| Dusky Carpet (Tephronia sepiaria (Hüfnagel, 1767)) |
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Scientific name: Tephronia sepiaria (Hüfnagel, 1767) Common name: Dusky Carpet French name: Gymnospile commune Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Heterocera Family: Geometridae Subfamily: Ennominae Wingspan: 20 to 22 mm. Biotope: Deciduous and mixed forests. Geographic area: Temperate Europe east to Transcaucasia. Flight time: May to August. Number of generations : Several. Caterpillar: Uniform greenish on the underside and marbled with brown, grey and whitish on the remaining parts. You can distinguish one irregular dorsal stripe outlined with white. Host plant: Lichens. |
The Dusky Carpet's fore wings are greyish brown. They are divided into two parts by a black longitudinal vein which starts to fork on the postmedian area. Furthermore they are crossed by a thin black antemedian stripe and a thin black postmedian stripe. The hind wings are whitish to very pale grey. They bear a thin dark postmedian cross line. The Dusky Carpet over winters as a caterpillar. |
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I have found this Dusky Carpet inside my garage where it may have been attracted to light. |
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I am used to always trying to confirm species identification at each new observation. I had a small doubt about the Dusky Carpet species but I haven't found any other suitable choice. |
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Here is one caterpillar found on the roughcast wall of my house. |
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This side view of the caterpillar is enough to confirm one species of the Geometridae family. I think that it feeds on lichens found on the wall. |
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Here is another species for which my observations of imagos occur on a very short period of the year. |
André Bon December 2022