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i 



Entomologist's Gazette (2011) Vol. 62 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



Batia internella Jackh, 1972 (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) erroneously 

 recorded from the Channel Islands 



Shaffer (2008, Channel Islands Lepidoptera. A history and compilation of the 

 recorded butterflies and moths 1830-2003: 181) includes Batia internella Jackh, 

 1972, as a Channel Islands species, on the basis of one record from Guernsey. 

 This is cited as '1 specimen taken at light in Forest, Petit Bot, 18.viii.1990, R. 

 A. Austin, 1993(23): 232 & 235 {identified from dissection and confirmed by 

 A. Riley}'. The 1993 reference is to the Entomology Section report for 1992 

 compiled by Mr R. A. Austin and published in the 1993 Report and Transactions 

 of La Societe Guernesiaise. Shaffer abbreviates this to "Rep. Soc. guernes.\ but 

 there should be no acute accent over the letter 'e'. 



On the same page Shaffer lists various records of B. lambdella (Donovan, 

 1793), including the following from Guernsey: '1 in Forest, Petit Bot, 

 18.viii.1990, R. A. Austin'. It seemed a coincidence worth investigating that 

 this had been found on the same day at the same place as B. internella. 



As a consequence, Mr Austin very kindly agreed to allow the genitalia 

 preparation of the specimen determined as B. internella to be sent to me. It had 

 been glued to a card mount, but fortunately the glue was sufficiently 

 translucent to enable me to examine the genitalia (female) without having to 

 remove them from the card, because doing so might have caused damage. It 

 clearly agrees both with the photograph of the female genitalia of B. lambdella 

 (pi. I, 3) in Jackh's paper describing B. internella (1972, Redia 53: 331-345) 

 and with that figured byTokar, Lvovsky & Huemer (2005, Die Oecophoridae s.l. 

 {Lepidoptera) Mitteleuropas: 71, pi. 22 fig. 39). Therefore, B. internella should be 

 removed from the Channel Islands list. 



I am very grateful to Mr Austin for allowing me to re-examine the genitalia 

 preparation and to Dr P. D. M. Costen, Guernsey, for arranging for this to be 

 sent to me as well as providing me with the relevant pages from Mr Austin's 

 1992 Entomology Section report. 



67 Newnham Road, Plympton, 

 Plymouth, Devon PL7 4 AW, U.K. 



R. J. HECKFORD 



