CONCLUSIONS
Let me sum up the conclusions which I make as an interested outsider, not
as an active Epping entomologist.
1. The Forest is not, and never has been, a good habitat for Lepidoptera; its
richest area is its perimeter.
2. Insect populations fluctuate dramatically and the species composition of
the Forest fauna has changed with the years.
3. Some commentators compare the species structure of their day with the
consolidated records of the past and draw false conclusions concerning the
impoverishment of our insect fauna.
4. The Forest is now an underrecorded area; in particular, fieldwork is
needed to supplement records made through the use of mercury-vapour
light.
5. Pollution has had little direct influence on insects other than those that
feed on lichen.
6. The influx of trippers does little harm unless they dig up or destroy im-
portant foodplants.
7. The lack of diversity in the underflora is inherited and is not the result of
inefficient modern forestry management.
8. The fashionable pessimism regarding our Lepidoptera is a facet of the
national tendency to decry today's world: we are too prone to regard our
morals, our industry, our impact as a nation and our stewardship of our
environment as degenerate. Like the ancients, we picture ourselves as living
in the Iron Age and look back nostalgically on a mythical age of golden
perfection.
A manuscript list of the 989 species for which I have found records,
together with a brief indication of their source in the case of rare species, has
been deposited at the Epping Forest Conservation Centre.
REFERENCES
BARRETT, C. G. (1907). The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, 11, London.
BUXTON, E. N. (1885). Epping Forest: its Moths and Butterflies. Epping Forest (Edn. 3).
London.
COLE, W. (1897). Entomology. In Epping Forest (Edn. 7), ed. E. N. Buxton, London.
CORKE, D. (1968). Notes on the Butterflies of Hawkswood. Essex Nat. 32: 156-161.
DONOVAN, E. (1793). Natural History of British Insects, 2.
DOUBLEDAY, E. (1836). Remarks on the Entomology of Epping and its Vicinity. Ent. Mag. 3:
147-159; 283-292.
DOUBLEDAY, H. (1841). Notes on the Species of Lepidoptera taken at Epping, from the 10th of
July to the middle of November, 1841. Entomologist 1: 260-263.
ENGLISH, J. L. (1887). Entomological Notes from an old Pocket-book. Essex. Nat. 1: 109-112.
FIRMIN, J. et al (1975). A Guide to the Butterflies and Larger Moths of Essex. Essex Naturalists'
Trust, Ltd. Colchester.
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