General comments:
Formerly widespread but currently absent resident. Likely to reappear without warning.

There is a permanent resident population in Scotland and the north of England that is not, seemingly, interactive with southern populations. Southern English Dotted Rustics emerge in June, but after no more than two weeks enter a period of aestivation (summer equivalent of hibernation) and later awaken to fly in September and October. They may, potentially, be joined by primary immigrants from Europe at this time of year.

Localised declines may be due in part to a lack of aestivation sites, but the species is subject to colossal rises and falls in population size and geographical range. In parts of our area it was abundant in the 1980s and then declined towards the end of the 1990s and since about 2000 there have been only one or two isolated records per year. Casual examination of the historical literature suggests that the periodicity of the rises and declines of this species is about 50 years - in which case the late 2020s might see a sudden increase in reports.

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 18 (44%) of 41 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1960. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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