Heather gray alpine cube thick-headed butterfly

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Heather gray alpine cube thick-headed butterfly
Pyrgus andromedae.jpg

Mottled gray Alpine cube thickhead butterfly ( Pyrgus andromedae )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Thick-headed butterfly (Hesperiidae)
Subfamily : Pyrginae
Genre : Pyrgus
Type : Heather gray alpine cube thick-headed butterfly
Scientific name
Pyrgus andromedae
( Wallengren , 1853)

The graying Alps Cube skipper , even Andromeda stubborn (butterfly) ( Pyrgus andromedae ) is a butterfly from the family of Skipper (Hesperiidae).

features

The fore wing length is 13 to 15 millimeters. The top is similar to that of the sun rose cube thick-headed butterfly . There are medium-sized, clear white spots on the forewings, including a small spot at the base of cell two and two elongated, small spots right next to it in cell 1b. There are barely noticeable bright spots on the hind wings. The underside of the hind wings is olive brown to yellowish. A large discoidal spot can be seen drawn along the median vein towards the base ("white exclamation mark" on the gray-black background). The basic color in cells 1a and 1b is darker, mostly dark gray. In cell 1c there is a round white spot with a short white line above it. Both sexes have the same drawings.

The caterpillar is dark gray with a dark head. As a special feature of the Pyrgus species, it has a dark anal shield, which remains up to the L5 stage (in other Pyrgus species it is at least regressed in the last stage). The last stage is about 18 to 20 millimeters long.

The underside of the doll is brownish without drawing. It lacks the blue-gray tire of the middle abdominal segments typical of other Pyrgus species.

Geographical occurrence and habitat

The gray-hued alpine cube thick-headed butterfly is native to the mountains of Scandinavia up to the North Cape , as well as in the Pyrenees , in the Alps and in higher regions of the Balkan peninsula . It can be found in the mountains on heavily sun-exposed, low-growing and often stony mountain mats. In the Alps it occurs between 1700 and 2500 meters above sea level. In northern Scandinavia also at sea level.

Way of life

The species has a two year development cycle. The caterpillar overwinters in the first instar (rarely also as L2 or L3), then the pupa in the second winter. Therefore, there are often very different numbers of moths in a two-year cycle. The development of the species is temperature-controlled, the respective overwintering is usually triggered by low night temperatures. When rearing at optimal temperatures (27 ° C), the caterpillar develops directly into a pupa (seven to eight weeks development time from egg to pupa; seven days in the egg). One pupa (of four pupae in breeding) hatched to the butterfly after six weeks of pupal rest, while the other three pupae went over to wintering. The moths fly from late May to August. In Central Europe it is mostly limited to June and July or just July. The eggs are laid in cushion-like groups on the underside of the leaves of the host plant. The caterpillars in the Alps live exclusively on white silver arum ( Dryas octopetala ). Scandinavia as larval food plants are Thüringisches cinquefoil ( Potentilla thuringiaca ) and Alchemilla glomerulans and mallow ( Malva sp.) Stated Wagner (2003, 2006) has this information to track food back and insists on White Mountain Avens ( Dryas octopetala ) an exclusive larval food. The younger caterpillars live in a kind of housing between living and dead leaves of the host plants. This is where the caterpillar overwinters for the first time. The older caterpillars live deep inside the cushions. Pupation takes place from mid-July to the end of August, in warmer years even at the beginning of July. The pupa then hibernates again. The butterfly hatches in June / July of the following year.

Danger

The species has always been very rare and geographically very limited in Germany.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Red Lists
  2. ^ A b Lionel G. Higgins, Norman D. Riley: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . 1st edition. Paul Parey, Hamburg / Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-490-01918-0 , pp. 283 .
  3. ↑ a b Wolfgang Wagner: Observations on the biology of Pyrgus andromedae (Wallengren, 1853) and Pyrgus cacaliae (Rambur, 1840) in the Alps (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Entomological Journal, 113 (12): 346-353, Stuttgart 2003 PDF
  4. ↑ a b Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 258 .
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Wagner: The genus Pyrgus in Central Europe and its ecology - larval habitats, nutrient plants and development cycles . - In: T. Fartmann & G. Hermann (Eds.): Larval ecology of butterflies and rams in Central Europe. Treatises from the Westphalian Museum of Natural History, 68 (3/4): 83–122, Münster 2006 PDF .

literature

  • Lionel G. Higgins, Norman D. Riley: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . 1st edition. Paul Parey, Hamburg / Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-490-01918-0 .
  • Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 .
  • Wolfgang Wagner: The genus Pyrgus in Central Europe and its ecology - larval habitats, nutrient plants and development cycles . - In: T. Fartmann & G. Hermann (Eds.): Larval ecology of butterflies and rams in Central Europe. Treatises from the Westphalian Museum of Natural History, 68 (3/4): 83–122, Münster 2006 PDF
  • Wolfgang Wagner: Observations on the biology of Pyrgus andromedae (Wallengren, 1853) and Pyrgus cacaliae (Rambur, 1840) in the Alps (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Entomologische Zeitschrift, 113 (12): 346–353, Stuttgart 2003 PDF

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