''Piercia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

in the

geometer moth 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 (derivative form of or "the earth"), and "measure" in referen ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

(Geometridae). It belongs to

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Larentiinae Larentiinae is a subfamily of moths containing roughly 5,800 species that occur mostly in the temperate regions of the world. They are generally considered a subfamily of the geometer moth family (Geometridae) and are divided into a few large or ...

, but therein its relationships are fairly obscure. About 10

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

occur in southern and eastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, but most – almost 50 as of 2005 – are found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Selected species

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of ''Piercia'' include:Krüger (2005), and see references in Savela (2009) * '' Piercia alpinaria'' Krüger, 2005 * '' Piercia dryas'' (Prout, 1915) * '' Piercia lichenocosmia'' Krüger, 2005 * '' Piercia petraria'' Krüger, 2005 * '' Piercia prasinaria'' (Warren, 1901) * '' Piercia smaragdinata'' (Walker, 1862) * ''Piercia'' cf. ''smaragdinata'' 'Janse 1933'Mentioned in Krüger (2005)

Footnotes

References

* (2005): New species of geometrid moths from Lesotho (Lepidoptera: Geometroidea: Geometridae). ''Annals of the Transvaal Museum'' 42: 19–45
HTML abstract
* (2004)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
&ndash
''Piercia''
Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2011-APR-21. * (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2009-APR-29. Retrieved 2011-APR-21. Geometridae {{Cataclysmiini-stub