Yorkshire Status: Uncommon and local resident.

Porritt noted that this moth had been taken at Huddersfield prior to 1883 but in 1904 evidently had second thoughts saying "this species must be deleted from the former list; it is not likely it ever occurred at Huddersfield". Our first definite record was at Spurn in 1948 and a substantial colony build up there over the years. In 1979 it was first found in the east of VC63 and this area was colonised, especially in the early 2000s. The situation remained stable for some time, locally common in VC61 and the east of VC63 but rare away from this area apart from one or two sneaking into the very south of VC64. A fairly sedentary species, confined to the south-east quarter of the county, with 50 or 60 records per year, and thought to be in slow decline. In 2023 things changed. 106 records of 191 moths from 32 sites was a large and unexpected increase. This was coupled with significant northward spread with two very unusual records, one at Hutton Conyers on 12/7/2003, the first for VC65, and one the following day even further north into completely new territory at Stokesley. It will be very interesting to see what happens over the next few years.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: First taken at Spurn (VC61) in 1948 (YNU, 1970). This species is still found frequently at this location and there are also now three additional localities.

Recorded in 27 (14%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1948.
Last Recorded in 2024.
Additional Stats