13

September1994

New seasorr new day and new venue!

Anotherseason of indoormeetings draws rapidly nearer as the nightsstart to close in. Severalof the pointsraised in lastyear's survey have been taken on boardduring the formulationof the programme and as a consequenceit is hopedthat therewill be greaterattendance at the meetings.

The first change has been the move to Hayesand they are alreadyenjoying the fruits meetingson a Thursdayevening - the over- of the locationwith regularsightings of tawny whelmingchoice of the membership.lt is up owlsand sparrowhawksand up to four regular to you to now supportthis change - afterall it foxes! The groundfloor of the houseis where was your choice! meetingscan be held and a kitchen is very handilyplacedl Thereis also the advantage, - New venue Holly Hayes at least at the moment, of less restrictionon the length of meetings. This, hopefully,will The secondmajor change has beenof venue. allowmembers to be able to discussmatters Whereasall past meetingshave been held at of entomologicalimportance in great comfoft LeicesterMuseum, the move of the Ecology and in a more relaxedwav. Unitto HollyHayes, Birstall has resultedin an alternativevenue being available.Holly Hayes More local lnferest is a lovelysetting - a large house in its own groundswith ample safe parkingjust off the The last major change is the greaterinput now outer ring road at Birstall. Many parts of the being expected from LES members. you house have extensivewood panelling and wanted to have less in the way of invited woodenfire surrounds and the wholeplace is speakersand more of localinterest. lf you are idealfor naturalhistory meetings, lt has that sorl of ambience! askedto partakein any of the meetingsplease do at leastgive us five minutes! The EcologyUnit has recentlymoved to Holly contd p2 New season contd Book review !-_ Yourparticipation at all meetingsis, of course, A review of the Scarce and ThreatenedPyralid always welcome pafticularly if you have Moths of GreatBritain by MS Parsons (JNCC exhibits! Publications1'l: 98pp - Joint Nature ConservationCommittee. Peterborough 1993 Accessto HollyHayes is easy but in case you lsBN-1-873701-s1 -9. 18.60) get lost we have included a map for your guidancewith this Newsletter. Speciesof Pyralidaewere not includedin the InsectRed Data Book of 1987and this present Pleaselet us know what you think of the new publicationaims to remedythis ommission. venueand the rejiggedprogramme. lt is the However,whilst proposingadditions to the onlyway that the Committeecan giveyou, the RDB, the author emphasisesthat the book members,what you wish for! itselfis not a RDB.

The Review is 44 with the text presented in datasheetformat. A total of 57 species are reviewed with copious information being Bees in Knighton provided.The ldentificationheading generally does little more than refer to Goater (British PyralidMoths), the remainingheadings provide Queensof both Bombus terreslrlsand Eombus plentyof usefuland fairlydetailed information pratorumwere seen in the Frankum'sKnighton thus complementingGoater well, The garden during March along with the other distributionof speciesis basedon a Watsonian bumblebeeBombus lapidarius. Also seen was vice-countybasis with post-1970 records being the cuckoobee Psithyrusvesfa/r's and queens separatelylisted. Only four pre-1970records of the wasp Vespulavulgaris. for Leicestershireare cited.prcbab ;,, ail frc'r the VictoriaCounty Histories

Thisbook is a welcomeaddition i3 :.e sra : 'zn numberof publicationsrelating to lr^s , ?' mothsand shouldprove a valuabies3-'ce :' informationto microlepidopteristsa': :-:se involvedin habitatmanaqement in car :- a-

AdrianFusse

N ext GOBY Psithyrusvesta/is I date:

Flowering lungwotl was being regularly patrolled by Anthophorusspecies with both maleand femalebees beingseen, Alsoseen in March were littlegolden bees (speciesnot January yet identified)in brickworkwhilst there were plentyof honeybeeson the heather, rsrh rggs Maggie Frankum Cloud lVood l4.v.g4

Thefirst visit that the LeicestershireEntomological Society made to CloudWood was in August1991 . Sincethen the sitehas beengiven to the countyTrust by the localquarry company (Breedon plc) and now forms an importantaddition to their Reserveslist.

ThisSSSI ancient woodland site was coppiced Five species of butterflypatrolled the rides - until earlythis century and clear-felledat the green-veined white, large white, speckled time of World War ll. Since then it has been wood, peacockand orangetip. The eggs of allowed to regenerate naturally and future the latterwere found on lady's smock. There management expects to include some were also many caterpillarsin the foliage but restorationof coppicingwhilst leavingother no means of identifyingthem. areasto developas high forest.

