| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the pug moths (Lepidoptera-Geometridae) |
Eucymatoge subumbrata Guenée, Eucymatoge scabiosata Borkhausen, E. piperata Stephens, E. subumbraria Boisduval, E. piperaria Doubleday
Shaded Pug.
Adults. Posterior tibiae of males 4-spurred. Wingspan 19–22 mm. Forewings distinctly elongate; the outer margin convexly curved; the costa more or less straight; apically blunt to somewhat pointed.
Forewings relatively conspicuously patterned; pale grey to whitish, with rather straight fuscous striae angled to the costa, where they and the edges of the geniculate postmedian fascia broaden to form dark costal marks; with a conspicuous dark marginal band which is broken towards the apex by a white streak extending from the angle of the postmedian fascia to the obscurely whitish subterminal line. Forewings without a discal mark (or minute and only ambiguously present). Forewings without a tornal spot. Forewing fringes somewhat chequered.
The termen of the hindwings slightly concave to convexly rounded; apex somewhat pointed to smoothly rounded into the costa; hindwings paler than the forewings at least towards the base, grey-striated dorsally with a dark grey terminal fascia; hindwings less conspicuously patterned than the forewings; hindwings conspicuously patterned; hindwings conspicuously transversely striated (at least postmedianly and dorsally); hindwings with a clear discal mark (this dark grey, minute); fringes conspicuously chequered to not conspicuously chequered.
The abdomen crested throughout.
Neuration. Vein 10 of the forewings arising independently, anastomosing with 11 and 9 to form a double areole.
Genitalia. The male abdominal plate in the form of a single sclerotized patch with retuse apex. The bursa copulatrix with ornamentation conspicuously restricted in distribution (concentrated over the distal half); conspicuously spiny.
Early stages, ecology. Botanically polyphagous. Foodplants herbaceous-dicotyledonous; Compositae (Asteraceae), Dipsacaceae, Gentianaceae, Labiatae (Lamiaceae), and Umbelliferae (Apiaceae) (etc.?). The larvae found on Leontodon, Crepis, Scabiosa, Knautia, Centaurea, Prunella, Origanum, Gentiana, Pimpinella, “etc.”; feeding on flowers.
Months of appearance, distribution. Adults abroad May, June, and July; larvae found July, August, and September. South-east England, Central-southern England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (but commonest in southeastern England south of a line from the Severn estuary to The Wash, and locally common in Ireland).
Special key characters. Forewings exhibiting a conspicuous broad median fascia from costa to dorsum to without a conspicuous broad median fascia from costa to dorsum. Hindwings whitish, or pale grey.
Illustrations. • E. subumbrata (Shaded Pug), with larva: Barrett. Eupithecia subumbrata. 1, male; 1a, female; 1b, larva. From Barrett, plate 386. • E. subumbrata, E. irriguata, E. indigata and E. pusillata, with larvae: Barrett. Eupithecia. 1, E. subumbrata; 2, E. irriguata; 3, E. pusillata; 4, E. indigata. Barrett, Plate 386 (1904). • E. subumbrata (Shaded Pug), with similar pugs: South. • E. subumbrata (Shaded Pug), with other Pugs: Swain. 1a, Eupithecia icterata oxydata (Tawny-speckled Pug); 1b, E. icterata subfulvata (Tawny-speckled Pug); 1c, E. icterata cognata (Tawny-speckled Pug); 2, E. subumbrata (Shaded Pug); 3, E. succentureata (Bordered Pug); 4, E. millefoliata (Yarrow Pug); 5, E. distinctaria (Thyme Pug); 6, E. simpliciata (Plain Pug); 7, E. indigata (Ochreous Pug); 8, E. pimpinellata (Pimpinel Pug); 9a-b, E. nanata (Narrow-winged Pug). Adapted from Swain, 1961.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the pug moths (Lepidoptera-Geometridae). Version: 27th July 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
