70.018 : 1715 : 8187

Geometridae : Sterrhinae

Plain Wave

IDAEA straminata (Borkhausen, 1794)

Kind permission - © Tim Norriss

Life Cycle Guide

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Description

Wingspan: 25 - 28mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - excluding (Azores,Canary Is.,Crete,Croatia,Cyprus,Madeira,Malta,North Aegean Is.,N Russia)
UK Distribution: Local throughout much of Great Britain
UK Conservation Status -

• Local = 101 - 300  10km squares

European Conservation Status -

• Least Concern

Original Species Name -

• Phalaena straminata (Borkhausen, 1794)

Type Species - Idaea

• Phalaena aversata (Linnaeus 1758)

Type Locality -

• Not Specified

Flight Period: South - late May - late August : Elsewhere late June - early August
Habitat: Open Woodland : Scrubby Heathland : Gardens : Hedgerows : Rough Grassland
Similar Species -

• Riband Wave - Idaea aversata  f. remutata - (Linnaeus, 1758)

Larva: The 20mm final instar larva is variable in shades of brown with the last four segments often lighter. With this larva there are X shaped marks on middle segments dorsally and a darker dorsal line on the last three segments.
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: Locally throughout the British Isles, this moth could be confused with the remutata form of the Riband Wave,identified by the postmedain line which is kinked at the costa and more pronounced cross lines, whereas with the Plain Wave it continues as a gentle curve as can be seen below and is also slightly smaller.
The forewings are light beige sometimes tinged with olive and pronounced black discal spots with faint cross lines.
The moth is attracted to light appearing at the moth trap in small numbers.

Photo Gallery

Plain Wave - Idaea straminata - (Borkhausen, 1794) - Casares, Spain - 22 September 2014 - © Tim Norriss

Larval Food Plants Worldwide

Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.

• Asteraceae - Compositae - Aster-Daisy - Sunflower Family
  • Taraxacum officinale - Common Dandelion
• Ericaceae - Heather Family
  • Calluna vulgaris - Common Heather - Ling
  • Vaccinium myrtilus - Bilberry - Blue Whortleberry
• Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
  • Ononis repens - Common Rest Harrow
• Lythraceae - Loosestrife Family
  • Lythrum salicaria - Purple Loosestrife
• Polygonaceae - Docks  - Sorrels  - Knotweeds  - Smartweeds
  • Rumex obtusifolius - Bitter Dock
  • Polygonum aviculare - Postrate Knotweed
  • Polygonum persicaria - Redshank - Red Leg
• Rosaceae - Rose Family
  • Rubus fruticosus - Bramble - Blackberry
    

Larval Food Plants

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Taxonomy

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Type Species-IDAEA:

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Forms:

Animalia
Eumetozoa
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometroidea
Geometridae
Sterrhinae
Idaeini
IDAEA Treitschke, 1825
Idaea straminata (Borkhausen, 1794)
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Phalaena aversata Linnaeus 1758
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PHALAENA straminata (Borkhausen, 1794)
= Phalaena inornata (Haworth, 1809)
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Borkhausen 1792 , Naturgeschichte der Europaischen Schmetterlinge nach Systematischer Ordnung, V5 : Title Page : p568 - n.318
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Not Specified
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I. s. straminata (Borkhausen, 1794) - Nominate Subspecies
I. s. sibirica (Djakonov, 1926)
I. s. karafutonis (Matsumura, 1925) - Amur, Primorye, Sakhalin, S.Kuriles, Korea
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I.s.f.agrostemmata Guenée, 1858 - Cross lines pronounced darker,background tinged russet or pale ochre,markings blurred