Hemiptera (Heteroptera and Auchenorhyncha)
Dr. Peter Kirby
True Bugs
The Hemiptera of the Forest are quite well recorded. For Heteroptera the Forest is certainly the most
thoroughly recorded site in Essex. There are many old records, from the later years of the 19th century
onwards, and at least a scattering of records for every decade of the present century. Recent years
have seen a considerable increase in the number of records, particularly since 1984. The great majority
of the Hemiptera recorded from the Forest have post-1980 records. I have found records of 227 species,
though three of these require confirmation and a further two are predominantly synanthropic species
which may well be confined to buildings in and at the margins of the Forest. There is little doubt that
more species remain to be recorded - there are some obvious gaps - but they are probably relatively
few.
Fig 1. Rhacognathus punctatus (SJF)
The Auchenorhyncha of the Forest have been less

well recorded than the Heteroptera. They have always
been a less popular group, a situation not aided by the
relative lack of reliable identification guides until recent
years. The temporal pattern of records is similar to that
of the Heteroptera. However, modern records are more
concentrated in the southern parts of the Forest. I have
found records of 87 species, but one is very old and very
doubtful, and another has not yet been precisely
identified, since only one female has been found and
males are required for identification. The list is
obviously incomplete. At least half as many species
again could almost certainly be added with time.
The Hemipterous fauna of the Forest is clearly a rich
one. Even the present incomplete records comprise
roughly 40% of the total British fauna of Heteroptera
and almost 25% of the Auchenorhyncha. Most of the
species, however, are inevitably common and generally
distributed. The less common species are far from
evenly distributed amongst the habitat types of the
Forest.
The Hemiptera associated with trees and shrubs in the Forest, though many and diverse, include
rather few uncommon species. The aspen-feeding plant bug Brachyarthrum limitatum is very local
nationally, though easily overlooked. It appears not have been recorded since 1915, when E. A. Butler
found it in Monk Wood. Another aspen-feeder, Orthotylus bilineatus, though nationally rather
common, was last recorded from the Forest in the same year. The elm fauna includes two very local
species. The leafhopper Iassus scutellaris seems to be strictly confined to south-eastern counties in
England. There are rather few records nationally, but the species has not long been recognised in
Britain. Another leafhopper, Edwardsiana ishidai, though less restricted than /. scutellaris is
nonetheless a decidedly local southern species. The quality of the elm fauna is not a property of the
Forest, but rather a property of Essex elms: both these uncommon species are recorded from elms
elsewhere in south-west Essex. The assassin bug Empicoris baerensprungi is a very uncommon insect
which lives on the trunks and large branches of trees. It has been reported from trunks of beeches in
Epping Forest by Chalmers-Hunt (1969). The record requires confirmation, but is not unlikely. E.
baerensprungi is recorded from sites as widely separated as the New Forest, Hampshire and Monks
Wood. Huntingdonshire. It is a very inconspicuous insect, cryptically coloured and slow-moving, and
can easily be overlooked.
There are few Heteroptera and no Auchenorhyncha associated with dead wood in Britain. Only four
species of dead-wood Heteroptera have been recorded, a fairly typical total for a southern English
woodland. The barkbug Aradus depressus, the flatbug Aneurus laevis, and the flower bugs
Dufouriellus ater and Xylocoris cursitans are all usually found under bark. Though all are somewhat
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