Yorkshire Status: Fairly common resident.

"Widely distributed and in some localities abundant" said Porritt in 1907. I doubt we would call it abundant anywhere nowadays, but this is still a reasonably common moth across the county, though numbers vary a lot from year to year. It is usually seen in small numbers, with over 90% of our records being of one or two moths, but occasionally counts can reach double figures particularly in VC61. This moth looks very like some forms of Common/Lesser Common Rustic but flies much earlier. A fresh Common Rustic in June is likely to be Small Clouded Brindle and conversely a fresh Small Clouded Brindle in August is likely to be Common/Lesser Common Rustic. Like the rest of the genus, it is a grass-feeder, but it is slightly keener on wetland grasses such as reed canary-grass than some other Apamea species.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Recorded quite widely in vice-counties 61 to 64. There seems to be no reason why it should not occur similarly in VC65 if searched for, although it is rare in the west of VC66 (Dunn & Parrack, 1986). In VC61 and east VC62 it is reported to often be common, especially as larvae, on low, damp ground (PQW).

Recorded in 130 (65%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1847. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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