Snail shell bag carrier

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Snail shell bag carrier
Snail-shell-shaped protective housing of the snail-shell sac carrier (Apterona helicoidella) parth.

Snail-shell- shaped protective housing of the snail-shell sac carrier ( Apterona helicoidella ) parth.

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Real sack carriers (Psychidae)
Subfamily : Oiketicinae
Genre : Apterona
Type : Snail shell bag carrier
Scientific name
Apterona helicoidella
( Vallot , 1827)

The snail-shell sack carrier ( Apterona helicoidella ) is a butterfly from the family of the real sack carrier (Psychidae), which lives north of the Alps in a parthenogenetic form called Apterona helicoidella parth. is designated, occurs and which is dealt with in the following.

features

The small, gray, flightable males occur in the bisexual form that exists in southern Europe , while Apterona helicoidella parth exists . only from female individuals who have a maggot-like shape. They lack legs, antennae, eyes and mouthparts. They are gray-yellow in color, have brownish breast shields, individual whitish hairs on the abdomen, are about five millimeters long and show a slightly curved posture. The caterpillars have a yellowish color. The head is black-brown with yellowish markings. The brightly divided breast shields are otherwise colored black-brown. Each caterpillar spins itself into a snail- shell -shaped living tube, which is formed on the outside mainly from earth and grains of sand and which has up to two and a half helical turns, whereby the helical twisting sense seems to be constant, as is common with snail shells - however, it is a mirror image of the twisting sense, for example with the Roman snails . The outer diameter of the turns averages two millimeters and tapers towards a point at the top. The entire case has a diameter of approximately five millimeters. Depending on the color of the subsurface, different colored building materials are used so that the color can be varied from light gray to rust brown.

Distribution and occurrence

The parthenogenetic form of the snail shell bag carrier is widespread in Europe and extends from Portugal through most of Central Europe, including the Alpine region, to the Urals, as well as to the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey . The species was introduced to America from Europe on wooden ships . There is still a need for clarification regarding the occurrence in Asia. It is absent in the higher elevations of the mountains. The animals are mainly to be found in warm or hot regions, including on heat islands with protected, south-facing rocks.

Way of life

The caterpillars have a year of development. The females hatch in June or July. The parthenogenetic animals can be found in Baden-Württemberg in the catchment area of ​​the rivers Rhine , Main , Neckar and Danube , but also along the highways. A further spread of the species is possible through spreading. Sacks covered with living caterpillars on driftwood branches have been observed swimming in rivers, as well as in avalanches , so that despite the inability to fly, new areas can be opened up. It is also known to transport the sacks in the plumage of birds or in the fur of animals. The species was found even within cities in sometimes very small areas, but quite numerous there, several thousand pieces on a railway bridge in Sinsheim or in the middle of Berlin . The same pupation places are chosen over and over again, which is probably due to attractive microclimatic conditions. During the entire caterpillar stage, the caterpillar remains in its protective cover and also pupates in it. Immediately after hatching, parthenogenetic reproduction occurs and the females' lifespan is often only a few hours. The caterpillars feed polyphagously on many different plants, of which only a selection is mentioned here:

and other. The larval housing of the animals is preferably spun onto rocks, walls, road guardrails and trunks. In the leaf-free seasons it can also be found attached to branches and twigs, sometimes in large numbers.

Danger

In Germany, the species has only been recorded in a few federal states, but there it is mostly numerous, so that it is classified as not endangered on the Red List of Endangered Species .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Willi Sauter & Peter Hättenschwiler: To the system of palaearctic psychids (Lep.Psychidae). Nota lepid., 14: 69-89, 1991
  2. ^ A b Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 3: Weirdos and Swarmers. (Bombyces and Sphinges). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1960, DNB 456642196 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Günter Ebert, Thomas Esche, Rene Herrmann, Axel Hofmann, Hans Georg Lussi, Ingo Nikusch, Wolfgang Speidel, Axel Steiner, Jürgen Thiele: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg, Volume 3, Moth I (Hepialidae), wood drills (Cossidae), ram (Zygaenidae), snail moth (Limacodidae), sack bearer (Psychidae), window stain (Thyrididae)), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-800-13472-1
  4. ↑ DRDavies: Bagworm Moth of the Western Hemisphere (Lepidoptera: Psychidae). -Bull.USnatu.Mus., 244: I-233, 1964
  5. ↑ a b Peter Hättenschwiler: Information on the biology of the psychid larvae and interesting details about their sacks (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Entomo Helvetica, Vol. 1, ISSN  1662-8500 , 2008
  6. ^ Karl Cleve: The butterflies of West Berlin. Berliner Naturschutzblätter, Volksbund Naturschutz eV No. 55, 1975
  7. ↑ Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 3: Weirdos and Swarmers. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1953, DNB 450378365 .
  8. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9

literature

  • Günter Ebert, Thomas Esche, Rene Herrmann, Axel Hofmann, Hans Georg Lussi, Ingo Nikusch, Wolfgang Speidel, Axel Steiner, Jürgen Thiele: The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg, Volume 3, Moths I (root borer (Hepialidae), wood borer (Cossidae), ram (Zygaenidae), snail moth (Limacodidae), sack bearer (Psychidae), window stain (Thyrididae)), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-800-13472-1
  • Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 3: Weirdos and Swarmers. (Bombyces and Sphinges). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1960, DNB 456642196 .

Web links

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