[...] In 1952 TCD began to take this species in his garden at Chester-le-Street and in 1957 dislodged dozens of caterpillars while pruning his Poplars: he now takes several moths annually in his trap. Other Durham records are more recent: R. Woods took it at Sacriston in 1973, as did M. Mann in 1977-8, as well as at nearby Witton Gilbert in 1983-4. M. Finney took it at Fulwell Quarry in 1974 and D. Kipling at Shildon in 1985. All these records except that at Fulwell are from light traps operated in gardens, there being little doubt that Lombardy Poplars and perhaps other ornamental poplar species are being used by the larvae. Across the Border the moth is apparently absent from much of the Southern Uplands and Central Lowlands of Scotland, reappearing again in the Central Highlands. It seems possible that there may have been a recession early in the present century (as Robson noted it not uncommonly about Teesside not long before), leaving a relict population in North Scotland, and that the species is now extending its range northwards again.