''Hydriomena furcata'', the July highflyer, 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 ''metro ...

. The species was first described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1784. It is found in the Holarctic ecozone.

Subspecies

Subspecies include: *''Hydriomena furcata furcata'' (Thunberg, 1784) *''Hydriomena furcata fergusoni'' McDunnough, 1954 *''Hydriomena furcata saga'' (Prout, 1938)

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found in Europe, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

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 ...

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 ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

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 ...

, northern

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, ...

, China,

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 ...

, In North America, from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and Newfoundland. It is extremely abundant in northern Europe; in central Europe it becomes more local and in the south it is apparently almost lacking; in

and central Asia it has a wide range. The preferred habitat is moorland areas of sub-alpine and montane regions, hedgerows and woodland margins.

Description

''Hydriomena furcata'' can reach a

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 o ...

of . UK Moths
/ref> These moths are very variable, both in markings as well as colour. The ground colour ranges from olive green to grey, greyish brown and reddish brown. Also the dark cross bands vary in intensity and pattern. The banding is reddish brown to blackish with whitish spots and dark speckles. There is anapical streak on the forewings. The hindwings are pale brown. The edge of the forewing is angled near the base,. It differs from the other European species of ''

Hydriomena ''Hydriomena'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae described by Jacob Hübner in 1825. Species * '' Hydriomena albifasciata'' (Packard, 1874) * '' Hydriomena albimontanata'' McDunnough, 1939 * '' Hydriomena arida'' (Butler, 1879) * '' ...

'' in the shorter palpus, the more angled or irregular markings between the subbasal line and the median space, dark subterminal band, nearly always interrupted by a white or pale spot in the middle, absence of black vein-streaks near the apex". The caterpillars are dark grey on the dorsum and ventrally dark red and with white side stripes. The pupae are 10 to 14 millimeters long and 3 to 3.8 millimeters wide, they are reddish brown coloured and shiny. The proboscis sheath is a little shorter than the middle legs and antenna sheaths. The tenth abdominal segment is clearly curved, the labium medium in size. A safe distinction from related species is possible by means of the bristles on the cremaster

Biology

Adults are on wing from May to August. There is one generation per year

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

. The species overwinters as an egg. These moths are both diurnal and nocturnal and fly towards the light. 'De Vlinderstichting''
The females usually lay their eggs in small groups on the underside of blueberry leaves (Vaccinium myrtillus). The larvae feed on various broad-leaved trees and shrubs, including goat willow ''

Salix caprea ''Salix caprea'', known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook 4. . Des ...

'', hazel (''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland En ...

''), rose (''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places * 223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, ...

'' sp.), aspen (''

Populus tremula ''Populus tremula'' (commonly called aspen, common aspen, Eurasian aspen, European aspen, or quaking aspen) is a species of poplar native to cool temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from Iceland and the British IslesJames KilkellIrish native ...

'') and ''

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 ...

''.

Variability of ''Hydriomena furcata''

File:Hydrimena furcata, July Highflyer, Berwyns, North Wales, July 2005 (20487063654).jpg, File: Hydriomena furcata01.jpg File: (1777) July Highflyer (Hydriomena furcata) (28473054642).jpg File: Geometridae - Hydriomena furcata-002.JPG

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1309743 Hydriomena Moths described in 1784 Geometrid moths of Great Britain Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of Iceland Taxa named by Carl Peter Thunberg