INSECTS' The insect fauna of Berkshire is very large and varied ; the lists of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera Aculeata, and Lepidoptera are very good, but in this, as in other counties, very much remains to be done in the other orders : the Diptera, for instance, which are very abundant and probably very well represented, are as yet very partially worked. The surface of the county is much diversified with woods, downs, streams, etc., and the chief localities may be classified as follows : 1. The Thames Valley, in its restricted sense. This has hardly yet been properly worked, but will probably be found to be exceedingly rich in Coleoptera. 2. The Beech Woods. These are very characteristic of the county; the larger beech woods have but little undergrowth in them, but are always well fringed with it and the more open spaces are occupied by it ; some of the smaller and more open woods have patches of wych- elm, and here and there a sprinkling of oak, ash, holly, yew and occasionally fir, and in the undergrowth on the fringe we find maple, buckthorn, dogwood, spindle and large-leaved sallows. Perhaps the most characteristic insect of the beech woods is Stauropus fagi, the Lobster Moth, which is usually accounted a great rarity, but in some seasons has been found quite commonly since Mr. J. Clarke discovered that it selects the youngest and smallest trees to rest upon. 3. The Chalk Hills and Downs, producing an extraordinary abun- dance of the ' Blues ' of various species and also many rare beetles. 4. The Valleys and Meadows. Here the wood is various, but chiefly consists of elm, poplar and willow, with frequent beds of sallow and willow by the small streams. 5. The Heath-lands, which are chiefly found about Wellington and Eversley, but stretch more or less continuously to Newbury. These give us many good species, not only from the heath and fir, but from the moist dips or hollows so frequent on our well-wooded portion. The dips have a flora of their own and a good growth of oak, alder, sallow, willow and sometimes poplar ; in fact, some of the larger dips are filled with good oak woods ; on the higher portions of the heaths there are often large plantations of birch and larch. Among the many interesting insects which are found in these localities we may mention Apatura iris, the Purple Emperor, and Limenitis sibylla, the White Admiral, which occur all along the line, and in some seasons not uncommonly, and many rare moths, such as Endromis versicolor, Trochilium crabroniforme^ Edited by W. W. Fowler. 71
