190
ACIDALIA MARGINEPUNCTATA, GOZE
(PROMUTATA, GN.), IN ESSEX.
By EDWARD A. FITCH, F.L.S.
ON August 28th last, I went with my boys to search for the larvae of
Papilio machaon on the fennel along the cliffs from Southend to
Shoeburyness. In this I was not successful, but we disturbed no
less than seven specimens of A. marginepunctata; they were very
lethargic, and sat on the beach with their wings outspread in true
Acidalia-fashion, not attempting to take a second flight. On
September 8th, when Mr. B. G. Cole and myself were collecting on
Northey, we found a female A. marginepunctata at rest on a white-
thorn leaf at night. On September 10th, I took six at light, three
off the lamps on the Kelvedon railway station, two at Witham station,
and one at Maldon East station. This gives a fairly wide distribution
in Essex for this somewhat uncommon little moth, and the record
is interesting as the species does not occur in Mr. Raynor's Maldon
list (Trans. E.F.C, iii, 41) or Mr. Howard Vaughan's Leigh
and Southend list (E.N. iii, 132).
I do not know whether this species is double brooded, but my
specimens are very fresh and fine, much larger than one would
expect a second brood to be. Newman says "the moth appears on
the wing in June and July" ("British Moths," p. 79). Mr. W. D.
Cansdale says he took this species very commonly at the gas-lamps
in Witham in September (Entom. vi, 52). Mr. Porritt, remarking
on the long hibernation of his larvae, says that "this cannot be taken
as the natural habit of the species, whatever may have been the
cause in this case, as my larvae were consequently not full grown
until quite the end of June, or several weeks after the imagos ought
to have been on the wing at large" (Ent. Month. Mag. xiv, 279).
This moth has been much misunderstood in Britain, and its
synonymy is very involved. A. marginepunctata will not be found in
our two text books, it is the promutata (Guenee) of Newman's Moths
and the incanata (Haworth) of Stainton's Manual. The true
incanata of Linne is a very different species, that does not occur in
Britain. The British (Stephensian) collection in the National
Museum, South Kensington, has doubtless misled many a young