38.039 BF609  –  Elachistidae – Elachista maculicerusella – Canary-grass Miner – (Bruand, 1859) Adult Micro:  CAT 2 – Confusion Species –       Leaf-miner:  CAT L – The leaf or a Photo required – reared and possibly dissected       PDF Icon – click for General Verification Guidelines  |   PDF Icon – click for Specific Verification Guidelines
Green –  Rare / Uncommon / Scarce        purple – Leaf Miner
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Elachistidae
Other Name/s: Elachista monosemiella, Triple-spot Dwarf
ID Difficulty:  green  – easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.
ID pointers: A small pale whitish-cream moth with an indistinct brownish cross-band and several darkish blotches. Slightly upturned appearance in the wing when at rest.
Distribution:  (Last record: 22 August 2025 at Wyver Lane, Belper )  –  Relatively common across England but only a handful of records from the VC57 recording area of Derbyshire. Damp grassland, rivers, canal banks and wet woodland. Small isolated colonies
Flight Period: May /  August /  –  On the wing in May & August Mine Period: May /   – A white or greenish blotch mine in central are of garss blade down from the tip. Moth Activity: Nocturnal   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Will Soar, Dave Evans  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 23 August 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 10-12mm
Food Plant: Reed Canary-grass (Phalaris arundiacea), Common Reed (Phragmites australis).
Last Recorded Year: 2025
Last Recorded By – Dave Evans
Last Recorded General Area – Wyver Lane, Belper

IMAGES BELOW:  Kings Newton, Derbyshire – Tony Davison© / Wyver Lane (August 2025) Dave Evans©

Distribution Map for Elachista maculicerusella

Found 12 records
    ↳ 1 from After 2025
    ↳ 6 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 5 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 – Elachista maculicerusella

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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: Elachista maculicerusella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Elachista maculicerusella
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: Elachista maculicerusella
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Elachista maculicerusella
AGR: 3.36%   |   Total % Change: 100%


CUSUM Analysis: Elachista maculicerusella
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 16 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 2004, 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: Elachista maculicerusella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Elachista maculicerusella
( 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
Elachista maculicerusella
( 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 - Elachista maculicerusella – 12 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Elachista maculicerusellaDWT Wyver LaneSK35K202522/08/20254adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaStaveley DerbyshireSK47H202422/07/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaHaddon HallSK26I202310/08/20231adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaStaveley DerbyshireSK47H202216/06/20221adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaMain Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y202007/08/20201Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaGolden Brook NRSK43R202005/05/20202adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaWoodland AveSK43R202007/05/20201adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaMain Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y201819/07/20181Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaMain Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y201701/07/20172Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaMain Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y201608/09/20161Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Elachista maculicerusellaCalke Park,TicknallSK32L200902/06/20091Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Elachista maculicerusellaMain Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y200411/06/20042Adultvc57_irecords_extract

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