Fauna of the Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly is an archipelago 45 km (28 mi) off Land's End, Cornwall. Little of the fauna on, above or in the seas surrounding the isles was described prior to the 19th century, when birds and fish started to be described. Most records of other animals date from the 20th century onwards.

Historical overview

There are few pre-19th century records for animals. William Borlase published The Natural History of Cornwall in 1758, commenting on the number of rabbits, and Jonathan Couch's A Cornish Fauna gave an account of some the animals known in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In the 19th-century, following the fashion of the time, birds were shot and stuffed, especially by Augustus Smith and his predecessors on Tresco. Egg collecting was allowed and in the Natural History Museum there are, in the collection, forty-five eggs taken between 1880 and 1936 from Annett, even though it was a bird sanctuary.[1] Newspapers recorded some of the fish caught but there was little recording of other groups of animals.

It was in the 20th-century when regular accounts can be found for other animal groups following visits from naturalists who often published their observations in the scientific literature. For example, William Bristow visited the islands on three occasions from 1927–1934, recording spiders including on some of the uninhabited islands.[2] The Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society published bird reports from the 1930s onwards and the Isles of Scilly Bird Group (founded 2000) took over publishing their own annual reports – Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review – which included other groups of animals such as the diptera.

Planarian (Flatworms)

Fourteen species of terrestrial flatworms have been recorded in Britain and Ireland with five found on the Isles of Scilly. Only three or four of the fourteen species are native with two recorded on Tresco.[3][4]

  1. The Australian flatworm (Australoplana sanguinea) – a flatworm from Australia and New Zealand and first found on Tresco in 1960. Now found in many parts of Britain. Feeds on earthworms.
  2. Australopacifica coxii – a flatworm from Australia and found on Tresco in 1975. Feeds on earthworms.
  3. Kontikia andersoni – found on Tresco in 1984; it is native to Australia and/or New Zealand.[5]
  4. Microplana terrestris – recorded on Tresco (1982). Native
  5. Microplana scharffi – recorded on Tresco (1984) and St Mary's (1985). Native.

Odonata

The Atlas of the Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland published in 1996 listed just three species; blue-tailed damselfly, common darter (both breeding residents) and the migrant hawker. The pools can be slightly brackish at times and only species that can tolerate these conditions can establish populations on the islands.[6]

Steve Jones compiled a list which was published in the Cornwall Dragonfly Group newsletters (nos 6–8) and the list below is based on that information. In comparison, at that time, Cornwall had 23 breeding species and 28 species recorded.[7]

  1. Common blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) – in 1994 an ovipositing female was at Lower Moors, St Mary's.
  2. Blue-tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans) – can tolerate brackish conditions and breeds on St Agnes, St Mary's and Tresco.
  3. Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) – increased sightings since the mid-1990s on St Agnes, St Mary's and Tresco.
  4. Southern hawker (A. cyanea) – recorded on St Mary's in October 1992 and October 1996 and from Tresco also in October 1996.
  5. Common hawker (A. juncea) – Great Pool, Tresco in October 1992.
  6. Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator) – individuals seen on St Mary's, September 1992 and August 1996.
  7. Green darner (A. junius) – At least two individuals (male and female) were found on St Agnes on10 September 1998 (just one day after the first record for the Western Palaearctic in Cornwall, the previous day). There was a male on St Mary's during the following week and a female on Tresco on 30 September and the next day.
  8. Golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) – October 1996 on Tresco.
  9. Red-veined darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) – two males on Great Pool, Tresco, May1992.
  10. Yellow-winged darter (S. flaveolum) – one seen on St Mary's during the ″Invasion Year″ of 1995.
  11. Common darter (S. striolatum) – breeding on St Agnes, St Mary's and Tresco.

Orthopteroid

The orthopteroids have been recorded in Scilly since 1890 and specialists have visited the islands since 1989 to give, what is considered, complete coverage of these insects. The list below is taken from Orthopteroid Insects on Scilly (2001) with additional records referenced.[8]

Orthoptera (crickets and grasshoppers)

