4.076 BF20  –  Nepticulidae –  Nepticulinae – Etainia decentella – Sycamore Seed Dot – (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855) Adult Micro:  CAT 2 – Confusion Species –       Leaf-miner:  CAT A – Recorded accepted without the leaf or a photo –       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: Sycamore-seed Pigmy
ID Difficulty:  Red – difficult to identify – detailed examination required, often a Gen Det and/or specimen and quality photographs are required.
Confusion Species: Etainia louisella, Stigmella trimaculella
ID pointers: One of a few Neptaculinae species that can be identified by forewing markings. Head black, forewing black with bright shiny white markings that includes a broad cross-band, white tornal and dorsal spots
Distribution:  (First record: 1996 at Cressbrook Dale )  –  (Last record: 30 June 2025 at Buxton )  –  Uncertain due to insufficient data – first record Cressbrook Dale 1996 ; Norton Lees 2019 ; VC57 Sheffield 2024. one recorded 30/6/2025 Buxton
Flight Period: June /  August /  –  Two Generations  – The larvae mine the seed keys of Sycamore Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – occasionally attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Steve Orridge  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 6 July 2025 by TD ***
Wingspan: 5-8mm
Food Plant: Sycamore
Last Recorded Year: 2025
First Recorded Year: 1996
Last Recorded By – Steve Orridge
Last Recorded General Area – Buxton

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Buxton 30/6/2025 – Steve Orridge©

Distribution Map for Etainia decentella

Found 4 records
    ↳ 1 from After 2025
    ↳ 2 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 – Etainia decentella

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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: Etainia decentella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


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


CUSUM Analysis: Etainia decentella
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 22 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 2025, reaching above average levels. The lowest population point occurred near 2024, 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: Etainia decentella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Etainia decentella
( 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
Etainia decentella
( 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 - Etainia decentella – 4 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Etainia decentellaLadycroft Ave, BuxtonSK07S202530/06/20251adultvc57_irecords_extract
Etainia decentellaNorton Lees, Sheffield, UKSK38L202424/06/20241Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Etainia decentellaHavercroft RoadSK38L202317/06/20231Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Etainia decentellaNorton LeesSK38L201905/07/20191adultDanes_2019-2021

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