Entomologist's Gazette - Vol. 69, No. 3, 2018

Published: 7/27/2018

Article Details for this issue

PUBLISHER’S ANNOUNCEMENT On-line access to Entomologist’s Gazette

Page: 149

Type: Editorial

BOOK REVIEW: Inheritors of the Earth. How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction, by Chris D. Thomas

By: Adrian Spalding

Page: 150

Type: Book Review

The Biology of the Cyprus endemic blue Glaucopsyche paphos Chapman, 1920 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae)

By: DUBI BENYAMINI, MARIOS ARISTOPHANOUS, ARISTOS ARISTOPHANOUS & EDDIE JOHN

Page: 151–165

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
The biology and early life-history stages of the Cyprus endemic blue Glaucopsyche paphos Chapman 1920 on its Genista hostplants are described for the first time. Information regarding local distribution, phenology, diapause, myrmecophily, parasites and ethology is provided. We compare some biological aspects of G. paphos with those of its Palaearctic congeners G. alexis and G. melanops, and with Nearctic G. lygdamus and G. piasus. Furthermore, we present photographs of the G. paphos holotype along with collection labels, thus providing data missing from the original description.

BOOK REVIEW: Psychidae, by Wilfried R. Arnscheid and Michael Weidlich Microlepidoptera of Europe 8

By: MARK YOUNG

Page: 166–167

Type: Book Review

Inter-specific courtship and mating in butterflies of the genus Pieris Schrank, 1801 (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

By: PETER B. HARDY

Page: 168–170

Type: Short Notes

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of the island of Korčula, Croatia

By: TONI KOREN, IVONA BURIĆ, BORIS LAUŠ, STANISLAV GOMBOC & NIKOLA TVRTKOVIĆ

Page: 171–185

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
A study of the butterfly fauna of the Croatian island of Korčula is presented. Fieldwork was carried out from 2011 to 2017, during several visits in different vegetation seasons, from the end of April until November. Altogether, 53 species were recorded during the survey, including 21 new records for the island. Along with literature records, 60 butterfly species have so farbeen recorded on Korčula. When compared with other Adriatic islands, only Cres, Lošinj, Krk and Brač have more butterfly species than Korčula. In general, the number of species, as well as species abundance, was very high in most localities, indicating the long-term persistence of suitable habitats on the island. Records of rare species such as Iolana iolas, Cupido minimus, Aglais urticae, Satyrus ferula and Pyrgus armoricanus present important extensions of their known ranges on the islands and in Dalmatia.

The Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) of the Rostov-on-Don Province of Russia, III. Family Pyralidae

By: A. N. POLTAVSKY & K. S. ARTOKHIN

Page: 186–209

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
The present paper is the third part of the series comprising data on the Pyralidae occurring in the Rostov-on-Don Province of southern Russia, based on studies undertaken during the present century. The systematic list comprises 109 species collected in 58 localities, together with the dates of collecting and the number of specimens.

Bror Hanson’s ‘About Hepialus hecta (1938): a pioneering study of moth behaviour (Lepidoptera, Hepialidae)

By: JOHN R. G. TURNER

Page: 210–222

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
Hanson’s (1938) atmospheric narrative of the mating behaviour of Phymatopus hecta is reprinted in a new translation from the Swedish. The paper is a classic of focussed investigation within a century in which only fragmentary information about this species was published; regrettably it remained unnoticed for forty years. Hanson established that the courtship behaviour was non-stereotypic (each of his three observed courtships was unique), and that both males and females could attract each other. He suggested that the males were deploying a pheromone, noted an extraordinary back to front copulation procedure, and was the first to report predation by wasps. All of which waited from half to three-quarters of a century before being reconfirmed. Some of his detailed observations are ambivalent, being at variance with recent observations in Scotland, suggesting either that the populations have diverged, or that the behaviour was locally modified because of a highly distorted sex ratio. Or he may simply have been inaccurate in distinguishing males from females. The reported timing of events suggests, using the time of sunset, that the observations were made in the region of Kalmar and Öland in south-eastern Sweden; there is a strong suggestion that the period of activity is shifted to a time more in advance of sunset, relative to the Scottish populations.