Lime-speck pug

The lime-speck pug (Eupithecia centaureata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species throughout the Palearctic region (where it is found in Europe, Central Asia, Mongolia, southern Siberia, eastern China (Guangdong) and Taiwan^[2]), the Near East and North Africa.

Lime-speck pug
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Eupithecia
Species:	E. centaureata
Binomial name
Eupithecia centaureata (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
Geometra centaureata Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 Phaleana signata Scopoli, 1763 Geometra oblonga Thunberg, 1784 Eupithecia oblongata Phaleana boloniensis Fourcroy, 1785 Eupithecia oblongata var. centralisata Staudinger, 1892 Eupithecia oblongata f. obscura Dietze, 1910 Eupithecia centaureata dsharkendi Vojnits, 1977 Eupithecia chinae Vojnits, 1977 Eupithecia dagestani Vojnits, 1977

Description

This is a distinctive species, all the wings being largely white except for a black blotch on the costa of the forewing. The wingspan is 20–24 mm. In the ab. obscura Dietze.(perhaps developed chiefly in Asia but also recorded from the Tyrol) the ground-colour of both wings has a smoky suffusion. In the ab. centralisata Stgr., chiefly from Palestine and Central Asia, the markings are weaker, sometimes (except the discal mark) almost entirely obsolete.^[3] The larva is long and thin, white-yellow with a red dorsal stripe and horseshoe-shaped red spots running down the sides.^[4][5]

Often two broods are produced each year and the adults can be seen at any time during the summer and autumn. The moths fly at night and are attracted to light and nectar-rich flowers.

The larva is rather variable but is usually green or yellow, often with red markings. It feeds on the flowers of a variety of plants (see list below). The species overwinters as a pupa.

Larva

Larval food plants

• Achillea – yarrow
• Angelica
• Arctium – burdock
• Artemisia
• Calluna – heather
• Campanula
• Centaurea
• Cirsium – thistle
• Crambe
• Filipendula – meadowsweet
• Galium – bedstraw
• Hieracium – hawkweed
• Lotus – bird's-foot trefoil
• Lysimachia – yellow loosestrife
• Matricaria – mayweed
• Medicago – alfalfa
• Pimpinella – burnet saxifrage
• Rumex – sorrel
• Selinum – milk-parsley
• Silene – bladder campion
• Solidago – goldenrod
• Tanacetum – tansy
• Trifolium – red clover
• Vicia – tufted vetch