Sea buckthorn hawks

Sea buckthorn hawks
	Sea buckthorn hawk ( Hyles hippophaes )
Systematics
Class :	Insects (Insecta)
Order :	Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family :	Swarmers (Sphingidae)
Subfamily :	Macroglossinae
Genre :	Hyles
Type :	Sea buckthorn hawks
Scientific name
	Hyles hippophaes
	( Esper , 1793)

The sea buckthorn hawk ( Hyles hippophaes ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the hawkmoth (Sphingidae). Two subspecies are recognized, the distribution areas of which only overlap in the Crimea and in the west and south-west of Turkey . Unlike most other species of the genus Hyles , the sea buckthorn hawk can be easily distinguished from its close relatives. The heat-loving species is widespread from southern Europe east to Asia. It occurs only very rarely as a migrant butterfly north of the Alpson. Only historical finds from Germany and Austria that date back decades are known. The most important food plant of the caterpillars in Europe is the sea buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides ), which gives it its name . Occasionally, natural hybrids occur between the sea buckthorn hawk and the bat hawk ( Hyles vespertillo ).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 56 to 65 millimeters (males) and 59 to 72 millimeters (females). Unlike most other species of the genus Hyles , the sea buckthorn hawk can be easily distinguished from its close relatives. The antennae are white, those of the females are somewhat shorter and finer than those of the males. The head and thorax are olive brown and have white-edged sides, but the shoulder coverts ( tegulae ) are not white. The abdomen is gray-brown in color, on the sides of the first segments there are narrow white spots and two broader black spots. The forewings are slate-gray and have a triangular black spot on the lower part of the base, tapering towards the outside and olive-colored towards the front. There is also a small, dark discal spot on the forewings , to which, shortly behind or directly, an oblong, outwardly directed, oblong, blurred spot is adjacent. A band running across the fore wing is dark olive green. It is relatively wide adjacent to the inner edge of the wing and runs sharply defined on the inside to the wing tip (apex). The outer edge of the bandage runs indistinctly towards the slightly wavy outer edge of the wing. The inner edge of the wing is narrow white. The hind wings are pink-red in the center, with this area overflowing into a broad, black basal spot on the inside and a more or less strongly developed, black post-disk band on the outside. On the inner edge of the wing, adjacent to the pink area, there is a noticeable, whitish spot. The area along the outer edge of the wing (submarginal area) is washed out reddish gray. The forewings are basal brown and very hairy on the underside, otherwise light brown and have a pale pink central band. The underside of the hind wings is brownish.

The Aegean butterflies are slightly darker than in Central Europe, although there are intermediate forms, so that the two forms are considered to belong to one species. Color, wing length and intensity of color are very variable and dependent on the temperatures to which the pupae are exposed during their development. High temperatures cause a more reddish and paler coloring, low temperatures produce dark and grayish moths.

In contrast to the nominate subspecies Hyles hippophaes hippophaes , H. h. bienerti has a wingspan of 65 to 80 millimeters and is paler and more brown. There is a pale, sloping midline on the underside of the fore wings, and the center of the hind wings is more orange than red. This subspecies is very variable both in size and in terms of color, especially in mountain regions where different climatic conditions prevail in a confined space. This has led to the description of a large number of subspecies, but today all of them are synonyms of H. h. bienerti and can only be viewed as forms.

Hyles hippophaes ♂
Hyles hippophaes ♂ △
Hyles hippophaes ♀
Hyles hippophaes ♀ △

Eggs

The eggs are almost spherical at 1.1 by 1.0 millimeters. They are pale greenish gray. The greenish-cream-colored caterpillars can be recognized early on inside. Shortly before hatching, the caterpillars are whitish-cream-colored. The micropylene region consists of five complete and two incomplete spirals. The innermost of them consists of 12 arc fields. The surface of the eggs is typical of the genus Hyles with hemispherical humps.

Caterpillars

Sea buckthorn hawk caterpillar

The caterpillars are 75 to 80 millimeters long. Initially they are pale gray and each has a white longitudinal line on the sides of the back. Your anal horn is gray. With increasing development, the animals turn dark green and are marked with white and dark gray dots. In the final stage, a number of different color forms appear. Mainly the animals are dark green and occasionally shaded pink. They are brightly speckled white and gray and have dorso-laterally cream-colored longitudinal lines. These lines often include orange eye spots . Another, white, ventro-lateral longitudinal line runs directly over the legs. The long, thin anal horn is basal orange, otherwise black. It also has two elongated orange spots at the base. The head is green and has two brown lines. More rarely, the caterpillars are silver-gray and have a black, interrupted dorso-lateral longitudinal line from which black, equally interrupted, sloping side stripes emanate. In between there are often white, red or yellow spots. The head is brown and gray, the anal horn is the same color as that of the more common form. It is very rare to find caterpillars in which the green color has been replaced by either pink-brown or a dark gray-black. The latter form occurs particularly in cold conditions. There are also individuals who do not have longitudinal stripes.

