''Hypomecis roboraria'', the great oak beauty, 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

Geometridae The geometer moths are 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, paraphyleti ...

. The species occurs in 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 ...

. The nominate subspecies is found in

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 ...

. The subspecies ''isabellaria'' is found in western Central Asia east across Siberia and Mongolia to northern China. 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 40–50 mm. The male has feather-shaped antennae, the female thread-shaped. The forewings have three narrow, wavy, dark cross-bands that are clear at the front edge, often blurry further back. The hindwings have two such cross bands, one of which is usually quite clear. The larva is naked, brown and gnarled and strongly resembles a dead oak twig. The moths fly from May to August. The caterpillars feed on

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

. Similar species include '' Hypomecis punctinalis'' and '' Hypomecis sp.''

Notes

#''The flight season refers to the

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

Bibliography

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External links

Great oak beauty on UKmothsLepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
Boarmiini Moths of Europe Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller Moths described in 1775 {{Boarmiini-stub