Hyles cretica
| Hyles cretica | ||||||||||||
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Hyles cretica , male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hyles cretica | ||||||||||||
| Eitschberger , Danner & Surholt , 1998 |
Hyles cretica is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae). The species is assigned to the Hyles euphorbiae complex in the broader sense. The relationships and the status of the individual species and subspecies in this complex are still more or less unclear. Although the species status was confirmed by Kitching / Cadiou (2000), since reproductive hybrids between Hyles euphorbiae and Hyles tithymali are common and the species arevery closely relatedwithin the Hyles euphorbiae complex, it was assumed that it would be conceivable that Hyles cretica , like Hyles sammuti, is a relic of these hybridizations. Pittaway therefore initially saw the species as a subspecies of Hyles tithymali . Hundsdoerfer, Mende, Kitching & Cordellier (2011) later assumed, based on an mtDNA analysis of material from Italy, that the species status was justified on the basis of sufficiently large differences, but a more recent study by Mende & Hundsdoerfer (2014) with the inclusion of Data from the Aegean Sea thatsome ofthe Hyles cretica populations were genetically closer to Hyles euphorbiae . From this it was concluded that the population of the southern Aegean Sea and that from southern Italy actually represent dynamic hybrid hybrids of European Hyles euphorbiae and North African Hyles tithymali and the species status of Hyles cretica is therefore not justified. Pittaway follows this view, although he finds the name Hyles 'cretica' useful as a working title.
features
The moths reach wingspans of 69 to 80 millimeters and have the coloration typical of species of the genus Hyles : their brown forewings have a wavy and indented light band that begins as a broad stripe on the wing's trailing edge near the wing root and gradually narrows down to the apex . The fringing area is also brightly colored. The hind wings have a wide, pink band in the middle, a black base and a black band. On the inner edge of the wing, a white spot borders the pink band. They are similar to some individuals of Hyles tithymali mauretanica from Morocco.
The eggs are small, have a very hard shell, and are blue-green in color. They look similar to those of Hyles tithymali tithymali . The caterpillars reach a length of 75 to 85 millimeters. From the second instar they look very similar to the caterpillars of Hyles tithymali mauretanica . The pupa is yellowish-brown with dark segment incisions and cannot be distinguished from those of Hyles tithymali tithymali .
Occurrence
The distribution of the species is limited to Crete , but it can also occur in Rhodes . It inhabits dry slopes with abundant growth of milkweed .
Way of life
The females lay their eggs in large clusters on the young shoots of the food plants. When fully grown, the caterpillars have a lifestyle similar to that of Hyles tithymali tithymali . They are found on milkweed ( Euphorbia ) from March to December . The wintering takes place as a pupa. The adults fly in several generations from February to October. It is conceivable that the species will produce generations uninterruptedly throughout the year.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Anna K. Hundsdoerfer, Ian J. Kitching, Michael Wink: A molecular phylogeny of the hawkmoth genus Hyles (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae, Macroglossinae) , Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35 (2005) 442-458
- ^ Ian J. Kitching, Jean-Marie Cadiou: Hawkmoths of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary Checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Cornell University Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8014-3734-2
- ↑ a b c d e A. R. Pittaway: Hyles tithymali cretica Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1998. Retrieved July 2, 2010 .
- ↑ Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic: Hyles. AR Pittaway, accessed July 2, 2010 .
literature
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic . Harley Books, 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6
