Arge ochropus

Length 7 to 10 mm. The head and thorax are black, the body a yellowy orange. The wings have a dark mark along the border, but no dark cross band. The legs are banded and look like its wearing football socks.

Athalia species also have 'stripy socks' but these lack the fused antennae.

• antennae with fused segments - appearing as a single filament
• yellow sides to the thorax
• stripy 'socks' (tibiae)

Adults may be seen near to hedgerows, and feeding on nectar and pollen from Hogweed and Tansy.

May to September

The larvae are bristly with yellow and black markings. There are two generations a year, the female laying 16 to 18 eggs at a time on the upper, succulent rose stems. The larvae eat the leaves of cultivated and wild roses.

Widely distributed in Britain, although most records come from south-eastern England

Fairly common in Leicestershire and Rutland.