Noctuidae

73.243 Blossom Underwing Orthosia miniosa ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

Local / Immigrant

Similar species: If care is taken this moth is unlikely to be mistaken for the other quakers or any other British or Irish species.

Forewing: 15 to 17mm

Habitats: Oak woodland and mature hedgerows with large oak trees.

Habits: The moth visits sallow blossom from dusk. It occasionally comes to sugar and comes to light.

Foodplant: The small larva is gregarious in a light web on the leaves of Sessile Oak and other oaks, apparently also eating oak wasp galls, when larger it may also feed on Blackthorn, Hawthorn and herbaceous plants. It pupates in a cocoon under the soil, resting inside the pupal case as a fully formed adult until it emerges in the spring.

On the European mainland it has also occasionally been recorded feeding on birches, Beech, maples and poplars.