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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

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Species Hydrelia albifera - Fragile White Carpet - Hodges#7423

Representative Images

moth unknown08 110605 - Hydrelia albifera fragile white carpet - Hydrelia albifera Fragile White Carpet pair mating - Hydrelia albifera - male - female Fragile White Carpet - Hodges#7423 - Hydrelia albifera Fragile White Carpet - Hodges#7423 - Hydrelia albifera Fragile White Carpet - Hydrelia albifera Hydrelia albifera Hydrelia albifera
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Larentiinae
Tribe Asthenini
Genus Hydrelia
Species albifera (Fragile White Carpet - Hodges#7423)

Hodges Number

7423

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Hydrelia albifera (Walker, 1866)
Acidalia albifera Walker, 1866
Acidalia albogilvaria Morrison, 1874
Corycia triseriata Packard, 1874

Size

wingspan 16-18 mm

Identification

forewing white with thick wavy yellow PM line, and thinner broken AM and ST lines; black discal dot on all wings; yellow bar on upper half of frons (the forehead)
hindwing color and pattern similar to forewing

Range

Throughout eastern US and Canada; possibly replaced by Hydrelia brunneifasciata west of the Rockies (1).
Type locality (albifera): North America.
Type locality (albogilvaria): USA: MA, NY.
Type locality (triseriata): White Mountains, NH; Beverly, MA, Andover, MA; Albany, NY.

Habitat

deciduous and mixed woodlands; adults are attracted to light

Season

adults fly from May to August

Food

larvae feed on leaves of White Birch (Betula papyrifera) and dogwood (Cornus spp.)

Life Cycle

two generations per year in some areas; one in others (e.g. Alberta)
Adults mating:

See Also

H. brunneifasciata replaces albifera west of the Rockies (1). Identifications should be considered tentative.

Lobocleta peralbata
For ID details, check out the forum article here: Conflation of two white Geometrids

Print References

Morrison, H.K., 1874 (1873-1874). New North American Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 16: 194.
Packard, A.S., 1874. Descriptions of New North American Phalaenidae. Sixth Annual report of the trustees of the Peabody Academy of Science, p. 50.
Walker, F., 1866. Supplement - part 5. List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, 35: 1625.

Works Cited

1.The Lepidoptera of New York and neighboring states. Part II...
Forbes, W.T.M. 1948. Cornell University Agriculture Experimental Station Memoirs, 274: 1-263.