Tethea ocularis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Drepanidae
Genus: Tethea
Species:
T. ocularis
Binomial name
Tethea ocularis
Synonyms
  • Phalaena ocularis Linnaeus, 1767
  • Phalaena octogesimea Hübner, 1786
  • Tethea octogena (Esper, 1788)
  • Cymalophora octogesima var. caucasica Krulikowsky, 1901
  • Tethea ocularis caucasica Werny, 1966
  • Tethea ocularis kosswigi Werny, 1966
  • Tethea ocularis sareptensis Zolotuhin, 1997
  • Tethea ocularis tsinlingensis Werny, 1966
  • Cylamophora osthelderi Bytinski-Salz & Brandt, 1937
  • Tethea caspica Ebert, 1976

Tethea ocularis, the figure of eighty, is a moth of the family Drepanidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout Continental Europe and has a scattered distribution in England and Wales, although it is absent from Scotland and Ireland.

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 5
Fig 7, 7a larvae after final moult


The wingspan is 35–45 mm; the dark brown forewings being marked with dark-centred white stigmata which do look rather like the number 80. The hindwings are grey. The species flies from May to July[1] and is attracted to light and sugar.

The grey and white larva feeds on poplar and aspen. The species overwinters as a pupa.

Subspecies

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

References