4.099 BF34  –  Nepticulidae –  Nepticulinae – Ectoedemia occultella – Large Birch Dot – (Linnaeus, 1767) 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
Other Name/s: Large 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: Ectoedemia minimella; Ectoedemia atricollis
ID pointers: Very similar to Ectoedemia atricollis; appears to be slightly paler in colour tones. The adults are quite large for a Nepticulid, and have blackish forewings with a hint of violet, and contrasting whitish central band and eye-caps. The males have black heads, those of the female orange or yellow.
Distribution:  (Last record: 31 October 2024 at Grange Wood )  –  Uncertain due to insufficient data – Leaf Mine at King’s Newton 2024, Grange Wood 2018 and Calke October 2008.
Flight Period: May /  June /  July /  –  One generation May- July Mine Period: August /  September /  October /   – The larvae form a distinctive leaf mine in the leaves of birch, beginning as a dark circular blotch, then extending to a larger pale blotch. Sometimes several mines in one leaf. Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – occasionally attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: Tom Shields  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 6 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 5-7mm
Food Plant: Birch
Last Recorded Year: 2024
Last Recorded By – Graham Finch
Last Recorded General Area – Grange Wood

IMAGES BELOW:  

Kings Newton – 28/10/2024 – Tom Shields©

Distribution Map for Ectoedemia occultella

Found 18 records
    ↳ 0 from After 2025
    ↳ 1 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 17 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 – Ectoedemia occultella

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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: Ectoedemia occultella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
No data returned from the database.

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Ectoedemia occultella
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: Ectoedemia occultella
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Ectoedemia occultella
AGR: 10.53%   |   Total % Change: 900%


CUSUM Analysis: Ectoedemia occultella
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 19 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 2024, 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: Ectoedemia occultella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Ectoedemia occultella
( 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
Ectoedemia occultella
( 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 - Ectoedemia occultella – 18 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Ectoedemia occultellaKing's NewtonSK32Y202428/10/202410minevc57_irecords_extract
Ectoedemia occultellaGrange WoodSK21S201813/09/20181Minevc57_irecords_extract
Ectoedemia occultellaRiver Derwent, Hope Valley, England, GBSK18U201116/10/20111Larvavc57_irecords_extract
Ectoedemia occultellaMillers DaleSK17G201103/09/20111Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaLadybower ResrSK18U201003/09/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaHowden ResrSK19S201025/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaSlippery Stones,Upper DerwentSK19S201025/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaHowden ResrSK19L201025/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaPadley Gorge, Nether PadleySK27P201019/08/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaNorburySK14G200902/10/20091Larvavc57_irecords_extract
Ectoedemia occultellaHopeSK18R200907/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaLinacre WoodSK37G200913/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaNorburySK14G200901/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaCastletonSK18L200910/09/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaCalke ParkSK32L200825/10/20081Minevc57_irecords_extract
Ectoedemia occultellaCalke Park,TicknallSK32R200825/10/20081Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaBrackley Gate, nr CoxbenchSK34W200103/11/20011Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Ectoedemia occultellaCubley, nr AshbourneSK13U200104/10/20011Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data

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