Red-banded moth

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Red-banded moth
Red-banded moth (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)

Red-banded moth ( Gymnoscelis rufifasciata )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Spanner (Geometridae)
Subfamily : Larentiinae
Genre : Gymnoscelis
Type : Red-banded moth
Scientific name
Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
( Haworth , 1809)

The Rotgebänderte Pug ( Gymnoscelis rufifasciata ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the tensioner (Geometridae). The reddish band in the wing drawing gives it its name. It comes from the Latin rufus (red-haired) and fascia (bandage).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 11 to 19 millimeters. The labial palps are gray and have light tips. The forehead, crown and notum are pale gray. The fore wings are narrow, the costalader is straight, and the apex is pointed. They have a grayish white basic color with a brownish hue, the transverse lines are usually slightly curved and dark brown. The color of the basal field ranges from a pale brownish gray to reddish brown. The outer and inner transverse lines are sharply angled at the leading edge of the wing (costa). The midfield between the inner transverse line and the midline is brownish gray to brick red and often darker than the rest of the wing. The outer transverse line is thickened, usually twofold slightly angled and provided with blackish or reddish-black lines on all veins and bordered by two pale bands. The fringing area is brownish gray and often has a reddish or brick-red inner area and a white ash-gray outer area. The wavy line is usually well developed and jagged several times. There is no discal point. The hind wings are greyish white and have a fairly strong transverse line, the outer transverse line being particularly well developed. This is angled in the middle and provided with a series of black lines on the veins. The fringing area is often darker and in some specimens has a reddish hue. The wavy line is clearly formed and jagged several times. The discal point is very small or receded. The fringes are brownish gray and pale gray or whitish dotted at the ends of the veins. The abdomen is pale gray to brownish gray and sometimes has a reddish hue. The second abdominal segment is usually darker, sometimes brick-red and outlined in black. The rails of the rear pair of legs have a pair of spurs. The red-banded moth is very variable in terms of its size, basic color and pattern.

The caterpillars reach a length of up to 17 millimeters and have a very variable basic color. It ranges from whitish to yellowish green, brown, red to purple. There is a pale band on the back, which is drawn with a series of dark diamonds or triangles. The drawing on the back resembles a trident pointing backwards, is sometimes similar to a crow's foot and can occasionally only be weak. The head is yellowish brown.

the caterpillar appears in different colors

distribution

The species occurs in the Palearctic and is found from the Canary Islands and Madeira to northwest China . The main focus of the distribution is in the Mediterranean area, which is fully populated. The red-banded moth is a warmth-loving species that prefers dry locations with an average air temperature of eight to nine degrees Celsius and rainfall of less than 700 millimeters per year. It inhabits open deciduous mixed and coniferous forests, forest edges, hedges, scrubland, meadows, grasslands, moors, heathland, dunes, wasteland and wasteland, gardens, parks, cultivated land, warm and dry slopes, rocks and scree slopes. The vertical distribution ranges from 0 to 1.800 meters above sea in the Apennines , in the Alps it rises to 2,400 meters. Bergmann describes the species as the main species of clematis in gorges on the warm slopes of the flat and hilly areas .

Way of life

Mating takes place after a long courtship flight. In contrast to other flowering species, this only takes about one to two hours and takes place in the first half of the night. The males die a short time later, the females begin to lay eggs the following night. The caterpillars are polyphagous on the flowers and seeds of a large number of herbaceous plants (see below). Normally the caterpillars live openly on the flowers of the food plants, Dietze reports in the case of Digitalis purpurea that the caterpillar develops completely inside the flower and actively closes the flower opening with filaments. The caterpillars often live in company with other spider species such as Eupithecia haworthiana , Chloroclystis v-ata and Eupithecia pulchella .

The moths are nocturnal and shy and can be found looking for nectar on flowers in the evening. Fruit and bait are also flown to. In Central Europe the species overwinters as a pupa. The development can take place very quickly under warm or hot climatic conditions. The caterpillars then only need 14 days to pupate, the duration of the pupal rest is around ten days.

List of host plants mentioned in the literature:

Flight and caterpillar times

The red-banded moth forms two generations in Central Europe , which fly from mid-April to early June and from late June to late August. The larvae of the first generation live from late April to mid-June, those of the second generation from early July to early October. In southern regions the species is polyvoltine , which means that new generations are produced continuously.

Systematics

Synonyms

The red-banded moth was treated in the literature under the following synonyms:

  • Phalaena rufifasciata Haworth, 1809
  • Geometra pumilata Huebner, 1813
  • Eupithecia recictaria Boisduval, 1840
  • Larentia improbata Lienig & Zeller, 1846
  • Larentia tempestivata Zeller, 1847
  • Eupithecia parvularia Herrich-Schäffer, 1848
  • Eupithecia globulariata Millière, 1861
  • Eupithecia incertata Millière, 1876
  • Eupithecia bucovinata Hormuzaki, 1893

to form

The forms given here have no taxonomic meaning.

  • f. tenebrata Dietze. Wings darkened, drawing reduced
  • f. tempestivaria wing gray.
  • f. nigrostriata Dietze. Dark stripes on the border of the midfield
  • f. nigrofasciata Dietze. Inner part of the midfield darkened.
  • f. postgenitata Dietze, 1910.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David J. Carter, Brian Hargreaves: Caterpillars and Butterflies of Europe and their Forage Plants. Blackwell Wissenschaftsverlag, 1987, ISBN 3-8263-8139-4 .
  2. ↑ a b c Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 8: Moth VI. (Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part). Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3497-7 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Vladimir Mironov: Larentiinae II. (Perizomini and Eupitheciini). In: A. Hausmann (Ed.): The Geometrid Moths of Europe 4. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2004, ISBN 87-88757-40-4 .
  4. ↑ Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 4/2: Owls. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1954, DNB 450378381 .
  5. ↑ K. Dietze: Biology of the Eupithecia - Part Two - Text. Commission publishing house, Berlin 1913.
  6. ↑ a b Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke, Bernd Müller: We determine butterflies. Volume 4: Spanner. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1976, DNB 780451570 .
  7. ↑ Malcolm J. Scoble: Geometrid moths of the world. A catalog (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 0-643-06304-8 .

literature

  • Bernard Skinner: Color Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles. Penguin, UK 1999, ISBN 0-670-87978-9 .
  • Axel Hausmann, Michael A. Miller: Atlas of the caterpillars of European and Asia Minor butterflies, photographed by Burkhard Nippe. Publishing house Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-931516-79-2 .

Web links

Commons : Red-banded moth  - album with pictures, videos and audio files