''Eupithecia pygmaeata'', the marsh pug, is a
moth of the family
Geometridae. It is known from most of
Europe, western and southern
Siberia, the
Russian Far East, northern
Mongolia and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
(from
Alaska to
Newfoundland and Labrador and
Quebec, south to
Colorado).The species primarily colonizes floodplain and disused forests, bogs, river banks and marshy meadows. ''E. pygmaeata'' reaches up to 1800 meters in South Tyrol.
The
wingspan is 14–18 mm. The ground colour of the forewings is dark smoky brown. Newly emerged moths have a coppery sheen. It is generally very weakly marked. The forewings have a small white dot at the inner angle and two dark spots at the costal edge. They are pointed not rounded. The hindwings are similar in colour and have a pale dot at the tornal margin. ab. ''pseudozibellinata'' Dietze is more copiously sprinkled with light scales.
[Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgar]
/ref>
The caterpillars are greenish or light brown and show dark brown dorsal and lateral lines as well as loose short hair. The dorsal line is sometimes extended onto the segments.
The pupa is brownish, the wing sheaths often shimmer slightly greenish. The cremaster is equipped with a total of eight hook bristles, the middle pair of which is more powerfully formed.
There are two generations per year with adults on wing from mid April to August.
The larvae feed on '' Cerastium'' and ''Stellaria
''Stellaria'' is a genus of about 190 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names include starwort, stitchwort and chickweed.
Description
''Stellaria'' species are relatively small ...
'' species. Larvae can be found from June to September. It overwinters as a pupa.
Subspecies
*''Eupithecia pygmaeata pygmaeata''
*''Eupithecia pygmaeata obumbrata'' Taylor, 1906 (British Columbia)
Similar species
*''Eupithecia plumbeolata
''Eupithecia plumbeolata'', the lead-coloured pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species can be found all over Europe ranging to the Urals, then through Central Asia to Siberia and to Sayan mountains, the Altai and the Amur. In ...
'' is brighter colored and lacks the white spot at the inner angle of the front wings.
*''Eupithecia valerianata
''Eupithecia valerianata'', the valerian pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. It is found from Great Britain, through central Europe to western Russia, Belarus and northern Iran. '' is light grey-brown and shows an elongated white spot at the inner angle of the front wings.
References
External links
Lepiforum.demothphotographersgroupUK Moths
Moths described in 1799
pygmaeata
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Taxa named by Jacob Hübner
{{Eupithecia-stub