Great snail moth
| Great snail moth | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great snail moth ( Apoda limacodes ) |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Apoda limacodes | ||||||||||
| ( Hufnagel , 1766) |
The large snail moth ( Apoda limacodes ) (literally translated: nudibranch-like bare feet) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the snail moth (Limacodidae).
description
The moths reach a wingspan of 20 to 30 millimeters, with the females becoming slightly larger. They have short and broad, light brown (males) or light ocher yellow (females) colored forewings. On each of the males there is a sharply demarcated trapezoidal, dark or light area, in which two triangles colored like the rest of the wings can be found, which touch at one point, with the females only the contours of these areas are dark, otherwise they have the same color of the wings. The hind wings of the males are darker in color than their forewings.
The caterpillars are about 15 millimeters long and have a flat body, similar to an isopod or snail. They are green with numerous yellow spots and to the left and right of the back with a yellow vertical stripe with small red spots in them.
Similar species
- Small snail moth ( Heterogenea asella )
Occurrence
The animals occur almost everywhere and frequently in Europe except in the far north and parts of the Iberian Peninsula and live in mixed oak forests and other areas with oak vegetation, such as B. in gardens.
Way of life
The nocturnal moths, which are rarely active during the day, fly in one generation from mid-June to the end of July. The caterpillars do not have belly legs , but a crawling sole, with which they can move on a layer of mucus, similar to snails, with undulating movements. You can usually find them on smooth leaves, on which they find a good grip. Hairy leaves are avoided. The caterpillars produce less and less slime in autumn until they finally fall to the ground. There they then spin a very firm, brown cocoon between leaves, in which they pupate in spring.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on the leaves of various deciduous trees , especially English oak ( Quercus robur ), other oak species , hornbeam ( Carpinus betulus ), European beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) and sycamore maple ( Acer pseudoplatanus ).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide, butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 46 .
- ^ Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 3 . Moths I. Root borer (Hepialidae), wood borer (Cossidae), ram (Zygaenidae), snail moth (Limacodidae), sack bearer (Psychidae), window stain (Thyrididae) . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3472-1 , p. 338 .
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de
- Apoda limacodes at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved February 27, 2011
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
- Ian Kimber: Guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland