DISArPEAUANCE OF LEPIDOPTEUA, ETC. 229 



etc.) has now disappeared from most of these, and thonojli it 

 still lingers at Darouth, is not abundant there. Vaurssa poli/rhloros, 

 used to be fairly common, especially in the spring, and tlie larvai were 

 always to be taken freely at l)arenth ; I have seen no signs of it for a 

 very longtime. In 1857-9, this was an abundant insect near Finsbury 

 Park ; wliether it exists there now, I cannot say. V. io, was formerly com- 

 mon, especially on the marshes, where the larvfe were abundant ; now 

 we rarely see the imago, and I can only recollect the capture of one or 

 two broods of larvaB for a long while past. Pararge eijeria and P. 

 megaera, seem to have quite disappeared from the Lee, Eltham and 

 Bexley district, and the same may be said of Epinephele hyperanthus. 

 E. tithonus was formerly one of the most abundant of our butterflies, 

 swarming along our hedges, and occurring commonly in gardens and 

 many other places ; it began to disappear about 1878, and is now quite ex- 

 tinct. The last individual I noticed was at Paul's Cray Common, in 1887, 

 Theda rubi used to occur at Shooter's Hill and Bexley Woods, 

 and was very common at Darentli ; it may linger yet at the last place, 

 but has long since gone from the rest. T. quercus was very com- 

 mon at Shooter's Hill and the neighbouring woods, but is now extinct 

 there ; solitary specimens only have been noticed at Bexley and Chisle- 

 hurst, within the last five years. Lycaena astrarche used to be abundant 

 round Dartford, but is now rarely seen. L. bellargus, formerly known 

 as the Dartford Blue, is the Dartford Blue no longer ; I doubt if it has 

 been captured there for twenty years. L. corydou used not to be a 

 scarce insect in the Dartford district, but I have heard of no captui'es 

 for very many years. L. argiolns was fairly common in our lanes and 

 gardens in the spring, and was very common in some of our woods, 

 being sometimes almost abundant at Dareuth. We never see it now close 

 home, and I should say that Chislehurst is the nearest s])ot to London 

 in this direction where it is to be found. It was abundant at Ilornsey, 

 and even a mile nearer London, in 1859. Nerneohijis lucina is another 

 extinct species. Harding, a well-known collector in the sixties, used to 

 pay a yearly visit to Joyden's Wood, Bexley, where it was then abundant. 

 Pyrgus malvac. and Ntsoiiiades tages still linger, but they are very scarce, 

 and the same may be said of Pamphila sylvanns, but of P. linea, I have 

 not seen a specimen for many years. It will thus be seen that, in the 

 course of thirty-four years, no less than eleven species of butterflies 

 have become extinct within a radius of ten miles from Lewisham, four 

 have become rare, and seven that were formerly common, are now 

 scarce ; this practically reduces our butterflies to ten species, all very 

 common ones. 



Among the Heterocera the disappearances are not proj)ortionally so 

 numerous, and in some instances, I am strongly of opinion that human 

 agency has had something to do with the result, so many of the con- 

 si)icuous species being much rarer now than formerly. Sphinx 

 ligustri, formerly very common in the larval state, is now very rarely 

 seen. Macroglossa fnciformis was common at Darenth, where I used to 

 take it. I have heard of no recent captures. Zeuzera pi/rina, formerly 

 abundant, is now rarely seen, and the same is the case with Zygaenafilipen- 

 dnlae. Nudaria vmndana, formerly abundant, is now extinct. Lithosia com- 

 phiiia used to be fairly common, now it is only occasionally met with. 

 Giwphria rtdrricoUii^ which was formerly not scarce, is now extinct. Ne- 

 meophila plantaginis was formerly not rare ; I have heard of no recent 



