Epirrhoe galiata (Denis & Schiff., 1775)

Description: Wingspan 28-32mm. Adults have pale greyish forewings with a broad, darker central band; the outer margins are tinted grey.

Key Identification Features:

• Broad dark central band
• Small dark patches near apex of forewings
• Hindwings pale a heavily marked with fine crosslines

Sets:

Flight Period: From the beginning of July to early September.

Status: Widely distributed but local. Reported mainly from coastal habitats and from sandy areas around Lough Neagh in the past. Recent fieldwork in other coastal localities has proved it to be more widespread than initially though. Recent records include Killard Point NNR, Ballykinler and Murlough NNR, Down; the Umbra, Magilligan and previously Banagher NNR, Londonderry. It has also been recorded recently inland at Gortmaconnel Rock, Fermanagh.

Ecology: Primarily a coastal species in N. Ireland normally associated with sandy heaths and coastal grassland. Adults are active from dusk onwards and appear at light in small numbers. They are occasionally flushed from the grassy vegetation during the day. (Skinner 1998) indicates that it is double-brooded in Ireland. This may not be the case in N. Ireland since all of the records appear to be from July to September. Further evidence is needed to establish whether this is the case in the north, by trapping during May and June. The larvae can be found from July to September on bedstraws Galium spp, and spend the winter months as a pupa.

Bradley & Fletcher number: 1740 Agassiz number: 70.063

Additional information:

UK Moths account

Caterpillar: