49.222 BF1158  –  Tortricidae –  Olethreutinae – Rhopobota ustomaculana – Small Cowberry Marble – (Curtis, 1831) Adult Micro:  CAT 1 – Distinctive 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   >>  Tortricidae  >> Olethreutinae
ID Difficulty:  amber  – care required in the identification process, as confusion with similar species is likely – quality photographs required.
ID pointers: Forewing is dark brown with silvery white markings. A pale triangular shaped dorsal patch and a dark bar angled to form a slight cross-band, bordering a pale intricately patterned apex to the wing enclosing a dark spot.
Distribution:  (Last record: 22 January 2025 )  –  Nationally scarce A – Last recorded in 1970 – Recent discovery of Leaf mines at Bray Clough – January 2025 & Kinder Scout – March 2025. Likely the species is common on Derbyshire moorlands where there is Cowberry. Most probably under-recorded.
Flight Period: June /  July /  –  June – July Mine Period: January /  February /  March /  October /  November /  December /   – The larvae start to form mines on the leaves of Cowberry producing obvious frass. The larvae then spin leaves together to feed on the cellular tissue of the soft parts of the leaves (Parenchyma). Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – active in afternoon and evening sunshine and occasionally comes to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Christian Heintzen  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 7 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 13mm
Food Plant: Cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
Last Recorded Year: 2025
Last Recorded By – Christian Heintzen
Last Recorded General Area – Not Recorded

IMAGES BELOW:  Bray Clough – January 2025/ Kinder Scout – March 2025 – Christian Heintzen©

no images were found

Distribution Map for Rhopobota ustomaculana

Found 9 records
    ↳ 5 from After 2025
    ↳ 0 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 4 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 – Rhopobota ustomaculana

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

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Rhopobota ustomaculana
Adult-only & Anything [Larvae, Pupae, Adult, Mines]

Shading shows moth presence between dates

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Recordings By Year: Rhopobota ustomaculana
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Rhopobota ustomaculana
AGR: 0%   |   Total % Change: 0%
Rhopobota ustomaculana
Insufficient records/data for an AGR analysis
Years Analysed: 2000 – 2025
Rhopobota ustomaculana
Insufficient records/data for a CUSUM analysis
Years Analysed: 2000 – 2025

Hectad (10kmx10km) Coverage: Rhopobota ustomaculana
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Rhopobota ustomaculana
( 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
Rhopobota ustomaculana
( 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 - Rhopobota ustomaculana – 9 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Rhopobota ustomaculanaLeygatehead & Middle Moor above Little HayfieldSK08P202511/04/20251Leaf-minevc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaKinder Scout, western slopes below Kinder DownfallSK08U202512/03/202510larvavc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaKinder Scout, western slopes below Kinder DownfallSK08U202512/03/202520larvavc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaKinder Scout, Seal EdgeSK18E202526/02/20251Larvavc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaBray CloughSK09K202517/01/20253Larvavc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaBurbage Valley and Houndkirk MoorSK28Q201704/12/20172pre-adultvc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaBlacka Moor and PlantationSK28V201714/11/20171not recordedvc57_irecords_extract
Rhopobota ustomaculanaBeeley Triangle (site not precise)SK26Z199427/07/19941Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Rhopobota ustomaculananr Eyam MoorSK27J197017/05/19701Larvaevc57_danes_bc_data

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