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Sandy Carpet (Perizoma flavofasciata).
The pale ochreous-brown, or sandy, markings on the white fore wings of this species readily distinguish it from either of its allies. Variable in size, and also in the brownish tint of the markings; the central band is usually contracted below the middle, and not infrequently it is completely severed at this point. It is the decolorata of Hübner, and although more generally known by that name, the earlier flavofasciata, Thunberg, will have to be adopted for this species. (Plate [85], Figs. 1 ♂, 2 ♀.)
The stoutish caterpillar is pale reddish ochreous with browner lines; head, brown and shining, plate on first and last rings of the body brown. It feeds on the flower buds, and on the immature seeds, of the red campion (Lychnis dioica), and the white campion (L. vespertina), but is more partial to the first named; in Ireland it is said to feed on bladder campion (Silene inflata).
In July and August, or even later, the moth may be beaten out of hedgerows, sandy banks, and borders of woods, and sometimes disturbed from patches of the campion growing in thickets; in such places it is on the wing about sundown.
Although local to some extent, it appears to be common enough in most of the counties of England and Wales. In Scotland, it is more or less generally common in Roxburghshire and Clydesdale, and is said to have been an inhabitant of Perthshire (Moncrieffe Hill). It appears to be very local in Ireland, but is recorded from Antrim, Derry, and Kerry, and noted as common at Larne in the first-named county.