Kingdom Animalia Order Lepidoptera Genus Odezia Higher classification Odezia | Phylum Arthropoda Family Geometridae Scientific name Odezia atrata Rank Species | |
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Similar Butterflies and moths, Latticed heath, Geometer moth, Ematurga atomaria, Siona lineata | ||
The Chimney Sweeper (Odezia atrata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in the Palearctic.
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Distribution
In Europe its range extends from the Iberian peninsula through Western and Central Europe and the British Isles. Further east to Sakhalin and in the Amur-Ussuri region. In the north, the limit is Central Fennoscandia. South it occurs from Italy to the Balkans. In Austria, the previously mass-occurring species has become today in many places rare; many populations have disappeared.
The wingspan is 23–27 mm. The length of the forewings is 12–15 mm. Almost entirely black, the extreme apex and apical fringe of the forewing white. In pyrenaica Gumpp. from the Pyrenees and Central Italy, the wings, but especially the forewing, are more or less strongly dusted with brownish-yellow. In ab. nigerrima Th.-Mieg, described from a single female without exact locality, the white apex and apical fringe are absent.
Biology
The moth flies from June to August [1].
The moth flies during the day, preferably with bright sunshine.
The larva feed mainly on pignut.
Habitats are ditch edges, moist meadows, meadows, bog meadows and moors, lake sides as well as forest and mountain meadows.