Yorkshire Status: Thinly distributed or restricted resident.

Porritt in 1907 said that this species "occurs probably everywhere and usually in abundance" It is difficult to know how well it is currently doing in the county as many moth trappers pack up their traps and consign them to the garden shed before Scarce Umber is on the wing. Years with plenty of records are generally those with warm periods in November. This is a woodland moth, particularly in areas with birch, though as it flies "out of season", most of our records come from gardens. If trappers are however tempted out into suitable woodland towards the end of the year, they might discover large numbers, for example 54 at Coniston Cold on 15/11/2018. Females are almost wingless and are not often encountered.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: This moth is reported from only a few sites in each vice-county, but is usually described as frequent or common in birch woodland (though also bred from sycamore (JP pers. comm.)). Whether it is locally common or whether this merely shows the distribution of light traps in operation in the later months of the year is uncertain.

Recorded in 113 (57%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1805.
Last Recorded in 2023.
Additional Stats