The lime-speck pug (''Eupithecia centaureata'') 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 ...

. It is a common species throughout 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 ...

region (where it is found in Europe, Central Asia,

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 ...

, southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, eastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(Guangdong) and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

), the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

and North Africa.

Description

This is a distinctive species, all the wings being largely white except for a black blotch on the costa of the forewing. 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 20–24 mm. In the ab. ''obscura'' Dietze.(perhaps developed chiefly in Asia but also recorded from the Tyrol) the ground-colour of both wings has a smoky suffusion. In the ab. ''centralisata'' Stgr., chiefly from Palestine and Central Asia, the markings are weaker, sometimes (except the discal mark) almost entirely obsolete. The larva is long and thin, white-yellow with a red dorsal stripe and horseshoe-shaped red spots running down the sides. Riley, A.M. and Prior, G. ''British and Irish Pug Moths A Guide to their Identification and Biology'' Apollo Books Often two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time during the summer and autumn. The moths fly at night and are attracted to light and

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

-rich flowers. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

is rather variable but is usually green or yellow, often with red markings. It feeds on the flowers of a variety of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

Larval food plants

*'' Achillea'' – yarrow *''

Angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 90 species of tall Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous, herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as ...

'' *'' Arctium'' – burdock *'' Artemisia'' *'' Calluna'' – heather *''

Campanula ''Campanula'' () is the type genus of the Campanulaceae family (biology), family of flowering plants. ''Campanula'' are commonly known as bellflowers and take both their common and scientific names from the bell-shaped flowers—''campanula'' i ...

'' *''

Centaurea ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding ...

'' *'' Cirsium'' – thistle *'' Crambe'' *''

Filipendula ''Filipendula'' is a genus of 12 species of perennial plant, perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Well-known species include meadowsweet (''Filipendula ulmaria' ...

'' – meadowsweet *'' Galium'' – bedstraw *'' Hieracium'' – hawkweed *'' Lotus'' – bird's-foot trefoil *''

Lysimachia ''Lysimachia'' ( ) is a genus consisting of 182 accepted species of flowering plants traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae. Based on a molecular phylogenetic study it was transferred to the family Myrsinaceae, before this family w ...

'' – yellow loosestrife *'' Matricaria'' – mayweed *'' Medicago'' – alfalfa *'' Pimpinella'' – burnet saxifrage *''

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 ...

'' – sorrel *'' Selinum'' – milk-parsley *''

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'' – bladder campion *'' Solidago'' – goldenrod *'' Tanacetum'' – tansy *''

Trifolium Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversity ...

'' –

red clover ''Trifolium pratense'' (from Latin prātum, meaning meadow), red clover, is a herbaceous plant, herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family, Fabaceae. It is native to the Old World, but planted and naturalised in many other regions ...

*'' Vicia'' – tufted vetch

References

* Chinery, Michael. ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe'' (1986, reprinted 1991) * Skinner, Bernard. ''Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles'' (1984)

External links

* *
Lepiforum.de
Eupithecia Moths described in 1775 Moths of Africa Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Eupithecia-stub