164 The Irish Naturalist. October, 



NOTODONTA BICOLORIA IN. CO. KERRY. 



BY L. H. BONAPARTE-WYSE. 



On the morning of June 7th last, whilst cycling on the 

 Kenmare road, between Muckross and Derrycunihy, I 

 noticed a white moth fl3^ing round a holly tree. Not being 

 sure of its identity, I dismounted from the bicycle and 

 waited till it had settled on the underside of a holly leaf. 

 I then saw with pleasure that it was a male specimen in 

 good condition of the White Prominent, Notodonia (Leuco- 

 donta) hicoloria (Schiff.), one of our rarest moths and a great 

 prize. I soon had it in a pill-box and was glad to get it 

 home undamaged. 



The following interesting account of the moth's occurrence 

 in our islands and abroad taken from Barrett (" Lepidoptera 

 of the British Islands," vol. iii., pp. 129-130) is worth 

 quoting : — 



" A very rare species in this country, and little is known of its habits. 

 The first specimen known to have occurred in these islands was taken in 

 the middle of June, 1859, at Killarney, in the south-west of Ireland, 

 by Mr. P. Bouchard, a professional collector. It was understood to have 

 been beaten out of a birch, but he was naturally reticent as to its habits. 

 Several more were taken by him in the same place — Mr. S. Stevens believes 

 sev^en or eight — and the wings of one were found at the foot of a tree. 

 Doubt was subsequently raised as to the genuineness of the captures, but 

 Mr. S. J. Capper tells me that when he visited Killarney the residents 

 showed him the very tree on which one of what they called '" ]\Iicolora " 

 was taken ; and I think that there is no reason to suspect fraud in this 

 case. In June, 1861, Mr. John Smith, an artisan from Manchester, had 

 the good fortune to secure a specimen in an extensive wood, known as 

 the Burnt Wood, in North Staffordshire. This was exhibited at Man- 

 chester, and led to an expedition by Mr. Joseph Chappell, a well-known 

 Manchester collector, to the same place in J une, 1863, when he and a friend 

 had the good fortune to obtain six examples, by beating birch trees and 

 bushes. One of these laid a number of eggs, the larvae from which were 

 carefully tended, but they proved extremely delicate and most of them 

 died, seven only producing the perfect insects. . . In 1866 another 

 specimen seems to have been secured at Killarney. . . . Mr. W. F. de 

 Vismes Kane states that .two specimens have been obtained in the County 

 of Kerry by Miss Vernon, and he exhibited one of these in London in 

 1892. Major J. N. Still possesses a single specimen, tlic capture of which 



