63.085 BF1300  –  Crambidae –  Crambinae – Crambus pratella – Scarce Grass-moth – (Linnaeus, 1758) Adult Micro:  CAT 3 – Very Rare/Scarce/Migrant/Adventive – confusion with leaf mines       PDF Icon – click for General Verification Guidelines  |   PDF Icon – click for Specific Verification Guidelines
Brown –  Significant Record / Very Rare / Vagrant    
Taxonomy:   Micro   >>  Crambidae  >> Crambinae
** A species that may need reviewing / Photograph required / Identification write up required **
Other Name/s: Scarce Grass-veneer
ID Difficulty:  amber  – care required in the identification process, as confusion with similar species is likely – quality photographs required.
Confusion Species:  Crambus lathoniellus (Meadow Grass-moth)
ID pointers: This species can resemble Crambus lathoniellus, but generally larger and has a wider longitudinal streak ending with an angulated anterior edge, not straight as with C. lathoniellus. which is smaller and has a narrower longitudinal streak.
Distribution:  A nationally scarce species – DaNES shows three records none of which appear to hold any additional back up data for such a rare migrant and a species that can be confused with C.lathoniellus. 1963 Chesterfield (field observation); 2004 Matlock (MV Light); 2007 Ilkeston (MV light)
Flight Period: June /  July /  Moth Activity: Cathemeral   – and is attracted to light Photographed: No –  Photographed By: Not Recorded
*** Last updated on 7 May 2025 by RP ***
Wingspan: 22-25mm
Food Plant: Various grasses
Last Recorded By – Not Recorded
Last Recorded General Area – Not Recorded

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Distribution Map for Crambus pratella

Found 4 records
    ↳ 0 from After 2025
    ↳ 1 from 2020 - 2024
    ↳ 3 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 – Crambus pratella

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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: Crambus pratella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

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


First/Last Recorded Dates: Crambus pratella
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: Crambus pratella
( All data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )
Annual Growth Rate (AGR): Crambus pratella
AGR: -6.64%   |   Total % Change: -66.7%


CUSUM Analysis: Crambus pratella
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 23 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 8 (August) 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 2004, 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: Crambus pratella
( data includes both Larvae and Adult Stages )

Flight Periods – Indicative –vs– Recorded Data
Crambus pratella
( 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.

Records Behind the Map and Charts - Crambus pratella – 4 records available

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

Site NameTetradDateCountStageSource
Kirk Hallam, IlkestonSK44K26/06/20201adultvc57_irecords_extract
Bristol Rd,IlkestonSK44R24/05/20071Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Church St,Holloway,MatlockSK35I07/06/20043Adultvc57_danes_bc_data
Newbold Rd, ChesterfieldSK37R02/07/19631Adultvc57_danes_bc_data

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