''Colostygia pectinataria'', the green carpet, 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 genus ''

Colostygia ''Colostygia'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae erected by Jacob Hübner in 1825. Selected species * '' Colostygia ablutaria'' (Boisduval, 1840) * '' Colostygia aestivalis'' (Dioszeghy, 1930) * '' Colostygia albidissima'' (Strand, ...

'' in the family Geometridae. It was first described by

August Wilhelm Knoch August Wilhelm Knoch (June 8, 1742 – June 2, 1818) was a German people, German natural history, naturalist born in Braunschweig. He was a professor of physics at Braunschweig University of Technology, Collegium Carolinum. He studied theology ...

in 1781. The moth has a wingspan from . The strong forewing ground colour is green to bluish green. The wing pattern shows the following colour sequence: a small region at the wing base brown green, the ensuing basal region brighter green, a wide and strongly serrated on the outside discal region dark green edged with white, the postdiscal region whitish green and the marginal region tinted brownish green. There are two distinct blackish spots near the front edge of the wing (costa) and one on the inner edge. In older specimens, the greenish colour can fade. Sometimes newly emerged hatched moths have a whitish, yellowish or pink colour. The hindwings shimmer grey white and have faint lines. The antennae of the males are combed, those of females are simple.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> The larva is stout, gnarled and light grey violet in colour. It has numerous small black spots that each carry a short, stiff brush. It occurs in many different biotopes, on moors, in marshy terrain and also in forests. The larvae feed primarily on '' Galium'' but also on ''

Rumex The docks and sorrels, genus ''Rumex'', are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Members of this genus are very common perennial herbs with a native almost worldwide distribu ...

'' and '' Lamium''. The moths fly at night in June – July and often come to light. It is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

species found in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

over western and central Europe including 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, ...

and east to the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

. ''C. pectinataria'' reaches the Arctic Circle in

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...

, to the south the occurrence ranges from the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

to the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

region and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

. In the mountains ''C. pectinataria'' has been recorded at elevations of over . Bogs, forests, bushy forest edges and damp heath areas are preferred.

References

External links

Green carpet at ''UKMoths''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Cidariini Moths described in 1781 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by August Wilhelm Knoch {{Cidariini-stub