Yorkshire Status: Fairly common in variable numbers on lower ground.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Until recently this species was widely distributed and often common in a wide variety of habitats in all five vice-counties. However, it has undergone a dramatic decline over the last few years. It has been suggested that the successive wet summers have caused a high larval mortality through drowning, since it is a moth of open areas with little shelter (PQW pers. comm.). However we shall have to wait to see whether it will recover if the summers improve over the next few seasons.

2012 (CHF):The numbers of this moth vary considerably from year to year. A huge reduction in 1987 and 88 led to the comments in Sutton and Beaumont. This was followed by a recovery, a further drop with a low point in 2008 and a new peak of 390 records in 2011. In the Rothamsted data there was a 90% drop between 1968 and 2002. In 1907 Porritt noticed its scarcity in the south west and it is still uncommon in the western third of the county. The relief map shows clearly how uncommon it is on the higher ground.

Recorded in 129 (65%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1883. Last Recorded in 2022. Additional Stats

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