Checking some Prickly Lettuce,
Lactuca serriola, in Kempston today I found 15 larvae of the Small Ranunculus moth. These distinctive larvae are green or brown and and can be hard to find but look for plants where the flower buds have been obviously eaten away. The larvae tend to rest along the stalks.
Below are a couple of photos taken today (8th August) and also the distribution map of the species in Bedfordshire up to the end of 2011.
Please look out for these and report your findings with count, location and a photo if you are not sure to Melissa and I as we are the county Macro-moth recorders (macromoths@bnhs.org.uk)
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| Two quite well grown larvae |
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| A single larva eating a flower bud |
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| Distribution of Small Ranunculus in Beds up to the end of 2011 |
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