Some Suffolk pyralid moths

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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 31

SOME SUFFOLK PYRALID MOTHS ALASDAIR ASTON Crambus pratella Linn. (=dumetella Hb.), Hook-streak Grass-veneer.

Col. Maitland Emmet has told me (pers. comm. April 24th 1994) that a specimen of pratella Linn, was taken at Thorpeness on the night of 15 June 1966 by Mr. Stanley Wakely and given to Col. Emmet on the following morning. This was the insect mentioned by Baron de Worms (1967) as dumetella Hb. Recently, Col. Emmet and Bernard Skinner jointly confirmed (pers. comm.

December 1994) both this specimen's identity and its status as "new" to Suffolk. An asterisk, denoting "new to Suffolk", can, therefore, be added to the text of the article by Baron de Worms. Claude Morley (1937, 124) noted that the species was unrecorded from Suffolk. Confirmation of this addition to the county list will be included (pre-1970, VC25) in the forthcoming Addenda and Corrigenda to Mark Parsons (1993). Col. Emmet has informed Phil Sterling, author of the Pyralidae section of Volume 6 of The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland.

Pediasia contaminella Hb., Waste Grass-veneer.

Although this species was reported by Morley (1937, 126) and by Parsons (1933, 30) from East Suffolk, I was not aware of any West Suffolk contaminella until Bernard Skinner wrote to me on January 4th 1995, "I am sure you would be interested to know that in West Suffolk last year I found it abundant on the dry grassy fields around the Eriswell Pumping Station, including good proportions of the melanic i.sticheli. It also occurs at Lakenheath." This addition to Vice-County 26 will be included in the Addenda to Parsons (1993) and in Sterling (71996).

Crambus silvella Hb., Wood Grass-veneer.

Morley (1937, 124) recorded silvella from Greenacres Lane in Gorleston on June 5th 1931 but this specimen at Ipswich Museum was examined during January 1995 by Bernard Skinner and was found to be a female example of Crambus lathoniellus Zinck. Since there have been no other Suffolk reports of silvella, it ought now to be deleted from the county list, as the Addenda to Parsons (1933) will make clear.

Acrobasis tumidana D. & S., Bushy Knot-horn.

Three examples were recorded by Morley (1937, 123) from Fritton Lake on August 7th and 14th 1934 but, when Bernard Skinner (pers. comm. January 1995) examined the specimens labelled tumidana (7.8.34, 14.8.34 & 24.7.36) in Morley's collection at Ipswich Museum, he found them all to be Acrobasis repandana Fabr. (=tumidella Zinck.). It seems likely that this species will be deleted from Suffolk in Sterling (71996).

References Morley, C. (1937). Final Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Suffolk Naturalists' Society.

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 31 (1995)

of Suffolk. Ipswich:

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SOME SUFFOLK PYRALID MOTHS

Parsons, M. S. (1933). A Review ofthe scarce and threatened pyralid moths of Great Britain. JNCC. Sterling, P. (71966). Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland: 6 (Pyralidae), Harley Books. de Worms, Baron C. G. M. (1967). A Review of Lepidoptera Collecting in Suffolk during 1966. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 13, 315.

Alasdair Aston, Wake's Cottage, 1 The Street, Seiborne, near Alton, Hampshire GU34 3JH

,

Shoulder-striped Clover Moth, Heliothis maritima, ssp. warneckei Bours. or ssp. bulgarica Draudt in East Suffolk When I was compiling a Supplement to the Final Catalogue ofthe Lepidoptera of Suffolk (1961) I was unable to retrieve the exact reference for the only Suffolk record of Heliothis maritima. I have now, at last, recovered the reference from the Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. in the account of a Botanical Section Excursion on July 2nd 1949: "Meanwhile a second contingent, Coming up the coast from Dunwich, met with the moth Heliothis maritima, Hoff. (NEW to Suffolk)." This subspecies, now known as Heliothis maritima warneckei Boursin, is restricted to boggy heaths on acid soil and the larvae feed mostly on cross-leaved heath, Erica tetralix. Although it appears from Francis Simpson's "Flora of Suffolk" (1982) that the foodplant did occur in the area of the Excursion, Bernard Skinner is of the opinion that Heliothis maritima warneckei, Boursin, would be an unlikely resident for Suffolk (pers. comm. May 28th 1994). It is, apparently, more likely that the moth in question could be a specimen of an immigrant subspecies, Heliothis maritima bulgarica Draudt, an example of which may have been taken in Kent in 1947.

The entomologist present on the botanical excursion of July 2nd 1949 was Mr. P. J. Burton and it may be that the specimen's identity will be clarified only when his collection can be located. Any information as to its whereabouts would be welcome.

References Aston, A. (1961). Supplement to the Final Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Suffolk. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 11: 480.

Botanical Section Excursion (1949). Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 7: xv.

Simpson, F. W. (1982). Simpson's Flora of Suffolk. Ipswich: Suffolk Naturalists' Society, p.249.

Alasdair Aston

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 31 (1995)