Greta Morgane
| Greta Morgane | ||||||||||||
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Greta morgane morgane |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Greta Morgane | ||||||||||||
| ( Geyer , 1837) |
Greta morgane is a diurnal butterfly from the subfamily Danainae . It is one of the very few butterfly species with completely transparent wings except for the edge areas. The distribution area stretches from Central America to the south of Texas (USA).
features
The wingspan of the moths is 5.6 to 6.1 cm. The wings are for the most part completely transparent. Only the edges and the wing veins are dark brown (ssp. Oto ) or light brown (ssp. Morgane ). A whitish to slightly bluish shimmering subapical transverse band is present in the apex. At the apex the edge is somewhat thickened and from the costal edge a brown spot extends into the transparent wing area at the end of the cell. The rear edge of the forewing is concave.
The caterpillars are glassy greenish in color. In the last stage they turn milky white with a green over-dusting. The head is shiny green, on the sides there are large black spots that look like two "false eyes".
The relatively small, curved doll is described as silver on the one hand, and shimmering reddish-gold on the other. It's relatively stocky with a distended abdomen. The cremaster has about 230 bristles bent at the end.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The distribution area extends from Venezuela , Panama , Central America , Mexico and the Caribbean . In 2004 he also performed temporarily in Texas . However, the distribution area depends on the taxonomic extent assumed for the species. The species lives in clearings of tropical and subtropical rainforests, but now also in gardens and parks where the host plants grow. The species is usually found there at an altitude of about 500 m to about 1600 m above sea level. The climate here is characterized by moderately high temperatures, high humidity, and heavy rainfall between May and December, followed by rather dry periods in the rest of the year. In their natural habitat, the moths are mainly close to the canopy of the trees.
Way of life
The moths lived for more than 4 months in breeding. The moths like to suckle on convertible florets ( Lantana camara ) or on the Indian milkweed ( Asclepias curassavica ). The first mating was not observed until after three months. The eggs were then laid within a few days. The eggs are laid individually on the host plants.
The Greta morgane caterpillar feeds on the nightshade family (Solanaceae); Two types of hammer bushes ( cestrum ) are mentioned in the literature : Cestrum lanatum and Cestrum standleyi . When not eating, the caterpillars sit curled up on the underside of the leaves of their food plants. They ingest alkaloids via the food plants, which make not only the caterpillars, but also the later moths inedible for predators.
The doll hangs upside down on the underside of the leaf. The caterpillar spins a wad of silk that is glued to the underside of the leaf. The dolls are attached to this wad of silk using the bristles of the Kremaster. The pupa rest only lasts four days in breeding.
Taxonomy
Greta morgane was first scientifically described as Hymenitis morgane by Carl Geyer in Huebner in 1837 . The species is now part of the genus Greta Hemming, 1934. The type species of this genus is Hymenitis diaphane Huebner. Since Hymenitis Huebner is preoccupied and there were nomenclatory problems with the genus Hymenitis Huebner, Greta Hemming was placed on the official list of valid generic names in 1934. The Greta oto , originally set up as an independent species, is now considered by most authors as a subspecies of Greta morgane . This enlarges the area of Greta morgane considerably.
- Greta morgane morgane (Geyer, 1835), western Mexico ( Nayarit provinces to southern Oaxaca )
- Greta morgane oto (Hewitson, 1856), Eastern Mexico to Panama, - Venezuela
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Carrol L. Henderson: Butterflies, moths, and other invertebrates of Costa Rica: a field guide. 173 pp., Austin, University of Texas Press, 2010 ISBN 978-0-292-71966-8
- ↑ Ralf Sturm - Butterflies and their life Breeding by Greta morgane oto ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c Abigail L. Ingram and Andrew R. Parker: Structure, mechanism and mechanical properties of pupal attachment in Greta oto (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae). Entomological Science 9: 109-120, 2006 doi : 10.1111 / j.1479-8298.2006.00158.x
- ↑ Jacob Hübner and Carl Geyer: Contributions to the collection of exotic butterflies [!] , Consisting in the declaration of individual flying patterns of new or rare non-European species. Augsburg, 1818-1837 (Fig. 869,870, type locality: Mexico)
- ↑ Greta (through Hymenitis Hübner, 1816) was placed on the Official List of Valid Generic Names in Zoology in 1972. The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 29 (3): 117.
- ^ William Chapman Hewitson: Illustrations of new species of exotic butterflies: selected chiefly from the collections of W. Wilson Saunders and William C. Hewitson. Vol. 1. John van Voorst, London 1856 Online at archive.org (pages not numbered: Heliconidae Ithomia VII No. 39 = Ithomia oto ; Heliconidae, Ithomia X, No. 55 = Ithomia morgane )
literature
- G. Lamas: Nymphalidae II Pt. 3 Ithomiinae. In: E. Bauer & T. Frankenbach (eds.), Butterflies of the World. (pp. 1-17). Keltern, Goecke & Evers 1999.
- Philip J. DeVries: The Butterflies of Costa Rica; Vol. I: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae. 327 pp., Princeton University Press, Princeton 1987.
