White Admiral 76

WHITE ADMIRAL Newsletter 76

Summer 2010

SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY

CONTENTS EDITORIAL SNIPPETS ALASDAIR ASTON Poem - Advent Night, Star Lane MAPPING AND UNDERSTANDING NATIVE BLACK POPLARS IN SUFFOLK PRIESTLEY WOOD FIELD MEETING CAN WE SAVE THE EEL POPULATIONS IN EAST ANGLIA? GARNER/NATURALISTS’ GAZETTE ASCOMYCETE POSING AS BASIDIOMYCETE STOKE TUNNEL SSSI SUMMER SURVEYS IN SOUTH SUFFOLK NATURAL HISTORY GROUP A HERBALIST’S VIEW OF LIME OR LINDEN MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS Seek and ye shall still find Jumping Spider Seek and ye shall still find...example two!

The Rose Chafer re-discovered at last!

BOOK REVIEWS A Flora of Suffolk by Martin Sanford Badger by Timothy J. Roper The moth books of P.B.M. Allan LETTERS, NOTES AND QUERIES Ennion’s Jays Survey of stag beetle “larval incidents” in private gardens

1 2 3 Alasdair Aston Ben Heather

4

Joan Hardingham Ros Wright

6 8

David Nash Neil Mahler Bob Markham Barry Ruggles

10 19 20 22

Caroline Wheeler

23

Adrian Knowles Ray Ruffell Adrian Chalkley David Nash

24 24 24 25

Peter Lawson David Walker Tony Prichard

26 28 29

Norma Chapman Maria Fremlin

32 32

Cover photo of Dusky Sallow moth Erimobia ochroleuca by David Walker.

David Nash says that whilst this species is active at night it is also one of a limited number of moths frequently found by day feeding at the flowers of a variety of plants e.g. ragwort, thistle, knapweed, Buddleia. It is widely distributed and common in Suffolk - recorded from almost all 10km squares.

ISSN 0959-8537 Published by the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH Registered Charity No. 206084 © Suffolk Naturalists’ Society

SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY David Walker Ancient House Lower Street, Stutton Suffolk IP9 2SQ Quercus121@aol.com SUMMER 2010 Good news - SNS Council has met twice since the AGM and is already seeing the benefit of fresh ideas and enthusiasm brought by the newly elected members. For example, two items discussed have been ‘wildlife corridors’ - would this make a good subject for the next conference - and a new ‘single species survey’ in 2011.

Both of these subjects will be regular features on the agenda for the rest of this year.

A bold decision was made at the first meeting to raise the maximum sum for a bursary award to £500. This signals the Society’s determination to encourage and support research projects in natural history in Suffolk. Please spread the word!

It was good to see Spain’s national football team with its fluent and attractive style of football triumph in the World Cup finals in South Africa. Congratulations are also due to the Spanish tennis player whose powerful game won the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon. What a pity then that the Spanish are not so admirable in their treatment of wild birds. A recent RSPB report says that ‘migrants are widely hunted whilst on passage with staggering numbers of birds taken ... Highest hunting intensities occur in Cyprus, France and northern Iberia…trapping with nets, limesticks and stone-crush traps, even during the breeding season is taken for granted as a right’. Well-loved migrants such as the cuckoo, the spotted flycatcher, the garden warbler and the turtle dove are increasingly failing to reappear in the spring here in Britain. If fewer and fewer birds are returning to their breeding grounds, the inevitable consequence is that their populations will shrink ever more rapidly, ultimately towards extinction. So, come on Spain, give the birds a sporting chance.

Suffolk Naturalists’ Society Members’ Autumn Evening Meeting

Wednesday November 17th at 7.30 p.m.

The Windmill Room, Holiday Inn, Ipswich

White Admiral No 76

1

SNIPPETS •

The mycologist Professor C. T. Ingold has died aged 104. Terence Ingold, who authored over 270 papers on fungi and wrote the mycology students’ much-used ‘The Biology of Fungi’ died on 31st May 2010. The book, published in 1961, was written from memory and brilliantly illustrated with his own line drawings, whilst Prof. Ingold was on a transatlantic sea crossing to the USA. The death is also reported of palaeontologist Harry Whittington, aged 94. Born and educated in Birmingham, Professor Whittington, an expert on trilobites, was famous for his work on the Burgess Shale, which he began when a lecturer at Harvard in the 1940s. When in 1966, he moved back to the UK to take the position of Woodwardian Professor at Cambridge, he brought the Burgess fossils with him and spent decades patiently describing them. His team built the first picture of the huge array of life on the Cambrian seafloor 505m years ago.

The “Cambrian evolutionary explosion” changed understanding of the origins of animal diversity.

Jays engage in a behaviour called ‘anting’ regularly throughout the summer months. When ‘anting’ the Jays aren’t eating ants as they find them distasteful they are picking them up in their bills and placing them on their feathers. The angry ants then squirt formic acid at the bird, which is thought to reduce parasites in the plumage and help keep feathers in good condition! The best time to observe this behaviour is during July and August. (Taken from the BTO website).

The first global Census of Marine Life (COML) published on 2nd August, estimates that there are more than 230,000 species in the oceans and that for every species known another four have yet to be found. Crustaceans and molluscs take up 36% of named species, fish 12%. Sea life in the Mediterranean is the most threatened of all. The most cosmopolitan marine creature is the Manylight Viperfish, Chauliodus sloani (shown right) - found in a quarter of the world’s seas.

A new disease is causing oak dieback in central and south-east England. Known as ‘Acute Oak Decline’, the causative agent is as yet unconfirmed, but thought to be a previously unknown bacterium. Symptoms include dark fluid bleeding from splits in the bark, extensive deterioration of the canopy and dieback of branches. Death can occur in as few as four years.

A massive cull of one million Signal Crayfish in Loch Ken, Galloway has failed to reduce the population. On the contrary, as a result of the reduction in competition, young crayfish have been able to breed sooner and it is estimated that the density of the population is now 9.0 m-2 on the floor of the loch.

If you see alien, invasive aquatic plants on sale in garden centres (e.g. Parrot’s Feather, Creeping Water-primrose, Floating Pennywort), please send details to enquiries@plantlife.org.uk.

•

•

•

•

•

•

2

White Admiral No 76

ALASDAIR ASTON Alasdair Aston died suddenly on July 17th 2010. He was on holiday in Framlingham with his wife Philomena.

Alasdair was an extraordinary man: lepidopterist, dipterist, charming and witty raconteur, and of course, a gifted poet. He was a protégé of Claude Morley, possibly the last remaining acquaintance of him. He made an immense contribution to the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society over his lifetime. A full obituary will appear in Transactions.

‘And they shall be accounted poet kings Who simply tell the most heart-easing things.’

ADVENT NIGHT, STAR LANE Tiaras of unpicked berries glisten at touchI could become a man who gathered much If casually I wondered why I stop Here in a lane where advent evenings drop Jewels of mist for nobody to see.

