Pristiphora confusa

I used Wright to key this to genus and got to Pristophora fairly easily. My only slight issue was with the Nematinae key couplet 22 - the apex of the costa was swollen to slightly over half the width of the stigma but resembled one of the diagrams for where it wasn't meant to be. The "if in doubt go to couplet 23" comment at the end of the couplet sorted that issue out nicely. Forgetting that a while back Andy had pointed me in the direction of a key to Pristophora (Prous et al 2017) which in hindsight might have been the best reference to go to next, I decided instead to turn to Lacourt. Going straight to Pristiphora didn't help as he keys it straight to subgenera so I had to take a step back. Therein lay some confusion as the mandible shape didn't seem to match. They were clearly different (the left being much larger than the right) but the shape was not as it seemed like they should be. Anyway, eventually I realised that as I had already got to genus I couild skip some of these troublesome couplets. I wasn't quite sure I understood all the terminology of the penis valve but thankfully there are plenty of figures and I eventually landed at Pristiphora confusa. Lacourt showed the upper edge more smoothly rounded than on mine but otherwise it seemed to fit. At this point I found Prous et al. and sure enough the picture of confusa penis valve in there was exactly like mine including the shape of the upper edge.

male Pristiphora confusa showing wings, close up of forewing stigma, clypeus, hind tarsal claws (2 views), mandibles and penis valve, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 7th June 2024