only 18 indi-
viduals were captured and although two occurred in late September
indicating the existence of a second brood it would be unsafe to draw
any definite conclusions here. 1947 was rather reminiscent of the 1933
Season with a number of small, widely separated catches building up
to a large increase in numbers in early September, but with no clear
separation into broods. The following year, 1948, appears to show a
-definite separation into two broods, with a gap between them of 27 days
(25 July-21 August).

ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vol. 64.

20

10
AUGUST

Thus of the eight years, four (1934, 1935, 1948 and 1949) show de-
finite evidence in favour of two broods and there is a suggestion of a
similar state of affairs in 1946. 1933 and 1947 however do not show
this separation and for 1936 the evidence is too scanty. It would there-

fore appear that in Hertfordshire Leucania pullens is quite regularly
double brooded.

REFERENCES
Lees, Frank H. Ent. Rec., 64, No. 4: 101-104.
Hartley, Colin J. Ent. Rec., 64, No. 6: 180.
Williams, C. B. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond., 89, Part 6: 79-130.

VANESSA CARDUI LINN. AHD OTHER MIGRANTS IN MALTA IN 1925, 279

Vanessa cardui Linn. and other Migrants in

Malta in 1952

By AntHony Va.ieTtA, F.R.E.S.

I read with great interest Brigadier C. G. Lipscomb’s article
“Familiar Butterflies in North Africa, II’’, which appeared in the June
issue of this magazine (Hnt. Rec., 64: 168). What struck me most was
his mention of ‘‘a great cloud of these butterflies [Vanessa cardui |
flying northwards over the town and out to sea’’ about the middle of
March. What was witnessed here in Malta from the 27th March to the
first week in May was no doubt the continuation of this great North
African emigration of Lepidoptera. Most unusually, the temperature
in Malta rose from 50° F. on the 25th March to 70° F. on the 26th and
up to 84° F. on the 29th. The wind changed direction to S.W. by S.
and its force increased from 2 knots on the 26th March to 24 knots on
the 29th.

On the 27th March, just an hour before sunset, I saw thousands of
V. cardui at Mriehel, on the outskirts of B’kara. They were trying to
take shelter for the night in the oleander trees. It was a sight that
reminded me of the pictures we sometimes see of the American Danaus
plexippus assembling for the night on their migratory flights.

The following morning I found two Celerio livornica Esp. resting in
my garden and at dusk I counted seven more flying at clover. That
evening Cornifrons ulceratalis Lederer was seen in hundreds at light,
and later on Agrotis puta Hiib., Nycterosea obstipata Fab. and Laphyg-
ma exigua Hiib. paid visits to the lamp.

The 29th March was the hottest day so far. After lunch I went to
Wied Encita collecting. Colias crocews Fourc., with a sprinkling of
helice, was quite common. Preris brassicae L. and P. rapae L. were in
countless thousands. These ‘whites’ seemed to be more delicate and
showed less resistance to the wind than the Colias; they tried to take
shelter among the vegetation and in crevices in the rocks. Many of
them which alighted to sip moisture from the mud at the edges of ponds
were blown on to the water by the strong hot wind, and thousands of
dead bodies were floating on the surface.

On Ist April C. wlceratalis was again in great force at light, as well
as Plusia gamma L., Agrotis tpsilon Hufn., A. puta, and the Pyraustids
Nomophila noctuella Schiff. and Phlyctaenia ferrugalis Hiib. (martialis
Guen.).

On the 6th C. croceus was again in great numbers and this time it
was accompanied by Pontia daplidice L. Three Utetheisa pulchella L.
were disturbed.

On the 10th I came across Danaus chrysippus var. alcippus for the
first time, at Wied Is-Sewda.

On the 11th I again visited this valley, hoping to see more D. chry-
sippus. I found that all the thistles were smothered with V. cardui,
thousands upon thousands of them, all busy feeding at the flowers. C.
croceus was well represented but in much smaller numbers than the
cardui. During the morning I disturbed several Acontia luctuosa Schiff. ,
Heliothis nubigera H.-S. and H. peltigera Schiff., three C. livornica
and four Anaitis efformata Guen.

280 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/X/1952

On the 24th fifteen C. livornica, two Herse convolvuli L. and a Celeriv
euphorbiae L. visited the honeysuckle in my garden at dusk; more cf
these hawkmoths kept coming up to the 7th May.

Meanwhile every thistle at Mriehel and Wied Is-Sewda was harbour-
ing a number of larvae of V. cardut, but unfortunately very few reached
their final instar as an Apanteles sp. played great havoc with them.
I tried to rear a few, but over 90 per cent. were parasitized. At first
I thought that there was something wrong with my breeding-cage, but
a visit to the plants showed the same pitiful sight—small cotton-like
balls and dried skins of caterpillars everywhere!

B’kara, Malta. 24.vii.52.

Aviemore in 1952

By CiLiFrFoRD CRAUFURD.

In Ent. Rec., 63: 214, I recorded a fortnight spent at Aviemore,
Inverness-shire, from the 18th June to 2nd July in 1951. This year I
was there from the Ist to the 14th July. Except for the second day,
which was dull but dry, the weather for the first eight days was excep-
tionally warm for Scotland. The second week was not so good as a
south-west wind set in, and this brought occasional drizzle or showers
alternating with sunshine. I stayed with the Misses Brownlie at ‘‘ Alt-
na-Craig’’, an entomological home from home, where every facility is
given to make collecting easy. Mr. Brownlie not only can tell one when,
where, and how to find the pupae of Amathes alpicola but he has also
fixed a flex for the m.v. lamp in the garden.

While there I met Mr. and Mrs. Harrison from Lancaster and dur-
ing the last few days Mr. Leech from Formby. Mr. F. A. Noble of
Birmingham travelled up with me and stayed for the fortnight. He
was putting in his first fortnight collecting and setting macrolepidop-
tera and, being a beginner, everything was a desideratum. He dis-
covered the localities for Itame trunneata and Linnaea borealis, to be
mentioned presently.

From the daily notes in my diary I have divided my observations
into various categories. The generic and specific names of the macro-
lepidoptera are those given by Mr. W. H. T. Tams as printed in P. B.
M. Allan’s Larval Foodplants.

Il. BUTTERFLIES.

Coenonympha pamphilus Vanessa cardui
C. tullia Maniola jurtina
Polyommatus icarus Pieris brassicae
Aricia agestis var. artaxerxes P. rapae
Argynnis selene P. napi

A. aglaia

Only the above eleven butterflies were seen. The three Pierids were
scarce and were rarely noticed away from the cabbage patches in gardens.
C. pamphilus, P. icarus, A. selene and M. jurtina were fairly common.
A. agestis var. artaxerxes was nearly over by 4th July, whereas last year
this insect had only just emerged hy that date. C. tullia was flying on
the slopes of Craigellachie in good condition, but it can be found almost

AVIEMORE IN 1952. 281

anywhere where a fair sized area of cottongrass grows. V. cardui was
seen on the 14th July. It was rather worn but had been flying around
the spear-plume thistles. A. aglaia was flying as early as 4th July—
about a fortnight early; they were visiting the plume thistles and self-
heal in the valleys below Craigellachie. I have generally seen A. aglaia
and Hrebia aethiops emerging at nearly the same time—about 21st July;
but E. aethiops had not put in an appearance when I left Aviemore.

Il. Morus OBSERVED DURING THE DAYTIME.

Ist July Plusia interrogationis
Odezia atrata Ortholitha chenopodiata
Euphyia bilineata Hypena proboscidalis
Electrophaes corylata 8th July

Campaea margaritata

ghee : . Itame brunneata
Calostigia pectinataria

Lycophotia varia
2nd July Xanthorhoe designata
Alcis repandata

Dysstroma truncata, or aes
Pe iratix Hadena conspersa
Ortholitha mucronata 10th July
Alcis rhomboidaria Lyncometra ocellata
Xanthorhoe montanata Eurois occulta

Sof Gia Thera firmata
Ellopia fasciaria 12th July
Entephria caesiata Apamea crenata
Bupalus piniaria Perizoma blandiata
Thera cognata Cerapteryx graminis
Cabera exanthemata 13th July

6th July Epirrhoe alternata
Apatele leporina Eupithecia nanata
Triphaena pronuba Apatele psi
Orthonama lignata Hepialus fusconebulosa

7th July 14th July
Lophopteryx capucina Plusia festucae
Pheosia gnoma Apamea lithoxylea

As butterflies were scarce a good deal of time was spent in searching
the rocks and tree-trunks, and many species were found, among them
C. margaritata, C. pectinataria and A. repandata—the last-named in
some very light forms. D. truncata or D. citrata (I cannot distinguish
them) showed great variation, some with a white central band and others
with an orange central band, with many gradations between. LE. caesi-
ata was common and a good deal of variation was noticed. A. leporina,
T. pronuba and O. lignata were found on oak trunks, but the first-named
was worn as were the one or two others of this species seen. J. brun-
neata though exceedingly local flies freely in the sunshine and as many
as a dozen can be seen in the air at once. The solitary H. conspersa was
resting on a railway bridge and was much darker than those of the
south of England. I found only one F. occulta on a birch trunk: it had
newly emerged. P. blandiata was taken by Mr. Leech. I had been told
‘that it could be taken only at Kinloch Rannoch, but in addition to
finding it there I have taken it at Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey.

¢

282 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/X/ 1952

The specimens of Hepialus fusconebulosa taken by Mr. Noble on Craigel-
lachie in the evening were prettily marked and much brighter than the
southern type. He took also ab. gallicus Lederer, depicted in South,’
plate 158. One P. interrogationis was taken flying over the heather
and Mr. Leech took a newly emerged P. festucae on a rush on 14th July:
a very beautiful insect with upstanding thoracic tuft. On the 3rd July
Mr. and Mrs. Harrison kindly took Mr. Noble and me by car to Loch
Morlich, and Cairngorm was climbed to where the crowberry (Hmpetrum
nigrum) grew in abundance, and a search was made for the pupae of
Amathes alpicola. Mr. Noble and I were unlucky, but Mrs. Harrison
was more patient and some were found which produced moths before
we left Aviemore. A fortnight earlier would, however, have brought
us better luck.

The larvae of Endromis versicolora were nearly full grown and only
five were found. Two larvae of Lasiocampa quercus f. callunae were
seen on the heather one of which was hanging hmp from what I pre-
sume was a disease. One Trichiura crataegi larva was found on birch
up the Burmah road.

TI. Morus Founp on THISTLES.

7th July 9th July
Plusia bractea Plusia festucae
P. chrysitis Amathes baia
lig pulchrina f 10th July
P. wmterrogationis Graphiphora augur
llth July
8th July Leucania impura

L. pallens

Anaplectoides prasina. < ;
sd i Cucullia. umbratica

Leucania comma

Apamea furva 13th July

A. crenata Orthonama lignata
A. monoglypha Xanthorhoe designata
Amathes triangulum Triphaena pronuba

About half an hour after sunset visits were paid to the melancholy
thistles (Cnicus heterophyllus) along the Spey bank. It is a very jolly
thistle and the moths are very fond of it. It provided all five of the
above Plusia, of whick P. pulchrina. was the commonest, then bractea,
festucae (3) and wmterrogationis (2). A worn A. prasina was also taken |
but provided no eggs One or two melanic H. furva were netted, and
G. augur flew freely at the thistles. One C. wmbratica and a P. bractea
were taken off the same thistle head when feeding together. P. gamma
was not seen during the fortnight.

TV. Morus Taken at SuGar.

Ist July Ath July
Eurois occulta Polia hepatica
Triphaena pronuba Euplexia lucipara
Hyppa rectilnea Thyatira batis
Diarsia rubi Amphipyra tragopoginis
Apamea characterea Procus furuncula

Hadena contigua Amathes sexstrigata

AVIEMORE IN 1952. 283

Apatele leporina 6th July
Apamea unanimis Apamea monoglypha
Tethea duplaris
2nd July
Eumichtis adusta 7th July

Agrotis exclamationis
Rusina umbratica
Ochrepleura plecta
Amathes xanthographa
Apamea crenata

A. furva

Leucania impura
Procus strigilis 13th July
Ceramica pisi

Leucania pallens
Cerapteryx gramints
Apatele pst

Amathes c-nigrum
Leucania comma

Triphaena sobrina
5th July Diarsia brunnea
Diatarazia oleracea Anaplectoides prasina

E. occulta was one of the commonest moths at sugar, but many of
them were descaled though a large number were freshly emerged. 4H.
rectilinea, A. leporina, E. adusta, R. umbratica, H. contigua and L..
varia were few and past their best, but D. rubi and A. zanthographa
were in good condition and some nice reddish forms of the latter were
seen. The usual melanic forms of A. monoglypha and some very dark
T. pronuba were taken. On the last night one fresh 7. sobrina and one
D. brunnea were boxed. One A. prasina was also taken, but again we
failed to obtain eggs.

V. Orner INSEcTs.

On 4th July Pedicia rivosa; 13th July Machimus atricapillus and
Tabanus sudeticus.

The very large Tipula P. rivosa was found on a birch trunk, and
the robber flies were noticed on the granite boulders. One was finishing
a meal when observed. The gadfly T. swdeticus was also on a rock and
though not threatening us was taken.

VI. Pants anp Birps.

Among a great many others three interesting plants were noticed:
Gymnadenia conopsea (sweet-scented orchis), Pyrola media (intermediate
wintergreen) and Antennaria dioica (mountain everlasting). On the 5th
July at the foot of Cairngorm Mr. Noble found Linnaea borealis and on
the 7th a second patch of this plant was discovered.

On 3rd July while up the side of Cairngorm a family of red grouse
(4) would not stay near at hand long enough to have their photographs
taken, and a pack of ptarmigan (about 16) were flying on the mountain
side at about 2,500 feet. In the oak wood about a mile north of Avie-
more a woodcock sat motionless for about ten minutes at six feet from
us while Mr. Noble and I regretted he had not brought the necessary
close-up lens for his camera. It was still sitting there when we left.
There is a good number of woodcock around Aviemore. Though buzzard
and raven had been seen earlier I did not notice either of them above
Craigellachie this time.

In addition to being an excellent collecting ground for the lepidop-
terist Aviemore offers a great many delights for the general naturalist,

284 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ X/ 1952

the botanist and the ornithologist. Red deer and blue hare can be seen
and watched above Craigellachie, black and red grouse and ptarmigan
on Cairngorm, a large number of rare plants is to be found, and there
are over a dozen beautiful and interesting lochs to be visited within
walking distance (if you are a good walker). Those who would like a
really good and profitable holiday—and who would not?—should go to

Aviemore.
Field Notes

When John T. Carrington became editor of The Entomologist in
1877 he at once made a plea for more widespread field work by his
readers. ‘‘So far as I am aware,’ he wrote in January that year,
‘‘ there has not been a single Macro-Lepidopteron added to the British
fauna ’’ since The Entomologist’s Annual had ceased publication in 1874.
‘‘T very much doubt,’’ he added, ‘‘ whether such a thing has previously
happened during any like period in the present century. What is the

matter? .... I reluctantly, but nevertheless fear I must, accuse the
majority of our Lepidopterists with want of care and observation whilst
out collecting.’? He then went on to allege that ‘‘ We never go to an

unworked locality.’’

That lepidopterists to-day lack ‘‘care and observation’? we do not
believe; but there can be no doubt at all about the truth of Carrington’s
second indictment. We go to the New Forest or Ham Street or Folke-
stone or Aviemore or Rannoch or some such overworked place where we
know we shall fill our setting-boards; at new ground we look askance:
we might get nothing at all there. Even in the New Forest we stay at
Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst and ‘work’ only the districts round about
those towns. The reason for this restriction is that there are blanks in ©
our cabinet which must, and can, be filled. Time enough to explore
new places when we have amassed at least a short series of everything
our friends have taken. Also we have our wives and pa to con-
sider when we arrange our annual holiday.

And so we go on year after year. Meanwhile furcifera has become
almost mythical; sagittata and atriplicis are written off as extinct;
nobody searches the fenland fringes for strigosa and lamba; auricoma
is a ‘has-been’; and so on and so forth with every one of our ‘rarest’
species. The tiouble with some of these moths of course is the un-
seasonable time at. which they are on the wing: who is going to stop
at some small public house in a remote part of the fens or in a Glamor-
ganshire valley in late October on the chance of finding lamda or
furcifera? But have we no time for larva-hunting? Is it essential that
we take a net with us on our summer holiday?

It is very much to be doubted whether any of the species just men-
tioned is ‘extinct’. How many lepidopterists are aware that Maculinea
arion L.. occurs in the middle of Devonshire, that Hadena dysodea is by
no means extinct in one of the Home Counties, that Wiltshire is a
home of Pachetra leucophaea (sagittigera)? Who has yet explored,
entomologically, the foothills of the Black Mountains or the upper
reaches of the Torridge; who has tried the m.v. lamp on Exmoor or the
upland moors of Montgomeryshire for FE picnaptera ilicifolia; who has

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 285

worked those extensive West Country marshes where J. C. Dale took
the Gipsy Moth, where Lycaena virgaureae L. used to be taken, and
whence ‘copper butterflies’ were reported to W. F. Kirby so lately as
1899 P

Who has searched the teazel heads (‘‘in no instance did I observe
it on any other plant’’ wrote Weaver a century ago) between Yaxley
and Holme at dusk in July for Caenophila subrosea, the only place
where it ever occurred and where possibly it may still exist? We our-
selves have known species reappear after an absence of fifteen years,
and when subrosea had been reported consistently absent for ten years
no one troubled to look for it again. What a paradox it is that the
petrol engine should have so restricted our fields of activity! In the
days when one rode about the country on horseback or bicycle more
original field work of the right kind was done than has ever been done
since.

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. €. Hueerns, F.R.E.S.

Euzophera cinerosella Zell. can now be obtained by collecting the
lower portion of the stem and beginning of the root-stock of Artemisia
absinthium. If the locality be carefully chosen the beautiful Tortrix
Eucosma pupillana Clerck, the larvae of which feeds in the crown and
root-stocks of the same plant at the same time, will also be found. The
best way to obtain both is to plant two or three clumps of Artemisia
close together in the garden, and leave a space in the middle for an-
other plant. When they have been growing a year a plant can then
be dug up from a locality where both moths are found and planted in
the vacant space. In a year or so the established clumps will contain
a good number of pupillana and be riddled by cinerosella. I practised
this method about 1930, the infested plant being given me from Chat-
teris, Cambridgeshire, by the late Sir John Fryer, and had both species
established until the late war, when I totally gave up gardening and
the ensuing jungle killed all the Artemisia. I found that the best way
to get pupillana was to walk round the clumps on a warm evening and
net it as it slowly buzzed about, hut T broke off old stems in April and
placed them in a breeding-cage to get the more abundant but sluggish
artemisiella.

Adaina microdactyla Hiibn. Dead stems of hemp agrimony (Ewpa-
torium cannabinum) should be examined from October onwards. If
small holes are perceptible the stems should be collected for larvae of
microdactyla which is easy to breed if the stems are kept out of doors
till April to prevent undue dryness. JI recommend an early collection
as apart from the attacks of birds the old stems are somewhat likely
to be injured by heavy wind or rain, being rather brittle.

If Orneodes hexadactyla Tann. be required a search in its hiber-
nating quarters in October is usually successful. The presence of the
moth can be detected as a rule by odd specimens in the house, and then
- a systematic beating of the thatch or barns and summerhouses will pro-
duce plenty. Earlier it turns up in thickets in woods, buzzing out

286 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/X/1952

when disturbed. I have often taken it when collecting autumn
Peroneas.

Peronea cristana Fabr. Should the opportunity arise do not cease
working for cristana until the end of October, unless a heavy frost has
occurred to drive it into hibernation. On a warm day it may be beaten
out in its usual haunts until the beginning of November. The Gulli-
vers of Brockenhurst always averred that the rarer aberrations were
usually amongst the later emerging specimens. Whilst this seems
absurd I certainly have had good luck there in October, and Mr. Shel-
don, for whom the Gullivers collected for some years, told me they got
him some rare aberrations in the latter part of the cristana season.
At Brockenhurst also, with the later cristana, the lovely silver and
claret form of P. logiana Schiff. used to occur. Its larva fed on the
tall straggling bushes of Viburnum opulus in the thickets and it came
out of the bushes with the cristana.

Eucosma turbidana Treits. Towards the end of October the root-
crowns of the butterbur should be dug up for the larva of this insect.
The mined ones will easily be detected and, if pulled partially apart will
disclose the large white maggot-like larva within. They should be dug
up and potted with good drainage in a large-sized flower-pot. This
may be covered with muslin at the end of May or the pot may be judi-
ciously emptied when the cocoons of turbidana, which leaves the food-
plant to pupate, will be disclosed. The cocoons are about 2 inch long,
egg-shaped, and made of earth well lined with thick silk. The cocoons
when recovered may be placed in an ordinary breeding-cage but should
not get too dry.

E. turbidana is another moth that is much commoner than is usually
supposed and I should never despair of finding it where butterbur
grows. In 1929 I was out with the late Mr. W. Fassnidge near South-
ampton when we noticed a lot of butterbur. I suggested he should look
for turbidana, which I had already bred from the North of England,
and tha following year he found it there.

Practical Hints

There are always some larvae which are late in feeding up, and
these may be beaten from trees and shrubs as long as there are any
eatable leaves left. Calocasia coryli, the nut-tree tussock, is one of
these and we have beaten it from both beech and hazel quite late in the
autumn. It has a variety of foodplants, probably ‘local preferences’
though we have found it on both the above-mentioned plants in the
same locality. Its larva most often spins up among debris at the foot
of the tree or shrub, but is quite often to be found (by means of the
moss-pick illustrated in Ent. Rec., 63: 284) under moss on the trunk
or big roots.

Gently rake back from the trunk the pine-needles and soil at the
foot of Scots firs growing on the southern fringes of pinewoods. Pupae
of Hyloicus pinastri, Panolis fammea, Semiothisa liturata and Bupalus
piniaria may reward your efforts.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 287

Tf October has been a dry month it is not too late to collect webs of
Melitaea aurinia. After the winter rains set in the nests are very
difficult to find, even when one has marked the site with a stick.

Before the next issue of this magazine is published Ptilophora
plumigera will be on the wing in its chosen haunts. Probably it is much
more widely distributed than most people think. Few lepidopterists
make a practice of assiduously and consistently searching maple grow-
ing in hedges. (the south side) or as bushes on hillsides for the eggs and
larvae of this moth, and fewer still who will leave a warm fireside on a
murky November night in order to work lamp and sheet at some distant
spot, to be reached perhaps only after a tramp in the darkness along
muddy footpaths. Towards the end of the first week of November is
the normal time for its emergence and a petrol (? or m.v.) lamp on a
sheet in some likely place where maples and sycamores grow would
reveal plumigera if present.

The larvae of several of the ‘Pugs’—Eupithecia subfulvata, E.
castigata, E. jasioneata, KH. absinthiata, E. succenturiata—are available
until well on in October, succenturiata until November. Collectors in
the southern costal counties should search or beat the seed-heads of
yarrow this month for larvae of the ‘new’ Pug—E. millefoliata (see
Ent. Rec., 63: 217, 299).

Larvae of Hupithecia intricata Zell. ssp. arceuthata may still be
available (it has been taken in November). The known foodplants are
juniper (both common and J. sabina), Monterey Cypress (Cupressus
macrocarpa), and other ornamental cypresses (Zawsoniana, allumii,
etc.), perhaps also allied genera. Has occurred in various counties of
the southern half of England and is possibly more widespread than is
known at present. Extremely difficult to beat but readily found—at
least when on C, macrocarpa—with a torch at night.

Notes and Observations

ABROSTOLA TRIPARTITA HuFN. IN May.—TI notice that a correspondent
reports, at page 218, a specimen of Abrostola tripartita Hufn. at light
in Devon as early as Ist-2nd May. Here in the Hebrides I had this
species in my moth-trap on the night of 7th-8th May. On the night
of 4th-5th May I had 2 specimens of Hadena conspersa Schiff.—J. L.
CampsBeEtt, Isle of Canna, Scotland. 25.viii.52.

ConvDiITION oF Micratinc ButTteRFLigs.—I agree with what you say
(Ent. Rec., 63: 136) about freshness being no proof that an insect has
not migrated. An airborne bird or insect is part of the air-stream
itself and the air or wind cannot ruffle its feathers or scales. The
occasional Clouded Yellows I have seen in the Hebrides were nearly
all fresh looking. By the way, I saw a Satyrus semele L. take off on
a very confident flight in the direction of Skye (10 miles away) on a
fine day when I was out hauling lobster creels. This (and other
evidence) seems to show that most butterflies here inhabit a group of
islands indifferently, rather than a restricted spot.—J. L. CAMPBELL,
Tsle of Canna, Scotland. 25.viii.52.

288 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/X/1952

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN GERMANY IN 1952.—This_ species has
immigrated into Germany in considerable numbers this year and is
strikingly abundant. In April I observed a whole succession of them
passing by, obviously migrating. Meanwhile they have bred and multi-
plied considerably. I have also come across V. cardui this year in the
Alps at a height of 2,000 metres, both larvae and imagines.—Dr. Gusrar
DE Lattin, Siebeldingen tiber Landau-Pfalz. 26.vii1.52. oe

TETHEA OR ScuHirF.: Possinte Srconp Broop 1n 1952.—Two speci-
mens of T. or Schiff. were seen by me at sugar in Orelestone Woods near
Ashford, Kent, on 16th August 1952. One of these I unfortunately
missed, but the other which I took has a wing expanse slightly smaller
than is usual with this species.. The specimen is somewhat worn, but in
view of the exceptionally late date it must I think be one of a second
brood.—J. M. Cuatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham,
Kent. 28.viii.52.

CACOECIA PRONUBANA Hien. IN LonpoN.—I saw a single specimen of
this species flying in the morning sunshine by Waterloo railway station
on 25th August 1952.—J. M: CxHatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue,
West Wickham, Kent. 28.viiii52.

SEcOND Broop, oF ANTHOCARIS CARDAMINES L.—On 21st August last,
whilst sitting in my garden at Tulse Hill (which lies in the Borough of
Lambeth) my wife and I, observed a male Orange-tip. J do not think
there is any possible doubt as to the identity of the insect; but unfor-
tunately I had no. net available at the time. Barrett (Lep. Br. Is., I,
29) records that in 1886 ‘‘several specimens of a second emergence were
seen and captured in the neighbourhood of Maidenhead in the middle
of September, and one was taken in August of that year in Sussex.”’
Frohawk (Comp. Book of Brit. Butterflies, 1934, p. 316) has ‘‘Occasion-
ally specimens occur in August and even as late as September; these
probably are representatives of a second brood’’. This second brood,
however, is sufficiently uncommon to deserve recording.—Canon T. G.
Epwarps, Holy-Trinity Vicarage, Tulse Hill, London, S.W.2. 23.viii.52.

HERSE CONVOLVULI L. rx DorsEer.—A female Herse convolvuli L. in
excellent condition was brought to me for identification on 18th August
last. It was taken by‘a group of Portland schoolboys after it had been
flushed from the folds of an improvised tent. This is the first report of
this species that has come to my notice locally this year. It will be
interesting to hear if convolvuli has appeared elsewhere.—V. W. Putr-
pott, 67 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Radipole, Weymouth. 20.vi1i.52.

CoLias croceus Fourc. my Hast Herts. 1n 1952.—On 21st August a
local boy brought me a 2 ©. croceus which he had taken about half a
mile from this town. Jt was much worn; we tried to obtain eggs but it
died next day. On 25th August he obtained a male from the same field
—also rather worn. On 26th August he saw 6 males and on the 27th
obtained a fresh female. This female, after being sugar-fed, has laid
many eggs. He saw 4 do on 28th August, and on the 29th four more
in the same lucerne field. Six ¢¢ were seen on 30th August, and on
2nd September 6 ¢¢ and 2 helice. One helice was taken for eggs and

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. : 289

although sugar-fed has not yet laid. On 4th September, a dull day,
one do croceus was seen, and yesterday, 5th September, 2 more oo
were flying although tlie wind was rather cold.

In all, 30 do, 2 type 2 9, and 2 helice have occurred in the same
field. It is of course possible that the ¢ ¢ have been counted more than
once as my friend collects only a male and a female of each species and
all captured od were released when he left the field each day. The
preponderance of dd to 9Q was, however, from my own observation,
very large. The earlier specimens were somewhat worn, but the later
ones were in fresh condition. If the weather remains suitable there will
probably be a fair emergence at the beginning of October.—C. Craururp,
Denny, Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. 6.ix.52.

Cotas crocrus Fourc. IN tHE Is~tE or PuRBECK.—A specimen of
Colias croceus Foure. was observed near Warbarrow Bay on 12th August
and another one on the Downs at Swanage on 14th August. Both were
males and in fair condition. Vanessa cardui, V. atalanta and P. c-album
have been very abundant in the Swanage district.—LzEonarpD TATCHELL,
Rockleigh Cottage, Swanage, Dorset. 17.viii.52.

CucuLLIA aBsINTHIT LINN. in SoutH Yorxks.—The ‘ Wormwood
Shark,’ which recently has spread so rapidly in the Midlands, has now
put in an appearance in §S. Yorks., near Rotherham. On the 5th of
September 1952 I found an almost fully-grown larva, quite by accident,
lying on the bare earth close to a Wormwood plant. This larva was
almost dead, due, I think, to parasites, but a quick search of the patch
of Absmthium resulted in 24 larvae varying in size from half-an-inch
to almost fully grown. The larva tallies exactly with the excellent
description given by H. E. Hammond in EHntomologist’s Gazette (2:
193). Wormwood is a common plant on the slag heaps in this area.—
T. H. Forp, 275 Derbyshire Lane, Sheffield, 8. 6.ix.52.

PARARGE AEGERIA Linn. in Kent.—In connection with the spread of
the Wood Argus, Purarge aegeria Linn. in Kent, it may be of interest
to record that I saw four of these insects at West Hythe, near Lympne,
on 31st August 1952, and succeeded in capturing one. This was rather
worn, though not by any means a wreck. Two:of the others were en-
deavouring to pair.—Roy CHEESEMAN, Snowdonia, Thanington Road,
Canterbury, Kent. 4.ix.52.

MACROGLOSSUM STELLATARUM LINN. IN Cornwant. en | may be in-
terested in the following records of M. stellatarum: in the Redruth dis-
trict of Cornwall. Ist July, one seen; -13th July, ‘one; 16th July, one.
It may also be of interest to note at I took a Herse convolvuli L. at
rest on a telegraph-post to-day (5th September).—W. G. TREMEWAN,
Wheal Rose, Scorrier, Redruth, Cornwall. 5.1x.52.

Tur Supposep ‘ Torrp Broop’ or Lycarna pHiaEas L.—Mr. Castle
Russell’s note (Hnt. Rec., 64, 148) is very interesting but I think he
is misunderstanding me. In 1949 (not 1941 by the way) I said I did not
believe there were ‘‘ Fourth ”’ broods and that late examples were not
Fourth broods but extended emergences of the Third brood. TI also
stated that I thought the Third broods were generally only partial, a
proportion of them hibernating as larvae over the winter.

290 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 157) Bay Wee

Mr. Castle Russell’s experience fits in well with this idea as although
he obtained a large emergence from what was no doubt a Third brood,
that was also a partial emergence as about 7% apparently did not
emerge that autumn and presumably hibernated as larvae. But I do
not believe in Britain that we ever get four broods in one year.—P.
StviTER SmitH, 21 Melville Hall, Birmingham. 25.viii.52.

EUBLEMMA PARVA HwUsBN. IN Somerset.—A specimen of this rare
migrant was taken in my light-trap at Bickenhall, Somerset, on 9th July
last.—A. H. Turner, Forest Drive, Bickenhall, Somerset. 3.ix.52.

Micrants at TRING IN 1952.—In a m.v. lamp-trap in my garden
here 1 took a worn male Plusia ni Hiibn. on 23.v111.1952, 6 male
Laphygma exigua Hiibn. between 12 and 20.viii.1952, and 1 female on
28.viii.1952. Plusia ni is a new record for the county.—A. L. Goopson,
26 Park Road, Tring, Hertfordshire. 8.1x.52.

