LCES is an active entomological society, serving not only Lancashire and Cheshire, but also North Wales and adjacent parts of neighbouring counties. The benefits of membership also attract many members from further afield. The Society has a stimulating combination of enthusiastic amateurs and skilled professional entomologists, cooperating in a helpful friendly atmosphere. Although moths and butterflies are the most popular area of interest, other insect groups, such as dragonflies, Het bugs and bees, are given considerable attention. New members are very welcome. Adult membership (£10 pa) is open to all aged 18 and over who are interested in entomology. Junior membership is available at age 16. If you would like to join us, please contact the treasurer / membership secretary Adrian Wander, - e-mail:

Benefits of Membership

Indoor meetings are held at 7.30 - 9.30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month, October to April, at the Community Centre, Fluin Lane, Frodsham, Cheshire. Grid reference SJ521777. Located off the A56 on the northern side of Frodsham. Junction 12 is the nearest point of the M56. There is ample free parking at the centre. Each meeting has a talk or arranged event for members, and a session for members to show items of interest, and exchange observations and views. Many members go for a social drink after the meeting. Prospective members are invited to attend meetings, free of charge.

Field meetings details are shown in the Annual Programme card and in the Society Newsletter. Meetings can also be arranged by any member at short notice and notified to others by email / telephone through the society hotline.

An Annual Exhibition is held each year in early March, when members from further afield, as well as regular attendees, meet to show and discuss interesting exhibits, purchase equipment and books, and attend talks by guest speakers.

A quarterly Newsletter is made available for download in colour off the Internet, and members are notified by email when a new edition is available. Back copies can also be downloaded. Black and white paper copies are sent to members who are not online.

Annual Lepidoptera reports and updates of distribution matrices for Cheshire Lepidoptera are made available to members for download. Paper copies can be provided on request.

A high quality Journal is issued free to members, approximately annually. Its contents range from scientific description of species new to science, to more popular articles and notes. New members are given a free copy of the current volume, while stocks last.

The Society's extensive entomological library and reference collections are housed at the World Museum Liverpool. Members may visit them in person, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, by prior arrangement.
Most books may be borrowed, but some of the most valuable are for reference only.
Members who can not visit the museum at the times stated, may ask for a book to be brought by the Librarian to an indoor meeting of the Society between October and April.
There is a catalogue of the books in Journal 127, published in 2006. A copy can be sent by email on application to the Librarian.

Publications for sale include all LCES Proceedings/ Journals from 1881 to the present (and some 'Chester' Proceedings). They can be supplied in original form, or as photocopies. They contain historic checklists for several groups, details of sites and the species found, and many articles of interest. A catalogue of principal contents and prices can be emailed to members, or viewed at indoor meetings.

The Pisces CDs of Pierce and Metcalfe's seven-volume work on genitalia of Lepidoptera are subject to a 20% members' price discount, and other Pisces CDs to a 10% discount (membership proof required with order).

A HUNDRED YEARS OF ENTOMOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

Some Historical Notes on the Lancashire & Cheshire Entomological Society

Towards the end of 1876, a preliminary meeting took place at the home of Mr Nicholas Cooke in Wallasey to discuss setting up an entomological society. The inaugural meeting of this society being held at the home of Mr Samuel J. Capper on the 24th February 1877, when the rules of the Society were formulated and agreed upon. Capper took the Chair at the meeting and was to remain as President of the Society for 35 years when upon his death, F.N. Pierce took over the Presidency. From then on there were almost annual changes of President until William Mansbridge became President in 1940. The two long runs since World War 2 have been S. Gordon Smith (1947-56) and R.C.R. Crewdson (1956-1983).

The Secretaries and Treasurers too have had long runs in office with Dr Ellis serving in both capacities from 1877 until 1892. Both Pierce and Mansbridge served as Secretary for some years but it was only Robert Prichard who matched Dr Ellis' 15 year stint as Hon. Secretary; he was Secretary late on in Mansbridges' Presidency and on into the earliest part of Crewdson's. The late R.E. Leonard's period as the Honorary Treasurer for 26 years almost matched that of Dr Cotton (1900-1927). As H.N. Michaelis pointed out in his article about the Society published in 'The Entomologist' in 1962 - "The retention of officials for long periods has been of much benefit".

Examination of the list of past and present members shows names of members who have made notable contributions to entomology. In 1891, a paper was read by F.N. Pierce entitled "Notes on the Genital Armature of the Genus Miana". Pierce commenced his works on the genitalia of the Lepidoptera in 1909, to be completed in 1928; in the later volumes he collaborated with J.W. Metcalfe. Prof. R. Newstead (President 1945-46) produced his monograph on the "Coccidae of the British Isles" (Ray Society, 1908) and a report in collaboration with others on the Tsetse Fly (1924); for 16 years, he was Dutton Memorial Professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Other well-known names which appear in the Ordinary Members lists are: C.B. Williams (1903), the late Wm. Mansbridge (1904), the late A.W. Boyd (1909), the late S. Gordon Smith (1918), the late W.D. Hincks (1951), and C.A. Clarke (1947). Much work has been done on local distribution and the results published in the Annual Reports. To mention a few, there are: "The Lepidopterous Fauna of Lancashire and Cheshire" by J.W. Ellis (1890), revised by Wm. Mansbridge in the Annual Reports (1913-39); "Coleoptera of Lancashire and Cheshire" by W.E. Sharp (1907) with additions by J.R. le B. Tomlin; "Hemiptera-Homoptera" by O.O. Whittaker (1906) and (1908); "A List of Aculeate Hymenoptera" by Willoughby Gardner; "Coleoptera of the Isle of Man" by J.H. Bailey; "A Preliminary List of the Aphidae of North Wales" by Theobald and Walton (1922). In 1948, S. Gordon Smith produced his well-known"Butterflies and Moths of Cheshire and North Wales", which is the only precise list of the species found in the counties of north and central Wales (as at 1977 when this paper was produced); further he encouraged H.N. Michaelis to compile a list of the Pyralids and Tortricids of the same area. Though these last works were published by the 'Chester Society of Natural Science, Literature and Art (1948-53)', much of the work and discussion took place within the entomological society.

In 1962, the Section of Experimental Breeding of Insects was formed under the leadership of Prof. Sir Cyril Clarke. The object of the Section was to investigate evolutionary problems, particularly in the Lepidoptera (e.g. the sampling of wild populations; the maintenance of polymorphic systems; mimicry preferences and environmental factors in pupal colouration). Much of the work of this Section has been published in the Philosophical Transaction of The Royal Society of London and also in the British Medical Journal.

Despite the rising costs of printing, the Society has published its Annual Report and Proceedings to 1973 and a further issue is expected soon (we are still up to date in this area having just published the 1999 report).

Indoor meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month between November and April. An Exhibition meeting is held annually - now at Frodsham Community Centre. In the appropriate season, outdoor meetings are held, often in conjunction with the other Entomological Societies, with whom we have had most cordial relations and co-operation.

Alan Creaser (1977).