Dolls

Doll of the sea buckthorn hawk

The pupae are 40 to 50 millimeters long. They are yellowish-brown or light gray-brown and have dark brown lines. They have a more elongated shape than the pupae of the other species of the genus Hyles .

Similar species

Spurge Hawk ( Hyles euphorbiae )
Bedstraw hawk ( Hyles gallii )

distribution and habitat

In the sea buckthorn hawk, two subspecies are recognized that occur in separate distribution areas. This species area is probably a remnant of a much more extensive distribution after the last ice age. The nominate subspecies occurs from northern Spain via southern France and Switzerland and northern Italy to Slovenia. An isolated population inhabits Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, the south of Ukraine, the north of Greece, the Aegean islands and the west of Turkey. The distribution almost certainly extends to Hungary as well. The subspecies H. h. biernerti is widespread from central Turkey east to Liáoníng in China and Mongolia, as well as south to Kashmir , northwest India, north of Lake Baikal and Tuva in Russia. One finds single individuals occasionally westward as far as Istanbul.

The animals only rarely fly over the Alps to Central Europe as migrant butterflies . They have been identified as migrant butterflies in England, southern Portugal, Slovakia, northern Ukraine and the Apennines east of Florence. From Germany only historical records from Bavaria (1859 and 1960) and at least one reliable record from Baden-Württemberg (1921) are known, which suggests that the species was probably never indigenous to this area and can be described as a rare irregular visitor. The same applies to Austria, with a single documented find in 1960.

The nominate subspecies is mainly found in hot, dry biotopes . It inhabits mountainous steppe regions, sand dunes and river valleys in mountainous regions, in Switzerland and Spain up to an altitude of about 500 meters. In Central Europe one finds the animals especially on river islands with vegetation of the food plants. In Western Europe in particular, flood protection measures displace these plants, as their competition is dominant on stable sandbanks and river islands, which means that sea buckthorn hawkers there are becoming increasingly rare. H. h. bienerti occurs in similar habitats, but can be found between 400 and 3000 meters above sea level. Most of the animals are found between 1000 and 2000 meters, where sea buckthorn grows in isolated thickets away from rivers.

The individual populations within the distribution area are often more or less isolated from one another. However, the animals complete hiking flights over great distances.

Way of life

The crepuscular and nocturnal animals do not fly very much and spend most of the night sitting. Mating, like most other species of the genus Hyles, does not last longer than three hours and usually takes place before midnight. After that, the females spend several hours each night searching for nectar, which takes place mainly before 11 p.m. and before dawn. The animals are strongly attracted by nectar plants and rarely fly to artificial light sources.

Flight and caterpillar times

The moths fly in Europe from the end of April to the beginning of July in a first generation, and often also in August in an - albeit incomplete - second generation. It is not uncommon for the two generations to be about three weeks apart. Most of the animals can be found in mid-June. The caterpillars can be found at the end of June and July, and more rarely until the beginning of September. In northeast China and central China, the species flies in two generations in May and July / August. In Xinjiang , the first generation hatches from late April to mid-June, depending on the weather.

Food of the caterpillars

Sea buckthorn is the most important food plant of the sea buckthorn hawk.

The most important food plant of the caterpillars in Europe is sea buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides ). It is also found less often on the narrow-leaved olive willow ( Elaeagnus angustifolia ), which is what the caterpillars in the Aegean Sea mainly feed on. In the Crimea they feed on silver olive willow ( Elaeagnus argentea ). In breeding you can feed the animals with a number of ornamental plants from the genus of the olive willow . Older caterpillars even accept narrow-leaved fireweed ( Epilobium angustifolium ). In China and Tajikistan , the caterpillars have been found on narrow-leaved olive willow and sea buckthorn.

