Small China-mark Cataclysta lemnata - 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.

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63.116 BF1354

Small China-mark Cataclysta lemnata

(Linnaeus, 1758)


Wingspan 18-24 mm.

The males of this species are slightly smaller and whiter than the females, but both sexes have a distinctive row of blue-centred black dots on the hindwing.

The adults are on the wing between June and August, when the females in particular come to light. It is fairly common around still or slow-moving water throughout Britain and Ireland.

The larvae are semi-aquatic, feeding on duckweed (Lemna spp.). They build floating cases made from fragments of the foodplant.
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