23-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PUG MOTH (Eupithecia semigraphata)

Eupithecia semigraphata is a moth in the family Geometridae. It is found from most of Europe (except the Netherlands, Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Fennoscandia, the Baltic region and Portugal) to the Caucasus and Armenia. It is also present on the Canary Islands and North Africa.

The wingspan is about 18–20 mm. Adults are on wing from late June to August in one generation per year.

The larvae feed on the flowers of Calamintha (including Calamintha nepeta and Calamintha sylvatica), Hypericum, Origanum and Thymus species. The species overwinters in the pupal stage.

It has a wingspan of 16-20 mm. The colour of the upper side of the wings can be whitish, brown, ochre or greyish with a multitude of shades that give it a cryptic appearance. In this pattern, a series of dark spots stand out on the upper side of the forewings along the costa that slightly penetrate the rest of the wing (in less defined specimens). In other specimens these spots are the start of the multiple transverse wavy lines, of darker colour and of variable thickness, that run along the wing from the costa to the inner margin. There is an elongated dark-coloured spot in the cell of each wing, often integrated and concealed in a transverse line. The hind wings are not usually lighter, but retain the tone of the forewings.