The aptly named beautiful marbled moth My moth trap seems to be a place of firsts (or very close seconds!) as for the second time in just over a week, I have found a rare species for this part of the country. Read my previous find here. This morning as I investigated the moth to find a beautiful specimen, the aptly named beautiful marbled moth, probably only the second recorded in Cambridgeshire. Very distinctive with a fade of off-white near the base of the wing, fading through an orange colour to a vivid pink wingtip. A migrant from the continent it is known that the larvae like to feed on Creeping Thistle, and the adult inhabit dry open grassland. However, there is no evidence of breeding in the UK yet. Initially this species had not recorded in the UK before August 2004, the ‘first record’ was an individual moth trapped at Portland in Dorset. However, after investigation, it was revealed that a number of these moths had been sighted around the south coast of England but were misidentified. Subsequently, the first actual sighting is record in 2001. Since then, there had been approximately 50 records according to the Moth Atlas, published in 2019. It has been suggested that there are at least another 50 records across the country for 2020 alone! Dr Vince LeaHead of Wildlife Monitoring Monitoring requires money - please donate now: Please select a donation amount (required) £100 Helps with the cost of providing habitats for a range of farmland wildlife. £50 Allows our conservation team to spend an afternoon monitoring the success of the CRT community’s activities. £20 Provides our volunteers with resources to complete essential conservation tasks. Other Donate Manage Cookie Preferences