70.187 BF1838

Tawny Speckled Pug Eupithecia icterata

(Villers, 1789)

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Wingspan 20-23 mm.

One of our largest Eupithecia species, occurring widely and often commonly throughout most of Britain.

Typically the moth shows the fairly plain, two-tone reddish and brown appearance of the subspecies fulvata, but in northern parts a more variegated race cognata occurs.

The foodplants are yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and sneezewort (A. ptarmica), the caterpillars eating the flowers as well as the leaves.

July and August is the main flight time for this usually single-brooded species.