Is it a slavish envy dazzles me With what is unpossessed or do I find In every sparkling droplet space of mind And clarity unparalleled in man?

Perhaps, aware how such a drop began, I follow growth till suddenly alone I weep its fall as fully as my own.

Is this my only sympathy with stones For which men drudge or cast away their bones On distant undertakings? To what end, I ask the falling droplet as a friend, To what end and purpose were we made If stars shine clear though winter nights invade, If gems outlast the living fires that fall; And is man tender-hearted after all?

Alasdair Aston

White Admiral No 76

3

MAPPING AND UNDERSTANDING NATIVE BLACK POPLARS IN SUFFOLK The declining Native Black Poplar, Populus nigra ssp. betulifolia is a Suffolk local BAP character species under threat from a multitude of factors including a lack of suitable habitat, the planting of hybrids, poor proximity between sexes and a low genetic diversity.

The Native Black Poplars’ low genetic diversity can be somewhat attributed to the tree’s relatively unsuccessful ability to reproduce naturally and therefore the current distribution of trees is largely the result of them being grown on from vegetative cuttings. The consequence of many years of applying this technique and the increased usage of hybrids has left an ageing, poorly distributed population, very vulnerable to disease.

It is therefore the priority of the Suffolk Native Black Poplar working group to push towards conserving and enhancing the genetic diversity and age structure of the trees in Suffolk. The group so far has been applying the expertise of Forest Research through the use of DNA testing and has also set up two clone banks to preserve genetic material. Testing of leaf samples has revealed so far the presence of six different clone types in Suffolk (see Fig. 1) as well as three additional and unique clones. Investigative work by SCC Senior Ecologist Sue Hooton has established that these three trees were grown from seedlings donated by black poplar enthusiast Edgar Milne-Redhead to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust in the late 1970s. These seedlings originate from Cheshire, where successful natural reproduction has taken place and it is understood from documents inherited from Edgar that there are several more locations where seedlings from Cheshire were planted in Suffolk.

One of the tasks that I have been looking at in the Native Black Poplar working group is the re-surveying and ultimately re-mapping of the current Native Black Poplars in Suffolk. This will enable and inform further understanding of genetic distribution and influence research and planting schemes. Re-surveying will also aim to future proof our register of the trees and improve its accuracy for specific use within geographic information systems (GIS).

The planning phase of this process is complete and we currently have two districts ready to trial a survey form that should build on, improve and update our existing data. We also plan to link into this data geo-tagged photos of the trees so we can have a dated baseline for their visual status.

In addition to re-surveying, the group will continue to carry out more DNA testing work and hopefully track down more of the planted Cheshire seedlings, as well as seek new locations for clone banks (to reduce the risk of losing genetic material) and inform planting schemes to plant those clones less frequently occurring in Suffolk.

Anyone interested in getting involved with checking Black Poplars on the ground, please contact Chairperson, Sue Hooton at sue.hooton@suffolk.gov.uk.

Ben Heather, Biological Records Officer 4

White Admiral No 76

White Admiral No 76

5

Fig. 1: Native Black Poplar and Current Clone Type Distribution

PRIESTLEY WOOD FIELD MEETING 8th MAY 2010 Priestley Wood is owned by the Woodland Trust. It is one of the Barking woods, a group of ancient woodlands, well documented since 1251 with medieval earthbanks and boundary pollards of oak and ash. The woodland structure is mostly coppice hazel with standards and a diverse ground flora typical of ancient woods and soils which vary from heavy boulder clay of Priestley and Swingens Woods to the chalky sand of Titley Hill Wood across the valley.

The damp and overcast weather did not prevent a gathering at Barking Church near Needham Market for the first SNS field meeting for quite some time. The last occasion SNS met here, and one of the first SNS field meetings I attended, was in the 1990s, led by Francis Simpson, to look at wild flowers. ‘Leading’ was hardly the right description as it was much more like a chase as FS set a frantic pace round the churchyard and on to the wood, pointing out flora of interest and expecting us all to keep up. You had to get used to this guiding technique: at a privileged visit to Wattisham, our leader got lost altogether, leaving us to make the most of what we could see!

Priestley Wood was at its best: trees leafing out in the hazel coppice delivered that wonderful filtered light on the carpets of bluebells and Dog’s Mercury, punctuated

by Early Purple orchids and the last of the primroses. We clambered over thick writhing clematis bines, the bark of which the dormice use for nests, following Liz Cutting to meet a dormouse. Liz monitors the dormouse release in the wood for SWT. Two hundred dormouse boxes are set about four feet up in the hazel coppice and are monitored for residents. A dormouse was located and duly had its weight recorded, definitely the highlight of the meeting. We went on to look at the single Wild Pear: this is one of the few sites in southern England for this rare tree.

Flowering unfortunately was almost over but the tree was very recognizable from the rough squarish scales of the grey bark. We found Common Twayblade and searched in vain for Woodruff and Herb Paris.

The combined natural history knowledge in the group was truly impressive and shared with the group. Adrian Knowles introduced us to the midland thorn, a species of shade-tolerant hawthorn typically found in ancient woodlands on heavy clay, identified by the lack of hairs on its flower stalks and shinier leaves. Neil Mahler SNS Fungi recorder reported on the fungi discovered as follows: “the morel was Verpa conica (old name Morchella conica, in the Ellis & Ellis book) Martin Ellis never listed a site where it was found, which tends to mean he has found it so many times at various places he considers it reasonably common - and this is only the second time I have seen this species (sigh)! The large ‘fairy ring’ of Calocybe gambosa, St George’s Mushroom, was unusual in that it is considered a grassland species forming rings in graveyards (some very large rings at Crowfield Church) and grassy verges.” Rob Parker, SNS butterfly recorder, had us looking for the eggs of the Orange Tip butterfly which are obvious at this time of year as they turn from white to bright orange on the backs of leaves. It feeds on wild members of the 6

White Admiral No 76

brassica family.

The wood is named after Joseph Priestley, whose his first appointment was as Minister of Needham Market from 1755-1758. He left Needham Market when he was only 25, having fallen out with the congregation in the small rural town over his unorthodox religious beliefs but also in part due to a speech impediment. The work for which he is famous was done after this period. He went on to be scientist of considerable repute and also helped to found Unitarianism, where God was perceived as one entity, not a trinity as in orthodox belief. He is famed as the discoverer of “dephlogisticated air” now called oxygen but his scientific interests were much wider. He discovered other “airs” or gases, invented soda water, and was nominated fellow of the Royal Society in 1766 for his work on electricity. He also produced a work on English grammar. By the time he died in 1804, Priestley had been made a member of every major scientific society in the world. To commemorate his scientific achievements, the American Chemical Society named its highest honour The Priestley Medal in 1922.

Priestley’s science was integral to his theology and he believed that a proper understanding of the natural world would promote human progress; he strongly believed in the free and open exchange of ideas, and tolerance of religious dissenters. His theology was obviously extremely controversial and resulted in The Priestley Riots of July 1791 when he lived in Birmingham, which targeted religious dissenters and their support of the French Revolution. Rioters looted and burned Priestley’s church, home, four other dissenting chapels, and 27 houses and businesses, forcing him to flee to the United States. Studying science seems rather tame these days.

