INSECTS 



With the exception of the Lepidoptera, the Coleoptera and a small 

 section of the Diptera, no attempt appears to have been made to compile 

 systematic lists of the insects of Hertfordshire. In the earlier decades of 

 the nineteenth century James Francis Stephens, a clerk in the Admiralty, 

 and in 1837 president of the Entomological Society, devoted his leisure 

 hours to the study of natural history, and in the formation of his cele- 

 brated collections of insects he made frequent visits to many localities 

 within a moderate distance of the metropolis. The neighbourhood of 

 Hertford appears to have been one of his favourite hunting grounds, and 

 in his Illustrations of British Entomology he refers to the capture of speci- 

 mens belonging to a good many species of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, 

 Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Trichoptera and Heteroptera in that part of the 

 county. These records have now been brought together and, so far as 

 the last four of the above named Orders are concerned, form the only 

 local lists we possess. For some years past the Lepidoptera of the county 

 have been carefully catalogued on behalf of the Hertfordshire Natural 

 History Society, and the annual reports of the recorders have been 

 printed in the Society's Transactions. 



Economic entomology has received a considerable amount of atten- 

 tion, and in connection with this branch of science the life-long investi- 

 gations of Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, LL.D., F.E.S., Torrington House, 

 St. Albans, must be prominently mentioned. The many useful works 

 which have issued from her pen have done much to increase our know- 

 ledge of the life history of insect pests and of the remedies which may 

 be applied to check their ravages. 



At Tring is situated the Rothschild Museum of Natural History, 

 where a staff of skilled entomologists is constantly engaged upon the study 

 of both British and exotic insects. 



COLEOPTERA 



The Coleoptera of Hertfordshire have at present been somewhat 

 inadequately studied, and much work remains to be done in many 

 districts before anything like a complete knowledge is obtained of the 

 local distribution of insects belonging to this Order. The subjoined 

 catalogue consists very largely of species which have been noticed along 

 the western side of the county in a district extending from Watford to 



83 



