Jordanita tenuicornis

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Jordanita tenuicornis
Jordanita tenuicornis, male

Jordanita tenuicornis , male

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Ram (Zygaenidae)
Subfamily : Green ram (Procridinae)
Genre : Jordanita
Type : Jordanita tenuicornis
Scientific name
Jordanita tenuicornis
( Zeller , 1847)

Jordanita tenuicornis is a butterfly fromthe ram family (Zygaenidae). The epithet is made up of the words "tenuis" for thin and "cornu" for horn and indicates the thin antennae of the species.

features

The moths reach a forewing length of 10.0 to 12.8 millimeters in the males and 8.0 to 10.8 millimeters in the females. The head, thorax and the proximal part of the legs shimmer green, the abdomen shimmers bluish green or blue. The forehead ( frons ) is about 1.5 times wider than the compound eyes . The antennae shimmer blue or bluish green and consist of 35 segments in Sicily and 48 segments in Abruzzo . The antennae is a little slimmer at the base. The upper side of the forewings shimmers green or bluish green. The hind wing is dark gray and slightly translucent . The undersides of the wings are gray. The front edge of the rear wing is covered with shiny metallic scales .

In the males, the valves have a ventral process of variable length, which is - based on the total length - at a distance of 1/3 from the tip. The process arises at the distal end of the saccule. The ventral edge of the valves has small teeth distal to this process. The vinculum has a short, heavily sclerotized and distally rounded saccus plate. The aedeagus is five times longer than it is wide. There are no spines on the bladder, just a small area of ​​tiny triangular needles. The 8th abdominal sternite is triangular to trapezoidal and distally bilobed. It extends slightly past the rear edge of the segment.

In females, the ostium is asymmetrical with respect to the abdomen axis. The edges are wavy due to the heavily sclerotized 8th sternite. The latter is clearly visible through the characteristic indentation on the rear edge of the 7th abdominal sternite. The antrum is translucent, grooved and short. The translucent ductus bursae has a broad base and is grooved. Distally, it is narrower and sharply bent. The corpus bursae is egg-shaped, the inner side is covered with tiny triangular needles.

The egg is greenish yellow.

The caterpillar , pupa and cocoon have not yet been described.

Similar species

There are no species sympatric with J. tenuicornis . Jordanita globulariae is larger, has wider wings, the hind wings are lighter and more translucent. Jordanita graeca has a very similar habitus , but does not occur in the middle or south of Italy or in Sicily. J. tenuicornis can be distinguished genitally morphologically from the two similar species .

Subspecies

The subspecies J. t. tenuicornis (Zeller, 1847) is smaller than the subspecies J. t. turatii and has a short valve process. The subspecies J. t. turatii (Bartel, 1906) is larger than the nominate subspecies and has a longer ventral valve process.

distribution

Jordanita tenuicornis is endemic to central and southern Italy and Sicily. The subspecies J. t. tenuicornis occurs in southern Italy and Sicily. The subspecies J. t. turatii is native to central Italy . The species inhabits meadows and roadsides with thistle vegetation .

biology

The females lay the eggs individually in the fluff of the underside of the leaf in a similar way to Jordanita subsolana and Jordanita graeca . The caterpillars of the subspecies J. t. turatii develop on golden thistle ( Carlina vulgaris ) and on the knapweed species Centaurea ambigua . The adult caterpillars of the subspecies J. t. tenuicornis mines in the leaves of the field thistle ( Cirsium arvense ) and various types of knapweed. The moths fly in Sicily from April and in the Italian mountains until July. They are characterized by a very fast flight.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fritz Clemens Werner: Word elements of Latin-Greek technical terms in the biological sciences. Suhrkamp, ​​1972, ISBN 3-518-36564-9 .
  2. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe. 2nd volume. E. Schweitzerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1910, p. 167.
  3. ↑ 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. 137 (English).

literature

  • CM Naumann, WG Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae . 1st edition. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 87-88757-15-3 (English).
  • Philipp Christoph Zeller: Comments on the butterfly species observed on a trip to Italy and Sicily. Isis 1847 (first description)

Web links