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The moth is out in June and July, and may occasionally be beaten out of a hedge or bush, but is most frequently obtained late at night, when it is active on the wing, and is attracted by a brilliant light.
The species occurs in woods, on heaths and moors, and in fens, throughout the British Isles, except the most northern parts of Scotland and the isles.
Abroad, the range extends to Amurland and Japan.
The Small Emerald (Geometra vernaria).
This species (Plate [40], Figs. 2 and 3) is smaller than the last mentioned, the green colour is of a softer tint, and the lines crossing the wings, two on the fore wings and one on the hind wings, are whitish, and not waved.
The caterpillar hatches from the egg in August, and after hibernation is to be found in May and June on Traveller's Joy or Old Man's Beard (Clematis vitalba). It is then green, with white dots arranged in lines along the back and sides; the head is deep reddish brown, and this, and also the first and last rings of the body, have raised points. Transformation to the greenish chrysalis is effected among the leaves, drawn together with silk. (Plate [44], Figs. 3 and 3a.)
The moth flies in the evening in July and August, and in the daytime may be disturbed, by the application of the beating stick, from its retreats in hedges, etc., where the food plant flourishes. Found in most of the southern and eastern counties of England, most frequently on the chalk; its range extends to Worcestershire. Except that it has been recorded as a doubtful inhabitant of Ireland, the species does not appear to occur elsewhere in the British Isles. The distribution abroad extends to Amurland.