96
EPPING FOREST
receptacles for eggs, and being left attached to the
cut leaves, they ultimately turn brown, and are
conspicuous objects on the young birches in Lodge
Bushes and elsewhere.
Flowers attract numerous beetles of varied
families; give a tap on a bright day at the end of
May or June to a blossoming branch of hawthorn,
and you will wonder at the lively company of
beetles that have fallen into the open umbrella
placed to receive them : Click-beetles (Elateridae),
Weevils (Curculionidae), Telephorida; ("Soldier-
and-Sailor" beetles), Lady-birds (Coccinellidae),
species of Melachius in brilliant green and red
coats, and scores of other interesting forms can
thus be observed. Among them, if you are lucky,
will be one or two species of Clytus (Wasp-beetles),
and other Longicorns, Leptura, Strangalia, and
the little Grammopterae, etc. These long-horned,
timber-loving beetles ought to be numerous both
in species and individuals in an ancient forest, and
perhaps they will still increase to the delight of
the entomologist, now that trunks of felled trees
are to be utilised as seats and overthrown trees
left in situ. Aromia moschata, the brilliant and
odoriferous Musk-beetle, one or two species of Cal-
lidium and other handsome " Long-horns " occur,
and the fine Prionus coriarius has been taken as
a great prize at Buckhurst Hill.
But we must draw this long chapter to a close,
hoping that the imperfect sketch given of the
insect riches of our woodlands will at least attract
some few readers to take up a delightful study.
The entomologist truly should be the happiest of
naturalists, if an almost infinitude of objects upon
which to exercise his observing powers be a measure
of his satisfaction. Britain probably contains
more than 12,000 species of insects, and a large
proportion are, or ought to be, found in and around
Epping Forest. Each species has its own life-his-
tory, structure, colour and " habit," differing in these
respects from its congeners; it possesses special
means of concealment or attack, or of adaptation
to its surroundings, and it bears a definite relation