Forest species to be found in some areas of park woodland, such as Knole Park,
Kent, Arundel, Sussex, Grimsthorpe Park, Lincs. (Crowson & Hunter, 1964,
Hunter & Johnson, 1966), etc., are extensive, but the best-documented of these
parks include considerably fewer species of this type (e.g. 49 Old Forest in-
dicator species at Dunham Park, 33 at Staverton) than are known from Epping.
The length of the list of species in Table 6 illustrates well the unique nature
of Epping Forest, in the context of the county of Essex, as a habitat for beetles.
Its importance in the wider setting of East Anglia as a whole is also to be seen by
comparison of the Forest's beetle fauna with that of other well-surveyed areas.
The 772 species recorded for Wood Walton Fen by Buck (1955), include only 11
(most of them aquatic species) of the 195 Epping species in Table 6, and nine of
the 52 species in Table 7. Similarly, the 771 species recorded from Redgrave and
Lopham Fens by Pope (1969) include only 15 from Table 6, and 7 from Table 7.
OLD FOREST INDICATOR SPECIES
In conjunction with several other entomologists, Harding (1977) has
produced a table of beetle species associated with overmature trees in wooded
land in lowland Britain south of the Forth/Clyde line. The 195 species listed are
graded by him (71 spp. in Grade 1, 28 spp. in Grade 2, 96 spp. in Grade 3) in
descending order of value as indicators of Old Forest areas where there has been
continuity of overmature timber. Certainly, Harding's list forms a most useful
basis for discussion. The present paper allows no room for a detailed com-
mentary, but it is hoped that the data provided here concerning the Epping
Forest beetle fauna will be of some value in categorising indicator species. In the
first instance, all of the species in Table 6 (known in Essex only from the Epping
Forest area) which are true woodland species but not listed by Harding (1977) as
indicators of Old Forests may deserve further scrutiny. Such species as
Bibloporus minutus, Scydmaenus rufus, Enicmus testaceus, Henoticus
serratus, Brachytarsus nebulosus and Taphrorychus bicolor, in particular,
should probably be regarded as Old Forest indicators, although only of Grade
3. Conversely, the species listed in Table 7 (categorised as Old Forest indicators
by Harding (1977) but known from a range of Essex localities) may also deserve
some review of their status as indicators. In particular, those species found in
non-wooded areas, such as Abraeus globosus, Paromalus flavicornis,
Siagonium quadricorne, Lucanus cervus, Dorcus parallelepipedus, Cerylon
histeroides, C. ferrugineum, Litargus connexus, Mycetophagus multipunctatus
and Bitoma crenata, should, perhaps, be treated with some caution as in-
dicators. All are associated with trees, generally with mature trees, but have
been found, in Essex, in hedgerow situations in areas of arable land. Bitoma
crenata is perhaps best regarded as a Grade 3 indicator. Of course, as noted by
Harding (1977), a number of species which towards the northern limits of their
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