The afternoon was completed with tea and cakes in the tearoom at the barn at Alder Carr Farm, followed by illustrated talks by recorders Tony Prichard and Adrian Knowles who asked members to report to them species of particular current interest. Joan Hardingham showed pictures of her visit to Rosehill woodlands with the Suffolk Coastal District Council Tree Officer. This was a very enjoyable members’ meeting which it is hoped may be repeated in future, with luck with better weather.

Joan Hardingham References Wikipedia and www.hibbert-assembly.org.uk/Priestley/suffolk.htm Free to good home Some methods for the statistical analysis of samples of benthic invertebrates (Fourth Impression, 1993) by J. M. Elliott. Freshwater Biological Association. Scientific publication No. 25.

Contact: Colin Hawes on 01473 310678 or by E-mail: c.hawes@homecall.co.uk White Admiral No 76

7

CAN WE SAVE THE EEL POPULATIONS IN EAST ANGLIA? There is a serious decline of the European eel in the UK and the rest of Europe, where recruitment of glass eels from the Sargasso Sea is thought to be only 5% of the level present in the early 1980s. All life stages of eel are of tremendous ecological and economic importance so it is vital that action is taken now to prevent extinction of the eel. Even those who find eels themselves unappealing are impressed by their incredible life history.

All European eels share the only known spawning ground in an area of the Sargasso Sea, south of Bermuda. Eel larvae (known as leptocephalus larvae) follow the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift to return to Europe, metamorphosing into glass eels when they reach the continental shelf. Glass eels are attracted to freshwater and enter UK rivers in the spring, historically in great numbers, especially on the West Coast where the Severn glass eel run is famous. Fewer numbers return to the East Coast and these are not exploited commercially. Glass eels become pigmented and metamorphose into elvers, spending a number of years in rivers and lakes, feeding and growing.

Population density determines the sex of eels and the lower density East Coast eel populations are dominated by females, which are extremely valuable in terms of conservation of the species.

After an average of six years for males and nine years for females, eels begin to mature, stop feeding and become silver in colouration. Silver eels swim downstream towards the sea to begin the long migration of 5,500 km back to the Sargasso Sea, where they will spawn and die.

Various factors are thought to be causing the decline of eel populations. It is feared that changes in oceanic currents caused by climate change may be a primary reason why glass eel recruitment has plummeted. Other factors include infection of the swimbladder of eels by a nematode parasite, Anguillicoloides crassus, which may impede silver eels migrating at depth across the Atlantic; accumulation of pollutants such as PCBs which affect reproduction; barriers to migration for elvers and silver eels and also loss of accessible habitat.

In an attempt to prevent further decline, legislation from Europe - the EU Eel Regulation (No 1100/2007) - is in place to establish measures for the recovery of European eel stocks. The Regulation includes the preparation of Eel Management Plans for each river basin district (RBD). The objective is to increase the numbers of adult silver eels able to migrate to the Sargasso Sea to 40% of the population measured with respect to undisturbed conditions and no human impact.

The Environment Agency has prepared and is implementing an Eel Management Plan (EMP) for Anglian RBD to assess the status of eel stocks and actions needed to improve survival and distribution of all life stages. Glass eels are being monitored in special traps to determine how many are migrating upstream.

Barriers to migration are being assessed for both elvers migrating upstream and silver eels migrating downstream, for example on the River Stour.

8

White Admiral No 76

The River Stour on the Suffolk/Essex border has a declining eel population. The river has many structures that are barriers to migration. A research project is being undertaken here by the Environment Agency and the University of Southampton.

Adam Piper is doing this research to understand more about behaviour of elvers and silver eels at barriers to identify which are causing problems and how to design the most effective passes. For example, elvers find it difficult to enter freshwater as the weir at Judas Gap is mostly dry because of water abstraction for Abberton Reservoir.

A special pass with pumped water has been installed to assist the glass eels and elvers to enter the River Stour, until a more permanent solution has been designed.

The glass eels have been monitored at this site since 2002 providing useful information on factors influencing upstream migration.

Growing eels are quite adept at climbing and are helped by bristle boards especially designed to assist their passage over sluices and other barriers (photo. p.16). These ‘quick fixes’ have been applied to many structures on the Stour and other rivers in Essex and Suffolk. One example of a sluice where this is not possible is at Bures Mill, which forms almost a complete barrier to eel and other fish migration. As a result the eel population upstream of the sluice is significantly low.

The channel from the original mill into the river had become isolated. So, in partnership with Essex Wildlife Trust, this has been reconnected to the main river which will allow eels and other fish to move upstream and downstream of the mill.

The new habitat will also benefit water voles, otters and other wildlife. Further projects are planned to open up old channels to provide a way round river structures which impede eel and fish migration.

The low numbers of elvers returning to the East Coast means much habitat is under-utilised. Most elvers return to the West Coast so there is an opportunity to transfer elvers from the Severn Catchment where many would be otherwise be taken by the commercial fishery or suffer from density dependent mortality. The ideal habitat for an elver stocking programme is a shallow lake with reedbeds with connection to a river system for escapement of silver eels, and no commercial fishing. RSPB and Wildlife Trust reserves provide some ideal habitat and the Environment Agency is undertaking partnership projects to improve the habitat and escapement for eels and for stocking with glass eels from the West Coast. Minsmere and Hen Reedbeds in Suffolk have recently been stocked. This will be of benefit for conservation species such as the bittern and otter and will increase numbers of eels reaching maturity and migrating to the Sargasso Sea for spawning.

Eels have not disappeared yet, but with the low numbers of glass eels arriving each year, we must do all that is possible to protect these in their upstream migration and increase accessible habitat. Their importance for biodiversity is recognised and all works to improve our eel populations have benefits for other fish and wildlife.

Ros Wright, Environment Agency

White Admiral No 76

9

THE GARNER/NATURALISTS’ GAZETTE The Garner with which is incorporated The Naturalists’ Gazette – a little-known Victorian publication with a bird record from Suffolk

The heyday of local scientific societies was probably around the middle of the C.19th In 1873 there were at least 169 local scientific societies in Britain and Ireland and of these just under two thirds were field clubs. But by this time however, for a variety of reasons which I will not enter into here, their popularity was on the wane. As the century moved towards its close and beyond, some merely ceased to exist whilst others merged to pool their memberships and resources.

