Beach earth owl

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Beach earth owl
Agrotis ripae.jpg

Beach earth owl ( Agrotis ripae )

Systematics
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Noctuinae
Tribe : Agrotini
Sub tribus : Agrotina
Genre : Agrotis
Type : Beach earth owl
Scientific name
Agrotis ripae
( Huebner , 1823)

The beach earth owl ( Agrotis ripae ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterfly (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

The wingspan of the moth is 32 to 45 millimeters. The forewing color varies from almost white to yellow-white to light gray or light brown. There are narrow dark spots or stripes on the costal edge . The ring flaws are small and usually just as darkly filled as the larger kidney flaws. The cone blemishes stand out when they are black-brown. The brownish outer transverse line is strikingly jagged. Many small dark brown dots can be seen on the hem. Particularly whitish lightened specimens are considered f. weissenbornii Frr. designated. The hind wings are almost white in the males, rather gray in the females.

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The egg has an apple-like shape, a net-like surface and initially a white-yellow, later reddish-brown color. The caterpillars are brownish, yellowish or greenish in color and have three indistinct, double, dark back lines between which black dots are recognizable as well as light side stripes that are bordered by a row of black dots at the top. The light brown doll has two tips on the blunt cremaster .

Similar species

The species is similar to Agrotis desertorum , which occurs predominantly in south- west Russia (Boisduval, 1840), but in which the gray tones are more pronounced, the transverse lines of which are more prominent, which have more points on the forewings and whose hind wings are always white in both sexes.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The main distribution area of ​​the beach earth owl is the European Atlantic coast as well as large parts of the North and Baltic Sea coasts and some steppe and desert areas in Asia. There is also evidence from the Balkan Peninsula. Except in dune areas, it occurs inland on salty sandy soils.

Way of life

The moths are mostly nocturnal, most of them fly from June to July, occasionally visit the beach grass ( Ammophila ) flowers , but also bait and artificial light sources . The caterpillars live from August and prefer to feed on various beach plants, such as

and hibernate as adults, buried deep in a cave. The caterpillars usually feed at night and hide in loose sand during the day. They pupate mostly in May.

Danger

In Germany - as the name suggests - the beach earth owl occurs predominantly in beach and coastal areas in varying numbers and is classified in category 2 (highly endangered) on the Red List of Endangered Species .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Michael Fibiger: Noctuidae Europaeae Volume 1, Entomological Press, Søro 1990, ISBN 87-89430-01-8
  2. ^ A b Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  3. ↑ Stoyan Beshkov: On the presence of Agrotis ripae (Hübner, (1823)) in Balkan Peninsula (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Noctuinae). Historia Naturalis Bulgarica, 11: 85-95, Sofia 2000 ISSN  0205-3640
  4. ↑ Manfred Koch : We identify butterflies. Volume 3: Owls. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1972, DNB 760072930 .
  5. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9

literature

Web links

Commons : Beach Earth Owl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files