Migrant Moth Totals

Acrobasis fallouella

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first British record occurred in coastal VC13 in early August 2020; whilst distinctive from British congeners there is a very similar species in continental Europe from which fallouella has recently been split and any future suspected examples of this species in Britain should be retained for close examination.

Acrobasis tumidana

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 293

Comments/Details: An annual immigrant in varying numbers in recent seasons, particularly into coastal south-east England; the record annual total prior to 2019 was the 48 adults recorded in 2004. A huge, localised arrival event took place in 2019 when 90 were recorded on a single night in a VC15 woodland, contributing to a record annual total of at least 221 individuals that season.

Ancylodes pallens

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The single record came from VC9 on 5 January 1999 during a winter immigration from the south.

Ancylolomia tentaculella

Total records: 23

Comments/Details: An unprecedented arrival involving 16 tentaculella occurred in late July/early August 2019; these were recorded from VC's 9 (3), 10 (1), 13 (1), 14 (1), 15 (9) & 25 (1). The seven additional records occurred as single, isolated examples during July and the first half of August from VC's 11, 13, 15 (three), 18 & 27.

Ancylosis cinnamomella

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The only UK records occurred in from the same VC9 locality on 11 August 2003 & 6 August 2014; a widespread species across North Africa, the Middle East and much of mainland Europe as far north as Norway.

Ancylosis convexella

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first and only UK record to date occurred in VC15 on 29 October 2022 during a period of significant insect immigration from the south.

Antigastra catalaunalis

Total records: 265

Comments/Details: The total includes 32 records prior to 2006 when an unprecedented arrival of 134 adults occurred; since then an annual immigrant particularly into coastal southern England during the autumn months.

Catoptria verellus

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 154

Comments/Details: Formerly an extinct resident then, after a period of over 100 years without a UK record, an extremely scarce immigrant. A ten-year total has now been adopted to allow closer analysis of records due to the clear indication of domestic colonisation at a number of sites in recent years; the ten year total excludes records clearly associated with these localised breeding populations, although the status of verellus in Britain remains dynamic.

Ceutholopha isidis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A species recorded locally in the Mediterranean and more widely in North Africa; the only UK record arrived a time of intense immigration from the south, in VC15 on 18 August 2012.

Chrysocrambus craterella

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: All four confirmed UK craterella records were taken during the second half of the 19th Century in coastal VC15.

Chrysocrambus linetella

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: Three of the UK records are from the 19th Century; the only modern records of primary immigrants were taken in VC13 on 8 June1997 and in VC15 on 24 June 2019.

Cornifrons ulceratalis

Total records: 19

Comments/Details: The first occurrence of this species was a remarkable, multiple arrival event in association with a major influx of immigrant insects into Britain from the south during December 2015; 18 examples of this southern European and North African crambid were recorded, mainly from central southern and south-western England but with records also from Wales & Ireland, the last occurring on 3 January 2016. There has been a single subsequent record, from coastal VC9 on 22 October 2022.

Diasemia reticularis

Total records: 18

Comments/Details: Total relates to records since the second world war, these scattered across parts of southern England & Wales, with a single record from the Isle of Man; a series of records during the 19th Century until 1905 are excluded from the total and may indicate localised residency in parts of southern England & south Wales at that time.

Diasemiopsis ramburialis

Total records: 256

Comments/Details: Total is a bare minimum as a number of old records are vague or untraceable; a more frequent immigrant in recent times with the peak seasons occurring in 2003 & 2006 with totals of 44 & 32 records respectively. Most frequent during the autumn months in coastal central southern & south-west England, particularly VC's 1 & 9.

Eccopisa effractella

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: Recorded from central London (VC21) in 1995, Dungeness (VC15) in 2006, Thanet (VC15) & Southsea (VC11) in 2015, and from Thanet again in 2018; likely to be primary immigrants although the first record may relate to an adventive. The two 2015 records were recorded on the same night at light-traps situated over 100 miles apart.

Elegia atrifasciella

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The only UK record occurred in VC11 on 24 April 2011; this record was formerly listed as referring to Elegia fallax but these congeners were recently split and examination of the Hampshire specimen has confirmed it is an example of atrifasciella. An earlier record from Guernsey initially thought to be fallax has also been found to relate to this species.

Etiella zinckenella

Total records: 47

Comments/Details: Total relates to wild-caught adults, although three of these records are thought most likely to be associated with accidental importations; first recorded in the UK in 1989 and becoming more frequent in recent years with the record annual arrival of 20 examples occurring in 2020 in East Anglia & the south-east.

Euchromius cambridgei

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The two records come from inland sites in VC32 (16.8.2005) & VC17 (12.6.2014) and may relate to adventive examples, although primary immigration cannot be ruled out as the source of one or both.

Euchromius ocellea

Total records: 393

Comments/Details: Recorded in every month of the year, but the January to March period accounts for the majority of the records, with the record annual total of 144 in 2008 including an unprecedented arrival of 141 moths during late January & February in association with a plume of warm air from North Africa. Most frequent in southern England, particularly the south-west, but has occurred throughout Britain.

Euchromius ramburiellus

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The only British record to date was a retrospectively identified specimen taken at light near Penzance, Cornwall on 1 October 2011, during a period of strong migrant activity, and added to the British list in 2015.

Euzophera bigella

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: Total relates only to wild-caught adults, although there have been a number of additional records of adults and larvae associated with artificial importations with food produce. A widespread species in southern Europe, the four wild-caught adult records thought most likely to relate to primary immigrants.

Friedlanderia cicatricella

Total records: 28

Comments/Details: Of the 28 records, 25 have occurred since 1999 and 22 have occurred in VC15, particularly in the extreme south-east of that vice-county; all the British records have been recorded during July and the first half of August with a number of records during the first decade of the 21st Century likely to have been the result of temporary establishment.

Hellula undalis

Total records: 216

Comments/Details: First recorded in 1967 then not again until 1988, since which time it has been almost annual with the peak arrival of 73 adults having occurred in 2011; most frequently recorded during the autumn months in coastal south-west England, particularly VC1.

Herpetogramma licarsisalis

Total records: 34

Comments/Details: First recorded in 1998; all the records have been between late September and early November, 23 of these having occurred in VC1. Sixteen records prior to the record 2019 season when the number of British records were more than doubled; the total of 18 licarsisalis recorded in 2019 occurred during a ten-day period in late September/early October in VC's 1 (13), 9 (4) & 10 (1).

Hodebertia testalis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The only record was of one caught on the Scillies on 17 October 2006.

Lamoria anella

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The only record was of one caught at an inland site in VC31 on 5 October 2018; a potential primary immigrant species that is widely resident across southern Europe and North Africa.

Loryma egregialis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first and only UK record to date occurred at an inland locality in VC24 on 30 July 2022; this record is most likely to relate to an accidentally introduced adventive individual, although a primary immigrant source is a possibility.

Loxostege sticticalis

Total records: 576+

Comments/Details: Total relates to the minimum number of records of probable primary immigrants, these having been most frequent in coastal southern and eastern Britain, although sometimes recorded in more north-easterly locations. Favoured years for arrivals of this species include the record year of 1995 when 107 adults were recorded, and 1996 & 2001 with 72 & 76 records respectively; previously resident in East Anglia.

