Copper mother

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Copper mother
Copper mother hen (Gastropacha quercifolia)

Copper mother hen ( Gastropacha quercifolia )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Huckling (Lasiocampidae)
Subfamily : Lasiocampinae
Genre : Gastropacha
Type : Copper mother
Scientific name
Gastropacha quercifolia
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The copper hen ( Gastropacha quercifolia ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the mother hen (Lasiocampidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 52 to 65 millimeters. They have wings that are very similar to a dry leaf. The wings are red-brown in color, in young animals they also have a purple sheen. There are several fine, gray serrated bands on them. The edge of the wing is wavy. They have a noticeably elongated, nose-like mouth area.

The caterpillars are 100 millimeters long and are strongly flattened. They have brownish or gray hair on the sides. Broad, brownish diagonal stripes run across the sides and back. On the second and third segments there are folds of skin from which black-blue hair pads can be turned out. The penultimate segment shows a clear hump on the back. Young caterpillars do not yet have hair on the skin folds and you can see the orange-colored stripes there, which are later covered.

  • Eggs

  • Caterpillar (L1)

  • Caterpillar (L2)

  • Caterpillar (L3)

  • Caterpillar (L4)

  • Caterpillar (L4), the black-blue hair pads protrude

Similar species

Occurrence

The animals are locally widespread in Europe , except on the Iberian Peninsula , the north-east of Great Britain and the far north, east to Japan. They live in different habitats of forests , on the edge of moors , in alluvial forests , on bushy dry grass , on hedges and in orchards . Their populations are strongly declining and they have already disappeared in many places.

Way of life

In their resting position, the moths push their hind wings out from under the forewings. The caterpillars hatch in late summer. By winter they reach a length of approx. 20 millimeters, the wintering takes place nestled close to branches. They pupate in May or June of the following year in a gray web on branches of the forage plants.

Flight and caterpillar times

The species flies in one generation from mid-June to mid-August, depending on climatic conditions. Late individual finds are also possible until mid-September. The caterpillars can be found from mid-March to late May. In some cases, larval development can drag on until the end of June.

Food of the caterpillars

The caterpillars feed primarily on the leaves of sloe ( Prunus spinosa ), but also on fruit trees such as apples ( Malus ), pears ( Pyrus ) and shrubs such as single hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna ), mountain ash ( Sorbus aucuparia ) and buckthorn ( Frangula alnus ).

Hazard and protection

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Heiko Bellmann : The new cosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 82.
  2. ↑ Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths. Weirdos and hawkers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 , p. 78ff.
  3. ↑ Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1994. ISBN 3-8001-3474-8
  4. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 978-3-89624-110-8

literature

Web links

Commons : Kupferglucke  - album with pictures, videos and audio files