for a genteel sip or two of nectar. ("Nothing to do with me, squire, she's a law unto
herself.") They keyed out as Simulium noelleri - one of about thirty species of the
Simuliidae in Britain, often referred to as blackflies and associated worldwide with
rivers and otherwise wet situations, since their larvae develop in such conditions. In
warmer climates they can spread disease, most notably river blindness in Africa (caused
by Simulium damnosum and S. neavei).
We do not appear to have any particular rarity in S. noelleri: Del indicated that there are
already eleven recorded sites in Essex, and presumably the recorded distribution is more
a reflection of the distribution of collectors and recorders than a true statement of the
insect's total presence in our midst - and were it not given to biting perfectly well-
intentioned woodland volunteer workers it might well have attracted even less attention.
As ever, the first principle in becoming famous - or infamous - is to get noticed. I bet
not many of those other eleven records are based on male specimens.
So there we have it: another tiny bit of the biodiversity story of Marks Hill Wood slotted
into place - save that we have yet to find the water body that is providing the favourable
breeding conditions for these flies to prosper. We need a volunteer to venture into the
swamps of Langdon.
(Now I come to think of it, I might have encountered Simulium flies before, for when
Jenny and I were visiting some of Russia's special nature reserves in the southern Urals
we got into some gloriously and yet savagely wild forested areas wherein there were
multitudes of biting insects, big 'uns and littl'uns, which specialised in making the
somewhat rustic calls of nature particularly memorable events. Not so long after returning
to England I went down with some affliction which upset my balance amid spells of
peculiar dizziness. In view of the number of insect-borne infections that can be sustained
in Central Asia, I suspect those crops of insect bites - and I bet the Simulium flies were
there in the thick of it all, along with hosts of cleggs (monsters as well as more genteel
types), mozzies, midges, ticks and whatever else. No wonder our cave-dwelling ancestors
were well chuffed when they perfected the skill of producing woodsmoke - not that it
did much for their lungs.)
Waxcaps in 2008
Tony Boniface 40 Pentland Avenue, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 4AZ
Some early species appeared on 9"' September in Little Leighs churchyard namely
Hygrocybe chlorophana, H. conica and H, pratensis var pratensis not to be outdone by
H. conica, H. quieta and H. irrigata in Great Leighs churchyard on the same day. The
following day Martin Gregory brought me a waxcap from his garden at Dukes' Orchard,
which I identified as H. reidei by its smell of honey. Martin also brought me a waxcap
from a Sphagnum swamp in Pheasant House Wood, which is one of the complex of
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Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 58, January 2009