Tawny speckled pug

Tawny speckled pug
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Eupithecia
Species:	E. icterata
Binomial name
Eupithecia icterata (de Villers, 1789)[1]
Synonyms
Phalaena icterata Villers, 1789 Eupithecia cognata Stephens, 1831 Eupithecia ferruginata Duponchel, 1842 Eupithecia ligusticata Dietze, 1910 Larentia ligustigata Donzel, 1838 Larentia oxydata Treitschke, 1828 Phalaena subfulvata Haworth, 1809

The tawny speckled pug (Eupithecia icterata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa.

Unlike many pugs this species is distinctively marked, the brown forewings marked with a large tawny-orange panel (although some races lack this). The hindwings are greyish brown. It is among the larger species in the genus with a wingspan of 20–24 mm. It flies at night in July and August and is attracted to light and some flowers.

The larva is reddish brown with a pale line down each side. It usually feeds on the leaves and flowers of yarrow and has also been recorded on Artemisia and tansy. The species overwinters as a pupa.

Subspecies

• Eupithecia icterata icterata
• Eupithecia icterata iranata Schutze, 1960 (Iran)^[2]
• Eupithecia icterata subfulvata (Haworth, 1809)

References

1. Taxapad
2. Mironov, V. & U. Ratzel, 2012: New species of the genus Eupithecia Curtis (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentii-nae) from Iran. Zootaxa 3580: 56-68. Abstract:

• Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
• Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984