Monkshood gold owl
| Monkshood gold owl | ||||||||||||
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Monkshood gold owl ( Polychrysia moneta ) |
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| Polychrysia moneta | ||||||||||||
| ( Fabricius , 1775) |
The Polychrysia Moneta ( Polychrysia moneta ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of Erebidae .
features
The Monkshood Gold Owl is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of 40 to 45 millimeters. The forewings are matt brass to golden yellow, yellowish brown mixed with distinctive dark veins . The ring flaws and the tenon flaws underneath have a thick silver border and roughly the shape of a "zero". The hind wings are brown-gray. The body of the butterfly is furry, and there is a tuft of hair on the head.
The egg is spherical, slightly flattened at the base with slightly wavy longitudinal ribs. It is initially yellowish white, but shortly before the caterpillars hatch, it is reddish yellow with a dark central spot.
The caterpillars reach a length of up to 35 millimeters and are dark green with black dots in the first stages. When grown up they are bright green with white spots. The back line is dark green, the side stripes white. The pupa is green with a black back and an elongated trunk sheath.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The southern limit of distribution of the species runs from northern Spain and an isolated occurrence in the Sierra Nevada , across southern France, the southern edge of the Alps to the Balkans (Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania); from there further across the Ukraine to the middle Urals and to Lake Baikal . There are also confirmed occurrences in Turkey , Armenia , Azerbaijan and Northern Iran. In the north the range extends from the British Isles, with a small occurrence in Northern Ireland, over Scandinavia (with the exception of most of the coastal areas and the northernmost part), northern Finland to beyond the Arctic Circle over northern Russia to the Ural Mountains. The occurrences there have so far only been insufficiently researched, as the species there possibly lives sympatric with the similar sister species Polychrysia esmeralda . The sympatric occurrence of the two species has been proven on Baikal. Polychrysia esmeralda , however, is only viewed by some authors as a subspecies of Polychrysia moneta .
The species is preferred in deciduous forests, parklands, gardens, on bushy slopes and in rocky valleys, sporadically to rarely. In the Alps, it rises to around 1,800 meters.
The monkshood gold owl expanded its range far north from around 1870. The northern border originally ran roughly on a line from Normandy via the southern Harz to St. Petersburg. In 1875 it became at home in Denmark , in 1880 in the Netherlands and in 1890 in England.
Way of life
The monkshood gold owl comes in one generation per year, e.g. Sometimes also in an incomplete second generation, the first from mid-May to early July, the second from August to September, whereby the second generation probably does not appear every year. The moths are nocturnal, but rarely come to artificial light sources. They cannot be baited with sugar water. They suck nectar; they have been observed on butterfly lilacs ( Buddleja davidi ) and honeysuckles ( Lonicera ). The caterpillars feed on the leaves of various aconite species, such as monkshood ( Aconitum napellus ), Bunter Eisenhut ( Aconitum variegatum ), Wolfs-Eisenhut ( Aconitum lycoctonum ) and rarely also of delphiniums ( Delphinium ), field delphiniums ( Consolida ) and globe flowers ( Trollius ).
The young caterpillars spin the leaves together at the top of the plant, while the older ones eat the leaves from below so that they hang down withered. They hide behind it during the day. The caterpillars that hatch from the eggs laid in early summer develop at different speeds. While most remain small and overwinter as young caterpillars, a smaller part, if at all, develops very quickly and results in the second generation moths. Pupation takes place in an initially white, later yellowing cocoon , usually directly on the food plant or a neighboring plant.
Systematics and nomenclature
The species was first described by Johann Christian Fabricius in 1778 under the name Noctua moneta . Eugen Johann Christoph Esper described the species in 1787 under the name Phalaena Noctua argyritis . In 1789 it was described by Charles Joseph de Villers as Phalaena napelli . The latter two names are therefore more recent synonyms of Polychrysia moneta (Fabricius, 1778). It was later determined to be the type species of the genus Polychrysia Huebner, 1821. However, this genus was not recognized by all authors, and so the species can also be found in the literature in combination with the following generic names; Chrysoptera moneta and Plusia moneta . The genus Polychrysia Hübner, 1821 currently comprises nine species that are native to the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.
Danger
The species is considered endangered in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, in Brandenburg as critically endangered, in Saxony as threatened with extinction. In contrast, the stocks in Saarland seem to be less endangered. The species is only classified in category 5 there, i. H. a threat is only to be expected in the event of further habitat destruction.
swell
literature
- Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 6, Nachtfalter IV. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997 (Eulen (Noctuidae) 2nd part), ISBN 3-8001-3482-9
- Barry Goater, Lázló Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Catocalinae & Plusiinae. - Noctuidae Europaeae, Volume 10. , Sorø, 2003, ISBN 87-89430-08-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Goater et al., P. 210/1
- ↑ a b c d Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 3: Owls. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1972, DNB 760072930 .
- ^ 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 .
- ↑ Axel Steiner in Ebert, p. 96
- ↑ Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 206.
- ↑ Red Lists of the FRG
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de Taxonomy and photos
- Fauna Europaea systematics and distribution (English)
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and Northern Africa (English)
- UK Moths by Ian Kimber (English)
- Lepidoptera Mundi