Pfaffenhütchen web moth
| Pfaffenhütchen web moth | ||||||||||||
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Needle-punched specimen of the Pfaffenhütchen moth |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Yponomeuta cagnagella | ||||||||||||
| ( Huebner , 1813) |
The eucoat spider moth ( Yponomeuta cagnagella ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of spider moths and bud moths (Yponomeutidae).
features
The Pfaffenhütchen web moth is a very small butterfly with a wingspan of 18 to 24 millimeters. The head and the attachments are white. The thorax and the scales on the wing joint of the mesothorax ( tegulae ) are white and, as in the plum web moth ( Yponomeuta padella ), have black dots. Hind wings, legs and abdomen are colored as in Y. padella .
The eggs are rounded and flattened. They are colored yellow at first and then turn brown.
The caterpillars from this species complex are light brown and have a yellow-brown head.
The pupae are evenly brown, mostly the last three abdominal segments are darker. The cremaster and bristles are similar to those of Y. padella .
Similar species
Yponomeuta cagnagella both from habit and from genitalmorphologischen features of little Yponomeuta padella , Yponomeuta malinellus and Yponomeuta rorella to distinguish. The pre-imaginal stages also show only minor differences. The independence of the above-mentioned species was proven by Menken in 1980. The ephemeral moth can be distinguished from Y. padella and Y. malinellus on the basis of the white front wings with the white terminal fringes.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The species is widespread in Europe and is found mainly on calcareous soils where the food plants thrive.
Way of life
The Pfaffenhütchen web moth forms one generation per year, whose moths fly from July to August. However, the animals are not yet sexually mature when they hatch. The females begin to attract the males after ten days at the earliest. The first copulation takes place on average after 15 days. The females copulate with several males. The spread is relatively small; the moths are very rarely found further than 100 m from the hatchery. They are attracted to artificial light sources.
The most important food crop of yponomeuta cagnagella the Common spindle tree ( Euonymus europaeus ), also called for the appearance of its fruit euonymus is referred to the well Yponomeuta irrorella occurs. The Japanese spindle bush ( Euonymus japonicus ) is also mentioned as a food plant. The eggs are laid in groups of 50 to 100 on the branches of the host plants.
The egg caterpillars usually overwinter and then mines in a terminal leaf in May of the following year, which wilts as a result. From May to June the caterpillars live gregariously in large, fine webs, with entire bushes often being covered and defoliated. The caterpillars gnaw the bark of the branches. They stop feeding about four to five days before pupation. The pupation takes place from June to July in a dense white collection dream. The vertically hanging cocoons are indistinct and separated from each other. They hatch 10 to 20 days after pupation.
Parasites
Various species of caterpillar flies (Tachinidae) parasitize on the larvae of the eelphorae moth : Bactromyia aurulenta (Meigen, 1824), Phryxe nemea (Meigen, 1824), Bessa parallela (Meigen, 1824) and Eurysthaea scutellaris (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1848).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Kaltenbach, Peter Victor Küppers: Kleinschmetterlinge. Verlag J. Neudamm-Neudamm, Melsungen 1987, ISBN 3-788-80510-2
- ↑ SBJ Menken: Allozym polymorphism and the speciation process in small ermine moths (Lepidoptera, Yponomeutidae). Studies in Yponomeuta 2nd Thesis, University of Leiden, 1980
- ↑ a b A. M. Emmet (Ed.): The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 3. Yponomeutidae, Roeslerstammiidae, Epermeniidae, Schreckensteiniidae, Coleophoridae, Elachistidae. Harley Books 1996, ISBN 0-946589-43-7
- ↑ a b Florian Altermatt, Adrian Baumeyer and Dieter Ebert: Experimental evidence for male biased flight-to-light behavior in two moth species. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 130: 259-265, 2009 doi : 10.1111 / j.1570-7458.2008.00817.x
- ^ KT Schütze: The biology of small butterflies with special consideration of their nutrient plants and times of appearance. Handbook of Microlepidoptera. Caterpillar calendar arranged according to the illustrated German Flora by H. Wagner. Frankfurt am Main (publishing house of the International Entomological Association) 1931 online in the Lepiforum
- ↑ R. Belshaw: Handbooks for the identification of British insects. Tachinid Flies (Diptera: Tachinidae). Vol. 10, Part 4a (i) The Royal Entomological Society of London (RES), 1993, ISBN 0-901546-81-X
Web links
- www.lepiforum.de
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Collection of the Natural History Museum Stockholm (Swedish)
- Guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland (English)
- Markku Savela: Lepidoptera and some other life forms (English)
- Yponomeuta cagnagella (Huebner 1813). Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed December 30, 2008 .