Bug FAQSomber Carpet Moth
Disclisioprocta stellata · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Geometridae
Also called: Somber Carpet, bougainvillea looper
The adult moth has a wingspan of about 25 to 33 mm. It lives across sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean islands, and from eastern Canada through the United States down to Brazil. Caterpillars feed on plants such as amaranth, bougainvillea, and mirabilis.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Disclisioprocta stellata, called the somber carpet or bougainvillea looper, belongs to the Geometridae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults have a wingspan ranging from 25 to 33 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean islands, and from eastern Canada through the United States to Brazil.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae have been recorded feeding on amaranth, proboscidea, bougainvillea, boerhaavia erecta, pisonia aculeata, and mirabilis jalapa.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
In the southern part of its North American range, adults are active year-round; farther north they appear from July to November.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adult flight season is year-round in the south and July-November in the north of North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes eastern Canada and the United States as well as many tropical regions.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is a moth of the Geometridae family, also known as the somber carpet or bougainvillea looper.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 36 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
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Large Maple Spanworm MothProchoerodes lineolaDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclisioprocta_stellata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.