Red-banded velvet butterfly
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Red-banded velvet butterfly ( Arethusana arethusa ) |
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| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
The red-banded velvet butterfly ( Arethusana arethusa ) is a butterfly (day butterfly ) from the noble butterfly family (Nymphalidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 34 to 44 millimeters. The upper side of the wing is velvety dark brown with a longitudinal band composed of transversely oval, orange-brown to red-brown spots, which is more indistinct on the hind wings. In the uppermost band element there is a dark eye spot that does not have a light core. Occasionally a dark eye-spot is also present in the lowest connective element of the hind wings. The hem is dotted alternately yellowish and dark brown. The pattern on the underside of the forewing is predominantly orange-brown with clearly protruding veins and a black eye-spot centered in white. Most butterflies have a wide, continuous, white band in the middle of the underside of the hind wing, otherwise indistinctly patterned and dusted gray-brown. The caterpillars are yellow-brown in color, have a narrow, white bordered back stripe and wide whitish and red-brown side stripes.
♂
♂ △
Similar species
The species is similar to the ocher-banded velvet butterfly ( Hipparchia semele ), but on average it is slightly larger, has ocher or yellowish-colored and wider bands and also shows two brightly centered eye spots on the forewings.
Occurrence
The red velvet butterfly occurs mainly in dry, sandy areas in Spain , Greece , France , Hungary and other Southeast European countries. The further distribution includes Anatolia to Central Asia and North Africa. In the German-speaking area it can be found in a few places in Lower Austria and Burgenland. An earlier occurrence on the Upper Rhine cannot currently be confirmed. The last secured occurrence in Baden-Württemberg was in the Kaiserstuhl in 1975/76. After that, no more animals were detected there. There are two reasons for the disappearance of the species as probable: Large numbers of the moths were collected at the very small and narrowly limited sites, which weakened the population considerably. In addition, the year 1976 recorded an extremely hot summer in which the forage plant upright Trespe ( Bromus erectus ) dried out over a large area. Both factors together apparently led to the extinction of the red-banded velvet butterfly. Although the vegetation recovered in the following years, the species disappeared.
Way of life
The moths fly annually in one generation from July to September. They like to suckle on flowers, for example from man-made litter ( Eryngium ) and rest with folded wings on the ground as well as on tree trunks and stones. The egg-laying is unusual because the females scatter the eggs in flight. The caterpillars overwinter very small, feed on the stalks of fescue species ( Festuca ) and other grasses and pupate mostly in the ground in June.
Danger
The red velvet butterfly is considered to be extinct in Germany and is accordingly listed in category 0 (extinct or lost) on the red list of endangered species .
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 2, Tagfalter II (Augenfalter (Satyridae), Bläulinge (Lycaenidae), Dickkopffalter (Hesperidae)), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1993. ISBN 3-8001-3459-4
- ↑ Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 2: Butterflies. (Rhopalocera and Hesperiidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1955, DNB 456642188 . - Thomas Fartmann, Gabriel Hermann: Larval ecology of butterflies and rams in Central Europe - from the beginning until today. Treatises from the Westphalian Museum of Natural History, Issue 68, (3/4), 2006, pp. 11–57, here p. 32, online
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9
literature
- Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 2, Tagfalter II (Augenfalter (Satyridae), Bläulinge (Lycaenidae), Dickkopfalter (Hesperidae)), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1993. ISBN 3-8001-3459-4
- Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 2: Butterflies. (Rhopalocera and Hesperiidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1955, DNB 456642188 .
Web links
- www.eurobutterflies.com Photos
- www.nic.funet.fi dissemination
- www.schmetterlinge-deutschlands.de Endangerment
- Arethusana arethusa at Fauna Europaea