#2851 · 🦋 butterflies & moths

Dot Moth

🇳🇱 Perzikkruiduil ·Melanchra persicariae

🦋 Butterflies & moths 📍 in the Netherlands

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

Melanchra persicariae , the dot moth , is a moth of the family Noctuidae. This is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white stigma from which the species gets its common name. The hindwings are grey with a dark band at the termen. The wingspan is 38–50 mm. It flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light, sugar and flowers.

base stats

NL sightings 34iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 4,300iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).