Fenn's Wainscot (Protarchanara brevilinea)
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: | Chortodes brevilinea |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Protarchanara brevilinea |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Fenn, 1864) |
| 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): NT. Highly restricted distribution in Norfolk Broads and Suffolk coast. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | An inhabitant of the drier parts of reed beds which could be adversely affected by management for other reed bed species and by rising sea levels. |
| 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: | Requires a particular stage of reed bed succession. Untargeted management is more likely to be harmful than beneficial. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Low recovery potential due to a combination of limited reed beds that could be colonised and threat to low-lying sites from sea-level rise. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Fenn's Wainscot requires the drier parts of reedbeds. Ensure that management at occupied sites for species requiring wetter conditions , does not eliminate habitat for this species.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Prevent conversion of drier parts of reed beds to woodland and/or restore areas where this has already occurred.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
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.