Dark gray golden aster monk
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Dark gray golden aster monk ( Cucullia xeranthemi ) |
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| Cucullia xeranthemi | ||||||||||||
| ( Boisduval , 1840) |
The dark gray golden aster monk ( Cucullia xeranthemi ), also called chaffflower monk , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).
features
butterfly
The moths reach a wingspan of about 34 to 42 millimeters. Some darker shadows stand out from the gray to gray-brown colored forewings. The blemishes are usually indistinctly outlined and filled with ocher brown. Sometimes the blemish is slightly constricted. Noticeable are some white arrow spots in the hem area. Often a thin black line can be seen on the inner edge. The hind wings are brownish-gray in color, darkened at the edge and show clearly protruding veins. A black collar and a dark back crest stand out on the thorax or abdomen .
Caterpillar, pupa
Adult caterpillars are usually greenish in color and show a pinkish-violet topline and reddish, white bordered side stripes.
The pupa is tinted yellow-brown, but the wing sheaths shimmer green. The wide cremaster is short and flat.
Similar species
There is a certain similarity to the butterflies of Cucullia gnaphalii , which, however, differ in their more pronounced blemishes and a slightly bluish-violet over-dusting.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The species is distributed locally through Europe from northern Spain, Italy and southern France to the Balkan countries. The eastern expansion extends from Lower Austria and Hungary to southern Russia and western Siberia. The dark gray golden aster monk is mainly found in sunny hill areas, on warm slopes and in dry, stony valleys.
Way of life
The species forms two generations a year in warm regions, the adults of which fly from May to August. They are crepuscular and nocturnal and are attracted to artificial light sources . Sometimes they suck nectar from the flowers of ciliate herbs ( Silene ), ring thistles ( Carduus ), scraped thistles ( Cirsium ) or scabiosa ( Scabiosa ). The caterpillars feed mainly on gold aster ( Aster linosyris ). They live from June and pupate in the ground in late summer, where the pupae overwinter.
Danger
The dark gray golden aster monk occurs only in a few places in Germany, for example in the Rheingau , on the Moselle , Nahe and Ahr as well as on the Kaiserstuhl and is listed as a species with geographical restriction on the Red List of Endangered Species .
Systematics and taxonomy
The populations of the Middle Rhine area were called ssp. kuennerti (Lederer, 1961), but fall overall within the range of variability of the species, so that this subspecies is now regarded as a synonym, as is the ssp described from the Eastern Palearctic. atrocaerulea (Tshetverikov, 1925).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gábor Ronkay & László Ronkay: Cucullinae I . In: Michael Fibiger, Martin R. Honey, W. Gerald Tremevan (Eds.): Noctuidae Europaeae . tape 6 . Entomological Press, Sorø 1994, ISBN 87-89430-03-4 (English).
- ^ 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 .
- ↑ a b Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 6 . Moth IV. Noctuidae 2nd part. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 .
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .
literature
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 6 . Moth IV. Noctuidae 2nd part. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 .
- Gábor Ronkay & László Ronkay: Cucullinae I . In: Michael Fibiger, Martin R. Honey, W. Gerald Tremevan (Eds.): Noctuidae Europaeae . tape 6 . Entomological Press, Sorø 1994, ISBN 87-89430-03-4 (English).
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- www.schmetterlinge-deutschlands.de Endangerment
- Cucullia xeranthemi at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved February 9, 2011