A GYNANDROMORPH OF BUPALUS PINIARIA L.—In June 1946 I bred
from a wild Oxshott larva a gynandromorph of Bupalus piniaria L.
The insect is in general appearance a large and well-marked 9, having
a deep chestnut-brown ground colour and large and dark fuscous apical
markings. The left antenna is female, but rather thicker than usual.
The right antenna has short pectinations on its basal half. The left
hindwing is entirely female; the other wings show male markings as
follows :—

Left forewing: a black streak from the discoidal spot to the outer
margin, widening outwards and thickened at about two-thirds of its
length; a small black streak on the subcostal, above the discoidal; a
short black streak and three small black spots near the outer margin;
the median nervure slightly thickened; a yellow streak below the cell,
extending outwards towards, but not approaching, the outer margin.

Right forewing: a heavy black streak from the cell to outer margin ;
a smaller streak on the subcostal.

Right hindwing: a narrow yellow streak from the region of the
discoidal to the outer margin.—E. S. A. Baynes, 2 Arkendale Road,
Glenageary, Co. Dublin.

Pieris NAPI L. AB. FLAVA—KANE oR W. H. Epwarps?—In an
American publication, Papilio, vol. I, dated New York, 1881, W. H.
Edwards figures three yellow napi, pl. 2, fig. 7, and pl. 3, figs. 10 and 11.
One of these, pl. 3, fig. 10, is a ¢ and may be an error, but the other
two are 99 and all have the white ground colour on the underside of
the forewing as in the sex-limited 9 form usually called ab. flava Kane.
Unfortunately in the ‘‘Description of plates’ the author only indicates
to which of his ‘‘forms’’—a word which he does not connect with colour
aberrations—these insects belong. In a ‘‘Table’’, however, on p. 98,
appear the words “‘aberr. @ flava’? and, lower in the same table,
‘“aberr. flava’’. In the body of the long and involved text Edwards
refers to yellow specimens but does not give them a name, leaving us
to associate these yellow butterflies with the aberrations ‘‘flava’’ in
the ‘‘table’’, only by inference. If this haphazard method of introduc-
ing a new name could be valid under the International Code it means
that Edwards’s use of the word flava antedates Kane by twelve years.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 291

If it was not for the ¢ on pl. 3, fig. 10, this form would seem to be the
same as Kane’s but if there is no doubt about the sex of this specimen
the two butterflies on pl. 3 appear to be of a form only known in
America. There is, however, still the 2 on pl. 2, fig. 7, which may be
of the same form as our British ‘‘flava’’. JI am indebted to Mr. C. F.
dos Passos of Mendham, N. J., for drawing my attention to this article
in Papilio.—J. ANtony THompson, Milton Lodge School, Wells, Somer-
set. 13.viii.52.

[A better heading for Mr. Antony Thompson’s note would be Pieris
nap. L. ab. flava Edwards or ab. flavescens Tutt? If flava Edwards
is accepted for the ochreous or saffron yellow form of female with the
discal area on the under side white, it is the earliest name, and aurea
Mosley, 1896, and flavescens Tutt, 1896, will become synonyms. Until
the rare coloured plate in the Naturalist’s Journal has been consulted,
it will remain doubtful whether aurea has a white discal area on the
under side or not, and so for the present I am using flavescens. Flava
Kane, 1893, is preoccupied by flava Cockerell, 1889, which is a synonym
of sulphurea Schoyen, 1885, the aberration with both surfaces yellow
all over and occurring in both sexes.

Ab. flava is only mentioned in a table under ‘‘winter form venosa
Scudder” and again under ‘‘summer form acadica’’. It is not mentioned
in the text or in the legend attached to the plates, and though the
order in the table and in the legend is the same, it can only be attached
to the figures by inference. According to the Rules, strictly interpreted,
it is a nomen nudum. Some lepidopterists may allow Edwards the
benefit of the doubt and make the inference required to render the name
valid. Even then there are strong objections to applying it to a British
aberration. The form may be a mutant peculiar to America. In the
Californian form venosa yellow females are said to occur rather com-
monly. The figure, Pl. 2, fig. 7, represents a pure yellow insect different
in colour from ab. flavescens Tutt. Pl. 3, figs. 10 and 11, represent the
male and female of ssp. acadica from Newfoundland and are both pale
citron yellow. The text makes it probable that the male should be white
and that the pale yellow colour is a mistake of the artist. If, however,
it occurs in both sexes, it cannot be the same as ab. flavescens Tutt,
and in any case yellow is unlike the yellow of that aberration. In view
of the difference in the yellow colour and the doubt about the existence
of yellow males it would be unwise for such lenient lepidopterists to
accept ab. flava Edwards as the name for any British aberration of napi
until more is known about the American yellow forms. I adhere strictly
to the Rules and regard ab. flava Edwards as a nomen nudum.—
EpIror. |

ORESSIGENA—A NOMEN NuDUM.—The following appears in ‘ The
Origin and History of the British Macrolepidoptera,’’ by Bryan P.
Beirne, Trans. Roy. ent. Soc. Lond., 1947, 98, 291:—

“ Dysstroma concinnata Stephens, whose distribution probably has
not been fully worked out, may have survived the second glacial phase
only on the glacial land to the west. and not to the south of the ice-
-fronts in England. It has been found in the Scottish Highlands, the
Hebrides, and the mountains of western Ireland. It is represented

292 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 | X/ 1952

by a distinct subspecies, vressigena, in Ireland. Take the other species,
it probably was a first glacial phase arrival.”

Oressigena is a manuscript name given by Donovan and after care-
ful enquiry I think it is safe to say that it has never been published.
Beirne uses the name, but gives no author, no reference, and no descrip-
tion, for it has been ruled that a locality does not constitute a descrip-
tion. Therefore oressigena is a nomen nudum.

I have in front of me a series of 83 specimens labelled oressigenu by
Donovan, who accepted concinnata as a species distinct from truncata
Hufnagel and regarded his Irish specimens as a ssp. of concinnata. To
my eye many of these are indistinguishable from truncata from Kng-
land and elsewhere. They are very variable and none are like concii-
nata from Arran. I do not think the single brooded truncata from the
mountains of western Ireland is a subspecies, and in my opinion ores-
sigena should remain a nomen nudum.—KH. A. Cockayne.

A Note on Empia.—It is curious how little we hear of the Hmbudae.
T have collected pretty widely in warm countries and always have my
eyes open, yet have very seldom come across them. The standard works
tell us that they are subsocial and live in silken galleries and that there
are about 140 species known, but it is difficult to find anybody who
knows anything about them systematically.

The only precise reference that I can find in the few books that I
have available is by Rimski-Korsakoff, in a Russian book on the Ani-
mal World of the U.S.S.R. He states that there are 12 species in the
Palaearctic Region, of which only two are known from the vast area
of the Soviet Union. One of these is apterous, Haploembia taurica,
endemic in the Crimea, where it is common along the coast, but I did
not find one when I was there. The other is Hmbia tartara, a winged
form common in Central Asia. He gives a figure of an apterous female
of Haploembia ramburi from the south of France and alludes to a mono-
graph of the order by my old friend H. Krauss.

On llth September 1950 I recognised my first Embia running swittly
along my leg as I was sitting in my garden in Bebek and the next day
I was surprised to see one running across the counter of a grocer’s shop
In Istanbul. On 25th August 1951 one skimmed nimbly across my news-
paper when I was reading in my garden, but he was too quick for me.
Several times in September last year I caught a glimpse of one and
once or twice they flew in the hot sunshine. Superficially they look
like earwigs when running, but are even quicker in their movements
and I did not succeed in catching one—since they always got me un-
awares—till my wife produced one out of her handbag.—Matcotm Burr.

Collecting Notes

A Note From SHEFFIELD.—Things have been a bit quiet since the
beginning of June. The weather has not been good down here, and in
spite of the very early appearances in the spring the latest are not
much earlier than those of last year, which itself was a late season. But
J did see several Enargia paleacea near York on the 24th of this month;
this seems to be quite early—W. Retp, 6 Whirlow Park Road, Sheffield.
28.vi1.52.

COLLECTING NOTES. 993

Liéut-tr'P Recorps in Somerset (continued from page 186).—
May.—Rainfall was much above the average, but sunshine about normal,
and the night temperatures fairly high.

In addition to hosts of the usual visitors a solitary Cerura hermelina
appeared on 13th, and on 17th a large take included Apatele rwmicis
(subsequently common), Anagoga pulveraria and Lobophora halterata.
Euplexia lucipara and Ceramica pisi were taken on 18th and during
next few days; both are generally uncommon in the area. Lampropteryx
suffumata, another solitary capture on 19th, and Meristis trigrammica
on 20th were early. Rusina umbratica on 21st was very early, but was
not seen again, althcugh it is usually very common. A single Hypocrita
jacobaeae was in the trap on 25th. This species was formerly abundant
in the district, but during the last few years has practically disap-
peared. [| seldom see a larva on the Ragwort. The 27th was a night
when the moths were too numerous to cope with: captures included
many Arctia villica, Phalera bucephala and Apatele leporina, several
Apatele alni, Tethea oculuris and a few each of Leucania comma,
Perizoma affinitata, P. alchemillata and Plagodis dolabraria. On the
same night a most unusual capture was Pseuvdopanthera macularia,
which must have come several miles from its birthplace.

June.—Rainfall was nearly twice the normal and the sunshine was
deficient, but temperatures were about average. I was away during
the first half of the month, and on returning only experienced two
nights when anything of interest turned up: on 22nd Sphing ligustri
came in force, in fact ‘he’ became a bit of a nuisance (no females were
seen at the trap); a solitary Deilephila porcellus, which is always un-
common here, and one Hecatera serena, my first record for Bickenhall.
Tygris mellinata, Angerona prunaria, and Pyrausta olivalis also arrived
and were afterwards frequent. On 26th numbers were again high, first
records being made of Habrosyne derasa, Craniophora ligustri, Las-
neyria flerula, Plemyra bicolorata, Nymphula nymphaeata and Noto-
celia uddmanniana. The first Agrotis ypsilon was the forerunner of what
has proved to ke an army of th’s species, equalling Triphaena pronuba
in numbers. The 26th also produced the first record of Ellopia pro-
sapiaria, a quite unsuitable spot, and he must have made a long journey.

July.—A month of very low rainfall, fairly high night temperatures
and sunshine a little below the normal. The trap produced several
species new to the district, or at least very infrequent, including
Pseudoips bicolorana, Amathes triangulum, Hecatera chenopodit,
Leucania pudorina and Zanclognatha nemoralis on 1st: Peronea bos-
cana on 4th: Eublemma varva on 9th: Ypsolophus xylostellus on 18th:
Hydraecia ophiogramma, Zenobia subtusa and Hydrelia flammeolaria
on 21st: Crambus pinellus and Evergestis pallidata on 23rd. Other
interesting arrivals were Gastropacha quercifolia, Parastichtis ypsilon,
Plusia v-aureum, Zanclognatha tarsipennalis, Phlyctaenia crocealis
and P. coronata on 1st: Miltochrista miniata, Plusia iota, Zenobia
retusa and Hemistola immaculata on 9th: Mycina asinalis on 18th, and
subsequently very common: Iymantria monacha and Zeuzera pyrina
on 19th: Lampra fimbriata (the only two this Summer), Cosmia. affinis,
Deuteronomos fuscantaria. and Euzophora pinguis on 21st: Drepana
falcataria, Selenia tetralunaris and Deuteronomos erosaria on 23rd:
Crambus selasellus on 25th: Deuteronomos alniaria on 29th: Pterostoma

294. ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Vow. 64. 15/X/1952

palpina on 30th. Both Deuteronomos fuscantaria and D. alniaria were
very early and have been abundant since. On 17th a single Amphipyra
tragopoginis entered the trap, this is the first time I have known this
species to be attracted by light (Aformo maura seems to have no use for
light-traps either. Wilema griseola was first taken on 14th and has been
by far the commonest. moth of the season—stragglers are still arriving
(early September).

August.—The first half of the month was excessively wet and cool,
but later the nights became warmer. Sunshine was about average. Not
a very exciting month, the only rarity being a single Laphygma exigua
on 16th. Other first dates were Amathes wmbrosa on 11th: Cerura fur-
cula and Catocola nupta on 13th: Hydraecia micacea on 15th: Herse
convolvult on 24th: Asphalia diluta, Trichiura crataegi, Triphaena
comes (the only one of the season), Cosymbia punctaria. and Ecliptopera
silaceata on 26th.

Other insects taken :—Co troptera: Prionycha ater, Ophonus ardosia-
cus, Oncomera femorata, Aphodius fossor (what a _ pest!), Ilybius
fuliginosus, Rhagonycha fulva (no business to be out at night), Lagria
hirta, Necrophorus humator, N. investigator, Necrodes littoralis, Melo-
lontha melolontha, Hydrophilus piceus, Pseudophonus rufipes, Coccinella
septempunctata, Dytiscus semisulcatus and Bradycellus sharpi.
Hymenoptera: Vespa crabro (far too commonly). Hermiprera: Penta-
toma rufipes. OrntHopreRsA: Pholidoptera griseoaptera and Meconema
thalassina. TRIcHOPTERA: Stenophylax permistus, S. vibex and Glypho-
taelius pellucidus.

Thanks are due to Mr. W. A. Wilson of Minehead for help in identi-
fication of some of the Coleoptera.—A. H. Turner, Bickenhall, Somerset.
3.1x.52.

COLEOPTERA

ATHOUS OAMPYLOIDES NEw. (ELATERIDAE) IN THE Hastines DIstTRIctT.
—This very local crepuscular beetle (=A. difformis Lac.—see Tottenham,
1948, Hnt. mon. Mag., 84: 99) used to be taken in some numbers in
various places near Hastings in the early part of the century. It may
perhaps be of some interest to know that the species is still to be found
in the district, for on the evening of July 9th last I took a male by
sweeping along a grassy lane at Fairlight. (The female is very seldom
seen, but can be obtained by rearing from the larva, and possibly by
night sweeping.) The recorded British Localities are concentrated on
and near the coasts of East Sussex and Kent, those outside this area
being few and scattered. On the occurrence of this insect on the north-
east fringe of London (in Herts.) see Allen, 1945, Hnt. mon. Mag..,
81: 11. The species persists into early August.—A. A. ALLEN.

APION DIFFICILE Hpst. (CURCULIONIDAE) IN SURREY AND Hants.—Of
this very local weevil (till lately known to British coleopterists under its
synonym A. kiesenwetteri Desbr.) I have seen no published record for
either of the above counties. At the beginning of August, 1947, while
Dr. A. M. Easton and I were working for Meligethes bidentatus Bris.
near Hinton Admiral, S. Hants., I swept a few examples of the Apion
from its foodplant, Genista tinctoria. On another occasion, at Effing-

DIPTERA. 995

ham, Surrey, Dr. Kaston pointed out to me a ploughed field where the
plant and the beetle had abounded, until both were exterminated by the
‘advance of civilization’. Finally, in early July of this year I swept
about ten specimens of the weevil from G. tinctoria growing at the edge
of the golf-course on the Fairlight cliffs, near Hastings; the plant was
present over a considerable area, extending well along the cliffs, but
A. difficile was only to be found in one very limited spot. It is already
on record for BE. Sussex, having occurred at Ditchling to the late Messrs.
Donisthorpe and Dollman. Chattenden, Kent (where it was first taken
in Britain in 1872 but mistaken for A. fuscirostre F.) and Sandown,
Isle of Wight (whence it was first detected as British on a specimen
taken in 1906)—see Champion, 1907, Ent. mon. Mag., 43: 52-3—com-
plete the few records of the species that have come to my notice; but
there have doubtless been others.—A. A. AttEN, The Tiled House, 638
Blackheath Park, London, S.E.3. 25.viii.52.

DEPTERA
Notes on the Asilidae (Robber Flies)

By L. PaRMENTER.
(Continued from page 266.)

Lees Usrep in HUNTING.

We have already briefly mentioned the bristles on the legs. Lepto-
gaster and Dioctria have few bristles to lend support to the claws in
the attack. The species of Laphria and Asilinae have many strong
bristles and hairs, enabling them to grip their prey more easily. Thus,
we would expect from the latter group, they are able to deal with bulkier
and highly chitinised insects. These prove to be the prey in these
cases.

VISION.

Attention must now be given to their power of vision, which one
would expect to be exceptional in a creature living by hunting. The
Asilidae are provided with two large eyes of many facets and three
small ocelli as in most of the Diptera. The function of the ocelli is not
understood. Many theories have been suggested but the most reason-
able suggest. that they are adapted for poor light without having any
power to create an image.

The compound eye is divided into two areas, one having larger
facets than the other and forming the central portion of the eye. This
area of large facets is the important part and an increase of this area,
which is found in species of Laphria, is correlated with recognition at
longer range.

Several species love to sit on leaves or on bracken in the sun and dart
at passing insects. Whilst watching them one finds that they will also
fly at floating seeds of thistles and fragments of leaves twirling by. On
close approach to these objects they will brake and weave to one side,
returning to base or another landing ground. The same action takes
place when they launch themselves at a powerful insect such as a com-
" mon wasp, unless the Asilid happens to be the courageous Asilus crab-
roniformis, which will kill a wasp and enjoy the meal provided. Thus

296 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOU. 64. 15/X/1952

one gathers that they can observe rough shapes at their longest range
of sight, but cannot identify, except at very short range of a few
inches. This is further suggested by their action in alighting on dip-
terists (as has happened to me several times). They are welcome visi-
tors incidentally, for, like the larger dragonflies, they will come and
attack the swarms of Hydrotaea irritans that circle your perspiring
prow as you stalk in the sunshine. Their darts vary in length, from
under 25 em. up to 10 yards, in Laphria gilva and Laphria flava, The
prey is always, as far as J am aware, captured from behind.

Frepine Hairs or THE SPECIES.

Leptogaster cylindrica haunts tall grass and flowers, patrolling the
rim of the tufts of grass and plants with legs held at the ready—fore
legs extended in front and hind pair hanging ready to land; abdomen
trailing parallel to the ground. It has a graceful floating flight and
takes sitting or drifting prey, swooping down on some small aphid,
Chironomid or Simuliwm. It is not a very efficient hunter, with poor
vision, almost unarmed legs, and is generally ill adapted to its task, as
compared with the more robust Asilids. It will suck its prey, hanging
by one leg and holding the victim with its other five.

Leptogaster guttiventris is uncommon and TI have not seen it make
a capture.

Isopogon brevirostris of the hills, with its thin wire-like hind tibiae
in the male, seems a weak creature. Braconids form its recorded prey.
More observation is needed to show that its near relation to Dioctria
includes a similar attraction to Hymenoptera as prey.

Lasiopogon cinctus I have only seen in action at Oxshott where T
saw it sucking a lovely blue Enallagma cyathigerum, a dragonfly several
times its own length. Others have recorded it mostly with small Diptera
as prey, although a few long flies such as Nephrotoma have been taken.

The Dioctria species somewhat resemble Hymenoptera and have been
taken in error more than once by hymenopterists when collecting. Their
prey includes Diptera but is formed chiefly of Hymenoptera, mostly
Tchneumonidae. They hunt amongst tall grass and plants, weaving
their way in out, seeking the ichneumons, which are behaving in the
same way, as they, in their turn, seek caterpillars. Of the Diptera
taken, a fair proportion is of species like Syritta pipiens, Paralleloma
albipes, Chloromyia formosa and Bibionidae: species that are somewhat
like Hymenoptera and not fast in flight. The prey is medium to small,
and not larger than the captor. Atricapilla has taken the beetle
Phalacrus coruscus; oelandica the sawflies Tenthredo ferruginea and
Tenthredopsis litterata; baumhaueri the hover fly Syrphus corollae
[S. balteatus taken by N. cyanurus and S. vitripennis by M. atricapil-
lus]. D. rufipes amongst its captures includes the sawflies:—Melisandra
cinereipes, Selandria serva, Euura atra, Tenthredopsis nassata, Ameta-
stegia glabrata and Dineura stilata. Its. Diptera prey include Musca
domestica also recorded as taken by Philonicus albiceps and Machimus
atricapillus.

Dr. Hobby was once able to study a population of D. rufipes when
he captured 88 specimens with prey between 4th and 17th June 1931
in University Parks, Oxford. Of these only in one instance had the
prey been recorded previously for this species. This shows the wealth

DIPTERA. 297

of original study still open to entomologists. Amongst his series of prey
he lists 8 females of Pycnocryptus peregrinator (an Ichneumonid) and
5 males but only one female of Dilophus femoratus. The fact that the
prey is confined almost to one sex in both cases is, I believe, due to the
flight habits of the species concerned. I have found similar instances
when observing the feeding habits of the Common Dung Fly, Scatophaga
stercoraria.

In Dilophus, as they emerge, the males rise and float, awaiting the
virgin females.

Laphria marginata. My experience with this woodland species has
been unfortunate. They fly fast and far, and the only captures I have
seen were dashed away out of my reach. The few victims on record
include beetles such as Phyllobius urgentatus and Magdalis ruficornis ;
ants; a plant. bug, and Muscidae. In Sweden, Laphria gilva has preyed
chiefly on ants and beetles. The Scottish Laphria flava’s victims in-
clude the sawfly—Melisandra morio, the beetles Coccinella septempunc-
tata and Dalopius marginatus, and among the Diptera the big Drone
fly EHristalis tenax which has also been captured by Asilus crabroniformis.

The latter, the most handsome and strongest of the British Asilidae,
has also taken the model of Eristalis tenax, namely the common hive
bee. Crabroniformis is a resident of the London area. It occurs on the
downs in Kent and Surrey. In Cornwall I have found it on the rabbit-
nibbled turf of the fixed sand dunes as well as on the hillsides. Several
people have found it to have killed other Asilids including its own
species. Besides the hive bee it has taken that handsome red _ bee
Andrena fulva, and common wasps—Vespa germamca. I have seen
more than one Chorthippus bicolor fall victim to it and other grass-
hoppers killed include C. parallelus, Myrmeleotettiz maculatus and
Omocestus viridulus. The Chalkhill Blue is abundant in the same
haunts in some localities and has occurred in the dietary. Among the
beetles caught in flight are included such powerful species as Cantharis
rustica, itself a predator, Philonthus politus, Necrophora vespillo,
Aphodius rufipes, Sermylassa halensis, evidence of its strength and
ability. Chiefly its prey consists of the bulkier diptera such as Sarco-
phaga carnaria, S. subvicina, Echinomyia fera, Mesembrina meridiana,
Sericomyia. borealis, Calliphora erythrocephala and Vollucella pellucens.
Its numbers fluctuate considerably from year to year and these fluctua-
tions might repay study. Possibly they are controlled by the effect the
weather has on the larvae, or even pupae, but it may be that the species
is subject to rhythmic increases similar to those of animals studied by
Elton.

Philonicus albiceps is a hunter of the coastal sand dunes that I have
visited in Cornwall and Norfolk. It is shy of human beings, with
apparent good vision. It rests on blown sand in the sun, near to tufts
of marram, and rises at passing flies, mostly the commoner Calliphoridae
and Muscidae that are the scavengers of the dunes; but like Asilus
crabroniformis and Neottamus cyanurus, it has fed on Tipula paludosa,
the Daddy long legs so abundant in autumn.

Dysmachus trigonus is another London Asilid. It can be found
nearer in than crabroniformis and I know it in one location on Mitcham
Common. Amongst other places we found it in Norfolk, hunting on
_the coastal dunes, in areas of planted marram, where it had cannibalis-

298 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 [ X/ 1952

tic habits. Generally, robust flies form its diet—species like Calliphora,
Sarcophaga, and Alophora hemiptera. But, besides taking the moths
Tortrix viridana and Crambus pratellus it has been found with the
wasps Pompilus plumbeus and Odynerus laevipes as prey.

Eutolmus rufibarbis I do not know. Jt has occurred in Kent, where
it was observed killing a Thereva near Farningham.

Machimus atricapillus is probably the most abundant Asilid and
occurs over a large part of the London Area. Its food is chiefly Diptera,
according to Dr. Hobby’s collected records, but Hemiptera, Coleoptera,
Hymenoptera and a few Lepidoptera have been taken, such as the Small
Heath, and, among the beetles, Aphodius contaminatus, Phyllobius
virideaeris and Phyllobius argentatus. For its killing of Stomoxys
calcitrans most of us will be pleased, for Stomoxys is a biter related to
the Tsetse fly.

In August 1941, I had the good fortune to find the species common
along a lane edging a wood in Cornwall. 41 specimens were captured
with prey, almost all dipterous. My notes (which were printed in the
Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society in September 1942)
specify 25 species of Diptera, one of Coleoptera, 4 of Hemiptera and 2
of Hymenoptera. :

Epitriptus cingulatus feeds mostly on smaller flies that those taken
by Machimus but has been known to capture Calliphora erythrocephala.

Epitriptus cowini is the latest addition to the British list and in-
cidentally is new to science. It appears to be confined to the Isle of
Man, where it brought fame to itself by capturing a moth also new to
the British List.

Neoitamus cyanurus haunts the bracken beneath the trees edging
woods about London and elsewhere. At Limpsfield in 1949 it gave a
fine display: I even had individuals alighting on my clothes, possibly
attracted by the flies we disturbed from the bracken. It has taken the
lacewing Chrysopa ventralis and one of the Coenagrion dragonflies, also
a few beetles such as Phyllobius pyri and Dalopius marginatus, and
several Lepidoptera. I have found it killing Tortrix viridana at By-
fleet, Surrey. Its dipterous prey include several families, mostly large
flies, especially Crane flies of the genera Tipula and Nephrotoma.

These brief remarks of the prey indicate the wide selection made by
the captors concerned. Many more records must be amassed before a
firm basis is obtained for the evaluation of the factors governing the
choice of prey.

Certain factors are obvious—namely that the ecological association
in which the species lives has a notable control. A list of prey alone
would indicate the different areas inhabited by Philontcus and by Neo-
itamus for instance. Another factor is the method of hunting, well
evidenced in a contrast of the methods used by Leptogaster and
Machimus.

The abundant species in the habitat generally fall victim to the
predator but, as has been shown, this may depend on flight habits.

There is definitely preferential selection based on several factors—
size, method of capture, and habitat, which suggests the family to be
admirably suited for the study of the theory of natural selection and of
mimicry.

DIPTERA. 299

The capture of so many ‘protected’ species is most important and
suggests that the distastefulness and warning coloration theories do not
apply to Asilid attacks and therefore the Asilidae fill an important
niche in the associations of insects.

Economic IMPORTANCE.

Their numbers rarely assume the size to make them of economic
importance although Lundbeck has recorded their great help in dealing
with an outbreak of bark-boring beetles in the Danish forests. A
plague of these beetles brought an apparent increase in the number of
Laphria.

CoNCLUSION.

An attempt has been made in this paper to review the knowledge
of the habits of the Astlidae known in Britain, covering all stages and
endeavouring to indicate from time to time the vast field of study that
remains. Britain has made some valuable contributions to this study
but we have much to do. JI have not come across one instance of any
breeding or even description of the immature stages by one of our
countrymen.

REFERENCES.

The appended references give the more important communications
that have appeared since this paper was written and mention the chief
books, ete., covering identification and biology of the Asilidae.

Blair, K. G 1938. Laphria gilva L. in Windsor Forest: A dipteron new to
Britain. Ent. mon. Mag., 74: 154.

Colyer, C. N., Hammond, C. O. 1951. Flies of the British Isles, 1-383. London.

Duffy, E. A. J. 1946. A Surrey record of larva of Laphria gilva (L.) (Dipt.,
Asilidae). Ent. mon. Mag., $2: 141.

Hobby, B. M. 1931. The British species of Asilidae (Diptera) and their prey.
Trans. Ent. Soc. S. Engl., 1930, 1-42.

——, 19382. A key to the British species of Asilidae (Diptera). Trans. Ent. Soc.
S. Engl., 8: 45-49.

——, 1932. A study of the prey of Dioctria rufipes DeG. (Asilidae) in an Oxford
community. Journal. An. Ecology, 1: 77-82.

——, 1946. Epitriptus cowini, a new Asilid (Dipt.) from the Isle of Man. Ent.
mon. Mag., 82: 88-91.

Laurence, B. R. 1%0. Predators and Prey. Bedfordshire Naturalist, 4 (1949).

Lundbeck, W. 1908. Diptera Danica, 2: 1-87. Copenhagen.

Melin, D. 1923. Contributions to the knowledge of the biology, metamorphosis

and distribution of the Swedish Asilids in relation to the whole family of Asilids.
Zool. Bidr. Uppsala, 8: 1-317.

Parmenter, L. 1942. The prey of a population of Machimus atricapillus Fallen
(Diptera). Proc. R. ent. Soc. London, A.17: 741-2.

——, 1946. Laphria gilva (L.) (Dipt., Asilidae) in Surrey, with a key to the
British Laphrinae. Ent. mon. Mag., 82: 304-5.

——, 1952. The pupa of Isopogon brevirostris Meigen (Diptera, Asilidae). Proc.
R. ent. Soc. Lond., A. 27: 43-4.

Verrall, G H. 1909. British Flies, 8: 614-766. London.

VoLUCELLA INANIS L. (SYRPHIDAE) Twice Founp INpoors at BLAcK-
HEATH.—One day in September, above five years ago, I was summoned
to remove a bee that had taken up residence on the ceiling of an up-
stairs bedreom of this house. The ‘bee’ turned out to be a male
Volucella inanis 1. To-day J found a second specimen (female) dead on
-a window-ledge of the top landing, with a mature larva of the Dermestid
beetle Anthrenus verbasci L. (=varius F.)—a household pest with us—

300 ENTOMOLOGIST'’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/X/ 1952
lurking suspiciously close to it. { am at a loss to explain the indoor
source of attraction to this rather scarce fly; our commoner Volucellae
seem to have no disposition to enter houses, yet the above two V. inanis
are the only examples of their species i have so far met with. It is,
I think, mostly recorded as associated with hornets in the larval state,
but I have never seen a hornet in this district and conclude that here
it breeds in wasps’ nests (like its larger ally V. zonaria Poda, recently
noted from Blackheath and neighbouring localities)—A. A. ALLEN, The
Tiled House, 63 Blackheath Park, London, §.E.8. 25.vii1.52.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902.)

LEPIDOPTERA IN PrertusHireE.—I take the opportunity of reporting
the taking of the larvae of Cirrhoedia xerampelina here, the first week
in April, at dusk, crawling up from the burnside, at the roots of old
stunted ash-trees, but only at those trees that had very prominent
flower-buds. J do not think it has been taken here by anybody for
several years till now. I have also taken several larvae of Drymonia
chaonia this week, about half fed, at oak. I find the best way to get
this larva is to stand beneath the tree and look up, and it can then he
seen resting along the midrib of the leaf, and upon the same tree that
probably you have been giving a sound thrashing; a more tenacious
larva I know not. Anticlea sinuata can now be seen ovipositing where
there is an abundance of Galium verwm, generally upon dry southern
slopes, and is often mistaken for Melanippe montanata at first sight.
Thera simulata larvae are also full-fed, I beat some from juniper last
week.—E. Rogers Busx. 30.vu.1902.

PartisL Second Broop or Currpo MINIMA IN Britarn.—On the 11th
inst. I took a fresh male Cupido minima, at rest, on the South Downs.
I believe specimens of this, the second brood, are rarely met with in
Britain.* Some of the other insects taken or observed in the same
locality on that day were Melanargia galathea (rather common), Lithosia
complana (one), and several Eremobia ochroleuca settled on the flower-
heads of knapweed.—J. F. Brrp. 15.viii.1902.

*It was common enough in Cambridgeshire in 1950.—P.B.M.A.

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THE ENTOMOCLOGIST’'S RECORD
AND JOURNAL OF VARIATION
(Founded by J. W. TUTT on 15th April 1890).
Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.
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CONTENTS
NEW VARIETIES OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. Austin Richardson ... pad Oe
NEW MELANIC ABERRATIONS 46 ae Be es os ae we eek ees

ANCYLOLOMIA TENTACULELLA HUBN. IN KENT. Canon Edwards and

S. Wakely 273
LAMPIDES BOETICUS LINN. IN SURREY. L. H. S. Chevallier ... as aig DUA
THE NUMBER OF BROODS OF LEUCANIA PALLENS LINN. IN HERT-

FORDSHIRE. 2&R. A. French f er a8 i cee Be Set ae
VANESSA CARDUI LINN. AND OTHER MIGRANTS IN MALTA IN 1952.

