Juniper pug

The juniper pug or juniper looper (Eupithecia pusillata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found throughout the Palearctic and in the Nearctic.

Juniper pug
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Eupithecia
Species:	E. pusillata
Binomial name
Eupithecia pusillata (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
Geometra pusillata Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 Eupithecia quebecata Taylor, 1910 Eupithecia anglicata Herrich-Schäffer, 1863 Eupithecia expressaria Herrich-Schäffer, 1848 Eupithecia latoniata Milliere, 1882 Eupithecia scotica Dietze, 1910 Eupithecia sobrinaria Boisduval, 1840 Geometra sobrinata Hubner, 1817 Eupithecia stevensata Webb, 1896 Eupithecia masuii Inoue, 1980[2]

Subspecies E. p. interruptofasciata is sometimes treated as a valid species Eupithecia interruptofasciata.

The forewings are greyish brown often with two distinctive black cross bands. The wingspan is 17–21 mm (0.67–0.83 in). It is relatively contrastingly coloured, with marked, light and dark cross-bands and short black longitudinal lines. It often lacks a black spot in the middle of the wing (discal spot). It is extremely variable but generally easy to recognize by the acutely angulated antemedian line, the whitish patch between discal dot and the postmedian and dark dashes proximally to the postmedian — graeseriata Ratzer (= latoniata Mill.) is larger and greyer is in general more weakly marked but very variable (Swiss Alps). — anglicata H-Sch. from the chalk cliffs of Kent, is a whitish grey form of rather characteristic appearance. — scoriata Stgr. from Iceland, is a dark, weakly-marked form.[3]

3,3a larvae after final moult

The larva has a number of short brushes and numerous small white warts. The body is green, along the back it has either a simple, dark back strip or a variety of bell-shaped, dark brown spots.

The adults fly at night from July to September, and are attracted to light.

In the Old World, the larva feeds on Juniperus (juniper) and some other conifers in the cypress family such as Chamaecyparis and Thuja. In the New World, there is a greater range of recorded food plants including apple, clover, raspberry, redcurrant, strawberry, sunflower and willow as well as juniper. The species overwinters as an egg.