Bug FAQWestern Carpet
Melanolophia imitata · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Geometridae
The western carpet moth (Melanolophia imitata) belongs to the Geometridae family and has a wingspan of about 34 to 40 mm. It lives in western North America, from southern California up through Alaska and east to extreme southwestern Alberta, and the adults fly from March to June with one generation each year.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The adult’s wingspan ranges from 34 to 40 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The caterpillars eat the foliage of many conifer trees, especially Douglas fir, hemlock (Tsuga) and fir (Abies) species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from March through June and produce one generation each year.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active from March to June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range covers western North America, including southern California, Alaska, and extreme southwestern Alberta.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Geometridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanolophia_imitata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.