Hantsmoths

A rare Red Data Book species, on chalk downland in south-eastern England. Resident very locally from the Breckland to Hampshire, Wiltshire and east Gloucestershire, but it appears to have become very much scarcer in recent times. It still appears to be well established in parts of Breckland, though its habitat there has also been restricted by the planting of conifers and increasingly intensive agriculture. There is a wide scatter of singletons from south and east England that are probably immigrants. In Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight the species decline since the 1950s is probably due to the ploughing of downland slopes and the mowing of clover fields for silage earlier in the summer. Nowadays, occasional specimens are reported at light on or near chalk downland. Whether these are representatives of a tiny surviving resident population or immigrants is uncertain. In the past, the moth was found more often though irregularly in such habitat, which was then more extensive. Wingspan 34-37 mm. Larva feeds on flowers and seedheads of Common Restharrow, Spiny Restharrow, Common Toadflax, White Campion, Bladder Campion, Wild Carrot, Smooth Hawk's-beard, Red Clover and Sticky Groundsel, over-wintering as a pupa.

VC8 Wiltshire (Hants county)

VC10 Isle of Wight

VC11 South Hampshire

VC12 North Hampshire