''Adscita statices'', the green forester, 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
Zygaenidae
The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. Some of the 1000 or so species are commonly known as burnet or forester moths, ofte ...
. It is found in Europe,
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and
western Russia
European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...
.
Description
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 . The antennae, head, thorax, legs and abdomen are shiny green (the thorax is occasionally blue green and shimmering). However, the wings may appear rusty-red in the early morning and evening. The wide forewings are less glossy than the body, mostly blue green, sometimes also green to yellow green. The fringes are blackish grey. The hindwings are moderately wide with a slightly truncated rim, They are slightly transparent, blackish grey and lightened basally. The underside of both pairs of wings is grey.
The caterpillars are pale yellowish-green with a central dark stripe and fine white hairs dorsally.
[
The wings of the green forester contain two types of colored scales, of which one contains pores of different sizes. These pores are able to fill with water, which causes the color of the scales to change from green to rusty-red.]
Biology
The moth flies in sunshine from mid-May to early August. The larvae feed on various species of ''Rumex
The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae.
Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribu ...
'', such as ''Rumex acetosa
Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus '' ...
'' and ''Rumex acetosella
''Rumex acetosella'', commonly known as red sorrel, sheep's sorrel, field sorrel and sour weed, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Native to Eurasia and the British Isles, the plant and its subspecies are commo ...
''. The eggs are laid on the leaf blade; the larva mines the leaf when it is small, but later moves to the lower parts of the plant and feeds on the leaves. When fully developed it descends to the ground and pupates in a cocoon among the vegetation.
British Isles
This species has become very scarce in Northern Ireland, with recent records from northern County Armagh and western County Fermanagh, and because of its rarity there, it is listed as a Northern Ireland Priority Species.
References
External links
The Forester at UKmothsLepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q338461
Procridinae
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Moths described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus