White L

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White L
White L (Mythimna (Hyphilare) l-album)

White L ( Mythimna (Hyphilare) l-album )

Systematics
Superfamily : Noctuoidea
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Hadeninae
Genre : Mythimna
Subgenus : Hyphilar
Type : White L
Scientific name
Mythimna (Hyphilare) l-album
( Linnaeus , 1767)

The white L ( Mythimna (Hyphilare) l-album ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 29 to 37 mm. The front wings are elongated with a pointed tip (apex). Their color varies from pale to olive-gray. A white “L” in the middle of the forewings is very characteristic. The name comes from this drawing. There is always a black root welt. In contrast, a light diagonal stripe that leads to the apex is not always clearly pronounced. The wing veins are white, especially in the distal part of the wing. The hemline shows a series of small black triangles (arrow spots), which are followed by a light line on the outside. The discal spots are only indistinctly developed. The hind wings are light gray, often a little darker in females. The undersides of both pairs of wings are light gray with a slight iridescence .

egg

The roughly spherical egg is slightly flattened above and below. The outer wall is somewhat irregular with a fine pit structure. After being laid, it is initially yellow-white, then becomes darker and is reddish-yellow shortly before the caterpillar hatches.

Caterpillar

The yellowish-brown caterpillar has a thin, light, black-lined back line. The secondary lines of the back are black and are accompanied by a light line towards the abdomen. The broad side lines are gray and not clearly set off. The animals have small, black point warts. The head is light brown with two curved lines, the top of the head shows three light longitudinal lines.

Doll

The doll is stocky and red-brown. The cremaster is short and has small bristles.

Geographical distribution and habitat

The species is distributed from North Africa across Western, Central and Southern Europe to the Middle East and Central Asia. The distribution limit in the north fluctuates. It also occurs as a migratory butterfly on the northern edge of the distribution area , but the species now seems to be indigenous to southern England, Denmark and southern Scandinavia. The distribution limit then runs from the Baltic Sea across the Baltic States, further south from Moscow to the Urals.

The species occurs mainly in slightly more humid, but also dry and warm areas with grassy areas. It prefers sunlit, semi-arid lawns in abandoned vineyards, abandoned garden areas, scree fields and embankments as well as settlement areas with appropriate vegetation. The statement in many older books that the species is most commonly found in wetlands does not apply to Baden-Württemberg at least. In the Alps, the species rises up to 1600 m. However, it is absent in the highest areas of the low mountain range (in the Black Forest about 800 m).

Way of life

The species forms two generations a year, the moths fly from May to July and August to October. The moths are nocturnal and come to light; they can also be baited. They have been observed suckling nectar on the flowers of the common ivy ( Hedera helix ), buddleia ( Buddleja ), knotweed ( Fallopia aubertii ), reed ( Phragmites australis ) and Canadian goldenrod ( Solidago canadensis ). It is interesting to note that the moths visited the flowers of the blue pipe grass ( Molinia caerulea ) when it was attacked by ergot fungi ( claviceps ). The eggs are laid in rows in the folded leaves of grass. The caterpillars hatch within two weeks. The caterpillars are found from October to May and from July and August. They are initially also diurnal and feed on

The half-adult caterpillar overwinters. After overwintering, the caterpillars are exclusively nocturnal. It pupates in a cocoon on the ground. The puppet rest takes about three weeks.

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxon was first scientifically described by Carl von Linné in 1767 as Phalaena Noctua l-album . The species was often assigned to the genus Hyphilare Hübner, 1821 in older works . After that it was almost exclusively assigned to the genus Mythimna . In the most recent works, Hyphilare Hübner, 1821, is placed as a sub-genus of Mythimna Ochsenheimer, 1816 and the species is referred to as Mythimna (Hyphilare) l-album .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hacker et al. (2002: p. 194)
  2. ↑ a b c Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971: p. 98/9)
  3. ↑ Ebert and Steiner (1998: p. 281)
  4. ↑ Ahola & Silvonen (2009)
  5. ^ Carl von Linné: Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. 12th edition, Stockholm 1758 Online at SUB Göttingen (description of the type p. 850)
  6. ↑ Bergmann (1954: pp. 372/3, 376–378)

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 4/2: Owls. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1954, DNB 450378381 .
  • Günter Ebert, Axel Steiner: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg , Volume 7, Nachtfalter V (Owls (Noctuidae) 3rd part), Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-3500-0
  • 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 87-89430-07-7
  • Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 3: Owls of Germany. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1958, DNB 452481937 .

Web links

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