Privet fanatics
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Privet hawk ( Sphinx ligustri ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sphinx ligustri | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
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The Sphinx Ligustri ( Sphinx ligustri ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of moth (Sphingidae).
description
Characteristics of the adults
The privet hawk is a large butterfly with a thick body about six centimeters long and a wingspan of 80 to 120 millimeters. The Latin name comes from the appearance of the caterpillars and their typical posture when they feel threatened. The front wings of the privet hawker are rust-brown with black veins and black-brown darkening. The hind wings are pink to red with black bands, the abdomen is spotted black and red. There are different color varieties. He has a black thorax drawing, by which he can be distinguished from the otherwise similar winch hawk .
Characteristics of the caterpillars
The caterpillar of the privet hawk is about 90 to 100 millimeters long when fully grown. It is bright green with seven white-pink to white-purple stripes and yellow dots. The actual head consists only of the foremost, flattened limb of the caterpillar. The three pairs of legs typical of insects can be seen below the head. In the middle there are four pairs of legs, the "caterpillar legs", at the end there is another pair of caterpillar legs, the pushers . The anal horn is light at the base, black and shiny towards the tip. The whole caterpillar resembles a rolled-up leaf, the anal horn the associated petiole. When the caterpillar is ready to pupate, it begins to run about restlessly and slowly turns brown on the back.
Characteristics of the doll
The large pupa has - like the flywarmers ( Agrius convolvuli ) - a proboscis sheath at the upper end, but not as pronounced as with the flywarmers.
Similar species
- Windwarmers ( Agrius convolvuli )
Subspecies
to:
- Sphinx ligustri amurensis Oberthür, 1886, Bull. Soc. Ent. France (6) 6:56.
- Sphinx ligustri nisseni Rothschild & Jordan , 1916, Novit. zool. 23: 253.
- Sphinx ligustri chishimensis Matsumura, 1929, Insecta Matsumurana 3: 165--168.
- Sphinx ligustri weryi Rungs, 1977, Alexanor 10: 187.
- Sphinx ligustri eichleri Eitschberger, Danner & Surholt, 1992, Atalanta, Würzburg 23: 245-247.
- Sphinx ligustri zolotuhini Eitschberger & Lukhtanov, 1996, Atalanta, Würzburg 27 (3-4): 615. This subspecies is smaller and there are no brown tones in the coloring of the upper wing surfaces of the forewings .
Flight time
The privet hawk flies in one generation in Northern Europe in June. In more southern areas, two generations are formed from April to May and August. The second generation may be incomplete depending on the climatic conditions.
Way of life
Doll
Usually in August or September, but also in July or October, the caterpillar digs into loose soil to pupate and hibernates in the ground until early summer. The metamorphosis to the moth takes around 36 days at 20 ° Celsius, if the temperature of 7 ° C was not exceeded beforehand. In order to trigger this at all, the doll necessarily needs a certain amount of frost over the winter. In very mild winters, the number of pupae that last for another year increases.
Caterpillar
The caterpillar prefers to live on privet , lilac and ash (all three from the olive family ). Other caterpillar forage plants are currants , raspberries , sparrows , Siberian pinnate sparrows , forest goat's beard , apple tree , common viburnum , honeysuckle and snowberries .
butterfly
The privet hawk can be found at the edges of the forest and in larger forest clearings as well as in open areas, gardens and parks. It is active from late dawn until late at night and flies to fragrant flowers. With a quick flap of its wings, it can stand in the air in front of the flower and suck the nectar with its almost body-length trunk . He is attracted by light sources. After mating, the female lays up to 200 eggs on the underside of the leaves of the host plant, usually singly, sometimes in groups of two or three. The larvae hatch after 9 to 20 days.
distribution
The privet hawk is widespread in Europe. Its distribution area extends in the west from Portugal and Spain to the Urals and western Siberia in the east. In the south it can be observed in Algeria , Morocco and Tunisia , as well as in the north of Turkey . In the north it is absent in Ireland and Scotland , as well as in northern Scandinavia. In the Mediterranean region, it is absent on Ibiza .
swell
Individual evidence
literature
- Wilhelm Eisenreich, Alfred Handel, Ute E. Zimmer: BLV animal and plant guide for on the go 18th edition. Munich 2001, ISBN 3-405-16170-3 .
- Sphinx ligustri , Carl von Linné , 1758, Systema Naturae , 10th edition, 1: 490 (not viewed)
- David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag, 1987, ISBN 3-8263-8139-4 .
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3474-8 .
- Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 .
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic. Harley Books, 1993, ISBN 0-946589-21-6 .
- Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths, Spinners and Swarmers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 .
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de Taxonomy and photos
- Sphingidae of the Western Palaearctic (English)
- www.arthropods.de
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Your Guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland (English)
- Sphinx ligustri at Fauna Europaea