Maruca vitrata

Total records: 18

Comments/Details: Total relates only to wild-caught adults, although there have been a number of additional records of adults and larvae indoors. A widespread tropical and sub-tropical species; a majority of wild-caught adult records are thought likely to relate to primary immigrants, although several recorded in urban, inland settings are more likely to have resulted from the accidental importation of the early stages in food produce.

Mussidia nigrivenella

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The single given record is of a probable primary immigrant taken in a light-trap at Dungeness (VC15) on 12 August 1994 at a time of much immigrant activity; there is an additional record of an adventive example found in a cocoa warehouse in London in 1930.

Nomophila noctuella

Total records: N/A

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that occurs in its highest numbers during the autumn months, and has occurred in every part of Britain. Numbers tend to fluctuate more greatly than those of Udea ferrugalis and it is more often recorded in high numbers diurnally when it can be disturbed in swarms during peak arrival periods.

Palpita vitrealis

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 5065

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that is now occurring in far greater numbers than in the 20th Century when records of this species were noteworthy. This is illustrated by minimum annual totals exceeding 750 in 2006, 2013, 2014 & 2017, and into four figures in the two seasons of 2018 & 2020 (the latter year not yet included in the collated ten-year total).

Paracorsia repandalis

Total records: 14

Comments/Details: The 14 records involved singletons in 1977, 1992, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 & 2020, with the only multiple arrivals of three records in 2018 & 2022; three records have been of first brood individuals, the other 11 occurring in the autumn. By vice-county, records have come from VC's 9 (five), 10, 15 (seven) & 20.

Psammotis pulveralis

Total records: 72

Comments/Details: Total relates to modern records only, these most frequent in coastal parts of south-east England with peak arrivals during 1998 & 2006 producing 14 records in both these years; a series of records during the late 19th Century until 1906 are excluded from the total and may indicate a very localised breeding presence at that time in southern England.

Pyrausta aerealis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A widespread moth in mainland Europe; the origin of the single VC15 record in June 2012 is open to speculation.

Sciota rhenella

Total records: 23

Comments/Details: The 23 records to the end of 2022 occurred in VC's 13 (one), 14 (one), 15 (13) & 25 (eight), occurring between mid-June and early August with the peak annual arrival of seven individuals recorded in 2022; a sciotid that is resident widely on the near continent including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark, with the clear potential for colonisation in south-east England.

Selagia argyrella

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: Just a single modern record from Blythburgh, Suffolk on 6 July 2015; previous records all from 19th Century (two in Essex, one in Kent).

Spoladea recurvalis

Total records: 266

Comments/Details: First UK record in 1951 but remaining very scarce until 2006 when there were 19 records; more regular in appearance since then with the then record arrival of 61 individuals occurring in 2011, this being surpassed in 2018 by the total of 94 records. Most frequent during the autumn months in coastal south-west England, particularly VC1, but has occurred in every country of the UK.

Udea ferrugalis

Total records: N/A

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that occurs in its highest numbers during the autumn, has occurred in every part of Britain, and can become established over several seasons at times (particularly in south-west England).

Uresiphita gilvata

Total records: 219

Comments/Details: A minimum total of records of immigrant adults that includes the record annual total of at least 51 individuals recorded in 2013; most frequent along the south coast, particularly from VC9 westwards, but has occurred in all the countries of the UK.

Zophodia grossulariella

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: Recorded during the late April to June period, from Norfolk (1992 & 2006), Kent (1982 & 2001) & Suffolk (2016); these records are probably of immigrants, although an adventive origin cannot be ruled out.

Accent Gem Ctenoplusia accentifera

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The two UK records occurred at Halstead (VC15) on 10 September 1969 & Exmouth (VC3) on 29 October 2014.

African Condica capensis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The sole UK record of this widespread African species occurred at Bodinnick (VC2) on 3 May 1958 at a time of significant insect immigration from the south.

Alchymist Catephia alchymista

Total records: 25

Comments/Details: Many of the 25 records are historic with 16 having occurred in the period from 1858 to 1934. Following just one more record during the remainder of the 20th Century (from VC13 in 1963), there has, however, been a resurgence in the frequency of records this century. This has involved records from VC14 (2006, 2007 & 2021), VC21 (2016), VC25 (2018), and three records in 2020 (two from VC15 & one from VC11) equalling the peak annual total previously attained in 1934.

Angle-striped Sallow Enargia paleacea

Total records: 118

Comments/Details: Total relates to extralimital records of suspected immigrant adults, these generally occurring earlier in the season than in resident populations; the peak arrival occurred as long ago as 1964 when there were 26 such records.

Banded Nycteoline Nycteola siculana

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first British example of this species occurred on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (VC1) in September 2018; a tricky species to identify due to variation within the genus with the retention of a voucher recommended if this species is suspected

Banded Pine Carpet Pungeleria capreolaria

Total records: 23

Comments/Details: The first UK records occurred as recently as 2014 when four records of first-brood examples occurred during May & June. This species has been recorded annually since, with the 23 records to date having involved 14 first-brood and nine second-brood examples. By vice-county these have occurred in VC's 9 (three), 10, 11 (two), 13, 14 (three), 15 (ten), 17, 25 & 37.

Barberry Carpet Pareulype berberata

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: Presumed immigrant examples from VC15 in 1996 (two) & 2008.

Beautiful Marbled Eublemma purpurina

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 156

Comments/Details: First recorded in 2001, the incidence of this species has markedly increased in recent seasons with several record seasons since 2018 and probable domestic breeding in several areas; this has resulted in purpurina now being collated on a ten-year basis.

Bedrule Brocade Mniotype solieri

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The single record occurred at Bedrule (VC80) on 29 August 1976; a southern European species.

Bedstraw Hawk-moth Hyles gallii

Total records: 2010 - 2019: c.320

Comments/Details: Ten-year total of probable immigrant adults only. Larvae are also occasionally recorded, with this species very locally established as a resident in parts of East Anglia. Whilst the total given relates to probable migrants from mainland Europe, in some regions it can be difficult to distinguish these from adults that result from the domestic dispersal of moths originating from populations within our shores.

Berber Pseudenargia ulicis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The only UK record to date was taken in the New Forest (VC11) on 16 August 1935; a widespread species in mainland Europe including much of France and Iberia.

Black Collar Dichagyris flammatra

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: Total includes three well-documented pre-1900 records: from VC10 in 1859 & 1876, and VC27 in 1875; the only records since have come from VC34 in June 1968 and VC112 in June 1997.

Black V Moth Arctornis l-nigrum

Total records: 6

Comments/Details: The six records exclude a few rather vague 19th Century records, and records associated with a breeding population that was present in VC18 from 1947 to 1960. The primary immigrant records occurred in VC19 in 1904, VC13 in 1946, VC16 in 2006, VC10 in 2015 and VC15 in 2020 & 2022.

Blair’s Mocha Cyclophora puppillaria

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 226

Comments/Details: The ten-year total attempts to exclude those records clearly originating from localised breeding, this becoming evident in localised parts of VC's 9, 10, 11 & 13 in recent years. The 2006 season produced an exceptionally high frequency of migrant insects and southerly airstreams across Britain, with puppillaria colonies persisting in some areas subsequently, most particularly in several coastal localities in West Sussex.

