Yorkshire Status: Uncommon and local resident.

Southern Wainscot did not occur in Yorkshire in Porritt's day, and was first found at Askham Bog and Skipwith Common in 1950. From 1970, it became regular at Spurn, but it was not until the turn of the century that records really increased and it began to spread across the county. We now tend to receive well over 100 records per year. This is a species of marshy areas where the larvae feed on common reed and reed canary-grass, and it tends to be absent from upland areas. It can occur in big numbers at some sites, for example 166 at Skerne Wetlands on 19/7/2022. It is quite easy to pass it over as a Common Wainscot or Smoky Wainscot until you have your "eye in" - look for the characteristic headband (a dark line flanked by two paler lines) when viewed from the front (see photos) which is not shared with the other confusion species. The rather pointy wing tip also helps. Nationally it has spread further north, reaching Scotland in 1996, and it can now be found as far north as central Scotland.

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: First found in Yorkshire at Askham Bog (VC64) in 1950 then at Skipwith (VC61) (YNU, 1970), this species has now been found in several other localities in the County. Yorkshire is at the northern limit of its range (Skinner, 1984), so it will be interesting to see whether it continues to expand within the County.

Recorded in 68 (34%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1929.
Last Recorded in 2023.
Additional Stats