Day 363 - Simply Stunning Rugged Six Striped Rustic

Six Striped Rustic (Xestia sexstrigata)

Hi everyone - Day 363 and I've found another moth for you from my Nosterfield Open Day Collection.  While it is not the most colourful of moths it is still very beautiful and I managed to get some nice close up shots which show a lot of its features. I struggled with identifying this one, and did get some help, but it was still difficult as it's tricky to tell from the photos. It's probably a Six Striped Rustic so I researched that moth for you today and on the links on the end you can see some pictures of some with clearer markings, this one looks a little bit worn but still amazing.

So what did I find out about this little moth:

You can see the proboscis here 

• Like yesterdays Flame Shouldered Moth these moths are quite widely distributed across the UK, not quite as common in Scotland but they are found there.

• They have a wingspan of 36-38mm

• You are most likely to see these moths flying between July and September. They only have one brood per year.

• They live in habitats like damp woodland and marshy areas like bogs and fens.

• Another similarity to yesterdays moth is that the adults are attracted to Ragwort for nectar. 

• The larvae are around from September to April or May.

And here's the bugs eye view :-)

• They feed by night on a range of herbaceous plants like Plantain, Bramble and Bedstraw.

• In the day the larvae hide out low down on these plants trying to stay out of sight of predators.

• When they are ready to transform into adults they head underground to pupate.

• In case it's not obvious from my photos they get their name from six stripes that go across their wings. 

As promised some links where you can see pictures of this moth with better markings.

Nature Spot - Six Striped Rustic

Lepi Photos - Six Striped Rustic

Habitas - Six Striped Rustic

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.