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36.

14th June 1946.

A day of drizzle, though mainly fine in afternoon & evening.  Brandon smothered in wet mist all day, which swept across valley from SW at intervals all day.  Did not go out, beyond garden, till afternoon, then walked half way to Fermoyle & back & collected some grasses & sedges.  Had Mr. & Mrs. Smith & Miss Lynch (of Dublin) to tea - they being recently made friends who are staying at Fitzgeralds Hotel in Castlegregory & say it is quite good.

In forenoon spent an hour in garden & saw several ♂︎♂︎ & ♀︎♀︎ Megachile the latter chiefly at flowers of Borage.  Also saw in garden the sawflies Tenthredo mesomelas & livida & a species of Athalia.

[11 mtd. from garden & these labelled 19.2.1949.] as follows:

Crabro dimidiatus  2♂︎♂︎, 1♀︎.
Megachile willoughbiella var. hibernica & versicolor var. hibernica 1♀︎ each.
Halictus albipes  ♀︎.
Tenthredo mesomelas (s.l.)  ♀︎.
Vespa rufa  ♀︎.
Stenichneumon sp.? near castaneus, but much redder & runs to mustela Kriech. but post-petiole not smooth, ♀︎, ant. 34. = 
Mesoleid  ♂︎, ant. 35.


37.

15th June 1946.

Another day of mist in the hills, but no rain & fine in the lowlands below 2000 ft.

Got lift in car to near Behenagh, above (S. of) Camp & walked up old road from Finglas River & up the ridge where the "Caher" is, on to Caherconree, in thick wet driving ist after 1500 ft.  On reaching summit cairn 2713 ft. skirted eastwards along the ridge between this & Baurtregaum & then down to Derrymore Lakes.  Had lunch about 2 PM. overlooking the lakes & then explored the corry, as far as mist would allow, & found a few Mossy Saxifrages along the stream coming down the slopes, but failed to locate the cliffs where D.A. Webb got his "Mossies" here during last March.  On way up to Caherconree saw sheets of Salix herbacea on the scarps facing W, SW, & NW, below the "Caher", while on the flat above this we saw plenty of Empetrum nigrum for the first time during our visit, though Scully says it is abundant on all the Kerry mountains over 1500 ft.  We have not seen it about Brandon.  Had aft. tea on rocks at top of Gearhane & there took a ♀︎ sawfly identified by R.B. Benson in lett. 6.12.1955 as Pristiphora breadalbanensis Cameron [previously as "P. coactula"! AWS.]