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57.

15th April 1954.

A lovely spring day, after a brief skiff of misty rain at 8 AM.  Much more sunny than last few days & sun really hot when out.  Wind strong W-NW. & cool.  In afternoon drove to Tinnode, Co. WI., & left car at N. end of the lane over Golden Hill:  then walked u the lane to top of hill & tried beating larch, Scots Pine & Spruce in the plantation on E. side of summit, but larch scarcely out & nearly all insects beaten came from the Spruce, but only three Hymenoptera beaten.  Pimpla elegans ♀︎ & Dolerus aeneus 2♂︎♂︎.  On way up lane tried sweeping for the first time this year & surprised at number of minute Parasitica swept, but lane is deep & there was perfect shelter in it, while there was a strong cross wind from NW.  The following insects taken here or beaten:-

Golden Hill, Co. WI.  3.0 till 4.30 P.M.
[11 specimens mtd. & these labelled 17.4.54.]

Pimpla elegans  ♀︎, ant. 23, beaten out of Spruce.
Phaeogenid  ♀︎, ant. 21 = Gen. et sp.?
Stenomacrus vafer Hlgr.  ♀︎, ant. 23.  I think this ♀︎ must be the real vafer at last!  All records for this sp. in my diaries pereviously are erroneous!
Dacnusa areolaris-laevipectus  ♂︎♂︎ & ♀︎♀︎ common:  some with much longer radial areolet than others & almost approaching that of longiradialis:  1♂︎, ant. 22 of latter form only mounted (i.e. longer radial areolet!)
Monoctonus caricis  5 or 6 small ♀︎♀︎ } none mtd.
Aphidius spp.  about 8, small, ♂︎♂︎ } none mtd.
Cynipids  2
Chalcid  1


58.

15.4.54, cont.  Golden Hill, WI., cont.

Proctos  7:  2 only mtd. = = {these erroneously labelled 14.4.54! AWS.}
Beetles  8 = Coccinella (3).
Lima septentrionalis for H.W. Daltry.


15.4.54, cont.
At 2.30 P.M. took a ♀︎ Apanteles on roof light of motor-house, 14 Clareville Rd., Harold's Cross, Dublin.


16th April 1954.

A most perfect day:  entirely sunny & sun very hot, with only slight easterly breeze all day, after almost frost at night.  Barometer very high & steady now for last eight days & this morning touched 30.7, but down to 30.6 by evening as centre of anticyclone moves to N. of us.  Good Friday!  Left home in car at 11 AM. & drove to gate of Kippure House, Upper Liffey Valley, Co. WI., where left car.

Walked up the Athdown Brook & then N.W. across the moor & by a tributary to cairn on summit of Seefinn, 2,045 feet.  A fire, which we saw a week ago, burnt a large area on S. shoulder of the mountain up to & almost surrounding the cairn, including the ground near the cairn on which I saw & took so many Hymenoptera on 3.5.1953, including Lissonota magdalenae ♂︎♂︎.

Tried a little sweeping on way up, but the only Hymenoptera taken were Dacnusa areolaris 2♂︎♂︎ & Monoctonus caricis 1♂︎.  Also one small Hemipteron (= ) & on return journey at 3 P.M. literally thousands of a small [[image]] beetle flying in the hot sun over the heather (= ).  Dolerus aeneus ♂︎♂︎ abundant up to the burnt area but no Ichneumonids seen.  Peacock Butterfly seen twice on lower moor & ♂︎ Orange Tip & probably a ♀︎ seen by roadside at Athdown.  Ants:  Formica fusca very active where left car & where had cup of tea at 3.30 P.M.