Yorkshire Status: Fairly common but local resident.

Porritt was used to finding this species as larvae in sallow catkins, and this is still a good way to find it, but with the preponderance of trapping at light, most of ours are now seen in the moth trap. This is a tiny species - the size of Maple, Haworth's or Lead-coloured Pug, but commoner than these three. Its peak flight time is the last week of July. The flight time phenogram shows a "tail" extending well into June, but it is likely that a lot of these early records are identification errors. The earliest I have ever come across one is 10th July, so records earlier than this should be examined critically. The rounded wings, fairly prominent discal spot, plain greyish-brown colour and small size are good pointers. It tends not to wander too far from its foodplant, so if you are recording a lot in your garden and don't have sallows nearby, then think again. Numbers and distribution seem to be stable in the county.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: This species is inconspicuous both as larva and imago and will only usually come in numbers to a light close to the foodplant, so it is probably much more frequent than it appears.

Recorded in 104 (52%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1883. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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