The Isle of Wight Moth Report 2018 is now available, and can be downloaded here.
Iain Outlaw says: “In what turned out to be a good year for moth recording there was a slow start to the season. The first three months of the year were particularly poor with overall numbers and species diversity lower than normal.
“A prolonged spell of hot dry weather in June and July saw a big change in moth numbers and a decent run of migrant moths.
“The non-migrant highlight was undoubtedly finding Suspected (Parastichtis suspecta) at St. Catherine’s Point. There are only two previous county records, from July 1897 and August 1963.
“More than 22000 records were received from 52 contributors covering 184 sites. A total of 879 species of moth were recorded during the year including ten new vice-county records, six micromoths and four macro-moths. In short, it was an excellent year for moth recording on the Island.”
