Native to the west coast of Ireland this species is presumed to have been accidentally introduced to Britain on the foodplant in the late 1960s and the first British record is from Derbyshire in 1969. It is then thought to have spread between gardens on cultivars of the foodplant and the first county record was taken at light and photographed in Stockton-on-Tees on 23rd June 2003. Since then there have been a further 68 records of adults and it can be quite common, particularly in suburban gardens although the early stages have yet to be recorded in Durham.