Yorkshire Status: Very common and widespread resident.

Peppered Moth remains a common and widespread species across the county. Numbers and distribution are stable. The larvae feed on many different trees and shrubs so the adults can pop up anywhere. The history of the melanic carbonaria form is fascinating. The first black specimen (of unknown origin) was collected before 1811, but the first live specimen was caught by R. S. Edleston in Manchester, England in 1848. He reported this 16 years later in 1864, in The Entomologist and noted that at that time it was the more common type in his garden in Manchester. By 1883 Porritt said that the two forms were equally common in Yorkshire. He went on to say in 1907 that carbonaria had almost completely taken over in south-west Yorkshire "and bids fair to do so throughout the county at no distant date" which it seemed to do over the next few years. The Clean Air Act was passed in 1956, and a few years afterwards the incidence of carbonaria was noticed to be less. Since then, it has gradually decreased in frequency year by year and it is now an unusual find in the county. We have not (yet!) had a year without any records, but in 2023 there was just one record out of a total of over 1000 moths. Intermediate forms known collectively as insularia have also decreased. These have never been particularly common but are now more common than carbonaria.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Widely distributed and often common in all five vice-counties. The larvae feed on most trees, and are also particularly fond of garden roses! (AMRH). The melanic form f. carbonaria (Jordan) is most common over much of the County, only a small percentage of moths being f. insularia (Thierry-Meig) and the type. In only a few areas, for instance Sedbergh (west VC65) are these latter forms most frequent (J. Mounsey per FBS). However, a few more do seem to be appearing in some other areas over the last few years.

Recorded in 172 (86%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1845.
Last Recorded in 2024.
Additional Stats