Natural hybrids between the sea buckthorn hawk and the bat hawk ( Hyles vespertilio ) are known from the French Alps , which feed on rosemary willowherb ( Epilobium dodonaei ) and whose caterpillars mainly correspond to the pink color variant.

development

The females lay their eggs on both the top and the bottom of the host plants. This is preferably done at the edge on low branches of plants that grow either on the edge of a thicket or in isolation. The eggs are mainly laid at the end of June. A female can lay up to 500 eggs. After hatching, the caterpillar does not eat the egg shell. The initially three to four millimeters long caterpillars look for a resting place on the underside of the leaf, to which they return after eating. Initially, only the upper leaf cells are eaten, leaving transparent windows behind. They only eat the whole leaves from the second caterpillar stage. Often the caterpillars sunbathe openly on the upper branches where they have already eaten the leaves. A large number of the caterpillars are killed by parasitoids . Of these, the caterpillar flies Exorista fasciata , Exorista larvarum and Masicera sphingivora are known from Europe . Parasitoids from Asia have not yet been documented. Caterpillars that are ready to pupate turn light purple-brown before they leave the plants. A suitable pupation place is often selected on the ground after hours of searching. Pupation takes place in a delicate, yellowish cocoon on roots or under stones. In Asia, the pupil rest in the summer is no more than 20 days. Pupation takes place up to 10 centimeters deep in a chamber in the ground. The pupae are in the wintering stage.

Hazard and protection

The species occurs only locally in southern Europe, but is widespread and is not endangered there. In Central Europe it is found very rarely and in the Federal Species Protection Ordinance as well as the other representatives of the genus Hyles as "particularly protected". However, it is not included in the Red List of Endangered Species in Germany because it is not down to earth . It is also listed in the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive and is listed in Appendix IV as one of the "strictly protected animal and plant species of Community interest".

Taxonomy and systematics

The sea buckthorn hawk was first described as Sphinx hippophaes by Eugen Johann Christoph Esper in 1793 . The Milcov river near Focşani in Wallachia in southern Romania was given as the type locality . Both the specific epithet and the German name of the species are derived from the most important food plant of the caterpillars, the sea buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides ).

On the basis of mtDNA examinations, it is assumed that the sea buckthorn hawk is closely related to Hyles sammuti . The relationships within the genus Hyles are still largely unclear, however, as it comprises a group of species, subspecies and forms that are all very closely related to the milkweed hawk ( Hyles euphorbiae ) and which can be determined by genital examinations , as is otherwise common with butterflies, practically cannot be delimited. One approach contrasts this Hyles euphorbiae complex in the narrower sense ( sensu stricto ) as a sister group with a taxon that includes the sea buckthorn hawk, Hyles sammuti , Hyles siehei and Hyles dahlii . A second approach is based on three sister groups, the Hyles euphorbiae complex, Hyles dahlii and a taxon with the sea buckthorn hawk and Hyles sammuti .

The complexity of the relationship between these species can probably be explained by the fact that natural hybrids occur between the Hyles euphorbiae complex and other Hyles species, such as the sea buckthorn hawk, Hyles vespertilio and Hyles gallii , which can successfully cross back with members of the species complex.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b ^c Josef J. de Freina, Thomas J. Witt: Noctuoidea, Sphingoidea, Geometroidea, Bombycoidea . In: The Bombyces and Sphinges of the Western Palaearctic . 1st edition. tape 1 . EFW Edition Research & Science, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-926285-00-1 , p. 432 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic. AR Pittaway, accessed March 1, 2011 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. AR Pittaway, accessed March 1, 2011 .
↑ ^a ^b Fritz Danner, Ulf Eitschberger, Bernhard Surholt: The enthusiasts of the western Palearctic . In: Herbipolania, series of books on lepidopterology . 1st edition. tape 4/1 . Dr. Ulf Eitschberger, Marktleuthen 1998, ISBN 3-923807-03-1 , p. 288 ff .
^ Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 4 . Moths II Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3474-8 , pp. 196 .
↑ Council Directive 92/43 / EEC of May 21, 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild animals and plants , accessed on May 30, 2012
↑ Identification aid for the butterfly species found in Europe. Lepiforum eV, accessed on May 30, 2012 .
^ ^A ^b Anna K. Hundsdoerfer, Ian J. Kitching, Michael Wink: A molecular phylogeny of the hawkmoth genus Hyles (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae, Macroglossinae) , Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35 (2005) 442-458

literature

Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 3: Spinners and Enthusiasts. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1953, DNB 450378365 .
Günter Ebert: The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3474-8
JJ de Freina: The Bombyces and Sphinges of the Western Palaearctic. Volume 1. Noctuoidea, Sphingoidea, Geometoidea, Bombycoidea. EFW Edition Research & Science Verlag GmbH, Munich, 1987, ISBN 3-926285-00-1
Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 .
AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic. Harley Books, 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6
Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths. Crazy and hawkish. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 .