| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Geometridae |
Adults. Antennae of males bipectinate; bipectinate to the apex. Face smooth.
Wingspan 35–40 mm. The outer margin of the forewing convexly curved. Forewings light brownish-ochreous, with four conspicuous, dark transverse line; with a clear discal mark (this blackish), or without a clear discal mark. Forewings of the male without a fovea. Hindwings conspicuously patterned; coloured like the forewings; not predominantly green, yellow, or black; without a clear discal mark; transversely lined (with three conspicuous lines, the first missing).
Hindwings lacking a tubular vein 5. Vein 8 of the hindwings approximated to or anastomosed with the upper margin of the cell to the middle or beyond. Hindwing veins 6 and 7 separate.
Posterior tibiae of males 4-spurred.
Early stages. Larvae feeding on Erica, Calluna, Cytissus.
British representation. 1 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (common). Living adults found June and July. P. strigillaria (Grass Wave).
Subfamily. Ennominae.
Illustrations. • Aspitates, Dyscia, Glacies, Perconia, Siona: Newman. 1a-b, Siona lineata (Black-veined Moth, upper- and under-sides); 2, Glacies coracina (Black Mountain Moth); 3, Perconia strigillaria (Grass Wave); 4, Aspitates ochrearia (Yellow Belle); 5, Aspitates gilvaria (Straw Belle); 6a-b, Dyscia fagaria (Grey Scalloped Bar, female and male). From Newman, 1869. • Ennominae: Aspitates, Semiothisa, Perconia, Siona (Kirby). ENNOMINAE. 1, Aspitates gilvaria (Straw Belle); 2, Semiothisa notata (Peacock Moth); 3, Perconia strigillaria (Grass Wave); 4, Siona lineata (Black Veined Moth).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Geometridae. Version: 14th February 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
