38.005 BF611  –  Elachistidae – Elachista triatomea – Triple-spotted Grass-miner – (Haworth, 1828) 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
Black – Uncertain/Unknown – Insufficient Data        purple – Leaf Miner
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Elachistidae
Other Name/s: Meadow Dwarf
ID Difficulty:  green  – easy to identify, generally distinctive and unlikely to be confused with other species.
ID pointers: Small and all white with three distinctive black specks on the forewings making it quite easy to identify.
Distribution:  (Last record: 11 June 2014 at Kings Newton )  –  Most probably under recorded as the leaf mines are difficult to find on Sheep’s Fescue. Dovedale 1948 (DaNES) 7 accounts from 1926 – 1962 (Harrison & Sterling); Cunningdale, Buxton 1997 (DaNES); two, both from Kings Newton on 19/7/2005 and 11/6/2014.
Flight Period: June /  July /  –  On the wing in June – July  Mine Period: April /  May /  June /  Moth Activity: Nocturnal   – and is attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Will Soar  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 6 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 8-9mm
Food Plant: Fescue grass (Festuca).
Last Recorded Year: 2014
Last Recorded By – Will Soar
Last Recorded General Area – Kings Newton

IMAGES BELOW:  Kings Newton, Derbyshire – Will Soar©

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Distribution Map for Elachista triatomea

Found 5 records
    ↳ 1 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 – Elachista triatomea

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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 triatomea
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


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


CUSUM Analysis: Elachista triatomea
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 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 2025, reaching above average levels. The lowest population point occurred near 2018, 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 triatomea
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Elachista triatomea
( 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 triatomea
( 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 triatomea – 5 records available

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

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Gang Mine, CromfordSK25X09/06/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Main Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y06/06/20181Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Main Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y11/06/20141Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Cunning Dale, Buxton (site not precise)SK07W07/07/19972Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Dovedale (site not precise)SK15L18/07/19481Adultvc57_danes_bc_data

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