Page 485 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

MOTH CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Geometridae
DIS
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Europe to central Asia
DISTRIBUTION
HABIT A T Woodlands, scrub, and hedgerows
HABITAT
HABITAT
HOST PLANTS S Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
T PLANT
HOST PLANTS
HOS

NO
TE
NOTE Well-camou aged caterpillar that is di cult to spot
NOTE
TUS
A
A
T
TION S
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERV
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but scarce in much of its range
ADULT WINGSPAN
1 ⁄ in–1¼ in (27–31 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 ⁄ in (30 mm)
ALEUCIS DISTINCTATA
SLOE CARPET 483
(HERRICH-SCHÄFFER, [1839])
Sloe Carpet caterpillars hatch from eggs laid on the leaves of
the host plant and feed on the Blackthorn blossoms. The larvae
are active until June and July, when they move to the ground
to pupate. The caterpillars spin a cocoon among the leaf litter
or in loose soil, and the pupae overwinter. There is a single
generation, with the adults emerging in March and on the wing

until April or early May, a time that coincides with the owering
of the Blackthorn.

The Sloe Carpet, or Kent Mocha, as it is also known, is scarce
across much of its range. It favors places where there are dense
thickets of Blackthorn, such as overgrown hedgerows and
unmanaged scrub—all areas where there are suckering young
plants. Numbers have declined in recent decades due to changing
countryside management. Male adults are quite similar in
appearance to another Geometridae species, the Early Moth
(Theria primaria), whose larvae also feed on Blackthorn.

The Sloe Carpet caterpillar is a mottled gray
brown in color. There are bands of gray and Actual size
shades of brown along the length of the body,
providing cryptic coloring that creates a
resemblance to a length of twig.