The
Lime-speck Pug (
Eupithecia centaureata) is a
mothA moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy. Sometimes the names "Rhopalocera" and "Heterocera" are used to formalize the popular distinction...
of the family
GeometridaeThe geometer moths or Geometridae are a family of the order Lepidoptera. A very large family, it has around 26,000 species of moths described . A well-known member is the Peppered Moth, Biston betularia, which has been subject of numerous studies in population genetics...
. It is a common species throughout the
PalearcticThe Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone. It includes the terrestrial ecoregions of Europe, Asia north of the Himalaya foothills, northern Africa, and the northern and central parts of the Arabian...
region, the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
and North
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
.
This is a distinctive species, all the wings being white except for a black blotch on the
costaThis glossary describes the terms used in the formal descriptions of lepidopteran species.Like all insects, adult butterflies have three distinctive segments to their bodies, the head, thorax and abdomen. The head has the eyes, the mouth parts and antennae. The mouth parts have a proboscis formed...
of the forewing. The
wingspanThe wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right 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 20-24 mm. Often two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time during the summer and autumn.
Discussion
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The
Lime-speck Pug (
Eupithecia centaureata) is a
mothA moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy. Sometimes the names "Rhopalocera" and "Heterocera" are used to formalize the popular distinction...
of the family
GeometridaeThe geometer moths or Geometridae are a family of the order Lepidoptera. A very large family, it has around 26,000 species of moths described . A well-known member is the Peppered Moth, Biston betularia, which has been subject of numerous studies in population genetics...
. It is a common species throughout the
PalearcticThe Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone. It includes the terrestrial ecoregions of Europe, Asia north of the Himalaya foothills, northern Africa, and the northern and central parts of the Arabian...
region, the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
and North
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
.
This is a distinctive species, all the wings being white except for a black blotch on the
costaThis glossary describes the terms used in the formal descriptions of lepidopteran species.Like all insects, adult butterflies have three distinctive segments to their bodies, the head, thorax and abdomen. The head has the eyes, the mouth parts and antennae. The mouth parts have a proboscis formed...
of the forewing. The
wingspanThe wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right 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 20-24 mm. Often two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time during the summer and autumn. The species flies at night and is attracted to light and nectar-rich
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s.
The
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
is rather variable but is usually green or yellow, often with red markings. It feeds on the flowers of a variety of
plantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The scientific study of plants, known as botany, has identified about 350,000 extant species of plants, defined as seed plants,...
s (see list below). The species overwinters as a
pupaA 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...
.
Recorded food plants
- Achillea - Yarrow
Achillea millefolium or yarrow is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere...
- Angelica
Angelica is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far North as Iceland and Lapland...
- Arctium - Burdock
Burdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....
- Artemisia
Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with between 200 to 400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. It comprises hardy herbs and shrubs known for their volatile oils. They grow in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, usually in dry or semi-dry...
- Calluna
Calluna vulgaris, known as Common Heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to , and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in...
- Heather
- Campanula
Campanula is one of several genera in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell"....
- Centaurea
Centaurea is a genus of at least some 350, if not 500 to 600 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Although the genus' distribution is Holarctic, most are native to the Palaearctic, where the Middle East and surrounding regions are particular species-rich...
- Cirsium
Cirsium is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known popularly as thistles. They are more accurately known as Plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera in having feathered hairs to their achenes...
- Thistle
- Crambe
Crambe is a genus of Brassicaceae native to Europe, southwest and central Asia and eastern Africa. It includes among its species seakale , grown as a leaf vegetable, Crambe cordifolia which is grown as an herbaceous border perennial, and Crambe abyssinica, which is grown for an oil from the seeds...
- Filipendula - Meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae, which grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and western Asia though it has been successfully introduced and naturalized in North America.Meadowsweet has also been referred to as...
- Galium
Galium is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, with about 400 species occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Most species are known as bedstraw....
- Bedstraw
- Hieracium - Hawkweed
Hawkweed refers to any species in the very large genus Hieracium and its segregate genus Pilosella, in the sunflower family ....
- Lotus
Lotus is a genus that includes bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. Lotus is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a wide range of habitats, from...
- Bird's-foot Trefoil
- Lysimachia
Lysimachia is a genus of flowering plants. It is traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae but should, according to molecular phylogenetic study, be placed to the family Myrsinaceae .-Characteristics:...
- Yellow Loosestrife
- Matricaria - Mayweed
Matricaria is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family . Some of the species have the common name of "mayweed," but this name also refers to plants not in this genus....
- Medicago - Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop. In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand it is known as lucerne and as lucerne grass in south Asia...
- Pimpinella - Burnet Saxifrage
Burnet Saxifrage is a plant, Pimpinella saxifraga of the family Umbelliferae a native of the British Isles and temperate Europe and western Asia...
- Rumex
The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex L., are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae....
- Sorrel
- Selinum - Milk-parsley
- Silene
Silene is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Common names include campion and catchfly....
- Bladder Campion
- Solidago - Goldenrod
The goldenrod is a yellow flowering plant in the Family Asteraceae.-Description:About 100 perennial species make up the genus Solidago, most being found in the meadows and pastures, along roads, ditches and waste areas in North America. There are a handful of species from each of Mexico, South...
- Tanacetum - Tansy
Tansy is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant of the aster family that is native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world and, in some areas, has become invasive...
- Trifolium - Red Clover
Trifolium pratense is a species of clover, native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalised in many other regions....
- Vicia - Tufted Vetch
Vicia cracca , is a common species of vetch is not native throughout North America, but native in Europe and Asia...
Subspecies
There are two regognised subspecies:
- Eupithecia centaureata centaureata
- Eupithecia centaureata centralisata