Species Details

ABH: 72.006

BF: 2478

Family: Erebidae

Subfamily: Hypeninae

Taxon: Hypena obsitalis

Authority: (Hübner, [1813])

Vernacular: Bloxworth Snout

Account: A rare Red Data Book species, on sea cliffs, grassy slopes and undercliffs in parts of south-western England. First recorded at Bloxworth, Dorset, in September 1884, remaining a very scarce migrant until 1990, when a small population was discovered at Torbay, Devon. The species soon colonised the south coast from the Lizard in Cornwall to Purbeck in Dorset. On the Isle of Wight, since 2003, increasingly recorded hibernating in small numbers in outhouses and caves, and at light, and is undoubtedly now established on the south-east coast of the Island Larva feeds on Pellitory-of-the-wall.

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: 29 — 32 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 29 Jan (2025) — 14 Dec (2025)

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

Foodplant: Parietaria judaica (Pellitory-of-the-Wall), Urtica dioica (Common Nettle).

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

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 15

Individuals: 11

Earliest Year: 2017

Latest Year: 2025

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