Light brown gang owl
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Light brown gang owl ( Noctua interjecta ) |
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| Noctua interjecta | ||||||||||||
| Huebner , 1803 |
The light brown gang owl ( Noctua interjecta ), also known as the little gang owl , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the owl butterfly family (Noctuidae).
features
The moths have a wingspan of 29 to 35 millimeters, with the ssp. caliginosa is on average slightly smaller than the nominate subspecies. In the nominate subspecies, the head and thorax are light yellowish-brown in color. The basic color of the forewings is light yellow-brown to red-brown. The inner and outer transverse lines are clearly defined and are relatively close together. Often there are two middle shadows, ring and kidney defects are outlined in black. The hind wings are light yellow with a narrow, black, marginal band. The discal stain is indistinct or missing entirely.
At the ssp. caliginosa , on the other hand, the head, thorax and basic color of the forewings are light brown or reddish brown. Ring and kidney defects are indistinctly developed. The inner transverse line is wavy and drawn twice, the outer transverse line is also wavy, but drawn simply. The middle shadow is indistinct. The hind wing is orange-yellow colored with a broad black, marginal band.
The egg is hemispherical, the surface is covered with about 30 ribs, of which only a few reach the upper end.
The caterpillar is light yellowish gray to ocher yellow in color. Especially the darker areas are marked with widely spaced black dots. The narrow back line and the side back lines are lighter than the basic color; the topline is often slightly darker. The side stripes are colored light yellow and darkly lined towards the back. The gray-yellow head has dark arched stripes.
The doll is red-brown with two longer and two short thorns on the cremaster .
Similar species
In contrast to some other Noctua species ( Noctua comes , Noctua pronuba and Noctua interposita ), N. interjecta does not have a dark spot at the end of the wavy line on the front edge of the forewings. The Central European specimens of N. interjecta are on average smaller than Noctua comes .
Geographical distribution and habitat
The light brown band owl occurs in almost all of Western Europe (with the exception of southern Portugal, parts of southwest Spain and the northern part of the British Isles), on the Apennine Peninsula and the southern Balkan Peninsula (Bulgaria, Greece), and also on the larger islands of the western Mediterranean ( Corsica , Sardinia and Sicily ). The north-east and east border runs through Denmark, southern Sweden (Scania), Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. From there it extends through Turkey to the Caucasus . The species was recently detected for the first time in Israel and southern Russia. The species expanded its range in Central Europe in the last hundred years, mainly to the northeast and east.
The species inhabits relatively unspecific habitats; from open areas to gardens and parks to forests. In southern Europe the species rises up to 2000 m above sea level.
Way of life
The species forms one generation per year, whose moths fly from July to September. A few early moths also fly in June, the maximum flight activity is reached at least in Baden-Württemberg at the beginning of August. No summer rest of the moths can be seen in the flight maxima there. The caterpillars can be found from autumn. They feed on various herbaceous plants , shrubs and deciduous trees, including at elatior Avena , stinging nettle ( Urtica dioica ), Eupatorium Cannabinum ( Eupatorium cannabinum ), common mallow ( Malva sylvestris ), midland hawthorn ( Crataegus laevigata ), strawberry cinquefoil ( Potentilla sterilis ), Stemless cowslip ( Primula vulgaris ), dock ( Rumex ) spp. and willow kittens. In breeding the young locust devoured also on grasses, plantain ( Plantago major ), dandelion ( Taraxacum spp.), Sorrel ( Rumex acetosella ) and blackthorn ( Prunus spinosa ), adult caterpillars also ate Stellaria media ( Stellaria media ) and plantain ( Plantago lanceolata ). The caterpillar overwinters and pupates in May of the following year.
Danger
The species is relatively common in Germany and is not considered endangered.
Systematics
The species is divided into two subspecies:
- Noctua interjecta interjecta Huebner, 1803, yellowish-brown basic color, clear blemishes, hind wings yellowish with a narrow black border, in the Alps, south of the Alps, southern France, northern Spain, southeastern Spain, northern Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, northern Greece and Romania
- Noctua interjecta caliginosa (Schawerda, 1919), hind wings orange-yellow with a broad, marginal, black band (about twice as wide as in the nominate subspecies), southern and central England, Wales, southern Ireland, northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Northern Germany, Denmark, southern Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria.
The transition zone between the two subspecies runs through France and Switzerland.
swell
- ↑ a b Red Lists at Science4you
- ↑ a b c Fibiger (1993: p. 85/6)
- ↑ a b Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971: p. 36)
- ^ Lepiforum
- ↑ VD Kravchenko, M. Fibiger, J. Mooser and GC Muller: The Noctuidae of Israel (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). SHILAP Revista de Lepidopterología, 34 (136): 353–370, Madrid, 2006 PDF ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ AV Sviridov, TA Trofimova, MV Uskov, AV Mukhanov, LE Lobkova, VI Shchurov, EV Shutova, IV Kuznetsov, Yu. A. Lovtsova, PN Korzhov, VS Okulov and MA Klepikov: Noctuid Moths (Lepidoptera) new for different areas of the Russia. 2. Eversmannia, 7/8: 46-68, 2006 PDF
- ↑ a b c Axel Steiner in Ebert (1998: pp. 380–383)
literature
- Axel Steiner and Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 7, Nachtfalter V (Owls (Noctuidae) 3rd part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-8001-3500-0
- Michael Fibiger: Noctuidae Europaeae, Volume 2 Noctuinae II. Entomological Press, Sorø, 1993, ISBN 87-89430-02-6
- 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
- Lepiforum e. V. Photos
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Markku Savela: Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- Ian Kimber: Guide to the moths of Great Britain and North Ireland (English)
- Fauna Europaea Taxonomy
- Collection of the Natural History Museum Stockholm (Swedish)
- Butterflies and their ecology