22nd July 2026

We had an hour or two surveying wildlife in the churchyard today. Helen found and photographed this larva on a Wild Parsnip seed-head. It belongs to a micro-moth Depressaria radiella (Parsnip Moth). It's a fairly common moth across the UK and feeds primarily on Wild Parsnip, and Hogweed if the former is unavailable. Nevertheless, we only saw Wild Parsnip in the churchyard for the first time last year. As plant diversity increases so will invertebrate diversity!

Parsnip Moth larva (Photo: Helen Robertson)