Geometridae : Geometrinae
Grass Emerald
PSEUDOTERPNA pruinata (Hufnagel, 1767)
Grass Emerald
PSEUDOTERPNA pruinata (Hufnagel, 1767)
Kind permission - © Tim Norriss
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 35 - 40mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - ( Excluding - Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Corsica,Cyprus,Finland,Latvia,Madeira,Malta,Norway,Portugal,N & NW Russia,Sardinia & Sicily) : SW.Siberia : Turkey : Caucasus
UK Distribution: England,Wales,western Scotland - well distributed,often frequent : Isle of Man,Ireland - fairly well distributed and frequent : Channel Isles - absent
UK Conservation Status -
Habitat: Heathland : Moorland : Open Woodland : Scrub : Shingle Beaches
Similar Species -
Pupa: Pupates in cocoon among plant litter
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: Well marked forewings are bluish green with darker median area and even darker green antemedian and postmedian lines which normally separate this species from all other "Emeralds". The latter line tends to forms sharp peaks whereas the former is shaped in a series of waves.
The subterminal line is clearly shown in white.
Worn moths tend to fade to a greyish white making then similar in appearance to the Jersey Emerald although as the name suggests this moth only appears in Jersey so separation is highly unlikely to be an issue.
Active after dark and comes to light.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - ( Excluding - Azores,Balearic Is.,Canary Is.,Corsica,Cyprus,Finland,Latvia,Madeira,Malta,Norway,Portugal,N & NW Russia,Sardinia & Sicily) : SW.Siberia : Turkey : Caucasus
UK Distribution: England,Wales,western Scotland - well distributed,often frequent : Isle of Man,Ireland - fairly well distributed and frequent : Channel Isles - absent
UK Conservation Status -
- Common = > 300 10km squares
- Least Concern
- Phalaena pruinata (Hufnagel, 1767)
- Geometra cythisaria Schiffermüller, 1775
- Austria - Vienna District
Habitat: Heathland : Moorland : Open Woodland : Scrub : Shingle Beaches
Similar Species -
- None
Pupa: Pupates in cocoon among plant litter
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: Well marked forewings are bluish green with darker median area and even darker green antemedian and postmedian lines which normally separate this species from all other "Emeralds". The latter line tends to forms sharp peaks whereas the former is shaped in a series of waves.
The subterminal line is clearly shown in white.
Worn moths tend to fade to a greyish white making then similar in appearance to the Jersey Emerald although as the name suggests this moth only appears in Jersey so separation is highly unlikely to be an issue.
Active after dark and comes to light.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legumes
- Cytisus scoparius - Broom - Scotch Broom
- Genista anglica - Petty Whin - Needle Furze - Needle Whin
- Genista germanica - No Common Name
- Genista saggitalis - Winged Broom
- Genista tinctoria - Dyer's Greenweed
- Laburnum anagyroides - Laburnum
- Ulex europaeus - Gorse - Furze - Whin
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum: Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - PSEUDOTERPNA: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Geometroidea Geometridae Geomerinae Pseudoterpnini PSEUDOTERPNA Hübner,[1823] Pseudoterpna pruinata (Hufnagel, 1767) - Geometra cythisaria Schiffermüller, 1775 - PHALAENA pruinata (Hufnagel, 1767) = Geometra cythisaria Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 = Phalaena pruinaria Rottemburg, 1777 = Phalaena (Geometra) genistaria Villers, 1789 = Hemithea agrestaria Duponchel, 1829 = Hemithea porracearia Boisduval, 1840 = Phalaena (Geometra) viridisparsata Roquette, 1857 = Aspilates atropunctaria Walker, [1863] - Berlin. Magazin. 4 (6) : Title Page : p.520 - n.34 - Austria - Vienna District - P.p.f.agrestaria Duponchel, 1829 - markings blurred,almost uniform colour - more frequent in south P.p.f.atropunctaria Walker, 1863 - darker green with cross lines tending to black - mostly in north P.p.f.griscens Reutti, 1898 - wing background greyish instead of green P.p.f.albolineata Wagner, 1922 - white line stands out P.p.f.mixta Lempke, 1949 - forewing green,hindwing grey P.p.f.fuscomarginata Lempke, 1949-terminal area smokey,grey blackish P.p.f.tangens Lempke, 1949 - crss lines tangential P.p.f.approximata Lempke, 1949 - cross lines close together P.p.f.reducta Lempke, 1949 - antemedian line missing P.p.f.bilineata Lempke, 1949 - white subterminal line missing P.p.f.unilineata Lempke, 1936 - only one cross line P.p.f.extrema Lempke, 1949- particularely dark grey P.p.f.fasciata Lempke, 1949dark median area, |