Small fan-footed wave

Idaea biselata Small fan-footed wave
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Idaea
Species:	I. biselata
Binomial name
Idaea biselata Hufnagel, 1767

The small fan-footed wave (Idaea biselata) is a moth of the family Geometridae.

Distribution

The species is widespread from the British Isles across Western Europe East to the Urals.In Northern Europe, the range extends about to central Fennoscandia . In the South the range extends up to central Portugal, Corsica, the North Apennines and North Greece. Isolated occurrences are known from Calabria and the Peloponnese. Outside of Europe it is found in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, in the North of Turkey, in Siberia, in North Kazakhstan, as well as in the Russian Far East . The subspecies Idaea biselata extincta (Staudinger, 1897) is represented in Korea and the Ussuri region.It rises to about 1,700 metres asl in the Alps. South of the Alps, is found from 600 to 1,500 metres and is rarely found below this range.

Description

It is a small (wingspan 22–25 mm), easily missed species. The wings are creamy-white with darker bands with a small black discal spot on each wing.The basic colouring and pattern vary relatively little.The ground colour is yellowish-white to slightly brownish white, the pattern elements are brown to dark brown. On the forewings the interior cross line is the most clearly shown. However, the outer cross line is usually significantly developed. A pale wavy line that is lined with inner and outer darker colour is located in the marginal field. Forewings and hindwings have black discal spots.On the front wings, these are basal to the middle crossline, on the rear wings they are distal to the interior cross line. Marginal stains are dark brown in color, but dimly developed.

Biology

It sometimes flies short distances by day but mainly at night when it is attracted to light. The adults are on the wing from June to August.

The larva feeds on a variety of plants including asparagus, dandelion, knotgrass, oak, plantain and Rubus. The species overwinters as a larva.

1. ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

References

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