73.010 BF2436  –  Noctuidae –  Plusinae – Macdunnoughia confusa – Dewick's Plusia – (Stephens, 1850) Adult Macro:  CAT 1 – Distinctive species unlikely to be confused with others –       PDF Icon – click for Adult Macro Verification Guidelines

Brown –  Significant Record / Very Rare / Vagrant        orange – Migrant
Taxonomy:   Macro   >>  Noctuidae  >> Plusinae
ID Difficulty:  green  – easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.
ID pointers: Unmistakable. Easily recognised by large metallic silver ‘dog-leg’ mark in the centre of a pinkish-brown bar on the forewing.
Distribution:  (First record: 2 September 2022 at Breaston )  –  (Last record: 3 August 2025 at Cromford )  –  Latest Record – September 2024 – A new species for Derbyshire 2022 – This moth is a rare migrant and possibly a new colonist to Britain, from continental Europe, being recorded less than 400 times. The first Derbyshire record was discovered in a Breaston garden moth trap on Friday 2nd September 2022. The second county record was from Haddon Hall on 10 August 2023 and then another specimen trapped over-night on 17/18th August 2023 by Dave Evans in his Belper garden. During August to October of 2023 an incredible 9 individuals were recorded, 1 from Haddon Hall, 2 from Belper, 3 from Sandiacre and 3 from Long Eaton. Another record of this species from Belper on 1st September 2024
Flight Period: July /  August /  September /  October /  –  On the wing July – October.  Moth Activity: Nocturnal   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Steve Thorpe, Dave Evans. Clive Ashton  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 4 August 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 32-38mm
Forewing: 12-17mm
Food Plant: Nettle (Urtica dioica).
Last Recorded Year: 2025
Last Recorded By – Clive Ashton
Last Recorded General Area – Cromford

IMAGES BELOW:  Belper, Derbyshire – Dave Evans ©  /  Breaston, Derbyshire – Steve Thorpe © / Cromford (aug2025) Clive Ashton©

Distribution Map for Macdunnoughia confusa

Found 12 records
    ↳ 6 from After 2025
    ↳ 6 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 0 from Before 2020

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.

******* Choose ONLY one at a time, of either Monad, Tetrad or Hectad Distribution - each has it's own set of data. Also, the distribution maps cover ALL recorded data. *******

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.

Land-cover * shows the variety of land-cover within the VC57 area, based on the CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) forty-four thematic classes of land-cover. This will show, to a greater or lesser degree, the number and variety of moths found in different land-cover types. The UK continues to operate within the Copernicus programme, with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) providing Corine Land Cover (CLC) datasets for the UK and its territories.


NBN Atlas UK Distribution for – Macdunnoughia confusa

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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.

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Monthly Records By Year: Macdunnoughia confusa
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Macdunnoughia confusa
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: Macdunnoughia confusa
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Macdunnoughia confusa
AGR: 0%   |   Total % Change: 0%


CUSUM Analysis: Macdunnoughia confusa
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 22 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 7 (July) 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 2024, 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: Macdunnoughia confusa
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Macdunnoughia confusa
( 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.

Records Behind the Map and Charts - Macdunnoughia confusa – 12 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Macdunnoughia confusaupper cromford gardenSK25Y202503/08/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaBelperSK34N202511/08/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaupper cromford gardenSK25Y202517/08/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaMidway, Derbys.SK32A202524/08/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaupper cromford gardenSK25Y202525/07/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaBelperSK34U202526/07/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaBelperSK34N202401/09/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaSandiacreSK43T202308/10/20232adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaSandiacreSK43T202323/09/20231adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaStonebroomSK45E202316/09/20231adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaBelperSK34N202318/08/20231adultvc57_irecords_extract
Macdunnoughia confusaWoodland AveSK43R202202/09/20221adultvc57_irecords_extract

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