45.012 Stenoptilia pterodactyla Brown Plume Copyright Martin Evans
45.012 Stenoptilia pterodactyla Brown Plume Copyright Martin Evans
Distribution map Copyright Martin Evans
Life stages table Copyright Martin Evans 45.012 Stenoptilia pterodactyla Brown Plume Copyright Martin Evans

Pterophoridae

45.012 Brown Plume Stenoptilia pterodactyla (Linnaeus, 1761)

Common

Similar species:

Forewing: 10 to 13mm

Habitats: Woodland rides and margins, hedgerows, road verges and dry grassland.

Habits: The moth is easily disturbed in the day, flies from dusk, comes to light and visits flowers.

Foodplant: The larva at first feeds in a stem of Germander Speedwell, which kills the shoot. Then from late August it overwinters in the stem. In the spring it feeds on the fresh leaf buds and flowers. It pupates on the plant or adjacent vegetation.