B&F: 1862

ABH: 70.141

Status: Resident.

Distribution and Abundance: Common.

Primary Habitat: General occurrence.

Flight Period: Two or sometimes three broods from April to September.

Observations: The caterpillar of the species feeds on the flowers of holly. As this tree is plentiful in urban gardens in this area the moth is particularly common at my garden m.v. light where it is more inclined to rest on walls and fences than enter the trap. This is a distinctive pug, which presumably would not have been overlooked prior to the first record in 1945 and therefore must have increased its range within the county in the second half of the last century. This was the most common species of pug moth recorded in the static Pitsford Water light traps for the five years from 1999 to 2003 with eighty-eight examples seen overall. In my own garden light trap in 2009 I recorded forty of the moths between 31 March and 23 August with moths being seen in each month.

First Record: 1945, Wallis.