This moth is fairly well distributed throughout the UK and its found in Europe, though commoner in the south. It tends to inhabit lightly wooded areas and suburban locations, where it is often a visitor to the garden light-trap.  It can sometimes be brought to sugar substances.

The moth flies from February to May depending on the location and can be found in broadleaved woodland, scrub, hedgerows and gardens.

In the UK is can be common. In England its very well distributed north to the Humber, in parts of Northern England and its found in Wales and Isle of Man. This moth is found in Northern and Central mainland Scotland and in the Hebrides. It is widespread in Channel Islands and its widespread in Ireland.

In Northern Ireland it is also widespread and frequently trapped in Co Fermanagh and the Greater Belfast area. Its more local further North and West and confined to a few costal localities in Antrim and Londonderry. In Northern Ireland, the flight period is around the 4th February to 28th May.