4.005 BF110  –  Nepticulidae –  Nepticulinae – Stigmella betulicola – Birch Dot – (Stainton, 1856) Adult Micro:  CAT 4 – Gen. Det. Required – Gen-Det-Reqd       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   >>  Nepticulidae  >> Nepticulinae
** Identification write-up required **
Other Name/s: Common Birch Pigmy
ID Difficulty:  Red – difficult to identify – detailed examination required, often a Gen Det and/or specimen and quality photographs are required.
Confusion Species: Stigmella microtheriella
ID pointers: No information available.
Distribution:  (Last record: 7 October 2025 at Markham Vale South Tip )  –  Leaf mine recorded from Ramsley Moor 8/7/2019 – photographed and verified. Leaf mine from Markham Vale South Tip 7/10/205
Flight Period: May /  August /  –  two generations Mine Period: July /   – Although the mine looks similar to Stigmella luteella and Stigmella lapponica, it is far less contorted at the beginning. The larva creates a contorted gallery mine in leaves of birch (Betula), leaving a central irregular line of frass.The frass line for betulicola is thicker and interrupted. In lapponica the first segment of the mine is stuffed with frass and there is an abrupt transition to linear frass. Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – occasionally attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Mark Radford  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 21 October 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 4-5mm
Food Plant: Birch
Last Recorded Year: 2025
Last Recorded By – Mark Radford
Last Recorded General Area – Markham Vale South Tip

Selected Images:  

Markham Vale South Tip – Oct 2025 – Mark Radford©



Distribution Map for Stigmella betulicola

Found 3 records
    ↳ 1 from After 2025
    ↳ 1 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 1 from Before 2020
Flying
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Mining
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

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.

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.


NBN Atlas UK Distribution for – Stigmella betulicola

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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: Stigmella betulicola
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


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


CUSUM Analysis: Stigmella betulicola
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 24 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 9 (September) 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 2020, 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: Stigmella betulicola
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Stigmella betulicola
( 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
Stigmella betulicola
( 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 - Stigmella betulicola – 3 records available

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

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Markham Vale South TipSK47K07/10/20251minevc57_irecords_extract
Allestree, DerbySK33P08/08/20201adultvc57_irecords_extract
Ramsley Moor and ReservoirSK27X08/07/20191pre-adultvc57_irecords_extract

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