Elachista argentella ( Clerck, 1759 )

Kaila, Lauri, 2019, An annotated catalogue of Elachistinae of the World (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae), Zootaxa 4632 (1), pp. 1-231 : 22-23

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 .