The Norfolk snout moth (Nothris verbascella) was always a rarity in Britain. By the late 1960s, populations of this little beige moth with its unique protuberant “nose” had been reduced to a single location: a working quarry in north-west Norfolk. Larval searches in the Snettisham Carstone Quarry area have been attempted multiple times in recent years and have failed. In September 2024, an adult specimen of the Rare Norfolk snout was rediscovered in Stoke Holy Cross, which happened to be in the same Hectad as the first UK specimens from 1853.

Additional research has discovered larval feeding indications on Hoary Mullein and more adult moths. A welcome return to Norfolk, or maybe it never went! Bad weather, or probably overcollection by a few fanatics, caused the 20mm wingspan moth to go extinct in Britain in 1971. After a more than 50-year hiatus, the Rare Norfolk snout was discovered near where it was first spotted in 1853.

One of the moths was caught this week in a humane moth trap set up in Dave and Pauline Jones’ garden in Stoke Holy Cross, four miles south of Norwich.

Nature enthusiasts were initially perplexed by the identity of this little, somewhat dull-looking moth with unusual curled “horns” on its palps, a pair of hairy appendages on the front of the head that assist moths in finding food sources.

However, experts, including Steve Palmer, a specialist in identifying little moths from the Gelechiidae family, have validated their identification.

The Norfolk snout caterpillar larvae consume hoary mullein, a tall plant with yellow blossoms that is rare nationally but relatively widespread south of Norwich, where the moth was rediscovered.

It is still being determined whether the moth, common throughout Europe, has recolonised from mainland Europe or has been surviving unnoticed in small groups for more than five decades.

Moth specialist James Lowen, the author of Much Ado about Nothing, believes it could have gone undiscovered for years.

“It’s fascinating,” Lowen said about its reintroduction. “My suspicion is that it has been here undetected. It stays close to its food plant, hoary mullein, which may be found along roadsides south of Norwich, and does not venture far. It’s a little brown moth, and many people overlook them. Dave and Pauline Jones deserve a lot of credit for approaching it critically.”

“When things are going extinct everywhere, and you discover something that isn’t going extinct at all, it’s fantastic. It gives me hope for the future that this small piece has latched on, and we haven’t discovered it until now.”

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