Species Details

ABH: 70.156

BF: 1852

Family: Geometridae

Subfamily: Larentiinae

Taxon: Eupithecia abbreviata

Authority: Stephens, 1831

Vernacular: Brindled Pug

Account: Common in deciduous woodland, especially of oak, but also in hedgerows and gardens throughout the British Isles. One of the earliest species of pug to emerge in Spring; the brown, nominate form often has a distinct white patch dorsad of the small central dot, but the melanistic form is fairly common, and cannot always be reliably separated from melanistic forms of other pug species. For non-melanistic forms, the most likely confusion species is Oak-tree Pug E. dodoneata, which see for differences. Larva feeds on Pedunculate and Sessile Oak, and Hawthorn, over-wintering as a pupa.

Accounts provided by and used with the kind permission of Mike Wall, Hampshire County Moth Recorder. These will in due course be gradually replaced with species accounts with a Surrey context.

Wingspan: 19 — 22 mm

Surrey Flight Period: 21 Feb (1998) — 4 Jun (2013)

The flight period of overwintering adults are not given. See the flight chart below the distribution map.

Foodplant: Crataegus sp., Quercus sp. (an oak).

Foodplant accounts are from the HOSTS database — Natural History Museum, London, UK. (CC0).

Status: Least Concern (LC)

UK BAP:

WCA:

Click here to view the full geology map of Surrey.

Verification Grade: 2 — Care needed to identify 🤔
Further Information: https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/eupithecia-abbreviata/
Statistics

* Based on adult records only.

Records: 1159

Individuals: 2667

Earliest Year: 1921

Latest Year: 2025

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