Perizoma alchemillata

Perizoma alchemillata, the small rivulet, is a moth of the genus Perizoma in the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Perizoma alchemillata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Perizoma
Species:	P. alchemillata
Binomial name
Perizoma alchemillata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution

It is found in Europe, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Siberia[1] and the Altai Mountains.

Description

The species is very similar to Perizoma affinitata in colour and pattern but often has a double indention in the inner margin of the band. It is also smaller. "Very similar to affinitata but smaller, with clearer and more regular white marks at the hindmargin of the forewing, tendency towards obsolescence of the pale band on the dark hindwing; distal area of forewing with black dushes on the veins. Generally less variable than affinitata. — peterseni notn. nov. has the white antemedian band well expressed; generally also the postmedian white band is somewhat widened and sometimes even a complete white subbasal is present. It is the prevailing form in Estonia and perhaps in Scandinavia and is commoner in Scotland than in England, but occurs as an aberration in many localities."[2][3]

Biology

Caterpillars of this species feed inside the seed capsules, and on the flowers of, Galeopsis tetrahit, Lamium purpureum, Galeopsis speciosa.

References

1. "Perizoma alchemillata (Linne, 1758):". Colour Atlas of the Siberian Lepidoptera.
2. Prout, L. B. 1912–16. Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the World. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart.
3. Peder Skou, 1997 The Geometroid Moths of North Europe: Lepidoptera - Drepanidae and Geometridae (Entomonograph) Brill Archive ISBN 978-90-04-07859-8

External links

• Small Rivulet at UKMoths
• Fauna Europaea
• Lepiforum e.V.