Morley’s Final Catalogue: An abundant, back-garden insect everywhere: Ipswich at light and Bentley Woods; Alderton to Gorleston, and in July 1902 Aying over both beach and sea at Southwold.

Recent Status: A common immigrant species with records across the county. Numbers vary by the year.

Life Style: A multi-brooded species flying at night and coming to light. Nomophila noctuella can breed in Britain during summer but is not known to survive the British winter. Larvae feed from a silken tube on the ground and will pupate in that location.

Identification: Nomophila noctuella has a distinctive long winged shape that is the primary identification character. It is a shade of brown with grey hindwings. The stigmata are commonly strongly marked darker but there is variation such that they sometimes can be difficult to discern. Nomophila neartica is very similar to a well marked N. noctuella. It is North American species and its status in Britain is not clear. If suspected then genitalia dissection must be carried out for a record of N. nearctica. It shows a slightly orange/brown shade centrally in the forewing and the hindwings are paler with the veins darkened when compared to N. noctuella More Info

Recorded in 48 (83%) of 58 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1902. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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