Being greatly interested in the history of the natural sciences in this country, I was delighted three years ago to purchase from a book dealer’s catalogue, ten issues of the above-named publication. The covers of the January,1892 edition are reproduced here (plate 1) and show that the publication in its existing format had come about as a result of the merging of a national society’s publication with that of a local one. The scope of the content can be gauged by studying the advertisements on the back cover. Notes and articles were designed to be understandable and appreciated by the literate working class naturalist and, as can be seen from the pages reproduced here, records were published from around the country. I have chosen this issue because on page 59 there is a snippet recording the shooting of a Spotted Eagle in Suffolk (plate 3) I contacted Martin Sanford to enquire if he was aware of this published record and he told me that although he was unaware of its appearance in this particular publication, Piotrowski in The Birds of Suffolk (2003) refers to what is plainly the same bird. There he informs us (p.121) that an “autopsy of the bird shot at Sudbourne revealed that it had fed on a water vole and a partridge”; also, that the specimen is now exhibited at the Norwich Castle Museum. No source for this information is provided by the author. I suspect that it is likely to have originated from Ticehurst’s A History of the Birds of Suffolk (1932).

It would be interesting if any member could inform our editor if the bird is still on display in Norwich.

David Ridley Nash

10

White Admiral No 76

Plate 1: Front cover White Admiral No 76

11

Plate 2: Page 58 12

White Admiral No 76

Plate: 3 Page 59 White Admiral No 76

13

Plate 4: Back cover 14

White Admiral No 76

Egg of Orange-tip Butterfly

Dormouse in nestbox

Morel

Early Purple Orchid

Photos taken in Priestley Wood in May 2010

White Admiral No 76

15

Photo: Clare Reeves

Photo: Environment Agency

The Rose Chafer, seen again in Suffolk after a long absence.

An example of a brush pass to assist elvers to climb structures. See article on p. 8.

16

White Admiral No 76

Part of the frieze in Norma Chapman’s summer house. The jays were painted by Eric Ennion. See ‘Letters’.

Cat-food thief. Graham Darton, thinking he was providing food-aid for hedgehogs, was surprised to find whose hungry mouth he was really filling.

White Admiral No 76

17

Above: Fruiting body of Camarops polysperma Below: Wounds in bark of Alder left after fruiting body has disintegrated

18

White Admiral No 76

ASCOMYCETE POSING AS BASIDIOMYCETE One of the advantages of attending a fungus foray is that there will always be the possibility of new species being shown to you by more experienced mycologists.

Such was the case when the British Mycological Society held their annual week-long foray in Suffolk last November. The damp Alder Carr part of Westwood Marshes National Nature Reserve was one of the sites chosen because, due to the very damp swamp-like conditions, it was almost unexplored from a mycological point of view.

The fungus I am writing about here was one I’d never seen before. It was growing on dead standing Alder, easily visible from the boardwalk. It was pointed out to me by Dr Martyn Ainsworth. Its scientific name is Camarops polysperma but Martyn described it as a ‘black tarry slug’. When we finally get round to giving it an English common name I don’t think it will be too different from his description.

What is interesting about this species is that if you were to slice off a portion with a knife, you would see that the whole fruit body consists of minute tubes from which the spores are ejected, or rather ooze out like tar. So it is an Ascomycete and not a Basidiomycete, which is what one would imagine with a fruiting body that contains tubes and has the appearance of a polypore. Each fruiting body can be up to a centimetre thick and may be 5-7 cm long. As can be seen from the close-up photo, they grow from underneath the bark and force their way through. After the fruiting period (around October/November) the whole body slowly disintegrates leaving the appearance of wounds (shown in the other photo) which one may think were caused by a woodpecker. I do not know how the spores are spread as they will not disperse easily in the tar-like secretions, maybe it is done by insects.

I am grateful to Dr Martyn Ainsworth of the Mycology Section, Kew, for drawing my attention to the fungus as I could have easily dismissed it as just another tree disease that produces black tar-like blisters.

Camarops polysperma is classed as a Red Listed species of ‘conservation concern’ and the find at Westwood Marshes was the first for Suffolk. However, with this new knowledge I was able to find it in another location beside the River Hundred at Aldringham in May 2010.

Neil Mahler

Contributions to White Admiral Deadlines for copy are 1st February (spring edition), 1st June (summer edition) and 1st October (autumn edition).

The opinions expressed in White Admiral are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society.

White Admiral No 76

19

STOKE TUNNEL SSSI A new community information panel, sponsored by Abbey New Homes with information by GeoSuffolk (www.geosuffolk.co.uk) is in place on the Site of Special Scientific Interest by Wordsell Close, Ipswich just south of Stoke railway tunnel.

The panel explains the science behind the SSSI for the benefit of those who live in the new housing development adjacent to it.

The geological interest in this site comprises fresh water terrace silts and clays dated to an interglacial about 210,000 years. These are highly fossiliferous, yielding lion, rhinoceros, wild horses, oxen, mammoth, bear, voles and European pond tortoise. Many of these fossils are in Ipswich Museum. They represent an interglacial, probably of similar climate to the present day, although the presence of the pond tortoise suggests warmer summers. The area was a shallow lake or river, and the panel tells the story of Lake Ipswich loosely based on everyday events in modern Africa, but populated with the ‘Stoke’ animals.

Lake Ipswich “A long time ago – 210,000 years before the present day - this place was the muddy shore of a freshwater lake or river. The climate was slightly warmer than the present. The coldest stage of the ice age is over, although further freezing will follow this warm interglacial time. Let us spend an imagined day here in this beautiful valley, watching the drama of the hunters and the hunted.

It is night-time and the sky is full of stars but their patterns are different to those we know because it is so long ago. It is very still just before sunrise, but with the first light of dawn, the quiet time is broken by the early morning chattering of birds. The day begins. A herd of large wild oxen start the show, visiting to drink the water. There is a scuffle at the edge; some of the bulls are beginning to fight.

As the sun comes up, lions begin to roar, first one, then others, as the local Stoke pride keeps in touch. Other animals are moving. Wild horses are the next to quench their thirst. The have come from an area of shorter grass, where they felt safe to sleep at night. They are in small family groups but there is also a group of young stallions. They drink as fast as they can, for they have seen a mother lioness by a tree in the distance. She is enjoying a stretch while her cubs play with her tail. One of them nips the tail but a cuff with mother’s paw soon puts a stop to it. A timid horse bolts in panic, risking being ambushed by lions.

The day is warming up; the air is full of the buzz of insects and the perfume of flowers. A bear next visits the shore. Sudden ripples on the surface of the water tell us that a water vole is looking for food. A freshwater tortoise swims leisurely by. Later, the lions come to drink. The pride is predominantly a group of related lionesses – sisters, cousins and aunts. Further away is a group of adult males 20

White Admiral No 76

not yet old enough to challenge for a pride of their own. All wonder where the older adult male is. The lions are not in a hurry and take up to 20 minutes each in lapping the water. What is that noise? Is it one of them purring? It is time for their siesta. Further away, a rhinoceros gives its resting position away by raising a small cloud of dust as it breathes. Some mammoths – elephants with large curved tusks – come to drink. One of them has a good scratch against a large sandy sarsen stone. A sad sight nearby – a mother mammoth and her calf have died. Could they have been killed by the lions, or by the next visitors to the lake?

It is mid-day and some humans arrive. They are carrying flint tools for hunting.

