A History of Essex Grasshoppers and Crickets
The Latin names contained in this historical account are, in the main, those taken from
literature at the time of printing, therefore, a list of current Latin names and all relevant
synonyms are listed at the end of this section.
Although one of the earliest published works to include reference to Orthoptera was the
Theatrum Insectorum by Thomas Moffet in 1634, it was not until 1769 and 1770 that
Berkenhout and Forster respectively, published lists of named Orthopteroides. Curtis
followed producing lists of Orthoptera in his British Entomology in 1825 and they were
again listed in his guide to an Arrangement of British Insects -1829 to 1831.
A major step forward to the recording of the British Orthoptera occurred when
J.F.Stephens produced his Illustrations of British Entomology, published from 1828 -
1846 which included descriptions and notes on distribution. He added Metrioptera
roeselii to the British list although there is no specific reference to Essex. White, in
1855, added further to previous published lists but it was not until Shaw published his
Synopsis of the British Orthoptera in 1889/90 that we had information on localities in
Britain. Shaw had collected this information from several of his colleagues. The first
book to be published solely on the British Orthoptera was by Burr in 1897.
Meanwhile in Essex, a few recorders were becoming active and the earliest known
published record for Essex was found in the Entomologist for 1879, in which Edward
Arthur Fitch describes how Pholidoptera griseoaptera devoured three pupae of Pyrameis
cardui after being introduced into a cage containing them. Fitch was born in February
1854 and was a founder member of the Essex Field Club and their President for many
years. He was also a member of the Linnean Society. He was a JP for the County and
had several times been mayor of his home town Maldon. He died at the Brick House,
Maldon, on 28th June 1912.
The second published records for Essex are dated 1896. William Cole had studied
Orthoptera in the County from at least 1895 to 1905 and was a member of the Essex
Field Club. At the 160th meeting of that club on 8th February 1896, he exhibited a
specimen of the Great Green Bush Cricket (Locusta viridissima) from the coast at East
Mersea, together with two other species, Platycleis grisea and Meconema varium[1]. Cole
said that he had been collecting Orthoptera in Essex and thought that the number of
species occurring in the County would compare favourably with other parts of England. It
is assumed that the species he displayed were probably from the summer of 1895.
William Cole wrote a most interesting and informative article in the 5th edition of
E.N. Buxton's, Epping Forest, entitled The Entomologist in the Forest. He describes
Meconema varium often seen on trunks or beaten from the oaks and hornbeams in late
summer. This would refer to the period prior to 1895 this being the year Buxton's book
was published.
At about this time the name of William H. Harwood was being linked with Orthoptera
recording. He was born at Colchester in 1840 and became a well known entomologist in
the area. He was educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School and spent much of his
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