''Minoa murinata'', the drab looper, 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 ''met ...

. The species was first described by

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and natural history, naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational ...

in his 1763 ''

Entomologia Carniolica ' is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic work by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, published in Vienna in 1763. As well as describing hundreds of new species, ' contained observations on the species' biology, including the first published account of queen bee ...

''. It can be found in southern and central Europe, Great Britain,

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the

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 ...

and the mountains of central Asia and Mongolia. 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 14–18 mm. The length of the forewings is 9–11 mm. The moths fly from June to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on

cypress spurge ''Euphorbia cyparissias'', the cypress spurge, is a species of plant in the genus ''Euphorbia''. It is native to Europe and was introduced to North America in the 1860s as an ornamental plant. Natural habitat types include dunes, pannes, coast ...

and wood spurge.

Subspecies

*''Minoa murinata murinata'' (Europe, Russia, Asia Minor, Central Asia) *''Minoa murinata amylaria'' Prout, 1914 (Alps, Italy) *''Minoa murinata limburgia'' Lempke, 1969 (Netherlands) *''Minoa murinata lutea'' Schwingenschuss, 1954 (Russia)

References

External links

Drab looper on ''UKMoths''''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Asthenini Moths described in 1763 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli {{Asthenini-stub