| | Insects of Britain and Ireland: the pug moths (Lepidoptera-Geometridae) |
E. indigaria Boisduval
Ochreous Pug.
Adults. Posterior tibiae of males 4-spurred. Wingspan 17–21 mm. Forewings distinctly elongate (very much so); the outer margin more or less straight; the costa more or less straight; apically blunt to somewhat pointed.
Forewings dingy; pale greyish-ochreous brown, with faint angulated striae darkened as dusky costal spots, a faint angulated postmedian fascia and a somewhat darkened terminal band, or all these markings obsolete; subterminal line absent or obscure. The forewing patterning more or less confined to the dark discal spot; without a predominant anterior-median triangle of dark spots. Forewings with a dark discal mark (this large and prominent). The discal mark elongate (transversely oval, at least sometimes approaching the costa); not whitish-edged; black and distinct. Forewing fringes somewhat chequered (pale).
Hindwings whitish to pale grey, somewhat paler than the forewings, with very faint striae; fairly conspicuously patterned to rather plain; almost without transverse striation, or transversely striated (at least sometimes with bent dark median and postmedian striae, the former traversing the discal spot); with a clear discal mark to without a clear discal mark; the fringes brown, not conspicuously chequered.
The abdomen conspicuously patterned; with a brown or ferrugineous sub-basal band; with a lateral blackish spot.
Genitalia. The male abdominal plate in the form of a single sclerotized patch with retuse apex, or in the form of a single sclerotized patch with entire apex. The bursa copulatrix ornamented over most of its surface; conspicuously spiny to only inconspicuously spiny (no large spines).
Early stages, ecology. Botanically specialised. Foodplants Gymnospermous; Pinaceae (normally), Cupressaceae. The larvae found on Pinus and Larix, in captivity accepting juniper and cypress; feeding on cone primordia and scale leaves (not the needles) (and perhaps also on lateral vegetative buds).
Months of appearance, distribution. Adults abroad late April, May, and June; larvae found June, July, August, and September. South-east England, Central-southern England, South-west England, English Midlands, Northern England, Southern Scotland, Northern Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (locally common throughout, except Outer Hebrides, Shetlands and Orkneys).
Special key characters. The subterminal line if detectable at all, not whitish throughout. Hindwings whitish, or pale grey.
General comments. Poorly named the Ochreous Pug: even fresh specimens tend to have a washed-out appearance, the only clearly defined feature being the conspicuous and relatively large black discal spot on the forewings.
Illustrations. • E. indigata (Ochreous Pug), with larva: Barrett. Eupithecia indigata. 4, male; 4a, female; 4b, larva. From Barrett,plate386. • E. subumbrata, E. irriguata, E. indigata and E. pusillata, with larvae: Barrett. Eupithecia. 1, E. subumbrata; 2, E. irriguata; 3, E. pusillata; 4, E. indigata. Barrett, Plate 386 (1904). • E. indigata (Ochreous Pug), with other Pugs: South. • E. indigata, with 15 other pugs illustrated by Hubner (1790–1817). • E. indigata (Ochreous Pug), with other Pugs: Swain. 1a, Eupithecia icterata oxydata (Tawny-speckled Pug); 1b, E. icterata subfulvata (Tawny-speckled Pug); 1c, E. icterata cognata (Tawny-speckled Pug); 2, E. subumbrata (Shaded Pug); 3, E. succentureata (Bordered Pug); 4, E. millefoliata (Yarrow Pug); 5, E. distinctaria (Thyme Pug); 6, E. simpliciata (Plain Pug); 7, E. indigata (Ochreous Pug); 8, E. pimpinellata (Pimpinel Pug); 9a-b, E. nanata (Narrow-winged Pug). 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’.
