Identification

Unmistakable.

Recording method

Readily comes to light.

Life cycle

The extended flight period probably includes two or three generations of the year. They overwinter as part-grown larvae or as pupae in cocoons on the foodplant. The first adults that occur during May and June result from the overwintering pupae, while the later generations, that are smaller, are from the larvae that have overwintered that resume feeding in the spring.

Larval foodplants

Larvae feed mainly on Blackthorn and Hawthorn.

Habitat

Scrub, hedgerows and gardens.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1899 for VC74 at Corsemalzie by Gordon who found it ‘very common and generally distributed in Wigtownshire, flying along hedge sides and near woods’, in 1930 for VC73 at Laurieston Hall by Stamp and in 1932 for VC72 at Closeburn by Duncan.