Small dice thick-headed butterfly

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Small dice thick-headed butterfly
Small cube-headed butterfly (Pyrgus malvae)

Small cube-headed butterfly ( Pyrgus malvae )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Thick-headed butterfly (Hesperiidae)
Subfamily : Pyrginae
Genre : Pyrgus
Type : Small dice thick-headed butterfly
Scientific name
Pyrgus malvae
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The small cube-thick-headed butterfly or Mallow-cube-shaped spot ( Pyrgus malvae ) is a butterfly from the family of the thick-headed butterfly (Hesperiidae). The specific epithet is derived from the plant species of the genus Malva ( mallow ), the leaves of which, in contrast to the mallow thick-headed butterfly, are not food for the caterpillars .

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 18 to 22 millimeters. The upper sides of the wings are colored brown to black-brown and have numerous white cube spots and a white and black interrupted edge. Small white spots further inside run parallel to this edge. The undersides of the hind wings are colored gray-brown and also have white spots. Sometimes there are specimens with extensive white spots on the forewings.

The caterpillars are about 19 millimeters long. They are colored yellow-green and have a delicate green topline. They are more yellow in color between the segments. Your head is black. Her whole body is covered with very short, white hair.

Similar species

Occurrence

The small cube-headed butterfly occurs in almost all of Europe , except in the far north, in parts of Turkey and Central Asia up to Korea up to an altitude of 1,900 meters. It can be found almost everywhere in Central Europe and is common, but the populations are declining. He lives in dry and warm areas, such as B. on dry grass , and rocky areas, but also in wetlands such. B. moors and damp litter meadows.

ecology

Within the genus Pyrgus , the small cube-thick head butterfly is the only relatively Euryok species. It is therefore less endangered in the population. It not only occurs strictly in warm and dry habitats like the other species of the genus, but colonizes forest clearings, sunlit forest roadsides, moors, poor and dry grasslands, large embankments and similar locations. The species has no microclimatic connection.

Flight times

The animals fly in one or sometimes two generations from May to early July or April to early June and late July to August.

Food of the caterpillars

The caterpillars feed exclusively on rose plants such as B. Reddish cinquefoil ( Potentilla heptaphylla ), common ormennig ( Agrimonia eupatoria ), more rarely also of small meadow button ( Sanguisorba minor ) and true meadowsweet ( Filipendula ulmaria ).

development

The females lay their spherical and strongly ribbed eggs one by one on the leaves or other parts of the forage plants. After hatching, the caterpillar spins a folded leaf and then lives in this dwelling, which is constantly being renewed and enlarged. It pupates on the ground next to the forage plant in a cocoon made from spun leaf remnants and spun threads . The animals overwinter in it. They rarely hatch in autumn.

Hazard and protection

  • Red list FRG: V (on the pre-warning list).

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 77 .
  2. ↑ 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. 110.
  3. ↑ a b Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and North West Africa , p. 251f, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Wagner 2005–2019: Pyrgus malvae, Ecology Profile
  5. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 978-3-896-24110-8

Web links

Commons : Kleiner Würfel-Dickkopfffalter  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files