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

Identification

Usually distinctive. Care required, potential confusion with Golden-rod Pug and some other pug species.

Recording method

Attracted to light.

Life cycle

Single generation over an extended flight period. Overwinters as a pupa. Larvae  late June to October. Pupates in loose earth.

Larval foodplants

Many herbaceous and woody broadleaved plants.

Habitat

A wide variety of habitats from coastal to upland.

History 

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1862 for VC73 at Dalskairth by Lennon who stated that it was ‘not common’, in 1898 for VC74 at Corsemalzie by Gordon who found it ‘not uncommon at rest on tree trunks and flying at dusk’ and in 1951 for VC72 at Tynron by Duncan.