Freyer's pug (''Eupithecia intricata'') 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 can be found in Europe (including Russia), east to 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 European ...

, 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 admini ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is also found in North America. 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 of ...

is 20–24 mm. The length of the forewings is 12–13 mm. The ground colour is grey or brownish grey. The forewing has numerous crosslines, a short line represents the discal forewing spot. There is a clear spot on the hindwings. The second segment of the abdomen has a dark brown colour.Final stage larvae are smooth and elongated . They are grass-green, teal or yellow-green and have white laterodorsal lines and also white side stripes. They thus resemble the needles of their main food plant, the common juniper and are therefore difficult for predators to recognize. The species primarily colonizes heathlands,sparse meadows, light pine forests as well as parks and gardens, but can also be found in built-up urban areas as well as in cemeteries. In the Alps, the species rises to heights of 2600 metres. The moths fly in one generation from May to June. The caterpillars feed on ''

Cupressus ''Cupressus'' is one of several genera of evergreen conifers within the family Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for the others, see cypress. It is considered a polyphyletic group. Based on genetic and morphological analysis, the ge ...

'' and ''

Juniperus Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

'' species.

Subspecies

There are a number of recognised subspecies: *''Eupithecia intricata intricata'' *''Eupithecia intricata arceuthata'' (Freyer, 1841) Central Europe *''Eupithecia intricata hibernica'' Mere, 1964 Burren, Ireland *''Eupithecia intricata millieraria'' Wnukowsky, 1929 *''Eupithecia intricata taylorata'' Swett, 1907 (common name: Taylor's cedar looper)

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...

(U.S.A)

Etymology

The common name honours

Christian Friedrich Freyer Christian Friedrich Freyer (25 August 1794, Wassertrüdingen – 11 November 1885, Augsburg) was a German entomologist mainly interested in Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are cal ...

Similar species

*''

Eupithecia satyrata ''Eupithecia satyrata'', the satyr pug, is a species of moth of the family Geometridae. It was described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. It is found from Ireland, through northern and central Europe (from Scandinavia to the northern Mediterranean) east ...

'' ash-grey, very small discoidal spot, light grey abdomen, which lacks a dark brown segment.

References

External links

Freyer's pug on ''UKMoths''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Moths described in 1839 Eupithecia Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of North America Taxa named by Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt {{Eupithecia-stub