Yorkshire Status: Local resident.

This species may have always been a rare resident in the county on native juniper, but since the late 1960s started turning up in gardens on imported junipers. It is now well established in many areas of the county. It has not been recorded from native juniper in recent years, but it flies in October and November, a time when most moth trappers have retreated to their gardens. The national distribution is curious as it is absent from large areas of the south of England, the West Country and Wales. If the spread is entirely due to the nursery trade, one would expect records to be more widespread. There are still things that we do not know about this species.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: One of the two records in Porritt's list (1904) was a suspected introduction on churchyard junipers and the recent sudden arrival of this species in many areas can almost certainly be attributed to larvae on bushes imported from areas where the moth has been known to occur naturally for many years. It is now well established in many suburban areas and is often common. The only record which would seem to suggest that the species may have previously existed unnoticed in the County in our natural juniper sites is from VC65, although it is possible that this area has also been colonised during the recent spread. It has also been recorded from the Teesdale junipers near High Force (VC66 side) in 1927 and from other nearby Teesdale sites in the 1980s (Dunn & Parrack, 1986).

Recorded in 75 (38%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1880. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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