Species Macaria signaria - Pale-marked Angle - Hodges#6344

6344

Dusky Peacock (adult and larva in Eurasia)

Spruce Fir Looper (larva)

Macaria signaria (Hübner, [1809])

Geometra signaria Hübner, [1809]

Semiothisa fraserata Ferguson, 1974

Semiothisa marmorata Ferguson, 1972

Macaria submarmorata Walker, 1861

Melanolophia unipunctaria Wright, 1916

Macaria unipunctaria

Wingspan 20-30 mm

Larva length to about 25 mm

Adult: head pale with thin dark collar; forewing pale brownish-gray with large dark blotch (composed of 4 separate pieces in well-marked individuals) near middle of PM line; AM, median, and PM lines scalloped or wavy, dark, and usually distinct, especially at costa; darkly-marked specimens have broad whitish arc (sometimes faint) in subterminal area that touches anal angle at one end, and touches outer margin near apex at other end; small pale patch usually present along outer margin halfway between ends of whitish arc; hindwing has similar ground color but has few (and faint) markings other than a tiny dark discal dot; shallow point midway along outer margin

Larva: head yellowish-green with darker herringbone pattern; body light to medium green with gray and white lines along back and sides

Across southern Canada (Newfoundland to British Columbia) and northern United States, south in the west to central California and Colorado.

Holarctic: also occurs throughout northern Eurasia.

Coniferous and mixed-wood forests and bogs; adults are nocturnal and come to light

Adults fly from May to August

Mature larvae present from July to November

Larvae feed on leaves of many species of coniferous trees (fir, hemlock, larch, pine, spruce, and Douglas-fir)

Usually one generation per year, sometimes two; overwinters as a pupa in soil or debris

Records of M. signaria from Yukon - PDF doc (1997) are presumably misidentified, as signaria is not included in the latest (2003) list of Yukon Geometridae (it is also absent from Northwest Territories).

This species is missing from geometrid lists from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas (1, 2), Arizona, and Utah

Greg Pohl, Gary Anweiler, Christian Schmidt, Norbert Kondla, "An Annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada", Zookeys 38 (2010): 498(1)

Moth Photographers Group - photos of living and pinned adults

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) - collection map and photos of pinned adults.

pinned adult image plus detailed species account (G.G. Anweiler, U. of Alberta)