Tag Archives: England

Zygaena viciae ssp. ytenensis (Briggs)

Hampshire New Forest Burnet (Zygaena viciae ssp. ytenensis)

This subspecies of the widespread New Forest Burnet was described in 1888; it was restricted to nine colonies that were distributed in woodland clearings in Hampshire County at the southern coast of England, Great Britain.

The Hampshire New Forest Burnet was last seen in 1927 and is now extinct; the main reasons for its extinction are the destruction of suitable habitat but even more so the extreme pressure from collectors, some of whom removed all of the adult specimens from certain populations and thus completely destroyed them.

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Depiction from: ‘Richard South: The moths of the British Isles. F. Warne & Co. 1907-09’

(not in copyright)

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edited: 25.02.2024

Eupithecia pusillata ssp. anglicata (Herrich-Schäffer)

English Juniper Looper (Eupithecia pusillata ssp. anglicata)  

The Juniper Looper (Eupithecia pusillata (Denis & Schiffermüller)) aka. Juniper Pug is distributed over the whole of the nearctic- and palearctic region with the nominate race living in Europe, including the British Isles.  

The form, discussed here, was described as a distinct subspecies, which obviously has always been restricted to only a few places in the English shires of Devon and Staffordshire – the validity of if this form, however, is questionable.  

The English form reached a wingspan of 1,8 to 2 cm, and is considered extinct since about the middle of the 19th century (?).  

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Depiction from: ‘Richard South: The moths of the British Isles. London, F. Warne & Co. 1907-09’ 

(not in copyright)

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edited: 13.09.2020