Milkweed ring moth
| Milkweed ring moth | ||||||||||||
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Milkweed moth - dorsal view |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Malacosoma castrensis | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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The milkweed Ringelspinner or milkweed moth ( Malacosoma castrensis ) is a butterfly ( moth ) from the family of clucking (Lasiocampidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 24 to 42 millimeters. The males have light, greyish ocher-colored forewings on which dark brown transverse lines run between the thirds of the wing. The first line, closer to the base of the wing, is a little wider and stronger. In the discoidal region, roughly in the middle of the wing, the two transverse lines come together and form an X-shaped, dark spot. The wings are dusted dark brown within the lines between the spot and the outer edge of the wing. Another, somewhat blurred, but wider, dark brown transverse line runs along the middle of the last third of the wing. The hind wings are a single dark brown color. The males have thick, light ocher-yellow hair on the thorax . The females have a brown basic forewing color. They have two broad, light ocher-yellow bands of different widths on each third of the forewings, which border a wide, dark brown stripe between them. The hair on the thorax is the same as the wings, brown in color.
The caterpillars are about 60 millimeters long and look very similar to those of the ring moth . They also have a gray-blue basic color, but their light topline is weaker, but the yellow lines are stronger in addition to the orange and dark longitudinal lines. They lack black eye spots on their heads.
Subspecies
- Malacosoma castrense castrense (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Malacosoma castrense krymea Sheljuzhko, 1943
Similar species
- Ring moth ( Malacosoma neustria ) (Linnaeus, 1758)
Occurrence
The animals are found all over Europe except in the far north, east to the Black Sea , but they are absent in the Mediterranean area , in western France and in large parts of England . In Germany they are rare in the north and more common in the south. The populations are in decline almost everywhere. The moths live in sunny, dry and warm areas, such as B. on calcareous grassland , on heather and other stony and sandy areas.
Way of life
Flight and caterpillar times
The moths fly from the end of June to mid-August, the caterpillars are found from May to June.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on cypress spurge ( Euphorbia cyparissias ), but also on various other plants such as B. of small meadow button ( Sanguisorba minor ) and meadow knapweed ( Centaurea jacea ).
development
The females lay their eggs in rings arranged around two centimeters long clutches around thin stems, less often around branches. The caterpillars only hatch after hibernating at the end of April or beginning of May. They live socially in a web on the ground, into which they retreat to skin and also during feeding breaks. After the last moult, they live solitary and pupate in mid to late June in a cocoon that is powdered lemon yellow.
Hazard and protection
- Red list FRG: 3 (endangered).
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Heiko Bellmann : The new cosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 , p. 74.
- ↑ a b Malacosoma (Clisiocampa) castrense (Linnaeus 1758). Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed on December 26, 2007 .
- ^ A b Hans-Josef Weidemann, Jochen Köhler: Moths. Weirdos and hawkers. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1996, ISBN 3-89440-128-1 , p. 124ff.
- ↑ Manfred Koch: We identify butterflies. Volume 2: Bears, Spinners, Swarmers and Drills in Germany. 2nd, expanded edition. Neumann, Radebeul / Berlin 1964, DNB 452481929 .
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Ed.): Red List of Endangered Animals in Germany. Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89624-110-9
literature
- Günter Ebert (Ed.): The Butterflies of Baden-Württemberg Volume 4, Moths II (Bombycidae, Endromidae, Lasiocampidae, Lemoniidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Drepanidae, Notodontidae, Dilobidae, Lymantriidae, Ctenuchidae, Nolidae). Ulmer Verlag Stuttgart 1994. ISBN 3-800-13474-8
- Manfred Koch , Wolfgang Heinicke: We identify butterflies. 3. Edition. Neumann, Radebeul 1991, ISBN 3-7402-0092-8 .
