Daubenton's Bat in GalwayAuthor(s): Margaret Geraghty and J. S. FairleySource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 19, No. 8 (Oct., 1978), p. 288Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25538241 .

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288 ir. Nat. J. Vol. 19. No. 8. 1978

A CASCADE OF CATERPILLARS

In front of the Manor House, Loughgall, a large Copper Beech overhangs the

gravel car park. At 4.06 pm (B.S.T.) on 18 August 1977 a small object fell from the tree. As I searched for it, there were more sounds as of large hailstones falling through the leaves to the ground. The "hailstones" proved to be fully grown (5 to 6 cm) larvae of the buff tip moth Phalera bucephala L. Over a period of a few minutes about 40 of these larvae tumbled to the ground, there being at times several in the air at once. They

were falling from a defoliated branch 6 m above ground and landing in an area less than 3 m in diameter. Despite their fall they crawled away, apparently unharmed, in various directions. After 4.12 pm only a few more larvae fell at progressively longer intervals. At 4.25 pm at least one larva could be seen remaining on the defoliated

branch, but it is unlikely that there were many more left. This spectacle, which took place in calm warm weather with intermittent weak sunshine, was also witnessed by Dr Rosaleen Fisher.

The larvae of the Buff Tip were described by South (South, iR. S. 1961 The moths of the British Isles, ed. 4. London: Warne) as feeding "in companies until nearly full grown1'. In this case the larvae, which had a somewhat swollen appearance, were

apparently abandoning their source of food in preparation for pupation. Their gregarious tendencies seem therefore to have persisted throughout the growing phase. Most re

markable, however, was their synchronised embarkation on the first drastic stage in their search for pupating sites. It is not credible that, after a growing period of several weeks, 40 genetically different, if related, individuals should all reach maturity within a few minutes of each other without the aid of synchronising mechanisms. What form these mechanisms may take is a fascinating matter for speculation.

Department of Agriculture, Loughgall, Armagh. I. S. FAULKNER

AN EARLY RECORD OF THE SNAIL PLANORBARIUS CORNEUS (L.) IN ULSTER?

In 1936 Praeger (1938 Planorbis corneus in Lough Neagh, Ir. Nat. J. 7: 54) found a small colony of this snail on the Down-Antrim border on the Lough Neagh shore, and it is possible that this colony dates back to 1898, considerably antedating all other Ulster records for the species. My grounds for making this suggestion are a note and a letter by Stelfox. In his MS. Journal (now in the Smithsonian Institution) Stelfox notes (on p. 2 of Vol. 1) "A specimen of Planorbis corneus was found in Lough Neagh gravel at Oakleigh by C. Y. Stevenson when with me. A.W.S. 1898". The note had then been crossed out, and when I wrote to Stelfox about it he replied (in litt. 25.10.1956) "it

was undoubtedly Lough Neagh gravel and I saw my friend pick it up, but we had an artificial pond made in the rock-garden and McKim of Bot Gdns. made it and he may have stocked the pond with L. stagnalis and P. corneus as that was considered the proper thing to do, as I found out when B.N.F.C. visited the Daisy Hill Nurseries at

Newry and saw a tank filled with both these species ready for stocking (so I was told) any pond they made. I wonder did anyone ever look to see if these species were in the Bot. Gardens pond? Anyhow, please take no notice of the supposed record".

In view of Praeger's find, however, I feel that perhaps Stelfox was too careful and that this early record deserves consideration.

The Nook, Uplands Road, Bromborough, Cheshire. NORA F. McMILLAN

DAUBENTONS BAT IN GALWAY

During the morning of 8 May 1978, a male Daubenton's bat Myotis daubentoni (Kuhl) was picked up dead on the tow-path by the canal just above Dominick Street

Bridge in Galway City. There was no indication as to how the animal had died. This species is one of the least-recorded of Ireland's bats and there are almost no records from the west.

Daubenton's bat frequently hunts over water and both of us have watched bats doing this on the Galway canals on summer evenings. While this might suggest that M. daubentoni may be common in Galway, the habit is by no means unknown in other species.

Department of Zoology, University College, Galway. MARGARET GERAGHTY J. S. FAIRLEY

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