INSECTS' 



The insect fauna of Berkshire is very large and varied ; the lists of 

 Coleoptera, Hymenoptera Aculeata, and Lepidoptera are very good, but 

 in this, as in other counties, very much remains to be done in the 

 other orders : the Diptera, for instance, which are very abundant and 

 probably very well represented, are as yet very partially worked. 



The surface of the county is much diversified with woods, downs, 

 streams, etc., and the chief localities may be classified as follows : 



1. The Thames Valley, in its restricted sense. This has hardly yet 

 been properly worked, but will probably be found to be exceedingly 

 rich in Coleoptera. 



2. The Beech Woods. These are very characteristic of the county; 

 the larger beech woods have but little undergrowth in them, but are 

 always well fringed with it and the more open spaces are occupied by 

 it ; some of the smaller and more open woods have patches of wych- 

 elm, and here and there a sprinkling of oak, ash, holly, yew and 

 occasionally fir, and in the undergrowth on the fringe we find maple, 

 buckthorn, dogwood, spindle and large-leaved sallows. Perhaps the 

 most characteristic insect of the beech woods is Stauropus fagi, the Lobster 

 Moth, which is usually accounted a great rarity, but in some seasons 

 has been found quite commonly since Mr. J. Clarke discovered that it 

 selects the youngest and smallest trees to rest upon. 



3. The Chalk Hills and Downs, producing an extraordinary abun- 

 dance of the ' Blues ' of various species and also many rare beetles. 



4. The Valleys and Meadows. Here the wood is various, but 

 chiefly consists of elm, poplar and willow, with frequent beds of sallow 

 and willow by the small streams. 



5. The Heath-lands, which are chiefly found about Wellington 

 and Eversley, but stretch more or less continuously to Newbury. These 

 give us many good species, not only from the heath and fir, but from 

 the moist dips or hollows so frequent on our well-wooded portion. The 

 dips have a flora of their own and a good growth of oak, alder, sallow, 

 willow and sometimes poplar ; in fact, some of the larger dips are filled 

 with good oak woods ; on the higher portions of the heaths there are 

 often large plantations of birch and larch. Among the many interesting 

 insects which are found in these localities we may mention Apatura 

 iris, the Purple Emperor, and Limenitis sibylla, the White Admiral, 

 which occur all along the line, and in some seasons not uncommonly, 

 and many rare moths, such as Endromis versicolor, Trochilium crabroniforme^ 



Edited by W. W. Fowler. 

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