Hantsmoths

An adventive species, which is spreading rapidly. On 17 August 2003, a worn specimen was found in a moth trap in a garden in Devon. The species had not previously been recorded outside Italy. Another specimen turned up in the same garden on 7 August 2004, and towards the end of July that year three specimens were found in and around a house at Welwyn, Hertfordshire, with one to a lighted window at Studham, Bedfordshire, on 3 July 2006. In Hampshire recorded for the first time at Over Wallop in August 2011. By 2016 there had been 19 reports, which had risen to over 100 three years later. It is now widespread across mainland Hampshire, and recorded from the Isle of Wight for the first time in 2020. Wingspan 13-14 mm. A similar species, M. cinnamomea, which occurs widely on the near continent and which is perhaps a more likely candidate to stray to the UK, has not occurred; neither species is prone to migration, and the origins of the British M. italica remain a mystery. Larva feeds within dead wood.