B&F: 2165

ABH: 73.280

Status: Resident

Distribution and Abundance: Common.

Localities: Kingsthorpe, Northampton, Woodnewton and Westward.

Observations: All of the moths above were taken in garden light traps. Additional to these there were further records in the Peterborough area in 2010 and a large number of caterpillars were found feeding on prickly lettuce in the Northampton area in the summer of that year. The species does not appear to have been effected by the exceptionally cold weather during the winter of 2010 as there were further records of the moth at light in 2011. It now appears that the species has re-established itself in the county and that there is likelihood that further recolonisation will take place. Historically the moth was found in Northamptonshire with a number of earlier records. An 1882 record appears on a systematic classification of the lepidoptera that have occurred in the vicinity of Northampton. J. Northampt. nat. Hist. Soc. p.191 by Hull, W. & Tomalin, H. F., 1882-84. A further mention from the 1890’s  is derived from a note in some unpublished material from this period by Eustace Wallis in which he describes the species as, “Not common” near Kettering in July. Additionally, “The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland,” by Heath, J., Emmet, A. M. and others, (1976-) Vol. 9, p. 227 shows the moth having formerly been reported from Northamptonshire and an open circle is entered in TF10. I have been unable to trace the source of this record.

L.O.N.: Unrecorded.

First Record: 1882, Hull & Tomalin.