73.010 BF2436 - Dewick's Plusia - Noctuidae - Macdunnoughia confusa - Steve Thorpe
73.010 BF2436  – Dewick's Plusia  – Macdunnoughia confusa  – (Stephens, 1850)
Adult Macro:  CAT 3 – Difficult to identify – Quality set of photographs required – Difficult to identify /Very rare/Scarce (includes very scarce adventives/immigrants)/County-level first records      
PDF Icon – click for Adult Macro Verification Guidelines

Brown –  Significant Record / Very Rare / Vagrant        orange – Migrant
Taxonomy:   Macro  >>.  >>  Noctuidae  >> Plusinae
ID Difficulty:  amber  – care required in the identification process, as confusion with similar species is likely – quality photographs required.
Confusion Species:  Golden Twin-spot; Gold Spangle
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
General Comment: None
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 12 January 2026 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

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



Temporal Distribution Chart
Adults: (between 2022 - 2025)
(click legend below to show/hide datasets)

Distribution Map for Macdunnoughia confusa

Found 16 records
    ↳ from 2026+
    ↳ 16 from 2020 - 2025
    ↳ from Before 2020
Flying
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

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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 – 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%

Hectad (10kmx10km) Coverage: Macdunnoughia confusa
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Macdunnoughia confusa

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 2020-2026.

Records Behind the Map and Charts - Macdunnoughia confusa – 16 records available

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

Site Name Tetrad Date Count Stage Recorder Source RecordKey
upper cromford garden SK25Y 06/09/2025 1 adult Ashton, Clive vc57_irecords_extract iBRC45402541
Belper, Derbyshire SK34N 05/09/2025 1 adult Newcombe, Dave vc57_irecords_extract iBRC50610729
Midway, Derbys. SK32A 24/08/2025 1 adult Williams, Michael vc57_irecords_extract iBRC44789171
Chaddesden Garden SK33T 18/08/2025 1 adult loverock, neil vc57_irecords_extract iBRC44581954
upper cromford garden SK25Y 17/08/2025 1 adult Ashton, Clive vc57_irecords_extract iBRC44762956
Belper SK34N 11/08/2025 1 adult Evans, Dave vc57_irecords_extract iBRC44395291
upper cromford garden SK25Y 03/08/2025 1 adult Ashton, Clive vc57_irecords_extract iBRC44153247
Belper SK34U 26/07/2025 1 adult Evans, Dave vc57_irecords_extract iBRC43914591
upper cromford garden SK25Y 25/07/2025 1 adult Ashton, Clive vc57_irecords_extract iBRC43851484
Belper SK34N 01/09/2024 1 adult Evans, Dave vc57_irecords_extract iBRC38285039
Allestree, Derby SK33P 08/10/2023 1 adult Plant, Stephen vc57_irecords_extract iBRC46329915
Sandiacre SK43T 08/10/2023 2 adult Milnes, Emily vc57_irecords_extract iBRC34681353
Sandiacre SK43T 23/09/2023 1 adult Milnes, Emily vc57_irecords_extract iBRC34667748
Stonebroom SK45E 16/09/2023 1 adult Bradley, Jonathan vc57_irecords_extract iBRC35418664
Belper SK34N 18/08/2023 1 adult Evans, Dave vc57_irecords_extract iBRC35297173
Woodland Ave SK43R 02/09/2022 1 adult Thorpe, Steve vc57_irecords_extract iBRC33495272

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