| Blood-vein | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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. The species was first described by Anton Schmidt in 1931.
It has a scattered distribution in western and central Europe north of the Alps. In the British Isles the distribution is patchy outside southern England and Wales. In far eastern Europe – east of a line running roughly from Finland through Estonia – it is replaced by its sister species Timandra griseata. The species were split in 1931, only to be subsequently re-merged by most authors. But since 1994, new research has come out in favour of treating them as distinct species.[1]
,_Elst_(Gld),_the_Netherlands.jpg)
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.[a] 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.
