Yorkshire Status: Scarce and local migrant/wanderer.

This spectacular migrant species is a regular visitor, usually in September and most commonly in coastal areas. The last year with no records is as long ago as 1993. Good numbers appeared in the "migrant summer" of 2006 when there were 49 records, and also in 2015 (45) and 2023 (36). The best year however was 2024 when there were 93 records of 181 moths from 54 sites, mostly in coastal areas. This included an astonishing 39 in a trap at Hunmanby Gap on the night of 7th September. This is far and away the biggest influx we have ever seen of this migrant moth. It coincided with the mass arrival of other species, in particular Small Mottled Willow. Larvae are occasionally found, usually at Spurn, but it is likely that they do not survive our winter. Adults are quite often seen in the evening nectaring at Nicotiana (tobacco plants) in gardens. It is a resident species throughout the entire subtropical and tropical Old World extending as far north as North Africa and the Middle East.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: This migrant turns up somewhere in the County in most years and has been recorded from all five vice-counties (map 1 MBGBI 9). Recently it was most frequent in 1976 when presumably the hot summer all over Europe was favourable to it, and again in 1984. In the latter year only two imagines were recorded (in VC61 and VC64) but over ten larvae were found in vice-counties 61 and 62. This was unusual as most records are of imagines with only occasional larvae in the south of the County.

Recorded in 95 (48%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1846.
Last Recorded in 2024.
Additional Stats