Yorkshire Status: Very common and widespread resident.

"Abundant no doubt everywhere" wrote Porritt in 1883, noting that the melanic ab. combusta was equally as common as the typical form. The situation now has not altered a lot - it is still common everywhere - but the melanic form is less common, with most sites recording around three normal forms for one ab. combusta. This form is one of the commonest "what is this moth" queries on Facebook groups and in emails. This is another grassland moth like all of the genus, and turns up in a wide variety of habitats in spring and early summer. Numbers may have dropped a little in recent years. It is much commoner in upland locations than Clouded Brindle, and all the largest counts have been from upland sites, for example 140 at Cold Park on 24/6/2019. Its normal flight time is May to July, but in some of these upland areas it can fly quite late, into August and sometimes even September.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Quite common throughout all five vice-counties, especially in open grassland sites. This species appears to have been adversely affected by the weather of 1976 and at least in some areas became reduced in numbers for several years, although even then it was still reasonably frequent. The melanic form (Haworth) is common in VC64 and presumably elsewhere.

Recorded in 172 (86%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1845. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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