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that the " physical condition and climate of our islands have been largely affected by the destruction of the forests that once clothed the greater part. The notices of ancient writers are seldom sufficiently definite or copious to enable us to discover the extent of the old woodland," and there can be no doubt that the climate of Suffolk was a good deal warmer and more humid, both conditions conducing to the propagation of butterfly life, before these great stretches of ancient timber were swept away. CLAUDE
MORLEY.
There is no doubt that the butterfly life of Suffolk has been affected to a certain degree by the Clearing of large amounts of woodland and by the bringing of heaths under the plough, but, happily, Mr. Morley's somewhat pessimistic prophecy " . . . the ones you see will be merely the common kinds " has not yet been fulfilled. The presence or absence of the rare migrants, like the Camberwell Beauty, the Queen of Spain Fritillary, the Long-tailed Blue and others, is in no way dependent upon the condition of our land. Their Coming here and the numbers of them which arrive, varying from year to year, are quite adventitious; what emtomologist will ever forget the quantities of Bath Whites that were found in the south of England a few years ago ? It is true that neither the Speckled Wood nor the Marbled White has been recorded in the county for many years, though, as the larvae are grass feeders, it would appear that there are plenty of suitable localities for the butterflies and it is reasonable to suppose that we may again see them Aying here. In other parts of the country these two species are absent from localities that would seem to satisfy their requirements, and this applies particularly to the Marbled White. It is extraordinary that Mr. Morley had never seen the Speckled Wood outside the New Forest. The rest of the Browns, with the exception of the three northern species, the Small Mountain Ringlet, the Scotch Argus, and the Large Heath, are now all very common in Suffolk. Of the family Nymphalidae, the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, the Dark Green Fritillary, the Marsh and the Heath Fritillaries, have not been recorded for many years, but the Silver-washed Fritillary, thought by Mr. Morley just before the last war to be extinct in Suffolk, now abounds in most of our large woods. The Large Tortoiseshell was evidently extremely rare in Suffolk in 1920 ; it is now, however, to be found in fair numbers and is well distributed throughout the county. The Comma is a species that has returned to the county as well as to the rest of the south and east of England ; it is now comparatively common. Mr. Morley seemed to think that pheasants were responsible
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for the lack of Purple Emperors in Bentley Woods. It is difficult to follow this argument as the larvae feed on sallow bushes, well out of reach of feeding pheasants. There is no doubt that this beautiful species of the treetops is much less common than it was during the last Century. It is therefore especially pleasing to be able to report that a number have been seen in one of our woods only this summer. The White Admiral continues to adorn some of our larger woods where honeysuckle grows ; in some years the species is abundant, as in 1952, while in others it is relatively scarce. The Duke of Burgundy Fritillary, of the family Riodinidae, has not been reported for many years. The Small Blue, depending upon a supply of Kidney-Vetch, for the larvae eat the flowers of this plant, is one of the family Lycaenidae and occurs in fair numbers at Newmarket Heath, only just over the border in Cambridgeshire ; the Chalk-hill Blue, too, is here quite common. The larvae of this last species, and of the closely related Adonis Blue, feed on the Horse-shoe Vetch, which is known to grow in only one, very small, locality in East Suffolk. Neither species of butterfly is now found in the county. The Silver-studded Blue is very common on some of the heaths near Ipswich, heaths which, it is to be hoped, will not all be ploughed. The Green, the Purple, and the White-letter Hairstreaks are all quite common in suitable localities in Suffolk, but it is very doubtful if the Black Hairstreak occurs in the county as it seems to be confined to a very few, isolated, colonies in England. The late Mr. E. W. Platten reported a Brown Hairstreak from Belstead Woods a few years ago, but none has been recorded since. It is an elusive insect and it is possible that it still occurs here though undetected. Of the family Pieridae, the Wood White has recently been rumoured to be present in central Suffolk. It would be most interesting to have this report confirmed though it would be wiser not to publish the exact locality. The British race of the Swallow-tail depends upon the presence of milk parsley for its larval food. This grows abundantly in the areas of the Broads and the Fens, and specimens of the butterfly seen far from these districts are probably migrants from the continent, where there is a slightly different race with different habits. All the Skippers, family Hesperiidae, occur quite commonly in Suffolk with the exception of the Chequered, the Lulworth and the Silver-spotted Skippers. Mr. Morley stated that in 1920 he had never seen the Essex Skipper ; it is now very common but is very easily overlooked as it so closely resembles the Small Skipper. In Ipswich, this July, on one small patch of rough ground, 97 butterflies of the two species were caught, examined