Local in fens, marshes, boggy heathland and high moorland, in England and Wales, except for the Midlands north of Oxfordshire, and in south-west Scotland and the western Highlands. In Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight an inhabitant of marshes and boggy heathland, which has decreased greatly since the 1950s. It is still found occasionally in localities scattered across vice-counties 11 and 12. Wingspan 27-30 mm. Unmistakable. Larva feeds on various sedges and grasses, over-wintering as a pupa.