Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/234

 A HISTORY OF KENT many places near Dover, Folkestone, Deal, Shoreham and elsewhere. The Small Blue (L. alms^ Fb.) occurs in many places in the chalk district. The Holly Blue (L. argiolus, L.) is generally distributed throughout the county along hedgerows and woodsides, and also in gardens where holly and ivy abound. During the past few years it has been a very common metropolitan species, occurring in abundance in suburban gardens. The Duke of Burgundy {Nenieobhis lucina, L.) occurs in many woods, in the Weald and in the Blean Woods and elsewhere near Canterbury. It also occurs near Wye and Dover, and was formerly com- mon in Darenth Wood, but Mr. Fenn says it has long been extinct there. The Grizzled Skipper {Syrichthus alveolus, Hb.) is generally distributed and common in most of the woods in the county. The Dingy Skipper [Thanaos tages, L.) is generally distributed on the chalk hills. Mr. Webb states the coast form is whiter and more brightly-coloured than inland specimens. The Large Skipper [Hesperia syhanus, Esp.) is of common occurrence throughout the county. The Silver Spotted Skipper [Hesperia comma, L.) is locally common near Canterbury, Deal, Dover, and in many places on the chalk hills. The Small Skipper [H. linea, Fb.), is common everywhere, and H. lineola, which was originally detected in this country in east Essex, has been recorded by Mr. Farn, Mr. Fenn and others from the Cliffe Marshes, north-east of Gravesend. HETEROCERA Moths Kent contains a great number of interesting moths which ought to receive a detailed notice, but, in consequence of the limited space which can be spared in this volume for the Insecta, little more than a list of species, prefaced with a few notes on those which are most local and characteristic of the county, can be published. The Bedstraw Hawk Moth {Deilephila galii, Schiff.), although by no means confined to the county, has perhaps been found more freely in Kent than in any other part of the United Kingdom, except on the coast of Sussex. The larvae are sometimes comparatively common on the yellow bedstraw in August and September about Folkestone, Dover, Walmer, Deal, Sandwich, Ramsgate and elsewhere along the coast. I bred a good series of the moth in 1889 from the caterpillars I had collected on the Kentish coast in the autumn of 1888. That very rare species D. livornka, Esp., has been occasionally found about Folkestone and Dover and also at Lewisham. The Silver-striped Hawk Moth {Gharocampa celerio, L.) is commoner and has been taken at Tenterden and many other places in the county. The Oleander Hawk Moth (C. nerii, L.), one of the grandest species of Sphingidas occurring in this country, was taken many years ago at Dover, and Captain Savile ' The Mazarine Blue {Lycana ads, SchifF.) is stated by Mr. Tutt to have formerly been taken near Cuxton about 187 1. Mr. Farn says he worked the Cuxton district in 1 87 1 and prior to that year, but he never saw this species. — H. G. 184