2.008 BF12  –  Eriocraniidae – Eriocrania sangii – Purple Spring Jewel – (Wood, 1891) Adult Micro:  CAT 4 – Gen. Det. Required – Gen-Det-Reqd       Leaf-miner:  CAT R – Moth will need to be reared and possibly dissected – reared and possibly dissected       PDF Icon – click for General Verification Guidelines  |   PDF Icon – click for Specific Verification Guidelines
Blue –  Generally Common / Widespread        purple – Leaf Miner     day-flying – Day-flying
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Eriocraniidae
Other Name/s: Large Birch Purple
ID Difficulty:  Red – difficult to identify – detailed examination required, often a Gen Det and/or specimen and quality photographs are required.
Confusion Species: E.cicatricella; E.semipurpurella; E.sparrmannella
ID pointers: Metallic purple coloured forewings with a scattering of gold metallic markings. The adults are difficult to tell apart from E. semipurpurella without reference to the genitalia structure.
Distribution:  An early flier and a fairly common species throughout the county.
Flight Period: March /  April /  –  On the wing March – April  Mine Period: April /  May /   – The larva creates a blotch mine in a leaf of birch (Betula), rather like some related species, but unlike the other species, the larva itself is dark grey and is quite distinctive if the mined leaf is held up to the light. Moth Activity: Diurnal   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Will Soar  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 2 October 2025 by RP ***
Forewing: 4-7mm Food Plant: Birch
Recorded dates for Common [Blue code Blue-coded] moths are not stored on the website at this current time.

Selected Images:  King’s Newton – Will Soar © / undetermined so either/or with 2.007

 
 


Distribution Map for Eriocrania sangii

Found 2 records
    ↳ 1 from After 2025
    ↳ 0 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 1 from Before 2020
Flying
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Mining
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

If the Map Layers function fails, just refresh the page and it should be OK after. Use the +- zoom on the top left, or on a tablet, use two fingers to zoom. Remember, the last layer you ticked is the one which displays the popup information - they sit on top of each other - de-select then re-select, to see the popup values.

Bedrock Geology ** indirectly affects moth distribution by influencing the type of habitat and food plants available in an area. In turn, this may affect the types of moths that can thrive, or where they can most likely be found.


NBN Atlas UK Distribution for – Eriocrania sangii

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Note – the NBN Atlas datasets are listed in the map below and vary in their currency (uptodateness) – however, the map does give a general indication of the moth's distribution across the UK.

Visit NBN Site


Monthly Records By Year: Eriocrania sangii
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
No data returned from the database.

Monthly Counts By Year: Eriocrania sangii
( data is based on 'Adult' stage records only. )


First/Last Recorded Dates: Eriocrania sangii
Adult-only & Anything [Larvae, Pupae, Adult, Mines]

Shading shows moth presence between dates

Click the colour discs below to Select/De-select as Required

Recordings By Year: Eriocrania sangii
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Eriocrania sangii
AGR: 0%   |   Total % Change: 0%


CUSUM Analysis: Eriocrania sangii
About this chart: CUSUM (Cumulative Sum) charts track long-term trends in moth populations [ filtered by 'Adult' and 'Mine' life stages ] by showing whether each year’s counts are above or below the historical average. Even small shifts build up over time, making trends of growth, stability, or decline easier to see. CUSUM highlights trend-consistency — asking: “Across the years, have moth counts mostly stayed above or below average?”
The data sample has 24 gap year/s here (zero records) between 2000 and 2025. The moth may have been present in those gap years, but no data was available. Too many year-gaps may exaggerate or skew the chart.

Counts for the current year (2025) are pro-rated based on data available up to month 8 (August) to provide a full-year equivalent.

Purple line rises = years better than average; falls = years worse than average.
Peak (best year) Trough (worst year) Growth periods Decline periods
Population peaked around 2025, reaching above average levels. The lowest population point occurred near 2009, showing a significant decline.

What the Y-axis "Cumulative Deviation" means: Cumulative Deviation shows the running total of how each year’s moth population count differs from the long-term average. i

Hectad (10kmx10km) Coverage: Eriocrania sangii
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Eriocrania sangii
( data includes Adult Stage only )

Flight Period chart – the grey hatched area above, which can cross one or more months, pictorially represents the best guess we have for this moth's flight periods [month/s]. The coloured lines represent the actual months seen in flight, from site observation records received between 2020-2025.

Mine Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Eriocrania sangii
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Mine Period chart – the grey hatched area above, which can cross one or more months, pictorially represents the best guess we have for this moth's mine periods [month/s]. The coloured lines represent the actual months seen mining, from site observation records received between 2020-2025.

Records Behind the Map and Charts - Eriocrania sangii – 2 records available

Listed by Year - descending - scroll across to see all table columns

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Derbyshire Wild Life Trust Long CloughSK09G03/05/20251Leaf-minevc57_irecords_extract
Carvers Rocks NR,HartshorneSK32G08/05/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data

 
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