English bear
| English bear | ||||||||||||
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English bear ( Arctia festiva ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Arctia festiva | ||||||||||||
| ( Hufnagel , 1766) |
The English bear ( Arctia festiva ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the subfamily of the bear moth (Arctiinae).
description
The moths reach a wingspan of 45 to 60 millimeters. They have white, brownish-yellow lined forewings, on which several partly interrupted black cross bars can be seen. The hind wings are bright red with black spots. The antennae of the males are combed, while those of the females are lightly sawn. The females are also thicker and more cumbersome to fly than the males.
The caterpillars are up to 50 millimeters long. They are dark gray and have light gray and long light yellow hair. The hair on the lower sides is fox red.
habitat
They occur locally in southern and central Europe in sunny and warm areas on sandy or calcareous soils. They fly from late April to July.
They have not been seen in Germany since the 1970s.
Way of life
The animals are nocturnal and occur with one generation per year. The female is very sluggish due to the weight of her eggs and only begins to fly when she has deposited part of them.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars eat a variety of different lower herbs such as B .:
- Dandelion (Taraxacum) ( Taraxacum spec. )
- Field thyme ( Thymus pulegioides )
- Common yarrow ( Achillea millefolium )
- Spurge ( Euphorbia spec. )
- Plantain ( Plantago spec. )
development
The female lays her yellow eggs in layers on the underside of leaves. The caterpillars have a break to eat or rest not only in winter but also in summer as an adaptation to the hot habitats. After hibernation, they often only need a short time to be fully grown and sometimes pupate on the ground in March in a white-gray, soft web.
swell
literature
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 5: Moths III (Sesiidae, Arctiidae, Noctuidae). Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-800-13481-0 .
- Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 .
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de Taxonomy and images
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- www.insektenbox.de
- Arctia festiva at Fauna Europaea