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Angle Shades

Phlogophora meticulosa

Lepidoptera / Noctuidae

Phlogophora meticulosa folds its angular, olive-and-pink wings into the outline of a withered leaf. This migratory European moth occupies gardens, woodland edges and coastal habitats, and its caterpillars vary from bright green to dark brown.

Read the species account
Phlogophora meticulosa, female dorsal view
Angle ShadesFemale · Dorsal view.Illustration adapted from Figure 1. Female Angle Shades genome specimen ilPhlMeti2. by Douglas Boyes and Peter W. H. Holland; Figure 1 (no separate photographer credited in its caption). CC BY 4.0.

At a glance

Wing form ↘
Wings fold longitudinally into a pleated, leaf-like resting outline. [2]
Movement ↘
The species is migratory and can be numerous at coastal sites. [2]
Larvae ↘
Caterpillar colours range from bright green to dark brown. [1]

Identity and classification

Phlogophora meticulosa (Linnaeus, 1758), the angle shades, belongs to Noctuidae. Adults span approximately 45–50 mm. [1][2]

Morphology and identification

Angular olive, brown and pink wing fields fold lengthways into a withered-leaf outline. [2]

The corrugated wings do not lie in a single flat plane. [1]

Distribution and habitat

The moth occurs across most of Europe and throughout Britain and Ireland, where it is more frequent in the south. Parks, gardens, woodland edges and coastal areas are characteristic habitats. [1]

Life cycle

Britain has at least two principal annual flight periods, with occasional adults in other months. [2]

Larvae range from bright green to dark brown. Food plant affects early-instar colour, while later coloration involves several genetic loci. [1]

Feeding and host plants

Caterpillars feed on a broad range of herbaceous plants. [2]

Behaviour

Angle shades migrate, and arrivals can produce large concentrations at coastal localities in Britain. [2]

Distinctive biology

The Wytham Woods female’s 539-megabase assembly placed most sequence into 31 chromosome-scale scaffolds, including Z; other scaffolds were compatible with W. [1]

Ecology

British monitoring summarised in the genome account found both flight-period peaks approximately three weeks earlier over the preceding 30 years. [1]

Display and care

Keep the enclosure closed and display it in indirect light, away from heat and damp conditions. Handle the frame by its edges and clean only its exterior according to the maker’s instructions.

Sources and further reading

  1. The genome sequence of the angle shades moth, Phlogophora meticulosa (Linnaeus, 1758) ↗

    Boyes and Holland; Wellcome Open Research 7:89 (2022) · Accessed 2026-10-13

  2. Angle Shades: Phlogophora meticulosa ↗

    Ian Kimber, UKMoths · Accessed 2026-10-13

Sources checked 2026-10-13. Illustrations · Luminary Oddities.

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