Bat owls
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Bat hawk caterpillar |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hyles vespertilio | ||||||||||||
| ( Esper , 1793) |
The bat moth ( Hyles vespertilio ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae). The very warmth-loving species, which prefers to live on dry gravel corridors and on the banks of river beds that have dried out in summer, has probably already died out in Germany due to habitat destruction. Due to its plain gray top, it cannot be confused with any other hawkish species. The species is mainly distributed over large parts of Central Europe and the Balkans and in Asia Minor to the Caucasus .
features
The moths reach wingspans of 60 to 80 millimeters. The tops of the forewings and the entire top of the body are solid slate gray. The basal hind wings are reddish-pink and the outer edge is faded and dark in color. Two forms are known, f. salmonea lacks the red color on the hind wings, f. flava is black and has yellow hind wings. In the French Alps , natural hybrids can be seen between her and the sea buckthorn hawk ( Hyles hippophaes ).
The caterpillars reach a body length of 70 to 80 millimeters. After hatching, the caterpillars are three to four millimeters long, have a greenish-yellow color and have several longitudinal rows of fine, black dots. After the first ingestion of food, the basic color quickly changes to green, with yellowish-white longitudinal lines becoming visible on both sides of the back and deep on the sides of the body. The back lines are much wider. The anal horn has receded into a small process or is completely absent. In the second stage of the caterpillar, the pale longitudinal lines turn a creamy yellow. The green basic color of the body is complemented by fine yellow dots, especially on the sides of the body. In the next stage these points become more prominent, especially in the rarely occurring dark olive-green colored caterpillars. The longitudinal lines can be interrupted by an orange point on each segment. This is the rule with the olive-green caterpillars, and the basic color changes to dark brown.
After the third stage, the basic color of the caterpillars gradually changes to a gray-brown, the longitudinal lines are then grayish-yellow and are interrupted by dark, yellow-orange pithed eye spots. The darker back is then covered with many small brown spots. The sides of the body are slightly paler and have numerous whitish-yellow spots between the two longitudinal lines. The abdomen, the thoracic and abdominal legs , the pusher and the head are colored purple. In fully grown caterpillars, the dark-edged eye-spots and the basic color of the body are pale gray-brown. Even shortly before pupation, this color changes only slightly.
Male dorsal view
Male △ anterior view
Female dorsal view
Female △ anterior view
distribution and habitat
The range of the bat swarm encompasses a relatively small area in the southwest of the Palearctic . It occurs in the following areas: south and east of France, south of Germany (in the Upper Rhine region), Switzerland , Austria , north and central Italy , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , east Poland , west Ukraine , west Hungary , Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia , south - and central Serbia , north Albania , west and south Bulgaria and north Greece . Another occurrence extends over western Turkey east to Transcaucasia . A small isolated population lives in the mountainous region of Lebanon .
In contrast to the other representatives of the genus, the animals are true to their location and live in separate populations within the distribution area. They inhabit warm and dry gravel corridors and prefer sunlit, south-facing gravel heaps and gravel banks on the banks of river beds that have dried out in summer. In the absence of such biotopes, they can also be found in gravel pits or on the canal banks of old floodplains if their food plants grow there. The species is found in Central Europe up to an altitude of around 1,700 meters, and even higher in warmer regions.
Way of life
The moths are very similar to the milkweed hawk ( Hyles euphorbiae ) in terms of foraging, mating and flight , but mainly sit on stones and pebbles on the ground to rest, where they are perfectly camouflaged by their color. They are nocturnal, can be observed shortly after dusk and usually fly for several hours with breaks.
Flight and caterpillar times
In the majority of the distribution area the species flies in one generation in May and June and a second partial in August and September. In the higher regions of Central Europe and Bulgaria, only one generation flies in June and July. The caterpillars can be found in June and July and again in September.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on willowherb ( Epilobium ), in particular rosemary willowherb ( Epilobium dodonaei ), also on evening primrose ( Oenothera ) and, more rarely, on bed herbs ( Galium ).
development
The pale green, shiny eggs are 1.1 × 1.0 millimeters long and slightly flattened on the longer side. They are deposited by the females individually or in pairs on the stems, leaves or flowers of the food plants, and very rarely they can also be found on stones near the plants. A maximum of 10 eggs are laid per plant. In small areas, caterpillars can occur in high density, especially in larger stands of food plants. Young caterpillars initially eat sitting on the underside of the leaves during the day. The animals never leave the plant at first, later only very rarely until the fourth caterpillar stage. From this stage onwards, the animals regularly hide at the base of the plant between or under stones during the day and only climb up to eat at night. You can curl up and look like a pebble. If they are active during the day, they move very quickly and only eat for a few minutes or they hurry to change their resting place. Pupation takes place on the ground in a fine-meshed cocoon into which small pebbles and sand or parts of plants and also balls of feces are built. Most of the time, the pupae can be found under sun-exposed stones, away from the food plants. They are 35 to 40 millimeters long and pale red-brown in color, the wing sheaths and parts of the head are greenish-brown in color. They are almost identical in shape to that of the bedstraw hawk ( Hyles gallii ). The pupae overwinter.
As a parasitoid that is Raupenfliege Masicera sphingivora known. It is not uncommon for up to 80 percent of the caterpillars in one location to be infested by this species.
Hazard and protection
The bat hawk is classified in Germany in the Red List of Threatened Species as “critically endangered” (Category 1). It is believed, however, that it is already extinct. According to Ebert, the species was only known in Germany in the 1980s through individual, albeit regular, finds in Baden-Württemberg ; more recent finds are not available. In Germany, the disappearance of the species is mainly due to the construction, straightening and water level regulation of the rivers, which permanently prevented the formation of natural gravel banks. Secondary habitats with gravel soils that were created, for example, through construction activity, disappear again after a few years due to overgrowth, so that they cannot permanently compensate for the loss.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e A. R. Pittaway: Hyles vespertilio (Esper, 1780). Retrieved May 19, 2008 .
- ↑ [1] (PDF; 107 kB) Baden-Württemberg target species concept, April 2009
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 978-3-896-24110-8
- ^ A b Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . Volume 4, Nachtfalter II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-800-13474-8
literature
- Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-800-13474-8
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic . Harley Books, 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6
- Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths, Spinners and Swarmers . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de (taxonomy and photos)
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Fauna Europaea (taxonomy, English)
