15.004 BF282  –  Gracillariidae –  Gracillariinae – Caloptilia elongella – Alder Stilt – (Linnaeus, 1761) 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
Green –  Rare / Uncommon / Scarce        purple – Leaf Miner
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Gracillariidae  >> Gracillariinae
Other Name/s: Pale Red Slender
ID Difficulty:  Red – difficult to identify – detailed examination required, often a Gen Det and/or specimen and quality photographs are required.
Confusion Species: Caloptilia betulicola (Birch Stilt); Caloptilia semifascia (Maple Stilt); Caloptilia hemidactylella (Scarce Maple Stilt)
ID pointers: Like other Caloptilia species it has a distinctive resting posture. Often a plain orange-brown colour to the elongated forewing, sometimes with speckling in the basal half and a pale costal blotch. Plain cilia
Distribution:  (Last record: 10 January 2023 at Midway )  –  Despite this species being common across Britain, it appears to be an uncommon species in the recording area, with only a handful of records between 2016 -2024; possibly under-recorded due to Gen Det requirements
Flight Period: June /  September /  –  June and September after which they hibernate reappearing in the spring Mine Period: May /  July /   – Larvae feed by mining the leaves of Alder at first then into a folded or rolled leaf Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – occasionally attracted to light Photographed: Yes –  Photographed By: The late Claire Miles  © All Rights Reserved
*** Last updated on 6 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 14-16mm
Food Plant: Alder
Last Recorded Year: 2023
Last Recorded By – Graham Finch – leaf mine
Last Recorded General Area – Midway

IMAGES BELOW:  

Hathersage – March 2021 – The late Claire Miles©

no images were found

Distribution Map for Caloptilia elongella

Found 17 records
    ↳ 0 from After 2025
    ↳ 4 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 13 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 – Caloptilia elongella

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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: Caloptilia elongella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


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


CUSUM Analysis: Caloptilia elongella
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 17 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 2013, reaching above average levels. The lowest population point occurred near 2009, 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: Caloptilia elongella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Caloptilia elongella
( 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
Caloptilia elongella
( 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 - Caloptilia elongella – 17 records available

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

TaxonSite NameTetradYearDateCountStageSource
Caloptilia elongellaCalke ParkSK32R202301/10/20231Minevc57_irecords_extract
Caloptilia elongellaCarver's RocksSK32G202330/09/20231Minevc57_irecords_extract
Caloptilia elongellaHathersage, Derbyshire, UKSK28F202130/03/20211adultvc57_irecords_extract
Caloptilia elongellaMain Street, Kings NewtonSK32Y202012/07/20201Adultvc57_irecords_extract
Caloptilia elongellaBlacka Moor and PlantationSK28V201722/07/20171pre-adultvc57_irecords_extract
Caloptilia elongellaCalver and River DerwentSK27M201623/09/20161pre-adultvc57_irecords_extract
Caloptilia elongellaMidway Rd,Midway,SwadlincoteSK32A201303/08/20132Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaWood Lane,Newhall,SwadlincoteSK22V201217/08/20121Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaLadybower ResrSK18U201003/09/20101Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaHardhurst Rd, Alvaston, DerbySK33W201006/04/20103Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaNorburySK14G200901/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaCoombs Dale,Stoney MiddletonSK27H200912/10/20091Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaCarr Vale NR,BolsoverSK47K200613/09/20061Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaShallcross Wood, Goyt Valley, Whaley BridgeSK07E200626/09/20061Larval Minevc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaMidway Rd,Midway,SwadlincoteSK32A200601/07/20061Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaMain St,Kings Newton,MelbourneSK32Y200424/07/20041Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Caloptilia elongellaWhitesprings, Hall Dale, Darley Dale (site not precise)SK26X197106/11/19711Pupaevc57_danes_bc_data

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