Species Account

Select species and region:

Distribution

Summary Data

Season (Adult / Immature):

National Status: Local

Local Status: Scarce and local resident.

Local Record: Grade 3 See here for explanation

Flight time: Mainly one generation May-Jul, (Aug-Sep).

Forewing: 14-16mm.

Foodplant: Beech.

IMPORTANT - Please note that the maps and accounts are provisional, subject to change and further update. The whole dataset still needs to go through the final verification process and it is likely that a very small number of records will not satisfy the present requirements and there are other records that have not been formally submitted. The information is for guidance only.

Record breakdown:

	VC9	VC8	VC11	Region
Year first recorded	1955	1994	1987	1955
Year last recorded	2011	1994	2007	2011
Number of records	326	1	4	662
Number of individuals	570	1	5	1152
Unique positions	106	1	3	220
Unique locations	78	1	3	164
Adult records	303	1	4	616
Immature records	0	0	0	0

For the region, we have a total of 662 records from 164 sites. Earliest record on file is in 1955.

Photos

Species Account

For further information refer UK Moths.

Davey, P., 2009: A species found in England, the larva feeding on beech (Fagus sylvatica). In Dorset, the moth is locally common in beech plantation and deciduous woodland containing mature beech, but rarely seen elsewhere. The national norm is for a single-brooded species from late May to early July, with a partial second brood between mid-August and mid-October. In Dorset the first brood emerges in early-May, and a second brood follows in late June. The second brood is, on average, twice as large as the first brood. Adult moths have been trapped between mid August and early September in ten of the past twenty years, often in very warm summers. These are suspected third brood individuals, often with the usual pale-clay ground colour changed to russet (ab. strabonaria), and the dark-brown line on the fore-wing and hind-wing taking on a reddish-purple hue. In these specimens, the usually absent discal spots are apparent. The period between each brood peak in the warmest summers is roughly forty-six days.

See background to species accounts. Index of Vernacular names - Search - Random Species