Anthony Valletta Se on Re ot er oo aa bh. ess eee
AVIEMORE IN 1952. Clifford Craufurd ... se nee oe ss we sek i
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. H. C. Huggins aie ee ot oe “vn. p hea
NOTES ON THE ASILIDAE. L. Parmenter _... see oa Dae a Sten 37,

ALSO

FIELD NOTES, PRACTICAL HINTS, NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, COLLECTING
NOTES, ETC.

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301

villica Linnaeus
M., F.R.C.P.

Ab. ursula Schultz. Hnt. Z., 1904, 18, 111.

This has the cream colour 25 spots along the costa and inner margin
more or less confluent. The author cites Oberthiir, Et. d’Ent., 1896, 20,
figs. 263-266, 282, and 284.
radiata Spuler. Schmett. Hur., 1906, 2, 135.
confluentissima Oberthiir. Lép. Comp., 1911, 5 (1), 136; 1912, 6, Pl. 110,

eon O- Bt. d Ent. 1896, 20, Pl. 17, figs. 275-282> 6 .

It will be noticed that Oberthiir cites some of the same figures as
Schultz. Radiata and confluentissima are synonyms of ursula. I give
figures of a male, Fig. 1, and three females, Figs. 2, 3, 4.

Ab. bruyanti Dufour. Bull. Soc. H.n. Auvergne, 1922, 1, 29, text fig.

Fig. 7 from Harwich represents a moth very like the type figured vy
Dufour, but in this spots 6 and 7, those nearest to the termen, are not
quite united. The one figured by Barrett, Pl. 73, fig. 1b, is more like
Dufour’s type.

Ab. kettlewelli ab. nov.

Both fore and hindwings are diaphanous owing to deficiency of scales,
but the remaining scales are normal in structure. On the forewing
there is a line of black scales along the costa and a large part of the
“inner margin; the discoidal mark is distinct; a line of black scales runs
along the median nervure except the part near the base and another
runs along nervure 2 to a point a little beyond the discoidal mark, and
the triangular space between is filled with black scales; the apex is black
there is a triangular black patch on the termen at nervure 4, and
another near the anal angle, and a narrow band along the termen and
the fringe are black between the first mentioned black marks. On
the hindwing there is a narrow black mark at the apex, another small
triangular one with its apex on nervure 4, and a black band from the
costa to a point just beyond nervure 5; there are a few black scales at
the discocellular nervure or none at all; the rest of the wing is orange.
Much of the dorsum of the abdomen is scaleless, but there SpNCa to be
black dots on some somites.

Type 3d: Cranleigh, vi.1948, bred by Dr. H. B. D. Kettlewell. The
parents were brother and sister, both ab. ursula (fig. 8).

Allotype 9 : Same data (Gee 10). Paratypes ¢, 2: Same data
(figs. 9, 11).

From the figures it will be seen that the shape of the black markings
left by the confluence of cream coloured spots differs considerably from
those of ab. ursula and ab. bruyanti.

Ab. confluens Oberthiir. (Fig. 5).

Ssp. confluens Romanoff was described by H. N. Romanoff, Mém.
sur les Lépidopteres, 1884, 87, Pl. 4, fig. 9, as var. confluens and de-
scribed as ‘‘alis anticis tertia et quarta confluentibus’’. The figure
‘shows confluence of the three spots nearest to the termen, 4+7+8 on the
schema of Schultz. He gives as localities Hadschiabad and Astrabad

302 ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/ XI] 1952

in North Persia and Lenkoran, and says that typical villica has not been
found in this area.

Oberthiir, Lép. Comp., 1911, 5 (1), 137, cites as an example of ab.
confluens Romanoff the aberration figured in Et. d’Ent., 1896, 20, PI.
17, fig. 283, ex Bellier coll., and says it is found in England and in the
neighbourhood of Rennes. On p. 142 under Arctia villica ssp. britan-
nica amongst other aberrations he places ab. conflwens Romanoff. His
ab. confluens, a sporadic aberration, is quite distinct from the sub-
species named by Romanoff. Under the new International Rules ct
Nomenclature ssp. britannica ab. confluens Oberthiir is the correct name
and is valid because it is of infra-subspecific rank. Oberthtir becomes
the author unless someone else used the name confluens for the aberra-
tion between 1884 and 1911. Thus we have the confusing position of a
ssp. confluens and an ab. confluens in the same species, and the doubt
about the author of the latter, which is inevitable under the new Rules.

Fig. 12 shows a modification of ab. conflwens or possibly a distinct
entity. The two large spots near the termen, 4 and 7, are confluent;
spot 7 is very large and almost square with its outer border nearly
parallel with the termen; there is only a very narrow strip of black
between it and the termen, and the fringe is black. In the great
majority of specimens of ab. confluens spot 7 is roughly triangular,
with the angle nearest the tornus often reaching the termen, in which
case the fringe is cream coloured at the point of contact. There are
only five examples of this modification in the Rothschild-Cockayne-
Kettlewell collection, the only two with data being from Lancing and
the Isle of Wight.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII.

1. Ab. ursula, ¢.
Figs. 2, 3, 4. Ab. ursula, ©. ;

>. Trans. ad ab. bruyanti, ¢:

6. Ab. confluens, ¢.
Fig. 7. Ab. bruyanti, ¢.

8. Ab. kettlewelli, ¢. Type.
Fig. 9. Ab. kettlewelli, ¢@. Paratype.
Fig. 10. Ab. kettlewelli,Q. Allotype.
Fib. 11. Ab. kettlewelli, 9. Paratype.
Fig. 12. Ab. confluens, Q (modification).

Fig.

The Genetics of Arctia villica Linnaeus ab. ursula

Schultz and ab. kettlewelli Cockayne

By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F-R.C.P.

Some years ago Dr. Bernard Kettlewell found that larvae of Arctia
villica were not uncommon at Cranleigh, feeding on foxglove in the
hedgerows, and by putting bred females in his perforated azine
assembling cages he attracted large numbers of males even in his own
garden. Amongst them was a small percentage of ab. ursula Schultz,
the form with confluence of the spots nearest to the base forming two
longitudinal streaks on the forewing. The degree of confluence: varied
considerably.

In 1944 he paired a male wrsula with well-marked confluence and a
normal female bred from a wild Cranleigh larva (brood 3/44). In 1945

PLATE XII.

THE GENETICS OF ARCTIA VILLICA LINNAEUS AB. URSULA SCHULTZ, 303

he obtained two pairings of ursula ¢ X normal © (2/3/44 and 5/3/44)
and a pairing of ursula ¢ x ursula 2°, both with slight confluence of
spots (1/3/44). No moths were bred from these three broods owing to
virus infection, which killed large numbers of his larvae in this and
in the foilowing years. A pairing was also obtained between a male
with the basal and first costal spot (1 + 2) united by a slender line of
cream-coloured scales on the right wing only and a normal female
(4/3/44), and this was handed over to Dr. H. B. Williams. In 1946
amongst those bred by Dr. Williams was a female ursula and Dr. Kettle-
well paired it with a male ursula which he had assembled to his trap
(11/46). He handed over part of 11/46 to me and kept the rest him-
self. In 1947 he paired a male ursula with well-marked confluence of
spots and a female ursula, brother and sister from brood 11/46 (2/47).
He also paired a male ursula from 11/46 with a female wardi (1/47) and
a less good mala ursula from 11/46 with another female wardi (3/47).
In 1948 he obtained two pairings between males and females from 1/47
or 3/47 (2/48 and 1/3/47). These were both heterozygous for wardt,
but there is no written evidence that either of the male parents was
ursula. Dr. Kettlewell thinks that both parents of both broods were
normal, because there is no mention of confluent spots in his note book,
but a year previously he told me that he felt sure the male parent of
2/48 was ursula. Since the parents were not kept we shall never know.

Very few female wrsula are seen in collections, and apart from those
bred in this experiment there are only three in the Rothschild-Cock-
ayne-Kettlewell collection, and as a rule females show the less extreme
degrees of confluence. There are, however, large numbers of male
ursula. Part of this discrepancy may be explained by the fact that
males are more readily disturbed by day, and those taken at lght or
by assembling are all males. On the other hand most of the villica in
collections are bred from larvae collected in the spring and if ursula
were not almost confined to the male sex one would expect to find equal
numbers of male and female wrsula in series bred from wild larvae. The
rarity of females suggests that the inheritance is not simple and Dr.
Kettlewell’s results bear this out.

Dr. Kettlewell told me some time ago that ursula was dominant and
in the interpretation of his results I have accepted this as a working
hypothesis. We have no record of the actual figures resulting from a
pairing between a well-marked male ursula and a normal female, but
Dr. Kettlewell assures me that in brood 3/44 male ursula were fewer
in number than normal males and it is quite certain that all the females
were normal. There can be no doubt that the male parent of 4/3/44
was ursula genetically, although only a thin line of scales united spots
1 and 2 on the right forewing and the left side was normal. The female
parent was normal. The result of this brood is given below.

normal ursula
—— carr NN est —"_—_ ae ee,
normal ursula normal ursula oh Q dg Q
2 1 10 3} 2 10 1 3

ey ee pe
12 +

304 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XI] 1952

‘The number of males is too small to be worthy of consideration, but
there is a great deficiency of female ursula, 10 normal : 3 ursula, in-
stead of 1 : 1 expected if ursula is dominant.

There are two broods of which both parents were ursulu and the
detailed results are given below.

Brood 11/46 2 9 normal ursula
ursula ¢ (wild) LIS AER CROMER rete Meth Ly aed? > TUN ee Oe
x normal ursula normal ursula 6 Q 3 aD
ursula @ ex 4/3/44 6 11 12 5 Gye tele 5
— —_—

18 16

Both parents were almost certainly heterozygous ursula and the expec-
tation is 1 normal : 3 wursula. Actually taking both males and females
there were 18 normal : 16 ursula, which shows a great deficiency of
ursula. Taking males only the ratio is 6 normal: 11 ursula, approxi-
mately 1 : 2. Taking females only the ratio is 12 normal : 5 ursula,
approximately 2 : 1. Thus there-is a deficiency of male ursula, but a
far greater deficiency of female ursula.

Jd y
ens ae normal ursula diaphanous
Brood 2/47 2 2 ee ay Or eet ep te) ee eet) ES
3 ursula ex 11/46 3 < Gi ie ania |. See) , Bie
x ‘a Sue ies. Sek led eee all 2 2
Q ursula ex 11/46 FS BSR wa eH
eS o= ©) SoS 10 4 : 4
a) 2) 5
3.3 ed dae

In this brood there were 8 males and 10 females, a difference that is not
significant. The expectation is 1 normal : 3 wursula. Actually there
were 4 diaphanous moths with a much greater reduction of black mark-
ings than ursula, but less reduction than ab. wnicolor or fereunacolor
Oberthiir. At first Dr. Kettlewell thought they were homozygous
ursulas but the ratio of 10 normal : 4 ursula : 4 diaphanous is very
unlike the 1 : 2 : J ratio expected. The ratio of normal and ursula
combined to diaphanous is 14 : 4 which is not far from the 3 : 1 ratio
expected if the diaphanous form is an independent recessive. Dr.
Kettlewell now agrees that this is the most probable explanation and
the fact that the parents were brother and sister supports it, and the
further fact that males and females were equal in number and very
similar in pattern lends still further support. If we omit the dia-
phanous specimens and take the males only the ratio of normal to ursula
is 3: 3. Taking the females only the ratio is 7 : 1. There is a much
greater deficiency of ursula in both sexes than in brood 11/46, but as
in that brood there is a greater deficiency of female than of male ursula.
In both broods, 11/46 and 2/47 there should have been homozygous
ursula iand a brood of 34 such as 11/46 was large enough to make it
very surprising if none appeared. There were no ursula as confluent
as some wild ones, which were in all probability heterozygotes, and in
the males the ratio of ursula to normal was 2 : 1 instead of 3: 1. In
brood 2/47 the ratio was only 1 : 1, but the numbers are too small
for much significance to be attached to them. We do not know what
homozygous ursula looks like; it may not differ from heterozygous ursula
or the homozygote may be lethal or almost lethal.

THE GENETICS OF ARCTIA VILLICA LINNAEUS AB. URSULA SCHULTZ, 305

Let us now assume that wrsula is recessive. Dr. Kettleweli was too
busy to count the percentage of ursula amongst the wild males that
came to his assembling cages at Cranleigh. At Dovercourt Mathew
bred one wrsula out of 200 larvae collected one year, but the frequency
at Cranleigh may not be the same as at Dovercourt. We do not know
the percentage of males that are genetically ursula and yet do not show
the character, so that there is no means of estimating the percentage
of heterozygotes in the general population. The female parent of brood
3/44, a normal villica bred from a wild larva, produced ursula amongst
its offspring, and may have been a heterozygote. This is the only brood
with one parent ursula and the other normal, which undoubtedly pro-
duced ursula amongst its offspring. Broods 1/47 and 3/47 were both
pairings between male ursula from 11/46 of Cranleigh origin and female
ward: with no basal confluence of spots of Dovercourt origin and were
therefore quite unrelated, and no ursula appeared in the wardi stock.
It is most unfortunate that Dr. Kettlewell has no record that either
brood produced ursula. If they had one could with some confidence
have dismissed the possibility that ursula is recessive. Broods 2/48
and 1/3/47 were from pairings between members of 1/47 or 3/47, and
there is no record that any of the parents were ursula; they may have
been normal as Dr. Kettlewell now thinks. The parents were not kept.
All the larvae from 1/3/47 and most of those of 2/48 died of disease
in the spring, but 1 ¢ wardi and 2 ¢ and 3 @ villica, all without any
confluence of spots, werg bred from 2/48. The numbers are too small
to be of any value. One cannot be sure that apparently normal villica
are genetically normal and the parents of brood 4/3/44 which I have
regarded as a male ursula and a female villica may both have been
ursula. Although no definite conclusions can be drawn from the experi-
ments, they show that ursula may be dominant and, if sn, that in the
heterozygous state it has imperfect penetrance in the male and very
poor penetrance in the female, and that it may possibly be lethal or
nearly lethal in the homozygous state. If recessive, penetrance must
be poor in the male and very poor in the female sex. Neither of these
suggestions may be correct and wrsula may not be determined by a single
gene.

The diaphanous form, which I have named ab. kettlewelli, is pro-
bably a hitherto unrecorded recessive characterized by a much greater
reduction of black markings than either ursula or bruyanti and by a
great deficiency of scales in both sexes. These were the only diaphanous
specimens in the brood and the only ones with this great reduction of
black markings and for this reason I consider that both are the effect
of one recessive gene.

Before Dr. Kettlewell began his breeding experiment nothing was
known about the genetics of ursula. We have at least learnt that the
problem is not a simple one and that it can only be solved by breeding
on a larger scale and by keeping an accurate record of all parents and
of the numbers and appearance of the males and females of every brood.

‘New VARIETIES OF British LeprpoptTEeRa’.—I much regret that by
an oversight I omitted to thank Mr. W. H. T. Tams for the photograph
of the varieties in my collection depicted in the last issue (Plate XI).—
Austin RicHarpson, Beaudesert Park, Minchinhampton. 3.x.52.

306 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ X1/1952

The problem of Lasiocampa quercus Linnaeus ab.
olivaceo-fasciata Cockerell ab. olivacea Tutt and

the melanic larva
By E. A. Cockayne, D.M., F.R.O.P.

Lasiocampa quercus ab. olivaceo-fasciata Cockerell (Entomologist,
1900, 33, 3) with a reference to Entomologist, 1889, 11, 103, and ab.
olivacea Tutt (Brit. Lep., 1902, 3, 87) are both characterized by a green
_ fascia instead of a tawny one, but I am not convinced that olivacea Tutt
is not a synonym of Cockerell’s aberration, which was founded on an
olive banded variety shown by Porritt and Varley from Huddersfield,
where all such moths are very dark. Since Cockerell only mentioned
the green band, Tutt by the strict interpretation of the rules was justi-
field in creating the name olivacea for those with the whole of the wings
suffused with greenish. In any case no sharp line can be drawn be-
tween the two aberrations and both are probably determined by the
same main gene. For the sake of brevity I am calling both of them
the melanic form in this paper, though it would be more accurate to
eall them green banded.

In the English localities, where the melanic moths are found, and
in some others there are melanic larvae, varying from dark brown to
nearly black, and their cocoons are correspondingly dark. There was
formerly a general belief that a melanic larva always produced a melanic
moth and a normal larva a normal moth, and I said this without quali-
fication in my Presidential address to the South London Entomological
and Natural History Society in 1927-1928, stating that it was the only
known case in which a gene for melanism affected both larva and imago.
In all other cases genes for melanism in larva and imago are indepen-
dent.

In this paper I intend to state the facts as far as I have been able
to ascertain them and to offer a probable explanation of them. I will
deal with the English localities first.

(1) W. V. Pearce (Entomologist, 1882, 15, 254) under the heading
‘‘ Lepidoptera near Portsmouth ’’ published a note saying: ‘‘ On the
28th July there hatched in my breeding cage a male var. Lasiocampa
quercus. The colour was deep chocolate with the usual white spot in
the centre of the forewings; the stripe across both pairs of which were
narrow and of a deep green colour, and the fringe of the underwings
is the same colour as the stripe. The larva was black, with the normal
white markings; the cocoon was also black.’’ I suspect that this moth’s
only claim to appear in the paragraph was that it was bred in Ports-
mouth and that the larva came from Lancashire or Cheshire.

(2) W. Bell (Ent. Record, 1909, 21, 45) obtained larvae on Wallasey
sandhills on 28th March 1907, five of which were very dark, almost black.
The dark larvae were kept separate from the light and pupated in June
1907, their cocoons being noticeably darker than those of the light
larvae. A male, perfectly dark olive, emerged 5th July 1908 and a
female also dark olive on 9th July. They paired at noon 9th July and
on 11th July the female laid 117 eggs. The larvae moulted three times
and then hibernated. All were very dark. Two of the larvae found
on the sandhills were parasitized and the third died. All the light

LASIOCAMPA QUERCUS LINNAEUS AB. OLIVACEO-FASCIATA COCKERELL. 307

larvae produced normal moths. Presumably the melanic larvae which
were hibernating died, because no further note was written. The fact
that all the young larvae were melanie and were the offspring of two
melanic moths, of which the larvae were also melanic, suggests that it is
recessive.

(3) C. B. Williams (Proc. S. Lond. Ent. and N.H. Soc., 1916-1917,
132) showed a pair of the dark chocolate ab. olivacea Tutt of Lasiocampa
quercus from the Cheshire coast sandhills with the dark cocoon from
which one of the above was bred and a very dark coloured larva (pre-
served) similar to those which produced the melanic forms.

(4) KE. B. Cowell (Raven Ent. and N.H. Soc. Report, 1951, 21) ex-
hibited a Lasiocampa quercus f. callunae ab. olivacea-fasciata. Ina
personal letter dated. 19.v.1952 he says the specimen was bred from a
melanic larva found at Freshfield near Formby on 16th April 1950 feed-
ing on bramble. It pupated 14th June 1950.

(5) Arnold W. Hughes (Proc. S. Lond. Ent. and N.H. Soc., 1931-1932,
47) exhibited a series of Lasiocampa quercus var. callunae. The speci-
mens were bred in recent years from Wallasey larvae. ‘‘ It was at first
thought that olive forms were produced by black larvae with very dark
brown hairs. Further investigation showed that every black larva did
not produce an olive coloured moth and on the contrary an odd typical
larva. collected by a schoolboy did produce the variety olivaceo-fasciata.
The only conclusion reached was that the larvae vary as well as the
imagines, and if black larvae are found amongst typical ones there is a
possibility or even a probability that larvae gathered from that brood
(either typical or melanic) will produce one or more varieties of the
moth. Only 37 moths were bred. Of these 6 were olive forms and 2
others might be described as intermediates. The larvae were wild. No
bred imagines were paired for experimental purposes. On one occasion
18 selected black larvae were sleeved with mosquito netting on a willow.
The cocoons and pupae were ravaged in the sleeve by a tiny parasitic
fly and not one survived.’ In a recent letter Mr. Hughes says that
only one melanic larva produced a normal moth and admits that, as
the melanic larvae were not separated from the normal ones, a mistake
may have occurred. He also says that it would be unwise to place
implicit confidence in the schoolboy’s statement that a normal larva
produced a melanic moth.

(6) Mr. Gordon Smith in July 1952 received a female ab. olivaceo-
fasciata, bred by a friend at Birkenhead, and attracted three males.
He obtained a pairing and as a result has 130 larvae all of which are
normal.

I have only one record from Wales. In 1947 Mr. S. Gordon Smith
caught one ab. olivaceo-fasciata among 636 males attracted to a female
in the Welsh Hills.

It is disappointing to have found so little published confirmation
of the belief of the local collectors that all melanic larvae produce
melanic moths. Enough, however, has been published to show that this
is usually the case. The only two exceptions fail to carry complete
conviction. In Yorkshire the melanic moth is much scarcer and I can
find no published account of one having been bred from a melanic larva.
Mr. F. Hewson of Shipley informed me that he had bred four or five
melanic moths with a white central spot, but with a darker ground than

308 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15 / XT/1952

any he had seen from other localities and he felt sure that each was
bred from a black larva, but he had made no note of this at the time.
The larvae were found over a period of years on the moors near Brad-
ford.

In Scotland Mr. Austin Richardson found a larva at Aviemore,
abnormally dark but not black; it hibernated as a larva and produced
a dark male with a green band about 1945. Mr. F. W. Byers (Raven
Ent. and Nat. Hist. Report, 1951, Pl. fig. 5) gives a figure of a green
banded male from Aviemore and in a letter to me said that the larva
that produced it was quite normal.

In Caithness Mr. Swanson of Keith Village supplied L. W. New-
man and others with cocoons, from which large numbers of green banded
moths were bred, some rather light in colour, some darker, and a small
proportion as dark as the Lancashire and Cheshire ones. His larvae
were collected in many different years, and recently he has kept cocoons
and bred melanic moths himself. He tells me that all the larvae are
normal in colour. Thus in Caithness ab. olivaceo-fasciata and ab.
olivacea exist, but there are no melanic larvae.

In Denmark and in Holland there are restricted localities, where
ab. olivaceo-fasciata. occurs, but there are no melanic larvae. Gjaldbaek
(De Danske Spindere. Skat Hoffmeyer. 1948, 101) has shown that the
aberration is probably recessive.

Frings (Soc. Ent., 1905, 20, 89, 99) obtained larvae from a dealer,
Paul Raatz of Brandenburg. They had blackish grey hairs and the
cocoons were dirty blackish. The males bred from them were blackish
violet-brown overlaid with sooty black, so that even the white spot
on the forewing was blackish. The females were similar but not so
dark. He named the form ab. paradozxa, but later in the year said
this was a synonym of olivaceo-fasciata Cockerell, a name which he had
overlooked. His specimens were darker than either Cockerell’s aber-
ration or ab. olivacea Tutt. Niepelt (Int. Ent. Z., 1911, 5, 185) said
that some six years ago he got 30 larvae from Paul Raatz from the
estuary of the Havel, Brandenburg, E. Prussia. <A third of them spun
up the same year and the rest hibernated. Without exception they
produced melanic moths. By sacrificing several pairs he bred the form
for some years and all the larvae were black, the cocoons dark greyish
brown, and the moths melanic like those bred by Frings. He gives a
long description of larva, cocoon, and moth. He says that there is a
constant local race of pure descent, native in the neighbourhood of
Brandenburg on sandy ground in the Havel estuary and not yet found
elsewhere on the Continent. He failed to cross it with normal quercus
because he could not get the moths out at the same time.

It is clear that the dealer had a pure strain of black larvae all of
which produced melanic green banded moths, but there is no account of
the proportion of black larvae in the wild population in the Havel
estuary. There is no evidence whatever that all the larvae there are
black.

These are all the facts I have been able to collect. There are at
least two possible explanations. The first is that there are two melanic
forms of the moth resembling one another in every way except that one
has a normal larva and the other a melanic larva, and their distribu-
tion is different; that in places where the melanic larva is found it

FIELD NOTES FROM ANATOLIA. 309

always produces a melanic moth and that any apparent exceptions are
due to errors of observation. Theoretically this explanation is impro-
bable because no genes are known which affect both the colour of the
larva and the perfect insect with this possible exception. Although the
records do not carry complete conviction there is no good reason for
rejecting the two exceptions published by Arnold Hughes. The recent
record from Aviemore must be accepted. If the story that a normal
larva at Formby and another at Aviemore produced the melanic form
of moth it might be due to the occasional occurrence of both the gene-
tically different forms of moth in the same locality, but this would not
explain the record of a melanic larva producing a normal moth. If
this explanation is correct it must be assumed that Hughes made a
mistake.

The following explanation seems to me to be much more probable.
Melanism in the larva may be determined by one gene, probably re-
cessive, and melanism in the moth by another gene, also probably re-
cessive, but both genes may be very closely linked. In other words
they may be situated in the same chromosome and so close together that
crossing over very rarely takes place and separates them. Indeed they
may be so close together that unless some chromosome error takes place
such as inversion, 2.e. the reversal in position of part of the chromo-
some in which one of the genes lies, their separation cannot take place.

This would explain why in certain localities melanic larvae almost
invariably produce melanic moths, but does allow for rare exceptions
to occur, either a melanic larva producing a normal moth or vice versa.
It also explains why in some places such as Caithness, Denmark, and
Holland, melanic moths occur but not melanic larvae. The mutation,
which produces the melanic larva, has not occurred there or has oc-
curred and died out.

Field Notes from Anatolia

IX. A Circular Tour
By Matcotm Burr, D.Sc., F.R.E.S.
Plate XIII.

In the summer of 1951 there occurred in Istanbul an event of great
interest to all zoologists and entomologists. It had rather a cumbrous
title, the Zoographical Symposium of the Near and Middle East, and
it lived up to its title. Its main object was to enable zoologists of
different countries, with varied experience and knowledge but common
interests, to. meet and discuss the problems that concern them all,
particularly the questions of geographical distribution that are of
special interest in Turkey, where several different faunas meet and to
a certain extent overlap. It was formed under the auspices of the
Turkish Society of Natural and Physical Sciences, and organised by a
committee of Istanbul zoologists. Thanks to material support granted
by Unesco, a remarkable programme was not only drawn up but car-
ried into execution. The moving spirit was Professor Curt Kosswig,
who has made such great contributions to our knowledge of the complex
and fascinating zoology of Turkey, in particular of Anatolia.

There was no doubt about its international character. The Turin
Museum was represented by Professor Tortonese; Irak by Dr. Alan

310 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/ XI] 1952

Mozley, a most erudite Scot; Beyrut by Mrs. Potter, an American lady
who is Professor of Zoology in the Lebanon, with her husband Dr.
Potter, a sociologist; there were no less than half a dozen Egyptian
zoologists, mostly lecturers and professors, including Dr. Gohar Bey,
who is Director of the Marine Biological Station at Ghardaga on the
Red fea, and half a dozen Israeli zoologists and entomologists: these
were cemented by our jocal Istanbul talent, led by Prof. Kosswig with
the members of his staff, not the Jeast keen among whom were the ladies,
and [I joined in as an amateur member. The only language common
to us all was English, in which the whole proceedings tock place. Owing
to the diversity of interests and outlook of the members, there was no
monotony and eyes and ears were wide awake on all sides.

The party cf us, numbering something like three dozen, started off
for a grand tour through the wilds of Anatoha in a most comfortable
motor-bus, which was paid for by Unesco. We set out, full of hope and
enthusiasm, on the morning of 29th July, the only flea in the ointment
being in the form of an overcast sky.

We stopped at intervals in attract.ve spots, but owing to the clouds
few insects were moving. In a likely-looking clearing in a forest the
only butterfly I saw was an Argynnis pandora sailing majestically down
a glade, but a keen lady, Dr. Melekmer Gktay, found an earwig that
I had been expecting but not yet recorded for Turkey, Anisolabis
annulipes Luc. Accerding to the books, it is said to be associated with
streams, but here it was in a hill forest, under a nice damp stone.
Presently I got a second one.

In a famished condition we reached Sapanja about four in the after-
noon and all hurried down to the edge of the lake to see what we could
find. This is the only place in Turkey where the frog, Bombina bombina.
and the Caspian herring are found. The Israeli ichthyologists and
herpetologists were excited, but the weather was too overcast for much
entomology. I got a few of the routine Mediterranean species, and
noticed Papilio podalirius, Colias croceus, a few Lycaenas, all rather
dingy, and one or two small dragonflies, mostly Ischnura. That night
we were put up at a Village Institute at Arifiye, but the next morning
incessant rains kept us prisoners for several hours. Our party was too
enthusiastic to waste the time, so Dr. Bytinski-Salz gave us a lecture
on the zoogeography of the Tenebrionidae of the eastern Mediterranean,
with a faunistic analysis, which took the breath away of students of
croups with restricted number of species.

The rain eased off about midday, so we started, and put in as a side
line a visit to an extraordinary bridge built by the Emperor Justinian
in the sixth century. It is an impressive affair in massive masonry,
about 8 yards wide and 1200 ft. long, solid enough to-day to carry
heavy traffic, but different from other bridges in the queer fact that
there is no road leading to it or from it and the trickle of a drain that
flows under it could be jumped by a child. Jt opens the door to fas-
cinating questions of geology and history. The rain came on again, so
it was impossible to take a photograph or do any collecting in a pro-
mising-looking spot. J must come back here some day.

The Israeli were mostly independent of weather, for whenever we
passed a brook or a pond the bus stopped, Dr. Mendelssohn, Director
of the Tel-Aviv Zoo, took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his breeches,

FIELD NOTES FROM ANATOLIA. £18!

grabbed a thing like a shrimping net, and waded out into the water,
coming back delighted with bottles full of aqueous creeping and jumping
things. He was glad to get Bombinator igneus and the crested newt,
Molge cristatus. The bird people were pleased to see the little egret,
squacco heron, a buzzard, some shrikes, and at one spot a black stork.
He is a handsome bird, but much rarer and wilder than his white
brother.

Then we began to climb into the forest-clad mountains rich in Rhodo-
dendron ponticum and a characteristic foxglove, Digitalis ferruginea,
with dirty yellow flowers, nothing like so fine a species as our familiar
friend. The rain eased off, but everything was saturated, and we had
to be contented with splendid scenery.

In the evening we came to Abant, a mountain lake surrounded by
forest, in scenery recalling the Tirol. Here is certainly a place to come
back to, where there must be interesting collecting. The bird life is
European, with bullfinches and scarlet grosbeaks. The forests consist
chiefly of fine beeches and hornbeams, and the black pine.

I was particularly keen on a day’s collecting here, as once Professor
Kosswig had brought back several females of an earwig that looked
like a new species of the genus Burriola, new to Turkey, and all the
next morning I wore myself out, with Kosswig’s son to help, turning
over. stones, amid the mist and rain, on the identical spot; but the only
insect we found was the common earwig.

The weather spoilt collecting, but one member of the party got an
Erebia: Kosswig told me we were too late for Parnassius, of which two
forms occur. The star turn of the day was a fish. I thought we were
going to have a good supper when one of the Israeli walked by carrying
half a dozen beautiful trout on a dish. But they were far too precious
to eat. They were all silver in colour, with black muzzle and no spots,
the local race, Salmo trutta labrax, a Sarmatian relic, which, thanks
to Professor Kosswig’s influence, is strictly protected.

The rain made one man happy, Prof. Haas, for the forest was swarm-
ing with enormous snails. To any but a conchologist it was a horrid
sight, hundreds, if not thousands, of immense Helix fully stretched out
all over the roads and paths, feeding on the Algae. Haas filled bags
with the crawling, slimy things, and took back ample material for study
in Jerusalem.

It was with the greatest difficulty that the great bus was able to
make its way over the sodden mountain track out on to the main road.
Once clear, we bowled along merrily enough, stopping to catch
Batrachians and water insects at every brook and pond, but no entomo-
logy, except for Professor Theodor and Dr. Wahrman of Jerusalem, who
found Diptera and Hymenoptera in considerable quantities, but obscure
forms that call for special study.

