38.025 BF597  –  Elachistidae – Elachista atricomella – Cock's-foot Miner – (Stainton, 1849) Adult Micro:  CAT 2 – Confusion 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   >>  Elachistidae
Other Name/s: Black-headed Dwarf
ID Difficulty:  amber  – care required in the identification process, as confusion with similar species is likely – quality photographs required.
Confusion Species:  E.alpinella
ID pointers: Head dark grey with forewing blackish brown, mottled paler with an oblique creamy cross-band from the costa at one-third to the dorsum before one-half. A creamy white triangular tornal spot, with another mark opposite on the costa.
Distribution:  (First record: 1960 )  –  (Last record: 7 August 2024 at Glossop )  –  Likely to be uncommon but widespread in Derbyshire, but only 1 record to 1960. Possibly isolated colonies, on Cocks-foot (Dactylis glomerata).
Flight Period: May /  June /  July /  August /  September /  –  On the wing in May – September. Mine Period: March /  April /  May /  September /  October /  November /   – Mines the leaves of grasses in this case cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata), forming a thin whitish mine. Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Will Soar, Christian Heintzen  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 7 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 11-13mm
Food Plant: Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata).
Last Recorded Year: 2024
First Recorded Year: 1960
Last Recorded By – Christian Heintzen
Last Recorded General Area – Glossop

IMAGES BELOW:  Kings Newton, Derbyshire – Will Soar© / Christian Heintzen 2023

no images were found

Distribution Map for Elachista atricomella

Found 25 records
    ↳ 1 from After 2025
    ↳ 8 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 16 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 – Elachista atricomella

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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: Elachista atricomella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Elachista atricomella
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: Elachista atricomella
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Elachista atricomella
AGR: -1.02%   |   Total % Change: -14.3%


CUSUM Analysis: Elachista atricomella
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 16 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 8 (August) 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 2016, reaching above average levels. The lowest population point occurred near 2012, 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: Elachista atricomella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Elachista atricomella
( 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
Elachista atricomella
( 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 - Elachista atricomella – 25 records available

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

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Ladycroft Ave, BuxtonSK07S13/06/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
upper cromford gardenSK25Y07/08/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Glossop, Gnat Hole Rough FieldsSK09L07/08/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Glossop, Hague Street, Hay meadowSK09G23/07/20241adultvc57_irecords_extract
Jim Mart Nature ReserveSK36S24/06/20231Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Glossop, Hague Street, Hay meadowSK09G01/06/20231adultvc57_irecords_extract
Glossop, Hague Street, Hay meadowSK09G21/08/20221adultvc57_irecords_extract
Main Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y12/08/20201Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Ladycroft Ave, BuxtonSK07S05/08/20201adultvc57_irecords_extract
Pleasley Pit CP, PleasleySK46X21/07/20191adultDanes_2019-2021
Jim Mart Nature ReserveSK36S04/06/20162Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Jim Mart Nature ReserveSK36S07/08/20152Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Jim Mart Nature ReserveSK36S11/08/20151Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Jim Mart Nature ReserveSK36S09/07/20152Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Backgarden MarehaySK34Z25/07/20121adultvc57_irecords_extract
Bamford St,RipleySK34Z25/07/20121Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Backgarden MarehaySK34Z09/06/20121adultvc57_irecords_extract
Bamford St,RipleySK34Z09/06/20121Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Markeaton Park (Sturgess Field), DerbySK33I26/05/20121Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Biggin Dale, nr HartingtonSK15P28/07/20101Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Biggin Dale, nr HartingtonSK15P28/07/20101Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Backgarden MarehaySK34Z11/06/20101adultvc57_irecords_extract
Biggin Dale, nr HartingtonSK15P12/06/20101Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Biggin Dale, nr HartingtonSK15P12/06/20102Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Biggin Dale, nr HartingtonSK15P12/06/20101Adultvc57_danes_bc_data

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