V-moth (Macaria wauaria)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - moth > Moth |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Macaria wauaria |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | GB Red List (Fox et al. 2019): EN; long term abundance decline of 98% and long term distribution decline of 71%. Perhaps the most rapidly declining moth in the British Isles. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Larvae feed on currants and Gooseberries. It is unclear how much they utilise these in semi-natural habitats but the decline could be driven by changing gardening habits, including the vastly increased use of domestic pesticides. These factors need investigating. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | There is no evidence that these factors are involved in the decline of this species. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Unknown |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | It is currently unknown how much potential there is for recovery due to absence of information about whether semi-natural habitats are widely used. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted surveys to determine the use of semi-natural habitats, particularly in southern England where the species seems to have almost completely disappeared.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites: Especially southern England
Comments: This will help to determine whether climate change is one of the factors adversely impacting this species.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.