Further notes on rearing Lepidoptera in 1952

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FURTHER NOTES ON REARING LEPIDOPTERA, 1952.

BUTTERFLIES. S C O T C H A R G U S , Erebia aethiops, Esp. Two females were received from Commdr. Harper of Inverness-shire at the end of July. These laid a number of ova on grass stems, besides a few deposited in the box while it was in the p o s t ; it is unusual for butterflies to oviposit in the dark, but this habit has been noted before by Frohawk with this species. T h e ova have hatched and it is hoped that they will survive the winter.

SPECKLED W O O D , Pararge aegeria, L .

A number of ova were deposited on grass stems by a female captured in Devon. T h e resulting larvae have all pupated. This is the only British species which can hibernate either as a larva or as a pupa. A few years ago I had a brood, some of which spent the winter as larvae and some as pupae.

P A I N T E D L A D Y , Vanessa cardui, L .

My daughter collected a few ova which she saw being deposited by a wild female near Ipswich on 17th June. T w o of these produced butterflies on 3rd August.

P U R P L E E M P E R O R , Apatura iris, L. In July a friend of mine sent me a few ova which he had found on sallow leaves in Surrev.

He says that the ova were very abundant, although he saw very few of the butterflies. T h e first of the ova hatched on 26th July.

T h e young larva is green with an almost black head, and the twopronged horn does not appear until after the first moult—this occurred eight davs after hatching. T h e larvae have now moulted for the second time, and have been placed on a growing sallow sapling in the garden, carefully protected by a large muslin sleeve.

T h e y have not yet taken up their hibernating positions, but they should do so as soon as there is any danger of the leaves falling.

BLACK HAIRSTREAK, Strymonidia, pruni, L. In October, 1951, I was given three ova of this species, laid by a female found near Oxford. T w o hatched, the first on 7th April, but this died without eating ; the other hatched on l l t h April and was successfully reared. In all its stages the larva is a remarkable example of protective resemblance ; when small it is mainly pink, and closely resembles the leaf buds upon which it rests ; when too large to take up this position, it rests on a leaf, and the colour and marking of the larva then closely resembles the green of the leaf. Pupation took place on a leaf, the tail-and-girdle method being used. As soon as the larval skin is shed the pupa is very little different in colour and appearance from the fully

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FURTHER NOTES O N

LEPIDOPTERA

grown larva. In the course of a day or two, however, the pupa becomes almost black with two large white patches, and the resemblance to a bird's dropping on a leaf is remarkable. From this pupa a female butterfly emerged on 14th June. T h e Black Hairstreak is probably this country's rarest indigenous butterfly— it is not found in Suffolk.

MOTHS. SCARLET T I G E R , Callimorpha dominula, L .

A number of these moths were successfully reared from ova laid by a female found at Brixham, Devon, in August, 1951. The winter was spent as half-grown larvae. This species is not found in Suffolk.

S.

BEAUFOY,

Ipswich.

Sept., 1952.

AUTUMN NOTES, 1952. ordinary species, such as Ennomos quercinaria, Huf., E. alniaria, Schiff., Orthosia gilvago, Schiff., O. flavago, Fab., Graphiphora glareosa, Esp., Ochria ochracea, Hueb., etc., have come to light, also a second brood of Phlyctaenia ferrugalis, Hueb., but perhaps the best insect for Suffolk is Aporophyla lutulenta, Schiff., of which my grandson has brought me four specimens, three males and one female. This, I believe, was first taken in Suffolk by the late Colonel Hawley at Butley in 1932 and recorded in 1946 from Aldebrugh and Playford—there may have been other records ; if not, it seems so far to be confined to East Suffolk.

VARIOUS

Mr. Pease who lives here, a member of the S.N.S., has kept a careful list. He has a few additions, e.g., Hadena ochroleuca, Schiff., H. dissimilis, Knoch., H. leucostigma, Hueb. He also noted Aletia albipuncta, Schiff., odd specimens of which came to light through most of September in our trap. Polygonia c-album, Linn, and Vanessa atalanta, Linn, have been plentiful in my garden, sitting on the rotten fruit, the former, perhaps the more numerous. Mr. Pease has also noted its abundance.

A. P.

13th Oct., 1952.

WALLER,

Waldringfield.