Distribution and Abundance: Very common.

Primary Habitat: General occurrence.

Flight Period: Mainly single brooded from June to August with a partial second brood in some years in the autumn.

Observations: Detailed records from a garden m.v. light trap running in  Wellingborough in the 1950’s show moths regularly being recorded in September and October. I hold no records of this occurring in recent years, the last flight dates being in late August. The numbers of moths seen in the 1950’s were also much greater with a high of 1430 in 1953 taken between
20 June and 4 October. The highest recent figure that I have been able to find is of 510 taken in the two Pitsford Reservoir light traps for the year 2000 between 15 June and 26 August. Generally melanics seem to form some one percent of the population.

L.O.N.: 1907. Everywhere. Abundant. There is a further note from 1911 – “During one of these evenings at the Chase I took a black variety of H. polyodon which very closely resembles the Scotch forms.” He is referring to Geddington Chase.

First Record: 1882, Hull & Tomalin.