COCCINELLIDAE — LADYBIRDS SOME details of eight species and varieties of this family of beetles which I have taken from gardens, wasteland, roadside banks and verges within the boundaries of the borough of Bury St. Edmunds, during the summers of 1950-51-52-53. Tytthaspis sexdecimpunctata L.* 16-spotted. Three specimens taken from the foliage of Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, and from the foliage of the Garden Rock Cress, Arabis albida. Rare. Thea vigintiduopunctata L. 22-spotted. Several specimens taken from the foliage of the Common Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica, Wall Barley, Hordeum murinum, Potatoes, cultivated Parsnips and Carrots. Not common. Propylea quatuordecimpunctata L. 14-spotted. Only one specimen of the spotted form but several of the form—elytra yellow, with angular spots and broad black marks—taken from all kinds of foliage, including grasses. Spotted form r a r e ; angular form, fairly common. Sceymnus rubromaculatus Goeze. T w o specimens, unicolorous— black—taken ; one from the foliage of Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, the other from the foliage of Buddleia, Buddleia variabilis. Rare. Coccinella undecimpunctata L.f 11-spotted. T w o specimens taken from the foliage of the Garden Rock Cress, Arabis albida. Rare. Coccinella septempunctata L. 7-spotted. numerous on all kinds of Vegetation.
Very common and
Adalia decempunctata L. 10-spotted. One specimen of the true form and one var., taken from the foliage of the Spotted Deadnettle, Lamium maculatum. Description of var.—elytra black, with two large angular light chestnut-brown spots. Both rare. Adalia bipunctata L. 2-spotted. This and three of its vars. taken from the foliage of Potatoes, Parsnips, Asters, Cosmos, Fennel and Nettles. T r u e form not common. Description of vars.—(1) Elytra orange-red, two squared spots. One specimen taken from the foliage of Cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus. Rare. * M a r s h y areas generally. f Usually near salt marshes. * f T h e s e two habitats are given in " H a n d b o o k s for the Identification of British Insects—Coleoptera, Coccinellidae and Sphindidae " by R. D . Pope. 25th August, 1953. Published by the Royal Entomological Society of L o n d o n . Vol. V, Part 7.
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(2) Elytra black with six angular pink spots. Two specimens taken from the foliage of Potatoes. Not common. (3) Elytra orange-red with two notched black lines across and one black sutural spot. One specimen taken from the foliage of the Spotted Deadnettle, Lamium maculatum. Rare. It is shown in the frequency that I have given how rare in these parts are these beautiful and beneficial little insects. There is no doubt that they will become much rarer, if not absolutely exterminated by man and his infernal sprays. And when the pattern of insect life has been destroyed by him—what then ? HENRY
J.
BOREHAM,
April, 1954.
Hadena compta Schiff., Cucullia absinthii L., AND OTHER INTERESTING CAPTURES ON THE SUFFOLK COAST IN 1954 I REACHED the Southwold area on July 29th and made it my headquarters for the following eight days. I was fortunate enough to be able to work a moth-trap with a mercury vapour light each night from the farm at which I was staying. It was a great surprise for me to find in it, on July 30th and August 2nd, two examples of the Varied Coronet (Hadena compta Schiff.), of which the first Suffolk specimen was taken in 1953, by Mr. A. E. Aston. This evidently shows that this newcomer is becoming well established in the county. Another unexpected capture was the Wormwood Shark (Cucullia absinthii L.). This insect seems to be spreading steadily eastwards, though there are a few Suffolk records of the imago and larvae in 1900 at Aldeburgh and in 1903 at Orford. I was also most interested to take three specimens of Fenn's Wainscot (Arenostola brevilinea Fenn), first recorded from this district by Dr. C. de Worms in 1952. Other captures of note in this spot included a large number of the Starwort Shark (Cucullia asteris Schiff.), a number of the Crescent Striped (Apamea abjecta Hübn.), several Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca Schiff.) and Marsh Ear (Hydraecia paludis Tutt), one Triple-spot Clay (Amathes ditrapezium Borkh.) and many of the Bordered Pug (Eupithecia succenturiata L.). On four nights during my visit I worked the marshes near Walberswick using my portable mercury vapour light. Collecting here was equally productive. My chief objective