Drab looper moth  (Minoa murinata)

Classified as Nationally Scarce in Great Britain (2).

The delicate adults of the Drab Looper are greyish-brown in colour and have a silky appearance, but this 'sheen' is lost with age (3). The caterpillars reach 1.3 cm in length, they have a brown head and a grey-pink body with variable black markings, pink warts and an orange or yellow stripe along each side (4). The common name 'looper' refers to the caterpillar, which characteristically arches its body as it moves (5).

This moth is found in two main areas in the UK, one extends from Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, reaching north to Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The other area focuses on Hampshire, and includes south Wiltshire, West Sussex and Berkshire. The species has been lost from many woods in Somerset, Kent and South Wales, but persists in isolated colonies in these areas. Since the 1940s it has been totally lost from Oxfordshire and the area extending east to Bedfordshire and Essex. Elsewhere, the species has been recorded from most central and southern European countries (2).

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

This species is found in recently felled or coppiced woodland where the larval foodplant wood spurge Euphorbia amygdaloides is found. The caterpillars show a preference for plants growing in full sun (2).

The Drab Looper is usually single-brooded and the adults fly in May and June. Sometimes a second brood is produced, the adults of which fly in August. Eggs are laid in June (4), the caterpillars are present from July to early September, and the overwintering stage is the pupa(1), which occurs below the soil surface (4). The adults emerge the following year in May and June (4) and can be seen flying in sunshine (1).

This species has suffered as a result of changes in forestry practices including the decline in traditional coppice management in woodlands, and the replacement of small-scale rotational felling with large plantations of trees of the same age, particularly conifers (2).

The Drab Looper is a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). The Species Action Plan aims to maintain the current range of this moth and establish a regular monitoring scheme. Many of the existing colonies occur within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) (2).

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

The UK Biodiversity Action Plan for this species is available at UK BAP.

Further reading on moths:
Leverton, R. (2001) Enjoying Moths. Poyser, London.
Skinner, B. (1984) Moths of the British Isles. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth