Autographa mandarina

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Autographa mandarina
Autographa mandarina

Autographa mandarina

Systematics
Superfamily : Noctuoidea
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Plusiinae
Tribe : Plusiini
Genre : Autograph
Type : Autographa mandarina
Scientific name
Autographa mandarina
( Freyer , 1845)

Autographa mandarina is a butterfly ( moth ) fromthe owl butterfly family (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 34 to 38 millimeters. The upper side of the forewing is dark brown to dark reddish brown in color and slightly marbled. The large, silver-white shimmering, teardrop-shaped blemish, which resembles the gamma from the Greek alphabet, is always undivided. The metallic shimmering transverse lines are typical of the species. The upper side of the hind wing is colored light gray-brown and shows a slightly darkened outer edge. There is a dense tuft of hair on the head of the butterfly. The body is furry and has other smaller tufts of hair.

Caterpillar

Fully grown caterpillars are colored green, slightly whitish speckled on the back and provided with a clear whitish side stripe, which is dark in the front. Short, thin hair protrudes from small black point warts. The green head is black on the sides. The front three pairs of legs are also black. The stigmas are white.

Similar species

The Ziest silver owl ( Autographa pulchrina ) is lighter and more reddish in color in its overall appearance, the silver teardrop-shaped blemish is usually interrupted and the transverse lines do not shimmer metallic.

Distribution and occurrence

The distribution area of Autographa mandarina stretches in a narrow strip from Poland and Fennoscandinavia over the Baltic States and Russia to Japan . It is noteworthy that the species has been slowly spreading westward from Russia since the 1980s. The species prefers to colonize open, moist forests and taiga areas .

Way of life

The moths fly between June and September. They are active during the day, at twilight and at night, fly to artificial light sources and can be observed during the day suckling flowers. The leaves of a large number of lower plants serve as a source of food for the caterpillars, for example:

The caterpillars overwinter and pupate mostly in May of the following year.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Barry Goater, Lázló Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Catocalinae & Plusiinae. - Noctuidae Europaeae, Volume 10. , Sorø, 2003, ISBN 87-89430-08-5 , pp. 224-225
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Heinicke, Wladimir Skworzow: The expansion of Autographa mandarina (Freyer, 1846) in Northern Europe from the point of view of their overall distribution (Lep. Noctuidae) , Entomologische Nachrichten undberichte, No. 30, 1986, pp. 141–156

literature

  • Barry Goater, Lázló Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Catocalinae & Plusiinae. - Noctuidae Europaeae, Volume 10. , Sorø, 2003, ISBN 87-89430-08-5 , pp. 224-225

Web links

Commons : Autographa mandarina  - collection of images, videos and audio files