  1. Oak bush-cricket – one seen on Tresco in 1960.
  2. Great green bush-cricket – resident on St Mary's and Tresco and probably an Allerød pioneer.
  3. Dark bush-cricket – one seen on Tresco in 1906.
  4. Grey bush-cricket (Platycleis albopunctata) – resident on Bryher and a probable Allerød pioneer. The numbers in the colony fluctuates.
  5. Long-winged cone-head (Conocephalus discolor) – a recent resident, discovered in 1990 on St Martin's and St Mary's, on Gugh and St Agnes in 1994 and Tresco in 1996.
  6. Short-winged cone-head (Conocephalus dorsalis) – a recent resident, the first confirmed record was from St Agnes in 1992 and found on St Mary's in 1996 on Lower Moors. Three known populations including Lower Moors, St Mary's.
  7. Speckled bush-cricket – a recent resident, one was found near the Garrison on St Mary's in 1991. In 2000 a small population was found.
  8. House cricket – in 1992 found on St Mary's at Porthloo rubbish tip.
  9. Mole cricket – one found on St Mary's in 1932. The specimen was donated to the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro and refound by Stella Turk in 1998.
  10. Common groundhopper (Tetrix undulata) – probably introduced on horticultural material and found in Tresco Abbey Gardens in circa 1960. Since found on Abbey Pool where there is a large population.
  11. Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) – there are records going back to the 19th-century and one was found on St Mary's in the autumn of 1988.
  12. Migratory locust – one found on St Mary's in October 1998.
  13. Blue-winged grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens) – one recorded in the Victoria County History (1906) in 1903.
  14. Field grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) – a probable Allerød pioneer, resident, widespread and numerous on the Annet, Bryher, Great Arthur, Great Ganilly, Great Ganinick, Gugh, Little Arthur, Little Ganilly, Menawethan, Northwethel, Samson, St Agnes, St Helens, St Martin's, St Mary's, Tean and Tresco.

Dictyoptera (cockroaches)

  1. Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) – an established introduction and until the early 20th-century was a widespread indoor pest. Still found in some premises on St Martin's, St Mary's and Tresco.
  2. German cockroach
  3. Lesser cockroach

Phasmatodea (stick insects)

  1. Prickly stick insect (Acanthoxyla geisovii)
  2. Smooth stick insect (Clitarchus hookeri)

Dermaptera (earwigs)

  1. Lesser earwig
  2. Common earwig
  3. Lesne's earwig

Lepidoptera

Micro moths

In 1992 Michael Hicks and John Hale began to regularly record the moths on St Agnes using a mercury vapour moth trap, initially in the central part of the island and later on the coast and on Gugh. Previously moths had been recorded by visitors on short stays.[9] The list below is taken from Hicks and Hale (1998) with additional records referenced.

