Aspen glass winged

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Aspen glass winged
Sesia melanocephala.jpg

Aspen glass-winged ( Sesia melanocephala )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Glass winged winged (Sesiidae)
Subfamily : Sesiinae
Genre : Sesia
Type : Aspen glass winged
Scientific name
Sesia melanocephala
Dalman , 1816

The aspen glass-winged butterfly ( Sesia melanocephala ) is a butterfly from the glass-winged family (Sesiidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 30 to 40 millimeters. The forewings are black at the base and have a narrow brown-black border along the outer and inner edge. The front edge is scaled wider and, like the inner edge, is dusted yellow-red over almost its entire length. There is a fairly wide, wedge-shaped patch of dark brown and more or less yellow-red scales on the discoid transverse vein. The wing veins are dusted dark brown and yellow-red, especially the subdorsal arteries. In freshly hatched specimens, all transparent wing parts are finely scaled, this scaling is lost with the first flight. Only in front of the wing tip (apex) do these scales adhere more firmly, so that this part is always a little wider than the front and outer edge. The seam on the hind wings is very narrow and, like the veins, dark brown in color. The front edge of the wing is scaled yellowish. The scale fringes of all wings shine brownish black.

The drawing of the wing undersides corresponds to the upper sides, however, all veins, also on the hind wings, are dusted yellow. In addition, the inner edge of the front wings and the front edge of all wings are extensively scaled yellow. The scales around the cross veins of the forewings are yellow-red.

The head is black-blue and has a yellow border under the eyes. There are yellowish hairs on the forehead and crown. The antennae are yellow-brown in both sexes, toothed significantly longer in the males and thicker at the end. In the females, the antennae are thinner at the base and blackish pollinated in front of the tip. The teeth of the male antennae are darker in color than the rest of the parts. The proboscis has receded so that the moths cannot ingest any food. The palps are black and only yellow in the upper part towards the front and outside. The thorax and abdomen are blue-black. On the metathorax there is an elongated, yellowish tuft of hair on each side that extends to the abdomen. The front part of the second to fourth segment of the abdomen has a yellow border, the fifth to the seventh segment has a yellow border towards the back. The anal tuft of the female is very short, that of the male longer and yellow at the bottom on the sides and in the middle. The chest is black-blue and has lemon-yellow spots on both sides.

The front hips ( coxa ) and the thighs ( femur ) are also black-blue, the former are provided with small yellow spots above, the fore legs are yellowish below. Splints ( tibia ) and tarsi are orange-yellow. The front and middle rails are marked with a blackish spot at the end.

The caterpillars are cream-colored and have a dark brown head, a red-and-yellow neck plate and a yellow anus.

The pupae are elongated and reddish brown.

Occurrence

The aspen glass-winged bird is widespread in Eurasia . One finds the kind in Central , Eastern and Northern Europe as well as in parts of Western Europe; the distribution area extends from the Pyrenees over the south of France and Central Europe to the Asian region. In the north, the limit of distribution runs through Fennoscandia ; in the south the distribution area ends on the southern edge of the Alps and north of the Balkans and Black Sea area.

The species inhabits open forests and forest edges, groups of trees and roadsides.

Way of life

The females presumably lay the eggs individually on stumps in the gap between the wall and the old wood. The caterpillar lives for three years in the trunk and in the branches of the aspen ( Populus tremula ), with preference given to older trees with bulges on branch stumps in sun-exposed south and west locations. In the first year the caterpillar develops between the bark and the sapwood, later it penetrates deeper into the trunk and drills long tunnels in the wood. After the third hibernation, in spring it comes to pupate at the end of its passage near an injured part of a tree or outgrowth or bores into a dry branch up to the outer thin bark, into which it gnaws a round opening. This opening is covered from the outside by the remaining thin wood and only weakly spun on the sides. An open end of the aisle is provided by the caterpillar with an emergency lock made of web and nail. The outer end of the corridor extends about one to ten centimeters into the protruding dead branch. The adult caterpillar pupates without making a web. The doll itself can be moved freely in the aisle and is protected in the rear aisle. Shortly before the hatch, she works her way forward, pierces the loophole cover and slides halfway out of the corridor. Only now does the butterfly break through the shell of the pupa. Most of the loopholes can be found on the top of the branch, presumably because the hatching pupae cannot fall off that easily. The moths hatch from 4 a.m. at sunrise and can be observed sitting on trunks and branches until around 9 a.m. Little is known about the moths' way of life. Bergmann describes the butterfly as the main species of light, old aspen stocks in field woods of the sandy areas and hill steps .

Flight and caterpillar times

The aspen glass-winged flies in one generation from June to July. The caterpillars go through a three-year development and pupate in spring.

Systematics

The type locality is Sweden.

Synonyms

The following synonyms are known:

  • Trochilium melanocephalum Dalman, 1816
  • Trochilium melanocephala Dalman, 1816
  • Aegeria melanocephala Dalman, 1816

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Max Bartel: The Palearctic large butterflies and their natural history. Second volume: moths. Johannes Paul, Leipzig 1902
  2. ↑ a b c d Günter Ebert: The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 5, Moths III (Sesiidae, Arctiidae, Noctuidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-800-13481-0
  3. ↑ a b c Z. Laštůvka, A. Laštůvka: The Sesiidae of Europe. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2001, ISBN 87-88757-52-8
  4. ↑ Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 3: Weirdos and Swarmers. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1953, DNB 450378365 .

literature

Web links