Blossom Underwing Orthosia miniosa

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 81

Comments/Details: Ten-year total relates to probable immigrant records only. Immigrants occur in most seasons, these generally in extralimital sites or unsuitable habitat along the south and east coasts of England during late March & April; the peak number of such records occurred in 2014 when at least 18 immigrant miniosa were recorded.

Boathouse Gem Thysanoplusia daubei

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: The first British record was taken on the Lizard (VC1) in 2014, with two more records in 2020, from VC13 in July and Co Waterford, Eire in September; a fourth record occurred in VC15 in November 2022. A resident of the Mediterranean region & North Africa.

Bordered Straw Heliothis peltigera

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 3789

Comments/Details: A species that can fluctuate greatly in numbers from one year to the next with good seasons sometimes resulting in a home-bred second generation in southern England during the late summer/autumn. The lowest annual total in recent years was just six in 2008, with the record total of at least 3154 adults in 2015; in most years, a scarcer species than Scarce Bordered Straw.

Bright Wave Idaea ochrata

Total records: 31

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant examples unassociated with breeding populations in VC15; mainly from coastal southern and eastern England. Two previously included records from western Ireland in 2006 have now been discredited.

Burren Green Calamia tridens

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A single British mainland record that occurred in Essex in July 2014 in association with an arrival of immigrant Lepidoptera from the east; a resident in western Eire.

Cameo Crypsedra gemmea

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The single record occurred at an inland site in VC22 on 1 September 1979; a striking moth that is widely distributed in parts of central and northern mainland Europe; at the time of this record it was stated to be extending its range and have the potential to re-occur.

Chevron Snout Hypena lividalis

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: The first British example was taken in Greenwich, London (VC16) on 9 November 2015; this has been closely followed by records from VC17 on 18 October 2017, VC15 on 13 July 2019 & VC11 on 12 November 2022, all coinciding with arrivals of other immigrant species. A distinctive species that is undergoing north-westward range expansion in continental Europe.

Clifden Nonpareil Catocala fraxini

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 328

Comments/Details: Ten-year total is necessarily approximate due to confusion caused by scattered resident populations across southern England; listed records generally relate to coastal, extralimital or out of habitat records apparently unassociated with known breeding populations. Traditionally an immigrant from the east, recent records suggest immigrants are now arriving more frequently from the south with records along the whole of the south coast; in association with the formation of new colonies, an increase in primary immigration in this species has been clearly evident in recent years.

Cloaked Pug Eupithecia abietaria

Total records: c. 83

Comments/Details: An approximate figure of potential immigrant records, although some of these records may relate to internal vagrancy.

Concolorous Chortodes extrema

Total records: 55+

Comments/Details: Total relates to records of suspected immigrants not associated with resident populations. Almost all of these immigrant records have occurred during June & early July in south-east England, a majority in VC15; the record annual total of at least eight such records occurred in 2017.

Conformist Lithophane furcifera

Total records: 12

Comments/Details: Total relates to the nominate, immigrant race. The only records since 1946 occurred at Seaton Sluice (VC67) on 16 April 2007 & Insh (VC96) on 9 April 2011; a hibernating species that can occur during the autumn or spring months.

Convolvulus Hawk-moth Agrius convolvuli

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 3475

Comments/Details: Ten-year total of adults only; larval records occur in most years and larvae can be found in good numbers in late summer/autumn following large arrivals of adults during the summer period. A regular immigrant that usually produces three-figure annual totals; the peak annual adult counts of 2,671 in 2003 and 2,335 in 2006 remain more than three times greater than any other annual total.

Cosmopolitan Leucania loreyi

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 367

Comments/Details: An immigrant that has become more frequent in recent seasons, particularly into south-west England in the late autumn. Annual numbers fluctuate greatly with the 532 adults recorded during the record year of 2006 sandwiched between the combined total of just six records during the 2007 & 2009 seasons.

Crimson Speckled Utetheisa pulchella

Total records: 579+

Comments/Details: Totals of this distinctive species include well-documented records back to 1818; these suggest that the species was more frequent in the 19th Century (when at least 270 examples were recorded) than in the 20th Century (when 135 were recorded), although the frequency of pulchella since the turn of the 21st Century has again shown an increase (174+ up to 2021). The peak arrival years to date are 1892 (49+) and 2011 (47) (although these are expected to exceeded by the 2022 season), with a majority of records in recent years occurring in south-west England during the month of October.

Dark Crimson Underwing Catocala sponsa

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 108

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable primary immigrant records only; in common with Clifden Nonpareil, records of immigrants have become harder to discern due to the wider presence of breeding populations in recent seasons, and totals generally relate to coastal, extralimital or out of habitat records away from known breeding localities. Numbers of such immigrant records have increased since the turn of the century resulting in migrant sponsa records now being collated on a ten-year basis.

Dark Mottled Willow Spodoptera cilium

Total records: 37

Comments/Details: A strong bias for records into the far south-west of England during late September & October; the first UK records occurred in 1990 with the record annual total of seven adults arriving during the autumn of 2011. Whilst remaining a true rarity, cilium has become almost annual in occurrence in recent seasons.

Dark Sword-grass Agrotis ipsilon

Total records: N/A

Comments/Details: A regular and frequent immigrant that often produces a locally-bred generation in the late summer and autumn, this bolstering further arrivals and often producing large numbers of adults, particularly in coastal southerly locations.

Death’s-head Hawk-moth Acherontia atropos

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 169

Comments/Details: Ten-year total of adults only. Records of the early stages can be as frequent as those of the adults that are only weakly attracted to light and, due to their large size and striking appearance, are often recorded by day by non-lepidopterists; the peak occurrence year was in 1956 when almost 400 examples were recorded of adults, larvae and pupae. In recent seasons, adult numbers have often reached double figures during a single season, with recent adult peaks of 34 in 2003 & 33 in 2006.

Delicate Mythimna vitellina

Total records: N/A

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that invariably reaches 3-figure annual totals and often 4-figures; the peak total of 8622 was achieved in 2006. Most frequent in southern coastal locations, particularly the south-west, with autumn numbers often inflated by locally-bred adults. With more protracted colonisation now apparent in some coastal areas, numerical collation of records at a national level has become impractical and is no longer available.

Dewick’s Plusia Macdunnoughia confusa

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 358

Comments/Details: The ten-year total is of all adult records suspected to relate to primary immigration; however, as with a number of recently colonising species, this total may include dispersing, locally bred insects associated with colonies in south-east England & East Anglia.

Dorset Cream Wave Stegania trimaculata

Total records: 7

Comments/Details: Records from VC9 in June 1979 & May 2008, VC19 in July 2006, VC63 in August 2018, VC25 in July 2020, VC28 in September 2022 & VC15 in September 2022; the scattered distribution of these records is unusual with those from VC's 63 & 28 at particularly far-inland localities.

Dotted Footman Pelosia muscerda

Total records: 213

Comments/Details: Total of immigrant examples unassociated with resident populations in East Anglia; these are largely from coastal localities in south-east England in late July & August. The peak annual total of 21 suspected immigrant muscerda records occurred in 2018.

Druid Aedia funesta

Total records: 19

Comments/Details: The first UK record was taken at Kingsdown (VC15) on 13 June 2014 since which funesta has occurred annually with a peak arrival of five individuals in 2017. By vice-county the 19 moths to date have been recorded from VC's 9 (two), 10 (four), 11 (three), 13 (three), 14 (four) & 15 (three).