  1. Stigmella aurella – a common leaf miner on bramble
  2. Psyche casta – the larvae feed on elm (Ulmus sp)
  3. Psychoides filicivora – larvae feed on the sori of ferns, including lanceolate spleenwort (Asplenium obovatum) on Bryher.
  4. Infurcitinea argentimaculella
  5. Monophis laevigella
  6. M. crocicapitella
  7. Tinea pallescentella
  8. T. trinotella
  9. Yellow v moth (Oinophila v-flava ) – in Britain and Ireland the moth is found usually indoors in, for example, wine cellars and warehouses, where the larva feed on wine corks and fungus.[10] Larvae were found under the flaking bark of Pittosporum crassifolium by Robert Heckford in 1986 at Old Town Bay, St Mary's.[11]
  10. Gracillaria syringella
  11. Aspilapteryx tringipennella
  12. Calybites phasianipennella – larval cones can be found on common sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
  13. Phyllonorycter messaniella
  14. Thrift clearwing (Pyropteron muscaeforme) – recorded around the coast on thrift (Armeria arenaria)
  15. Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana)
  16. Tebenna micalis – first Isles of Scilly record from St Agnes on 19 June 1998
  17. Cocksfoot moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella) – also found on Gugh
  18. Orchard ermine (Yponomeuta padella)
  19. Apple ermine (Y. malinellus)
  20. Spindle ermine (Y. cagnagella) – recorded, on St Agnes, at light in August 1994. The foodplant European spindle (Euonymus europaeus) is not found on the islands.[12]
  21. Swammerdamia pyrella
  22. Diamond-back moth (Plutella xylostella) – can be abundant and numbers reinforced by migration. When walking among crops can have hundreds flying ahead of each footfall.
  23. Rhigognostis annulatella – the larva foodplant is common scurvygrass (Cochlearia officinalis), a common plant on Scilly.[12]
  24. Epermenia chaerophyllella – recorded as ″not common″, the larva and larval feeding signs are easily found on hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium).
  25. E. aequidentellus – larva and larval feeding signs can be found on wild carrot (Daucus carota).[13]
  26. Schreckensteinia festaliella
  27. Coleophora serratella
  28. C. frischella
  29. C. deauratella
  30. C. laricella – the only record for this larch miner is by the bibliographer, Francis Jenkinson on St Agnes before 1894.[14] Larch has not been recorded on the islands.[12]
  31. C. discordella
  32. C. argentula – the larva can be found feeding in a case on the seedheads of Achillea millefolium.
  33. C. vestianella
  34. Elachista argentella
  35. E. consortella
  36. Batia lambdella – one trapped on Gugh on 9 July 1995, the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  37. Brown house moth (Hofmannophila pseudospretella)
  38. White-shouldered house moth (Endrosis sarcitrella)
  39. Esperia sulphurella – frequently seen, on St Agnes, flying around gorse (Ulex europaeus)
  40. Parsnip moth (Depressaria radiella)
  41. D. badiella
  42. Agonopterix heracliana
  43. A. alstromeriana
  44. A. umbellana
  45. A. nervosa
  46. A. yeatiana
  47. Monochroa cytisella – the larva forms a gall on bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
  48. Teleiopsis diffinis
  49. Bryotropha desertella
  50. Mirificarma mulinella
  51. Scrobipalpa samadensis
  52. S. ocellatella
  53. S. costella
  54. Caryocolum viscariella
  55. Nothris congressariella – common and widespread on the islands, the larvae feed between spun leaves of balm-leaved figwort (Scrophularia scorodonia) and was first recorded on Tresco in 1957. At that time it was not known from anywhere else in Britain and Ireland. Has since been found on the Channel Islands (1982), near Newquay (1987) and Lundy Island 1995.[15]
  56. Anarsia spartiella
  57. Brachmia blandella
  58. Oegoconia caradjai
  59. Blastobasis adustella (formerly known as B. lignea) – endemic to Australia and introduced to western Europe, possibly via the horticultural trade.[16]
  60. Hysterophora maculosana
  61. Agapeta hamana
  62. A. rubigana
  63. A. francillana
  64. Eupoecilia angustana
  65. Cochylis atricapitana
  66. Pandemis cerasana
  67. Archips podana
  68. Syndemis musculana
  69. Clepsis consimilana
  70. Light brown apple moth (Epiphyas postvittana)
  71. Epagoge grotiana – also recorded from Gugh on 9 July 1995
  72. Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
  73. Cnephasia conspersana
  74. Acleris laterana
  75. A. sparsana
  76. A. rhombana
  77. A. aspersana
  78. A. variegana
  79. A. hastiana
  80. A. emargana
  81. Celypha cespitana
  82. Olethreutes lacunana
  83. Endothenia oblongana
  84. E. quadrimaculana
  85. Lobesia littoralis – the larvae feed on the flowerheads and seeds of thrift (Armeria maritima) and first recorded on Annet in 1934.[17]
  86. Bactra furfurana
  87. B. lancealana
  88. B. robustana
  89. Epinotia nisella
  90. E. abbreviana
  91. E. maculana – first record for Scilly and Cornwall from St Agnes on 20 September 1997.
  92. Crocidosema plebejana
  93. Rhopobota naevana
  94. Gypsonoma dealbana
  95. Epiblema uddmanniana
  96. E. rosaecolana
  97. Eucosma campoliliana – one on St Agnes (6 August 1995) the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  98. E. cana
  99. Thiodia cirrana
  100. Spilonota ocellana
  101. Clavigesta purdeyi
  102. Rhyacionia buoliana
  103. Enarmonia formosana
  104. Cydia succedana
  105. C. nigricana – one found floating in a water tank, on St Agnes (June 1994) was a new record for the Isles of Scilly.
  106. Cydia fafiflandana – one trapped on St Agnes (20 July 2001) was a first for the Isles of Scilly.[18]
  107. C. splendana
  108. Pammene gallicana
  109. Pammene aurana
  110. Dichrorampha petiverella
  111. Alucita hexadactyla
  112. Euchromius ocellea – a moth that breeds in Africa and a rare migrant to Britain. The first Isles of Scilly record was on 13 August 1994 on St Agnes.
  113. Chrysoteuchia culmella
  114. Crambus lathoniellus – the first Scillonian record was one trapped at St Agnes on 5 August 1994.
  115. C. perlella
  116. Agriphila selasella
  117. A. straminella
  118. A. tristella – one trapped (St Agnes) on 14 August 1994 was the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  119. A. inquinatella
  120. A. geniculea
  121. Catoptria pinella – the first Isles of Scilly record was on 6 August 1995 on St Agnes.
  122. Pediasia contaminella
  123. Platytes cerussella
  124. Scoparia subfusca – also recorded on Gugh.
  125. S. pyralella – first record for Scilly was on 19 June 1996 at St Agnes.
  126. S. ambigualis
  127. Eudonia lacustrata – first record for Scilly was in August 1996 at St Agnes.
  128. E. lineola
  129. E. angustea
  130. E. mercurella
  131. Garden pebble (Evergestis forficalis)
  132. E. extimalis – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 6 August 1995.
  133. Gold triangle (Hypsopygia costalis)
  134. Orthopygia glaucinalis
  135. Old world webworm (Hellula undalis) – ten trapped on St Agnes in October 1995 were the first records in the Isles of Scilly for this regular migrant.
  136. Pyrausta despicata – also recorded on Gugh in 1995.
  137. Loxostege sticticalis – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 18 August 1996.
  138. Uresiphita gilvata – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 18 August 1996.
  139. Sitochroa palealis – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 12 October 2001. A second was trapped in the same field on 20 October 2001.[18]
  140. European corn-borer (Ostrinia nubilalis)
  141. Small magpie (Anania hortulata)
  142. A. coronata
  143. A. verbascalis – the first for the Isles of Scilly, was recorded on 19 August 1995 at St Agnes.
  144. Udea prunalis
  145. Rusty dot pearl (U. ferrugalis) – a common migrant.
  146. Mecyna asinalis
  147. Rush veneer (Nomophila noctuella) – a common migrant.
  148. Dolicharthria punctalis
  149. Diasemiopsis ramburialis
  150. Mother of pearl (Patania ruralis)
  151. Palpita vitrealis
  152. Gold triangle (Hypsopygia costalis)
  153. Hypsopygia glaucinalis
  154. Endotricha flammealis
  155. Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella)
  156. Bee moth (Aphomia sociella)
  157. Pyla fusca
  158. Etiella zinckenella – one on 20 July 1996 on St Agnes was the fourth for Britain and the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  159. Pempelia palumbella
  160. Dioryctria abietella – one on 23 July 1994 on St Agnes was the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  161. Nephopterix angustella – one on 10 September 1996 on St Agnes was the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  162. Acrobasis advenella
  163. Apomyelois bistriatella – one on 5 September 1996 on St Agnes was the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  164. Thistle ermine (Myelois circumvoluta)
  165. Ancylosis oblitella
  166. Homoeosoma nebulella
  167. H. sinuella
  168. Phycitodes saxicola
  169. Ephestia elutella
  170. White plume moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla)
  171. Emmelina monodactyla

