Ematurga atomaria

Last updated

Ematurga atomaria
Ematurga atomaria female - Keila.jpg
Female
Geometridae - Ematurga atomaria.JPG
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Ematurga
Species:
E. atomaria
Binomial name
Ematurga atomaria

Ematurga atomaria, the common heath, is a moth of the family Geometridae.

Contents

The species can be found in the Palearctic realm from the Iberian Peninsula in the west, central and eastern Europe and east to Siberia and Sakhalin. In the south, its range includes the northern Mediterranean and the Turkish part of the Black Sea region. [1]

The wingspan is 24–34 millimetres (0.9–1.3 in). The colour is variable ranging from yellow brown to dark brown. The appearance is mottled with bands and spots. The brown cross bands on both forewings and hindwings vary in width and there may be no cross bands at all only small dark brownish spots. Males have comb-like antennae. Females are usually brown with a dusting of white but can be almost white with a series of brown crosslines. [2] [3] The egg is elongated and green to yellow-red. The caterpillar is slim, smooth and up to 30 millimeters long. The colour is very variable as with the moth; it ranges from brown to yellowish, grey to violet-grey. The dorsal line is dark, and the side stripes are light and wavy. The pupa is yellow-brown and spotted. The cremaster is long and forked at the end.

Moths of the British Isles Series 2 Plate141 Moths of the British Isles Series2 Plate141.jpg
Moths of the British Isles Series 2 Plate141

South's Moths

Richard South had this to say "Four specimens of this variable species are shown on Plate 141 (Figs. 4, 5 ♂, 6, 7 ♀). The general colour of all the wings in the male is ochreous, inclining to whitish or to brownish. Usually the wings are speckled with brown, and the cross lines, or bands, are dark brown. Occasionally the cross markings are absent; but more frequently the three lines on the fore wings are much broadened and more or less united, sometimes forming a central band in which are a few ochreous scales towards the front margin: ab. obsoletaria, Zetterstedt. Dark brown or blackish specimens (ab. unicolorata, Staudinger) are captured now and then in the southern counties of England, but such uniform dark varieties are more frequent in the north (Staffordshire and Yorkshire). The female is white in colour, and usually only lightly speckled with blackish; the cross lines are more conspicuous, as a rule, than in the male, but they are subject to pretty much the same kind of aberration. Sometimes examples of this sex greatly resemble Fidonia carbonaria , and have been confused with that species by Haworth and other entomologists in the past. An abnormal specimen with six wings has been recorded, and Barrett mentions a gynandrous example—the right side like a small dark female, and the left an ordinary male; both antennæ shortly pectinated.

The caterpillar, according to Fenn, is variable in colour and markings, all shades of brown, greenish brown, ochreous, purple, and grey; in some examples there are pale diamonds, and in others whitish spots, along the back. It feeds on ling and heath, and will eat clover, trefoils, broom, etc.: July and August, and occasionally September. The moth is out in May and June, and sometimes there are specimens on the wing in August. Abundant on almost every heath throughout the British Isles, except in the Shetlands. [4]

larva 70.275 BF1952 Common Heath, Ematurga atomaria, larva (7561172560).jpg
larva

The moths fly in one generation from May to June in the British Isles. In other parts of the range there is a second generation from June to September. The caterpillars feed on a heather, heath and clovers.

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Meadow brown</span> Species of butterfly

    The meadow brown is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The larvae feed on grasses.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Common carpet</span> Species of moth

    The common carpet or white-banded toothed carpet is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1764. It is found throughout the Palearctic and the Near East. In North America it ranges across the northern tier of the United States plus every province and territory of Canada.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Foxglove pug</span> Species of moth

    The foxglove pug is a moth of the family Geometridae found in Europe. It was described by the English entomologist James Francis Stephens in 1831.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Scalloped hazel</span> Species of moth

    The scalloped hazel is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Scalloped oak</span> Species of moth

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Mottled beauty</span> Species of moth

    The mottled beauty is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden dart</span> Species of moth

