Flame Shoulder Moth

Fascinating facts about the Flame Shoulder Moth

• From Ireland to Japan, the flame shoulder moth spans the entire Palearctic, a range that stretches from western Europe across Siberia to East Asia. Its name comes from a creamy-yellow streak along the forewing costa that cuts through reddish-brown wings marked with a black streak and white stigmata. The hindwings are pure white, giving a striking two-tone look.
• Measuring just 28-34 mm across, the flame shoulder's modest wingspan hides a vivid colour pattern that includes a purple-tinged forewing, a broad cream-coloured costal streak, and bright pale rings around its orbicular and reniform stigmata. like the blackish-purple Scandinavian variant.
• Taxonomically, the flame shoulder belongs to the Noctuidae family and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is split into two subspecies: O. p. plecta, found throughout Europe except the Iberian Peninsula, and O. p. unimacula, restricted to the Iberian Peninsula.
• The species produces two generations each year, with adults on the wing from April to June and again in August and September. Night-flying adults are drawn to artificial lights, sugary baits, and ragwort flowers.
• After feeding as larvae on a wide array of plants, including peanuts, beet, willow, clover and groundsel, the flame shoulder overwinters as a pupa, emerging as an adult in spring.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Flame Shoulder Moth

As the sun dips below the horizon, the Flame Shoulder Moth stirs, its delicate wings unfolding like tiny lanterns in the fading light. With a gentle flutter, it takes to the air, its warm, golden hues glowing like embers as it dances through the evening shadows, drawn to the sweet scent of blooming flowers. In this fleeting moment, the Flame Shoulder Moth is a whispered promise of summer's magic, its ethereal beauty a reminder of the wonders that await in the secret hours of dusk and dawn.

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