Alder-bark owl

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Alder-bark owl
Alder-bark owl, above f.typica, below f.suffusa

Alder-bark owl, above f. typica , below f. suffusa

Systematics
Superfamily : Noctuoidea
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Acronictinae
Genre : Acronicta
Subgenus : Jocheaera
Type : Alder-bark owl
Scientific name
Acronicta (Jocheaera) alni
( Linnaeus , 1767)
Alder bark owl on a wall
Adult caterpillar of the alder bark owl (Acronicta alni)
Young caterpillar of the alder bark owl in camouflage

The alder bark owl ( Acronicta alni ), also called Erlene owl, is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 36 to 46 millimeters. The head and thorax are colored gray. The ventral part of the tegulae is black, the abdomen gray. The basic color varies from light gray to light brown or brown-gray. A black field extends along the inner edge and at the level of the central shadow also to the front edge. There are also forms with almost completely darkened forewings (f. Suffusa Tutt.). Often there is a brown spot distal to the kidney field. Root streak and tornal streak are also developed and relatively long. In the subterminal field, distal to the renal field, there is often a wedge-shaped spot. Inner and outer transverse lines are drawn twice, but partially covered by the black field. While the kidney blemish is practically not developed, the ring blemish is round and has a faint black border. The hind wings are whitish, black on the outer edge and at the apex. The underside of the forewings is dark gray, the underside of the hind wings white with a faint central shadow and a discal spot.

The egg is flattened-cone-shaped with a rim at the base. The surface is provided with weak, serrated longitudinal ribs. It is initially yellowish in color with large white spots and a white base. It later turns red.

In its juvenile form, the caterpillar is black at the front and whitish at the end and looks like bird droppings. This bird droppings mimicry is a very effective protection against predators. The adult caterpillar becomes up to 35 mm long and is distinctive. It is black in the basic color with bright yellow cross bars, as well as individual, long and club-shaped thickened bristles. Such loosely standing club hairs are a rare special feature , as it is otherwise known only from the caterpillars of the Malagasy Chrysiridia rhipheus (family Uraniidae).

The relatively slim doll is red-brown in color and shiny. The stick-shaped cremaster is studded with bristles.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The alder-bark owl is widespread from the Iberian Peninsula, western France and the British Isles in the west through Central Europe to the Far East ( Russian Far East , North China, Japan, Korea). In the north the distribution area extends to the south of Scotland, southern Scandinavia, southern Finland and across Karelia and Russia to the Urals. In the south the species is limited to the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula, the Apennine Peninsula (to the north of Calabria), the Balkan Peninsula to southern Bulgaria, Asia Minor, the Caucasus region and southern Siberia.

The species occurs only sporadically in damp and moderately dry mixed and deciduous forests and their edges, in damp river valleys, bog forests and swamp forests . The species can also be found in more open landscapes such as orchards, hedges and bushes, as well as in gardens and parklands .

Way of life

The alder-bark owl forms one generation per year, whose moths fly from May to June, and in the mountains until July. The individual moths that fly in August through September probably belong to an incomplete second generation. The moths are nocturnal and come to the bait and artificial light sources . The caterpillars can be found from June to September. They are polyphagous and feed on the leaves of birch ( Betula ), alder ( Alnus ), oak ( Quercus ), poplar ( Populus ), hornbeam ( Carpinus ), hazel ( Corylus ), elm ( Ulmus ), whitebeam ( Sorbus ), Prunus , apples ( Malus ), pears ( Pyrus ), hawthorns ( Crataegus ), roses ( Rosa ) and maples ( Acer ). When resting, young caterpillars curve their front bodies so that the head lies next to the 8th segment, which is still brown in color. In this position they resemble bird droppings. The caterpillars pupate near the ground, often bored into rotten wood. The pupae overwinter.

Systematics

The species is still often found in the older literature in the combination Apatele alni . It is used by Fibiger et al. (2009) on the subgenus Jocheaera Hübner, 1820.

Danger

The alder bark owl is endangered in the federal states of Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Red Lists
  2. ↑ Fibiger et al. (2009: p. 42).
  3. ↑ Bellmann (2003: p. 250)
  4. ↑ Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  5. ↑ Ebert et al. (1997: pp. 11-14)

literature

  • Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 5, Moths III (Sesiidae, Arctiidae, Noctuidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997. ISBN 3-800-13481-0
  • Michael Fibiger, László Ronkay, Axel Steiner & Alberto Zilli: Noctuidae Europaeae Volume 11 Pantheinae, Dilobinae, Acronictinae, Eustrotiinae, Nolinae, Bagisarinae, Acontiinae, Metoponiinae, Heliothinae and Bryophilinae. 504 pp., Entomological Press, Sorø 2009 ISBN 978-87-89430-14-0

Web links

Commons : Erlen-Rindeneule  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files