Smerinthus caecus
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Smerinthus caecus , mating |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Smerinthus caecus | ||||||||||||
| Ménétries , 1857 |
Smerinthus caecus is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of hawkmoths (Sphingidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 50 to 65 millimeters. Males and females have a slightly different color ( sexual dimorphism ). The animals look very similar to the evening peacock butterfly ( Smerinthus ocellatus ), but are smaller and have incomplete eye spots on the hind wings that have two small, blue lines. The tibiae of the forelegs do not have an apical spur. The color of the moths is even less variable than that of the similar species, the individuals mainly differ in the blue component of the eye-spots and the intensity of the forewing pattern.
Smerinthus caecus ♂
Smerinthus caecus ♂ △
The oval eggs are colored green and white. The caterpillars are up to 70 millimeters long and come in a bluish-white and a yellow-green color variant. They look similar to those of the evening peacock. Both color forms have a striking black mark on the back of the anal horn , the base of the follower , the belly legs and the ventral side of the head. The body is covered with fine white tubercles, which, unlike the similar species, are round and blunt. The shiny black-brown pupa is almost identical to that of the evening peacock eye.
Occurrence
The species is distributed in Russia from the outskirts of Saint Petersburg and Moscow and the Urals , across western Siberia and northeastern Kazakhstan to the Altai . The species has been recorded in the European part of Russia north to Syktywkar and Yaksha , although the exact distribution within Europe is largely still unknown, as the species is often confused with the evening peacock butterfly. So far, a single specimen from Belarus has been documented, which could mean a distribution limit further west. The species is also found in central and eastern Siberia, the central and southern Yakut ASSR , the far east of Russia, Mongolia , South Korea, northern Japan and northeastern China.
The animals are found in grassy boreal forests, especially in clearings along watercourses and lakes, with strong willow and birch vegetation .
Way of life
The adults , like the oak swarmers ( Marumba quercus ), only occur in low population densities and are therefore sometimes not detected for a long time. The males are attracted by artificial light sources. The pupa hibernates. Parasitoids that attack the species have not yet been detected.
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly in one generation from June to early July, sometimes as early as late May. The occurrence of a partial second generation in August has been documented from Siberia, when the first generation flies in May / early June. In the southern Urals, the species flies from mid-June to early July. The caterpillars appear in July and August.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on willows ( Salix ), more rarely on poplars ( Populus ). Whether they also feed on birch trees ( Betula ) requires further research.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
literature
- Ian J. Kitching, Jean-Marie Cadiou: Hawkmoths of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Revisionary Checklist (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Cornell University Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-801-43734-2
- AR Pittaway: The Hawkmoths of the western Palaearctic. Harley Books 1993, ISBN 0-946-58921-6
Web links
- Fauna Europaea: Taxonomy (English)