30
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
ago), in Worth Forest, where it is still "widely distributed and
common." (W. G. Sheldon, in litt.) In Tilgate Forest—a well-
known locality for it—it was seen swarming in 1917 and fairly
abundant in 1921, by the Rev. J. W. Metcalfe (in litt.)
Coming to our own county of Essex, we find that J. F. Step-
hens in his Illustrations of British Entomology (1830) says: "An
extremely rare species, of which I have hitherto seen four examples
only—a pair in my own cabinet; one of the latter taken, I believe,
in Epping Forest by the late Mr. Honey, the other by the late
Mr. Bentley." The next reference appears to be that in the
Zoologist for 1845 (p. 1085), where Henry Doubleday records
that "On the 29th June, whilst walking in a heathy part of
Epping Forest, I observed several specimens of this pretty little
species flying over and alighting on the common fern; not having
any entomological apparatus with me, except a couple of pill
boxes, I only secured two specimens. The next day I again
visited the spot, but could not see a single individual." H. T.
Stainton, quoting these two extracts in his Manual of British
Butterflies and Moths (1857), p. 297, says:—"The insect has not
been seen in Britain since." But curiously enough in the next
two years (1858-9) it was captured at Loughton and recorded
in the Zoologist with a note that it appeared then to be generally
distributed in the Forest (see Table). From that time to 1868
it seems to have been hunted by many collectors in its Forest
haunts with more or less success, according to the nature of the
seasons; the only subsequent records I can find are those shown
in the appended Table, for 1882 and 1885, unless H. Jobson
(who lived at Walthamstow) obtained eggs or larvae from Epping
Forest from which he reared the moths referred to in the Table
under 1886, which is not unlikely. I have not been able to find
any record of its discovery near Brentwood, its only other well-
known Essex locality, nor do I know whether it still occurs
there, but I understand the spot in which it is found is of
exceedingly limited area.
The earliest description of the Rosy-marbled moth appears
to be that in Haworth's Lepidoptera Britannica (1803), p. 261,
and it was made from specimens in the collection of (presumably)
the Mr. Honey mentioned by Stephens. C. G. Barrett, in his
Lepidoptera of the British Islands, says that it was first taken in
Epping Forest by J. F. Stephens in 1792, but as Stephens was