NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 139
The. Clouded Yellow butterfly (Colics croceus Fourer.) was rare. I saw
two or three at the beginning of September and Mr. A. F. Common took a
specimen of the variety pallida at the end of August ; curiously enough he
saw no typical specimens.
The Pale Clouded Yellow butterfly (Colias hyale L.). This insect, though
not common, was more in evidence than C. croceus ; Mr. Common took five
at the end of August. I saw my first two on September 1st at Battlesbridge
where I saw two more on the 12th and three on the 14th. On September 19th
I saw eight near Rochford and on the 20th, in the same place, I saw and
captured a beautiful lemon-coloured female, the first I have obtained, although
I have in the past seen 70 or 80 females at least. My last sight of C. hyale
was of a very bad female on the 25th
H. C. Huggins.
Lepidoptera in 1948. The summer was a poor One for butterflies. On
several excursions to various parts of Essex early in the season the common
hibernated species were seen in normal numbers, but due evidently to the
wet and cold weather later on they appeared only in small numbers in the lat
summer and autumn. At this season the Red Admiral and the Comma
occurred fairly commonly but the Painted Lady was rarely seen.
Mr. G. B. Hodges reports from Braintree that an extraordinary number
of Comma butterflies were about late in the season. He saw at least a dozen
feeding till early November on rotten plums in his garden. They were
accompanied by one Red Admiral and one Small Tortoiseshell.
It is pleasing to be able to record the following unusual occurrences. A
single Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Argynnis euphrosyne L.) was identified and
released in Gernon Bushes during the Club's ramble on May 19th. I have
not been able to find anyone who has seen it in that district in recent years.
On July 22nd I caught, identified and released a High Brown Fritillary
(Argynnis Cydippe L.) in Ongar Park Wood ; several more of this species were
seen at Warley on July 25th.
Some butterflies, thought at the time to be the Common Blue, which were
taken at Grays on July 4th, were later found to be the Silver-studded Blue
(Plebejus argus L.). Mr. J. W. Dyce was the first to call attention to this fact.
I have consulted experienced entomologists in various parts of the county
and the only recent Essex record seems to be that of Mr. Laidlaw at Woodham
Mortimer in 1946 (Essex Naturalist, vol. 28, p. 78). It used to occur in Epping
Forest and as it is easily mistaken for the Common Blue I intend to keep a
good look-out for it in future and to give further attention to the Grays
colony.
Larvae of the Brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea L.) were extremely
abundant at Canvey Island on May 2nd. The Blackthorn hedges had been
stripped for long distances by them and the caterpillars were wandering in
search of fresh food.
C. B. Pratt.
The Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly. Mr. N. D. Riley writes in The Ento-
mologist for June, 1948, that according to reports received, this butterfly
(Nymphalis polychloros L.) seems to be staging a general come-back. Essex
reports include one seen in Epping Forest, March 28th, 1948 (E. W. W.
Durant) and its general presence at Frinton-on-Sea. Mr. D. A. Ashwell
writes from Bishop's Stortford that the species is spreading and that it
occurred fairly commonly near Hatfield Forest in the spring of 1948, four
were caught and released one afternoon. Mr. C. H. Ison reports that he
saw a specimen in a garden at Great Parndon on March 11th, 1948.