Gonepteryx farinosa
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Gonepteryx farinosa |
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| Gonepteryx farinosa | ||||||||||||
| ( Zeller , 1847) |
Gonepteryx farinosa is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of Whites (Pieridae). It occurs from Southeast Europe to Central Asia .
features
Gonepteryx farinosa looks very similar to the brimstone butterfly ( Gonepteryx rhamni ), but is larger and the scaling of the male is chalky thick. The hind wings are a little lighter in color than the fore wings, which is particularly noticeable in flight. The yellow discodial spots are more indistinct and are often missing on the forewings, especially in the females, which are sometimes pale bluish and even paler in color than the brimstone females. After wintering, the wings often have greenish spots.
The adult caterpillar is light lime green and slightly bluish green. On its back it has fine dark blue-green warts over a wide area. In addition, there are large green-white spots, which are irregular in size from the middle segments, especially at the incisions, and partially unite with the spots on the other sides. A narrow cream-colored stripe runs far down the side. The head is one color and clearly lighter, the mandibles are brownish red.
The doll, which is also lime green, is colored yellow on the leg and antenna sheaths. The stigmata are blackish green.
Subspecies
- G. farinosa turcirana de Freina , 1982 occurs in the entire Anatolian area that is not colonized by the nominate subspecies. It is also found in the Lesser Caucasus , the Armenian Highlands, and north and north-east Iran. The moths are slightly smaller, have a more pointed apex and weaker scaling, which means that the males do not appear as lemon-yellow.
- G. farinosa meridiorana de Freina , 1983 occurs in southwest Iran and has a very pointed apex and the corner at the end of the M 3 vein is also significantly more pointed. The scaling is even weaker than in spp. turcirana and this makes the moths look slightly green.
Similar species
- The brimstone butterfly ( Gonepteryx rhamni ) Linnaeus , 1758 looks very similar to Gonepteryx farinosa and is difficult to distinguish in the terrain. The females could sometimes only be differentiated by a genital examination , as the variability in traits in both species is great. The males of the brimstone moths reflect UV light on the upper side of their wings, in contrast to those of Gonepteryx farinosa .
- Gonepteryx cleopatra Linnaeus , 1767 differs significantly in the males with its orange forewings and with a deeper yellow and an intense lemon-yellow front and outer edge in the females.
- Gonepteryx chitralensis Moore , 1905 has long been considered a subspecies of farinosa . It is geographically separated and also morphologically different and is therefore seen as a species. It is only known from Chitral in Pakistan.
Occurrence
Gonepteryx farinosa occurs in Europe in Albania, Macedonia, in Bulgaria at a single point in the Struma Valley and in Greece in Eastern Thessaly , Central Greece , Attica , on the Peloponnese and on the islands of Lefkada , Kefalonia and Rhodes . Gonepteryx farinosa occurs to a very limited extent in northern Greece near Kastoria , Kozani , Drama and Evros . Outside Europe, the distribution extends over Turkey , Israel , Lebanon , Syria , North Iraq , North and West Iran and the Caucasus to Tajikistan .
Habitat and way of life
habitat
Gonepteryx farinosa living in hot, dry and vast shrub-covered areas with Real fig ( Ficus cariaca ), ailanthus ( Ailanthus altissima ), smoke tree ( Cotinus coggygria ) and Ziziphus types, and in summer dry and very hot coastal mountains with sparse scrub vegetation from Christ's Thorn ( Paliurus Spina christi ) and often on rocky slopes at higher elevations. In the European part of Turkey, the moths can be found up to 1450 m. In some areas, the moths often spend the night in shrubby weed ( Phlomis fruticosa ).
Way of life
Eggs are laid on leaf buds in early spring and later on the underside of the leaf. According to Tolman / Lewington, the caterpillars feed on Alpine buckthorn ( Rhamnus alpina ssp. Fallax ), Rhamnus sibthorpiana , Rhamnus lycioides ssp. graeca and Christ thorn ( Paliurus spina-christi ). De Freina, on the other hand, indicates buckthorn species ( Rhamnus ), Ziziphus species, turpentine pistachio ( Pistacia terebinthus ), box trees ( Buxus ) and tanner sumac ( Rhus coriaria ) as safe. The caterpillars sit on the midrib of larger leaves, to which they hold onto with a self-spun adhesive pad. They look to the end of the leaf, from which they also feed and, if disturbed, stand up, like we hawkworms . They pupate as a girdle doll camouflaged by leaves on a somewhat thicker branch.
In contrast to the brimstone butterfly, Gonepteryx farinosa does not fly at low temperatures, it only flies in sunshine from early morning. If the heat is too strong around noon, the moths rest. Before wintering, the moths show no courtship behavior. The overwintered moths use the morning to search for food and the afternoon to search for partners, courtship and mating.
Gonepteryx farinosa lives sympathetically with the brimstone butterfly ( Gonepteryx rhamni ) in the entire distribution area, except for southwestern Iran, and with Gonepteryx cleopatra near the Mediterranean coast. The moths are very shy and, if disturbed, flee in a zigzag flight or rise a few meters in height. If there are shrubs nearby, they will seek shelter in them.
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly in one generation (univotile) in low, coastal and warm areas from the end of April and mid-May and in higher and cooler altitudes from mid-June. The flight time until overwintering is interrupted by oversummer . The moths can be found again from March the following year.
literature
- Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: Butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa: All butterflies, over 400 species . 2nd Edition. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-440-12868-8 , pp. 57 .
- The Palaearctic butterflies . In: Adalbert Seitz (ed.): The large butterflies of the earth . tape 1 . Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart 1909.
- Josef J. de Freina: Studies on the biology, distribution, geographic variability and morphology of Gonepteryx farinosa (Zeller, 1847) with additional explanation of the distribution and geographic variability of Gonepteryx rhamni (Linne, 1758) in Asia Minor . In: Münchner Entomologische Gesellschaft (Hrsg.): Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologische Gesellschaft . tape 72 , February 28, 1983, ISSN 0340-4943 , p. 9–55 ( archive.org [PDF; accessed April 17, 2015]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Seitz, p. 60
- ↑ de Freina, 1983, p. 29
- ↑ a b de Freina, 1983, p. 27
- ↑ de Freina, 1983, p. 32
- ↑ de Freina, 1983, p. 33
- ↑ a b c de Freina, 1983, p. 34f
- ↑ de Freina, 1983, p. 45
- ↑ a b de Freina, 1983, p. 24
- ↑ a b c Toman / Lewington, p. 57
- ↑ de Freina, 1983, p. 26
- ↑ a b c d de Freina, 1983, p. 28
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. - Photos and taxonomy
- Gonepteryx farinosa in Fauna Europaea