Rare flame brocade moth is established in the UK Skip to main content

Rare flame brocade moth is established in the UK

By Richard Westcott BBC News
Flame brocade moth (Image: Michael Blencowe) The location of the new colony is being kept under wraps in order to protect the rare moths

Related Stories

The charity Butterfly Conservation says that the rare moth typically found in the Mediterranean has become established in the UK.
The flame brocade moth appears to have started a new colony on the south coast of England.
Researchers from the charity have attributed the arrival of an unusually high number of migrant species to the recent warm weather.
They described this year's migration season as the best in years.

MOTH OR BUTTERFLY?

Cinnabar is an unusually colourful moth (Image: Les Hill)
  • Moths and butterflies both belong to the order Lepidoptera - but if you look closely, it is relatively easy to spot the difference
  • Moths tend to have thick, fuzzy bodies, whereas butterfly bodies are usually thin and smooth
  • Butterflies are active during the day but moths get busy at night; there are exceptions though, such as the hummingbird hawk moth, which flies both day and night
  • Butterflies tend to be more brightly coloured than moths, although there are some very colourful moths, such as the cinnabar (pictured)
Some of the insects will have flown for three or four days to get to the UK, on the back of a helpful southerly tailwind.
The organisation's head of moth conservation, Mark Parsons, said: "Autumn is usually a good time for immigrant species, but it's the sheer number and diversity this year that's special."
The flame brocade, perhaps the most significant arrival, was first spotted by chance in a back garden in Sussex.
Michael Blencowe, BC's officer in the county said: "I'd never seen one of these moths before so I grabbed my net and went off to find out if there were any others about at a suitable site nearby.
"I saw 10 that night and there have been recordings of 20 or more there every night since"
In the past just a few flame brocades have been spotted on UK shores; this is the largest number seen in the country for 130 years. It has led experts to suggest that there may now be a moth colony on the site.
Strange visitors In Dorset, the moth made famous by the film Silence of the Lambs has been seen at an RSPB nature reserve. The death's head hawk moth has a striking skull-like pattern on its thorax.
Large numbers of vestal moths and several crimson speckled moths have also been flying around the south coast of England and Wales. And the extremely rare tropical species, Spoladea recurvalis, has been recorded this year for the first time ever in Ireland, and for only the second time in Scotland.
It all adds up to the best year for migrating moths since 2006, which contrasts with a rather more bleak picture for the UK's native species.
Overall numbers of have fallen by a third in the last 35 years. Their natural habitat is slowly being eaten away by development and commercial farming.
There will be more on this story on Autumnwatch which begins on Friday at 2030 on BBC Two.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15200608

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more

Three Dead, Seven Injured by Artillery Shells in Two Incidents in Myanmar’s Mrauk-U

By MIN AUNG KHINE 2 December 2019 Sittwe, Rakhine State –Three Mrauk-U township residents died and four others were injured when an artillery shell struck their community in the Ale Zay quarter of Mrauk-U town on Monday afternoon after 4 p.m. A month-old girl, a 4-year-old boy and a 30-year-old woman died, according to Dr. Khin Maung Yin, the head of Mrauk-U hospital. He said, “A man and three other women were injured. One of the women sustained severe injures to her left leg and her right knee was dislocated. The injured will be operated on.” Details of what occurred were not yet known. A few hours earlier, three civilians were injured when an artillery shell fell on the village of Na Leik in Mrauk-U Township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, on Monday at around 1 p.m., according to Yan Aung Pyin village-tract administrator U Sein Hla Aung. Two females, aged 13 and 27, and an 18-year-old male were injured in the incident, he said. Three people were hit by shrapnel and we have...
Post a Comment
Read more