Macro moths

  1. Orange swift (Triodia sylvina)
  2. Six-spot burnet (Zygaena filipendulae)
  3. Grass eggar (Lasiocampa trifolii) – scarce resident
  4. Oak eggar (Lasiocampa quercus) – rare
  5. Chinese character (Cilix glaucata) – rare vagrant
  6. Peach blossom (Thyatira batis) – uncommon resident
  7. Grass emerald (Pseudoterpna pruinata) – common resident
  8. Common emerald (Hemithea aestivaria) – common
  9. Blood-vein (Timandra griseata) – rare vagrant?
  10. Mullein wave (Scopula marginepunctata) – scarce resident
  11. Least carpet (Idaea rusticata) – one at light (21 July 1996) on St Agnes was a first for the Isles of Scilly.
  12. Small fan-footed wave (I. biselata)
  13. Single-dotted wave (I. dimidiata)
  14. Riband wave (I. aversata)
  15. Portland ribbon wave (I. degeneraria) – a first for the Isles of Scilly when recorded on St Agnes at light on 17 August 1996.
  16. Vestal (Rhodometra sacraria) – a scarce migrant.
  17. Gem (Orthonama obstipata) – a scarce migrant and possible breeding resident.[18]
  18. Flame carpet (Xanthorhoe designata) – fairly common throughout Britain the first two Scillonian records were found on 18 August 2000 (St Mary's) and a second on 2 September 2000 (St Agnes).[19]
  19. Red twin-spot carpet (X. spadicearia)
  20. Dark-barred twin-spot carpet (X. ferrugata)
  21. Garden carpet (X. fluctuata)
  22. Lead belle (Scotopteryx mucronata)
  23. Common carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) – also recorded on Gugh
  24. Yellow shell (Camptogramma bilineata)
  25. Purble bar (Cosmorhoe ocellata) – also recorded on Gugh
  26. Small phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata) – 6 August 1995 was the first record for the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes.
  27. Barred straw (Gandaritis pyraliata) – first Scillonian record on 23 July 2000 at St Agnes.[19]
  28. Red-green carpet (Chloroclysta siterata)
  29. Common marbled carpet (C. truncata)
  30. Dark marbled carpet (Dysstroma citrata)
  31. Blue-bordered carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)
  32. Grey pine carpet (Thera obeliscata)
  33. Green carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)
  34. July highflyer (Hydriomena furcata)
  35. Rivulet (Perizoma affinitata)
  36. Sandy carpet (Perizoma flavofasciata)
  37. Foxglove pug (Eupithecia pulchellata)
  38. Lime-speck pug (E. centaureata)
  39. Wormwood pug (E. absinthiata)
  40. Common pug (E. vulgata)
  41. Grey pug (E. subfuscata)
  42. Narrow-winged pug (E. nanata) – rare
  43. Cypress pug (E. phoeniceata) – rare
  44. Green pug (Chloroclystis rectangulata) – common
  45. Double-striped pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata) – common
  46. Yellow-barred brindle (Acasis viretata) – rare
  47. Magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata) – common
  48. Clouded border (Lomaspilis marginata) – rare/vagrant?
  49. Sharp-angled peacock (Macaria alternata) rare vagrant
  50. Latticed heath (Semiothisa clathrata) – rare vagrant
  51. Brimstone moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) – common
  52. Bordered beauty (Epione repandaria) – first Scillonian record on St Mary's (5 September 1986) and the second record (29 August 2000).[19][15]
  53. Early thorn (Selenia dentaria) – common
  54. Scalloped hazel (Odontopera bidentata) – common
  55. Scalloped oak (Crocallis elinguaria) – common
  56. Swallow-tailed moth (Ourapteryx sambucaria) – common
  57. Feathered thorn (Colotis pennaria) – vagrant?
  58. Peppered moth (Biston betularia) – uncommon
  59. Willow beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria) – common
  60. Brussels lace (Cleorodes lichenaria) – scarce
  61. Common wave (Cabera exanthemata) – rare vagrant?
  62. Light emerald (Campaea margaritata) – rare vagrant?
  63. Barred red (Hylaea fasciaria) – scarce resident
  64. Yellow belle (Aspitates ochrearia) – rare
  65. Convolvulus hawk-moth (Agrius convolvuli) – scarce
  66. Death's-head hawk-moth (Acherontia atropos) – rare
  67. Eyed hawk-moth (Smerinthus ocellata) – rare vagrant
  68. Hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) – common in some years
  69. Spurge hawk-moth (Hyles euphorbiae) – the first confirmed record was photographed by David Hunt, in 1972, at Tresco Abbey Gardens and thought to have arrived on imported plants.[19] Henry Harpur-Crewe visited in 1877 and described it to the gamekeeper, who is a very observant man, and he said he was almost sure he had seen it.[15]
  70. Bedstraw hawk-moth (Hyles gallii) – first Scillonian record on Tresco (27 July 1945).[15]
  71. Striped hawk-moth (Hyles livornica) – rare vagrant
  72. Puss moth (Cerura vinula) – rare
  73. Pebble prominent (Notodonta ziczac) – rare
  74. Pale prominent (Pterostoma palpina) – rare
