''Aplocera praeformata'', known as the purple treble-bar, is a species of

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 ...

in the family Geometridae.

Subspecies

Subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

include: * ''Aplocera praeformata gibeauxi'' Leraut, 1995 * ''Aplocera praeformata praeformata'' (Hübner, 1826) * ''Aplocera praeformata urbahni'' Dufay, 1981

Distribution and habitat

This species is present from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, through Western Europe, over Central Europe, to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Its northernmost range is southern

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and the

Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

. iNaturalist
/ref> The subspecies ''Aplocera praeformata urbahni'' is found in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

it is found to heights of up to 2,000 meters.

Description

''Aplocera praeformata'' has a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of 34–44 mm. The forewings have a gray to blue-gray basic color. They show various bands of dark transverse lines. A red-brown stain extends towards the wing tip. The hind wings are monochrome gray-white without any drawing. This species is rather similar to '' Aplocera plagiata''.

Biology

Adults are on the wing from June to August. This species has one generation a year univoltine. The caterpillars are gray-brown, with a white side line and a dark lower edge. The

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e feed on ''

Hypericum ''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many ''Hype ...

'' species (St. John's worts), such as ''

Hypericum maculatum ''Hypericum maculatum'', commonly known as imperforate St John's-wort, or spotted St. Johnswort, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia where it grows in moist m ...

'' and ''

Hypericum perforatum ''Hypericum perforatum'', known as St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae and the type species of the genus ''Hypericum''. Possibly a hybrid between '' H. maculatum'' and '' H. attenuatum'', the species can be found a ...

''.Funet

References

External links

Lepiforum.de

INPN
{{Taxonbar, from=Q819744 Aplocera Moths of Europe Taxa named by Jacob Hübner