218 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
PTYCHOPTERIDAE
*Ptychoptera scutellaris (Meigen). Epping, 20 July 1952 (Sir
C. H. Andrewes, per L. Parmenter); Newport, Debden
Water, 9 July 1962.
P. paludosa (Meigen). Colchester, 1913 (F. W. Edwards, B.M.
coll.).
P. lacustris (Meigen) Colchester (Harwood, according to a card
index at Doncaster Museum, per Mr P. Skidmore).
Discussion
The present state of published records (including the above)
appears to be as follows: —
Number of species recorded
Total
British South North
fauna Essex Essex Essex
Tipulidae 300 112 104 66
Trichoceridae 9 5 5 3
Anisopodidae 5 4 4 2
Ptychopteridae 7 6 5 5
The great majority of the Essex tipulid records are contained
or referred to in my two previous papers, on Thorndon Park
(1967) and Epping Forest (1968). There is little doubt that
Epping Forest, with its long history as ancient common woodland
and its many acid bogs, is still potentially the richest area in the
county for flies of this group, and the number of species of
Tipulidae at present recorded from it, 94, is certain to be increased
with more collecting. The list for the Thorndon Park area, cur-
rently standing at 62 species, will undoubtedly also be aug-
mented, but I should not expect this area to produce as many
species as Epping Forest.
Hatfield Forest, which has a less varied relief and lacks the
peaty bogs of Epping, seems to me to be less promising than
either of the other two wooded areas, but admittedly it has so
far been much less thoroughly worked. Its main interest is that
it lies on the chalky Boulder Clay, as do most of the other smaller
areas of woodland in Essex, and we do not yet know to what
extent crane-flies are sensitive in their larval stages to degrees of
acidity and alkalinity. Brindle (1960), who has done a great deal
of work on the larvae and pupae of British Tipulidae, does not
consider that this is a critical factor, at least in the sub-family
Tipulinae. On the other hand, of the four species I have taken
at Hatfield and not at Epping or Thorndon, viz., Tipula signata,
T. solstitialis, Ellipteroides lateralis and Symplecta hybrida, as
well as Ptychoptera scutellaris, I have always found the first two
in calcareous habitats, though Mr A. E. Stubbs (in litt.) has
records of both from acid or neutral soils. Other species which
may be partial to calcareous habitats and which may well occur