Parapoynx stratiotata

Parapoynx stratiotata, the ringed china-mark, is a moth of the family Crambidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe where the distribution area extends in the north to the British Isles including Ireland and in the south to Sardinia, Sicily and Greece. The species is also found across the Palearctic in North Africa, Lebanon, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and China..

Female

Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology Volume 6

Figs 2 larva after final moult 2a cocoon on Anacharis alsinastrum 2b 2c dorsal and ventral aspects of pupa from William BucklerThe Larvae of the British Butterflies and Moths

Parapoynx stratiotata
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Crambidae
Genus:	Parapoynx
Species:	P. stratiotata
Binomial name
Parapoynx stratiotata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Phalaena (Geometra) stratiotata Linnaeus, 1758 Nymphula stratiotata ab. fasciata Teich, 1908 Nymphula stratiotata ab. nigrata Krulikovsky, 1909 Nymphula stratiotata amanica Osthelder, 1935 Nymphula stratiotata uralica Caradja in Caradja & Meyrick, 1937 Phalaena paludata Fabricius, 1794 Phalaena stratiotes Retzius, 1783 Scopula paludalis Schrank, 1802 Phalaena stratiolata Fourcroy, 1787 Phalaena stratiolatis Haworth, 1802 Phalaena strationata Ganev, 1982 Phalaena Pyralis stratiotalis Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 Parapoynx maroccanum Speidel, 1982

The wingspan is 20–24 mm for the males and 28–30 mm for the females. The forewings are pale ochreous brownish, sometimes partly suffused with white in disc ; lines white, first indistinct, posteriorly partly edged with dark brown, second sinuate, anteriorly suffusedly edged with dark brown ; a white discal spot, edged with dark fuscous ; a white subterminal streak. Hindwings are white; a thick dark fuscous postmedian line ; a fine dark subterminal line ; termen yellow-tinged. The larva with eight series of groups of fleshy filaments, serving as branchiae ; whitish-ochreous or pale greenish, slightly purplish freckled; dorsal line rather dark grey ; head pale brown.[1]

The moth flies from May to September depending on the location.

The larvae feed on Nymphaea alba, Potamogeton, Callitriche, Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadensis, Nuphar lutea and Stratiotes.