Ash gray ground owl

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Ash gray ground owl
Ash gray ground owl (Xestia ashworthii)

Ash gray ground owl ( Xestia ashworthii )

Systematics
Subfamily : Noctuinae
Tribe : Noctuini
Sub tribus : Noctuina
Genre : Xestia
Subgenus : Megasema
Type : Ash gray ground owl
Scientific name
Xestia ashworthii
( Doubleday , 1855)
Preparation of Xestia ashworthii ssp. candelarum

The ash-gray ground owl ( Xestia ashworthii ), also called ash-gray dock -owl , ash-gray dock-earth-owl or jagged herb-earth-owl is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of owls (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 35 to 46 millimeters; however, it varies from subspecies to subspecies. The basic color and the drawing of the wings also vary enormously. This great variability has led to the listing of numerous forms and taxa, which, however, have almost all been synonymous with one of the four subspecies :

  • The nominate subspecies Xestia ashworthii ashworthii has a wingspan of 35 to 40 millimeters. The forewing is blue-gray in color with black over-dusting of varying degrees. Cross lines, middle shadows and blemishes are usually clearly drawn. The hind wings are almost monochrome dark gray-brown with white fringes.
  • The subspecies Xestia ashworthii candelarum , with a wingspan of 38 to 49 mm, is on average larger than the nominate subspecies, has almost monochrome light gray to blue-gray colored fore wings, which can occasionally also be slightly brownish. Basal and distal parts of the wing can even be slightly yellow in color. The transverse lines and blemishes are often only weakly developed; the transverse lines begin with black spots at the front edge. The hind wings are light gray and get a little darker towards the fringes.
  • The subspecies Xestia ashworthii lactescens has an average wingspan of 42 to 46 millimeters and differs in its milky to silver-white coloration of the forewings without brown elements. The flaws are hardly noticeable, the inner and outer transverse lines are fine, but clearly drawn. The light gray hind wings are a little darker than the fore wings.
  • The subspecies Xestia ashworthii jotunensis has a wingspan of 35 to 45 millimeters. The forewings are extensively purple-brown, rust-brown to dark brown in color. The cross lines and blemishes are indistinct or missing. The hind wings are colored light gray.
  • The subspecies Xestia ashworthii artvina . The forewings are dark blue-gray in color, transverse lines, middle shadows and blemishes are clearly drawn. The front edge is lightened and the hind wings are colored light gray
  • The subspecies Xestia ashworthii sagrensis has a wingspan of 43 to 44 mm and is uniformly yellowish-gray-brown in the basic color with white over-dusting in the root field and along the costal edge. Cross lines and blemishes practically nonexistent with the exception of three diffuse black points on the Kostal edge. In some copies, the outer transverse line is indicated by small, dark dots. The hind wings are white with a light, light brown tint.

Egg, caterpillar and pupa

The egg is hemispherical with strong ribs. It is light yellow, later reddish and colored black-blue before hatching. The caterpillars are black-brown, gray to olive-green in color and have an orange-red head with two arched lines. The two fine back lines are drawn dark, the two secondary back lines light. Between the back lines and the secondary back lines there are conspicuous, black spots. They start around the 3rd / 4th Segment as deep black longitudinal lines along the secondary spinal lines and become clearly pronounced, narrow to wide wedge marks towards the rear end, which become somewhat wider towards the rear. The spiracles are white, the belly is dotted with fine white spots. The squat doll has a short cremaster with two thorns.

Similar species

Due to the great variability in coloration, the species also resembles many other owl butterflies, for example:

All of the aforementioned species are similar to the ssp. candelarum , also have a gray basic color, but cross and wavy lines stand out more prominently. The dark brown ssp. jotunensis is similar to other species, such as B. Euxoa aquilina or Euxoa cursoria , in which, however, kidney and ring blemishes are more prominent.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The ash gray ground owl has a large distribution area that extends from southern Spain, the Pyrenees, Wales, southern and eastern France, the hill and mountain regions of Central Europe, southern Scandinavia, southern Finland, the Baltic States, Italy, the Balkans, Asia Minor and the Caucasus, through Eastern Europe to reaches far to Siberia and Tibet. The main occurrence area is the mountain and hill country, especially rocky slopes and stony semi-arid grasslands. In the Alps it rises to around 2000 meters, in southern Spain up to 2200 m and in Turkey up to 2400 m. The subspecies are distributed as follows:

