Page:VCH Surrey 1.djvu/122

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

A HISTORY OF SURREY Except the Odonata, the Neuroptera Planipennia have been far better worked than any other group, and the results are very satisfactory. Of the first division or Siallna Stalls lutaria, Linn., is common every- where in the neighbourhood of water ; while its rarer congener, S.fuli- ginosa, Pict., has been taken at Box Hill and Haslemere (McLachlan) and the White Falls (Briggs). The Raphidiidte seem chiefly to frequent the neighbourhood of fir woods, but Mr. Morley and others have obtained them in the New Forest by beating flowers of hawthorn a practice which Surrey entomologists have not yet tried, to the great benefit of the hawthorn blossoms. Raphidia notata, Fabr., is recorded from Croydon (McLachlan), Ockham Common (Briggs) and Esher Common (Lucas) ; R. maculicollis, Steph., from Haslemere (Barrett), Painswick Park (Briggs), Black Pond, Esher (Briggs), Esher Common and near Wisley (Lucas). R. xanthostigma, Schum., does not seem to be recorded, though it must have been taken ; while of the few known British specimens of the rare R. cognafa, Ramb., two are from the cabinet of Mr. Bennett of Dorking, probably from the fir woods towards Leith Hill. The second division or Hemerobiina comprising the majority of the Planipennia, is very well represented. The handsome Osmylus cbrysops, Linn., is not uncommon in summer about small and very shady streams and under bridges. It is very common at Byfleet (Briggs), and occurs at Chertsey (Lucas). The three species of Sisyra are plentiful where they occur, and may all be taken together at the White Falls Leatherhead (Briggs). S.fuscata, Fabr., is common on the Thames, and is also recorded from Reigate (McLachlan) and Ockham Common (Briggs), and is common on the Thames (McLachlan) ; S. dalii,. McLach., is recorded from Reigate (McLachlan) ; and S. terminalis, Curt., from Reigate and Weybridge and between Kew and Richmond (McLachlan) and from Newark Abbey (Briggs). A solitary specimen of the rare Micromus aphidrvorus, Schrank, was taken at Oxshott by Mr. Beaumont in 1900. M. faganus, Linn., is fairly common throughout the county ; but M. variegatus, Fabr., except the specimen from Box Hill (Briggs), does not seem to have been recorded since Mr. Stephens' captures at Coombe Wood. Of the genus Hemerobius, H. e/egans, Steph., has been taken at Coombe Wood (Stephens) and Newark Abbey (Briggs) ; H. inconspicuus, McLach., at Addington (Wormald), Weybridge (Me Lachlan) and Ockham Common (Briggs) ; H. nitidulus, Fabr., abun- dantly at Ockham Common, Esher Common and elsewhere in fir woods ; H. micans, Olivier, in Headley Lane, at Leatherhead, Horsley and Ockham Common. H. humuli, Linn., is common throughout the county ; but is usually mixed in collections with H. /utescens, Fabr., and H. marginatus, Steph., so that previous to Mr. McLachlan's differentia- tion of them in the tenth volume of the new series of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, records of these species can scarcely be relied upon. H. stigma, Steph., is abundant in fir woods, individuals occurring through- out the winter ; and of the two British specimens of H. limbatellus, Zett., one was taken at Leith Hill. H. pini, Steph., and H. atrtfrons, 80