Yorkshire Status: Scarce and thinly distributed or restricted resident.

Spinach is a bit of a worry. Numbers have now declined to such a low level that this is now a real rarity. Many records sent to us are errors for similar-looking moths, so unless we know that you are really confident in identifying it and have seen it before, I'm afraid that we need a specimen. How times have changed from the 1989 comments in Sutton and Beaumont. This is a currant-feeder, so like Phoenix and V-moth is a species that turns up in gardens and in currant-rich damp woodland. There were just three confirmed records in both 2022 and 2023 and we have not yet had a year with no records. Look for the chequered edges to the wings and the single single tooth-like projection from the central cross-band.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Recorded from all five vice-counties, but seemingly in smaller numbers in VC61. Often frequent or common where currants or gooseberries grow, mostly in cultivation but occasionally in the wild. Dunn and Parrack (1986) consider this species to be much less common than the previous two in Northumberland and Durham.

Recorded in 103 (52%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1880.
Last Recorded in 2023.
Additional Stats