Great Schiller Butterfly
| Great Schiller Butterfly | ||||||||||||
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Greater Schiller Butterfly ( Apatura iris ) |
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| Apatura iris | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The great butterfly ( Apatura iris ) is a butterfly (day butterfly ) of the genus Apatura in the family of the noble butterfly (Nymphalidae). The additional species is derived from Iris , the goddess of the rainbow from Greek mythology . The Great Schiller Butterfly was butterfly of the year in Germany in 2011 .
description
Characteristics of the adults
The Greater Schiller Butterfly is similar to the Lesser Schiller Butterfly ( Apatura ilia ). Both can also be found together (see picture on the right). The moths of Apatura iris reach a wingspan of 55 to over 70 millimeters. The upper sides of the wings have a black-brown basic color and show rows of white spots postdiscally and in the discal region on the forewings, a white band on the discal rear wings. In addition, the upper sides of male blue butterflies show an iridescent effect, which is dependent on the viewing angle, as a typical blue Schiller , which is caused by tiny air chambers in the scales and is absent in the slightly larger females.
The undersides of the wings are chestnut brown with an olive-gray pattern, next to them there are white spots in the discal region of the forewings and in cell 2 an orange-colored dark eye with a light core. The hind wings have jagged bulges and bear a white discal band on the underside and on the upper side, as well as a small, dark spot postdiscally, with a light core on the underside. On the upper side of the hind wing it becomes an eye spot with an orange ring. On the upper side of the forewing, on the other hand , there is no eye spot in the Great Common Schiller Butterfly ( Apatura ilia ), only a dark spot in cell 2.
Dorsal view ♂
△ Anterior view ♂
Apatura iris
Characteristics of the caterpillars
.JPG)
The L1 caterpillars are grass green with a dark brown head capsule. From the first molt (L2-L5), they wear headphones and thus resemble slugs. The head is now also colored green and they have fine yellow back lines that run backwards to the side. The headphones are initially slightly forked. The headphones on the L3 caterpillars are no longer forked. At first they are also grass-green, but before winter dormancy they turn a pale gray-green or a pale reddish green. They then retreat to the branches of the willow to hibernate. They overwinter in twig forks or next to buds. In the following spring they take on their grass-green basic color again after the first feed intake. The headphones on the L4 and L5 caterpillars are again slightly forked. In the L5 caterpillar, they also show wart-like protuberances. The L5 caterpillar is approx. 42 millimeters long.
Similar species
- Little Schiller Butterfly ( Apatura ilia Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)
- Eastern schiller butterfly ( Apatura metis Freyer , 1829)
Occurrence
The animals occur in all of Central Europe in the north up to the 60th parallel, to the east over Central Asia to the northeast of China and Korea . You can find them up to an altitude of 1,500 meters. They are absent in central and northern England , Ireland , northern Scandinavia and southern Europe . They can be found in sparse alluvial forests and mixed deciduous forests. The most important requirement for the biotope is the presence of pastures .
Way of life
.JPG)
The moth is only rarely found on flowers, but it often visits moist areas on the ground and is attracted to carrion, feces, sweat, but also tar and gasoline . The moths usually rest on oak trees several meters above the ground, whereby the females like to fly in the crown area and are therefore rarely visible on the ground.
Flight and caterpillar time
The great Schiller butterfly flies from mid-June to mid-August, especially in the hot midday hours. In the cool morning, the animals remain motionless in their sleeping places. The green caterpillars can be found from August and, after their camouflaged overwintering, until June. There is only one generation a year.
Food of the caterpillars
The crawler this Schiller moth feed primarily of broadleaf willow species, wherein the Salweide ( Salix caprea ) is highly preferred. They are also found on white willow ( Salix alba ) and gray willow ( Salix cinerea ).
development
The females lay their eggs one by one, mostly on the top of the leaf tips of the forage plants. The caterpillars have their typical headphones from the second stage. Sitting on the tip of the leaf, they eat a wide strip of the leaf and only leave the middle leaf vein intact. This creates the typical feeding pattern of the mirrored "half moons". These are particularly pronounced in the round leaf of the common willow and are always an indication of the presence of this species. Even when they are at rest, they sit on the remaining leaf tip. Hibernation takes place on a textile cushion on branches, especially on forks. They have a darker, olive green or brown color. When the caterpillars become active again in spring, they quickly turn a bright green again. They pupate on the underside of leaves in a laterally flattened, light green tumbled pupa , which looks very similar to a leaf with its veins.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 13 .
- ↑ Naturschutzbund: Butterfly of the year 2011: The great Schiller butterfly
- ↑ a b c Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , pp. 190f.
- ^ W. Düring: Großer Schillerfalter. In: Species portraits of butterflies in Rhineland-Palatinate. BUND RLP, March 13, 2020, accessed on March 15, 2020 (German).
- ↑ a b c Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: Die Tagfalter Europäische und Nordwestafrikas , p. 138, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7
literature
- Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 1, Tagfalter I (Knight butterflies (Papilionidae), whiteflies (Pieridae), Edelfalter (Nymphalidae)), Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-800-13451-9
- Ekkehard Friedrich: The Schiller butterflies. Apatura iris, A. ilia, A. metis . Neue Brehm-Bücherei, Volume 505. (2nd, unchanged edition, reprint of the 1st edition from 1977.) Westarp-Wissenschaft / Spektrum, Akademischer Verlag, Magdeburg, Heidelberg, Berlin and Oxford 1996, 112 pages, ISBN 3-89432 -841-X
- Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterflies: observe, determine . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-894-40115-X
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Species portraits of butterflies in Rhineland-Palatinate - Großer Schillerfalter
- www.insektenbox.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Markku Savela: Lepidoptera and some other Lifeforms (English)
- Hipparchia (Hipparchia) fagi at Fauna Europaea
- Greater Schiller Butterfly: Butterfly of the Year 2011
Graubindiger Mohrenfalter (2003) | Aurora Butterfly (2004) | Ocher-binding velvet butterfly (2005) | Swallowtail (2006) | Map (2007) | Argusbläuling (2008) | Peacock butterfly (2009) | Schönbär (2010) | Great Schiller Butterfly (2011) | Little Peacock Butterfly (2012) | Brown-spotted mother-of-pearl butterfly (2013) | Spurge Hawk (2014) | Red ribbon (2015) | Gooseberry Tender (2016) | Golden Eight (2017) | Big Fox (2018) | Checkerboard Butterfly (2019)