This large, beautiful moth, identified by the straw-yellow colour of its forewings, is restricted to only nine sites in the country, three of which are managed by Kent Wildlife Trust (Lydden Temple Ewell, Darland Banks and Queendown Warren). The Straw Belle is classed as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Butterfly Conservation carried out several Straw Belle surveys in 2021. The count of 123 Straw Belle on 23 August at Lydden Temple Ewell was the highest count of any single UK site in 2021, identifying the site as the best place for Straw Belle Moths in the country.

The management of this site by Kent Wildlife Trust has created areas of coarse grass and broken short turf, which encourages a myriad of species to flourish. The habitat preference of Straw Belle for short, warm, herb-rich grassland with a mosaic of bare patches for early stages and tussocks for adult stages has been achieved through light cattle grazing.

Kent Wildlife Trust’s Estates Team has a combined total of 100 years of conservation grazing experience on nature reserves. With the aim to mimic natural grazing processes as far as possible, targeted conservation grazing is used on sites like National Nature Reserves where there is a well-established habitat condition to be maintained.

“The management of cattle grazing is essential for these moths and for many other species that thrive at our Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature Reserve. The Straw Belle Moth fills a very similar niche to our wart biter crickets, another rarity that is restricted to a handful of sites in the country.” – Ian Rickards, Area Manager