Round-eyed Moorish butterfly
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Round-eyed Mohrenfalter ( Erebia medusa ) |
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| Erebia medusa | ||||||||||||
| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
The spring or round-eyed carrot ( Erebia medusa ) is a butterfly (day butterfly ) from the subfamily of the noble butterfly (Nymphalidae). The specific epithet is derived from Medusa , one of the three gorgons from Greek mythology .
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 32 to 40 millimeters. They have dark brown wing tops with three to five yellow eye spots of different sizes with black and white core on each wing. The eye spots are separated from one another, but are sometimes very close to one another. The underside of the wing is colored the same as the top. The eye spots are very variable in their appearance and number. Moths that live in higher altitudes usually have significantly narrower yellow borders.
The caterpillars are about 20 millimeters long. They are light beige or light green in color and have a dark, whitish back line on the sides. On the sides of the animals one can see several very fine, dark longitudinal lines.
Similar species
- Double-eyed Mohrenfalter ( Erebia oeme )
- Erebia polaris
Occurrence
They occur from France across Central and Eastern Europe and are particularly common in the southern and central German mountainous regions and in the Alps . They are almost extinct in the north German lowlands. They live especially on sunny forest edges , clearings and meadows, on dry grass with bushes , on mountain and litter meadows, but also in the edge areas of moors and on moist meadows. You can find them up to an altitude of 2,300 meters. Occurring in Austria in the Alps, becoming rare in the Alpine foothills.
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly in one generation from mid-May to mid-July. The species is thus by far the first Central European black butterfly to appear in the year. At higher altitudes they appear from mid-June. The caterpillars are found from July to April.
Way of life
The females lay their eggs individually or in small groups on blades of grass. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of upright brome ( Bromus erectus ), Genuine sheep fescue ( Festuca ovina ) and other grasses. The caterpillars overwinter almost fully grown and only pupate in the next spring in loosely spun grass on the ground in a pupa chamber. The light beige colored doll with black stripes on the wings and abdominal segments stands upright. Sometimes the caterpillar hibernates twice before pupating. The moths are often found sitting on the flowers of thistles and Dost . Overall, relatively little is known about the diet of the moth and caterpillars.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 35 .
- ↑ a b c d e Heiko Bellmann : The new cosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- ↑ Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa , Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7
- ^ Franz Hofmann, A contribution to the large butterfly fauna of Rubring and the surrounding area (Amstetten district, Lower Austria), annual report of the Steyrer Entomologenrunde, 1983
- ^ A b Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 2, Tagfalter II (Augenfalter (Satyridae), Bläulinge (Lycaenidae), Dickkopfalter (Hesperiidae)), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1993. ISBN 3-8001-3459-4
literature
- Gunther Steinbach (Ed.): Butterflies. Licensed edition by Mosaik Verlag, Munich, for Time-Life Books, Amsterdam
- Peter Sonderegger: Die Erebien der Schweiz , Verlag Peter Sonderegger, Brügg bei Biel, 2005
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Erebia medusa at Fauna Europaea