Arrow owl
| Arrow owl | ||||||||||||
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Gray Dagger ( Acronicta psi ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Acronicta (Triaena) psi | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The arrow owl ( Acronicta psi ), also black owl , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).
features
The moths have a wingspan of 37 to 44 millimeters. The basic color of the forewings is light gray, rarely gray-brown to dark gray, but mostly gray with black over-dusting. The clearly pronounced root stroke and tornal stroke are very characteristic. Inner and outer transverse lines are drawn clearly and double black. In contrast, the central shadow can only be seen clearly at the rear and front edges of the forewing. The hemline is barely visible. The fringes are white to light gray with narrow, internural lines. Ring flaws and kidney flaws can be clearly seen in the area of the short, black intermediate flaw line. The hind wings of the male are white with dark gray markings of the veins, especially the distal parts. The hind wings of the female, however, are light gray at the base and darkening towards the outer edge. The central transverse line and the discal patch are only indistinctly developed. The hemline, on the other hand, is black, the fringes light gray with narrow internal lines. The underside of the fore and hind wings is gray, with the fore wing usually a little darker. The median transverse line and the discal spot are developed on the underside of the fore and hind wings; however, the middle transverse line on the hind wing is only weakly drawn. The head and thorax are individually colored in different light to dark gray. The moths of Acronicta psi cannot be clearly distinguished from the two similar species Acronicta tridens and Acronicta cuspis on the basis of external characteristics .
The flat cone-shaped egg is white with a black micropyl spot. The surface has weak longitudinal ribs. There are three orange wedge spots.
The caterpillars are about 38 millimeters long. They are black and have a wide and dominant yellow (young animals) or white (old animals) back band on their backs. In addition, they wear a whitish-gray side band and between the two bands, always in pairs on each segment, red to orange lines. On the back of the fourth segment, a noticeably high, black and hairy extension can be seen. On the eleventh segment there is another, much smaller, and conical cone, which is black and yellow at the front. The caterpillars have many white hairs and a few very long black hairs on the back.
The doll is red-brown with a truncated cone-like cremaster , which is circular with short, curved, thorn-like bristles.
Similar species
The moths of the alder arrow owl ( Acronicta cuspis ), the arrow owl ( Acronicta psi ) and the moths of the trident arrow owl ( Acronicta tridens ) are very similar. The following are listed as distinguishing features:
- The moths of A. cuspis and A. tridens are on average slightly larger, but the absolute size range is almost the same.
- The color nuances of the basic color differ slightly, A. cuspis often has a bluish tinge. The root line and the tornal line are very clearly developed. The hind wings of the male are dark gray with a relatively clear center line and discal spot. The hind wings of the other two species are white, with the exception of the border line (in A. tridens ) or black dust along the veins in A. psi .
- The fore wing of A. psi has by far the most variable basic color; this varies from white-gray to plain dark gray. The hind wing is blackish along the distal portions of the veining and the fringing line. In very dark forms, the hind wing of A. psi can be as dark as that of A. cuspis , but is less dusty.
- In A. tridens, on the other hand, the fore wing is less variable, less marked and usually darker than in A. psi .
- A. tridens is more common in more humid, moor-like biotopes.
Despite the differentiating features mentioned, a reliable determination is only possible through a genital examination of the butterflies. However, since the caterpillars of the three species mentioned differ very clearly, a clear allocation by means of breeding is also possible.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The animals are distributed practically all over Europe , with the exception of western and northern Scandinavia and the northernmost part of European Russia. The distribution area extends further through Siberia to the Russian Far East and northern China. They are also found in North Africa, the Middle East (Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon), Cyprus, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northern Iran, and Central Asia.
They live in bush landscapes, deciduous forests, forest edges , in steppes, parks and gardens. In the Alps it rises up to 1600 m above sea level.
Way of life
The arrow owl forms annually in Central Europe two z. Sometimes somewhat overlapping generations whose moths fly from May to June and from July to August. In Baden-Württemberg some moths fly in April, some in September. In Israel, however, the two generations are very clearly separated. The moths of the first generation fly from February to April, the moths of the second generation in September and October.
The moths are nocturnal and can be easily attracted by artificial light sources at night. You visit blossoms; A flower visit to butterfly lilacs ( Buddleja davidii ) was observed . You also get the bait .
The caterpillars feed polyphagously on the leaves of deciduous trees such as birch ( Betula ), alder ( Alnus ), oak ( Quercus ), willow ( Salix ), poplar ( Populus ), linden ( Tilia ), elm ( Ulmus ), hornbeam ( Carpinus ) , Pears ( Pyrus ), prunus , apples ( Malus ) and white berries ( Sorbus ). Ebert et al. (1997) give further deciduous tree species as well as some shrubs of the following genera: beech ( Fagus ), hazel ( Corylus ), ornamental quince ( Chaenomeles ), hawthorn ( Crataegus ), rock pear ( Amelanchier ), roses ( Rosa ) and Rhus .
The caterpillars often live on large trees, but not in the crown, but on branches that hang down far or shoots. They are diurnal and live little hidden freely on the leaves. They pupate in a solid cocoon on or under the bark, in the trunk area, on rotten wood or on the ground. The pupa hibernates.
Hazard and protection
The arrow owl is not endangered in Germany.
Systematics and nomenclature
The arrow owl ( Acronicta psi ), the alder arrow owl ( Acronicta cuspis ) and the trident arrow owl ( Acronicta tridens ) are described by Fibiger et al. (2009) placed in the subgenus Triaena Hübner, 1818. No subspecies are listed. But there are numerous synonyms.
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Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Red List
- ↑ a b c d Fibiger et al. (2009: p. 45/6)
- ↑ Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- ^ A b Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 4: Owls. (Noctuidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-440-03752-5 .
- ↑ Ebert et al. (1997: pp. 21–24)
- ↑ VD Kravchenko, O. Orlova, M. Fibiger, J. Mooser, C. Li and GC Muller: The Acronictinae, Bryophilinae, Hypenodinae and Hypeninae of Israel (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). SHILAP Revista de Lepidopterología, 34 (135): 255-264, Madrid, 2006 Online ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Acronicta psi on noctuidae.de by Bernd Schacht ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Markku Savela - Lepidoptera and some other life forms
literature
- Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 6, Nachtfalter IV. Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997 (Eulen (Noctuidae) 2nd part), ISBN 3-8001-3482-9
- Michael Fibiger, László Ronkay, Axel Steiner & Alberto Zilli: Noctuidae Europaeae Volume 11 Pantheinae, Dilobinae, Acronictinae, Eustrotiinae, Nolinae, Bagisarinae, Acontiinae, Metoponiinae, Heliothinae and Bryophilinae. 504 pp., Entomological Press, Sorø 2009 ISBN 978-87-89430-14-0
