Uncinus obductella

Wingspan 23 to 26 mm. An attractive reddish brown species.

In view of the rarity of this moth in our area, please provide a photograph and retain the specimen in case it is required by the County Recorder.

It inhabits grassland and chalk quarries where the food plant Wild Marjoram occurs. We are unsure at present whether it may be attracted to Marjoram in gardens. 

It flies in the second half of July and early August at dusk and later comes to light. On warm nights it has been recorded well away from its normal habitats.

The larvae feed on Wild Marjoram, and spin the leaves of the terminal shoots together when fully grown.

Very local, with most records coming from the county of Kent, Recent light trap records seem to suggest that this species is perhaps less scarce than once thought. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as RDB2 but this will probably be revised as seems to have become more common recently.

Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. The Thurlaston specimen taken on 27th July 2020 is the first record for VC55.