WMG - Regional Action Plan

Butterfly Conservation - Regional Action Plan

1999-2000 Review by Jenny Joy (2001)

Moths

High Priority Macro-moth Species – includes all UK BAP priority species and Red Data book (RDB) species known to occur in the region.

Species	BAP Status	National Status
Dingy Mocha	Priority Species	RDB3
Chalk Carpet	Priority Species	Nb
*Barberry Carpet	Priority Species	RDB 1
Argent & Sable	Priority Species	Nb
Waved Carpet	Priority Species	Nb
Barred Tooth-striped	Priority Species	Na
Drab Looper	Priority Species	Nb
Lunar Yellow Underwing	Priority Species	Nb
Square-spotted Clay	Priority Species	Nb
Bordered Gothic	Priority Species	Na/RDB 2
*Orange Upperwing	Priority Species	RDB 1
*White-spotted Pinion	Priority Species	Na
Four-spotted	Priority Species	RDB 3
White-line Snout	Priority Species	Nb
Common Fan-foot	Priority Species	Na
Welsh Clearwing	Species of Conservation Concern	RDB 3
*Scarce Hook-tip	Species of Conservation Concern	RDB 3
*Pauper Pug	Species of Conservation Concern	RDB 3
*Northern Footman	Species of Conservation Concern	RDB 2
Silurian	Species of Conservation Concern	RDB 2

*only these species were included in the 1997 West Midlands Regional Action Plan (Joy, 1997).

Notes – Although Sword-grass has been recorded in the region these records are thought to represent migrants. The only remaining known breeding populations are in Scotland.

Medium Priority Macro-moth Species

Includes all UK BAP Species of Conservation Concern (see below) as well as all nationally notable (Na or Nb) species which are currently known to occur in the region. The table below gives the UK BAP Species of Conservation Concern in the region with Joy (1997) giving the most up to date list of Na and Nb species in the region.

Species	UK BAP status	National Status
Scarce Forester (165)	Species of Conservation Concern	Na
Forester (163)	Species of Conservation Concern	Local
Light Feathered Rustic (2084)	Species of Conservation Concern	Nb
Festoon (173)	Species of Conservation Concern	Nb
Broom-tip (1865)	Species of Conservation Concern	Nb
Goat Moth (162)	Species of Conservation Concern	Nb
Grey Scalloped Bar (1969)	Species of Conservation Concern	Local
Small Black Arches (2075)	Species of Conservation Concern	Na

Additional Information

Since the West Midlands RAP was produced in 1997 the amount of moth recording in the region has increased dramatically. The West Midlands branch now has a very active Moth Group who organise an active moth programme in many parts of the region with activities including both moth recording evenings and daytime larval searches (N & C Gregory, 2001).

The West Midlands Branch together with the moth recorders for Herefordshire (Michael Harper) and Worcestershire (Tony Simpson) are planning to produce the first ever atlases showing the distribution of Lepidoptera in the two counties. The aim is to produce the atlas of butterflies and macro moths during 2001 and the atlas of micro moths during 2002. The principal aim of the atlases is to provide a baseline data set showing the state of the counties' Lepidoptera at the end of the 20th century. It will also help in conservation and stimulate more recording.

A moth group has also just been formed in Shropshire (Boardman, 2001) with the aims of a) stimulating more recording b) increasing the level of communication between recorders and c) providing information to feed into local conservation agendas (e.g. BAPs, management programmes for nature reserves etc.).

References

Boardman, P. 2001. The Shropshire Moth Group. West Midlands Branch Butterfly conservation Newsletter No. 48, 9-10.

Gregory, N & Gregory, C. 2001. Millennium Moths: The Moth Group 2000 into 2001. West Midlands Branch Butterfly conservation Newsletter No. 48, 18-20.