ABH: 36.002
BF: 879
Family: Batrachedridae
Taxon: Batrachedra pinicolella
Authority: (Zeller, 1839)
Vernacular: Spruce Needle-moth
Account: Hall and Plant wrote in Ent Rec 134(2) April 2022, following Berggren et al, 2022 in ZooKeys 1085 that B. pinicolella should be split into two species, with B. confusella being new to science. The two can only be reliably identified by dissection. The present species appears to be rare, but this is based on only a very limited data set to date.
B. pinicolella appears restricted to Norway Spruce, with confusella having a wider range of pabula, on various Pinus species and Larix. As such it can be expected that most, if not all, Hampshire and Isle of Wight records refer to the latter.
Given the above, there are at present no confirmed records of pinicolella for our area. The mapped distribution refers to what for now must be considered to be pinicolella/confusella agg.
Wingspan:
Surrey Flight Period: 3 Jun (2006) — 5 Jul (2012)
Foodplant: Picea abies (Norway Spruce), Pinus sylvestris (Scots Pine).
Status: Nationally Scarce B
UK BAP:
WCA:
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Verification Grade: 2 — Care needed to identify, an image may be required 🤔
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/batrachedra-pinicolella/
* Based on adult records only.
Records: 7
Individuals: 0
Earliest Year: 2005
Latest Year: 2015