Scopula frigidaria
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Scopula frigidaria |
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| ( Möschler , 1860) |
Scopula frigidaria is a butterfly ( moth ) fromthe Spanner family (Geometridae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 20 to 23 millimeters (or 21 to 23 millimeters). The basic color of the wings is brown-gray with a dark gray over-dusting. The drawing on the fore and hind wings looks washed out, especially the inner transverse line and the central band. Only the outer, almost straight transverse line is drawn a little sharper. Often the wavy line is still developed, which is thickened at the costal edge. The hem line is also drawn in a sharp dark brown. On the hind wings the outer transverse line is slightly bulged in the middle. The area from about the outer transverse line to the hem is a little darker than the basic color. The discal spots are usually completely absent, but weak points are still indicated on some specimens.
The very slender caterpillar is gray-brown with a broad, dark back line.
Geographical distribution and habitat
The species is distributed holarctic . In Europe it is restricted to the extreme north of Fennoscandia and to the east to the polar regions of northern Russia and northern Siberia. It also occurs further south in the Nearctic . The area stretches here from Newfoundland via Labrador to Alaska . In the south it extends to Indiana and southern British Columbia .
The species prefers the open tundra, in the Nearctic it is also found in coniferous and mixed forests, wherever blueberries grow. It occurs in the distribution area at an altitude of up to 300 meters above sea level.
Way of life
Scopula frigidaria forms one generation per year; the moths fly from early June to late July (in Fennoskandia), in the Russian Far East from mid-July to late August. In North America, the moths are found from late June to mid-August. The moths are active in the long twilight of the Nordic summers. You come to artificial light sources. In Northern Europe the caterpillars feed on the leaves of blueberries ( Vaccinium myrtillus ), in the Nearctic there are no studies on the food plants of the caterpillars so far. The caterpillar overwinters and pupates in late spring.
Systematics and taxonomy
The taxon was first scientifically described in 1860 by Heinrich Benno Möschler as Acidalia frigidaria . The holotype was from Labrador (Canada) . There are a number of synonyms, including the name Acidalia schoeyeni Sparre-Schneider, 1883, which was initially viewed as an independent species, then as a subspecies of Scopula frigidaria (Möschler, 1860). Hausmann (2004), however, includes it in the nominate subspecies, so that no subspecies are currently being excreted for this species. In the sub-division of the genus Scopula into four sub-genera, which is suggested by some authors, frigidaria (Möschler) is placed in the sub-genus Scopula (Calothysanis) .
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hausmann (2004): pp. 319-320
- ^ Skou (1986): p. 43
- ↑ Scopula frigidaria ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of Chris Jonko
- ^ J. Donald Lafontaine and DM Wood: Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) of the Yukon. PDF (short description p. 734)
- ↑ Pasi Sihvonen: Mating behavior and copulation mechanisms in the genus Scopula (Geometridae: Sterrhinae). In: Nota lepidopterologica , 30 (2): 299–313, 2007 PDF ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Entomology Collection University of Alberta
- ^ Heinrich Benno Möschler: Contributions to the Lepidoptera fauna of Labrador. In: Wiener Entomologische Zeitschrift , 4 (12): 369–381, 1860 PDF
- ↑ Scopula frigidaria in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved June 29, 2011
literature
- Axel Hausmann: The Geometrid moths of Europe, 2nd Sterrhinae. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2004, ISBN 87-88757-37-4
- Peder Skou: The geometroid moths of North Europe (Lepidoptera, Drepanidae and Geometridae). Brill, Leiden 1986, 348 S. GoogleBooks
Web links
- Fauna Europaea
- European Butterflies and Moths by Chris Jonko
- Kimmo # s Lep Site (picture of the caterpillar) Markku Savela