Pyralidae

62.070 Long-legged Tabby Synaphe punctalis (Fabricius, 1775)

Local

Similar species:

Forewing: 10.5 to 12.5mm

Habitats: Dune-slacks, vegetated shingle, salt-marsh, sheltered parts of chalk downland, lowland heath and short turfed acid grassland.

Habits: The moth is easily disturbed in the day and flies in the late afternoon and evening sunshine. It also comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva overwinters while small. In the late spring it lives in a silk gallery amongst mosses including Cypress-leaved Plaitmoss Hypnum cupressiforme, Broom Fork-moss Dicranum scoparium and possibly others. It later pupates in a silk cocoon in the moss.