Davey, P., 2009: A local species, the larva feeding on ash (Fraxinus excelsior) in mainland Britain, and on sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) along south-east and eastern coasts of England. The species has also been found on tamarisk (Tamarix gallica) in neighbouring Hampshire (Goater, Norris, 2001). Abroad, the species is polyphagous, with blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and dog-rose (Rosa canina) mentioned as foodplants. In Dorset, this distinctive elongated-winged moth is rare, and the sporadic nature of the few records we have, makes it difficult to assign a resident status to the species, particularly as the majority of the records are from the coastal belt where dispersal is suspected. The few examples found inland and not linked to immigration originate from the central chalk downs of Dorset: Chilfrome, on 19 July 2003 (S Philp), Puddletown, 19 June 2002 (H Wood Homer), Iwerne Minster, on 18 June 1967 (H Moore), Hambledon Hill, 18 July 1989 (Miss M Brooks). |