Conservation Status
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Not of concern.
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Cyclicity
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Flies in June and July, with Peak activity in early July.
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Distribution
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Nova Scotia to southern interior BC, south to CO and GA (McGuffin 1981).
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General Description
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A bright yellow geometrid, with the PM band of reduced to a few maroon-brown spots. The AM band is usually only present as a brown spot at the forewing costa; variable maroon speckling overall. Difficult to separate reliably from X. sospeta without genitalic dissection, see McGuffin (1981). Sospeta is slightly larger and paler yellow than urticaria, with narrower and relatively smaller maroon markings.
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Habitat
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Deciduous and mixedwood forest.
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Life Cycle
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Adults are nocturnal and come to lights, but are also active during the day and are easily flushed from shrubs in aspen forest understory. Females are capable of laying over 800 eggs (McGuffin 1981). Larvae are twig mimics and rest with their body fully extended, like a twig on a branch, and feign death when disturbed (Wagner et al. 2001). In Alberta, this species is the more common of the two Xanthotype species.
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Trophic Strategy
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Larvae are generalists on a low growing shrubs and herbs, including Salix, Cornus and Viburnum (McGuffin 1981).
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Xanthotype sospeta
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Xanthotype sospeta, the crocus geometer, is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. It was first described by Dru Drury in 1773 from Jamaica. It is also found in North America, where it has been recorded from Nova Scotia to southern British Columbia, south to Colorado and Georgia. The habitat consists of deciduous and mixedwood forests.
Description
Upperside: antennae filiform. Head pale yellow. Eyes dark brown. Tongue spiral. Thorax, abdomen, and wings pale yellow. On the posterior edges of the anterior wings are placed two faint brown streaks; one, which is smallest, being about a quarter of an inch from the shoulders, the other the same distance from the lower corners; about the same distance from the tips, on the anterior edges, is placed another very small one. Posterior wings having likewise two of these faint spots, one on the anterior, the other on the abdominal edges.
Underside: sides, breast, and abdomen pale yellow. Legs brown and yellow. Wings pale yellow, with the same spots and marks as on the upper side, but more distinct. The wings are a little angulated. Wingspan nearly 2+1⁄2 inches (62 mm).[1]
Biology
The larvae are feed on a wide variety of low-growing shrubs and herbs, including Salix, Cornus and Viburnum species. They are twig mimics.[2]
References
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Xanthotype sospeta: Brief Summary
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Xanthotype sospeta, the crocus geometer, is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. It was first described by Dru Drury in 1773 from Jamaica. It is also found in North America, where it has been recorded from Nova Scotia to southern British Columbia, south to Colorado and Georgia. The habitat consists of deciduous and mixedwood forests.
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