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

Identification

Usually distinctive.

Recording method

Attracted to light.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as an egg on the foodplant. Larvae March and April. Pupates in catkins or on the ground.

Larval foodplants

The catkins if Goat Willow, Eared Willow and Grey Willow.

Habitat

Marshes, damp woodland, ponds and gardens.

History

First recorded for Dumfries and Galloway in 1862 for VC73 at Dalskairth by Lennon who stated that it was ‘very rare’, in 1906 for VC74 at Corsemalzie by Gordon who had found ‘the larvae common in sallow catkins in a wood’,  but not until 1996 for VC72 at Kirkton.