Yponomeuta sedella
Grey Ermine
Wingspan about 16 mm. One of the smallest, but most easily distinguishable of the Yponomeutids, the forewings of this species are a smooth grey, with black spots absent from the apical third, although there is usually one spot centrally amongst the cilia.
Due to the rarity of this species in VC55 good photographs are needed, and the specimen should be retained until identification has been confirmed.
Where the larval food plants occur.
There are two generations, adult moths being on the wing in April and May, and again in August. The moth can be taken at light.
The larvae feed on Orpine (Sedum telephium), including cultivated varieties, feeding gregariously in a web amongst the leaves.
It is fairly locally distributed in the southern half of Britain, north to the Midlands, although there are records from Northumberland too. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.
Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland.
John Tinning
Queniborough
10 August 2021
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Species profile
- Common names
- Grey Ermine
- Species group:
- Moths
- Kingdom:
- Order:
- Family:
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 2
- First record:
- 10/08/2021 (Tinning, John)
- Last record:
- 01/05/2022 (Tinning, John)
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% of records within its species group
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