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Nationally Rare Moth Found in Yorkshire for the First Time Ever

A nationally rare moth which has never been found in Yorkshire before has made an appearance in the city centre of York.

The White Spotted Black micro-moth is so rare it hasn’t been seen in Britain since 2011.

But now experts have found the insect in the York Museum Gardens, where they were able to photograph it and classify it.

It was found as part of a three year study by students at Pennsylvania University working on placement at Shandy Hall, Coxwold. Their study includes comparing the populations of moths in rural North Yorkshire to the city centre of York.

Patrick Wildgust, curator of Shandy Hall, said:

“It has been fantastic to find such a rare moth right in the city centre of York. The White Spotted Black is extremely scarce nationally – it appeared in Bedfordshire in 2011 but hasn’t appeared since. To say our project has found a new species for Yorkshire has a very satisfying ring to it and we are really grateful for the hard work of our student Bowen Chang who has spent many evenings trapping and releasing moths as part of the study. This moth might be just a speck, but it is a considerable one.”

Stuart Ogilvy, assistant curator of natural sciences at York Museums Trust, said:

“We are made up to find a species living in our midst which has not been recorded in Yorkshire before. The Gardens team have been working hard to make the space as friendly to wildlife as possible and it is great to welcome in experts to help us to catalogue the increasing number of creatures which call the gardens home.”

During his visits to the gardens earlier this month Bowen found 16 new species of moth which have not been recorded before in the York Museum Gardens, including the White Spotted Black (Denisia albimaculea).

The micro moth has a wing span of 9-12mm and was reported in 1828 as being scarce. Experts Charlie Fletcher, Harry Beaumont and John Langmaid were called in to confirm it was the species in question.

Since 2012, Shandy Hall has been part of the University of Pennsylvania’s International Internship Programme which offers one student a residency at the museum every summer.

The intern’s role is to assist Patrick and Dr Dave Chesmore (University of York) with moth trapping and identification and share their moth expertise with visitors to the museum and the Shandy Hall Moths project.

Since it started a total of 348 species of moth have been found at Shandy Hall.

York Museums Trust were asked if the York Museum Gardens could be used so they could compare rural and urban moth numbers. On average 50 species of moth are found each night at Shandy Hall.

It is hoped the project will shed light on why moth numbers are declining nationally.

This year’s project has been funded by Arts Council England and includes exhibitions at Shandy Hall – For more details go to: www.laurencesternetrust.org.uk

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