Water Ermine

A nationally scarce species of fens, wet meadows, marshes and shingle, restricted mainly to East Anglian and south-east coastal areas. Records away from these areas may indicate immigration. Turner (1955) considered the species to be occasional and very local. Its status in Somerset is still somewhat unclear, but most records relate to Langport and areas immediately to the west, where the habitat is superficially suitable and from where it has been recorded persistently but irregularly for over a century.  A number of recent records from Clevedon may be migrants or may reflect a local population.&nbsp; Some forms of White Ermine may have few black spots but Water Ermine lacks a central black spot on the hindwing.

Buff Ermine

Common and widespread throughout
the county, though rarely in the abundance it could be found even as recently
as the turn of the century.

White Ermine

Common throughout the
county.&nbsp; Sometimes reported in substantial
numbers, though not as often as formerly.

White Ermine

Spilosoma lubricipeda