Yorkshire Status: Local resident.

In 1907 Porritt said that this species was "apparently abundant on all heaths" and the comments below in Sutton and Beaumont would tend to back this up. It is certainly common on some heaths, such as Thorne and Hatfield Moors, but there are few records from Skipwith or Allerthorpe Commons and none at all from Strensall Common. It certainly occurs in many western heathery areas and in the east of VC62, but rarely in the numbers seen at Thorne or Hatfield.

The books will tell you that it is easy to identify, but it is quite possible to have a rush of blood to the head and mistake it for the Gelechiid species Sophronia semicostella which also has a costal streak and rather serious-looking palps, so to prevent you from doing this, we will quote from the excellent Gelechiid web site which says "P. bicostella has larger forward projecting palps, the white costal streak extends almost to the wing apex (to two-thirds in S. semicostella), the basal half of the forewing is pale greyish but with a variable ammount of buffish brown (wholly pale brown in S. semicostella) and lacks the distinctly banded cilia of semicostella. There appears to be some overlap in habitat use although P. bicostella is usually associated with damper areas." If you were having a really bad day, you might confuse it for an Agriphila or Crambus species.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Widespread and common on heathy commons and moors throughout all five vice-counties.

Recorded in 28 (14%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1859. Last Recorded in 2024. Additional Stats

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