Hyles dahlii
| Hyles dahlii | ||||||||||||
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Hyles dahlii |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hyles dahlii | ||||||||||||
| ( Geyer , 1827) |
Hyles Dahlii is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae).
features
Characteristics of the adults
The moths reach wing spans of 65 to 85 millimeters and have the coloration typical of species of the genus Hyles : their forewings are olive-brown and have a wavy and indented whitish-gray band that begins as a wide stripe on the wing's trailing edge near the wing root and gradually narrows into the Apex runs. The edge area is also colored whitish gray. 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. The coloring of the animals is only slightly variable and is reminiscent of a dark colored and strongly spotted specimen of Hyles tithymali .
♂
♂ △
♀
♀ △
Characteristics of the caterpillars
The caterpillars resemble those of the milkweed hawk and have a dark gray base color when fully grown. Your body is covered with very many fine whitish dots. The head capsule is usually purple, the anal horn orange. On each body segment there are two oval, white eye-spots, which are bordered with velvet black. Along the ridge runs a fine orange longitudinal line along the sides extends below the white stigmata an alternating red and yellow colored longitudinal line. The ventral side of the caterpillars is yellowish in color.
Similar species
- Spurge Hawk ( Hyles euphorbiae ) (Linnaeus, 1758) A, CH, D
- Bedstraw hawks ( Hyles gallii ) (Rottemburg, 1775) A, CH, D
- Sea buckthorn hawks ( Hyles hippophaes ) (Linnaeus, 1758) A, CH, D
- Line swarmers ( Hyles livornica ) (Esper, 1793) A, CH, D
- Hyles nicaea (de Prunner, 1798)
- Hyles tithymali (Boisduval, 1834)
Occurrence
The animals are found in Corsica , Sardinia and the Balearic Islands . Occasionally the species can also be found in Sicily , very rarely also on the northeast coast of Spain or on the coast of Tuscany . In Tunisia the species was exposed in the middle of the 1980s.
In Menorca , the original population of Hyles dahlii is so strongly hybridized with milkweed swarms that only a few characteristic features of Hyles dahlii can be observed in the adults. A similar hybridization of the species happened in Malta with Hyles tithymali . There are indications that Hyles dahlii developed as an independent species through isolation from Hyles tithymali .
Hyles dahlii inhabits rocky mountain slopes with vegetation of pines and bushes.
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly in two generations from May to June and August to September. A partial third generation can also occur in warm years. The caterpillars are found from June to October.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on herbaceous spurge species ( Euphorbia ), especially beach spurge ( Euphorbia paralias ) rolls spurge ( Euphorbia myrsinites ), palisades spurge ( Euphorbia characias ), tree spurge ( Euphorbia dendroides ), Euphorbia pityusa , Euphorbia pinea and Euphorbia terracina .
development
The eggs of the species resemble those of the milkweed hawk, are almost spherical and brightly blue-green in color. After hatching, the caterpillars are three to four millimeters long and cream-colored. The pupae also look very similar to those of the milkweed hawk. They are the wintering stage of the species. Known parasitoids are the caterpillar flies Exorista larvarum and Masicera sphingivora .
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ AR Pittaway: Hyles dahlii (Geyer, 1827). Retrieved January 22, 2009 .
literature
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic . Harley Books, 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6