local, none are particularly uncommon. X. cursitans appears usually to be faithful to ancient woodland
areas. It is possible that rarer dead-wood species may occur, but have not yet been recorded, since
they are difficult to find.
There is a quite good list of Hemiptera associated with heathland, at least by the current standards
of the county. In recent years the best heathland assemblage has been recorded from Sunshine Plain.
It includes the groundbugs Macrodema micropterum (last recorded in 1976), Scolopostethus
decoratus (1985) and Kleidocerys truncatulus (1982) and the plant bug Orthotylus ericetorum. The
predacious shieldbug Rhacognathus punctatus (Fig. 1) was found here by M. W. Hanson in 1989. the
first record of this species from the Forest since it was reported from Loughton in the Victoria County
History for the county. Other healthland species have apparently fared less well. The groundbug
Rhyparochromus pini was recorded several times in the later years of the last century and the early
years of this, with localities given as High Beach and Chingford, but has not been seen since. In
south-eastern England R. pini is most often found amongst leaf litter where open heathland meets
fringing or scattered trees. Such juxtapositions of habitats are easily lost through neglect. The plant
bug Deraeocoris scutellaris has not been seen in the Forest since 1911. All hope is not lost for this
species, however. It seems usually to occur at low density and can easily be overlooked for many
years. Recording pressure in the Forest has not been so intense that a gap even of such length is
necessarily indicative of the insect having been lost.
The pools and bogs of the Forest support many species of Hemiptera. The presence of five species
of pondskater (Gerridae), all four British species of backswimmer (Notonectidae) and twenty species
of water boatmen (Corixidae) reflects the range of conditions found in the forest pools. One of the
greatest rarities of the pools, the leafhopper Macrosteles cyane has not been seen since the later years
of the last century, when E. A. Butler recorded it from Loughton. It is apparently associated with
floating leaves of pondweeds. Two of the most characteristic of the Hemiptera of the bogs are the
groundbug Lamproplax picea and the sphagnum bug Hebrus ruficeps. H. ruficeps was recorded from
Lodge Road Bog in 1985 by J. H. Bratton. It had previously been recorded from Wake Valley Pond
and Loughton in 1884 and 1911. This is an inconspicuous insect which spends most of its time buried
in sphagnum, so the long gap between records is not surprising. L. picea was last recorded in the
Forest in 1892. It used to occur at the margins of Wake Valley Pond. It is found amongst moss and
dead leaves in and at the margins of bogs and fens. It is a quite tolerant animal, and may yet be
re-discovered in the Forest,
There are a number of Hemiptera associated with low vegetation and open conditions which have
not been recorded in the Forest for many years. The plant bugs Polymerus unifasciatus and
Charagochilus gyllenhali, which feed on bedstraws in dry grassland, have not been seen since 1891;
Conostethus roseus, which is found in short, usually sparse grassland was last recorded in 1911;
Capsodes gothicus, a local grassland species was found in 1909; Capsodes flavomatginatus, a very
local species typically associated with large bird's-foot trefoil in open woodland rides and clearings,
was recorded on a number of occasions between 1907 and 1915, but has apparently not been found
since; the burrower bug Sehirus biguttatus, which feeds on cow-wheat in sunny woodland clearings
and margins, has not been seen here, or anywhere else in Essex, since the last century; the negro bug
Thyreocoris scarabaeoides, found amongst low vegetation on well-drained soils and probably feeding
on violets, has not been recorded since the early years of the century, when it was found at Buckhurst
Hill. Megalonotus antennatus, a groundbug found most commonly in woodland clearings and rides,
has been recorded as recently as 1950, and may well still be present. The squashbug Spathocera
dahlmanni, recorded in 1951, is found on the ground amongst small and often sparsely growing plants
of sheep's sorrel, particularly on burnt ground, and is less likely to have survived.
Despite these possible or likely losses from the fauna, a number of species characteristic of open
vegetation structures remain, particularly on the grassy vegetation of the plains. Characteristic dry
grassland species such as Myrmus miriformis and Trigonotylus ruficornis are still frequent. The
groundbug Megalonotus dilatatus, a ground-dwelling species of low or sparse vegetation on freely
draining soils, was recorded from Great Monk Wood in 1982. The damselbug Stalia boops, usually
found amongst tussocky grass on sandy or calcareous soils, was recorded from Honeylane Plain in
1985. The large leafhopper Athysanus argentarius, a characteristic species of tall grassland, is
probably now quite widespread in the Forest. At one time a great rarity known only from a small area
of Kent, this species has been spreading in south-east England for some years, and is now locally
common in Essex.
Dry grassland and wood margins in the southern parts of the Forest have provided records of a
number of species which are rare or absent in the main body of the Forest to the north. Broom growing