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Moths of North Carolina - Early Draft 1

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Moths of North Carolina - Early Draft 1 Geometridae Macaria multilineata Many-lined Angle 20 n=0 • • • High Mt. • • N 10 • •• • u • • • • m • • b 0 • • e • • • • r 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 • 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 NC counties: 30 • • Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec • o • • 20 • • f n=7 • = Sighting or Collection Low Mt. High counts of: in NC since 2001 F • = Not seen since 2001 l 10 57 - Onslow - 1995-08-31 • i 39 - Dare - 1994-06-15 g Status Rank h 30 - Stokes - 1996-06-18 0 NC US NC Global t 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 D Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec a 20 20 t n=64 n=37 e Pd CP s 10 10 0 0 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Three periods to each month: 1-10 / 11-20 / 21-31 FAMILY: Geometridae SUBFAMILY: Ennominae TRIBE: Macariini TAXONOMIC_COMMENTS: One of 25 species in this genus -- commonly known as Angles (as in angular, referring to the wing shape) -- that occur in North America; 17 have been reported from North Carolina FIELD GUIDE DESCRIPTIONS: Covell (1984; as Semiothisa multilineata) ONLINE PHOTOS: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION, ADULTS: Ferguson (2008) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION, IMMATURE STAGES: Maier et al. (2013) ID COMMENTS: A reddish-brown Angle that is prominently striped with multiple straight and parallel lines, on both pairs of wings and on both on the upper and lower surfaces of the wings. A few other Macaria also have fairly straight lines, e.g., fissinotata and aequiferaria, but not as many or as markedly parallel as in multilineata. DISTRIBUTION: As currently documented, multilineata ranges from the Blue Ridge Escarpment to the Outer Coastal Plain, but with records missing from the Barrier Islands and from the Mountains west of the escarpment. FLIGHT COMMENT: Primarily a spring through summer species, with no clear indication that there are multiple broods in North Carolina. HABITAT: Over most of the Coastal Plain, populations of multilineata are associated with Atlantic White Cedars, which occurs in peatland habitats, including both the large peat domes and peat-filled Carolina Bays in the Outer Coastal Plain and the smaller expanses of streamhead peatlands found in the Fall-line Sandhills. In the Piedmont and lower Mountains, populations are associated with Eastern Red Cedar, which occurs in both naturally occurring glades and open woodlands, particularly where substrates of mafic rock exist, but also with woodland edges, old fields, and other successional habitats. Although a number of surveys have been conducted on the North Carolina Barrier Islands, no populations of multilineata have yet been found in association with Southern Red Cedar, which is confined to tidewater habitats. FOOD: Stenophagous, feeding on cedars, including Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), Southern Red Cedar (J. silicicola), and Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), all of which occur in North Carolina, as well as Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), which occurs outside our area (Wagner et al., 2001; Ferguson, 2008; Maier et al., 2013). OBSERVATION_METHODS: Comes well to 15 watt blacklights but we do not have any records from either bait or flowers. NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM RANKS: G5 [S5] STATE PROTECTION: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands. COMMENTS: Populations associated with peatland habitats in the Coastal Plain are threatened by habitat drainage and conversion, direct commercial exploitation of Atlantic White Cedar, loss of wildfires that play a role in regenerating stands of White Cedar, and destruction of coastal peat domes by sea level rise and saltwater intrusion. Habitats used by this species in the Piedmont are not threatened, however, given that Eastern Red Cedar thrives in successeional habitats. In at least that region of the state, multilineata appears to be secure. March 2021 The Moths of North Carolina - Early Draft 1.
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