We met a single crane out for a walk, a gigantic bird, like a man
out for a stroll. Thanks to the rain and the stops, it was after two in
the morning when we bowled into Ankara.

The next day we were all pretty tired and glad of a day off for a
rest and social intercourse. Here, as one member put it, we met with
magnificent specimens of Hospitalitas turcica!

The first item on the new part of the programme was a day’s excur-
sion to Tuz Gdolii, the Great Salt Lake in the centre of the great arid

312 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64, 15/ XI] 1952

plateau of Anatolia, for long before reaching the capital we had left the
forest zone behind and were now out on the open, treeless steppe.

We stopped a short time at Mogan Golti, about 30 kms. out, a lake
which is an ornithologist’s and sportsman’s paradise: of insects there
were few, but I got the larger earwig, Labidura riparia, a cosmopolitan
and most. plast’c species, under a stone, a larval mole cricket, and a few
grasshoppers. ——

Over the steppe we saw few birds: a marsh harrier, a griffon vul-
ture, an immense fellow, splendid in the air but repulsive on the ground,
and we were delighted to see a family of great bustard; their white
primaries are very conspicuous as they open their wings.

The lake itself is shrinking rapidly and for miles around the country
consists of a salt plain with very sparse vegetation, chiefly Artemisia.
Some animals are grazing there and every cowpat was a solid mass of
dung beetles: the sun made them lively and on being disturbed they
took to the wing in swarms. Theodor told me they are Gymnopleurus
mopsus, with perhaps a second species. There were Tenebrionids scam-
pering about, which Bytinski told me were probably a species of
Tentyria.

Orthoptera were few but interesting. The common blue-winged
Oedipoda caerulescens is here replaced by his heavier, eastern brother,
Oed. schochi, and there is the salt-marsh Sphingonotus theodori Uv.,
which Professor Theodor had discovered round the Dead Sea in Pales-
tine. It is curious that a species characteristic of salt plains should
occur so widely scattered, from Sinai, Anatolia, and Iran to the frontier
of Turkmenia. Were they evolved independently in each salt area? Or
are their specific characters the physiological result of the salt? There
were but few individuals, and of other Orthoptera very few: one
Calliptamus with yellow tibiae. Theodor got a single Platycleis inter-
media, and I found a single golden-winged Uedipoda aurea, a beautiful
species. Of other insects a few Odonata like Sympetrum, a number of
Asilid flies, and a handsome Mutillid. One or two Chrysopa, but not
a sign of Lepidoptera.

On the way back, late in the evening, the fish enthusiasts were
excited, for they found what they told me was a new species, probably
a new genus, related to Acanthorutilus. A new species of fish is not an
everyday event.

Back to Ankara late that night and off early next morning for the
run across the steppe to Kayseri. After leaving the capital there is not
a tree to be seen, except where there is a rare stream, the position
of which is marked by a gallery-formation of poplars. We saw this
clearly at Kirshebir, a little country town, as the name implies, which
offers plenty of interest, but little that is entomological. Lunch there.
and off again and reached Kayseri, that ancient town, called Mansaka
before the Romans vulgarised the name to Caesarea.

We kept stopping to collect by the wayside, a few minutes each time,
wherever a brook ran under the road, and these indomitable Israeli
zoologists jumped out to catch small vertebrates and other aqueous
creatures. I was able to do a little collecting at each stop, but there
was little moving before the evening. It is strange how few Tettigonids
one sees. There is one wonderful spot, where the Kizil Irmak, the
Red River, which is red, turns abruptly from the plain to cut a gorge

PLATE XIII.

VOL. 64.

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FIELD NOTES FROM ANATOLIA. ale

through a granite wall. Here, several years previously, on a patch
of sand by the river side one April day, I had seen Cicindela, but they
were too active for my fingers. JI was anxious to know which species
it was, but this time they were over. The only plant in the little gorge
is Pegamon harmali, a salt-lover, and some lovely orange poppies,
Glaucvwm. The typical birds are the blue rock thrush, Finch’s chat, and
the rock nuthatch, Sitta newmayeri. JI felt there must be interesting
insects with that association, but found little moving: the steppe mantid
Bolivaria was there but I got nothing else. 5 ;

At kilo 205, an unattractive spot, there was more life: the explana-
tion is that it was getting on towards the evening and the Orthoptera
and other insects were coming out of their dens. One Israelite friend
got a Bradyporus, that obese, vegetarian Tettigonid that I used to find
so abundant in Macedonia, but had not yet seen in Anatolia. In 1917-18
[ wrote about them in the Ent. Record. They are entertaining
creatures and I used to keep them as pets. The most interesting was
a coal black Calliptamus that Bytinski gave me. This must have been

caught at ecdysis by a bush fire. I have seen the phenomenon in the

rich brown Huprepocnemis in Anatolia and in several species in Angola
and Northern Rhodesia, but never before in Calliptamus.

We saw mammals. The susliks, Citellus, swarm on the steppe, where
they form what Elton calls the basic industry, supplying abundant food
for the larger birds of prey, foxes and other predators. They look like
squirrels with thin tails, and are very inquisitive. They sit up on their
haunches to watch the car go by, and when it comes so near as to appear
dangerous, they pop down into their holes. And one Jerboa sped across
the road in a flash, going faster on two legs than most animals can on
four.

The only butterfly I saw was the indomitable Colias croceus. This
arid steppe seems too much even for P. cardui.

Kayseri, an impressive old town, is dominated by the great voleano,
Mt. Erciyas, the classical Argaeus. Its last eruption, in the Pliocene,
made an immense impression on the whole countryside. The road was
not good enough for our massive bus, so we hired local talent, which took
us up to 2000 m., where there is an alpine rest house, just on the
shoulder, above which the cone towers up almost another 2000 m. Here
the air was keen, although it was the beginning of August, and for
insects one had to work hard. Under stones I found plenty. of Anechura
bipunctata. This was interesting, as this alpine earwig occurs at high
altitudes from the Pyrenees to Kashmir, affording what Huxley terms
a cline, a gradual passage from one extreme form to another. Here no
doubt we were at the southern edge of its distribution, but I was sur-

_ prised that it was the normal European form. We were in the Taurus

range, where other European creatures occur also near the boundary of
their distribution, such as the red deer and brown bear. No doubt we
should find the same thing with the insects. Theodor caught vast quan-
tities of tiny Diptera by sweeping the grass and rushes by the side
of a brook. He astonished me by his technique. He simply stuffed
clusters of them in a big tube, to study at home. He told me that they
held together in a tangled mass without breaking and could be relaxed
and examined at comfort. He said there were probably a good deal
more than a dozen species among them,

314 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, voL. 64, 15/ XI] 1952

J am told Ercyas is very interesting botanically, and no doubt there
must be an interesting insect fauna that would well repay study, but
that calls for leisure which I do not possess. They say there are several
endemic species of Astragalus, but it is clearly an impoverished steppe
flora. The most striking plant was the tall, harsh, spiky Morina persica,
which is definitely a member of the west Asiatic steppe flora. The local
Astragalus is collected and used in the sweetmeat trade, and we saw
numerous donkeys laden with the prickly stuff. :

On the way down, towards evening, at a spot called Hisarcik, I
found at last several species of Orthoptera, the eastern Oedipoda schochi,
the Ethiopian Oedaleus decorus, the Asiatic Sphingonotus nebulosus,
the Mediterranean Oedipoda miniata and a European Chorthippus like
Ch. dorsatus.

The next day my friends left at dawn for Denizli, but I stayed to
spend a day at Talas, on the slope on Erciyas, before returning home.
Here there were more butterflies on the wing among the skimpy herbage
on the dry hillside. JI saw Papilio podalirius, a big Satyrus (? briseis),
a chequered skipper, a meadow brown (? M. jurtina), Lycaena phlaeas,
Colias croceus, Pontia daplidice.

Of Orthoptera there was no great wealth. Calliptamus tenuicercis,
Sphingonotus turcicus and Sph. nebulosus and a single Platycleis affinis.
It is strange how few, both species and individuals, there are of this
genus in Turkey. On the Dalmatian coast, Brunner once told me he
got eleven species in one afternoon, but that was of the genus in the
wide sense. Still, one would expect more here. One can get more
individuals at Folkestone in half an hour than I have been able to get
in Turkey in years.

While waiting in the hotel garden at Kayseri for the car that was
to give me a lift back to Ankara I was amused at watching a great
Xylocopa visiting the Antirrhinums: his thorax was yellow with the
pollen and he visited a scattered number of the flowers, seemingly very
capricious, not stopping long at any one. Argynnis pandora flew over.
In this country it often happens that the gardens have many more
butterflies than the open country.. One can usually be sure to see
considerable numbers of this splendid fritillary and of P. podalirius
decorating the gorgeous beds of Zinnia that are characteristic of the
late summer and autumns in our gardens in Turkey.

The rest of the party met again in Istanbul a few days later, when
Theodor gave me a Nocarodes burri which he had brought back alive
from Uludagh. It was a big fat female that showed her resentment
by defecating profusely at me and spewing out a jet black fluid like ink .
from her mouth and squirting it out from the dorsum as well. Bytinski
told me that round Konya, which is on the north slope of the Taurus,
with a steppe country round, he found only Mediterranean Lepidoptera.
But he was not able to get outside the culture zone. At Bursa they
found two species of hornet together, Vespa crabro and V. orientalis,
but they cannot interbreed. .

Before the party broke up we had an excursion to Shile, a village
on the Black Sea coast, historically interesting as the spot where
Xenophon landed with his Ten Thousand. Here there are some dunes,
and the scenery’ reminded me of the Deal sand dunes, with a piece of
Folkestone Warren (before it was spoilt), and a strip of sand on the

ON LYCAENA DISPAR HAWORTH. 315

shore. There was very little wrack and I turned over what I could see,
but it seemed lifeless. Haas, who walked along the shore some dis-
tance, said there was only an impoverished Mediterranean fauna, and
I found the same with the Orthoptera, such species as Oedipoda miniata,
Paratettix meridionalis, Acrotylus insubricus, Oecanthus pellucens, also
Acrotylus longipes, an African species strangely characteristic of sandy
estuaries, Acrida turrita, no doubt subsp. besphoricus, and the Mantid
Ameles heldreichi, with some familiar Huropean forms, as Omocestus
rufipes, Chorthippus parallelus, Acrydium cf. bipunctatum.

There were one or two butterflies, the irrepressible P. cardut,
Satyrids like S. semele but very dark, M. jurtina or close ally, Colias
croceus and a small Melitaea.

And that was the end of a fascinating, but most tantalising, run
through a country of absorbing interest in company with enthusiastic
specialists.

On Lycaena dispar Haworth |
By S. G. CastLe RUSSELL.

It appears to be generally assumed that the disappearance of this
beautiful little butterfly was due to the over-collecting which occurred
when it was first discovered in the fenlands of Cambridge, Hunting-
don, Norfolk and Suffolk, and it certainly seems that this was the case
in the well-known fens such as Whittlesea Mere, Halme Fen, etc. It
may not be unreasonable to assume that the insect was formerly wide-
spread over a ]@rge area in Fenland, places which collectors, owing to the
difficulties of travelling in those days, may not have visited. Draining
of the Fens, such as that carried out at Whittlesea Mere, would
have undoubtedly affected the foodplant—great water-dock.

Mr. Edelsten has stated that unless constant attention is given to
the welfare of the foodplant it would be crowded ‘out and disappear
under natural conditions, and this would mean the extinction of the
colony of batavus that has been successfully established at Woodwalton
Fen. This dying out of the great dock may have been one of the causes
of the extinction of dispar in its old haunts. I remember in 1890 see-
ing some operations going on in the Monk’s Wood area, in which large
black oak trunks were being dug out of the water for making black
oak furniture, which at the time was much in request. I have no
idea how long this excavating had been going on, but it would not do
the great dock much good.

In the same year whilst staying at the Station Inn near Holme
station for a few days’ collecting in Monk’s Wood, one afternoon [|
spent cycling about the surrounding district in search of likely collect-
ing*spots. Some five miles away I met with an area of fenland on one
bank of which stood a small farmhouse or farm cottage in the garden
of which a very old man was at work. He stopped to gaze at me, and
thinking that I might be trespassing I went up to him and explained
that I was looking for butterflies. He was quite ready for achat, and
very optimistically I asked if he had ever seen any butterflies with
copper-coloured wings in the fen. After some thought he said that
when he was a small boy he did see some butterflies with bright gold
wings but had never seen them since. As those he saw might conceiv-

316 ENTOMOLOGIST’ S RECORD, vou. 64, 15 / XT / 1952

ably have been I. phlaeas which in later years when his eyesight had
deteriorated he had failed to note, I did not attach more importance
to his recollections; though it seems hardly likely that so small a butter-
fly as L. phlaeads would have left any impress on his memory. But
what surprised me was his statement that he had never seen anyone
collecting butterflies with a net before, either in the fen or elsewhere.
This seemed curious, but some years after the first war when I was col-
lecting with Sir Charles Langham in a wood adjoining the Long Valley,
Aldershot, where some Army manoeuvres were going on, an elderly
sergeant came up to us and demanded to know what we were doing.
We meekly explained ‘‘ butterfly catching.’’ He declared that he had
never heard of such a thing before and was of opinion that we were
signalling to some far-away observers. He ordered us to stay where
we were while he went to report to his officer. We watched him ap-
proach an officer on horseback and talk to him. It was very evident
that the officer said something unpleasant to him, as he turned away
and kept out of our sight for the rest of the time we were there. We
were very much amused and so I expect was his officer, who would un-
doubtedly have heard of entomologists, as there were always one or two
in the Garrison.

There can be little doubt about the greed of collectors in the days
when dispar flew. They netted and killed every insect met with and
the idea of preservation of species never entered their heads. Even
in the ’nineties I knew two quite eminent entomologists who made it a
rule to catch and kill every insect they came across.

On my first visit to Royston in 1912 J found only’one collector at
work and he told me that the DL. coridon produced many varieties. His
method was to fill his net with a large number of the butterflies, sit
down and kill every insect by pinching it, then turn them out and ex-
amine each one. I could follow his tracks by the small heaps of dead
insects he left behind. This system did not appeal to me at all and I
contented myself with filling some forty boxes at a time and after
examining the insects through the glass bottom let them go. Although |
made several visits that year and the following one I never succeeded
in catching an aberration; but my real object was to get a series of var.
semi-syngrapha which had recently been discovered by two brothers
named Keynes I think. In my time the Heath swarmed with collec-
tors. The collector I met on my first visit claimed that he had examined —
60,000 insects during a month’s stay there, presumably all of which he
killed. There were other collectors too who used to fill cyanide bottles
chock full of insects and turn them out when dead for examination.
This ugly custom has now I hope completely died out. At Royston in
spite of the army of collectors (at one time 70 in number) the great
abundance of the insects did not seem to be affected until the year 1927
when the species almost completely died out and in which year there
were more collectors on the ground than insects. ZL. coridon has never
since reached ita old abundance. Very much the same thing occurred
in the Chiltern Hills where great abundance was in evidence, and also
in other places I know of.

Returning to dispar, I have a few numbers of Curtis’s British. Ento-
mology as it was first issued in parts. On the back of each part is a
list of the insects taken by J. C. Dale and Curtis during the year 1827. |

BUTTERFLY HUNTING IN PARK HILLS, HAMPSHIRE. 317

Amongst these L. dispar is mentioned .as occurring at Whittlesea
Mere. No other locality is mentioned. Curtis also includes Hipparchia
~ eassiope Fab. taken by himself and Dale on a mountain near Ambleside
of which there were only 6 specimens previously known. There is no
mention of Cyaniris semiargus in these lists.

Butterfly Hunting in Park Hills, Hampshire
By Paut H. Hortoway, F.R.E.S.

From my garden I can see, exactly a half-mile eastward, the tree-
tops of Park Hills, oak woods with a liberal sprinkling of ash and horse-
chestnut. The mile-long main ride through the woods is becoming so
overgrown that progress is difficult and hardly worth attempting, unless
Pararge aegeria is required, and in a clearing at the north end a small
colony of Argynnis euphrosyne has annually become weaker as growth
of brushwood developed. Recently this area has been cleared of un-
wanted undergrowth to encourage the advancement of saplings, and
this year ewphrosyne occurred in greater numbers, searching the. vegeta-
tion for the flower-heads of bugle. This is the only clearing in the entire
woods and it slopes down to the northern meadowland. The ewphrosyne
population is restricted to a radius of approximately 50 yards, and they
always appear first at mid-May, disappearing within a month. In
another large wood some two miles distant this species is quite common
but not until the end of May and throughout June, while in the New
Forest they are normally well out by the end of April. The reason for
this geographical phenomenon has apparently yet to be discovered.

In the same clearing and on surrounding pasture land Anthocharis
cardamines makes a regular appearance with a high percentage of ¢¢
only 33 millimetres in expanse (ab. hesperidis) and all intermediate sizes
up to 40 millimetres, but rarely more.

In no New Forest ride is there a greater affluence of Limenitis camilla
than around the borders of Park Hills, and this has been an especially
favourable year for them. Argynnis paphia is also quite common and
in some seasons the ab. valezina has been captured. Melanargia galathea
is found along all borders and especially in the meadows to the north,
meadows of cowslips patched here and there with wild iris; cattle graze
on either side of Bow Lake, along the banks of which many ancient
willows heave and creak under strong winds, the loose bark providing
shelter for myriads of hibernating Phaedon armoraciae (Col.: Chryso-
‘melidae). The removal of a piece of bark three inches square will
sometimes reveal over a hundred specimens. <A row of giant Scots pines
once straggled in this direction, through the euphrosyne clearing; two
years ago they were felled and Panolis flammea disappeared with them.

The spring-like radiance of early March brought forth an abundance
of primroses,,celandines and wood anemones, and the first marsh mari-
golds in the dank withy-bed. More Geometers appeared at each visit;
the ‘sawing’ note of the great tit was persistent. On 17th March the
first ¢ Gonepteryx rhamni made its welcome appearance. With what
_ €agerness we anticipate this freshly-awakened insect each season! The
snow of late March retarded emergences considerably; I had occasion
to tend a snow-filled robin’s nest and screen it from the easterly blast

318 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64, 15 / XI/ 1952

with an old towel, ultimately having the satisfaction of seeing the
fledglings take flight.

On 18th May our ewphrosyne locality was flourishing; several Vanessa
cardua were making short flights, looking ragged and travel-stained; the
first Cardinal beetle, Pyrochroa serraticornis, flew over the buttercup
field south of the woods.

We set forth on 29th June in intense heat under an azure, cloudless
sky. LZ. camilla was abundant yet a week previously not one was seen,
afew do A. paphia glided from the higher branches, only to disappear
after a brief inspection of the bordering brambles, and one 2 Thecla
quercus was secured. A stagnant pond created by a war-time bomb
became the playground of several species of Odonata, while Longicorns
(Strangalia maculata) frequented the flower-heads of hog-weed.

The grey morning of 6th July was sultry and stifling, following a
dawn thunderstorm, but the butterflies were enjoying it; our first cap-
ture was a very fresh ab. hutchinsoni of Polygonia c-album, both sexes
now of A. paphia were in evidence and an even greater profusion of
L. camilla, although many had chipped wings. It was sheer delight to
see such numbers, M. galathea leisurely flying through the grass and
Aphantopus hyperantus so beautifully fresh. The first appearance cf
Maniola tithonus was recorded. The previous day I had experienced the
sight of a Golden Oriole in Hampshire for the first time, flying south-
ward, and I still possessed a feeling of great elation, the gorgeous bril-
liance of its plumage being fresh in my mind. Shortly after noon the
darkening sky gave warning of more thunder, the insects became less
active and green woodpeckers called. A week later the high, veering
winds were detrimental to insect flight, A. paphia and L. camilla were
showing signs of extreme wear and T. quercus was replacing them
around the lower branches of oak. The newly-emerged Vanessids Nym-
phalis i0, Aglais urticae and V. cardui were making a colourful display.

All the year round Park Hills has something to offer those who love
the picturesque. In the fall, the cold sun striking hues of startling
diversity; the utter silence in the woods in winter, the scant foliage
sheltering Hrannis defoliaria and EH. aurantiaria; the first G. rhamna
in the brown glades of early spring. ....

Current Notes

In Entomologische Berichten. for October (14: 150-157) B. J. Lempxe
gives an account (with graphs for Vanessa atalanta and Plusia gamma)
of the migrating Macrolepidoptera observed in Holland in 1951. It was
a disappointing year generally and no species appeared in any consider-
able numbers. But 22 specimens of Plusia confusa Steph. (gutta Guen.
see Ent. Rec., 63: 253) were seen, and although the spring immigration
of Plusia gamma L. was ‘rather feeble’ and the summer influx ‘mediocre’,
there were strong local flights of this species at the beginning of Sep-
tember. Of Caradrina, ambigua Schiff. 275 were recorded, and Lithosia
quadra li. was more frequent than in the previous year, 107 being
observed.

Hans Reisser (Z. Wien Ent. Ges., 1951, 36: 133) has written an
article on Hyphantria cunea Drury, the fall webworm moth, a pure

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 319

white Arctiid not unlike a small Spilosoma urticae Esp. This North
American species, double brooded in the south and single brooded in the
north, has a range extending from south Mexico into Canada. Accord-
ing to Suranyi it was detected in Hungary in 1940 and has now spread
into part of Austria and Czechoslovakia and has become a most de-
structive pest. The larva feeds gregariously in a web, eating a great
variety of plants, and the pupa lives through the winter. No effective
method of destroying it has been found. It is not known how it was
introduced from America, but, on Suranyi’s evidence, the American
occupation of Austria is not responsible for the importation of this
undesirable alien.

More habitats seem to be threatened. The Minister of Agriculture
has authorised a ‘‘special high rate of grant of £10 an acre’’ for clear-
ing, ploughing up and bringing into cultivation waste land which is
encumbered by boulders, gorse bushes and thorn. ‘‘The cost of clearing
varies greatly’’, says The Times of 18.vi1i.52, from which we quote, ‘‘but
contractors who have heavy gear can quote a price on which the farmer
will decide whether to proceed under this £10 an acre grant scheme.”’
A hundred and fifty years ago the Board of Agriculture estimated that
there were 7,888,977 acres of uncultivated land in England and Wales,
a figure which Lord Ernle considered was ‘‘probably a gross .under-
estimate’. In 1775 Nathaniel Kent wrote that ‘‘within thirty miles
of etidon there are not less than 200,000 acres of waste land”. We
wonder what the figures are to-day.

The reprint of the January issue is now ready. Will those sub-
seribers for 1952 who have not yet received their copy for January please
send a postcard to the Assistant Editor, at the address given on the
back cover of the current issue?

Notes on Microlepidoptera
By H. C. Hvueeins.

Pyralis glaucinalis Linn. and P. costalis Fabr. may be bred from old
birds’ nests, particularly nests made of grass and moss, such as those
of the hedge-sparrow, chaffinch, greenfinch, etc. The nests should be
placed in a large flowerpot and exposed to all weathers, drainage of
course being given. A number of Tineina, lactella, etc., will also be
bred. Both the Pyralids may sometimes be obtained in numbers in
June by scratching the sides of a two-year-old clover stack, but these
are not always available and of course cannot be pulled to bits in the
autumn and winter to search for larvae.

Emmelina monodactylus Linn. may often ‘be found on fences in
November and still more frequently if hedges containing convolvulus are
examined after dark with a torch, when its pale colour makes it easy
to see. The moth is a common one but it varies considerably, and as all
plumes take time to set it is convenient to catch this second brood before
hibernation when there is little else on the boards.

Chimabache phryganella Hiibn. can usually be found in the woods
in mid-November. It is best sought for on a sunny day, when the

320 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15 / X1/] 1952

brown-winged males fly briskly in the sunshine. The curious semi-
apterous females, with pointed white and black wings, are not so easy
to get but may be found fairly commonly crawling on oak-trunks in
the afternoon.

Acrobasis tumidana. Schiff. (verrucella Hiibn., rubrotibiella F.R.).
There has been considerable discussion lately in the Record concerning
Mr. Moncreaff of Portsmouth. Whilst I have no idea what happened
to his collection, or even if he had a collection, one of his insects at any
rate is still extant. This is the specimen of tuwmidana mentioned by
Barrett (Lep.Br. Is., x, p. 18) under the heading of rwbrotibiella as
taken many years ago in a salt-marsh near Portsmouth, Hants., by
Mr. Henry Moncreaff. Vol. x of Barrett’s work was published in 1905,
and on Barrett’s death this specimen passed to the late Eustace R.
Bankes and thence to South Kensington Museum, where I saw it in
1936.

Tumidana. appears to be one of our mysteries: so far as I can ascer-
tain this specimen and the five taken by A. B. Farn (one in 1873 and
four in 1875) at Darenth, Kent, are the last definitely authenticated
ones taken in this country. Jt was taken not uncommonly near London
in 1858 and for a few subsequent years by R. McLachlan and Howard
Vaughan and then seems to have faded out. It is, however, a member
of a not very popular group and not very easy, in spite of the raised
scaling, to distinguish from A. tumidella Zinck., and now that the m.v.
lamp is becoming so popular I am confidently expecting its rediscovery
at Ham Street or elsewhere.

- In the Suffolk list the late Mr. Claude Morley recorded it for Fritton ;
but although this record is quite probably correct I think it should be
checked by a specialist. This should now be easy as W. G. Sheldon pur-
chased Farn’s specimens and bequeathed them to the South Kensington
museum; so perhaps whoever now has Morley’s moths might take them
there for comparison.

Practical Hints

A good tool for disinterring pupae under herbaceous plants is a small
garden hand-fork, three inches wide with four prongs 4 inches long and
a handle of about a foot. Don’t pull up Campion and Lychnis and
sandhill plants, as some-of them are perennials. A rake is not a good
tool to use on sandhills as so many pupae are overlooked. It is wiser,
as well as more profitable, to work slowly and methodically.

Harpyia bicuspis is a widely distributed species and winter is a good
season to search birch and alder for its cocoons. These have been found
on all sides of trees, sometimes under loose bark but more often in
crevices on the bark, both on tall trees and on low enes. Empty cocoons
obviously indicate favoured trees. The moth seems to avoid ovipositing
on alders growing on the banks of watercourses.

As long as the leaves remain green, patches of Knotgrass (Polygonum
aviculare) should be searched with a lamp at night: many species of
larvae which feed throughout the winter whenever the weather is ‘open’
patronize this ‘universal foodplant’ before they wander away to other

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. oo

herbage. The same applies to docks. Grass-eating larvae with the same
habit can also be found on hedge banks at night throughout November.

When the ground is too wet to dig for pupae, or frozen too hard,
concentrate on work with the moss-pick (Ent. Rec., 63: 284). The wise
lepidopterist never goes for a walk in winter without a moss-pick in his
pocket. When you start to remove the moss from tree-trunks always
begin at the top and work downwards. A fallen tree at the edge of a
woodland soon becomes clad with patches of moss. Peel this off care-
fully on the upper side. Hibernating larvae found beneath moss should
be put in a chip box in an outhouse or on a shelf under eaves out of
doors; they should rest on, and be lightly covered with, dampish
(sterilized) peat-moss—not the fine granulated stuff used for growing
bulbs.

The two Swordgrass moths, Calocampa exsoleta and C. vetusta, re-
main on the wing until the first hard frost. They come readily to sugar,
sometimes in the gardens of small towns, and arrive rather late at night.
So it is wise for the November sugarer not to ‘‘shut up shop’’ too early.

Notes and Observations

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1952.—The first specimens
of V. cardui L. appeared in the neighbourhood of Praha and in other
localities in Czechoslovakia at the end of April, apparently coming from
the south. During the succeeding months they were seen in great num-
bers, but although the immigration was a large one it did not greatly
exceed, in point of numbers observed, other recent big immigrations
(1935, 1947). It was noted particularly at Stturovo in southern Slovakia,
and in southern Silesia at. Praded, in the Jeseniky mountains, at 1,490
metres. During the summer many larvae were noted on Cirsium cam-
pestre (for instance at Potstejn in eastern Bohemia).—Jir1 SMELHAUS,
* Belskeho 4; Praha 7. 15.1x.52.

Mierants IN Eastern Europe 1n 1952.—This year there has -been
a great immigration of Celerio livornica lineata Fab. into Czechoslovakia.
In August twenty specimens were captured at Olomouc in Moravia, and
others were taken in Bohemia at Praha, Kysperk, Blatna, Jilové, etc.
They were all caught at dusk while flying at the flowers of garden plants
(Phlox, etc.). Herse convolvuli L. also has been abundant—even more
plentiful than the first-named species.—JIRI SMELHAUS, Belského 4,
Praha 7. 15.1%.52.

VANESSA CARDUI L. IN GERMANY IN 1952.—Vamnessa cardwi has been
abundant in the Rhineland this year. Between 11th and 18th May
many migrating specimens were. seen passing by Krefeld; also at M.
Gladbach on the 22nd May. Hr.-J. Grosz noticed the first specimen at
Hannover on 5th May. Some fourteen days later Hr. Beisse saw cardui,
over a period of several days, in greater numbers than he had ever seen
before, from 12 to 20 being seen daily. According to Hr. Schulte cf
Hannover cardui was abundant on the Baltic coast at the beginning of

May. At Hildesheim in the neighbourhood of Brunswick carduwi was
abundant at the end of June, migrating en masse. At the beginning
of August Hr. Grosz found the butterflies emerging in large numbers.

B22, ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XI] 1952

In view of the reports from the Baltic coast—although presumably
not from the Soviet zone there—cardui would appear to have travelled
not only across France northwards but also across West and Central
Germany. Reports from the Soviet zone of Germany, or even from
Poland, are difficult to obtain; but I hope to send you further reports
of this insect from Germany east of the Elbe.—Dr. Max CretscHMar,
Casselstrasse 21, Celle, Hannover. 19.1x.52.

[Much obliged to Dr. Cretschmar for this information.—Ep.]_ ;

MAcROGLOSSUM STELLATARUM IL. IN HaAmpsHirE.—This species was
seen here for the first time this year on Ist September, flying at Cerato-
stigma. It visited the same clumps on the two subsequent days, but has
not been seen since.—B. C. Barton, Castle Mead, Highcliffe, Hants.
22.1x.52. .

EUPLAGIA QUADRIPUNCTARIA Popa IN Devon 1n 1952.—The ‘Jersey
Tiger’ seems to have been plentiful in Devonshire this year. I was
staying at Paignton during August and my’ first specimen, a female,
was brought to me on Sth August. Two days later I found two more
resting on the foliage of a privet hedge in the garden and during the
week could have taken an average of four or five a day in the same
garden. After 14th August they were much less in evidence and only
occasional specimens were seen. The last one I saw was on the 24th in
full sunshine feeding, together with Vanessa cardw and V. atalanta, on
the flowers of Buddleia. On 11th August I saw three moths resting on
a wall; one of these I boxed and it turned out to be the yellow form,
ab. lutescens Stdgr. I obtained some eggs from the first two females
taken and now have some five dozen young larvae which had hatched out
between 15th and 17th August. They are still very small and are feed-
ing very little but have not yet gone into complete hibernation.—J. L.
Arxinson, 76 Northwood Road, Tankerton, Kent. 25.1x.52. .

Danaus PLEXIPPUS LINN. IN Kent.—A specimen of this rare 1mmi-
grant was reported to me as having been seen on 12th September in a
hopfield at Tyler Hill, halfway between Tankerton and Canterbury.
The fortunate person to have this experience was Mrs. M. Coomber,
a keen member of our local Natural History Society. The butterfly
settled on the ground within a few feet of her and she was able to
examine it closely and has no doubt whatever as to its identity. After
a few moments it flew around and finally disappeared over a hedge.
Mrs. Coomber had visited the spot a number of times since, but there
were no further visits from the ‘Monarch’.—J. L. Atkinson, 76 North-
wood Road, Tankerton, Kent. 25.ix.52.

