Yorkshire Status: Migrant.

In 1883 Porritt regarded this migrant species as "not common", but it must have been a regular migrant in those days as he was able to list several sites, and he commented that at Scarborough it was "some seasons common". Numbers vary a lot from year to year. The biggest total was 229 in the phenomenal migrant year of 2006. In many years however the number of records is in single figures. Records are most common in coastal areas, particularly at Spurn, which has provided nearly half of our records. It is possible to confuse it with Turnip Moth or Dark Sword-grass, but the raised "mohican-like" thoracic crest is a useful pointer.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: A frequent immigrant to the British Isles, this moth reaches Yorkshire in most years. Numbers are very variable and mainly concentrated near the coast, although there are certain inland localities where it is consistently more common. It has been suggested that this is due to movement from the South of Britain rather than east-west migration (PQW pers. comm.). There is no record from VC65 but it is almost certainly occasionally present.

Recorded in 75 (38%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1879.
Last Recorded in 2024.
Additional Stats