| Pale Oak Beauty (Hypomecis punctinalis (Scopoli, 1763)) |
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Scientific name: Hypomecis punctinalis (Scopoli, 1763) Common name: Pale Oak Beauty French name: Boarmie pointillée Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Heterocera Family: Geometridae Subfamily: Ennominae Wingspan: 46-55 mm. Biotope: Woodlands, woodland edges, parks and gardens, hedgerows. Geographic area: Central and southern Europe, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Russia to the far east, Japan, Korea and western China. Flight time: May to November. Number of generations : 3 Caterpillar: Greenish to brownish with two black or dark brownish bumps on the second abdominal segment. Host plant: Many deciduous trees, brambles, honeysuckle. |
The Pale Oak Beauty has whitish grey to brownish wings. They are crossed by faint antemedian and postmedian lines. You can distinguish a toothed anteterminal line, better marked on the four wings. The four wings bear a light coloured discal spot of a very elongated oval shape with a dark border. The Pale Oak Beauty overwinters as a chrysalis. There is possible confusion with the Great Oak Beauty (Hypomecis roboraria). This last species has a dark area on the underside of the apex of the forewing that the Pale Oak Beauty does not have (not easy to see in natura). Additionally (easier to see), the hindwing discal spot does not have a light coloured centre on the Great Oak Beauty. |
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Very elongated discal spots with a light coloured centre and bordered with dark on the four wings, I think that this one is a Pale Oak Beauty. |
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I initially listed this specimen as a Willow Beauty but after a new exam I think that it is a Pale Oak Beauty. The bipectinate antennae indicate one male. |
André Bon January 2024