Marsh Mallow Moth

Just a quick note about our star attraction at the last Sussex Moth Group Hastings Branch meet up. We met at Hastings Garden Centre/Pebsham Marshes for a moth trapping event on Saturday 26 August. We had a good catch with 87 species, the star attraction being a Marsh Mallow Moth (Hydraecia osseola). After some discussion with both Colin Pratt (our county moth recorder), and Sean Clancy the man in charge of the conservation of this endangered moth, we are pretty sure we have an idea of what this means at this point. Although it would be fantastic to find a new colony, its likely either a wandering female looking for another good stand of Marsh Mallow (Althaea officinalis) food plant, or even possibly a migrant from Europe. We'll obviously have to wait and see if future records appear, but for now a nice find.



