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Hi everybody! I'm new to this forum and I search for the ID of various moths that I don't have identified.
I begin with the Adelidae family. Very lovely and nice moths, with their fantastic metallic colours and incredible long antennae. But terrible for find a name and be sure of it.

The three first species are all from the same location: La Peña, Huesca, NE Spain, 500 meters over sea, Pre-Pyrenees mountains, mediterranean-alpine transition climate.



Species a) Totally metallic green





Species b) The nicest of all, fantastic colours




Species c) Also monocolour



Species d) This is from another location: Biniés, Huesca, NE Spain, about 900 meters over sea, zone of oak forest and prairies, close of the previous location. Metallic with a more clear band near the tip of the wing.

I hope that somebody could help me to identify it.
Thanks a lot,
Isidro

Well, I hope someone can help you with these, Inachisio, because I'm out of my depth with micros!! I have books with good coverage of European macros, but not the little ones!!

The only one of these I've previously identified for myself, I think, is the first - Adela reaumurella. However, even there, if there is a similar, related species, I wouldn't know the difference.

I do have confidence someone here knows, though!!

Guy

Thanks a lot Guy, yes, the micro moths are the most difficult "group" of Lepidoptera due to the lack of experts, but shouldn't be more difficult than the blues and fritillaries! For the first I thinked so in Adela reaumurella, but exacltly as you, I don't know if can be similar, mistakable species, for that reason I ask here!

Thanks by reply, I was happy for receive an answer at least!

Come on people! Somebody can identify these species? If not, I can't continue puting here the next unidentified species!

The gold-and-purple one with the stripe could be Adela croesella, or some similar species we don't get in the UK.

Thanks a lot Matsukaze, I have already two (more or less) identified!
Now I only let the other two!

I put here the list of all Adelidae recorded from Iberian Peninsula. Maybe that helps:

Adela australis
Adela collicolella
Adela croesella
Adela cuprella
Adela homalella
Adela mazzolella
Adela pantherellus
Adela reaumurella
Adela violella
Cauchas fibulella
Cauchas rufimitrella
Nemophora albiciliellus
Nemophora barbatellus
Nemophora cupriacella
Nemophora degeerella
Nemophora dumerilella
Nemophora fasciella
Nemophora istrianellus
Nemophora metallica
Nemophora minimella
Nemophora prodigellus
Nemophora raddaella
Nemophora violellus
Nematopogon adansoniella
Nematopogon robertella
Nematopogon schwarziellus

Nobody more??? Please!!!! The other two???

Sorry - no go. Though I could (probably will eventually) add one picture in the forlorn hope that somebody would be able to ID them. I would not even try to guess the names without having pictures of all the species. Even then it would be guessing without knowing what are the actual things to look for. This one needs a real, preferably local, expert.

Thanks JKT, that is true.. The shame is that aren't experts and much less local ones!
I know a lepidopterologist in my own region very knowlegdeable in micro-moths, but he's always very busy and I can't ask him!

Inachisio wrote:I know a lepidopterologist in my own region very knowlegdeable in micro-moths, but he's always very busy and I can't ask him!

Yeah, there's plenty of that.

Anyways, here is the picture I was talking about. Taken 18.6.-09 a bit east of León. It looks a lot like your 10th picture.

It looks almost identical!
I hope that somebody could identify it for both us!

I had some time to do a bit of surfing. I THINK I've managed to narrow it down a bit.

For species a I'll offer Adela cuprella and Adela reaumurella.

For species b my choice is Adela australis with Adela mazzolella as another less likely species.

For species c I came up with only Adela reaumurella.

And for species d the most likely choice is Nemophora fasciella.

The jokers - for which I found no picture - are:
Adela collicolella
Adela homalella
Adela pantherellus
Nemophora albiciliellus
Nemophora barbatellus
Nemophora istrianellus
Nemophora prodigellus
Nemophora raddaella

Too many unknowns to call any of them ID:d, though.

Giant thanks JKT!!!

I think that c) don't fits well with Adela reaumurella. The wings are similar but the head and body is much less hairy and more metallic!It don't can be something like Nemophora metallica or similar?

I make a research with your great help. If this page is good, maybe there is a type of sexual dimorphism in Adela reaumurella, being the males hairy, with black hairs and longer antennae and females with no hair and metallic head and body and shorter antennae.

http://www.papillon-poitou-charentes.or ... 13661.html

I've found too Adela aldrovandella identical to Adela australis. A. aldrovandella don't appear in the list of species recorded from Spain... maybe is a synonym?

Nemophora metallica appear to have the wing tips not incurved, but plain... Then the mines should be both A. reaumurella (or cuprella! But cuprella seems to have a slight violet shin in the frontal egde of wing...)

What a terrible group!

Thanks again for your fantastic help!

Inachisio wrote:If this page is good

That is always a good question.

Inachisio wrote:I've found too Adela aldrovandella identical to Adela australis. A. aldrovandella don't appear in the list of species recorded from Spain... maybe is a synonym?

According to FaunaEur that is indeed the case.

There are plenty of even worse groups.