Rhodometra sacraria ( Linnaeus, 1767 )

King, Gareth Edward & González-Estébanez, Félix Javier, 2015, Geometrid larvae of the Alpi Marittime Natural Park (district of Valdieri, Cuneo, Italy), with descriptions of the larvae of two Gnophini Pierce, 1914 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Geometridae), Zoosystema 37 (4), pp. 621-631 : 624

Rhodometra sacraria ( Linnaeus, 1767)

Phalaena Geometra sacraria Linnaeus, 1767: 863 .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Larva (L5) 2.IX. 2008 in Oxyria digyna growing amongst scree; Riserva Naturale Ginepro di Fenecia (♀ emerged; deposited MNCN) ; 2 larvae (L5) 2.IX. 2009 in Rumex scutatus alongside river Gesso ; San Lorenzo (emerged 18.VIII.2009; GEK leg. et det.; deposited MNCN) .

NOTES ON FOOD- PLANT. — Although this divagant ( Eitschberger et al. 1991) species is recognized as being oligophagous on polygonales ( Gómez de Aizpúrua et al. 2006, amongst others), neither Oxyria digyna nor Rumex scutatus are documented as food-plants.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS. — Not previously documented in the PNAM ( Baldizzone et al. 2005). The two occasions in late summer when the three larvae were collected is noteworthy in terms of the “corridor” function ( Gallé et al. 1995) that the two localities would have served as the insect migrated northwards: an open scree slope alongside woodland and the banks of the river Gesso.