Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly

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Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly
Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly (Fabriciana niobe)

Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly ( Fabriciana niobe )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Noble butterfly (Nymphalidae)
Subfamily : Heliconiinae
Genre : Fabriciana
Type : Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly
Scientific name
Fabriciana niobe
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Underside of the wings

The middle mother-of-pearl butterfly ( Fabriciana niobe , syn .: Argynnis niobe ) is a butterfly (day butterfly ) from the family of the noble butterfly (Nymphalidae). The specific epithet is derived from Niobe , a Greek female name from Greek mythology .

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 45 to 50 millimeters. The wing tops are orange with black spots and transverse bands as well as a dark wing edge. The undersides of the wings are colored light orange to light yellow with small mother-of-pearl spots in the basal half. The caterpillar has a dark basic color with small, white spots and white thorns with red-orange roots.

The form A. niobe f. eris has no silver spots on the underside of the hind wings and mostly occurs in higher altitudes and sometimes only flies there. The intermediate form is called f. called intermedia . The darkened form of the females f. obscura is not uncommon.

  • Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly

  • △ Middle mother-of-pearl butterfly

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The reddish yellow egg has 16 longitudinal ribs. The brown caterpillar has a white, black-edged dorsal stripe, dark side stripes and white spots on the side. It has reddish-white thorns. The head is rusty yellow. The brownish doll has small metallic tips on the back.

Similar species

Occurrence

The species occurs all over Europe up to the 62nd parallel. It is absent in southern Spain, as well as in Great Britain and Ireland. It occurs over Asia Minor, the Middle East and other areas of Asia to the Amur. It lives on the edges of the forest, clearings and on grasslands near the forest.

Germany

In Germany the species has a strongly declining development and only occurs like islands. In Baden-Württemberg it occurs in the Black Forest , in the Swabian Alb in two places on the northern edge of the Middle Kuppenalb and in one south of it. Sites around Isny and Tettnang are known from the Allgäu . Occasionally, the butterfly was also found on the Kaiserstuhl at the beginning of the 20th century .

The middle mother-of-pearl also lives in sandy open land. It mainly inhabits coastal dunes, grasslands, heaths and inland dunes. These are the most important habitats today. There is a nationwide distribution focus on the East Frisian islands.

Way of life

The species produces a generation in Central Europe that flies from late June to early September. The little caterpillars overwinter fully developed inside the egg shell and feed on various violets .

Danger

The Red Data Book of European Butterflies (Rhopalocera) from 1999 indicates the stock in Europe as stable. In Germany the species is classified as critically endangered (2), also in Bavaria in the Alps and the Alpine foothills.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert S. De Moya et al .: Interrelationships and diversification of Argynnis (Fabricius) and Speyeria (Scudder) butterflies . In: Systematic Entomology . tape 42 , 2017, p. 635-649 , doi : 10.1111 / syen.12236 .
  2. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 29 .
  3. ^ A b Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 2: Butterflies. (Rhopalocera and Hesperiidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1955, DNB 456642188 , pp. 68-69.
  4. ↑ Tagfalter I (Knight's Butterfly (Papilionidae), Whiteflies (Pieridae), Edelfalter (Nymphalidae)) . In: Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (eds.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . tape 1 . Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3451-9 , p. 432 .
  5. ↑ Detlef Kolligs: Butterflies of Northern Germany. Wachholtz-Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-529-07329-8 .
  6. ↑ Chris AM van Swaay & Martin S. Warren: Red Data Book of European Butterflies (Rhopalocera). In: Nature and Environment. No. 99, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg 1999, p. 43.
  7. ^ Red list of endangered butterflies in Bavaria. (PDF; 74 kB) In: Red List. Bavarian State Office for the Environment, 2003, p. 219 , accessed on June 3, 2012 .

Web links

Commons : Middle Mother of Pearl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files