Yorkshire Status: Fairly common resident.

"Common, no doubt everywhere" wrote Porritt in 1883. This is not quite the state of play nowadays, as although this is a common species in upland limestone areas, in the rest of the county it is more local, and occurs at a much lower density in lowland areas. Records seem to have decreased a little in recent years, and nationally it is said to be in slow decline. Perhaps the preponderance of people running MV traps in their gardens is to blame for a lack of records, as this is not a common garden moth. Trapping in more open places on light soils is a better way of finding this species. The biggest counts have tended to come from upland western areas, particularly at Malham Tarn, where 40 were trapped on 27/6/1976. Moths in August and September may be due to a partial second brood in some years, though this is less common than it was in the 1990s.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Recorded from all five vice-counties and occasionally locally common, especially on the Wolds and at other sites with calcareous soils.

Recorded in 127 (64%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1847. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

Exit Recorder