The pale November moth (Epirrita christyi) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Allen in 1906. It is a fairly common species in Western Europe including the British Isles.
| Pale November moth | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mounted | |
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| Live adult | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Geometridae |
| Genus: | Epirrita |
| Species: | E. christyi
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| Binomial name | |
| Epirrita christyi (Allen, 1906)
| |
This species is almost identical to its relatives the November moth , the small autumnal moth and the autumnal moth and it is almost impossible to identify them without examination of the genitalia. See Townsend et al.[1] In general, although melanism occurs regularly in this species it is less prevalent than in the November moth.
The pale November moth flies at night from September to November[1] and is attracted to light.
The larva feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs (see list below). The species overwinters as an egg.
- ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.
Recorded food plants edit
References edit
- ^ Martin C. Townsend, Jon Clifton and Brian Goodey (2010). British and Irish Moths: An Illustrated Guide to Selected Difficult Species. (covering the use of genitalia characters and other features) Butterfly Conservation.
- Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
- Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to the Moths of the British Isles 1984
External links edit
- Pale November at UKMoths
- Fauna Europaea
- Lepidoptera of Belgium
- Lepiforum e.V.
- De Vlinderstichting (in Dutch)