Hantsmoths

Common in rough meadows and on waste ground throughout the British Isles. In Hampshire locally frequent, mainly on chalk downland and coastal sandhills; very rare on the Isle of Wight, where recorded at Cranmore in July 1997. Wingspan 13-18 mm. Similar in size and general appearance to E. cnicicolana but distinguished by the better-defined and ferruginous-brown fasciate markings of the forewing, the more sharply defined costal strigulae and the subquadrate medio-dorsal blotch which is weakly strigulate and sometimes connected to the costa by whitish striae [Bradley]. Larva feeds within lower stems and roots of Common Ragwort, over-wintering in a cocoon.