| Brimstone moth | |
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| Species: | O. luteolata |
| Binomial name | |
| Opisthograptis luteolata | |
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The brimstone moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It should not be confused with the brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni.
This species is unmistakable within its range, with bright yellow wings marked with small brown patches along the costa of the forewing and a small brown-edged white stigma, also on the forewing. The wingspan is 33–46 mm. "0. luteolata L. The only European species. The name-typical form has on the forewing red-brown costal markings at the base, at the discal mark and triangularly at the apex; faint, irregularly grey antemedian and postmedian lines, interrupted at the veins. Hindwing with dark discal dot and faint grey postmedian line. — aestiva Vorh. & Müll.-Rutz is a smaller, more deeply coloured summer brood form. It seems to be the principal or only form in Tunis. — ab. flavissima Krulik. is almost entirely yellow, only with slight remnants of the costal markings. — ab. albescens Ckll. has the ground colour pure white instead of yellow. Very pale yellow examples have been separated as intermedia Harrison. — ab. niko Chr. is according to. Staudinger an extraordinary aberration with both wings broadly fuscous margined and the basal part of the forewing brownish. Perhaps accidental, as the yellow of this species is highly susceptible to various kinds of chemical action.- provincialis Ob. is a pale, weakly marked form from Provence. — emaculata Graes. lacks the apical patch of the forewing. Prevalent in Central Asia, accidental elsewhere. — mimulina Btlr. has the cell-mark large, the lines strong, the 2 principal lines of the forewing ending in conspicuous red-brown spots on the hindmargin. N. India: Dharmsala etc." [1]
The moth sometimes flies during the day but mainly at night, and is attracted to light.
The larva is brown or green with a "horn" on its back and feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs. Recorded food plants include apple, birch, blackthorn, currant, hawthorn, Prunus , rowan, Amelanchier and willow. The species, due to its complex life cycle, overwinters either as a larva or a pupa.
The species has a complex ecology: sometimes one brood is produced each year but sometimes three broods are produced over a two-year period, with the result that adults can be seen on the wing at any time from April to October .
The brimstone is found throughout the Palearctic region and Western Asia.
The English zoologist Edward Bagnall Poulton, author of The Colours of Animals (1890) described countershading in insects including the caterpillar larvae of the brimstone moth. [2] The American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer, generally considered the originator of the theory of countershading, credited Poulton with its partial discovery. [3]
The large emerald is a moth which is the type species for the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The green pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Chloroclystis or Rhinoprora. It is common throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.
The clouded border is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is distributed across most of Europe to the Urals, western and central Siberia, Transbaikalia, Kazakhstan, Tian-Shan, northern Mongolia and parts of the Near East.
The scalloped oak is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The common white wave is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.
The bright-line brown-eye is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is a common species throughout Europe, but is also found in North Africa, temperate North Asia and Central Asia, Asia Minor, Syria, and Turkestan, northern India, China, Korea and Japan.
The angle shades is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is distributed throughout Europe as far east as the Urals and also in the Azores, in Algeria, and in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Syria. It is strongly migratory.
Daphnis nerii, the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which an animal's coloration is darker on the upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and insects, both predators and prey, and has occurred since at least the Cretaceous period.
The herald is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout the Palearctic and Nearctic (Holarctic).
Plagodis dolabraria, the scorched wing, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1767. It is found throughout Europe and through the Palearctic, east to Transcaucasia, south east Siberia and Japan.
Plagodis pulveraria, the barred umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout much of the Palearctic ecozone from Ireland to Japan and in the Nearctic (Canada).
Scotopteryx chenopodiata, the shaded broad-bar, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Catocala fraxini, the blue underwing or Clifden nonpareil, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Setina irrorella, the dew moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in the Palearctic from Ireland, then through Europe and east to northern and central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. It is missing in the high north and parts of the Mediterranean region. It is found also in the limestone Alps up to 2,000 meters above sea level.
Deilephila porcellus, the small elephant hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe, North Africa and western Asia.
Calliteara pudibunda, the pale tussock, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe, Anatolia, Caucasus, western Siberia, eastern Transbaikalia and the Amur basin in south-eastern Russia, Korea, China and northern Vietnam.
Cosmorhoe is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae erected by Jacob Hübner in 1825. Its only species, Cosmorhoe ocellata, the purple bar, was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Chlorissa viridata, the small grass emerald, is a species of moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found from western Europe to the eastern Palearctic.
Philereme transversata, the dark umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in much of the Palearctic ecozone.
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