Identification

The brownish-grey forewing with four small black dots along the costa, dark oval and dark kidney-mark with small white dots on its edge will aid identification.

Recording Method.

Attracted to light, also comes to sugar and flowers.

Life cycle

Two generations. Overwinters as a larva in a cocoon underground, from where it pupates in the spring. Larvae are present September spring and summer.

Larval foodplants

Grass seeds and cereal grains.

Habitat

Grassland and urban gardens.

History

Lennon (1863) had stated that it was common around the Dumfries area. Douglas Robinson (1870-71) under C. cubicularis had found this species to be common on Almorness (VC73) in July. Gordon (1913) under C. cubicularis had found it to be common and generally distributed in gardens and haysheds in Wigtownshire during June. Earliest date was 11th June 1906.

William Evans received a specimen from Mowat, the Killantringan lighthouse keeper during 1914 to aid his insect migration studies.

Archibald Russell (1944) listed it as occurring near Gatehouse of Fleet (VC73) during the years 1942-43. Sir Arthur Duncan (1909-84) during his lifetime had found it at Closeburn, Tynron and Castlehill, Dumfries (all VC72).

From 1978 to 2010 there were fifty records, with Kirkton providing half of them, the rest came from scattered sites across the region.