Recent management has widened the overgrownrides and gladeshave been cut at the ridejunctions. The underlyinggeology rs mainlyKeuper marl and boulderclay although no part of the woodlandis on dolomitised CarboniferousLimestone (as found in the adjacentquarry). However,the rides have been built up at some time with limestone chippings.

The ground flora is very species-richand withoutany effortat all well overthirty different kindsof floweringplants were seen. The most notableincluded yellow archangel, early purple Mesembrina meridiana orchid,Solomon's seal, sweet woodruff, wild strawberryand golden saxifrage. Diptera Lepidoptera The hum of hoverJlieswas ever present and A bright sunny day brought of lots of those not flying were basking in local hot on the wing to take advantage of the floral spots. The blackand yellowwasp-likestripes displayand alsocatering forthe manyinterests of Syrphus ribes/ and Helophilus pendulus of the LES members present. were conspicuousas was the blackface stripe of a farge Erisfalistenax. Leucozonaleucorum, GrahamFinch pointed out a cloudof longhorn the shiningbronze Epistrophe eligans and the moths, with impossibly long antennae, cowpat specialist Rhlng ia camp estris werefairly displayingin the sunshinearound the tree easy to spot as well. foliage, Three other moths found were the greybirch, herald and cloudedsilver. Plans to However,these were Neil's specialityand he fudher record moths later by light trapping managedto record29 species. This,for him, were foiled bv the weather. equalsthe highestnumber of speciesrecorded in one day on any site in . lncfuding the Erisfalistenax, the hoverflylist for Cloud Wood was a total of 30 species.

Neif also saw a Berls spp and Mesembrina meridiana,a memberof the Muscidaegroup of Diptera,together with the large red damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula.

contd p4 Cloud lVood contd I

CLOUDWOOD /Neil Frankumi

Baccha species Sphaerophoriaspecies Fristaiispefttnax

Melanostomascalare 9 Syrphus ribesii ? Helophiluspendulus

Platycheirus albimanus 6 Syrphus vitripennis ? Myathropa florea

Platycheirus manicatus 6 I Cheilosia illustrata6 Pipiza noctiluca ?

Platychei rus scufafus ? Cheilosiavariabilis 6 PipizalHeringraspecies ? Platychei rus tarsa/is g Cheilosiavernalis 6I Syrittapipiens

Dasysyrphustricinctus 6 I Rhingia campestris Neoascrapodagrica 6 g yenusfus Dasysyrphus Eristalrsarbustorum Xylota segnis !t' Epistrophe eligans Erlsta/r'shorlicola Criorhinaberberina Leucozonalucorum Eristalisnemorum

Bumblebeeswere active along the rideswhen they had warmedup in the sunshine.Severar SP/DEFS (Jon Daws) buzzed by too fast for identificationbut tnere was Bombus pascuorum and a cuckoo bee Diplocephaluspicinus Psithyrusyesta/rs, easily mimicking Bombus Lepthyph anthesz i m m erman n i ferresfris.A hornet was spotted resting on a Clubiona /utescens d ? leafin one of glades. the Neriene clathrata i i Linyphia hortensis i t Splders and galls Pisauramirabilis 6 Pardosa amentata g Jon Daws spent the day searchingout the Nerienemontana 6 9 spidersand recorded22 species. He also Meta menge 6 ? found two species of harvestmen (Rilaena Gongylidium rufipes 6 g triangularis, Megabunus diadema), a pill Robertus lividus g millipede,three speciesof woodlouseand the Dictyna arundinacea 6 g centipedeL ithobius variegatus. f Commentfrom Bathyphantesnigrinus Q Jon - "There was nothingrare!" Nerienepeltata ? Pardosa pullata 6 Eighteenspecies plant of gall were found by Lepthyphantesfenuis d myselfalong the rides: Amaurobius fenesfra/rs g - Fieldmaple threespecies Diplostyla concolor g Svcamore- two species Monocephalus fuscrpes d Hazel- one species Diplocephalus latifrons Q Blackthorn- one species Segestrla senoculata ? Oak - six species Bathyphantesgrac#rs d Bramble- one species Willow- three species Doq'smercury - one species Doq'smercury - one species

