Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGeometridae Members:
Biston Members:
234 NC Records

Biston betularia (Linnaeus, 1758) - Peppered Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Geometroidea Family: GeometridaeSubfamily: EnnominaeTribe: BistoniniP3 Number: 911062.00 MONA Number: 6640.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Immature Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Habitats include barrens, woodlands, and forests (Wagner, 2005). Our records come from upland habitats, including hardwood forests and woodlands, Spruce-Fir forests, and heathlands.
Larval Host Plants: Polyphagaous, larvae feed on a wide range of families of hardwood trees and shrubs. Wagner et al. (2001) specifically list maple (Acer), alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), Pecan (Carya illinoinensis), New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus), hackberry (Celtis), Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), walnut (Juglans), larch (Larix), apple (Malus), oak (Quercus), poplar (Populus), cherry (Prunus), gooseberry (Ribes), Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), rose (Rosa), willow (Salix), mountain-ash (Sorbus), elm (Ulmus), and blueberry (Vaccinium). We do not have any feeding records in North Carolina. - View
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for General Forests and Shrublands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: G5 S4
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Biston betularia - Peppered Moth

Only immatures are shown.

Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2015-06-17
Watauga Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Paul Scharf on 2015-06-17
Watauga Co.
Comment: Found by beating grassy vegetation along the road