Hantsmoths

An adventive species on various Prunus fruits, and a commercial pest in Europe. Added to the British list in 1957 when reared from an imported apricot. Between 1971 and 1999 there were eight further records of moths being reared from, or larvae found in imported plums, peaches and nectarines. Subsequently, it appears to have established itself in the wild around Arundel, Sussex, where frequent at light through the 1990s and subsequently very locally elsewhere in southern and south-east England. In Hampshire bred from an imported Spanish plum in 1971 by the late D.W.H. Ffennell.

In Ent Rec J Var 129 (2017) a paper was published introducing Anarsia innoxiella as a species new to science, separated from A. lineatella.

Most historic light-trapped specimens of the lineatella / innoxiella pair are most likely to refer to the latter, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule as there has been at least one specimen of the former at light (Dorset, 2003). Historic records without a supporting photo or specimen cannot be confirmed.

Wingspan 11-14 mm. Larva feeds within fruit of Peach and Plum, causing sufficient damage to be a serious pest in some areas.

Updated: July 2019 (taxonomic status)

VC12 North Hampshire