CONSERVATION AND FUTURE STUDY
Of the 1371 beetle species recorded from Epping Forest in the broad sense,
about 100 have not been found there since 1900. Most of the more significant of
these are listed in Tables 6 and 7. Perhaps 35 of these, in my estimation, are
now likely to be extinct in the Epping Forest area. This number includes a few,
such as Onthophagus nutans (Fabr.) (Allen, 1965), which are probably extinct
throughout the British Isles. Progressive encroachment and interference with
areas of primary woodland is undoubtedly an important factor in such ex-
tinctions (see Hammond, 1974, for a discussion of extinctions in the British
beetle fauna as a whole). However, the Old Forest species of the main body of
Epping Forest do not appear to have suffered too badly during the present
century. Only two of the 93 Old Forest indicator species recorded from Epping
Forest sensu Buck (1955), have not been collected there during this century. Of
the additional 23 indicator species not seen in the Forest since 1950, most may
be expected to still occur. Visits to the Forest in the past twelve months
demonstrate that some Grade 1 indicator species, such as Prionocyphon
serricornis and Batrisodes venustus, may still be collected without too much
difficulty.
Conservation measures suited to maintaining populations of the insect
species most typical of Old Forests have been discussed by Chalmers-Hunt
(1969), Hammond (1974), Harding (1977), Johnson (1974) and Stubbs (1972),
and there is little to add to the suggestions made in these papers, although the
importance of leaving dead and dying wood in situ can not be overstressed. In
Epping Forest, mature beech and oak trees are deserving, because of their
exceptional insect faunas, of the conservationist's special attention. Coppicing
and pollarding is unlikely to be greatly deleterious, unless indiscriminate or on a
very large scale. Some of the existing and mature pollarded beeches support
numbers of the more interesting beetle species. The coleopterological interest of
the Forest's ponds and open spaces has been noted above and preservation of
some of these features in a relatively stable condition is to be advocated.
There remains much to interest the student of British Coleoptera in the
beetle fauna of Epping Forest. As so little careful collecting of beetles has been
done in the Forest in recent years the present status there of many species,
particularly those typical of Old Forests, should be investigated. How many of
these, including the total of 25 not seen there in the past two decades or so, are
still to be found? Much remains to be discovered concerning the feeding
behaviour and life cycles of the Old Forest species and, in the case of some of
these, Epping Forest presents one of the best opportunities in Britain of in-
vestigating these matters.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am most grateful to all those, too numerous to mention individually —
museum curators, amateur collectors, colleagues and friends — who have
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