Bright-line Brown-eye

The forewings are uniformly brown in colour with a fine white outer cross-line forming a W (the bright-line) and an orange blotch kidney-mark (the brown-eye).

The larvae can be found from June to October, feeding at night. They then overwinter as pupae underground.

Size and Family

• Family – Brocades, Quakers and leaf-eating wainscots (Noctuidae)
• Small Sized
• Wingspan Range – 28-38mm

Conservation Status

• UK BAP: Not listed
• Common

Caterpillar Food Plants

A wide range of wild and cultivated herbaceous and woody plants including Common Nettle (Urtica dioica), Fat-hen (Chenopodium album), willowherbs, St John’s-worts, Traveller’s-joy (Clematis vitalba), English Elm (Ulmus procera), Hazel (Corylus avellana) and Hop (Humulus lupulus). Also occasionally a pest to tomatoes, feeding inside the fruit.

Habitat

Occurs in most habitats. Abundant in gardens and other cultivated land and also frequent on heathland and the edges of saltmarshes.

Distribution

• Countries – England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
• Common throughout most of Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands. Less frequent in the far north.