Xanthotype Moth

This big beautiful butterfly-like moth is mostly nocturnal, but can be active and sometimes flushed during the day.

It's either a Crocus or False Crocus Geometer - two species that can't be distinguished by photos because their markings are highly variable and overlapping. In fact, they're soooo similar that they have identical DNA sequencing. That would suggest they're a single species. BUT... they have different genitals, meaning they may not be able to mate with each other. Thus, making them separate species. HMMMMM. This finding came from work done in British Columbia (published in 2011) to construct a reference library of Geometridae of British Columbia to be used for biodiversity monitoring and invasive species detection. This species pair was in the 7% of species that they weren't able to be uniquely identify using DNA barcoding. It's Xanthotype urticaria or sospeta.