The common white wave (''Cabera pusaria'') 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 ''metro ...

. The species was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found throughout the Palearctic region .The habitat is deciduous forests and their surroundings. This species has white wings, sometimes tinged with pink, slight grey dusted grey and with fine grey fascia (the first curved) on the forewing and two on the hindwing. ab. ''heveraria'' H.-Schiff. is a rare form in which the grey dusting densely covers almost the entire wings. ab. ''rotundaria'' Haw. is a rounder-winged form with the first lines strongly approximated and said to be the product of under-feeding the larvae. Hybrid ''fletcheri'' Tutt (''pusaria'' male x ''exanthemata'' female) is just intermediate between the parent forms, rather pure white, the lines tinged with ochreous. The

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 o ...

is 32–35 mm. Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgar
pdf
/ref> One or two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time from May to August. This moth flies at night and is attracted to light. 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. ...

is elongate, with a rather flattened head is very variable -green with purplish brown or blackish dorsal spots sometimes vague, purplish-brown with white spots, or grey mixed with reddish, or sometimes yellowish. It feeds on various

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and shrubs including

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

birch 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 ...

oak 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 ''L ...

, rowan and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

. The species overwinters as a

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

.The pupa is compact, brown, the wings olive-green.

Similar species

'' Cabera exanthemata'' (Scopoli, 1763) '' Cabera leptographa'' (Wehrli, 1936)

References

*Chinery, Michael ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe'' 1986 (Reprinted 1991) *Skinner, Bernard ''Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles'' 1984

External links

"70.277 BF1955 Common White Wave ''Cabera pusaria'' (Linnaeus, 1758)"
''UKMoths''. Retrieved March 26, 2019. *
"07824 ''Cabera pusaria'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - Weißstirn-Weißspanner"
''Lepiforum e.V.'' Retrieved March 26, 2019. Caberini Moths described in 1758 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Caberini-stub