Yorkshire Status: Uncommon and thinly distributed or restricted resident.

This very attractive species should be easily identifiable when fresh. It is fairly widely distributed across lowland parts of the county. It has probably never been particularly common in Yorkshire - Porritt labelled it as "rare" in 1907 and was only aware of records from Pontefract, Scarborough and York. Its fooplants of Mugwort, Yarrow and Wormwood means that it needs weedy areas, disturbed ground, unsprayed field margins, brownfield sites etc. Just the sort of areas that councils love to tidy up because they look scruffy. What a shame. Numbers fluctuate from year to year but seem to be relatively stable. Nationally it is said to be in slow decline. It is usually seen in very small numbers apart from Harry Beaumont's garden where in the 1970s it used to occur in double figures. Excluding this site, 90% records are of single moths.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: There are recent records from all five vice-counties. The larvae should be searched for on mugwort and can also occur on yarrow (AMR pers. comm.) although this has not been recorded as a foodplant in Yorkshire.

Recorded in 92 (46%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1857. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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