''Macaria liturata'', the tawny-barred angle, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759 and it is found throughout Europe.

Distribution

It is found from the British Isles to Siberia, the Russian Far East and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In the south and western Mediterranean it is found in Italy, the Balkans and the Black Sea region and the Caucasus. In the north it occurs above the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

. It rises to about 1600 meters above sea level in the Alps. The nominate subspecies is found in the West

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

and ''Macaria liturata pressaria'' is found in the East Palearctic.

Description

The wingspan is 22–27 mm. The length of the forewings is 11–13 mm. The wings have a purple-grey ground colour. There are three dark crossbars on the forewings, which are thickened at the front edge and often dissolve into points. A wide reddish-yellow transverse band is visible behind the outer cross line, beginning with a brownish red stain on the front edge and continuing on to the hindwings. The forewings are slightly indented below the apex, the hindwings show a short tip in the middle.

Biology

The moth flies from May to September. The caterpillars feed on coniferous trees such as Scots pine.They are green with pale stripes and thus resemble pine leaves. The species inhabited prefers coniferous and mixed forests.

Notes

#''The flight season refers to the Belgium and the Netherlands. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

External links

Tawny-barred angle on ''UKMoths''''BioLib.cz''''Lepiforum e.V.''''De Vlinderstichting''
Macariini Moths described in 1759 Moths of Japan Moths of Europe Insects of the Arctic Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck Palearctic Lepidoptera {{Macariini-stub