21.
domestic rubbish have enabled me to steal a hazy
glimpse into their lives under the later Hanoverians,
and the young Victoria.
Eric Hooper
BOOK REVIEW
Essex Butterflies and Moths
At one time it was the Essex Field Club which published
the major works detailing the status of plants and
animals in Essex. In recent years we have had some
healthy competition from other organisations - the
Guide to the Birds of Essex from the Essex Bird-
watching and Preservation Society in 1967, the much
heralded Flora from the Essex Naturalists Trust and
from the same source, but quietly slipped onto the
bookshelves before anyone noticed, the Guide to the
Butterflies and Larger Moths of Essex.
This work sets out to summarise what is known about
the status and distribution in Essex up to 1974 of all
the Lepidoptera which appear in the standard texts
(like South's). It is not, of course, a guide to
identification. For anyone with even a slight interest
in butterflies and moths it makes fascinating, if
somewhat saddening, reading. A quick examination of
the Butterfly records show that there are less than
30 species which are still resident or regular immi-
grants to Essex. Twelve species at least (including
all the Fritillaries) have become completely or virtually
extinct since 1925.
The authors have obviously made considerable efforts to
search the literature for a many records as possible
(quite a lot from the Essex Naturalist). In the case
of the rare species the records are given in some
detail but the commoner species are dismissed more
quickly.
Apart from the species records, there is a brief forward,
historical survey of lepidoperists in Essex, notes on
the geography of the County and a rather scruffy map.