Hyles zygophylli
| Hyles zygophylli | ||||||||||||
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Hyles zygophylli , male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hyles zygophylli | ||||||||||||
| ( Ochsenheimer , 1808) |
Hyles Zygophylli is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae). The distribution area of the species extends from northwest Turkey and the southern Volga valley in Russia east to northwest China and to the south of Mongolia.
features
Characteristics of the adults
The moths reach wingspans of 60 to 75 millimeters. Their forewings are yellowish-brown with a narrow, yellowish-white stripe that runs from the base of the inner edge of the wing centrally over the wing to the tip. One or two branches of the same color branch off from this stripe to the leading edge of the wing. The outer edge of the wing is yellowish. The front wings are significantly narrower than in the other species of the genus Hyles . Typically for the genus, the hind wings have a conspicuous pinkish-red spot in the middle and a white spot on the inner wing edge, both of which are lined with black on the wing base and on the wing outer edge. The species is very variable in its coloration and the extent of the pattern. Animals from dry habitats are usually paler and have a coloring with more yellow components. The species can be confused with some color variants of the line swarm ( Hyles llivornica ).
Characteristics of the caterpillars
The caterpillars reach a body length of 70 to 80 millimeters and come in several color variants. When fully grown, they are mainly pale green or yellow and have a black, reticulated pattern on the back and sides. The belly side is unpatterned. On both sides of the back there is a narrow yellow band with small, differently sized, black-edged, yellow or white eye spots. In some animals the head, the back line, the anal horn and the pusher are black, in others these areas are yellow or pale green. All color forms have a yellow longitudinal band below the orange or white stigmas .
Egg and doll
The size of the eggs is not documented, but it is above average within the Hyles genus . The eggs are spherical, bright green and resemble those of the poplar hawk ( Laothoe populi ). The doll is 40 to 50 millimeters long, light sand-colored and has fine, dark lines.
Occurrence and habitat
The species is from northwest Turkey and the southern Volga Valley in Russia, east across northern Syria, the Caucasus , northern Iran, Turkmenistan , southern Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to northern Afghanistan, and further northeast via Kyrgyzstan to the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Shaanxi and spread to the south of Mongolia. There is also evidence of the species from areas in Romania where the bean-like yoke leaf ( Zygophyllum fabago ) often grows. The discovery of a stray visitor from Dalmatia in Croatia is documented; the specimen specimen caught is kept in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History .
The moths colonize hot alkali plains, sand dunes and arid slopes with vegetation on the bean-like yoke leaf. In China, the species prefers bushes with sunny gravel banks along river banks, with species of the genus Jochblatt ( Zygophyllum are covered).
Flight and caterpillar times
Depending on the region, the moths fly in two or three generations from late April to mid-May, July and August, sometimes until mid-September. In cooler mountain locations, the animals can be found in June and July with an incomplete second generation at the end of September / October. In China the species flies from the beginning of May to the end of July, in Mongolia from the beginning of July to mid-August.
The caterpillars are common between May and September, in warm locations they can also be found later in the year.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on the bean-like zygomatic leaf ( Zygophyllum fabago ), other zygophyllum species are also eaten locally , such as Zygophyllum oxianum . The caterpillars presumably also feed on the flowers of the steppe candles ( Eremurus ). In captivity, rearing can usually be done with root thorns ( Tribulus ), also a genus of the yoke-leaf family .
development
The females lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves of the food plants. The caterpillars hatch after two to five days. They initially sit on the underside of the leaves on the midrib. As they develop, they eat sitting freely on the plant by clinging to a stem. Flowers and leaves are eaten hastily. In Turkmenistan, a caterpillar frequency of 83.3 animals per 100 food plants has been proven. The development from egg to pupation takes about 30 days, the pupil dormancy is no more than eight days in summer. The animals are overwintered as a pupa. Parasitoids that attack the species are not yet known.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic. AR Pittaway, accessed June 20, 2010 .
- ↑ a b c Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. AR Pittaway, accessed June 20, 2010 .
literature
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic . Harley Books, 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6
