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

Identification

Usually distinctive.

Recording method

Can be disturbed by day from the foodplant Red Bartsia. Flies from dusk. Attracted to light in small numbers.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a pupa, sometimes for up to 5 years. Larvae August to October, initially inside the seed capsules. Pupates underground.

Larval foodplants

Red Bartsia and occasionally Eyebright.

Habitat

Grassland and open derelict ground.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1862 for VC73 at Terregles by Lennon, in 1904 for VC74 near Monreith by Morton but not until 2011 for VC72 at Caerlaverock.