Sun rose cube thick-headed butterfly

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Sun rose cube thick-headed butterfly
Pyrgus alveus.jpg

Sunflower cube thick-headed butterfly ( Pyrgus alveus )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Thick-headed butterfly (Hesperiidae)
Subfamily : Pyrginae
Genre : Pyrgus
Type : Sun rose cube thick-headed butterfly
Scientific name
Pyrgus alveus
( Huebner , 1803)
Wing bottom

The sun rose-cube-thick-headed butterfly ( Pyrgus alveus ), also half -cube-spotted butterfly , half -cube- shaped butterfly , mountain-grass heather-thickhead or sun-rose puzzle butterfly is a butterfly from the family of the thick-headed butterfly (Hesperiidae). It is a very variable species, the taxonomic scope of which is controversial. Some authors have divided it into three types, which is why it is often referred to in the literature as Pyrgus alveus - (species) complex or Pyrgus alveus superspecies. Other studies understand this name to be five taxa, three of which are considered "bonae species" (good, reliable species).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 25 to 30 millimeters. The upper side of the forewings of the males is dark gray-brown with white spots, the underside is similarly drawn, but lighter in color. The hind wings are light greenish brown with large white spots. The females have similar markings but are slightly larger.

The eggs are rounded and flattened. They have about 17 to 20 longitudinal ribs that reach the upper edge. However, some longitudinal ribs end before that.

The egg caterpillar is two millimeters long and yellowish white. It has a black-brown head capsule and an interrupted back shield in the middle of the back. The hair is light with only a few longer and darker whiskers in the forehead area. It becomes darker as soon as you eat the first food. The other stages are brown with a narrow black-brown topline. The mature caterpillar is about 20 millimeters long.

The pupa is 15 to 16 millimeters long and has blue frosting. It has a constant pattern of black lines and dots on its back.

Geographical occurrence and habitat

The species inhabits large parts of the Palearctic . The sun rose-cube-thick-headed butterfly is widespread in the Pyrenees and in most of western, central and eastern Europe to the Baltic in the northeast. In Scandinavia the distribution extends up to the 63rd parallel. In the southeast, the species occurs on most of the Balkan Peninsula as far as Greece . To the east, the distribution area extends into Mongolia and the Amur region . In North Africa the species occurs from Algeria to Morocco .

You can find sun rose-cube-thick-headed butterflies mainly on dry, flower-rich meadows in hilly or mountainous areas up to 2300 meters in the Alps and up to 2800 meters in Morocco. In the Alps the habitat is poor and with a lot of Helianthemum spp. overgrown, southern slopes are preferred. These are extensively used, non-fertilized areas that are only mowed or grazed extensively once or twice a year.

Way of life

The species is univoltin , which means that only one generation is formed. Only in the Southern Alps should two generations be formed in warm, lower-lying areas. The univoltine development is very variable, however, the flight time of the moths as well as the time of the caterpillars and their wintering stages can be regionally very different. The moths fly from mid-May to early or mid-July, the caterpillars then usually overwinter as L4. If the flight time is longer, some moths still fly in September or early October. This can often be seen in the Alps. Here the caterpillar overwinters as L2-4, possibly also as L1. The females lay the eggs individually on the underside of the host plants. The development of the caterpillars is also different. In some cases, the caterpillar sheds its skin only four times, and if it develops slowly, it sheds five times (observed on bred specimens). For Scandinavia, the subspecies Pyrgus alveus scandinavicus even hibernates the egg caterpillar in the egg shell. The caterpillars overwinter in shells between the leaves of the host plant.

At least in Central Europe, the Austrian and Swiss Alps and the French Southwest Alps, the caterpillar feeds exclusively on sunflower ( Helianthemum sp.). Finger herbs ( potentilla ) are not accepted, or if the caterpillars feed on them, they die afterwards. However, this issue needs to be checked in other regions. Tolman and Lewington also give finger herbs ( Potentilla ) as a host plant for Central Europe. For Pyrgus alveus scandinavicus following larval food plants are: cinquefoil ( Potentilla sp.), Common Agrimony ( Agrimonia eupatoria ) and milkwort ( Polygala vulgaris ) Wagner (2006) puts up for discussion whether it is possible in these forms to Pyrgus accretus could act whose caterpillar also eats finger herbs ( Potentilla ).

