Chiasmia clathrata

• Subfamily: Ennominae, Macariini
• Wingspan: 23-30 mm
• Flight period: Apr - Sep
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Fabaceae

Information

The Chiasmia clathrata also called Latticed Heath is a moth of the Geometridae family, subfamily Ennominae, with a wingspan of 23 - 30 mm.
It is visible throughout Europe (excluding Iceland). In Italy it is also present in Sicily. *
Its range extends to the Middle East and North Africa *** and east to Russia and Siberia as far as Japan.

The front wings of Chiasmia clathrata vary from white to yellowish / cream, more or less dark with four transverse lines and three horizontal lines ranging from black to dark brown creating a sort of grid. These lines can vary in thickness and sometimes the wings are almost completely dark brown. The hind wings follow the forewings. The fringes of the wings are white and brown checkered.
The head, thorax and abdomen are cream in color with brown dusting, the abdomen has narrow light bands at the intersegmental spaces. **

Adults fly from April to September depending on the latitude in two generations (bivoltine). The Chiasmia clathrata flies both during the day and during the night, especially in the presence of artificial light sources. The species overwinters as a pupa. Habitats are diverse, ranging from road edges to meadows, grassy slopes, scrubs and clearings.

The eggs are pearly white, flattened knurled. **
Caterpillars can be found from April to June (first generation) and in August to September (second generation). The color at the last stage is pale green with white lines, among which the thicker lateral line and the thin dorsal lines along the body stand out. The pupa is brown in color sometimes with reddish hues.

The larvae feed on Medicago sp. and Trifolium sp., plants belonging to the Fabaceae.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/
*** (Chinery, 1986)