Photo © Andy Mitchell
Mesoligia furuncula, the cloaked minor, is a moth of the family Noctuoidea. It is found in the Palearctic realm (Europe, northwest Africa, Russia, Siberia, Japan, north Iran, Afghanistan, and China (Qinghai and Shaanxi).
The wingspan is 22-28 mm. The length of the forewings is 10-12 mm. The typical form has the forewing sharply demarcated between a pale distal field and a rufous basal field. The colour and pattern is highly variable and furuncula may look like a lot of the species in the genus Oligia which can be separated by from all but Mesoligia literosa by details of the genitalia. A study of the genitalia of European and Asian specimens of the two Mesoligia species literosa Haworth and furuncula Denis & Schiffermuller showed however that there is no significant intra-specific variation, in these two closely related Oligia species.
The moth flies in one generation from late June to mid September .
The larvae feed on various grasses such as Tufted Hair-grass, Festuca ovina, and Arrhenatherum elatius.
Source: Wikipedia
The primary larval foodplants are False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius), grasses, Sheep's-fescue (Festuca ovina), Tall Fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus) and Tufted Hair-grass (Deschampsia cespitosa).