See also Moth of the Week (12/07/2019)

Identification

Unmistakable.

Recording method

Occasionally seen by day feeding on flowers, comes to light in small numbers.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a pupa, in a cocoon in earth. Larvae are present August and September.

Larval foodplants

Aspen, Bilberry and sallows.

Habitat

Damp woodland and sallow scrub.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1862 for VC72 at Riggfoot by Lennon who stated that it was ‘very rare, but it occurred at Riggfoot and on the Tinwald Downs’, and in 1863 for VC73 at Dalskairth also by Lennon.  It was not found in VC74 until 1988 at Mochrum by Pelham-Clinton.