  • Xestia ashworthii ssp. ashworthii (Doubleday, 1855) comes in mountainous terrain Wales ago
  • Xestia ashworthii ssp. candelarum (Staudinger, 1871) in Central Europe from the Pyrenees to the Alps and Prealps and further east to Siberia and Tibet
  • Xestia ashworthii ssp. jotunensis (Schöyen, 1887) in Fennoscandinavia and the Baltic States
  • Xestia ashworthii ssp. lactescens (Turati, 1919), in central Italy .
  • Xestia ashworthii ssp. artvina de Freina & Hacker, 1985, Turkey, Transcaucasia and the Caucasus
  • Xestia ashworthii ssp. sagrensis Pérez Lopéz, 1993, southern Spain

Way of life

The moths of the ash gray ground owl fly in one generation a year from June to August. They visit flowers, artificial light sources and occasionally come the bait too . The caterpillars can be found from August, they overwinter and pupate in May of the following year. They only feed at night, hide under stones during the day, and feed on a wide variety of lower plants, these include:

Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971) name:

Markku Savela lists without a source:

Ian Kimber specifies the following types:

The Hantsmoths - The Moths of Hampshire and Isle of Wight website lists the following species

Bergmann (1954) describes the species as "not ... rarely, but also nowhere ... often ..." (in Thuringia).

Taxonomy and systematics

The species was first scientifically described in 1855 by Henry Doubleday as Agrotis ashworthi . The holotype was from a Mr. Ashworth in the summer of 1853 Llangollen (county Denbighshire , North Wales caught). Fibiger lists three synonyms for this species. The taxon is currently divided into five subspecies, which have already been mentioned above.

Fibiger (1990) summarizes the species together with Xestia c-nigrum (Linné), Xestia ditrapezium (Denis & Schiffermüller), Xestia triangulum (Hufnagel), and Xestia kollarii to form the subgenus Megasema Hübner, 1823.

Danger

The ash gray ground owl is widespread in central and southern Germany, but in different frequencies. It is classified in category 3 (endangered) on the Red List of Endangered Species of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Saxony, on the other hand, it is already placed in Category 2 (highly endangered), in Saxony-Anhalt even in Category 1 (threatened with extinction).

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Red Lists at Science4you
  2. ↑ a b Fibiger (1993: pp. 161–165)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971: p. 55)
  4. ↑ a b Hantsmoths - Xestia ashworthii
  5. ↑ Xestia ashworthii on www.lepiforum
  6. ↑ a b Franscisco Javier Pérez López: Una nueva subespecie de Xestia (Megasema) ashworthii (Doubleday, 1855) descubierta en La Sagra (Granada) (sur de España) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Zapateri, Revista aragonesa de entomología, 3: 93-96, 1993 ISSN  1131-933X PDF
  7. ↑ Josef J. de Freina and Hermann Hacker: New species and subspecies of the Noctuidae family from Anatolia and Turkish Kurdistan (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). Zeitschrift für Entomologie, 6 (19): 241-261, Linz, 1985 ISSN  0250-4413
  8. ↑ Axel Steiner in Steiner & Ebert (1998: pp. 452–455)
  9. ↑ www.nic.funet.fi Xestia ashworthii
  10. ^ UK Moths - Ian Kimber website
  11. ^ Bergmann (1954: pp. 128–131) (as Rhyacia candelarum )
  12. ^ Henry Doubleday: A new species of Agrotis. Zoologist, 13: 4749, London 1855 Online by archive.org

literature

  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 4/1: Owls. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1954, DNB 450378373 .
  • Axel Steiner and Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 7, Nachtfalter V (Owls (Noctuidae) 3rd part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-8001-3500-0
  • Michael Fibiger: Noctuidae Europaeae, Volume 2 Noctuinae II. Entomological Press, Sorø, 1993, ISBN 87-89430-02-6
  • Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .

Web links

Commons : Ash gray floor owl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files