Jordanita Graeca
| Jordanita Graeca | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Jordanita Graeca | ||||||||||||
| ( Jordan , 1907) |
Jordanita graeca is a butterfly fromthe ram family (Zygaenidae).
features
The moths reach a forewing length of 7.5 to 12.5 millimeters in the males and 7.0 to 12.0 millimeters in the females. The head, thorax, and femur of the legs shimmer green. The abdomen is dark greenish gray and without a shimmer. The forehead ( frons ) is more than twice as wide as the compound eyes . The antennae are almost black and can shimmer bluish green. The antennae is thick. The comb is long proximally , short distally, the last three segments are almost saw-shaped. The feelers consist of 37 to 40 short segments. The upper side of the forewing shimmers green, gold-green or bluish green. The rear wings are slightly translucent in the middle , the upper side is blackish gray, the anal fold is more densely scaled and has a characteristic shine. The undersides of the wings are dark gray and dull.
In the males, the ventral edge of the valve is covered with a short tooth halfway to the tip. The vinculum has a heavily sclerotized saccus plate . The aedeagus has an everted bladder, two-thirds of which is occupied in the ventral area with a bundle of slender, pointed needles. A small area with tiny needles is located dorsally , and another distal to the needle bundle. The 8th abdominal sternite is trapezoidal, very narrow distally and has a slightly lobed posterior edge. It extends beyond the rear edge of the segment.
In females, the ostium is wide and elliptical. The ductus bursae is horn-shaped, broad and heavily sclerotic at the base. Distally it is less sclerotized and curved. It is translucent, kinked and twisted. The corpus bursae is egg-shaped and has distinctive needles on the inside. The last abdominal sternite is not scaly so that the ostium is visible.
The egg is yellowish green.
The caterpillar is yellow and drawn with dark gray lines. The body of the caterpillar is provided with small multi-spiny tubercles that appear as black dots at low magnification. The warts on the back are yellow, on the side and belly they are gray-yellow and covered with long white and short brown bristles. The head is black, the prothoracic segment is black-brown. The peritrema - a ring-shaped sclerite that surrounds the breathing openings - is black-brown. The last abdominal segment is drawn with three black dots.
The doll is brown and shiny. The cocoon is white, loosely spun and spindle-shaped.
Similar species
In Europe, Jordanita tenuicornis and Jordanita chloros are similar in size and wing shape. The former is endemic in southern Italy and in Sicily where J. graeca is not found. In the latter species, the thorax and base of the forewing shimmer blue, the remaining part of the upper side of the forewing is golden-green, brown-green or yellowish-green.
The Jordanita anatolica and small Adscita obscura specimens, which are native to Turkey and Iran, are similar to J. graeca . J. graeca can only distinguish the first-named species genitally morphologically , the latter has club-shaped antennae.
Specimens of Jordanita syriaca habitually resemble J. graeca . The latter type does not occur in Syria , Lebanon or Israel . Both types can be distinguished genitally morphologically.
Subspecies
Despite the considerable geographic variability, only two subspecies have been described in the Western Palearctic :
Specimens of the subspecies Jordanita graeca graeca (Jordan, 1907) from Slovakia and Hungary are medium-sized and emerald green , those from the Croatian coast are larger, the males sometimes shimmering bluish green, while the females always shimmering green. Greek specimens are large and dark golden green. The largest specimens occur in the Peloponnese region and in the Taygetos Mountains.
The specimens of the subspecies Jordanita graeca sultana (Alberti, 1937) are smaller and have more translucent hind wings than the specimens from Greece and southwestern Turkey.
distribution
The distribution area of Jordanita graeca extends from the south of Slovakia via Hungary, the Balkan Peninsula , Rhodes and Cyprus to the south of Russia and the Ukraine , as well as to Transcaucasia , Turkey , Iran and the north of Iraq . The subspecies Jordanita graeca graeca is distributed from the south of Slovakia via Hungary and the Ukraine to the south-west of Turkey. Jordanita graeca sultana occurs in the Crimea , in the middle and south of Turkey and in Armenia . Dry grasslands in the plains and rocky slopes are settled.
biology
The females lay the eggs one by one in the fluff of the underside of the leaf so that - depending on the type of plant - they are barely visible. 10 to 15 eggs the females lay their eggs interrupt to the flowers of knapweed species to suck. The caterpillars of the subspecies J. g. graeca live on the Malta knapweed ( Centaurea melitensis ) and on Cirsium creticum . Those of the subspecies J. g. sultana on the solstice knapweed ( Centaurea solstitialis ), on the split knapweed ( Centaurea salonitana ), on Carduus arabicus , Carduus uncinatus , Jurinea sordida and Xeranthemum annuum . The caterpillars pupate in a white, loosely spun cocoon in the ground under the forage plant. The moths fly from May (Crimea and south-western Turkey) to July (central and eastern Turkey).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e C. M. Naumann, WG Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae . 1st edition. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 87-88757-15-3 , pp. 134 (English).
- ^ Gerhard Tarmann: Contribution to the zygaenid fauna of the island of Rhodes (Lepidoptera). In: Journal of the Association of Austrian Entomologists. 35: 10-12 (1983).
literature
- CM Naumann, WG Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae . 1st edition. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 87-88757-15-3 (English).
Web links
- Jordanita Graeca at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 7, 2011