Heath bark bark owl
| Heath bark bark owl | ||||||||||||
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Heath bark owl ( Acronicta menyanthidis ) |
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| Acronicta menyanthidis | ||||||||||||
| ( Esper , 1789) |
The heather moor bark owl ( Acronicta menyanthidis ), also called fever clover swamp owl, is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of owl butterflies (Noctuidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 35 to 38 millimeters. The basic color of the forewings is very variable. It ranges from whitish-gray to gray, dark-gray to gray-black. The root line is short but very clearly drawn; the tornal line is also clear. Very often a white spot is developed anterior to the tornal line. The black-rimmed ring flaw is very small, the larger kidney flaw is also rimmed in black. The inner and outer transverse lines are drawn in black and are jagged, or just indicated by a row of dots. The outer transverse line is sharply angled between the tornal line and the rear edge and jumps back. The middle shadow is only developed on the front edge. The hemline is only indicated by a series of very fine points. The fringes are light gray with narrow internural lines. The basic color of the hind wings varies from light gray to dark gray to brown-gray. The fringes are whitish. The underside of the front wings is dark gray, the underside of the hind wings light gray. On the underside of both wings, the middle transverse line is only indicated, the underside of the rear wing also shows a discal spot. The head and thorax are in different shades of gray.
The egg is flattened and somewhat irregularly conical. The surface has clear longitudinal ribs. It is initially light yellow in color, later it turns carmine-red with large white spots.
The caterpillar can be colored brown or black. The head and pronotum are glossy black-brown. The distinct warts are covered with moderately long tufts of brown hair. On the side there is a red longitudinal band, above it sit the white spiracles.
The pupa is relatively large and colored black-brown. The blunt kremaster is studded with short, thorn-like bristles.
Similar species
The moths of the heather moor bark owl are very similar to those of the golden-haired bark owl. Fibiger et al. (2009) indicate the following differences:
- In A. auricoma the middle shadow is often developed, while in A. menyanthidis it is limited to the front edge
- In A. auricoma, the kidney flaw has a black border with a black spot in the middle
- the ring blemishes in A. menyanthidis are usually more obvious than the ring blemishes in A. auricoma , which also often has a white point in the center of the blemish.
- A. auricoma has a narrow black line near the posterior margin and along A1; this is not present in A. menyanthidis .
- A. auricoma has a more or less distinct row of dots in the border area, which A. menyanthidis lacks.
Geographical occurrence and habitat
The heather moor bark owl is found mainly in Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. The distribution area extends over Siberia to the Russian Far East . To the west, northern England, Scotland and the northern part of Ireland are populated with a small isolated occurrence in eastern England. On the continent, the western border of the distribution runs through eastern France, from here a wedge extends into the French Massif Central . There is isolated evidence from the French Pyrenees . In Italy there is a small isolated occurrence in western Liguria as well as in the Alps. The southern border of the distribution runs through southern Germany, the Czech Republic, southern Poland, Slovakia and across the Ukraine to Russia. To the south of it there are only a few small isolated occurrences in the Czech Republic and northern Romania as well as the already mentioned, also isolated, larger occurrences in the central and eastern Alps, Austria and western Hungary.
The heather bark bark owl prefers to live in damp mixed and deciduous forests, on the edge of peat bogs and heather bogs . In the Alps it rises to over 1200 m above sea level.
Way of life
The moor bark owl forms one or two generations per year, with the second generation usually being incomplete. The moths of the first generation fly from May to June, the moths of the incomplete second generation from July to August. The moths are nocturnal and come to artificial light sources as well as to the bait . During the day they rest on the bark of tree trunks. The caterpillars are found from June to September. They are active during the day and night and usually sit freely on the leaves or their waiting areas. They feed mainly on species of the genera Myrica , heather ( Calluna ), cranberries ( Vaccinium subgen. Oxycoccus ) and blueberries ( Vaccinium ), but also of willow ( Salix ) and birch ( Betula ). Ebert et al. (1997) also give monkshood buttercup ( Ranunculus aconitifolius ), swamp blood-eye ( Comarum palustre ), pennywort ( Lysimachia nummularia ) and fever clover ( Menyanthes trifoliata ) as food plants. The pupa hibernates.
Danger
Heidemoor bark owl is generally endangered in Germany (category 2). It is threatened with extinction in several German federal states (category 1).
Systematics
Acronicta menyanthidis is described by Fibiger et al. (2009) together with A. auricoma , A. orientalis , A. rumicis , A. euphorbiae and A. cinerea in the subgenus Viminia Chapman, 1890. Further species of the subgenus occur in the Far East.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Red Lists of the German Federal States
- ↑ Fibiger et al. (2009: p.48 / 9)
- ^ Carine Luque, Charles Gers, Jacques Lauga, Nestor Mariano, Michael Wink and Luc Legal: Analysis of forestry impacts and biodiversity in two Pyrenean forests through a comparison of moth communities (Lepidoptera, Heterocera). Insect Science, 14: 323-338, 2007 doi : 10.1111 / j.1744-7917.2007.00159.x
- ↑ Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
- ↑ Ebert et al. (1997: pages 38 to 42)
literature
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 6. Moth IV (Noctuidae 2nd part). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 6 . Moth IV. Noctuidae 2nd part. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 .
- 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
