Photo © Keith Tailby

Belted Beauty

Lycia zonaria

Checklist Number
70.250 [B&F: 1928]

Verification
Record will require further evidence, at least a good photograph, unless CMR is aware recorder has confidence in identification

Classification

Family:Geometridae
Subfamily:Ennominae
Genus:Lycia
Species:zonaria
Authority:([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)

A rare Red Data Book species, in coastal sand-dunes and golf courses, in north-western England and northern Wales, and on the machair in the Hebrides, a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Unlikely to be recorded in Hampshire or on the Isle of Wight. Wingspan male 28-35 mm, female wingless. Female may be confused with female Rannoch Brindled Beauty L. lapponaria, but in L. lapponaria the abdomen has a median line of orange markings. Larva feeds on Common Bird's-foot Trefoil, Kidney Vetch, Yarrow, Creeping Willow and Burnet Rose, over-wintering as a pupa.