As a result of Gary's discovery, there was a welcome increase in the number of Clearwing records being sent to the county recorder. And over a decade later, the use of pheremone lures is commonplace by those wishing to record the Welsh Clearwing at Sherwood.

But Sherwood Forest is also home to two other scarce Clearwings, namely the Yellow-legged Clearwing and Large Red-belted Clearwing, the latter species seeing a large increase in records following recent clearance and haloing work around the forest.

So following numerous requests asking for the best sites to try and see all three Sherwood Forest Clearwings, we originally updated this page in 2015, by providing the latest records and information we had at the time. Five years later and its time for another page revamp and update.

The use of pheremone lures

Nine species of Clearwing have been recorded in Nottinghamshire and seeing the adult of any of the nine is often purely down to luck.

The best way to see them is to attract them with pheremone lures. Available from many entomological suppliers, pheremone lures offer the only real option when wanting to see the adult moth of any species. They keep for several years in the freezer and can be used time and again, so do offer good value for money.

However, do not over-use them at any one site and don't use them daily in the same spot. If no moths have been attracted after half an hour, its usually best to try somewhere else. Pheremones are not the only practical way of recording Clearwings, as the pupal case (exuvia) remains in the exit hole after the moth emerges. The problem of identifying pupal exuvia to species level at Sherwood Forest can be difficult, as the larvae of both Welsh and Large Red-belted Clearwing develop in Birch (Betula pendula) although Large Red-belted Clearwing exuviae only occur in cut Birch stumps. Yellow-legged Clearwing is easier as the larva feeds on Oak (Quercus), but we have never yet found the exuvia of this moth.

Welsh Clearwing females show distinct preferences when selecting an egg-laying site and there are at least two Birches riddled with Clearwing exit holes within the Sherwood Forest Country Park and Budby South Forest, though how much longer these trees remain standing is anyone's guess. Site managers are (or certainly were) aware of their existance. Searching the lower six feet of mature Birch trunks, where the bark is rugged and deep creviced during June, will usually pay off if searching for the exuvia during the flight period for each species. Welsh Clearwing females lay their eggs on living trees, but Large Red-belted Clearwing prefer cut Birch stumps, where females are best looked for flying around stumps remaining after being cut during the previous Winter.

Sherwood Forest's dubious Red-belted Clearwing record and species accounts

Officially, some four different Clearwings have been recorded from Sherwood Forest, although personally, I think that Sherwood's historical Red-belted Clearwing record is doubtful, especially considering the unsuitability of the habitat (even a hundred years or more ago. Sterland's undated record of the forest's only Red-belted Clearwing Synanthedon myopaeformis (Borkhausen, 1789), I'm afraid is at best is just an honest case of misidentification on his part, or just complete fabrication.

The reliability of many of Sterland's record have often been questioned by those who have researched Sherwood Forest's historical records. Many of his records were regarded as being dubious by J.W. Carr in his book "The Invertebrate Fauna of Nottinghamshire" published in 1916 and I personally consider it extremely unlikely that Red-belted Clearwing occurs anywhere within the Sherwood Forest NNR area, or indeed ever did.

So combining the historical and present day records, three Clearwings have been recorded from Sherwood Forest. All three are generally common across the Country Park, but Large Red-belted Clearwing tends to be more mobile, moving from area to area depending on where Birch clearance work most recently took place.

Recent Sherwood Forest/Nottinghamshire records: The use of pheremone lures has led to an increase in the number of records over recent years, with the renewed interest in recording Clearwings. Prior to 2008, there had been only a single historical record for Sherwood Forest dating to 1877, but a second record (of larvae on Budby South Forest in 1997) held in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Entomological Society database, has recently been made available to us. There are post-2000 records from Hungerhill Allotments at Nottingham in 2002 and Oxton Bogs in 2010 (Wright, S.).

Flight period: June to August, with a clear peak in records coming during July. Yellow-legged Clearwing is usually an easy species to attract to pheremone lure on warm days, but can take a while to appear. Try the central areas of the Sherwood Forest CP for best chance of success.

The moths were netted and colour marked in the cells near the wing tip, where marking consists of either a single colour, or a combination of colours. Unfortunately the scheme was short-lived, but helped to prove that the population was larger than expected, as there were never any recaptures of previously marked moths. The continuation of such a project, would be an extremely useful one for somebody with the foresight to see what important information this could provide us with.

Pheremone lures have proved that the moth is widespread where there are mature Birch throughout the Sherwood Forest NNR. Known sites are the Sherwood Forest Country Park, Budby South Forest, Clipstone Old Quarter and Sherwood Heath. It is surprisingly absent from Clumber Park.

Recent Sherwood Forest/Nottinghamshire records: The moth is still regularly recorded in the Sherwood Forest Country Park area.

Flight period: Flies from June to July, with the majority of records coming in June. Males come easily to lure on favourable days (warm and dry) with the best sites to try being Sherwood Heath and Sherwood Forest Country Park.

Recent Sherwood Forest/Nottinghamshire records: All of the recent Nottinghamshire records have come from Budby South Forest and the heathland sections of the adjacent Sherwood Forest Country Park. Large Red-belted Clearwing was once described as being common on Budby South Forest and pupal exuviae were regularly found on Birch stumps. It seems far from common in recent years and may remain undetected in small numbers over the wider Sherwood Forest NNR and Clumber Park areas.

Flight period: May and June. Red-belted Clearwing is a difficult moth to attract to pheremone lure and we have personally had no success at attracting this moth. Heathland sites where Birch stumps remain would be the place to try for this moth, but rewards may be little.

The following list of records have been sent directly to us, or are taken directly from the Nottinghamshire macro moth report produced by the county's macro moth recorder - Wright, S. Nottinghamshire Macro Moth Reports 2003-2020.

In recent years, most Clearwing surveying has been carried out by Rob Woodward, who has continued to visit regular sites in the NNR for a number of years now. Aside from Rob's excellent work and valuable records, all other Clearwing records over the past five years or so, are usually the result of casual sightings or visits to the Sherwood Forest NNR, most specifically targetting the Welsh Clearwing.