Identification

Unmistakable.

Recording method

Can be found by searching around the foodplant Red Campion, comes to light around dusk.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a pupa. Larvae are present mid July to early September, living inside the seed capsules.

Larval foodplants

Larvae feed on the Red Campion flowers and ripening seeds

Habitat

Mature hedgerows, grasslands, edges of open woodland and sand-dunes.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1874 for VC73 in the Castle Douglas area by Robinson-Douglas, in 1899 for VC74 near Monreith by Morton and in 1944 for VC72 at Tynron by Duncan.