328 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
The Bright Wave is an inhabitant of sandy areas near the sea and used
to occur at Shoebury and St. Osyth. The Shoebury area is now in the
hands of the War Office, but I have in the past few years several times
explored it by permission without success, and my friend the late W. S.
Gilles and myself were equally unsuccessful at St. Osyth. Its disappearance
is another mystery, as the moth does not appear to suffer from human
interference and is still common at Sandwich Bay in Kent despite picnic
parties, bathers and golfers which in July make its localities almost like a
fairground.
The Frosted Yellow fed on Broom, but for many years had been declining
in the south of England, and by 1900 was restricted to north Essex and
south Suffolk. In 1912 it was still found in one locality near Bury St.
Edmunds by Col. C. Gt. Nurse, and in one in north Essex by P. C. Reid,
of Kelvedon, it is believed near that town, but it has never been recorded
since the first world war. Some of these insects are, perhaps, safer to
describe as unrecorded; Reid never recorded his captures of limbaria,
which were only orally communicated, and for that matter I do not know
if I should record it myself if I found a lingering colony, as it is a very
easy insect to destroy. Literally thousands were caught and bred in its
last strongholds from 1890-1905, though it is doubtful if human agencies
were responsible to much extent for its disappearance.
Other insects which are probably at a low level or even extinct are the
Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) ; the Dark Green Fritillary (Argynnis
aglaia), which Harwood believed to be extinct but which still existed at
Hadleigh until 1934, when its restricted locality was built on; The Brown
Hairstreak (Thecla betulae), which I have failed to find in its old localities
at Hazeleigh and Mundon; and the Little Thorn (Cepphis advenaria),
whose one recorded locality at Eastwood has long since been destroyed,
but which I suspect still to occur elsewhere.
The lovely Orache moth (Trachea atriplicis) is one Harwood could never
trace, though Essex was given as a locality in Newman's British Moths.
Today it is considered extinct in Britain, but I possess a perfect specimen
taken by F. J. Hanbury at Burnham-on-Crouch in 1911 which he did not
record for obvious reasons. This would have been the last official capture
in this country had it been recorded, and I have heard several rumours
that it has been taken since in the county; the most likely and recent
place, where it is supposed to have occurred was, however, under salt
water for several weeks during the floods of 1953.
I am pleased to say that I have investigated the status of all our coastal
species likely to have been affected by the floods, and found no complete
casualties. The two species that seem to have suffered most are the Essex
Emerald (Euchloris smaragdaria) and the Tortrix Eucosma maritima, both
of which feed on Sea Wormwood. They were not injured by the salt
water, but the food-plant grows especially on the side of the river-walls
and has been extensively destroyed in the repair of the embankments. I
have found both in several places, however, but it is to be hoped that any
collector meeting with them will exercise restraint.
On the credit side of the ledger, I think Essex has gained more than
it has lost, though possibly much of this is due to more widespread field
work since the advent of the motor.
The Comma (Polygonia c-album), extinct in 1900, is now a common
insect in most districts, and the White Admiral (Limenitis camilla), then
restricted to a small strip in the north, has colonised most of the county.
Odd specimens of the Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) have encouraged