Entomologist's Gazette - Vol. 71, No. 1, 2020

Published: 1/31/2020

Article Details for this issue

Quantitative comparisons of moth-trap catches

By: CLIVE CRAIK

Page: 1–16

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
A simple method was used to compare the catches of seven different pairs of light-emitting moth-traps. Numbers of macro-moth individuals and species caught nightly by each member of a pair were recorded in comparisons that lasted between ten and 79 nights. A Robinson trap made significantly larger catches than a Skinner trap with an identical bulb, and a Robinson trap at ground level made significantly larger catches than an identical trap at a height of 90 cm. A 125 W MV bulb made significantly larger catches than an equivalent Wood’s glass bulb or a multiple LED dome. No significant differences were found between a Robinson trap with a 125 W MV bulb and one with an 80 W MV bulb, or between two commercial brands of 125 W MV bulbs, or between two identical 125 W MV bulbs. This last comparison showed significant differences between the two sites used for these trials, apparently caused by a large flowering Buddleia at the more productive site. The findings suggest that catches may be maximised by using Robinson moth traps with 125 W MV bulbs, rather than the other traps or light sources tested here, and by placing them on the ground close to flowering Buddleia or other nectar-rich shrubs.

A focussed nocturnal arrival of Chorthippus albomarginatus (De Geer, 1773) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in Worcestershire, England

By: PAUL F. WHITEHEAD

Page: 17–20

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
On 23 August 2019 over 30 acridid grasshoppers, mostly Chorthippus albomarginatus (De Geer, 1773), arrived at one spot in south Worcestershire during the night. Explanations for this and attendant meteorological details are provided. Identification, behaviour and ecology of C. albomarginatus is discussed.

Aristotelia baltica A. Šulcs & I. Šulcs, 1983 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) new to Croatia and with observations on the larva

By: R. J. HECKFORD & S. D. BEAVAN

Page: 21–26

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
An account is given of finding larvae of Aristotelia baltica A. Šulcs & I. Šulcs, 1983 (Gelechiidae) in a limestone area of Croatia, a different habitat from that previously known. This is apparently the first record from Croatia of a species that otherwise occurs from the Baltic States and European Russia eastwards to the southern Urals, apart from two moths reared in 1965 from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pontia glauconome Klug, 1829 (Lepidoptera: Pieridae, Pierinae) in south-eastern Turkey: confirmation of breeding populations, with notes on the biology of early stages and on a species of the larval parasitoid Hyposoter Förster, 1869 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Campopleginae)

By: EDDIE JOHN, ONAT BAŞBAY, ERDEM SEVEN & NIHAT KAYMAZ

Page: 27–44

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
We report on the apparently successful overwintering in Batman and Siirt Provinces, Turkey of Pontia glauconome, a pierid recorded in south-eastern Turkey for the first time in autumn 2016. Details of recent field observations of P. glauconome are provided and we discuss and illustrate early stages found on Reseda aucheri, a possible new host-plant. The route by which P. glauconome may have entered the country along the Tigris River from Syria is proposed. Larvae were found to have been attacked by a hymenopteran parasitoid species of the genus Hyposoter; the ‘mummified’ larval skin and the adult parasitoid are illustrated.

Discovery of the genus Venanides Mason 1981 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Microgastrinae) in Europe, with description of a new species parasitizing Carcina quercana (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Peleopodidae)

By: MARK R. SHAW

Page: 45–57

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
The small Microgastrinae genus Venanides is recorded from Europe (Netherlands, Germany and Czech Republic) for the first time, where one species, Venanides carcinae sp. nov., described here, proves to be a regular solitary parasitoid of Carcina quercana. Outline notes on its biology, phenology and abundance are given.

Aproaerema vinella Bankes, 1898 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae): larvae found on the Isle of Wight, England, feeding in spun, unopened flowers of Genista tinctoria ssp. tinctoriaL., an apparently previously unrecorded observation

By: S. D. BEAVAN & R. J. HECKFORD

Page: 58–60

Type: Short Notes

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of the Lastovo archipelago, Croatia

By: TONI KOREN & BORIS LAUŠ

Page: 61–67

Type: Paper

Synopsis:
A study of the butterfly fauna of the southern Croatian islands of Lastovo and Prežba is presented. Fieldwork was carried out from 2013 to 2018, during different vegetation seasons. Altogether 30 species were recorded during the survey, including 13 new records for Lastovo. Along with Satyrium ilicis known only from the literature, 31 butterfly species have so far been recorded on Lastovo. On Prežba, 15 species have been recorded, representing the first butterfly records for the island. With respect to the butterfly fauna, Lastovo is one of the poorest medium sized islands in the Adriatic Sea. The main reason for this is its position, as it is one of the outer islands of the Adriatic, being about 94 km from the mainland. Additionally, most of the arable and open fields on the islands were abandoned in the last century and were, until recently, almost completely overgrown with bushes and maquis. This may be another reason for such a low species number, as well as the extremely low number of observed specimens of some species.

BOOK REVIEW Coleoptera Chrysomelidae II, by Eduard Petitpierre. Fauna Iberica, Vol. 46

By: MICHAEL COX

Page: 73–74

Type: Book Review