Red List: Least Concern (LC). GB Status: Common.

Identification

Usually distinctive. Care required, potential confusion with Common Wave.

Recording method

Can be disturbed by day. Attracted to light.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a larva. Larvae August to late May. Pupates in a cocoon on the foodplant.

Larval foodplants

Bell Heather, Broom, Heather and Petty Whin.

Habitat

Raised bogs, moorland, heathland and open woodland areas with adjacent heath.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1862 for VC72 near Tinwald Downs, Dumfries by Lennon who stated that it ‘was not common’, in 1904 for VC74 at Corsemalzie by Gordon who had ‘beaten a single female from the heather on Low Moorand’ and in 1943 for VC73 at Kirkconnell by Duncan.