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

Identification

Usually distinctive. Care required, potential confusion with Lesser Cream Wave and Smoky Wave.

Recording Method

Attracted to light.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a fully grown larva. Larvae July to April. Pupates in loose earth.

Larval foodplants

Bedstraws and vetches.

Habitat

Woodland, scrub, hedgerows and gardens.

History 1860-2010

First recorded in Dumfries and Galloway in VC72 in 1862 by Lennon from Tinwald Downs, Dumfries who stated that it was ‘not common’.  The first record for VC73 was much later in 1971 from Kirkconnell Flow by Duncan and for VC72 in 1995 on Hightae Moss by Richard Mearns.