''Earias clorana'', the cream-bordered green pea, is a
moth
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...
of the family
Nolidae
Nolidae is a family of moths with about 1,700 described species worldwide. They are mostly small with dull coloration, the main distinguishing feature being a silk cocoon with a vertical exit slit. The group is sometimes known as tuft moths, aft ...
. It is found in most of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
eastwards across the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
to the Urals and Western Siberia.
Technical description and variation
''Earis chlorana'' L. (= ''viride'' Retz.) Forewing pale green; the costa white to beyond middle, the edge towards base brownish; hindwing white; the termen and fringe faintly greenish above vein 2; in the ab. ''flavimargo'' de Joan., from Brittany, the fringe is yellowish at base, brown in the middle, and white at the tips; ab. ''hemixantha'' de Joan, has the terminal area, except at costa, suffused with orange yellow. Larva whitish mottled with grey; the lines rusty grey, darker in places; pairs of somewhat pointed tubercles on segments 3, 4, 6, and 12; head pale green with black marks. The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
is 16–20 mm.
Biology
The moth flies from May to August depending on the location.
The larvae feed on various
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
species – ''Salix'' (British Isles, Finland, Europe), ''
Salix aurita
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
'' (Finland), ''
Salix caprea
''Salix caprea'', known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook 4. .
De ...
'' (Finland), ''
Salix cinerea
''Salix cinerea'' (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willow, pussy willow, rusty sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain ...
'' (Finland), ''
Salix lapponum
''Salix lapponum'', the downy willow, is a low, much-branched shrub having a wide distribution in Northern Europe, eastwards to the Altai and western Siberia, and is found as far south as the Pyrenees and Bulgaria. In Scotland, UK, it can be fou ...
'' (Finland), ''
Salix purpurea
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
'' (Finland), ''
Salix repens
''Salix repens'', the creeping willow, is a small, shrubby species of willow in the family Salicaceae, growing up to 1.5metres in height. Found amongst sand dunes and heathlands, it is a polymorphic species, with a wide range of variants. In t ...
'' (British Isles), ''
Salix viminalis
''Salix viminalis'', the basket willow, common osier or osier, is a species of willow native to Europe, Western Asia, and the Himalayas.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K ...
'' (British Isles)
polyphagous
Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...
(Sweden, Europe)
spinning together the topmost leaves of the shoots and pupating in a boat shaped cocoon.
References
External links
Cream-bordered green pea on UKmothsLepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
Nolidae
Moths described in 1758
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Nolidae-stub