Dumeril’s Rustic Luperina dumerilii

Total records: 32

Comments/Details: A scarce immigrant that generally occurs in southern England during late August and September; despite increased levels of light-trapping the occurrence of this species has remained exceptional. Of the 32 records, just 23 have occurred since 1900, with only four since 1975, the most recent in 1997. Six examples caught in 1859 remain the peak, with more recently four recorded in 1961.

Dusky Fan-foot Zanclognatha zelleralis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A single record from VC45 in late July 1982 remains the only UK record of this species; the origin of this record is open to question but may have been the result of primary immigration.

Dusky Hook-tip Drepana curvatula

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 92

Comments/Details: A species occurring with increasing frequency, first recorded in the UK in 1960 then just 11 records until the end of the 20th Century. A strong bias for records into the south-east of England, the annual peak immigrant count of 17 occurring in 2014. A localised colony was found in VC15 during 2017 which had spread into VC14 by 2020; records clearly associated with these resident populations have been excluded from the ten-year total provided.

Dusky Marbled Brown Gluphisia crenata

Total records: 12

Comments/Details: Prior to 2019 there had been five confirmed records of immigrants, all from VC15: New Romney on 17 June 2003, Dungeness on 26 June 2011, Saltwood on 6 August 2014 & 1 July 2015, and Lydden on 1 July 2018 ; this total was almost doubled in 2019 due to the unprecedented occurrence of four individuals (three in VC15 and one in VC25), the three VC15 records occurring on the same night of 24 July. Further VC15 records occurred in June 2020 (two) & July 2021 (one). Despite the recent upsurge in records, speculation on future colonisation by crenata must be tempered by the fact that only males have been recorded in Britain to date and the ability of the more sedentary female to migrate to our shores is questionable.

Dusky Scalloped Oak Crocallis dardoinaria

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: Two records of presumed primary immigrants to the UK: from VC3 in September 2006 and VC9 in August 2009; an established resident on the Channel Islands.

Eastern Bordered Straw Heliothis nubigera

Total records: 39

Comments/Details: Records widely spread across southern England and East Anglia, with single records from Wales & Ireland during the record year of 2006 when 19 examples were recorded. The majority of records have occurred during May & June, but a number of winter records have occurred in association with warm plumes of air emanating from Africa, including six examples recorded during the December 2015 immigration from this region.

Eastern Nycteoline Nycteola asiatica

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: First recorded as British in 1993, although the specimen was not confirmed as asiatica until several years later; all the UK records to date have occurred in coastal localities in southern & eastern England during the month of September. Any suspected examples of this species should be retained for confirmation due its similarity to N. revayana and other congeners.

Egyptian Bollworm Earias insulana

Total records: 11

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrants (an adventive example found indoors in 2013 is not included in the total); a majority of the records have been along the south coast of England during the month of October in association with arrivals of insects from the south.

Essex Y Cornutiplusia circumflexa

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A single record from Sway (VC11) on 29 July 1979 remains the only confirmed British record.

Eversmann’s Rustic Actebia fennica

Total records: 6

Comments/Details: Total includes one pre-1900 record; annual peak of three records in 1972, with single records in 1977 & 1983. An unusual distribution of records, with those from VC's 67 & 93 suggesting a north-easterly bias, but four of the six records coming from inland sites in central & southern England.

Feline Cerura erminea

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first British record was taken in a light-trap in coastal VC15 on 29 June 2019; of sporadic occurrence in the Channel Islands since the first there in 1995.

Fir Carpet Thera vetustata

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: The first two records were of second-brood examples during the month of October in 2006 & 2011; the two most recent in 2015 & 2016 were of first-brood moths during the summer months. To date records have occurred in VC's 9, 13 & 15, all in coastal locations.

Flame Brocade Trigonophora flammea

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 74

Comments/Details: A late autumn immigrant from the south that has established localised colonies in VC's 9 & 14; the ten-year total provided excludes records likely to be associated with these extant breeding populations.

Flame Wainscot Senta flammea

Total records: 53+

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrant records only, from coastal localities in southern England away from known breeding areas; the peak annual total of seven such records occurred in 2019.

French Red Underwing Catocala elocata

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first British record was taken at Eythorne (VC15) on 9 September 2015.

Gem Nycterosea obstipata

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 3038

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that usually produces three-figure annual totals, these peaking in 2002 (744) and 2006 (1,185). Whilst the larvae are not known to have been recorded in the wild in the UK, this species may have been established on the Scillies for a short period in the early part of the 21st Century.

Geometrician Grammodes stolida

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: A very scarce immigrant recorded from the UK as follows: Dartmouth (VC3) on 23 September 1903, Crowborough (VC14) on 30 September 1990, Portland (VC9) on 24 September 2019, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (VC1) on 2 October 2019; both 2019 moths were active and recorded by day. An adventive example found dead in imported produce in Belfast, Co Down, in September 2017 has been excluded from the total.

Golden Twin-spot Chrysodeixis chalcites

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 613

Comments/Details: Ten year total of all records of a species that has increased in frequency in recent years, particularly in south-east and eastern England; the record total in 2019 saw a minimum of 238 examples recorded, this surpassed by the high, as yet unquantified, numbers recorded in 2020. There has however been no clear indication of sustained establishment to date (emphasised by exceptionally low numbers in 2021), although high numbers in a few localised areas would suggest some short-term breeding success has occurred, and wild larvae were recorded for the first time in 2019 from VC14.

Golden-rod Brindle Xylena solidaginis

Total records: 23

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant records only. The record arrival of this species took place in 1954 with 17 records; since then there have been just six records of probable immigrants in six separate years, the most recent from VC25 in 2021 being the first such record in over a decade.

Great Brocade Eurois occulta

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 110

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant records only, the immigrant form being larger and paler than resident examples. Immigrants are thought to originate from Scandinavian populations and have an east to north-easterly bias to their distribution, although records can extend to the south and west of Britain during large arrival years. The two peak arrivals have occurred since the turn of the 21st Century in 2006 (421) & 2007 (162).

Great Dart Agrotis bigramma

Total records: 47

Comments/Details: A scarce and infrequent immigrant; the large majority of records have occurred during the month of August in coastal, central southern England.

Grey Carpet Lithostege griseata

Total records: 7

Comments/Details: Total of probable immigrants from east coast localities unassociated with breeding populations in the Brecks, although some of these records may relate to domestic dispersal rather than immigration from the continent.

Gypsy Moth Lymantria dispar

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 127

Comments/Details: Another once scarce immigrant into Britain where the recent records have become confused by breeding, accidentally introduced populations. The ten-year total refers to probable records of primary immigrants; all of these have been male examples, a majority in coastal south-eastern and southern England between July and September. However, with introduced resident populations at a number of locations in south-east England, particulaly in the London area, a number of records included in the total may relate to wanderers from UK populations rather than from the continent.

Humming-bird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum

Total records: N/A

Comments/Details: A regular, diurnal immigrant that often exceeds annual totals of 1000 adults nationally, with regular records of larvae and increasing evidence of successfully overwintering adults. Has increasingly become impossible to calculate accurate numbers of this widely encountered and recorded species, and meaningful ten-year record collation is no longer practical.

Jersey Mocha Cyclophora ruficiliaria

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 37

Comments/Details: A migrant species becoming more widespread as a breeding colonist, the given 10-year total excludes records clearly associated with colonies now present in VC's 1, 3, 9, 10 & 17, although some records may be the result of domestic dispersal rather than immigration from the continent.

