Yellowhorn Owl Moth

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Yellowhorn Owl Moth
Yellow-Horned Owl Moth (Achlya flavicornis)

Yellow- Horned Owl Moth ( Achlya flavicornis )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Owl Moth and Sicklewing (Drepanidae)
Subfamily : Thyatirinae
Genre : Achlya
Type : Yellowhorn Owl Moth
Scientific name
Achlya flavicornis
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Yellowhorn Owl Moth

The yellow- horned owl moth or earliest owl moth ( Achlya flavicornis ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl moth and sickle- winged moth (Drepanidae).

features

The yellow-horned owl moth has silvery-gray fore wings whose front edge is a little lighter in color and on which black, wavy transverse lines run. The ring marks are outlined in grayish white and black. The outer edge of the forewing is alternately light and dark gray, but the color of the wings of the animals is very variable. The rear wings are lightened at the base, otherwise a solid gray. The antennae are colored red-brown.

The caterpillars reach a length of up to 33 millimeters and come in either a red-brown or blackish-gray variant. The drawing, which consists of a series of black and white spots, is particularly evident in the blackish-gray variant. The neck plate is blackish and is bisected by a white line. The head is light brown in all variants and occasionally darkened in front black.

Occurrence

The animals occur in Central and Northern Europe , east to Japan . They are particularly found in birch and mixed deciduous forests , but also in hideaway bogs . The species is found from the plain up to heights of 800 meters - occasionally over 1,000 meters.

Way of life

The eggs are preferably laid individually or in small groups in the branches of young shoots or buds. They are gray, orange or raspberry to ruby ​​red in color, depending on the state of development. The caterpillars prefer to live on young, bushy birch trees and are rarely found on deeper branches of older trees. During the day they are hidden in rolled up leaves. The species pupates in July on or in the ground in a sparse cocoon between leaves or moss and overwinters. The moths hatch in the following spring. The pupae can also survive for another year.

  • Yellow-horned owl moth egg on birch

  • Yellowhorn Owl Moth caterpillar

  • Yellowhorn Owl Moth pupa

Flight and caterpillar times

As the common name "earliest owl moth" suggests, this species is one of the earliest in the year. So they fly in one generation from mid-March to the end of April. The caterpillars are found from May to early July. The species flies shortly after sunset and is often observed in artificial light sources. The male moths are also active on sunny days and are often found on the sap of bleeding birch trees.

Food of the caterpillars

Like the birch owl moth ( Tetheella fluctuosa ), the caterpillars feed monophag on the leaves of the birch trees ( Betula ).

Danger

The yellow-horned owl spinner is on the red list in some federal states :

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae), Nolidae. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1994. ISBN 3-800-13474-8
  2. ↑ David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag 1987, ISBN 3-826-38139-4
  3. ↑ Manfred Koch : We identify butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 , p. 122f.

literature

  • Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths. Weirdos and hawkers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 .
  • Bernard Skinner: Color Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles , Penguin UK 1999, ISBN 0-670-87978-9 .

Web links

Commons : Gelbhorn-Eulenspinner  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files