blood-vein
{{short description|Species of moth}}
{{Distinguish|text=a blood vessel known as a vein}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Blood-vein
| image = Blood-vein moth (Timandra comae).jpg
| taxon = Timandra comae
| authority = Schmidt, 1931
}}
The blood-vein (Timandra comae) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Anton Schmidt in 1931.
Distribution
It has a scattered distribution in western and central Europe north of the Alps. In the British Isles the distribution is patchy outside southern England and Wales. In far eastern Europe – east of a line running roughly from Finland through Estonia – it is replaced by its sister species Timandra griseata. The species were split in 1931, only to be subsequently re-merged by most authors. But since 1994, new research has come out in favour of treating them as distinct species.Õunap et al. (2005)
Description
File: Timandra comae (Blood-vein), Elst (Gld), the Netherlands.jpg
The wings are cream coloured with bold red or purple fascia forming a diagonal stripe across forewings and hindwings. All wings are fringed with the same colour. The tornus of the hindwing is sharply angled giving a distinctive shape. The wingspan is 30–35 mm.
Biology
Two broods are produced each year with the adults flying in May and June and again in August and September.{{efn|The flight season refers to the British Isles. This varies in other parts of the range.}} It flies at night and is attracted to light.
The larva is grey brown with darker spots on the back. In the UK, it feeds on the leaves of a variety of plants including dock, knotgrass, sorrel and various species of Atriplex. It overwinters as a larva.
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- Chinery, Michael (1986). Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
- Õunap, Erki; Viidalepp, Jaan & Saarma, Urmas (2005). [http://www.eje.cz/pdfarticles/1042/eje_102_4_607_Ounap.pdf "Phylogenetic evaluation of the taxonomic status of Timandra griseata and T. comae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Sterrhinae)"]. European Journal of Entomology, 102: 607–615.
- Skinner, Bernard (1984). Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984
External links
{{Commons category|Timandra comae|Blood-vein}}
- [https://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=1682 Blood-vein at UKMoths]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190017/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=444446 Fauna Europaea]
- [http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Timandra_Comae Lepiforum e.V.]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q474600}}
Category:Moths described in 1931
Category:Geometrid moths of Great Britain
{{Sterrhinae-stub}}