Jubilee Fan-foot Zanclognatha lunalis

Total records: 8

Comments/Details: The first two records were from VC24 in August 1976 & VC9 in July 2001; in 2015 two examples were recorded in a woodland in East Kent with two further examples there in 2016 hinting at a local colony; there were however no further records from this site in 2017. A third record in 2016 came from a coastal site in VC19, and a 2014 record from a different woodland site in VC15 has recently been confirmed.

Landguard Ochre Amphipyra effusa

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A single immigrant or adventive individual recorded at Landguard (VC25) on 17 June 2017.

Large Dark Prominent Notodonta torva

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: One record of an adult from Eastbourne (VC14) on 29 May 1979. There was also an adult reported in 1882, said to have been reared from an ovum or larva found in Norfolk that year.

Latin Callopistria juventina

Total records: 18

Comments/Details: Records have occurred in every month from May to August, with an October record in 2018. 14 of the 18 records have occurred since 2015; by vice-county, the UK records have come from VC's 1 (two), 9 (two), 11 (four), 13 (three), 14 (three) & 15 (four).

Latreille’s Latin Callopistria latreillei

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: The five adult records to date occurred in VC15 in October 2006, at sea in late August 2007, in VC14 in October 2013, in VC1 in October 2017, and in VC2 in October 2022; the record at sea was found alive on a boat to the south of Ireland but may have been the result of ship-assisted passage as the boat had travelled from southern Europe. The species was included on the British list for many years due to a larva found in 19th Century at an unspecified locality in southern England from which an adult was bred.

Lesser Belle Colobochyla salicalis

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: Just two records of probable immigrants not associated with extinct resident populations: Maidencombe (VC3) on 14 August 1965 & Eccles-on-sea (VC27) on 23 June 1998.

Levant Blackneck Tathorhynchus exsiccata

Total records: 28

Comments/Details: All records from southern England, the majority from VC's 1 & 9. A species often associated with periods of deep southerly airstreams during the winter months with 16 records during the January to March period; the peak arrival occurred during February 2004 when nine examples were recorded.

Lewes Wave Scopula immorata

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: An extinct resident last recorded at its sole breeding location in VC14 in 1961; the only record of this species as a primary immigrant into the UK occurred in coastal, western VC11 on 29 June 2017.

Light Crimson Underwing Catocala promissa

Total records: 47

Comments/Details: This species remains a scarcer immigrant than sponsa, although in recent seasons immigrant records have increased in frequency with the peak season of 2020 producing 25 presumed immigrant individuals. Whilst the main breeding promissa population remains in the New Forest, there is recent evidence of the successful colonisation of parts of VC's 14 & 17 (and probably elsewhere in the south-east), with records clearly associated with these colonies excluded from the given total.

Lorimer’s Rustic Caradrina flavirena

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The two records occurred in Middlesex in October 1967 and Hampshire in September 2021; a very similar species in appearance to clavipalpis but with typically a more rolled-up resting posture similar to exigua, a darker, more uniform, greyer forewing, a bolder series of white dashes encircling the reniform stigmata, and a yellow fleck within the reniform stigmata from which the specific Latin name is derived. The 1967 record remains under review.

Lunar Double-stripe Minucia lunaris

Total records: 46

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant records, not those associated with the extinct colony in VC15; of the 46 immigrant records, only 22 have occurred in the last 50 years.

Lydd Beauty Peribatodes ilicaria

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: Recorded in VC15 in 1990, 1994 & 2002, and VC10 in 1996 (two); all these records have occurred during the month of August. The 1994 example was a female from which a number of progeny were reared in captivity.

Maize Wainscot Sesamia nonagrioides

Total records: 4

Comments/Details: Prior to the 2021 season the only record occurred on the Isles of Scilly (VC1) on 2 October 2011; ten years later, 2021 produced an unprecedented arrival of three examples into VC3 over the nights of 7 & 8 September.

Many-lined Costaconvexa polygrammata

Total records: 58

Comments/Details: Total of immigrant examples unassociated with the extinct breeding population present in VC29 in the 19th Century; the peak arrival of 25 examples occurred in 2006.

Marbled Grey Bryophila raptricula

Total records: 19

Comments/Details: All the records of this species have occurred during the months of July & August in south-east England, with 14 of the 19 records from VC15. There was a surge of records during the last decade of the 20th Century since which time raptricula has become exceedingly scarce again with a record from Hampshire in July 2021 being the first UK record since 2009.

Marbled Nutmeg Anarta odontites

Total records: 0

Comments/Details: The first UK record of this species was caught in a light-trap at Lydd-on-sea (VC15) on 7 July 2023. Whilst this record is assumed to relate to a primary immigrant, odontites is not regarded as a migratory species within its breeding range in mainland Europe, although a fairly old extralimital record from Belgium is significant. An upland species of southern Europe, the breeding range extending into parts of northern France; the UK checklist number of 73.2552 has been allocated to this species.

Marigold Shark Cucullia calendulae

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: The three widely scattered British records come from VC1 on 7 December 2016, VCH6 on 25 December 2018, and VC14 on 23 November 2020, all records associated with late autumn/winter migrant arrivals and likely to relate to primary immigrants; a winter-flying species closely resembling C. chamomillae that requires specimen retention to provide confirmation of identity.

Marsh Dagger Acronicta strigosa

Total records: 8

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant records that have occurred since strigosa died out as resident in the 1930's. The first five such records occurred during the month of July in VC13 (two in 2010), VC14 (1996 & 2015), and VC15 (2013); the most recent records were taken in VC10 on 2 August 2015, VC13 on 25 June 2020, and VC10 on 7 August 2020.

Mediterranean Brocade Spodoptera littoralis

Total records: 11

Comments/Details: Total relates to possible immigrants taken at light, although the inland, urban location of at least four of these records could be more indicative of an artificially introduced origin; indeed there have been a number of additional adventive records of the adult directly associated with imported flowers and fruits.

Minsmere Crimson Underwing Catocala conjuncta

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The single record was taken in VC25 on 15 September 2004.

Ni Moth Trichoplusia ni

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 437

Comments/Details: A species that can occur in greatly fluctuating numbers; this can be best illustrated by the total of 451 adults recorded during the peak season of 2006, followed by just a single record over the following two years.

Nonconformist Lithophane lamda

Total records: 15

Comments/Details: The fifteen records include several localised clusters and it is possible that most (if not all) the UK records of this moth relate to extinct breeding populations in parts of south-east England and East Anglia. The last UK record came from VC29 in 1938.

Oak Processionary Thaumetopoea processionea

Total records: 2010-19: 137

Comments/Details: Total refers to probable records of primary immigrants; all of these have been male examples, a majority in coastal south-eastern England during August. Formerly a very scarce immigrant, the incidence of these migrant male examples is on the increase, emphasised by a record and widespread arrival in 2020, so records of immigrant processionea are now collated on a ten-year basis. Females are much more sedentary than the males and none have ever been recorded as immigrants or indeed away from breeding areas. Whilst natural colonisation of the UK by this species is therefore unlikely, there is an introduced breeding population that has spread from the London area into a number of the Home Counties and a few examples included in the total may relate to wandering males from this population rather than primary immigrants.

