''Adscita statices'', the green forester, 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
Zygaenidae
The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. Some of the 1000 or so species are commonly known as burnet or forester moths, ofte ...
. It is found in Europe,
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and
western Russia
European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia, encomp ...
.
Description
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 . The antennae, head, thorax, legs and abdomen are shiny green (the thorax is occasionally blue green and shimmering). However, the wings may appear rusty-red in the early morning and evening. The wide forewings are less glossy than the body, mostly blue green, sometimes also green to yellow green. The fringes are blackish grey. The hindwings are moderately wide with a slightly truncated rim, They are slightly transparent, blackish grey and lightened basally. The underside of both pairs of wings is grey.
The caterpillars are pale yellowish-green with a central dark stripe and fine white hairs dorsally.
[
The wings of the green forester contain two types of colored scales, of which one contains pores of different sizes. These pores are able to fill with water, which causes the color of the scales to change from green to rusty-red.]
Biology
The moth flies in sunshine from mid-May to early August. The larvae feed on various species of ''Rumex
The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae.
Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distri ...
'', such as ''Rumex acetosa
Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" being a common name for the genus ''Ru ...
'' and ''Rumex acetosella
''Rumex acetosella'', commonly known as red sorrel, sheep's sorrel, field sorrel and sour weed, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae. Native to Eurasia including the British Isles, the plant and its subspecies are ...
''. The eggs are laid on the leaf blade; the larva mines the leaf when it is small, but later moves to the lower parts of the plant and feeds on the leaves. When fully developed it descends to the ground and pupates in a cocoon among the vegetation.
British Isles
This species has become very scarce in Northern Ireland, with recent records from northern County Armagh and western County Fermanagh, and because of its rarity there, it is listed as a Northern Ireland Priority Species.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
The Forester at UKmothsLepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q338461
Procridinae
Moths of Asia
Moths of Europe
Moths described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus