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The moth is out in September and October, and secretes itself during the day, but may be found at night flying about the broom bushes for a short time, and later on it sits upon the twigs. It occurs in almost every part of the British Isles where the food plant of the caterpillar is well established.
Broom-tip (Chesias rufata).
A noticeable character in this glossy, greyish moth (Plate [57], Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀) is the black mark on the upper part of the second cross line of the fore wings (which probably suggested the English name "Chevron" given to the species by Donovan); following the mark is a reddish or ochreous flush, extending to the tips of the wings.
The long, green caterpillar inclines to bluish above, and to paler green beneath; a darker line along the middle of the back, then a slender whitish line edged with darker green, and between this and the white spiracular line there is another slender whitish line. It feeds, in August and September, on broom; when full grown it enters the earth, and there turns to a reddish brown chrysalis, the wing cases of which are greenish. I am indebted to Mr. A. J. Scollick for the caterpillar and chrysalis figured on Plate [56], Figs. 1, 1a.
The moth emerges the following year, from May to July, but its time of appearance is uncertain, and it may come up in early spring or not until early autumn. Sometimes it will remain in the chrysalis for two winters.
In England the species occurs in the counties of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Berks, Hants, Devon, Somerset, Hereford, Worcester, Stafford, Leicester, Cheshire (rare in the last five), Cumberland and Yorkshire (recorded once from each county),
Norfolk, Suffolk; also Glamorgan, and other parts of South Wales. In Scotland it is found in the south, but is more frequent from Perthshire to Moray. Probably occurs in other British localities where there is plenty of broom.