Elachista alpinella Stainton, 1854

Kaila, Lauri, 2019, An annotated catalogue of Elachistinae of the World (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae), Zootaxa 4632 (1), pp. 1-231 : 17

Elachista alpinella Stainton, 1854

Elachista alpinella Stainton, 1854: 254 . Type locality: England, Manchester district ( Stainton 1854: 254) . Types not stated.

Poeciloptilia latipennella Herrich-Schäffer, 1855: 301 , 308. Type locality: England, Manchester district. Unnecessary replacement name for E. alpinella ( Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen 1977: 76) .

Elachista monticola Wocke, 1876: 495 . Type locality: Switzerland, Oberharz ( Wocke 1876: 495). Syntypes in ZISP.

Elachista turfosella Frey, 1885: 100 . Type locality: Switzerland: Harz. Synonymy suggested by Nolcken in Wocke (1876: 495). See Remarks.

Elachista subquadrella Ragonot, 1889: 106 . Type locality: France: Sèvres, Fonceaux ( Ragonot 1889: 106). Holotype ♂, in MNHN.

Elachista oxytypa Braun, 1948: 58 . Type locality: Canada: Quebec, Bradore Bay ( Braun 1948: 59). Holotype ♂, in CNC. Synonymized by Kaila (1999a: 35).

‡ Elachista montana Wocke, 1876: 495 ; misspelling of Elachista monticola Wocke, 1876 .

‡ Elachista latipenella ; misspelling ( Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen 1977: 76).

Subgenus: Elachista ; bifasciella species group.

Distribution: Holarctic. Austria, Canada (Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Liechstenstein, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia (European part), Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. ( England, Scotland, Wales), Ukraine, U.S.A. (Alaska).

Larval host plant(s): Carex riparia Curtis , C. acuta L., C. acutiformis Ehrh. , C. flava x hostiana, C. paniculata L. ( Cyperaceae ) ( Stainton 1879, E. Hering 1891, Gudmann 1930, Steuer 1973, Bland 1996).

Figs.: Traugott-Olsen & Nielsen (1977), Biesenbaum (1995), Bland (1996), Steuer (1973), Kaila (1999b).

Remarks: Wocke (1876: 494) considers E. turfosella to be a synonym of E. kilmunella (as E. stagnalis ). In page 494, ibid, Nolcken considers it a synonym of E. alpinella (as E. monticola ). Nolcken’s interpretation is based on rearing a record from mines on leaves on Carex . This interpretation, followed here, is in accordance with the biology of E. alpinella , not E. kilmunella which is a stem miner on Eriophorum (Cyperaceae) .