4.003 BF117  –  Nepticulidae –  Nepticulinae – Stigmella confusella – Pale Birch Dot – (Wood, 1894) Adult Micro:  CAT 4 – Gen. Det. Required – Gen-Det-Reqd       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
Blue –  Generally Common / Widespread        purple – Leaf Miner
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Nepticulidae  >> Nepticulinae
Other Name/s: Pale Birch Pigmy
ID Difficulty:  Red – difficult to identify – detailed examination required, often a Gen Det and/or specimen and quality photographs are required.
ID pointers: A long angular mine or gallery, with a black central line of linear frass found on Betula (Birch). The adult moth has a yellowish brown forewing with ill-defined whitish fascia beyond the middle
Distribution:  National Status – Widely distributed – Derbyshire status unknown, but likely to be a common mine species. Adults rarely seen
Flight Period: May /  –  May. Single generation Mine Period: June /  July /  August /   – Leaf-mines can be discovered from June into August . A long angular gallery with a black central line of frass throughout. Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Dave Evans, Steve Orridge   © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 12 October 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 5-6mm
Food Plant: Birch
Recorded dates for Common [Blue code Blue-coded] moths are not stored on the website at this current time.

Selected Images:  Dave Evans – September 2024 &  September 2018 – Wyver Lane, Belper. / Steve Orridge©

 
 


Distribution Map for Stigmella confusella

Found 23 records
    ↳ 5 from After 2025
    ↳ 3 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 15 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 – Stigmella confusella

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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: Stigmella confusella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
No data returned from the database.

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Stigmella confusella
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: Stigmella confusella
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Stigmella confusella
AGR: 4.38%   |   Total % Change: 180%


CUSUM Analysis: Stigmella confusella
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 17 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 9 (September) 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 2011, 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: Stigmella confusella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Stigmella confusella
( 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
Stigmella confusella
( 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 - Stigmella confusella – 23 records available

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

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Darwin ForestSK36C06/10/20251mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P02/09/20255mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P13/08/20253mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P06/08/20254mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P23/07/20251mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
Monsall TrailSK17R14/10/20241mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P12/09/20246mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P04/09/202410mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
Blacka Moor and PlantationSK28V27/06/20152pre-adultvc57_irecords_extract
Millers DaleSK17G03/09/20111Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Thorpe, Ashbourne DE, UKSK15K13/10/20101Larvavc57_irecords_extract
Thorpe, DovedaleSK15K13/10/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ladybower ResrSK18U03/09/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Howden ResrSK19S25/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Slippery Stones,Upper DerwentSK19S25/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Howden ResrSK19L25/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Padley Gorge, Nether PadleySK27P19/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
LinacreSK37G13/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Monsall Trail, BuxtonSK17L14/09/20081Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Mousley Bottom, New MillsSJ98X03/09/20071Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Shallcross Wood, Goyt Valley, Whaley BridgeSK07E26/09/20061Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Clattercotes Wood, nr Ogston ResrSK36Q12/07/20061Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Brackley Gate, nr CoxbenchSK34W03/11/20011Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data

 
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