Species Account

Select species and region:

Distribution

Summary Data

Season (Adult / Immature):

National Status: Local

Local Status: Scarce and very local resident.

Local Record: Grade 4 See here for explanation

Flight time: One generation, Jun-Jul.

Forewing: 18-21mm.

Foodplant: Grasses.

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	1892	1997	1892
Year last recorded	2011	2002	2011
Number of records	181	4	370
Number of individuals	523	5	1056
Unique positions	74	3	154
Unique locations	55	3	116
Adult records	173	4	354
Immature records	0	0	0

For the region, we have a total of 370 records from 116 sites. Earliest record on file is in 1892.

Photos

Species Account

For further information refer UK Moths.

Davey, P., 2009: A species confined mainly to south-east England where it is local, the larva feeding on the lower stems and roots of various grasses. In Dorset, the moth occurs in two biotypes. On unimproved chalky grassland it is local and rarely common; for example there is a strong colony at Durlston but there have been no recent records from Portland. Singletons encountered in the Poole Basin suggest colonisation of acid grassland, but in these situations it is rare. Dispersed singletons occasionally turn up elsewhere.

The moth is similar to Light Arches²³²². Diagnostics include: a tawny ground colour, not straw-coloured; an almost continuous sub-terminal line bounded by short black streaks, not dots; a squarer moth more akin to a Clouded-bordered Brindle²³²⁶, less like a Pale Pinion²²³⁶; tawny-coloured thorax.

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