Cornish Biodiversity Network - Supporting Wildlife Recording
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
Recorded from the Channel Islands. Confined in Britain to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, with recent records from Lundy (Key, 1995) and the Channel Islands. Possibly recorded in Brittany (Key, 1995).
Regional Distribution
First recorded in Britain in 1957 on the Isles of Scilly (Richardson & Mere, 1958), where it is common and widespread (Agassiz, 1981) and since recorded in Cornwall near Newquay, Cubert Common, Upton Towans and Gwithian (Smith, 2002). The distribution of this species is almost certainly limited by the distribution of its foodplant.
Habitat & Ecology
Feeds on Balm-leaved Figwort Scophularia scorodonia, a Nationally Scarce species. This plant is found in maritime situations in Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, the Channel Isles, and western France. The moth is double-brooded and the adult flies in May/June and again in August and September.
Threats
There are few threats to the foodplant, although it can be overgrown by scrub.
00 Conservation
Conservation of foodplant.
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.