49.01 – BF1009  –  Tortricidae –  Tortricinae – Philedonides lunana – Heath Tortrix – (Thunberg, 1784) Adult Micro:  CAT 2 – Confusion Species –       PDF Icon – click for General Verification Guidelines  |   PDF Icon – click for Specific Verification Guidelines
Black – Uncertain/Unknown – Insufficient Data        day-flying – Day-flying
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Tortricidae  >> Tortricinae
Other Name/s: Walker’s Lanark Tortrix
ID Difficulty:  green  – easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.
ID pointers: The males are relatively dull brown, including a diffuse basal patch and have bipectinate antennae, the females have more distinctive chestnut brown markings on a whitish to greyish-buff ground colour.
Distribution:  (Last record: 24 March 2025 at Glossop )  –  Nationally Scarce B – A characteristic species of the gritstone moorlands.Rarely recorded away from this habitat in Derbyshire. But so few modern day records. Would suspect locally common in the recording area on the heather moorlands.
Flight Period: April /  May /  –  On the wing during March – May. Moth Activity: Nocturnal  Cathemeral   – occasionally flies on sunny days Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Steve Orridge; Christian Heintzen  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 7 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 12-19mm
Food Plant: Heather (Calluna), and Bilberry (Vaccinium).
Last Recorded Year: 2025
Last Recorded By – Christian Heintzen
Last Recorded General Area – Glossop

IMAGES BELOW:  Buxton, Derbyshire – Steve Orridge© – a female / Glossop area (2025) Christian Heintzen©

Distribution Map for Philedonides lunana

Found 16 records
    ↳ 8 from After 2025
    ↳ 1 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 7 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 – Philedonides lunana

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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: Philedonides lunana
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Philedonides lunana
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: Philedonides lunana
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Philedonides lunana
AGR: 5.91%   |   Total % Change: 181.3%


CUSUM Analysis: Philedonides lunana
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 20 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 2021, 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: Philedonides lunana
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Philedonides lunana
( 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 - Philedonides lunana – 16 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Philedonides lunanaRamsley Reservoir , DerbyshireSK27X202504/04/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaTorside CloughSK09T202508/04/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaTorside CloughSK09T202508/04/20253adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaTorside CloughSK09T202508/04/202520adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaLeygatehead & Middle Moor above Little HayfieldSK08P202511/04/202510adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaLeygatehead & Middle Moor above Little HayfieldSK08P202511/04/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaHarewood MoorSK36D202531/03/20256adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaChunal MoorSK09F202524/03/20253adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaBuxtonSK07T202114/04/20211adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaCombs Moss, BuxtonSK07N201920/04/20191Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Philedonides lunanaSchool Close,Parkway Gardens,Darley DaleSK26R201104/05/20111Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Philedonides lunanaBeeley Moor, BeeleySK26Y201117/05/20111Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Philedonides lunanaWragg's Quarry,Rowsley MoorSK26Y200909/05/20091Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Philedonides lunanaWragg's Quarry,Rowsley MoorSK26Y200923/04/20091Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Philedonides lunanaBeeley Moor, BeeleySK26Y200708/04/20072Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Philedonides lunanaSlagmill Plantation (bog area), Beeley Moor (site not precise)SK36E199511/04/19951Adultvc57_danes_bc_data

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