LAMPIDES BOETICUS LINNAEUS IN THE IsLE oF WicutT.—On 30th August
1952 I had made a journey to the ledge under the cliff face at Luccombe,
Isle of Wight, to collect seed pods of the wild pea for a London friend
who required the larvae of a rare micro. On reaching the first clump I
caught sight of what.at first sight I thought was a hairstreak by its
flight. My friend had. just told me in a letter that eggs of L. boeticus
had been found on everlasting pea, so this led me to look closely at
everything moving. On marking the insect down I was delighted to see
that it really was boeticus, but alas my net was in the haversack ten
yards away! It was overcast at the moment and very close so I went
for the net and was fortunate to find on my return that the insect was

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. aoe

still in the same place. I netted it and as it was a male transferred it
to the killing bottle. I did not see another during the few hours I spent
there and have visited the place since to search for eggs, larvae, cr
pupae, but without success, so it appears that the butterfly was a
straggler. The only other records for the Isle of Wight are a male taken
at Freshwater, 23.vii1.1878, by C. D. Snell (Entomologist, 1879, 12, 83)
and one in 1945 at Dunose.—Joun Loss, Fernbank, Wroxall, Isle of
Wight.

Cotas crocEus Fourc. my East Herts.—C. croceus continues on the
wing here. On 23rd September I saw 9 ¢¢ and a.helice in the lucerne
field mentioned in my note last month (page 288). The helice was very
worn and torn: | kept her for eggs and she laid over 60, which have now
turned deep orange and will soon hatch. On the 28th I saw 3 d¢ in the
same field.—C. Craururp, Denny, Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford,
Herts.” 7.x.52.

CUCULLIA ASTERIS ScHIFF. IN Essex.—On 14th September 1952 nine
larvae of (. asteris were found by myself and a companion near the Essex
coast a few miles from Burnham-on-Crouch. They were feeding, or
rather resting (it was afternoon and the sky overcast) on Aster tripolium
growing in a semi-brackish ditch and were both full-grown and in the
penultimate instar. The full-grown ones were of the pink form shown
at Fig. 1b on Plate XCVIII of Buckler’s Larvae, the others being green,
as Fig. le. Not more than one larva was found on each plant, though
two were on adjacent plants. Like (. verbasci, this species feeds by
day as well as by night; some larvae which I came across in Sussex one
afternoon in 1946 were feeding (on golden-rod) when found, and I
watched them feeding when in a larva-cage later.—C. Craururp, Denny,
Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford. 12.x.52.

CUCULLIA ASTERIS SCHIFF. IN SuFrFoLK.—This species appears to he
very local, as suitable localities for the foodplant (Aster tripolium),
which it favours in Suffolk, do not occur everywhere; nor is the larva
to be found wherever Aster grows. On 31st August 1952 I came across
a marshy area just behind the shingle beach, and here Aster was the
dominant plant, very abundant everywhere, even growing in damp sand
at the edge of the beach. In places it was four feet high. The larvae
were mostly on plants that were not too crowded together: they were
at rest on the stems, from six to nine inches from the top of the plant.
A certain indication of them was the sight of bare stems, the flower-
heads having been eaten away. Some were full-grown, others only half-
grown.

The first larvae ‘went down’ in sand the day after they were found.
They make a chamber like C. verbasci but not quite so hard. The last
instar larvae were dimorphic, ground colour pink or green, with only
three longitudinal yellow stripes. The half-grown ones were green with
yellow stripes. They fed readily on the flower-heads of Michaelmas
daisies and garden golden-rod. Eighteen were found by searching in
about an hour or an hour and a half. They were all found singly, but
quite a few (nine) occurred in an area of about twelve feet by four.—
‘D. A. AsHwetLt, The Heights, Galloway Road, Bishop’s Stortford.
12.x.52.

e

324 | ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 4. 15/ XI] 1952

PROLONGED LARVAL DIAPAUSE IN THE GENUS LoxosTEGE.—In connec-
tion with the note by H. C. Huggins (Hnt. Record, 1952, 64: 212) on the
long larval diapause in Loxostege palealis Schiff., lasting in some cases
for 18 months, Mr. J. Sneyd Taylor has written calling attention to his
note (Ent. Record, 1942, 54: 176) and his more complete account pub-
lished earlier (Farming in. South Africa, 1940, 15, no. 176) on the life
history of Loxostege frustalis Zeller, which is a serious pest to wool
growers in the Karroo. It occurs in enormous numbers, which devas-
tate the country from time to time. If the weather is moist brood after
brood may emerge at intervals of about a month, but if the weather is
unfavourable a prolonged diapause may occur, larvae remaining alive in
their cocoons for many months. Under observation the larval diapause
lasted for 314 to 424 days and some larvae were still alive in their cocoons
after 581 days, or 19 months, after having spun up. He also says that
Loxostege sticticalis Linn., the beet cutworm of Europe, may have a
similar prolonged diapause. Both frustalis and sticticalis, like palealis,
are to some extent migratory. Mr. Taylor thinks the diapause noted by
Huggins in palealis is quite normal, though probably caused by environ-
mental conditions.—E. A. CocKAyNeE.

EARLY EMERGENCE OF GYMNOSCELIS PUMILATA HUBNER.—In connection

with the recent record of this species in February (Hnt. Record, 1952, 64,
121) Mr. Nigel Easton has called my attention to two records of his own
(Entomologist, 1932, 65: 62, 105). Two pumilata in perfect condition
‘were taken on the window of his sitting room in Brighton, one on 18th
January and the other on 28th February 1932. Pumilata, unlike pugs
of the genus Hupithecia, often passes the winter as a fully formed moth
inside the pupa-case, and, if it receives the right stimulus, may emerge
very late in the same or very early in the next year.—ED.

HoRIsME VITALBATA ScHirr. Two YEARS IN Pupa.—A female of this
species was taken at Marlston, Berkshire, on 22nd August 1950. It was
worn and laid 6 eggs before dying. Four pupae were obtained and kept
in a glass-topped tin. As none of them emerged in 1951 the tin was put
away and forgotten until 9th June.1952, when it was required for other
larvae. On opening it a moth escaped and was found to bea Q H. vital-
bata in fairly fresh condition, having apparently emerged four or five
days previously. The remaining three pupae were dead, having dried
up. J can find no record of this species passing two years in the pupal
stage.—N. T. Easton, 92 Connaught Road, Reading. 29.1x.52.

A Sgeconp Broop or SPHINX LicgustTRI Linn.—On 3lst May 1952 a
pairing was obtained and one male emerged on 18th August. It was
normal in every way. I have never heard of a partial second brood
of this species.—N. T. Easton, 92 Connaught Road, Reading. 29.1x.52.

ABERRATIONAL LARVAE OF SPHINX LIGUSTRI Linn.—A pairing was
obtained with a male and female of this species, bred from 1951 larvae
collected from hedges in various parts of Sussex.. From about 100 larvae
resulting from this pairing four larval aberrations were bred. Two of
them, one of which died from a polyhedral disease in the last instar, had
blackish-brown patches below the spiracular line on each of the seven
abdominal somites which bear the lilac stripe. Dr. E. A. Cockayne, who

’ NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 325

has seen the photograph which was taken of one of these larvae by Mr.
Baker of Reading Museum, remarks that there are two blown larvae
in the national collection with deep purple patches in the same places
as mine but a little smaller. The other two aberrational larvae showed
irregular patches of lilac here and there, chiefly in the dorsal area. In
one of them the 5th lilac stripe, on one side only, was twice the normal
width and there were odd patches at the top of the 4th, 5th, and 7th
lateral stripes.—N. T. Easton, 92 Connaught Road, Reading. 29.1x.52.

PREVENTION OF MitpEw.—In the various letters on this subject that
have appeared recently in The Entomologist’s Record I was surprised to
see no reference to Thymol. I have found a few crystals of this sub-
stance placed in tins containing papered specimens an effective mould-
preventive. :

I was also surprised to read Captain Hayward’s remark (Ent. Rec.,
- 64: 183) that naphthaline does not normally kill insect pests. <A few
naphthaline moth-balls placed in a close bookcase were certainly effective
killers of small and medium sized cockroaches, the insects being found
lying dead on their backs a day or so after the moth-balls had been
introduced.—D. G. Srvastoputo, P.O. Box 401, Kampala, Uganda.

23.1x.52.

A Norte on ‘‘BuTTERFLIES IN THE CoAstaLt REGION oF NorRTH WALES’’.
—With regard to the note by J. Antony Thompson in Ent. Rec., Vol. 64,
page 261, there is no need for Mr. Thompson to apologize or ask forgive-
ness because my feelings have not been hurt in the slightest.

I merely stated facts. Prior to the publication of ‘‘The Butterflies
and Moths found in the Counties of Cheshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire,
Caernarvonshire, Anglesey and Merionethshire’’ in 1948 by the Chester
Society of Natural Science, Literature and Art, I asked Mr. Thompson
for his records. He wrote that my letter had placed him in a quandary
as he had been engaged for the last five years in compiling an article
on the different species found in North Wales and that he hoped the
South London Entomological and Natural History Society would pub-
lish it.

Further requests were sent to him, but apart from the reference to
caernensis and thyone, no further information was received.

It is very gratifying to know that Mr. Thompson will now give his
help ; within the next few weeks he will be sent a form asking for his
records of Lepidoptera found.in Cheshire and North Wales; any he
sends that are new will be included in the next Proceedings of the
Chester Society mentioned above.—S. Gorpon Smita, ‘‘Estyn’’, Bough-
ton, Chester.

Biocks versus Boarps.—I am one of Mr. Minnion’s 1% who use the
block method of setting for most of my specimens and began to do so in
1893, so can claim to be ‘‘an old moth-hunter’’. My father had 100 blocks
made for me when I was eleven years old and I still use them. Your
article has provoked a very useful discussion, and the conclusion to be
drawn, I reckon, is that a compromise is best, as so often prevails in
other matters in this country. Powerful and succinct arguments and
evidence have appeared for each type of setting, but I certainly feel
‘that a lot of the 99% should obtain blocks, and use them where indi-
cated.

326 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/ XT] 1952

When I read your article I felt that someone would show objection
to your description of setting as ‘‘a waste of time’’, as many collectors
enjoy the technique and are thrilled to see rows of specimens’ like
Guardsmen at the Trooping of the Colours. Personally I am ‘‘torn two
ways’’, as I admire the parade style and even envy it, and yet I think
of ‘‘Nature abhors a straight line’’, and like to show specimens in rest-
ing position, preserved larvae, and cocoons, and do not like to see the
upper wings of imagos forced up beyond a right angle.—Lt.-Col. W.
Bowater, 41 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 15. 21.ix.52.

Collecting Notes

AVIEMORE IN 1952.—With respect to my article at page 280 of the
last issue of Ent. Rec., I have since heard from Mr. M. J. Leech of —
Formby, who stayed at Aviemore until 19th July, and he has sent me.
a list of the insects seen or taken during his visit from 12th to 19th July.
He tells me that the weather deteriorated after I left on the 14th and
_ he had but little sunshine. Hrebia aethiops had hardly begun to emerge;
he saw only one.

In addition to the species mentioned in my previous article Mr.
Leech took or observed the following : —

Geometra papilionaria Colostigia olivata
Hydriomena furcata Procus fasciuncula
Itame wauaria Apamea. secalis
Darsia festiva Phalaena typica
Arylia putris Leucania lythargyria
Hadena. thalassina Caradrina clavipalpis
Lygris populata ~ Ourapteryx sambucaria

DL. mellinata
He also took larvae of Harpyia furcula, Achlya flavicorms, Drepana
falcataria and Thera juniperata.—C. CrauFrurpD, Denny, Galloway Road,
Bishop’s Stortford. 6.v111.52.

_OPISTOGRAPTIS LUTEOLATA LINNAEUS AB. RUFICOSTA LemMpPKE.—Towards
the end of August 1952 I took at least.8 specimens of this aberration in
the m.v. light-trap in my garden. During this period normal speci-
‘mens were not very common. I have never seen this aberration in Tring
before, and it seems probable that they were all members of the same
brood, which had fed in the garden, and that the aberration is inherited.
—A. L. Goopvson, 26 Park Road, Tring, Herts.

ABERRATIONS OF ARICIA AGESTIS SCHIFF. AND AGLAIS URTICAE L. IN
BucKINGHAMSHIRE.—It has been a bad year for ‘ vars.’, but my son home
from Korea picked up a nice obsolete Aricia agestis, and then I had
a stroke of luck: a fortnight ago my wife told me that she had seen an
ab. semialba Frohawk of Aglais urticae on our heath. Urticae was
plentiful there up to 1949 when it practically disappeared, but this year
it was abundant. My son and J searched for days for the semialba, but
failed; but I did see and take (and nearly let go) a freshly emerged
ab. nigra Tutt (Pl. 22, fig. 4, Frohawk’s Varieties) and a fine large ab.
ichnusoides Selys. My wife described the semialba as very like fig. 1 on
Pl. 22 of Frohawk’s book but with the hindwing red border pure white.

DIPTERA. aor

We shall hope to see it after hibernation!—Colonel S. H. Kersnaw,
Alderman’s Place, Aspley Heath, Bletchley, Bucks. 27.ix.52.
[Ichnusoides Selys = impuncta Lempke.—Ep. |

A Norse rrom Hast Dorset.—Although it has been a fine summer,
it seems to have been a poor season for most entomologists. Larvae of
three or four species that were plentiful in East Dorset last year are
very much scarcer or even entirely absent this year, and most butterflies
have been in very small numbers.—H. Symes, 52 Lowther ek Bourne-
mouth. 30.1x.52.

BUTTERFLIBS IN SPANISH Ports.—The keen lepidopterist loses no
opportunity to observe butterflies wherever he may be, even if actual
collecting is out of the questiom. In June 1951 I visited Gibraltar and
six Spanish Mediterranean ports, travelling by cargo vessel. Of these,
Gibraltar, Alicante, Cartagena, Valencia and Barcelona provided little
opportunity for seeing butterflies because other attractions claimed at-
tention; moreover there was not always sufficient time to reach the
countryside. During hot and sunny days extensive docks and built-up
areas act as an effective barrier to any possible interest that may lie
behind. Here and there in public gardens, however, I saw Papilio
machaon, Colias croceus and Vanessa cardui.

At Palamos on 22nd June and San Feliu de Guixols on the 23rd. I
decided to take my collecting apparatus with me. These two towns are
situated on the Catalan coast.and are eight miles apart. Both are small
and quite enchanting. Within ten minutes of leaving the ship I was
making my way along flowered-covered roadsides and climbing the sur-
rounding hills whose gentle slopes were sparsely covered with olive,
mimosa, cork-oak and pine-trees. There were sufficient butterflies to
keep me both interested and busy in the short time available, for I had
a bare one and a half hours for collecting at Palamos and two hours
at San Feliu de Guixols. I saw several Hesperidae but did not stop
to identify them because of the many other more brightly coloured
butterflies which held a greater attraction for me. Papilio machaon L.
was in good condition and not uncommon; Pieris rapae L., Pontia
daplidice L. and Euchloe belia Cr. occurred sparingly at San Feliu de
Guixols. Colias croceus Foure., Melanargia lachesis Hiibn. and Maniola
pasiphae Esp. were abundant, the last-named being worn. The follow-
ing were also taken:—Gonepteryx cleopatra L. (males only), Satyrus
circe Fab., Eumenis semele L., Pararge aegeria L., P. megera L.,
Maniola jurtina L., Vanessa cardui L., Thecla ilicis Esp., Heodes phlaeas
L., Polyommatus icarus Rott. and Aricia agestis Schiff.—F. M. G.
Stammers, M.B., Fifield House, Manor Road, St. Albans. 11.ix.52.

DIPTERA
Retarded Emergences in Gall Midges

By M. Nrstett, F.R.E.S.

For many years I have bred gall midges from their larvae collected
in the galls. Many species are double-brooded but I propose to speak
only of those where there has been a partial emergence in the first year,
followed by another in the following year. Out of the numerous species

328 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vol. 64. 15 / X1/ 1952

I have bred 18 have had this double emergence, of these in 17 species
the larvae leave the galls to pupate in the earth, those of the remaining
one Jaapiella veronicae Val. pupate in the galls.

Anabremia viciae Kieff.:—The larvae live in flowers of Vicia cracca
causing them to remain closed and swollen; from larvae collected in July
a few midges emerged in August followed by a considerable number in
June and July of the following year.

Contarinia ? helianthemi Hardy.:—The gall of this species on
Helianthemum chamaecistus consists of the terminal leaves formed inte
a pouch in which the larvae live; they leave the gall, not remaining
in it to pupate as is sometimes stated. From larvae collected in mid-
August midges emerged in September with another series coming out
in the following June.

C. hypochoeridis Riibs. :—The larvae attack the seeds of Hypochoeris
radicata causing considerable distortion to these and the flower-head.
From larvae collected in May midges emerged in July with another
emergence in June of the following year.

C. medicaginis Kieff.:—The larvae live in the flowers of Medicago
sativa causing them to swell considerably and to remain closed. From
larvae collected in mid-August a number of midges emerged in Septem-
ber, with an equal number emerging in the following June and July.

C. schlechtendaliana Riibs.:—The larvae are found in the flowers of
Sonchus spp.; from a series collected in July there was an emergence
in August, the remainder coming out in July of the following year.
~ C. solani Riibs.:—The flowers of Solanum dulcamara are swollen and
remain closed. From larvae collected in August numerous midges
emerged during September, followed by a number in May of the next
year.

C. steint Karsch.:—Flowers of Lychnis album were collected at the
end of July containing numerous larvae; during August and September
a number of midges emerged, followed by another series in May of the
following year.

Dasyneura artemisiae Riibs.:—The larvae of this species live in the
flowers of Artemisia vulgaris causing distortion. From larvae collected
in early August midges emerged at the beginning of September, with
another emergence in May of the following year.

D. bryoniae Bouché.:—The larvae attack the terminal shoots of
Bryonia dioica causing considerable thickening and distortion. From a
series of larvae collected in August midges emerged in September, fol-
lowed by another series in the following May.

D. crataegi Winn. :—The gall consists of a rosette of terminal leaves
of Crataegus monogyna. Larvae were collected in early July from
which a number of midges emerged towards the end of the month, also
a single specimen came out in the following June.

D. loewiana Riibs.:—The galls consist of leaflets of Vetches folded
into the form of a pod. From larvae in galls on Vicia tetrasperma col-
lected in August, midges emerged in September and in the following ©
April and May.

D. pustulans Riibs.:—The galls take the form of discoloured raised
pustules on leaves of Spiraea ulmaria. Larvae collected at the begin-
ning of August gave me midges at the end of the month and in the
following June.

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 329

D. urticae Perris.:—The galls consist of rounded swellings on the
leaves of Urtica dioica; from larvae in galls collected in August numer-
ous midges emerged in September and October, and about an equal
number in the following year from April to July.

Jaapiella medicaginis Riibs. :—Leaflets of Medicago sativa are folded
into a pod by larvae of this species; from larvae collected in mid-August
midges emerged at the end of the month, and a few more came out in
the June following.

J. veronicae Vallot.:—The galls are formed by the terminal leaves
being folded into a pouch; Galls on Veronica chamaedrys were collected
in August, a few days later a number of midges emerged, and in April,
May and June of the following year another series emerged.

Kiefferia pimpinellae F. Lw.:—The galls consist of swollen seeds of
various species of Umbelliferous plants; from larvae collected in August
from Silaus flavescens, midges emerged in September, and also in July
and August of the following year.

Wachthella rosarum Hardy.:—Leaflets of various species of wild
Roses are folded into the form of a pod by the larvae of this species;
from galls on Rosa canina collected in July midges emerged in August
and in the following May; others collected from R. cantina in August
yielded the midges in October and May.

W. stachydis Br.-W.:—The leaves of Stachys sylvatica are rolled and
thickened by the larvae of this species; from larvae collected in June
numerous midges emerged in July and August, followed by a small
emergence in the following June.

Jt is difficult to suggest a reason for the above Aeiciydenr, it may ke
a provision to assist survival, the insects emerging late in the year would
not find material suitable to oviposit in and would have to hibernate,
those passing the winter in the larval state would probably have a better
chance of surviving. There are, however, many species which emerge
regularly late in the year, but excepting those J have mentioned I have
had none act in the manner described.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902.)

Epunda lutulenta is now becoming increasingly scarce since its
‘climax’ in 1900. I use the word climax intentionally, because I feel
certain that there is some sort of culmination in the occurrence of almost
all, if not all, forms of life. Consider our Lepidoptera! What collector
does not know how curiously the abundance or scarcity of different
species varies in different seasons. Certainly, if the hunting-ground he
the same from year to year, as mine is, this peculiarity forces itself upon
one’s attention. I recall, amongst many others, a Dicycla oo year (1887),
an Agrostis obscura year (1894), a Mamestra abjecta year (1900), and I
have heard of Noctua depuncta, N. sobrina, and even Plusia bractea
years. I do not seek to explain the fact, though I accept it as fully
as that there may be years of Colias edusa, C. hyale, Euvanessa antiopa,
Agrius convolvuli, and Plusia gamma. There may be more than we
understand in the complications brought about by the variations of the
climatic conditions of succeeding seasons, or there may be something
related to overcrowding, or over-competition, or over-production. I do

330 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64, 15/ XT] 1952

not know what it is, but there is a rise and fall of species, as of nations,
and the culmination of a species I call its ‘climax’.

The climax of Epunda lutulenta is past. I arrived upon the scene
before the species reached its height. I tell no man the full numbers
of specimens I have taken, suffice it that I took in 1899 nearly twice the
number of the previous year, and in 1900 double the number agains
Thence the numbers decrease. Last year I halved the product, and,
again, this year, assiduous collecting has failed to produce more than,
roughly speaking, half again; and, with the falling off of the actual
number of specimens, comes also a falling off in the number of aberra-
tions, for which of course I chiefly look. In 1899 14% were grey, in 1900
1 and in: 1901 See

I do not notice any marked backwardness in this species. It ap-
peared here first this year on September 12th. In 1898 it came on Sep-
tember 21st (perhaps I found it late), in 1899 on the 15th, in 1900 on
the 11th, and in 1901 on the 5th. It is a remarkable thing to me that
I never get a specimen after October 9th, and that the first good steady
rain cuts it off entirely. After a night’s pouring rain I may get one
specimen, but that is the end.—C. R. N. Burrows, Mucking, Essex.

Current Literature

Tur FemaLe GENITALIA OF THE NocturpaE. F. N. Pierce. Second
edition, 1952, published by E. W. Classey, 91 Bedfont Lane, Feltham,
Middlesex. Price, 30s.

The first edition, published in 1942, was limited to 100 copies and
is very difficult to obtain. The plates are very small, but they do en-
able entomologists to make a rough comparison of the various genera
and species. The author was over 80 years of age when it appeared,
and this, no doubt, accounts for the numerous errors of spelling, which
have been corrected by Mr. W. H. T. Tams in the new edition. The
book is a perfect example of the danger of trusting to a single char-
acter as a guide to affinity, for instance Eremobia ochroleuca Esp. is
placed between Arenostola brevilinea Fenn and Nonagria typhae Thunb.
and Phlogophora meticulosa Linn. between Agrotis, Actebia praecox
Linn. and Euxzoa. A consideration of other characters would have pre-
vented such a remarkable arrangement. In spite of its defects it is
unlikely that this work will be supplanted for a generation at least,
and every entomologist who is interested in the genitalia of the British
Macrolepidoptera, especially those who possess the companion volumes,
ought to obtain acopy. Mr. Classey is to be congratulated on his enter-
prise, which has made this possible.—E. A. C.

We have received the second lieferung of Diz ScHMETTERLINGE VON
MitreLevropas by Dr. W. Forster and Prof. Dr. Th. A. Wohlfahrt.
The first part is devoted to a long and detailed description of the ar-
rangement and labelling of a collection, the removal of grease, and pro-
tection from the usual pests, of which figures are given, and the way
to destroy them if they have attacked the insects. The authors recom-
mend one to place a row of butterflies on the left side of a drawer, and
then another with wings overlapping those of the first row and so on.
Space is saved, but the removal of a given insect is made very diffi-

a

CURRENT LITERATURE. aol

cult. . The second part is a continuation of the descriptions of the
Satyridae and the Nyimnphalidae. The generic names differ in some
cases from those recommended by the Committee on Generic Nomen-
clature of the Royal Entomological Society of London and amended
by Francis Hemming in four species in Butterfiies by E. B. Ford.
Agapetes galathea Linn. replaces Satyrus, amended to Melanargia.
Agapetes is now used in The Entomologist, so perhaps Hemming has
changed his mind again. Hipparchia semele Linn. replaces Humenis,
Dira megera replaces Pararge, Pyronia tithonus Linn. replaces Maniola,
and Inachis io replaces Nymphalis. Evidently Continental entomolo-
gists are splitting up genera more than those in this country. The
figures on the plates are chiefly those of the genus Hrebia, and reach
a higher standard than the earlier ones of the Pieridae.—H. A. C.

CowtEy, J. Mid-Somerset Butterflies. Mid-Somerset Naturalist.
Supplement to First Report, 1951.

An annotated list of the butterflies recorded within a radius of
twelve miles of Bridgwater. Argynnis aglaia, Euphydryas aurinia,
Plebejus argus, Lysandra coridon and L. bellargus are reported as hav-
ing decreased. The reduction of P. argus is attributed to peat cutting
on the heather moors and the burning of bog myrtle probably resulted
in a reduction of H. aurinia. A few scientific names are wrongly spelt,
doubtless due to printing errors.—D. F. O.

British PyRaLtip AND Pirume Morus. By Brian P. Beirne, M.A.,
M.Sc., Ph.D. 62 x 4%. Illustrated: 15 Coloured plates and 189 draw-
ings and diagrams. Pp. 208. Frederick Warne & Co., Ltd., London.
Price, 21s.

A welcome and long overdue addition to the Wayside and Woodland

series, Dr. Beirne’s work on the superfamily Pyraloidea should be 1n
the possession of all who study the Lepidoptera of Great Britain and
Ireland. This clear and readable book should encourage the study of
an interesting but neglected group of moths, even by those whose in-
terest and labours have been devoted only to the so-called Macro-lepi-
doptera.
- ~The aim of the book’ is to facilitate the identification of our native
species and to collate what is known of their habits and life histories.
The methods of identification are clearly set out in the Introduction.
These methods are far in advance of those used by South in Butterflies
and Moths of the British Isles, in that the whole structure of the insect
is used rather than colour and wing pattern. Figures of genitalia are
given for a few critical species. The fact that descriptions are omitted
from the text to provide space for biological information in no way
detracts from the value of the book. The excellent and comprehensive
keys, used in conjunction with the numerous well executed drawings,
make the identification of genera and species reasonably easy. In the
Appendix is a Glossary of terms used in the present work and in stan-
dard works on British Lepidoptera.

The main part of the text (in which the author has had the assist-
ance of several well-known microlepidopterists) deals with life histories,
habits and distribution, with a few notes on variation of the imago.
The collection of information from various books, papers and periodicals

332 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15/ XI] 1952

into one volume is valuable and should do much to encourage the study
of the early stages, of which we know all too little: as Dr. Beirne points
out, descriptions of many species have often been made from a single
larva and these were often too brief. The life histories of some species
of the genus Ephestia, which feed on stored products, are given in de-
tail, as also are those of the genera Nymphula, Cataclysta and Acen-
tropus. The diagrams showing habitats and foodplants are most useful,
setting out a summary of the species one may expect to find on various
foodplants and types of breeding grounds. The known range of distri-
bution is compiled mainly from county lists published between 1898 and
1948. A table of county lists is included in the Appendix.

Unfortunately the reproduction of figures on the coloured plates is
poor and few can be fairly used in conjunction with the keys and black
and white drawings. Many figures are blurred and the colour values
wrong, possibly because too coarse a screen has been used. One cannot
help making comparison with the excellent. coloured drawings of the
Tinaeoidea by Mr. S. N. A. Jacobs in the recent Proc. and Trans. S.
London Ent. and Nat. Hist. Soc. However, as stated above, the identi-
fication of genera and most species can be accomplished by use of the
keys and drawings without reference to the coloured plates.

The only slips we have discovered are that in the key to the genus
Crambus the references on page 55 to the median streak of the fore-
wings of C. furcatellus Zett. and C. margaritellus Hiibn. are reversed.
C. inquinatellus Schiff. is omitted from the key.

The failure of the colour printing should not deter one from obtain-
ing this book, which is one of the most useful works published on British

Lepidoptera for many years.
H.N. M.

THE OBSERVER’S Book or THE LARGER British Motus by R. L. E.
Ford, F.R.E.S., F.Z.S. 196 illustrations in colour and black and white.
Frederick Warne and Co. Ltd. 5s. |

This little book belongs to the well known Observer’s Pocket Series
and is not intended for the serious student. Only the Sphinges, most
of the Bombyces (sensu lato), and a few species belonging to other
families are included. Many of them are unlikely to be seen by the
observer in any stage until he has ceased to be a beginner, and some
may spend a life-time without being lucky enough to see Utetheisa pul-
chella. It is therefore surprising to find no example of the brightly
coloured day-flying Zygaenas included. The coloured figures of each
species are very good and black and white drawings of the egg, larva,
and pupa are given in many cases. There is little to find fault with in
the letterpress, and there is an unusual absence of misprints. It is an
attractive little book and it is surprisingly cheap.

SIRE

He) Acc.

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

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.
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Publicity and Advertisements: Ff. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney Court Road,

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The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:
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LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., F.R.E.S.;
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THE PROBLEM OF LASIOCAMPA QUERCUS L. AB. OLIVACEO-FASCIATA
COCKERELL AB. OLIVACEA TUTT AND THE MELANIC LARVA.

E. A. Cockayne ... ie <p ree ae aS ae ee Ry. Be .. 306
FIELD NOTES FROM ANATOLIA IX. Malcolm Burr ah dy <P moe 2 SUS
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BUTTERFLY HUNTING IN PARK HILLS, HAMPSHIRE. P. H. Holloway... 317

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. H.C. Huggins ... .. wc we es BD
RETARDED EMERGENCES IN GALL MIDGES. M. Niblett... ... ... 327
ALSO

CURRENT NOTES, PRACTICAL HINTS, NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.
COLLECTING NOTES, CURRENT LITERATURE, ETC.

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This issue completes the first entire year, ary to Décember,
' of the Record under the new régime, and our Contributors have every
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tains more pages of reading matter than any volume issued since 1901.
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In the first 20 volumes of the Record the average number of pages
of reading matter per volume was 332; for the last 20 years (1931-1950)
the average has been only 147. Now, at a bound, the Record has not
only regained its original amplitude but has attained a figure—364—
which has only once been surpassed, and that fifty-one years ago, when
it achieved its maximum, namely 381. Next year it had dropped to
356, and even this figure was never reached again—until 1952.

Surely this is a remarkable achievement by our Contributors! They
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achieved only by a longer subscription list.

So it is to your advantage that the Record should become more
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in any magazine devoted to their hobby, many who have never heard
of the Record and do not know that such a magazine is in existence.
How can we reach these good fellows? Nobody likes proselytizing;
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THE Eprror.

334 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XII /1952

A New Melanic Mutation in Gonodontis
bidentata Clerck

By E. A. Cocxaynge, D.M., F.R.C.P.

Gonodontis bidentata Clerck ab. bowateri ab. nov.

This is distinct from ab. nigra Prout and occurs in combination
with ab. mediorufa Cockayne and ab. nigrofenestrata Cockayne. The
thorax is almost always reddish orange or buff, and rarely brown as
in ab. nigra. On the upper side of both fore and hindwing there are
interneural buff markings at or near the margin, or the whole border
is buff, lightly or heavily sprinkled with black scales; this border is 2
mm. wide and even wider where the dentate projections of the fore-
wing occur. In one specimen in addition to the buff border almost the
whole of the hindwing is suffused with buff very lightly sprinkled with
black scales, but there is a blackish streak running from the base
through the discoidal spot to the dark transverse line and a shorter
blackish streak close to the inner margin; it is also an example of ab.
mediorufa. In others, all mediorufa, there is the same arrangement of
blackish streaks on the hindwing, but a buff area occupies the basal
part of the wing between the discoidal spot and the black streak near

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIV.
All the specimens are examples of Gonodontis bidentaia ab. bowateri.
Figs. 1, 2. Paratypes ¢.
Big, 3. Type.¢.-
Fig. 4: Paratype. ¢.
Figs. 510. Paratypes 9, 6-10 combined with ab. mediorufa.

