Quendel blue ant

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Quendel blue ant
Quendel blue ant (Phengaris arion)

Quendel blue ant ( Phengaris arion )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Bluebirds (Lycaenidae)
Subfamily : Polyommatinae
Genre : Phengaris
Type : Quendel blue ant
Scientific name
Phengaris arion
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Quendel bluebell laying eggs on field thyme
Quendel bluewell egg in a pre-floral thyme inflorescence

The Quendel blue ant or thyme blue ant ( Phengaris arion , syn .: Maculinea arion ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of the bluebells (Lycaenidae). It is also known as black-spotted bluish or thyme bluish. The specific epithet is derived from Arion , a singer and zither player from Greek mythology . As with many species of blueing, the larvae caterpillars also live myrmekophil in the nest of ants during part of their development . Its German name is derived from its host plants, the thyme , some of which are popularly called Quendel.

features

Adults

The moths reach a wingspan of 33 to 42 millimeters, making them one of the largest bluebells native to Central Europe. The upper sides of the wings are uniformly matt blue and have a brown outer edge, which is stronger and more extensive in the females. At the end of the discoid cell there is a black spot and a series of elongated, dark post-disc spots . The undersides of the hind wings are heavily dusted in dark green at the base, and there are also root eyes and two rows of distinct fringing points. The individuals in the lower areas are larger and lighter in color than those in the mountain areas, which are smaller and darker. The upper sides of the wings, which become increasingly darker with the altitude, are regarded as an adaptation to the overall cooler climate, as these moths can better absorb heat radiation.

Caterpillars

The caterpillars reach a length of about 15 millimeters. The body is thick and strongly tapered towards the head. This is black and is pulled back into the body by the resting caterpillars. The young caterpillars are pink, they later turn whitish to ocher and then occasionally have a hint of purple to pink.

Similar species

  • Phengaris Alcon ( Phengaris alcon ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) )
  • Blue gentian ant ( Phengaris rebeli ( Hirschke , 1904) )

Occurrence

The Quendel blue ant colonizes dry, warm, short-grass locations with gaps in vegetation and defects. These include grasslands , lime and sand dry lawns , semi-dry lawns , silver grass fields and heaths . In Germany the species is native to the south, for example on the Swabian Alb ; But it can also be found further north, for example in the upper Ahr valley and in the Weserbergland . The distribution area stretches from Western Europe (extinct on the British Isles , attempts to reintroduce citizenship in 1983) to East Asia and here essentially comprises the temperate zone. In the north it can be found up to Fennoscandinavia (excluding Norway ), while in the south it can be found in Italy and Corsica and in isolated occurrences on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula . The species does not inhabit the rest of the Mediterranean .

Way of life

The adults are often found sucking on thyme and oregano . Other nectar plants are adder heads ( Echium ), large-flowered brownelle ( Prunella grandiflora ), common finial ( Polygala vulgaris ), germander speedwell ( Veronica chamaedrys ), seed saspars ( Onobrychis viciifolia ), bird vetch ( Vicia cracca ) and fence vetch ( Vicia sepium ) called.

Flight and caterpillar times

The Quendel blue ant makes one generation a year that flies from June to July. The caterpillars can be found from August and after wintering until May.

Food plants of the caterpillars

The caterpillars feed on the following forage plants: thyme ( thymus ), especially sand thyme ( Thymus serpyllum ) and broad-leaved thyme ( Thymus pulegioides ), as well as oregano ( Origanum vulgare ).

development

The females lay the eggs one by one on the buds of the caterpillar feeding plants. The caterpillars hatch after about a week and in the first three stages first eat the flowers and mature seeds of their forage plants and then leave them in order to wait in a dark hiding place for ants to carry them into their nests. The myrmecophilic caterpillars spend the rest of their development with ants. They are able to starve for long periods of time as it can take some time to be discovered by ant workers in their hiding place. The workers then place the blue caterpillars in a breeding chamber. The ants are mainly the knot ant species Myrmica sabuleti and Myrmicaschencki . The dry grass knot ant ( Myrmica scabrinodis ) is known as the occasional secondary host. The blue caterpillar secretes honeydew via the back glands , which is a source of carbohydrates for the host ants. It feeds on the eggs and larvae of the ant host until pupation. The adoption of the caterpillars succeeds in principle with all Myrmica species, however the mortality is only low in M. sabuleti . Nevertheless, many caterpillars perish because they are either attacked by the workers in the presence of the queen, or because they plunder the ant's nest empty and thus deprive themselves of the food source.

The caterpillars overwinter in the host ants' nest and continue their development in the following year. The moths hatch in the morning after a pupal rest of two to four weeks, when the activity of the ants in the nest is still low. Therefore, most butterflies manage to leave the nest without being attacked by ants.

Hazard and protection

The Quendel blue ant is strictly protected according to the Federal Species Protection Ordinance (BArtSchV 1999), the Red List of Endangered Species in Germany classifies the species in category 2 (highly endangered). It is classified as globally endangered by the IUCN . The habitat requirements of the host ants must be taken into account when taking protective measures. In addition to the direct loss of habitat , the abandonment of various forms of use, such as extensive grazing and mowing, is mentioned as a source of danger. The resulting encroachment endangers the site as well as excessive grazing. Furthermore, the microclimate of the respective location obviously plays a decisive role. If the ground is too heavily shaded by the vegetation, Myrmica sabuleti leaves the nest. Furthermore, the population density of host ants in an area also plays an important role, since in an ant nest there is usually only one parasitic caterpillar to be found.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. Christian STETTMER, Markus Brau, Patrick Gros, Otmar Wanninger: The butterflies Bavaria and Austria . 2nd Edition. Bavarian Academy for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, Laufen 2011, ISBN 978-3-931175-89-4 .
  2. Elizabeth Balmer: Butterflies: Recognize and Determine. Parragon Books Ltd., 2007, ISBN 9781407512037 , p. 85
  3. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 69 .
  4. Black-spotted fire butterfly (Maculinea arion). to: naturschutz-fachinformationssysteme-nrw.de
  5. a b Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterfly: observe, determine . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-115-X , p. 322 .
  6. a b c d e butterflies. 2. Special part: Satyridae, Libytheidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae . In: Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (eds.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 2 . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1991, ISBN 3-8001-3459-4 , pp. 296 .
  7. a b Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke: We determine butterflies. 3. Edition. Neumann, Radebeul 1991, ISBN 3-7402-0092-8 .
  8. Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 91 .
  9. ^ List of host ant species for blue ant species
  10. Klaus Dumpert: The social life of the ants. Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-489-63636-8 , p. 161.
  11. Josef Settele, Roland Steiner, Rolf Reinhard, Reinhart Feldmann: Ulmer Naturführer: Butterflies. The butterflies of Germany . 1st edition. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4167-1 .
  12. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .
  13. Maculinea arion. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Gimenez Dixon, accessed December 18, 2006 .

literature

  • Zdenék Fric, Niklas Wahlberg, Pavel Pech, Jan Zrzavý: Phylogeny and classification of the Phengaris – Maculinea clade (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): total evidence and phylogenetic species concepts. In: Systematic Entomology. 32, Oxford 2007, pp. 558-567. doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-3113.2007.00387.x

Web links

Commons : Quendel blue ant ( Phengaris arion )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 15, 2008 .