Externally similar to the other pale headed species E. amani and E. liguricella. Males of amani have a more conspicuous white hairpencil, surrounded by white androconials and males of liguricella are completely without hairpencil. Females cannot be separated from E. amani without dissection; the more blunt ovipositor separates it from E. liguricella, in which the ovipositor is more or less pointed. The male genitalia differ from other Zimmermannia by the shape of the valva, short gnathos and configuration of carinae. Female genitalia resemble most those of E. liguricella, but have fewer convolutions in the ductus spermathecae.
Redescription. Male. Forewing length 2.7–3.8 mm, wingspan 6.8–7.2 mm. Head: frontal tuft yellowish white to ferruginous, collar paler, whitish. Antennae long, with 38–44 segments. Thorax and forewings brown, slightly irrorate with yellowish brown, often an indistinct pale tornal spot. Cilia line indistinct, terminal cilia yellowish white. Hindwing with a very indistinct greyish hairpencil, not surrounded by androconial scales; humeral lobe not pronounced. Abdominal tufts grey white.
Female. Forewing length 3.6–4.2 mm, wingspan 8.0–9.1 mm. Antennae with 40–43 segments. Hindwing without hairpencil.
Male genitalia. Capsule length ca. 380 μm. Tegumen broadly rounded, forming indistinct pseuduncus. Gnathos with short, rather broad central element. Valva length ca. 270–275 μm, broadly triangular, in middle suddenly narrowing strongly into curved distal process. Sublateral processes long, almost as long as transverse bar of transtilla. Aedeagus length ca. 380–395 μm long; ventral carinae long, parallel and wide apart; a pair of outwards curved strong lateral carinae, and a pair of similar outwards curved dorsal carinae (in slides often hidden behind lateral pair). Vesica with one straight long and pointed cornutus, and some very small additional ones.
Female genitalia (Figs 8–116–17). T8 with a row of 8–10 setae along anterior margin of T8, ca 4–6 setae on disc, scales absent. Anal papillae (T9) with ca 24–27 setae. Posterior apophyses reaching beyond anterior apophyses. Vestibulum wide, without distinct sclerotizations. Corpus bursae ca 1040–1180 μm long, covered with pectinations, partly in concentric bands around signa; signa elongate, slightly dissimilar, longest 405–170 μm and shortest 380–440 μm long (n=2), ca 5 cells wide. Ductus spermathecae with ca 4 convolutions.
Hostplant unknown.
Described from the male holotype from Greece (Preveza) and later recorded from the Czech Republic (Šumpich et al. 2007). Here we report new records from (northern) Italy, Slovakia (see also Tokár et al. 2010), Croatia: Krk and Switzerland.
Adults collected from 26 May to 18 June in Greece and 28 June to 7 August elsewhere.