The Etruscan
emerald is a beautiful green gem of a moth that often spends the daylight hours
resting on green leaves on which it is well camouflaged and difficult to spot.
With luck you might find one that, probably because it had no other option,
landed on a wall on which it becomes very visible.
This moth is
relatively large. A female can have a wingspan of just over 23 centimetres. This
species is found in southern Europe and Central Asia. The caterpillar has been
recorded feeding on several species of plants including fennel. Adult moths can
be seen flying from June to October.
The scientific
name of the Etruscan emerald is Chlorissa
etruscaria from which Maltese lepidopterists coined the Maltese name klorissa Etruska. Two other closely
related species can be found in the Maltese islands. Both are rare and it would
be difficult for somebody who is not a lepidopterist to find and identify them.
The small grass
emerald, known in Maltese as klorissa ħadra
is very rare. It has been recorded in Malta only three times. The latest record
dates back to 1982. The other species does not seem to have an English name. In
Maltese it has been called the klorissa
tar-risq. Its scientific name is Chlorissa
faustinata. This species has been recorded in European Mediterranean
countries, in North Africa as well as in Syria.
These three
species belong to the Geomitridae family. The family got its name because the
caterpillars of moths belonging to this family move by using their front legs
to hold to the ground and pulling the rest of their body forward by forming a
loop giving the impression that they are measuring the ground. Another name for
members of this family is inchworms. Only one other species from this family
has been recorded in the Maltese islands.
This article was published in the Times of Malta on 16 October 2913.
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