Abundance of Noctua pronuba in the UK

[Prichard,AW,NAR7 PRICHAA2 M]

My current experience seems to follow along the same lines as your own. Up
to around a hundred N. pronuba on a good night. I've no idea what the cause
of the decline could be.

Along the same lines; Large Ranunculus (Polymixis flavicincta), Garden Tiger
(Arctia caja), Beaded Chestnut (Agrochola lychnidis) and Lunar Yellow
Underwing (Noctua orbona) all seem to be species (there's probably others)
that have crashed in numbers in recent years in Suffolk and probably
elsewhere. Although recent records suggest that there may be some signs that
the latter three may be starting to pick up again.

Tony Prichard

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	p.j.palmer at lboro.ac.uk [SMTP:p.j.palmer at lboro.ac.uk]
	Sent:	Monday, January 18, 1999 1:14 PM
	To:	leps-l at lists.yale.edu
	Subject:	Abundance of Noctua pronuba in the UK

	Dear All,

	I have been following the discussion of the spread on Noctua pronuba
	in the USA with some interest, but wonder if someone can comment on
	the current status of the species in the UK.  During the 1970's and
	80's I used to see the species in huge numbers in my moth trapping
	expeditions.  Once a small group of us were force to retire to a
safe
	distance by an uncountable number round and attended mv lamp - we
	stopped counting at 700.  Regularly there would be too many to count
	in a Robinson type trap.  Towards the end of the 1980's the species
	became much less common, never numbering more than an hundred or so
	individuals, a situation that persists in my garden trap in rural
	Leicestershire, UK to this day.

	Can someone clarify the current status of the moth in the UK for me
	and perhaps offer an explanation for the decline in my records? 


	Regards

	Paul J Palmer