''Alsophila aescularia'', the March moth, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 throughout

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 can be a

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

of fruit trees.

Distribution

It is a well-known species distributed throughout the western Palearctic region except northern Europe,

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, and the Greek Islands. A few isolated populations live outside of Europe in northern and eastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

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

Transcaucasus 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 ...

, and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. ''Alsophila aescularia'' has also been reported to exist in the Hyrcanian relic temperate deciduous forests of Iran along the northern slopes of

Alborz Mountain Range The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...

, called the Caspian Forest.

Description

The female of this species is wingless. It is usually found resting on tree-trunks. The male has a distinctive way of resting with overlapping wings. The wings appear long and narrow in this position. The males are attracted to light. 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 25–35 mm. The colour of the forewings varies between pale brownish and grayish brown. There is a well-defined Usually dark brown central band. The lines are sharply toothed and on the opposite side to the band they are whitish. A prominent black dot is present on the hind wings. Darkened specimens are rare. In these the lines are extinguished or the butterfly is completely black. The females have no wings and are eight to ten millimeters long. The abdomen is brownish grey, the abdominal hair tuft is about two millimeters wide and thus narrower than the abdomen, which represents a differentiator against ''

Alsophila aceraria ''Alsophila aceraria'' is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. It is found from south-western Europe and France to Germany, Austria, Italy, western Ukraine, the Balkan Peninsula, the southern Crimea, the Caucasus and Transcaucasus. The wi ...

''. The palps are very short, the sensors are slightly toothed. The proboscis is stunted. The tibiae of the hind legs have four spurs that are very short in females. The adults are active in March and April. ;Larva The bright pale-green larva reaches a length of about 26 mm. It is characterized by a very smooth skin and a flat head. There is a dark green dorsal line and yellowish-white lateral lines. In contrast to other geometrid caterpillars, they have an additional rudimentary abdominal leg pair in the fifth segment. Long, spider's-web like strings hang from oak trees in the southern hemisphere. The larvae hangs from one end. The larva feeds on a range of trees: apple (''

Malus domestica An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

''), European plum ('' Prunus domestica''),

Zwetschge The prune plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''domestica'') is a fruit-bearing tree, or its fruit. It is a subspecies of the plum ''Prunus domestica''. The freestone fruit is similar to, but distinct from, the clingstone damson (''Prunus domesti ...

(''Prunus domestica domestica''), blackthorn ('' Prunus spinosa''), bird cherry (''

Prunus padus ''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry, hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It is the type species of the subgenus '' Padus' ...

''), lime (''

Tilia ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain a ...

'' species), pedunculate oak ('' Quercus robur''), sessile oak ('' Quercus petraea''), northern red oak (''

Quercus rubra ''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been introdu ...

''), field maple '' Acer campestris'', sycamore (''

Acer pseudoplatanus ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the Sapindus, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved ...

''), elm (''

Ulmus Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...

'' species), hawthorn (''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'' species), dog rose ('' Rosa canina''), wild privet ('' Ligustrum vulgare''), hornbeam (''

Carpinus betulus ''Carpinus betulus'', the European or common hornbeam, is a species of tree in the birch family Betulaceae, native to Western Asia and central, eastern, and southern Europe, including southern England. It requires a warm climate for good growth, ...

''), beech ('' Fagus sylvatica''), 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 ...

''), ash ('' Fraxinus excelsior''), fly honeysuckle (''

Lonicera xylosteum ''Lonicera xylosteum'', commonly known as fly honeysuckle, European fly honeysuckle, dwarf honeysuckle or fly woodbine is a deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and " ...

''), common buckthorn ('' Rhamnus cathartica'') and silver birch ('' Betula pendula'').

References

Feizpour, Shamsi, et al. “Alsophila Aescularia (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) a Genus and Species New to the Fauna of Iran, a Species from a Threatened Habitat.” SPIXIANA, vol. 41, no. 1, Oct. 2018, pp. 111–115. Web of Science, doi:0341-8391.

External links

Lepidoptera of Belgium

Lepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1314950 Alsophilinae Agricultural pest insects Insect pests of ornamental plants Moths described in 1775 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller