Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/235

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INSECTS Reid recorded the capture of another specimen at Yalding near Maid- stone on September i8, 1900. That very rare Clearwing, Sesia ai^dre- niformis, Lasp., was first taken by Mr. Chant at Greenhithe more than forty years ago, and a few other specimens have since been met with near Chattenden and elsewhere in the county. The beautiful Fiery Clearwing {S. chrysidiformis, Esp.) is, in this' county, entirely confined to the undercliff between Folkestone and Dover, where it was first taken about 1856 by the late Mr. Brewer of Reigate. The larva feed in the roots of the common dock. I found the species commonly in the Warren some fifteen or sixteen years ago, but it has become much rarer of late years owing to the digging up of the dock roots by London and Folkestone dealers with the object of breeding the species. Another local species is S. ichneumofiiformis, Fb., which is not uncommon along the coast about Ramsgate, Margate, Deal, Dover and Folkestone. The beautiful little Nola albulalis, Hb., formerly occurred in abundance ^ in Chattenden Woods near Rochester, where I collected a fine series in 1876. The rare N. cetjtonalis, Hb., has been taken near Deal, Dover and Folkestone. One of the most interesting species in the county is the Pigmy Footman [Lithosia liitarella, Schiff.) which was first made known as a British species by the late Mr. Henry Doubleday, who named it L. pygmeola. It was abundant on the Deal sandhills twenty years ago, but it seems in danger of being exterminated chiefly by man's agency. I am not aware of its occurrence elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The rare Deiopea pulchella, L., has been taken near Heme Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Walmer, Dover and Folkestone. The beautiful Scarlet Tiger {Callimorpha dominula, L.) was formerly very abundant at St. Margaret's Bay, but the locality has much changed and has been partly destroyed by the fall of the cliffs. It still occurs between Walmer and Deal, and sparingly in one or two more inland localities. Another inter- esting Kentish species is the Ground Lackey {Bombyx castrensis^ L.), which is very abundant in the Isle of Sheppey and elsewhere in the salt marshes on the banks of the Thames below Erith. One of the grandest of British moths, the Kentish Glory {Endromis versicolor, L.), formerly occurred — as is obvious from its name — in the county, but it has long been extinct* in Kent as it has been in Tilgate Forest, between Worth and Balcomb, and in St. Leonard's Forest, between Three Bridges and Horsham in north Sussex, The Large Thorn {Knnomos autumnaria, Wernb.) was formerly very rare in this county, but it has in the last twenty years been taken or bred in numbers about Deal, Walmer, Dover and Folkestone. The rare Acidalia ochrata^ Scop., was formerly plenti- ful at Sandwich, but its locality has been almost destroyed by the estab- lishment of the local golf links, and it may disappear. Another local ' This is the species referred to by Mr. Stainton in his Manual as Trochllium allantiforme. — H. G. ^ Mr. Webb says this species has also been taken in Sussex and Essex. — H. G. ^ Mr. Fenn says it is still common at Chattenden. — H. G.

  • Mr. Goodwin states that Mr. Fremlin found a batch of ova near Wateringbury in i860, but he

knows of no subsequent record of its occurrence in the county. — H. G. 5 It also occurs near Southend in Essex. I know of no other localities. — H. G. X ' 185 24