THE SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY 209
REFERENCES
Chalmers-Hunt, J. M., and Owen, D. F. (1952). The history and status of
Pararge aegeria (Lep. Satyridae) in Kent. The Entomologist, 85, 145-153.
Fitch, E. A. (1891). The Lepidoptera of Essex. Part 1, Butterflies. Essex
Naturalist 5, 74.
Felsted School Natural History Society (1951). Butterflies observed
within a seven-mile radius of Felsted School plus Hatfield Forest, 1947-50.
idem. 28, 290.
Ford, E. B. (1945). Butterflies. Collins.
Harwood, W. (1903). The Victoria History of the County of Essex 1, 141.
Hodgson, S. B. (1937). The Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria) in
Hertfordshire. Trans. Hertfordshire Nat. Hist. Soc. 20, 312.
Laidlaw, F. F. (1948). Butterflies collected in the Parish of Woodham
Mortimer during the summer of 1946. Essex Naturalist 28, 78.
Meldola, R. (1891). The Lepidoptera of Leyton and Neighbourhood; a
contribution to the county fauna, idem. 5, 153.
Mera, A. W. (1928). Stray notes on the butterflies of Epping Forest.
idem. 22, 201.
Raynor. G. H. (1883). The Macro-Lepidoptera of the District around
Maldon, Essex. Trans. Essex Field Club 3, 30.
South, R. (1906). The Butterflies of the British Isles. Warne.
Stokoe, W. J. (1944). The Caterpillars of the British Butterflies. Warne.
Vaughan, H. (1889). Notes on the Lepidoptera of Leigh, Essex, and its
Neighbourhood. Essex Naturalist 3, 123.
A Small Tortoiseshell variety.—On September 20th, 1953, I took in my
garden at Langley Lower Green, Saffron Walden, a pale straw-coloured
specimen of the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae L.). It is
a more extreme form than the one illustrated in Frowhawk's Natural
History of British Butterflies (Vol. 1, Plate 25). The specimen was exhibited
at the Club's meeting on 24th October, 1953. R. H. Mays
Sallow Kitten moth at Warley.—In early August, 1953. while clearing
undergrowth around my duck-pond (where both sallows and willows grow),
I found two cocoons of the Sallow Kitten moth (Cerura furcula Clerck). I
brought them indoors and the moths emerged shortly afterwards. Although
a male and a female, they refused to pair, and I released them. The usual
time of emergence is May-June. I must confess that I should not have
detected the cocoons had the larvae not been foolish enough to pupate on
a smooth, round stake, thus showing up like tumuli on the skyline ! The
species is not common in Essex. The cocoons were exhibited at the Club's
meeting on 24th October, 1953. E. F. Williams.
Parasites on bat.—I found a dead bat on a roadway at Chelmsford, and,
seeing that there were parasites on the body, I collected some specimens
and sent them to Mr. Gordon B. Thompson for identification. He has very
kindly replied as follows: "The flea is one of the rarer British species—
Ischnopsyllus intermedius Roth. It seems to be confined to the Serotine
bat. In view of this, your bat was probably a Serotine. The mite is
Steatonyssus murinus Lucas, which occurs on many species of bats".
E. E. Syms.