Satellite

Appearance

For a key to the terms used, see :Glossary of entomology terms.
Forewing grey brown, with deeper suffusion; inner and outer lines fine, and more or less erect, the inner straight, the outer waved; a bent median shade, one before the inner line, and another close beyond the outer; submarginal line pale, interrupted, preceded and followed by dark shades; claviform and orbicular stigmata obsolete; reniform in the type form orange yellow, with a white dot above and below it; fringe concolorous, preceded by pale marginal lunules; hindwing fuscous brown. Linne's type form, showing a yellow reniform with two white dots, especially in combination with the grey-brown ground colour, is decidedly rare; as a rule, when the reniform is yellow, the tendency is for the upper, and often the lower also, of the two dots to become yellow also; when all three spots are deep reddish orange we have the form ''brunnea'' Lampa; ''albipuncta'' Strand is the form with white reniform, in which the dots also are always white; the term ''rufescens'' Tutt, in which the ground colour is more or less rufous tinged, would apply to the more ordinary European form as well as to the British.

Distribution

The species ranges from Ireland to Japan. Specifically, south to northern Spain, Sardinia, central Italy then Macedonia, Bulgaria, Asia Minor and the Caucasus east to Central Asia and the Russian Far East and Siberia before reaching Japan. In the north, the geographical presence extends to Scotland and the Orkney Islands. Individuals are reported in Iceland. In Fennoscandia the range extends almost to the Arctic Circle, as well as in northern Russia. The species is very cold tolerant and lives in a variety of habitats, from forests to open grasslands, from the lowlands up to above the tree line. From temperate areas to the subarctic tundra. The species rises up to 1800 m in the Alps.

Behavior

The larva usually feeds on trees and shrubs but has also been recorded on dandelion and also frequently eats the larvae of other species.

#^ ''The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

Food

*''Acer'' – maple
⤷ ''Amelanchier''
⤷ ''Betula'' – birch
⤷ ''Castanea'' – chestnut
⤷ ''Corylus'' – common hazel
⤷ ''Crataegus'' – hawthorn
⤷ ''Filipendula'' – meadowsweet
⤷ ''Fraxinus'' – European ash
⤷ ''Lonicera'' – honeysuckle
⤷ ''Malus'' – apple
⤷ ''Prunus''
⤷ ''Pyrus'' – pear
⤷ ''Quercus'' – oak
⤷ ''Ribes'' – redcurrant
⤷ ''Rubus''
⤷ ''Salix'' – willow
⤷ ''Sorbus'' – rowan
⤷ ''Taraxacum'' – dandelion
⤷ ''Tilia'' – lime
⤷ ''Ulmus'' – elm
⤷ ''viburnum'' – guelder-rose

See Robinson, G. S. et al.