Geometridae : Larentiinae
Spruce Carpet
THERA britannica (Turner, 1925)
Spruce Carpet
THERA britannica (Turner, 1925)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 30-36mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe
UK Distribution: Resident : Common and widespread throughout England,Wales,Isle of Man and Ireland : Scotland-Local : Channel Islands-Rare
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: As the name suggests, mostly found in coniferous forests : Parkland : Gardens
Similar Species -
"loopers" or "inchworms" has two pairs of rear legs and three pairs of forward legs but no prolegs(middle legs).The larva is green with four coloured lateral lines traversing from the top of the caterpillar moving down the sides, in light green,dark green,mid green and yellow.The looping gait as it walks gives the caterpillar its name.
Pupa: Pupates on or below ground
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: It is often difficult to differentiate between this moth and its similar species although within the median band (the darker grey line across the forewing) there is an appearance of individual cells which are often marked with a white border-clearly seen in all photos.
The forewing ground colour varies between light grey to blackish grey, often marked in white especially either side of the median band.
The individual cross-lines are clearly more defined than that seen with the Grey Pine Carpet making it easy to define the species.
The moth is common throughout its range and is increasing its distribution.
The moth is often disturbed during the day from its resting places such as trees trunks,fences etc and is attracted to light sometimes in large numbers.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe
UK Distribution: Resident : Common and widespread throughout England,Wales,Isle of Man and Ireland : Scotland-Local : Channel Islands-Rare
UK Conservation Status -
- Common = >300 10Km squares
- Least Concern
- Cidaria britannica Turner 1925
- Geometra variata ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775)
- Great Britain
Habitat: As the name suggests, mostly found in coniferous forests : Parkland : Gardens
Similar Species -
- Pine Carpet Thera firmata Hübner, 1822
- Grey Pine Carpet Thera obeliscata Hübner, 1787
"loopers" or "inchworms" has two pairs of rear legs and three pairs of forward legs but no prolegs(middle legs).The larva is green with four coloured lateral lines traversing from the top of the caterpillar moving down the sides, in light green,dark green,mid green and yellow.The looping gait as it walks gives the caterpillar its name.
Pupa: Pupates on or below ground
Overwinters as: Larva
Observations: It is often difficult to differentiate between this moth and its similar species although within the median band (the darker grey line across the forewing) there is an appearance of individual cells which are often marked with a white border-clearly seen in all photos.
The forewing ground colour varies between light grey to blackish grey, often marked in white especially either side of the median band.
The individual cross-lines are clearly more defined than that seen with the Grey Pine Carpet making it easy to define the species.
The moth is common throughout its range and is increasing its distribution.
The moth is often disturbed during the day from its resting places such as trees trunks,fences etc and is attracted to light sometimes in large numbers.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Cupressaceae - Cypress Family
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana - Lawson Cypress
- Pinaceae - Pine Family
- Abies alba - Silver Fir
- Picea abies - Norway Spruce
- Picea sitchensis - Sitka Spruce
- Pinus sylvestris - Scot's Pine
- Pseudotsuga menziesii - Douglas Fir
- Thuja plicata - Western Red Cedar
- Tsuga heterophylla - Western Hemlock Spruce
Larval Food Plant Slideshow
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - THERA: Original Species Name: Species Name: Literary Ref: Type Locality: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Geometroidea Geometridae Larentiinae Cidariini THERA Stephens, 1831 Thera britannica (H,J Turner, 1925) - Geometra variata ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) - CIDARIA britannica (Turner 1925) = Thera albonigrata Gornik, 1942 - The Entomologist Record and Journal of Variation : J Turner 1925 : Vol.37, 1-1. - p.25 - Great Britain |