''Idaea humiliata'', the Isle of Wight wave, 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. It is found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

Distribution

True to its name, this species was once found on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

but became extinct there around 1931. There was one sighting in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in 1954 but the moth appears to be currently extirpated from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Description

The species has 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 of ...

of 19–22 mm. In the UK, the adults flew in one generation in July. "The caterpillar overwinters. The moths fly from June (rarely late May) to mid-August."

Diet

The larvae feed on

knotgrass Knotgrass or knot grass is the common name for several plants and a moth and may refer to: *''Paspalum distichum'', a species of grass *''Polygonum'', a genus of plants in the buckwheat family, more often known as knot weed *''Acronicta rumicis ...

, dandelion and

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

in captivity. It is unknown what the natural foodplant is.

References

External links

Isle of Wight wave at UK MothsFauna EuropaeaLepiforum.de
Sterrhini Moths of Europe Moths described in 1767 Taxa named by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel {{Sterrhinae-stub