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

Identification

Usually distinctive. Care required, potential confusion with Yellow-tail.

Photo required for record acceptance due to rarity status.

Recording Method

Attracted to light.

Life cycle

One generation. Overwinters as a small larva. Larvae late August to late June. Pupates in a hairy cocoon in a bark crevice or among foliage of the foodplant.

Larval foodplants

Poplars, Aspen, sallows and willows.

Habitat

Hedgerows, scrub and woodland parks in river valleys.

History 

It was not recorded in MOGBI even though Cunningham (1949-50) quoted our first record which F. W. Smith had found in the Southwick area (VC73) in August 1948 and recorded in the Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine, vol. 85. p. 41.

In 1996 it was recorded nearby at Mersehead (VC73) on 23rd July with two further records near Auchencairn in 2021 and 2022.