Systematics

The taxonomy of this type has been and is very controversial discussed and handled in the literature. Therefore, the taxon is often treated as a Pyrgus alveus complex. Up to fifteen forms, populations and subspecies have been treated in species rank at some point. Currently, three species-level taxa are still being discussed, Pyrgus alveus with some subspecies, Pyrgus accretus and Pyrgus trebevicensis . Other authors use the term Pyrgus alveus complex (or group) more broadly and include Pyrgus armoricanus and Pyrgus warrenensis . The latter are considered to be "bonae species" and need not be discussed here. However, Pyrgus alveus , Pyrgus trebevicensis and Pyrgus armoricanus can hardly be distinguished on the basis of external characteristics. However, the latter species can be distinguished relatively easily on the basis of the genital morphology of the males and the host plant ( finger herbs ( potentilla )).

Pyrgus trebevicensis was originally from Mount Trebevic in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina as Pyrgus alveus var. Reverdini described Saddle Werda 1918. The name reverdini was preoccupied by Pyrgus reverdini Le Cerf in 1913. Therefore, in 1926 , BCS Warren proposed Pyrgus alveus forma trebevicensis as a replacement name. Renner (1983) elevated this taxon to the rank of a species. He also provided a population on the eastern Swabian Alb , which he separated as the subspecies Pyrgus trebevicensis germanica from the nominate subspecies P. trebevicensis trebevicensis from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The subspecies is not available according to the International Rules for Zoological Nomenclature , as no differences to the nominate subspecies and no diagnosis was given. In addition, it was established very early that there were no differences between the eastern populations and the population in the Swabian Alb. The species difference postulated by F. Renner between the population on the Eastern Alb ( Pyrgus trebevicensis Warren sensu Renner) and the Pyrgus alveus occurring in the same area was questioned early on. The differences in the genital morphology of the males identified by Renner as well as the earlier flight time deviating from Pyrgus alveus (mid-May to mid-July towards mid-July to September) have proven to be untenable. The follow-up examination of F. Renner's genital specimens by Günter Ebert and Erwin Rennwald showed that "a taxonomically clear separation using the male genital structures is not possible". Karsholt & Razowski (1996) and Lafranchis (2004) also do not recognize Pyrgus trebevicensis as an independent species. Presumably Wolfgang Wagner's work on ecology and larval development provided the decisive evidence that Pyrgus trebevicensis should not be regarded as an independent species. Wagner found that the flight times overlap much more clearly. The higher and cooler the region, the later the moths flew or the higher the proportion of late-flying moths. No differences were observed in the morphology of the caterpillar and pupa either. In both "species", the caterpillars live exclusively on sun rose ( Helianthemum ). According to the current state of knowledge, Pyrgus trebevicensis is not to be regarded as an independent species (see also Maier, who confirms the results of W. Wagner).

The situation with Pyrgus accretus is somewhat different . The caterpillar eats both common spring cinquefoil ( Potentilla tabernaemontani ) and yellow sunflower ( Helianthemum nummularium ). In breeding, the host plant even changes from common spring cinquefoil to yellow sun rose and vice versa. The caterpillars show more clearly defined side ridge lines. No differences were observed in the pupae. Pyrgus accretus could therefore actually be a separate species or at least a subspecies of Pyrgus alveus .

