32.043 Depressaria sordidatella (Chervil Brown)
ws: 18-22mm; Jul-Aug; cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), rough chervil (Chaerophyllum temulum), hemlock (Conium maculatum), hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium); local in open grassland, damp meadows and marshes throughout GB except west country, S&W Wales and most of W.Scotland.
Depressaria sordidatella §1 female
ID: From key in MBGBI4.1 - Fw costal 2/5 not contrastingly reddish >
A. with round white dot in disc at 2/3 (may be small and obscure); head and thorax not paler than fw; femora with undersides dark fuscous > D.sordidatella
B. without round white dot in disc at 2/3; labial palp S3 with 1 dark band; fw without whitish suffusion along costa > D.sordidatella
D.douglasella and D.pulcherrimella are similar but have paler head, thorax and tegulae.
Female genitalia: are similar in D.sordidatella/douglasella/pulcherrimella: all three have the ostium opening in the centre of A8 and sclerotisation on one side of the posterior ductus bursae. The female genitalia are illustrated in MBGBI4.1 (pp 62&63) and images are available of all 3 species at Moth Dissection. D.pulcherrimella may be distinguished by the sclerotisation of the ductus bursae being relatively weak and the signum being diamond-shaped. Unfortunately, there is little that is consistent between the drawings in MBGBI and the images at MD that provides a clear means of distinguishing D.sordidatella/douglasella from their female genitalia; and they are more easily distinguished on external features. Potential distinguishing features are: 1) Ostium shape - drawn as an isosceles trapezoid for D.douglasella and a 'W' with a thickened central point in D.sordidatella; but the images at MD show one specimen of each species with the 'W' shape and another specimen of D.douglasella in which the ostial shape is unclear. 2) Sclerotisation of DB - drawn with one edge slightly serrate in D.sordidatella, smooth in D.douglasella and not seen well enough in the images at MD to determine. 3) Coiling of anterior DB - drawn with a bend in D.sordidatella and without in D.douglasella; too disrupted to determine in the one image of D.sordidatella and with a distinct bend in one image of D.douglasella at MD. 4) Signum - drawn as a curled plate in D.douglasella and a triangular plate in D.sordidatella; shown as a curled plate in one specimen of D.douglasella and as a diamond-shaped plate in both the other D.douglasella image and the one D.sordidatella image (note the apparent difference in shape of the signum in different views of the same specimen in the images below). 5) Shape of CB - distinctly more elongate in the drawing of of D.douglasella (~3x vs 2x as long as wide); CB disrupted in all images at MD.
A. with round white dot in disc at 2/3 (may be small and obscure); head and thorax not paler than fw; femora with undersides dark fuscous > D.sordidatella
B. without round white dot in disc at 2/3; labial palp S3 with 1 dark band; fw without whitish suffusion along costa > D.sordidatella
D.douglasella and D.pulcherrimella are similar but have paler head, thorax and tegulae.
Female genitalia: are similar in D.sordidatella/douglasella/pulcherrimella: all three have the ostium opening in the centre of A8 and sclerotisation on one side of the posterior ductus bursae. The female genitalia are illustrated in MBGBI4.1 (pp 62&63) and images are available of all 3 species at Moth Dissection. D.pulcherrimella may be distinguished by the sclerotisation of the ductus bursae being relatively weak and the signum being diamond-shaped. Unfortunately, there is little that is consistent between the drawings in MBGBI and the images at MD that provides a clear means of distinguishing D.sordidatella/douglasella from their female genitalia; and they are more easily distinguished on external features. Potential distinguishing features are: 1) Ostium shape - drawn as an isosceles trapezoid for D.douglasella and a 'W' with a thickened central point in D.sordidatella; but the images at MD show one specimen of each species with the 'W' shape and another specimen of D.douglasella in which the ostial shape is unclear. 2) Sclerotisation of DB - drawn with one edge slightly serrate in D.sordidatella, smooth in D.douglasella and not seen well enough in the images at MD to determine. 3) Coiling of anterior DB - drawn with a bend in D.sordidatella and without in D.douglasella; too disrupted to determine in the one image of D.sordidatella and with a distinct bend in one image of D.douglasella at MD. 4) Signum - drawn as a curled plate in D.douglasella and a triangular plate in D.sordidatella; shown as a curled plate in one specimen of D.douglasella and as a diamond-shaped plate in both the other D.douglasella image and the one D.sordidatella image (note the apparent difference in shape of the signum in different views of the same specimen in the images below). 5) Shape of CB - distinctly more elongate in the drawing of of D.douglasella (~3x vs 2x as long as wide); CB disrupted in all images at MD.
§1 Foulness, Essex; 24/07/2011; female; fw 8.0mm
§2 Foulness, Essex; 05/08/2012; male; fw 8.6mm
§3 Harrison Sayer NR, Essex; 12/07/2025; female; fw 8.3mm; (specimen supplied by Ben Sale)
§4 Foulness, Essex; 19/07/2025; male; fw 9.6mm
All images © Chris Lewis
§2 Foulness, Essex; 05/08/2012; male; fw 8.6mm
§3 Harrison Sayer NR, Essex; 12/07/2025; female; fw 8.3mm; (specimen supplied by Ben Sale)
§4 Foulness, Essex; 19/07/2025; male; fw 9.6mm
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 13/12/2011 (§1) | §2 added 02/02/2013 | §3 added and female genitalia text amended 13/08/2025 | §4 added 11/11/2025
