''Pelurga comitata'', the dark spinach, 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 ...

. It is found throughout the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

, including

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 ...

(except the South-west and the Arctic Region),

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive 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 part of ...

, the

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 admini ...

and northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 25–30 mm. The length of the forewings is 16–18 mm. The forewings have a yellow-brown ground colour. The basal field is darker brownish. The midfield is wide, intersected by several lines and has a dark band on the inside. The basic colour of the forewings varies only slightly, in the tints of pale and dark browns. The outside of the midfield is bordered by a dark cross line with a pronounced bend distad. The wing apex is divided by a dark bar. The paler marginal field is marked with a faint wavy line that is shaded on the inside by brownish stains. The hind wings are yellowish grey and have indistinct crossbars. In ab. ''ferruginascens'' Krulik. he ground colourbecomes bright rust-reddish. - In ab. ''moldavinata'' Carad.it is much darker and more unicoloruus, the hindwing also darkened. This latter form, which is recorded from N. Germany, Romnania, the Ural, Ussuri, etc., is perhaps in some localities tending to form a local race. — ab. ''zonata'' Wahhgren has the median band entirely brown-black, ground colour normal.Prout , L.B. 1912–16. Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the World. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart. The larva is stout, rugose laterally, segmentation distinct; ochreous brown; dorsum tinged with green and with a row of large V-shaped dark markings on the abdominal segments, pointing forward. The moth flies from mid June to mid September . The larva feeds on

orache ''Atriplex'' () is a plant genus of about 250 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache (; also spelled orach). It belongs to the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae ''s.l.''. The genus is quite variable and w ...

and

goosefoot ''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifica ...

especially on the flowers and seeds.

Notes

#''The flight season refers to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

References

External links

Dark Spinach on UK MothsLepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
Larentiini Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Larentiini-stub