Silver Y vs Green Oak Tortrix

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Silver Y Green Oak Tortrix
Scientific Name Autographa gamma Tortrix viridana
Order Lepidoptera Lepidoptera
Family Noctuidae Tortricidae
Size 35-45 mm wingspan 20-24 mm wingspan
Habitat Farmland Woodlands
Diet Nectar Feeders Herbivores
Regions Europe, Asia, Africa Europe, Western Asia, North Africa
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Silver Y

A migratory moth marked with a bright silvery Y or gamma symbol on each forewing. Billions migrate northward across Europe each spring in one of nature's great insect movements.

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Did You Know?

Radar studies revealed that up to 250 million Silver Y moths cross into Britain in a single summer.

Green Oak Tortrix

A small bright green moth with pale hindwings that is the most important oak defoliator in Europe. Outbreak years can turn whole oak canopies brown by June.

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Did You Know?

Defoliation by this moth has shaped oak woodland ecology for thousands of years.