Iridescent black butterfly

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Iridescent black butterfly
Iridescent Mohrenfalter, Erebia tyndarus.JPG

Iridescent Mohrenfalter ( Erebia tyndarus )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Noble butterfly (Nymphalidae)
Subfamily : Eye butterflies (Satyrinae)
Genre : Erebia
Type : Iridescent black butterfly
Scientific name
Erebia tyndarus
( Esper , 1805)

The iridescent Mohrenfalter ( Erebia tyndarus ) is a butterfly (day butterfly ) from the family of the noble butterfly (Nymphalidae). The specific epithet is derived from Tyndarus, a hero from Greek mythology .

features

butterfly

The front wings of the moths, which have a wingspan of about 26 to 32 millimeters, are dark brown in color and show a green or green-gold sheen, which is also responsible for the German name of the species. This play of colors is caused by the interference of sunlight on the wing scales. Further characteristics are a mostly pale orange-brown band, whereas two small, black, white pithed eye spots stand out clearly at the apex . The hind wing undersides are marbled light gray, yellow gray, light brown up to dark brown, partly lightly olive brown dusted and have a more or less sharply delimited, wide, darker, curved, strongly jagged band.

Egg, caterpillar, pupa

The egg is greenish, oval and shows many longitudinal ribs. The caterpillars are gray-green to brown-gray and have a dark back line, two dark side lines and dark points next to the spiracles . There is also a dark vertical line over the feet. The brown colored doll has a short, fat shape.

Similar species

There is great resemblance to the somewhat smaller species Erebia cassioides , which, however, has a less greenish shimmer, has somewhat narrower and less rounded forewings, and which shows a more contrasting, luminous markings on the underside of the hindwings. There is also a certain similarity to the silky-gloss carrot ( Erebia gorge ), which, however, shimmers more violet-red, has less rounded wings and often has more than two apical spots. The main difference, however, is the darker color of the back of the rear wing in gorge . .

distribution and habitat

The iridescent Mohrenfalter occurs in the Alps at altitudes of around 1600 to 3000 meters. The species prefers to fly on short grassed alpine meadows and is very numerous there in places.

Way of life

The moths live in one generation from late June to early September. They fly low over meadows, occasionally suckle on the blossoms of preferably yellow mountain flowers and like to sunbathe on rocks, whereby the greenish shimmer of the wings is very attractive. The caterpillars feed on various fescue species ( Festuca ).

Danger

In Germany, the species occurs only in a few places in the Bavarian Alps and is listed on the Red List of Endangered Species in Category R (extremely rare species with geographical restrictions).

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 40 .
  2. ↑ Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 2: Butterflies. (Rhopalocera and Hesperiidae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1955, DNB 456642188 .
  3. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9

literature

Web links

Commons : Schillernder Mohrenfalter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files