Hylaea pinicolaria
Creators: name: Sihvonen, Pasi
name: Skou, Peder
name: Flamigni, Claudio
name: Fiumi, Gabriele
name: Hausmann, Axel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Geometridae
Hylaea
Hylaea pinicolaria

description: Hylaea pinicolaria (Bellier, 1861)
pinicolaria Bellier, 1861, Annls Soc. ent. Fr. (4) 1 (1): 29, pl. 2, fig. 12, (Ellopia). Syntype (s), Corsica (mountains of). Bellier's collection was apparently included in the C. Oberthür collection, which is currently housed in the Natural History Museum, London, UK. Despite searches, we have not located the type.
Description. External characters and pregenital abdomen (Figures 3, 8) (diagnostic characters underlined): Wingspan male 32–34 mm, female 39–42 mm. Wings light green, medial lines white. Medial line curved before costa, basal part parallel with costa. Postmedial line rather straight, only weakly curved, angled before it reaches costa well before apex and evenly curved outwards on inner margin. Medial area concolorous with rest of wing. Terminal line and fringes concolorous with wings, forewing apex dark red. Hindwing postmedial line distinct, curved. Discal spots absent. Wings below as above, but paler. Frons red-brown, thorax and abdomen concolorus with wings. Area between antennae (vertex) white. Antennae white dorsally, male antennae bipectinate, female antennae fasciculate. Hindleg tibia of both sexes with 2+2 spurs. Tympanal organs medium-sized. Sternites and tergites 3–8 of both sexes undifferentiated.
Male genitalia (Figure 12): Generally as in H. fasciaria (Linnaeus) and H. mediterranea. Aedeagus with weakly curved additional arm, apex not expanded in H. pinicolaria (additional arm straight in H. fasciaria, apex expanded in H. compararia). Base of vesica with straight row of microcornuti in H. pinicolaria (vesica with angled row of microcornuti, reaching aedeagus apex in H. compararia).
Female genitalia (Figure 16): Generally as in H. fasciaria and H. mediterranea, but with following quantitative difference: signum large in H. mediterranea (signum absent or minute in H. fasciaria, H. pinicolaria and in H. compararia). Genitalia are large in H. pinicolaria (genitalia considerably smaller in H. compararia). Shape and size of the lamella antevaginalis, and width and length of the posterior part of the corpus bursae are variable and should be treated with caution.
Distribution. Endemic to Corsica (France).
Phenology. According to Robineau (2007) it is univoltine, but this is true probably only at higher altitudes (where it flies from June to early August), while on the coast the species has been collected from May to June and from October to November (Rungs 1982).
Biology. Larva has been recorded to feed on needles of Pinus laricio (Bellier 1861, Robineau 2007) and on P. pinaster (= maritima) (Mabille 1867). In captivity it has been reared on Pinus sylvestris (Reisser, 1929). Larva is a twig or needle-mimic, green, with transverse yellowish stripes or reddish-brown with diamond-shaped patterns dorsally (Lepiforum 2013).
Habitat. In pine forests and places with more scattered pine trees. It is found mostly in the mountains from 500 to 1500 metres, but it occurs also at sea level (Rungs 1982).
Similar species. All four species in Palaearctic Hylaea fasciaria species group are similar. The diagnostic, external characters shown in Figures 6–9 are somewhat tentative and should not be used in isolation, but should be combined with information on biology, collecting locality, male and female genitalia and DNA barcodes. An overview of diagnostic morphological features is given in Table 1.
Genetic data. Genetically homogeneous (n=4), mean and maximum intraspecific variation 0.0%. Nearest species: Hylaea fasciaria (minimum pairwise distance 3.9%). See Figure 26.
Variation (Figure 3). Very little. Ground colour varies from light green to light yellowish-green. Only green specimens are known.
description: Published as part of Sihvonen, Pasi, Skou, Peder, Flamigni, Claudio, Fiumi, Gabriele & Hausmann, Axel, 2014, Revision of the Hylaea fasciaria (Linnaeus, 1758) species group in the western Palaearctic (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Ennominae), pp. 469-486 in Zootaxa 3768 (4) on pages 481-482, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3768.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/4909658