Cryphia pallida is a small moth from the Noctuidae family, reaching only about 18-20 mm wingspan.
The forewings are brown with a greenish shade plus a poor consistent pattern of dark spots painting a bizarre appearance that becomes cryptic when the moth rests on the rough, colonized by lichens bark of a tree. The forewings show a transverse band in discal position and a submarginal line, both sinuous and dark brown coloured; the remaining spots are less defined. The hindwings are uniformly pale brown. Both pairs of wings end in a fringe of fimbriae, that of the forewings checkered, that of the hindwings a uniform colour.
The caterpillar is found on holm oaks and oaks feeding on lichens and algae from the bark.
There is a complex of 3 closely related species, C.pallida, C.ochsi and C.algae, that are difficulkt to discriminate. Likely, these 3 species are found in the districts of Bages and Moianès.
[photo Jordi Badia, identification Jordi Dantart]