2022 Oak Processionary Thaumetopoea processionea
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Wingspan 25-35 mm.A central and southern European species, adults of this moth occasionally appear as vagrants on the south coast, and it is now considered to be resident in the Channel Islands. Most vagrant records have been in August, with several instances of two together.
Both the English and scientific names refer the the behaviour of the larvae, whose habit of forming a long nose-to-tail procession is quite peculiar.
In Europe it is a pest species, feeding in large numbers on oak (Quercus).