#2834 · 🦋 butterflies & moths
Purple Thorn
🇳🇱 Halvemaanvlinder ·Selenia tetralunaria
8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © winu · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © lastovka · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Ben Sale · CC BY 4.0
- 4. © Raoul Gerend · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Manfred Auer · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Tobias Gratzer · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. © iwo2022 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © Raoul Gerend · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The purple thorn ( Selenia tetralunaria ) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a species of northern and central Europe. It has a scattered distribution in Britain but is absent from Ireland.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 36 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 3,427 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767 (259 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Purple Thorn
- Nederlands
- Halvemaanvlinder
- scientific name
- Selenia tetralunaria
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Lepidoptera
- family
- Geometridae
- sightings in NL
- 36
- sightings in Europe
- 3,013
- sightings worldwide
- 3,427
- GBIF records in NL
- 5,495
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1767 by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel
relatives· Geometridae
#2406 📷 8Riband Wave
🇳🇱 Grijze stipspanner
Idaea aversata
👀 977 in NL
#2408 📷 7Yellow Shell Moth
🇳🇱 Gestreepte Goudspanner
Camptogramma bilineata
👀 893 in NL
#2409 📷 10Small Dusty Wave
🇳🇱 Paardenbloemspanner
Idaea seriata
👀 889 in NL
#2412 📷 10Willow Beauty
🇳🇱 Schaduwspikkelspanner
Peribatodes rhomboidaria
👀 725 in NL
#2418 📷 10Double-striped Pug
🇳🇱 Zwartkamdwergspanner
Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
👀 668 in NL
#2435 📷 8Single-dotted Wave
🇳🇱 Vlekstipspanner
Idaea dimidiata
👀 509 in NL
#2438 📷 10Small Engrailed
🇳🇱 Gewone spikkelspanner
Ectropis crepuscularia
👀 486 in NL
#2444 📷 10Brimstone Moth
🇳🇱 Hagedoornvlinder
Opisthograptis luteolata
👀 435 in NL
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 355986, Wikidata Q1975104, GBIF 1962265, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.