The Dark Bordered Beauty moth at Askham Bog at the end of the 19th Century

摘要

The Dark Bordered Beauty moth Epione vespertaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is a Red Data Book species (Shirt, 1987) currently thought to be restricted in England to a single site, Strensall Common c.lOkm north of York (Baker, 2012; Baker ef al., 2016). York has been well known nationally as a locality for the moth since the 19th Century (Porritt, 1883; Frost et al., 2011; Baker, 2012). Prest's 1874 record (Anon, 1878) is the earliest published record I have located that mentions a specific site, although there are earlier publications about the moth from the York area (e.g. Prest, 1858; Birks, 1860; Wesley, 1872). York sites mentioned on specimen labels or in the published literature include Strensall and the adjacent locality of Sandburn, east ofStrensall along the Malton Road (A64) (Baker, 2012; Frost et al., 2011). Morris (1871) also mentions 'near Stockton Station and Stockton Common near York', which are immediately adjacent to Sandburn and Strensall Common. James (1919) mentions collectingit at 'Warthill', which is a village 4km to the south-east of Sandburn, but probably meant Warthill Station, which is what Stockton Station was renamed in 1872 and was the station-stop for naturalists visiting Sandburn (Anon, 1883-4). These areas are all adjacent and probably represent a single population of the moth. There are no other localities near York in the Yorkshire moth database (www.yorkshiremoths.info).