Wildlife and conservation review 2002
Zoe Ringwood has been studying Fisher's Estuarine Moth for her PhD, supported by Writtle College,
English Nature, the Environment Agency, and Butterfly Conservation (Cambs & Essex branch),
and this is now starting to bear fruit. Ringwood, Gardiner et al. made an interesting comparison
between Fisher's Estuarine Moth and its habitats in Britain, where it is exclusively maritime, and
Germany, where it is not. Ringwood, Hill & Gibson presents further data upon the Essex population,
with particular reference to its ovipositing strategy. Eggs were observed being laid on six food
plants (five grasses and the food plant Hog's Fennel); 75% of all oviposition was on Sea Couch and
Common Couch, where the eggs are laid between the inflorescence and the outer leaf-sheath. The
highest densities of breeding females were in areas of relatively sparse (