Agriphila selasella

Just a quick reminder to be on the look-out for this species now that the numbers of Agriphila tristella are building.  Both are on the wing and Agriphila selasella is quite widespread locally these days so could turn up anywhere.  There are obvious differences between the two species if they're given more than a cursory glance.

Agriphila selasella, Westcott 4th August

Agriphila tristella, Westcott 4th August

The ground colour of tristella can vary considerably (a very dark individual is shown here) but selasella hardly varies at all.  The central stripe on the forewing of tristella (usually but not always cream-coloured) is "pinched" about half way along before it divides up into the "fingers" and this is often the easiest character to pick up on.  The central stripe on selasella (usually whitish) is not "pinched" and is underlined with darkish scales.  Finally, selasella has a blunter rear end, with the dorsum almost at 90 degrees to the costa, whereas in tristella the wings come to more of a point and are quite often rolled together when at rest. 

EDIT:  As it has been mentioned in a subsequent post, I thought I'd add an image of Agriphila latistria which is rare in our three counties but does turn up from time to time so is also worth keeping an eye out for.  It differs from the pair above by having a whitish head and a very conspicuous and quite broad white stripe along the forewing which runs through into the fringe on the dorsum.   

Agriphila latistria, Westcott 27th August 2018