Maggie Frankum \- Grasshopper records wanted! New Book Ann Tate, well-known ls the mottled grasshopper, Myrmeleotettix Leicestershire naturalist and maculatus,only found on CharnwoodForest in member oJ the LES, has Leicestershire or has it been missed a new book just about ready to come elsewhere? As far as I know, it was first out. Entitled "Naturaf.stSurnmers; recordedin the county in 1956 on Sliding pages from a fietd studiesjournal". Stone rocksat WoodhouseEaves (now a golf the book is endorsedbv the course)and then in SwithlandWoods in the Field StudiesCouncil and is 196O's. The next recordsare in the 1980's nicelytimed for their 5oth - when it was found in Bradgate Swithland anniversary and it comescompletewith Wood spoilheaps, High Sharpley. Charnwood an exuberant foreword by David Lodge,around Hill Hole quarryat Marlcfield. Bellamyl Buck Hill,the Brandquarries, lves Head and Chapters on rocksnear Blackbrook Feservoir. which may be of pafticular interest to the LES are "lnsectsof a cow-dung It likes stoney or rocky areas with sparse community" (PeterSkidmore), vegetation- quarries and spoilheaps. rocky hill "Dragonfliesand \t damsels" (Ted Benton, tops. heathsand sandy areas. lt is a small author of The Dragonflies of Essex) grasshopper,less than 19mm long (males less and "Leaf litter " (June than 15mm)when mature.lt variesgreafly in Chatfield). colourand can be purple,fawn, brown. black and green- or a mixtureof these! The wings The text (65,000words) are never green and the colourationis often is liberalty illustrated with 60 photographs mottledusually matching the backgroundwell and 50 linedrawings) is published by Blandford Press/Cassell Themale has distinctive clubbed antennae and at 815.95. a quietbuzzing "song". Any recordswould be very welcome - I am willing to identify any Orlhopteraspecimens. Meadows

In the last issue of the NewsletterI referredto a possiblerecord of the NorthernDeep-brown Spurredon by Jean Harvey'snotes on bush Dart (Aporophyla lueneburgensis from crickets in Newsletter12, in the Charnwood LoughboroughMeadows on 11.ix.93. The area we have not recorded the dark bush specimenwas referredto BernardSkinner for cricket (Pholidopteragriseoaptera). However, identificationand he concludedthat itsexternal we have had a few records of the speckled featureswere more characteristicof the Deep- (Leptophyespuntatissima) and oak(Meconema brown dart (Aporophyla lutulenta). However, thalassinum)bush crickets. The latteris quite the debate concerning whether or not these - common not just on oak and birch, but in are separatespecies is still outstanding. gardenson blackcurrantsand appletrees and haMhorn hedges too, We sometimes get Adrian Russel/ them attracted to lighted windows in late summerand to moth recorders'sugar!

Helen lkin Holly Hayes Wood Rare at L 16.iv,94 Great Merrible

The morninghad startedoff wet but by 10,30 the rain had dropped to a drizzle and Whilston a visitto the GreatMerrible LRTNC eventuallytizzled out. The firstfield meetingoi naturereserve on 28.v.94a femaleBrachyopa the year was attendedby the Frankumfamily scutellariswas seen at haMhorn flowers in and myself. dappled shade along a narrow ride. This species has a grey thorax and an orange piece Holly Hayes, near Whitwick,is a of abdomenand could have been easily mistaken (open public) ancient woodland to the for a smallmuscid . The larvaelive in sap borderedon threesides by and roads, housing runs and have been recorded from a wide grasslands witha coupleof unmanaged on its varietyof trees. lndeed, if you know what you eastern boundary. open oak/ash This are looking for, it is easier to find the larvae woodlandhas severalareas where silver birch than the adults, and heathygrassland are found,as wellas a pondand marshyareas the stream. along We Accordingto JennyOwen's 1979 checklist, this walked around the wood in a clockwrse speciesis only known in the county from a directionnoting that just l wood sorrellhad single undated specimen in the Museum come into flower and listened to a qreat- collectionand I haveseen no furtherrecords. spottedwoodpecker. On a nationalscale Brachyopascute//aris is consideredto be local but it is stillthe most As we wanderedthrough the wood we turned widelyrecorded member of the genus. over the many logs that were lying around. This revealedthe pill millipede(Glomerus Neil Frankum marg i n ata),the terrestrialflatworm (Mi c rop Ian a terresfris),four speciesof woodliceand twelve speciesof spider. Amongstthe latterwere two I had not seen before,Entelecara erythropus and Ihyreosth e n i us parasiticus. And a county frrst at Beacon Hill

