website logo Lepidoptera Outer Hebrides

Family: Geometridae   Checklist Number: 70.157

Eupithecia dodoneata  Guenée, [1858]

Oak-tree Pug

A small pug (forewing c.9mm long) that has only recently colonised Scotland. The first record was from Dumfries and Galloway in 2002 and by 2019 it had spread further north to Colonsay. Information about any further spread in its distribution is not easily available as NBN has no records from Butterfly Conservation beyond 2019.
Worn individuals resemble other small pugs and careful attention to the shape of the wing and the discal spot are needed if this species is suspected. Even then confirmation will almost certainly require dissection and clearing of the genitalia.
The larvae are thought to feed on Oak (Quercus spp.) and Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.). Neither are particularly common here which would limit any further spread unless there is an, as yet, unknown alternative food plant

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