Yorkshire Status: Thinly distributed resident.

Porritt described Lunar Marbled Brown as "rather scarce" in 1883 and it may have been less common than Marbled Brown in those days. Nowadays it is by far the commoner of the two species and is fairly widespread across most of Yorkshire though it is rare in the west of the county and in the east of VC61 because of lack of suitable oak woodland. It flies a month earlier than the rather similar Marbled Brown which has a much more restricted range here. The prominent black comma in the pale central band separates these two species. Numbers seem to be doing fairly well though they tend to fluctuate a lot from year to year. It can sometimes appear in good numbers in mature oak woodland, for example 27 at Low North Camp on 4/5/2018.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: Whereas D. dodonaea (Denis & Schiffermuller) has, if anything, decreased in Yorkshire, the present species seems to have increased in recent years. It also feeds on oak.

Recorded in 81 (41%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1880.
Last Recorded in 2024.
Additional Stats