Some rather depressing Moth news from Butterfly Conservation from their 'State of Britain's Larger Moths 2013' report.
The authors of that report state that some 60 species have been lost to Great Britain during the last 100 years. Of these, we may have lost a further three: Bordered Gothic, Brighton Wainscot & Orange Upperwing since 2000. Three other species Barberry Carpet, Slender Scotch Burnet & Dark-bordered Beauty may be going the same way.
Other species like The Spinach, The V Moth have decreased by 95%, with the Garden Tiger also in the category. Other threatened species suffering similar declines are Pale Eggar, Figure of Eight, Garden Dart & Grey Chi.
Many of the above are still present in VC41, although some have not been recorded for several years.
Glamorgan Stats: [per GMRG database]
Orange Upperwing last recorded in VC41 c1874
Pale Eggar c1960
Bordered Gothic 1996 (although the records suggest they were the race Hibernica from Ireland and could well have been immigrants rather than a resident population).
V Moth 2002
Figure of Eight 2002 (a species that seems confined to the SE in VC41)
Spinach 2010
Grey Chi 2011 (mainly a species from northern districts in VC41)
Garden Dart 2011
Garden Tiger 2012
For further info on these and other species please visit:
www.justgiving.com/moth-challenge-fund
Mark Avery's blog is worth a look at in this context; http://markavery.info/2013/02/18/moths-bit-bird-food/#comments.
ReplyDeleteI recorded a figure of 8 in Rhoose in 2012 just for completeness!
Nicely summed up Jake.
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me that some recorders dispute the decline figures, saying the Rothamsted data aren't reliable. I'm sure the data aren't perfect, but it's pretty obvious that many once widespread species are now rare, or even locally extinct as you point out.
I caught two V-moth near Ruthin in north-east Wales last year, the first I'd seen for 20 years.
George
David. Please can I use this as the basis for a note in the next Butterfly News (Should be Butterfly & Moth!)South Wales BC newsletter?
ReplyDeleteCheers
Chris
PS I am the new editor so rather feeling my way here for this first edition!
As editor, you can probably change the name of the newsletter!
ReplyDelete