The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek geo γεω, and metron μέτρον "measure" in reference to the way their larvae, or inchworms, appear to measure the earth as they move along in a looping fashion. A very large family, it has around 23,000 species of moths described, and over 1400 species from six subfamilies indigenous to North America alone. A well-known member is the peppered moth, Biston betularia, which has been subject of numerous studies in population genetics. Several other geometer moths are notorious pests.
The common marbled carpet is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Chloroclysta. It is very common throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767.
The Ourapterygini are one of the large tribes of geometer moths in the subfamily Ennominae. The tribe was described by Charles Théophile Bruand d'Uzelle in 1846. They are particularly plentiful in the Neotropics. Ourapterygini are generally held to be the youngest tribe of their subfamily, and at least seasonally have characteristic apomorphic asymmetrical processes of the anellus.
Geometrinae is the nominate subfamily of the geometer moth family (Geometridae). It is strongly split, containing a considerable number of tribes of which most are presently very small or monotypic. These small moths are often a light bluish green, leading to the common name of emerald moths, though a few species called thus are also found in the tribe Campaeini of the Ennominae. In 2018, a phylogeny and classification based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society in which 13 tribes were accepted.
The Cidariini are the largest tribe of geometer moths in the subfamily Larentiinae. The Cidariini include many of the species known as "carpets" or, ambiguously, "carpet moths", and are among the few geometer moths that have been subject to fairly comprehensive cladistic study of their phylogeny. The tribe was described by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1845.
Xanthorhoe designata, the flame carpet, is a moth of the genus Xanthorhoe in the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767.
Campatonema is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae described by E. Dukinfield Jones in 1921.
Eois is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae. The genus contains about 250 validly described species, most from the Neotropical region. Many species are still undescribed and the total number of species is estimated to be over a 1,000 in the Neotropical region alone. The genus was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1818.
Gastrina is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae. Its only species, Gastrina cristaria, the wave-lined geometrid, is found in the south-eastern quarter of Australia. Both the genus and species were first described by Achille Guenée in 1857.
Lipomelia is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae. It contains only one species, Lipomelia subusta, which is found in India and Taiwan. Both the genus and species were first described by William Warren in 1893.
Lophothorax is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae. It consists of only one species, Lophothorax eremnopis, which is found in Australia. Both the genus and the species were first described by Alfred Jefferis Turner, the species in 1922 and the genus in 1939.
Gagitodes sagittata, the marsh carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787. It is found in eastern Asia, including Japan, Korea and China and in central and northern Europe. It is sometimes included in the genus Perizoma
Sterrhinae is a large subfamily of geometer moths with some 3,000 described species, with more than half belonging to the taxonomically difficult, very diverse genera, Idaea and Scopula. This subfamily was described by Edward Meyrick in 1892. They are the most diverse in the tropics with the number of species decreasing with increasing latitude and elevation.
Mesotype didymata, the twin-spot carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its genus is sometimes included in Perizoma.
Campatonema tapantia is a moth of the family Geometridae first described by Sullivan in 2010. It is found in the provinces of Alajuela, Cartago and Heredia in Costa Rica. It has been found along a rather narrow elevational range, from 1100 to 1600 meters.
Campatonema lineata is a moth of the family Geometridae first described by William Schaus in 1911. It is found in the provinces of Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, and Puntarenas in Costa Rica, at elevations from 700 to 1500 meters.
Campatonema yanayacua is a moth of the family Geometridae first described by Sullivan in 2010. It is known only from the type locality, the Yanayacu Biological Station in Ecuador.
Asthenini is a tribe of geometer moths under subfamily Larentiinae first described by Warren in 1893. The tribe has been combined with Eupitheciini in the past, most notably by Jeremy Daniel Holloway in his work The Moths of Borneo.
Louis Beethoven Prout (1864–1943) was an English entomologist and musicologist.
