Macaria alternata
Encyclopedia
The Sharp-angled Peacock (Macaria alternata) is a moth
of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout Europe
.
The wingspan
is 22–27 mm. The moth closely resembles the Peacock Moth Macaria notata
but is recognisable by the wider band and the grey base colour. The moth flies from May to June .
The larva
feed on sallow, alder
, blackthorn
and sea-buckthorn
.
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 family Geometridae. It is found throughout 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...
.
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 22–27 mm. The moth closely resembles the Peacock Moth Macaria notata
Macaria notata
The Peacock Moth is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout Europe.The wingspan is 28–32 mm. The moth closely resembles the Macaria alternata. The moth flies from May to June ....
but is recognisable by the wider band and the grey base colour. The moth flies from May to June .
The larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
feed on sallow, alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, blackthorn
Blackthorn
Prunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....
and sea-buckthorn
Sea-buckthorn
The sea-buckthorns are deciduous shrubs in the genus Hippophae, family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea-buckthorn is hyphenated here to avoid confusion with the buckthorns...
.