a geometrid moth, Abraxas grossulariata, showing variable patterning in black on white or yellow, whose looper larvae attack currant and gooseberry bushes. The paler clouded magpie is A. sylvata
2. small magpie
Examples of 'magpie moth' in a sentence
magpie moth
They are the sole food plant for four types of moth: spectacle, snout, paignton snout and small magpie moth.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Or as she says in an aside on the magpie moth, getting 'your foot out of your eye'.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
The first magpie moths of the summer are out and about.