Common Carpet Moth (Epirrhoe alternata) lives in moorland grasslands across Europe and Asia. It feeds on lichens and mosses.
Fascinating facts about the Common Carpet Moth
- A common carpet moth stretches just 27-30 mm from wing tip to tip. The forewings vary from grey to black, marked with white fascia, giving a striped appearance. The forewings are patterned grey at the base of the wings, after a narrow light fascia comes a wide, brown patterned band, which is followed by an almost pure, light band. Beyond it, on the outer edge of the wings, the wings are again dark brown and grey patterned. The hindwings are paler grey with white fascia, and northern races tend to be paler overall.
- First recorded by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1764, the common carpet moth has been known to science since then. Its long-standing taxonomic history shows how early naturalists catalogued even the most modest night-flyers, laying groundwork for today's biodiversity monitoring.
- From the northern United States to every Canadian province and territory, this moth spans the entire northern tier of North America while also covering the Palearctic and Near East.
- One or two broods emerge each year, with adults on the wing from May through September. The species flies at night and is attracted to light.
- The larva of Epirrhoe alternata is brown or green but highly variable in its markings, and it feeds on bedstraw. The species overwinters as a pupa.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeEurope and Asia
HabitatMoorland grasslands
DietLichens and mosses
About the Common Carpet Moth
In the whispers of dawn, the common carpet moth stirs, its delicate wings unfolding like the pages of a worn book, as it takes to the air with a gentle, fluttering dance. With an ethereal beauty, it navigates the hidden realms of our daily lives, its soft, mottled form weaving in and out of the shadows, a master of subtlety and stealth. As it alights upon the woven fibers of our carpets, the common carpet moth reveals its most remarkable trait: an insatiable appetite for the very fabric of our existence.
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