| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the pug moths (Lepidoptera-Geometridae) |
Marsh Pug.
Adults. Posterior tibiae of males 4-spurred. Wingspan 15–18 mm. Forewings not noticeably elongate; the outer margin convexly curved; the costa more or less straight; apically blunt to somewhat pointed.
Forewings dingy; dark leaden brown/fuscous, sometimes whitish-mixed, most markings inconspicuous or absent or with curved, obscurely darker striae; the subterminal line consisting of fairly inconspicuous whitish dots or obsolete save for the larger, tornal one; the fringe only obscurely chequered. Forewings without a discal mark. Forewings with a pale tornal spot. Forewing fringes only somewhat chequered.
Hindwings coloured like the forewings, but the markings almost obsolete apart from the tornal spot; even less conspicuously patterned than the forewings; rather plain; almost without transverse striation; without a clear discal mark; with a pale tornal spot; the fringes not conspicuously chequered.
The abdomen not reddish towards the base; plain; neither ringed nor banded nor white-based; laterally neither black-streaked nor black-spotted.
Genitalia. The male abdominal plate in the form of two separate sclerotized components. The bursa copulatrix with ornamentation conspicuously restricted in distribution (the bursa with conspicuous smooth regions); conspicuously spiny.
Early stages, ecology. Botanically specialised. Foodplants herbaceous-dicotyledonous; Caryophyllaceae. The larvae found on Stellaria and Cerastium species; feeding on flowers.
Months of appearance, distribution. Adults abroad May and June; larvae found June and July. South-east England, Central-southern England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (local and scarce, but widespread almost throughout the British Isles; uncommon or absent in southern England, and absent from the western isles of Scotland and the Shetlands).
Special key characters. Hindwings fuscous, or whitish and pale fuscous.
Illustrations. • E. pygmaeata (Marsh Pug), with larva: Barrett. Eupithecia pygmaeata and larva. From Barrett, Plate 390. • E. pygmaeata, E. trisignaria, E. valerianata, E. fraxinata, cf. E. absinthiata, E. simpliciata and E. denotata, with larvae: Barrett. Eupithecia. 1, E. pygmaeata; 2, E. trisignaria; 3, E. valerianata; 4, E. fraxinata; 5, cf. E. absinthiata; 6, E. simpliciata; 7, E. denotata denotata. Barrett, Plate 390 (1904). • E. pygmaeata (Marsh Pug), with similar Pugs: South. • E. pygmaeata, with 15 other pugs illustrated by Hubner (1790–1817). • E. pygmaeata (Marsh Pug), with other Pugs: Swain. 1, Eupithecia tenuiata (Slender Pug); 2, E. inturbata (Maple Pug); 3, E. haworthiata (Haworth's Pug); 4, E. plumbeolata (Lead-coloured Pug); 5, E. irriguata (Marbled Pug); 6, E. exiguata (Mottled Pug); 7a & 7b, E. abietaria (Cloaked Pug); 8, E. pygmaeata (Marsh Pug); 9, E. linariata (Toadflax Pug); 10a-c, E. pulchellata (Foxglove Pug); 11, E. insignata (Pinion-spotted Pug); 12, E. valerianata (Valerian Pug). Adapted from Swain, 1961. • E. pygmaeata (Marsh Pug), with E. centaureata and E. abietaria: Swain. 1a and 1b, Eupithecia abietaria (Cloaked Pug); 2, E. pygmaeata (Marsh Pug); 3a and 3b, E. centaureata (Lime-speck Pug). Adapted from Swain, 1961.
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 pug moths (Lepidoptera-Geometridae). Version: 27th July 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
