Yorkshire Status: Very rare and very local resident.

This species was more common in the north of England in the 19th century, and Porritt was aware of records from six sites though he regarded it as "not common". There were no further records until the 1960s when it turned up at Askham Bog and at on the Wolds at Thixendale. It appeared again on the wolds at Burdale in 1983 but then disappeared. Had it been lurking at a low density under the radar since Porritt's time? It is difficult to say. The nearest colony to Yorkshire is now in the Morecambe Bay area and we had rather hoped it might spread across the border into VC64, however instead there has been an increase in range to our south east, and this led to a remarkable five records in the east of the county in 2023, the first since 1983. These were at Hunmanby Gap, Spurn, North Ferriby, Scarborough and Swinefleet, all within a week. Whether these were just wandering moths brought in on southerly winds or whether this is the start of colonisation, only time will tell.

This is another grass-feeding Apamea species and is most at home on calcareous grassland. The main confusion species is Light Arches but it is shorter-winged and more boldly marked, with darker wedges along the termen. If you can get a glance at the hindwing there is a postmedial line which is absent in Light Arches.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: There has only been one confirmed recent record of this species in Yorkshire, previous records being from the mid 1960s at Thixendale (VC61) and Askham Bog (VC64) (YNU,1970).

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 11 (6%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1883. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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