Common Purple & Gold

Fairly widespread across the county and likely to be found where species-rich grassland exists, but much less likely to be encountered casually or in gardens than the very similar <i>Pyrausta aurata</i>.&nbsp; Like that species, it is more likely to be found in areas with calcareous soils than acidic ones.

Straw-barred Pearl

A local species, but one that can be fairly numerous where it occurs.&nbsp; It seems to like species-rich, often calcareous grasslands.&nbsp; Most records are from a band stretching from the Poldens westwards to beyond Taunton, and from the western part of the Mendips (though oddly absent from east of Cheddar).&nbsp; It is rare north of the Mendips and east of Wells.&nbsp; The moth appears to be triple-brooded in Somerset, with the third, late August brood being the largest.

Small Purple & Gold

The most widespread and numerous of the Pyraustas, and by far the most likely to be met with in gardens, where it can often form small colonies on thyme and marjoram.&nbsp; It tends to be absent from areas with acidic soils, where the foodplants are scarce, such as Exmoor, the Quantocks and the Levels.&nbsp; Double-brooded, in spring and summer, with the summer brood being far more numerous.

Pyrausta aurata

Mint Moth