Species Details

ABH: 63.038

BF: 1405

Family: Crambidae

Subfamily: Spilomelinae

Taxon: Patania ruralis

=Pleuroptya ruralis

Authority: (Scopoli, 1763)

Vernacular: Mother of Pearl

Account: Common in rural gardens, waste ground and rough pastures throughout the British Isles. One of the largest and most familiar pyralids, wings have an opalescent sheen, most obvious in sunshine, which gives rise to the vernacular name. Larva feeds predominately on Stinging Nettle, living within a spun or rolled leaf.

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: 33 — 37 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 15 Jun (2009) — 14 Oct (2006)

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: Common

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 5 — Adults unidentifiable 😖 or pending grading 🧐
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/patania-ruralis/
Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 633

Individuals: 1386

Earliest Year: 1972

Latest Year: 2025

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