B&F: 1943

ABH: 70.267

Status: Unknown.

Distribution and Abundance: Rare - no modern records

Primary Habitat: Woodland.

Flight Period: Single brooded in June and July.

Record: 10 July 1987 Yardley Chase (B. Statham).

Observations: Two moths were recorded in 1987 at Yardley Chase. The first record of the occurrence of the species in the county that I have been able to trace is of a moth found on 16 July 1887 in Weekley Hall Wood at rest on a chestnut tree by Hugh Wallis, an older brother of Eustace Wallis the author of L.O.N. In the early part of the twentieth century the moth was looked for and found annually in this wood, usually sitting on tree trunks but in 1919 one was taken on a sugared tree. The last time that it was seen in the wood was in 1925 and despite subsequent searches it was not recorded there again. This was also the last date of recording from Geddington Chase. Apart from the 1987 Yardley Chase record mentioned above the decline of the moth in the county appears to have spread northwards with other last records being Sywell Wood 1907, Gretton 1936, presumably in the Harringworth Wood area, and Castor Hanglands 1953 where it was regarded as not common in the first half of the last century. Presumably the felling of most of the larger oaks in 1955 hastened its departure from the Hanglands. Despite much recording effort the Yardley Chase record has not been updated.

Confusion Species: Pale Oak Beauty

L.O.N.: 1907. Barnwell Wold, near Kettering, Sywell, Yardley Chase. Quite common on tree trunks near Geddington Chase.

First Record: 1887, H. Wallis.