Yorkshire Status: Rare and very local resident.

Small Chocolate-tip has a very fragmented population in the UK, but looking at the profusion of old dots in the Atlas, it must have been much more widespread in the past. Porritt was aware of records from Askham Bog, Strensall and the Scarborough district. It has popped up in odd places since then, such as Austwick Moss in the west of VC63 and Wheeldale Moor and Langdale End in the east of VC62, but since 2000 all records have come from Strensall and Allerthorpe Commons where we evidently have healthy populations. The vast majority of records are of larvae on creeping willow, though it has also been seen on aspen. There are only a handful of records of adults. The Field Guide tells us it comes to light late in the night, but having trapped at Strensall at the right time of year and not caught it, I do wonder whether it is not strongly attracted to light. These two sites are the only dots on the maps for for the north of England since 2000. Does it occur elsewhere in the county? It probably does, but it looks as if searching for larvae is by far the best way of finding it. There are not many sites with extensive stands of creeping willow in Yorkshire, but if it using other species of willow and aspen, it may well occur elsewhere.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: There are three recent records for this species. Two of these are from its established sites at Allerthorpe and Strensall but one is a new site for this species in Yorkshire.

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 8 (4%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1864.
Last Recorded in 2024.
Additional Stats