  75. Brown-tail (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) – rare vagrant
  76. Yellow-tail (E. similis) – common
  77. Black arches ('Lymantria monacha) – rare vagrant
  78. Red-necked footman (Atolmis rubricollis) – uncommon
  79. Four-dotted footman (Cybosia mesomella) – rare vagrant?
  80. Dingy footman (Collita griseola) – scarce
  81. Hoary footman (Eilema caniola) – first Scillonian record on Tresco (16 September 1974), second on St Mary's (5 September 1986) and the third on 18 August 2000.[15][19]
  82. Scarce footman (Manulea complana) – uncommon
  83. Buff footman (Eilema depressa) – first Scillonian record on St Agnes (12 October 2001).[18]
  84. Common footman (Manulea lurideola) – uncommon.
  85. Four-spotted footman (Lithosia quadra) – uncommon migrant.
  86. Crimson speckled (Utetheisa pulchella) – rare vagrant.
  87. Garden tiger (Arctia caja)
  88. White ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) – abundant.
  89. Buff ermine (S. luteum) – abundant.
  90. Muslin moth (Diaphora mendica) – a male on 11 May 1993 on St Agnes, was a new record for the Isles of Scilly.
  91. Ruby tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) – common.
  92. Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae) – common.
  93. Kent black arches (Meganola albula) – uncommon.
  94. Least black arches (Nola confusalis) – scarce.
  95. Square-spot dart (Euxoa obelisca)
  96. White-line dart (E. tritici) – uncommon.
  97. Turnip moth (Agrotis segetum) – common and abundant.
  98. Heart and dart (A. exclamationis) – abundant.
  99. Crescent dart (A. trux) – common
  100. Dark sword-grass (A. ipsilon) – abundant.
  101. Shuttle-shaped dart (A. puta ssp. insula) – abundant, bright and colourful compared with the mainland race.
  102. Sand dart (A. ripae) – rare.
  103. Great dart (A. bigramma) – rare immigrant, three were caught on 10 August 1997 during a period of migrant activity. The first Scillonian record was one caught on St Mary's by B Elliot (24 August 1995).
  104. The flame (Axylia putris) – abundant.
  105. Flame shoulder (Ochropleura plecta) – abundant.
  106. Radford's flame shoulder (Ochropleura leucogaster) – rare vagrant. The individuals caught on St Agnes (30 October and 21 November 1997), were the 6th and 7th British records and a new record for the Isles of Scilly.
  107. Large yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba) – abundant.
  108. Lesser yellow underwing (N. comes) – common, about half of specimens are ab. sagittifer Cockane.
  109. Broad-bordered yellow underwing (N. fimbriata) – rare, one on 29 September 1994 was a new Isles of Scilly record. A second was caught on 29 September 1995 and a third on 9 July 2001; all on St Agnes.[18]
  110. Lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing (N. janthe) – common.
  111. Least yellow underwing (N. interjecta caliginosa) – rare, one on St Agnes (12 August 1994) was the first Scillonian record since the 1880s.[15]
  112. True lover's knot (Lycophotia porphyrea) – common.
  113. Pearly underwing (Peridroma saucia) – common.
  114. Ingrailed clay (Diarsia mendica mendica) – common.
  115. Small square-spot (D. rubi) – common.
  116. Setaceous Hebrew character (Xestia c-nigrum) – common
  117. Square-spot rustic (X. xanthographa) – abundant.
  118. Nutmeg (Anarta trifolil) – abundant.
  119. Shears (Hada plebeja) – abundant.
  120. Cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae) – common.
  121. Dot moth (Melanchra persicariae) – rare vagrant.
  122. Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea) – abundant.
  123. Broom moth (Ceramica pisi) – common.
  124. Broad-barred white (Hecatera bicolorata) – common.
  125. Campion (Sideridis rivularis) – rare, one on St Agnes (25 July 1994) was the first for the Isles of Scilly.
  126. Marbled coronet (Hadena confusa) – uncommon
  127. Lychnis (Hadena bicruris) – uncommon
  128. Hedge rustic (Tholera cespitis) – rare vagrant
  129. Brown-veined wainscot (Archanara dissoluta) – the first Scillonian specimen was caught on 5 August 1995 and the second on 25 July 2001; both on St Agnes.[18]
  130. Bird's wing (Dypterygia scabriuscula) – the first for the Isles of Scilly was caught on St Agnes on 19 August 2001.[18]
  131. Dog's tooth (Lacanobia suasa) – first Scillonian record on 19 June 2000 at St Agnes.[20]
  132. Pale pinion (Lithophane hepatica) – the first Scillonian record wa one on St Mary's 27 May 1974 and the second on St Agnes 8 April 2000.[15][19]
  133. Porter's rustic (Athetis hospes) – first recorded in the UK at Kynance Cove, Cornwall the second, third, and fourth UK records were all from the same St Agnes field; 14 September 1993, 31 August 1998 and 5 September 2000.[19] A fifth UK record was caught on 11 October 2001.[18]

