Back on the morning of the 18th June this moth was caught which was unfamiliar to us. After trawling through various literature and websites it was not readily identifiable and it was assumed that it would turn out to be a pale variant of one of the commoner species. Having been set as a specimen and had its genitalia determined it has been identified as Amphipyra effusa which was formally called Pyrois effusa. As far as we are aware this is the first UK record of a species that occurs around the Mediterranean region.
Landguard Bird Observatory is extremely grateful to all those who have helped with its identification. If anyone out there picks this posting up who knows anything about this species that they think might be useful in documenting this record then please e-mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk We are particularly interested in any information about any changes in the species distribution, extralimital records & the species migratory prowess.