Tooth spinner

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Tooth spinner
Camel tooth spinner (Ptilodon capucina)

Camel tooth spinner ( Ptilodon capucina )

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Subordination : Glossata
Superfamily : Noctuoidea
Family : Tooth spinner
Scientific name
Notodontidae
Stephens , 1829
Zigzag Moth ( Notodonta ziczac )
Palpic tooth spinner ( Pterostoma palpina ); you can see the “tooth” on the inner edge of the forewing

The tooth moth (Notodontidae) are a family of butterflies ( moths ). They occur worldwide with around 2,500 to 3,000 species.

description

The medium-sized to large moths reach a wingspan of 24 to 68 millimeters in Europe and have a medium to strong body. Their forewings are about two to 2.5 times as long as they are wide. The hind wings are about the same width as the fore wings and broadly rounded. Their antennae are short and do not reach half the forewing length. In the males they are conspicuously long pinnate or combed, in the females mostly thread-like or only briefly pinnate. Their proboscis is fully developed, but there are also species in which it is reduced or absent. The maxillary palps are very small or absent, the labial palps are well developed or short and regressed. Only a few species have, in addition to compound eyes, also receding point eyes ( Ocelli ). The animals have tympanic organs on the abdomen on the metathorax .

A tooth-shaped bulge on the inner edge of the forewings is characteristic of many species.

The forewings have 11 or 12 wing veins with one (1b) or two (1c and 1c) anal veins. The hind wings have 7 to 9 veins and one or two anal veins 1b or 1a and 1b.

The caterpillars are very different in their appearance. They have four pairs of belly legs and the pusher , but this can also be modified to tail-like threads, such as. B. in the great fork tail ( Cerura vinula ). Most caterpillars have spines, appendages or long hair, which many of them have stinging hairs . Some species have strongly developed mandibles .

Way of life

Toothed moth caterpillars develop mainly on bushes and trees instead of herbaceous plants. Only the species of the Dioptinae live on the latter. You can easily chop the tough leaves with your powerful mouthparts. They either live individually or in large groups, sometimes in webs, such as B. some processionary moths , of which some species are known for their bizarre processions when they are looking for new forage plants.

Some caterpillars have developed defense mechanisms against predators and parasitoids . Some are able to eliminate formic acid or ketones , while others try to scare off enemies by creating bizarre protrusions at the end of the abdomen.

A behavior called bark mimicry is typical of the moths . During the day, the moths rest on tree trunks or branches with wings folded over each other like roof tiles. They are similar in color and shape to the bark. The cocoons of the caterpillars are sometimes indistinguishable from the bark.

Systematics

The tooth spinner family occurs in all of Europe with 98 species and subspecies, of which 37 species occur in Central Europe . Some authors regard the processionary moths (Thaumetopoeinae) as a separate family (Thaumetopoeidae). The family is divided into 10 subfamilies by Fibiger and Lafontaine

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Malcolm J. Scoble: The Lepidoptera: Form, Function and Diversity . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-854952-0 (English).
  2. ↑ Notodontidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed March 20, 2007 .
  3. ↑ Thaumetopoeidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed March 20, 2007 .
  4. ↑ Notodontidae. Lepiforum eV, accessed on March 20, 2007 .
  5. ↑ Michael Fibiger and J. Donald Lafontaine: A review of the higher classification of the Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) with special reference to the Holarctic fauna. Esperiana, 11: 7-92, Schwanfeld 2005 ISBN 3-938249-01-3

Web links

Commons : Zahnspinner  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files