The Bordered Grey is a moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Geometridae family. It is found in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

. The habitat consists of heath, dunes and Calcareous grassland.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 37-43 mm. There is one generation per year with adults on wing from July to August.

The larvae feed on Calluna vulgaris, Cytisus scoparius

Cytisus scoparius

Cytisus scoparius, the Common Broom and Scotch Broom, syn. Sarothamnus scoparius, is a perennial leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe,....

, Rumex

Rumex

The docks and sorrels, genus Rumex L., are a genus of about 200 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the buckwheat family Polygonaceae....

and Lotus

Lotus (genus)

Lotus is a genus that includes bird's-foot trefoils and deervetches and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the taxonomic authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. Lotus is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a wide range of habitats, from...

species. The larvae can be found from September to July. It overwinters in the larval stage.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are known:

• Selidosema brunnearia brunnearia
• Selidosema brunnearia dilucescens Wehrli, 1924
• Selidosema brunnearia oliveirata Mabille, 1876
• Selidosema brunnearia pallidaria Staudinger, 1901
• Selidosema brunnearia pyrenaearia (Boisduval, 1840)
• Selidosema brunnearia scandinaviaria Staudinger, 1901
• Selidosema brunnearia tyronensis Cockayne, 1948