Species Details

ABH: 73.273

BF: 2147

Family: Noctuidae

Subfamily: Hadeninae

Taxon: Hada plebeja

=Hada nana

Authority: (Linnaeus, 1761)

Vernacular: Shears

Account: Common on heathland, sand-dunes, downland and open woodland throughout the British Isles. The characteristic white marks adjacent to the orbicular stigma and bordered with black resemble the points of an open pair of shears. Larva feeds on various herbaceous plants, including Smooth Hawk's-beard, Mouse-ear Hawkweed and Lucerne, 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: 28 — 38 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 26 Apr (2010) — 27 Jul (1991)

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: Least Concern (LC)

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/hada-plebeja/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 618

Individuals: 304

Earliest Year: 1886

Latest Year: 2025

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