What is "willow beauty"

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The willow beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a common species of Europe and adjacent regions ( Near East and the Maghreb). While it is found widely throughout Scandinavian countries, which have a maritime climate, it is absent from parts of the former USSR which are at the same latitude but have a more continental climate.

Up to four subspecies are listed by some authors, while others consider the willow beauty a monotypic species or accept only rhomboidaria and sublutearia as distinct:

• Peribatodes rhomboidaria corsicaria ( Schawerda 1931)
• Peribatodes rhomboidaria defloraria (Dannehl 1928)
• Peribatodes rhomboidaria rhomboidaria (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)
• Peribatodes rhomboidaria sublutearia (Zerny 1927)

Under its junior synonym Geometra rhomboidaria, the willow beauty is the type species of its genus Peribatodes. This was initially proposed as a subgenus of Boarmia but eventually elevated to full genus rank.