70.048 BF1723

Red Carpet Xanthorhoe decoloraria

(Esper, [1806])

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Wingspan c.32 mm.

A locally common species in northern Britain, occurring from Shropshire and Staffordshire northwards, into Scotland, where a local subspecies hethlandica occurs on the Shetland Isles.

Adult moths are on the wing from mid-June to August, and are attracted to light.

The favoured habitat is rocky moorland, where the larvae feed on lady's mantle Alchemilla spp., possibly also on other low plants.