Violet butterfly
| Violet butterfly | ||||||||||||
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Violet butterfly ( Euphydryas cynthia ) ♂ |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Euphydryas cynthia | ||||||||||||
| ( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775) |
The violet butterfly ( Euphydryas cynthia ) is a butterfly (day butterfly ) from the noble butterfly family (Nymphalidae). The specific epithet is derived from Kynthia ( Latin: Cynthia , "the one coming from Mount Kynthos"), an epithet of Artemis from Greek mythology .
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 35 to 40 millimeters. The males are unmistakably colored: They have dark brown, black wing tops, on which a white pattern and several orange spots can be seen. A row of white dots runs outside near the rear edge of the wing and behind it an orange, with slightly larger, black-core dots. The females look similar to the golden piebald butterfly ( Euphydryas aurinia ), although they also have a dark brown, but slightly bluish shimmering basic color and an almost rectangular pattern in lighter and darker orange gradations. The underside of the hind wings are colored orange in both males and females and have light bands on the edge and in the middle. There are more light spots around the base of the wings. A row of small, black dots runs between the two bands, but unlike the golden piebald butterfly, they are not outlined in light.
♂
♂ △
♀
♀ △
The caterpillars are about 30 millimeters long and are colored black. However, on the rear edge of each segment they have bright yellow colored rings and several, closely spaced yellow spots.
Similar species
- Golden pied butterfly ( Euphydryas aurinia ), (females only)
distribution
The animals only live in the Alps at an altitude of 1,500 to 3,000 meters on alpine mats and stony surfaces, and in lower regions also on moist meadows, heaths and sloping moors . They are rare, but very common in some regions every year.
Flight time
They fly in one generation from late June to mid-July, the flight time being heavily dependent on the weather.
Way of life
The moths are very shy in warm weather, but on cool or windy days, especially in the morning, sit with open wings on warm stones or cow dung to warm themselves.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on alpine plantain ( Plantago alpina ) and long-tailed violets ( Viola calcarata ). Presumably other herbaceous plants are also eaten. The rearing can be done with ribwort ( Plantago lanceolata ).
development
The females lay their eggs in small piles on the underside of the leaves of their forage plants. The young caterpillars live gregariously in a web, but later live solitary. They overwinter twice before they pupate mostly on stones in black and white spotted pupae . Occasionally there are mass reproductions, but these are decimated by parasite infestation before hatching.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 21 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 180.
- ↑ a b c Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: Die Tagfalter Europäische und Nordwestafrikas , p. 176, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. Taxonomy and Photos
- Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa (English)
- www.schmetterling-raupe.de
- Euphydryas cynthia at Fauna Europaea
- Euphydryas cynthia in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2013.2. Posted by: van Swaay, C., Wynhoff, I., Verovnik, R., Wiemers, M., López Munguira, M., Maes, D., Sasic, M., Verstrael, T., Warren, M. & Settele, J., 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2014.