The striking yellow Sallow is not uncommon in Caithness but its distribution is restricted to areas where the larval foodplants, sallows and poplars, are found. The adult flies from mid-August into September and will fed on over-ripe blackberries. It overwinters as an egg which hatches in the Spring when the larvae feed inside catkins, first on the tree and then on the ground when the catkins fall. They pupate in an underground cocoon.