| Green Silver-lines | Noctuidae |
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| Maps updated: April 2008 |
Pseudoips fagana britannica (Warren, 1913)
Description: Wingspan 32-40 mm. A very distinctive species which is not easily confused with any other moth. Forewings bright green with a pointed apex. Antemedian and postmedian lines are white and run obliquely across the wing. Subterminal line white and running across to the apex of the wing. The costal edge and the dorsum of the forewings are red in the male. Hindwings are silky white with an ochreous tinge.
Key Identification Features:
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Flight Period: End of May to early July.
Status: According to Baynes this species was considered to be rare in N. Ireland and not found outside Down. Recent fieldwork has proved it to be more widespread especially in the Greater Belfast area along the Lagan Valley, in north Armagh and in well-trapped sites in Fermanagh. This clearly proves that it is not necessarily restricted to large expanses of woodland.
Ecology: A beautiful woodland species found occasionally in traps in very small numbers. According to Skinner adults may occasionally be beaten from trees by day. The larvae feed during August and September on oak Quercus spp., Beech Fagus sylvatica, Aspen Populus tremula>, birch Betula spp. and Hazel Corylus avellana. It overwinters as a pupa.
World Distribution: Eurasiatic; throughout western Europe as far north as Fennoscandia.
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| Thompson, R. S. & Nelson, B., 2003 (Oct 2). [In] The Butterflies and Moths of Northern Ireland http://www.ulstermuseum.org.uk/lepidoptera/species.asp?item=6528 |
| Copyright © MAGNI, 2002 |