Yorkshire Status: Rare and very local resident.

Since the 2020 lockdown summary below, Webb's Wainscot has continued to do well, with most records coming from the south and east of the county. In 2023 however one reached Great Smeaton in VC65, so it clearly has the potential of turning up almost anywhere. There are still no records for VC64.

2020 (CHF): Webb's Wainscot has a curious history of colonisation. It is another species relatively new to the UK and was first found in 1879 in Kent. It gradually spread along the coast, west and north, and since 2000, the pace has quickened with significant spread inland, with a lot of records in the south-eastern quarter of England. More than any other coloniser, it appears to have a tendency to send pioneers a long way to spy out the land. Moths arrived at Spurn in 2002 and one was found at Tynemouth in 2006. Invaders at Spurn evidently included at least one gravid female as a good colony was established with a lot of records over the next few years and counts of up to six at a time in 2003. This colony however gradually died out. There was only one record in 2008 and none in 2009, though there have been scattered records every 1-2 years since then.

In 2013 and 2014 there were records on Teesside and it is possible that there was a temporary colony, though we have had none since. In 2016 we were surprised to receive a nice photograph on one trapped at Barnsley, our first inland record. The next three years brought just a single record from Spurn, but 2020 has been far more interesting. There was one record from Spurn but moths were trapped at two other locations, Hunmanby Gap in the north of VC61 and Rossington in the east of VC63. Presumably these were just wandering individuals but particularly the Rossington record hints that there might be colonisation happening or about to happen inland in the south east of the county, as the line of advance of settled colonists is heading in our direction.

This is a moth of wet areas. The larvae feed on bulrush (or do we still have to call it reed mace now, I can never remember), but also iris, common club-rush and branched bur-reed. The latter of course is Sparganium from which the moth itself Globia sparganii is named. It's one of the few species that doesn't feed as an adult, relying on the abundant fat reserves laid down as a larva, and has a reduced proboscis. You therefore won't find it at sugar. Apparently, moorhens and coots are experts in finding the larvae hiding within the leaves and stems, and are serious predators. Wainscots are tricky things to identify at times but this one is not too difficult. It flies in August and if you were careless you might confuse it with Bulrush Wainscot. The closest "look-alike" is apparently Rush Wainscot but this is a moth of the Norfolk Broads which hasn't (yet!) been seen in Yorkshire. I reckon it has the potential to turn up almost anywhere in the county now, so do think of it when you find a "funny Wainscot" in August that you're not sure about.

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 14 (7%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 2002. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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