ESSEX LEPIDOPTERA IN 1950
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holly blue (Celastrina argiolus (L.))
Late April-May and mid-July-August. Uncommon.
large white (Pieris brassicae (L.))
All summer. Abundant.
small white (Pieris rapae (L.))
Early April onwards. Abundant.
green-veined white (Pieris napi (L.))
All summer. Abundant.
orange tip (Euchloe cardamines (L.))
Mid-April-mid-June. Abundant.
brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni (L.))
Not mid-June-late July. Common.
clouded yellow (Colias crocea (Fourer.))
May onwards 1947-49. Sporadic until August, then common in 1947 and
1949.
large skipper (Ochlodes venata (Br. and Grey))
Early June-July. Abundant.
small skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda))
Early July-August. Abundant.
essex skipper (Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.))
Mid-July-August. Common.
grizzled skipper (Pyrgus malvae (L.))
Early May-end of May. Locally abundant.
dingy skipper (Erynnis tages (L.))
A week later than the last species. Locally abundant.
ESSEX LEPIDOPTERA IN 1950
BY H. C. HUGGINS, F.R.E.S.
THIS year has been generally reported as a bad one for Lepidoptera, par-
ticularly butterflies. I have not noticed this myself except as regards our
two migrant species of Colias, but I was absent in Ireland all July and my
friends report that Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros (L.)), White
Admiral (Limenitis camilla (L.)), Purple Hairstreak (Thecla quercus (L.)),
and White-letter Hairstreak (Strymon w-album (Knoch.)) were not seen in
their usual haunts in that month, whilst Marbled White (Agapetes galathea
(L.)) was in greater numbers throughout the district than in any previous
year they can remember.
Sugar was unusually attractive. I do not think I had a single bad night ;
common species literally swarmed throughout the season. Mr. D. More,
who has been working both sugar and light in his garden at Leigh-on-Sea,
has confirmed the abundance of moths, chiefly Noctuids, at both these lures.
The Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale (L.)) has not been seen in the
district to my knowledge. I have not seen the Clouded Yellow (Colias
crocea (Fourer.)) myself, but other collectors saw a fair number, including
the variety helice, in the first fortnight of October when I was prevented from
collecting by illness.
The season began with the Chamomile Conch (Phalonia implicitana
(Wocke)) in a local wood where I have not seen it since before the war. In