Viennese night peacock butterfly
| Viennese night peacock butterfly | ||||||||||||
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Wiener Nachtpfauenauge (female) ( Saturnia pyri ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Saturnia pyri | ||||||||||||
| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
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The Giant Peacock Moth ( Saturnia pyri ) is a butterfly of the family of saturniidae (Saturniidae).
description
The moths reach a wingspan of 105 to 160 millimeters, making them the largest Central European butterflies. They are very similar to the related Lesser Peacock Butterfly ( Saturnia pavonia ) and also have an eye spot on each wing. Males and females do not differ in their coloration, only the antennae are heavily combed in the males and only weakly toothed in the females.
The wing color runs from dark brown on the wing outer edge to white-gray on the wing leading edge. The outer edge is broad ocher brown and behind it white. In the middle of the forewings there is a red and beige colored, wavy band. On the hind wing there is an identical, slightly weaker colored line between the rear thirds, a dark brown, curved line runs between the front thirds. Another line of the same color, but almost straight, runs near the forewing base. Between her and the base of the wings, the animals are deeply dark brown in color.
The caterpillars are about 120 millimeters long. They are colored light green and have light blue point warts from which black bristles grow. At the end of their development they turn yellowish orange.
Similar species
- Lesser peacock butterfly ( Saturnia pavonia )
- Middle peacock butterfly ( Saturnia spini )
- Saturnia pavoniella
Occurrence
The animals are found in southern Europe and North Africa . The first described animal was found near Vienna , which is why it got its name. They live in warm areas and live in open, loosely bushy terrain, orchards, parks and avenues. The Viennese night peacock butterfly occurs very rarely in southern Germany . In Austria you can find it in the east, as far as the northern Weinviertel , otherwise in the southern Alps . The species is in decline in its populations.
Way of life
Both the male and the female moths are nocturnal. They are occasionally found swarming around light sources, where they are reminiscent of bats because of their size .
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on various deciduous trees and shrubs and can also be found on many fruit trees . They feed on walnuts ( Juglans regia ), cultivated apples ( Malus domestica ), plums ( Prunus domestica ), sweet chestnuts ( Castanea sativa ), red beech ( Fagus sylvatica ), sycamore maple ( Acer pseudoplatanus ) and common hazel ( Corylus avellana ).
development
The females lay up to 200 of their reddish, brown-spotted eggs in small groups on the branches of the forage plants. Populations in orchards regularly fall victim to the pesticides used there . Pupation takes place on the lower part of the trunks. They build a solid parchment-like cocoon . At one end of this cocoon, behind a round opening, there is a trap made of stiff bristles that keeps enemies away. The fully developed butterfly can easily hatch through this opening.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 88.
- ↑ Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths. Weirdos and hawkers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 , p. 143.
- ^ Saturniidae of Europe. AR Pittaway, accessed August 9, 2012 .
literature
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1994. ISBN 3-800-13474-8
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Saturnia pyri at Fauna Europaea