So far 130 different species of moth living in
the forest and surrounding area have been identified
by Peter Verdon and myself; some rare and others
common and I am sure there are many more to be found.
The rarer moths include the Canary-shouldered Thorn,
Red-green Carpet, Scarce Umber, Wood Carpet, Small
Scallop and Chinese Character. Most of these have
only been seen once or twice in the four years I have
been keeping records for the area, but the commoner
ones occur each year. These, among many others,
comprise the Angle Shades, Light Arches, Burnished
Brass, Yellow Shell, Early Thorn, Copper Underwing,
Clay and the Garden Carpet. Most of these can be
found at certain times between April and late August.
But some like the Scarce Umber, Canary Shouldered
Thorn and the Red-green Carpet, are often seen much
later in the year, sometimes well into December.
Hainault Forest is an area rich in insects and
especially in moths and butterflies. But the species
found there depend upon the habitat's ecology; if
in any way this is upset the forest would no longer
be able to support the insects and other forms of life
it"now harbours. Already the B.174 has been converted
from a single lane road to a dual carriage-way.
This extra lane has cut right across the breeding
ground of the Six-spot Burnet moth and since the
start of construction in 1971 the numbers of this"
species have decreased by 75%. With the decline of
the Six-spot Burnet also came the reduction in
numbers of the Common Blue Butterfly. Both insects
feed on the same patch of Clovers and Trefoils, but
now the Common Blue is regaining it's numbers while
the Six-spot Burnet continues to get rarer year by
year.
How soon will it be before another such scheme, or
even a motorway like the new M11 cuts right through
the Forest and destroys it for ever?
******** Ian Sims.
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