Common emerald
Hemithea aestivaria
The common emerald is a soft grey-green moth, the colour of a leaf. Its wings have thin white lines and edges with a little grey and white checker pattern. Its back wings have a sharp corner, which gives it a special shape.
Lives in
Europe, Asia and North America, in woods, hedges and gardens
Wingspan
3 to 3.5 cm (1.2 to 1.4 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its green caterpillar eats the leaves of many trees and bushes, like oak, birch, hazel and hawthorn.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🍚wings as wide as 6 grains of rice in a row⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 29 seconds
How big is Common emerald compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Common emerald about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its green colour does not fade as much as in other green moths.
2
It spends the winter as a caterpillar.
3
The young caterpillar will eat almost any plant, but older ones eat trees and bushes.
4
It was brought to Canada by accident in 1973.
you asked
Most asked questions about Common emerald
?Is the common emerald moth rare?
No. It is common in many parts of Europe.
?How big is the common emerald?
Its wings are about 3 to 3.5 centimetres across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Hemithea aestivaria
- Named by
- Hübner, 1789
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Common emerald (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by unknown author. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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