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NEYEDC improve and inform environmental decision making, conservation, land management and sustainable development in North and East Yorkshire through the collation, management, analysis and dissemination of biodiversity information.

The Natural History of Yorkshire in 100 Species

Explore the rich and diverse natural history of our region through the stories of 100 species, told by the people who know them best.

#45 Comfrey Moth by Jill Warwick

Meet Jill Warwick, bird ringer, moth recorder, and one of the brains and bodies behind the Lower Ure Conservation Trust!

Jill has nurtured an interest in natural history all her life, from a very young age, initially through bird watching, then broadening horizons to learn about small mammals. She obtained a joint bat handler’s licence with husband Simon and eventually trained to become a bird ringer in 1989 (now Group Secretary for East Dales Ringing Group, which she co-founded in 1996). In the mid-1990s, the purchase of a worked-out sand and gravel quarry by the Lower Ure Conservation Trust, a charity founded by Jill’s husband Simon, saw a new avenue for recording and monitoring all species on this fledgling site, where the mantra was “to let nature take its course.” Both joined the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union (YNU) in the late 1980s, Jill later volunteering to be a writer, then co-editor for the new-style Yorkshire Bird Report from 2007/08, also assuming the role of the Birds Section secretary for several years. In addition, she became the YNU Publicity Officer in 2011 (150th anniversary year), in order to raise the profile of the Union during an important year in its long history.

In 1983, Jill was introduced to the addictive art of moth trapping and recording, later becoming the Macro-moth Recorder for the Harrogate & District Naturalists’ Society and undertaking much peripatetic moth trapping around Yorkshire with the County Macro-moth Recorder, Charlie Fletcher, who first introduced her to the subject of this blog!

You can contact Jill at: jill@swland.co.uk, and find out more about the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union here.

Ethmia quadrillella, Comfrey Moth © Jill Warwick

Jill’s chosen species is Ethmia quadrillella, not exactly a name which rolls off the tongue easily! It is more colloquially known as the Comfrey Moth or Comfrey Ermel, for those who insist on using its common vernacular name. It is one of five species of the Ethmidae family which inhabit the UK, all bar one with varying degrees of distinctive white and black patterning/dots on the wings (Ethmia pyrausta has smoky black wings, with black dots and only inhabits montane regions in northern Scotland).

E. quadrillella is one of the smallest (7-9mm long) members of the family but nonetheless very distinctive, with a preference for wetlands, riverbanks and waste ground - habitats where the chief foodplants of Comfrey (Symphytum sp) and Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) grow. Reference to distribution atlases on-line shows a curious, scattered distribution in England, including the Cambridgeshire fens, the Midlands, the Welsh border and central Yorkshire up to Barnard Castle. You can find out more about E. quadrillella on the NBN atlas.

The first Yorkshire records, in 1859 and 1883, both emanated from the far north of VC65. Apart from an unconfirmed sighting from Staithes in 1920 (none since), nearly a century passed before the next record in 1972, again in VC65, found by the late John Flint FRES at East Tanfield near Ripon (the River Ure corridor), the moth being associated with “comfrey”.

When searching the extensive county database, the distribution of Ethmia quadrillella shows a distinct bias along the River Ure corridor, where Symphytum uplandicum (Russian Comfrey) has become established over the last 40 years. This could however also be an effect of observer bias, with several keen moth recorders now living near Ripon!

E. quadrillella in situ on a leaf, showing its size. © Jill Warwick

Jill was first introduced to Ethmia quadrillella whilst moth trapping at the High Batts Nature Reserve (a private nature reserve adjoining the River Ure, near Ripon) in May 2002 – six were recorded at light traps and later in June, two were found during the day, resting on Comfrey leaves at the same site, appropriately enough during a YNU field excursion. They are so obvious when you know what to look for – a moth which hides in plain sight!

Usually on the wing throughout May, depending on the temperature, the moths bask on the leaves of the foodplant during warm, sunny days and can look like small bird droppings at first glance! There appears to be a preference for the Comfrey plants with deep purple flowers as opposed to pink. Systematic checking of stands of Comfrey in full flower (not in bud) can be very rewarding, and Jill has contributed nearly 90 records to the Yorkshire database, the majority from along the River Ure corridor where the foodplant grows in abundance. Little is known regarding the lifecycle of E. quadrillella, including interactions between males and females. Are the females emitting pheromones to attract passing males, or are the males being territorial? More research is required on this aspect of the moth’s lifestyle.

Male and female E. quadrillella copulating © Jill Warwick

Recording and monitoring

Jill hopes that this short article will encourage more observers to find this attractive little moth in the future (take a photo if in doubt, the moths pose quite happily). Jill would recommend anyone to send their sightings of E. quadrillella, or indeed any other moths, to your VC Recorder! 

Further information and acknowledgements

NEYEDC would like to thank Jill for her time and expertise in helping to create this blog. If you’d be interested in contributing a piece for the series, contact Lucy at lucy.baldwin@neyedc.co.uk. To find out more about biological recording, see the Naturalists page on our website.

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