92 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 



BENHS INDOOR MEETINGS 



12 October 1993 



The President, Dr D. Lonsdale, announced the deaths of Mr F. Wright and 

 Mr P. S. Crowhurst. 



Mr I. D. Ferguson showed a larva of the clouded magpie moth, Abraxas sylvata 

 (Scop.)- This was one of eight larvae obtained by beating at High Elms near Orpington, 

 Kent. One larva had succumbed to a parasitoid, the other six had pupated. Colin 

 Plant in The larger moths of the London area (1993) states that "any breeding 

 populations of this attractive moth in the London area should be rigorously protected". 

 Mr Ferguson also showed a sample of rice grains from his kitchen that had become 

 infested with psocids. 



Stephen Muddiman, John Bouscal Parker, Colin Leslie Grace, Derek George John 

 Telfer and Christopher Robert Spilling were elected as members. 



Mr M. Simmons said that a light trap at his home in Crowborough, Sussex, had 

 caught about 20 species of moths on the previous Sunday night, 10.x. 93, in spite of 

 the heavy rain. Seventeen species had been taken on the following night including 

 a specimen of the delicate moth, Mythimna vitellina (Hiibn.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). 



Mr M. Oates then spoke on the New Forest as it used to be and how it has 

 developed during the present century. The talk was illustrated with colour transparencies 

 and readings from contemporary accounts of the Forest in former times. Collecting 

 insects became a popular pastime during the Victorian era when the development 

 of the railway system made the Forest accessible to people living in London and 

 elsewhere in Southern England. During the collecting season hotels in the main centres 

 of Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst were heavily used by collectors and dealers, and local 

 people found employment as guides and providers of livestock and pinned specimens. 

 There was considerable rivalry between collectors and some ill feeling between them 

 and the dealers, with butterfly aberrations being highly sought after. 



In 1850 the Forest authorities passed an order aimed at controlling fallow deer 

 and excluding them from the inclosures. In the following years their numbers were 

 drastically reduced and the reduced grazing pressure allowed increased growth of the 

 ground flora, with the rides becoming lined with brambles. Butterflies benefitted from 

 the greater abundance of nectar sources and were present in prodigious numbers. 

 1888 was a superb year, with the hot summer allowing univoltine species to produce 

 two generations. Even poor years during that period would be considered good by 

 modern standards. Collecting trips could, however, be marred by the attentions of 

 excessive numbers of biting flies. 



The nature of the Forest was greatly changed by felling during the 1914-18 war. 

 The 1923 Transfer of Woods Act resulted in the New Forest being handed over to 

 the Forestry Commission in the following year. Their mandate was to produce 

 commercial timber in order to reduce the nation's dependence on imports. Some 

 conifer planting had been done in the Forest in the 19th century but this was greatly 

 increased after the Forestry Commission took over. By 1937 the broad-leafed woodland 

 had been reduced to 54% . Further changes took place during the second world war 

 when parts of the Forest were used for airfields, bombing ranges and arable crops. 

 Alder buckthorn was cut for making charcoal for gas masks. 1941 and 1942 appear 

 to have been the last great years for butterfly aberrations in the Forest. The quality 

 of the habitat and butterfly numbers were declining. 



During the 1950s the Forestry Commission used heavy machinery to clear ditches 

 and control vegetation in the rides. The fallow deer population was recovering 



