[Frontispiece
II ADEN A COMPTA FABRICIUS AND HADENA CON (See p. 135).
135
HADENA A
COMPTA
NOCTUID M O T H N E W
FABRICIUS TO SUFFOLK
[See frontispiece] AT about 3.30 p.m on 2nd August, 1953, whilst visiting friends at Polstead in the southern part of the county, I found a moth at rest in their porch. I was keen to box it, believing it to be Hadena conspersa Esp., the Marbled Coronet. Apparently it had been there since the morning. On arrival home I was intrigued to note the continuous white band from costa of the forewing to the hind margin which corresponded closely with H. compta, the Varied Coronet. Mr. and Mrs. Chipperfield whom I visited that evening were of a similar opinion. Careful comparison of my specimen with a series of H. conspersa showed that it was smaller, measuring only 15 mm. in wingspan. Further comparison with authentic specimens of H. compta has shown my insect to be this species beyond all doubt. Apart from a handful of scattered records ranging from Folkestone, Deal, South Devon and Hill of Howth, Ireland, H. compta does not appear to have colonised this country tili 1948 when Mr. G. Youden took a series Aying over sweet Williams in his garden at Dover where it has been fairly abundant since that year. Doubtless this species is spreading steadily north and the fact that my specimen was in very fresh condition, suggests that it had bred on the spot, since sweet william, its chief pabulum, was plentiful in the garden. Mr. Claude Morley, in his final catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Suffolk, makes no mention at all of this species. ALASDAIR
ASTON.