Chinese Character

The wingspan is 18–22 mm. The moth flies from April to August depending on the location. Cilix glaucata lives on sunny and warm forest edges, slopes and hedges, on bushy dry grasslands and heaths, but also in parks.

The moth has porcelain-white wings, with a series of small grey spots along the outside edge of the front wing and the inner edge has a large dark brown stain, which turns yellow and grey towards the middle of the wing. Occasionally there are silvery scales. The wingtips are rounded and not curved. If they are sitting in their resting position, they imitate bird droppings. The antennae are only slightly combed.

The silvery scales at the middle of the wings are sometimes said to look like a small letter. Some variations may look like Chinese characters, hence the name.

Larva

The caterpillars become about 12 millimeters long and are dark brown. The thorax is clearly thickened and the end of the abdomen is extended to a narrow tip. The larvae feed on bramble (Rubus species), hawthorn (Crataegus species) and cherry (Prunus species).