LEPIDOPTERA AT RANNOCH. 11 



LEPIDOPTEEA AT RANNOCH IN 1919. 

 By F. G. Whittle. 



The desire to see Brachionycha nubecidosa at home among the 

 birches at Finnavt led me to journey into Perthshire in weather 

 which was far from inviting. The huge drifts of snow, as seen 

 from the railway between Glasgow and Rannoch, soon made me 

 realise that between me and the much-wanted "Sprawler" there 

 were difficulties which would somehow have to be mastered. I 

 was therefore much cheered when, arrived at Eannoch, I found 

 that my troubles were not likely to be half so serious as 1 had 

 thought, that delightful district having escaped with a quite 

 moderate snowfall. On the day of my arrival at Camghouran 

 (March 21st) I got among the Finnart birches and was duly 

 rewarded in getting m}' first nubecidosa 3 . A week of bad 

 weather followed, and I did not again see the species until 

 April 2nd, between which date and the 9th I was able to get 

 as many as I required, the maximum number on any one 

 afternoon being seven. I had at first a difficulty in getting the 

 moths to pair, but the difficulty disappeared when the moths 

 were exposed to the weather. I sleeved the young larvae, appa- 

 rently a very healthy lot, under the most favourable conditions, 

 but many of them failed to pupate, the number of those that 

 got through being about fifty. Carie is probably quite equal to 

 Finnart as a locality for this local species. By sweeping or 

 searching the Vaccinium in or near the Black Wood I obtained 

 larvse of Asthenia nstomacidana (commonly), Lithocolletis vacci- 

 niella, Coleophora vitisella, Orthotcenia mygindana and Lygr'is 

 popidata. Lophoderus ministrana larvae occurred on birch. A 

 trip through the Pass of Killiecrarikie to Blair AthoU produced 

 an abundance of Lycia lurtaria (large form as figured in South's 

 ' Moths of the British Isles,' ser. ii, pi. 1) on the elms and fences 

 skirting the road, and one Xenolechia humeralis. The cocoons 

 of Cimhex sylvarnm, well known to all lepidopterists who have 

 searched the Rannoch birches, were common at Finnart, as also 

 were the variable imagines which commenced to emerge the first 

 week in May. About the third week in May I obtained a number 

 of Eriopsela fractifasciana, both sexes — a fine large form (wing 

 expanse 20 mm.), compared with which our southern insect is a 

 poor thing. Mr. Pierce has been good enough to examine the 

 genitalia for me. I took three males of this species last year, 

 which, misled by their large size and different appearance, I 

 recorded (' Entomologist,' vol. lii, }). 54) as ericetana in error. 

 Calloplirys ruhi was abundant among the Vaccinium near the 

 Black Wood, and Nemophora pilella was occasionally put up in 

 the late afternoon. As one would expect, in the extensive birch- 

 woods at Rannoch Pidoeodrs teiraquetrana is strongly represented 

 and shows much variation. Two of these variable forms, one 



