Xanthorhoe fluctuata

• Subfamily: Larentiinae, Xanthorhoini
• Wingspan: 22-31 mm
• Flight period: May - Sep
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Asteraceae, Brassicaceae

Information

The Xanthorhoe fluctuata also called Garden Carpet is a moth of the Geometridae family, Larentiinae subfamily, with a wingspan of 22-31 mm.
It is distributed throughout Europe. In Italy it is also present in Sicily. *
Its distribution includes the Middle East and North Africa.

The front wings of Xanthorhoe fluctuata are greyish-white with three irregular black spots along the front rib, the largest in the center. Much darker forms occasionally occur. Easy to recognize, despite its variability. In the typical form the background color is dirty whitish and the median band it is almost or completely obsolete in its rear half.

The hind wings are of the same color as the fore wings, more tenuous and without dark spots Head and thorax are brown / black, like the three spots on the costa, while the abdomen is in the color of the hind wings.

Bi or trivoltolina the species has an exceptionally long season and the adults can be seen anytime from April to October, depending on the latiutdine, the normal season runs from May to September.
Predominantly nocturnal moth is attracted to light, winters as a pupa. It frequents mixed woods, deciduous forests, gardens, scrubs and arches

The eggs are ovoid, yellowish and knurled. The larva is gray or pale green in color, with diamond-shaped markings along the back. The pupa is brown / reddish with ocher shades, the cremaster has small elongated, hooked appendages.

The larva is oligophagous and feeds on Asteraceae (Aster sedifolius) and Brassicaceae (Alliaria, Alyssum, Brassica, Sisymbrium).


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