Tolman & Lewington distinguish four subspecies:

  • Pyrgus alveus alveus . It is widespread from western and central France, via southern Belgium to the Baltic States. In the north the distribution area extends to 60 ° north latitude. In the southeast, the subspecies occurs on the Balkan Peninsula and Greece. In the vertical, the species occurs from about 800 to 2300 meters in height.
  • Pyrgus alveus centralhispaniae Verity, 1925. The subspecies is widespread in northern Portugal and Spain, but only very locally. The further distribution area stretches over the Pyrenees to southern France, north to the Haute-Savoie, further east over the Maritime Alps to the Dolomites , the Apennines and possibly to Sicily . The white spots on the upper side of the forewings are stronger in both sexes than in the nominate form. The caterpillars are various finger herbs ( Potentilla ) and the yellow sun rose ( Helianthemum nummularium ). The species occurs from about 900 to 1800 meters above sea level.
  • Pyrgus alveus scandinavicus Strand, 1903. The subspecies is common in Norway and Sweden up to the 63rd parallel . It occurs from 100 to 1100 meters above sea level. The moths' flight time lasts from late June to August. The butterflies are slightly smaller, but the white drawings on the top are slightly larger and more contrasting. Host plants are: cinquefoil ( Potentilla sp.), Common ormennig ( Agrimonia eupatoria ) and common finial ( Polygala vulgaris ).
  • Pyrgus alveus numidus (Oberthür, 1910). This subspecies is restricted to North Africa (Algeria and Morocco). It occurs there from 1500 to 2800 meters above sea level. The moths fly from late May to late June. The host plant is the saffron sunflower ( Helianthemum croceum ). The taxon is also recognized as a separate species.

Danger

The species is considered to be endangered in Germany. Wolfgang Wagner cites the reasons for loss of habitat and the decline in migratory sheep farming, which keeps the vegetation in the species' habitat short.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Still: Butterflies and Caterpillars of Europe . 1st edition. Mosaik, 1999, ISBN 3-576-11344-4 , pp. 19 (Original title: Wild guide butterflies and moths . Translated by Kerstin Mahlke).
  2. ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Wagner: The genus Pyrgus in Central Europe and its ecology - larval habitats, nutrient plants and development cycles. In: T. Fartmann, G. Hermann (Hrsg.): Larval ecology of butterflies and rams in Central Europe. (= Treatises from the Westphalian Museum of Natural History. 68 (3/4)). Münster 2006, pp. 93-96.
  3. ↑ Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 252-253 .
  4. ↑ Butterfly. 2. Special part: Satyridae, Libytheidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae . In: Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (eds.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 2 . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1991, ISBN 3-8001-3459-4 , pp. 484-487 .
  5. ^ M. Meier: Distribution and phenology of Pyrgus alveus (Huebner, [1803]) in Baden-Württemberg (South Germany) with references to Pyrgus trebevicensis (Warren, 1926) and Pyrgus accretus (Verity, 1925). In: Entomological Journal. Volume 112, No. 12, Stuttgart 2002, pp. 368-378.
  6. ↑ Ahmet Ömer Koçak, Muhabbet Kemal: Report on the Temporary Results of the Faunal Lists of African States based upon the Databank of the Cesa. 9. Algeria. (PDF)
  7. ↑ Red List

literature

  • Butterflies. 2. Special part: Satyridae, Libytheidae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae . In: Günter Ebert, Erwin Rennwald (eds.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 2 . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1991, ISBN 3-8001-3459-4 .
  • Lionel G. Higgins, Norman D. Riley: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . 1st edition. Paul Parey, Hamburg / Berlin 1978, ISBN 3-490-01918-0 .
  • John Still: Butterflies and Caterpillars of Europe . 1st edition. Mosaik, 1999, ISBN 3-576-11344-4 (Original title: Wild guide butterflies and moths . Translated by Kerstin Mahlke).
  • Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 .
  • Wolfgang Wagner: On the ecology of Pyrgus trebevicensis (WARREN, 1926) and Pyrgus alveus (HÜBNER, [1803]) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) on the Swabian Alb (Baden-Württemberg). In: Entomological Journal. Volume 112, No. 5, Stuttgart 2002, pp. 145-156. (PDF)
  • Wolfgang Wagner: The genus Pyrgus in Central Europe and its ecology - larval habitats, nutrient plants and development cycles. In: T. Fartmann, G. Hermann (Hrsg.): Larval ecology of butterflies and rams in Central Europe. (= Treatises from the Westphalian Museum of Natural History. 68 (3/4)). Münster 2006, pp. 83–122. (PDF) .

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