Yorkshire Status: Rare migrant

This rare migrant first appeared in the county in 1948 near Bridlington. Records have been very infrequent since then, though two major influxes into the country brought us ten records in 2000 and four in 2003. There were smaller influxes in 2004 and 2008, but it has not been seen since then. There is still no record for VC65. It is a widespread species across the world, including North America, and is also known as the American Wainscot. Although we would all be delighted to catch one, not all would share our enthusiasm, as in its native range it can cause severe damage to corn fields and according to Noctuidae Europaeae is "one of the most dangerous pest species in the family Noctuidae"!

Sutton & Beaumont, 1989: There has only been one documented record of this species in Yorkshire, however another older record, also from VC61, has now come to light. It is somewhat surprising that there have only been two occurrences of this migrant in Yorkshire. Although erratic, it is sometimes quite frequent in southern Britain and casual specimens have been recorded as far north as the Hebrides (Skinner, 1984). Perhaps its usual migration route is up the western coast, so bypassing Yorkshire.

	Retained Specimen / Photograph will be Required.

Recorded in 12 (6%) of 200 10k Squares.
First Recorded in 1948.
Last Recorded in 2008.
Additional Stats