White-spot grass owl

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White-spot grass owl
White-spot grass owl (Mythimna conigera)

White-spot grass owl ( Mythimna conigera )

Systematics
Superfamily : Noctuoidea
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Hadeninae
Genre : Mythimna
Subgenus : Mythimna
Type : White-spot grass owl
Scientific name
Mythimna conigera
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)

The white-spotted grass owl ( Mythimna conigera ), also known as the bush grass-spotted owl or yellow-brown reed-grass owl, is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterfly (Noctuidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 31 to 38 millimeters. The basic color of the fore wings is yellowish, orange, reddish ocher yellow, light brown, light gray brown to red brown. The apex of the relatively slender fore wings is pointed, the tornus, however, broadly rounded. The inner and outer transverse lines are drawn in a sharp dark brown. Heat forms produce strong yellow-red colored specimens, cold forms rather dark yellow-gray-brown colored specimens with strong markings.

The outer transverse line runs approximately parallel to the outer edge with a sharp bend back at the costal edge . The inner transverse line shows a very distinctive, approximately central, pointed, triangular curve towards the outer edge, slightly shifted towards the inner edge. The kidney defect is surrounded by a diffuse, slightly darker edge. The proximal part is often drawn a little lighter. Towards the inner edge of the kidney blemishes, there is an elongated, triangular, white spot along the R vein. The ring blemish is usually absent; it can occasionally be seen as a small, bright elliptical spot. The wing veins are usually highlighted in dark brown, especially in the border area between the outer transverse line and the border line they are designed as thin fine lines. The hem line is indicated as a thin line or a row of dots. On some specimens, instead of the wavy line, a slightly darker shadow is formed in the fringe area. The fringes are kept in the basic color.

The hind wings are light gray-brown with a light brownish tint. They become a little darker towards the outer edge, the fringes are again a little lighter.

The comparatively compact caterpillar is yellow-brown with a dark-lined, light back line. The secondary back lines are drawn in black, delimited by a white line on the ventral side. The side stripes are drawn yellow-gray, the spiracles black. The relatively large head is yellow-brown in color with two black longitudinal lines on either side of the center and a dot pattern. The adult caterpillar becomes 35 to 40 millimeters long.

The doll is yellow-brown, the cremaster has two diverging pointed bristles.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The species occurs from the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles in the west across southern, central, northern and eastern Europe via Siberia to the Russian Far East and Japan . In northern Europe the area extends to about central Fennoscandia , in southern Europe to central Spain with an isolated occurrence in the Sierra Nevada (southern Spain), Sardinia, Sicily and northern Greece. In Asia Minor, the occurrence is limited to northeast Turkey. It occurs in the Transcausus area in Azerbaijan and Armenia, but is absent in Northern Iran. In Central Asia, the distribution area extends into the (West) Himalayas.

The species prefers open, rather moist to semi-arid biotopes such as slopes and leanings, abandoned vineyards, orchards, roadsides, railroad and flood dams, embankments, forest edges, quarries and gravel pits, peripheral locations on lakes and rivers, wet meadows, bushland, grassy ruderal areas, probably also little mowed, extensively used gardens and parks. The species is very local but can be very common in favorable habitats. In the Alps it rises up to 2000 meters, in the Central Asian mountains to over 3000 meters.

Way of life

The white-spot grass owl forms one generation per year, the moths of which fly from mid-June to August, and occasionally into September. They are mostly nocturnal, but occasionally also fly during the day. At night they come to artificial light sources and can be baited. They usually visit the flowers of numerous herbaceous plants at dusk and at night. The eggs are laid in folded grass leaves in one or two rows. The egg time to hatch takes about two weeks. The caterpillars feed on various sweet grasses (Poaceae), more rarely on herbaceous plants such as z. B. Rumex and Fragaria , occasionally even leaves from trees. They are nocturnal and hide in the vegetation during the day. The following host plants are mentioned in the literature:

The half-adult caterpillar overwinters and continues to develop in the spring of the following year. It pupates in May in a loosely spun cocoon on the ground.

Systematics and taxonomy

The species was first scientifically described in 1775 by Michael Denis and Johann Ignaz Schiffermüller as Noctua conigera . The types came from the area around Vienna and are lost today. In the past, the species was also assigned to other genera, so that it can also be found in the literature in the following combinations: Sideridis conigera , Leucania conigera , Aletia conigera and Conithimna conigera . Aletia Hübner, 1821. Leucania Ochsenheimer, 1816 and Sideridis Hübner, 1821 are other genera to which conigera cannot be placed. It is the type species of the genus Conithimna Beck, 1999, which, however, is regarded as a younger synonym of Mythimna . Some authors divide the genus Mythimna into several sub-genera. In this structure, conigera is placed in the nominate sub-genus Mythimna (Mythimna) . There are currently two subspecies:

  • Mythimna conigera conigera , the nominate subspecies, in most of the distribution area
  • Mythimna conigera angulifera (Moore, 1881), western Himalaya, darker hind wings, darker kidney flaws, less clearly drawn transverse lines on the forewings

Danger

The white-spot grass owl is not considered endangered in Germany.

supporting documents

literature

  • Matti Ahola and Kimmo Silvonen: Larvae of Northern European Noctuidae. Vol. 2. 672 pp., 2008, ISBN 978-952-92-2888-1
  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 4/1: Owls. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1954, DNB 450378373 .
  • Günter Ebert, Axel Steiner: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg , Volume 7, Nachtfalter V (Owls (Noctuidae) 3rd part), Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-800-13500-0
  • Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
  • Hermann Hacker, László Ronkay & Márton Hreblay: Noctuidae Europaeae vol. 4 Hadeninae I . Entomological Press, Sorø 2002, ISBN 87-894-30-07-7
  • Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 3: Owls. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1972, DNB 760072930 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Red List at Science4you
  2. ↑ a b c d e Hacker et al. (2002: p. 172/3).
  3. ↑ Bergmann (1954: pp. 381-3).
  4. ↑ a b c Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971: p. 97).
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Ahola & Silvonen (2009: p. 433).
  6. ↑ Fernández J .; Cifuentes J .; Romera L .; Alcobendas M .; Viejo JL: Los Noctuidae de Madrid (España) I: Subfamilias Pantheinae, Eariinae, Cloephorinae, Sarrothripinae, Nolinae, Herminiinae, Hypeninae, Gonopterinae, Calpinae, Catocalinae, Eustrotiinae. SHILAP Revista de Lepidopterología, 33 (132): 467-485, 2005, ISSN  0300-5267 PDF .
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ebert and Steiner (1998: pp. 257–260).
  8. ^ UK Moths - Ian Kimber website
  9. ^ Michael Denis and Johann Ignaz Schiffermüller: Systematic directory of butterflies in the Vienna region. 322 S., Bernardi, Vienna 1776 Online at GDZ - Göttinger Digitization Center (The work Announcement of a systematic work on the butterflies of the Vienna region by Michael Denis and Johann Ignaz Schiffermüller from 1775 is an identical preprint of the digitized work from 1776) (Description from Geometra pallidata on p. 110).
  10. ↑ Natural History Museum - Butterflies and Moths of the World Generic Names and their Type-species .

Web links

Commons : White-Spotted Grass Owl  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files