Davey, P., 2009: Confirmed as a resident British species in Kent in 1948, the larva feeding on the ripening seeds of sweet william (Dianthus barbatus). The species subsequently spread northwards and westwards to much of south-east England and east Anglia, to Berkshire in the 1970s, and to Hampshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire during the 1980s. In Dorset, the moth was first recorded on the coast in 1992 in a north-easterly airflow, again on the coast two years later, then inland from 1996. Records have been rather sporadic subsequently, but occasional examples from Shaftebury and Gillingham suggest residency for the time being in the north of the county. The following light trap records comprise all county examples: West Bexington on 9 July 1992, 14 July 2000, 1 July 2001 (R Eden), Bere Regis, on 14 August 1996, 19 June 1997 (S Barrett), Child Okeford, on 2 July 1997 (S Barrett), Gillingham, on 20 June 1999, 6 July 2000, 17 June 2006, 10 June 2008 (G Hopkins), Shaftesbury, on 21 July 1996, 2 July 1997, 12 July 1997, 8 July 1998 (W Shreeves), Melbury Down, on 20 July 1996 (P Davey), Highcliffe, on 12 July 1994 (R Chapman). |