Species Details

ABH: 33.002

BF: 719

Family: Ethmiidae

Subfamily: Ethmiinae

Taxon: Ethmia quadrillella

=Ethmia funerella

=Ethmia inversella

Authority: (Goeze, 1783)

Vernacular: Comfrey Ermine

Account: Nationally scarce (Nb) in fens, marshes, damp woodland, waste ground, gardens and on river-banks in England, as far north as Westmorland and Cumberland, but absent from south-west England and Wales (MBGBI Vol 4 part 1). First recorded in Hampshire in 2012, with another in 2018: however 2020 saw a record seven individuals, including the first for VC12 and the Isle of Wight, and it looks set to be a species that will increase in numbers annually. Wingspan 15-19 mm. Larva feeds on shoots and leaves of Common Comfrey, Tuberous Comfrey, Lungwort and Common Gromwell, beneath a silken web, over-wintering as a pupa.

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: 15 — 19 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 2 Jun (2024) — 21 Aug (2013)

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

Foodplant:

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

Status: Nationally Scarce B

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/ethmia-quadrillella/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 37

Individuals: 39

Earliest Year: 2013

Latest Year: 2025

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