35.016 Nothris congressariella (Bruand, 1858)

Status and Distribution

Very local though occasionally locally common, in south-west England (including Lundy Island), Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands. A single moth was attracted to MV light in Dorset in September 2004.

National Status: pRDB 1
Bradley & Fletcher no: 839
Photographer: © B Dawson
Location: Isles of Scilly

Provisional map

NHMSYS0000503404

Imago

Nothris congressariella reared from larva Upton Towans, Cornwall (Photo: © R J Heckford)  Nothris congressariella bred ex larva Gugh, Isles of Scilly 2015 (Photo: © B Dawson)  Nothris congressariella bred ex larva Gugh, Isles of Scilly 2015 (Photo: © B Dawson)

Larva

Nothris congressariella larva (Photo: © R J Heckford)  Nothris congressariella larva on Balm-leaved figwort (Scrophularia scorodonia), Gugh (Photo: © D Grundy)  Nothris congressariella larva on Balm-leaved figwort  (Scrophularia scorodonia), Gugh (Photo: © D Grundy)  Nothris congressariella larva St Mary's, Scilly 2018 (Photo: © B Dawson)

Foodplant and Larval Feeding Signs

Balm-leaved figwort (Scrophularia scorodonia), Gugh (Photo: © D Grundy) Nothris congressariella larval feeding signs on Balm-leaved figwort (Scrophularia scorodonia), Gugh, Isles of Scilly (Photo: © D Grundy)

Scrophularia scorodonia (Balm-leaved Figwort), see plant distribution map. The foodplant is believed to be expanding its range and the moth may be able to take advantage of this (see record of the moth in Dorset). A single, small larva, almost certainly of this sp., but not bred, was found on Lundy Island during 2023 feeding within a spun leaf of Scrophularia nodosa (Common Figwort).

Has two broods, feeding from October to early June and July to September, initially between spun leaves and, as the larva grows, below a folded leaf.

Habitat

Waste ground, sandhills, hedge banks and low cliffs.

Finding the Moth

Larva: feeds within spun leaves and, later in its development, underneath folded leaves.  It would be well worth searching for larvae where the plant occurs in coastal areas of south Devon and south Wales.

Adult: comes readily to light.

Similar Species

There are no similar species in the British Isles.

January, February, March, April, May, July, August, September, October, November, December
June, September, October

Double brooded from late May to early July and September to mid-October.