Anoscopus species generally have a more rounded vertex than in Aphrodes, and often distinctive patterning. Although males are often identifiable from photographs, species can be variable and difficult to separate; females in particular are often difficult to identify.
Males of this species are pale (compare A. albifrons), with three dark bands across the forewings, the first of them intermittent. The forebody is uniformly pale brownish, with the rear half of the pronotum paler. Females are difficult to identify certainly; the 7th abdominal sternite has a narrow central notch.
Frequent among grasses in the southern half of England, and scattered records from further north and in Wales.
Adult: July to September
Length: 3-4 mm (females ~4.5 mm)
Aime-toi, le ciel t’aimera Despise not the weak : the gnat stings the eyes of the lion.