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Small China-mark - Cataclysta lemnata
Wingspan 18-24 mm. The males of this species are slightly smaller and whiter than the females but both sexes have a distinctive row of blue-centred black dots on the hindwing.
Around still or slow-moving water.
The adults are on the wing between June and August, when the females in particular come to light.
The larvae are semi-aquatic, feeding on Duckweed. They build floating cases made from fragments of the foodplant.
It is fairly common throughout Britain and Ireland. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.
Fairly frequent but not common in Leicestershire & Rutland. L&R Moth Group status = B (scarce resident or restricted distribution or regular migrant)
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Species profile
- Common names
- Small China-mark
- Species group:
- Moths
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Lepidoptera
- Family:
- Crambidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 121
- First record:
- 01/01/1998 (Adrian Russell)
- Last record:
- 06/09/2023 (Pugh, Dylan)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
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