Check day owl

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Check day owl
Check day owl (Euclidia mi)

Check day owl ( Euclidia mi )

Systematics
Family : Owl butterfly (Noctuidae)
Subfamily : Catocalinae
Tribe : Euclidiini
Genre : Euclidia
Subgenus : Callistege
Type : Check day owl
Scientific name
Euclidia mi
( Clerck , 1759)
Caterpillar

The check day owl ( Euclidia mi ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the owl butterflies (Noctuidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 25 to 30 millimeters. Their forewings are patterned gray, brown and white, with a broad, dark structure in the middle of the wings, each with a round indentation towards the middle of the body. The hind wings are dark brown and have yellowish or white, curved spots or bands.

The caterpillars are about 40 millimeters long and have a slender, hairless body and only have two pairs of belly legs, but they are without function. They are bright yellow to yellow-brown and wear on the back, a thin, light longitudinal line and to the side two ever wider, dark lines that can be divided into narrower and finally under the stigmata a bright longitudinal band.

Geographical distribution and habitat

They live in both dry and open terrain, such as B. on dry grassland , meadows and on the edges of forests , as well as on wet meadows and on the edges of moors . They are missing on over-fertilized and heavily cultivated meadows.

Way of life

The check day owl forms two generations a year, whose moths fly from late April to mid-July and from late July to late August. Unlike almost all other owl butterflies, the moths are diurnal and fly to various flowers to suckle nectar. Sometimes you can see them flying at dusk. They are shy and usually sit so that their hind wings can be seen. The caterpillars can be found from September to October (first generation) and from June to August (second generation). The caterpillars are both diurnal and nocturnal, but are very sensitive to vibrations. When in danger, they curl up and drop to the ground. They are often found resting on grasses that do not belong to their forage plants. Their locomotion is similar to that of caterpillars . The caterpillars feed on red clover ( Trifolium pratense ), wing-gorse ( Genista sagittal ), skipjack Melilot ( Melilotus officinalis ) and Bird vetch ( Vicia cracca ). The piebald owl overwinters in the pupa , which is either lying on the ground or hanging on a plant.

Taxonomy

The check day owl was previously added to the genus Callistege Huebner , 1823 (in the combination Callistege mi ). However, the genus has been identified by Goater et al. (2003) to the subgenus of Euclidia Ochsenheimer , devalued in 1816.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 260.
  2. ↑ Butterflies of Germany, online http://www.schmetterlinge-deutschlands.de/start.php (accessed on September 24, 2006)

literature

  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 5: Moths III (Sesiidae, Arctiidae, Noctuidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997. ISBN 3-8001-3481-0 .
  • Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 3: Owls. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1972, DNB 760072930 .
  • Barry Goater, Lázló Ronkay, Michael Fibiger: Catocalinae & Plusiinae. - Noctuidae Europaeae. Volume 10, Sorø, 2003, ISBN 87-89430-08-5 .

Web links

Commons : Scheck-Tagule ( Euclidia mi )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files