122
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
Lepidoptera in South-East Essex
in 1957
By H. C. HUGGINS, F.R.E.S.
1957 was an exceedingly bad year for Lepidoptera with us. Although I
remained at home the whole season except for one or two short
trips I made very few captures.
Migrants were scarce and many of the rarer ones did not appear. I
heard of only three Colias croceus Fourcroy (Clouded Yellow) in August and
early September, all males, but on 6th October Mr. D. Down was lucky enough
to catch a perfect ab. helice on Leigh Marsh. On the same day he also
caught a fresh Vanessa cardui L. (Painted Lady), the only one taken during
the season. V. atalanta L. was about as usual in September and October but
was not as common as in most seasons. I heard of no G. hyale L. (Pale
Clouded Yellow) and only saw a few Macroglossum stellatarum L. (Humming-
bird Hawkmoth) in September, whilst I had one full-grown larva of Acherontia
atropos L. (Death's-head Hawkmoth) given to me on 29th August. Plusia
gamma L. (Silver-Y) and Nomophila noctuella Schiff. (Rush Pearl) were present
though in smaller numbers than usual, and with the exception of two Leucania
albipuncta Fabr. (White-point) taken at Hockley in August by Mr. D. More,
this closes the sorry list of immigrants.
Amongst residents I have sustained a great disappointment, the huge
colony of the very rare Heterographis oblitella Zell. which seemed established
on Pitsea Marshes died out entirely in the autumn and winter of 1956/7,
presumably from the wet. As the moth was literally in thousands there in
May and July 1956 1 am rather surprised. It is a particular loss as not above
a dozen have ever been recorded in England elsewhere since its first appearance
in 1874.
Dicycla oo L. (Heart Moth) appears to be a little more common than I
thought. Mr. More has taken two more at light at Hockley and on 6th July
I found a very bad male in my moth-trap in the garden at Westcliff. Mr. More
also took a second Cucullia absinthii L. (Pale Wormwood Shark) at Hockley,
which looks as if it may be established in small numbers; whilst in July
Mr. D. Down caught a specimen of Hadena compta Fabr. (Varied Coronet) at
light in his garden in the heart of Westcliff, our first record for the Rochford
Hundred. Mr. Down also took a worn male Pararge aegeria L. (Speckled
Wood) at Belfairs on 7th October.
My most interesting capture was on 9th July when there was a male of
the grass-moth Platytes alpinellus Hubn. in my garden trap. This is the first
Essex record. The moth is a very sluggish one which lives on sandhills, and
the only likely places, Shoebury and Clacton, have both often been searched
without success by several collectors in the past fifty years. The two nearest
recorded localities are Sandwich and near Aldeburgh. As this specimen is
rather a large dark one I am inclined to think it came on the east wind from
the continent.
The other feature I should like to stress is the quantity of marsh and
salt-marsh insects that have appeared in my garden trap in the past season,
many must have come several miles. On 4th August there were literally
thousands of the little white Acentropus nivea Ol. round the lamp directly it
became dark, they looked like snowflakes floating down and in the morning