38.001 Perittia obscurepunctella (Honeysuckle Blotch-miner)
ws: 8-10mm; Apr-May; honeysuckle (Lonicera pericyclamen); local in semi-open woodland in England
Perittia obscurepunctella §1 female
ID: hindwing cilia longer than breadth of hindwing; head smooth-scaled; hindtibia without long bristles; scales on head narrower than antennal flagellum; spurs of each pair unequal in length (hindtibia); abdomen without pairs of spined patches; antennal scape with a pecten, medial spurs of hindtibia well before middle of hindtibia; maxillary palps not developed > Elachistidae
In MBGBI3 identification to genus is based on venation and is not at all easy to follow: (hw V7 without branch to costa; hw V4&3 arising from V2, V4 absent; fw with V8&6 stalked, V7 absent; fw V3 present, V4 absent; fw v1a+1b forked at base, hw cell nearly closed between V6 & V5)
There is also a key based on external appearance: fw unicolorous without pattern or speckling, not white, without a regular row of broad-tipped scales overlying the cilia, brownish buff (not yellow-ochreous) > P.obscurepunctella
The signum is quite distinctive and confirms the identity of §1.
In MBGBI3 identification to genus is based on venation and is not at all easy to follow: (hw V7 without branch to costa; hw V4&3 arising from V2, V4 absent; fw with V8&6 stalked, V7 absent; fw V3 present, V4 absent; fw v1a+1b forked at base, hw cell nearly closed between V6 & V5)
There is also a key based on external appearance: fw unicolorous without pattern or speckling, not white, without a regular row of broad-tipped scales overlying the cilia, brownish buff (not yellow-ochreous) > P.obscurepunctella
The signum is quite distinctive and confirms the identity of §1.
Dissection
Female genitalia
§1 Foulness, Essex; 12/04/2014; female; fw 4.7mm
All images © Chris Lewis
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 07/05/2014 (§1)
