UKMoths Adela cuprella - Distribution map
Please note that the NBN Gateway map service has been terminated as of 1 April 2017.
As soon as a replacement map service is available, distribution maps will hopefully appear here again.
In the meantime, you can get some idea of distribution from the NBN Atlas website.
7.007 BF149
Adela cuprella
([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
Wingspan c. 15mm.
This species has a wide distribution across much of mainland Britain, but is rather local and not easy to locate, as the adults tend to spend a lot of their time around the tops of sallow trees.
The males have very long whitish antennae and hairy black head; the females have much shorter, black antennae and are orange or yellowish on the head. Both sexes have metallic bronzy forewings with a slight purplish sheen
The eggs are laid in the catkins of sallow (Salix), but on hatching the larvae drop to the ground and feed amongst the leaf litter in a portable case constructed from fragments of vegetation.
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