49.303 Clavigesta sylvestrana (Small Pine Shoot Moth)
ws: 12-15mm (BTM), fw: 5.5–7mm (Sterling & Parsons); Jun-Aug; maritime/stone pine (Pinus pinaster/pinea); NS-A pine woods in S.England
Clavigesta sylvestrana §1 male (image provided by Graham Ekins)
ID: Labial palps, head and thorax grey, irrorate white. Forewing with obscure stripes of dark and silvery grey, with a variable overlay of ferruginous-purple colour especially subcostally and subapically. C.purdeyi has a distinct orange suffusion of the apical area. Pseudococcyx posticana has an orange head and labial palps.
Male genitalia: The two Clavigesta species are similar and they are easier to distinguish on external features. The valvae of both have a ~triangular sacculus, a distinct narrow curved neck and a spined spatulate cucullus; both have a simple arched tegumen without an uncus. In C.sylvestrana the cornuti lie in the long axis of the aedeagus and are fairly straight; in C.purdeyi the cornuti are set along the ventral side of the aedeagus and curve towards the dorsal side and distally. Probably the marginal cucullar spines are longer in C.sylvestrana.
Female genitalia:
Male genitalia: The two Clavigesta species are similar and they are easier to distinguish on external features. The valvae of both have a ~triangular sacculus, a distinct narrow curved neck and a spined spatulate cucullus; both have a simple arched tegumen without an uncus. In C.sylvestrana the cornuti lie in the long axis of the aedeagus and are fairly straight; in C.purdeyi the cornuti are set along the ventral side of the aedeagus and curve towards the dorsal side and distally. Probably the marginal cucullar spines are longer in C.sylvestrana.
Female genitalia:
§1 Chantry Field NR, Essex; 02/08/2023; male; fw 6.6mm; specimen provided by Graham Ekins
All images © Chris Lewis
All images © Chris Lewis
Page published 13/08/2023 (§1)
