THE SEASON OF 1912 IN ABERTILLERY. " 173 



The Season of 1912 in the Abertillery District of Monmouthshire. 



By W. RAIT SMITH, F.E.S. 

 (Concluded from page 163.) 



On June 28th I went down to Folkestone for a fortnight's collecting. 

 As things turned out I was very fortunate in selecting this particular 

 fortnight, the weather was beautiful nearl}'^ the whole time, the last 

 few days were particularly bright and hot. My object in selecting 

 Folkestone was to try to obtain in particular two of the local insects 

 that favoured locality produces, viz., Aiijeria (Sesia) chnjaidiforinis and 

 Tapinoatola bondii. I was fortunate enough to get both. Most of my 

 collecting was done in the Warren and on the top of the cliffs between 

 Folkestone and Dover. This particular fortnight is a sort of between 

 seasons for butterflies, so that, generally speaking, I found these insects 

 rather scarce. One or two panse Pieris brassicae and 1'. rapae were 

 noticed, not a single fritillary of any species was seen, the '' blues " 

 were represented by a few worn Polyoniinatiis icariis, A(/ria(le.s t/ietis 

 {ailDuifi) and Citpido (Zizeia) niinimus. The most plentiful butterfly 

 Avas Aiifiioiles sylvanus, which was very common everywhere. Ppineiihrh 

 jnrtina [ianira) was not so common as I expected to find it. At the 

 beginning of July Aphantnpiis liijpetantiis. began to appear in numbers ; 

 a good many were netted and examined for ab. ohsoleta, which I am 

 told is not uncommon here, and other varieties, but without succes.s. 

 Melanarnia (jalathea and Adopaea Jiaca [thauiaan) were common enough 

 after the first week in July. On the 11th I took a fine S- Colias ediisa, 

 the only one seen during my stay. A few very ordinary Fininiria 

 phlaeas and a single very pa>iHe Nisoniades [Thanaos) tatjen were also 

 noticed. 



Day after day was spent in searching for ^-E. chnj-^idifonins without 

 success, and I had almost given up hope when my luck turned on the 

 afternoon of July 5th. I Avas resting on a chalky slope about 

 4 p.m., Avhen idly disturbing some rough herbage near me with 

 the handle of my net, I put up a small insect, which, when netted, 

 turned out to be ihe much sought for clearwing. I lost no time 

 in making a close search in the immediate neighbourhood jind 

 in about a quarter of an hour two more were taken. The next 

 morning, the 6th, I was early on the scene of my former captures, and 

 in the course of a couple of hours about twenty .£. chri/sidifonnis 

 were netted. I could have taken a good many more had I wished to. 

 1 found this species nearly every day after this, in a good many widely 

 distiil)uted localities, scarce in some places and common in others; I do 

 not think it advisable to give the exact locality where ^E. cJni/sidifDniiis 

 is to be taken in numbers for obvious reasons. This species is an easy 

 insect to take, once one has got used to their flight, Avhich is low on 

 the ground and rather rapid, and habits. The text-books give the 

 time of flight of Ai. chrysidifoniiis at about noon, in bright sunshine; 

 personally, I found this species most commonly at 3 p.m., but have 

 taken it from 10 o'clock in the morning till 5 o'clock in the afternoon, 

 I contented myself with a moderate series of picked examples, the ab. 

 fiari'.sccjis form was nearly as common as the type. This species varies 

 greatly in size, now, unfortunately, mostly very small. In the 

 opinion of a well-known Folkestone entomologist, to whom I mentioned 

 the matter, this is due to the greed of a few collectors, who have 

 July-August, 1913. 