They made them by chipping a block of flint, but how, exactly? They know the answer but we can’t communicate with them. They don’t speak any language that we know.

Nearby, a group of old bulls rest in the long grass in the early afternoon. They no longer live with the main herd of oxen, but would still be formidable foes for any lion or human hunting them.

As the shadows lengthen in the early evening, more large animals search out the water. Red deer arrive, followed by four straight-tusked elephants. One is a big male with enormous tusks. Ears flapping, each drinks about 150 litres of water, sucked up the trunk 9 litres at a time, and squirted into its mouth. They have come from their feeding grounds, three from the Chantry woodland and one from Dales wood, having wandered some 6-7 kilometres during the day. A rhinoceros also comes down to drink and wallow. A deep red sunset tells the humans to head for a safe place for the night. With the light not quite faded, howls from a pack of wolves suggest that they will soon be hunting. Dusk falls and the hunted must be even more watchful.

High overhead the myriads of stars appear again. But the night here belongs to the lions – the hunters. Elsewhere in the darkness, helped by a little moonlight, eyes peer nervously to pick up the slightest movement, noses twitch and ears listen for the rumbles of prowling lions. Sometime after midnight the three hunting lionesses from the Stoke pride burst from their hiding places and in three or four strides death comes quickly to a horse – even its speed did not see it through the night.

The lions are still feeding when a red glow in the eastern sky heralds the beginning of a new day. How well would you survive the last 24 hours?”

Bob Markham

White Admiral No 76

21

SUMMER SURVEYS IN SOUTH SUFFOLK LAVENHAM NATURAL HISTORY GROUP We started off as the Sudbury Flower group, as Martin (Sanford) named us, and are now known as the Lavenham Natural History Group.

During the AGM of the SNS, and the presentation about the book, ‘A Flora of Suffolk’, there was a lot of discussion about field meetings. We then realised our group is, in principle, not far away from the SNS; in fact, a number of us are already members of the SNS. We are a collection of people with a common interest in wildlife and the countryside. Our main interest is in botanical identification and recording by carrying out surveys for local landowners and Martin of the SBRC. But at the same time, we attempt to study anything we find of interest and indulge in friendly conversation on almost any subject you can name.

We hold two meetings a week in the summer months from mid-April to early September, and go to a variety of sites in south Suffolk, occasionally venturing into Essex. Some sites are accessible to the public and some are private with no public footpaths. We are indebted to local landowners and farmers who encourage the group by giving us access to their land.

We are a voluntary group with no official committee, and there are no contributions to be paid at any of our summer survey meetings. So we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to join us, to find out what we’re about. If you have any knowledge to contribute on any subject, it would be most appreciated, but just as valuable is the interested person with a quest for knowledge and a fresh pair of eyes to point out what we miss and ask questions to keep us on our toes.

We do hold a series of winter meetings at Lavenham Guildhall on the first Wednesday of the month from October to April and all are welcome but a small contribution is requested on the door to pay for the venue and the speakers. The first speaker in the autumn is in fact Martin Sanford talking on the subject of ‘A Flora of Suffolk’. What a coincidence!

You may have seen our meetings listed on the SNS website and the blog site. We have Adrian Chalkley to thank for our free adverts.

If anyone is interested in attending any of our meetings, and needs further information, please contact me, Barry Ruggles, for details by e-mail at skyelarkuk@yahoo.co.uk or telephone 01787376802.

LNHG Winter indoor meetings Held in Lavenham Guildhall, at 7.30 p.m.

6th October 2010

22

Martin Sanford - A Flora of Suffolk

White Admiral No 76

3rd November 2010

Ian Rose - Fungi

1st December 2010

Open social evening with members’ talks

2nd February 2011 Project

Neil Catchpole - Dedham Vale Activities, Stour Valley

2nd March 2011

Steve Weston - Weather and Climate, ‘WeatherQuest’

6th April 2011

To be arranged

Barry Ruggles

A HERBALISTS VIEW OF LIME OR LINDEN

The common lime, Tilia x vulgaris (named Tilia europaea in most herbals) is a cross between the small-leaved lime, Tilia cordata and the largeleaved lime Tilia platyphyllos. The flowers of all three species may be used medicinally. They make a mild and pleasant tea, either alone or combined with other flowers such as lavender and chamomile. Their action is believed to be relaxant and anti-inflammatory. They are used particularly as a remedy for nervous tension, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries. In the latter two conditions, a more concentrated extract over a longer period of time is needed, often combined with other remedies.

A German herbal, written by a medical doctor, Rudolph Fritz Weiss, recommended lime blossom as a treatment for influenza in children.

Lime flowers are gathered in June and July. For the rest of the year, we must make do with the dried herb or the tincture.

Caroline Wheeler Reference Weiss R.F (1988) Herbal Medicine. Beaconsfield Publishers Limited White Admiral No 76

23

MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS Seek and ye shall still find In 1910, C. G. Nurse recorded the spider hunting wasp Aporus unicolor from “Newmarket Heath”, now the site for much of Newmarket racecourse. Largely on account of the lack of aculeate specialists in the county (even Morley did not seem to get out that way much) it has not been recorded there since... until today!

I took a male from the Devil’s Dyke earthwork adjacent to Newmarket Heath, which runs parallel to the “July Course”. It has doubtless been living in and around the Heath all this time. My record comes, of course, from Cambridgeshire strictly speaking and its continued presence on the Heath itself may be in doubt given the intense management of the sward for horse exercise, but this does goes to show that rare species are quite capable of hanging on in places and just because it hasn’t been seen for 100 years doesn’t mean it is not still there.

P.S. There were a few jaded Lizard Orchids still visible, which was another bonus!

Adrian Knowles, 14 July 2010 (from the SNS blog) Jumping Spider Synageles venator is a member of the Salticidae, the so called jumping spiders, although in both appearance and movements it is extremely ant-like. Moving amongst ants such as Lasius niger it could easily be dismissed as one on them.

On 28th May 2010 I found a female of the species at the bottom of the sloping cliff-face where it meets the shingle beach near Bawdsey Manor. This would appear to be the first record of Synageles venator in Suffolk. On 4th June I found another female in the same general area.

This species is regarded as Nationally Scarce in this country with the few original records, mostly from coastal dune systems from the south of England.

However, Peter Harvey the National Recorder for spiders, tells me that within the past few years there have been finds in Nottinghamshire as well as south Essex and Kent. Apparently the species is widespread and more frequent on the continent so, with the warmer summers, if you see an odd looking ant...

Ray Ruffell Seek and ye shall still find…example two On June 12th this year I was at the Carlton Marshes Reserve running a ‘Dyke Dipping’ morning as part of the SWT’s excellent Wildlearning programme. In the afternoon I decided to try to photograph the rare Lesser Whirlpool Snail, Anisus vorticulus which occurs there. I found the snail but the wind from the river played havoc with my photograph. My small specimen tank perched on a tripod, even in the lee of an earth bank, swayed so often that every picture was blurred. A wasted afternoon, I thought.

