Eupithecia innotata
Encyclopedia
The Angle-barred Pug is a moth
of the family Geometridae. There are three forms found in the British Isles
:
The forewings are generally dark brown or grey with few distinguishing marks apart from a small white tornal spot which may not be present on the frequent melanic
forms. The wingspan
is 18–24 mm. Two brood
s are produced each year with the adults flying in May and June and again in August . Moths of the spring brood are usually darker in colour than the later specimens.
The caterpillar
s of the three races have different food plant
s:
The species overwinters as a pupa
.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the family Geometridae. There are three forms found in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
:
- E. innotata sensu stricto (Angle-barred Pug) is found only on the east and south-east coasts
- f. fraxinata (Ash PugAsh PugThe Ash Pug is a moth of the family Geometridae...
) is widely distributed - rare f. tamarisciata (Tamarisk Pug)
The forewings are generally dark brown or grey with few distinguishing marks apart from a small white tornal spot which may not be present on the frequent melanic
Melanism
Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages, and the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice.The word is deduced from the , meaning black pigment....
forms. The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 18–24 mm. Two brood
Offspring
In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way...
s are produced each year with the adults flying in May and June and again in August . Moths of the spring brood are usually darker in colour than the later specimens.
The caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s of the three races have different food plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
s:
- f. fraxinata feeding on ashAsh treeFraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...
- E. innotata sensu stricto feeding on sea-buckthornSea-buckthornThe sea-buckthorns are deciduous shrubs in the genus Hippophae, family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea-buckthorn is hyphenated here to avoid confusion with the buckthorns...
- f. tamarisciata is found on the alien food-plant Tamarisk
The species overwinters as a pupa
Pupa
A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago...
.
- The flight season refers to the British IslesBritish IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. This may vary in other parts of the range.