090 Agriphila inquinatella

CRAMBIDAE | Crambinae | Crambini

63.090 Agriphila inquinatella (Barred Grass-moth)

ws: 23-29mm; Jul-Sep; various grasses, especially sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina)

Agriphila inquinatella §1 male

ID: 3 species of Crambinae show a pattern of pale median longitudinal streak, dark spot at 1/2, 2 angular cross-lines, median and subterminal, the median line passing through the dark spot. A.geniculea averages smaller (ws 20-26mm) and both cross-lines are more acutely angled. In my own material and looking at web images, the subterminal cross-line has an angle of 80-90 deg in A.inquinatella and ~60 deg in A.geniculea. It also seems from these images that the costal portion of the line is less distinct in A.inquinitella and as a whole is less likely to be broken by pale streaks along the veins in A.geniculea. In Pediasia contaminella the cross-lines are faint and the subterminal line is jagged with a tooth as it crosses each vein. Pediasia aridella is also similar but does not show a pale longitudinal streak and in the hindwing it shows a dark spot near the tornus or a dark partial subterminal line.

Dissection

Male genitalia

§1 Cyffdy Farm, Gwynedd; 26/06/2010; male; fw 13.2mm
§2 Ardnamurchan, Highland; 11/07/2012; fw 11.9mm
§3 Arnside, Cumbria; 26/07/2013; male
§4 Buttermere, Cumbria; 26/06/2014; male; fw 11.0mm
§5 Winterton, Norfolk; 06/08/2015; male; fw 10.7mm; to light
§6 New Forest, Hampshire; 20/06/2016
§7 Bampton Grange, Cumbria; 26/07/2019; male; fw 11.3mm
All images © Chris Lewis