The silver-ground carpet (''Xanthorhoe montanata'') 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

Geometridae The geometer moths are 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, paraphyleti ...

. The species was first described by

Michael Denis Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian Catholic priest and Jesuit, who is best known as a poet, bibliographer, and lepidopterist. Life Denis was born at Schärdin ...

and

Ignaz Schiffermüller Jeremias "Johann" Ignaz Schiffermüller (; 2 November 1727 – 21 June 1806) was an Austrian naturalist and Jesuit teacher who took a special interest in the Lepidoptera. In order to describe the colours of butterflies, he also looked for a syste ...

in 1775. It is common throughout the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

region (from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

but not Japan) including the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

and North Africa.It is found in a variety of different habitats and occurs, for example, in humid forests, moorland and shore areas, on embankments or on unimproved grass meadows and heathlands as well as in gardens. 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 29–33 mm although some northern races may be smaller. The forewings are white with a broad shaded band which varies from pale grey to almost black. The hindwings are also white with pale

fascia A fascia (; : fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; ) is a generic term for macroscopic membranous bodily structures. Fasciae are classified as superficial, visceral or deep, and further designated according to their anatomical location. ...

and a small black discal spot. In ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''

Louis Beethoven Prout Louis Beethoven Prout (1864–1943) was an English entomologist and musicologist. Prout specialised in the insect order (biology), order of Lepidoptera, especially the Geometridae, or geometer moths, on which he was a foremost authority. He cont ...

wrote: The species flies from May to July, usually at dusk. It will come to light but is not strongly attracted. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

is grey with a purplish-brown back. It has been recorded feeding on bedstraw, ''

Corydalis ''Corydalis'' (from Greek ''korydalís'' " crested lark") is a genus of about 540 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Papaveraceae, native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere and the high mountains of tropical ...

'', globeflower, hemlock and primrose and probably feeds on other low-growing plants. The species overwinters as a larva. #''The flight season refers to the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, 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 Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

Subspecies

*''X. m. iberica'' *''X. m. lapponica'' *''X. m. montanata'' *''X. m. shetlandica''

References

* Chinery, Michael ''Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe'' 1986 (Reprinted 1991) * Skinner, Bernard ''Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles'' 1984

External links

Silver-ground carpet at ''UKMoths''
*
''Lepiforum e.V.''
Xanthorhoe Moths described in 1775 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Moths of Africa Taxa named by Michael Denis Taxa named by Ignaz Schiffermüller {{Xanthorhoini-stub