THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



109 



be discovered. Most of them live in moss, 

 rotten wood, under stones, &c. Perhaps 

 the most remarkable of them is Platavthrus 

 Hoffmannseggii, a small white species only- 

 found in ants' nests. 



This brings my sketch of the Crustacea 

 Malacostraca to a close. I have not 

 attempted to give a complete list of the 

 species that occur in our district — there 

 are so few workers at this order in this 

 neighbourhood, or indeed in England, that 

 any such list would be very imperfect. 



THE GEOMETRY OF 

 EPPING FOREST. 



By John Henderson. 



To entomologists in the great metropolis, 

 and beginners especially from the north and 

 east districts, Epping Forest is the chief 

 "happy hunting-ground," being easily ac- 

 cessible and very prolific in Geometers, 

 which invariably form the bulk of our 

 earlier captures. 1 know of no place where 

 so much can be done in the day-time ; al- 

 though occasionally a blank day will be 

 forthcoming, the general experience is one 

 of full boxes and always something new. 

 Beating for the smaller moths is a favourite 

 pursuit, and it is astonishing what a lot can 

 be found by searching through the glades 

 near Chingford and Loughton without troub- 

 ling to go into what may be called the depths 

 of the forest. Of course, there is no chalky 

 soil, so the Surrey and Kentish insects are 

 many of them chiefly conspicuous by their 

 absence. Under the leafy shades of the 

 pollard hornbeams and stunted oaks, amid 

 a luxuriant vegetation of blackthorn, white- 

 thorn, bramble, and hazel, where a soft 

 light percolates through the branches, on a 

 dull, warm day in June — then is the time 

 for the lepidopterist to see the Epping 



Geometrae and smaller moths. They fairly 

 swarm at the tap of the beating-stick ; and 

 towards dusk on the outskirts, both net and 

 cyanide are constantly at work, catching 

 those who are already on the wing, and 

 carefully "bottling" such as are preparing 

 to take their evening flight. 



The following are notes from various days 

 in my diary for 1879-80, principally in 

 June : — 



Having reached Chingford, we turn in 

 near the "Woodman," where the stiff clay 

 soil was very moist, and care had to be 

 exercised to avoid getting wet over boot top. 

 We begin by finding plenty of Small Waves 

 (Candidata). A better thing is the Sandy 

 Carpet ( Deeolorata ), which next falls to the 

 net rather sparingly. Out of the hornbeam 

 we drive that variable little moth, Corylata, 

 tolerably plentiful ; and also Temerata, sit- 

 ting delicately on the lower foliage of the 

 same trees. 



There are, of course, plenty of Evpethecia, 

 valgata, a few centaureata, and towards dusk 

 we take flying cratagata, which becomes a 

 perfect pest at last, every capture turning 

 out to be a "brimstone." In the lanes are 

 the Twin-spot carpets (ferrugata and uni- 

 dentata), so difficult to distinguish apart, 

 they fly over the tops of the hedges near 

 Chingford Station. Next to claim our 

 especial attention are one or two Flame 

 carpets (C propugnata) , which I took here 

 for the first time. A little earlier (May) 

 we find illunaria, not so many as nearer 

 Wood-street, where also abrvptaria, fluct- 

 ziata, and the engrailed moths occur, the 

 latter with wings spread out, on the trunks 

 of the trees, generally on the north side. 

 By Cook's Folly, and on towards the 

 "Napier Arms'" on the high road to Wood- 

 ford, we come across plenty of holly, a well- 

 known locality for argiolus, which little blue 

 is getting scarcer year by year. Beating 

 here we get plenty of pusaria, also remutata 

 (the cream wave), and off the low shrubs 



