Sightings of moth have increased since the 1980s

I READ with great interest your article dated July 14 concerning ?endangered moth found on moor?. As County Recorder for Devon, dealing mainly with the Macrolepidoptera (larger moths), I can safely say that this species has been breeding on Dartmoor for at last 100 years and has been a resident in Devon since before 1860 (our earliest records). Recent sightings, because people have been looking for it, have increased considerably on Dartmoor since the 1980s, and being one of our Biodiversity Action Plan Species, it has been monitored on a regular basis by volunteers and people employed by Dartmoor National Park. New sites are being found year after year, particularly in marshy places where the larval foodplant, Devil-bit Scabious, occurs. I published my book ?The Moths of Devon, An account of the Pyralid, Plume and Macromoths of Devon? ISBN 09540256-1-X in 2001, and on Page 163 I give the history of records of this species since the very first recorded sightings. R F McCormick Devon Moth Group 36 Paradise Road Teignmouth