This dull brown moth has the characteristic look of a prominent moth that is with a small ‘tuft’ of hair showing halfway between its hairy thorax and the angle of the trailing edge of its wings when at rest. It is a lightly scaled species with a very clear and diagnostic small, cream patch on the leading edge of its wing. At the Scottish level it is widespread (except for the very far north and the islands) but infrequent. Here it is considered ‘scarce’ with only one or two coming to a light trap and only a few records from D&G each year (none last year and a maximum of 11 in 2014 – obviously as any early spring moth the amount of moth trapping done each year is very weather dependant). However, this moth is found in all three Vice-counties and is on the wing in April and May peaking at the end of April and beginning of May. Since the first recorded moth in 1970 in total we have 46 records for this species from about 24 ‘sites’.
This essentially woodland moth has a caterpillar which is a bright, ‘wrinkly’ green above and darker green beneath with a broad yellow-white lateral stripe and feeds on birch. In D&G all sightings are of the adults the great majority coming to moth traps.
So far this year I have heard of three records but as we are just coming up to the peak flight time I am sure that there will be more of these moths reported.
