The cream wave (''Scopula floslactata'') is a moth 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

Adrian Hardy Haworth Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...

in 1809. It is found in forest and woodland regions, feeding on grasses and small plants such as

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

Distribution

It is a very common species in parts of France and central Europe. The range in the north extends to

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

and

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 ...

. The species is largely missing in southern Europe. There are isolated occurrences in southern Bulgaria and the Pyrenees). It extends east across the Palearctic from the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

(

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...

) to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, north-eastern China and Japan.

Description

''Scopula floslactata'' has a wingspan of about three centimetres. Colour and pattern are variable. The wings are creamy white to yellowish white. Across the forewings and hindwings, there are usually three jagged crosslines. Occasionally, there is a wavy line in the marginal field. The discal flecks are small and are often missing on the forewings, or very much blurred. In contrast, the discal flecks on the hindwings are almost always present. The fringes are sometimes also slightly darker than the ground colour. The males have small, feathered antennae.Meyrick, E., 1895 ''A Handbook of British Lepidoptera'' MacMillan, Londo
pdf
Keys and description It is similar to '' Scopula immutata'', but distinguished by its less rounded forewings and less developed or absent black discal spot.

Biology

It has one generation per year, with adults taking flight from late May through early July. The larvae feed on woodruff (''

Galium odoratum ''Galium odoratum'', the sweet woodruff or sweetscented bedstraw, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to much of Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia, as well as Western Siberia, Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, China ...

''), dandelion (''

Taraxacum officinale ''Taraxacum officinale'', the dandelion or common dandelion, is a flowering Herbaceous plant, herbaceous perennial plant of the Dandelion, dandelion genus in the family Asteraceae (syn. Compositae). The common dandelion is well known for its yell ...

''), bilberry (''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...

''), ''

Lonicera xylosteum ''Lonicera xylosteum'', commonly known as fly honeysuckle, European fly honeysuckle, dwarf honeysuckle or fly woodbine is a deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and " ...

'', ''

Alnus glutinosa ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations wh ...

'', ''

Galium verum ''Galium verum'' (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Israel, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kamchatka. It is ...

'', '' Rumex acetosa'', and ''

Vicia sepium ''Vicia sepium'' or bush vetch is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. A nitrogen-fixing, perennial, leguminous climbing plant that grows in hedgerows, grasslands, the edges of woodland, roadsides and rough grou ...

''. They also eat dry leaves of poplars (''Populus'') and willow (''Salix'').

Subspecies

*''Scopula floslactata floslactata'' (Europe to China) *''Scopula floslactata claudata'' Prout, 1913 (Japan, Korea, Russia: Primorye and South Kuriles)

References

External links

Cream wave at ''UKMoths''''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q171379 Moths described in 1809 floslactata Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Adrian Hardy Haworth