Moths of North Carolina
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Digrammia Members:
264 NC Records

Digrammia continuata (Walker, 1862) - Curve-lined Angle

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Geometroidea Family: GeometridaeSubfamily: EnnominaeTribe: MacariiniP3 Number: 910789.00 MONA Number: 6362.00 MONA Synonym: Semiothisa continuata
Comments: One of 49 species in this genus recorded in North America (Ferguson, 2008), six of which occur in North Carolina. Digrammia continuata was placed in the cedar-feeding Continuata Species Group by Ferguson, of which only continuata occurs in the East.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984; as Semiothisa continuata); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes (1948); Ferguson (2008)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Wagner et al. (2001); Ferguson (2008)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A medium-sized Geometrid with distinctive thick black antemedian and postmedian lines that strongly contrast with pale gray ground color. Some specimens of D. gnophosaria also have conspicuously dark lines but the ground color is usually brown rather than gray and they also possess an ocellate reniform along the median line, which is usually faint or missing in continuata.
Adult Structural Features: Genitalia are distinctive among at least the eastern species of Digrammia; western species of the continuata group, however, may be difficult to separate (Ferguson, 2008).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Larvae are a bright pea- or lime-green with a broken pattern of pale stripes and dark markings that help them blend in with the foliage of cedars on which they feed (Wagner et al., 2001; Ferguson, 2008). The ventral surface usually have brown shadings that vary from reddish-brown to tan; these are usually missing in the larvae of Macaria multilineata which are otherwise similar in coloration and also feed on cedars (Ferguson, 2008).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Our records come entirely from the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, although Red Cedar -- the host plant for this species -- occurs in the Mountains as well.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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