| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the genera of Lepidoptera-Geometridae |
Gonodontis.
Adults. Nocturnal; relatively stout-bodied. Antennae of males bipectinate; bipectinate to the apex. Face rough (with dense, projecting scales). Tongue fully developed, or absent.
Wingspan 46–50 mm. The outer margin of the forewing angulated; scalloped. Forewings brown with dark first and second lines, or (ab. nigra) blackish with a lighter second line only, with a dark-ringed discal spot; predominantly brown, or blackish; with a clear discal mark. The discal mark conspicuously pale-centred and dark-ringed. Forewings of the male without a fovea. The outer margin of the hindwings rounded; often slightly scalloped, or smooth. Hindwings conspicuously patterned to plain; coloured like the forewings, but paler; with a clear discal mark (this dark-ringed). The discal mark conspicuously pale-centred and dark-ringed. Hindwings transversely lined (the first line lacking, the second dark and sharp).
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 foliage of Betula, Corylus, etc.
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 May and June. O. bidentata (Scalloped Hazel).
Subfamily. Ennominae.
Illustrations. • Odontopera bidentata (Scalloped Hazel): light and melanic (photos). Odontopera bidentata (Scalloped Hazel) is interpreted as exhibiting industrial melanism of a polygenic type in Britain, exhibiting enhanced duskiness in response to environmental pollution (Ford, 1955; Majerus, 1998, 2002). The species was commonly attracted to light in deciduous woodland around Leek, N. Staffs. (“rural”, but 10 and 30 miles from heavily industrialised Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester, respectively) during the decade 1948–1958, when all the specimens collected were relatively dark. They are exemplified here by Figs 1–2 (males) and 4 (female), alongside a 1908 female from Folkestone (Fig. 3). The heavily melanic f. nigra, which was not encountered in the Leek district in those years, is here exemplified (Fig. 5) by an old specimen from Huddersfield.
1–2 and 4, Leek, Staffs, June 1951 and 1952; 3, Folkestone, Kent, 1908 (R.A. Nicholls); 5, Huddersfield, Yorks., 1909 (R.A. Nicholls). From Watson's collection. • Ennominae (‘Thorns’, etc.): Kirby 46. ENNOMINAE. 1, Ennomos quercinaria (August Thorn); 2, Ennomos autumnaria (Large Thorn); 3, Ennomos alniaria (Canary-shouldered Thorn); 4, Ennomos erosaria (September Thorn); 5, Selenia dentaria (Early Thorn); 6, Selenia lunularia (Lunar Thorn); 7, Selenia tetralunaria (Purple Thorn); 8, Apeira syringaria (Lilac Beauty); 9, Artiora evonymaria; 10, Odontopera bidentata (Scalloped Hazel); 11, Colotois pennaria (Feathered Thorn); 12, Crocallis elinguaria (Scalloped Oak); 13, Plagodis dolabraria (Scorch-wing); 14, Angerona prunaria (Orange Moth); 15, Ourapteryx sambucaria (Swallow-tailed Moth); 16, Opisthograptis luteolata (Brimstone Moth). From Kirby 36, with updated names. • Assorted Ennominae (‘Thorns’, with larvae): Humphreys, 1860. ‘THORNS’. 1 & 2, Colotois pennaria (Feathered Thorn); 3 & 4, Crocallis elinguaria (Scalloped Oak); 5 & 6, Odontopera bidentata (Scalloped Hazel); 7, Ennomos autumnaria (Large Thorn); 8 & 9, Ennomos alniaria (Canary-shouldered Thorn); 10 & 11, Ennomos erosaria (September Thorn); 12 & 13, Ennomos quercinaria (August Thorn); 14, Selenia tetralunaria (Purple Thorn). From Humphreys (1860).
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’.
