HOVER-FLIES IN AN ESSEX GARDEN 161
Species
Pieridae
Leptidea sinapis
Picris brassicae
Pieris rapae
Pieris napi
Euchloe cardamines
Colias hyale
Colias croceus
Gonopteryx rhamni
Hesperidae
Erynnis tages
Pyrgus malvae
Thymelicus sylvestris
Thymelicus lineola
Ochlodes venata
Column 1 is taken from de Worms (1950): + indicates a
species present in south-east Essex between 1900 and 1949; ( +)
indicates that the species had become extinct in the area before
1949.
Column 2 indicates the status of the species in Hawkswood,
between 1952 and 1967.
See the text for the meaning of the letters. Some of these
records were published previously (Corke, 1961).
References
Corke, D. (1961). Some notes on the butterflies in Epping Forest, Bull.
amat. Ent. Soc, 20: 11.
de Worms, C. G M. (1950). The butterflies of London and its surround-
ings. Lond. Nat., 29: 46.
Mason, B. A. (1968). Some notes from Essex. Bull amat. Ent. Soc, 27: 45.
Page, W. W. (1961). (In Robertson: Junior News Section). Bull. amat.
Ent. Soc., 20: 127.
South, R. (1906). The Butterflies of the British Isles. 212 pp. Warne,
London.
Hover-flies in an Essex Garden
By R. M. Payne, F.R.E.S.
Every naturalist must be familiar, at least in a general way,
with the brightly coloured hover-flies (Syrphidae) which are com-
mon visitors to our gardens from the appearance of the first
Crocus of early spring to the autumn days of Michaelmas Daisies.
It may not be so widely known that hover-flies are almost wholly
beneficial insects. In the larval stage many of the commonest