Agonopterix scopariella

Broom Buff Agonopterix scopariella

Formerly given the vernacular name Broom Buff.

The first time I identified this species I returned to the record months later and realised I'd made a mistake - it wasn't scopariella after all. It's taken me an inordinately long time to find and correctly identify the species, but when I eventually did there were lots of them. I have seen photos that I believe to be this species identified with some degree of confidence as Agonopterix propinquella, including by relatively experienced moth-ers, so clearly they can be problematic. So after making a mistake with the species once before, I was determined to ensure I was not getting them wrong again. Knowing that Agonopterix can sometimes be quite tricky to resolve using their genitalia I felt it would be prudent to take a numebr home for checking rather than just one. I left a few where I'd found them but the five I retained all proved on dissection to be scopariella. That they were all females was surprinsing given that a very high percentage of other Agonopterix I've examined have been male.

female Broom Buff Agonopterix scopariella, Cranwich Camp (Norfolk, UK), 21st March 2025

The one was from another site nearby - they are clearly plenty of them around in this area.

female Broom Buff Agonopterix scopariella, near Cranwich (Norfolk, UK), 21st March 2025