Dwarf blue
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Dwarf blue, female ( Cupido minimus ) |
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| ( Füssly , 1775) |
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The Dwarf Bluebird ( Cupido minimus ) is a butterfly from the Bluebird family (Lycaenidae). It owes its name to its small body size, even for bluebs. The dwarf blue is the smallest butterfly in Central Europe .
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 18 to 22 millimeters. On the upper side, the wings are mostly gray-brown and the males are also dusted blue. This pollination can also be absent. The undersides of the wings are light gray and lightly dusted blue at the base. A series of small, light-edged black dots can be seen in the post-fiscal region in particular . Such points can also be found on the underside of the forewing, which is colored like the hind wing.
The caterpillars are about 10 millimeters long and have a yellowish or light brown color. Her very small head is deep black and shiny. It is not clearly visible when it is at rest because it is drawn in.
Similar species
- Blue-red clover ( Polyommatus semiargus )
- Cupido lorquinii , found in Morocco and southern Spain .
- Small alpine blue ( Cupido osiris ), occurrence in Macedonia , Greece , Spain, southern France , Valais
Subspecies
- Cupido minimus trinacriae Verity, 1919. Found in Italy ( Sicily ). Considered a synonym or subspecies by some authors. The moths are smaller than those of the nominate subspecies and are characterized by the lack of blue scales and the black tops of the wings. The subspecies forms one generation per year that flies from April to May. The caterpillars live on Genuine kidney vetch ( Anthyllis vulneraria ) to heights of 1,500 meters. A second generation is likely prevented by the caterpillar forage plants drying out during the hot summer months.
Synonyms
- Lycaena minima
- Lycaena minimus
- Zizera minima
Occurrence
The animals come from the north and parts of central Spain across almost all of Europe to Asia and Mongolia . They are absent in parts of Northern Europe and regions in the UK . They can be found in southern Europe up to an altitude of 2,800 meters. In Central Europe they are common, but towards the north they become rare, so they can only be found very rarely in northern Germany . They live in arid areas such as B. on sunlit dry grass , on rocky slopes and grasslands and in gravel pits. They need basic soils on which their forage plants grow.
Way of life
You can find the moths on flowers, but also sometimes in large numbers on puddles, whose water they suck.
Flight and caterpillar times
The dwarf blues fly in one generation from April to July. Two generations are formed in hot areas, flying from April to June and from late July to August.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on wound clover ( Anthyllis vulneraria ). In southern Europe they are also said to feed on other butterflies (Faboideae).
development
The females lay their whitish-green, indented and slightly reticulated eggs, individually or in groups, on the calyx of the forage plants of the same color. The caterpillars hatch after about a week and feed on the ovules in the flower. The young caterpillars live in the flowers and young fruits of the anthelium. In doing so, they drill a small hole in the young pod near the base, which is closed again after entering with a few threads and droppings. Adult caterpillars drill into the fruiting system of the wound clover so that only the rear caterpillar body is visible. They are perfectly camouflaged with their coloring. They have to develop so quickly that the seeds do not ripen because they can no longer eat them. After about three weeks of development, they hide early on the ground, next to the plant and no longer eat. Only after overwintering do they pupate on the ground in a light, yellowish pupa with dark spots on its back . The diapause can last up to 15 months. Sometimes pupation takes place in summer. A second, incomplete generation hatches from this. However, these moths cannot produce viable offspring, as the forage plants they need will not bloom until the next year. In hot regions there is also a complete second generation, but this can perish if the heat is too strong and the plants dry out.
The caterpillar is myrmekophil and lives symbiotically with ants of the species Lasius niger , Lasius alienus , Formica rufibarbis , Plagiolepis vindobonensis , Myrmica rubra and Formica fusca .
Hazard and protection
- Red list FRG: V (on the pre-warning list).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 84 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide, butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 146 .
- ↑ Cupido (Cupido) minimus in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 3, 2011
- ↑ a b c d butterfly. 2. Special part: Satyridae, Libytheidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae . In: Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (eds.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 2 . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1991, ISBN 3-8001-3459-4 , pp. 249 .
- ↑ David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants . 1st edition. Paul Parey, Hamburg and Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-490-13918-6 , pp. 42 (Original title: A field guide to caterpillars of butterflies and moths in Britain and Europe . Translated by Alexander Pelzer).
- ↑ Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterfly: observe, determine . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-115-X , p. 272 .
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .
