Entomologist's Gazette - Vol. 73, No. 1, 2022
Published: 1/28/2021
Article Details for this issue
The Oil Beetle Meloe rugosus Marsham, 1802 (Coleoptera, Meloidae) at Mill Bank, Penallt, Monmouthshire, Wales
By: I. P. RABJOHNS & P. F. WHITEHEAD
Page: 1–16
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Monitoring and marking schemes for the Oil Beetle Meloe rugosus Marsham, 1802 at Mill
Bank, Penallt, Monmouthshire, confirm that the population is internationally significant, may
exceed 300 individuals and benefits from traditional land management. The population is
associated with a range of mining bee genera and is spatially constrained by aspect and
conferred microclimatic effects. Beetles emerge in waves directly correlated with air and soil
temperature and individual beetles may survive for months with a theoretical ability to produce
astonishing numbers of eggs. Triungulins appear from at least April to June inclusive and have
an affinity with flowers of dandelion Taraxacum sensu lato. The population is believed to have
been favoured by medieval to early post-medieval woodland clearance episodes.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Hellinsia carphodactyla (Hübner, [1813]) (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae) reared in Devon, England, from Pulicaria dysenterica (L.) Bernh., a previously unrecorded foodplant both in the British Isles and mainland Europe
By: S. D. BEAVAN & R. J HECKFORD
Page: 17–20
Type: Short Notes
New aspects of eye-head illusions in some British moths
By: CLIVE CRAIK
Page: 21–32
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Photographs are shown of putative false eyes on wings of moths from Scotland. They can
be grouped as simple ocelli (small dots and circles); as larger eye-like marks of various sizes,
shapes, colours and positions, not recognisably based on any animal group; and as false eyedheads
variously reminiscent of but not species-specific to snake, owl, raptor, primate, cat,
rodent, fox and other canids. The most well-known, such as Emperor Moth Saturnia pavonia
(Linnaeus, 1758) have large, ostentatious, multi-coloured false eyes but again no definitely
recognisable model species. All this is consistent with the proposal of Janzen, Hallwachs &
Burns (2010) that, in this large class of images, a pair of false eyes in a false face or head is the
effective anti-predator component, rather than mimicry of species or groups that a predator
might regard as harmful to itself. Examples are also shown and discussed of small blue false
eyes, of eye-like marks on hindwings and on thorax rather than on forewings, of false eyes in
forewing positions that can differ between individuals of a species, and of crypsis and
aposematism that alternate repeatedly as needed within a single larval instar. A false-eyed head
on the forewings of Alder Moth Acronicta alni (Linnaeus, 1767) adds to the well-known
defensive images in the two final larval stages of that species. Finally, photographs are shown
of putative false eyed-heads on forewings of three species of Microlepidoptera.
Coleophora galbulipennella Zeller, 1838 (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae): observations on the larval stage in September 2021 found at Dover, Kent, England
By: R. J. HECKFORD & S. D. BEAVAN
Page: 33–38
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Descriptions are given of the larval case and feeding method of Coleophora galbulipennella
Zeller, 1838, found at Dover, Kent, England, on Silene nutans L. in September 2021. Accounts
of the larval feeding in the autumn given in British and mainland European literature differ and
are considered.
Moths in the Biokovo Nature Park, Croatia April 2019
By: ADRIAN SPALDING
Page: 39–44
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
The Biokova Nature Park supports a rich wildlife fauna. Using a LED trap seven sites
(ranging from 376 m up to 1068 m above sea level) were surveyed for moths between 14 and
22 April 2019. Eighteen species were recorded from the seven sites. The commonest species
recorded was Lycia graecarius (Staudinger, 1861).
First records of Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758) in Tajikistan (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
By: ABDULAZIZ DAVLATOV
Page: 45–48
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758) is reported from Tajikistan for the first time. The
distribution of this species in Central Asia is discussed.
Scolytus laevis Chapuis, 1869 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) breeding on Beech Fagus sylvatica L. in Worcestershire, England
By: KEVIN McGEE & PAUL F. WHITEHEAD
Page: 49–54
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
The bark beetle Scolytus laevis Chapuis, 1869 is reported breeding on Beech Fagus sylvatica
L. in Worcestershire which is a novel host-tree genus for Scolytus spp. in Britain. The habitat
is discussed, the larval galleries illustrated and observations on identification of the adult beetles
are provided which it is hoped may assist future studies.
Thecophora cinerascens (Meigen, 1804) (Diptera, Conopidae) new to mainland Britain
By: P. F. WHITEHEAD
Page: 55–57
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
A female Thecophora Rondani, 1845 observed during September 2019 at Penallt,
Monmouthshire, has been identified as Thecophora cinerascens (Meigen, 1804). The species is
here part of a rich bee-related entomofauna and is new to mainland Britain.
BOOK REVIEW The Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula (fifth edition) by A. Steven Corbet and H. M. Pendlebury
By: DAVID C. LEES
Page: 58–59
Type: Book Review
BOOK REVIEW Thirty years of Butterflies in traditional Lancashire and Cheshire by Peter B. Hardy
By: ADRIAN SPALDING
Page: 60–62
Type: Book Review