THE INSECT FAUNA OF HAMPSTEAD. 



By the Rev. F. A. WALKER, D.D., F.L S., F.E.S., &c. 



The subjoined List of Insects occurring in the parish of Hampstead 

 represents the result of careful observation during the last four 

 years. Nearly all the species here specified can be verified by 

 reference to my cabinet of insects taken by myself. Those in- 

 dicated by an asterisk have not come under my own notice, but 

 were observed and taken by Mr. John Cother Webb, an ex- 

 perienced entomologist and a careful observer. 



I have found the hedgerow that skirts the Midland Railway in 

 the field leading to Child's Hill a good locality for Hymenoptera 

 and likewise Diptera. Hampstead Heath has been famed for its 

 Hymenoptera. In former days, as a resident at Highgate, I was 

 far better acquainted with the northern than the southern end of 

 Hampstead, when Bishop's Wood and the palings skirting the 

 Caen Wood estate in Hampstead Lane were favourite resorts 

 of mine in pursuit of Entomology. It would be interesting to 

 ascertain if Vanessa poly ckloros, which I have not found in South 

 Hampstead, still occurs in Bishop's Wood as it did thirty years 

 ago. Cynthia (or Vanessa) Ha^npstediensis was caught on Hamp- 

 stead Heath ; but Kirby, in his general list of butterflies, gives 

 Cynthia Hampstediensis as a synonym of Jtmonia vellida, which 

 is a species found in Java, Sumatra, and Australia. According to 

 this statement the insect in question would be an instance of a 



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