On 27.vii.93,whilst on holiday back in Leicestershire,I went for a walkat BeaconHill. As I was watchingthe insectson a bramble Neil Frankum also collected chrysalidsof patch nearthe pond nextto the main path I ! severalhoverflies from under the logs and noticeda hoverflythat looked different,There showed us a rat-tailedmaggot living in a was a much greater contrast betvreen the shallow,water-filled hollow in a tree. Many blackand yellow markings of itsabdomen than gallswere also in evidencewith six species on the usualsyrphid species. lts thoraxwas also oak, big bud (Eriophyesrudis) on birch,rolled distinctlyblack compared with the greenblack leaf edges caused by Eriophyes goniothorax of the syrphids.On closerinspection it proved typicuson haMhorn and the ever presentleaf to be a femaleDidea fasciata. miner,Phytomyzailicis, on holly. At the end of an enjoyablethree hours, hunger finally drove This is a nationallynotable hoverfly that is most us back toward the vehicles. A good view of often recordedfrom ancient deciduousforest a callingnuthatch and a singleprimrose as we areasof southernEngland. lt is the firsttime re-crossedthe streamare my finalmemories of that I haveseen this speciesin Leicestershire a morningwell spent. and I know of no other records of it for the county. Jon Daws Neil Frankum ' Hairy dragonfly in Lep tit-bits Leicestershire [Compiledby JaneMcPhail] [From an article by RA Frost in The Bulletin of the AmateurEntomologisfs'Society (1994) vol 53 page 761 Great Easton, - oak beauty iii.93; tawny pinion iv.93 and x.93; nutmeg vi.93; On 31.v.93whilst walking at TerraceHills near purplebar viii.93;large ranunculusix.93; and Belvoir Castle, a large dragonfly was seen sprawlerxi,93 (Jean & Ron Harvey). hawking. Foftunatelythe dragonflysettled on long grass allowing close up photography Belmesthorpe,Rutland - Argyresthiamendica which laterallowed identification of the species (= sprnose//a)(B&F417) 3.vi.92 - ?new county as the hairy dragonfly,Brachytron pratense. record;Donocaula f orf icella 28.v.92; Paraponyx On referralto Helen lkin, it seemedthat this stratiotata28.vii.93 and 14,vii,93;Pempelia might have beenthe first county recordof this formosa 28.vii.93- scarce in Midlands (Chris memberof the Odonatabut it latertranspired Gardiner). that one had been seen sixteendays earlier fufther south in the coun$ making this Ketton Quarry, Rutland - Ebulea crocealis pafticularobseruation probably the second v 30.vi.93(Chris Gardiner) county record. Old Lount colliery, Coleorton Epinotia stroemiana1994 - third countv record (Jane PopIar hawks in McPhail). Leicestershire Recentlypubl ished articles (E nt Rec1 06, 41 -45 Another new eounry and 126) appear to have questionedthe generallyaccepted view that the poplarhawk hoverfly moth (Laothoepopuli\ is bivoltinein Britain, Thesearticles are based upon recordsfrom Kent and Cornwall. I have looked at the last At the June field meetingof the LES at Twenty ten years' records from my garden light in Acre Piece, John Mousley gave me two Leicesterand these indicatethat this species Parh elop hi lusspecimens collectedthe previous appears between May and August. Distinct week from Furnace Plantationat Moira in the peaks in occurrencein late May and late July Ashby Woulds. On closer inspectionthese are apparent. However, I would be very proved to be a male and female of v interestedto receivedata from anyone else Parhelophilusfrutetorum. The only previous regularlyoperating a lighttrap in the countyso recordsof any of this genus from the countyis that a more effectivelocal analvsis can be of a Parh el o p hi I us versi c oI o r'fr om Narboroug h made. Bog.

