Species Details

ABH: 73.247

BF: 2186

Family: Noctuidae

Subfamily: Hadeninae

Taxon: Orthosia gracilis

Authority: ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

Vernacular: Powdered Quaker

Account: Common in marshes, damp woodland and gardens throughout the British Isles, a species of conservation concern under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Widespread and still fairly common in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 35-42 mm. The main confusion species is Common Quaker O. cerasi, but the grainy, or powdered, appearance of O. gracilis is usually distinctive, and the innermost half of the reniform stigma is usually darker than the outermost half. Larva feeds on various woody and herbaceous plants, including Eared, Grey and Goat Willow, Black Poplar, Blackthorn, Bog-myrtle, Meadowsweet, Purple Loosestrife and Common Fleabane, 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: 35 — 42 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 7 Mar (1961) — 30 May (1974)

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

Foodplant: Filipendula ulmaria (Meadowsweet), Myrica gale (Bog-myrtle), Salix sp. (a sallow).

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

Status: Least Concern (LC)

UK BAP: BAP(R)

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/orthosia-gracilis/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 369

Individuals: 63

Earliest Year: 1867

Latest Year: 2021

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