24

White Admiral No 76

However, I collected some other invertebrate specimens for later identification at home, including several beetles of the family Haliplidae. But when I identified these one turned out to be Peltodytes caesus. This species is rare in East Anglia and one that has eluded me for some time, although David Nash, our Coleoptera Recorder has found it once in the county (at Hollesley, see below).

The very first record we have is by Claude Morley who found it at Oulton Broad in 1898 (month unknown). Carlton Marshes is of course on the edge of Oulton Broad. So, as with Adrian Knowles’ spider hunting wasp, Peltodytes caesus has been quietly getting on with life in this area unseen for 112 years. It is always worth looking, and you never can tell what you might find.

The eight records I now have for Peltodytes caesus are: Oulton Broad 1898 (month unknown) & Sept 1900, Shotley May 1988, Minsmere May 1988 & Oct 1988, Orford Ness June 2007, Hollesley June 28th 2000, Carlton Marshes June 12th 2010.

Any further records would of course be very welcome.

Adrian Chalkley Freshwater Invertebrate Recorder The Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata L.) re-discovered at last!

Three years ago I appealed for Suffolk records of this large (14–20 mm), attractive and distinctive beetle which had not been noted in the county since April, 1961 (White Admiral 66 Spring, 2007:13–15). I am at last able to report its re-discovery in W. Suffolk.

On 27th April 2010, Clare Reeves, an observant and keen general naturalist, found an adult in a compost heap at her home in Stackwood Road, Polstead, VC26, N.G. Ref. TL999402. Unfortunately, the beetle had disappeared after she returned with her camera to photograph it. Later, between 12th and 14th June, she observed and photographed at least four individuals all feeding on the flowers of Goatsbeard Aruncus (formerly Spiraea) dioicus growing near the compost heap. The first beetle seen, on the 12th, was attacked and wrestled to the ground by a very large hornet but subsequently escaped. Later, up to three were observed feeding at any one time, including a pair which mated. The previous summer, Clare had found many scarabaeiform larvae in the heap which she had taken to be those of the Common Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha L.) and she had translocated these into her boundary hedge. It now seems likely that some or all of these were Rose Chafer larvae.

Clare is not currently an SNS member (Why not I hear you cry?!) and came across my appeal whilst looking on-line for information on the Rose Chafer. Our society needs people like Clare who are prepared to take the time to observe carefully and, most importantly, report their observations to the society. I am most grateful to her for sending me detailed letters with her observations, as well as a disc with all her photos, one of which is reproduced here (p.16).

David Ridley Nash Coleoptera Recorder White Admiral No 76

25

BOOK REVIEWS A Flora of Suffolk. Martin Sanford & Richard Fisk.

Publ. by D.K. & M.N. Sanford, Ipswich 2010. 549 pp.

ISBN 978 0 9564584 0 7 £40.00 hdbk Nearly thirty years have passed since the publication of Simpson’s Flora of Suffolk.

This was considered innovative since it was one of the first of its kind to include colour photographs of many of the plants it listed. With the recent emergence of this monumental work by Martin Sanford and Richard Fisk, the comprehensive text covering 549 pages is greatly enhanced by beautifully reproduced flower studies, often using the full length of the large pages. These are used to introduce the individual chapters and each of the main plant families. These are extremely eye catching and should broaden the appeal of this superb book to those who enjoy wild flowers, as well as the specialist botanist. I have been buying new floras for the past forty years or so, and have the majority on my shelves. As the years pass they get bigger and better, but this one is, to my mind, the best yet.

Martin must be justly proud of his achievement. He thanks the many recorders who have largely provided the up-to-date records which provide the basic information, tetrad by tetrad, across the county. As one of these, I realise I have a vested interest, but I am greatly impressed by what has been produced when all the hundreds of thousands of records were brought together in dot maps for single species. His thanks also go to all the many conservation organisations and owners of herbaria nationwide who allowed their data to be used, thus giving a comprehensive picture of the flora of our county.

It is fascinating to read about the history of botanical recording in Suffolk. In the early days this was largely down to those who were well-educated and relatively wealthy, many of whom like Babington, Henslow and Hind were clergymen. As education and leisure time became the norm, wild flowers became a popular interest, and we see how greatly this has contributed to our present knowledge.

As well as detailed sections on the various soils and their associated flora, there is a chapter on the history of the landscape showing how it has changed since the last glaciation. This culminates in a fascinating section on how farming practices have been affected by a number of factors from the 1860s to the present day, using graphs to show the enormous fluctuations in crop and animal production levels through the decades, all of which must have had implications for our flora. The detailed description of the many diverse habitats in Suffolk explains why we have such a wide and varied flora. Despite being an essentially arable county, we lack little other than upland, with the coastal strip, the estuaries and the unique Breckland being important nationally.

Before looking in detail at the families of flowering plants and ferns, it is important to commend another section of the book, namely the comprehensive review of the Bryophytes, which is written by Richard Fisk, the county recorder.

26

White Admiral No 76

Mosses and liverworts are subjects that are not always featured in modern floras, and rarely in as much detail as here. I was staggered to find that over 300 mosses and nearly 80 liverworts have been recorded in Suffolk since the first one in 1746, the majority of which are still present. Many of them have dot maps and/or colour photographs, which show their characteristics, diversity and distribution well.

The flowering plants and ferns take up 370 pages, and each “A Flora of Suffolk has been beautifully produced…” species, even those with just a single record as a casual, are included, with some information on the place and date found and its status in the county. The vast majority of plants have a dot map showing their distribution as well as the type of habitat favoured using coloured backgrounds for soil type, rivers and woodland etc. Thus you can see at a glance the preference of Mossy Stonecrop for sandy soils, or Sulphur Clover for clay. Some of our rarer species merit detailed information about their individual sites, such as the Snakes-head Fritillary, while the status of debatably native plants like Grape hyacinth is discussed fully.

I have greatly enjoyed dipping into these pages, some reminding me of outings made years ago to find a special plant, and many others providing me with details and locations that I have overlooked. There are also useful side-by-side photographs of species which can easily be confused, such as the Large and Hedge Bindweeds, the two sub-species of Ivy-leaved Speedwell. There are also descriptions of the fruits of the really confusing hedgerow plums and sloes. The current colonisation and spread of Narrow-leaved Ragwort and Danish Scurvy-grass are covered, the map for the latter showing clearly how it is following the county’s trunk roads. Even the past and present cultivation of agricultural crops like hemp have their history documented in detail.

A Flora of Suffolk has been beautifully produced by a British printer, a real pleasure in these days when large illustrated books are printed as far away as China; even so it has been possible to keep the price down to £40.00. I know this is a lot of money in these difficult times, but I am sure nobody will regret the outlay for such a superb and important book. Every Suffolk naturalist should have a copy - it is worth every penny. I am sure Francis Simpson would have been impressed.

Peter Lawson

White Admiral No 76

27

Badger by Timothy J. Roper. Harper Collins. London. 2010. 384 pp.

ISBN978-0-00-733977-8. £30 paperback, £50 hardback.

