176
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
bonnairei, which was discovered by Baron Bonnaire in 1878,
in the Isle of Re, off the coast of France near La Rochelle. It
lives under "stones deeply embedded in mud at low water," and
therefore "submerged for hours at a time" at high tide. Mr.
J. H. Keys, of Plymouth, subsequently kept specimens in a spec-
ially designed aquarium and relates (in the E.M.M., vol. 50,
p. 285), that "It was common to see in my breeding cage on
the underside of the stone, a circle of young with an adult in
the centre. On my lifting out the stone the adult would almost
instantly alarm the young with a rapid tap with each antenna
alternately and the whole lot would scamper round to the other
side of the stone."
It is well-known that expectant mothers of the insect world
almost invariably select spots in which to deposit their eggs
where abundance of suitable food will be available for the young
on hatching, but examples of maternal care of the young after
hatching are extremely rare, and it is gratifying to know that
even insects looked upon with such disfavour as bugs should be
capable of manifesting such a justly esteemed virtue. The only
other case amongst British insects that occurs to me is the classical
one of the Earwig, a still more lowly insect than the bugs; but
cases amongst Pentatomid bugs in Oceania have been recorded.
Another admirable character which would not be looked for
amongst bugs is the beauty of form and colouring abundantly
distributed amongst the members of the order.
Out of 3,500 Palaearctic species of Heteroptera catalogued,
about 470 (or say, 131/2%) have been recorded for Britain, arranged
in 210 Genera and 25 Families. Of these 470 species, 6 are
exclusively British; but not one of these is included in the 273
species so far listed for our county, of which 125 are to be
found in Epping Forest. The first section of the Heteroptera—
Gymnocerata—contains 431 species, of which Essex claims 249
and Epping Forest no.
I exhibit 2 living individuals of Troilus luridus. The species
is common, and is one of the 38 British representatives of the
family Pentatomidae (Shield-bugs), about half of which are
ground dwellers and the rest frequent trees and shrubs; our 21
Essex species, of which 8 occur in Epping Forest, being similarly
divided. Of the 22 Coreidae (Leaf-footed bugs), which are found
mostly on the ground, or on low plants, we have 9 in Essex