White grass bear
| White grass bear | ||||||||||||
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White grass bear, ( Coscinia cribraria ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Coscinia cribraria | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The white grass bear ( Coscinia cribraria ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the subfamily of the bear moth (Arctiinae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 30 to 40 millimeters. Their white front wings have very variable black markings. This can either be completely absent or consist of dense rows of points. The hind wings are also white and have a gray area on the front edge that spreads differently on the wing. In some cases the entire hind wings are gray. The moths from the more humid areas are, in contrast to those from dry areas, much darker in color and more dotted. In the resting position they roll their wings around the body.
The caterpillars are about 25 millimeters long. They are black and have a white line on the back. On the underside and on the sides they are colored light brown or reddish brown. They have tufts of hair all over their body, which consist of both slightly shorter, black hair and longer, white hair.
Occurrence
The animals are found all over Europe , with the exception of Great Britain and the far north. They are also absent in the foothills of the Alps and in the mountains. They live in dry and warm sandy and stepped terrain such as B. the heather , on dry sand grass, and in forest aisles. In Germany they are common in the north and east, but become rare in the south. They fly from mid-June to early August.
Way of life
They are nocturnal but can be roused out of the vegetation during the day. They live in one generation each year, but south of the Alps there are usually two.
The females lay around 40 of their shiny metallic gray eggs in a ring on blades of grass that grow under four to five meter high pine trees. The caterpillars prefer to sit high on the plants and overwinter there. They are active on mild winter days. They pupate in June under stones or at the root neck of grass in a loose web.
The caterpillars prefer to eat withered parts of grass and other low plants such as B.
- Fescue ( festuca )
- Common heather ( Calluna vulgaris )
- Ribwort plantain ( Plantago lanceolata )
- Common dandelion ( Taraxacum sect.Ruderalia )
swell
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
- Manfred Koch : We determine butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 .
