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definitions we have used for
Area Status
Common Resident. Breeds,
sometimes abundantly and in
large numbers.
Resident. Regular breeder.
Scarce Resident. Breeds in the
area in small numbers or
infrequently.
Migrant. Regular immigrant,
may sometimes breed.
Scarce Migrant. Known
immigrant species, recorded
less frequently than Migrant.
Vagrant. Vague category, not
known to breed in the area nor a
known migrant. Of irregular
occurrence.
in J.D.Bradley, a Log Book of
British Lepidoptera 2000, the
word sporadic is used, with, and
sometimes both migrant and
vagrant, to describe status. The
Kent list uses Migrant for all
known migrant species.
The last three categories, by
definition, all involve immigration
into our area. Known migrants
are more clear cut; we have
used Vagrant to mean a species
that hasn't been proven to breed
and occurs so infrequently,
or could not breed because of the
absence of the larval foodplant. |
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SYSTEMATIC LIST
In 2001, sponsored by Dungeness Bird Observatoy and British Energy, we
published a guide to the status and distribution of Moths of Dungeness and
Surrounding Area. This brought together records past and present and
offered information on earliest and latest dates recorded and the maximum
number recorded at one trap-site on one night. An attempt was made to
present, in table form, all our records so that the reader could define their
own categories.
We defined Scarce Resident as occurring on 1-15 dates at one or more trap
sites on one or more of the years in the survey period. As a Resident on
15-40 dates and Common Resident on over 40 dates. As with all attempts to
categorise, exceptions and grey areas and controversy will exist.
These web pages are a long term project to review and update what we know. The Guide, which
includes more details on the conventions used, is available on request.
Click on species groups for information
Pictures are of moths caught in the area.
To the left are the yearly date counts. Since 2000 the number of recorders has increased. For species
recorded on more than twenty dates only the totals for the trap-sites in the Guide are shown to try and
maintain a common base for comparison. All dates are given for species recorded on less than ten
dates.
Whether a species has been recorded at a site is shown to the right.
We have also been able to extract from the data collected from the sites of Barry Banson (off shingle site)
and David Walker (on shingle site) trends showing the fortunes of the commonest 110 species that occur
in our area.
Swifts to Yellow Shell
The Mallow to Double-striped Pug
The Streak to Lime Hawk-moth
Eyed Hawk-moth to Heart and Dart
Crescent Dart to Southern Wainscot
Smoky Wainscot to Dingy Shears
Lesser-spotted Pinion to Beautiful Golden Y
Plain Golden Y to Olive Crescent and additions
Pyrals
ocellea to grisella
sociella to bistriatella
.....
making sense of the left column of figures for each species page ...
Number of traps each year .. in 1990 there were 3 traps in 1991 and 1992 there
were 5 traps, in 1993 there were 7 traps, in 1994 to 2000 there were 8 traps ..
The last few years the number has grown to 16. Were we to include the number
of nights from the new traps, many species would show a dramatic increase in
frequency. The figures in the left hand column for the vast majority of species
are from this base-line of sites. Bearing this in mind, any apparent increase
90 to 92 is usually as a result of increased coverage, unless otherwise indicated.
Back to Homepage
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In 1998 Ian Ferguson, as Moth
Officer for the Kent branch of
Butterfly Conservation, took over
the county recording of moths from
Eric Philp.
Since then Ian has produced an
annual report and also a check
list (provisional) of the moths
recorded in Kent. His categories
he ascribes to Parsons 1984 for
micros (number of records at
Vice-County level) and Waring 1999
for macros (10k squares).
RDB1. Endangered.
RDB2. Vulnerable.
RDB3. Rare.
Na and Nb. Noteable.
Common.
Local.
Although the two definitions, for
Area and Country, are not directly
comparable, they give an indication
of how moths recorded here fit into
the bigger picture.
References used
JM Chalmers-Hunt (1962-81)
the Moths of Kent vol 2 and 3.
EG Philp (unpublished) c1986
A review of the
Invertebrates recorded
from the Shingle Beach area
of Dungeness.
B.Skinner (1997) Moths of the
British Isles (2nd edition). |
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