Large tussock owl

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Large tussock owl
Apamea monoglypha01.jpg

Great tussock owl ( Apamea monoglypha )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Xyleninae
Genre : Apamea
Type : Large tussock owl
Scientific name
Apamea monoglypha
( Hufnagel , 1766)
Medium brown shape
Caterpillar
Kremaster at the end of the doll

The great tussock owl ( Apamea monoglypha ), also called root eater , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

With a wingspan of 45 to 57 millimeters, it is quite a large species of owl butterfly. In terms of color and size, it is extremely variable and can be divided into three categories:

Specimens with a plain dark brown to almost black basic color of the forewings, which are also almost without drawings.

Specimens with a medium brown base color and recognizable drawing elements.

Specimens with an ocher-yellow to gray-brown base color with partially light areas on the wings and with high-contrast drawing elements. In these, the W-sign in the wavy line is particularly pronounced and is partially highlighted by dark wedge marks. The ring flaws stand out due to the oval shape and the inclined position.

The hind wings are colored gray-brown without drawing in all color variants, whereby the veins stand out clearly.

Caterpillar

The caterpillars are glassy, ​​dirty white to gray-brown in color, have a narrow, black, light-edged topline, washed-out brown spots on the sides, black point warts and white, black-edged stigmas and short, bristle-like hair. The head and pronotum are glossy black and show a light central line. A black-brown colored vent shield is also noticeable in the adult caterpillars.

Doll

The pupa has a yellow-brown to black-brown color, but is predominantly maroon in color. It has a slim shape and smooth, shiny wing sheaths. The posterior segments show darkened rings. The short Kremaster has two conspicuous, thorn-like tips at the end.

Similar species

  • Apamea minoica differs primarily through the narrower fore wings.
  • Apamea baischi is distinguished by a clearly demarcated and darkened middle field on the front wings. The species is onlynativeto Crete .

distribution and habitat

The distribution of the species extends through almost all of Europe. It is only missing in the northernmost part of Fennoscandinavia and in the southernmost sections of the Iberian Peninsula and Greece . The smaller ssp. Flies in Sardinia and Corsica . sardoa . Further occurrence areas are Asia Minor , Middle East and Central Asia . In the Alps it rises to over 2500 meters. The large tussock owl can be found in all kinds of forest areas, heathland areas, on mountain meadows, grain areas, pastures and in gardens and parks. She also likes to be near houses.

Way of life

The moths are nocturnal and in the evenings occasionally visit the flowers of certain pipe grasses ( Molinia ) or those of the butterfly lilac ( Buddleja davidii ). They often appear at night on artificial light sources , just as often on bait . Your extended flight time covers the months of May to October. The late-flying specimens probably belong to a second generation. Since the very active moths often cover long distances, they are sometimes also referred to as migrating butterflies , but are not classic representatives of this group. The caterpillars live mainly from July, overwinter and pupate in the spring of the following year in a burrow. They feed on various sweet grasses (Poaceae), such as sheep fescue ( Festuca ovina ), common ball grass ( Dactylis glomerata ), lynx ( Lolium ) and saddle grass ( Calamagrostis ). Although they occasionally feed on the roots of cereal species in large numbers , they cannot be described as typical agricultural pests . Younger caterpillars prefer to feed on the inflorescences or fruit stands of the forage plants in autumn.

Danger

The large grass tufted owl can be found frequently - sometimes very frequently - in all regions of Germany, so that it is classified as not endangered on the Red List of Endangered Species .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alberto Zilli, László Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Apameini . In: WG Tremewan (Ed.): Noctuidae Europaeae . 1st edition. tape 8 . Entomological Press, Sorø 2005, ISBN 87-89430-09-3 (English).
  2. ↑ a b Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 6 . Moth IV. Noctuidae 2nd part. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 .
  3. ↑ 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. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .

literature

  • Alberto Zilli, László Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Apameini . In: WG Tremewan (Ed.): Noctuidae Europaeae . 1st edition. tape 8 . Entomological Press, Sorø 2005, ISBN 87-89430-09-3 (English).
  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 6 . Moth IV. Noctuidae 2nd part. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3482-9 .

Web links

Commons : Large Tussock Owl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files