40.003 BF887  –  Momphidae – Mompha lacteella – Buff-headed Mompha – (Stephens, 1834) Adult Micro:  CAT 3 – Very Rare/Scarce/Migrant/Adventive – confusion with leaf mines       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
Brown –  Significant Record / Very Rare / Vagrant         purple – Leaf Miner
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Momphidae
Other Name/s: Rust-blotch Mompha
ID Difficulty:  amber  – care required in the identification process, as confusion with similar species is likely – quality photographs required.
Confusion Species:  Mompha propinquella
ID pointers: As with all the Mompha species they are colourful, attractive and distinctive. They rest low and flat in a horizontal position. Often have scale tufts. Head and thorax pale yellowish brown rather than whitish in M. propinquella. Forewing is greyish-brown to blackish-brown, with pale yellowish-brown basal blotch and several orange-brown marks and two large black scale tufts half way along the wing. Palps show a “bark band” halfway down, as well as one near the tip.
Distribution:  (First record: 1927 )  –  (Last record: 14 August 2025 at Glossop )  –  Nationally Scarce B – With two previous records dating back to 1927 and 3 records in June 2021 at Froggatt and Hathersage and a further record from Buxton in 2022 the status of this species remains as rare and notable. Most probably overlooked. Larvae on Broad-leaved Willow-herb. One from Glossop 14/8/25
Flight Period: May /  June /  July /  –  On the wing May – July.  – The larvae mine the leaves of broad-leaved willowherb (Epilobium montanum) Moth Activity: Nocturnal   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Bryan Barnacle, The late Claire Miles, Christian Heintzen  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 15 August 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 9-13mm
Food Plant: Broad-leaved Willowherb (Epilobium montanum).
Last Recorded Year: 2025
First Recorded Year: 1927
Last Recorded By – Christian Heintzen
Last Recorded General Area – Glossop

IMAGES BELOW:  Froggatt, Derbyshire – Bryan Barnacle© / Hathersage – The late Claire Miles© / Glossop 14/8/25 – Christian Heintzen©

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Distribution Map for Mompha lacteella

Found 5 records
    ↳ 1 from After 2025
    ↳ 4 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 – Mompha lacteella

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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: Mompha lacteella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


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


CUSUM Analysis: Mompha lacteella
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 23 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 2022, 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: Mompha lacteella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Mompha lacteella
( 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
Mompha lacteella
( 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 - Mompha lacteella – 5 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Mompha lacteellaBuxton (w)SK07R202520/06/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mompha lacteellaLadycroft AveSK07S202208/08/20221adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mompha lacteellaHathersage, Derbyshire, UKSK28F202109/06/20211adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mompha lacteellaHathersage, Derbyshire, UKSK28F202129/06/20211adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mompha lacteellaBirchfield, Jaggers Lane, HathersageSK28F202109/06/20211adultDanes_2019-2021

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