Ypsolopha horridella
Dark Smudge
Wingspan 16 to 21 mm. Although this is perhaps the least attractive of the Ypsolopha species, the Latin horridella is actually derived from horridus, meaning shaggy and referring to the raised scale-tufts or crests on the dorsal part of the wings.
Around the larval foodplants.
The adults fly in July and August.
The larvae feed on the leaves of Apple or Blackthorn in a slight web.
It is distributed locally in south and south-east England as well as north Wales and north-west England. In the Butterfly Conservation’s Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as Nationally Scarce B.
It appears to be uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland, where there are few records. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded).
Graham Calow
Sapcote garden1
13 August 2016
Mark Skevington
Fosse Meadows
06 August 2014
Mark Skevington
Ketton Quarry NR
17 August 2002
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Species profile
- Common names
- Dark Smudge
- Species group:
- Moths
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Lepidoptera
- Family:
- Ypsolophidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 27
- First record:
- 17/08/2002 (Skevington, Mark)
- Last record:
- 04/08/2023 (Gamble, David)
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% of records within its species group
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