Fig. 11. Allotype 9.
Fig. 12. Paratype, under side Q.

the inner margin; along the margin there are only short interneural
buff wedges. The fringes, even in the blackest specimens, are buff
coloured on both fore and hindwing. The abdomen is black with red-
dish orange or buff scales at the extremity in both males and females.
On the under side of both fore and hindwing there is a narrow buff
coloured border, about 2 mm. wide, very lightly sprinkled or more or
less suffused with black scales, the suffusion being greatest in those
with the smallest buff interneural markings on the upper side.

Type ¢: Cannock Chase, bred 1952 by W. Bowater. Fig. 3.

Allotype 9: same data. Paratypes 3 ¢,7 9: same data. d figs.
1,2, 4. @ figs. 5-10, under side fig. 12.. Figs. 6-10 show ab. bowatert
combined with ab. mediorufa.

This is only a new mutation in the sense that it has not been de-
scribed or named before. Lt.-Col. Bowater’s stock originated from a
specimen bred in 1949 by Mr. G. B. Manly from a larva beaten at Can-
nock Chase. It is said to have been completely black on the upper
side with a buff border suffused with black on the under side. The
offspring were similar, but, by selecting those with the most distinct
buff border as parents, specimens like those shown in the plate were
obtained. Mr. Manly says it is the ordinary melanic form on Cannock
Chase and Lt.-Col. Bowater says it was known as early as 1915. Ab.
nigra originally came from Leeds and was named in 1901. A similar

TWO NEW SUBSPECIES OF HIPPARCHIA SEMELE LINNAEUS. 335

case of two melanic forms one with and the other without a light border
occurs in J'ethea or Schiff. Ab. albingensis Warnecke is black with
white stigmata and the more recent form ab. marginata Warnecke has
a white border on the upper side of the forewing, but not on the under
side. In each case the two melanic forms may be allelomorphs.

Two New Subspecies of Hipparchia semele

Linnaeus
By Dr. Gustar DE LATTIN.

In the course of an intimate study of the group of species around
Lippurchia semele L. the necessity occurred to name several well
characterized new subspecies. Two of these, which in my opinion should
be of special interest to British entomologists, will be described in this
paper.

1. Hipparchia semele L. clarensis n.ssp.—A series of Irish speci-
-mens from Co. Clare is different at the first glance from all the other
races of this species by reason of its very divergent males. Irish males
and females on the whole are richer and redder brown on the upperside,
and on the underside have the black lines deeper black, and look richer
in general, than English ones. But in ssp. clarensis the ground colour
of the upper side is relatively light with a quite apparent incline to grey,
contrary to insects from England and Germany which show a ground
colour of a more pronounced brown; the very pallid marginal band is so
much dusted with dark scaling that it is very ill defined from the dark
proximal part of the wing. The hindwings are in general altered in a
similar way, only the marginal band is more distinctly defined and shows
the brick-red triangular spots on its distal part strikingly small and
pale. But the most apparent characteristic of this subspecies is the
great reduction of the androconial spot on the forewings of the male,
this spot being relatively large in the typical form, extending from the
analis to the end of the cell as an oblique band. In the Irish specimens
from Co. Clare this band is confined to a few remains in the region of
the lower cell border, so that at first sight one gains the impression that
the androconial spot is entirely lacking. The under side has also a paler
ground colour and therefore appears very light, this impression being
enhanced by the broad milky white distal edging of the postmedian line,
which is only relatively little dusted with dark scales. The female is
differentiated more or less the same as the male, yet the difference is not
so sharp because the androconial difference is lacking; from its neigh-
bouring English and Continental populations it can be best distinguished
by its strikingly greyish ground colour.

Holotype: 1 ¢, Co. Clare, 18.7.1926. L. A. E. Sabine coll.

Allotype: 1 9, Co. Clare, 19.7.1926. L. A. E. Sabine coll.

Paratypes: 1 ¢ 3 9 9, Co. Clare, 18/19.7.1926. L. A. E. Sabine coll.
All these specimens are contained in the collection Pfeiffer, Miinchen.

[In the Zoological Museum at Tring we have 2 ¢¢ and 2 92 from
Co. Clare. The androconial streak, which Dr. de Lattin stresses, varies
a good deal in size in both English and Irish males from other counties,
but on the average it appears to be about the same in both. In the 2
Clare $3 at Tring it is greyer and less conspicuous, but not actually

336 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ X11 /1952

smaller. These two 6 ¢ are certainly greyer on the upper side than any
others from the British Isles, and the under side is pale. The 9 9 can
be matched by aberrant examples from other places, but if all Clare
examples are alike they cannot be matched by a series from elsewhere.
I think Dr. de Lattin is dealing with a local race peculiar to the lime-
stone Burren and associated with the pale ground there, which may be
considered a subspecies.—EK.A.C.]

2. Hipparchia algirica Obth. vallettai n.ssp.— J. On the upperside
very similar to the real algirica and not at all to the nearest neighbour-
ing subspecies stciliana Obth. The forewings are paler than in true
African algirica, thus giving a sharp contrast to the dark androconial
spot. The light marginal band is ochreous, but only clear in the region
of the (sharply white kernelled) ocelli, the rest being more or less dusted
with brown-grey, but still ‘sufficiently visible: Hindwings of the same
colour with a broad light marginal band, the distal part of which is
4/5 brick-red, and which gradually goes over into the narrow yellow
proximal region ; the veins cutting this band being dark and very faint.
The anal ocellus is normal, kernelled with white. The underside of the
forewings is of a warm reddish yellow-brown, all the edges of the wing |
being broadly brown-grey, on the costal part and the apex reticulated
with black. The inner edge of the marginal band is well defined by a
distinct dark shade lying between the band at the end of the cell; on the
discus this shade becomes very ill-defined and is only marked by slightly
darker red-brown shading. The underside of the hindwings is of a warm
dark greyish-brown ground colour, with a middle-strong black reticula-
tion, mostly at the basis and inner edge; transversal lines sharp and
black, the outer one distal to the cell-vein protruding in a roundish
projection with no apparent point, as is usually the case with the
algirica- males. The white distal shading of the postmedian line is
relatively restricted and of a clean white, reaching only a little over Cu,,
in some places sprinkled with a brown-grey reticulation; subterminal
line also sharp and black.

Holotype: 1 ¢, Naxxar (Malta), 23.5.1939, leg. et Coll. A. Valletta.

I have separated this single specimen as a subspecies not only because
of its isolated locality but, more important, because it is different from
all the numerous algirica algirica I have examined, thus being very
probably excluded from the normal variation of the North African
nymotypical subspecies.

3. Lastly it might be of some interest to point out, that up to the
present in Cyprus neither semele nor algirica has been found, although
the appearance of the latter does not seem in the least improbable. All
semele I have at hand from this island belong to the purely West-Asiatic
species pellucida Frhst. They form a special subspecies of this, which
should be called cypriensis Holik (Zschr. Wien Ent. Ges., 1949, vol. 34;
—see also: Wiltshire, Hnt. Rec., 1949, vol. 61, p. 73).

Forschungs-Institut fiir Rebenztichtung
Siebeldingen tber Landau-Pfalz, Germany.

CORRECTION. — Semiothisa liturata Clerck ab. wnicolorata
Richardson (Hnt. Record, 1952, 64: 270) is a synonym of ab. debrun-
neata Osthelder (Schmett. Sudbayerns, 1931, 507).

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON ODONTOSIA CARMELITA ESPER. 337

Some Observations on Odontosia carmelita Esper
. By H. Symes, M.A.

Poor ‘ Carmelita’! Since the introduction of the m.v. lamp it
seems to have lost its claim to be called the ‘ Scarce’ Prominent. Yet
before this new method of collecting it was an insect that required
working for, and these notes may perhaps be of help to those who do
not use the m.v. lamp.

Let me start by saying that I do not agree with the statement in
the September Record (64: 249) that the larva of carmelita does ‘‘ not
escape our observation by feeding high up on the foodplant,’’ although
this is true enough of the larvae of alni, ruficornis, and dodonaea. My
experience is that carmelita larvae normally do feed on old, tall birch
trees with few or no branches within reach of the beating-stick. I have
first-hand knowledge of only two larvae that were beaten from mature
trees of no great height: one of these was at Aviemore, the other at
Cold Ash, near Newbury, where the late Claude Rippon worked hard
for the species but obtained only one larva, although several males
came to his electric light trap. Apart from this, all the specimens that
I have found by prolonged searching of tree-trunks (two at Aviemore
in 1938 and seven in the New Forest between 1940 and 1945) were taken
on the trunks of tall trees which could not possibly have been beaten
or searched for larvae. Before the days of the m.v. lamp (nights, I
suppose I should have said) carmelita was best to be obtained, but only
in small numbers, by the use of light and by searching tree-trunks.

My own experiences with petrol lamps were not happy. With two
other entomologists I tried for carmelita at Aviemore on three nights
in April 1938. The weather was mild and, to all appearances, equally
favourable on all these nights. On the first of them, 22nd April, two
males came, but on the 23rd and 26th we drew blank. Meanwhile, I
found a female with crippled wings on 28rd April, three or four feet
up an ancient birch trunk, and a perfect female at the foot of a trunk,
only two or three inches from the ground, late in the afternoon of the
25th. I left the cripple on the trunk, where it remained for two nights
but did not attract a male.

My second experience with light was in the New Forest on 3rd May
1939, when the late W. H. Jackson took me to a locality near Brocken-
hurst where he had previously taken two or three carmelita by this
means. Nothing was attracted to our light this time but a keeper and
a daddy-long-legs. :

During the winter of 1939-40 I found a large clump of old tall
birches between Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst which I thought looked
a likely place for carmelita, and the first time I searched the trunks I
found one. This was on 23rd April 1940. A second visit, on the 25th,
- was fruitless, but. on the 26th I found a newly-emerged male at the
foot of a trunk and a crippled female about three or four feet from the
ground. I kept these moths in a cage that night, and about ten eggs
were laid. I had no evidence that pairing had taken place, and doubted
their fertility. Eventually four of them hatched on 7th May, and the
rest shrivelled up. As no more eggs were laid on the following night I
‘took the female back to the tree where I had found it and left it there:
it remained for two days but had disappeared on the third. On 8th

338 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XIT/1952

May I made a thorough search of this tree and found a small batch of
nine eggs on an isolated twig where I had last seen this female. I
carefully pared off a slice of the. bark which carried the eggs, and on
10th May eight of them hatched. JI now had twelve larvae, which
yielded ten pupae. Not a single moth emerged in 1941, but in 1942
they all came out, although two were cripples: one of these, however,
came in very useful, as will be seen.

In April 1941 I paid four visits to this locality and on the 28rd I
found a newly emerged female at the foot of a trunk. It had not yet
expanded its wings and bore a close resemblance to a bumble bee. The
time was 11.40 a.m. B.s.t. This moth expanded its wings in due course
and developed into a fine specimen.

On 20th April 1942 I took one of my bred crippled females to the
same locality and left it on a tree-trunk: next day I found a male near
it, and fertile eggs were laid. Next year, on 20th April, Mr F. W.
Andrews, to whom I had shown the locality, took a caged female there
and on the 21st I met him and saw that two males had been attracted.
1944 was a blank year, but in 1945, an early season, I found a pair of
carmelita in the same locality on 7th April, about four feet from the
ground. Since then I have paid several visits to these birches, but
without success. I know, however, that one carmelita was attracted
to light there this year.

My experiences both at Aviemore and in the New Forest have led
me to form some definite conclusions about searching for carmelita on
birch trunks.

1. The best trunks are those of old tall trees;

2. The moth emerges in the morning and rests at the foot of the tree
until the evening. It then crawls up the trunk and, if it is a female,
takes up a position about three or four feet from the ground. Newly
emerged specimens, therefore, should be sought at the foot of a trunk,
and pairs (which seem to separate early in the morning but remain
close together) higher up, about a foot below eye-level.

Searching tree-trunks is a tedious business, but in the case of car-
melita I think it is much more profitable and less exhausting than
beating for larvae.

[In the nineties of last century W. Holland and W. E. Butler, the
Reading collectors, used to find the larvae of O. carmelita in most
years by searching the birch bushes in a favoured locality. Towards
the end of that decade I often accompanied the latter but never, my-
self, found this larva. The bushes were then not more than seven or
eight feet high. In 1890 (the year in which he discovered carmelita
to exist at that place) Holland wrote in this magazine that the larvae
‘‘ were not sitting on the twigs as Endromis versicolor does, but on
the underside of the leaves, along the stalk and midrib, making the
leaves hang heavy with their weight.’? About this time Mary Kimber
(afterwards Mrs. Chorley) also found the larvae near Newbury; Mrs.
Bazett discovered it at Pamber Forest; and Father Bernard Smith took
it at Marlow. He recorded that the imagines always emerged between
8 and 9 a.m., which was confirmed by others. In 1911 H. G. Cham-
pion reported that he had beaten the larvae ‘‘ from young birches ”’
near Chobham, Surrey (Hnt. mon. Mag., 47: 42), and Tutt quotes

COLLECTING NOTES, 1952. 399

‘Marshall’ for the statement that the pupae of carmelita ‘‘ are to be
obtained near Derwentwater at the foot of small birches,’’? but I have
not seen the reference. Mr. Charles Mellows tells me that at Avie-
more in 1946 he beat two or three larvae of this species from birch
bushes above the golf course and that in one case at least the bush was
not more than three feet high. Scattered throughout the early volumes
of the magazines there are records of finding the larvae of O. carmelita
by searching; e.g. ‘‘ Larva searching was fairly productive, and among
other things turned up were... LD. carmelita’”’ (Entom., 56: 214).

It may be that the female moth lays her eggs on any Betula upon
which she happens to alight after pairing, whether bush or tree. Plainly’
the lepidopterist is more likely to find resting imagines on the trunks
of sizeable trees since few field workers make a practice of crawling
underneath bushes to search for newly emerged moths drying their
wings on the trunks an inch or two above the ground or on debris.
We shall be glad to hear from others who have found this larva. Judg-
ing by the records seen, this species is much more widely distributed
than the books suggest.—P. B. M. A.]

Collecting Notes, 1952

By W. Reip.
(Continued from page 205.)

Towards the end of May a decided change took place in the weather,
and very cold nights predominated until well into the middle of June.
Eumichtis adusta Esp. and Rusina umbratica Goze appeared in the
Sheffield trap on 25th May.

Deilephila elpenor L., Agrotis exclamationis L., and Spilosoma
lubricipeda L. came on the 29th, on which date Saturnia pavonia L.
was flying on the moors. In spite of the cold nights, Huplexia lucipara
L., Ceramica pisi L., Diarsia festiva Schf., Eupithecia nanata Hb.,
Perizoma affinitata Steph., Semiothisa liturata Cl., and Cabera pusaria
L. appeared on the 30th; Thera obeliscata Hb. and Eupithecia venosata
Fab. on June Ist, Hepialus lwpulina Linn. on the 2nd, Bupalus piniaria
L. on the 4th, while Apatele leporina L. and Hadena cucubali Schf.
came in on the 4th and 5th respectively. The weather started to
improve on thellth and Graphiphora augur Fab. and Hepialus humuli
Linn. appeared in the trap on this date. Business and other circum-
stances only allowed one collecting trip on the 2nd June when I went
with Mr. Hyde of Doncaster to Laughtoh Common to try beating for
larvae of Enargia paleacea Esp. and Cirrhia gilvago Schf. In spite of
working all afternoon we only beat one of the former, which later pro-
duced a male, and none at all of the latter. In fact, we were both
surprised at the scarcity of any larvae—I don’t suppose we saw 10
altogether. It is quite possible that the very early Spring in this part
of the country had caused them to feed up quickly and go down early,
and that we were too late. EH. paleacea was certainly early this year—
flying freely (and some already worn) on July 24th at York.

The short warm spell brought on quite a number of emergences—on
‘the 12th Caradrina morpheus Hufn., Procus fasciuncula Haw., Procus
strigilis Cl., Plusia pulchrina Haw., Apamea. obscura Haw., Abraxas

340 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15 / XIT/1952

sylvata Scop., Perizoma alchemillata L., Sterrha aversata L.; on the 13th
Abrostola tripartita Hufn., Plusia festucae L., Leucania comma L..,
Agrotis segetum Schf., Melanchra. persicariae L., Polia nebulosa Hufn.,
Dysstroma truncata Hufn., Electrophaes corylata Thun., Chloroclystis
coronata Hb., Dyscia fagaria Thun. and Zanclognatha tarsipennalis
Tr.; on the 14th Scopula floslactata Haw., Meristis trigrammica Hufn.,
Cucullia umbratica L., Apamea infesta Ochs., Mamestra brassicae L.,
Caradrina clavipalpis Scop., Polychrisia moneta Fab., and Petilampa
minima Haw.; on the 16th Lycophotia varia Vill.; on the 17th Diarsia
brunnea Schf., and Deilephila porcellus L. on the 18th. On the 23rd
Plusia chrysitis L., Apamea monoglypha Hufn., Alcis repandata L. and
Alcis rhomboidaria Schf. On the 24th I was interested to take several
Zanclognatha grisealis Schf. on the sheet in the garden, together with
a very dusky form of Cryphia perla Schf. Odezia atrata L. was in very
fresh condition and abundant round Sheffield on the 26th June. Nola
cucullatella L., Hypena proboscidalis L., Phalaena typica lL. and Orthe-
litha umbrifera Prout, appeared in the trap on 27th June, and four
Zeuzera pyrina Linn. came to the sheet in the garden on the 28th.

On the Ist July I spent two nights at Sutton-on-Sea, on the Lincoln-
shire coast. Conditions were not good, but using the m.v. lamp on the
very narrow sand dunes south of Sutton, we took nice series of Agrotis
ripae Hb. and Arenostola elymi Tr. On the 3rd we tried the sandhills
at Saltfleet where we recorded 77 species at the sheet. The most in-
teresting of these were A. ripae, A. elymi, Leucania pudorina Schf.,
Leucania litoralis Curt., A. infesta, Scopula imitaria Hb., a nicely
streaked Spilosoma lutea Hufn. and two policemen. The latter stayed
chatting for about half an hour and seemed to be quite as much in-
terested in the mentality of the collectors as they were in seeing the
moths we were collecting.

I had to be in Scarborough on the 5th July and took the opportunity
of visiting Spurn Point on the way home. As a N.E. gale was blowing
we did not expect much, and only 10 moths appeared at the sheet,
amongst them being one Heliophobus albicolon Hb. (much worn), one 4.
ripae Hb., and one Pyrrhia wmbra Hufn. (also worn).

To Conway on the 17th July. Again strong winds with heavy showers
which made conditions very unpleasant for collecting on the Sychnant
Pass. It was difficult to find a place where the sheet would ‘‘stay put’,
but we found Ammogrotis lucernea L. well out and fresh; Amathes
ditrapezium Schf. getting over and Amathes ashworthw Dbld. very
worn and only a single specimen of Sterrha eburnata Wocke was seen
on the rock faces. On the 24th July I took a friend to Sandburn, to see
if Dysstroma citrata L. was out. Two years ago, I took a very nice form
approaching var. thingvallata Staud. at this place, but this year we did
not see any. 50 specimens were noted at the two white m.v. lamps we
were using, under the cloudless sky, amongst them being Dewi aramngeas,
erosaria Schf. and Sterrha emarginata L.

During July the following appeared in the trap at Sheffield :—EHupt-
thecia centaureata Schf., on the 3rd; 6th, Caradrina blanda Schf.; 7th,
Tethea duplaris L., Tiaiviatre aii hsacte Seirus Plusia iota L., Ceonttrs
papilionaria L., Campaea margaritata L. CPipiecma Py Thun.,
Cidaria Fee Forst.; 8th, Ortholitha mucronata Scop., Leucania ake
lens L.; 9th, Triphaena, comes Hb., Colostygia pectinataria Knoch,

COLLECTING NOTES, 1952. 3541

Cosymbia punctaria L.; 11th, Arctia caia L., Triphaena ianthina Schf.,
Leucania lythargyria anh : 12th, Cosmia Fraentnic L., Bombycia vimi-
nalis Fab., Apamea secalis L., Apamea scolapacina Fey .» Eupithecia
Se eeiiate, Haw.; 14th, Aleauas grossulariata L., Parastichtis suspecta
Hb.; 15th, aden are Hufn.; 16th, Fivdacontaun furcata Thun.,
deyeris atest Fab.; 17th, Apannicn lithoxylaea Schf,; 21st, Easbatis
populata L.; 22nd, Nudaria mundana L. and Crocallis elinguaria L.. ;
23rd, Apamea ypsillon Schf., Lygris testata L.; 27th, Colostygia didy-
mata L., Ortholitha limitata Scop., Ochlodes sylvanus Esp.; 28th,
Amathes sexstrigata Haw., Amathes xanthographa Schf.; 29th, Zenobia
subtusa Schf.

On 6th August I ran the m.v. lamp just off the main road to Hather-
sage, well inside the Sheffield boundary and took 12 very fresh Plusiu
interrogationis L. before 10.30 p.m. The first Hydraecia oculea L. also
came in, besides many other commoners. On the 12th L. solidaginis Hb.
was the most abundant moth on the heather. I was hoping to pick up
a series of Diarsia dahlii Hb. but did not see any. This insect did turn
up ata Tilley lamp and the car headlights in some numbers on the 18th
and 21st August. None appeared at the m.v. lamp which was burning
about 150 yards away on the same footpath.

On the 23rd August I visited Dr. Birkett at Kendal and he took me.
to a favourite spot which he sometimes works near Morecambe. Here
Celaena leucostigma Hb. was rather worn. Oporinia filigrammaria
H.-S. was fresh, but the weather was cold and misty, and the night was
not very productive. The same conditions prevailed when I visited Mr.
and Mrs Austin Richardson on my way to North Devon on 28th August,
and little appeared on the sheet near Minchinhampton.

August appearances in the trap at Sheffield were as follows: —3rd,
Hyraecia micacea Esp., Procus furuncula Schf.; 5th, Anaitis nicauain
L., Lwperina testacea Schf.; 6th, Hydraecia pute L.; 7th, EHuxou
nigricans L.; 12th, Deuteronomos alniaria L., Amphipyra tragopogonis
Cl. (on moor this-date Amathes castanae Esp. and Lathomoia solidaginis
Hb.); 13th, Antitype chi L.; 15th, Cirrhia icteritia Huin. ; 17th, Deuter-
onomos erosaria Schf.; 21st, Amathes glareosa Esp. and Hepialus hecta
Linn.; 25th, Non Ramat t apie Thun., (and I know of no place where the
reed mace grows hear us).

In North Devon, we took two specimens of Antitype xanthomista at
sugar at Milloch on August 30th. Had the weather been warmer, we
should no doubt have taken many more, but little else appeared on the
two nights we worked that locality. On September 2nd, however, at
Morte Hoe, we took nine more of this species. The only sheltered place
to put the sheet was the open space between two rows of the Hotel
Garages which were,situated between the Hotel and the cliffs, and the
m.v. lamp was quite hidden by the garage building and a rock face
which formed the end of the yard. The males commenced to arrive as
soon as the light was put on. They were quite fresh and must have
been assembling, I think, to a fresh female which I was lucky to find
in a dark corner of, the rock face. Anyway, the males stopped arriving
soon after we had boxed the female, but we had taken sufficient to fill
the blank space in the cabinet. We left on the 3rd September for Holy-
‘head and were not sorry as the rain was coming down in ‘‘sheets’’, with

y

a N.W. gale blowing. That night at Holyhead, though cool, when the

342 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15/ XII /1952

wind had dropped, we took Aporophyla lutulenta Schf. amongst other
things on the sheet. Some hours of searching the maritime campion
roots on the cliff tops, near the lighthouse, were rewarded by finding 17
Hadena barretti Dbld. larvae, all of which have duly pupated. We also
found 5 pupae which may be barrettu or Hadena conspersa Schf. It
might be supposed that there should be an appreciable difference in size
between the pupae of these two species, but this is not the case with
those from the Holyhead area. Certainly, the female barrettu pupae
are the larger, but the smaller male pupae are no larger than those of
conspersa. We also unearthed one Aporophyla mgra Haw. pupa which
- has since provided a fine female.

September was a poor month, and we only made one excursion, to
Laughton again where Catocala nupta L. and A. lychnidis Schf. and
Dryobotodes protea Schf. were present at sugar. On September 15th
E. paleacea Esp., Tiliacea aurago Schf. and Cirrhia gilvago Schf. all
turned up at the sheet in the garden, and on September 29th Chloro-
clysta miata L. was found resting on the outside of the trap. Anchocelis
helvola L. was fairly common on the heather on the 9th, with odd speci-
mens of Citria lutea Strom. The latter also appeared in the trap on
September 11th, together with the first of the second brood of obeliscata.
Other dates in September for Sheffield were: —10th, Agrochola lychnidis
Sch.; 15th, Allophyes oxyacanthae L.; 16th, Gortyna flavago Schf. and
Epirrhoe alternata Mull.; 17th, Conistra vaccinu L.; 23rd, Colotois
pennaria L.; 27th, Agrochola lota Cl. and Agrochola macilenta Hb., the
latter very common this year; 29th, Agrochola circellaris Hufn., Scoli-
opteryxz libatrix L. and Chloroclysta miata L.

Eupsilia transversa Hufn. appeared on October 3rd and nothing
fresh had appeared at the time of completing these notes.

The following were recorded in my trap as new to my Sheffield list : —
C. ruficornis Hufn., H. hermelina Goze, L. suffumata Schf., B. temerata
Schf., Z. grisealis Schf., E. corylata Thun., C. punctaria L., D. erosaria
Schf., N. typhae Thun., E. paleacea Esp., C. miata L., N. mundana L.

It has not been a good year in the Sheffield district, and unsuitable
weather has been prevalent on all my excursions. It seems to be gener-
ally acknowledged to be a poor season.

On Keeping a Diary
By An OLD Moru-HuntTer.

IT have always envied people who keep diaries—real diaries I mean,
journals expressing in brisk vivid language the doings and sayings of
interesting persons, and of those whom they met, almost daily through-
out a lifetime. A friend once confided to me that he had written an
account of his employments every day since he was a boy at school, and
he was past threescore and ten when he told me that. In his case it
must have been easy ; material was ready to hand, for his father’s house
was visited by well-known people and he himself rose high in the world.
But how about humbler folk, men like you and me, who pass our lives
—well, just as you and I do? If we record our commonplace everyday
doings our diary will be in the same class as that quoted by Addison in
his skit on the journal of ‘‘a sober citizen’’ (Spectator, 4th March
ig) eS

ON KEEPING A DIARY. 343

Wednesday. Eight o’clock. Tongue of my shoe-buckle broke.
Washed hands, not face.
Nine. Paid off the butcher’s bill.
Ten, Eleven. At the coffee-house. Stranger in a
black wig asked me how stocks went.
Twelve to One. Walked in the fields. Wind to
the south.

And so on, throughout each hour of the day.

A journal on these lines is so much wasted paper and ink. The whole
object of a diary should be to serve as an aide-memoire, a reminder of
events and conversations which may have to be recalled some day: un-
less it performs this duty it is of no use at all. But a real diary does
a good deal more than remind one: it carries its writer back to scenes
of happiness, to walk and laugh and talk with old friends long since de-
parted, to bring before him, as vividly as on the day when they were
recorded, events which the years have dimmed.

The mistake which most people make when they start to keep a diary
is this: they are determined to record every day’s doings however
trivial, with the natural result that after a week or two or perhaps a
month or two they become bored with it since it consists for the most
part of trivialities, and so they give it up. Only really interesting days
and events should be set down, days on which something out of the com-
mon occurred, days which we are certain will be recalled with pleasure
in after years. And the record must be sufficiently detailed to be able
to bring back, years afterwards, all the incidents which led up to, and
accompanied, the event. ‘‘ 14th October. Caught G. furcifera’’ is not
merely useless: it 1s maddening. It omits all the details which invest
a remarkable event with interest. It is as bad as ‘‘ 14th October. Cut
John’s throat.’’ The smallest detail would be of interest here. ‘‘ 14th
October. Cut John’s throat at breakfast ’’ would be a little better;
but not very much: you may forget in after-life why you cut John’s
throat and will not even be certain whether you cut it at the breakfast-
table or in the hall.

The whole secret of keeping a diary is to contract a habit of writing
it up always at the same hour. If you write it at odd times you will
never keep a proper diary: events of great interest in after years will
be maddeningly brief; trivialities will be exasperatingly verbose. But
if you have a fixed habit of writing at, say, half-past six every evening,
whenever the clock announces that time you will want to write it; for
habit begets a psychological urge and it is a greater bother to disobey the
urge than to obey it. So you take the line of least resistance and write
up your diary. That, at least, is what my old diarist friend assured
me: it irked him if an engagement or interruption prevented him from
sitting down to it at the accustomed time; he feared he might forget
something he was anxious to record; he could not go to sleep until he
had chronicled the day’s doings and other people’s sayings.

All entomologists keep diaries, though the affairs which they record
concern only insects. Without a diary we are lost: we do not know
when or where we took that larva of bicuspis twenty years ago nor what
it was feeding on. We look at the data label under the moth and read
-“ Slopley Bugwash, 14.vi.25’’ and for the life of us we cannot remem-
ber what we were doing at Slopley Bugwash in June 1925. We must

344 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou, 64. 15/ XI1L/ 1952

have passed through it on our way to Balmy-on-the-Wold, that year; so
presumably we found the larva on a birch or alder by the roadside.
But stay—didn’t we stop the night at some place? Was that Slopley
Bugwash? ... Then we look at the moth again; but the memory of the
event will not return. ;

My own diary starts abruptly—but then, I was young in both years
and Entomology. ‘‘26 May 1891. Two full-fed ZL. quercifolia,’’ fol-
lowed only by the name of my home. No mention of foodplant nor cir-
cumstances. Yet this is one of the exceptions which confirm the rule:
how well I can recall the details even after all these years! It was one
of those great events of our lives which need no written record to keep
them fresh. I was watching Johnson, the taciturn black-bearded gar-
dener, trimming a hawthorn hedge in the orchard. What two full-
grown Lappet larvae were doing high up in a hedge in the daytime |
know not, but even now I can see with my mind’s eye Johnson snap-
ping a finger-thick shoot with his shears, picking out of the hedge some-
thing that fell from it and handing it to me with the words, ‘‘ There’s
something for you, master.’’ And a yard away he found another one,
in the same way. But what I cannot remember, owing to my inefii-
ciency as a chronicler, is whether the larvae cocooned and duly produced
moths. I hope so; but in those days my larvarium consisted of only two
larva-cages, little boxes of white wood, with glazed doors and perforated
zine at the sides. Into these two small cages I put every larva I found
—poplar hawks, privet hawks, eyed hawks, puss moths, tiger moths,
and so on, trusting that they would hit it off with each other. Per-
haps the lappets didn’t hiti it off as well as I had hoped... .

The lappets were followed by ‘‘16 June. On Tuesday evening got
two S. populi (m. & f.) breeding also caught two D. elephenor hum-
ming round honeysuckle.’ What I was doing at home on the 16th
June I know not; I ought to have been at school. However, there are
only two entries for June, the i6th and 17th, so perhaps it was half-
term. The 17th recorded ‘‘ large quantities of D. elphenor at honey-
suckle,’’ so it must have been rather a good year for Lepidoptera. The
spelling of elpenor, you will notice, was improving daily.

A year or two after this I went to live in the New Forest, right in
the heart of the Forest; and the New Forest in those days was a very
different place from the New Forest of to-day. Except that a few of
the present enclosures (the smaller ones only) were bounded by posts
connected with two flat rusty iron strips it was much the same as it
had been throughout the centuries. There were no restrictions of any
kind and one could walk all day long without seeing a human being.
During all the years I was there J never saw a man with a net nor the
black mark of sugar on a tree-trunk. Presumably the visiting entomo-
logists made Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst their headquarters and
‘ worked ’ only the enclosures round about those small towns—little more
than villages then. Once I trekked across the Forest for a fortnight
with a chum, sleeping in a tent. The camp fire at night was usually
visited by a friendly keeper who would stay for a yarn and, having
assured himself that the fire was ‘ safe,’ would go back to his cottage.
The Forest was sparsely populated and a surpassingly lovely place; tor
there were no human inhabitants other than the villagers and keepers.
The present hamlet of Stoney Cross did not exist, though the Compton

NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. 345

Arms was there—with an old cottage or two between it and Malwood,
- where the silent and rather saturnine Vernon Harcourt used to live.

