Psodos Quadrifaria - Best places to see in France

[John_C]

Hi everyone, i am a new forum member and this is my first post.

I am going to be heading over to France for about ten days in early July primarily to search for butterflies and moths, I will be spending my first few days at Le Mont-Dore in the Massif Central and then I may visit the Alps or even the Pyrenees, Psodos Quadrifaria is one of the species that i would really love to find and photograph, especially after i was fortunate enough to find one on the Passo Sella on my very last day of a cycling holiday to the Dolomites last July.

I am pretty certain that many of you will have encountered this species during your various trips to the various mountains of France over the years and I would be very appreciative if you would be kind enough to supply me with some precise locations where you have previously found this species.

Psodos quadrifaria (Yellow Banded Moth) is a small black and yellow day flying member of the Geometridae family with a wingspan of 18-25 mm, it has one generation per year and can be found in alpine meadows at heights of up to about 2,700 meters from late May until mid August (although there have been a few earlier records from the Pyrenees), its range includes the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Massif Central mountains, the High Tatra mountains and the Balkan mountains plus it also has a scattered distribution in the Krkonoše mountains.

[David M]

Well, you learn something new every day!

That sure is a beautiful moth (and very butterfly-like).

Not sure if anyone on here will have knowledge of locations where it can be found but let's see...

[Padfield]

I never visit the French Alps but this little moth is relatively easy to find in Switzerland, clustering around nectar sources like thyme:



Flowery paths near upland meadows are good.

That picture was taken on 24th June last year. This year things are much, much later at altitude but they should be catching up fast now, with the heat, so the first week in July should be fine.

Guy

[JKT]

I've seen it all over the Tour de Mont Blanc route. In France above Chamonix and after Les Houches. In my experience it is easy to see, but not that easy to photograph.

[John_C]

Thanks very much all, it appears that Psodos Quadrifaria is a relatively common and numerous species in the Alps but I will be searching for them in the Massif Central first.

[David M]

Saw quite a few of these moths in the Tyrolean Alps:



There was also a very large moth, mainly darkish brown with pale brown edges, constantly bombing around the moorland shrubbery. I saw at least 20 of them but none ever came to rest. If anyone knows what species this might be then feel free to put me out of my misery.

[Trev Sawyer]

Wouldn't Oak Eggar (Lasiocampa quercus) or similar moths would be found on moorland over there David? They certainly bomb around moorland over here during the day and would be the right colour for your mystery moths.

Trev

[David M]

Wouldn't Oak Eggar (Lasiocampa quercus) or similar moths would be found on moorland over there David? They certainly bomb around moorland over here during the day and would be the right colour for your mystery moths.

Trev

That could well be it, Trev.

It was about DGF size and flew crazily about as if three times over the drink drive limit, swooping down to the ground every few seconds to investigate things before whizzing away like a meteorite.

Certainly the colours reflect those I was seeing as this insect flew by me.

[JKT]

There were plenty of those (L. quercus) around Mallnitz as well.