Identification

Unmistakable day-flying geometrid being all black with white tips at the apex of the wings.

Recording method

Only flies by day, usually in sunshine.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as an egg. Larvae are present during April to early June, with pupation taking place just below the surface.

Larval foodplants

Larvae feed on the flowers and seeds of Pignut.

Habitat

Meadows, especially neutral grassland where Pignut is common.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1820 for VC72 at Raehills by Little, in 1862 for VC73 at Glen Mills by Lennon and in 1899 for VC74 near Monreith by Morton who later stated that it ‘was widely distributed and locally abundant in meadows and among bracken on the moors during June’.