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.