Erebidae

72.086 Lunar Double-stripe Minucia lunaris ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

Immigrant / transitory resident

Similar species: Although both sexes are variable in both the colour and the amount of shading on the forewing, this moth is unlikely to be mistaken for any other British or Irish species.

Forewing: 23 to 26mm

Habitats: In Britain it was resident in the 1940s and 1950s in Kent and Sussex where it bred in coppiced stands of oak. In southern Europe it inhabits deciduous woodland and scrub on sunny slopes.

Habits: The moth is easily disturbed in the day from dry leaf litter. It comes to sugar and light.

Foodplant: In Britain the larva fed on the regrowth and saplings of Pendunculate Oak. In captivity it accepts Evergreen Oak on which it feeds in Southern France. It pupates in a cocoon in the leaf litter.