Elachista argentella (Clerck, 1759)

Phalaena argentella Clerck, 1759: pl.11, fig. 13. Type locality: [Sweden].

Elachista argentella: Wocke (1871: 382) .

Tinea alabastrella Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775: 135 . Type locality: Austria, Vienna region. Synonymy suggested with doubts by Stainton (1858c: 138) ; type material lost.

Tinea albella Müller, 1776: 137 . Type locality: Denmark. Type material lost. Synonymy suggested by Herrich- Schäffer (1856: 49, as “ cynipenella ” [sic]).

Phalaena virginea Geoffroy, 1785: 302 . Type locality: France, Paris. Type material lost. Synonymized by Leraut (1997: 108).

Phalaena melanopis Geoffroy, 1785: 322 . Type locality: France, Paris. Type material lost. Synonymized by Leraut (1997: 108).

Tinea cygnipennella Hübner, 1796: 67, pl. 30, fig. 207. Type locality: [Europe]. Type lost. Synonymized by Stainton (1858c: 138).

Porrectaria cygnipennis Haworth, 1828: 536 . Type locality: [England]. Synonymized by Zeller (1839: 213).

Adela cygnella Treitschke, 1833: 117 . Unjustified emendation.

Aphelosetia semialbella Stephens, 1834: 288 . Type locality: [Britain]. Type material in NHMUK. Synonymized by Stainton (1854: 262).

Elachista habeleri Traugott-Olsen, 1990b: 274 . Type locality: Slovenia, Rupa-Jelsane (Traugott-Olsen 1990b: 275). Holotype ♂, in TLMF. Synonymized by Huemer (2000b: 52).

Elachista cygnipennella: Zeller (1839: 213) .

Cycnodia cygnipennella: Herrich-Schäffer, 1855: 211 .

Subgenus: Aphelosetia; argentella species group.

Distribution: Palearctic. Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia (European part, Caucasus), Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. (England, Scotland, Wales), Ukraine.

Larval host plant(s): Agrostis sp., Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) Beauv., B. sylvaticum (Hudson) Beauv., Bromus erectus Hudson, Bromus sterilis L., Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth, Dactylis glomerata L., Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) Beauv., Elymus caninus (L.) L., E. hispidus (Opiz) Melderis, E. repens (L.) Gould, Festuca rubra L., F. trachypylla (Hackel) Krajina, Festuca valesiaca Schleicher ex Gaudin, Holcus mollis L., Koeleria cristata Pers, K. glauca (Schrader) DC., K, grandis Besser ex Gorski, K. macrantha (Ledeb) . Schultes, Leymus arenarius (L.) Hochst., Phalaris arundinacea L., Phleum sp., Poa pratensis L. (all Poaceae) (Stainton 1858b; Lhomme 1951; Wörz 1957; Parenti & Varalda 1994).

Figs.: Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen (1977), Biesenbaum (1995), Bland (1996).

Remarks: No authentic specimen that was a model to Clerck’s illustration survives. The identity of E. argentella Clerck was established by Zeller (1853a: 289) (Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen 1977: 102; Robinson & Nielsen 1983: 202). Leraut (1997: 108) listed Phalaena alabastrata Villers, 1789 as a junior synonym of E. argentella . The name alabastrata, however, is present only in Villers’s publication in Phalaenae Geometrae (N. 616, p. 379). Its description: “ feticornis, alis albis, lineolis fasciisque plurimis undulates fuscis, limbo fubdentato ”, i.e., wing, e.g., having numerous undulating lines, definitely does not fit E. argentella . Therefore this synonymy must be considered an error. The record (as E. habeleri Traugott-Olsen) from Central Caucasus by Kaila & Jalava (1994: 100) is a misidentification and refers to E. jubarella Kaila, 2011 .