I kept no regular diary during those years—would that I had—but
my memories of the Lepidoptera are still vivid and I shall say nothing
about them here; for moths and butterflies, particularly the larger
species, were in such profusion as only those who knew the Forest in
the last century can understand. It was indeed an earthly paradise
for the entomologist.

Later in the same decade I went to live on the borders of Berkshire
and Hampshire and ‘ worked’ Burghfield Common—where Hndromis
versicolora was then plentiful—and the pine and heather country to-
wards Stratfield Mortimer and as far as Pamber Forest, and had many
a glass of ale at the ancient Fighting Cocks inn, burnt to the ground
fifty years ago. One of the commonest butterflies, I see from my diary,
was Nymphalis polychloros; White Admirals and the larger fritillaries
were abundant too, and so were Catocala promissa and Aegeria spheci-
formis, the White-belted Clearwing, whose larvae we used to hew out
of the alder stools in coppiced woodlands. Hheu fugaces! There were
20 million less people in England in the ’nineties than there are to-
day, and perhaps 4 million less houses. Building in the open country-
side had not yet begun.

Yes, a diary can recall happy days; but it contains the elements of
sadness too...

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

Eurrhypara hortulata Linn. The larva of this common insect. may
often be found in a cocoon under loose bark on trees where nettles grow.
It responds to gently forcing, pupating in a week or so instead of in
May, its natural time, and emerges in another three weeks as a rule.
Anyone therefore who wants the moth would do well to collect and force
the full-fed larva, as he can then set the moth in the dead season instead
of in the full rush of June collecting. I have had this moth brought
to me two or three times in January by people who have found it in
their kitchen in that month. No doubt the larva had crawled in when
seeking a place to pupate and had been forced by the heat of the fire.
This insect also caused me a great disappointment at the age of nine.
I found a number of the larvae in their final cocoons in March under
loose but healthy fir-bark, and after going through ‘‘ Newman ”’ several
times decided I had an unknown clearwing, so that I was not exactly
pleased when hortulata emerged.

Aphomia sociella Linn. The nasty-looking larva of this moth, which
looks at a first glance like a ‘‘ leather-jacket ’’ with a lepidopterous -
head, has a habit of emerging from the bumble-bees’ or wasps’ nests
in which it has fed and spinning gregariously under a plank or at times
in a hollow log. It also, as is well known, often spins in the old nest.
In 1950 I threw a roll of rotten linoleum into the garden and, unknown
to me, it landed on a bumble-bee’s nest. In the spring of 1951 as I was
moving house and did not want to leave too much rubbish for my
successor, I went to burn this and found inside it at least 200 cocoons
of sociella.

346 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XIT/1952

Evetria resinella Lin. The big resin-galls containing the larva of
this moth are conspicuous in its own districts of Scotland and may be
taken in December. It must be remembered that the caterpillar has
a two-year life-history, so that smaller galls are no use and should not
be taken, as the larva does not feed in a cut shoot. The large galls,
however, will now contain the full-grown larvae and if kept out of
doors they are easy to rear. It is said that full-grown larvae are only
found every other year. ae

Many things as well as larvae of resinella inhabit its galls. The late
Robert Adkin, who for several years employed Salvage to collect them
for him, told me that he bred from the galls Laspeyresta cosmophorana
Treit. (several), L: coniferana Ratz. (a few), and five specimens of a
Dioryctria, which at first he thought to be a new insect but afterwards
decided was only abietella Fab. He very kindly gave me one of these
and although it does not appear to be of quite the same facies as my
other abietella T can find no decisive points of difference.

Practical Hints

Winter is usually considered the slack season for the lepidopterist.
But this is true only of the armchair collector: it can be the busiest
season of the year if so desired. There are several species of macro-
lepidoptera to be had by searching hedges and bushes after dark, there
are larvae in plenty on banks and in hedgerows throughout the night—
larvae which are to be found only with difficulty, and in much smaller
numbers, later on. There are eggs to be found on twigs and there are
pupae to be unearthed.

Winter is a good time to search for the cocoons of Harpyia bicuspis.
This species seems to occur throughout the length and breadth of
England and can usually be taken by those who make a ‘ dead set’ at
it—witness Dr. Chapman and Mr Miles Moss, who took it in fair num-
bers in Herefordshire and Norfolk respectively. The best way to find
it can be compressed into one word —assiduity. There is no ‘ royal
road’: it is a matter of keeping on, spending mornings and afternoons,
day after day, scrutinising birch trunks.

Attention should be paid to the Clearwings at this season. Aegeria
culiciformis probably occurs in birchwoods throughout the country and
lives, as a larva, under the bark on the stumps of birches felled the
previous year. (Whenever you see, during the course of a winter’s
walk, men coppicing a birchwood, make a note of the spot in your diary,
for future reference). Frass in plenty between bark and wood is a sign
of this insect’s presence; but often round holes in the wood, under the
bark, are the only indications. The larva feeds upwards, eating the
wood only, and spins a cocoon just under the surface in September,
pupating the following April or even May. So it is wiser to mark the
stump and conduct excavations next spring.

The stumps of recently felled oaks shouid always be prospected for
Aegeria vespiformis. The moss-pick will enable you to pull a little of
the bark, here and there, away from the wood and thus perchance dis-
cover the presence of the larvae. They live between the bark and the
wood, the female moth having laid her eggs, in the summer, on the

Py

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 347

stumps of trees felled the previous winter. Frass and much chewed wood
usually indicate their presence. Larvae of this species have also been
found under the bark of elms, poplars, old birches and hawthorns. The
dark brown cocoon is usually close to the top of the stump.

Orchard apple and pear trees, if they are old and cankered, will
probably harbour A. myopaeformis. The larva lives under the living
bark. Light brown frass, which it shovels out of its burrow, is the
sign manual. Occasionally myopaeformis inhabits old hawthorns. All
_the Clearwings remain throughout the winter in the larval stage, and
as they are difficult to rear in captivity it is better to mark affected
trees and cut out the pupae in early spring.

Notes and Observations

MACROGLOSSUM STELLATARUM I. IN 1952.—I have seen this species only

three times in Bournemouth this year: 7th June, one in my garden; 24th
August, one at Petunia on the East Cliff; 4th October, one at Physo-
stegia in my garden. [I also saw one at Sandwich, Kent, on 7th July.—
H. Symes, 52 Lowther Road, Bournemouth. 27.x.52.
In response to your request for records of Macroglossum
stellatarum L. I would like to report one seen feeding at Verbena at
Carshalton, Surrey, on 4th October, about 4 p.m. on a bright sunny
afternoon.—F.. M. StrutuHers, 143a Gander Green Lane, Cheam, Surrey.
—13.x.52.

Seconp Broop or GASTROPACHA QUERCIFOLIA L.—A female caught in
my light-trap in early August laid a batch of eggs which hatched in
about 14 days. The larvae were fed on plum, and whilst the majority
have now settled down to hibernation, 4 went on feeding, attained full
crowth, and pupated on 29th September. To-day the first imago has
emerged. It is very much smaller than normal and is I presume the
var. hoeget Heuacker referred to by South in Moths of the British
Isles —F. W. Byers, 59 Gurney Court Road, St. Albans, Herts.
14.x.52.

Stconp Broop or APatTurRA tris LiInn.—Five eggs of Apatura iris
were collected by me at the end of July last and four of these duly
hatched. The larvae fed up in the usual manner, but early in Sep-
tember I noticed that one had tended to outstrip its fellows as regards
size. J therefore kept this precocious larva in a separate cage, but
under the same conditions as the others, and on 12th October it
pupated. No artificial means were adopted to ‘ force’ the insect with
high temperatures, and on 29th October a perfect female imago emerged
from this pupa. Is there any previous record of this species being
double brooded in captivity?—F. W. Byrrs, 59 Gurney Court Road,
St. Albans, Herts. 29.x.52.

Procus vEeRsIcotor BoRKHAUSEN IN IRELAND.—I have found in the
Donovan collection a male Procus versicolor Borkh. labelled ‘‘ Ummera,
Co. Cork, 21.vi.1931, Donovan.’’ Ummera House, where Miss Donovan
ahd her sister Mrs. Lucas lived is near Timoleague. The specimen has
' bright pale red median and basal areas with medium brown on each
side of the median band, and a broad whitish marginal area. It is

348 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XIT/ 1952

perhaps referable to ab. fasciata Tutt. The genitalia have been
examined. This is the first example to be recorded from Ireland.—
K. A. Cockayne, 8 High Street, Tring.

HyYDRAECIA PETASITIS DoUBLEDAY IN HERTFORDSHIRE.—On 15.ix.1952
I took a worn male Hydraecia petasitis in the m.v. light trap in my
garden. This is a new record for the county. The nearest butterbur
grows along the canal three or more miles away.—A. L. Goopson, 26
Park Road, Tring, Herts.

HapeEna carsta ScHIFF. ON THE IstE or CannA.—In The Entomologist,
1952, 85, 239, J. L. Campbell records the capture of five specimens of
H. caesia in his m.v. light trap in the Isle of Canna, Hebrides.

THE OccURRENCE OF HADENA CAESIA SCHIFF. ON THE ISLE OF RHUM.—
This very rare moth is to be taken on the rather low cliffs which lie
along the south-west shores of the island between Harris and the
Abhainn Fiachanis. In this station it is attached to the clumps of sea
campion (Silene maritima) growing on cliff ledges and in crevices. As
this plant is limited to the west of Rhum, labour spent in seeking the
insect in other stations than the coastal zones lying between Kilmory
and Harris would be wasted. In accessible places, larvae are easily
obtained by lifting the mat formed by the stems and roots of the food
plant in day time, when they are readily seen amongst the debris cover-
ing the rock surface.—J. W. Hestop Harrison, King’s College, New-
castle-upon-Tyne. 28.x.52.

THe Rance oF APATELE EUPHORBIAE SSP. MYRICAE IN THE INNER
HesRripes.—We first discovered this interesting insect in the Isle of
South Rona where the larvae were really plentiful on various trees and
shrubs. Subsequently, the species proved to be equally common in the
extreme north of Raasay on the Lewisian gneiss, and upon the adjacent
Isle of Fladday. During the war, the larvae were not rare on sweet
gale along the north-east shores of Loch Cliad, Isle of Coll, whilst, finally,
it turned up on the Isle of Rhum. On the latter island, it occurs at two
widely separated points, Glen Duian in the south west, where larvae
were collected from meadow sweet, bramble, iris, etc., and on the moor-
lands north of Loch Scresort in the east, where larvae were obtained
from many moorland plants, and imagines captured at rest on the bare
rock faces so characteristic of the Torridonian Sandstone areas.—J. W.
Hestop Harrison, King’s College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 28.x.52.

THE RANGE OF OPEROPHTERA BRUMATA IN THE HEBRIDES.—In view of
the great importance of O. brumata and its wingless female in zoo-
geographical researches, it is considered advisable to state now in what
stations we regard it as a genuine native, and at what points we look
upon it as an introduction. As far as the Hebrides are concerned, we
first encountered it on the Isle of Raasay where it is far from common
but feeds upon many forest trees. In this island, of mainland proclivi-
ties, it is undoubtedly native. In Rhum, Eigg, Canna and Muck, on the
other hand, where its larvae feed, for the most part, on introduced
plants, it must be an introduction, except in relict hazel thickets. On
the Isle of Mull, in the only habitat known to us, we discovered its food-
plant to be lime with which alien tree the insect had reached the island,

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 349

whilst on Coll it was attached to blackthorn on the moorlands and is
thus native.

In the Outer Isles, we detected it feeding on many trees and shrubs
in the Lews Castle Woods, Stornoway, and on black poplar at Barvas,
both localities being on the Isle of Lewis. Here again we can only regard
it as an introduction. Passing southward to the Isle of Harris, we have
found the larvae spinning the shoots of Calluna vulgaris together in Glen
Geirsdale. The same habit is displayed in the Allt Volagir ravine on
South Uist where it finds an additional foodplant in the hazel. Further
south, on the same island, and nearer Lochboisdale, it favours Salix
aurita. In all its Harris and S. Uist localities it is certainly native.—
J. W. Hestop Harrison, King’s College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 28.x.52.

THE FooprLaNnts oF ABRAXAS GROSSULARIATA I.. IN THE HEBRIDES.—
Throughout the Hebrides, the foodplant preferred by this insect is
Calluna vulgaris, and upon this plant it occurs in enormous numbers
on the Isles of Lewis, Harris, South Uist, Raasay and Rhum. Else-
where, it may be found on almost every island, but in smaller numbers,
attached to the same plant. Even when gooseberry, red currant and
black currant are readily available, as they are on Raasay and Rhum,
the species does not desert its normal foodplant. Occasionally, however,
it will turn its attention to Erica cinerea for oviposition purposes, and
I have more rarely noted it upon Sedum rosewm (Isle of Vatersay),
Corylus Avellana (Isle of S. Uist), Salix aurita (Isle of Harris) and S.
atrocinerea (Isle of Rhum).—J. W. Hestor Harrison, King’s College,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 28.x.52.

Late Date FOR DEUTERONOMOS EROSARIA ScHIFF.—I took a male Deu-
teronomos erosaria, in fair condition, at hight here on the night of 1st-
2nd November.—F. H. Lyon, Sampford Peverell, Tiverton, Devon.
2.x1.52.

Fruicut TIME oF STERRHA SERIATA SCHRANK (VIRGULARIA HtUBN.).—
At West Wickham during the first fortnight of September 1952 I fre-
quently noticed this species flying about 7 p.m. (an hour or so before
dusk), and on one occasion observed a male alight upon and imbibe from
the flowers of Solidago canadensis, a cultivated form of golden-rod often
seen in gardens about here. I was not previously aware that this
species flew naturally during daylight nor that it had a regular flight at
this time. The specimens were probably second brood examples, but I
do not yet know if there is an equivalent flight with the July brood and
I shall therefore look out for one next year, all being well.—J. M.
CHALMERS-Hotnt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West Wickham, Kent. 10.x.52.

ASTHENA ALBULATA HuFN. (CANDIDATA SCHIFF.): PROBABLE SECOND
Broop 1n 1952.—I took a single ¢ of this species in the Orelestone Woods
on 16th August 1952.—J. M. Coatmers-Hunt, 70 Chestnut Avenue, West |
Wickham, Kent. 10.x.52.

A Note on THECLA BETULAE L.—I believe it is commonly acknow-
ledged, and is also a fact, that Thecla betulae L. is seldom seen, much
less taken, on the wing. This record may therefore be of interest. This
year I put a friend on to the well known locality here in Brockenhurst
as I was laid up at the time and could not go myself. He had only three
days to spare at this locality and luckily the weather was fine from the

350 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, vou. 64. 15 / XII /1952

9th to the 11th of August. On the first day he took a single female on
bramble and saw another out of reach of the net. On the 10th August
he took two 9 @ and one 4, and on the 11th two 9 9—six specimens in
all in perfect condition, evidently just emerged. He found the insect
easy of capture and most of them were taken at rest on bramble and the
remainder on plants other than the foodplant. The locality comprises
several hundred acres of blackthorn, very densely grown and impenetrable
over a very large area, and it is owing to this that the insect has not
been exterminated. Every year many collectors visit the spot to beat
for the larvae and I have taken a good few in past years. No beating
can be done in the densely grown parts; thus the insect has a sanctuary
in which to breed and from which it distributes itself to the get-at-able
edges of the impenetrable areas and outlying isolated bushes.—Cuas. B.
ANTRAM, Heathside, Latchmore, Brockenhurst, Hants. 17.x.52.

Notes From West Kent.—The past season by all accounts has been
a poor one. In my garden Vanessids have been few in number; on
Buddleias I usually see six or seven V. 10, urticae or atalanta when the
sun is shining, but this autumn I have rarely seen as many as three.
Pieris rapae has been fairly plentiful, but P. brassicae and napi have
been scarce; I have not found a single larva or pupa of brassicae or
bunch of Apanteles on any cabbage or nasturtium leaf or on the adjacent
walls. A small immigration of Pierids, almost all P. rapae, occurred in
a field of lucerne near my house on 29th August. Normally I pass this
field almost every day. On that date, passing as usual, I noticed a
great increase of Pierids, mostly P. rapae. The owner of the field had
noticed this influx also. There were two or possibly three Colias croceus
with them. After two or three days numbers were normal again. I hear
that a similar happening occurred further north.

I sugared regularly in my garden during August and September
but could not go further afield. A. secalis and P. meticulosa were com-
mon and A. zanthographa especially so. Many specimens were under-
sized and there was a good deal of variation. LL. pallens was common
both at sugar and indoor light in my north room. An interesting new
capture for my district was a single Nola albula Schf. which flew in on
17th July.

An imago of A. atropos was brought to me from Hawkhurst on 16th
September. It had flown in to a lighted room. J was able to examine
ivy blossom at Broadstairs in mid-October. Insects were scarce; P.
meticulosa was the most common, and one F. lichenea was also taken.—
G. V. Butt, White Gables, Sandhurst, Kent. 2.xi.52.

A Note on DE&ILEPHILA ELPENOR L.—In 1951 I recorded (Ent. Rec.,
63: 3901) that I had found 242 larvae of Deilephila elpenor L. I at-
tempted to rear them all and succeeded in obtaining 181 pupae which
looked healthy. The other 61 larvae either died of virus disease or pro-
duced deformed pupae. On 23rd May 1952 the first imagines emerged
and by 2nd July I had had 112 perfect specimens in the rearing-cage ;
28 pupae had dried up and 41 had produced the ichneumon fly Ambly-
joppa laminatoria Fab.

I released 50 imagines, but this has had little apparent effect on |
the abundance of the insect in the district; although [ have searched
the same area of waste land with the same diligence as last year J have

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 351

been able to find only 72 D. elpenor larvae. The first full-grown one in
the wild state was found on 30th July and the last one on 12th Sep-
tember. This is rather earlier than last year. Of the 72 larvae only
4 were green in the last instar.

The ichneumon flies (A. laminatoria) surprised me by emerging a
fortnight before the host species although all the pupae were kept in
the same box under the same conditions. Moreover all the males had
emerged a week before the first female lJaminatoria had put in an ap-
pearance. It would appear from this that A. laminatoria is long-lived
in the imaginal stage.

Although T examined all my elpenor imagines very carefully there
appeared to be very little variation in the colouration. Apart from
the appearance of larger quantities of green scales on the hindwings
in a few specimens there was no measurable difference in the whole
batch. The species does not seem to be given very much to variation
though Barrett records a specimen having the middle portion of the
forewings devoid of scales and diaphanous, the margins, more especi-
ally the hind margin, being clouded with smoky black.

One evening when a few elpenor imagines were released I was morti-
fied to see four or five sparrows swoop down from the roof. Tuckily only
seven insects were airborne when I realised my mistake. Only two
escaped; the sparrows knocked the others down and carried them off
triumphantly in a few seconds. I consoled myself with the thought that,
anyway, they were feeding growing families. J did not, however, give
them any more free meals, but released the remaining imagines after
dark. I did release a few redundant A. laminatoria imagines in the
same place at the same time of evening, and the same sparrows attacked.
They did not grapple, but after flying alongside for a while they left
the parasites severely alone. One fly was knocked down, but the sparrow
looked at it carefully and would not touch it.—J. H. Jowunson, 53
Knighton Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 29.x.52.

[I once had a similar experience with a female Smerinthus ocellata
L., whose wing-span must have been nearly that of a young sparrow.
The sparrow had no difficulty in taking it while they were both on the
wing, within a few feet of me, and carried it to a roof-ridge where it
proceeded to eat it.—P.B.M.A.]

DyssTROMA TRUNCATA HUFN. IN THE Kerry Mountains.—My limited
experience with the species of Dysstroma which Donovan found in the
mountains of Co. Kerry and regarded as a sub-species of D. concinnata
Steph. tends to confirm the view of Dr. E. A. Cockayne that it is, in
fact, a single brooded race of D. truncata (Ent. Rec., 64, 291-2).

On the 19th July 1947 at ‘‘ Windy Gap ” between Killarney and
Kenmare, at about 800 ft., I caught a few of these moths. Among them
was a worn female which I kept for eggs. Only ten eggs were laid be-
fore the insect died. The larvae hatched between the Ist and 3rd
August and were later sleeved on sallow in a Dublin garden, where
hibernation took place. Six of the larvae survived the winter and were
fed on sallow in a cool shed in the garden. Ultimately four imagines
emerged between the 18th and 20th May 1948. These moths are larger
than the wild ‘‘ Windy Gap ” specimens (wing expanse about 35 mm.
‘as compared with 31 mm.) and appear to be indistinguishable from
normal spring brood D. truncata.

352 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XTT/1952

I do not question that Donovan was right in saying that the race
of moths in the Kerry mountains is single brooded and appears nor-
mally in July only. I visited the ‘‘ Windy Gap ”’ locality during the
first week in June 1948 and saw no sign of them. I went there again
on the 28th August 1951 and found none; though at a slightly lower
level, down by the road, there were some nice forms of D.. citrata L.
It seems, however, that if the larvae are made to pass the winter in a
milder climate near sea level and are fed on more succulent food than
they find in their bleak mountain habitat, they behave like nor-
mal truncata.

I was unable to obtain a pairing among the four moths which
emerged in May, so cannot be certain that they would have produced a
second brood in August. It seems likely, however, that they could have
done so.—E. 8. A. Baynss, 2 Arkendale Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin.

ASSEMBLING WITH SATURNIA PAVONIA L. IN DERBYSHIRE.—Early in the
morning of 17th May 1952 a fine large 2 Saturnia pavonia L. emerged
in my breeding-cage. It was a sunny day so I decided to watch once

-more the assembling of the Emperors. Accordingly I carried my moth
to the heather moors 1,000 feet above sea-level looking out over Darley
Dale and Chatsworth Park. At 3.10 p.m. I happened to be standing on
the road talking to the Duke of Devonshire’s gamekeeper, who was
anxious about his grouse chicks. The Empress was in my valise, inside
a cardboard box with a gauze lid. Two minutes later, at 3.12 p.m.,
two male pavonia came upwind and dived into my valise. George, the
gamekeeper, was astonished. I placed the box containing the female on
the road, and we caught and timed the males as they appeared. They
were so excited they could be picked up by hand. At first they came
singly, but after 4.0 p.m. they arrived in twos and threes.

In order to judge for myself if the female exercised any kind of dis-
crimination between suitors I placed her on the ground without any
covering at all at 4.20 p.m. Three males appeared immediately, and
the first one who proposed was accepted. A little fluttering of the wings,
and at 4.21 they were wn cop. I saw no evidence of selection; perhaps
the female had grown impatient. TIT left them where they were until
5.0 p.m., when I went home. Until I went away males continued to
arrive on the scene, and when they discovered they were too late they
carried on against the wind, still searching. Altogether I counted 52
males attracted to this female in the space of 110 minutes. It was a
fine warm day with a gentle south-westerly wind blowing.

As I walked down the road I saw a female S. pavonia resting on the
heather a few inches above its cocoon. Her wings were still limp and
moist. I boxed her carefully and carried her home. By 10.0 p.m. I was
surprised to see that she had laid 200 eggs. These were all fertile and
hatched on 29th May. I attempted to rear them on birch. They
flourished until they were about one inch long, when they all ceased to
feed, and died. JI have usually fed S. pavonia larvae on heather and
have found them exceedingly easy to rear.—J. H. Jonnson, 53 Knighton
Street, Hepthorne Lane, Chesterfield. 29.x.52.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE COLOURATION OF INsECTS.—For several years
Dr. Saadet Ergene has been conducting a series of experiments on the

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 353

the Bosphorus and publishing the results from time to time, in which she
records some interesting conclusions.

In one series she introduced ten yellow and ten green larvae of the
common South European grasshopper Acrida turrita into a green cage
and an hour or two later inserted a chameleon, and then the experi-
ment was repeated with a yellow cage. The experiments were kept up
for periods of 13 to two hours. In the first case, with a male chameleon,
in the green cage 70% of the yellow larvae were eaten and only 30% of
the green; the results with a female chameleon were similar, 76.4% and
23.6%. In the other experiment, in a yellow cage, the results were re-
versed, the male lizard taking 81% green and 18.7%, the female taking
83.6% and 16.4%.

2000 grasshoppers were used in the experiments, half green, half
yellow. The conclusion is that of the 704 recorded as eaten by the
lizards, the proportion of heterochromous taken was very substantially
greater than of the homochromous and consequently the latter are
better protected than the former. (Deutsche Zool. Zeitschr., 1951, p.
187).

Another series of experiments was conducted to observe whether
the grasshoppers select a homochromous environment. An earlier ex-
periment with the same grasshopper had shewn that they do so, and
this time she conducted her experiments with the coloured winged grass-
hoppers, Oedipoda caerulescens, Oed. miniatu and Acrotylus longipes,

all of which are very variable in colour and resemble their surroundings.

For these experiments she used big cages, measuring 2. m. in length
by 1.50 breadth and 1.25 in height: half the floor was covered with red
earth, the other with gravel, a sand or earth of different tints in
different cages. The experiments were elaborate, with various forms of
the grasshoppers, on different backgrounds, and at various times. The
results are tabulated in detail in her paper ‘‘ Wdhlen Heuschrecken ein
homochromes Milieu? in Deutsche Zool. Zeitschr. 1951, p. 123, and they
show that in the vast majority of instances the grasshoppers selected a
homochromous background. It is important to have organised experi-
ments confirm what so many of us have observed in the field, but
casually.

A third paper by the same experimenter deals with the question
whether grasshoppers can and do change their colour according to their
background. This is not so simple a matter, either to observe or de-
scribe, as several tints are concerned; but it was shown that green
larvae, if kept a sufficiently long time in an environment of another
colour, red, orange, yellow, violet, black or white, do undergo a cor-
responding change of colour and it appears certain that it is only the
colour of the background. that influences this change. Naturally, the
changes are not absolute, nor can the insects put on any new colour at
will, as it were, but only within the limits of the chemical composition
of their pigmentation. (Farbanpassung entsprechend der jeweiligen
Substratfdrbung bet Acrida turrita: Zeitschr. f. vergl., Physiologie,
Bd. 34, S. 69-74, 1952)—Matcorm Burr, D.Sc., Insihah sokagi 34,
Bebek, Istanbul.

A SrrancE NOMENCLATORIAL MIsconcEPTION.—In the Proc. South
‘Lond. Ent. and Nat. Hist. Soc., 1951-1952, p. 21, there is a record of
a Mantolu jurtinu Linn. @ taken in Dorset in July 1951. lt is said to

354 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ X11 / 1952

have the lett side ssp. splendida-alba Leeds and the right side ssp.
jurtina. There is no ssp. splendida-alba Leeds, but there is a ssp.
splendida Buchanan White, confined to Gareloch and Longa Island off
the W. Ross-shire coast, and there is an ab. alba Blackie. There is no
ab. alba Leeds. Leeds in his paper refers to ab. alba Frohawk, a path-
ological form qnite unlike ab. alba Blackie, and the name is preoc-
cupied. I know that two subspecies may meet and sometimes interbreed,
but [ cannot imagine two subspecies meeting in the same insect. Dorset
and W. Ross-shire are a long way apart. What an enormous insect with
its right side in Dorset and its left side in the Highlands of Scotland!
This monster should have been described in the paper by Col. Noel
Hudson, entitled ‘‘Fabulous Fauna’’. It is quite out of place in the
sober account of the Annual Exhibition.—Ep.

ORESSIGENA (NOMEN NUDUM).—With reference to Dr. Cockayne’s note
on this name, as applied to Dysstroma concinnata Stephens, there is in
fact a published reference, which appeared under somewhat unusual
circumstances. I knew Col. Donovan and his collection extremely well
and I am able to supply the reference.

There is a paper in The Scottish Naturalist, July-August 1931, to-
gether with a colour plate of (among others) D. concinnata, from S.
Uist. The paper is by Dr. O. H. Wild—a friend of Col. Donovan—and
it covers pp. 113-119. Dr. Wild—who had close contact with Col.
Donovan in entomological matters as he lived nearby—deals with his own
captures of concinnata in S. Uist but also refers to Donovan’s Irish
specimens. Here is a full extract of his note on the subject which could
be said to include ‘‘ a description ’’:

‘¢ CIDARIA (DYSSTROMA) CONCINNATA. Fig. 3.

An interesting form of the Geometrid moth Cidaria (Dysstroma)
concinnata was found in some numbers sitting on vertical faces of
rocks among heather in South Uist at Loch Druidibeg on 15th
July. Prout considers C. concinnata to be a good species as
proved by the male genitalia, and not just a form of Cidaria
truncata. He gives as the distribution ‘‘ chiefly in the Isle of
Arran, though one or two examples have been recorded from the
Western Mainland of Scotland.’’ Colonel C. Donovan, to whom I
have submitted the South Uist specimens, tells me they are similar
to examples he has taken in hilly districts of S.W. Cork and
Kerry in Ireland. These lack the russet colouring of the Arran
species. He considers these examples from Ireland and South Uist
to be worthy of subspecific rank, and intends to call this subspecies
Cidaria concinnata oressigena (Mountain bred).’’

There is, in fact, no published note of Donovan’s regarding oressigena
and I would presume that Wild’s note will have no standing in respect
of validity of name, but nevertheless that is the earliest pe
reference to it.

I recall Donovan’s series very well and I would have said that they
were indeed distinguishable from British trwncata. They are not like
concinnata from Arran, but they have a very ‘‘ woolly’’ appearance
when set alongside truncata and the markings on the hindwings are more
distinct.—P. S1virer Smith, 21 Melville Hall, Holly Road, Edgbaston,
Birmingham, 16.

[This makes it ssp. oressigena Wild.—Ep. ]

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 355

Wasps Attacking PrieRIs BRAssicaE L.—I have read with interest
Dr. Neville L. Birkett’s article on ‘Moths and Wasps’ in the September
issue and feel that my own observations, noted in August and September
of this year, are worth putting on record.

Whilst working in a greenhouse on 28th August I was surprised to
see what I thought was a Pieris brassicue flying in a rather peculiar
manner. On looking close I realised that it was a wasp carrying a
hindwing between its legs. It was flying to and fro near the roof of
the greenhouse and before I could catch it, it made its escape and flew
off. Jt would be interesting to know for what purpose the wing was
wanted by the wasp. It is possible that the wasp was also carrying the
butterfly’s thorax as I was not close enough to be able to say definitely
that only the wing was carried. I am certain, however, that the ab-
domen was not present as such a lengthy burden would certainly have
shown under the wasp’s abdomen.

The second observation J made was on 23rd September when I saw
a wasp descend on to a squashed P. brassicae larva (about half-grown),
gather it between its legs, and fly off.

On 24th September I was able to watch this procedure more closely,
and in this case the victims were active larvae crawling on the ground.
A wasp was first noticed busy on the ground. Closer scrutiny revealed
that the wasp was on top of a larva and was busy gathering it up
between its legs. It then flew off. About ten minutes later another
wasp (or was it the same one?) was seen hovering just above the ground.
It flew up to within about half to cne inch of several larvae until it
finally saw one that seemed to suit it. This was about half-grown. The
wasp descended on the rear of the larva and attacked it vigorously with
its jaws, chewing the unfortunate living larva up into a pulp. No at-
tempt was made to use the sting and although the larva struggled at
first it seemed helpless in the grip of the wasp’s forelegs and jaws. As
the larva was chewed the resulting pulp was packed between the wasp’s
feet. When the whole larva had been dealt with in this way the wasp
flew away. About half an hour later a similar procedure was seen to he
followed by another wasp.—B. O. C. Garpiner, 34a Storey’s Way, Cam-
bridge. 15.x.52.

