Petrel (butterfly)

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Petrel
70.128 BF1784 Pretty Chalk Carpet, Melanthia procellata (3684314768) .jpg

Petrel ( Melanthia procellata )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Spanner (Geometridae)
Subfamily : Larentiinae
Genre : Melanthia
Type : Petrel
Scientific name
Melanthia procellata
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)

The petrel ( Melanthia procellata ), also known as clematis leaf tensioner , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the tensioner family (Geometridae). The specific epithet is based on the Latin word procella meaning "storm" and refers to the stormy flight of males.

features

butterfly

The moths reach a wingspan of 26 to 33 millimeters. The upper forewing is milky white to pure white. A discal patch is missing or only indicated in a point. The root field is colored black-brown. In the same color, a large, almost square spot stands out on the front edge near the center. From the apex a wide, dark brown fringe runs along the outer edge of the forewing to the inner edge. In the middle of the hem band a white spot stands out between the also white wavy line and the outer edge. A narrow dark band also runs on the white upper side of the hind wing. Occasionally there are specimens in which the white wing regions are darkly dusted, so that the drawing elements, which are also dark, stand out only indistinctly.

Caterpillar

Adult caterpillars are light brown, dark brown or greenish in color. Their back line is black and interrupted by a large black point on each of the fourth to seventh segments. The secondary ridge lines are broad and yellowish or dark brown in color. Brown vertical stripes stand out on the head.

Similar species

Similar black and white drawing elements on the upper side of the forewing also show the moths of the garden leaf wrench ( Xanthorhoe fluctuata ) and the blackberry leaf wrench ( Mesoleuca albicillata ), which, however, lack the continuous dark fringe. In the milk-white bandage strainer ( Plemyria rubiginata ), the border band is gray and not interrupted by a white spot. The peacock harlequin ( Ligdia adustata ) lacks the large black-brown spot on the front edge. In the brown-banded leaf tensioner ( Catarhoe cuculata ), the large black-brown spot on the front edge is also missing and the dark fringe is enlarged in the apex area. Melanthia alaudaria is significantly smaller with a wingspan of 18 to 24 millimeters and shows a white constriction in the middle of the dark fringe.

Distribution and occurrence

The north-south extension of the type ranges from Asia Minor , the Balkans , Italy and the Iberian Peninsula as far as Denmark and Estonia , the west-east extension stretches from the British Isles as far as Japan , where it through the subspecies Melanthia procellata inquinata represented is. The petrel colonizes different habitats and occurs, for example, on the edges of deciduous and mixed forest, warm slopes and embankments in alluvial forests and hedge areas as well as in gardens and settlements. In the Alps it rises to heights of 1900 meters.

Way of life

Clematis ( Clematis vitalba ),
the moths suckle on the flowers, the caterpillars feed on the leaves

The moths are active during the day and at night and visit artificial light sources , sometimes in numbers. The flight style of the males is impetuous. They are often found at a great distance from their feeding habitats. The moths suckle on the flowers of the common clematis ( Clematis vitalba ) to eat . They fly in two generations from mid-May to early July and from mid-July to early September. In rest position they sit like head downwards or obliquely with triangular wings provided on tree trunks or on top of sheets being white-black coloring of their wings bird droppings (with the Vogelkotmimese mimic) and thereby optically aligned deceive the enemy. The caterpillars feed primarily on the leaves of the common clematis ( Clematis vitalba ), sometimes also on other species of clematis ( Clematis ). They feed only at night, preferably on young shoots at heights between 0.5 and 1.5 meters. The second generation pupae overwinter.

Danger

The petrel occurs in large numbers in the individual federal states in Germany and is classified as “not endangered” on the Red List of Endangered Species .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe , Volume 2, E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 1910, p. 58
  2. ^ Axel Hausmann, Jaan Viidalepp: The Geometrid Moths of Europe . In: Axel Hausmann (Ed.): The Geometrid Moths of Europe . 1st edition. Volume 3: Larentiinae II . Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2012, ISBN 978-87-88757-39-2 (English). , Pp. 436-438
  3. ^ A b Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 5: Spanner. (Geometridae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-440-04951-5 , p. 126.
  4. ↑ a b c Günter Ebert (ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 8, Nachtfalter VI (Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2001. ISBN 3-800-13497-7 , pp. 292-294
  5. ^ Karl Eckstein: The butterflies of Germany, 4th volume, The tensioners and the bear-like butterflies , KG Lutz Verlag, Stuttgart, 1923
  6. ↑ Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke, Bernd Müller: We determine butterflies. Volume 4: Spanner. 2nd, improved and enlarged edition. Neumann, Leipzig / Radebeul 1976, DNB 780451570 , pp. 140-141.
  7. ↑ Endangerment

literature

  • Axel Hausmann, Jaan Viidalepp: The Geometrid Moths of Europe . In: Axel Hausmann (Ed.): The Geometrid Moths of Europe . 1st edition. Volume 3: Larentiinae II . Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2012, ISBN 978-87-88757-39-2 (English).
  • Walter Forster , Theodor A. Wohlfahrt : The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 5: Spanner. (Geometridae). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-440-04951-5 .
  • Günter Ebert (Hrsg.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 8, Nachtfalter VI (Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part), Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 2001. ISBN 3-800-13497-7
  • Arno Bergmann: The large butterflies of Central Germany. Volume 5/1: Spanner. Distribution, forms and communities. Urania-Verlag, Jena 1955, DNB 450378403 .

Web links

Commons : Petrel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files