Entomologist's Gazette - Vol. 72, No. 4, 2021
Published: 10/29/2021
Article Details for this issue
EDITORIAL Colin Johnson MSc FRES
By: PROFESSOR ROGER DENNIS
Page: 207
Type: Editorial
BOOK REVIEW Britain’s Butterflies. A field guide to the butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Fourth Edition by David Newland, Robert Still, Andy Swash and David Tomlinson
By: ADRIAN SPALDING
Page: 208
Type: Book Review
The status of the African Queen butterfly, Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Danainae), in the Canary Islands, including an irruption on Fuerteventura
By: DAVID A. S. SMITH
Page: 209–220
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Examination of museum collections and field work have established that Danaus chrysippus
once inhabited five of the seven Canary Islands but is probably now confined to La Palma,
La Gomera and Fuerteventura. It may be extinct on Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Before
colonisation by the Spanish in the 14th century the food-plants of the relict Canary Island
populations were undoubtedly scarce endemic milkweeds (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae).
However, on Fuerteventura the recent establishment and subsequent explosive spread of the
alien milkweeds Calotropis procera (especially) and Gomphocarpus fruticosus have enabled a
massive irruption of the butterfly over the last 20 years. The butterfly population is presently,
as it appears always to have been, polymorphic at two unlinked genetic loci which control its
colour and are under strong selection. In the African Humid Period of the Holocene, 14,000–
5,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert region was green and the island populations were in close
proximity to those of North Africa. Thus, there is no evidence that the Canary Island
populations of the butterfly have been subject to Founder Effects or prolonged bottlenecks –
as is so often the case with isolated island populations. It is suggested that the relict island
populations have been periodically introgressed from North Africa and the Cape Verde Islands.
There is insufficient evidence to support subspecific status (as D. chrysippus kanariensis
Fruhstorfer, 1898) for the present dark-bodied butterflies from the Canary Islands (and
St. Helena).
Dialectica imperialella (Zeller, 1847) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) rediscovered on the Isle of Wight after 45 years and consideration of one of its larval foodplants
By: S. D. BEAVAN
Page: 221–228
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
An account is given of the rediscovery of Dialectica imperialella (Zeller, 1847) on the Isle of
Wight in 2018, which had not been recorded on the Island since its discovery there in 1973.
Larval foodplants and records from southern England are reviewed.
A further note on the larva and a first description of the ovum of Scoparia pyralella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
By: R. J. HECKFORD & S. D. BEAVAN
Page: 229–235
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
A description is given of the ovum and first and second instars of the larva of Scoparia
pyralella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) together with an account of the biology in captivity
and further observations on the final instar larva.
The spermatophore of the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus (Walker, 1869) (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) – a stereoscopic investigation
By: ROBERT STURM
Page: 236–242
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
The contribution includes the detailed investigation of the spermatophore produced by the
male black field cricket with the help of stereoscopic visualization techniques. For this purpose,
sperm capsules of selected crickets were isolated and prepared for light- and electronmicroscopic
analysis. Production of stereoscopic semi-images and red-cyan anaglyphs was
carried out by application of the formerly introduced object rotation method and, alternatively,
by use of computer-aided object depth mapping (ODM), where three-dimensional information
is obtained from a single photograph. As found by stereoscopic imaging, the spermatophore of
the black field cricket consists of a spherical ampulla with a diameter of 0.5 mm, a tube
measuring up to 3.5 mm in length, and an anchor plate serving for the fixation of the capsule
at the aperture of the female genital chamber during copulation. Single spermatozoa are
characterized by an organized arrangement within the ampulla, so that their release from the
sperm vessel is significantly facilitated. The study clearly demonstrates that spatial imaging is
not only useful for the purpose of presentation, but also for a more detailed analysis of diverse
insect structures.
Hypolimnas misippus (Linnaeus, 1767) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Cyprus and other records in the Eastern Mediterranean, an overlooked record and east Mediterranean butterfly migration corridors
By: DUBI BENYAMINI
Page: 243–252
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
During preparation of the forthcoming volume, The Butterflies of the Levant Vol. III
(Nymphalidae), a single male Hypolimnas misippus from the collection of Prof. Hanan Bytinski-
Salz, collected on the southern coast of Cyprus in August 1936, was found by the author
among other H. misippus specimens in the butterfly collection of Tel Aviv University. This is
the first and only known record of the Danaid Eggfly from the island and the seventh species
addition to the Island’s butterfly fauna since the early 1900s. The circumstances of this new
record for Cyprus and other related records highlighting northern migration corridors from
Africa and Arabia to the Levant and the S. Palaearctic region are elaborated on and discussed.
Luffia lapidella (Goeze, 1783) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) proved to be the host of Choeras gielisi van Achterberg (Braconidae: Microgastrinae), new to Britain
By: MARK R. SHAW
Page: 253–256
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Choeras gielisi is recorded from Britain for the first time, on the basis of two female and two
male specimens reared solitarily from sexual and parthenogenetic forms of Luffia lapidella at
different sites. These rearings, the first with clear host determination, provide strong evidence
that the type specimen of C. gielisi had not been a parasitoid of the terrestrial caddisfly Enoicyla
pusilla, as had been supposed from inadequate evidence at the time of its description.
First appearance in Cyprus of Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), as it continues its predicted westward spread in the Palaearctic region
By: EDDIE JOHN, HASAN BAGLAR, ONAT BASBAY & MUDAR SALIMEH
Page: 257–264
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
Recent years have witnessed considerable range expansion of the migratory Indo-Australian
papilionid Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 from the Gulf States. Following dispersal / migration
into central Syria, a rapid and extensive colonisation of the eastern Mediterranean coastlines of
Syria soon ensued, with penetration into neighbouring regions of Turkey and Lebanon.
Further westward spread had been anticipated and here we report on the species’ first
appearance in Cyprus. We hypothesise that westward trans-Mediterranean migration brought
small numbers of immigrants to the island, and from the pristine nature of the individuals, it is
considered that those seen in August 2021 were the progeny of an earlier, unnoticed migration.
We also record the Levant’s first known example of marine puddling by P. demoleus.
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS Brephidium exilis (Boisduval, 1852) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Polyommatinae) a preliminary note on the species’ first record for Israel and the Western Palaearctic Region
By: DUBI BENYAMINI
Page: 265–266
Type: Short Notes
Lagomorph grazing alters suitability of hillside grassland for Orthoptera
By: TIM GARDINER
Page: 267–274
Type: Paper
Synopsis:
The effects of lagomorph grazing on the Orthoptera of a small hill at Lound Lakes (Suffolk,
UK) were studied during the summer of 2020. The transect counts of Orthoptera revealed low
sward height due to high rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) grazing on the high
slopes which led to the general absence of tall grass species such as the Common Green
Grasshopper Omocestus viridulus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Roesel’s Bush-cricket Roeseliana roeselii
(Hagenbach, 1822). Only nymphs and Field Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus (Thunberg,
1815) adults were found in any number on the higher slopes, perhaps utilising the short swards
and bare earth as basking habitat. The lower slopes and pastures supported tall-grass
Orthoptera due to the absence of rabbit grazing and tussocky grassland.
BOOK REVIEW Butterfly Biology Systems: connections and interactions in life history and behaviour by Roger L. H. Dennis
By: R. I. VANE-WRIGHT
Page: 275–278
Type: Book Review