208
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
cardui and in my diary for August 9th is the entry "swarms of noc-
tuella and gamma". Plusia gamma L. (Silver-Y) first appeared on May
12th and continued till mid-November.
Scarcer migrants seen were Acherontia atropos L. (Death's head Hawk)
(one June 16th, Thundersley), Laphygma exigua Hubn. (Small Mottled
Willow) (several early September, Westcliff), Rhodometra sacraria L.
(Vestal) (one September 2nd, Great Bardfield in a field of sugar beet)
and Nyctosia obstipata Fabr. (Narrow-barred Carpet) (several at West-
cliff in October and November). On August 18th a perfect male Plusia
ni Hubn. (Silver-V) came into my moth trap at Westcliff, this would
have been the first Essex specimen had not Mr. A. J. Dewick taken
several at Bradwell in the previous fortnight.
On August 18th, 20th and 23rd and September 7th I took single
examples of Spaelotis ravida Hubn. (Stout Dart) in the trap, I consider
these specimens, all of which were damaged, to have been migrants, as
all the perfect local specimens I have found have appeared at the end
of June or beginning of July. The moth taken on September 7th proved
a great disappointment. It was a very red female, I kept it alive for a
month and obtained over 60 eggs. The young larvae appeared to become
perfectly formed in these but not one hatched.
On May 4th Master Michael Boother, a beginner twelve years of age,
caught a damaged male Pararge aegeria L. (Speckled Wood) at Hadleigh.
This butterfly is somewhat of an enigma to me, it seems to appear now
almost every year in the Rochford Hundred, but only a single specimen
to be taken each year.
A systematic search has now established that Dicycla oo L. (Heart
moth) and Eupithecia inturbata Hubn. (Maple Pug) are generally
established as scarce residents. New insects to Essex which are probably
established are Eupithecia millefoliata (one August 5th) and Evctria
purdeyi Durr. (one August 11th, one August 18th), both species in the
trap in my garden.
On August 12th there was a perfect Cucullia absinthii L. (Pale Worm-
wood Shark) in the trap at Westcliff, like aegeria this insect does not
seem in a hurry to become established, as single specimens were taken
at Hockley in 1956 and 1957.
Hadena compta Fabr. (Varied Coronet) seems to have settled down
very quickly, first seen in 1957 I have had records in 1958 from Hockley,
Westcliff and Leigh.
On September 2nd there was a male Lymantria monacha L. (Black-
arched Tussock) in my garden trap this is the first record for the
Rochford Hundred but on enquiry I find that Mr. Ellis took three
in the Hadleigh Woods ten years ago.
A strange occurrence was that of a perfectly fresh female Euzophera
ceratoniae Zell. (Blunt-winged Knot-horn) in the trap on August 9th.