Why does everyone love badgers? We all know what they look like, yet most people have never seen one. That is probably the only question not answered in Timothy J. Roper’s Badger… but maybe it is. They are fascinating animals. Every aspect of their biology is interesting, especially in the way Prof.

Roper tells it.

Badgers live is setts, but not alone. Mixed-sex social groups share a communal territory, which they defend aggressively. The territory is continually scentmarked, especially in latrines and where it adjoins that of neighbours. Secretions, with scent profiles unique to each animal, from anal glands and caudal glands, are used for marking. Analysis by gas chromatography (GLC) has identified at least 19 long chain fatty acids in anal secretions and no fewer than 110 chemical components in caudal gland secretions. However, the scent of the individual is conferred not by secretions alone, but by a blend of them mixed with products of bacterial decomposition of those secretions. Since each badger has a different mixture of bacteria, each produces its own exclusive scent. Add to this the fact that members of a social group multiply the permutations by constantly scent-marking each other and what you have is an amazing, unique social group smell identity.

It seems that badger families keep themselves to themselves. Even the youngsters are reluctant to leave home when they reach maturity and neither are parents keen to drive them away (i.e. the dispersal rate is low). That being so, one might expect a high incidence of incest and inbreeding. Not so - telemetric tagging shows that mature females like to nip out into the next territory for a love tryst with a rival male, and vice versa too. Thus variation is ensured. Delayed implantation enables fertilised eggs (actually blastocysts) with different fathers to be saved up, so that the average three cubs in a litter might each have different parentage.

Badger is number 114 in the ‘New Naturalist Library’ and embodies all of the qualities that we have come to expect in that series. It is, however, the first that deals with a single species. The content is pretty much what one would expect, but with extras. Thus, it includes for example in the chapter on diet and foraging behaviour a full assessment of whether badgers are dietary specialists or generalists. In Chapter 8 (Origins of Social Territoriality) Prof. Roper warns the reader that he will be “venturing further into the realms of theory, and using the Resource Dispersion Hypothesis”. He need not have worried: we were well prepared after being made to think about Dirichlet tessellation maps in the previous chapter. It is good to see such detailed academic treatment of individual facets of badger biology in a text aimed primarily at the popular naturalist market.

28

White Admiral No 76

I imagine that many of the recent studies quoted in the book were carried out by PhD students under Professor Roper’s supervision. His, and their, work builds on the pioneering foundations of Ernest Neal, and later Hans Kruuk, to both of whom he pays tribute, but his conclusions and opinions are further informed by the work of badger research groups across the globe. A strong feature of the book is the clarity of the copious tables and figures to illustrate points under discussion, presented so clearly that they not only assist understanding but also allow the reader to make his own conclusions.

The final chapter addresses the vexed issue of bovine tuberculosis and culling.

The complexity of the evidence is clearly and thoroughly explained, as are the dilemmas and conundrums, before a full exploration of pros and cons of the range of control measures including culling. The author states his own views dispassionately, and it’s hard to argue with them. Badger lovers will find the book worthwhile for this chapter alone.

This excellent book gives us more than a glimpse into the nocturnal world of the badger, it tells us just about everything that scientists know about the species. And more, it spells out clearly what else needs to be known, even suggesting how it might be done. Prof. Roper is not just an expert on badgers, he is also a master of objective scientific writing, making difficult concepts fully accessible but at the same time conveying great enthusiasm for the subject – it would not be surprising to get a waft of badger musk as you turn the pages. I have difficulty in finding fault with Badger, but then I am not a mammalian biologist. Perhaps some of the photos could have been a bit larger...

David Walker

Talking of Moths: The Moth Books of P. B. M. Allan The books of P. B. M. Allan are probably not that familiar to the modern day naturalist given that they were written up to 70 years ago and do not concentrate on those subjects that seem most popular in the lepidoptera literature today identification, natural history and conservation. Four of his five entomological books are written in a conversational, light-hearted and amusing style about the joys of fieldwork. I have enjoyed reading and re-reading them and I expect that they will also appeal to others, not just those who study moths.

Philip Bertram Murray Allan was born in 1884 and was ‘an ardent moth hunter’ from an early age as his father, a keen field lepidopterist, had ‘infected his youngest child with the disorder’. The first of his entomological books, A Moth Hunter’s Gossip, appeared in 1937 and with its less formal approach was a change in style from the scientific entomological literature of the time. PBMA himself described the book as ‘merely tittle-tattle about moths that happen to interest me’. The book covers an assortment of subjects: hawk-moths, aspen, sugaring, attracting moths to light, assembling, and equipment as well as comments on several of the rarer and more White Admiral No 76

29

fascinating moth species. The style of writing is very easy to read, scattered with references and anecdotes and conveys the author’s enthusiasm for the subject while at the same time providing a wealth of knowledge.

The first book was well received on publication and was followed by a similar second volume, Talking of Moths, in 1943. In this book the author moves on to discuss topics such as cannibalistic and hibernating larvae, survival factors, Swallowtail butterfly, mating moths, the ‘psychology’ of moths, disreputable dealers and the trade in lepidoptera. Moths and Memories, the third book was published in 1948 and differs from the previous two in that the chapter topics tend to be more loosely connected, although there are separate chapters devoted to the history of the Black-veined White butterfly and the Jersey Tiger moth.

The fourth book, Leaves from a Moth Hunter’s Notebook, was published postposthumously in 1980. Almost half of this book is taken up in covering the history and status of three butterflies – Scarce Copper, Mazarine Blue and Scarce Swallowtail. The natural history of three prominents associated with oak and a discussion of lepidoptera that may well colonise the country in the future takes up the remainder of the book.

I have listed the subjects covered by the books but possibly what will better convey the appeal of the books is to give some examples of the stories. The author relates a couple of tales related to the Goat moth and the first of these tells of one of his collecting friends keeping twenty four of the larvae in his bath. With the bath occupied by the larvae he was obliged to build another bathroom for his wife and family. The larvae normally feed inside the trunks of trees for several years but in captivity can be fed on saw-dust. This friend, wanting only the best for his larvae, installed a power-plant and electric saw to keep the larvae supplied with fresh sawdust each week. After several years of feeding the friend had twenty four adult moths for his collection. As the abdomens of these moths are very greasy it was the practice to detach the abdomens, de-grease them, pack them with cotton wool and then re-attach the abdomens - all rather time consuming. The friend, having performed this laborious process on all the moths, left his cabinet drawer containing the Goat moths on an open window-sill to dry. The tale finishes with the friend returning home after work to find that a neighbourly sparrow had found the moths too much of a temptation to resist and that none of his twenty four Goat moths remained.

