INSECTS 



The insects of Worcestershire have unfortunately been only partially 

 studied. In this, as in most counties, the Lepidoptera seem to have 

 engaged the attention of collectors to the exclusion of most of the other 

 orders, and consequently it is impossible to give here lists or notes of 

 the Orthoptera, Diptera or Hemiptera. The physical features and 

 climate of the county are favourable to a fairly representative insect 

 fauna, for with the exception of coast, fen, high altitude and extreme 

 northern or southern species the entomologist has every chance of obtain- 

 ing types of any of our English genera. Its surface is undulating and 

 diversified, but in taking a comprehensive view of the whole county its 

 lowest level is in the centre, across the vale of the Severn, and it rises 

 gradually towards the surrounding boundary until it reaches in most 

 directions to a considerable height, especially towards the west where 

 the Malvern Hills rise to a height of 1,394 feet. Throughout the 

 county the woods are well distributed, and the Randans in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bromsgrove, and the primeval Wyre or Bewdley Forest in 

 the north-west, consisting chiefly of scrub oak, birch, hazel and alder, 

 with an occasional beech and some Scotch firs, are tracts of native wood- 

 land which offer a wide field for research to the collector. Wild heathy 

 or sandy wastes and commons are also plentifully dispersed ; such are 

 Hartlebury Common, Kempsey Common, Defford Common, Habberley 

 Valley, Blakedown, Dodderhill, Castle Morton and Malvern Link 

 amongst others. The bogs of Wyre Forest, Hartlebury Common and 

 West Malvern have also their particular interest for the collector ; and 

 in the neighbourhood of Longdon Marsh, which was of considerable 

 extent before it was drained and divided up many years ago, may be 

 found a few insects lingering in the old haunts, whither they used to 

 be drawn by their favourite plants. The county is well watered by its 

 rivers and natural pools, such for instance as are formed by the brooks 

 running down into the Stour ; and also to a great extent artificially by 

 its reservoirs and canals. Man has also added to the variety of the 

 county's flora and extended the entomologist's field by cultivation. 

 Besides the usual pasture and arable lands, the pear and apple orchards 

 and the hop-yards cover an extensive area in the south and west, and 

 in the neighbourhood of Pershore and Evesham large districts are 

 devoted to market gardening. 



The diversified physical character of the county, affecting as it does 

 the insect fauna to so large an extent, should offer a strong inducement 



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