Hi Graham
Mapping is something which needs to be handled very carefully. Where you trying this in your local ? I am not sure why you should map localhost to any of the DEV servers. Anyway, the point is, if you have deleted those mapping, then you should be good. But just go to your publish and make sure , if really those nodes are deleted as Ekambaram said. If yes, delete it and restart your server. Restart may help !!
Edit :- I just tried what you have mentioned
1. I created a node, replicated the same.
2. I deleted it from author and replicated the etc/map/http folder.
- Conclusion --> The node which was already replicated (in your case , your mapping) is not removed from the publish. It just remains there. So , if its some server where you are not allowed to delete nodes, just do an installation of the map folder with whatever you need, which may override the nodes .
OR manually go to your publish and delete those nodes.
The best solution you could have done is to click "Replicate Delete" from your author, before you deleted the node from author. Please be informed that, "Replicate Delete" will delete the node from publish. Once that is done, you can delete the same from author (if needed)
Thanks
Veena