262 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
Scarce Olive-tree Pearl (Margaronia unionalis Hubn.). On September
4th Mr. D. More found two specimens of this rare migrant sitting on the
outside of his moth-trap at Hockley in the early morning. Unfortunately,
he did not recognise the species, and only took one, which he has since
shown me. On October 8th I took a very fine female at light in my garden
at Westcliff, and on October 20th another, also a female. The only previous
Essex record I have traced is one by Mr. Dennis Smith at Leigh-on-Sea
to August 29th, 1947, but another was taken in North Essex this autumn.
Lepidoptera in East Essex in 1954
BY A. J. DEWICK
From the point of view of numbers, 1954 was even worse for butterflies
than the previous year. Probably the wretched conditions for observation
made the situation appear rather worse than it really was. Several unusual
moths were, however, taken by the light-trap.
The first and best was a good male Purple Cloud moth (Actinotia polyodon
Clerck) on the morning of May 27th. South mentions only five British
specimens, the first in 1839 and the last in 1891. None seems to have
occurred subsequently, and no doubt this constitutes a new record for the
County of Essex.
The next unusual occurrence was a male of the Great Brocade (Eurois
occulta L.) on July 23rd, followed by another the next night, while a
female turned up more than a month later, on August 28th. Unfortunately,
all were in poor condition, and the female refused to lay eggs and gave
the impression of being unpaired.
Another most unusual species, also on August 28th, was a male Golden-
Rod Brindle (Lithomoia solidaginis Hubn.). Its normal range is from
Shropshire and Staffordshire northwards. Several specimens have been
noted this year in the Southern Counties.
A fine female Bedstraw Hawk (Celerio galii Bott.) was in the trap on
the morning of September 2nd. The species had been taken here previously
on July 14th, 1952, and ova obtained produced a nice series of bred
specimens in May and June, 1953.
The only other moths of any note were the Delicate (Leucania vitellina
Hubn.) on October 9th and 17th, and lastly the Scarce Olive-tree Pearl
(Margaronia unionalis Hubn.) on October 30th.
Only one Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui L.) was seen in this
district, on June 20th, though one was seen a day or so earlier near Stow
Maries. Last year 27 were noted.
The first Bed Admiral (Vanessa atalanta L.) was seen on May 25th and
the last on November 1st. The species remained scarce until the locally
bred specimens emerged from about August 12th onwards; even then one