Latticed Heath

Chiasmia clathrata clathrata Latticed Heath
File:Chiasma clathrata02.jpg
File:Klaverspanner (Chiasmia clathrata).jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Chiasmia
Species:	C. clathrata
Binomial name
Chiasmia clathrata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phalaena clathrata Semiothisa clathrata

File:Géomètre à barreaux MHNT.jpg

Latticed Heath - Female - Both side

The Latticed Heath (Chiasmia clathrata) is a moth of the family Geometridae, belonging to the subfamily Ennominae, placed in the tribe Macariini. It is found throughout Europe, the Near East and North Africa (Chinery, 1986) and east through Russia and Siberia to Japan. It is a fairly common species in the British Isles (Skinner, 1984).

Taxonomy

The current placement of clathrata in the genus Chiasmia follows from the revision by Scoble (2002) of the tribe Macariini, when he showed that true Semiothisa species were restricted to the Americas. There are a number of described subspecies. Molecular work (Õunap et al., 2011) has confirmed the placement of clathrata within Chiasmia.

Description

Adult

The wings are white or buff with a network of brown lines (hence its common name). These lines vary in thickness and sometimes the wings are almost entirely dark brown.

Larva

The final instar larva is pale green with white lines, including a strong lateral line and thin dorsal lines along the body. Abdominal segments A1 through A5 have a strong white line across the rear end of each segment that ends just above the lateral line (Porter, 1997).

Ecology

In the British Isles, one or two generations annually, with adults seen at any time from May to September (Skinner 1984). Larvae feed on bedstraws and various legumes such as clovers, trefoils, lucerne and meadow vetchling, primarily in June & July and mid-August through September, though in Ireland and northern Britain larvae occur in July and August (Porter, 1997). The species overwinters as a pupa. This species flies both during the day and also at night when it is attracted to light.

References

• Chinery, M., 1986. Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe (Reprinted 1991)
• Õunap, E., Javoiš, J., Viidalepp, J. & Tammaru, T., 2011. Phylogenetic relationships of selected European Ennominae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). European Journal of Entomololgy 108: 267-273.
• Porter, J., 1997. The Colour Identification Guide to Caterpillars of the British Isles. Viking Press, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. xii + 275 pp. ISBN 0-670-87509-0
• Skinner, B., 1984. Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles
• Scoble, M.J. & M. Krüger, 2002. A review of the genera of Macariini with a revised classification of the tribe (Geometridae: Ennominae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 134 (3): 257-315. doi:10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00008.x