Species Account

Select species and region:

Distribution

Summary Data

Season (Adult / Immature):

National Status: Migrant

Local Status: Fairly common and widely distributed resident, and migrant.

Local Record: Grade 3 See here for explanation

Flight time: May-Nov, (mostly Jul-Sep)

Forewing: 14-17mm.

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	1905	1993	1905
Year last recorded	2011	2011	2011
Number of records	3156	208	6728
Number of individuals	15173	295	30936
Unique positions	213	10	446
Unique locations	166	10	352
Adult records	2858	201	6118
Immature records	0	0	0

For the region, we have a total of 6728 records from 352 sites. Earliest record on file is in 1905.

Photos

Species Account

Similar species: 2193 Clay.

For further information refer UK Moths.

Davey, P., 2009: An immigrant species observed in the southern and eastern counties of England, the larva feeding on various soft-bladed grass species such as cock's-foot (Dactylus glomerata). In Dorset, historically, old records suggest a species that was able to produce a resident second brood An immigrant species observed in the southern and eastern counties of England, the larva feeding on various soft-bladed grass species such as cock's-foot (Dactylus glomerata). In Dorset, historically, old records suggest a species that was able to produce a resident second brood following occasional early summer immigrations from western France and Iberia. However, more recently, the moth has been recorded annually since 1989 following a period of absence. By 2003, there was evidence of residency. The graphic for West Bexington depicts nightly trap totals during that season. Although immigration from abroad contributed to these totals on occasions, the continuous nature of the records over time plus the high daily totals indicate a strong resident population in this unimproved grassland coastal locality. The combination of the warm winters of 2001/2002 and 2002/2003, the hot summers of 2003 and 2006, in fact the warming trend as a whole, has likely spurred population expansion across the county to the point where the species appears now to be resident in unimproved grassland habitats along the coastal belt and inland, particularly on chalky soils.

This species is often confused with Clay²¹⁹³. Diagnostics include: the white mark on the forewing is a discrete circular point; less rectangular, shorter wings; the subterminal line is not studded with dots; this species is rarely seen in July, the peak time for Clay.

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