Species Details

ABH: 44.001

BF: 1288

Family: Alucitidae

Taxon: Alucita hexadactyla

Authority: Linnaeus, 1758

Vernacular: Twenty-plume Moth or Many-plumed Moth

Account: Common in gardens and open woodland throughout the British Isles. Fairly well distributed in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 13-16 mm. Combination of size and plumed fore- and hindwings, with each divided into six plumes, is unique. Larva feeds on buds and leaves of Honeysuckle and Perfoliate Honeysuckle.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 13 — 16 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 10 Feb (2011) — 26 Nov (2022)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant: Lonicera periclymenum (Honeysuckle).

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Common

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 1 — Relatively easily identified 👌

Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/alucita-hexadactyla/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 288

Individuals: 47

Earliest Year: 1985

Latest Year: 2025

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