and S. scoticum (= S. danae), the latter in profusion, in 1841. where neither had been seen in
previous years is also noted. Certainly in the case of S. flaveolum, and probably in the case of S.
sanguineum. Doubleday's puzzle may be solved by our present-day understanding of insect
migration. S. flaveolum still turns up in Essex as a migrant, but there is no evidence of it as a
breeding species here. As for S. danae. Doubleday may have witnessed the first establishment of
this species in the Epping Forest area (and probably in Essex as a whole, since the species has not
been recorded in Essex, outside the Forest).
In 1843 it was decided to merge the Entomologist and the Zoologist, with Newman, again, as editor
(a role he retained until his death thirty years later). A second series of the Entomologist was
launched in 1864. and this rapidly became an indispensable means of communicating
entomological opinions and reports, especially local species lists. With the death of Edward
Doubleday and Henry's preoccupation with his major work on the Lepidoptera, there is a gap of
some thirty years in the recording of dragonflies in Essex. During that time, however, great strides
were made in the scientific study and classification of the Odonata. Some ten years after the
appearance of Selys-Longchamps' corrected list and synonyms for the British species, his close
collaborator. Dr. H. Hagen published A Synopsis of the British Dragonflies' in The Entomologist's
Annual (Hagen, 1857). This synopsis includes those continental species most likely to be
discovered in Britain, and adopts a system of classification and nomenclature close to that now in
use. with the exception that Newman's proposals on the genus Libellula are not followed, so that all
the 'darter' dragonflies continue to be 'lumped' together in this one genus.
The next major publication on the British Odonata was R. McLachlan and B, A. Eaton, A
Catalogue of British Neuroptera (McLachlan and Eaton, 1870), which appeared under the auspices
of the Entomological Society of London. McLachlan was a friend of Selys-Longchamps and a
noted specialist in Trichoptera and Neuroptera. In his catalogue, the Odonata comprise six
families in the sub-order Pseudo-Neuroptera and are classified after Selys-Longchamps and
Hagen, with the difference that Newman's sub-division of the genus Libellula is at last adopted.
McLachlan lists forty-one species as British, omitting doubtful records and 'casuals' not recorded
for many years.
When Henry Doubleday eventually returned, in print, to the topic of dragonflies (H. Doubleday.
1871) he began with a complimentary remark on McLachlan's recently published 'valuable
catalogue'. What follows is a list of species claimed by Doubleday as occurring in, the
neighbourhood of Epping, but with the proviso that 'some of the best localities are destroyed, and I
am not certain that all the species enumerated are now to be found here' (p.86).
Doubleday's astonishing list of no less than thirty species cannot, unfortunately, be taken at face
value. He was a renowned Ornithologist, and a Lepidopterist of major international status, but his
work on dragonflies seems to have been a rather more casual and intermittent affair. It is also
worth noting that at the time he presumably compiled this list (July 1871) he had only recently
returned from the Quaker mental hospital in York, having previously suffered from a serious
breakdown in his health. He suffered continuing financial and health problems, and eventually
his belongings were put to auction in 1871. He died in June 1875 (see R Mays. 1978). Despite
Doubleday's great reputation several writers who continued to refer to his important list
nevertheless expressed scepticism about some of his claims. Calopteryx vesta is merely a synonym
of Calopteryx virgo, but Doubleday insisted on the presence of a distinct species under this name. In
a note added to Doubleday's published list. McLachlan himself cast doubt both on this. and on
Doubleday's report of Lestes virens. McLachlan's views were repeated al greater length in the
Entomologists' Monthly Magazine (1884). Later on W. J. Lucas (l900b) was also sceptical about
Doubleday's report of Lestes dryas, though the veracity of the record cannot entirely be ruled
out.
The remaining list of twenty-seven species still contains some remarkable records by modern
standards. Gomphus vulgatissimus and Libellula fulva are both rare moving-water species which
appear not to have been recorded in Essex since Doubleday's list (though the former species is on
E. Doubleday's earlier list). Edward Pinniger recalls having discussed Doubleday's records with
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