Juniper carpet

Juniper carpet
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Thera
Species: T. juniperata
Binomial name
Thera juniperata
Linnaeus, 1758

The juniper carpet (Thera juniperata) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout Europe and the Near East, but is rather uncommon and locally distributed, mainly due to its very specific larval food plant.

Caterpillar

The nominate race has a wingspan of 26–29 mm but smaller races occur in Ireland and Scotland. The forewings are light brown with a darker shaded band and a very distinctive black apical streak. The hindwings are pale buff. It is active at night from September to November, but rarely flies any great distance though it occasionally comes to light.

The larva feeds exclusively on junipers. The species overwinters as an egg.

  1. ^ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.