Hantsmoths

Local breeding in open woodland and scrub throughout the British Isles, usually in very small numbers; also an occasional immigrant to the south coast of England. In Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight very erratic in appearance, occurring infrequently in mainly coastal locations. Historic records from VC12 North Hampshire have been rejected as unverifiable. Wingspan 39-44 mm. The most likely confusion species is Purple Thorn S. tetralunaria, which see for differences. Larva feeds on Ash, Dog-rose and Blackthorn, over-wintering as a pupa.

Updated December 2019, status review

The abundance in each month is indicated as follows:

No records

Very occasional

Irregular

Uncommon

Off-peak, but not unusual

Main flight time

	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Adult
Larval

Records by week (adult)

Records by week (larval)

No Larval records to show.

VC10 Isle of Wight

Site	Date	Quantity	Recorder	Stage
Shalfleet (SZ48)	1911	one	H G Jeffery	Adult
Osborne (SZ59)	1929	-	H G Jeffery	Adult
Binsted (SZ59)	02/08/1994	one	Brian Warne	Adult
Cranmore (SZ39)	30/05/1995	-	Paul Waring	Adult
Bonchurch (SZ57)	15/08/2021	one	James Halsey	Adult

VC11 South Hampshire

Site	Date	Quantity	Recorder	Stage
Balmer Lawn, NF (SU30)	02/06/1983	-	Anon	-
Denny Wood, NF (SU30)	01/08/1986	-	Anon	-
Sandy Point, Hayling (SZ79)	23/04/1998	one	Peter I V Sewell	Adult
Ashurst, NF (SU31)	19/07/2013	one	Keith Godfrey	Adult
White Moor, NF (SU20)	14/07/2019	one	Chris Lewis	Adult