Virgin children

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Virgin children
Great virgin child (Archiearis parthenias)

Great virgin child ( Archiearis parthenias )

Systematics
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Subordination : Ditrysia
Partial order : Macrolepidoptera
Superfamily : Geometroidea
Family : Spanner (Geometridae)
Subfamily : Virgin children
Scientific name
Archiearinae
Fletcher , 1953

The maiden children (Archiearinae) are a small subfamily of the Spanner (Geometridae), which are counted among the moths . However, the moths of the few representatives of the Archiearinae are all diurnal and appear early in the year.

features

The medium-sized moths are predominantly brown, brown-black with yellowish to orange-black hind wings . The head, chest, abdomen and legs are very hairy. The eyes are small. The trunk is short and spiral. The caterpillars still have eight pairs of legs, even if the pairs of belly legs are rudimentary. The pupae overwinter and hatch in spring. However, they can also cover one winter and only hatch in the spring after next.

Many features are believed to be plesiomorphic , such as the number of abdominal bones and wing veins. Therefore, the Archiearinae are considered to be the most primitive group of tensioners.

Way of life

The first virgin children can be found in Central Europe in favorable years at the end of February. However, the main flight time of the moths is March and April. The caterpillars of the maidens live in Central Europe on various deciduous trees ( poplars , birches , willows , beeches ).

Systematics

The maidens were originally considered as an independent family (Brephidae) and placed in the vicinity of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae). Later they were assigned to the tensioners by Prout (1912) as a subfamily (Brephinae). The genus name Brephos is invalid, so Fletcher (1953) suggested the new name Archiearinae, which has become naturalized.

The subfamily Archiearinae is represented worldwide with six genera and 13 species. So far, five species have been identified in Europe , other representatives live in the southern Andes , and two other genera are native to the Holarctic .

The Tasmanian genera Acalyptes Turner, 1926 and Dirce Prout, 1910, which were previously placed in the Archiearinae, were transferred to the Ennominae by McQuillan (2003) .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 8, Nachtfalter VI (Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2001. ISBN 3-800-13497-7
  2. ^ Archiearinae. Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed January 8, 2008 .
  3. ^ Axel Hausmann: Introduction. Achiearinae, Orthostixinae, Desmobathrinae, Alsophilinae, Geometrinae. In: A. Hausmann (Ed.): The Geometrid Moths of Europe 1. Apollo Books 2001, ISBN 8-788-75735-8
  4. ^ Peter B. McQuillan: The Identity of the Australian Archiearinae. Spixiana, 26 (3): 203-204, Munich 2003 ISSN  0341-8391

literature

  • David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag 1987, ISBN 3-826-38139-4
  • DS Fletcher: Some new species of Geometridae from Argentina and Chile. Acta zoologica lilloana, 13: 367-380, Tucuman. 1953.
  • Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke, Bernd Müller: We determine butterflies. Volume 4: Spanner. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1976, DNB 780451570 .
  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 5/1: Spanner. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1955, DNB 450378403 .
  • Patrice Leraut: Contribution à l'etude des Archiearis Hubner et genres apparentes (Lepidoptera, Geometridae). Bulletin de la Societé Entomologique de France, 107 (4): 349-358, Paris 2002 ISSN  0151-0517 .
  • Patrice Leraut: Geometrid moths . In: Moths of Europe . 1st edition. Volume II. NAP Editions, 2009, ISBN 978-2-913688-09-4 (English).

On-line

Web links

Commons : Virgin Children (Archiearinae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files