73.295 BF2195  –  Noctuidae –  Hadeninae – Mythimna vitellina – Delicate – (Hübner, 1808) Adult Macro:  CAT 1 – Distinctive species unlikely to be confused with others –       PDF Icon – click for Adult Macro Verification Guidelines

Green –  Rare / Uncommon / Scarce       orange – Migrant
Taxonomy:   Macro   >>  Noctuidae  >> Hadeninae
ID Difficulty:  green  – easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.
ID pointers: A rather pointed and angular appearance to the forewing. Forewing colour can vary from pale buff to orange.Three prominent wavy cross-lines. A kidney mark and oval are often visible. The pale specimens are immigrants from warmer climates. The darker orange coloured individuals are from cooler climates such as Britain and Northern Europe.
Distribution:  (First record: 4 August 2019 at Froggatt )  –  (Last record: 24 June 2025 at Birch Vale )  –  A rare but regular immigrant to Britain. There are five accepted VC57 Derbyshire records. The first was trapped by Bryan Barnacle at Froggatt on 4th August 2019, and the second was from Birch Vale on 25th September 2023, by Jane Hewitt. 3rd from Findern 16/10/2024 Brian & Jean Hallam / 4th 28/10/2024 Chaddesden – Martin Roome and 5th 2/11/2024, Cromford – Clive Ashton, 6th 24/6/2025 Birch Vale.
Flight Period: August /  September /  October /  –  On the wing August – October Moth Activity: Nocturnal   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Bryan Barnacle, Jane Hewitt, Brian & Jean Hallam, Martin Roome, Clive Ashton  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 26 July 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 36-43mm
Forewing: 12-14mm
Food Plant: Various species of Grasses
Last Recorded Year: 2025
Last Recorded By – Jane Hewitt
Last Recorded General Area – Birch Vale

IMAGES BELOW:  1st VC57 record Froggatt, Derbyshire – photo by Bryan Barnacle© / 2nd VC57 record Birch Vale – Jane Hewitt© / Brian Hallam 16/10/24 Findern / Martin Roome 28/10/2024 Chaddesden / Clive Ashton 2/11/2024 Cromford / Birch Vale 24/6/2025 – Jane Hewitt©

Distribution Map for Mythimna vitellina

Found 5 records
    ↳ 0 from After 2025
    ↳ 4 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 1 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 – Mythimna vitellina

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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: Mythimna vitellina
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


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


CUSUM Analysis: Mythimna vitellina
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 2019, reaching above average levels. The lowest population point occurred near 2019, 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: Mythimna vitellina
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Mythimna vitellina
( 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 - Mythimna vitellina – 5 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Mythimna vitellinaupper cromford gardenSK25Y202402/11/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mythimna vitellinaChaddesden, DerbySK33T202428/10/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mythimna vitellinaFindern, Derbyshire, DEAZSK33A202416/10/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mythimna vitellinaBirch ValeSK08I202325/09/20231adultvc57_irecords_extract
Mythimna vitellinaFroggatt, Hope ValleySK27N201904/08/20191adultvc57_irecords_extract

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