Snow tensioner
| Snow tensioner | ||||||||||||
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Snow wrench ( Phigalia pilosaria ), ♂ |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phigalia pilosaria | ||||||||||||
| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
The snow wrench ( Phigalia pilosaria ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the wrench (Geometridae).
features
The male snow wrench is a comparatively large wrench with a wingspan of up to 45 millimeters. The females are flightless and only have very short wing stubs. The body of the flightless females is olive brown; the antennae are thread-shaped. The males have relatively wide forewings. The drawing and basic color vary greatly. The forewing upper side is whitish, yellowish gray to light olive brown with a black pattern of spots. The transverse lines are usually only weakly pronounced. The hind wings are whitish. The antennas are feather-shaped.
Leraut differentiates between the following color and drawing variations:
- f. uniformata Lempke , 1953, the fore wing is uniformly gray-brown with a greenish tint without white spots
- f. obscurata Schawerda , 1919, the fore wing is dark olive brown
- f. destrigaria Lempke , 1953, the transverse lines on the forewings are missing or can hardly be seen
- f. tangens Lempke , 1953, the transverse lines on the forewings are relatively close together
- f. lichenea Leraut , 2009, the front wing is olive green with strongly contrasting white spots, the pattern is reminiscent of lichen
- f. grisescens Leraut , 2009, the forewing is white-gray, the drawing is gray without an olive tint, the thorax is also gray
- f. flavescens Leraut , 2009, the front wing is reddish beige, the markings are blurred or faded, the thorax is yellowish gray, the hind wings are white with a yellowish tint
- f. pallescens Leraut , 2009, all wing tops are light gray olive, the markings are faded or very faint, thorax light yellowish gray.
- f. monacharia Staudinger , 1901, the upper side of the forewing is completely black (melanistic shape)
- f. extinctaria stand foot , 1947, forewings are uniformly dark gray
- f. nervosa Lempke , 1970, the veining of the wings is darkened
- f. fasciaria Richardson , 1952, the midfield of the fore wing is darkened
- f. clausa Lempke , 1970, the inner and outer transverse lines extend to the rear edge
Females with somber colors are called f. subnigraria Uffeln , 1914.
The egg is oval and greenish in color with brown spots. The caterpillar is yellowish to brownish green and has conical warts with bristles on four segments. On the fifth and eleventh segments, the warts are slightly larger. It is dashed black on the back with orange-yellow dots, or it has V-shaped spots on the 2nd and 3rd abdominal segments. The doll is red-brown. The Kremaster has a forked tip.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The snow tensioner is widespread and not uncommon in Europe. The species is absent from Sardinia , Crete and Cyprus . It is rare in the north of the British Isles. In the east the distribution area extends to the Caucasus region.
It lives mainly on the edges of forests, parks, gardens and field hedges and occurs from the plains to the mountains. In the northern Alps, the species occurs up to about 1100 m above sea level, in the southern Alps up to 1300 m.
Way of life
The moths, which occur annually in one generation, fly from late January to mid-April. The moths can be observed in mild winters as they sit on the trunks of oaks and hornbeams. The caterpillars can be found from late April to mid-July. They pupate in the ground and overwinter in this way. The forage of the tensioner snow besides the willow ( Salix caprea ), the English oak ( Quercus robur ), the sloe ( Prunus spinosa ) and aspen ( Populus tremula ) and the hornbeam ( Carpinus betulus ). Leraut also mentions elms ( Ulmus ssp.), Linden ( Tilia ssp.), Birch ( Betula ), hazel ( Corylus ) and "other deciduous trees". The caterpillar pupates in the earth. The pupa hibernates.
Danger
The snow tensioner is not endangered in Germany.
Taxonomy
The snow tensioner is placed in the more recent literature also to the genus Apocheima . However, the genital apparatus of the type species of Phigalia and Apocheima differ considerably. Leraut (2009) therefore rejects synonymization and regards Phigalia as a valid genus. There are currently three subspecies of the snow tensioner:
- Phigalia pilosaria pilosaria , the nominate subspecies, in the greater part of the range
- Phigalia pilosaria meridionalis Costantini , 1916, on average larger, with clear markings, Emilia-Romagna (Italy)
- Phigalia pilosaria prostae Leraut , 1996, High Alps, on average larger and with a more gray hue.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Leraut (2009: p. 108)
- ↑ a b c d Forster & Wohlfahrt (1981: p. 234)
- ↑ Bellmann (2003: p. 220)
- ↑ Red list at Science4you
- ↑ Alessandro Costantini: Alcune nuove forme di Lepidotteri emiliani. Atti della Società dei Naturalisti e Matematici di Modena, Series V, 3: 14-24, Modena.
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- Patrice Leraut: Moths of Europe. Volume II. Geometrid moths. NAP Editions 2009, ISBN 978-2-913688-09-4 .
- Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 5: Spanner. (Geometridae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-440-04951-5 .
