Jordanita minutissima
| Jordanita minutissima | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Jordanita minutissima | ||||||||||||
| ( Oberthür , 1916) |
Jordanita minutissima is a butterfly fromthe ram family (Zygaenidae).
features
Both sexes reach a fore wing length of 6.5 to 7.0 millimeters. The head, thorax , legs and abdomen shimmer gold-green and are densely scaled , but not hairy. The sensors consist of 32 to 38 segments and are very short. They have a thick shaft and are long combed at the top. The comb forms an acute angle to the probe shaft and can hardly be seen without optical aids. The tip of the antennae is blunt. The antenna shaft is thicker distally . In the females, the antennae are serrated twice, the teeth are slightly longer distally . The upper side of the forewing shimmers golden green, is densely scaled and slightly translucent . The upper side of the hind wing is light gray and slightly translucent proximally . The undersides of the wings are light gray and do not have shiny scales.
In the male, the aedeagus has a triangular, pointed cornutus. The 8th sternite of the abdomen is crescent-shaped and covers only the anterior part of the segment. Sometimes it extends to the rear edge.
The ostium of the females is wide, the funnel-shaped antrum has a smooth surface and is heavily sclerotized proximally . Distally it is grooved and translucent. The ductus bursae is very short, slightly curved and translucent. The corpus bursae is egg-shaped. The genitals of the females are almost identical to those of Jordanita algirica , but smaller.
The dark gray caterpillar has a glossy black head, the prothoracic plate is also black and tapers in front. The integument is provided with single or multi-pronged tubercles that appear as black dots when viewed with the naked eye. A whitish wavy line runs between the gray-brown dorsal and subdorsal warts. The black-brown warts on the back are fused together and triangular in shape. The bristles are whitish gray.
Egg, pupa and cocoon have not yet been described.
Similar species
In northeast Algeria , J. minutissima occurs sympatric with Jordanita algirica . The similar species is slightly larger and has longer antennae. The cornutus of the Vesica is not triangular, but harpoon-like and has a slimmer and longer tip. As in J. minutissima, the 8th sternite only covers the front part of the segment, but its size and shape are variable. The rear edge usually has the shape of an inverse "W". There are no genital morphological differences in the females .
Jordanita carolae is usually larger than J. minutissima . The similar species has longer antennae, the bluish or bluish green coloring of the body and the upper surface of the forewings is constant. The cornutus of the vesica is clearly different, it is not triangular and not pointed. The 8th sternite is trapezoidal and covers the last abdominal segment. The females can only be distinguished genitally morphologically. The distribution of Jordanita carolae is limited to areas of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco in which J. minutissima does not occur.
distribution
Jordanita minutissima is common in Algeria in the Sahara Atlas and in the Massif de l'Aurès .
biology
The host plant is unknown. It is assumed that J. minutissima, like all other species of the subgenus Gregorita, lives on safflower ( Carthamus ) or spherical thistle species ( Echinops ) in North Africa . The moths fly from May to June.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d C. M. Naumann, WG Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae . 1st edition. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 87-88757-15-3 , pp. 125 (English).
literature
- CM Naumann, WG Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae . 1st edition. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 87-88757-15-3 (English).