| Burnished brass moth - Diachrysia chrysitis - Family: Noctuidae
 Burnished brass moth - Diachrysia chrysitis© Rob Wolton/English NatureThis unusual moth is pale brown with striking brassy metallic bands on its forewings. It occurs throughout Great Britain in gardens, hedgerows, meadows and waste ground. In southern England it produces two broods, flying first in June and again in August, but in the north there is only one brood, flying in July and August. The adult is mainly nocturnal and feeds on honeysuckle, valerian, campion and evening primrose. It is attracted to light. Greenish white eggs are laid singly on the leaves of the food plant, hatching within a week. The bright green caterpillars are seen in September and April and are slightly hairy with white markings. They spend the day in a folded leaf bound with silk, feeding by night. The caterpillar overwinters when small among leaf litter at the base of the food plant and resumes feeding in April. The pupa is black, housed in a cocoon of pale brownish silk, which is formed beneath a leaf of the food plant. FoodAdults: dead nettle (Lamium sp.), nettle (Urtica dioica), woundwort (Stachys sp.); caterpillars: the main foodplant is stinging nettle, but other nettles, burdock, spear thistle and spear-mint have all been recorded. PlantsCommon nettle, Hedge woundwort, Henbit dead-nettle, Honeysuckle, Red dead-nettle, Red valerian, White dead-nettle |
