Species Details

ABH: 73.242

BF: 2188

Family: Noctuidae

Subfamily: Hadeninae

Taxon: Orthosia incerta

Authority: (Hufnagel, 1766)

Vernacular: Clouded Drab

Account: Common in woodland, gardens and wherever there are oak trees throughout the British Isles. Very variable and often a pitfall for beginners, but usually shows a series of three small blotches on forewing, lying just inside the subterminal fascia, one on the costa, one on the dorsum and one in between; a common species which, with experience, is easily recognisable by the diagnostic wing shape. Larva feeds on Sessile and Pedunculate Oak and various species of Willow, as well as a wide variety of deciduous trees and shrubs, including Silver and Downy Birch, Hawthorn, Hazel, Elm and Lime, 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: 32 — 42 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 1 Feb (1975) — 10 Jun (1984)

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

Foodplant: Quercus sp. (an oak), Salix sp. (a sallow).

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/orthosia-incerta/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 1212

Individuals: 1067

Earliest Year: 1896

Latest Year: 2025

« Previous Random 🎲 Next »