August 2025

Monitoring demonstrates successful translocation of the protected Fiery Clearwing moth

In 2024, Aspect Ecology secured one of the first development licences relating to the Fiery Clearwing Pyropteron chrysidiformis, a rare species of moth which is fully protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The moth was identified on a site in Kent, where Aspect Ecology is advising on a new housing development.

The moth lays its eggs on the stalks of various Rumex species, and the caterpillars burrow into the soil where they feed on the roots and overwinter.  Having recorded a small number of eggs on dock plants within the site, Aspect Ecology secured a Natural England licence to translocate this protected species. Accordingly, dock plants which hosted the moth eggs were moved to a receptor area on the edge of the site. This receptor area was fenced off with wooden post-and-rail fencing and the habitat within it managed to favour the moth. It is located close to a known off-site colony of the moth, in order to better link up the existing Fiery Clearwing habitat.

This summer, Aspect Ecology has undertaken monitoring of the receptor area which received the translocated plants. One year on from the translocation, we were pleased to find a small number of fresh eggs of the Fiery Clearwing, confirming the continued presence of a colony in the area and an egg laying female within the translocation site, which may have originated from the translocated docks. This is a positive result and a demonstration that development and conservation can go hand-in-hand, and we look forward to monitoring the site again next year.

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