Blue red clover

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Blue red clover
Male of the red clover blusher (Polyommatus semiargus)

Male of the red clover blusher ( Polyommatus semiargus )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Bluebirds (Lycaenidae)
Subfamily : Polyommatinae
Genre : Cyaniris
Type : Blue red clover
Scientific name
Cyaniris semiargus
( Rottemburg , 1775)
Female bluish red clover
Underside of the wing of the red clover bluish

The red clover ( Polyommatus semiargus ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of the blue (Lycaenidae). It is also known as the purple forest blue or Cyaniris semiargus .

description

The moths of the red clover are still relatively common and are characterized by a pronounced sexual dimorphism . The upper sides of the wings of the males are dark blue, the veins are clearly black. The females of the red clover-bluebell have white-lined, monochrome brown-colored wing tops and thus resemble the cranesbill bluebell ( Plebejus eumedon ). The undersides of the wings are poorly drawn, colored light brown and provided with small black, white-bordered dots.

Similar species

Subspecies

  • Polyommatus semiargus helena (Staudinger, 1862), found in Greece (Peloponnese, Menalon , Oligirtos , Taygetos , Aroania and Panachaikon mountains). The subspecies is sometimes seen as a separate species: Cyaniris helena .

Flight time

The blue-red clover produces one or two generations in Germany. The first generation flies from early May to August. A second generation is only partially formed and flies in August. If the blue red clover reappears from mid-September to mid-October, then it is a partial third generation. According to Ebert, however, in principle it cannot be ruled out that caterpillars of the first generation that entered diapause early may wake up early to complete their development in the same year and only pretend a third generation. In Switzerland two to three generations may occur that fly from May to October. Overall, the occurrence of the second and third generation is very dependent on the climatic conditions.

habitat

The habitats of the red clover are rich in grass and flowers and often moist. These include meadows, bushes and forest clearings.

Way of life

After mating, the females lay their eggs on the reddened but not yet blooming flowers of the meadow clover ( Trifolium pratense ). There the caterpillars feed until they overwinter. The color of the caterpillars is very well adapted to the forage plant and lives in symbiosis with different ant species of the genus Lasius ( garden ants ). When searching for nectar, the moths prefer fabaceous plants . These include red clover, common horn clover ( Lotus corniculatus ), white clover ( Trifolium repens ), meadow pea ( Lathyrus pratensis ), bird vetch ( Vicia cracca ), alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ), seed sarsette and common horseshoe clover ( Hippocrepis) comosa ).

distribution

The blue red clover is widespread in Morocco ( Anti-Atlas , High Atlas 2300 to 2700 m, Middle Atlas 1600 m), in northern Portugal and Spain ( Cantabrian Mountains , Pyrenees , Sierra de Alfacar , Sierra Nevada , Sierra de Segura , Sierra Espuña , Montes Universales , Sierra de Guadarama , Sierra de la Demanda and Soria Province ). Still from the Pyrenees to Fennoscandinavia , but the species is rarely found north of the Arctic Circle . Further distribution areas are in northern Greece and in the European part of Turkey . It does not occur in the Peloponnese and the Mediterranean islands, except Sicily . It became extinct in Great Britain in the mid-19th century. In Europe, the species reaches heights of up to 2200 meters in the vertical distribution.

  • Red List Baden-Württemberg: V (early warning level)

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Butterfly. 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. 361 .
  2. ↑ a b Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 113 .

literature

  • Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 .
  • Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterflies: observe, determine . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-115-X .
  • 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 .

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