Hantsmoths

Common in rough meadows and grassland throughout much of Britain and Ireland, but excluding the Isles of Scilly, a species of conservation concern under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Widespread in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight but local and declining. The males have leks in grassy places on downland and in meadows where they fly in numbers at dusk, and the females wander, presumably on egg-laying missions, and come occasionally to light. Wingspan male 44-46 mm, female 46-48 mm. Unmistakable. The larva is polyphagous in the root systems of many grasses and herbaceous plants such as Stinging Nettle and Hop, over-wintering twice.