A second Goat moth story appears in the third book, Moths and Memories, and remains one of my favourites. This story concerns a Canon at a certain cathedral who thought that the cool temperatures of the cathedral vaults would make the ideal place to over-winter his six nearly full-grown Goat moth larvae. The Canon, assisted by the verger, descended into one of the vaults where the oak coffins contained the remains of a noble family. He placed his larvae in their wooden box on top of one of the coffins and left them to over-winter in their cage knowing that they were safe from harm. As the Canon was away from the cathedral for the spring it was not until June that he could return to the vault and collect his box of larvae. The Canon was again accompanied into the vault by the Verger and as the Canon retrieved his box 30

White Admiral No 76

they both heard a rustling from the coffin of the departed duke. The Verger rushed off to fetch the Dean while the Canon just had time to hide his rearing box.

All three descended once more to the vault and examined the coffin thinking that it might contain a mouse. When some candlelight was used to get a better view the Canon guessed what was causing the rustling noise when he saw the six finger-sized holes in the top of the coffin. The Canon feared that the discovery of the moths in the coffin would not endear himself to the Dean or chapter and, possibly more important, that he might lose his now adult Goat moths. However, on opening the coffin he managed to capture all six moths and at the same time convince the Dean that a female Goat Moth must have laid her eggs on the coffin, a reason the Dean readily accepted remarking that they were the largest clothes moths that he had seen.

The third book also contains two rather tongue-in-cheek letters, the first giving advice to the lepidopterist about the qualities needed in any prospective wife. Some of the suggestions may not be well-received by those of the fairer sex. One of the more practical pieces of advice was that wives should wear long dresses so that the dress could double up as a beating tray for collecting larvae; also that they should be encouraged to wear a white nightdress as this in combination with a lamp could be used to attract night-flying moths. With the addition of waders this wife could be positioned in a reed-bed to attract the rarer wainscots. The advice given to a girl considering marriage to a lepidopterist, put succinctly, is to change their mind and look elsewhere.

Those thinking of reading the books should be aware that some of the activities that the author gets up to would not be looked on favourably in current natural history recording circles, but it should be remembered that the books were written at an earlier time when attitudes were slightly different. The author as well as conveying his enthusiasm for lepidoptera also manages to do an equally good job of conveying his dislike (in a humorous manner) of those animals that prey on lepidoptera - bats, bugs, earwigs and other predators - all come in the firing line, quite literally at times. One should also be warned that in one of his books the author does slip in the odd piece of entomological verse but as it tends to be on the funny side he can probably be forgiven.

P. B. M. Allan, during his lifetime, also produced a small book Larval Foodplants in 1949, which listed the known foodplants for each moth species. This book is now mainly of historical interest as similar books have been produced since.

All of Allan’s books are now out of print but can be obtained second-hand from a number of entomological bookshops.

Tony Prichard

White Admiral No 76

31

LETTERS, NOTES AND QUERIES Ennion’s Jays The appreciation of Eric Ennion by Rasik Bhadresa (White Admiral 75) prompts me to respond. In 1963 I attended one of Eric’s bird courses on Bardsey Island, not knowing that within a decade I would be living in Suffolk, in the house built for his parents in 1926. Whether Eric ever lived here permanently I do not know but he certainly left his mark. In the summer house there is a frieze of jays, painted in typical Ennion style with the two dozen birds illustrating the range of behaviour and postures typical of the species. Hearsay relates that Peter Scott assisted with the paintings and although he did not recall this he did not rule it out (pers. comm.

1986). Hugh Cott, the authority on cryptic colouration (Adaptive Colouration in Animals) and who advised the Government on camouflage during WW2, certainly visited here. He and Eric were both founder members of the Society of Wildlife Artists. A few years ago I was fortunate to obtain one of his superb pen and ink drawings of the River Lark at the bottom of my garden.

Norma Chapman Barton Mills Survey of stag beetle “larval incidents” in private gardens It is well known that in the UK stag beetles are mostly found in gardens. Indeed, in the 1998 PTES Survey 70% of the records came from private gardens. Therefore the aim of this new survey is to study the interactions between people and stag beetles.

I’m asking people to participate with their past and future “larval incidents” in their gardens or allotments, and to spread the word. The survey is being hosted online and I’m allowed 10 questions and 100 responses for free, so it will only take a few minutes.

For those with access to the Internet, the link is http://www.surveymonkey.com/ s/PPBP8FP. Or if you search for “larval incidents” and you will find a link to my homepage with detailed instructions plus downloadable forms etc.

Alternatively, get in touch with me and I will send you a form. Please take photos, if you possibly can, as they will be essential for the identification of the larvae. All records will passed on to Colin Hawes, the county stag beetle recorder, of course.

Stag beetles – all they need is love and wood.

Contact: Maria Fremlin, 25 Ireton Rd, Colchester CO3 3AT, 01206 767746, mariafremlin@gmail.com Maria Fremlin 32

White Admiral No 76

SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY BURSARIES The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society offers five bursaries, of up to £500 each, annually.

Morley Bursary - usually awarded for studies involving insects (or other invertebrates) other than butterflies and moths.

Chipperfield Bursary - usually awarded for studies involving butterflies or moths.

Cranbrook Bursary - usually awarded for studies involving mammals or birds.

Rivis Bursary - usually awarded for studies into the County’s flora.

Simpson Bursary - in memory of Francis Simpson; this will be for a botanical study where possible.

Any member wishing to apply for a bursary should write, with details of their proposed project, to the Honorary Secretary. As applications are normally considered at the Council meeting in May of each year, proposals should be with the Hon. Sec. by 30th April.

Applications made at other times will be considered but, even if considered worthy of an award, may not be successful if all the bursaries for the current year have already been taken.

The following two conditions apply to the awards: 1.

2.

Projects should include a large element of original work and applications must include a breakdown of how the bursary will be spent.

A written account of the project is required within 12 months of receipt of a bursary. This should be in a form suitable for publication in one of the Society’s journals: Suffolk Natural History, Suffolk Birds or White Admiral.

THE SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY

FOUNDED IN 1929 by Claude Morley (1874 -1951), The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society pioneered the study and recording of the County’s flora, fauna and geology, to promote a wider interest in natural history.

Recording the natural history of Suffolk is still one of the Society’s primary objects, and members’ observations are fed to a network of specialist recorders for possible publication before being deposited in the Suffolk Biological Records Centre, which is based in Ipswich Museum.

Suffolk Natural History, a review of the County’s wildlife, and Suffolk Birds, the County bird report, are two high quality annual publications issued free to members.

The Society also publishes a newsletter, White Admiral, and organises two members’ evenings a year plus a conference every two years .

Subscriptions: Individual members £15.00; Family membership £17.00; Corporate membership £17.00. Joint membership with the Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group: Individual members £26.00; Family membership £30.00.

As defined by the Constitution of this Society its objects shall be: 2.1 To study and record the fauna, flora and geology of the County 2.2 To publish a Transactions and Proceedings and a Bird Report. These shall be free to members except those whose annual subscriptions are in arrears 2.3 To liaise with other natural history societies and conservation bodies in the County 2.4 To promote interest in natural history and the activities of the Society For more details about the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society contact: Hon. Secretary, Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, IPSWICH, IP1 3QH. Telephone 01473 213479 The Society’s website is at www.sns.org.uk