54 Review of the Wildlife of Epping Forest 1999-March 2000
Meanwhile the interim Diptera (two-winged flies) report prepared by John Ismay (Ismay 2000)
for the Conservators of Epping Forest contains much else of interest. Following fieldwork in two
summer visits and continuous trapping by Malaise Traps, in two locations, since 1998, the number
of recorded Forest Diptera is, at last, approaching that for the beetles (see below). There are now
1,308 species of two-winged flics listed in Epping Forest, out of over 6,000 species in the UK,
compared with only 890 on the previous list (Hanson 1992). Of these 1,308 species, 68 (5%) have
official conservation status as RDBs or Notables, double the number previously recorded.
Of the flies listed by Martin Speight (1989) as those that could indicate that a site is of international
conservation significance, Epping Forest now has six species. Satisfyingly, three have now been
recorded since 1998 as part of this survey: Ctenophora flaveolata (see above) and the hoverflies
Brachyopa bicolor and Callicera aurata (more below). The RDB2 xylomyiid, Xylomya maculata
and the hoverflies Pocota personata and Ferdinandea ruficornis still await re-discovery.
The RDB3 fly Callicera aurata trapped in 1999 provided the second record for Essex of this large,
golden-haired hoverfly associated with ancient woodland. The first record was also from 1999,
from Daniel Hackett caught by him at a site in Waltham Forest (metropolitan or old Essex for
naturalists) immediately adjacent to the Forest.
Beetles
The beetle list has also been growing as part of the Forest Insect Survey. The list now stands at 1,540
species of the 4,000 or so known from the UK (Hammond 2000). This total is exceeded only at two
other sites in the country, Windsor and New Forests. Since 1997, when the survey was first started,
85 beetle species new to the Forest have been recorded by Peter Hammond (see Recorders' reports).
One of the most intriguing phenomena connected with beetles recently has been the rapid spread
and large numbers of Orange ladybirds {Halyzia sedecimguttata) across the Forest. First observed
by Amanda Samuels in 1998 at High Beach in their hundreds on several large Beech pollards (see
last year's Forest report), they have since been seen in a number of other Forest compartments.
These include, in the north, St Thomas's Quarters and the areas around Jack's Hill, where this spring
(March 2000) they were also in huge numbers on many Beeches. In the south of the Forest they have
also been seen in Walthamstow Forest but this time only in ones and twos on Oaks.
The phenomenon seems to be a new one (see Mabbott in press) and is part of this species' range
expansion. In the Forest they are mainly on Beech and they have been seen out on the bark through-
out the winter (Nick Baker pers, comm.). They can be seen singly walking across the algae covered
bark, presumably feeding, but often they are grouped in clusters of between 25 - 100 below branch
junctions or on the undersides of the ends of snapped lower branches.
Amphibians
Phase 2 of the survey reported last year was completed by Clive Herbert and Will Atkins on a further
38 ponds (56 were surveyed in 1998). As hoped two more ponds were found to support 5 of the
locally-occurring species of amphibia, both sites in the north of the Forest, and one more was found
to support 4 species. This brings the totals in the Forest to four 5-species ponds and six 4-species
ponds. Eight ponds were found to support no amphibians at all.
Great Crested Newts (Triturus cristatus) have now been found in 29 of the 94 ponds (31%) sur-
veyed. This provides an important and extensive population of this threatened species for the county.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)