Large Emerald

Taxobox
name = Large Emerald
status = secure

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image_width = 300px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Lepidoptera
familia = Geometridae
subfamilia = Geometrinae
tribus = Geometrini
genus = "Geometra"
species = "G. papilionaria"
binomial = "Geometra papilionaria"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

:"The large emerald is also one of the Twenty Treasures of Zork from the Infocom text adventure Zork I."

The Large Emerald, "(Geometra papilionaria)", is a moth, the type specimen for the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.

This is a large and attractive species, as the specific name suggests very butterfly like, with a wingspan of 50-65 mm. Newly emerged adults are bright green with darker green and white fascia, though the green colouration fades after a few days. It flies at night from June to August ["The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range."] and is attracted to light.

The larva is brown at first, turning green later, and feeds mainly on birch though it has also been recorded on alder, beech, hazel and rowan. The species overwinters as a larva.

External links

* [http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/geometroidea/geometridae/geometrinae/geometra/index.html#papilionaria Large Emerald at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera pages]

References

*Chinery, Michael "Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe" 1986 (Reprinted 1991)
*Skinner, Bernard "Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles" 1984