Possible species

Butterflies

A Cornwall Butterfly Atlas published in 2003 listed 26 species of butterfly recorded on the islands. Eleven are resident or likely to be resident.[21]

  1. Pale clouded yellow (Colias hyale) – seen in 1900 when it was said to be common and also one in 1968. The ab helice of clouded yellow can be mistaken for this species so identification from individuals seen in flight are unreliable.[15]
  2. Berger's clouded yellow (C. sareptensis) – been reported but unconfirmed.[22]
  3. Clouded yellow (C. croceus) –
  4. Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) – A total of six brimstone have been recorded. Three seen in August 1911, on an unnamed island.[23] A male seen on St Agnes on 15 September 1977 and another male flying on Peninnis Head, St Mary's on 24 April 1984.[24] The last seen was on St Martins on 27 September 2013.
  5. Large white (Pieris brassicae) – resident
  6. Small white ( P. rapae) – resident
  7. Green-veined white (P. napi) – resident on St Mary's. First recorded in 1877 on St Mary's and Abbey Gardens, Tresco by the Reverend Harpur Crewe.[25] First recorded on St Agnes in 1992.[22]
  8. Bath white (Pontia daplidice)
  9. Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines)
  10. Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) – resident
  11. Long-tailed blue (Lampides boeticus)
  12. Common blue (Polyommatus icarus) – resident
  13. Holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) – resident
  14. Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) – migrant and may overwinter in favourable years.[22]
  15. Painted lady (V. cardui) – migrant and may overwinter in favourable years.[22]
  16. American painted lady (V. virginiensis) – one reported on St Agnes on 10 September 1998 and another in 1999.[22]
  17. Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) – resident
  18. Large tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros)
  19. Camberwell beauty (N. antiopa)
  20. Peacock (Aglais io) – resident but rare on St Agnes.[22]
  21. Queen of Spain fritillary (Issoria lathonia)
  22. Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) – resident, recorded on Tresco in 1903 but did not colonise the islands until the late 1960s.[22]
  23. Wall (Lasiommata megera)
  24. Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)[15][2]
  25. Meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) – resident
  26. Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) – resident on St Martin's
  27. Small heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
  28. Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

