Species Account

Select species and region:

Distribution

Summary Data

Season (Adult / Immature):

National Status: Common

Local Status: Fairly common and thinly distributed resident.

Local Record: Grade 2 See here for explanation

Flight time: One generation, Jun-Aug.

Forewing: 14-18mm.

Foodplant: Herbaceous 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	1984	1955
Year last recorded	2011	2011	2011
Number of records	2365	168	5066
Number of individuals	6563	312	13750
Unique positions	210	16	452
Unique locations	174	15	378
Adult records	2116	166	4564
Immature records	0	0	0

For the region, we have a total of 5066 records from 378 sites. Earliest record on file is in 1955.

Photos

Species Account

For further information refer UK Moths.

Davey, P., 2009: A species occurring throughout south-east England becoming progressively more scarce further north and west, the polyphagous larva at first eats the foliage of the host plant, then descends beneath the ground to eat the roots. The larvae are a serious pest of various crops in Europe. In Dorset, the moth is locally common among unimproved grassland along the coast and inland on both alkaline and on acid soils. It is rare on heathland. The national norm is for a single brood in June, but in Dorset a small partial second brood occurs during August and September, often following warmer than usual summers.

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