Oak Yellow Underwing Catocala nymphagoga

Total records: 8

Comments/Details: The eight scattered records have occurred across southern England and Wales between July & September, a majority from inland locations, in 1982 (two), 2002, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2018 & 2021.

Oleander Hawk-moth Daphnis nerii

Total records: 132+

Comments/Details: Many records of nerii in Britain are historic with the peak annual total of 15 occurring as long ago as 1953. More recently this spectacular species has become an extremely infrequent immigrant, although very recently there has been an upturn in the number of records and the 12 examples recorded in 2018 represented the highest annual total since the 1953 peak.

Olive Crescent Trisateles emortualis

Total records: c. 58

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrant examples, unassociated with the scattered resident populations, although as this species gains breeding territory across southern England the origin of records is increasingly difficult to determine.

Orache Moth Trachea atriplicis

Total records: 155

Comments/Details: Total excludes records associated with the extinct resident population that died out in the first quarter of the 20th Century; a more frequent migrant during the current century with the highest annual totals occurring in 2010 (18) & 2015 (14).

Orange Upperwing Jodia croceago

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A single record of a probable immigrant after this species became extinct as a resident: Ashdown Forest (VC13), 11 May 2006.

Paignton Snout Hypena obesalis

Total records: 6

Comments/Details: The six scattered records have occurred between late August and October in VC3 (1908), VC17 (1969), VC38 (1973), VC5 (2002), VC67 (2005) & VC25 (2015).

Pale Shining Brown Polia bombycina

Total records: 11

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant records only, all of these to date from VC15 and of a more silvery-grey appearance than the resident form; the most recent of these records occurred in 2006.

Pale Shoulder Acontia lucida

Total records: 69

Comments/Details: Total includes includes nine 19th Century records, although there were no records in the period 1880-1993. The peak season of 2020 produced at least 20 records that included mutiple occurrences at three sites in VC15 indicating the probability of local breeding success.

Pale-lemon Sallow Cirrhia ocellaris

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 84

Comments/Details: Ten-year total relates to coastal, often extralimital records in southern and eastern England that probably involve primary immigrants. Such records have become an increasingly regular feature of autumn immigrations in recent years with blank years in just two of the ten years collated, and a peak arrival of at least 24 records in 2011.

Pale-shouldered Cloud Chloantha hyperici

Total records: 39

Comments/Details: First recorded in 1996; all records from south-east England with clusters of records in VC's 15 & 25 hinting at the possibility of local colonisation. Recorded in every month from May to September, with 33 of the 39 records coming from the Folkestone/Hythe area. The peak season of 2020 produced nine records from this area over a 10-week period from July to September; it is now widely accepted that these records originate from a localised but fragmented, double-brooded breeding population.

Parallel Lines Grammodes bifasciata

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first British record of this spectacular southern European species was recorded at light at an inland locality in VC29 in early July 2020.

Passenger Dysgonia algira

Total records: 46

Comments/Details: All records have been from southern England, a majority during the months of August & September; the peak season occurred in 2006 when 12 examples were recorded.

Patton’s Tiger Hyphoraia testudinaria

Total records: 5

Comments/Details: The five records are from VC13 in May 2005, VC3 in June 2006, VC10 (two) in May 2011, & VC9 in May 2011; the last three records occurred within a two-day period and constituted the first multiple arrival of this species into the UK.

Pearly Underwing Peridroma saucia

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 5663

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that invariably occurs in three figures each year, annual totals often exceeding 1000, and generally most frequent in southern England during the autumn months. The highest documented annual total is the 8495+ adults noted during 2006.

Pine Processionary Thaumetopoea pityocampa

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: Three confirmed records of adult males: Burghfield Common (VC22) in July 1966, Orfordness (VC25) on 16 August 2013, and Weymouth (VC9) on 1 August 2017; there were also unconfirmed 19th Century reports of larvae in VC16.

Pine-tree Lappet Dendrolimus pini

Total records: 8

Comments/Details: All eight records of immigrant pini relate to male examples recorded at south coast localities from Kent to Cornwall since 1996; they exclude two very old records of questionable authenticity and records associated with a breeding population recently found in eastern Scotland.

Pink-barred Marbled Eublemma cochylioides

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first and only UK record to date occurred at an inland locality in VC23 on 15 August 2022; whilst primary immigration is the most likely source of this record, adventism cannot be ruled out.

Porter’s Rustic Proxenus hospes

Total records: 215

Comments/Details: First recorded in 1978, the peak arrival of 53 records occurring in 2008; most frequently recorded from the southern coastal counties of England during the late summer and autumn periods.

Powdered Rustic Hoplodrina superstes

Total records: 7

Comments/Details: Seven documented records of this species were reported between 1886 & 1945, although the authenticity of some of these has been questioned and the lack of any records since the second world war is surprising; a wide-ranging species across parts of central & southern Europe. Any suspected examples should be retained for close examination due to the close similarity of superstes to congeners.

Pretty Marbled Protodeltote deceptoria

Total records: 21

Comments/Details: First recorded in 1948 with a majority of the records to date taken during the 1950's, some of these possibly associated with local breeding activity. All records have occurred during the months of May & June in south-east England and East Anglia. A very scarce immigrant in recent times with just five records since 1990: from VC14 in 1998, VC13 in 2006 & 2017, VC15 in 2018 and VC25 in 2020.

Purple Cloud Actinotia polyodon

Total records: 34

Comments/Details: The total includes five well-documented 19th Century records. Generally recorded in south-east England during the months of May and June, although there have recently been several late-summer records of the continental second-brood. The peak season occurred in 2018 when four examples were recorded.

Purple Marbled Eublemma ostrina

Total records: 208

Comments/Details: Total relates to adults only and includes 18 records from the 19th Century. A majority of records come from southern England, although it has occurred in all four countries of the UK; the peak of 23 records that occurred in 2011 more than doubled the previous highest annual total.

Purple Treble-bar Aplocera praeformata

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: Records from VC23 in 1919 and VC45 in 1946; unlikely to relate to immigrants.

Radford’s Flame Shoulder Ochropleura leucogaster

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 343

Comments/Details: First recorded in 1983, with just 22 records over the subsequent 15 years; however since 2016 there has been a surge in records of this species including, in very recent seasons, a few records of summer brood individuals and thus the strong likelihood of local establishment at a few sites in coastal southern England. Due to this ongoing & sustained increase in frequency, the ten-year collation of records is now more appropriate here.

Rannoch Looper Itame brunneata

Total records: 2002+

Comments/Details: Total of immigrants into southern England, unassociated with resident populations in Scotland; immigrations occurred in four successive seasons from 2008 culminating in the record arrival of 1432+ adults in 2011. These invasions seemed to be associated with a population boom in Holland and the near continent. Three immigrant brunneata recorded in 2020 were the first such records since 2011.

Red-headed Chestnut Conistra erythrocephala

Total records: 145+

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrants, not those associated with extinct resident populations. A hibernating species that can occur in the spring and autumn, most regularly in southern and south-eastern England; becoming more frequent during the current century with the peak season of 2020 producing at least 14 records.

Ringed Border Stegania cararia

Total records: 14

Comments/Details: The first two records were on the same date (1 July) from Somerset in 2009 & Hampshire in 2010; all primary immigrant records since then have occurred during late June & July, never exceeding two records within a single season. However, in June 2017 there was a multiple occurrence of at least 15 individuals at an inland woodland site in VC15 in association with a breeding colony, with further records annually at this locality; these records have been excluded from the given total.

