''Thalera fimbrialis'', the Sussex emerald, is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Geometridae The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metro ...

. It is found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and across the Palearctic up to the area surrounding the Amur River. It is rare in the UK, only breeding in the Dungeness area in Kent and one site in Rye, East Sussex. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is 25–30 mm. The ground colour is green which can fade with increasing lifespan and then assumes yellowish tints. The outer edge of the wings is yellowish, the hair fringes along the edge are alternately white and reddish-brown. The forewing has two white crosslines, the hind wing only a single line as a continuation of the forewing outer line. The hind wing shows a slightly forward corner in the middle, over which there is an indentation. The larva is long and thin, green with a brownish-red dorsal stripe that is sometimes broken up into a variety of spots. The head is divided in two by a deep cleft in the middle. On the front body segment there are a pair of spikes protruding above the head. The moth flies from June to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on various woody and herbaceous plants such as ''

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus * E ...

'', ''

Calluna ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found ...

'' and ''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...

'' in mainland Europe. In the UK, this species only inhabits vegetated shingle and primarily feeds on Wild Carrot, Daucus carota with late larval instars occasionally found on plants in the Ragwort

Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels. Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants. Description Mor ...

genus.

References

External links

Sussex emerald at UKmothsFauna EuropaeaLepiforum.deVlindernet.nl
Hemitheini Moths described in 1763 Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli {{Geometrinae-stub