    The garden dart is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is distributed throughout much of the Palearctic. Temperate regions of Europe, Central Asia and North Asia, as well as the mountains of North Africa. Absent from polar regions, on Iceland and some Mediterranean islands, as well as in Macaronesia.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Flame shoulder</span> Species of moth

    The flame shoulder is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. It is distributed throughout the Palearctic from Ireland in the west to Siberia then Korea and Japan in the east.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Large yellow underwing</span> Species of Eurasian moth

    The large yellow underwing is a moth, the type species for the family Noctuidae. It is an abundant species throughout the Palearctic realm, one of the most common and most familiar moths of the region. In some years the species is highly migratory with large numbers appearing suddenly in marginal parts of the range.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar underwing</span> Species of moth

    The lunar underwing is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It has a scattered distribution in western Europe including Spain, Scandinavia and Algeria.

    <i>Orgyia antiqua</i> Species of moth

    Orgyia antiqua, the rusty tussock moth or vapourer, is a moth in the family Erebidae.

    <i>Apatura ilia</i> Species of butterfly

    Apatura ilia, the lesser purple emperor, is a species of butterfly native to most of Europe and east across the Palearctic. It is named for its similarity to the purple emperor butterfly.

    <i>Cerura vinula</i> Species of moth

    Cerura vinula, the puss moth, is a lepidopteran from the family Notodontidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

    <i>Colostygia pectinataria</i> Species of moth

    Colostygia pectinataria, the green carpet, is a Palearctic moth of the genus Colostygia in the family Geometridae. It was first described by August Wilhelm Knoch in 1781.

    <i>Abrostola triplasia</i> Species of moth

    Abrostola triplasia is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found across the entire Palearctic realm. Subarctic territories with an average temperature of below 6 °C are an exception. In the warmest and driest regions of the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the mountains in West and Central Asia, the species occurs only scattered or is entirely lacking.

    <i>Ecliptopera silaceata</i> Species of moth

    Ecliptopera silaceata, the small phoenix, is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

    <i>Aethalura punctulata</i> Species of moth

    Aethalura punctulata, the grey birch, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species is found in Europe and then east, as far as western Siberia and the Caucasus.This species prefers sparse alder-ash-floodplain forests on moist to wet locations. Although it is only locally distributed in Central Europe, it is usually common in these biotopes. It occurs from the plains to the middle mountain regions. In the Alps it rises up to 1600 m.

    <i>Agriopis aurantiaria</i> Species of moth

    Agriopis aurantiaria, the scarce umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1799 and it is found throughout Europe from Spain through Central Europe to Russia. In the south it can be found from the western Mediterranean to the Black Sea and the Caucasus. Its northern distribution reaches as far as central Fennoscandia. The species can be found in many different places, including deciduous forests, orchards, gardens as well as parks and settlement areas.

    <i>Trabala vishnou</i> Species of moth

    Trabala vishnou, the rose-myrtle lappet moth, is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae. It is found in southern Asia, including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Four subspecies are recognized.

    <i>Atomotricha versuta</i> Species of moth endemic to New Zealand

    Atomotricha versuta is a moth in the family Oecophoridae first described by Edward Meyrick in 1914. It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in both the North and South Islands. The adults of the species are variable in appearance but the three principal variteis are connected b intermediate forms. The female of the species is brachypterous and is incapable of flight. Both the adult male and female have been observed resting on fences during cold winter nights.

    References

    1. de:Heidespanner
    2. Bernd Müller, Sven Erlacher,,Axel Hausmann, Hossein Rajaei, Pasi Sihvonen and Peder Skou, 2019 In: Axel Hausmann (Hrsg.):, 2019 The Geometrid Moths of Europe. 1. Auflage. Volume 6 Ennominae II(Boarmiini, Gnophini, additions to previous volumes), Stenstrup 2015, 978-90-04-38748-5
    3. David Newland, Robert Still, & Andy Swash, 2013 Britain's Day-flying Moths: A Field Guide to the Day-flying Moths of Britain and Ireland Wild Guides ISBN   9780691158327
    4. South R. (1908) The Moths of the British Isles, (Second Series), Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., London & NY: 388 pp.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .