''Trichopteryx polycommata'', the barred tooth-striped, 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

Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärding ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Ignaz Schiffermüller (born 2 October 1727 in Hellmonsödt; died 21 June 1806 in Linz) was an Austrian naturalist mainly interested in Lepidoptera. Schiffermüller was a teacher at the Theresianum College in Vienna. His collection was presented ...

in 1775. It is found in Europe (threatened in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

) and the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

, east to 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 ...

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 ...

, the southern

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 ...

(Primorsk) and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(Hokkaido).

Description

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 33–36 mm. A handsome species and easily recognized by its rather elongate forewing and by the form and arrangement of the rich, red-brown markings on the glossy, brownish-white wing. Hindwing with disco-cellulars biangulate with the 2nd radial emanating from the lower angle. in typical examples, the distal area of the forewing shows a moderately distinct dark band or shade, set off by the pale subterminal. - In ab. ''prospicua''

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-equi ...

however, the white ground-colour is scarcely dark marked, the median band somewhat darkened, in consequence showing up very clearly and effectively. — ab. ''albinea'' Tgstr is almost entirely white, the forewing only with very little fuscous marking. The larva is moderately stout, nearly cylindrical, but rather ridged and wrinkled laterally with small anal points; head rather small, rounded, green; body dark green with darker mediodorsal and slender whitish subdorsal line; lateral stripe narrow, white or pale yellow. Pupa of medium thickness, wing and leg-cases dull green, dorsum and abdomen yellowish red-brown, the former with slight greenish tinge anteriorly. .Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgar
pdf

Biology

The larvae feed on ''

Ligustrum vulgare ''Ligustrum vulgare'' (wild privet, also sometimes known as common privet or European privet) is a species of ''Ligustrum'' native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to M ...

'' and ''

Fraxinus ''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...

'' species. The pupa is placed in a moderately compact cocoon on the surface of the earth Adults are on wing from March to April.

Subspecies

*''Trichopteryx polycommata polycommata'' *''Trichopteryx polycommata grisea'' (Djakonov, 1926) (northern Urals, Altai, Sayan, north-eastern Kazakhstan, Kamchatka) *''Trichopteryx polycommata anna'' Inoue, 1957 Furthermore, there are a number of named forms, including the melanic form, ab. ''caliginosa'', which has been recorded Sussex.

References

External links

Barred tooth-striped at ''UKMoths''''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''
Trichopterygini Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Larentiinae-stub