Tawny Speckled Pug

Taxobox
name = Tawny Speckled Pug
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Geometridae
genus = "Eupithecia"
species = "E. icterata"
binomial = "Eupithecia icterata"
binomial_authority = de Villers, 1789The Tawny Speckled Pug "(Eupithecia icterata)" is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region, the Near East and North Africa.

Unlike many pugs this species is distinctively marked, the brown forewings marked with a large tawny-orange panel (although some races lack this). The hindwings are greyish brown. It is among the larger species in the genus with a wingspan of 20-24 mm. It flies at night in July and August ref |flight_season and is attracted to light and some flowers.

The larva is reddish brown with a pale line down each side. It usually feeds on the leaves and flowers of yarrow and has also been recorded on "Artemisia" and tansy. The species overwinters as a pupa.

#Note|flight_season"The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range."

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