The cloaked pug (''Eupithecia abietaria'') is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

of the family

Geometridae The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metr ...

. The species was first described by

Johann August Ephraim Goeze Johann August Ephraim Goeze (; 28 May 1731 – 27 June 1793) was a German zoologist, born in Aschersleben. He is known for the discovery of tardigrades, also called water bears. He was the son of Johann Heinrich and Catherine Margarete (née ...

in 1781 and it can be found in Europe and to the east in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

and Japan. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 21–23 mm. It is a large and handsome species, the lines sharply expressed and marked with black teeth or dashes on the veins. There is a very large discal dot and two red-brown bands. The face is without well-developed cone of scales and the palpus is about twice as long as the diameter of the eye The forewing has a double areole . - ab. ''constricta'' ab. nov.

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-e ...

has the median area reduced to a width of only 1-2 mm. and the antemedian and postmedian lines ere connected by black veins. - ''debrunneata'' Stgr., from the Ussuri district, is more mixed with blackish, the red-brown tone wanting - ''gigantea'' Stgr., from the Ussuri district and Japan, is darker grey than in ''debrunneata'', the reddish bands (as in ''rufescens'') strongly developed. Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgar
pdf *
/ref> The oval egg is characterized by regular, large, hexagonal depressions on the shell sculpture. Final instar larvae are thick, fleshy red coloured and show no patterns. The pupa is dark reddish-brown and has two strong hook bristles on the cremaster as well as several fine bristles. The moths flies from June to July depending on the location. The larvae feed on ''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...

'', ''

Picea sitchensis ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

'' and ''

Abies procera ''Abies procera'', the noble fir, also called red fir and Christmas tree, is a species of fir native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of . Description ...

''.

Subspecies

There are two recognized subspecies: *''Eupithecia abietaria abietaria'' *''Eupithecia abietaria debrunneata''

Similar species

Eupithecia analoga ''Eupithecia analoga'' is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species can be found from western Europe to the Ural and Siberia. In the north, the range extends north of the polar circle. South, it is found up to the Alps. The wingspan is 17 ...

'' is smaller, has less contrasted markings and differs in particular by the significantly longer palpi. A genital morphological examination is also recommended for a clear assignment.

References

External links

*
Cloaked pug on ''UKMoths''

''Fauna Europaea''

''Lepiforum e.V.''
Eupithecia Moths described in 1781 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Johann August Ephraim Goeze {{Eupithecia-stub