370 Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists',
Vol. 12, Part 5
(II) H.
E.
CHIPPERFIELD
account of the butterflies and moths of Suffolk includes the records of Mr. C. W. Pierce, who has recently settled in the county and who asked me to incorporate them with my own. THIS
Owing to the extreme cold no butterflies or moths were seen until the 4th March when the Early Moth (Theria rupicapraria, Hubn.) appeared. In an average season this moth is out in midJanuary. It was not until early April that the bulk of the Spring moths made their appearance, when the March Moth (Alsophila aesculana, Schiff.) was seen on the 6th followed by the Rose Carpet (Earophila badiata, HĂźbn.) and Dotted Border (Erannis marginarta, Borkh.) on the 8th and Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica, Linn.) and Oak Beauty (Biston strataria, Hufn.) on the 9th. A visit to some woods at Belstead with Mr. Pierce on the l l t h produced all the more common " Quaker" moths and all the foregoing with the exception of the Early Moth, but with the addition of a number of Grey Mottled Carpets (Colostygia multistngaria, Haw.). The first Silver-Y Moth (Plusia gamma, Linn.) which is both a resident and an immigrant, was seen on the 13th May. The early summer butterflies were late in appearing and not very plentiful. I did not see a single Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus, Linn.) and the Orange-tip (Euchloe cardamines, Linn.) was not much in evidence until early June. The 7th June was, entomologically, one of the few perfect nights of the year and when Mr. Pierce plugged in his light near Belstead Brook he found himself inundated by hundreds of moths, includmg many choice species, the most desirable being an Alder Moth (Apatele alni, Linn.). Until the advent of mercury vapour lamps this insect was considered a great rarity and the 1937 Memoirs records only two specimens in Suffolk since 1890 Another species taken by Mr. Pierce that evening was the Pale Oak Beauty (.Boarmia punctinalis, Scop., =consortaria, Fabr.) which had not been recorded in Suffolk for 50 years until taken by Mr. Jack Goddard in Wrentham Woods in 1936. It has since been taken fairly regularly at Barking and Bentley. When Mr. Pierce and I visited Wood Walton Fen, Hunts, on the 15th June we found quite a gathering of entomologists there includmg our Section Editor, the Baron de Worms. All were in search of the special insects for which that fen is famous and quite a number of the Concolorous Wainscot (Arenostola extrema, Hubn.) were taken, together with several of the newly discovered pyrale moth (Pyrausta perlucidalis, HĂźbn.). We also found two