Gypsy Moth - Lymantria dispar
Wingspan male 48 to 53 mm, female 59 to 65 mm. The male has prominent crescent-shaped black reniform mark and black orbicular spot. The whitish, cumbersome females are much larger than the males, and cannot fly well.
Good quality photograph required.
Well wooded areas.
Adult: July and August.
The larval foodplants are a range of deciduous trees and in continental Europe the species is a common pest.
In the early part of the 19th century, this was a common species in the East Anglian and southern fens, but by about 1900 had become extinct as a breeding species. Since 1995 the species has been resident in small numbers in parts of London and may now be spreading in England. In a recent survey to determine the status of all macro moths in Britain this species was classified as Vagrant/Accidental.
Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. A record from Woodhouse Eves on 22 Aug 2017 was the first for over 100 years in VC55.
David Foley
Woodhouse Eaves garden
22 August 2017
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Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
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Species profile
- Common names
- Gypsy Moth
- Species group:
- Moths
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Lepidoptera
- Family:
- Erebidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 1
- First record:
- 22/08/2017 (David Foley)
- Last record:
- 22/08/2017 (David Foley)
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% of records within its species group
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