Hawkweed silver owl

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Hawkweed silver owl
Hawkweed silver owl (Autographa aemula)

Hawkweed silver owl ( Autographa aemula )

Systematics
Superfamily : Noctuoidea
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Plusiinae
Tribe : Plusiini
Genre : Autograph
Type : Hawkweed silver owl
Scientific name
Autographa aemula
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)

The hawkweed silver owl ( Autographa aemula ), also called hawkweed silver-spotted owl, is a butterfly ( moth ) from the subfamily of the Plusiinae within the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

With a wingspan of 40 to 42 millimeters, the moths are among the medium-sized species from the subfamily of gold owls. The forewings are dark brown to light brown in color. A shiny silver-white shimmering, teardrop-shaped blemish, which is cut straight towards the front edge by the central vein, is typical of the species. The field below the blemish is deep brown, as is a wedge-shaped blotch near the wing tip. Due to the higher-contrast drawing and the smaller size, the species differs from the otherwise similar spring heap gold owl ( Autographa bractea f. Argentea ) and also from Autographa excelsa . The hind wings are colored light brown. There is a dense tuft of hair on the head of the butterfly. The body is furry and has other smaller tufts of hair.

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The egg is round, lemon yellow and turns purple-brown just before hatching. Adult caterpillars are colored green. They have wavy white back lines, wide yellowish side stripes, white point warts with long hair, and white stigmas that are bordered in black. The doll is black in color.

Synonyms

  • Plusia aemula

Geographical distribution and occurrence

The Hawkweed Silver Owl occurs mainly in mountainous terrain, for example in the Alpine region up to 1700 meters above sea level, in the Spanish and French eastern Pyrenees , the Caucasus and northeastern Turkey . Older information about an occurrence in the Urals requires confirmation. The animals from Turkey were called ssp. elongata (Alberti, 1969). Today, however, the species is considered to be taxonomically homogeneous. It prefers humid areas and can occur in large numbers in very narrow places.

Way of life and development

The Hawkweed Silver Owl is nocturnal and also flies to artificial light sources . The females lay the eggs on the forage plant, from which the caterpillars hatch in August. The leaves of low plants serve as a source of food, with hawkweed ( Hieracium ) being preferred. The caterpillars overwinter and pupate in a white web in the spring of the following year. The moths fly in one generation from June to August.

Danger

In Germany, the species only occurs in Bavaria and is included on the red list of endangered species in the warning list. An older information from Baden-Württemberg is obviously based on a wrong determination or on a confusion of the place of discovery.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Barry Goater, Lázló Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Catocalinae & Plusiinae . In: Martin Honey, Michael Fibiger (eds.): Noctuidae Europaeae . tape 10 . Entomological Press, Sorø 2003, ISBN 87-89430-08-5 (English).
  2. ↑ Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  3. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .
  4. ^ 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 .

literature

  • Barry Goater, Lázló Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Catocalinae & Plusiinae . In: Martin Honey, Michael Fibiger (eds.): Noctuidae Europaeae . tape 10 . Entomological Press, Sorø 2003, ISBN 87-89430-08-5 (English).
  • Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .

Web links

Commons : Hawkweed Silver Owl  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files