December Moth (Poecilocampa populi) | Species | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Male. Taken at Aston, Oxon., on November 6th 2023. (© David Hastings) (1/200th sec at f13) DescriptionFamily: Lasiocampidae (ABH : 66.001) Wing span: 30 - 34mm The cream and buff collar on a black thorax, and creamy-white cross-bands on the charcoal-coloured fore-wing make this moth unmistakable. The sexes are similar; the female is larger, and doesn't have feathered antennae. It can be found throughout the British Isles. It is most numerous in woodland, but is also frequent in scrub, hedgerows and gardens. There is one generation per year, from late October to January in southern Britain, and from early October in the north. It over-winters as an egg. Larvae feed on broad-leaved trees, including oaks, birches, elms, hawthorns, Blackthorn, poplars and sallows. It comes to light, but often fails to enter the trap. Earliest UK sighting: 5th November ; Latest UK sighting: 15th December Sightings
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