Editing Large emerald

{{short description|Species of moth}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Geometra papilionaria1.jpg
| genus = Geometra
| species = papilionaria
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
}}

The '''large emerald''' (''Geometra papilionaria'') is a [[moth]] which is the [[type species]] for the family [[Geometridae]]. It is found throughout the [[Palearctic]] region and the [[Near East]] in and around deciduous forests, heathlands, marshland and in settlements close to woodland.  The species was [[Species description|first described]] by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']].

[[Image:Geometra papilionaria SLU.JPG|thumb|230px|left|Museum specimen, [[Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences|collections SLU]], Uppsala]]

==Description==
This is a large and attractive moth, which, as the specific name suggests, is very [[butterfly]] like. It has a [[wingspan]] of 50–65&nbsp;mm. Newly emerged adults are distinctive pale green with slightly darker green and, especially, white [[Glossary of entomology terms|fascia]], though the green colouration fades after a few days. The characteristic white fascia take the form of three jagged, broken lines of white spots on the forewings, of which two semicircular rows continue over the hindwings.

==Technical description and egg, larva and pupa==
Bright green, the forewing usually with two lunulate-dentate white lnes, the hindwing with one, the lunules in the submedian area of forewing the thickest; both wings usually in addition with a faintly darker green cell-mark and some indistinct white intraneural spots distally to the postmedian
line. Under surface similarly but more weakly marked, with no antemedian line.- ab. ''herbacearia'' Men. is a form in which both the lines are obsolete. It was originally described, from Amurland, and as a separate species - ab. ''cuneata'' Burr, is characterized by a large wedge-shaped white spot adjoining the discal mark proximally in addition to the usual markings.-ab. ''subcaerulescens'' Burr, is of a bluer green ground-colour than the normal, but is probably scarcely worth naming.- ab. ''deleta'' Burr, is another unimportant aberration, in which the distal series of white spots is entirely obsolete - in ab. ''subobsoleta'' Burr. the antemedian line of the fore-wing is likewise obsolete. — ab. ''alba'' Gillm. is entirely white, above and beneath., slightly tinged with yellowish. The egg of is approximately oval, broader at one end and here flattened; it is strong and heavy looking, the surface sculptured, with strongly marked cells, the micropyle shown by a shallow, circular rayed pit. The larva feeds on birch and alder, and has been closely studied for its beautiful protective adaptations. It is rather stout, rugose, the surface shagreened, the head slightly notched, the setae mostly with enlarged summits. The larva hibernates small, and is at this time brown in colour, protectively assimilated to the tiny twigs. In the spring many become green, and they are wonderfully like the birch catkins among which they feed, various small protuberances and projecting edges of segments enhancing the resemblance. The pupa is cylindrical, tapering regularly from the fourth abdominal segment to the anal extremity; spiracles and tubercles distinct, the latter dark-coloured, bearing short curved setae; anal armature consisting of 8 hooks; the generalolour is pale green, the wing-cases tinged with brown.<ref>Prout, L. B. (1912–16). Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart.[https://archive.org/details/macrolepidoptera1216seit  pdf ]   {{PD-notice}}</ref>
<Ref>  Axel Hausmann, 2021 In: Axel Hausmann (Hrsg.): ''The Geometrid Moths of Europe''. 1. Auflage. Volume 1: (Introduction to the series. Archiearinae, Oenochrominae, Orthostixinae, Desmobathrinae, Alsophilinae Geometrinae) . Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2021  ISBN 978-90-04-32254-7 </ref>

==Similar species==
''[[Hemistola chrysoprasaria]]'', ''[[Thetidia smaragdaria]]'', ''[[Campaea margaritata]]'', ''[[Comibaena bajularia]]'', ''[[Hemithea aestivaria]]'' and ''[[Hylaea fasciaria]]'' All lack the white, interrupted, jagged spot line on the wings.
 
[[Image:Buckler W The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths PlateCXIV.jpg|thumb|left|140px|Figs4,4a,4b,4c,4d Larvae in various stages of growth]]

==Biology==
It flies at night from June to August<ref>''The flight season refers to the [[British Isles]]. This may vary in other parts of the range.''</ref> and is attracted to light.
The hibernating [[larva]] is a reddish brown colour [[Camouflage|matching dead leaves]]. It  turns green after hibernation to match spring leaves. It feeds mainly on [[birch]] though it has also been recorded on [[alder]], [[beech]], [[hazel]] and [[rowan]]. The chrysalis, enclosed in a flimsy silken web among the dead leaves, usually on the ground, is of a delicate green colour, dotted with buff on the back, and shaded with buff on the wing cases.
<gallery>
Paul Robert - Geometra papilionaria.jpg|Caterpillar before (left) and after sprouting (right)
Geometra papilionaria (larva) - Large emerald (caterpillar) - Большая зелёная пяденица (гусеница) (39126902870).jpg|Caterpillar
Geometra papilionaria, Lodz(Poland)04(js).jpg|Front view of the moth
</gallery>

==Subspecies==  
*''G. p. papilionaria'' Europe to the Urals, Southwest Siberia, Turkey, Caucasus, Transcaucasus
*''G. p. herbacearia'' Ménétries, 1859 West Siberia - Southeast Siberia, Korea
*''G. p. subrigua'' (Proute, 1935) Japan

== References ==
<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

==External links==
{{Commons category|Geometra papilionaria}}
{{Wikispecies|Geometra papilionaria}}
*[https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/geometra-papilionaria/ Large emerald at ''UKMoths'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190807/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=445417 ''Fauna Europaea'']
*[http://www.lepiforum.de/lepiwiki.pl?Geometra_Papilionaria ''Lepiforum e.V.'']
*{{cite web |last=Savela |first=Markku |url=http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/geometroidea/geometridae/geometrinae/geometra/#papilionaria |title=''Geometra papilionaria'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |website=Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms |accessdate=April 18, 2019}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1318172}}

[[Category:Geometrinae]]
[[Category:Moths described in 1758]]
[[Category:Moths of Japan]]
[[Category:Moths of Europe]]
[[Category:Moths of Asia]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]


{{Geometrinae-stub}}