# Pale Beauty

*Campaea perlata*

To blend in perfectly with twigs, the caterpillars have a fringe of small fleshy appendages along their sides that eliminate cast shadows, rendering them nearly invisible to predators.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Geometridae › Campaea
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forests, woodlands, and suburban tree canopies.
- **Diet:** Larvae feed on a wide variety of woody plants including birch, maple, willow, oak, and fir; adults do not feed, surviving on stored larval energy.
- **Range:** North America, Canada, United States
- **Size:** Wingspan of 35 to 51 mm (1.4 to 2.0 inches).
- **Lifespan:** Approximately 1 year (with adults living only 1 to 2 weeks to mate).
- **Active:** nocturnal
- **Threats:** Light pollution disrupting mating and navigation, heavy pesticide application, and habitat fragmentation.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. If this moth rests on you, appreciate its delicate coloration from a close distance. To relocate it safely, gently nudge it onto a leaf or piece of paper and place it outside on a tree branch. It poses no threat and cannot bite or sting.

## About

Campaea perlata , the pale beauty , is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. The average wingspan is about 28–51 mm, and the female tends to be much larger than the male.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/0b53dcdc-95df-4f41-b2fe-bd98f011623d
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81681
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaea perlata
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/1624043/medium.jpg (Bill Keim, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.