Identification

The adults are sexually dimorphic. The female has a longitudinal yellow stripe from the base of the forewing almost reaching the yellow triangle at the tornus of the wing. The male stripe only extends a short distance from the base.

Occasionally comes to light.  Males fly in morning sunshine.

Life cycle

Larvae: July-May.  Adults: April-June.

Larval foodplants

Larva feeds on dead wood and under bark in a loose, silken tube with copious frass.

History

The first for Dumfries & Galloway was found at Castlehill in Kirkmahoe parish, Dumfriesshire, on 12th April 1980 by Sir Arthur Duncan, specimen at National Museums Scotland, while the first for Kirkcudbrightshire was found at Upper Clifton on 23rd June 2006 during a Scottish Entomologists’ gathering, with the Wigtownshire first being found at Glenstockadale on 27th May 2012.