.. .a Tenerifc is. a small but, h parts, a very 1 :jsland, its outlinc bcing dominated by the towering p I :' peak of Mount Teide (3,715 m). The Island supports notable .contras& huge expanses of eastern, sout .. western Tcnerife king barren and entomologically unprduc- - ! ' !. '-?- tive,. while' much of .the north and north-east h
I '.i.hurnid climate and so supports a cornparatively d ..... and, fauna. Because .of the. dry atrnospherc, the 'rnountainous slopes of thc .central 'massif' are largely shrouded by pmt f...';. . woodland and rclatively devoid of life; however, thc northern .. : :': .slopes are more moist, affording a proliferation of understorey i.1.. . vcgeution.. The -1sland'o. biota has also .been enriched bu ; artificial influences such .as,the naturalization of plants arid i.-.',':..theprovision of jrrigation by which man has had a profound i .-: effect on thc'status of certain Lepidoptera, a good example ..:.-. being' thc, recent colonisation by Catopsüia porella Fabriciut ....i :'of thc cnvirons of some of the major.settlernents in the north, . ' hkast and south-wtst. :e: ...:: Based at .Playa de las Americas in the so miiy spent an idyílic two,wetks on Tenerife gust 2nd):.,Having hired a Seat 133 for ten days, we urged :. clentlessly along the'web of roads covering the Island; ho r, it soon became appawnt that large areas .w ' ..,. gically destitute; the richtst hunting grounds lyin . . (cspecially in .thc Orotava'valley), thc north ... areas surrounding Pico dc..Teidc, and the im .... bourhood of Playa de'las Americas. .. .. Below are brief accou.nts of observations made on thc :;; our sojourn on Tenerife. .. ':: ':: . T.. Rhopalocera encountered...durin ,, , .. Pieris. b?ussicut che[rMfhi.bn. Only met with, in north . ,: .' and :north*astern Tenerife;~especially in the Orotava va whcrc leaves of .Tropaeoluh @wjus littered with larvae were .: cornrnonly .found-.and niwly-formed ..pupae were also '. '. .* covered. On July 25th a feinale imago was scen at 1,OOO m, ' '. .,: and ,onJuly 23rd three males and one female were encountered ._ . at a height .of .,1,5OO m, both, localitics bcing in thc mountains ;. :: .... ...... - sLf's. 3. .' ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD . I/X/79 * '. tion tÓ statt that it was exceptional Po flnC.C&sta had not been spattered with thc . whitish, bottlc . * Although fernale C. firelfa are dimorphic, of thc v . , secn oniy a few wtre of thc ycliow form, the lalte particularly closc nsemblancc~to male Goneptetyx when on thc wing. "be larvae of C. floreüa also conclusive. . ' ' Cdiar crocea Gt hcar from anyone who. in the Canary Isles. . ..---.- . *.. .<-*...... -. . . ~ -._-._...------c-.- --.-.---. . -. .. .. . --. .. r 6 ! ? i \ ... . .E , TESERIFE AND GOMERA, /’ JCLY 1978 -.,‘ Pandoriana pandora D. & S. A few spccimens Ónly seen: one north of Santa Cruz and six others in the mou above La Orotava. Pseudorergumia wyssii wyssii Christ. Several wer up’ amongst light pine woodland at Las Canadas on Jul and, during the late afternoon of the same day, the was found to be abundant in pine woodland at ],so0 m, on a south-facing mountain-side, some of the larg ing three or more imagines. It must be em ’few P. wyssii were seen in fiight, apart except in the late afternoon of. July 22 flying freely, in complete shade, at 6 p.m.; t the theory expounded by Guichard (Manley p. 132)‘ that P. wyssii “flies chiefly befo 4.30 p.m., which we further corroborated by wyssii bacchus on Gomera, although we did not wi early morning flights. Maniola jurtina hispulla Esp. Cornmon in the north-eastern parts of the Island. Pararge xiphioides Stdgr. A shade-loving specie spread occurrence, found to’be most plentiful wit groves to the north of Playa de las Americas. Lycaena phlaeas L., Aricia cramera Esch Thymelicus .acreon christi Rebel. These three species have. been grouped together as their distributions displayed remark- abíe similarity, being confined largely to the north and north- , eastern