Species Details

ABH: 73.147

BF: 2345

Family: Noctuidae

Subfamily: Xyleninae

Taxon: Photedes minima

Authority: (Haworth, 1809)

Vernacular: Small Dotted Buff

Account: Common in damp grassland, woodland rides, marshes, river-banks and other damp areas throughout the British Isles; reasonably well distributed and common throughout Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan male 25-30 mm, female 20-24 mm. Small size and relatively plain appearance may admit confusion with faded examples of similar sized moths. Larva feeds on Tufted Hair-grass.

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: male 25 — 30 mm; female 20 — 24 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 1 Jun (2009) — 31 Aug (1962)

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

Foodplant: Deschampsia cespitosa (Tufted Hair-grass), Gramineae.

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/photedes-minima/

Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 386

Individuals: 201

Earliest Year: 1883

Latest Year: 2024

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