Yorkshire Status: Increasingly common migrant/resident.

It is difficult to comprehend what has happened to Clifden Nonpareil in recent years. Back in the 19th century it was not an uncommon migrant or wandering moth from populations further south, and Porritt in 1883 was aware of four records from 1858 to 1875, with a fifth in 1896. This was however the last seen in the county until 1976. It was resident in the Norfolk Broads area and in Kent until the 1960s but then disappeared, only to reappear as a resident species in the south of England in about 2007. Until 2020 it only appeared in Yorkshire very rarely as as scarce migrant, however the resident population in the south had been moving north at an ever increasing rate. In 2021 we had three records, then in 2022 an amazing 14 moths were seen, and it was suspected it was breeding in the south of VC63. In 2023 the invasion accelerated. We received 48 records of 51 moths from 37 sites spread fairly evenly over southern, eastern, and central parts of the county. Moths flew from 20th August until 9th October. It is now clear that these moths were colonists rather than migrants, and there is some evidence that they may be breeding as far north as Scotland. The rate of advance has been astonishing and it will be fascinating to watch further progress.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: This is a rare immigrant to the British Isles and usually only reaches the South of the country. The unusually hot summer of 1976 resulted in over twenty specimens being recorded in Britain (Skinner, 1984), two of which were in Yorkshire. These were the first since Porritt (1883-86, 1904) when five specimens had been found from 1858 to 1896.

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 46 (23%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1858. Last Recorded in 2023. Additional Stats

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