Yorkshire Status: Local resident.

Porritt commented in 1907 that this species was "common in meadows" where its food plant, yellow rattle grows. To a certain extent this is still the case, though the distribution is patchy and it has been lost from several sites in central Yorkshire and in the north-west quarter of the county where numbers are low. It is only really common in coastal areas where it can appear at times in big numbers, for example 587 flying by day at Sammy's Point (Spurn) on 6/6/2016 and 300 at Carlin How on 20/6/2009. Elsewhere it appears in much smaller numbers, and although it does come to light, counts are rarely into double figures. Losses in some parts of the range are probably exacerbated by farming practices resulting in a lack of yellow rattle. Nationally it is said to be increasing its range, but there is little sign of this in Yorkshire.


Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Still fairly widely recorded despite the decline of its food plant, yellow rattle.

Recorded in 70 (35%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1857.
Last Recorded in 2023.
Additional Stats