Large emerald

Large emerald
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Tribe: Geometrini
Genus: Geometra
Species: G. papilionaria
Binomial name
Geometra papilionaria
(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 species for the family Geometridae. It is found throughout the Palearctic region and the Near East.

Description

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.The characteristic fascia take the form of three jagged, broken lines of white spots on the front wings, of which two semicircular rows continue over the hindwings. It flies at night from June to August [1] and is attracted to light.

Biology

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.

Subspecies

References

  1. ↑ The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range.


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