020 Paraswammerdamia nebulella

16.020 Paraswammerdamia nebulella (Hawthorn Drab)

ws: 11-14mm; Jul; hawthorn (Crataegus spp), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), rose (Rosa spp), wall cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis); common throughout GB except N.Scotland
Synonym: P.lutarea (MBGBI3)

Paraswammerdamia nebulella §2 male

ID: keyed in MBGBI3 as - apex of forewing not orange (excludes Pseudoswammerdamia combinella); median fascia entire or obscure (not clear to me that this is sufficiently reliable to exclude Paraswammerdamia albicapitella which shows an interrupted median fascia and is better excluded by its white thorax); ground colour of forewing a shade of grey (not white, excludes S.passerella); terminal cilia not tinged coppery (excludes S.pyrella); tegulae fuscous and white, ws 14mm or less (excludes S.compunctella which is larger, ws 14-16mm and has even coloured tegulae; no distinct white costal spot (excludes S.caesiella). Paraswammerdamia nebulella shows 3-4 small clusters of white scales near costa before apex.
Genital examination is probably required for confident identification.
Male genitalia: distinct spined process arising from ventral edge of valvae
Female genitalia: lamella postvaginalis much broader and ductus bursae much shorter than in S.caesiella

Variation
Dissection
Male genitalia
Female genitalia

§1 New Forest, Hampshire; 29/06/2009; male; fw 5.8mm
§2 Ham Fen, Kent; 16/07/2010; male
§3 Ham Fen, Kent; 10/08/2010; female; fw 5.5mm
§4 Westcliff-on-sea, Essex; 26/05/2011; male; fw 5.8mm
§5 Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk; 26/07/2012; female
§6 Buttermere, Cumbria; 26/06/2014; male
§7 Foulness, Essex; 19/07/2014; female; fw 6.4mm
§8 Foulness, Essex; 01/08/2015; female; fw 5.5mm; to light
§9 Westcliff-on-sea, Essex; 01/07/2015; male; fw 5.9mm; to light
All images © Chris Lewis

§10 Foulness, Essex; 27/06/2015; female; fw 6.5mm; to light
§11 Bampton Grange, Cumbria; 06/07/2017; male; fw 5.4mm; to light
§12 Stour Wood, Essex; 08/07/2021; female; fw 6.7mm; to light