173         Apoda limacodes (Hufnagel, 1766)    FESTOON     Notable/Nb

A local species confined to southern England, the larva feeding on oak (Quercus spp.) or beech (Fagus sylvatica).  In Dorset, the moth is locally common and found in oak and beech woods in the eastern half of the county, being most often seen in mature oak woodland and on the stunted oaks growing on sandy soils, but less so on chalkysoils. However, the species seems to be responding positively to the warming trend with increasing numbers across an increasing range. For example, Piddles Wood near Sturminster Newton in north Dorset lies many miles distant from the moths original county headquarters, but now hosts a strong colony.  An instance of potential dispersal occurred on 2 July 1999 when eleven adults were trapped at Gaunt’s Common (P Davey), a locality several miles from suitable habitat and where one other Festoon had been observed in eight years of recording.  Examples of day-time activity include “a freshly emerged female with twenty-five males assembled to her in as many minutes in the morning in garden at Haymoor Bottom” (W Parkinson Curtis), and a female on an oak bough with five males assembled to her in the middle of the afternoon at Purewell Meadows on 5 July 2003 (P Davey).

174         Heterogenea asella [Denis & Schiffermüller 1775]    TRIANGLE     RDB3

A rare and declining species, known only from a few scattered sites across southern England, the larva feeding on oak (Quercus spp.) or beech (Fagus sylvatica), but abroad on lime (Tiliae spp.), birch (Betulae spp.) and poplar (Populus spp.) also.  In Dorset, this tiny macro moth, more micro than macro to look at some might say, has been found in mid-July in two old deciduous but widely-separated woods on clay soil: Oakers Wood, at MV light on 12 July 1997 (D Foot) and Boys Wood, at MV light on 15 July 2003 (P Davey).  Oakers Wood was mentioned in the Domesday Book, so the core mature oak-tree habitat has remained largely intact for a very long period of time. Managing a varied age structure of oak throughout Oakers Wood could be beneficial to maintaining this species at the site. The risk from wholesale felling of the oaks within the wood is unlikely at the current time as such activity on any SSSI requires consent from English Nature and from the Forestry Authority.  Mature oak dominates Boys Wood and these are harvested to support a family-run timber business that resisted the temptation to re-afforest with conifers in the latter half of the twentieth century.  A continuation of the sympathetic management at Boys Wood should be beneficial to maintaining this species at the site.