feeds on various species of Umbellifer and its favoured food plant, Milk Parsley (Peucedanum
palustre), is now extinct in Essex. It had one of its only two known locations in the county at Epping
on the border of the Lower Forest. The plant was known from this site to John Ray (1627-1705), the
great Essex born naturalist (Gibson, 1862). Henry Doubleday also bred the Large Copper (Lycaena
dispar) in his garden at Epping (Mays, 1978).
Doubtful records include the Apollo (Parnassius apollo), an alpine species reported from near
Epping in 1847 or 1848 (Fitch. 1891); the Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus), said to have been
taken in the Forest in August 1860 (Fitch, 1891); the Purple-edged Copper (Lycaena hippothoe).
recorded from Epping pre-1815 (Fitch, 1891). and Weaver's Fritillary (Boloria dia), said to have been
taken at Epping (Emmet and Pyman, 1985).
References
Buxton, E.N. (1890) Epping Forest. 3rd edition, p. 100.
Buxton, E. N. (1911) Epping Forest. 8th edition, p. 84.
Corke, D. (1968) Notes on the Butterflies of Hawskwood. Essex Naturalist Vol. XXXII p. 156-161.
Emmet, A. M. (1979) The Lepidoptera- A Historical Perspective, in Corke. D. (ed.) The Wildlife of Epping Forest. Essex Naturalist N.S. No.
4. p. 37-39
Emmet, A. M. and Pyman, G. A. (1985) The Larger Moths and Butterflies of Essex. Essex Naturalist N.S. No. 8. p. 41-51
Firmin, J. et al. (1975) A Guide to the Butterflies and Larger Moths of Essex. Essex Naturalists' Trust, p. 24-37.
Fitch, E. A. (1891) The Lepidoptera of Essex, part 1. Butterflies. Essex Naturalist. Vol. Vp. 74-108.
Furneaux. W (1932) Butterflies and Moths. Longmans
Gibson, G S. (1862) Flora of Essex. London.
Hanson, M. W. (1983) Lords Bushes - the history and ecology of an Epping Forest woodland. Essex Naturalist N.S. No. 7 p. 49-50.
Mays, R. (1975) Henry Doubleday - the Epping Naturalist. Precision Press, p. 53-58.
Meldola, R. (1891) The Lepidoptera of Leyton and Neighbourhood, a contribution to the County fauna Essex Naturalist Vol. V p. 154-156
Mera, A. W. (1930) Stray Notes on the Butterflies of Epping Forest. Essex Naturalist Vol. XXII p. 201-202.
Pinniger, E. B. (1944) The Epping Forest Survey. Lepidoptera (Butterflies). Lon. Nat No. 24. p. 62-63.
Tubbs, C, (1986) The New Forest. Collins, p 193.
Warner, R. (1771) Plantae Woodfordienses (Privately Published)
Worms. C. G. M. de (1949) The Butterflies of London and its surroundings Lon. Nat. No. 29. p. 46-80.
Worms, C. G. M. de (1958) A Supplement to the Butterflies and Moths of London and its surroundings. Lon. Nat. No. 38. p. 33-38
Bees, Wasps and Ants
Bees, wasps and ants are a very distinctive, attractive and interesting group of insects. The group
includes the familiar Bumble-bees (Bombus spp.), the less obvious Cuckoo Bees (Psithyrus spp.), the
yellow and black social wasps and hornet (Vespoidea), and the ants (Formicoidea), as well as a host
of smaller solitary bees and wasps. In Epping Forest until recently surprisingly little work had been
undertaken on these insects and even less published. This chapter goes some way towards remedying
this situation.
In recent years, mainly through the work of the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, the Nature
Conservancy Council and the Bees. Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme, it has become obvious that
many of our native bees have suffered drastic declines. The ranges of some species have contracted
quite dramatically, species regularly recorded and widespread a century ago are now regarded as rare.
Among the reasons put forward for this decline are the fragmentation, the outright destruction, or the
lack of traditional management of habitats, for example that of heathland, a favourite haunt of our
aculeate Hymenoptera. There is a possibility long-term climatic changes may have a subtle effect on
these warmth-loving insects.
The majority of ants, bees and wasps prefer to nest in dry. sandy, well-drained soils; others utilise
disused beetle borings in dead wood or the hollow stems of plants such as Bramble and Elder. Epping
Forest fulfils many of the conditions required by aculeates - particularly in the southern half of the
Forest where the terrace gravels of Wanstead and Leyton Flats, in places conveniently ditched and
banked, and where big. mature and decaying trees and patches of gorse and bramble in the vicinity
provide good nesting sites. Perhaps one of the most important features of the Forest as a habitat for
aculeates is the long-established nature of the area. As far back as the 12th century Wanstead and
Leyton Flats are mentioned as heath: even today the flora of these two sites reflects heathland past.
It is still possible to find Heath Rush, Heath Grass, Mat Grass, Dwarf Willow. Sheep's Fescue, Purple
Moor Grass and Needle Whin here, a known continuity of habitat for at least 800 years and probably
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