Species list is taken from A Cornwall Butterfly Atlas with additional information referenced on the species account.

Hymenoptera

Ants

Fourteen species of ants have been recorded and ten are currently found.[26][27]

  1. Myrmica scabrinodis
  2. Myrmica ruginodis
  3. Myrmica sabuleti
  4. Tetramorium caespitum
  5. Formica fusca
  6. Red-barbed ant (Formica rufibarbis) – known locally as the St Martin's ant. Only found in the Isles of Scilly and Chobham Common, Surrey. where it is close to extinction. In the June 2007 the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) found over 40 nests on Chapel Down, St Martin's and also nests on some of the Eastern Isles. The ZSL collected 34 queens for a captive rearing programme with the aim of releasing at least 40 captive-reared nests, yearly, into the wild at Chobham.[28]
  7. Garden black ant (Lasius niger)
  8. Lasius psammophillius
  9. Yellow meadow ant (Lasius flavus)
  10. Lasius fuliginosus – discovered at Pelistry, St Mary's

Coleoptera (Beetles)

In 1931 Kenneth Blair published a list of over 500 beetles, collated from collections and published papers. Below is listed some of the species a visitor is likely to see on a visit.[lower-alpha 1][6]

  1. ↑ [29]

Amphibians

The common frog (Rana temporaria) is known from Tresco and Higher Moor, Lower Moor and Porthloo on St Mary's. Bones were identified from a 10th to 13th century site at Lower Town, St Martins.[2] Giant, albino tadpoles, suffering from a mineral deficiency, resulting in a form of gigantism were found in the pool on the cricket pitch, also on St Martin's.[30] Bones of a toad were found from a 17th-century occupation site at Steval Point Battery, St Mary's.[31]

Birds

As of September 2015 the number of species of birds' recorded is 437, with two, Moltoni's warbler (Sylvia subalpina) (2014) and cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) (2015), awaiting confirmation from the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC).[32]

  1. Roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) – last bred in 1994[33]
  2. Spectacled warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) – first Scillonian record on 15 October 2000 on Tresco[33]
  3. Eurasian bullfinch ((Pyrrhula pyrrhula)) – bred on Tresco in the late 1970s and early 1980s[33]

Introductions

  1. Golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) – introduced to Tresco in the 1970s, the population was reduced to one male in the 1980s before further releases.[33]

Reptiles

Slow worms (Anguis fragilis) have been present around Great Popplestone Bay on Bryher since the 1960s.[2]

Fish

Mammals

The Mammals of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, an atlas published by the Cornwall Mammal Group lists 56 species for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, but most of the mammals found in Cornwall are missing from the islands. These include European badger (Meles meles), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (Mustela nivalis) and most other small mammals such as the voles.[2][35]

