Yorkshire Status: Common and widespread resident.

New moth trappers may find it difficult to realise how uncommon this species used to be. In 1883 Porritt simply said "Scarborough, common in Raincliffe Wood (TW)". TW was Thomas Wilkinson who died in 1876, so the records could have been quite old. This was probably the most northerly record documented. It must have retreated south fairly quickly though it probably hung on in Lincolnshire. In the 1960s it started to spread northwards from its haunts in southern England and Wales. It reached Yorkshire in 1973 with a record from Thorne Moors, then appeared at Spurn in 1988. In the 1990s it spread across the county, reaching VC65 by 2008, and there are now records in the northern half of Scotland. This is now a common and widespread moth across the whole county. Counts in some sites can be over 100. Like all Footmen it feeds on lichens, and although it occurs in a variety of habitats, it seems happiest in damp places. It is usually fairly easy to identify because of its curved wings. Old moth collectors used to call it "melon pip" which describes the shape very nicely. The orangey-yellow form f. stramineola is common, and is apparently only known from the UK.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Previously recorded as common in Raincliffe Wood, Scarborough (VC62) by T. Wilkinson (Porritt, 1883-86), none were recorded in Yorkshire in the present century until the single record given below [Spurn 1988]. However several were recorded in Lincolnshire in the 1960s and 1970s (Duddington & Johnson, 1983), so its reappearance is no great surprise.

Recorded in 151 (76%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1883. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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