White-gray lichen bear

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White-gray lichen bear
White-gray lichen bear (Eilema caniola)

White-gray lichen bear ( Eilema caniola )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Owl butterfly (Erebidae)
Subfamily : Bear Moth (Arctiinae)
Genre : Eilema
Type : White-gray lichen bear
Scientific name
Eilema caniola
( Huebner , 1808)
Caterpillar

The white-gray lichen bear ( Eilema caniola ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the subfamily of the bear moth (Arctiinae).

features

The moths reach a wingspan of 28 to 35 millimeters. The elongated front wings are silvery-white to white-gray. At the edge of the wing there is a pale yellow, narrow stripe that does not contrast strongly with the gray. The wing tip is often lightened. The hind wings are white. The strong yellow color of the head and ruff is typical of the species.

The caterpillars are grayish light brown in color and have dark and reddish colored rows of dots. They have large warts and short, brown, very bristly hair.

Similar species

Occurrence and distribution

They occur in North Africa , Western and Southern Europe , east to Russia . They live in warm rock slopes, arid areas and rocky bushes. You need vegetation-free areas. In Germany , they only occur in the southwest on warm slopes. In April 2007, the caterpillars appeared for the first time in the Nuremberg districts of Gartenstadt and Kettelersiedlung.

Way of life

The moths are nocturnal and rest on shady rocks during the day. They are easily lured by light at night. The animals fly in two generations from June to September, in the warm areas in the south they fly in three generations from May to October. The caterpillars feed on stone and earth lichens , but they are also said to eat the flowers of gorse ( Genista spec. ), Horn clover ( Lotus spec. ) And clover ( Trifolium spec. ). You can find them from September to May on stones on which their forage plants grow. They hibernate.

Annoyance

The species has shown mass reproduction in the settlement area for some time, where it eats green algae and lichen on house walls and roofs and becomes a nuisance when it penetrates into living spaces. There have been reports that the caterpillars' hairs can cause skin irritation.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The white-gray lichen bear - a new pest in urban areas?

literature

  • Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths. Weirdos and hawkers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 .
  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 5, Moths III (Sesiidae, Arctiidae, Noctuidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1997. ISBN 3-800-13481-0

Web links

Commons : White and gray lichen bear ( Eilema caniola )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files