Hyalophora cecropia
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Hyalophora cecropia , male |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
Hyalophora cecropia is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the peacock moth (Saturniidae), which is native to North America.
features
With a wingspan of 110 to 150 millimeters, Hyalophora cecropia is one of the largest moths found in North America . The length of the forewings is an average of 69 millimeters in females and an average of 75 millimeters in males.
The antennae are black and broadly combed in the males. The head is small and red, the neck collar is white. The thorax is covered with long reddish brown hair, the abdomen is orange-brown and marked with white bands of equal width. The latter are bordered in black at the rear end. The wings are reddish brown and have white, hair-like scales that give the moth a frosted appearance. The forewings are orange-brown at the base and are bordered on the outside by a narrow angled white band, which runs from the inner edge of the wing to the costalader . The discoid cell is russet with a large white crescent-shaped spot in the middle. This is outlined in black and tinted reddish brown. Above this is a broad red-brown to orange band, which is bordered white on the inside. The wing tips are brown and gray pollinated. There is a black spot near the wingtip with a crescent-shaped bright drawing in it. Starting from this black spot, a white zigzag line runs to the Costa loader. The marginal area is brown-yellow on the outside and yellow on the inside. Both color areas are separated by a narrow black line. The drawing of the hind wings is similar to that of the forewings, it is also lighter and clearer. The white discoid spots are larger, the transverse bands are wider and have a stronger white border on the inside. The outer edge of the wing is dull brownish yellow and has two pale black lines and a series of long, black, curved spots. The white of the costal edge extends to the vicinity of the wing tip.
Gynandromorphism is rarely observed. In this case, the two halves of the body differ significantly from each other, and the two differently constructed feelers are striking . The gender differences on the two wing halves are essentially retained. The size of the wings differs from that of a normally developed specimen. The wings on the female side are slightly larger, while those on the male side are slightly smaller. The shape and drawing of the wings also vary.
The caterpillars of the first stage (L1) are black. The caterpillars of the second stage (L2) are yellowish green and marked with black spots. The prickly tubercles are colored orange, yellow, and blue. The spines of the third and fourth instar larvae (L3, L4) are smaller, the two stages are very similar. The fifth stage (L5) is whitish, the tubercles are yellow, blue and red. The caterpillars reach a length of up to 125 millimeters.
The eggs are marbled brown and oval.
distribution
Hyalophora cecropia is native to North America. The distribution area ranges from Nova Scotia in Canada and Maine in the USA in the northeast to Florida in the south. In the west, the range extends to the Rocky Mountains , in Canada to the marine provinces. The species is often only found locally. Be settled succession areas and settlement areas and their peripheral areas.
biology
The females lay the eggs in rows of two to six on the upper or lower side of the leaves or on the branches of trees and bushes. After about ten to 14 days, the caterpillars hatch and first eat the egg shell. Young caterpillars are sociable, later larval stages are solitary. The caterpillars live on different trees and shrubs such as ash maple ( Acer negundo ), silver maple ( Acer saccharinum ), wild cherry, plum ( Prunus ) and apple trees ( Malus ), birch ( Betula ), alder , dogwood ( Cornus) ) and willows ( Salix ).
To pupate, the caterpillars make a cocoon out of brownish silk, which is spun onto a branch over its entire length. To protect it from predators, it is in a protected, dark place. The outer layer of the cocoon is made of coarse silk, the inner layers are finer. The silk used to be used to make stockings after carding and spinning .
After pupation , the temperature determines the further development. If it is no more than 6 to 15 ° C in the next eight to ten weeks, the pupa enters a diapause and does not continue to develop until spring when the temperature rises. The key event is the resumption of DNA synthesis; it is believed to be linked to the presence of the hormone ecdysone .
In most areas of the distribution area Hyalophora cecropia forms a generation that flies from March to July. In the Midwest two generations arise, while the first flies from May to early June, and the second about two weeks later. The moths are nocturnal and are rarely observed during the day. They fly early in the morning during the time of sunrise.
Systematics
Hyalophora cecropia is the type species of the genus Hyalophora Duncan , 1841.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ A b W. F. Kirby: A Hand-Book to the Order Lepidoptera. In: LLoyd's Natural History. , Part 1, Butterflies. Volume 4, p. 91, 1897
- ↑ DW Bridgehouse: Bilateral Gynandromorph of Hyalophora cecropia (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) in Nova Scotia. Northeastern Naturalist 7 (3): 237-240, 2000
- ↑ a b c P. M. Tuskes, JP Tuttle, MM Collins: The Wild Silkmoths of North America. A Natural History of the Saturniidae of the United States and Canada . Ed .: George C. Eickwort. 1st edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca / London 1996, ISBN 0-8014-3130-1 , pp. 201 (English).
- ^ Butterflies and Moths of North America. (No longer available online.) Paul A. Opler, Kelly Lotts, and Thomas Naberhaus, archived from the original on November 26, 2010 ; Retrieved March 25, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Berry, SJ: Hormones and metabolism in the pupal diapause of silkmoths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Entomologia gen. 7 (3): 811-820
literature
- PM Tuskes, JP Tuttle, MM Collins: The Wild Silkmoths of North America. A Natural History of the Saturniidae of the United States and Canada . Ed .: George C. Eickwort. 1st edition. Cornell University Press, Ithaca / London 1996, ISBN 0-8014-3130-1 (English).
