Status
Morley's Final Catalogue: Suffolk, teste W.C. Hewitson Esq. (Stephens, Illust. ii 1828, p. 90). Always common where ragwort grows on sandy or gravelly soils; invariably in myriads throughout the Breck District, whence some 120,000 pupae were exported to New Zealand in 1929 alone (Trans.i,73). Quite rare on the damp boulder-clay throughout High Suffolk: not seen at Monks Soham from 1904 to 1918, when a batch of fifty larvae appeared gregariously; Haughley station 1919; etc. One flirting with P. fuliginosa, Linn. at Fritton Warren on 19 May 1925 (Wiltshire).
Recent Suffolk Status: Common and widespread. A well-known species more often found as larvae on Ragwort.
Life history: Single-brooded in one long generation from late spring through the summer.
Identification: Flies by day in sunshine and comes to light. Sometimes confused by inexperienced observers with the burnet moths.
Habitat: Heathland and sandy soils are favoured but anywhere where Ragwort grows.Recorded in 55 (95%) of 58 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1919.
Last Recorded in 2023. |