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NEWSLETTER No. 8 -  Winter 1982/83

WEST MIDLANDS BRANCH, BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

 

Book Review

"The Butterflies and Moths of Shropshire" by Adrian M.Riley published by
Shropshire County Museum, Ludlow, Salop.

"A provisional list of the Macrolepidoptera of Nuneaton, Tamworth, Hinckley,
Bedworth, Atherstone and Market Bosworth area" by G.A, & M.A Arnold and R.J. Thomas published by Warks. B.R.C., County Museum, Warwick.

Two excellent publications which should provide a starting point for BBCS members wishing to explore these particular parts of the West Midlands region. The two guides approach their subject in completely different ways: the Shropshire guide adopts a broad brush approach and attempts to list all butterflies and moths recorded in the county since 1965, together with an indication of their frequency; the north Warwickshire study is much narrower in its focus, concentrating on 24 sites where recording work has taken place and also trying to relate distribution to habitat type. Personally, I much prefer this latter approach as, although limited in its extent, the information is of a much more specific nature. I can, however sympathise with the plight of Adrian Riley, faced with the herculean tack of trying to organise data for hundreds of species of Lepidoptera from many different sites into a readable and coherent account., His method of overcoming this situation, however, whereby he applies a number of asterisks beside each species to indicate its relative abundance or rarity means that he sheds no light on the distribution of species within the county and provides no real framework upon which future recording work might be based.

Butterfly records in the N. Warks study seem very scanty and members in this area would be doing a valuable service if they could help to fill in the gaps. One suspects that in some cases the study is reflecting the scarcity of recorders rather than the scarcity of butterflies! Particular species which stand out as possibly under-recorded are the Dingy Skipper (Pete Salmon has already found several new colonies of this butterfly in N. Warks over the Summer), Green Hairstreak, Grizzled Skipper, Gatekeeper, Holly Blue, Ringlet and Speckled Wood. If any members have recent records for N. Warks. S. Staffs and S. Leics for any of these species please let the branch know, so that we can pass them on,

Shropshire as a county would appear to be very good for butterflies with 40 species listed, including a number of butterflies like Large Heath, Silver-studded Blue, White Admiral, Brown Argus, Grayling and March Fritillary which are either absent or very rare in other W. Midlands' counties. Hopefully as the Branch gains more members in this area, we will be able to make a more significant contribution to the local recording work now being organised through the County Biological records Centre at Ludlow Museum.


"A Practical Guide to the Butterflies of Worcestershire" by Jack Green
published by Worcs NCT, The Lodge, Beacon Lane, Rednal, Birmingham, price £2.80

It is very fitting that this long awaited guide to Worcestershire's butterflies be published during Butterfly Year. The booklet complements the recent publications for Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire and means that only Herefordshire and Gloucestershire within the West Midlands area are without any up to date written account of their butterfly fauna.

The guide sets out to appeal to the general public as well as the more serious naturalist. It is attractively produced, making full use of Jack's excellent photographs, and is clearly and concisely written, making good use of tables detailing the distribution of butterflies found within the county, and also including a chronological guide listing the species in the order they are likely to appear, together with identification pointers. The chronological section is quite an innovation in this kind of publication and will prove of considerable value, not least to those of us in the West Midlands branch charged with the task of selecting dates for field trips in the hope of seeing particular species. In this respect, it is perhaps unfortunate, that the guide should be published in a year in which the emergence dates suggested by Jack should be so off target. This experience, however, should not put people off, as in a more typical year the dates should be of great assistance.

The survey reports that in all time 56 of the butterflies on the British list have occurred within Worcestershire, 45 of them since 1960. With the possible exception of the Chalkhill Blue, no resident species have disappeared since 1955,  and for those prepared to travel there should be no problem in seeing at least 30 species.

All in all, this is a splendid publication and well worth obtaining, even it you don't happen to reside in Worcs. Three slight disappointments were the omission of distribution maps, which I understand was due to lack of space (could these perhaps be published separately?); that the reproduction of some of Jack's photos does not do them justice; and that some of the localities mentioned in the guide are not identified on the map inside the front cover.


"The Butterflies of Northern Europe" by Bjorn Dal, published by Croom Helm at £5.95

Another of the recent guides published to coincide with Butterfly Year. Beware - Northern Europe is defined as Britain and Scandanavia, and the book has therefore very limited use. The illustrations are rather poor and often misleading, and the splitting up of species into their favoured habitat is frequently questionable and not very helpful. For £5.95 there are much better books - not recommended.