N/A Sophronia humerella ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

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Status and Distribution

British records are now considered doubtful and the records are therefore not mapped.
 
It has been placed in the Questionable Record section of Agassiz, D. J. L., Beavan, S. D. and Heckford, R. J., Checklist of the Leipdoptera of the British Isles, 2013. Prior to this it was considered an extinct species or possible migrant with old records from Berkshire, Nottinghamshire, Cumbria and County Durham.
 
With respect to the Padworth, Berkshire record, B. R. Baker in his The Butterflies and Moths of Berkshire 1994 comments "A suspect record". Concerning this species Meyrick states 'two specimens taken many years ago, probably authentic, locality unknown'."
 
M. Parsons, in his 1995 Review of the scarce and threatened ethmiine, stathmopodine and gelechiid moths of Great Britain, mentions the Padworth record with the reference as Ham, A. H. and Holland, W. 1906 Lepidoptera. In: The Victoria History in the county of Berkshire, ed. by P. H. Ditchfield and W. Page, 100 - 116. London, St Catherines Press.
 
M Harvey (pers. comm.) County Moth Recorder for VC22 advises "It's not clear to me that the Padworth record was definitely one of Meyrick's 'two specimens', presumably Baker thought it was, while Parsons thought it wasn't. After the death of W. Holland, the co-compiler of the VCH moth list, his moth collection went to Reading Museum where Brian Baker was curator in later years. Presumably he would have been able to check if a specimen existed and so I would regard its occurrence in VC22 as unproven."
 
Dunn, T. C. and Parrack, J. D., 1992 (The Moths and Butterflies of Northumberland and Durham Part 2) regarded the County Durham record as unconfirmed.
National Status: Doubtfully British
Bradley & Fletcher no: 842
Photographer: Photograph wanted

Provisional map

NHMSYS0000504254

Foodplant and Larval Feeding Signs

In Europe, reported to utilise Artemisia campestris (field wormwood).

Habitat

Finding the Moth

In Europe, single-brooded flying in July.

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