Lilac tensioners

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Lilac tensioners
Lilac-flyer (Apeira syringaria)

Lilac-flyer ( Apeira syringaria )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Spanner (Geometridae)
Subfamily : Ennominae
Genre : Apeira
Type : Lilac tensioners
Scientific name
Apeira syringaria
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The Lilac tensioner ( Apeira syringaria ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the tensioner (Geometridae).

features

The lilac spider reaches a wingspan of 38 to 42 millimeters. The front wings are purple-gray to light reddish brown in color and more or less yellowish in the fringe area . The inner transverse line is pinkish-white and broken below the front edge in the direction of the basal field . The narrow central shadow is brown and lies below the front edge of the outer transverse line, which is broken at an acute angle. It continues to the middle of the inner edge and continues on the hind wing. The outer transverse line is dark at the front edge and becomes pinkish-white towards the inner edge, which is followed by a dark row of dots on the rear wing. There is a pinkish white moon spot in front of the forewing tip. At rest, the edges of the forewings are curiously curved upwards, which, in conjunction with the wing drawing, gives the butterfly the appearance of a wrinkled dry leaf.

The caterpillars of the lilac tensioner reach a length of up to 30 millimeters. Your body is stocky and tapers forward and backward. On the seventh segment there is a striking pair of curved appendages; smaller bumps are on segments five and six. The pale ocher-colored caterpillars show dark olive-brown or lilac-brown markings. The head capsule is gray-brown. At rest, the caterpillars do not sit stretched out like most other caterpillars, but curved and resemble the dried fruit capsules of the lilac.

Synonyms

  • Phalaena syringaria
  • Hygrochroa syringaria
  • Pericallia syringaria

Occurrence

The lilac tensioner is widespread in Europe. Its distribution area extends from the British Isles in the west to Japan in the east. In the south it stretches through the entire northern Mediterranean region, across the Balkans and Asia Minor, to southern Fennoscandia .

Way of life

The lilac can be found on shady forest edges, in groves, ravines and ditches, forest roads, aisles and gardens. The caterpillars live on honeysuckle and olive trees : red ( Lonicera xylosteum ) and black honeysuckle ( Lonicera nigra ), lilacs ( Syringa vulgaris ), ash trees ( Fraxinus spec.) And snowberries ( Symphoricarpos spec.). Other forage plants are privet ( Ligustrum spec.) And forest honeysuckle ( Lonicera periclymenum ). The caterpillars feed at night and rest on their forage plants during the day. The caterpillars overwinter, they pupate with a few threads on a branch.

The moths are nocturnal and can occasionally be found in the light. So far, no information is known about the moth's diet.

Flight and caterpillar times

The lilacs form one generation a year that flies from the beginning of July to the end of July. In warm places, a partial second generation can occasionally be formed from August to September. The caterpillars can be seen in August and after wintering in June of the following year.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke, Bernd Müller: We determine butterflies. Volume 4: Spanner. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1976, DNB 780451570 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 9 (Spanner (Geometridae) 2nd part), Nachtfalter VII. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2003. ISBN 3-800-13279-6
  3. ↑ a b c d David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and butterflies of Europe and their forage plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag 1987, ISBN 3-826-38139-4
  4. ^ Ian Kimber: Guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland . Online: Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Accessed November 30, 2006) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ukmoths.org.uk

literature

  • Bernard Skinner: Color Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles , Penguin UK 1999, ISBN 0-670-87978-9
  • Axel Hausmann, Michael A. Miller: Atlas of the caterpillars of European and Asia Minor butterflies, photographed by Burkhard Nippe , Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, 2000, ISBN 3-931-51679-2

Web links

Commons : Lilac Teasers  - album with pictures, videos and audio files