Currant pug
{{Short description|Species of moth}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Eupithecia assimilata01.jpg
| image2 = Eupithecia assimilata2.JPG
| taxon = Eupithecia assimilata
| authority = Doubleday, 1856{{cite web |last=Yu |first=Dicky Sick Ki |url=http://www.taxapad.com/local.php?taxonidLC=82856056 |title=Eupithecia assimilata Doubleday 1856 |website=Home of Ichneumonoidea |publisher=Taxapad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325011548/http://www.taxapad.com/local.php?taxonidLC=82856056 |archive-date=25 March 2016}}
| synonyms =
- Tephroclystia fumosa Hulst, 1896
- Eupithecia fumosa
- Eupithecia grisescens Dietze, 1910
}}
The currant pug (Eupithecia assimilata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Henry Doubleday in 1856. It is found across the Nearctic and Palearctic regions. Its occurrence extends eastwards from Ireland, across Europe to the Near East, the Urals, the Ussuri region and on to the island of Sakhalin. In the Pyrenees and the Alps it rises to altitudes of 1500 and 1800 metres respectively.
This species is rather similar to the wormwood pug, with warm brown forewings and a triangle of black spots close to the costa, but can be recognized by its broader wings and a more prominent white spot close to the tornus.
Prout states - easily distinguished from absinthiata by its somewhat broader forewing, deeper colour, larger discal mark, more strongly developed subterminal spots, especially the posterior one, darker hindwing, with white dot or spot near anal angle, and especially by the spotted fringes. —
grisescens Dietze from Central Russia and Central Asia, is smaller and much more mixed with grey.Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the World. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart.[https://archive.org/details/macrolepidoptera1216seit pdf *]{{PD-notice}} The wingspan is 17–22 mm.
Vladimir Mironov, Axel Hausmann, David Wilson The Geometrid Moths of Europe, Volume 4 Larentinae II (Perizomini and Eupitheciini) E J Brill Riley, A.M. and Prior, G. British and Irish Pug Moths A Guide to their Identification and Biology Apollo Books {{ISBN|978-0-946589-51-7}}
The egg has a shiny white colour and a smooth surface. The larvae are greenish in spring, reddish or brownish in late summer and show very clear reddish-brown angular spots on the back. The colour corresponds to the leaf or fruit status of the food plant. The yellow-brown pupa has green wing sheaths and is equipped with two strong and six thin hook bristles on the cremaster.
Two broods are produced each year with adults on the wing in May and June and again in August.
[[Image:Buckler W The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths PlateCXXXIV.jpg|thumb|
140px|left|Figs 3, 3a,3b,larvae in various stages of growth]]
The larva, as the name suggests, feeds on currant, but will also feed on hop. The species overwinters as a pupa.
The species prefers moist forest edges, shady hedges and riparian regions
Similar species
References
{{Reflist}}
- 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
{{Commons category|Eupithecia assimilata}}
- [https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/eupithecia-assimilata/ Currant pug at UKMoths]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20151208114931/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=444934 Fauna Europaea]
- [http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Eupithecia_Assimilata Lepiforum e.V.]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q175608}}
Category:Moths described in 1856
Category:Taxa named by Henry Doubleday
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