Cream wave

Cream wave
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Scopula
Species:	S. floslactata
Binomial name
Scopula floslactata (Haworth, 1809)[1]
Synonyms
Phalaena brunneata Goeze 1781 Phalaena cariata Schrank 1802 Phalaena concatenata Hufnagel 1767 Phalaena dentilinearia Borkhausen, 1794 Phalaena fulvicans Fourcroy 1785 Phalaena fulvostriata Goeze 1781 Phalaena lactata Haworth 1809 Scopula scotica Cockayne 1951 Geometra remutaria Hubner 1799 Scopula spataceata (Scopoli, 1763) Phalaena strigata Fourcroy 1785 Phalaena sublactata Haworth 1809

The cream wave (Scopula floslactata) is a moth of the Geometridae family. It is found in forest and woodland regions, feeding on grasses and small plants such as dandelion.

Distribution

It is a very common species in western Europe (parts of France and Central Europe.The range In the North extends to Scandinavia and Finland. The species is largely missing in southern Europe. There are isolated occurrences in southern Bulgaria and the Pyrenees).It extends East across the Palearctic from the Urals to the Russian Far East (Sakhalin) to Korea, northeastern China and Japan.^[2]

Description

Scopula floslactata has a wingspan of about three centimeters.Colour and pattern are variable. The wings are creamy-white to yellowish-white. Across the fore and hind wings, there are usually three jagged crosslines. Occasionally,there is a wavy line in the marginal field. The discal flecks are small and are often missing on the forewings, or very much blurred. In contrast, the discal flecks on the hindwings are almost always present. The fringes are sometimes also slightly darker than the ground colour.The males have small, feathered antennae. Similar Species: Distinguished from Scopula immutata by its less rounded forewings and less developed or absent black discal spot.

Biology

It has one generation per year, with adults taking flight from late May through early July.

The larvae feed on Woodruff (Galium odoratum), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), Lonicera xylosteum, Alnus glutinosa, Galium verum, Rumex acetosa, and Vicia sepium. They also eat dry leaves of poplars (Populus) and willow (Salix).

Subspecies

• Scopula floslactata floslactata (Europe to China)
• Scopula floslactata claudata Prout 1913 (Japan, Korea, Russia: Primorye and South Kuriles)

References

1. Sihvonen, P., 2005: Phylogeny and classification of the Scopulini moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Sterrhinae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 143: 473–530.
2. The Sterrhinae moth fauna of Fenglin Nature Reserve, North-East China (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Geometridae)

External links

• - Species Information (Ireland)