Buff-Tip (Phalera bucephala) lives in woodland edges across Europe, Mongolia. It feeds on grass and leaves.
Fascinating facts about the Buff-Tip
- At just over five centimeters across, the buff-tip moth spans 55-68 mm (2.2-2.7 in), making it a heavyweight among its nocturnal cousins. Its forewings wear a grey canvas punctuated by a bold buff patch at the tip, while the thoracic hair shares the same hue, turning the resting insect into a convincing broken twig.
- First catalogued by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, the buff-tip is found throughout Europe, except the Arctic region and Greece and pushes eastward into Siberia. In the cooler climes of Norway and southern Sweden, and even in England, a darker form called tenebrata (subspecies P. b. tenebrata Strand, 1903) appears.
- Adult buff-tips take to the night sky in June and July, occasionally drawn to artificial lights. Their life cycle stretches from egg to adult within a single season: eggs are laid as strongly convex green capsules, larvae feed from June through October on a buffet of trees such as willow, poplar, birch, lime and oak, then pupate and overwinter as a glossy black-brown pupa, emerging the following summer to repeat the cycle.
- Buff-tip caterpillars start life in gregarious groups, before each individual strikes out on its own as it matures. The older larvae turn into striking black with white and yellow lines.
- In the early 1900s Lithuanian orchards recorded the buff-tip as a pest, with larvae devouring apple trees and threatening fruit yields. Modern studies note that outbreaks tend to flare where environmental nitrogen compounds are abundant.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeEurope, Mongolia
HabitatWoodland edges
DietGrass and leaves
About the Buff-Tip
In the warm, golden light of a summer's evening, the Buff-Tip moth dances through the air, its delicate wings beating in a hypnotic rhythm as it flits from flower to flower. With a gentle, unhurried elegance, it navigates the intricate web of grasses and wildflowers, its mottled brown and buff hues allowing it to blend seamlessly into the surroundings. As it moves, the soft, downy hairs that give it its name glisten like a whisper of silk, imbuing this humble creature with a quiet, understated beauty.
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