| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Geometridae |
Adults. Antennae of males bipectinate; apically simple.
Wingspan 20–30 mm. Forewings relatively narrow-elongate to relatively broad. The outer margin of the forewing slightly sigmoid-curved, or convexly curved. Forewings pale yellow, sometimes rosy-tinged; without a clear discal mark; traversed by a conspicuous, oblique red stripe. Hindwings plain; yellowish-whitish; without a clear discal mark; without transverse lines.
Vein 10 of the forewings arising out of vein 9; arising out of 11 and anastomosing with 9 to form a simple areole. Hindwings exhibiting a tubular vein 5. Vein 5 of the hindwings arising from about the middle of the transverse vein. Vein 8 of the hindwings shortly anastomosed basally with the upper margin of the cell, thence rapidly diverging.
Thorax glabrous beneath. Posterior tibiae of males 4-spurred.
Early stages. Larvae feeding on low growing plants, such as dock, knot-grass, Anthemis.
British representation. 1 species; South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (occasional immigrant only). Living adults found July and August. R. sacraria (The Vestal).
Subfamily. Sterrhinae.
General comments. Thorax glabrous beneath.
Illustrations. • Sterrhinae (‘Waves’): Kirby 44 (part). STERRHINAE. 7, Rhodometra sacraria (Vestal); 18, Idaea emarginata (Small Scallop); 22, "Idaea trilineata"; 23, "Idaea similata"; 24, Idaea ochrata (Bright Wave); 25, Idaea muricata (Purple-bordered Gold); 26, Idaea dimidiata (Single-dotted Wave); 27, Idaea seriata (Small Dusty Wave); 28, Idaea biselata (Small Fan-footed Wave); 29, Idaea rusticata (Least Carpet); 30, Idaea humiliata (Isle of Wight Wave); 31, Idaea aversata (Riband Wave); 32, Scopula immorata (Lewes Wave); 33, Scopula rubiginata (Tawny Wave). Names of exotic species (in quotes) are those given by Kirby. • Sterrhinae: Newman (1869). 1, Cyclophora pendularia (Dingy Mocha); 2, Cyclophora annularia (The Mocha); 3, Cyclophora albipunctata (Birch Mocha); 4, Cyclophora porata (False Mocha); 5, Cyclophora punctaria (The Maiden's Blush); 6, Cyclophora linearia (The Clay Triple-lines); 7, Timandra comae (The Blood-vein); 8, Rhodometra sacraria (The Vestal). From Newman (1869).
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’.
