Wessex Wings

WESSEX WINGS WILFRID S.

GEORGE

I welcomed the idea of a family tour of south-west England in july, for there would be several butterflies to show my brotherin-law which we had not met while collecting in Suffolk and others we had rarely seen.

Our first real collecting stop was on 2nd July at Lulworth, Dorset, by the Durdle Door rock. Here we found the Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon, Rott.) on the cliffs above Man o' War Bay feeding at the flowers of Viper's Bugloss and of Privet.

They were outnumbered by the brighter coloured Large Skippers (Ochlodes venata, Bremer & Grey), but we soon found that the former were abundant at this spot where J. C. Dale first discovered them in 1832.

Large White butterflies (Pieris brassicae, L.) patrolled the cliffs, evidently interested in the Sea Kaie, safe from horticultural insecticides.

On the chalky slopes above flew newly emerged Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina, L.), Dingy Skippers (Erynnis tages, L.) and Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus, Rott.), when suddenly a more dazzling blue—a quick chase—and John had his first Adonis Blue (Lysaiidra bellargus, Rott.), a fine male.

We were disappointed not to find the Marbled White (Melanargia galathea, L.) or the Dark Green Fritillary (Argynnis aglaia, L.) as I had here in 1948. We were probably too early, for 1963 was a " late " year.

On 3rd July we made an unexpected find. We were in Looe, Cornwall, parked on the cliff top, when a brilliant red, black and white insect flew past. It must have caught even a non-collector's eye and settled on the Valerian, the first Scarlet Tiger Moth (Panaxia dominula, L.) we had ever seen. We had chanced on a colony of this " glaring " example of warning coloration and were able to add to both our collections from the hundreds present.

Early on 7th July we visited Clovelly, North Devon and as hoped, netted some Speckled Woods (Pararge aegeria, L.) in a sunny lane through the trees.

Here I caught a boldly-marked black, white and orange hoverfly I had never seen before, a male Syrphus glaucus. L. G. H. Verrall's records suggest it to be a western species. We have its close relative, S. laternarius, Mueller, occurring sparsely at home, but like many other woodland hover-flies (Xylota sylvarum,

360 Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists',

Vol. 12, Part 5

L., Sericomyia silentia, Harris, etc.) it is less common in Suffolk than in Devon, probably owing more to the scarcity of forest than to the geographical position.

That afternoon we were in Lynton at the Valley of the Rocks, where the Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi, L.) was so common the previous July. Unfortunately, we found only one amongst the dense thorny scrub on the hillside, but 1 crept forward to capture Chrysotoxum bicinctum, L., a hover-fly less seen at home Here I was distracted by a movement near my foot, caused by a large adder, evidently a danger to collectors in Devon as well as in Suffolk. Having no boots I retreated to the hard track.

On 8th July we followed in the footsteps of the legendary " Girt Jan Ridd " and walked from Malmsmead beside the Badgworthy Water to the " Doone Valley " where his beloved Lorna once lived. Her place was taken by a group of Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars (Aglais urticae, L.), thriving on a small nettle patch at 1,000 ft. above sea-level. I am always amazed to find that in habitats appearing to me identical with cnes in Suffolk, very different insects occur, yet in so contrasted a spot as the Doone Valley, I find such a familiar species.

The dragonflies, however, were different. I very occasionally see at Haiesworth the blue-black Agrion splendens, Harris, but I did not know the green-brown A. virgo, L. Both were plentiful by the Badgworthy Water.

Not all our time was spent collecting. Once we visited Hurn Airport, near Bournemouth. We watched a Gloster " Meteor " take off, a fast modern monoplane, passing a pre-war DeHavilland " Rapide " biplane parked on the grass.

John remarked on this progress in British aircraft construction, but I^pointed out that this progress is only " history repeating itself ", for the evolution of insects is a close parallel. My twowinged hover-flies must have evolved from four-winged dragonflies.

Outwardly, both the " Rapide " and the dragonfly appear the more elaborately designed, but it is only the external features which have been simplified in the newer " Meteor " and hover-fly, while within the fuselage of both are housed far more complex control and power systems.

That the biplane and monoplane both fly from Hurn is no more surprising than the occurrence, side by side, of dragonflies and hover-flies over the Quay River at Haiesworth.

Unhappily, there is a sequel. The most advanced insects have lost all their wings. We call them " fleas". T h e aircraft

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industry has made the I.C.B.M., a wingless missile with powerful blast-off, coasting safe from interception along a curved trajectory, causing terrible damage in the target area.

On to the New Forest, where, near Burley, we spent the afternoon of 1 Ith July. Here we found many Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries (Argynnis selene, Schiff.) which we sampled, for we have none in Suffolk. Two male Clouded Buff moths (Diacrisia sannio, L.) were strangers also. The White Admirals (Limenitis Camilla, L.) and Silver Washed Fritillaries {Argynnis paphia, L.), we know at home but rarely see and here also we found Speckled Woods Aying with the more familiar Ringlets (Aphantopus hyperanthus, L.), Meadow Browns, Small Heaths (Coenonympha pamphilus, L.), Large Skippers and the year's first Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris, Poda).

So ended our tour and we returned with fĂźll setting-boards to a land without Speckled Woods, where the Lulworth Skipper is replaced by its " Essex " cousin and no Scarlet Tigers swarm on the sea front. But East Anglia is well stocked with interesting insects, is well placed to receive those migrating from Europe and what it lacks in forests it gains in fens.