''Agriopis leucophaearia'', the spring usher, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Geometridae The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''met ...

. The species was first described by

Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärding ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Ignaz Schiffermüller (born 2 October 1727 in Hellmonsödt; died 21 June 1806 in Linz) was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera. Schiffermüller was a teacher at the Theresianum College in Vienna. His collection was presented ...

in 1775. It is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

species found from Europe to the Russian Far East, Siberia and Japan, mainly in oak forests and in heathland with low-growing oaks. The ground colour of the wings is usually whitish. The forewings are nuanced red brown at the base and the tip, with discontinuous black lines associated with areas streaked with black. The hindwings of the underside are stippled black. Some individuals may be more dark (brown and black stains) and there are named variants. See Prout (1912–16). The female is wingless. The male has a wingspan of 10–30 mm. The egg is long-oval, pointed at one end; light grass-green. The rather stout larva is green with yellow lines and brown dorsal blotchesMeyrick, E., 1895 ''A Handbook of British Lepidoptera'' MacMillan, Londo
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Keys and description Adults emerge from overwintering pupae in February and March. The females climb up tree trunks and the males fly weakly to them. The larvae feed mainly on oak (''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably '' ...

'') but also on ''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

'' and ''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) *Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places *223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, G ...

''.

References

External links

Spring usher at ''UKMoths''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Bistonini Palearctic Lepidoptera Moths described in 1775 Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Bistonini-stub