2324 The Exile/Northern Arches Apamea zeta
(Treitschke, 1825)
Wingspan 43-50 mm.This species has a number of distinct subspecies, two of which occur in Britain. The form known as the Exile, ssp. marmorata is found here only in the Shetland Islands.
The Northern Arches form (ssp. assimilis) occurs more regularly throughout Scotland, and is rather smaller than marmorata. The typical subspecies, zeta is not found in Britain.
Inhabiting moorland, the moth flies in July and August. The larva has not yet been found in the wild in Britain, but it is thought that moorland grasses are the foodplants.