Camptogramma bilineata

• Subfamily: Larentiinae, Xanthorhoini
• Wingspan: 23-30 mm
• Flight period: Jun - Aug
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Poliphagous

Information

The Camptogramma bilineata also called Yellow Shell is a moth of the Geometridae family, Larentiinae subfamily, with a wingspan of 23-30 mm.
It is distributed throughout Europe, in Italy it is also present in the islands. *
It is also present in North America and Asia.

Normally the background color of the front and rear wings of the Camptogramma bilineata is yellow ocher . The front and rear wings are crossed by serrated lines of brown or white.
There are also usually three or four separate white lines, which can be delimited by a black line. The wing margin is black, sometimes with white checks, and wavy.
The color of the wings remains however very variable from pale ocher, to sometimes with the invisible lines, in dark ocher with brown bands. Head, thorax and abdomen are normally ocher yellow. **

Adults fly from June to August, overwinter at the larva stage. ***
Habitats are varied from mixed and stained woods, gardens to forests and glades. Mostly during the day it can be attracted by artificial lights. ***

The egg is yellow-green, with hexagonal reticulation . The larva is green in color with a set of light / dark lines that cross it longitudinally, the ventral part has a pair of purple spots in correspondence with each segment. The caterpillar can also be brown in color with longitudinal bands. **
The pupa has a green / amber brown / reddish color, the Cremaster is divided in two with two small elongated amber growths at the base.

The larva feeds on various plant species we find Fabaceae, Polygonaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae, Urticaceae and Violaceae.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** Roland Robineau, Guide de papillons nocturne de France, Delachaux et Niestlé, 2011 p.49