Achaea catocaloides
| Achaea catocaloides | ||||||||||||
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Achaea catocaloides |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Achaea catocaloides | ||||||||||||
| ( Guenée , 1852) |
Achaea catocaloides ( Syn .: Acanthodelta catocaloides ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae). Due to its occasional mass reproduction, it is considereda dangerous pest on cultivated plants, especially in West Africa . In 2009 there was a mass increase in Liberia and Ghana that caused considerable attention, although it was not the first large-scale increase of its kind in Liberia and West Africa.
features
The moths have a wingspan of 45 to 50 mm and a length of 20 to 25 mm. The apex of the forewings is weakly pointed. The upper side of the forewing is brown in the basic color. Inner and outer transverse lines are clearly drawn dark brown. The inner transverse line is almost straight to slightly wavy, the outer transverse line strongly jagged. A small black spot is usually formed in the position of the ring flaw. The outer half of the middle field can also be dark brown (f. Nigra Berio) or a middle band runs diagonally through the middle field (ab. Virga Berio). At the ab. violacea, parts of the midfield may be lightened. The kidney flaw stands out dark brown, but is only indistinctly limited to the midfield. The upper sides of the hind wings are also brown in the basic color with light yellow areas of different sizes. The undersides are colored gray-brown. The kidney flaw stands out very clearly on the forewings, and the discal spot is also developed. While the outer, but only curved, not jagged transverse line is well developed, the inner transverse line is completely absent. On the hind wings there is a faint medial transverse line and a disk spot. The wing clearly brightens towards the inner edge and the wing attachment point.
The relatively slender caterpillar is ash gray in color with a red-brown head. It has a broad, dark back line and light side back lines. The side lines are also very light. The spiracles are black. At the rear end there are two bright red-colored humps. The last stage of the caterpillar is 40 to 50 mm long.
Geographical occurrence and habitat
The species occurs in the tropical rainforests of West Africa . The species has been found in Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast , Guinea, Benin, Kenya and Uganda . Presumably the distribution area extends over other countries.
Way of life
The species is multivoltin, i.e. H. new generations can be formed all year round under favorable conditions. The life cycle is only 36 to 45 days. The moths are around eight to twelve days old. Under breeding conditions and when fed with sugar water, they can also survive for up to 28 days. They are nocturnal and are said to suckle fruits like oranges and mangoes and fruit juice. In Liberia, the eggs are laid individually on the leaves of the Dahoma tree ( Piptadeniastrum africanum (Hook.f.) Brenan). For Nigeria, Eluwa gives Pentaclethra macrophylla as the main food plant. The egg caterpillars hatch after about two to three days. The larval period lasts 20 to 22 days (Eluwa gives 15 to 16 days for Nigeria). The relatively slender caterpillars tend to move like a spanner. In Liberia, the caterpillars first ate the leaves of the Dahoma trees. The leaves are usually completely eaten except for the central and side ribs. If these are defoliated, they drop to lower levels in the forest or rappel down on spider threads. They then feed on various types of tropical trees, including crops such as coffee, cocoa, citrus species, plantains, bananas and cassava . The caterpillars pupate on the ground in the leaf litter under the trees they have eaten in a cocoon made of spider threads and two leaves woven together. The doll's rest takes six to eight days.
Enemies
So far only a few enemies of this kind have become known. In Cameroon, the populations are mainly controlled by ants. The fly Blepharella lodosi Mesnil ( Tachinidae ) is named as a parasite . For Nigeria, Eluwa gives birds, lizards, wasps, ants, spiders and humans as enemies in general, and specifically a tachinid fly from the genus Exorista .
Harmful effect
The species occasionally tends to mass reproduce. At the beginning of 2009, a mass increase in four counties in Liberia caused a sensation (see also Liberian Armyworm Plague ). The Liberian government declared a state of emergency and requested international aid. The living conditions of the population were mainly affected by the mass invasion of the villages by the caterpillars and by the contamination of the water by the faeces and dead caterpillars. The damage to the harvest was limited because the crops had already been brought in and the caterpillars were not eating grass . Mass reproductions have been documented earlier from Liberia, but also from Cameroon and Benin.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d M. C. Eluwa: Aspects of the biology of Achaea catocaloides in Nigeria (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). Revue de Zoologie Africaine, 91 (4): 875-892, 1977
- ^ Liberia: Proposal for a grant of US $ 1,000,000 as emergency assistance to support efforts to control and avert caterpillar infestations. ( Memento of July 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 79 kB)
- ↑ Fiona Maisel: defoliation of a mono Dominant Rain Forest Tree by a Noctuid Moth in Gabon. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 20 (2): 239-241, 2004 doi : 10.1017 / S0266467403001044
- ↑ M. Bigger: A geographical distribution list of insects and mites associated with Cocoa, derived from literature published before 2010 PDF ( Memento of July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ BBC News, February 3, 2009
literature
- Achille Guenée: Histoire naturelle des insectes: species général des lépidoptères. Tome 7, Noctuélites 3. Roret (Paris) (p. 245) Online at gallica.bnf.fr
- Émile Maurice Lavabre: Ravageurs des cultures tropicales. 178 pp., Paris & Wageningen, 1992 ISBN 2-7068-1048-3 .