Yorkshire Status: Very local resident.

This attractive moth of calcareous grassland and open woodland was known from various sites in the county when Porritt wrote his 1883 list. It then remained unrecorded for over a century, until it was found at Grass Wood in 2004. It has since been seen at a small number of sites across the county, for example Brockadale and and Hawnby, but has remained rather elusive. There are no records from VC61. Larvae feed on violets, and all of our records are of adults flying on sunny days.

There is another species of Pancalia, P. schwarzella. This has never been seen in the county but it is not impossible that it might be lurking somewhere, as there are scattered records all over the country. There are differences in the patterns of the silver spots, but the best idea is to look at the antennae. The antennae of leuwenhoekella have a white patch of eight to ten segment subapically; the last five segments being darker. Male schwarzella have no white patch. Females have a white patch, but the terminal dark patch is much longer. Any moths seen with totally dark antennae should be kept for further examination!

Recorded in 8 (4%) of 200 10k Squares. First Recorded in 1859. Last Recorded in 2024. Additional Stats

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