Cylchgronau Cymru

LEPIDOPTERA NOTED NEAR TENBY, PEMBROKESHIRE Dr. A. M. R. HERON THIS year, 1955, I spent three weeks of my holiday at Penally, near Tenby, from August 13th till September 3rd. Penally Abbey, where we stayed, is very near the sandhills and there are quite a number of trees around the hotel. I had not the advantage of a mercury vapour lamp, but quite a number of moths came either to the bedroom light or to my car or Tilley lamp on the sand dunes, or in a wooded lane beside a piece of marshland about I J- 2 miles N.W. of Tenby. The number and variety which came to the bedroom were surprisingly good considering the bad season for most moths, and the clear and comparatively cool nights. I did not do much sugaring or shine my lights in many different places as the results never seemed to be as good as at the hotel. My total of 135 species, including 22 kinds of butterflies, in 3 weeks, compared quite favourably with that of my friend Dr. Neville L. Birkett of Kendal, who made his list over a fortnight from July 21st, 1951. His total then was 127 kinds, including 11 butterflies, but he had a mercury vapour moth trap. His list con- tained 51 species which I did not note. My lack of m.v., the different area, poor season and later visit may have accounted for this. My best catch was undoubtedly an extreme variety of the Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae (L.), taken at St. David's. The hind-wings were black above and below, and the fore-wings had fewer but larger black blotches and no yellow or orange was present. The reddish ground colour was particularly dark. On the same day I took another less extreme variety. These were chance finds among hundreds of the type form. On a very interesting trip to Grassholm, on Sunday, 21st August, with the West Wales Field Society, we saw numerous butterflies on the wing as far as we went seawards. These were mostly Whites and Small Tortoiseshells. On the return trip while still far out to sea, a Small Tortoiseshell was seen flying strongly westwards across the wind as if it knew that its life depended on reaching Ireland. This was at the late hour of 5.30 p.m. While on Grassholm, I noted Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White and Small White "butterflies and the Silver Y Moth The Large Whites were actually mating on the island. The following is a list of the butterflies and moths recorded during my stay at Penally. A few of these were in the early stages of development. One was expected and only noted by a friend, namely larvae of the Privet Hawk Moth on Lundy. I should like to thank Mr. R. M. Lockley for making the expedition to Grassholm such a success and Mr. D. Odium for his help with localities.