Garden carpet

Garden carpet
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Xanthorhoe
Species:	X. fluctuata
Binomial name
	Xanthorhoe fluctuata; (Linnaeus, 1758)

Last updated May 03, 2024

The garden carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant and familiar species across its huge range which covers the whole Palearctic region from Ireland to Japan and including the Near East and North Africa. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Description

It has a wingspan of 27–31 mm (1.1–1.2 in). The wings are greyish white with three irregular black blotches along the costa of the forewing, the largest in the middle. Occasionally, much darker (melanic) forms occur. "Easy to recognize, in spite of its variability. In the typical form the ground colour is dirty whitish and the median band is almost or altogether obsolete in its posterior half.

– ab. ochreata Prout has the ground colour ochreous.
– In ab. neapolisata Mill, the ground colour is much darkened with brown-grey.
– ab. costovata Haw. has the median band much narrowed and somewhat shortened,
– deleta Ckll. is merely a rather extreme development of this and need not be separated.
– ab.immaculata Tutt is a much rarer aberration with the median band entirely wanting.
– ab. abstersata H.-Sch. shows the opposite extreme of development of the band, which is here darkened completely across the wing; distal area also sometimes darkened.
– thules Prout is a dark race from the Shetland Islands. The less extreme forms intergrade into ab. neapolisata, but the name strictly applies to specimens in which both the forewings and hindwing are entirely infuscated so that the markings are almost obliterated.
– sempionaria Rätzer is a small race from the Simplon, of a rather purer white than the type and with the median half-band rather small but rather sharply marked."^[1]

Biology

The species has an exceptionally long flying season spanning two or three broods, and the adults can be seen any time from April to October in the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of its range. It flies throughout the night and is attracted to light – it is one of the species most likely to be seen at lighted windows.

The larva is grey or green with pale, diamond-shaped markings along the back. It usually feeds on crucifers: both cultivated brassicas and wild species such as flixweed, garlic mustard, perennial wall-rocket, wallflower, and wild radish. It has also been recorded feeding on nasturtium. The species overwinters as a pupa.

Related Research Articles

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The clouded border is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is distributed across most of Europe to the Urals, western and central Siberia, Transbaikalia, Kazakhstan, Tian-Shan, northern Mongolia and parts of the Near East.

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<i>Xanthorhoe ferrugata</i> Species of moth

Xanthorhoe ferrugata, the dark-barred twin-spot carpet, is a moth of the genus Xanthorhoe in the family Geometridae. It was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759 and has a Holarctic distribution.

Xanthorhoe spadicearia, the red twin-spot carpet, is a moth of the genus Xanthorhoe in the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

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.

Perizoma albulata, the grass rivulet, is a moth of the genus Perizoma in the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

<i>Cepphis advenaria</i> Species of moth

Cepphis advenaria, the little thorn, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species can be found in Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan.

Thera firmata, the pine carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout Europe, Anatolia and countries bordering the Caucasus Mountains.

Plemyria rubiginata, the blue-bordered carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae found in Europe and across the Palearctic. The moth was first described by the Austrian lepidopterists Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

Pelurga comitata, the dark spinach, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic, including Europe, Siberia, the Russian Far East and northern China

Plagodis pulveraria, the barred umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout much of the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Japan, and in the Nearctic realm (Canada).

<i>Scotopteryx chenopodiata</i> Species of moth

Scotopteryx chenopodiata, the shaded broad-bar, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

Aethalura punctulata, the grey birch, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species is found in Europe and then east, as far as western Siberia and the Caucasus.This species prefers sparse alder-ash-floodplain forests on moist to wet locations. Although it is only locally distributed in Central Europe, it is usually common in these biotopes. It occurs from the plains to the middle mountain regions. In the Alps it rises up to 1600 m.

Thera obeliscata, the grey pine carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout north and central Europe and east across the Palearctic to Siberia, and south to the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. In the Alps it can be found at an altitude of over 1500 metres.

Xanthorhoe decoloraria, the red carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1806 and it is found in northern Europe, to the east across the Palearctic to Siberia and the north of North America; further south it seems to occur chiefly, if not exclusively, in the mountains.

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.

<i>Trichopteryx polycommata</i> Species of moth

Trichopteryx polycommata, the barred tooth-striped, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in Europe and the Near East, east to the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, the southern Russian Far East (Primorsk) and Japan (Hokkaido).

Earophila badiata, the shoulder stripe, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found from most of Europe and North Africa to the Altai Mountains in the east Palearctic.

Philereme transversata, the dark umber, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in much of the Palearctic realm.

References

↑ Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the World. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart.pdf

Chinery, Michael (1986). Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe (Reprinted 1991)
Skinner, Bernard (1984). Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles

External links

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[1] Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) The Macrolepidoptera of the World. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart.pdf

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