One of Britain's most extraordinary camouflaged insects — at rest, the buff-tip moth is almost indistinguishable from a broken birch twig, with its pale yellow-buff wing tips and grey middle aligned to mimic a stub of birch; the hairy, yellow-and-black larvae are gregarious and can strip a tree of leaves in days.
Twig camouflage
The buff-tip moth is one of the most convincingly camouflaged moths in Britain. At rest with wings folded around its body, it is cylindrical in shape, with grey scales covering the wings and body, and a distinctive pale buff (yellowish-cream) area at each wing tip. The combined effect is almost identical to a freshly broken birch twig stub — the grey-white wood with a pale broken end. The camouflage is effective from multiple angles and at close range.
Gregarious larvae
The larvae are conspicuously different from the hidden adult — bright yellow and black, with a dense covering of pale hair, and highly gregarious. The young caterpillars feed in groups, all aligned in rows on leaves and skeletonising them before moving on. As they grow larger, they spread out but still cluster. A large group can defoliate a significant branch of an oak or hazel in a few days. The aposematic (warning) colouring advertises that they are unpalatable.
Pupation
Fully grown larvae descend from their host tree and burrow several centimetres into the soil to pupate, forming a rounded brown pupa that overwinters. Adults emerge in June and July, flying at night. Adults have reduced or non-functional mouthparts and do not feed — they exist only to mate and lay eggs.
Distribution
The buff-tip is common and widespread across lowland Britain, particularly in areas with mature deciduous woodland and hedgerow trees. It is most often noticed when its conspicuous larvae are found on garden or woodland trees in late summer.
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