Spring cross wing

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Spring cross wing
Spring cross wing (Alsophila aescularia)

Spring cross wing ( Alsophila aescularia )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Spanner (Geometridae)
Subfamily : Cross wing (Alsophilinae)
Genre : Alsophila
Type : Spring cross wing
Scientific name
Alsophila aescularia
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)
Spring cross wing with typical wing position
female
Spring cross-winged female laying eggs on European hop beech ( Ostrya carpinifolia )
Spring cross-winged caterpillar on two-fluted hawthorn ( Crataegus laevigata )

The spring cross wing ( Alsophila aescularia ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the Spanner family (Geometridae).

features

Males and females show extreme sexual dimorphism because the females, unlike the males, are unable to fly. The latter reach a wingspan of 28 to 34 millimeters (rarely only 25 millimeters) and rest with crossed front wings and folded hind wings. The color of the forewings varies slightly between pale brown and gray-brown. The transverse lines are strongly serrated and whitish on the opposite sides. A clear black center can be found both on the and on the hind wings, in addition the vein ends have black points. Darkened specimens are rare, in these the transverse lines have disappeared or the moth is completely black.

The females have no wings. They are eight to ten millimeters long. The abdomen is brownish gray, the abdominal hair bush is about two millimeters wide and thus narrower than the abdomen, which is a distinguishing feature from Alsophila aceraria .

The palps are very short, the antennae are slightly toothed. The proboscis is stunted. The tibia of the hind legs have four spines that are very short in females.

The bright green caterpillars reach a length of about 26 millimeters and are characterized by a very smooth skin and a flat head. They have a dark green back line and yellowish white side lines. In contrast to other caterpillars, they have an additional, rudimentary pair of belly legs on the fifth segment .

Subspecies

  • Alsophila aescularia aescularia ([ Denis & Schiffermüller ], 1775)
  • Alsophila aescularia urzhumaria Krulikowsky , 1909

Similar species

  • Autumn cross-wing , Alsophila aceraria ([ Denis & Schiffermüller ], 1775). Flight time in late autumn. The males have a yellowish basic color. The females are smaller than those of A. aescularia , the anal tuft is wider and the forehead ( frons ) is convex.

to form

  • Alsophila aescularia f. brunnea Hannemann . The forewings are darkened blackish brown.

Synonyms

  • Geometra aescularia [ Denis & Schiffermüller ], 1775
  • Phalaena hirtaria Clerck , 1759 sensu Fabricius , [1776] (incorrect determination of Lycia hirtaria )
  • Phalaena hirsutaria Fabricius , 1781
  • Phalaena (Geometra) murinaria [ Denis & Schiffermüller ], 1775 sensu Borkhausen , 1794 (incorrect determination of Tephrina murinaria )
  • Geometra apteraria Haworth , 1809
  • Anisopteryx aescularia ([ Denis & Schiffermüller ], 1775)

Occurrence

The spring cross wing is widespread and common in Europe with the exception of the far north, northern Scotland, Corsica, Malta, Albania and the Greek islands. Individual isolated populations are known from the Iberian Peninsula , Sardinia , Sicily and Greece . Outside of Europe, the species is found in the north and east of Turkey , in the Caucasus , as well as in the Cis and Transcaucasus region . Further to the east, further isolated populations from the mountains of the Kopet-Dag ( Turkmenistan , Iran ) are known. In the eastern Palearctic , A. aescularia is replaced by the similar species Alsophila acroama Inoue , 1943 and Alsophila japonensis ( Warren , 1894).

In the vertical distribution, the butterfly is found in suitable biotopes from sea level to altitudes of around 1,600 meters.

It colonizes areas where trees and taller bushes of its food plants are present in sufficient numbers in not too dry to fresh places. These can be light deciduous trees (groves), mountain and alluvial forests , sloe hedges or groups of fruit trees, garden or parkland and field trees . Bergmann describes the butterfly as "the leading species of tall sloe bushes in park areas (hardwood groves) on the plain and hill step".

Way of life

The females lay the eggs tightly around small twigs in a band and cover them with scales from their abdomen. The caterpillars live individually, are nocturnal and feed on various deciduous trees and shrubs, such as B .:

Because of the frequent occurrence on fruit trees, the species is counted as a pest, in addition, the spring cross wing also has a certain forestry importance. The larval stages are of different parasitoid attacked to the representative of braconids ( alternipes Acampsis , Earinus nitidulus , pulchricornis Meteorus , Micro Gaster tiro ), parasitic wasps ( Dasona leptogaster , steno stigma Agrypon , Aphanistes xanthopus , Cryptus viduatorius , Cymodusa cruentata , Labrorychus tenuicornis , Pimpla arundinator , Pimpla examinator , Sagaritis incissa ) and caterpillar flies ( Blepharomyia amplicornis ) count.

Pupation takes place in the soil at the base of the food plant in a cocoon made of spider silk and soil . The pupa overwinters in this cocoon, the moths hatch in March of the following year. The moths rest on trunks or in the leaf litter during the day and can occasionally be found near artificial light sources at night. The wingless females are also found on the trunks of their food plants at night.

Flight and caterpillar times

The spring cross wing forms a generation a year that flies from mid-February to early May. The caterpillars can be found from mid-April to early July. In northern regions or at higher altitudes, the flight time is postponed until May.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 5/1: Spanner. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1955, DNB 450378403 .
  2. ^ A b Malcolm J. Scoble: Geometrid moths of the world. A catalog (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Apollo Books, Stenstrup, 1999, ISBN 0-643-06304-8
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Axel Hausmann: Introduction. Achiearinae, Orthostixinae, Desmobathrinae, Alsophilinae, Geometrinae. In: A. Hausmann (Ed.): The Geometrid Moths of Europe 1. Apollo Books 2001, ISBN 87-88757-35-8
  4. ^ A b Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 8, Nachtfalter VI (Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2001. ISBN 3-8001-3497-7
  5. ↑ David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag 1987, ISBN 3-8263-8139-4
  6. ↑ Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke, Bernd Müller: We determine butterflies. Volume 4: Spanner. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1976, DNB 780451570 .

literature

  • Bernard Skinner: Color Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles , Penguin UK 1999, ISBN 0-670-87978-9
  • Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
  • 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 3-931516-79-2

Web links

Commons : Spring Cross Wing  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files