Very rare immigrant (less than 10 previous UK records) from the tropics of the Old World, where widespread. This species is presumed to have arrived on these shores as an immigrant from Africa on the basis of a specimen taken at a light-trap near East Prawle, Devon, on 28 September 1967. A subsequent increase in the frequency of its occurrence hints at an origin closer to home. Up to the end of 2008, there were three records in the region, all in October, including one from well inland in Hampshire and one from the Isle of Wight.