Species Details

ABH: 20.016

BF: 415

Family: Argyresthiidae

Taxon: Argyresthia retinella

Authority: Zeller, 1839

Vernacular: Speckled Tip Moth

Account: Common in open woodland throughout the British Isles. Reasonably common in Hampshire, but rarely record on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 9-10 mm. Flies in afternoon sunshine and at night. Characterised by white forewing, irregularly strigulate dark brown; a diffuse brownish streak from base to disc beneath subcostal vein; a large diffuse dark brown spot in disc; a diffuse terminal streak; apical dot blackish brown (MBGBI Vol 3). Larva mines the shoots and catkins of Birch.

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: 9 — 10 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 27 May (2011) — 26 Jul (2008)

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

Foodplant: Betula sp. (a birch).

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: 2 — Care needed to identify, an image may be required 🤔
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/argyresthia-retinella/
Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 60

Individuals: 1

Earliest Year: 1998

Latest Year: 2024

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