Small bluish saspette

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Small bluish saspette
Lesser blue sarpets, Polyommatus thersites

Lesser blue sarpets,
Polyommatus thersites

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Bluebirds (Lycaenidae)
Subfamily : Polyommatinae
Genre : Polyommatus
Type : Small bluish saspette
Scientific name
Polyommatus thersites
( Cantener , 1834)
female

The Small Esparsetten's Blue ( Polyommatus thersites ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of Gossamer (Lycaenidae).

description

The upper sides of the wings of the females are colored reddish purple blue. Representatives of both sexes have gray-colored hind wing undersides in the spring generation while it is sandy-brown in the summer generation. The females of the summer generation are brown on top, the underside of the forewing is yellow-gray. The moths are similar to the common red grouse ( Polyommatus icarus ), but they are smaller and both sexes have no basal spots on the underside of the forewing .

Flight time

Polyommatus thersites forms two generations per year, these are often associated with Polyommatus icarus . In Germany, the first generation of moths flies from around the beginning of May, depending on the geographic location and altitude. The second generation's flying season begins in July. The occurrence of the summer generation in hot areas is very much dependent on the weather conditions and thus on the presence of the forage plant. A third generation can appear in Morocco in September and October.

habitat

The Little Blue Esparsette loves warmth and occurs in dry, rocky and shrubby places. These include grassy areas between bushes, meadows and abandoned cultivated land.

Way of life

The eggs are laid on the leaves of the caterpillar forage plants. These include different types of sainfoin such as the seed sasparsette ( Onobrychis viciifolia ), Onobrychis caput-galli ( Greece ) and Onobrychis peduncularis (Morocco). The caterpillars feed on the leaves without damaging the leaf vein . The caterpillars overwinter. The larvae live together myrmekophil with different species of the following genera of ants: Myrmica , Tapinoma , Lasius .

distribution

The Little Blue Esparsette is widespread from Morocco ( High Atlas , 1,500 to 2,000 meters) and the south of Portugal via Spain , France ( Pyrenees ) to Germany (about 51 ° N). In Austria , the largest populations are found in Lower Austria, and in recent years the species has also been discovered again in Carinthia ( Hohe Tauern ). Furthermore, the species occurs in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, as well as in the European part of Turkey . It is not represented on the Mediterranean islands with the exception of Sicily , Samos , Kos and Rhodes .

Hazard and protection

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Butterfly. 2. Special part: Satyridae, Libytheidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae . In: Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (eds.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 2 . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1991, ISBN 3-8001-3459-4 , pp. 379 .
  2. ↑ a b Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 127 .
  3. ↑ Patrick Gros: Evidence of the Little Esparsette Bläuling (Polyommatus thersites Cantener, 1835) from Carinthia (Austria): a butterfly species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) previously unknown for the region of the Hohe Tauern National Park. In: Carinthia II . 194/114 Year, Natural Science Association for Carinthia, Klagenfurt 2004, pp. 455–461 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
  4. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .

literature

  • Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterflies: observe, determine . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-115-X .
  • Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 1: Butterfly. 4th enlarged edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1966, DNB 457244224 .

Web links

Commons : Polyommatus thersites  - album with pictures, videos and audio files