Primrose earth owl

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Primrose earth owl
Diarsia mendica.jpg

Primrose earth owl ( Diarsia mendica )

Systematics
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Noctuinae
Tribe : Noctuini
Sub tribus : Noctuina
Genre : Diarsia
Type : Primrose earth owl
Scientific name
Diarsia mendica
( Fabricius , 1775)

The primrose earth owl ( Diarsia mendica ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

butterfly

The moths of the nominate form reach a wingspan of 35 to 40 millimeters. The primrose earth owl is a species with an extraordinarily wide range of colors. So there are specimens with yellowish, light brown or reddish brown basic color of the forewings. In the mostly lightened root field there is sometimes a small, black spot. There are larger black spots between the ring and kidney defects and the inner transverse line. The ring flaws appear almost circular and sometimes filled with beige brown, while the kidney flaws are darker and occasionally strongly constricted. The cone flaws appear only as a small black point. The outer transverse line is thin, doubled and often filled with light. The hind wings are brown-gray without drawing.

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The egg is spherical, strongly flattened at the base, strongly ribbed and whitish in color. Adult caterpillars appear in various brownish shades and are provided with yellowish back and side back lines. In between there are darker, indistinct angular spots. The side stripes are red-gray in color. There is a yellow horizontal line on the eleventh segment. The doll is colored maroon and equipped with two longer thorns and two shorter bristles on the cremaster .

Similar species

There is a certain similarity to the brown earth owl ( Diarsia brunnea ), with which, however, violet-brown tones predominate. The plantain owl ( Diarsia rubi ) and Diarsia florida are drawn less contrasting and usually a little darker in color.

Geographical distribution and habitat

Diarsia mendica is a predominantly central to northern European species. There are smaller occurrences in southern Europe in the Pyrenees and in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Apennines and Calabria, the eastern Balkans as far as northern Greece. The distribution areas of the subspecies are:

  • Diarsia mendica mendica (Fabricius, 1775), in Central and Northern Europe, except in the northernmost part of Fennoscandinavia,
  • Diarsia mendica borealis (Zetterstedt, 1839), in parts of Scandinavia as well as in Iceland and northern Russia,
  • Diarsia mendica thulei (Staudinger, 1891), on the Shetland and Faroe Islands
  • Diarsia mendica orkneyensis (Bytinski Salt, 1939), on the Orkney Islands .
  • Diarsia mendica lamentunda (Alphtraky, 1897), in Siberia to Kamchatka , Mongolia , China and Tibet ,
  • Diarsia mendica monochroma (Boursin, 1963), in the Elburs Mountains and other parts of Iran
  • and, according to Fibiger, another still undescribed subspecies in northern Turkey , in Armenia , the Caucasus and other areas of Transcaucasia .

The primrose earth owl prefers to live in light forests with blueberry growth, heather areas, raised bogs and mountainous areas. In the Alps it can still be found at altitudes of over 2000 meters.

Way of life

The nocturnal moths mainly fly from June to August in one generation per year. You like to visit artificial light sources and the bait , occasionally the blooms of butterfly lilac ( Buddleia davidii ), the forest-flutter grass ( Milium effusum ) or heather ( Calluna vulgaris ). The caterpillars can be found from September. They feed on various plants, such as:

The caterpillars overwinter and pupate in a cave in May of the following year.

Danger

The primrose earth owl is sometimes found in large numbers in all federal states in Germany and is listed as not endangered on the red list of endangered species .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Fibiger (1993: pp. 122–126)
  2. ↑ a b Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971: p. 47)
  3. ↑ Axel Steiner in Ebert (1998: 348-350)
  4. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .

literature

  • Michael Fibiger: Noctuinae II . In: WG Tremewan (Ed.): Noctuidae Europaeae . 1st edition. tape 2 . Entomological Press, Sorø 1993, ISBN 87-89430-02-6 (English).
  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 7 . Moth V Noctuidae 3rd part. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 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 .

Web links

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