True Lover's Knot

Lycophotia porphyrea

The true lover's knot is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in the west Palearctic in a wide band through northern, central and eastern Europe and Russia. In the south it is spread through northern Spain and northern Portugal, northern Italy, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and northern Greece. In Europe it is found wherever its food plants grow. It is traditionally thought of as a species typical of heathland and moorland but it can often be found in places where heather and its relatives are in garden cultivation, or sunny slopes and forest edges. In the mountains it is found up to an elevation of over 2000 metres above sea level.

Scientific name

Lycophotia porphyrea

Family

Noctuidae