Robust Tabby Pandesma robusta

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The sole UK record to date of this species likely to relate to a primary immigrant was taken in a light-trap at Portland (VC9) on 19 October 2022; there were two previous records of robusta clearly relating to accidental importations in fruit.

Rosy Underwing Catocala electa

Total records: 36

Comments/Details: Five historic records from the late 19th & early 20th Centuries, with at least 24 modern records since 1993; a recent localised surge of records from coastal VC9 is likely to indicate local colonisation; thus the record annual of at least seven records in 2021 may not relate solely to primary immigrants.

Rusty-shouldered Pug Eupithecia breviculata

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first British record of this species was recorded at light in coastal VC9 in early August 2020. A southern European species that has been spreading north in recent years in mainland Europe.

Sallow Nycteoline Nycteola degenerana

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first and only confirmed UK record to date occurred at an inland locality in VC63 on 3 September 2022; prior to this record the status of this species in Britain had always been an issue of conjecture with a number of old claims and specimens of degenerana, all of questionable validity.

Salsovian Eremohadena chenopodiphaga

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first and only UK record to date occurred in coastal VC3 on 29 October 2022 at a time of pronounced insect immigration from the south.

Scar Bank Gem Ctenoplusia limbirena

Total records: 43

Comments/Details: A generally scarce and sporadic immigrant that has occurred in every month from June to October across much of southern England, although most frequently recorded from the far south-west; the annual peak of at least 15 examples occurred in 2020, far surpassing the previous annual peak of just three.

Scarce Arches Fabula zollikoferi

Total records: 17

Comments/Details: A scarce immigrant from the east, most records having occurred during the month of September. Just two of the 17 records have been since the second world war, the most recent from VC13 in 1996. The eight records in September 1934 represent the only multiple arrival of this enigmatic species.

Scarce Black Arches Nola aerugula

Total records: 153

Comments/Details: Totals exclude those associated with an extinct resident population present in VC15 during the latter half of the 19th Century. Immigrants are usually recorded from coastal south-east England during June & July, the peak arrival occurred in 2018 with 19 individuals recorded.

Scarce Blackneck Lygephila craccae

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: Two records of probable immigrants away from areas of residency: Eastbourne (VC14) on 7 August 2010 & St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (VC1) on 5 October 2013.

Scarce Bordered Straw Helicoverpa armigera

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 7071

Comments/Details: The peak season for this species by a large margin was 2006 when a minimum total of 11,705 were recorded. A generally increased level of frequency has been evident since the turn of the century, particularly from southern & south-eastern England during the autumn, although 2006 saw unprecedented numbers recorded from many central, northern and inland parts of Britain.

Scarce Brindle Apamea lateritia

Total records: 18

Comments/Details: A clear easterly bias to the UK records of this species; the seasonally earliest record occurred in VC25 in 2017 on 22 June, all other records having occurred during the months of July & August.

Scarce Dagger Acronicta auricoma

Total records: 20

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrants, not those associated with extinct resident populations believed to be present during the 19th Century. All these have occurred since 1900 in southern and eastern England, with the exception of a record from south-west Ireland in 1937; this species remains an extreme rarity despite the increase in light-trapping in recent seasons.

Scarce Hook-tip Sabra harpagula

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: Just a single record of this species occurring as an immigrant: an example of a second-brood adult in VC14 in August 2000.

Scarce Silver Y Syngrapha interrogationis

Total records: 220

Comments/Details: Total relates to immigrant examples, these tending to arrive most regularly along the east coast of Britain and having a greyer appearance than the resident form. Immigrant records were atypically widespread during the peak arrival season of 2006 when 98 examples were recorded.

Shaded Fan-foot Herminia tarsicrinalis

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: A single record from coastal VC15 in June 2000 is the only probable immigrant example unassociated with the breeding population in East Anglia & Essex.

Shining Marbled Pseudeustrotia candidula

Total records: 24

Comments/Details: First recorded from VC36 in October 2006; the 22 records since have occurred during six seasons since 2012 with the peak arrival of six individuals recorded in 2019.

Silver Barred Protodeltote bankiana

Total records: 216+

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrant records away from known breeding colonies; a majority of records come from south-east England during the months of June & July, the peak of 16 such records occurring in 2006.

Silver-striped Hawk-moth Hippotion celerio

Total records: 241+

Comments/Details: The total number includes a large number of old records with the annual peak count of 41 having occurred as long ago as 1885. More recent high annual totals have been 15 in 1963 & 14 in 2006; celerio continues to be a scarce and sporadic immigrant despite the ongoing increase in light-trap recording.

Silvery Gem Eucarta virgo

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: Recorded from Bodenham (VC36) on 29 June 2006, Weybourne (VC27) on 23 July 2014, and Blythburgh (VC25) on 24 July 2014, the latter two records in association with a significant immigration from the east.

Slender Burnished Brass Thysanoplusia orichalcea

Total records: 140

Comments/Details: The peak season of 2020 produced at least 15 examples of this species; 1969, 1983 & 2014 were also good orichalcea years with ten records apiece; the majority of records continue to arrive in the late autumn into south-west England.

Small Marbled Eublemma parva

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 712

Comments/Details: Ten-year total relates to adult records only, although the larval stage has been recorded on a number occasions and small, dark autumn moths sometimes pertain to locally-bred second brood examples. Numbers of this species can fluctuate hugely from one season to the next with the exceptional record total of 316 adults in 2011 greatly exceeding any previous annual total, and excellent totals of 129 in 2015 & 141 in 2017 interspersed with totals of just three & four records in 2016 & 2018 respectively.

Small Mottled Willow Spodoptera exigua

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 8248

Comments/Details: A regularly occurring immigrant, although in greatly fluctuating numbers; this can be exemplified during the 21st Century by quiet seasons such as 2007 (18 records) & 2008 (25 records) contrasting with the three record years for this species in 2003, 2006 & 2015, with minimum totals of 5,201, 5,342 and 5,989 records respectively. A continuously-brooded species in warmer parts of its breeding range in southern Europe & North Africa that has occurred in every month of the year in the UK, and is often associated with arrivals of immigrant insects during the winter months.

Softly’s Shoulder-knot Lithophane consocia

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The single record occurred at light in Hampstead, London (VC21) on 21 September 2001.

Sorcerer Aedia leucomelas

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: Two records to date: Totland (VC10) on 11 September 2006 & Brightlingsea (VC19) on 12 August 2009.

Southern Brindled Green Dryobotodes roboris

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first UK record was taken at light in coastal VC9 on 12 October 2022, more were to follow in 2023 (to be detailed in the next update); previously recorded from the Channel Islands.

Southern Grass Emerald Chlorissa cloraria

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The first & only UK record occurred in VC9 during July 2014; breeds very locally in the Channel Islands.

Southern Rustic Rhyacia lucipeta

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: An example taken at Pulborough (VC13) on 15 July 1968 remains the only UK record.

Spalding’s Dart Agrotis herzogi

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The two records occurred near Camborne (VC1) on 22 November 1995 & Poole (VC9) on 17 December 2015, both in association with migrant influxes from the south; a resident of south-eastern Europe and North Africa.

