A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Pl.USlAD.ffi (Plusiades) (continued) 



East Barnet (Gillum) ; Nascot Wood 

 (Cults) ; Oxhey (H. Rowland-Brown) ; 

 Tring (Goodson) ; Stevenage (Mat- 

 thews) ; Cheshunt (Boyd) 



Said to be very common at Steven- 

 age among long grass, flying in the 

 sunshine ; also common at Cheshunt ; 

 not generally abundant 

 Rivula sericealis, Sc. Sandridge (Griffith) ; 

 Hitchin (Durrani) ; East Barnet (Gil- 

 lum) ; Tring (A. T. Goodson) 



Orgyia gonostigma, F. Bricket Wood 

 (Griffilh) ; Haileybury (Bowyer) 



Mr. Griffith found a larva of O. 

 gonostigma on oak at Bricket Wood 

 in 1884. Mr. Bowyer records the 

 capture of this moth once at Hailey- 

 bury. In the School List it is said to 

 have occurred ' formerly on Heath,' 

 and Mr. Stockley writes with regard 

 to it : ' Apparently no longer taken, 

 as I have not heard of any but a 

 solitary specimen in 1 897 for six years ' 



antiqua, L. St. Albans and Welwyn (A. 

 E. G.) ; Sandridge (Griffilh) ; Hitchin 

 (Durrani) ; Haileybury (Bowyer) ; 

 Hertford (Stephens) ; East Barnet 

 (Gillum) ; Bushey (Cutls) ; Watford 

 (Spencer, Healon, Wigg) ; Oxhey 

 (H. Rowland-Brown) ; Tring and 

 Wilstone (Elliman) ; Stevenage (Mat- 

 thews) ; Cheshunt (Boyd) 



This is one of ihe species which 

 are commonest in those parts of the 

 county which approach suburban 

 London. It is generally distribuled, 

 but in those parts of Hertfordshire 

 which are most remote from the 

 melropolitan district it is met with 

 less frequently. Mr. Boyd describes 

 it as common, Mr. Matthews as fairly 

 common, a remark which would also 

 apply to St. Albans. Mr. Elliman 

 speaks of it as not very common but 

 general the larvae may be obtained 

 pretty freely about Wilstone and 

 Drayton Beauchamp and says the 

 apterous female may be most easily 

 obtained by rearing 



Dasychira pudibunda, L. St. Albans (larvae) 

 and Bricket Wood (A. E. G.) ; Sand- 

 ridge (Griffith) ; Hitchin (Durrani) ; 

 Haileybury (Bowyer) ; Nascot Wood 

 (Culls) ; Watford (Spencer, Wigg, 

 Cottam) ; Tring (Elliman) ; Steven- 

 age (Matthews) 



This is occasionally met with. 

 Mr. Elliman finds the larvae on beech 



CENER.lAD.ffi (continued) 



Colocasia coryli, L. Watford (Wigg) ; 

 Tring (Elliman) ; Theobald's Grove 

 station, one (Boyd) 



The Rev. H. Harpur Crewe says : 

 ' The larvae of Orgyia coryli are by 

 no means uncommon in Hertfordshire 

 on beech ' (Zoologist, x. 3,625). Mr. 

 Elliman writes with regard to this 

 species : ' Common, more especially 

 in the larval stale. The pupae may 

 be found under moss on beech trees 

 and the perfect insect sits on the 

 same tree at the end of April and in 

 May. The larvae are very variable 

 in colour, most of them being some 

 shade of red, yellow and brown, but 

 almost black specimens may be found. 

 I have beaten it from beech, hazel, 

 oak and sallow ' 



Porthesia similis, Fuesl. (auriflua, F.). St. 

 Albans (A. E. G.) ; Sandridge (Grif- 

 fith) ; Hitchin (Durrani) ; Haileybury 

 (Bowyer) ; East Barnet (Gillum) ; 

 Bushey (Cutls) ; Watford (Spencer, 

 Heaton, Wigg) ; Bushey Heath (Bar- 

 raud) ; Tring (Elliman) ; Stevenage 

 (Matlhews) ; Bishop Stanford (Tay- 

 lor, Mellows) ; Cheshunt (Boyd) 



Common. Mr. Elliman finds it 

 mosl abundant in the low-lying por- 

 tions of the district. It is well 

 known that the hairs from the dorsal 

 lufls of the larvae have an irritaling 

 effect upon the human skin. One 

 of the observers named above was so 

 badly affecled by them that the doc- 

 tor pronounced him to be suffering 

 from an atlack of measles 



Euproclis chrysorrhoea, L. East Barnet 

 (Gillum) ; Haileybury (School List) ; 

 Stevenage (Matlhews) ; Watford 

 (Heaton) ; Tring (Hon. L. Walter 

 Rothschild) ; Bishop Stortford (Mel- 

 lows) 



A rare species. The Hon. L. 

 Waller Rothschild took one specimen 

 in 1897. Mr. Matthews is the only 

 observer who speaks of it as ' fairly 

 common.' Mr. Mellows has found 

 the larvae, but says they are very scarce 



Stilpnolia salicis, L. Sandridge (Griffilh) ; 

 Hitchin (Durrani) ; Haileybury (Bow- 

 yer) ; East Barnet (Gillum) ; Watford 

 (Spencer, Healon, Wigg) ; Startups 

 End laid Wilstone reservoirs (Elliman); 

 Stevenage (Matlhews) ; Bishop Stort- 

 ford (Taylor) ; Cheshunt (Boyd) 



This is a very local insecl. Mr. 

 Spencer has bred it from larvae found 



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