1915.] 229 



for wood-feeding beetles, such as Astinomns aedilis L., Pissodes 

 pini L., Pityogenes chalcographus L., CaUidia, etc., but they seem 

 rarely if ever, to secure a foothold in East Yorkshire, and their effect 

 on its insect fauna may be neglected. 



A somewhat unusual factor in the destruction of insect life comes 

 into play in Holderness. Coast erosion is more active here than any 

 where else in the countiy, and if this continues at its present rate it 

 will be only a comparatively short time to the complete disappearance 

 of Spurn Point, with its rich store of sea-coast and sand-hill species, 

 such as Helops paUidus Curt., Notoxt(,s monoceros L., Nacerdes inelan- 

 ura L., Anomala frischl F., Bembidium varitim 01., etc., among the 

 Coleo])tera ; and among the Lepidoptera,^^^ Tapinostola elymi Tr., 

 Agrotis vaUigera Hb., A. cursoria Hufn., A. ripae Hb., Mamestra alhi- 

 colon Hb., Leucania UttoraJis Curt., etc., and later on, of Hornsea 

 Mere, when almost the last of the great meres of the ^Drimeval fen- 

 land will vanish into the sea with all the local species which find their 

 habitat round it. 



IV. — The Tees Area. 



In the Middlesbrough district the iron and chemical industries 

 are extremely localised, being restricted to the banks of the river and 

 its neighbourhood. The ironstone working, which takes place under 

 much of the moorland, e.g., Eston Nab, Roseberry Topping, Easby 

 Moor, etc., scarcely affects the surface at all, and hence even on the 

 first of these, which has been the longest woi'ked, the Fox Moth 

 {Macrothylacia riibi, L.), the Oak Eggar (Lasiocampa qiiercns var. 

 calhmae Palmer), the Emperor Moth (Saturnia carpini Schiff.), and 

 the Yellow Horned Moth {Cymatnplwra favicornis L.) are still fairly 

 common, despite other adverse influences. In a few cases on the 

 Moors there has been, in connection with ironstone workings, some 

 drainage of boggy patches, as, for example, on Eston Nab, where 

 Dytiscus marginalis L. and Acilins sulcahts L. were swept away 

 last year together with a number of species of rare spiders which 

 Mr. J. W. H. Harrison has discovered there. 



The moorlands, however, give interesting examples of increases in 

 the local fauna, either in species or (more probably) in numbers. In 

 many cases parts of the uplands have been afforested, mainly with 

 pine and larch, but to some extent with spruce and birch. Either then 

 by introduction or by numerical increase in native races due to increased 

 food supply, there has been a great addition— certainly of individuals, 



(1). Yorks. Nat. Union E.xcur.sioii Circular to Spurn, No. 224. 



