The rather bright green caterpillar is marked with black blotches and whitish lateral lines.
Flies from September onwards before hibernating and reappearing in March or April.
Family – Noctuidae
Medium Sized
UK BAP: Listed
Priority Species
The caterpillars feed on a variety of plants including dock (Rumex)
The females of the Pale Brindled Beauty are completely wingless, or apterous, a feature which is often found in moths which emerge in the winter months.
This species shows marked melanism, the black form f. monacharia being commoner than the typical form in certain parts.
Males fly from January to March, searching for the females which have climbed up tree-trunks.
Family – Geometridae
Medium Sized
The name 'Wax Moth' refers to the moth's lifestyle - it lives in beehives, where the larvae feed on the honeycomb. Adults can be attracted to light.
The males of this species have a distinctively concave outer edge to the forewing; the females are generally plainer in appearance with a less concave edge.
Flies between June and October.
The Mullein is more often found in the caterpillar stage than as an adult but can be seen when attracted to light.
Flies from April to May in one generation.
Caterpillars in the wild feed on species of mullein (Verbascum) and in gardens, on Buddleia.
The males have long, whitish antennae, the females shorter, both sexes having bronzy or metallic greenish forewings. The moths fly in the daytime, sometimes occurring in swarms.
The caterpillar lives in a portable case.
Flies from May to June in one generation.
Caterpillars feed on leaf-litter.
The English population has two generations, with adults at large in April and May, and again in August and September. In Scotland the species is single-brooded, flying from June to July.
The caterpillars feed on poplar (Populus), especially aspen (P. tremula) as well as sallow (Salix).
Woodland
Not found in the UK.
Caterpillars feed on Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe)
Damp meadows below 1000m
Not found in the UK.
Overwinters as a caterpillar.
Caterpillars feed on Common Bird's-foot-trefoil and Gorse.
Grassy, flowery places such as Meadows, farmland and wasteland.
Not found in the UK. There have been several records of this butterfly in the UK from over the past 150 years but the species is not considered to be migratory and their presence has been attributed to passage by ship.
A rather long-winged species, the Black Rustic is a distinctive moth that is common in the south with a scattered distribution in the north.
Adults come to light and sugar but can also be seen feeding on the flowers of Ivy and even overripe Blackberries.
Caterpillars can be found between October and May, overwintering as small larvae and feeding at night, hiding low down by day. Pupates underground.
Flies in one generation from September to October, slightly earlier in the north.
