62.0151 Delplanqueia inscriptella (Thyme Knot-horn)
ws: 18-23mm; Jun-Jul; wild thyme (Thymus polytrichus); status uncertain
Recently split from D.dilutella and added British list 2015 (Ref: Norfolk Moths)
Recently split from D.dilutella and added British list 2015 (Ref: Norfolk Moths)
Delplanqueia inscriptella §1 male
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ID: According to Norfolk Moths, it has a brown (rather than grey) ground colour and lacks the white subbasal fascia shown by D.dilutella.
§1 not confirmed by genital dissection but it is brown and Dorset Moths states that almost all Dorset specimens of this species pair are D.inscriptella Male genitalia: In the aedeagus both Delplanqueia species have a large cornutus at the apex of a long band of rugose sclerotisation. In D.dilutella this cornutus is distinctly broader than it is in D.inscriptella. Female genitalia: In the corpus bursae there are two densely spined linear signa running parallel with each other, both with their posterior end near the junction with the ductus bursae. The right signum is longer than the left in both species. In D.inscriptella the longer signum ends anteriorly in a triangular plate; in D.dilutella this plate is missing. In D.inscriptella the shorter signum is relatively long; the ratio length of shorter signum / length of longer signum is ~0.55 (just over half) for D.dilutella and 0.65-0.7 (about ⅔) for D.inscriptella. |
Apical cornuti of Delplanqueia species
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§1 Portland, Dorset; 20/06/2015; male; fw 9.6mm; netted by day
§2 Shenfield, Essex; 07/2025; male; (specimen supplied by Robbie Legg)
All images © Chris Lewis
§2 Shenfield, Essex; 07/2025; male; (specimen supplied by Robbie Legg)
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 08/08/2023 (§1) | §2 added 22/08/2025
