Yorkshire Status: Extinct

Porritt listed several locations for this moth, and in 1904 wrote "abundant at Wharncliffe Woods near Sheffield the last weeks in July and early August 1887". In 1907 he wrote "since about the year 1890 appears to have almost entirely disappeared (from all sites) for no apparent cause". Yorkshire seems to have been the national stronghold for this species, but it disappeared rather rapidly with the last county record apparently being in 1919 and the last British record from Bushey Heath in Hertfordshire in 1935. It appeared to depend upon ancient deciduous woodland with open grassy areas, the larvae feeding on Purple Moor-grass (Molinia) but the cause of its decline is not known. A similar decline took place on the continent and it disappeared from the forests of central Europe soon afterwards. It was however rediscovered in southern Germany in 2020 (see More Info ) having apparently remained undetected for a very long time. Is it beyond the bounds of hope that it could still lurk beneath the radar in the UK? Probably not, but you just never know!

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: This species is now probably extinct in Britain, the last record being from Hertfordshire in 1935 (Skinner, 1984). The last Yorkshire specimens were recorded in 1915 and 1919 (probably from VC63) (YNU, 1970) but in Porritt's day it was quite widespread in the County, and indeed South Yorkshire was the best known English locality although it died out earlier here than in many other parts of the country. T. Wilkinson recorded it as common at Scarborough (VC62) (Walsh, 1956) and it was reported as abundant at Wharncliffe Wood (VC63) in 1887 (Porritt, 1904), with 116 taken there in 1888 (Garland, 1979). Other localities were Sutton upon Derwent (VC61), York (VC61/62/64), Wakefield, Rotherham and Barnsley (VC63) (Porritt, 1883-86, 1904).

	Determination by Genitalia Examination (gen. det.) Required

Recorded in 7 (4%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1861. Last Recorded in 1889. Additional Stats

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