tip of Tenerife, especially in Sthe mountains above h,. Orotava. Lampides boeiicus L. Encountered sea level’to over 2,000 m (at Las Ca Cyclyriux webbianus Brullé. Similar distribution (implying that it too has a legu plant) and nowhere more abundant than at where ‘clouds’ of the insect were disturbed. Her ingly outnumbered females, while at some tions there appeared to be a preponderance of females. - Zizeeria knysna Trimen. Locally very numerous in the vicinity of Playa de las Americas, .but a longer rife migh t well have revealed colonies around Cruz and elsewhere. (2) Gomera Although based on Tenerife, we did shores, making ivmílay-trips to the nearby These excursions, however, were not totally su were hampered both by strong winds and lo wh.ile Gomera’s coast was bathed in warm sun of the interior wcrc envrloped by swirli phenomenon was probably experienced b A. Valletta when visiting the Mercedes ber 1977)..1 .. .- . . 278 EiVTOMOLOGICT'S RECORD 11x179 ' . we were thankful that such adverse conditions did not : persist indefinitely during our visits to Gomera and in a ' temporary rcpricvc from the vindictive weather we noted the followjng species: Pieris rapae L.; Ponria daplidice L.; Colias crocea Geoff.; Vonessa indica vulcania Godart; Vanesso cardui L.; Pandoriana pandora D. & S.: Maniola jurfina hís- pulla 'Esp.; Pararge xiphioides Stdgr.; Lampides boericus L.; Cyciyyrius webbianus Bmllt; Aricia crmnera Eschschol tt; Thy- . melicus acfeon christi Rcbel. Co8epteryx cleoparra cleobule Hbn. Four males and two females were secn on Gomera, prompting a search o€Rhamnus : bushes in the vicinity, which proved unprofitable. Thc fem'ale . . specimens werc certainly palcr than thcir countcrparts on i Tenerifc, virtually lacking.. the pale orange flush on the fore- !' wing, .. Pseudolergurnia 'Wysdi bacchus Higgins, Seen commonl! i on rocky, slopes and in vineyards over the northern part of ' Gomera. The imagines wcre surprisingly active in dull weather . ,; and tended to Ay cxccptionaily~latein the day, over twcnty. .i . specimens being floshed from one particular hillside betwcen i 6 p.m. and 8 pm., while nothing else stirred. Unfortunately, dunng our time on Gomera wc failed to i acquire a glimpse of either of our main quarríes, V. virginiensis i and D. chrysippus, and.thc absence of thesc spccies occasioned ~ the only regrets of an immensely enjoyable holiday. We were, nevertheless, somcwhat surprised by the weal th and abundance : of Tenerifc's Rhopalocera; indeed, we were so successful early on that only one additional species (V. oralanta) was procured .: after July 23rd; thus the bulk of our time thereafter was concentrated on our quest for V. virginiensis and D. chrp.sip- pus. Docs the fact that we failed in this particular venture ' necessitate a second expedirion to -gratify our entornological appetites? . Refetences . 1. Allcard, H. G., and Vallefta. A.. 1978. A Week of Collecting in Tenerife, Canary Islands in September 1977.+Enr. Rec., 90: 91-94. 2. Gaydon. A. O., 1972. April Butterflies in Tencnfe. Buif. Amar. cnr. Soc.. 31: 106. 3. Higpins. L. G.. and Rilcy, N. D.,1970. A Fkld Guide ro !he Brrtter- pies of Bntain and Eutopr. Collins. London. 4. Manley. W. B. L.,snd Allcard. H. G.. 1970. A Field Guidr ro rhe Butterfiics and Burnets of Spain. E. W. Ciassey Lid.. Hampton. 5. Polunin. O.,1972. Thc Concírr Flowcrs 01 Europe. O.U.P. London. 6. Polunih. O.,and Everard. B.. 1976. Trces and Ruslres o/ Eiirnpe. O.U.P. London. OLIGIA VERSICOLOR (BORKii.) IN CO.'DUBLTN. - On JülY 26th 1973 I caught an Oligia d at M.V. trap at Lispopple, Co. Dublin. The specimen was determined by D. S. Fietcher of the British Museum (Natural History) as Oligia versicolor (Borkh.). In his "Revised Catalogue of Irish Macrolepidoptera" (1964). Baynes refers to only one other Irish record of this species, dating from 1903. 1 am not awate of any more recent record of this species in Ireland. - K. G. M. ROSD, Lürzowstrasse 4. 32 Hildesheim, Wesf Germany. ------.-