ance about the middle of the last century attracted among its visitors 

 several keen naturalists who made some surprising discoveries, including 

 a number of species until then unknown in this country. 



The first Folkestone list of butterflies and moths appeared in 

 English's Guide which was published in 1859. It was drawn up by 

 S. J. Mackie and contained the names of fourteen rarities or supposed 

 rarities. !n 1870 the Folkestone Natural History Society published Dr. 

 Knaggs's famous list. This contained the names of 326 species together 

 with much interesting detail from which it may be gathered that the 

 collectors of that time did most of their collecting in the Warren, along 

 the Lower Sandgate Road, and on the East Downs. 



H. Ulyett, Hon. Secretary to the Natural History Society, published 

 in 1880 his " Rambles of a Naturalist," in which he also included a list 

 of butterflies and moths. This was much longer than Knaggs's list, 

 for Ulyett had the help of several resident entomologists, including two 

 professionals, who had been very active in exploring the whole district. 



Since then well over a hundred names have been added to his list, 

 20 in the last four years, but these represent a gross rather than a net 

 gain, for of the 531 species in that list 48 have not been observed during 

 the past 30 years. Ten of the 48 may be regarded as extinct, 6 as casual 

 visitors or of doubtful authenticity, 8 as likely to reappear in the near or 

 remote future, and 24 as still here waiting for some enterprising collector 

 to locate. 



It will be gathered that the range of species is very large but is far 

 from being static. A district which includes woods with deciduous and 

 coniferous trees, chalk downs, cliflFs sheltering warm and sunny hollows, 

 marshes, sand dunes, and areas of silt or shingle, each with its appropriate 

 vegetation, will naturally harbour a rich and varied fauna. Among 

 species which occur or have occurred in this district, but only in 

 parts of it, may be mentioned the Iron Prominent and the Bordered 

 White in the woods; the beautiful Adonis and Chalk-hill Blues which 

 add charm to the Downs ; the Fiery Clearwing, discovered in the Warren 

 in 1856, where the Subangled Wave was discovered in 1859, and the 

 Rest-harrow in 1867; the Glanville Fritillary which flourished below 

 the Leas a century ago and Bond's Wainscot which was discovered 

 there in 1858 and is still to be found in its old haunts; the Large Wains- 

 cot, common in the Dymchurch Marshes; the Shore Wainscot which 

 frequents the sandhills near Littlestone ; the Brown-tail, locally abundant 

 on Romney Marsh; and the Grass Emerald found in numbers on the 

 Dungeness shingle. 



Yet our insect life in some respects changes in character almost 

 year by year. It has been suggested that in the glacial era the land 

 which then occupied part of what is now the North Sea at one time had 

 a climate and vegetation somewhat similar to those of Finland today and 



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