Kingdom Animalia Superfamily Noctuoidea Genus Phytometra Phylum Arthropoda Order Butterflies and moths | Class Insecta Family Erebidae Scientific name Phytometra viridaria Rank Species | |
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Similar Butterflies and moths, Lygephila craccae, Laspeyria flexula, Paracolax tristalis, Herminia grisealis | ||
Phytometra viridaria, the small purple-barred, is a species of moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in Central and South Europe, Mauretania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisa, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and further East across the Palearctic to South Siberia.
Contents
Technical description and variation
The wingspan is 19–20 mm. The length of the forewings is 9–11 mm. Forewing olive brownish; the costa at base, and an outer and terminal fascia deep rosy purple; the outer band varying in width; a pale line of ground colour between them; hindwing olive with a median and terminal darker band more or less tinged with purple; in ab. fusca Tutt the purple tints are replaced by dark brown; —ab. aenea Hbn. the ground colour is olive grey or fuscous instead of green; ab. suffusa Tutt is a rare form, blackish fuscous with a still darker terminal border.
Biology
The moth flies from April to August depending on the location.
Larva green with darker pale-edged dorsal line; the other lines pale, the subspiracular becoming white on anal segments. The larvae feed on Polygala vulgaris, Polygala serpyllifolia and Pedicularis sylvatica.