Eupithecia innotata

Eupithecia innotata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Eupithecia
Species:	E. innotata
Binomial name
Eupithecia innotata (Hufnagel, 1767)[1]
Synonyms
Phalaena innotata Hufnagel, 1767 Eupithecia alexandriana Vardikjan, 1972 Phalaena innotata Thunberg, 1788 Eupithecia sergiana Vardikjan, 1972 Eupithecia suspectata Dietze, 1871 Larentia tamarisciata Freyer, 1836 Eupithecia uliata Staudinger, 1897 Eupithecia ulicada Dietze, 1910 Eupithecia innotata f. grisescens Petersen, 1909 Eupithecia petersenaria Wnukowsky, 1929

Eupithecia innotata, the angle-barred pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It ranges from Spain in the west to western Siberia and central Asia in the east.^[2]

There are three forms found in the British Isles:

• E. innotata sensu stricto (angle-barred pug) is found only on the east and south-east coasts
• f. fraxinata (ash pug) is widely distributed
• rare f. tamarisciata (tamarisk pug)

The forewings are generally dark brown or grey with few distinguishing marks apart from a small white tornal spot which may not be present on the frequent melanic forms. The wingspan is 18–24 mm. Two broods are produced each year with the adults flying in May and June and again in August. Moths of the spring brood are usually darker in colour than the later specimens.

The caterpillars of the three races have different food plants:

• f. fraxinata feeding on ash
• E. innotata sensu stricto feeding on sea-buckthorn
• f. tamarisciata is found on the alien food-plant tamarisk

The species overwinters as a pupa.

References

1. Taxapad
2. Mironov, V.G. & Ratzel, U., 2012: Eupithecia Curtis, 1825 of Afghanistan (Geometridae: Larentiinae). Nota lepidopterologica 35 (2): 197-231. Full article: .

• Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
• Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to the Moths of the British Isles 1984
• Waring, Paul, Martin Townsend and Richard Lewington (2003) Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing, Hook, UK. ISBN 0-9531399-1-3.