Light-edged earth owl

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Light-edged earth owl
Light-edged earth owl (Ochropleura plecta)

Light-edged earth owl ( Ochropleura plecta )

Systematics
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Noctuinae
Tribe : Noctuini
Sub tribus : Axyliina
Genre : Ochropleura
Type : Light-edged earth owl
Scientific name
Ochropleura plecta
( Linnaeus , 1761)

The light-rimmed earth owl ( Ochropleura plecta ), also called violet-brown earth owl , white- rimmed earth owl or fresh herb dump ground owl , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of owls (Noctuidae).

features

The moths have a wingspan of 28 to 34 millimeters. The basic color of the upper side of the forewings is reddish-brown with a broad light brown to whitish-brown front edge, followed by a black arrow line. However, both stripes do not extend to the wing tip. The edge strip is also rarely darkened. A white kidney flaw and a white ring flaw are in the area of ​​the black arrow or the arrow starts around the kidney flaw. Both flaws are sometimes also brown. The hind wings are whitish with a light brown border.

The hemispherical egg is flattened at the base. It measures 0.5 millimeters in height and 0.75 to 0.8 millimeters in width. After egg-laying it is initially light lemon yellow. In the course of further development, a pink-colored spot and a pink band on the subapical area of ​​the egg form in the micropyl region. Just before hatching, it turns light brown. The surface is on the upper two thirds with 27 broad longitudinal ribs, most of which extend to the micropyl region or end a little before. They are crossed by fine, transverse ribs.

The caterpillar is gray-brown to orange-red on the back. There are three reddish longitudinal lines on the back. The page has broad, yellowish stripes on the side. The head is yellow-brown and covered with white dots. It has a small bump on the 11th segment.

The doll is black-brown and red-brown and has two pointed thorns on the cremaster . It is about 13 millimeters long.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The species is widespread in the Palearctic and common almost everywhere. It occurs in almost all of Europe, with the exception of a few Mediterranean islands (Balearic Islands, Sicily, Greek islands) and the far north of Europe. It flies in the mountains up to an altitude of about 1600 meters.

It occurs in a variety of open biotopes, e.g. B. in gardens and parks, ruderal areas, roadsides, embankments and ditches as well as on railway and flood embankments, in larger clearings, on paths and aisles of deciduous and mixed forests and in bushy fields.

Way of life

The light-rimmed earth owl usually forms two partially overlapping generations per year. The moths fly from May to mid-July and from July to September. The second generation is often only partial and the adults are on average slightly larger than the adults of the first generation. They are nocturnal and come to artificial light sources. They visit flowers and can be baited . The moths are impetuous fliers, whose flight pattern, at least when exposed to artificial light sources, is more like that of excited wasps. The eggs are laid separately but in small groups. In July and then again from August to October one can find the caterpillars that grow on plantains ( Plantago ), bedstraws ( Galium ), dock ( Rumex ), annual bluegrass ( Poa annua ), lettuce ( Lactuca ), common ragwort ( Senecio vulgaris ), u. a. eat herbaceous plants. They live very hidden in the herb layer and are rarely found. Pupation takes place in the ground, the pupa overwinters. The older literature also states that the caterpillar should occasionally hibernate. According to Steiner in Steiner & Ebert (1998), however, there has not yet been any conclusive evidence for this.

Taxonomy

The species is divided into two subspecies:

  • Ochropleura plecta plecta , the nominate subspecies in the greater part of the range
  • Ochropleura plecta unimacula , it represents the nominate subspecies in southern Spain and Morocco; it differs from the nominate subspecies by the absence of the ring blemish.

Danger

The species is very common and not endangered in Germany.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Red Lists at Science4you
  2. ↑ Bergmann (1954: pp. 166–168)
  3. ↑ a b c Fibiger (1990: pp. 144/5)
  4. ↑ Dolinskaya & Geryak (2010: p. 20)
  5. ↑ Lepiforum - Ochropleura plecta
  6. ↑ a b Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971: p. 22)
  7. ^ A. Dale website - Doll shown with scale
  8. ↑ a b Axel Steiner in Steiner & Ebert (1998: pp. 345–347)

literature

  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 4/1: Owls. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1954, DNB 450378373 .
  • IV Dolinskaya, Yu. A. Geryak: The Chorionic Sculpture of the Eggs of Some Noctuinae (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) from Ukraine. Vestnik zoologii, 44 (5): 421-432, 2010 doi : 10.2478 / v10058-010-0028-4
  • Michael Fibiger: Noctuidae Europaeae. Volume 1, Noctuinae I. Entomological Press, Søro 1990, ISBN 87-89430-01-8
  • Michael Fibiger: Noctuidae Europaeae Volume 3, Noctuinae III. Entomological Press, Sorø, 1997, ISBN 87-89430-05-0
  • Walter Forster & Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The Butterflies of Central Europe - Vol. IV Owls (Noctuidae) . Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart
  • 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

annotation

  1. ↑ The populations of the Nearctic that used to belong to Ochropleura plecta are today an independent species Ochropleura implecta Lafontaine, 1998. Proof: J. Donald Lafontaine: Noctuoidea, Noctuidae (part): Noctuinae, Noctuini. In: Hodges, RW, Davis, DR, Dominick, T., Ferguson, DC, Munroe, EG, & Powell, JA (Eds.), The Moths of America North of Mexico, fasc. 25.3. 348 pp. Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas 1998.

Web links

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