Lime-speck Pug

Taxobox
name = Lime-speck Pug

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image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Geometridae
genus = "Eupithecia"
species = "E. centaureata"
binomial = "Eupithecia centaureata"
binomial_authority = Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775

The Lime-speck Pug ("Eupithecia centaureata") is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa.

This is a distinctive species, all the wings being white except for a black blotch on the costa of the forewing. The wingspan is 20-24 mm. Often two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time during the summer and autumn. The species flies at night and is attracted to light and nectar-rich flowers.

The larva 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.

Recorded food plants

*"Achillea" - Yarrow
*"Angelica"
*"Arctium" - Burdock
*"Artemisia"
*"Calluna" - Heather
*"Campanula"
*"Centaurea"
*"Cirsium" - Thistle
*"Crambe"
*"Filipendula" - Meadowsweet
*"Galium" - Bedstraw
*"Hieracium" - Hawkweed
*"Lotus" - Bird's-foot Trefoil
*"Lysimachia" - Yellow Loosestrife
*"Matricaria" - Mayweed
*"Medicago" - Alfalfa
*"Pimpinella" - Burnet Saxifrage
*"Rumex" - Sorrel
*"Selinum" - Milk-parsley
*"Silene" - Bladder Campion
*"Solidago" - Goldenrod
*"Tanacetum" - Tansy
*"Trifolium" - Red Clover
*"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)