Small buckthorn tensioner

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Small buckthorn tensioner
Philereme vetulata1.jpg

Small buckthorn spanner ( Philereme vetulata )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Spanner (Geometridae)
Subfamily : Larentiinae
Genre : Philereme
Type : Small buckthorn tensioner
Scientific name
Philereme vetulata
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)

The Little Buckthorn Spanner ( Philereme vetulata , Syn .: Philereme vetustata ) is a butterfly from the Spanner family (Geometridae). The species name is derived from the Latin word vetulus meaning "elderly" and refers to the gray color of the moths.

features

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 24 to 30 millimeters. There is no difference in color between the sexes. The color of all wings is gray to gray-brown over the entire surface. Several dark cross lines can only be seen indistinctly. At the edge of the fore and hind wing upper side a black-brown line formed from thin lines stands out. The outer edge of the hind wings is wavy. On the washed-out gray-brown underside of the wing there is a small black-brown discoid spot on each wing .

Caterpillar

Adult caterpillars are colored blue-gray to black. They show double whitish back lines and yellow flanks, from which black spots stand out on each body segment.

Similar species

In the great buckthorn spider ( Philereme transversata ) and in the great barberry spider ( Hydria cervinalis ), the discal region on the upper side of the forewing stands out in a strongly darkened manner.

distribution and habitat

The distribution area of ​​the small buckthorn spanner extends from south-western Europe and the British Isles across central and eastern Europe to the Altai . In the north it extends to central Sweden , in the south from Italy to the Balkan Peninsula , and to the east as far as the Caucasus and the Amur region . The main habitat are bushy forest edges, floodplain trees, heather areas, stony slopes as well as gardens and parklands. In the southern Alps , the species rises to heights of 1300 meters.

Way of life

Purgier buckthorn, the food plant of the caterpillars

The moths are mostly nocturnal and fly in one generation from June to August. At night they sometimes appear in large numbers from artificial light sources . The egg is deposited on the bark of the food plant, where it also hibernates. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of Purgier buckthorn ( Rhamnus cathartica ) in spring . They use the leaves to make characteristic leaf bags with cavities in which they hide and live on strong bushes as well as on small saplings in the dark undergrowth. Sometimes the literature also mentions buckthorn ( Rhamnus alnus ) as a food plant, which may be confused. The main reason for the probable non-use of this plant is that its young leaves are already quite stiff and cannot be spun together to form a cavity.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arnold Spuler : The butterflies of Europe , Volume 2, E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 1910, p. 37
  2. ↑ Distribution worldwide
  3. ↑ Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke, Bernd Müller: We determine butterflies. Volume 4: Spanner. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1976, DNB 780451570 , pp. 104/105
  4. ↑ Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 5: Spanner. (Geometridae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-440-04951-5 , p. 82
  5. ↑ a b Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. 1st edition. Volume 8. Moth VI. Geometridae 1 Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3497-7 , pp. 428-430
  6. ↑ Hans Malicky , Rouhollah Sobhian & Helmut Zwölfer: Investigations on the possibilities of a biological control of Rhamnus cathartica L. in Canada: Host ranges, feeding sites, and phenology of insects associated with European Rhamnaceae , Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 65, 1970, p 77-97
  7. ↑ Erwin Rennwald: Kleiner Kreuzdornspanner, food of the caterpillars. In: Lepiforum e. V. [1]

literature

  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. 1st edition. Volume 8. Moth VI. Geometridae 1 Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3497-7
  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 5/1: Spanner. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1955, DNB 450378403

Web links

Commons : Kleiner Kreuzdornspanner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files