Reddish yellow small tensioner
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Reddish- yellow small spanner ( Scopula imitaria ) |
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| Scopula imitaria | ||||||||||||
| ( Huebner , 1799) |
The reddish-yellow small spanner ( Scopula imitaria ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the spanner family (Geometridae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 22 to 26 millimeters (1st generation); the next generation is usually much smaller and only reaches a maximum of 18 millimeters. The front edge of the front wings is curved backwards in front of the apex, the apex slightly pointed. The hind wings, on the other hand, are very clearly tailed in the middle of the outer edge. Drawing and coloring are variable. The basic color of the wings is sand-colored, yellowish or orange to light brown. The transverse lines and hemline are almost always clear, but finely pronounced. The middle band is more clearly developed, running a little obliquely to the inner and outer transverse line, weakly curved, very weakly wavy and often provided with a shadow tapering distally. Inner and outer transverse lines are slightly wavy (more noticeable than the central band). The hind wings show the same drawing, but the inner transverse line is often missing. The outer transverse line shows a pointed outward bulge roughly in the middle, which follows the "tail" of the outer edge. Discal spots are only sometimes present or weakly developed on the forewings, and almost always formed on the hind wings. They are definitely more pronounced on the hind wings than on the forewings. The discal spots of the hind wings sit on the outside of the middle band or in its "shadow" and on the forewing very clearly moved away from the root in front of the middle band.
The whitish egg is pear-shaped. It will be spotted red some time after the eggs are laid. The surface is covered with numerous winding longitudinal ribs that form an irregular network pattern.
The caterpillar is relatively long and slender. It varies in color from red to yellow to gray. The back line is darker than the base color, but shows a lighter middle line. The secondary ridge lines are barely developed. For this, diamond spots are formed as well as brown spots around the black stigmas . The belly side also has dark brown spots. The head is relatively small and rounded.
The pupa is golden brown and has yellow wing sheaths.
Occurrence and habitat
The distribution of the species is predominantly southern European (from Portugal to the Balkan Peninsula and Greece) and North African (from Morocco to Libya). It extends in the east to Asia Minor and Syria. The moth is also found in almost all of France to the south of the British Isles and Denmark. Single specimens have also been caught in southern Germany. There is a small, isolated occurrence in western Ukraine. In Germany, however, there is so far no reliable evidence of a native population.
In the Middle East, southern Turkey, Cyprus, Crete and the south-eastern Greek islands, the nominate subspecies is replaced by the subspecies Scopula imitaria syriaca Culot, 1918. This shape is less clearly tailed with a slightly less wavy outer transverse line and a less pronounced central band. The color is slightly reddish.
The reddish yellow small spanner occurs mainly on warm and dry surfaces in flat and hilly areas. In the Mediterranean region it is widespread on sandy and stony soils, in the maquis , loose oak forests, olive plantations and in stony grasslands. In the Alps it rises to 900 m. In the Mediterranean region, too, it normally does not rise above 1000 m, but in the southernmost parts of Europe and Morocco it also rises to an altitude of 1,400 meters. In western France and southern England the species is restricted to the coastal areas.
Phenology and way of life
The species flies in one to several generations per year, depending on the region. In the north of the range (British Isles) only one generation is trained that flies from July to August. An incomplete second generation only flies here in very warm years. In areas with usually two generations, the moths fly from May to July and August to September. In the Mediterranean several overlapping generations are formed, the moths may appear from February to October and fly there already.
The caterpillars are polyphagous and eat, among others, Common Clematis ( Clematis vitalba ) Ovalblättrigem privet ( Ligustrum ovalifolium ), the ordinary privet ( Ligustrum vulgare ), Chaenorhinum origanifolium ( Figworts ), Lonicera Periclymenum ( Lonicera periclymenum ), heather ( Calluna vulgaris ), but also on rose plants such as blackthorn ( Prunus spinosus ) and blackberries ( Rubus fruticosus ) as well as a whole range of other plants.
Systematics
The species was first scientifically described by Jacob Huebner in 1799 under the name Geometra imitaria . Scopula imitaria is currently divided into two subspecies: the nominate subspecies Scopula imitaria imitaria and Scopula imitaria syriacaria Culot, 1918, which represents the nominate subspecies in southern Turkey, Cyprus and the Middle East.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ For distribution in Germany - Erwin Rennwald
- ↑ Forster & Wohlfahrt, p. 49
literature
- Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 8, Nachtfalter VI (Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2001. ISBN 3-800-13497-7
- Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 5: Spanner. (Geometridae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-440-04951-5 .
- Axel Hausmann: The Geometrid moths of Europe, 2nd Sterrhinae. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2004, ISBN 8-788-75737-4
