Species Account
Distribution
Summary Data
Season (Adult / Immature):
|
National Status: Common Local Status: Fairly common and widespread resident. Local Record: Grade 1 See here for explanation Flight time: One generation, Jul-Aug. Forewing: 14-16mm. Foodplant: Grasses. |
Record breakdown:
VC9 | VC8 | VC11 | Region | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Year first recorded | 1976 | 1995 | 1986 | 1976 |
Year last recorded | 2011 | 1995 | 2011 | 2011 |
Number of records | 600 | 1 | 27 | 1256 |
Number of individuals | 1197 | 1 | 28 | 2452 |
Unique positions | 125 | 1 | 9 | 270 |
Unique locations | 103 | 1 | 8 | 224 |
Adult records | 507 | 1 | 26 | 1068 |
Immature records | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
For the region, we have a total of 1256 records from 224 sites. Earliest record on file is in 1976.
Photos
Species Account
For further information refer UK Moths.
Davey, P., 2009: A species restricted to south-east Britain, the larva feeding on the flowers and seeds of common couch (Elytrigia repens) and cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata). In Dorset, the moth seems to be increasing in unimproved grassland habitat generally following lean times more than fifty years ago. It is locally common along the coast and locally abundant on chalky soils inland. In such places, it is a highly visible species during the day as it rests on the flower heads of knapweed (Centaurea spp.) or field scabious (Knautia arvensis). There are more than forty light trap records across the Poole Basin on sandy soil, and dispersal is suspected for many of them.
See background to species accounts. Index of Vernacular names - Search - Random Species