''Eupithecia ericeata'' 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 ...

in 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 ...

first described by

Jules Pierre Rambur Jules Pierre Rambur (21 July 1801 – 10 August 1870) was a French entomologist. Rambur was born in Chinon. He studied the insect fauna of Corsica and Andalusia. He was the author of ''Histoire naturelle des insectes'' (1842) amongst other works ...

in 1833. It is found in most of southern Europe and the Near East. 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 about 17–19 mm. Adults are variable, ranging from a typical light form with a distinct pattern on the forewings to a unicolorous melanistic form. The larvae feed on ''

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus * Eri ...

'', ''

Juniperus Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

'' and ''

Cytisus ''Cytisus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to open sites (typically scrub and heathland) in Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and is one of several genera in the tribe Ge ...

'' species.''Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa''
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Subspecies

*''Eupithecia ericeata ericeata'' *''Eupithecia ericeata euxinata'' Bohatsch, 1893 (Ukraine, Greece)

References

Moths described in 1833 ericeata Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Jules Pierre Rambur {{Eupithecia-stub