About Philereme transversata (Hufnagel, 1767)
Philereme transversata, commonly known as the dark umber, is a moth species belonging to the family Geometridae. It is distributed across most of the Palearctic realm. The wingspan of this moth ranges from 29 to 37 mm. While it is variable in body color, its wing markings are generally very consistent. On the forewing, all lines are sharply angled near the costa, and the postmedian line has an unusually long, double projection at the first radial. The ground color of the wings is either bright ochreous brown or dark brown, with the lines themselves being darker. The median band of the forewing is sometimes almost broken apart into separate lines, but more often it is more or less solid, and can occasionally be quite blackish. The aberrant form ab. hastedonensis Lamhill is a melanotic variety, where the brown ground color of the typical form is largely replaced by blackish. This form was first described from Belgium, and also occurs near London. The subspecies japanaria Leech is paler than the typical form, and the median area of its forewing is not darkened, or only barely noticeably darkened. It is found in Oiwake, Japan. Philereme transversata has one generation per year, with adults active in flight from the beginning of June through August. The larvae of this species feed on common buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica. Larvae can be found from the end of April to June. The caterpillars occur in two color forms: one is pale green, and the other is dark brown with cream markings. This species overwinters in the egg stage.
