Hello, from Steve Garten and welcome to my weird and wonderful world of moths.
I’m amateur Lepidopterist, I trap and record moth species on my six acre wildlife meadow at Tibenham Norfolk, UK.
The list of moths listed in this Macro-moths blog and the Micro Moths blog are the species I have recorded since 2015.
Dark / Grey Dagger - Acronicta tridens/psi.
The moth is from the family of Noctuidae– subfamily ---- Acronictinae.
It Is a small to medium-sized macro moth, with a wingspan of 30 to 40mm.
This moth is almost impossible to tell by the markings alone from the Dark Dagger -A. tridens,
and reference usually has to be made to the genitalia for confirmation.
The species as mainly one generation and its flight season is from mid- May to August.
The species habitats are mainly woodland, hedgerows, gardens and shrub.
The caterpillars of these two species are quite different in appearance.
It overwinters as a pupa in a silk cocoon under loose bark or crevice of rotten wood.
The larva appears from late-July to October.
The larval feed mainly on broadleaved trees and shrubs.
The Dark and Grey Dagger species appear to be widespread in the UK, although the actual status is difficult to determine due to identification difficulty.