Morley’s Final Catalogue: Pretty well confined in Britain to East Anglia and York. With us it seems extremely local: Pupae are abundant in marshes round Needham, where the imago is sometimes taken at light and probably much commoner than is generally supposed (L, before 1890). One netted at Ampton in 1911 (Nurse); and one or two at Downham (Norgate). Diss (Leech 1886, p. 72). Rare at light, Fritton Lake in Aug. 1935 (Mly).

Recent Status: Found across the county but particularly frequent close to the coast. The species is predominantly an East Anglian species but is also found along the south coast along to Hampshire. There are also records inland to Leicestershire.

Life Style: A single brooded species flying during summer and coming to light. The larvae feed inside stems of Phragmites australis and Glyceria maxima. They pupate inside a stem below a hole cut by the larva prior to pupation.

Identification: Schoenobius gigantella is strongly sexually dimorphic. The smaller male has a forewing a shade of brown with scattered small grey blotches which also make up a sub-terminal line. The hindwings have a sub-terminal line. There is no confusion species for the male.
The female is much larger and a more uniform straw or light sandy brown. It can show a small number of small blotches and can have a slightly paler costa and be darker adjacent to that. The termen is convex or straight and the costa is gently curved. This contrasts with Chilo phragmitella females. Donacaula forficella has an oblique line running directly from the apex which is absent on Schoenobius gigantella. Additionally the female S. gigantella is much bigger than any similar species and has palps that exceed the length of the head and thorax combined.

Recorded in 41 (71%) of 58 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1911. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

Exit Recorder