Adrian Russe// frutetorum ls usually found around ponds or ditches with Typha. lt is a local species on a national scale with a distributionslightly more restrictedthan that of Brown argrrs? P versicolor. A brown argus was probablytaken at Ketton Neil Frankum Quarry on 21.iv.94 (final confirmation is awaited)during a day excursionby HarryBall, LennyHolton, Glenn McPhail and Jon Daws Book review That did not stop the 23 people on the trip (includingtwo from the LES)from going into = the fieldand makingsome very good finds. lndeed a visit on the first day to a wooded Lelcestershire Dragonfliesby SteveGrover and streamvalley near lronbridge(in the Helen lkin (1994) LeicestershireMuseums rain) producedonly the second PublicationISBN-0850223598. Britishrecord of the craneflyLrosothrix nigristrgma. Duringfurther visitsto the site later in the week by other The authors claim that this booklet ,,is not membersof the par,ry observations were intendedto be definitivebut a guide only,'-a made that indicatedthat the species very modest claim for such an excellent was breedinqin the numerouslog jams in the stream. publication.The style of the text is innovative with emphasisbeing placed on the use of Permissionhad been arranged illustrationsand a generallack of jargon. for us to nave access to Trust reserves, National Nature Reserves,SSSIs and other sites of interest A usefultable summarises the flightperiods of in the area. Duringthe week I visited the Odonata most likelyto be seen in the 19 sites with a variety of habitats:ancient woodland, county whilst each species descriptionis parkland,river shingle, wooded restrictedto one page with most delightful streamvalleys, marshy grassland,heathland, illustrationsof the adultson the facingpage. wetlandsand hay meadows. Unfortunately, Eachof the commonerspecies has pictograms the weatherdid impede my recording and I only : which give an indicationof the type of habitat saw 39 species of hover-fly although I wherethey may be encountered.Up to date did see Porleviniamaculata for the first tetradmaps accompany each species together time. On some sites it was quite numerous being witha rarityindex. lam not clearhowthis has found in associationwith ramsons,its larval been derived (it is not really explained foodplant. Othergroups semed to be less anywhere)and its usefulnessin an essentially affectedby the weather- at least103 species provisionalguide is questionable,However, of craneflywere recordedfor instance. this is my only criticisml

The cranefliesof the genus Ctenophora What is outstandingis the presentationof the were the highlightsfrom a number of sites bookletcomplete with very fine paintingsby visited. The larvaeof the fliesall livein dead SteveGrover of the adultinsects. lt reallyis an wood and are eitheruncommon or rare. eye-catchingpublication and shouldcertainlv The adultsare fairlylarge black or yellow be on every local naturalist'sshelf! and blackflies and the males have distinctivefeathery lobes on the antennae. Threeof the six Ray Morris specieswere seen - C flaveolata,C pecttnicornis (at two sites - Powis Castle, Welshpool where several femaleswere just emergingfrom a padially DiBterists at rottenhorse chestnut tree and Devil'sSpitileful, : Kidderminsterwhere a femalewas emerging Shrewsbury from a rottensilver birch) and C bimacularag maleand femalesitting on the partiallyrotten trunk of a ?wild cherryat Devil'sSpitilefurl The annual summer field meeting of the Diptera RecordingSchemes was heldthis year As well as recordingflies in under-recorded at the Preston Montford Field Centre near areas, these field meetings are useful for Shrewsbury. The meeting was much earlier learningnew techniques, having identifications thanusual (10-17 May 1994)and was aimedto confirmed,making contacts and socialising coincidewith the flowering of the haMhornand with other entomologists from around the the spring peaks of a number of fly species. country. The venuefor nextyear's trip has yet Unfoftunately, however,the weather did not to be decidedbut it will be well wofth going cooperate! In one of the worse Mays on whereverit is heldl record,it was cold and wet,we did not see the sun on six of the seven days of the field Neil Frankum meeting! rE.vi.94

