Tree-lichen Beauty

A gorgeously fresh Tree-lichen Beauty turned up in the moth trap, the only notable species in a rather poor catch. The larvae feed on lichen growing on trees - hence the name - and it's certainly beautiful. If you look closely you can see that some of the scales are in intense bluish-green. Historically it was a mostly migrant species from southern Europe with only a handful of records locally. Recently it has become quite frequent in the southern and south-eastern counties, and has established resident populations. There have been quite a few records of it from moth traps in the Peterborough area during the past few weeks.