Bug FAQBrown Silver-line
Petrophora chlorosata · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pterophoridae
The brown silver-line moth has a wingspan of about 31 to 37 mm and forewings 15 to 18 mm long, with light brown wings marked by fine whitish lines and a straight subterminal line. It lives across the Palearctic, from Ireland and Britain through Europe and into Asia, reaching Japan and the Altai Mountains. Adults fly from late April to late June and are attracted to light, while the larvae feed on bracken from June to September and overwinter as pupae.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The forewings are light brown with fine whitish lines, darker shading near the base, and a straight subterminal line that can be faint.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 31 to 37 mm. Forewing length is 15 to 18 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
The species was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1763. Adults are drawn to artificial lights.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) from mid-June to early September.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species overwinters in the pupal stage.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is a Palearctic moth found from Ireland and Britain across Europe into Asia Minor, northern Iran, the Altai Mountains, southeastern Siberia, and Japan.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is quite distinct from all other Palearctic moth species.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When are brown silver-line moths active?
Adults fly from late April through late June and are easily attracted to lights.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the caterpillars eat?
The larvae feed on bracken ferns from about mid-June to early September.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pterophoridae)
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Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrophora_chlorosata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.