Autumnal moth

Autumnal moth
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Epirrita
Species:
E. autumnata
Binomial name
Epirrita autumnata
(Borkhausen, 1794)

The autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Moritz Balthasar Borkhausen in 1794. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East and has a much wider distribution than its two close relatives (see below). In Sápmi (Lapland), in some years, the numerous autumnal moth larvae defoliate square miles of birch forests on mountains.[1]

  1. ^ Haukioja, Erkki; Hanhimäki, Sinikka (1985). "Rapid wound-induced resistance in white birch (Betula pubescens) foliage to the geometrid Epirrita autumnata: a comparison of trees and moths within and outside the outbreak range of the moth". Oecologia. 65 (2): 223–232. doi:10.1007/BF00379221.