Blue dagger

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Blue dagger
White Dagger-Blued (Polyommatus damon)

White Dagger-Blued ( Polyommatus damon )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Bluebirds (Lycaenidae)
Subfamily : Polyommatinae
Genre : Polyommatus
Type : Blue dagger
Scientific name
Polyommatus damon
( Denis & Schiffermüller , 1775)

The Polyommatus damon ( Polyommatus damon ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of Gossamer (Lycaenidae). It is also known as the blue blue sasparsette or the blue stripe. The specific epithet is derived from a Greek male name.

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 34 to 38 millimeters and are not to be confused with any other species of bluish in Germany because of the large white stripe on the otherwise gray-brown underside of the hind wing from the base to almost the outer edge of the M3 vein. The blue-green owes its name to this dagger-shaped white stripe. There are also several black, light-framed points on the undersides of both wing pairs. The upper sides of the wings of the males shine turquoise and have a black-brown submarine band. The females are monochrome, dark brown, with a fine white border and resemble the females of the red clover-bluish ( Polyommatus semiargus ).

The caterpillars are green in color and, like many other blue-ling larvae, are isle-shaped. The pupae are olive green and are found in the litter layer.

Similar species

  • Polyommatus ripartii (Syn .: P. agenjoi ; Northeast Spain ( Girona , Barcelona , Lleida )
  • Polyommatus fabressei Northern and Eastern Spain
  • Polyommatus galloi southern Italy, Calabria , Orsomarso mountains)
  • Polyommatus ripartii Northern and Eastern Spain, France, Northwest Italy, Southern Poland, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece

Synonyms

  • Agrodiaetus damon
  • Lycaena damon

distribution

Polyommatus damon is widespread in the mountains of southern Europe: in the north and east of Spain it is found in the provinces of Cuenca , Teruel , Palencia , Cantabria , Burgos , Huesca , Lleida , Girona and Barcelona . In France, the species is represented in the central Pyrenees , the Cevennes , Haute-Savoie and the Jura . The species is also found in Switzerland, southern Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as Hungary, southern Poland and Estonia. In the Mediterranean region it is represented in southern Croatia, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in southwest Serbia and in Macedonia. In the north-west of Greece you can find populations from the Grammos to the Tymfristos Mountains .

Flight and caterpillar times

The moth flies in one generation from July to August. The caterpillars can be found in September and after wintering in June of the following year.

Way of life

The caterpillar forage plants are Esparsetten . The whitish eggs, which are strongly fissured on the surface, are laid in the bracts' axils of the Esparsette inflorescences. The caterpillars eat the tissue between the leaf veins, creating a characteristic feeding pattern. Weidemann states that the caterpillars climb up into the flowers in the late afternoon to feed on them. Depending on the climatic conditions, either the egg or the caterpillar overwinters. The caterpillars overwinter in Central Europe near the ground in the first stage, in Central Greece ( Tymfristos , 2,000 meters) it is those of the second caterpillar stage. The animals live symbiotically with different species of ants such as Lasius niger , Lasius alienus and Formica pratensis .

Hazard and protection

In particular, intensive use measures such as grazing the larval habitat during the development of the caterpillars lead to a considerable endangerment of the Polyommatus damon populations , since the Esparsette population is threatened by overgrazing. The most important protective measure is therefore the preservation of the Esparsette stocks.

Red list FRG: 1 (threatened with extinction)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 66 .
  2. ↑ Gunter Steinbach (Ed.): Butterflies. Recognize and determine. Mosaik Verlag Munich 2001, ISBN 3-576-11457-2
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 115 .
  4. ↑ polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) Damon at Flora Europaea. Retrieved March 3, 2011
  5. ↑ a b Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke: We determine butterflies. 3. Edition. Neumann, Radebeul 1991, ISBN 3-7402-0092-8 .
  6. ↑ a b 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 , pp. 366 .
  7. ↑ Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterfly: observe, determine . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-115-X , p. 262 .
  8. ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany . Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9 .

Web links

Commons : White Dagger Blue  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files