Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/156

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A HISTORY OF KENT Deal, and should be sought for in marshy places, and may best be taken by sweeping. Locustida. The Great Green Grasshopper {Locusta 'uiridissima, L.) is one of our largest British insects. It is common along the south coast, and very numerous at Deal, on the cliffs by Dover, in the warren at Folkestone, and one was recorded from Broadstairs by the Rev. Canon Fowler. Decticida. That widely distributed and by no means uncommon species Thamnotrizon cinereus, L., is frequently to be heard chirping on warm autumn evenings in hedges and thickets, especially before rain ; it is very abundant at the Folkestone warren, and occurs also at Edenbridge, at Evington near Wye and near Strood. Platycleis grisea, Fabr., is com- mon on open dry places, especially among rest-harrow and on chalky cliffs. It is abundant on the Deal sandhills, on the Dover cliffs, in the warren and on the cliffs at Folkestone. Mr. W. J. Lucas reports the capture of one specimen between Walmer and Dover. P. roeselii^ Hagenb., is one of our rarest grasshoppers, but has been taken at Heme Bay. The Wart- biter {Decticus verrucivorus, Linn.) is one of our finest grasshoppers, but is far from common. A specimen taken at Rochester by Professor Henslow is recorded by Stephens and Curtis, and the species has been twice taken at St. Margaret's Bay. D. albifrons, Fabr., a purely meri- dional form, was taken at Ramsgate in 1850,' certainly an accidental occurrence. GRYLLODEA Crickets GrylUda. Gryllus domesticus, L., the House Cricket, is common in many old houses and in bakeries. The Field Cricket (G. campestris, L.) and the Mole Cricket {Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa, L.) will probably be discovered in Kent before long, but cannot up to the present be recorded from the county. NEUROPTERA Dragonjiies, Stom-JIies, Lacewings, Caddis-fies, etc. Although some divisions of the insect fauna (the Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera, for instance) of the county of Kent have been well worked out, this seems to be far from the case with most of the Neuroptera. The numerous marshes must produce a plentiful caddis- fly (T'richoptera) fauna, and probably a number of species of may-flies {Ephemeridid), while no doubt the Planipennia (lacewings, etc.) would repay working, especially in the hop gardens and orchards. That the minute Psocidia have not been sought after is not surprising, and probably owing to the absence of rapid streams the stone-flies [Perlidid) are not well represented. Of the distribution of the most conspicuous group, ' Ent. Mo. Mag. xxx. 236. 106