Species Details

ABH: 63.116

BF: 1354

Family: Crambidae

Subfamily: Acentropinae

Taxon: Cataclysta lemnata

Authority: (Linnaeus, 1758)

Vernacular: Small China-mark

Account: Common around ponds and reed-beds throughout the British Isles Females nocturnal, males fly in the afternoon. Unmistakable. Larva feeds on Common Duckweed, Bulrush and Unbranched Bur-reed, living mostly underwater.

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: male 18 — 19 mm; female 22 — 24 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 15 May (2025) — 15 Sep (2020)

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

Foodplant: Lemna sp.

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/cataclysta-lemnata/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 107

Individuals: 60

Earliest Year: 2000

Latest Year: 2025

« Previous Random 🎲 Next »