B&F: 2069

ABH: 72.031

Status: Resident.

Distribution and Abundance: Common.

Primary Habitat: Grassland.

Flight Period: Single brooded from May to July.

Observations: Light trap records from a Wellingborough garden in 1951 show 391 examples of the moth taken from 20 May 1951 to 5 September 1951 with moths at their most common in June and July. The number of moths taken here is greatly in excess of numbers seen anywhere currently, possibly due to greater emphasis on the removal of the main foodplant common ragwort.  At Pitsford Water light traps where ragwort has been removed on the Reserve since 1992, seven moths were recorded during 2008 contrasting with the 2003 figure of ninety-one. During the 2008 flight period Storefield Wood and Quarry was trapped sporadically and fourteen examples of the species was taken suggesting that the moth is still common if the ragwort is left. An example of the rare all black form ab. negrana was taken in an m.v. light trap at Ashton, this moth was placed in the Natural History Museum in London.

L.O.N.: 1907. Many localities. Common.

First Record: 1842, Clark.