Yorkshire Status: Common and fairly widespread resident.

In 1883 Porritt wrote "common everywhere and abundant in the south West Riding". This is no longer the case, and numbers have been slowly declining, particularly in lowland parts of the county - there is evidence that it is moving uphill at about two metres per year, and numbers have not reduced quite so much in upland areas. The comments in Sutton and Beaumont below are odd, in that it no longer seems to be commonest in the south of Britain. This is a moth of broad-leaved woodland and open areas of moorland and scrub, the larvae feeding on a wide variety of plants. The very straight leading edge to the wing with a series of small dots makes it fairly easy to identify.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Recorded from all five vice-counties. This is a species which is most common in the South of Britain, slowly declining in frequency as one moves north. It is therefore quite surprising that it is often common in moorland areas in Yorkshire. For instance, it is the commonest spring moth at 200m on Burn Moor (VC64) in the far west of the County (SLS pers. comm.) and it is reported to be at its most frequent in the east of Yorkshire in woodland and open scrub onto the higher moors of VC62 (PQW pers. comm.).

Recorded in 145 (73%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1879. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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