70.120 BF1787

Argent & Sable Rheumaptera hastata

(Linnaeus, 1758)

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Wingspan 34-38 mm.

A distinctive species, occupying damp moorland and hillsides. The moth is one of the few day-flying species.

It has a widely scattered distribution, although local, throughout Britain, and is commoner on the Scottish moors.

The single generation flies in June and July.

The larvae spin together the leaves of the foodplants, bog myrtle (Myrica gale) and birch (Betula spp.), forming a cocoon.