Worcestershire Record No. 6 April 1999 p. 22

GUIDE TO THE STATUS OF THE LARGER MOTHS OF WORCESTERSHIRE

I have been asked as county Lepidoptera recorder for a guide to the status of the Macrolepidoptera of the county, to help beginners, and so that more experienced recorders will be able to know which species are rare and uncommon. There has been no recent county list but I have now accumulated a large number of records and a comprehensive list of all the county's Lepidoptera is planned. In the meantime I thought some information that could be sent to anyone recording in Worcestershire would be useful and interesting.

I have confined this to the larger moths, as to include all the micros would make this too long and cumbersome, although I have myself been concentrating on recording the latter over the past twenty years.

I have divided the larger moths into four groups:

GROUP A (207)

Common and widespread species which I would expect most recorders to see throughout the county if they ran a moth trap in their gardens. Obviously exactly which species will turn up in your garden will depend on whether you live in the middle of an urban area or in the depths of the country, or next to woodland, etc. As requested I have included flight periods for these but not any other data, as these can be found in reference books such as Bernard Skinner's Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles. (Flight period listed in months of the year numbered 1-12, divided by / if two or more generations per year; hib=hibernates) These are only average flight periods, and sometimes species occur earlier or later, or in extra generations in unusually warm years. I have also included common day flying species, meaning that they fly in sunshine in the middle of the day. Many others, especially species of Geometridae and many microlepidoptera have an evening or dusk flight, or can be disturbed in the day.

GROUP B (181)

Local and less common species that are are nevertheless quite widespread in the county but are restricted in distribution or numbers.

GROUP C (126)

Rare and infrequently recorded and/or extremely localised species. 14 of these have not been seen since 1960's and 70's and some may now be extinct in Worcs.

GROUP D

Extinct species. Last record noted. (36 +13 nineteenth century records which seem likely to have been misidentifications, and have not been included).

I have listed the species in alphabetical order by English name in each group, as most beginners do not use scientific names, followed by the scientific name.

I would be delighted to receive records of both macro and microlepidoptera from anyone recording Lepidoptera in Worcestershire.

Group A: Common and Widespread species and Flight Periods (Months)

Group B: Local and less common, although widespread, species.

Group C: Rare and infrequently recorded, and very localised species.

GROUP D Extinct species. Last record