The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
Confined in Britain to the main moorland blocks of the north and west.
Regional Distribution
Listed in Cornwall by Clark (1906) and later discovered on Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor in 1975 by C. Brewster. Noted at Altarnun by R.T. Bannister.
Habitat & Ecology
Associated with mid-altitude upland heaths and grass-heaths, where it feeds on a variety of other insects during the summer months; in winter it retires into marginal woodlands, where it hibernates within decaying timber.
Threats
Agricultural improvements and commercial forestry around moorland fringes, especially where these interrupt the moorland/woodland transition.
Conservation
Protection of remaining moorland of Bodmin Moor and its woodland fringes from
inappropriate developments.
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.