White fork tail
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White forktail ( Cerura erminea ) |
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| Cerura erminea | ||||||||||||
| ( Esper , 1783) |
The white forktail or ermine moth ( Cerura erminea ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the tooth moth family (Notodontidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 50 to 70 millimeters. They have a significantly lighter basic color than Cerura vinula , which is almost completely white. In addition, the forewings are provided with black lines and dots. The body is marked with very wide black cross bars on the top, which are significantly wider than the white stripe on the back. Only the back of the abdomen and the underside is mostly white.
The caterpillars are about 70 millimeters long. Like the moths, they are very similar to those of the Great Forktail. They have a dark, red-brown spot on the back that is white on the edge and in the middle of the body reaches down to the belly legs . There is a wider white border towards the back. They also have dark forked tails and powerful biting tools. The pairs of breastbones are dark brown. The caterpillars are also very dark when they are young and turn reddish-brown before pupation.
Similar species
- Big forktail ( Cerura vinula )
Occurrence
They occur in southern and central Europe east to Japan, but are absent in northwestern Europe, Scandinavia , Great Britain and parts of the Mediterranean area . They live in humid areas with stocks of their forage plants, especially in alluvial forests . They are rarer than the big forked tail, but they are common in eastern Germany around Brandenburg .
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on the leaves of aspen ( Populus tremula ) and other poplar species , more rarely, of sallow ( Salix caprea ), Salix viminalis ( Salix viminalis ) and other narrow-leaved willow species .
Way of life
The nocturnal moths fly annually in one generation from May to July, but also in a second generation in warm regions. The caterpillars have a remarkable defensive behavior just like those of the big forked tail. You pull your head into the first breast segment and stretch the red area around it and the pseudo-eyes towards the enemy. By pulling in, the caterpillar also becomes significantly thicker. In addition, they can each turn out a long, red tube from the double tail at the end of the abdomen, which can perform trembling movements. If the caterpillar is further irritated, it can inject formic acid from a gap on the underside of the head , which is produced in a gland . You can inject about 30 centimeters.
development
The females lay their strongly flattened, lenticular, orange eggs high up on the treetops of the forage plants. The caterpillars pupate in August in a thick-walled cocoon made of wood shavings and filaments on the bark of trunks, usually near the ground. They are so perfectly camouflaged that they are practically invisible. The pupae overwinter before they hatch in spring.
swell
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths, Spinners and Swarmers . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- www.insektenbox.de
- Cerura erminea at Fauna Europaea