A nice sunny day greeted us for the field meetingat TwentyAcre PieceNature Reserveat Six Hills (grid referenceSK 64-21-|. The reserveconsists of a centralride (createdby the laying of a water main)which contains some quite niceareas of dampacid grassland. Much of the siteused to be like this but now birch scrub and ash, hawthornand oak woodland have colonisedmost of the area. The site produced29 species of hoverflythe bean gall Pontania proxima was found on best of which was a male Orlhonevra willow. The ever present rolled leaf edges on spiendens. Thisis a smallblack hoverJly with haMhorn is caused by Eriophyesgoniothorax a broadwhite dust band acrossits face, On a typicus while Dasyneura rosarum formed a countybasis this is quite a rare speciesand pod-likeleaf gallon dog rose. Thefly Chirosia only a coupleof other recorcisare knolvnfor betuletiformedthe mop-headgall on fern and Leicestershire. Dasyneura ulmariae covered the leaves of meadow sweet with littleswellings that hao a Eight speciesof the larger Brachycerai'vere cone-likeprojection below. FinallyEriophyes foundrncluding the very smallblue soldierfly similrsgalled the leaf margins of sloe. Mi c rochrysa flavi cornis. This species. althou gh the commonestof the genus and fairly Neil and Maggie Frankum widespread, was not recorded from Lercestershirein the ProvisionalAtlas of the Larger Brachyceraof Britain and lreland. Evening moth trapping was carried out In Two speciesof damselflywere seen alongthe rather breezy and clear conditionswith only main ride - Coenagrionpuella and Enallagma fifteenspecies being recorded atthe lonelight. cyathigerum.A cream-spotladybird (Catvia I4_ Experiencedmoth trappers clearly knew that guttata)was also seen and a large skipper this was a night to stay at homel The butterfly. most notewofthy record was of the double dart (Graphiphoraaugur). lt was also nice to see the MotherShipton (Callistege mi) flyingearlier in the day.

Adrian Russe//

LES. NNAAL GEIVERAL tr[EETING

to be held as nart of the

Biorhiza pallida DECEMBER MEETING There were severalgalls present on the site. On oak were Andricus tignicola,A anthracinis, Biorhizapallida and Cynrpsdivisa. The saMly PictufG'lvinged fiv rntroduction to each family and its characteristicsand ecology,This was followed tt workslrop by a periodof takingspecimens through the keyswith the expertson handto giveplenty of The National Diptera Recording Schemes helpand advice. began running a series of identification workshopsat PrestonMontford field centre last year (see p8), These have aimed to get enthusiaststo knowpopular groups of fliesin more detailand to encouragethem to study the lesserknown groups. @g

At the end of March1994 one such workshop wasan in-depthlook at the picture-wingedflies with six familiesbeing covered.

Urophora cardui ?

The Sciomyzidaeare a group of mediumsized acalypterateflies with eitherclear or patterned v wings. The adults can be swept from low vegetationin a variety of habitats, althougn wetlands are preferred by many species. Thereis a main peak in June and July but some speciescan be found all year round. The larvae are predators or parasitoids of molluscs(both terrestrial and aquatic).

The Tephritidaeare a phytophagousfamily of with the larvaedeveloping within flower heads,stems or leavesof variousplants, The adultshave a varietyof wing markings,ranging from stripesto a reticulatepattern. The best known members are the genus l-)rophora whose larvaecause galls on knapweedano On Friday night, Alan Stubbs (Mr Dipteral) thistles. gave a generalintroduction into whereto look for flies and the factors which can afiect the The remainingfamilies have fewer species but presence of a species at a pafticularsite: are fairly similarin looks to the Tephritidae v geology,habitats (both on theirown and, more havingwings with patterns of bandsand spots. impoftantly,combinations of habitatsand the boundariesbetween them), climate,previous Neil Frankum (mis)managementetc. He then ran through the range of equipmentthat he uses on his fieldtrips, from the smallesttube to the net on a 12 foot extendablehandle that catchesthe fliesthat other nets cannot reachl

The next two days were spent looking for picture-wingedflies. The group was lead by Alan along with Stephen Falk, lan Maclean (Sciomyzidaeand Phaeomyiidae)and David Clements(Pallopteridae and Otitidae). The basic format was to have a half hour Euribia zoi ?

10 Moths at Great probablya six-beltedclearwing. Bowden BomowBit Since the specimen was released before positiveidentification could be established,we I have been carryingout moth trappingat this returnedthe followingday in order to confirm LRTNCreserve for the lastfew years,albeit on the species presence at the Quarry. As it an occasional basis. ln August 1990 | turned out we saw three insectsone of which recordedthe small rufous (Coenobiarufa), a we caught for photographyand identification. rush feeder, from this site. This moth is li was indeedthe six-beltedclearwing at a new currentlybeing consideredfor assignmentas site for the county. a nationallynotable species and it was encouragingto see it again in good numbers Ron & Jean Harvey on 25th July this year, There are few other recordsof this moth in Leicestershire. On the same night I also recordedseveral Early spider specimens ol Calamotrophapaludella. This pyralidfeeds on reedmaceand is associated "A monsterspider was discoveredby a woman withfens, marshes etc. Parsons(A Revie'ttof at her home on SapcoteRoad, Burbage. The the Scarce and ThreatenedPyralid Moths of spider,measuring four inchesin length,was a Great Biltain 1993) (see review elsewhere- "wolfspider" and nativeto the Britishlsles but Editor)describes the speciesas beinglocal up until1958 only one sighting had been made and provisionallyassigns it NationallyNotable in Dublin,lreland. Mrs Borastonbrought the B status. I cannot find any previously spiderto The HinckleyTimes but the reporters published record of this species from had to contact and spider expen, 15 Leicestershirealthough I understandthat it year old DonaldHope of Hall Road,Burbage may havebeen recordedfrom elsewherein the to identify it. He said its county. Latin name was Tegnariaartica, a large relationof the house spiderand althoughit fed on insects,smaller I would be very interestedto receivedetails of spiders and bees, was capable of giving any other county records of either of these humansa nastynip. soecies. [From The Hinckley Times of Friday 28th Adrian Russe/i August19591

