Big kingfisher
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Great Kingfisher ( Limenitis populi ) |
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| Limenitis populi | ||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The great kingfisher ( Limenitis populi ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the noble butterfly family (Nymphalidae). The specific epithet is derived from Populus ( poplars ), a genus of plants whose leaves serve as food for the caterpillars .
Occurrence
The large kingfisher, which is rarely found, is considerably larger than the small kingfisher ( Limenitis camilla ) and one of the largest butterflies in Germany. It occurs in sparse deciduous forests where aspens ( Populus tremula ) or black poplars ( Populus nigra ) grow, as the caterpillar only feeds on the leaves of these tree species. Larger open areas are avoided. In Switzerland it mainly inhabits floodplain biotopes . Mostly the males can be seen, because the females often stay at the height of the treetops and rarely fly down to the ground.
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 70 to 75 millimeters, with the sexes hardly differing in size. The upper side of the wing is of a dark brown basic color and shows white spots. The females have pronounced wide white bands over the hind wings, which are bordered by orange and blue bands. In the males this pattern is narrower and weaker or can be almost completely absent. The underside of the wing is orange and clearly contoured with a white band of separated cells and a blue-gray border region.
Dorsal view ♂
△ Anterior view ♂
Big kingfisher
Limenitis populi , ♀
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Way of life
Like the somewhat similar Great Schiller Butterfly, the moths like to visit damp places and are attracted by smells emanating from carrion or excrement. They also suck on tree sap, on the ground or on sweat with their proboscis and in this way absorb minerals that are required to achieve reproductive capacity. They do not look for flowers.
development
The forage plants are aspens, and occasionally black poplars on warm, sheltered slopes. There the green eggs are deposited individually at the top of a leaf tip at a height of ½ m to 3 m in early July.
After about two weeks, the caterpillars hatch and leave their characteristic feeding pattern with a recessed central vein on the gnawed leaves. As early as August, the young caterpillar (L3) makes its winter nest (hibernarium) from a cut out and rolled up leaf. In this it survives the cold season and comes out again before the leaves break out.
The green caterpillar has brown and blackish shades. The head is red-brown, the sides are black. It now eats the leaf buds first, then the new leaves. Pupation takes place in June in a lightly woven leaf. The moth hatches after about two weeks.
Flight time
The flight time is usually from June to the end of July. Some moths fly as early as May.
natural reserve
The great kingfisher, which has become rare, is under nature protection . The species is mainly endangered by cutting down the forage plant.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 15 .
literature
- Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke: We identify butterflies. 3. Edition. Neumann, Radebeul 1991, ISBN 3-7402-0092-8 .
Web links
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Limenitis populi in Fauna Europaea