Footman Moths - Arctiidae

The Arctiidae family of moths includes on the one hand big fat furry species such as the Tigers and Ermines, but also slender bodied species known as the Footmen.

Clouded Buff Diacrisia sannio: males are lemon yellow with pale hindwings marked with varying amounts of grey. Females are ochre yellow with pinky tan veins and dark markings on the hindwing. They are medium sized (males larger than females) with wingspans 35 - 50 mm. The adults are active from April to August and are locally common on heaths and rough grassland (we get them in our orchard and have photographed them in the Brenne). The hairy brown caterpillars feed on a variety of herbs and shrubs such as Heathers Calluna spp. There are no records of the species for our area on the INPN, but the distribution shown is suspiciously patchy and may well reflect the distribution of moth recorders rather than the moth. Below, a female in our orchard, May.

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