General Comments:
Widespread and common.

Interestingly, although this species certainly benefitted greatly from the creation of allotment gardens in the 1940s, it appears as if the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. The loss of allotment gardens in urban areas of London has seemingly led to a general decline of the moth in Middlesex, whilst it thrives far better in semi-natural situations in the rural setting of Hertfordshire, where domestic gardens still retain currant bushes.

Hertfordshire Notes: In 1916, Foster wrote of the Hitchin area that the Currant Clearwing 'Occurs all over the district but is not common'. Regrettably he omitted to list any localities and our map shows only one tetrad - relating to Foster's own garden. Later, (Foster, 1937) he again suggests this species was relatively widespread, but putting available past records as well as modern sightings on the map seems to indicate two things - first that this moth is relatively well-recorded when compared to other clearwings and second that there is a vast gap in the map in the north of the county. Plant (2008) commented that Currant clearwings are probably moderately well-recorded because of their association with a fruit crop that was, and to some extent still is, grown in gardens and allotments. Larval droppings (frass) spill out of the pruned ends of affected stems when the larva is feeding making spotting them quite easy; of course, most gardeners will immediately cut them out! The adults respond well to artificial pheromone lures and have turned up when these have been used. On this basis they are probably genuinely scarce in the north-east of Hertfordshire, which is largely an arable desert, and very much under-recorded in the southern part.

Middlesex Notes: Widespread across the county, though discrete sites are well-separated.

Recorded in 24 (59%) of 41 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1900. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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