Dark brown tension owl

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Dark brown tension owl
Idia calvaria.jpg

Dark-brown tension owl ( Idia calvaria )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Owl butterfly (Erebidae)
Subfamily : Herminiinae
Genre : Idia
Type : Dark brown tension owl
Scientific name
Idia calvaria
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)

The dark brown tension owl ( Idia calvaria ), also known as the alluvial forest tension owl , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of owls (Erebidae).

features

butterfly

The wingspan of the moth is about 24 to 34 millimeters. The forewing color is brown with blackish and gray-white interferences, which are particularly pronounced at the costal margin . The outer transverse line and the wavy line are whitish and clearly delimit the dark brown field in between. Characteristic of the species are the very small, point - like ring blemishes and the large, clear kidney blemishes , each of which is strikingly yellow to yellow-brown in color. The kidney defects are often sickle-shaped or drop-shaped and have small dark spots in the edge area. On the gray hind wings there is a clear, light transverse line and occasionally other somewhat more indistinct, blurred lines.

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The egg is spherical with a slightly indented bottom and a network of even, hexagonal meshes. Initially it is white and turns a yellowish hue just before hatching. The caterpillar is glassy and translucent when young, but when adult it is brownish-violet and has black, paired points on each segment. The pupa is yellowish-brown, the abdomen is dark.

Synonyms

  • Epizeuxis calvaria
  • Helia calvaria

distribution

The species occurs in central France , in northern and eastern Central Europe with a focus on the Mediterranean area, also in Turkey , the Caucasus and Asia Minor . and is found mainly in alluvial forests, river plains and parklands. It occurs up to a height of 800 meters.

Way of life

The moths of the brown moth are nocturnal and fly from late June to early September. In the south there is occasionally a second generation whose adults are significantly smaller than those of the first. They like to visit bait and the occasional artificial light source . During the day they often rest upside down on tree trunks, but fly up easily in danger. The caterpillars live from August on fallen, wilted, dry or rotting leaves of deciduous trees or low plants, for example poplars ( Populus ), willows ( Salix ) or dock ( Rumex ). Kesenheimer describes characteristic behavior in breeding. According to this, the caterpillars first mine the leaf of the forage plant from one side, later from both. They live in colonies in the middle of a stack of leaves, where a layer of warmth and decomposition has formed, and pupate in the middle of this center in a firm cocoon covered with remains of leaves . The caterpillars overwinter.

Danger

The species is rare to very rare in many federal states in Germany. The observations often go back many years, and the species is now lost in many places or is believed to be extinct. On the Red List of Threatened Species , it has received status G (assumed endangered, but status unknown).

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  2. ↑ a b c Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 5, Moths III. , Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3481-0
  3. ↑ Manfred Koch: We identify butterflies. Volume 3: Owls. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1972, DNB 760072930 .
  4. ↑ 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 : Dark Brown Tension Owl  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files