Spanish Carpet Scotopteryx peribolata

Total records: 11

Comments/Details: Last recorded in 1996; of the 11 examples recorded, six were associated with multiple occurrences at a single locality in Dorset 1990/1991 likely to indicate local breeding.

Speckled Footman Coscinia cribraria

Total records: 38

Comments/Details: Total relates to records of the immigrant race arenaria since 1900, 29 of these records coming from VC15; documentation of any records of this race prior to 1900 was unreliable. The record season occurred in 2020 when at least ten examples were recorded.

Spiny Bollworm Earias biplaga

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: Three records of adults taken at light in 1964, 1982 & 1999; the latter two of these records were taken on the south coast and almost certainly immigrants, the first record in 1964 was taken in central London and may have been an adventive individual.

Splendid Brocade Lacanobia splendens

Total records: 334+

Comments/Details: First recorded in 2003 when 12 examples were recorded; the total includes 90 recorded during the peak year of 2010. All records from southern England (particularly coastal locations) with the exception of a record from the Shetlands in 2010.

Spotted Clover Protoschinia scutosa

Total records: 61

Comments/Details: Total relates to the number of examples of adults recorded (as with all other totals) but in the case of scutosa this disguises its actual rarity as it includes several multiple records including a count of at least 30 adults together in Cornwall in May 1943. This species has become scarcer in recent times with just six records since 1969, and just two records to date in the 21st Century.

Spurge Hawk-moth Hyles euphorbiae

Total records: 85+

Comments/Details: Total relates to adults only; has become more frequent in recent years with 56 of the adult records having occurred since 1968. Recent records of larvae in Kent and Suffolk indicate the presence of short-lived colonies with a number of the adult records undoubtedly relating to locally-bred individuals.

Stephens’ Gem Megalographa biloba

Total records: 9

Comments/Details: A strong westerly bias to the records of this nearctic species including records from Wales and Ireland; by vice-county, the records come from VC1 (three), VC3 (one), VC9 (one), VC11 (one), VC41 (one), VC46 (one) & VCH38 (one). The peak arrival occurred as recently as 2012 when three were recorded, the other records were from 1954 (one), 1958 (one), 2001 (one), 2002 (two) & 2021 (one).

Streaked Plusia Vittaplusia vittata

Total records: 1

Comments/Details: The only UK record occurred at Rye Harbour (VC14) on 31 July 1995, this also being the sole record for Europe.

Striped Hawk-moth Hyles livornica

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 188

Comments/Details: Ten-year total of adults only. An immigrant that exhibits wide fluctuations in numbers arriving annually, some years being virtually absent, others reaching three figures; the record arrivals occurred in 1943 (540+) and more recently in 2006 (384). Often arrives during the spring months, with home-bred adults augmenting the numbers of arrivals during the late summer/autumn; occasionally also recorded as an immigrant in mid-winter.

Striped Twin-spot Carpet Coenotephra salicata

Total records: 6+

Comments/Details: At least six extralimital records from Dorset, Surrey (2), Essex (2) & Herts that may relate to immigrants.

Sub-angled Wave Scopula nigropunctata

Total records: 70+

Comments/Details: Total of immigrants unassociated with breeding populations in VC15; a vast majority of immigrant records from Kent and Sussex, the furthest west coming from Dorset on three occasions. Peak annual totals of immigrant nigropunctata occurred in 2015 (10) & 2016 (9).

Tamarisk Peacock Chiasmia aestimaria

Total records: 22

Comments/Details: First recorded in 2004, thus far recorded from coastal localities in VC's 15 (ten), 14 (eight), 13 (one), 10 (one) & 9 (two). By month these have occurred in July (five), August (12), September (four) & October (one), with the peak arrival of four examples in 2017.

Tawny Prominent Harpyia milhauseri

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: Three records, widely chronologically spaced: from Aldwick Bay (VC13) on 11 June 1966, Dungeness (VC15) on 24 May 1993, and Weymouth (VC9) on 31 July 2020.

Tawny Wave Scopula rubiginata

Total records: 70+

Comments/Details: Total excludes VC25 records that are likely to be associated with breeding populations; presumed immigrants have been recorded along the south and east English coasts as far west as Cornwall and north to Yorkshire.

Three-humped Prominent Notodonta tritophus

Total records: 25

Comments/Details: Totals exclude any pre-1900 records which are generally rather vague or unsubstantiated. The records since 1900 have been almost entirely limited to coastal south-eastern England between Hampshire & Suffolk with well over half of them from east Kent (VC15); peak year of 2012 with four records.

Tiramisu Pseudozarba bipartita

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The first two UK records of this striking African & southern European noctuid occurred in coastal VC11 on 25 October 2022 & at an inland site in VC19 on 29 October 2022, in association with an exceptional spell of insect immigration from the south; the first Channel Islands record of this species also occurred during this period, on Guernsey on 30 October 2022.

Tunbridge Wells Gem Chrysodeixis acuta

Total records: 32

Comments/Details: 29 of the 32 British records have occurred in the month of October, the majority from VC's 1 & 9. October influxes have occurred in 1995, 2005 & 2015 in association with plumes of warm air from the south, including six in VC1 on the night of 11 October 2005.

Vestal Rhodometra sacraria

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 15405

Comments/Details: A regular immigrant that usually produces three-figure annual totals; these have exceeded 1000 in 1947, 1983, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 & 2017 with peak minimum annual tallies of 2744 in 2006, 2692 in 2013, 2405 in 2015 and 4857 in the record 2017 season.

Water Betony Cucullia scrophulariae

Total records: 2

Comments/Details: The two records came from the same locality: Swanage (VC9) on 12 June 1949 & 18 May 1994. Due to its similarity to congeners, likely to be overlooked and thus require retention of a voucher specimen if suspected.

Wedgeling Galgula partita

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: The three given records are of primary immigrants taken at times of significant immigrant activity in early October 2008 (VC1), late August 2015 (VC5) and mid-October 2018 (VC1); there is an additional record of an adventive specimen imported in packaging from North America into South Wales in 2007.

White-marked Cerastis leucographa

Total records: 8

Comments/Details: Total relates to probable immigrant records only, these from coastal, out-of-habitat localities in south-eastern England & East Anglia where no resident populations are extant, often in association with arrivals of Blossom Underwing Orthosia miniosa in the early spring.

White-point Mythimna albipuncta

Total records: N/A

Comments/Details: No meaningful figures available for this species due to the presence of widespread, established resident populations across much of southern England south of a line from the Severn estuary to the Wash, extending west into Devon. Surprisingly still apparently absent as a colonist from the extreme south-west where it only occurs as an immigrant; immigrant records probably continue to occur widely in coastal southern Britain but are indistinguishable from resident moths.

White-speck Mythimna unipuncta

Total records: 2010 - 2019: 1372

Comments/Details: Ten-year total excludes records from the Scillies where a resident population has been established since at least the turn of the 21st Century, and records are thus indistinguishable from immigrants. A regular immigrant into south-west England, becoming less frequent in more eastern and northern localities.

Willowherb Hawk-moth Proserpinus proserpina

Total records: 3

Comments/Details: The three records come from a coastal locality in VC14 in May 1985, near the Thames in London (VC18) in July 1995, and near Truro (VC1) on 3 July 2015. The origins of all these records are open to conjecture and may be the result of accidental importation or deliberate introduction.