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Genus Biston

Inchworm pretending to be a dogwood twig - Biston betularia

Pepper & Salt Geometer - Hodges#6640 - Biston betularia

Geometridae: Biston betularia - Biston betularia

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)

Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)

Subfamily Ennominae

Tribe Bistonini

Genus Biston

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Biston Leach, 1815

Explanation of Names

Generic name Biston from Greek mythology, Biston was the son of Ares and Calliope. (1)

Numbers

1 species in North America (See the remarks section below.)

1 species in Canada (CBIF)

Range

Holarctic: represented coast-to-coast in North America and Eurasia.

Remarks

Biston multidentata has been moved to Chiricahua multidentata, a new genus in the tribe Nacophorini.

Print References

A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) By Frederick H. Rindge of the American Museum of Natural History 156(2):, 1975 (2)

Internet References

pinned adult images of B. betularia (CBIF)

pinned adult image of B. multidentata (Bruce Walsh, U. of Arizona) - moved to new genus, Chiricahua

Works Cited

1.	An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names. Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.

2.	A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae). Frederick H. Rindge. 1975. American Museum of Natural History 156(2):.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 3 June, 2005 - 9:05pm
Additional contributions by Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 23 October, 2018 - 1:48pm

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