Mottled Rustic (Caradrina morpheus) | Species | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Taken at Aston, Oxon., on July 17th 2022. (© David Hastings) (1/500th sec at f13) DescriptionFamily: Noctuidae (ABH : 73.092) Wing span: 26 - 32mm This species has broad, dark and rather blurred kidney and oval marks. The forewing is brown or dark brown, rapidly broadening in the male. The leading edge is slightly curved. It is well distributed throughout England, lowland Wales and southern Scotland. Habitats are gardens, farmland, grassland, heathland, scrub, woodland and many coastal habitats. There is usually one generation per year, from June to mid-August. The larva over-winters in a cocoon underground, in which it pupates in the spring. Larvae feed on a wide range of herbaceous plants, including nettles, docks, goosefoots, teasels and Hedge Bedstraw. It comes to light, less often to sugar and flowers. Earliest UK sighting: 23rd May ; Latest UK sighting: 15th October Sightings
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