Plebeian acmon
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Plebeian acmon |
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| Plebeian acmon | ||||||||||
| ( Westwood , 1851) |
Acmon blue ( Syn. : Acmon Lycaena , Aricia acmon ) is a butterfly from the family of Gossamer (Lycaenidae).
features
butterfly
According to other sources, the wingspan of this type of bluebell is 25 to 30 millimeters, 20 to 29 millimeters. Males are bluish on top while the females are brown with a bluish pollination and only at the base of the wings. In the male, the upper sides of the wings are colored dark blue-black and become darker towards the wheels. The edge of the wing is bordered by a white border. On the upper side of the hind wing there are orange spots with black dots. The underside of the wings is light gray to white with black dots. These points run from black to orange on the hind wing. Female moths of the spring generation are often blue in color on the upper wing surface.
egg
The eggs are greenish white.
Caterpillar
The body of the caterpillars is yellow-green with dark green stripes on the back and hairy white with black spots.
Doll
The pupae are brownish and greenish in color from the abdomen to the thoracic segment .
Similar species
- Plebejus lupini is larger and the outer white border is narrower and the spots on the upper side of the hind wing are pink instead of orange and without black spots. Likewise, the species differ in the sexual organs.
Behavior and way of life
The moths fly on the coasts in several generations from March to October. From Arizona to Texas from mid-May to mid-September, and in Canada, it's a generation from mid-June to late July and near the tree line from July to late August. Adult moths ingest nectar from different flowers e.g. B. Knotweed ( Fallopia convolvulus ), but they can also be found on mud puddles. Males patrol their territory looking for females. Occasionally the moths hybridize with Plebejus lupini .
The caterpillars eat various herbs and shrubs including the leaves, flowers and fruits of legumes (Fabaceae) and knotweed (Polygonaceae) such as buckwheat ( Fagopyrum ). They are cared for by ants but not brought into their nests like other bluebells.
The eggs are laid individually on leaves or flowers of the host plant.
The species overwinters in its pupal stage.
distribution and habitat
The species is distributed in all of western North America from southern Canada to Mexico and inhabits open dry fields, fallow and arable land, meadows, open woodland, deserts and prairies in low elevations. The species is rarely found at higher altitudes.
Subspecies
In addition to the nominate form, a distinction is made between two subspecies and:
- Plebejus acmon acmon , nominate form in California , western Nevada, and southwest Oregon .
- Plebejus acmon lutzi , northwest Oregon to British Columbia , southeast as well as northern Utah and northern Colorado . The wing drawing is like that of Plebejus lupini . The alpine form spangelatus of this subspecies is colored darker gray underneath and the orange spots on the wing upper side of the hind wing are smaller.
- Plebejus acmon texanus , Nebraska and southern Colorado to southern Nevada and Arizona to central Mexico.
The status of the subspecies is not entirely clear because they overlap with Plebejus lupini .
status
The moth is usually found frequently.
swell
literature
- Elizabeth Balmer: Butterflies: Recognizing and Identifying. Parragon Books, 2007, ISBN 9781407512037 , p. 88
- James A. Scott: The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford 1992, ISBN 978-0804720137 , pp. 411-412
Individual evidence
- ^ Butterflies of America , accessed December 28, 2014
- ^ Butterflies and Moth of North America , accessed December 28, 2014
- ↑ [1] LJ Orsak: The Butterflies of Orange County, California. Center for Pathobiology Miscellaneous Publication # 3. University of California Press, New York. 1977, 349pp, English, accessed December 28, 2014
