BR. I. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: l'J94 



SCLEROCONA ACUTELLUS (EVERSMANN) 



(LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAK), THE SECOND 



BRITISH RECORD 



P. J. Baker 



Mount Vale, The Drive, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 4BP. 



On the 13.vi. 1989 I took from the garden light trap a pyralid which I did not 

 recognise. Due to the pressure of work this was set aside and no attempt to identify 

 it was made until late 1992. Early in 1993 the insect was finally identified as the second 

 recorded specimen in Britain of Sclerocona acutellus (Eversmann). 



Retzlaff and Wittland (1986) suggest that the larval pabulum is Phragmites, a plant 

 which is quite common around the edges of gravel workings and ornamental lakes 

 and along some stream sides within a 5-km radius of my garden in Thorpe/Virginia 

 Water. No significant area of marshland including Phragmites communities is known 

 from this area. Goater (1990) suggests a possible association of S. acutellus with 

 low-lying damp sandy areas which dry out in summer. These areas include scrub and 

 more open patches with species of Carex, Scirpus, grasses and a variety of herbaceous 

 plants with Phragmites mainly along ditches. Such a habitat existed along the verges 

 of the Thorpe bypass for several years after it was constructed in the early 1970s until 

 the late 1980s when intensive cleaning up by the local council reduced the area to 

 a characterless green roadside verge. 



This year, 1993, an extensive search of Phragmites occurring within some 3 km of 

 my garden was conducted and large samples of dead stems from the previous year 

 as well as new growth were collected. A range of Lepidoptera associated with the 

 reed was obtained but included no examples of S. acutella. More searches will 

 be made in 1994 especially among the many Phragmites communities which will be 

 destroyed when the local M25 is widened to fourteen lanes. 



The possibility of some connection between this specimen and the first capture of 

 this insect by Sterling (1989) less than a year earlier has to be considered. The Thorpe 

 example could have been an accidental importation via the adjacent M25/M3 and 

 Longstock is not that remote from an arterial road. Lack of other records seems to 

 rule out migration but more examples need to be recorded before an informed 

 conclusion can be suggested. 



Acknowledgements 



My thanks are due to Mr M. Schaffer of the Natural History Museum for his 

 assistance with the identification of this insect and to Mr B. F. Skinner who very 

 kindly provided details of recent relevant publications. 



References 



Goater, B. 1990. Sclerocona acutellus (Eversmann) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in the South of 



France. Entomologist's Gaz. 41: 4. 

 Retzlaff, H. & Wittland, W. 1986. The overwintering larva of Sclerocona acutella (E\ ersmanr 



1842) from the Ebro-Delta (Spain) (Lep. Pvralidae, Pvraustinae). Mitteilungen, Band 3 



(Nr. 36). 

 Sterling, D. H. 1989. Sclerocona acutellus (Eversmann) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) new to Britain. 



Entomologist's Gaz. 40: 1-3. 



