''Gnophaela vermiculata'', sometimes known as the police-car moth or green lattice, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family (biology), family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwin ...

. The species was first described by

Augustus Radcliffe Grote Augustus Radcliffe Grote (February 7, 1841 – September 12, 1903) was a British entomologist who Species description, described over 1,000 species of Lepidoptera, butterflies and moths.Osborn, H. 1937. Fragments of Entomological History. Columb ...

in 1864. It is found in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States and in western parts of North America, from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, east to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and north to

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is about . Adults are on wing in late summer and fly during the day. There is one generation per year. The larva is born with yellower patches but eventually grows into the adult coloring. As larvae, they feed on ''

Mertensia ''Mertensia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family Boraginaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants with blue or sometimes white flowers that open from pink-tinged buds. Such a change in flower color is common in Boraginaceae an ...

'', ''

Lithospermum ''Lithospermum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide, but most are native to the Americas and the center of diversity is in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Species are kn ...

'' and ''

Hackelia ''Hackelia'' (stickseeds) is a genus of plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It includes 54 species found in North America, western South America, temperate Eurasia, and Australia. 12 species are native to California. The genus was named a ...

'' species. Adults feed on nectar of various herbaceous flowers, including ''

Cirsium ''Cirsium'' is a genus of Perennial plant, perennial and Biennial plant, biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thist ...

'' and ''

Solidago ''Solidago'', commonly called goldenrods, is a genus of about 100 to 120''Solidago''.
F ...

''. It can be confused with ''

Gnophaela latipennis ''Gnophaela latipennis'', the wild forget-me-not moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1852. It is found in the US states of Oregon and California. The habitat consists of open mixed hardwood-conif ...

'' because of the similarity in their pattern. The latter species has smaller pale areas on its wings and more rounded forewing margins.

References

* * * Gnophaela Moths of North America Fauna of California Moths described in 1864 Taxa named by Augustus Radcliffe Grote {{Pericopina-stub