001 Diurnea fagella

CHIMABACHIDAE

29.001 Diurnea fagella (Early Reveller)

ws: 26-30mm (MBGBI4.1), fw ♂13-14mm, ♀8-11mm; Mar-May; various deciduous trees; common in deciduous woodland throughout GB

Diurnea fagella §4 male

ID: ♂ Ground colour white with a very variable amount of black irroration. Antemedian line pale (so stands out better in dark specimens); obliquely angled from costa distally; not reaching dorsum; lined distally with black in its central portion, this line sometimes extended distally to for a "Y". Usually 3 black spots in mid-section of wing - a proximal closely adjacent pair and a more distal single spot. ♀ similarly marked but with short pointed wings. (Only males come to light, the females are flightless)

Variation
Dissection
Male genitalia
Female genitalia

Male
Female

Male
Female

§1 Derbyshire dales; 04/04/2008; male; fw 12.2mm
§2 Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire; 04/05/2013; male
§3 Hanningfield, Essex; 15/04/2013; male; fw 12.8mm
§4 Hanningfield, Essex; 15/04/2013; male; fw 13.4mm
§5 Hanningfield, Essex; 15/04/2013; male; fw 12.4mm
§6 Hanningfield, Essex; 15/04/2013; male; fw 12.7mm
§7 Inveruglas, Argyll; 24/04/2016; male
§8 Foulness, Essex; 18/03/2017; male; fw 12.4mm
§9 Pound Wood, Essex; 25/03/2021; male
All images © Chris Lewis

§10 Pound Wood, Essex; 31/03/2021; female
§11 Pound Wood, Essex; 09/03/2022; male
§12 Pound Wood, Essex; 09/03/2022; male