Ram

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Ram
Esparsette ram (Zygaena carniolica)

Esparsette ram ( Zygaena carniolica )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Subordination : Glossata
Superfamily : Zygaenoidea
Family : Ram
Scientific name
Zygaenidae
Fabricius , 1775
Subfamilies
Dock green ram ( Adscita statices )
Thyme ram ( Zygaena purpuralis )
Changeable ram ( Zygaena ephialtes )
Caterpillar of the six-spot ram ( Zygaena filipendulae )
Cocoon of a red ram species with remains of the pupal skin

The rams , blood droplets or zygeen (Zygaenidae) are a family of butterflies ( moths ). They occur worldwide with more than 1,000 species, their main range are the tropics and subtropics of Asia and the Palearctic .

features

The five subfamilies of the ram sometimes differ greatly from one another. Most moths reach wingspans of 10 to 30 millimeters, species of the Chalcosiinae vary between 10 and 120 millimeters wingspan. They have a long, medium to strong body. Their forewings are 2 to 2.5 times as long as they are wide. Some species, especially those of the Procridinae, have shiny metallic wings. Most of the species found in Central Europe have black wings with a different number of red colored spots, from which the name blood droplets is derived. The hind wings are about the same width as the forewings and are rounded. The thread-like, toothed or feathered antennae are half as long to about the same as the forewings and in some species are elongated at the end and thickened club-shaped or piston-shaped. In addition to the compound eyes , all species - except for the Phaudinae - have pinpoint eyes ( Ocelli ). Both the maxillary and labial palps are very short, the scaly proboscis is well developed in almost all species, only in a few is it regressed.

The front wings have 13 wing veins with two anal veins (1b and 1c), the hind wings have 9 or 10 veins with three anal veins (1a, 1b and 1c).

Characteristics of the caterpillars

The caterpillars of the Procridinae, Chalcosiinae and Zygaeninae are stocky and have a broad body. Your head capsule is hidden under the protruding prothorax . In addition to the thoracic legs, they have four pairs of belly legs and the pusher . They have six tracheal openings on both sides . The caterpillars of the remaining two subfamilies are snail-like, similar to the caterpillars of the slug moth (Limacodidae) and are vividly colored. They are still little explored.

Way of life

Although the rams are counted among the moths, almost all species are active during the day, only very few species fly at night and are attracted by artificial light. Your flight will vary depending on the climatic area you live in. Most of the species living in the Palearctic Ocean have a slow, sluggish flight, tropical species and there especially the Chalcosiinae fly very quickly and hardly take any breaks.

Some species can produce a transparent or white to yellowish foam between the compound eyes and the proboscis when disturbed.

The moths fly in Central Europe in midsummer. They sit in the late afternoon, often in larger groups, preferably on purple flowers that tower above the other plants, and suck nectar. They live on dry, poor grassland , where they prefer widow flowers ( Knautia spec. ), Pigeon-scabioses ( Scabiosa columbaria ) and thistles ( Carduus spec. And Cirsium spec. ), As well as in wet grassland and on moist forest clearings , where they like to grow Thistles ( Cirsium spec. ) Sit. However, they are not fussy and will visit others if their preferred plants are missing.

development

The ram's eggs are oval and slightly flattened. They are white, whitish yellow, yellow or greenish in color. The females lay their eggs individually, in rows, in mirrors or in clusters on top of each other. Some species coat the eggs with hair, such as B. several Australian Procridinae species that have their own tufts of stinging hair on the abdomen .

The caterpillars usually eat free on the plants sitting, but there are also some species whose caterpillars bore into tree branches or leaves minieren .

In Europe , the caterpillars mainly feed on butterflies (Faboideae), umbellifers (Apiaceae) and rose plants (Rosaceae).

Pupation usually takes place on the ground in a delicate, silk or parchment-like cocoon , in some species the latter is also found on branches and trunks. But there are also species that pupate on or under rocks or within the plants.

Toxicity

The species of the Procridinae, Chalcosiinae and Zygaeninae are poisonous and therefore inedible for predators. They contain cyanogenic glycosides ( linamarine and lotaustralin ), which are also contained in several forage plants of the caterpillars, but are biosynthesized by the animals from the amino acids valine and isoleucine . In addition, all of these types can release hydrogen cyanide through enzymatic cleavage of the two cyanogenic glycosides. At the same time, they can break down hydrogen cyanide using the enzyme β-cyanoalanine synthetase and render it harmless. Therefore, the adults are extremely difficult to kill with the cyanides usually used by insect collectors. Pyromorpha cuchumatana e.g. B. only shows a reaction after exposure to hydrocyanic acid gas for up to 30 minutes.

Both the mostly red-black colored or shiny metallic moths as well as the yellow-black marked caterpillars in many species indicate their toxicity with these warning colors. Numerous species of rams imitate each other; there are also moths from other butterfly families that benefit from the similarity to the poisonous rams, such as B. the white-spot ram ( Amata phegea ) from the bear moth family (Arctiidae).

Hazard and protection

Since the animals are very true to their location and also easy to detect, they are ideal as bioindicators for nature conservation .

The total number of rams is decreasing, as more and more host plants are disappearing due to nitrogen fertilization and the intensified use of the meadows by agriculture . The drainage of moist meadows and the loss of other biotopes such as hedges and grasslands are increasingly restricting their habitat. For these reasons, almost all rams in Central Europe are endangered or endangered.

Systematics

The ram family is represented in all of Europe with 67 species, of which 31 species occur in Central Europe .

Procridinae (green ram)

Chalcosiinae

  • Weeping ram or Rhine valley dwarf ram ( Aglaope infausta ) (Linnaeus, 1767) CH, D

Zygaeninae (red ram)

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Niels P. Kristensen: Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies . In: Maximilian Fischer (Ed.): Handbook of Zoology . 1st edition. tape 4 - Arthropoda: Insecta , volume 35. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, ISBN 3-11-015704-7 , p. 170 (English).
  2. ↑ Zygaenidae in Fauna Europaea. Retrieved March 23, 2011
  3. ↑ Zygaenidae. Lepiforum eV, accessed on February 26, 2007 .

literature

  • Günter Ebert: The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 3 . Moths I. Root borer (Hepialidae), wood borer (Cossidae), ram (Zygaenidae), snail moth (Limacodidae), sack bearer (Psychidae), window stain (Thyrididae) . Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3472-1 .
  • Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths, Spinners and Swarmers . Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 .
  • CM Naumann, WG Tremewan: The Western Palaearctic Zygaenidae . 1st edition. Apollo Books, Stenstrup 1999, ISBN 87-88757-15-3 (English).

Web links

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