Yorkshire Status: Common and fairly widespread resident.

"Widely distributed and not uncommon" said Porritt in 1883. This attractive and distinctive moth of early autumn is still doing well in Yorkshire and can be found in most areas, though numbers vary a lot from year to year. The larvae prefer "robust herbaceous plants" so it is commonest in rough waste areas which have not been tidied up too much, though it is not an uncommon moth in gardens. The larvae feed in the lower part of the stems, so those who like a tidy garden and get rid of thistles and burdocks are not doing it a service. In good habitat, counts can get into double figures, the maximum being 19 at Garforth on 11/9/2010.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Widely recorded but rarely common in all five vice-counties. The larvae and pupae can often be found in stems of creeping thistle and ragwort. This is another species which is very common in the South of Britain, becoming scarcer towards the North.

Recorded in 138 (69%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1883. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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