(The species are listed in the order used by Harris and Yalden (2008) Mammals of the British Isles Handbook)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, P. (2003) The Birds of the Isles of Scilly. London: Christopher Helm.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Parslow, Rosemary (2007). The Isles of Scilly. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978 0 00 220151 3.
  3. ↑ Turk, Stella (1995). "Flatworms". Biological Recording In Cornwall and the Scillies. Pool, Redruth: Institute of Cornish Studies. 1: 6–7.
  4. ↑ Turk, S M; Tompsett, P E (2009). Planarians or Flatworms (Turbellaria). In Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (2nd ed.). Praze-an-Beeble: Croceago Press. p. 158. ISBN 978 1 901685 01 5.
  5. ↑ "Kontikia flatworms". GB non-native species secretariat. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 Parslow, Rosemary (2007). The Isles of Scilly. Insects and Other Terrestrial Invertebrates. London: Harpur Collins. pp. 286–325. ISBN 978 0 00 220151 3.
  7. ↑ Pellow, Keith (2001). "Dragonflies on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000. Isles of Scilly Bird Group (1).
  8. ↑ Haes, E Christopher M (2001). "Orthopteroid Insects on Scilly". Isles of Scilly and Natural History Review 2000 (1): 178–184.
  9. ↑ Hicks, Michael E; Hale, John W (1998). Lepidoptera of St Agnes, Isles of Scilly. St Agnes, Isles of Scilly: Self Published.
  10. ↑ Kimber, Ian. "Yellow V Moth Oinophila v-flava". UKmoths. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  11. ↑ Heckford, Robert (1987). "Lepidoptera recorded in the Isles of Scilly in May, 1986". Entomologist's Rec. J. Var. 99: 268–270.
  12. 1 2 3 French, Colin N; Atkinson, Mary G; Murphy, Rosaline J (1999). Flora of Cornwall: atlas of the flowering plants and ferns of Cornwall with notes on some species recorded on the Isles of Scilly. Camborne: Wheal Seton Press. ISBN 9780953461301.
  13. ↑ Barton, Ian. "47.004 Epermenia aequidentellus (Hofmann, 1867)". British leafminers. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  14. ↑ Bailey, William E (1894). "The Lepidoptera of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly". Trans. Penzance nat. Hist. antiq. Soc. (1893–1894): 106–446.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Smith, Frank H N (1997). The Moths and Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Wallingford: Gem Publishing Company. pp. 179–217. ISBN 0 906802 07 5.
  16. ↑ Sterling, Phil; Parsons, Mark; Lewington, Richard (2012). Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland. Gillingham, Dorset: British Wildlife Publishing. ISBN 978 0 9564902 1 6.
  17. ↑ Turner, Hy J (1934). "Polychrosis littoralis subsp. annetensis n.ssp. a new form of a microlepidopteron". Entomological Record. 46: 52.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hicks, Mike (2002). "Moths Report 2001". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2001 (2): 172–4. ISSN 1474-4937.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hicks, Michael E (2001). "Moths on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1): 176–7.
  20. ↑ Smith, Frank H N (2002). "A supplement to the Moths and Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly". Entomologist's Gazette. 53: 213–237.
  21. ↑ Wacher, John; Worth, John; Spalding, Adrian (2003). A Cornwall Butterfly Atlas. Newbury: Pices Publications. pp. 123–5. ISBN 1 874357 23 4.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hicks, Michael (2001). "Butterflies on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000. Isles of Scilly Bird Group (1): 173–4.
  23. ↑ Adkin, Banaiah W. "Colias edusa and Sphink convolvuli at Scilly". Entomologist. 44: 324.
  24. ↑ Penhallurick, Roger D. The Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Truro: Dyllansow Pengwella. ISBN 0951578510.
  25. ↑ Harpur Crewe, H (1877). "Entomology at Tresco and the Isles of Scilly". Entomologist. 10: 295–297.
  26. ↑ Parslow, Rosemary (2007). The Isles of Scilly. London: HarperCollins. p. 309. ISBN 978 0 00 220150 6.
  27. ↑ Cooper, Andrew (2006). Secret Nature of the Isles of Scilly. Dartington: Green Books. pp. 187–8. ISBN 978 1 903998 51 9.
  28. ↑ The red-barbed ant (undated leaflet). St Mary's: Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.
  29. ↑ Blair, Kenneth G. "The beetles of the Scilly Islands". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 4: 1211–1258.
  30. ↑ Turk, F A; Turk, S M (1977). "Amphibians". Cornish Biological Records (1).
  31. ↑ Ratcliffe, J; Straker, V (1996). The Early Environment of Scilly. Truro: Cornwall Archaeological Unit.
  32. ↑ "Species List". Isles of Scilly Bird Group. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  33. 1 2 3 4 Anon (2001). "Systematic List". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000. 1: 26–132. ISSN 1474-4937.
  34. ↑ "Islands of Scilly - A Fine Salmon". The Cornishman (97). 20 May 1880. p. 5.
  35. 1 2 3 Groves, David (2013). The Mammals of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Truro: ERCCIS. ISBN 978 1 902864 10 5.
  36. ↑ "Rare seabird makes a comeback in West Country". Natural England. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  37. ↑ Blair, W.N. (1926) Blair's White-toothed Shrew. Scillonian 5:164-5.
  38. 1 2 3 4 Mawer, Dave (2001). "Bats on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000. Isles of Scilly Bird Group (1): 167–173.
  39. 1 2 3 4 Martin, Amanda (2001). "Cetaceans in Scillonian Waters". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000. Isles of Scilly Bird Group (1): 165–7.
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