''Eupithecia tripunctaria'', the white-spotted pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species can be found from Europe to Korea 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 ...

and in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Distribution

Presence extends through the Palearctic realm - ( Europe, (central Scandinavia to the Alps), Russia, Russian Far East, Siberia, Amur, and Baikal to

and the Kuril Islands. In the Pyrenees and the Alps, ''E. tripunctaria'' occurs up to a height of 1800 m. asl. Another distribution area is located in North America, from

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

to British Columbia and the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain � ...

in Southern California. The species prefers lowland forests, forest edges and damp meadows.

Morphology

The wingspan is 17–21 mm. The ground colour of the wings varies from ash grey to dark ashy brown to blackish, with the hind wings often averaging slightly paler. A pale waved line follows the margin of both wings with certain parts broken off into specific white marks which are more pronounced. These white marks give the species its name, and while they can show on both wings they are commonly absent from the hindwings. Though it is a good feature to identify this species, care should still be taken to separate it from other related species. Similar to other pug moths, a black discal spot is present on the center of the forewings, though it is often hard to see. The melanistic form f. ''angelicata'' which is a uniform smoky black, quite markingless except for the deeper black cell-spot occasionally appears in some populations. Such wholly dark forms are hard to separate from other species. Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgar
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The egg has an oval shape and shows hexagonal depressions in the shell sculpture. Adult caterpillars are either greenish or brownish coloured and show very clear dark, heart-shaped, brightly framed back spots, whose tips are directed forward.The brownish pupa has dark green wing sheaths and is provided with two strong and six thin hook bristles on the cremaster. Adults are on wing from March to September depending on the location. The larvae feed on Apiaceae species.

References

External links

White-spotted pug on UKmothsLepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
Moths described in 1852 tripunctaria Moths of North America Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer {{Eupithecia-stub