The wormwood pug (''Eupithecia absinthiata'') is a
moth
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...
of the family
Geometridae
The geometer moths are moth
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyleti ...
. The species was
first described by
Carl Alexander Clerck
Carl Alexander Clerck (1709 – 22 July 1765) was a Sweden, Swedish entomologist and arachnology, arachnologist.
Clerck came from a family in the petty Swedish nobility, nobility and entered the University of Uppsala in 1726. Little is known of hi ...
in 1759. It is a common species across the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
region as well as North America.
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
is 21–23 mm and the forewings are warm brown with two black spots along the
costa with a black discal spot completing a distinctive triangle. There is a pale narrow line near the fringe with a distinct whitish spot near the
tornus, although this is not as prominent as in the rather similar
currant pug. The hindwings are greyish brown.ab. ''obscura'' Dietze (Kassimov, Central Russia) is much darker, the forewing described as sepia-coloured.
[ Riley, A.M. and Prior, G. ''British and Irish Pug Moths A Guide to their Identification and Biology'', Apollo Books, ]
Adult larvae are smooth and elongated. They adapt to the basic colour of the respective food plant and are accordingly greenish, cream-colored or brownish colored and usually show a reddish-brown diamond-like pattern on the back. Sometimes light green, almost unmarked specimens also appear.
The yellow-brown pupa is provided with greenish wing sheaths. At the cremaster there are eight hook bristles, the middle pair of which is strongly formed.
''Eupithecia absinthiata'' requires examination of a genital preparation for certain identification.
The species flies at night in June and July and is attracted to light.
As the name suggests, the
larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
feeds on the
flower
Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...
s of
mugwort (which is sometimes called "common wormwood"), but it will also feed on the flowers of a range of other plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a
pupa
A pupa (; : 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 their life cycle, the stages th ...
.
Larval food plants
*''
Achillea''
*''
Aconitum''
*''
Artemisia''
*''
Aster''
*''
Calluna'' – heather
*''
Cirsium'' –
creeping thistle
*''
Erica''
*''
Eupatorium''
*''
Pimpinella'' – burnet-saxifrage
*''
Senecio
''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels.
Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants.
Description
Mo ...
''
*''
Solidago'' – goldenrod
*''
Tanacetum''
*''
Tripleurospermum'' – Mayweed
Similar species
*''
Eupithecia assimilata''.
*''
Eupithecia expallidata''
References
*
Chinery, Michael (1986, reprinted 1991). ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe''.
*
Skinner, Bernard (1984). ''
The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles''.
External links
*
''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q2415025
Eupithecia
Moths described in 1759
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Moths of North America
Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck