Moths of North Carolina
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377 NC Records

Macaria bicolorata (Fabricius, 1798) - Bicolored Angle

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Geometroidea Family: GeometridaeSubfamily: EnnominaeTribe: MacariiniP3 Number: 910758.00 MONA Number: 6341.00 MONA Synonym: Semiothisa bicolorata
Comments: This is one of 73 species in this genus that occur in North America, with 17 species occurring in North Carolina. In the latest checklist of North American Lepidoptera (Pohl and Nanz, 2023), North American members of the genus Speranza and Epelis were treated as junior synonyms of Macaria.
Species Status: Bicolorata is included in the conifer-feeding bicolorata species group by Ferguson (2008), of which bisignata, transitaria, distribuaria, minorata, and aequiferaria are the other members that occur in North Carolina
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984; as Semiothisa bicolorata); Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Ferguson (2008)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Wagner et al. (2001)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: A moderately small Geometrid but one of the larger Macarias, bicolorata is two-toned brown to yellow-brown with the angled hindwing and slightly falcate forewing typical of this genus. All of the lines traversing the wing are weakly developed, diffuse, or absent except for dark spots along the costa. The subapical notch is comparatively shallow and narrowly edged with black; the spot blotch on the subterminal line below the apex is usually missing but occasionally represented by a single brown spot. The basal and medial areas are usually lighter and more yellowish, contrasting with the reddish or darker brown shading located between the postmedian and the outer margin. The underside of the wings are ocher and crossed with darker bands of reddish brown. As in other members of this species group, the head is red or ocher, contrasting with the paler gray thorax and abdomen.
Forewing Length: 12–16 mm, males; 14–17 mm, females (Ferguson, 2008).
Adult Structural Features: Males antennae are shortly fasciculate and nearly simple; foveae are absent, as they are in most members of this species group except aequiferaria (Ferguson, 2008).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: With the exception of aequiferaria, larvae of the bicolorata species group are all similar to one another: glossy green or reddish with cream-colored subdorsal and subspiracular stripes that run the length of the body (see Wagner et al., 2001). Since both transitaria and bicolorata feed on a variety of pines, probably including Longleaf Pine that is also used by distribuaria, larvae need to be reared to adulthood to determine their species.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Occurs statewide, from the Barrier Islands to the High Mountains.
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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