| Kentish Glory Endromis versicolora |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Endromidae |
| Genus: | Endromis Ochsenheimer, 1810 |
| Species: | E. versicolora |
| Binomial name | |
| Endromis versicolora (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Kentish Glory (Endromis versicolora) is a moth of the family Endromidae. It is found in the Palaearctic region.
The wingspan is 50–70 mm. The moth flies from March to May. Females, much bigger and paler than males, fly only at night in order to lay eggs. Males can detect female's smell from distance up to 2 km and fly both at night and daylight.
Yellow at first, then purplish-brown eggs are laid in 2–3 "rows" around thin branch of birch. After 10–14 days little black caterpillars hatch.
The caterpillars primarily feed on birch (Betula sp.), but accepts lots of other trees and shrubs: Alnus sp., Corylus sp., Tilia sp., Carpinus sp. It is green with paler stripes, at first feeds in small groups of 15–30 larvae. Mature ones separate and feed only at night individually.
Endromis versicolora gives only one, spring generation a year; it spend the Winter as chrystalid in thin, loose, but strong cocoon buried at a small depth in the soil.