Moth Of The Month

October was a typical autumn for moths, plenty of variety on offer and so it was a difficult choice to make for moth of the month. There were a further 12 Clancy’s Rustic recorded and the rare Dusky Lemon Sallow made an appearance. However, for me though, moth of the month has to go to

September’s Moth of the Month must surely go the Clancy’s Rustic. A species that has been expected to arrive in Derbyshire for sometime. With seven individuals in a week, from Sandiacre, Belper and Findern, one assumes they must relate to immigrants, due to the supporting species that were being trapped at the time. Emily Milnes

The star moth for the month of August must surely go to the Beautiful Marbled that Dave Evans recorded on the morning of 19th August 2026. Upon emptying his moth trap in his Belper garden, Dave described his catch as “Standard Fare”, that was until he turned over his penultimate egg tray and discovered a

A very difficult one to pick as there have been so many good species including 5 new macro and 7 new micro moths for VC57 Derbyshire. There were three new species of Clearwing, including Orange-tailed, Red-belted and amazingly Welsh, Breckland Plume, Rosy Footman and Fleabane Drab, all incredible records. I’ve gone for Dotted Fan-foot, but

April’s moth of the month is a micro moth that was last recorded in Derbyshire on 5th June 1971 from Via Gellia. Hysterophora maculosana (Small Bluebell Beauty) was recorded by Dave Evans whilst he was sweep-netting in a Bluebell Wood at Wyver Lane NR, Belper on 29th April 2026. The moth is highly dependant on

This month’s moth of the month is a micro and one that hasn’t been recorded in Derbyshire since 2011. Semioscopis avellanella (Early Diviner) was first recorded in VC57 Derbyshire on 11th March 2011, when one was attracted to MV light at Shiningcliffe Wood, Ambergate, (extract from DaNES Journal 169, 2019 page 48).  It is a

On 21st February 2026 a superb colour variant (aberration) was trapped by Christian Heintzen at Long Clough, Glossop. The moth was so distinctive and unusually marked, it prompted Christian to do some digging, to find out exactly what the variant was likely to be. After making a search on the National History portal and subsequent

We start the year with one of the earliest species to emerge, the Spring Usher. Typically the males are on the wing, just as winter is ending, from January through to March. The females are wingless, looking more like a spider, or a strange looking beetle than a moth, and are more tricky to locate

 Bryan Barnacle recorded the third record for VC57 Derbyshire on 16th December 2025 at Froggatt of Carpatolechia decorella during daylight, as he watched it fly across his garden landing on a nearby window. After a number of tentative conversations on the ID of the moth, which does not show the usual markings of the species,

Martin Roome recorded the Sprawler at Smiths Gorse, Foremark, which is located in South Derbyshire, on 5th November 2025. The first record since 9th November 2021, when I was fortunate to see one that was trapped at Kings Newton by Will Soar.   Due to the late flight period, on the wing during October –

Clive Ashton ran his last moth trap for October from his Cromford garden on the 31st, and recorded a very special moth for Derbyshire. There are two records of The Streak since 2019. One from Hathersage in 2022 and one from Darley Moor in 2023. Clive’s record is the only one so far this year.

A little more difficult to choose this months Moth of the Month than in August, but I’ve gone for the Scarce Bordered Straw. A rare immigrant species to our recording area, but this year there have been more reports than in previous years. It is more often encountered as an annual visitor along the south

Another difficult choice for moth of the month for August. I’ve chosen Scrobipalpa ocellatella (Beet Moth). This tiny little Gelechiid has arrived in Derbyshire in very good numbers during August, most probably migrant wanderers from what has likely been a large influx into Britain this summer, rather than population expansion.  There are two generations, with

A very difficult choice this month with four new species for Derbyshire to choose from. Three micros and a macro, but my choice goes to Brian Hallam’s fantastic record of Cloaked Pug, which he recorded on 11th July 2025 from his overnight garden light trap in Findern. A remarkable record of a species that appeared

June produced a wide range of exciting migrant moths, into the VC57 recording area. A total of 35 separate records covering 14 species, were received including a first record of Small Marbled for Derbyshire. This was followed by a further three more during the period 29-1st July 2025. The first record was recorded from Matlock

May produced a wide range of exciting micro moths, so this months moth goes to a micro. On 24/25th May 2025, Christian Heintzen recorded an Ancylis upupana (Southern Hook-wing) from Glossop. This is a new species of micro moth for the VC57 recording area. A species that seems to be expanding its range northwards. Christian

On 3rd/4th April Clive Ashton discovered a Blossom Underwing in his Cromford garden light trap. This was to be the 2nd record of this species for the recording area. The amazing thing was that I had sent out a message to the Derbyshire Moth Facebook Group a few days prior, suggesting that Blossom Underwing was

A new micro moth species has been recorded for the VC57 & Derbyshire, a Caloptilia falconipennella (Dark Alder Stilt) The first record was an individual that was attracted to a MVLight Trap on 24th March 2025 at Long Clough NR, Glossop and recorded by Christian Heintzen.  A rare species and one that over winters and is