About Craniophora ligustri (Denis & Schiffermüller), 1775
Craniophora ligustri (Denis & Schiffermüller), 1775 has a wingspan of 30–35 mm. Its forewings are purplish fuscous, with more or less greenish tint, and a paler patch beyond the cell; the prothorax is conspicuously whitish. There are several accepted aberrations of this species. The aberration ab. sundevalli Lampa is a form where both the forewing and thorax are entirely dark olive green. The aberration ab. nigra Tutt has forewings that are completely black, with no green tinge, and this form has only ever been collected in the North of England. Finally, the aberration ab. coronula Haw. has a white apex suffused with grey brown instead of green, with a white lunule on its inner edge. The white patch that sits distal to the reniform spot looks like a crown, which gives the common name coronet to this species. Variation in wing coloration and overall body size depends on the environmental conditions where individuals develop, and these differences are visible in physical and morphological traits. This species is distributed from western and central Europe all the way to the Russian Far East, northern China, Japan, and Korea. In the northern part of its range, it extends as far as southern Scandinavia, the Baltic States, central Russia (approximately as far north as Saint Petersburg), and Ukraine. On the Iberian Peninsula, this species is only found in the northern region. In the eastern Mediterranean, it reaches as far south as northern Greece, with smaller isolated populations in central Greece and the Peloponnese. Its distribution range also includes Israel, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Cyprus.
