Mesoleuca albicillata

Last updated

Mesoleuca albicillata
Mesoleuca albicillata.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Mesoleuca
Species:
M. albicillata
Binomial name
Mesoleuca albicillata
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Mesoleuca albicillata, also known as the beautiful carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in the Palearctic.

Contents

Distribution

Mesoleuca albicillata is commonly found throughout certain regions of Europe, from Spain through to Western and Central Europe, including the British Isles. In Northern Europe it is found as high up as Central Fennoscandia, and as low as Southern Italy, the Balkans and the Black Sea in Southern and Eastern Europe. It is also found in the temperate zone in Central Asia.

Description

The wingspan is 34–38 mm. The ground colour of the forewings is creamy white to bright white. The basal field is markedly black-brown in colour. There is a large black-brown on the front edge behind the middle and almost to the apex. There is a double crossline of dark grey colour and a white wavy line in the grey marginal field with very small black discal flecks also present. The hindwings are white, have a grey marginal field that is crossed by a faint whitish squiggle and there is a thin, dark cross line and a small black middle spot. Adult caterpillars are strongly coloured green. On the dorsum they show very distinctive yellow-brown to red-brown arrow spots.

Fig.3, 3a larvae after final moult Buckler W The larvae of the British butterflies and moths PlateCXXXIX.jpg
Fig.3, 3a larvae after final moult

Biology

The moth is single brooded and flies from mid May to mid August.

The larva feeds on bramble, raspberry and strawberry and in the UK can be found from July to September. [1]

The species inhabits open forests, forest edges, wetlands, shore areas as well as gardens and parks.

Similar species

Notes

  1. ^ The flight season refers to Belgium and The Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small fan-footed wave</span> Species of moth

The small fan-footed wave is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey pug</span> Species of moth

The grey pug is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region. It is also found in North America. Since it does not place any special demands on climatic conditions, special caterpillar food plants, geological subsoil or the like it is a typical species of almost any Hochstaudenflur, where it occurs in the herb layer, in bushes and even on deciduous trees. It can be found on forest edges and hedgerows, on heath, in rocky places and wetlands, parks and gardens, as well as in villages and town centres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scalloped hazel</span> Species of moth

The scalloped hazel is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black arches</span> Species of moth

The black arches or nun moth is a small Palaearctic moth. It is considered a forest pest.

<i>Angerona prunaria</i> Sole species of Angerona, a geometer moth genus

Angerona is a monotypic moth genus in the family Geometridae erected by Philogène Auguste Joseph Duponchel in 1829. Its only species, Angerona prunaria, the orange moth, was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.

<i>Colostygia pectinataria</i> Species of moth

Colostygia pectinataria, the green carpet, is a moth of the genus Colostygia in the family Geometridae. It was first described by August Wilhelm Knoch in 1781.

<i>Mythimna albipuncta</i> Species of moth

Mythimna albipuncta, the white-point, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is distributed throughout Europe and one subspecies is found in Tunisia. It is also found in Asia Minor, Armenia, and Iran, and the northeastern United States.

<i>Idaea dimidiata</i> Species of moth

Idaea dimidiata, the single-dotted wave, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a Holarctic species.

<i>Idaea rusticata</i> Species of moth

Idaea rusticata, the least carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

<i>Ecliptopera silaceata</i> Species of moth

Ecliptopera silaceata, the small phoenix, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

<i>Apeira syringaria</i> Species of moth

Apeira syringaria, the lilac beauty, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout Europe and east across the Palearctic to the Russian Far East and Japan.

<i>Plemyria rubiginata</i> Species of moth

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.

<i>Scopula marginepunctata</i> Species of geometer moth in subfamily Sterrhinae

Scopula marginepunctata, the mullein wave, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1781. It is found throughout Europe.

<i>Idaea fuscovenosa</i> Species of moth

Idaea fuscovenosa, the dwarf cream wave, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in the Palearctic,

<i>Calliteara pudibunda</i> Species of moth

Calliteara pudibunda, the pale tussock, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The Dutch common name for the moth (Meriansborstel) comes from the butterfly and insect painter Maria Sibylla Merian. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Asia and Europe.

<i>Eupithecia tantillaria</i> Species of moth

Eupithecia tantillaria, the dwarf pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1840. The species can be found in the Palearctic realm.

<i>Eupithecia nanata</i> Species of moth

Eupithecia nanata, the narrow-winged pug, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1813. It can be found all over Europe including Russia and Ukraine. In the Alps it occurs up to 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) above sea level and in the Pyrenees to 2400 meters. The species prefers dry or boggy heathlands.

<i>Thera obeliscata</i> Species of moth

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.

<i>Hydrelia sylvata</i> Species of moth

Hydrelia sylvata, the waved carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the temperate parts of the Palearctic realm.

<i>Catarhoe cuculata</i> Species of moth

Catarhoe cuculata, the royal mantle, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1767. It is found from Europe to western Central Asia and east Siberia. The species prefers to live in light forests and forest edges, but also occurs on meadows.

References

  1. Porter, Jim (1997). The Colour Identification Guide To Caterpillars of the British Isles. London: Viking. p. 37. ISBN   0 670 87509 0.