FROSTED
YELLOW
THE following letter appeared in the Hast Anglian Daily Times of Sept. 27th, 1954. : Sir,—I was interested to read Mr. F. W. Simpson's remarks to members of the Ipswich and District Natural History Society on the subject of that one-time famous Suffolk moth limbaria— otherwise the Frosted Yellow, which in their 1937 catalogue lepidopterists of the Suffolk Naturalists' Society stated was extinct—" its last British home was in Suffolk," and wondered if anyone had seen an example since. It feil to my lot to see one in the interior of Suffolk this year, and I was considerably elated at the privilege. It was Aying in the sun, hovering over a hedge which possibly concealed a mate, and settled for a moment, wings over back, but then made off, and the thought Struck me that its sun-loving habits probably contributed largely to its decline, for there are few sun-loving moths, and of these none like it, so that it attracts attention at once. The date was June 5th. The six examples in my collection evidently came from the Needham district and have been dead a long while, as have also their captors, I fear. ERNEST T .
GOLDSMITH.
58 Fair Close, Beccles.
A RARE PYRALID, Pyrausta nubilalis Hubn. As far as I know, only two specimens of this insect have so far been recorded for Suffolk; the first taken some fifty years ago by Mr. A. E. Gibbs at Felixstowe and another in 1948 by Mr. P. J. Burton, at Lowestoft, both females. On August 3rd, my grandson, Alfred Waller, took a male in perfect condition, in his light trap at Waldringfield Rectory. First noticed in the Isle of Wight in 1848, it has been a rare and casual immigrant up to the early thirties, since when it has been taken more or less freely in Essex and some of the southern counties. English weather does not seem conducive to the insect establishing itself permanently for any length of time. B. P. Beirne, in his excellent little treatise on British Pyralid and Plume Moths
16
A RARE PYRALID
mentions that " dry summers, extremely cold winters, and heavy rain at the time of hatching, are said to be injurious to this species." Of late years it cannot have suffered much from dry summers ! nor from extremely cold winters, such as I remember in my boyhood ! but it may well have found the watery conditions too much for the time of hatching ! Certainly this year 1954 ! Mill Cottage, CANON A. P. W A L L E R . Waldringfield, Woodbridge.
MOTHS AT LIGHT IN 1954
CONSIDERING the weather and " in spite of the weather " ! my grandson, Alfred Waller, has had a busy time with his light trap. The following are some of the more interesting species, at least in this district:— Apocheima hispidaria Schiff. ; Lycia histaria Clerck ; strataria Hufn. ; Orthosia incerta Ilufn.—in abundance wit many nice forms ; O. gracilis Schiff.—several ; as also O. mun Schiff. ; Cosmia pyralina Schiff.—still plentiful ; likewise Leuca albipuncta Schiff.—both broods ; L. favicolor Barr—one in Jun the typical honey colour, a second in September a red var. ; Cucullia absinthii L ; Celaena leucostigma Hübn. ; ochroleuca Schiff.—quite common ; Zenobia subtusa Schiff. ; caesia Schiff. ; 11. dissimilis Kn. ; Pheosia dictaeoi Gastropacha quercifolia L. ; Hadena carpophaga Bkh.— white form ; Acasis virctata Hübn. ; Pericoma alchemilla Euzophera pinguis Haw. ; Eurhodope suavella Zinck.— and Hypsopygia glaucinalis L. The common Hawk Moths have been unusually in evidence— the Privet, the Lime, the Poplar and the Eyed Hawk all came to light, and my son at Frostenden took some nice specimens of the Large Elephant. Sphinx ligustri L. seems to be on the increas here, for several have been brought to me for identification. Butterfiies have been scarce, though a Large Tortoiseshell {Nymphalis polyMoros L.) spent several days in my garden in August and other specimens have been noted. A solitary male Colias croceus Four. was seen by my grandson on 27th Augu Aying on the bank of the Deben, at Sutton. CANON A . P . W A L L E R , Mill Cottage, Waldringfield, Woodbridge.