Willow hen
| Willow hen | ||||||||||||
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Willow hen ( Phyllodesma ilicifolia ), above ♂, below ♀ |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phyllodesma ilicifolia | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The willow hen ( Phyllodesma ilicifolia , syn .: Epicnaptera ilicifolia ), sometimes referred to as the blueberry hen , is a butterfly ( moth ) from the mother hen family (Lasiocampidae).
features
Imago
The moths reach a wingspan of 25 to 45 millimeters. The females are much larger than the males. Both sexes have gray-brown fore and hind wings. The similar mother of the oak ( Phyllodesma tremulifolia ) is much lighter and more reddish in color. Individual gray spots can be seen on the wings of the willow hen with a gray central spot on the front wings. The outer edges are wavy and serrated. The antennae are combed briefly in the male, sawn at the base in the female, then combed very briefly. The body is covered with woolly hair.
egg
The egg is oval, whitish and has distinct dark rings.
Caterpillar
The caterpillar varies quite a lot in color. The young caterpillar is colored black. The adult caterpillar can be colored rust-brown in a shape, has a broad dark back stripe, which is interrupted at the segment incisions and has large white spots there. She is thinly haired. Another form is more gray in color, has black, reddish-yellow-edged dorsal spots and red-yellow secondary back stripes as well as a black underside with brownish-yellow spots in the incisions and is also thinly haired.
Doll
The pupa is black-brown and lightly reddish-white dust. It has several short bristles on the back of the thorax , on the abdominal segments and on the cremaster .
Similar species
- Mother of the Oak ( Phyllodesma tremulifolia )
Occurrence
The distribution of the species extends from Europe over Russia , parts of China to Japan . In Central Europe it is rare almost everywhere. It prefers bushy heather areas, plains and moors with blueberry vegetation. ḏ
Way of life
The moths are nocturnal and fly in the evening hours. In the resting position of the moths on branches, in which the hind wings are pushed forward under the forewings and both pairs of wings are roof-like over the body, they look like a dry leaf. In its resting position on the floor, they resemble a brooding hen or a mother hen . The caterpillars live in low bushes close to the ground, pupate in a yellowish-white web between the leaves of the forage plant, fall to the ground with them in autumn and hibernate there.
Flight and caterpillar times
The adults fly in one generation from the end of April to the beginning of May, the caterpillars are found from June to August.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars prefer to feed on the leaves of willow , poplar and blueberries ( Vaccinium myrtillus ).
Hazard and protection
In Germany the willow hen is threatened with extinction (Red List Category 1), in some federal states it is considered lost. It is a strictly protected species under the Federal Species Protection Ordinance.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ A b 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 .
- ↑ a b Manfred Koch : We identify butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 , p. 86f.
Web links
- butterfly
- Caterpillar shapes
- egg
- distribution
- Danger
- Phyllodesma ilicifolia in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved May 2, 2011
- Phyllodesma ilicifolia inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: World Conservation Monitoring Center, 1996. Retrieved September 7, 2013.