Species Account

Select species and region:

Distribution

Summary Data

Season (Adult / Immature):

National Status: Common

Local Status: Common and fairly widespread resident.

Local Record: Grade 1 See here for explanation

Flight time: One generation, Jun-Aug.

Forewing: 16-21mm.

Foodplant: Herbaceous and woody plants.

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	VC11	Region
Year first recorded	1955	1987	1955
Year last recorded	2011	2011	2011
Number of records	1123	62	2370
Number of individuals	2801	72	5746
Unique positions	192	9	402
Unique locations	150	10	320
Adult records	1049	60	2218
Immature records	0	0	0

For the region, we have a total of 2370 records from 320 sites. Earliest record on file is in 1955.

Photos

Species Account

For further information refer UK Moths.

Davey, P., 2009: A widespread species in England and Wales but absent from Scotland, the larva is polyphagous. In Dorset, the moth is widespread and generally at low density. It is locally frequent in gardens and allotments in towns and villages, where it is "often in the larval stage, destructive to china aster and gladioli." (W Parkinson Curtis ms), and rises to common in chalky river valleys. Traps run in the vicinity of larch (Larix spp.), notably at Piddles Wood, Stubhampton and Chase Woods, have produced relatively high numbers of moths. The national norm is for a single brood in July and August, but in Dorset the range of dates is slightly earlier between mid-June and mid-August. There is a partial second brood in late August and early September in some seasons; the following light trap records refer: Gillingham, 25 August 1995 (G Hopkins), Winterborne Stickland, 1 September 2006 (LdW), Wareham, 27 August 2008 (Mrs B Young), Swanage, 30 August 2008 (Mrs P England), Arne, 23 August 1987, 29 August 1992 (B Pickess), Wimborne, 27 August 2007 (R Steedman).

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