Dark bordered beauty moth

Description

Epione vespertaria,the dark bordered beauty,is a moth of the Geometridae family.The wingspan is 25–30 mm.Adults are sexually dimorphic.In the males the wings are darker and more yellow ocher in colour,while in the females they are pale yellow.Both sexes show on the wings a purplish-grey border of even width (hence the Latin name Epione paralellaria).On the forewings and on the hindwings there is a small black spot.Adults are on wing from the end of June to September in one generation.The caterpillars are brown or violet-brown with a whitish tinge underside.They feed on Betula,Corylus avellana,Populus tremula and Salix.Larvae can be found from May to June.The species overwinters as an egg.