Mourning Ram

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Mourning Ram
Aglaope infausta.jpg

Mourning Ram ( Aglaope infausta )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Ram (Zygaenidae)
Subfamily : Green ram (Procridinae)
Genre : Aglaope
Type : Mourning Ram
Scientific name
Aglaope infausta
( Linnaeus , 1767)

The weeping ram ( Aglaope infausta ) or Rhine Valley dwarf ram is a butterfly ( moth ) from the ram family (Zygaenidae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 15 to 23 millimeters. They have black-brown or brown-gray forewings with narrow red stripes near the wing root. The hind wings are red and have a wide black-brown border, which distinguishes them from the heather green ram ( Rhagades pruni ). The antennae of the males are more combed than those of the females. The female's anal segment has been redesigned into a short laying tube .

The eggs are yellow. The adult caterpillars are short, arched and thick and reach a length of about 12 millimeters. They are very strikingly colored, yellow on the sides and in the middle of the back, with a purple and a silver-gray, black-edged longitudinal band in between. They also have short hairy warts. The pupa is brown, with a yellow neck ring and abdomen.

Occurrence

In Central Europe , the species occurs only in a few places in the central Rhine Valley , on the Moselle , in the Valais Rhone Valley and in Alsace . It is more common in parts of southern France , Italy , Spain and Portugal . Preferred flight areas are very warm, dry places with steppe-like vegetation or a wine-growing climate . The species is sometimes very numerous in such often narrowly limited places.

Way of life

The females lay the eggs in groups on the leaves of the forage plants, from which the caterpillars hatch in August. The first two caterpillar stages still lack the characteristic bright color. The wintering takes place in a web on the branches of the forage plant. In the following spring the brightly colored drawing pattern forms. Pupation usually takes place in May in an elongated, whitish, reddish yellow or light brown, parchment-like cocoon . The caterpillars feed on the leaves of various shrubs such as sloe ( Prunus spinosa ), common hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna ) and common cotoneaster ( Cotoneaster integerrimus ). The moths fly annually in one generation in June and July. They are diurnal, fly whirring and low, and like to sit on flowers or stems.

Hazard and protection

The species occurs only in a few places in Germany and is listed on the Red List in category R (extremely rare species or species with geographical restrictions).

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Heiko Bellmann: The new cosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 48.
  2. ↑ Walter Forster, Theodor A. Wohlfahrt: The butterflies of Central Europe. Volume 3: Weirdos and Swarmers. (Bombyces and Sphinges). Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1960, DNB 456642196 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Trauerwamderchen  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Taxonomy