Common in gardens, farmland, parkland, oak woodland and sand-dunes throughout the British Isles. Widespread and common in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan 32-42 mm. Underwing pearly white with darker veins, suffused grey in dark examples, a feature shared amongst its congeners only by the larger
Pearly Underwing Peridroma saucia and
Dark Sword-grass A. ipsilon, which see. Larva feeds on roots and lower stems of cabbages and various root crops, causing sufficient damage to be a serious pest in some areas.