General comments
Extremely local and declining resident.

British Chalk Carpets are all referable to subspecies cretata (Prout); the nominate subspecies bipunctaria is found on mainland Europe.

In a communication to P. J. Bell around 1965, Hodgson states '... about 10 years ago one could hardly move a step on Pitstone Hill in August without flushing this moth. I last saw it in 1956 although I have visited the locality every August'. Pitstone Hill is a boundary site on our border in Buckinghamshire, in the region that includes the Aldbury Nowers Nature Reserve. The loss of this formerly widespread (on the chalk) resident moth coincides neatly with the outbreak of myxomatosis amongst wild rabbit population, which allowed scrub to invade the chalk grasslands. Add into the equation the post-war cultivation of many unimproved grasslands and the indiscriminate use of pesticides in the 1950s and sixties and it is not hard to understand what has happened to the Chalk Carpet moth. Extensive habitat recreation would be required to bring this moth back.

Recorded in 11 (27%) of 41 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1890. Last Recorded in 2020. Additional Stats

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