''Macaria notata'', the peacock moth, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a Holarctic species.

Distribution

Distributed in Central and North Europe, Russia Transcaucasia, Iran, Issyk Kul Russian Far East Siberia 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

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 ...

. South Canada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Colorado, Connecticut, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, NA.Georgia in the Nearctic.

Description

The wingspan is 28–32 mm. The forewing has a small excision, or is at least faintly sinuous, in the anterior half of distal margin; 1st and 2nd subcostal stalked or more often coincident throughout, arising from cell. Hindwing whitish with moderate ochreous-grey dusting, a rust-coloured costal patch distally to the postmedian line of the forewing and a dark line round the distal marginal excision; the dark marks distally to the middle of the postmedian line are usually very well developed, but variable. The combination of the black spot in the form of a paw print in the middle of the whitish grey brown speckled forewing, the well defined cut in the front half of the rear edge of the forewing and the strongly pointed rear wing, distinguishes notata from other ''Macaria'' with the exception of '' Macaria alternata''. Certain identification requires examination of the genitalia.Guide to difficult species
The moth flies from May to June . The caterpillars mainly feed on birch.

References

Notes

#''The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.''

External links

Peacock moth on UKmoths
Distinction from ''M. alternata''
Fauna EuropaeaLepiforum.deDifficult Species Guide
Macariini Moths of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Moths described in 1758 {{Macariini-stub