Pea owl

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Pea owl
Ceramica pisi.jpg

Pea Owl ( Ceramica pisi )

Systematics
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Hadeninae
Tribe : Hadenini
Genre : Ceramica
Type : Pea owl
Scientific name
Ceramica pisi
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Green color variation of a pea owl caterpillar
Black color variation of a pea owl caterpillar

The pea owl ( Ceramica pisi ), also field-leaf owl, is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

The wingspan of the moth is 30 to 38 millimeters (up to 40 mm). The forewings vary in color in different shades of brown, but shimmer predominantly red-brown. The light wavy line with the W-sign is often indistinct, while the white spot at the inner corner of the submarginal region is very noticeable and usually has the shape of a v-sign. Ring and kidney defects are lightened and bordered in black-brown. The hind wings are monochrome gray-brown, somewhat darker in the females.

The roughly round egg is flattened at both ends. The surface has numerous fine ribs. After being laid down, it is initially yellowish-white and later turns purple-red.

The caterpillars can appear in green or red-brown forms. A back line is missing, on the other hand the wide, light yellow side back lines and side stripes are very noticeable. The head is yellowish brown to yellowish green. When fully grown, they are up to 45 mm long.

The dark red-brown to black-brown doll is comparatively heavily sculpted with fine stripes and wrinkles. The elongated, conical cremaster is relatively large with two strong, slightly thickened, slightly diverging bristles at the end.

Similar species

Due to the very characteristic white spot in the submarginal region, the species should not be confused.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The pea owl is distributed all over Europe to East Asia. In the north it can be found far beyond the Arctic Circle , in the south to northern Spain, central Italy and northern Greece. In the Alps it rises to an altitude of around 2000 meters. The species occurs in many habitats, e.g. B. in forests, fields, meadows, raised bogs as well as in gardens and parklands.

Way of life

The species usually has a univoltine way of life. The moths fly from May to August. In some southern regions, however, they fly in two generations, namely in May and June and from July to September. The moths are nocturnal, occasionally visit flowers such as the butterfly lilac ( Buddleja davidii ) and like to get bait and artificial light sources . The eggs are laid on the host plants in groups of 20 to 300 pieces. The egg caterpillars hatch after about 10 days. The caterpillars feed on the flowers and leaves of many different plants and are extremely polyphagous . Ahola and Silvonen list over 140 types of herbaceous plants, trees and shrubs that can be used as food plants for caterpillars. These include rushes ( Juncus ), blueberries ( Vaccinium ) and willow species ( Salix ) as well as peas ( Pisum sativum ) and beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris ). Occasionally they can be harmful in gardening and field cultivation . As a rule, they sit openly on the food plants, which is another reason for the numerous observations and the large number of food plants. The caterpillar pupates in an earth cocoon in the ground. The species overwinters as a pupa.

Danger

The pea owl is widespread in Germany and can be found in large numbers in certain areas, so that it is not considered endangered on the Red List of Endangered Species .

Systematics and taxonomy

The species was first scientifically described in 1758 by Carl von Linné in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Phalaena Noctua pisi . It was later added to the genera Polia Ochsenheimer , 1816 and Mamestra Ochsenheimer , 1816. According to the current state of the system, pisi Linné , 1758, cannot be assigned to either of these two (valid) genres. Today it is generally assigned to the genus Ceramica Guenée , 1852.

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bergmann (1955, p. 281/2)
  2. ↑ a b c Hacker et al. (2001, p. 71)
  3. ↑ a b c d Carter (1984, pp. 278/9)
  4. ^ Lepiforum - illustrations of the eggs
  5. ↑ a b c Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971, p. 76)
  6. ↑ David V. Alford: Pests of fruit crops: a color handbook. Academic Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-12-373676-5 . (online at GoogleBooks)
  7. ↑ Ebert and Steiner (1998, pp. 231–234)
  8. ↑ Ahola & Silvonen (2009, p. 389/90)
  9. ↑ Red list at Science4you
  10. ^ Carl von Linné: Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. 10th edition. Stockholm 1758 (online at SUB Göttingen) (description of the species p. 510)

literature

  • Matti Ahola, Kimmo Silvonen: Larvae of Northern European Noctuidae. Vol. 2. 2008, ISBN 978-952-92-2888-1 .
  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 4/1: Owls. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1954, DNB 450378373 .
  • David J. Carter: Pest Lepidoptera of Europe with special references to the British Isles. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht 1984, ISBN 90-6193-504-0 .
  • Günter Ebert, Axel Steiner: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 7: Moths V (Owls (Noctuidae)). 3rd part, Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3500-0 .
  • Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  • Hermann Hacker, László Ronkay, Márton Hreblay: Noctuidae Europaeae. vol. 4: Hadeninae I . Entomological Press, Sorø 2002, ISBN 87-89430-07-7 .

Web links

Commons : Pea Owl ( Ceramica pisi )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files