Identification

Fairly distinctive, with the jagged wing edges separating it from Scalloped Oak.

Recording Method

Adults can be found  during the day on walls and tree trunks, comes readily to light.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a pupa. Larvae are present early June to September, with pupation on the ground.

Larval foodplants

A wide variety of trees, including birches, hawthorns, oaks, willows, privets, limes, conifers and spruces.

Habitat

Conifer plantations, gardens, woodland and hedgerows.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1862 for VC72 at the Crichton Institute, Dumfries by Lennon who said it was ‘common’, in 1899 for VC74 at Corsemalzie by Gordon who found it ‘common and generally distributed in Wigtownshire, coming to light and sides of woods at dusk’, and in 1942 for VC73 at Gatehouse of Fleet by Russell.