Species Details

ABH: 73.281

BF: 2173

Family: Noctuidae

Subfamily: Hadeninae

Taxon: Hadena bicruris

Authority: (Hufnagel, 1766)

Vernacular: Lychnis

Account: Common in gardens, farmland, hedgerows and woodland, and on roadside verges and sand-dunes throughout the British Isles; widespread and reasonably common in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 30-40 mm. The main confusion species is Campion H. rivularis, which often has a purple hue when freshly emerged; on Lychnis the upper stigmata are usually clearly apart dorsally, and subterminal line joins dorsum at an angle of about 45°, clearly inclined to and almost parallel with termen (MBGBI Vol 9). Larva feeds on seeds of White Campion, Red Campion and Sweet-William, over-wintering as a pupa.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 30 — 40 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 22 Apr (2007) — 9 Sep (2007)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant: Dianthus barbatus (Sweet-William), Dianthus sp. (a pink), Lychnis sp., Silene dioica (Red Campion), Silene sp.

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Least Concern (LC)

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 2 — Care needed to identify 🤔
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/hadena-bicruris/
Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 489

Individuals: 68

Earliest Year: 1910

Latest Year: 2025

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