4.056 BF65  – Beautiful Sycamore Dot – Stigmella speciosa – (Frey, 1858) Adult Micro:  CAT 4 – Dissection 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
Other Name/s: Barred Sycamore Dot
ID Difficulty:  Red – difficult to identify – detailed examination required, often a Gen Det and/or specimen and quality photographs are required.
Confusion Species: Stigmella aurella, Stigmella lemniscella
ID pointers: A golden brown-purple forewing with a narrow silver or pale-gold fascia
Distribution:  (First record: 3 September 2007 at New Mills )  –  (Last record: 12 September 2024 at Cote Heath )  –  Uncertain due to insufficient data -Two records in 2023 Calke Park & Calver’s Rocks and two records in 2024, all of the leaf mine.
General Comment: None
Flight Period: May /  August Mine Period:  July /  August
Mine Period Additional: The mine is slender with narrow black frass. The frass in the later part of the mine can be neatly scattered, or remain a narrow central line.
Mine ID Difficulty: Not Recorded
Mine Type/s: Not Recorded
Mine Feeding Method/s: Not Recorded
Mine Comment: None.
Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – occasionally attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Steve Orridge  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 2 October 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 4-5mm
Food Plant: Sycamore
Last Recorded Year: 2024
First Recorded Year: 2007
Last Recorded By – Jon Mortin
Last Recorded General Area – Cote Heath

Selected Images:  

Ashford-in-the-Water – 2010-Steve Orridge© / Cote Heath Allotments, Buxton – (2024) Jon Mortin©



Occurrence Distribution From All Available Data (Adult & Immature)
(click legend below to show/hide datasets)

Distribution Map for Stigmella speciosa

Found 14 records
    ↳ from 2026+
    ↳ 9 from 2020 - 2025
    ↳ 5 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 speciosa

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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 speciosa
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
No data returned from the database.

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Stigmella speciosa
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 speciosa
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Stigmella speciosa
AGR: 6.29%   |   Total % Change: 200%

Hectad (10kmx10km) Coverage: Stigmella speciosa
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Stigmella speciosa

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 2020-2026.

Mine Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Stigmella speciosa
( 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 2020-2026.

Records Behind the Map and Charts - Stigmella speciosa – 14 records available

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

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Markham Vale South TipSK47K13/11/20251minevc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P09/09/20251mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P02/09/20252mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
DWT Wyver LaneSK34P26/08/20251mine (empty)vc57_irecords_extract
Ingleby Ave, DerbySK33L21/08/202510minevc57_irecords_extract
Burton upon TrentSK32P05/11/20241Minevc57_irecords_extract
Cote Heath AllotmentsSK07R12/09/20241minevc57_irecords_extract
Calke ParkSK32R01/10/20231Minevc57_irecords_extract
Carver's RocksSK32G30/09/20231Minevc57_irecords_extract
Kirk Dale, Ashford in the WaterSK16Z22/09/20101Larvavc57_irecords_extract
Ashford in the WaterSK16Z22/09/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Carvers Rocks, Hartshorne, SwadlincoteSK32G22/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Linacre WoodSK37G13/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Mousley Bottom, New MillsSJ98X03/09/20071Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data

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