The garden carpet (''Xanthorhoe fluctuata'') is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Geometridae 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 (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metro ...

. It is an abundant and familiar species across its huge range which covers the whole Palearctic region from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to Japan and including the Near East and North

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Description

It has a wingspan of . The wings are greyish white with three irregular black blotches along the

costa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...

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."Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgar
pdf
/ref> Xanthorhoe fluctuata SLU

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 The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern 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 A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

is grey or green with pale, diamond-shaped markings along the back. It usually feeds on

crucifer A crucifer or cross-bearer is, in some Christian churches (particularly the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutherans, and United Methodist Church), a person appointed to carry the church's processional cross, a cross or crucifix wit ...

s: both cultivated

brassica ''Brassica'' () is a genus of plants in the cabbage and mustard family ( Brassicaceae). The members of the genus are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. Crops from this genus are sometimes called ''cole c ...

s and wild species such as flixweed,

garlic mustard ''Alliaria petiolata'', or garlic mustard, is a Biennial plant, biennial flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, north-western Africa, Morocco, Iberian Peninsula, Iberia and the ...

, perennial wall-rocket,

wallflower ''Erysimum'', or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. The genus ''Cheiranthus'' is sometimes included here in whole o ...

, and

wild radish ''Raphanus raphanistrum'', also known as wild radish, white charlock or jointed charlock, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. One of its subspecies, ''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'', includes a diverse variety of cultiv ...

. It has also been recorded feeding on nasturtium. The species overwinters as a

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

References

Chinery, Michael Michael Chinery (born 1938, in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-e ...

(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

Garden carpet at ''UKMoths''''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q765903 Xanthorhoe Moths described in 1758 Moths of Africa Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus