Blood-vein

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Blood-vein
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Geometridae Genus: Timandra Species: T. comae
Binomial name
Timandra comae (Schmidt, 1931)

The Blood-vein, (Timandra comae) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It has a scattered distribution in Northern Europe. In the British Isles the distribution is patchy outside southern England and Wales.

The wings are cream-coloured with bold red or purple fascia forming a diagonal stripe across forewings and hindwings. All wings are fringed with the same colour. The tornus of the hindwing is sharply angled giving a distinctive shape. The wingspan is 30-35 mm. Two broods are produced each year with the adults flying in May and June and again in August and September ^[1]. It flies at night and is attracted to light.

The larva is grey-brown with darker spots on the back. In the UK, it feeds on the leaves of a variety of plants including dock, knotgrass, sorrel and various species of Atriplex. It overwinters as a larva.

1. ^  The flight season refers to the British Isles. This varies in other parts of the range.

[edit] References

Chinery, Michael Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe 1986 (Reprinted 1991)

Skinner, Bernard Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles 1984