Photo © Carol Strafford

Feline

Cerura erminea

Checklist Number
71.004 [B&F: 1995a]

Verification
Record will require further evidence, at least a good photograph, unless CMR is aware recorder has confidence in identification

Classification

Family:Notodontidae
Subfamily:Cerurinae
Genus:Cerura
Species:erminea
Authority:(Esper, 1783)

First recorded in the British Isles (in its widest sense) on Jersey in July 1995, and between 2000 to 2009 there have been a further six individuals on both Jersey and Guernsey. The first record for the mainland was one taken at Kingsdown, Kent on 29 June 2019 (DCG Brown, Atropos 64, p.38 - 43). Wingspan 60-80 mm. Distinguished from the larger and more common Puss Moth C. vinula by the four closed figures a quarter of the wing length from the body, the outer two roughly circular and the inner two unevenly V-shaped.
A widespread but local species across temperate Europe into eastern Asia, where the foodplants are a range of broadleaved trees including poplar, willow and birch, the adult moth flying from April to July, with a partial second generation in August and September.
Update: September 2019 - status update