E. hispanica resembles E. atrifrontella, both have a pale thorax, but overall hispanica is paler and less contrasting and the thorax more yellowish than in atrifrontella. Males of atrifrontella have a distinct humeral lobe, with distinct costal emargination, and large white hairpencil, hispanica has a shorter hairpencil without costal emargination. Male genitalia cannot be mistaken, the female genitalia are characterised by ductus spermathecae with 4 convolutions, the very large number of setae on tergites 7 and 8 and anal papillae, and relatively short signa.
Redescription. Male. Forewing length 2.5–3.3 mm, wingspan 6.2–7.2 mm. Head: frontal tuft and collar fuscous to black. Antennae long, with 46–56 segments. Thorax yellowish white, forewings brown, irrorate with yellowish brown, wing base as thorax, often an indistinct pale tornal spot. Cilia line indistinct, terminal cilia yellowish white. Hindwing with a short white hairpencil of at most one third wing length, surrounded by a few white scales; humeral lobe not pronounced, no costal emargination. Abdominal tufts yellowish white.
Female. Forewing length 2.3–3.0 mm, wingspan 6.0–6.6 mm. Antennae with 37–42 segments. Hindwing without hairpencil.
Male genitalia. See original description.
Female genitalia. Along anterior margin of T8 (partly on T7?) a crescent shaped field of about 80–90 very long setae, on rest of T8 ca 50 setae, scales absent. Anal papillae (T9) with ca 40 setae. Posterior apophyses reaching beyond anterior apophyses. Vestibulum wide, without distinct sclerotizations. Corpus bursae ca 1300 μm long, covered with pectinations, partly in concentric bands around signa; signa elongate, slightly dissimilar, resp 290 and 330 μm long (n=1), ca 5 cells wide. Ductus spermathecae with 4 convolutions.
Hostplants: not reared, most likely feeding on evergreen Quercus.
Restricted to south-western Europe. Southern France: Laštůvka and Laštůvka 1997; Nieukerken et al. 2006; Portugal: Van Nieukerken et al. 2004a.
Adults fly from 8 June to 23 August.
This taxonomic description is based on Van Nieukerken (1985) and Van Nieukerken et al (2010)