Green mugwort earth owl

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Green mugwort earth owl
Actebia praecox.jpg

Green mugwort earth owl ( Actebia (Actebia) praecox )

Systematics
Subfamily : Noctuinae
Tribe : Agrotini
Sub tribus : Agrotina
Genre : Actebia
Subgenus : Actebia
Type : Green mugwort earth owl
Scientific name
Actebia (Actebia) praecox
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The green mugwort earth owl ( Actebia praecox ), also known as drifting sand herb ground owl , greenish earth owl or green earth owl , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the owl butterfly family (Noctuidae).

features

The wingspan of the moth is 40 to 48 millimeters. The narrow forewings, which are mostly verdigris to gray-green or light green in color and have whitish interferences, are striking. The cross lines are dark and strongly jagged. Ring and kidney defects are clearly protruding, have a whitish border and some are filled with dark. The widened red-brown outer wavy line is very striking, but it is light green on the Costa . Due to the characteristic drawing, the species is unmistakable. The hind wings are dark brown without drawing.

The caterpillar is light gray or greenish in color, has a darkly bordered yellowish back stripe with adjacent, conspicuous, ornament-like, light drawings as well as yellow side back lines and a wide, white side stripe. The very slim doll is shiny reddish brown and has a long thorn on the cremaster .

Geographical distribution and habitat

The species occurs in Europe and further east over Siberia, Central Asia, Mongolia to China, Korea, the Russian Far East ( Kamchatka , Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands ) to Japan. The northern distribution extends in Europe to Scotland, central Scandinavia and central Finland. In the south, the distribution area extends to the Pyrenees, northern Italy and on the Balkan Peninsula to northern Greece and northern Turkey. It is absent on the Mediterranean islands. The green mugwort earth owl can be found almost exclusively on sandy terrain, for example in dune areas, sandy fields, riverside regions and sandy heaths.

Way of life

The green mugwort earth owl forms one generation per year. The mostly nocturnal moths fly from July to September and come to artificial light sources . They visit flowers and get the bait . The polyphagous caterpillars can be found on many herbaceous plants from September , where they can be easily spotted due to their striking color. A selection of food crops includes:

Occasionally, the caterpillars were harmful to vegetable asparagus ( Asparagus officinalis ), which is why they are listed in the literature as an asparagus pest. They are also considered murderous caterpillars , i.e. That is, they attack the caterpillars of other species, and occasionally even conspecifics, and suck them up in nature, but especially when breeding in confined spaces. This behavior is known, for example, from the caterpillars of the trapezoid owl ( Cosmia trapezina ). During the day the caterpillars of the green mugwort burrow into the loose sandy soil and feed at night. They overwinter and pupate in a cave in the ground in June.

Danger

The species is primarily found in coastal regions in Germany, but has been lost in some areas and is classified in Category 2 (severely endangered) on the Red List of Endangered Species . In Baden-Württemberg it is classified as extinct.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Red lists at Science4you
  2. ↑ a b Fibiger (1990: p. 146/7)
  3. ^ A b Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  4. ↑ a b Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 7, Nachtfalter V. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3500-0
  5. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9

literature

Web links

Commons : Sagittarius Earth Owl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files