Yorkshire Status: Local resident.

Lunar Thorn has seemingly been widespread across Yorkshire in small numbers for many years. George Porritt in 1883 described it as “seldom common but not infrequently taken” and listed sites all across the county where it occurred. Sutton and Beaumont in 1989 said it “occurs locally in wooded areas in all five vice-counties” and this still seemed to be true in the late 1990s. Since then the situation has taken a dramatic turn of events and over a very small number of years it appeared to almost totally disappear from lowland Yorkshire. The last one in VC63 (south west Yorkshire) occurred in 1999. In VC61 (south east Yorkshire) it hung on until 2003 but by this time it had vanished from the southern half of VC62 (north east Yorkshire) and the eastern third of VC64 (mid-west Yorkshire), in other words from all the low-lying parts of the county. The sole exception was a small late individual at Spurn in 2016, almost certainly a migrant. It is evident that it now only occurs on the higher ground and shows what a major change has taken place.

The situation across the country has been equally dramatic. Our Field Guide points out that “it is now very scarce throughout the Midlands and into Lancashire and southern Yorkshire”. The first two editions of 2003 and 2009 made no mention of this. Data from the National Moth Recording Scheme show few records since 2000 in central and south-east England with the exception of East Sussex and Kent where it still occurs regularly and this is reflected in the Atlas. When we look further at this move away from the lowlands, it is evident that between 1998 and 2017, the mean height above sea level for all records has increased from 100m to 200m, so it appears to be moving upwards at 5m/year. This is now a moth of woodlands at altitude in the north of the county. It has a liking for ash, and this might not be a wise choice in view of ash die-back.

Having painted such a gloomy picture, all might not be lost, and there has been an increase in records in recent years after a low point of just one record in 2010. It is usually single-brooded though occasionally moths from a small second generation are seen. Take care not to confuse it with Purple Thorn. Moths away from typical areas should be examined critically.

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 89 (45%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1883. Last Recorded in 2024. Additional Stats

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