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Saturday 22 July 2023

Least carpet - Idaea rusticata (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) - Cyprus

 See also - List of Moths of Cyprus you will find in this blog (Lepidoptera)

Family Geometridae

 Idaea rusticata, the least carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe, in the Near East and in North Africa. From the Balkan Peninsula, the occurrence continues across the Palearctic though Ukraine, southern Russia and Asia Minor to the Caucasus and from there via northern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan to the Central Asian mountains as far as Mongolia. Of all moths in Britain it showed the greatest percentage increase in abundance between 1968 and 2007, and expanded its range beyond the vicinity of London.

Habitat

These moths inhabit wastelands, open places, parks and well exposed gardens

Biology

It is usually a univoltine species. In southern Europe, under favourable circumstances, a second generation can also be formed. The second generation is significantly smaller. The adults fly at night from July to August, and are attracted to light. The larvae mainly feed on ivy (Hedera) and traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba). and withered leaves of other herbaceous plants.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaea_rusticata

Photos Geri  by George Konstantinou




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