beginning of August. This seems to be a rather shorter season than the species enjoys
elsewhere, and further observation on this would be useful.
The historical record of E. najas in Essex begins with H. Doubleday's (1871) list,
which gave it as 'very common on Coopersale Common, among the rushes'. F. A.
Walker (1897) included it in his list for Wanstead Park. The Campion Brothers did not
find the species in Epping Forest until 1908 (Campion and Campion, 1908) which
indicates that it was by no means common or widely distributed at that time. It appeared
regularly in Hammond's unpublished lists from 1923 to 1926, but Pinniger (1933)
reported it as 'uncommon' and known from 'at least one' pond in the Forest. During the
1933 season (Pinniger. 1934) the species, 'formerly rare', was present in good numbers,
and at 'nearly every pond in the Forest'. Longfield (1949b) reported it as occurring at the
ponds in Epping Forest, as well as on the 'Lea Canal' in Herts. Hammond's notes give
the River Lee. but unfortunately there is no date.
D. A. Ashwell collected the species in Hatfield Forest, and there are extant specimens
from there for 1939 and 1940 (the latter dated 13th May-a very early date by present day
standards), and the B.R.C. holds a pre-1961 10 km. square record for TL70 (Chelmsford
area). It seems likely that this may also have been one of Ashwell's records for the
Chelmer/Blackwater. Bernard Ward reported the species from Hatfield Forest in 1949
(Pinniger. Syms and Ward, 1950). It continued to be recorded from several sites in
Epping Forest by various observers in the 1970s, and on the Cornmill Stream (in the Lee
Valley) in 1979. One specimen was also seen at Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve in
1979 (L. Forsyth, pers. comm.), and another at Dagnam Park in the same year (D. A.
Smith, pers. comm.).
66