Lime-speck pug
| Lime-speck pug | |
|---|---|
| File:Eupithecia centaureata01.jpg | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Geometridae |
| Genus: | Eupithecia |
| Species: | E. centaureata
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| Binomial name | |
| Eupithecia centaureata | |
| Synonyms | |
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The lime-speck pug (Eupithecia centaureata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species throughout the Palearctic region (where it is found in Europe, Central Asia, Mongolia, southern Siberia, eastern China (Guangdong) and Taiwan[2]), the Near East and North Africa.
Description
[edit | edit source]This is a distinctive species, all the wings being largely white except for a black blotch on the costa of the forewing. The wingspan is 20–24 mm. In the ab. obscura Dietze.(perhaps developed chiefly in Asia but also recorded from the Tyrol) the ground-colour of both wings has a smoky suffusion. In the ab. centralisata Stgr., chiefly from Palestine and Central Asia, the markings are weaker, sometimes (except the discal mark) almost entirely obsolete.[3] The larva is long and thin, white-yellow with a red dorsal stripe and horseshoe-shaped red spots running down the sides.[4][5]
Often two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time during the summer and autumn. The moths fly at night and are attracted to light and nectar-rich flowers.
The larva is rather variable but is usually green or yellow, often with red markings. It feeds on the flowers of a variety of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a pupa.
Larval food plants
[edit | edit source]- Achillea – yarrow
- Angelica
- Arctium – burdock
- Artemisia
- Calluna – heather
- Campanula
- Centaurea
- Cirsium – thistle
- Crambe
- Filipendula – meadowsweet
- Galium – bedstraw
- Hieracium – hawkweed
- Lotus – bird's-foot trefoil
- Lysimachia – yellow loosestrife
- Matricaria – mayweed
- Medicago – alfalfa
- Pimpinella – burnet saxifrage
- Rumex – sorrel
- Selinum – milk-parsley
- Silene – bladder campion
- Solidago – goldenrod
- Tanacetum – tansy
- Trifolium – red clover
- Vicia – tufted vetch
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Mironov, V.G. & A.C. Galsworthy, 2007: The genus Eupithecia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Taiwan: an updated survey. Trans. lepid. Soc. Japan. 58 (3): 341–363.
- ^ Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the World. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart.pdf *Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Vladimir Mironov, Axel Hausmann, David Wilson The Geometrid Moths of Europe, Volume 4 Larentinae II (Perizomini and Eupitheciini) E J Brill
- ^ Riley, A.M. and Prior, G. British and Irish Pug Moths A Guide to their Identification and Biology Apollo Books Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Chinery, Michael. Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe (1986, reprinted 1991)
- Skinner, Bernard. Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles (1984)
External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- File:Wikispecies-logo.svg Data related to Eupithecia centaureata at Wikispecies
- Lepiforum.de
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