Table 1. Grasshoppers and Crickets Recorded from Epping Forest, 1976-1990
Chorthippus albomarginatus (De Geer)
Chorthippus brunneus (Thunbergi
Chorthippus parallelus (Zetterstedti
Myrmeleotettix maculatus (Thunberg)
Omocestus viridulus (L.)
Metrioptera roeselii (Hagenback)
Meconema thalassinum (De Geer)
Leptophyes punctatissima (De Geer)
Pholidoptera griseoaptera (Sowerby)
Tetrix undulata (Sowerbyi
1 Almshouse Plain 9 High Beach 17 Wanstead Flats
2 Chingford Plain 10 Honey Lane Plain 18 Wanstead Park
3 Connaught Water 11 Leyton Flats 19 Warren Hill
4 Cuckoo Pits 12 Lords Bushes 20 Waterworks Corner
5 EFCC. 13 Lower Forest 21 Whitehouse Plain
6 Fairmead 14 Pole Hill 22 Woodford Green
7 Gilbert Slade 15 Rushey Plain
8 Hatch Forest 16 Sunshine Plain
Dragonflies
Dr. Edward Benton
In many ways the dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are an ideal group of insects for the amateur
to study. They rival butterflies in their physical beauty, often dazzling in their colouration and
breath-takingly agile in flight. With experience (and a close-focusing pair of binoculars) most species
can be identified in the field, so there is no need to capture and kill them, except for some specialist
scientific purposes. Compared with other insect orders, the number of species resident in Britain is
very small, some 38 species only. Only 21 of these are known to have breeding populations in Essex,
but of these fully 17 have been recorded in Epping Forest in recent years. There are reports of
occasional sightings of a further 5 species, which probably do not have sustained breeding populations
in the Forest.
Recently, more species of dragonfly have been recorded in Epping Forest than anywhere else in
Essex. Part of the reason for this may well be that the Forest is favoured by several experienced and
enthusiastic 'dragonfly-watchers', notably Andrew McGeeney and Eddie Ryan. Much of our
knowledge of the current status of Forest dragonflies is due to the work of these two observers and
the staff of the Epping Forest Conservation Centre. There is no doubt that the Forest deserves its
reputation as the premier dragonfly site in Essex. One very local species, the Downy Emerald
Dragonfly (Cordulia aenea) breeds on several Forest ponds and probably nowhere else in the county.
In 1991 a colony of the nationally rare Scarce Emerald Damselfly (Lestes dryas) was discovered in
the Forest. Other uncommon and local species are regularly observed in the Forest (Table 1).
Such a notable assemblage of species is made possible by several features of the Forest. Most
importantly, of course, is the presence of numerous ponds, which provide all-important breeding sites for
most of the Forest species. The ponds are very diverse in their physical characteristics, varying greatly in
depth, shape, surface area and pH, as well as the pattern of emergent, aquatic and marginal vegetation.
There is relatively little running water in the Forest which is suitable for dragonflies, so that species
characteristic of this type of habitat make only sporadic appearances. The strikingly brilliant,
metallic-blue Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) is one such species recently recorded in the
Forest, but others, such as the closely related Beautiful Demoiselle (C. virgo) and the local
White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) have not been seen in the Forest for many years,
although the latter remains well-established nearby on the Rivers Roding and Lee.
110