73.041 BF2285

Marsh Dagger Acronicta strigosa

([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

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Wingspan c.32 mm.

This species was previously resident in small numbers in parts of the southern Midlands and south-east England, but is now believed extinct in Britain, having not been recorded here since 1933 (apart from a single migrant in East Sussex in 1996).

It prefers damp, mature and overgrown hawthorn scrub, where the flight period is June and July.

The larvae feed mainly on hawthorn (Crataegus) and sometimes also blackthorn (Prunus spinosa).