Bramble Shoot Moth

Notocelia uddmanniana

This record describes Notocelia uddmanniana (species). Recorded family: Tortricidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.

Identification and Appearance

Bramble Shoot Moth - Notocelia uddmanniana

Easily distinguished by the chocolate-brown blotch on the forewing, contrasting with a greyish brown ground colour. Woodland and hedgerows where Bramble occurs. Adults are on the wing in June and July. The food plants are Bramble, and other Rubus species. The caterpillars are pinkish brown with a dark head. They feed on young shoots in the spring and spin the terminal leaves of a shoot together with silk. Safe within, they feed before pupating A common and widely distributed species in Britain. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Tortricidae
Genus: Notocelia

Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.

Habitat and Range

Habitat

Woodland and hedgerows where Bramble occurs.

Seasonal Activity

Adults are on the wing in June and July.

Diet and Behavior

Life History

The food plants are Bramble, and other Rubus species. The caterpillars are pinkish brown with a dark head. They feed on young shoots in the spring and spin the terminal leaves of a shoot together with silk. Safe within, they feed before pupating

Additional species information

Recorded status

A common and widely distributed species in Britain. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as common.

About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group

Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Notocelia uddmanniana. Species-specific details appear above.

Group overview

Lepidoptera includes approximately 180,000 described species of butterflies and moths. Moths outnumber butterflies roughly 10:1. The monarch butterfly's eastern population has declined by more than 80% since the mid-1990s, and the western population by over 95% since the 1980s. The IUCN lists the migratory monarch as Vulnerable.

Ecological role of the group

Butterflies and moths are essential indicators of ecosystem health. As caterpillars, they are a primary food source for birds - a single nest of blue tit chicks requires ~10,000 caterpillars. Adult moths pollinate many night-blooming plants.

Economic and practical significance of the group

Lepidoptera are critical pollinators. In Europe, grassland butterfly species have declined by almost 50% since the early 1990s. In the UK, three-quarters of butterflies are in decline. In the U.S., five butterfly species have gone extinct since 1950, with 29 listed as endangered.

Recorded sources for this group: IUCN Red List, Xerces Society, USFWS, PNAS, WWF. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.

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