Davey, P., 2009: A common coastal species in Britain, less frequent inland, the larva feeding on the roots and stems of a wide variety of grasses including cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata), lyme-grass (Leymus arenarius) and glaucous sedge (Carex flacca). In Dorset, the moth occurs in a variety of different habitats. It colonises unimproved grassland both on the coast, where it is common and on chalky soils inland where it is at low density. Singletons from a number of locations across the Poole Basin suggest limited colonisation of heathland or dispersal from the coast. Larvae have been found eating the flowers of stinking iris (Iris foetidissima) on the coast. In addition to the usual single brood between mid-July and mid-August, a number of June records indicate a partial first brood. The following moths were either second brood residents or, given the deep-source southerly airflow at the time, immigrants from western France or Iberia: Durlston, two at MV on 23 October 1996 (P Davey).