Sharp-angled peacock moth
Macaria alternata
Name means: “named for the deep, sharp notch in the edge of its front wing”
The sharp-angled peacock moth is a small moth with a dark grey band across its wings. The edge of each front wing has a deep, sharp notch, as if someone took a little bite out of it.
Lives in
Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus and southern Siberia
Wingspan
2.2 to 2.7 cm (0.87 to 1.1 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat the leaves of sallow, alder, blackthorn and sea buckthorn.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 4 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 32 seconds
How big is Sharp-angled peacock moth compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Sharp-angled peacock moth about 12 km/h (7.5 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It looks almost exactly like its cousin, the peacock moth, so sometimes only an expert can tell them apart.
2
Its wings measure only about 2 to 3 centimetres from tip to tip.
3
In Britain the moths fly in May and June.
you asked
Most asked questions about Sharp-angled peacock moth
?How do you tell the sharp-angled peacock from the peacock moth?
Look for the deeper notch in the front wing edge and the darker grey band across both wings.
?Is the sharp-angled peacock moth dangerous?
No. It is a harmless moth.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Macaria alternata
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Sharp-angled peacock
Where the facts come from
- Macaria alternata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Svdmolen. CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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