Autres Pays, Autres Morurs.—When I was at school a French
lad arrived in the town. He was a very keen lepidopterist and
he had an introduction to me. His methods appeared to me very un-
- usual and to this day I have never met anyone else who employed them.
He used to go out at the very crack of dawn armed with a pair of forceps
and pill boxes and find (and box) butterflies as they slept. How he
found them’and where he found them I do not know as the School rules
were somewhat strict and would not allow such ramblings at such an
hour. But he was very successful. When he set them he used boards
of which he did not have many. He dried his set butterflies in the
oven so that they were set in a matter of hours. Is this method satis-
factory, and is it normal on the continent?—Rev. P. C. Hawker, Gautby
Rectory, Wragby, Lincolnshire. 17.x.52.

THE (ENTOMOLOGICAL) CaRE oF CHURCHES.—At a time when an ap-
‘peal is being brought before the public for the care of ancient churches
it might not be out of place to mention what appears to be the special

356 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ X11 / 1952

problem of the Wold churches here in Lincolnshire. These churches are
for the most part built of sandstone, and in summer colonies of Osmia
rufa L. or Colletes daviesana Smith may be seen flying by the church
wall and in and out of holes in that wall. Locally it was believed that
these Hymenoptera actually bored into the sandstone and so caused
the deterioration of the stone. As the amount of damage to the Wold
churches is very considerable every avenue of this subject has to be
explored. ch epee

Dr. Yarrow of the Natural History Museum has kindly identified
several other insects found flying with Osmia rufa at Horncastle
church. These include Trypoxylun figulus L. and the common para-
site of Osmia, Chrysis ignmita L. On the assumption that the bees
destroyed the stone many suggestions have locally been made, such as
spraying the walls with DDT, breeding the parasite, and even the total
extermination of the ‘ ladybird ’ which appears to be the favourite food
of Osmia rufa! These suggestions can, of course, never be carried out
on the scale needed.

On closer examination of the turret stair on the S.W. corner of
Horncastle parish church where activity is greatest, it was found that
this turret stair was a later addition to the church and built of very
soft sandstone; so soft had it indeed become that a soft tap with a
hammer brought away a handful of powdered sandstone. This shows
that Osmia rufa only bores into stone that is so soft that it can hardly
be called stone. This is borne out at my own church at Minting St.
Andrew where there are no bees active now; but they have obviously
been there in the past and worked out all the soft sandstone leaving
cavities down to the hard stone behind. Doubtless when the weather
softens this hard stone they will again begin their attack.

It therefore appears that the only remedy is to renew the soft sand-
stone with newer and harder stone of the same colour. If any entomo-
logists have any observations to make on this I should be most grate-
ful to hear them.—Rev. P. C. Hawker, Gauthby Rectory, Wragby, Lin-
colnshire. 17.x.52.

CoLLETES DAVIESIANA SMITH IN THE HEBRIDES.—With the capture cf
this bee in June this year on the sand dunes at the mouth of the Coll
River in the Isle of Lewis, the insect has now been noted on every island
of any size in the Outer Hebrides from the Isle of Pabbay (Barra Isles)
northward to the Isle of Lewis. In the Inner Isles, we have observed
it on the Isles of Coll, Tiree, Colonsay and Rhum. On the latter island
it occurred in 1951 in enormous numbers on the dunes at Kilmory.—
J. W. Hestor Harrison, King’s College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 28.x.52.

BomMBus SMITHIANUS WHITE Visits THE HEBRIDEAN SEA ROockKEeET,
CaKILE EDENTULA (BIGEL.) HOOKER, IN THE ISLE oF ENsay.—This predom-
inantly American plant, detected by me a few years ago in the Outer
Hebrides, does not seem to attract many insects although I have some-
times noted beetles of the genus Meligethes at its flowers. However,
when I was exploring the Isle of Ensay, lying in the Sound of Harris,
I discovered that its flowers were patronised freely by queens and
workers of the Hebridean Bee, Bombus smithianus. Knuth (Handbook
of Flower Pollination, Vol. II, p. 124) mentions that Bombus lapidarius
probes flowers of the Common Sea Rocket, Cakile maritima Scop., for

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. SOT

nectar. On Ensay, B. smithianus usually prefers the blossoms of An-
thyllis Vulneraria, Lotus corniculatus, Trifolium repens, Thymus Ser-
pyllum and Rhinanthus stenophyllus when in search of food on the
dunes, but elsewhere it selects Pedicularis sylvatica, Erica cinerea,
Calluna vulgaris, Hypochaeris radicata and Bartsia odontites.—J. W.
Hestop Harrison, King’s College, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 28.x.52.

Biocks versus Boarps.—My ‘“‘ Thoughts on Setting Lepidoptera ”’
in the July-August number of this magazine (pp. 208-211) has not
brought as many rejoinders as I hoped, but several correspondents have
referred to it with interest in their letters, and next month we hope
to print a short illustrated article by Colonel S. H. KersHaw, who has
invented a travelling-case which holds blocks just as securely as boards,
so that one of the objections to the block method disappears.

Several correspondents, no less than Mr. W. E. Mtnnton in his able
criticism printed in the September number (pp. 247-8), take exception to
my statement that all setting is ‘‘ an appalling waste of time,’’ and
there is no gainsaying Mr MrInnion’s assertion that setting is ‘‘ a de-
terrent to the mass slaughter of insects ’’—-though I am not so confident
that it is ‘‘ excellent grounding for careful work in all phases of ento-
mological research.’’ Surely in the prosecution of a science all time
spent in the mechanical preparation of specimens for study is time
wasted. If medical students had to prepare bodies for dissection (a
tedious lengthy process), or busy professional pathologists the prepara-
tion of microscope slides and the cutting of sections, or physicists the as-
sembling of intricate apparatus in the laboratory, they would be wasting
their time as surely as time can be wasted. That this is generally ac-
cepted is indicated by the fact that workmen or assistants are specially
employed for these purposes. Would one expect a museum zoologist to
stuff and mount the large mammals which he places in his gallery for
study? Carry the argument to its logical end and one may ask whether
a professional footballer would become a better player if he had to make
the footballs he uses, or a professional cricketer more skilled if he were
obliged to manufacture cricket balls.

That more specimens can be set in an hour by the block method than
by the board system must, of course, depend on the skill of the setter.
An adept at board setting would, doubtless, have no difficulty in defeat-
ing a beginner who used blocks. But the block adept could whack the
board adept hollow—as Mr. R. F. BretHerton, who has experience of
both methods, remarks (p. 260): ‘‘ blocks have much advantage of speed
and handiness.’’ So far from there being an ‘‘ enormous loss of time. . .
from having to unwind each insect separately, remove it from the block
and then wind up the wool again for storage ’’ as Mr. MINNION suggests,
I, old as I am, can unwind a block in less than one second. The left side
of the block is taken between first finger and thumb of the left hand,
the tip of the finger holding the wool on the left side of the block. With
the right hand one gives a pull sideways, and the windings are off the
right side. The right finger and thumb then grip the block, and the wool
is given a single pull to the left by the left hand. The wool is off in a
trice. These movements become automatic, and with practice the pro-
cedure is almost instantaneous. Pectinated antennae are not endangered
- because the pectinations of moths are always either downwards, or
downwards and forwards, or in the same plane as the wings when set.

358 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VoL. 64. 15 / X11 /1952

Another objection to blocks, namely that they. are less steady than
boards when setting, will be seen to disappear in actual practice—in fact,
blocks are not only as stable as boards but a good deal handier when
setting, as they can be moved about to any convenient angle under one’s
hands, whereas in moving a board about one may well endanger the pin-
tray or some piece of apparatus.

Mr. Breruerton’s difficulty that blocks are ‘‘ less conducive to
uniform setting ’’ can be overcome by having before one a block con-
taining a specimen of the same species already set on the same size
block.

Perhaps Colonel W. BowaTeEr’s suggestion of ‘ compromise ’—which
is borne out by Mr. BrRETHERTON’S experience—is best; but I feel sure
that anyone who has become adept at block-setting will have no wish to
add boards to his collection of impedimenta. -

What percentages of lepidopterists to-day use blocks and boards I
have no means of knowing; but I doubt—and my correspondence reflects
the doubt—if not more than one per cent. uses blocks. In the town
where I live two of the five lepidopterists use blocks, and in the North
Country blocks were mostly used sixty years ago. Perhaps it is only the
older men who use them now. But if those who are sugaring addicts
would give the block method a fair trial they might well find it advan-
tageous. To compare the two methods by practising them together, or
_ by trying out the block method for a season, might not be profitable;
for it is only when skill is attained that the block method comes into its
own. And skill cannot be attained in a single season.—O. M. H.

Collecting Notes

A Nore From Soutu Drevon.—I am afraid the captures I have made
during the past summer and autumn bear little relation to the high
hopes born of the surprising happenings of Jast spring. My friends
(among whom [I distributed over 70 larvae of Plusia ni Hb.) and I seem,
with our success in rearing this species from the eggs I obtained from
my March captures, to have considerably angmented the number of
specimens of P. ni in British collections. Variation, though not con-
spicuous, was not confined to the several modifications of the Y mark,
and the beautiful abdominal plumes of the freshly emerged males were
very striking. I had hopes that someone would make them the subject
of an article for the Record; I am not well enough up in the literature
of the subject to tackle it myself.

A female Celerio livornica Esp. taken cn 4th May laid eggs and the
first count of newly hatched larvae was 65. Only one egg failed to hatch.
By some standards my essay at rearing the species (my second experi-
ence) was successful—28 perfect moths; but my theories about their
proper food, treatment, etc., did not quite work out in practice, and
at. the end I had the feeling that I was not so clever as J thought.

I’ve taken no second brood (or third?) of Plusia ni, though I heard
from Mr. A. Richardson that he got one at Prawle Point in September.
He also took Leucania vitellina Hb., which has given us a complete miss
also. Heliothis peltigera Schf. and (©. livornica too have apparently
failed to produce a second brood in my neighbourhood. In fact until
the middle of the present. month it locked as though an odd Nycterosea
obstipata Fab. and a few Laphygma exigua Hb. were to be my only

ORTHOPTERA. : 359

autumn migrants. But 19th October saved the situation, for on that
night a Rhodometra sacraria L., five N. obstipata and one Margarodes
unionalis Hb. came into my light-trap. A week later, 26th October, a
second M. wnionalis was taken; it is six years since this species was last
seen here. I am afraid the gales we have experienced lately (making
moth-trapping out of the question in an exposed coastal position like
mine) will have swept such remnants of the migrant activity as there
were completely away. But hope springs eternal in the lepidopterist’s
breast.—FRaNK H. Less, The Gables, Maidencombe, Torquay. 29.x.52.

CoLLECTING IN SEPTEMBER AND OcTosEeR 1952.—September of this year
was a disappointing month for collecting due no doubt to the unfavour-
able weather. Lampra fimbriata continued tc come to light in this
garden until late in the month and Triphaena pronuba and Amphipyra
pyramidea were still about in October Perhaps the only moths of in-
terest which were at all common at light during these months were
Griposia aprilina, Aporophyla nigra and Eumichtis lichenea.

A short visit to a Dorset Heath in the middle of September found
Amathes agathina common and in good condition as late as September
16th and also Amathes castanea (var. neglecta) in fair condition.

Ivy in October at Weston produced many common moths on favour-
able nights, but little of interest was seen. There were, however, several
Iithophane socia on the blossoms.—C. S. H. BratHwayt, 27 South Road,
Weston-super-Mare. 3.xi.52.

LEPIDOPTERA AT SPURN, YorKS.—A short holiday in mid-July pro-
duced 55 additional species to the list published in The Naturalist, No.
839, 1951, bringing the total, for this small area, to 330 species. Cool
rough weather made night work unprofitable and most of the 150 species
observed were taken during the day by the use of a bee-smoker—a
cowardly weapon but not more so than the mercury vapour lamp. The
smoke was applied mainly to the overhanging edges of sandhills, which
were found to be most productive though good results were achieved
from rough herbage in sheltered depressions on the Warren. This mode
of collecting is especially good for disturbing the Gelechids, which are
not so easily taken by beating or at dusk. Better results came from
‘smoking’ in the late afternoon and evening than in the morning. The
following are a few of the species taken by this method :—Coenobia rufa
Haw.; Sterrha fuscovenosa Goeze (common); Scopula emutaria Hb. ;
Scoparia pallida Steph.; Phalonia affinitana Doug.; P. badiana Hb.;
Metzneria lapella L.; Gelechia senectella Zell. (common); G. desertella
Doug. (common); G. affinis Doug.; G. basaltinella Zell.; Phthorimaea
maculea Haw.; P. murmorea Haw.; P. plantaginella St.; Brachmia
rufescens Haw.; Depressaria liturella Schiff.; Hlachista scirpi, E. tria-
tamea Haw. and Phlyctaenia crocealis Hb.—H. N. Micwaetis, 10 Dids-
bury Park, Manchester, 20. 3.xi.52.

ORTHOPTERA
The Genus Anadolua Ramme

By Matcoitm Burr, D.Sc., F.R.E.S.

The genus Anadolua was formed by Ramme in 1939 for a new species
of Decticid from Sandrs Dagh in southern Turkey, on a single male.

360 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, Vou. 64. 15/ X1T/1952

Not having seen Ramme’s paper, when IJ took several of the species
on the same mountain in 1947, I did of course not recognise it, although
I felt certain it was new. [ described its occurrence in the Ent. Rec.,
p. 13, 1948. Later, in 1951, p. 16 of the Ent. Rec., I reported that it
was an Anterastes, which was what Dr. Tevfik Karabagh took it for at
first.

Now, however, on examination of all the Turkish material in the
British Museum, Karabagh has decided that my specimens are to be
referred to Ramme’s species, and also that the female attributed by
Ramme to this species in 1951 is distinct.

He has accordingly revised the genus, which now contains four
species, all from southern and western Turkey. They are A. davisi Kar.,
A. burri Kar., A. schwarzi Ramme and A. raminei Kar., the latter being
the female which Ramme had attributed to A. schwarzi.

They are all probably fairly widely distributed in the Mediterranean
portion of Turkey. The types of A. davisi and A. burri are in the
British Museum. Karabagh’s paper is published in the Rev. Fac. Sci.
Univ. Istanbul, Series B., vol. xvii, 1952.

DY TE KA

Diptera attracted by a Cossus-infested Oak-tree
By E. C. M. vp’ Assts-FonseEoa.

In August this year (1952) I was introduced to one of the few known
Cossus-infested trees in the New Forest (Hants) by Mr. J. E. Collin,
with whom, in company with Mr. H. W. Andrews, I was most fortunate
in being able to enjoy several days collecting in and around the Forest.
The tree in question is an ancient Oak which has obviously been infested
by larvae of the Goat Moth (Cossus cossus L.) for many years, as was
evident by the presence of numerous old borings, now dry, and others
at different stages of active exudation. On approaching the tree one
was immediately aware of the characteristic sweet odour of fermenta-
tion, and, in spite of the (entomologically) poor season and a temperature
rather below normal for August, a number of interesting insects were
being attracted.

Most prominent among the insect visitors were hornets (Vespa crabro
L.), two or three of which were almost always to be seen either flying
around near the base of the tree, or already well settled into one of the
many hollows and grooves down which the fermenting sap was seeping.
One was liable accidentally to catch one of these huge aculeates when
netting other insects, and it was advisable to inspect the contents of the
net before diving a hand in with killing-bottle or tube.

It was particularly hoped that we should see Phaonia laeta Fall. and
Phaonia laetabilis Coll., two closely allied species of extremely similar
appearance which are known to be especially associated with Cossus-
infestation (vide Collin, 1951, Ent. Rec., 63: 1), and three or four visits .
to the tree resulted in good series of both sexes of laetabilis and a male
and two females of laeta; in addition several males of Phaonia cincta
Zett. and a female of P. fuscata Fall. were taken, both these latter
species bearing a remarkable resemblance to laeta when resting on the

FIFTY YEARS AGO. 361

tree-trunk, the transparent yellow base to the abdomen in cincta being
hidden by the folded wings.

Phortica variegata Mg. was abundant, as also were Drosophila tristis
Fall. and other species of the D. obscura Fall.-group. Although Droso-
philidae predominated as far as individuals were concerned, the majority
of species visiting the tree belonged to the Muscidae (incl. Anthomyidae)
A small number of Muscina pabulorum Fall., M. assimilis Fall. and
Polietes lardaria F. were almost permanent residents, while occasional
specimens of Phaonia palpata Stein, P. variegata Mg., P. pallida, F.,
P. erratica Fall. and P. signata were to be seen from time to time rest-
ing or walking about on the affected areas of the trunk. Fannia species
were also much in evidence, particularly F. lineata Stein, of which good
long series of both sexes were obtained, while a few specimens of both
sexes of Ff. difficilis Stein and F’. canicularis L., and females of pretiosa
Schin., fuscula Fall., incisurata Zett. and scalaris F. were taken. Other
species recorded were Ferdinandea cuprea Scop., F. ruficornis F. (a
single 2), Helomyza affinis Mg., Opacifrons coxata Duda, Lucillia caesar
L., Hydrotaea parva Mde., Piezura pardalina Rond., Hebecnema
umbratica Mg., Mydaea detrita Zett., Hydrophoria ruralis Mg. and
Hylemyia strenua R. D.

Fifty Years Ago

(From The Entomologist’s Record of 1902).

PaIRING OF THE ‘ VAPOURER’ Motus.—O.antiqua, as everyone knows, |
has a female with well developed legs and rudimentary wings. She
emerges from her cocoon, which she never leaves, and lays her eggs on
its outer surface. In O. gonostigma the history is the same, with the in-
teresting difference that there is an outer loose cocoon, or network of
silk, beneath which the female moth remains, laying her eggs on the
inner, true cocoon. This is a step onwards towards the habit of 0.
ertcae, which, according to Dr. Breyer, emerges from her chrysalis
sufficiently to make a small opening in it, but does not emerge from it,
but reverses her position in the chrysalis case, so that pairing takes
place through this opening, the male outside, the female inside the
cocoon.

On the evening of July 24th, therefore, I took the cocoon [of 0.
splendida] to the hillside and laid it on a stone... . I had not to wait
more than a few minutes before a male moth came up. . . . He soon
found the cocoon, and walked very busily all over it, examining it care-
fully, especially by trailing the extremity of his abdomen over it. Some
of the procedure was almost certainly directed to informing the en-
closed moth of his presence, and it may be that he ascertains the right
spot of the cocoon by the movements of the female within. After.some
minutes he became quite quiet and motionless, with his head applied to
the extremity of the cocoon, and so remained for a space of about ten
minutes. What was occurring during this period?

The next step noticed . . . . renders it almost certain that the moth
inside is occupied during this period in making an opening in the
cocoon. The male is certainly not doing so, as he is perfectly quiet, but
with an aspect of attention. Suddenly he becomes quite active, thrusts
his head into an opening at the end of the cocoon, and in less than half

362 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ XI1/ 1952

a minute disappears entirely into the cocoon, his wings being pressed
and folded against his sides, so as to occupy little or no space, so that
one reckons that their splendour must be absolutely and permanently
destroyed. I then took home the cocoon, now containing two moths in-
stead of one. The opening by which the male had entered was very
small indeed, but quite evident, though its margins had closed together
again. This was at 6.45 p.m.; at 9 a.m. the next morning matters
remained in the same condition—the cocoon still containing two moths.
On returning home at 3 p.m. I found the male moth had come out of the
cocoon and was at rest in the box. The curious part here is that his
wings seemed little the worse for the severe treatment they had received.
—Dr. T. A. CoapmMan M.D.

Current Literature

De Danske Maaterz. By Skat Hoffmeyer, D.D.’ Universitetsforlaget
1, Aarhus. 1952.

This volume on the Danish Geometridae follows the two earlier ones
on the Bombyces and Noctuidae and completes the Macrolepidoptera.
It will be of great interest to British lepidopterists, because the Fauna
of Denmark has much in common with that of the British Isles. Not
only are the majority of species the same, but many aberrations are
found in both countries, such as the dominant melanie forms, Gonodontis
bidentata ab. nigru Prout., Biston betularia. ab. carbonaria Jordan,
Erannis defoliaria ? ab. nigra Bandermann, E. leucophaearia ab. meru-
laria Weym., Boarmia roboraria ab. infuscata Stdgr., Cleora repandatu
ab. nigra Tutt, Ectropis crepuscularia ab. delanerensis B. White, Bupa-
lus piniaria ab. funebris Cockayne, and the recessives Lygris testata ab.
obscura Bretschneider, Hnnomos quercinaria ab. perfuscata Prout.,
Cepphis advenaria ab. fulva Gillmer., and Ectropis bistertata ab.
defessaria Freyer, some of which are figured in the text and others on
the plates. The distribution in northern Europe is given in the case
of each species, in addition to its Danish localities, its habits, and larval
foodplants. The coloured plates of the perfect insects are excellent, even
those of the genera Scopula, Sterrha, and Ewpithecia are successful, but
those of the larvae are not quite so good and are not all drawn to the
same scale. The numerous text figures, most of them from photographs
of aberrations, are very clear and add much to the value of the work.
Line drawings of the genitalia of many of the closely allied species, and
of all the members of the genus Hupithecia, will be appreciated by the
more serious students. We have no book in this country to compare
with this, and Dr. Hoffmeyer is to be congratulated on the last and best
of his three volumes.—E. A. C.

Proc. aNp Trans. Soura Lonp. Ent. Nar. Hist. Soc., 1951-1952, with
7 plates and 18 text figures. .

As the Treasurer foretold last year, the present volume is smaller and
has fewer plates (none coloured) than the previous one, but in spite of
the financial stringency it has maintained the high standard reached in
recent years. The plates: are excellent. The papers of most general
interest are “Optimum conditions for the occurrence and observation
of rare insects’? by H. S. Robinson, ‘‘Fabulous Fauna—Solomon to

CURRENT LITERATURE. 363

Columbus” by Col. Noel Hudson, and ‘‘Entomology during the early
years of the Royal Society, as revealed by the Philosophical Transac-
tions’. The President’s address ‘‘Collecting Lepidoptera in the South
of France in 1950 and 1951” giving an account of collecting in the Alpes
Maritimes and the Basses Alpes will help to broaden the outlook of
British collectors and gives information about some local species, en-
countered only in higher mountains, which will be valuable to those
who collect on the Continent.—Eb.

THe EntomoLoey or Birp Petters. By Philip M. Miles. Amateur
Entomologists Society Leaflet No. 24, 1952. Price 1/6.

This paper provides an introduction to the study of entomological
remains to be found in pellets ejected by birds. It now appears that
most birds feeding on animal matter produce pellets; some such as owls
regularly, others such as the insectivorous passerines often eject pieces
of indigestible matter at irregular intervals. A guide to the identifica-
tion of pellets from some species is provided. There are, however, a
few errors requiring correction. For instance, if pellets are formed from
indigestible remains (page 3) it is difficult to understand how the pellets
of Black-headed Gulls may be recognised by being composed of ‘‘insects,
worms, etc.’’ (page 7). Worms would invariably be digested and only
the tiny chaetae would remain. The author divides birds which eject
pellets into habitat groups. This admittedly is difficult since overlap
is certain to occur. However, the Sparrowhawk is certainly not typi-
cally a bird of farmland, and since the Heron breeds mainly in woods,
it deserves a place in that category. It is stated that no simple method
of obtaining food from nestlings that does not involve a certain amount
of preparation has been devised. This is not quite true, for plastic
rings fixed carefully round the necks of birds larger than Starlings yield
excellent food samples. The nest should be visited after the young have
been fed by the parents, and the food may then be tipped from the beak
into a tube of alcohol. It is also possible to squeeze the food from the
throats of nestlings of certain species, such as the swift, if this is done
immediately after they are fed by the parent. These methods require
little preparation, but should be applied with great care.

The photographs of specimen pellets and insects disgorged by gulls
are excellent. The bibliography at the end of the paper will be found
useful to entomologists wishing to start a study of the insect food of
birds. In some of the works quoted detailed references to special aspects

of bird food problems will be found.
D. F. Owen.

HANDBOOKS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BritisH INsEcTs: vol. V, part
12 (CoLEoPTERA: Cerambycidae). By E. A. J. Duffy, F.R.E.S.
9 x 6ins., paper covers, 18 pp. (incl. index), 32 text figs. Pub-
lished by the Royal Entomological Society of London, 1952.
Price 3s 6d.

This is the first part to appear of the volumes (IV and V) dealing
with the Coleoptera. Diagnostic tables of the subfamilies, genera and
species of Longicorns found in Britain follow three pages of notes on
_structure, economic importance, habits and early stages, with a short
bibliography. Our very modest tally of native species—the ‘aristocrats’.

364 ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD, VOL. 64. 15/ X11 /1952

among British beetles—is here swelled by the inclusion of those exotic
forms most often imported with timber, etc., at least one ot which is
possibly already established. Brief ecological or occasionally distribu-
tional data are added for some species but not others; and the present
writer feels that, for our own fauna, a rather fuller treatment of this
aspect (with some indication of relative incidence) would for many users
have enhanced the interest if not the value of the work. Again, not all
of us will agree with the author’s attribution of doubtfully indigenous
status to Monochamus sutor L., the two Cerambyz spp., and Pyrrhidium
sanguineum L. (cf. Ent. mon. Mag., 1946, 82: 181, 184; 1951, 87: 157-8).
The character ‘sides of thorax yellow’ for Phymatodes testaceus lL.
(p. 12) leaves out of account the form with wholly black fore-parts; nor
does ‘elytra uniformly yellow, blue or brown’ for this genus (p. 11)
allow for those of the same species having the elytra two-coloured.
Grammoptera holomelina Pool is treated as an extreme form of G. rufi-
cornis F.—probably correctly. The familiar name Criocephalus here
becomes Arhopalus; but we note with approval the restoration of Ana-
glyptus for the current monstrosity Anaclyptus, The only misprint seems
to be tabacicola for tubacicolor in both text and index. The keys are
simple and practical and the figures admirably clear.—A. A. A.

User or RADIOACTIVE TRACER IN THE Stupy oF Insect PopuLations (LErI-
DOPTERA). By H. B. D. Kettlewell. Nature, 1952, 170, 584.

Dr. Kettlewell used plants of Lamiwm and Rumez, establishing them
in water culture for two or three days, after having stripped them of
their leaves. Radioactive sulphur 35, with a half life of 87 days, was
added to the water and absorbed by the young leaves. Larvae of Calli-
morpha dominula and Arctia caja were fed on these plants and retained
some of the sulphur in their tissues, and it was found by means of a
Geiger counter that pupae and moths bred from these larvae were radio-
active and even eggs laid by the caja were radioactive. No loss of
viability was detected. Dr. Kettlewell hopes to release a known number
of radioactive larvae in their last instar into a normal population and,
by recapturing the radioactive moths and capturing the normal ones,
to estimate the total population by the method of Fisher and Ford. It
will then be possible to determine the death-rate in the early stages.
The total larval population =

radioactive larvae released total imagines caught
radioactive imagines caught

and the mortality =total larval population—total population of imagines.

This method, however, will only give an estimate of the death-rate
in the very-late larval life and in the pupal stage, not in the early
stages as he claims, and will give no clue to the cause of the death-rate.
Sulphur 35 can only be used for Lepidoptera with a short pupal life,
and some other isotope with a longer half life must be found for use in
over-wintering pupae. The estimate of the total population can be made —
with a fair degree of accuracy in the case of moths such as C. dominula
and Zygaena, which live in circumscribed colonies, but it is very doubtful
if a high enough percentage of radioactive moths will be captured and
recaptured to estimate the population of most species of Lepidoptera.—
Ep.

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-EXCHANGES AND WANTS

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

‘Wanted.—Living females of common species, especially satyrids and fritillaries,
from most parts of the country. Will exchange live or dead stock.—J. F.
D. Fraser, 52a Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, London, S.W4.

Wanted.—Pupae of Irish ox Scottish O. bidenlata, and ova of wild parents of
English C. elinguaria. Liberal exchange of English or tropical Lepidoptera.
-—W. Bowater, 44 Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 15-

Urgently required during the next few months for research purposes, pupae cf
Biston betularia Linn, (melanic or otherwise). Would be most grateful if

- entomologists would inform me: of approximate percentages of the two
melanic aberrations—carbonaria and insularia and the typical, occurring in
any locality —Dr. H. RB. D. Keitlewell, Department of Zoology, University
Museum, Oxford. ° ;

THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT

The best Christmas present for an entomologist, young,
middle-aged or old, is A YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION to the -
« Record ’.

A book:or other present may give pleasure for only a
short time: the ‘Record’ will give pleasure every month
throughout the year, and the back numbers will provide
good reading for many years to come.

The ‘ Record’ is now the largest monthly entomological
magazine in the world.

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ENTOMOLOGIST?

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BIOLOGICAL ~ &@
STAINING METHODS

By GEORGE T. GURR
The fifth edition of this popular book is considerably enlarged and contains
a useful formulary. The most complete manual in its class. Illustrated in
colour. Post free 5s. 6d. Published by

GEORGE T. GURR LTD.
136 and 138 NEW KING’S ROAD, LONDON, S.W.6

If you collect CORIDON, BELLARGUS, ICARUS, ARGUS, MINIMUS, AGESTIS

- or PHLAEAS, you can be interested for life in their tisk aberrations by

obtaining

“THE CORIDON MONOGRAPH AND ADDENDA
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direct from :—
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23-25 Abbott Road, Winton, Bournemouth, Hampshire.

Strongly covered and magnificently produced with 18 plates of 402
figures, 96 in colour. Letterpress 144 large pages of superior paper.

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

Editor: E. A. COCKAYNE, M.A., D.M., F.R.C.P., F.R.E.S.

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

Publicity and Advertisements: F. W. BYERS, 59 ES Court Road,
St. Albans, Herts. k
The following gentlemen act as Honorary Consultants to the magazine:
Lepidoptera: S. N. A. JACOBS, F.R.E.S., Dr. H. B. WILLIAMS, Q.C.,
LL.D., F.R.E.S.; Orthoptera: Dr. MALCOLM BURR, D.Sc., F.R.E.S. ;
Coleoptera: A. A. ALLEN, B.Sc.; Diptera: E. C. M. d’ASSIS-

FONSECA, F.R.E.S. Business: P. SIViITER SMITH, F.R.ES.

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL = on ; PRE AMS LENS UO cain ane aR a
A NEW MELANIC MUTATION IN GONODONTIS BIDENTATA CLERCK.

E. AY Cockayne ... cee Nes asi sede OOS
TWO NEW SUBSPECIES OF HIPPARCHIA SEMELE LINN. Dr. Be de

Lattin spit Be Sods
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON ODONTOSIA CARMELITA ESPER. H. Symes... | 337
COLLECTING NOTES, 1%2. W. Reid SR AL tice Sect aes ag REN Oe ORS
ON KEEPING A DIARY. An Old Moth-Hunter... 20.00 2.00 ane use BAD
NOTES ON MICROLEPIDOPTERA. H.C. Huggins ... 0.0 0.0 se 4S
THE GENUS ANADOLUA RAMME. Malcolm Burr... ... 00. . 359
DIPTERA ATTRACTED BY A COSSUS-INFESTED OAK TREE. E. C. M.

@’ Assis-Fonseca Be : 3 us Te © 368

| ALSO

PRACTICAL HINTS, NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS, Oe ae NOTES,
CURRENT LITERATURE, ETc.

TO OUR CONT RIBU TORS

All material for the magazine should be sent to the Assistant Editor
at No. 4 WINDHILL, BISHOP’S STORTFORD, HERTS.

EXCHANGES and ADVERTISEMENTS to F. W. BYERS, 59 Gurney
Court Read, St. Albans, Herts.

We must earnestly request our contributors NOT to send us communi-
cations IDENTICAL with those they are sending to OTHER
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If REPRINTS of articles (which can be supplied .at cost price) are
required, please mention this IN YOUR COVERING LETTER.

Articles that require ILLUSTRATIONS are inserted on condition that
the AUTHOR DEFRAYS THE COST of the illustrations.

All reasonable care is taken of MSS., photographs, drawings, etc.; but
the Editor cannot hold himself responsible for any loss or damage.
SR SI SS > SSA SSS SSS Sse" SSC

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

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