Red List status: | Vulnerable |
NERC Act S41: | Species of Principal Importance |
Local status: | Uncommon and local, though possibly increasing its range and abundance. Lives in small colonies that are vulnerable to extinction. |
Size: | Small. |
Larval foodplant: | Creeping cinquefoil is the usual foodplant. May use Agrimony and Wild Strawberry. The later larval stages may also use Bramble. |
No. of broods: | Usually one. A partial second brood may occur in late July/early August. |
Flight time(s): | Late April to Mid June
Average first date: 23rd April
Average last date: 24th June |
Winter: | Pupa at the base of the foodplant. |
Habits: | Basks on or near bare ground to warm up. Flies only in sunshine, when it appears as a low-level blur. Males will perch, defending a territory. Roosts on seed heads making surveying during poor weather a possibility May roost communally. |
Habitats: | A combination of bare ground, short turf, taller vegetation and nearby scrub. Found at brownfield sites, unimproved grasslands with scrub, track and lane verges. |