Dumeril's grassroots owl

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Dumeril's grassroots owl
Dumeril's grass root owl (Luperina dumerilii), female

Dumeril's grass root owl ( Luperina dumerilii ), female

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Xyleninae
Genre : Luperina
Type : Dumeril's grassroots owl
Scientific name
Luperina dumerilii
( Duponchel , 1826)

Dumeril's grassroots owl ( Luperina dumerilii ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the owl butterfly family (Noctuidae). The species epithet honors the French zoologist André Duméril .

features

butterfly

The wingspan of the moth is 29 to 36 millimeters. The color of the forewing upper side shows an extraordinarily large color spectrum and varies from whitish to beige, ocher, yellow-brown, gray-brown to reddish brown. There are even almost black specimens that are considered to be ab. armoricana have been described. However, these and many other color variation forms have no taxonomic significance. The midfield is more or less darkened. The region between the outer transverse line and the wavy line mostly stands out as a light band. Ring and cone flaws are whitish and sometimes light brown. The upper side of the hind wings is colored and milky white.

Caterpillar

Fully grown caterpillars are glassy yellow-brown to yellow-gray in color and resemble white grubs .

Similar species

  • The clay-colored grass-root owl ( Luperina testacea ) ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) is drawn somewhat larger and less contrasting. The light band in the post-disk region of the upper fore wing is absent or indistinct.
  • Luperina diversa ( Staudinger , 1892) can be distinguished by its almost white blemishes.

Due to the great color variability of Luperina dumerilii, there are sometimes very great similarities to the aforementioned species . A genital examination is therefore advisable for a reliable determination .

distribution and habitat

The distribution area includes the Mediterranean area , as well as warmer areas in Central and Southeastern Europe. Since 1858, moths have also been detected as random visitors in the south of England . In Turkey the species is represented by Luperina dumerilii hirsuta ( Wagner , 1831), in Jordan by Luperina dumerilii sancta ( Staudinger , 1891) and in Sardinia by Luperina dumerilii hartigi Ronkay & Varga , 1985. The preferred habitat of Dumeril's grass-root owl are dry, bushy grasslands, sunny slopes, vineyards and grassy heaths.

Way of life

The moths fly in one generation per year. The main flight time is from August to November. Sometimes they were found in December. They are nocturnal and love to visit artificial light sources , and more rarely also bait . The roots of various grasses are given in the literature as food for caterpillars that live from September onwards. They overwinter and pupate in the ground in July of the following year. A successful breeding was carried out with German ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ).

Danger

Dumeril's grassroots owl occurs only in a few places in Germany in the south and southwest and is listed on the red list of endangered species as “critically endangered”.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jules Culot: Noctuelles et Géomètres d'Europe, Première Partie, Noctuelles , Genève (Suisse), Villa-Les-Iris - Grand-Pré, Juillet 1909
  2. ↑ a b c Alberto Zilli, László Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Noctuidae Europaeae Volume 8 Apameini. Entomological Press, Sorø 2005, ISBN 87-89430-09-3
  3. ↑ a b Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 7. Moth V (Noctuidae 3rd part). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-8001-3500-0
  4. ↑ Distribution ftp://ftp.funet.fi/index/Tree_of_life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/noctuidae/xyleninae/luperina/index.html#dumerilii
  5. ↑ Occurrence in England http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2355
  6. ^ László Ronkay, Zoltán Varga: Luperina diversa (Staudinger, 1891) bona sp., With the description of two new subspecies (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). , Annales historico-naturales Musei nationalis hungarici, Budapest, Vol. 77, 1985, pp. 207-216. [1]
  7. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Luperina dumerilii  - collection of images, videos and audio files