Hemaris aksana
| Hemaris aksana | ||||||||||||
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Hemaris aksana , male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hemaris aksana | ||||||||||||
| ( Le Cerf , 1923) |
Hemaris aksana is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae).
features
butterfly
The moths have a wingspan of 44 to 51 millimeters. They are similar to Hemaris tityus , but their green color on the thorax is less yellowish. The gray basal area on the forewings is also more extensive and the marginal band is blackish and also wider.
Caterpillar
The caterpillars are 50 millimeters long. Initially, the approximately three millimeters long animals are whitish and provided with small black tubercles with forked, black hair. The anal horn is small and has two black hairs at the tip. After each moulting and feeding, the tubercles become increasingly green, the anal horn more reddish and the pale dorso-lateral and ventro-lateral longitudinal lines appear. When fully grown, the caterpillars are usually whitish-green and have a dull, red anal horn, a purple-red underside and also edged spiracles . The body surface is very rough. Many individuals are also heavily marked with reddish spots. this applies in particular to those species that feed on purple-spotted scabiosa leaves. These spots are covered shortly before pupation, when the caterpillars turn a deep plum blue.
egg
The small eggs are almost spherical at 1.1 by 1.0 millimeters, but have a small indentation at the top. They are shiny pale green.
Doll
The pupa is 24 to 27 millimeters long and has the typical shape of the genus Hemaris , but is black-brown, with a reddish-brown tint at the connections between the segments. The body tapers on both sides, with two pointed tubercles on the head at the front and a flat, triangular cremaster at the back.
Occurrence and habitat
The species is only known from the Middle and High Atlas in Morocco, but could be widespread there. Meadows rich in flowers are settled between 1,300 and 2,500 meters above sea level.
Way of life
The moths are diurnal and usually fly between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. They can then be observed in their rapid flight from flower to flower. Although they resemble the shape of a bumblebee , they are much faster and more agile. Their flying skills are particularly evident during the mating ritual, during which the partners pursue each other on the one hand just above the ground and on the other hand in fast upward spirals. The subsequent pairing usually takes up to two hours.
In warm places the moths fly in March, June and August, in higher altitudes from mid-May or June in one generation. Occasionally a second, incomplete generation appears there in August. Parasitoids of the species are not known.
The females lay their eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of the caterpillar food plants from, which are often stored up to six eggs per plant or group of plants, the caterpillars feed on Marsh ( Scabiosa ). They usually stay on the underside of a leaf on the midrib for the rest of their life, eating holes on both sides. They are mainly nocturnal. If you disturb them during the day, they drop to the ground, where they sometimes retreat, but also when they are resting. The caterpillars of the same generation develop at different speeds, but they all develop much faster than those of other hawk species. Pupation takes place in a fairly strong, but coarse cocoon in grass clusters or slightly buried in the ground. The pupa hibernates.
Taxonomy and systematics
The species was first described by Le Cerf in 1923 as the subspecies Haemorrhagia tityus aksana . Eitschberger et al. (1989) elevated them to species rank without justification, although more recent studies suggest that the species status is well founded, especially since the genitals differ from those of Hemaris tityus . Recent DNA studies suggest that the species is closely related to Hemaris galunae . These two species, which are in turn closely related to Hemaris tityus , appear to be the western and eastern remains of a common ancestor originally living in the cooler, more overgrown and more humid North Africa during the last Ice Age.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i HEMARIS AKSANA (Le Cerf, 1923). AR Pittaway: Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic, accessed December 26, 2014 .