I think that the spider referredto is Tegenaria atrica (now known as Tegenaria gigantea) Six-belted clearwing which Dick Jones in The CountryLife Guide to Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe at Clipsham QuarrXr considersto probablybe commonthroughout southernEngland.

Accordingto AdrianRussell's The RarerBritish Amazingwhat localpapers will print! Do you - Macro-moths draft list of Leicestershire haveany such items? Pleasesend them in! Aecords (1992), the six-belted clearwing (Bembecia scopigera) is rare in the county. Indeed,even nationally it is not that common havingbeen classedas a NotableB insectin the RDB. Old records

Duringa visitto ClipshamQuarry on 10.vii.94 Tom Robertsonin LESOPS10 recollectsthe by membersof the RutlandNHS, Patrick Mann butterfliesof mid-centuryLeicestershire. lf you found an insect which at first was not havesuch memoriesplease let us knowl This recognisedas a clearwing. lt was only on historicalinformation is invaluablel checking at home that we realised it was

11 WINTER PROGRAITME tglr4-'

All indoor meetingswill be held at the new venueof The EcologyUnit, Holly Hayes, Birstall unless otherwise indicated.Meetings are to commenceat 7.30p,m. and cofieewill be available,Members and guestsare encouragedto bringalong exhibitsfor displayand discussion.

OCTOBER27TH INTRODUCTIONTO THE LEICESTERSHIREECOLOGY UNIT John Mousley(Leicestershire Ecology Unit) The Leicestershire Ecology Unit plays an important pad in collating environmental data particularly for use in planning applicationassessments but alsofor research.

NOVEMBERl2TH MICROLEPIDOPTERAWORKSHOP Ray Barnett(Bristol Museum) Ray returns to Leicestershirefrom the wilds of Bristol to share his impressiveknowledge of the smallermoths and, perhaps, tell us aboutsome of the delightsof the WestCountry! pleasebring specimens. Note:to be heldat the Newwalk Museumstarting at 10.goa.m.

DECEMBER8TH ANNUALGENERAL MEETING AND MEMBERS'EVENING Your chance to have a say in the how th society is run followed by contributionsfrom the membershipon theirfavourite pasttime, rounding off with seasonalmince pies!

JANUARY1gTH LOCAL DRAGONFLIES SteveGrover (Leicestershire Ecology Unit) Co-authorand illustratorof the delightfulLeicestershireDragonf lies published earlierthis year. Learnabout these haunting waterside insects.

FEBRUARYSTH HOVERFLIES FrancisGilbert joint A meeting with the Natural History section of the Lit & phil on this fascinatinggroup of the Diptera. Note:this meetingis to be heldat the Rowansin Leicester.Details of location from Jan Dawsonat the Nuseum. gTH MARCH HABITAT MANAGEMENTFOR INVERTEBRATES PeterKirby (EnglishNature) Peterwas responsiblefor the preparationof the InveftebrateS1e Registerfor Leicestershire(and other counties)and is a past visitorto the LES. Habitat managementis the way forwardif we are to ensurethe futurefor manv of our insects.

APRIL1ST SO YOU HAVEA RECORD. SO WHAT! AdrianRussell, Derek Lott etc Haveyou wonderedhow to best keepyour records,where to put them or what to use them for? This is your chanceto find out about the differentways in which recordscan be kept and then how to use them effectively.To include demonstrationsof computerso{tware. Note:this meetingis beingheld at the Museumstarting at 10.30a.m.

L2