Cheshire Macro-Moth Papers

The species listed below are generally associated with Reed-beds and have Phragmites as their principal food-plant. Most of them are less common Wainscots which have been recorded much less than we would expect in a county (Cheshire) with so many meres and ponds. There are, in fact, quite a number of reed-beds which are noticeable as one travels around Cheshire but many of them are not easily accessible and have not been worked at night. These moths do not normally wander far from their habitat and so do not get recorded in Garden traps. In each case the numbers that follow the name and remarks (if any) are the 10Km squares in the SJ block where they have been recorded in the last thirty years (as at 1991).

Code No.:	English Name:	Remarks:	10Km Squares:
2196	Striped Wainscot	Not yet recorded although one observer thought he saw one. Worth searching for. Found in Yorkshire so why not Cheshire?
2197	Southern Wainscot	Quite widespread.	SJ27, 38, 47, 57, 58, 68, 77, 78.
2204	Obscure Wainscot	Recently discovered at the Moore site.	SJ58, 97.
2209	Flame Wainscot	Only one record, Prestbury SJ97. Was it a vagrant or is there a habitat in the Bollin Valley?
2371	Brown-veined Wainscot	Used to be at Hatchmere but not seen there in the period in question.	SJ29, 37, 54, 55.
2375	Large wainscot	Quite widespread, often flies further afield than the smaller species.	SJ27, 28, 29, 38, 46, 47, 54, 55, 58, 64, 65, 68, 77, 78, 88.
2377	Fen Wainscot	Only from Moore Nature reserve, Warrington where it was recently found.	SJ58
2379	Small Rufous Wainscot	Not a Phragmites feeder but found in similar habitats.	SJ28, 29, 37, 45, 46, 65, 76, 77, 78, 86, 87, 88, 97, 98.
2391	Silky Wainscot	Lives amongst reeds but seems to feed, primarily, on other larvae etc. Only recorded from Rostherne.	SJ78.

To this list we should certainly add some 'micros' of which two which come to mind are:

I'm sure there is more to be found here (in Cheshire), the only real effort devoted to reed-beds in the last few years was by Steve J. McWilliam at Moore Nature Reserve near Warrington, and this effectively added two species to our county list (if you discount the Obscure Wainscot at Prestbury in 1976 as a vagrant). The only other reed-bed where I know of a moth trap being run is Rostherne and that also produced an addition to our list. When in Yorkshire I found all these species except the Flame Wainscot at various sites around York.