Entomological Notes for 1919Author(s): W. F. JohnsonSource: The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 28, No. 11/12 (Nov. - Dec., 1919), pp. 127-129Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25524878 .

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1919. Johnson.?Entomological Notes for 1919. 127

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES FOR 1919.

BY REV. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A.

The summer of 1919 has been remarkable for great heat and a prolonged drought, but also for sudden changes of

temperature. The end of May was very warm, but June, in the west at any rate, was at times very cold and was a

wet month ; July and August were very hot and dry, but at the end of the latter month the nights became very cold

and the temperature dropped on several nights to within 10 degrees of freezing point. Thus on the night of the

30th it was 38o F. in my garden, and as the garden is very sheltered and faces south, this would probably indicate two or three degrees lower in more exposed situations.

Owing to illness I was unable to take full advantage of

the fine weather, and June, which I spent at Portnoo was

anything but a good month for insects, hence my captures are few and not particularly interesting.

Lepidoptera.

I was quite disappointed by the lack of butterflies,

except the very common species. I saw during the year

just one Pyrameis atalanta in my garden on September 14th and again on 21st. Not one Peacock or Painted Lady did I see, though my two young friends, Phyllis and Doris

Nelson, showed with pride specimens of both, which they had captured near Drogheda.

At Portnoo I got some nice specimens of the Little

Blue (Cupido minima) but the Marsh Fritillary (Melitaea aurinia) which last year was abundant, was this year hardly to be seen. I don't think I saw a dozen the whole time.

The Green Hairstreak (Thecla rubi) was plentiful as usual

among the heather. I saw a Speckled Wood Butterfly and a Small Copper on the wing on October 20th, a testimony to the mildness of the weather.

Of moths I got but few at Portnoo, as might be expected from the weather conditions. At the end of the month I took Zygaena lonicerae on the wing in a hay field.

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128 The Irish Naturalist. Nov.-Dec,

Besides this I met with Lasiocampa quercus var callunae, a very dark Cidaria immanata, and the var. gallica of

Hepialus velleda. This last was very plentiful at dusk

with the type form.

Cole?ptera.

Early in May I was invited to examine a bee-hive, the

occupants of which had succumbed during the winter. I found the bar frames occupied by beetles, far the greatest number were Cononimus nodifer, Westw., which was very numerous ; with them were a good many Cryptophagus scanicus L. var. patruelis, Sturm, and three Homalota

intermedia Thorns. The remains of honey and wax had

evidently attracted these intruders.

At Portnoo I picked up a few beetles, but Carabus

clathratus did not turn up. Dascillus cervinus, Corymbites

cupreus and Phyllopertha hort?cola were very plentiful.

Corymbites tessellatus and Athous hirtus occurred among

herbage near the sea shore, and Donada thalassina with

Cassida viridis on the roadside. I met with the large white form of Philopedon geminatus on the sandhills.

D?ptera.

I think the two-winged flies mind the weather less than

other insects, for no matter how unseasonable it may be, if there is the least glint of sunshine out they come.

On April 30th while strolling along the road near here I noticed a pair of what I thought were Empids alight on

a leaf of the Lesser Celandine. I caught them and found

that the female had a little fly in her clutches. I sent the

lot to Mr. J. E. Collin, F.E.S., and he very kindly examined

them, and tells me that I was right in supposing the larger flies to be Empids and that they are male and female of

Rhamphomyia cinerascens, and that the prey is a female

Chironomid of the genus Metriocnemus. The Empidae are predaceous flies and attack other insects, but a very curious point in their economy has been brought out by

Mr. A. H. Hamm of the University Museum, Oxford, in a

series of articles on these flies which appeared in the

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1919. Johnson.?Entomological Notes for 1919. 129

Entomologists' Monthly Magazine vols, xliii., xliv., and xiv. In these he shows that the male catches a fly but does not

devour it himself, instead he brings it as an offering to the

female with which he desires to pair, and while she is

devouring the prey, pairing takes place. This was what was taking place with the pair I caught.

The most of the flies named below belong to the

Syrphidae, this is owing to the fact that I have very little

acquaintance with the other families of Diptera. I have

worked these out with Mr. Verrall's volume on this section

LEPTIDAE.

Leptis SCOlopacea L.?Portnoo, June, very common. This fly is not at

all shy ; it has the habit of flying a few feet and then alighting on

almost anything.

SYRPHIDAE.

Pipizella flavitarsis Meigen.?Poyntzpass hill, May, a female.

Chilosia pulchripes Loew.?Poyntzpass, in field about gorse bushes, in

May. C. illustrata Harris.?Poyntzpass, in my garden, July and August.

Platychirus albimanus Fab.?Poyntzpass, garden, May. P. scutatus Meigen.?Poyntzpass, roadside, April.

Pyrophaena granditarsa Forst.?Poyntzpass, field, August. Melanostoma ambiguum Fallen.?Poyntzpass, field at gorse, May. M. mellinum L.?Poyntzpass, field and garden, May. Portnoo, cliff,

June. M. SCalare Fab.?Poyntzpass, hill, May. Leucozona lucorum L.?Poyntzpass, hill, May.

Sphaerophoria campestris Meigen.?Portnoo, June.

Syrphus bifasciatus Fab.?Poyntzpass, hill, May. Ascia podagrica Fab.?Poyntzpass, hill, May ; field, September.

Rhingia campestris Meigen.?Poyntzpass, May ; Portnoo, June. This

fly is remarkable for the extraordinary snout caused by the elongation of the upper edge of its mouth.

Volucella bombylans L.?Portnoo, June. Eristalls pertinax Scopoli.?Poyntzpass, May and October. I took

specimens of the fly in my garden on October 25th. E. ne mo rum L.?Poyntzpass, field and garden, May. E. hort?cola De G.?Portnoo, June.

Sericomyia borealis Fallen.?Portnoo, June.

Poyntzpass.

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