Silver stain tooth spinner
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Silver spot tooth spinner ( Spatalia argentina ) |
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| Spatalia argentina | ||||||||||||
| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
The Silberfleck- Zahnspinner ( Spatalia argentina ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of the toothed spinner (Notodontidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 32 to 40 millimeters, with a forewing length of 16 to 18 millimeters and have a very gray to brown haired body. On the thorax there is a distinctive, conical tuft of hair pointing upwards. The males have a two-part hairbrush at the end of the abdomen. The forewings are usually unevenly gray-brown to light red-brown in color and have a conspicuous, hatchet-shaped silver spot in the middle around which there are several smaller spots. The tooth on the inner edge of the forewing, which is typical for the family, is rust-brown to rust-red in color. The hind wings are yellowish-gray in color. The adults of the second generation are smaller and less contrasty in color than those of the first generation.
The caterpillars are approx. 50 millimeters long and with their appearance perfectly imitate a small oak box ( mimetic ). They are gray or shiny red-brown in color and have two conical humps on the back of the fourth segment, a narrow, black-edged transverse bulge on the tenth segment and a small truncated hump on the eleventh segment, all of which perfect the camouflage of the caterpillars by imitating buds. On the back of the animals there is a fine, whitish-edged line, on the sides of the body there is often an equally or brownish-colored longitudinal line.
Occurrence
The species occurs in Central, South , Southeastern Europe and Asia Minor . In Central Europe it can only be found locally in locations with favorable temperatures, such as in the Rhine Valley and in the southern Steigerwald , but it can still be found in northeast Germany. It is absent in the northwest and on the Baltic coast. They are found in floodplain and other mixed deciduous forests with a high proportion of oak.
Way of life
The nocturnal adults sit hidden in the vegetation during the day, often also on oaks.
Flight and caterpillar times
The species flies in two generations per year from late May to late June and August. The caterpillars from the eggs of the first generation are found from August to October, those of the second in June and July of the following year.
Food of the caterpillars
According to the majority of the literature, the caterpillars feed exclusively on oaks ( Quercus ), especially pedunculate oaks ( Quercus robur ). Koch also mentions poplars ( Populus ) and willows ( Salix ) as food plants, but this needs to be checked.
development
The females lay their eggs on both bushy and lower areas of older, sunlit oaks. The young caterpillar sits on the tip of the leaf and eats it off on both sides of the midrib, which it uses as a seat. Later, the entire leaf, apart from the veins, is gradually eaten away. The species overwinters as a pupa in a loose, light gray web. The doll itself is colored black-brown.
Hazard and protection
The species is very rare in Central Europe and can only be found in places that are strongly favored by heat. The silver spot tooth moth shares its habitat with the gypsy moth ( Lymantria dispar ) and cockchafer ( Melolontha ). If mass occurrences of the gypsy moth are combated biologically or chemically in forestry, then populations of the silver spot tooth spinner also fall victim to these measures. The caterpillars are in direct food competition with the large numbers of caterpillars of the gypsy moth. For these reasons, the species is classified as critically endangered (Category 2) in the Red List of the FRG. The species is also on the red list in Austria.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manfred Koch : We identify butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 , p. 116f.
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 978-3-896-24110-8
- ↑ Red Lists of Butterflies in Carinthia [1]
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1994. ISBN 3-800-13474-8
- Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths, Spinners and Swarmers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- Spatalia argentina at Fauna Europaea